At last! The muse cooperated enough to offer up Chapter 13. My apologies; between her stubbornness and Real Life, I have been a bit detained. *starting 14 now* Enjoy!
= Thoughts transmitted through the master/apprentice bond.
THIRTEEN
"Uhnn…"
The low moan drew Anakin's attention and he crossed over to his master's side. For a brief moment, before consciousness fully returned to the Jedi, the shields that had masked the hurting were dropped and Anakin fairly gasped at the amount of pain his master was enduring. Another soft groan followed and the apprentice laid a comforting hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.
"Sshh, Master…it's okay. We're almost home now." Even before Obi-Wan opened his eyes, Anakin could feel him struggle to reestablish the shields that had fallen away. Felt that it was a struggle, and he frowned a little. He'd never known Master Obi-Wan to be anything but strong in the Force. Squeezing lightly at Obi-Wan's shoulder, Anakin sought to lend his master some strength through the training bond, shoring up Obi-Wan's fragile center much as his master used to do for him when he was first learning to meditate. Eagerly Obi-Wan grasped at the calm, the peace that was a balm even as his body burned painfully, feverishly. "That's it, Master…" Anakin encouraged, startled at how weak his master suddenly seemed.
Blue-grey eyes flickered open hesitantly and they were glassy, bright with fever. But they were focused, and Obi-Wan moved his left hand slowly to cover Anakin's hand resting on his right shoulder.
"Thank you." He whispered, blinking a little.
"It's okay…it's okay, Master." Anakin found himself repeating, choking back the sudden lump that rose in his throat. The poison was robbing him of his master a bit at a time, and he felt helpless to stop it from happening. Efforts to ease Obi-Wan's suffering or to help him enter a healing trance had met with failure, as if something were preventing him from doing so, although Anakin didn't know what it could be. It certainly wasn't Obi-Wan himself, nor was it a fault of the training bond that he could discern and he was unaware of any outside influence that might hinder such aid either. Yet it was like he was being held captive while a thief was stealing from him…stealing his master's life. Just like on Tatooine…just like when Mom... Anakin gulped air, his heart freezing in his chest at the very thought of losing Obi-Wan so…so…needlessly.
"Anakin…" Obi-Wan murmured again, moving his thumb along the back of his padawan's hand briefly as he clasped it at his shoulder. "Don't…don't be afraid."
Anakin gazed down at his desperately ill master, shocked into silence. He's hurting like that and he's comforting me? Obi-Wan touched the bond a little, like soft fingertips ruffling Anakin's hair, a gesture the Knight had not made since the padawan had been much younger and Anakin blinked back unexpected tears. "Fear…fear is of…the dark side, Anakin…don't…" Speaking was costing Obi-Wan, and Anakin shook his head a little, savagely trying to push back the panic that was indeed rising inside him like a flood.
"Sshh, Master." He soothed again, finding his voice and doing his best to release his fear into the Force. "Save your strength. You need to concentrate on getting better." I am not going to let you die, I swear it. Anakin thought fiercely, his eyes settling into an expression of determination. The thief was not going to win.
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, too sick and too weak to argue that he held no false confidence about his condition; he knew he was dying. But he could not deny his padawan's hopes; he would not give up the fight…not just yet. From somewhere within he dredged up a reserve of his own resolve and clung to it, just as he was clinging to the pale shadow of his calm center. Maybe…maybe if we can just get back to the Temple it will be all right, like Anakin said. Perhaps it was a futile hope but it was the only one he had and so he wrapped his mind around it as tightly as he could.
The hyperspace beacon went off; its noisy signal informing them that they'd reached their destination. Anakin straightened away from his master's side, knowing that he had to get into the cockpit. "I'll be right back, Master."
A hope sprang into Anakin's heart as he hurried to the cockpit and brought the skip-ray out of hyperspace. Coruscant. In all its brightly-lit, frenetic glory. We made it.
They were home.
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It was an odd little assemblage waiting on the landing platform near the Healing Ward of the Jedi Temple as the small Aurean craft descended gracefully, a flawless landing. Masters Windu and Yoda were present, as well as Healers Obuk and Jeriya, the young page Zaren, Padmé Amidala…and Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. At Senator Amidala's request, Zaren had been dispatched to the Chancellor to deliver Anakin's message, and in an unexpected response Palpatine had returned with the boy to meet the arriving ship with the rest of them.
It was a few moments before the main hatch of the little skip-ray opened up and the ramp descended. And it was a moment longer before Anakin appeared at the head of the ramp, all but bearing Obi-Wan up in his arms, the Jedi close to collapse.
"Master Kenobi!" Padmé couldn't contain a gasp of dismay at the appearance of her friend. She started toward the ramp but Yoda was quicker, raising his hand and lifting Obi-Wan gently with the Force. Anakin followed along at his master's side as Yoda removed the poisoned Knight from the ship in this manner, toward the two healers who waited with a repulsor unit between them. Upon reaching them, Anakin handed over a small vial, containing a sample of the water from the carafe, explaining that he believed it to contain the agent that was afflicting his master.
For his own part, Obi-Wan was barely aware of his surroundings, anchored to consciousness by a slender thread. He felt himself being lifted from his feet with all the care one might give a fragile piece of art but it was still all he could do not to cry out in pain. There were hushed voices all around him; Anakin of course, Master Windu…Master Yoda? He was surprised at that. He felt himself being laid very carefully on something soft but the motion still hurt enough that he couldn't contain the plaintive moan that slipped out. Sorry I am Obi-Wan…mean to harm you I did not. He was vaguely aware of Yoda's apology and then there was a hand on his forehead, a warm Force-touch…a healer…Obuk maybe? In his semi-conscious, hazy state, he was having trouble discerning individual Force-signatures and he was just…so…tired…
"Rest easy, Obi-Wan." The healer's kindly voice came to him, a voice that Obi-Wan had known since his youngest days in the crèche. "Just lie still." There was a small hum, the repulsor unit being directed away from the skip-ray, toward the Temple. The steady low sound was almost hypnotic in itself; Obi-Wan felt himself begin to drift despite the unrelenting ache within. The buzz of conversation around him faded away and he allowed his awareness to fade with it, his only companion that slender thread, like spun silver, attaching him to the moment…to the Force.
"…couldn't leave him at the hands of strangers in some med unit on Aure. We had to come back." Anakin was saying, looking down on the motionless form of his master as they moved from the landing platform into the cool halls of the Temple. He could feel his master's lifeforce, dimmed but stubbornly glowing in the Force, even though he was also aware of Obi-Wan's diminished state of consciousness. Impulsively he reached out a hand and touched his master's arm; there was no response. A similar touch against the bond produced the same results; Obi-Wan was oblivious. He looked to Obuk now, the light of desperation in his eyes. "You have to help him."
"Look after your master now, the healers will. With us you must come, Padawan." Yoda stated firmly, despite the troubled expression that crossed the young apprentice's features.
"But…I can't just leave him…" Anakin stammered, stunned even as Master Windu placed a hand on his shoulder, gently but firmly steering him away from the repulsor unit and toward the lift. "Wait!"
"No more argument must you make. Discuss this with you in detail we will. Then return you to your master we can." Yoda insisted, and Anakin looked fleetingly toward Padmé.
"I'll stay, Anakin." She answered immediately. "If there's anything, I'll…" The senator thought for a moment, knowing that she didn't particularly have free rein in the Temple, senator or not. "I'll send word with Zaren here. If that's all right with you, Master Yoda?"
"Suggested well that is; allow it we will."
Anakin watched a desperate moment longer as his wife and the young page trailed after the healers who were rapidly bearing his master away toward the Healing Ward, before turning toward the two Council Jedi and Chancellor Palpatine.
"Masters…" Palpatine intoned heavily, his expression crestfallen. "It is distressing to see such dire misfortune befall Master Kenobi; he has served the Republic most commendably during these tragic times. Please…do send updates on Master Kenobi's condition, I would be most grateful. But while my hope is with you for his recovery, the matter on Varix is urgent."
"We will keep you informed, Chancellor." Mace agreed, inclining his head slightly.
"Thank you…for your concern." Anakin spoke up now, his expression displaying genuine gratitude. Palpatine smiled thinly; when the time was right the boy would be a great asset indeed. "I'm sure my Master would thank you as well."
"My heartfelt wish is for his swift return to us." Palpatine said smoothly, fixing Anakin with a look and then the other two Jedi in turn. "However I must attend to duty…Varix cannot wait much longer."
"Sent a team to Varix already we have…meet your troops there they will." Yoda informed him with a small rap of his gimer stick.
Troops? Anakin wondered thoughtfully. Wonder what we missed…
"Their assistance will be invaluable, I am sure." Palpatine inclined his head just slightly, an acknowledgement. "I will have my command staff report to them at once." A polite farewell followed and then the Chancellor was striding away from them, back toward the landing platform. Anakin had not noticed the Chancellor's private air-car docked nearby at all, but then again his concentration had been solely on getting Obi-Wan into the Temple, into the hands of the healers.
"Varix?" He inquired, curious in spite of his desire to remain at his master's side.
"Speak of that with you as well, we will." Yoda craned his neck to gaze up at the tall human boy at his side. "Come…the sooner that over this is, the sooner that return to the Ward you can."
There was no faulting that logic; that was certain. Anakin glanced back over his shoulder as he followed the two Jedi masters toward the lift; Obi-Wan and the healers were long out of sight now, but he reached out into the Force. I will come back as soon as I can, Master.
++++++
The smile that graced his features was laced with a malice that only those who truly knew him for what he was could see. Palpatine watched the surrounding air-lanes idly; his air-car being handled by one of his personal guards.
As delivered by Padmé Amidala via the young messenger from the Jedi Temple, the news regarding Obi-Wan Kenobi had been rather welcome, confirmation that he had chosen his assassin well. Palpatine had endeavored to appear suitably distressed over this "turn of events" that had taken place. Such a tragedy...Master Kenobi is one of the noblest Knights in the Order…his loss would be most difficult… Words politely spoken…ones that meant nothing.
A 'noble Knight' who was currently still in charge of Palpatine's most coveted and watched treasure, however short a time may be left to them now. Surely the boy would not refuse a place at his side given the right promptings and with Obi-Wan Kenobi swept permanently out of the way, those promptings should not be difficult to suggest.
For now, he must be patient.
He'd insisted on being present at the return of the two Jedi, ostensibly to lend his support to the Order during this time of difficulty; only he knew it was to see for himself the revenge he was beginning to exact and to relish it. Savor it. Taste it like sweet honey. For this was only the beginning.
Varix was its own unique situation; Dooku had the planet well in hand now, and there was precious little the Jedi could do about that; the staged battle would be fought, Varix would be "liberated" and a peace-keeping force of clones left in place to see to it that the unsuspecting Varixians remained gratefully in their service. The Senate and the Jedi would be none the wiser and first steps toward ordering the universe would be in place.
The fact that the Jedi Council had already dispatched two of their own to Varix was another pleasure in itself. So much the better... Palpatine had thought even as he had thanked Yoda aloud. The first Knights to fall in the first battle of the new campaign. Speaking a gracious and polite leave-taking, he had then parted from their company back out to the landing platform, to return to the Galactic Senate buildings. Quite frankly it was a relief; rubbing shoulders with all that self-righteousness was annoying but for the moment still necessary to his designs. He had no illusions about his political maneuvering; unlike Count Dooku, who was an idealist of sorts, Palpatine was purely relishing the power that darkness brought him. It was power that the Jedi could never comprehend even if they'd wanted to, power that would ultimately order the galaxy after his own image.
The air-car delivered him to his destination, his official offices in the Senate buildings, and with all the dignity of a royal personage, Palpatine, Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, strode into his center of power to issue the order…attack the Separatists on Varix.
++++++
Anakin followed silently after the two Jedi Masters, hands clasped behind his back, his body present but his mind still firmly in the Healing Ward. What was happening to his master now? Would the healers be able to identify the toxin that was killing him? Would they be able to find an antidote? Perhaps they would be able to detoxify Obi-Wan through their Force abilities…place the poisoned Jedi into a healing trance that would restore him…
His mind occupied in this manner, Anakin was taken by surprise when he realized that instead of to the Council Chambers, someplace official, or even the meditation gardens, it was to the quarters he shared with Master Obi-Wan that Master Yoda and Master Windu were taking him.
"Master Yoda?" The young Jedi inquired curiously, and it earned him a short rap across the shoulder with the gimer stick; Yoda had favored a hover-chair on the longer trek back to the residential portion of the Temple in order to keep up with Mace and Anakin's longer strides.
"Attention to your surroundings you must pay, or lost you will become. Good for a Jedi that is not."
"No, Master, it's not." Anakin agreed half-heartedly, wishing fleetingly that this conversation could take place at another time. He pressed the palm-lock to gain them admittance, and preceded the two Masters within.
"Understand I do," Yoda said as he lowered the hover-chair and made his way further into the common area. "That upset over Obi-Wan's illness you are." The small Jedi's voice had softened, and wise eyes reflected the very understanding that he spoke of. "Share your concern I do, Padawan Skywalker and keep you long we will not. However speak to you without distraction we must."
Anakin sat down on the conforming couch slowly, pulling his robe around himself as if it would shield him from the hurts of the galaxy, his eyes downcast.
"Yes, Master." He murmured softly.
"First of all…" Mace prefaced quietly, taking a seat on the other end of the couch, "Tell us exactly what happened aboard the transport…everything, details...anything that might give us a clue as to what happened to your master."
Anakin nodded, then proceeded to outline everything, calling on the Force to enhance his memory, telling the two Council Jedi about their boarding, about the pleasant surprise at their quarters, about Master Obi-Wan remaining behind in them while he had gone to observe their launch…the children, the sense he'd received about his master's distress, and finding Obi-Wan collapsed within their quarters and how he had come to believe the contents of the glass to have been poisoned. Yoda and Mace listened intently, interrupting the narrative only occasionally to seek clarification of details.
"Whoever attacked Master Obi-Wan must have wanted us to fail at Uleare. It's the only conclusion that makes any sense." Anakin wrapped up, glancing from one Jedi Master to the other. "Perhaps Master Varou and Padawan Rhe's killer learned of our mission there."
"Hmm…make assumptions we dare not, but agree with you that in some manner tied to Uleare it is." Yoda nodded thoughtfully as he spoke. "Risen, another matter has. Varix in the mid-rim, invaded by the Separatists has been. Sent Masters Gallia and Unduli we have; awaiting word from them we now are."
"So it was true…" Anakin said with a small frown. "There really was a battle group in the Charmadis Sector." At Mace Windu's raised eyebrow, Anakin shrugged a little. "Rumor."
"Fact now it is." Yoda confirmed.
"Chancellor Palpatine is dispatching troops to liberate the planet." Mace interjected, and Anakin looked at the dark-skinned Jedi curiously, his mind quick to grasp the particulars.
"Before he receives a preliminary report from Master Gallia?"
"The reports from Varix are grave." Mace answered, leaning forward a bit to regard the apprentice. "The Chancellor felt it best to act quickly and decisively. And he believes that with the forces he is sending into Varix, the Coalition won't be able to stand against them for long."
"Makes sense." Anakin said confidently. "Battle droids are no match for living breathing trained warriors. They should have figured that out at Geonosis."
"Still, try they will for committed to this course now they are." Yoda gave a small shrug of the shoulders, as if to indicate that the lessons learned or not learned in the Geonosian arena seemed to have little bearing on the course of action the Coalition now pursued.
"We are pulling in the field teams until we know more of what is happening there." Master Windu said, and Anakin looked at him with a distressed expression. "What is it, Padawan Skywalker?"
"I wanted to ask the Council's permission to pursue the Uleare investigation. I want to find the one who did this to my Master."
It was about as bluntly as Anakin could put it, and he watched the two masters carefully as they traded glances, their expressions solemn.
"Decide that later we can." Yoda finally spoke, although to Anakin's way of thinking it sounded an awful lot like no already. "For now, see to your master you must. Speak more of this we will."
"And we will." Windu confirmed as he rose, looking down at the still-seated padawan as he spoke. "We've already considered the idea that you would request this assignment. But until we know more about Varix and what the Coalition's next move is, we feel that it is important to have as many Jedi available as possible. We may be faced with any number of battles depending on how quickly the battlefront spreads."
Anakin hunched his shoulders a little. The battle on Geonosis had been painful enough; he couldn't imagine being scattered to the edges of the galaxy in dozens of battles and the sensation that such a thought invoked made him shiver a little.
"Return to the Healers now you should, Padawan." Yoda said encouragingly. "Find you later to talk further we will." So saying, the diminutive Jedi made his way back to the hover-chair and settled into it. Still seated, Anakin inclined his head respectfully to the two Masters as they exited his quarters. For a moment longer he remained there, taking in all that the two elder Jedi had spoken of to him and trying to quell the frustration that was beginning to well up within. Someone had wanted his master dead. That someone should be made to give account for innocent Jedi blood. Dooku had escaped his reckoning on Geonosis; that was bad enough. But this assassin must not evade the justice that was owed him. Anakin narrowed his eyes a little, a familiar anger rising to the front, anger that he knew he must squash by releasing it into the Force.
Only this time, with his master's life hanging in the balance, he caressed it once with his mind and allowed himself to think of the word revenge before putting it away from himself, releasing the frustrations as best he could into the Force. He had already succumbed to it once, on Tatooine. He must not allow it to take him again.
Rising quickly, he cast aside his troubled thoughts and centered himself on the moment. He had to get back to the Healing Ward, and find out what was happening with Master Obi-Wan. But somewhere in the back of his mind, the word whispered like a voice on the wind, revenge.
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Padmé paced a little, marking off the distance from one side of the small waiting area to the other. It wasn't so much that she was impatient or restless; her experiences as Naboo's queen and now as its Senator, had taught her the invaluable art of waiting. It was more that the small cubby made her feel almost…caged in, trapped in a surreal existence. Obi-Wan Kenobi was tied to Naboo by circumstance as surely as she was tied to it by blood; Qui-Gon's death all those years ago had burned Theed into his soul. Yet while Master Kenobi had never returned to her homeworld and carried an inherent distrust of all things political, he had never been anything but patient and kind to her, and she considered him to be a friend indeed.
Death was stalking her friend.
It had been disconcerting to see the Jedi Knight so ill; while Jedi weren't invincible, they were supposed to be…well…invincible. As she had kept pace with the repulsor unit that carried Obi-Wan to the Ward, she had watched his drawn, pale features, anxiously looking for the strong Jedi who had helped rescue her world and her life but he had not moved, not even so much as opened his eyes. It was then that she realized how serious his condition was. This was a fight, no doubt about it and so far…so far it was a fight the Jedi was not winning.
There was movement at the small entrance and Padmé looked up to see Jeriya there. The slender Healer inclined her head graciously and came further into the little room as the Senator ceased pacing and sat down.
"How is he?" Padmé kept her voice as controlled as possible; she needed to be clear-headed to receive the information and pass it onto Anakin when he arrived.
"Healer Obuk is still with him, Senator." Jeriya hesitated a little. "He's very weak; the toxin is rather...virulent."
Padmé nodded silently; there were simply no words to describe the heaviness that filled her. While it was true that they hadn't lost Obi-Wan yet, the possibility struck her forcefully and her first thought was the sadness of loss. Her second thought was of Anakin.
Master Obi-Wan is like a father to me.
Anakin's words echoed back to her mind, and she considered them carefully. She had known both of her own parents; her family still lived in the lake country of her home continent on Naboo. Her family was warm and comfortable, a safe haven even now, as a Galactic Senator who spent a great deal of her time thousands of light years away from home. Anakin's sense of family was torn. For his first nine years he had known only Shmi, his beloved and kindly mother, ripped from his world first by separation to pursue his dreams of becoming Jedi and then by the violence of the Tusken Raiders on Tatooine.
A violence that he had met with violence, a ripple of darkness and vengeance that the Jedi were supposed to be…what? Immune to? Something like that…but Anakin hadn't been. How would he now handle this, the slow tearing away of the only other semblance of family he had developed in the past ten years? Padmé unconsciously bit her lower lip, knowing that her husband was a young man of deep and uncomplicated emotions, emotions that he struggled to master rather than be mastered by. Sometimes he was successful and sometimes…well sometimes he wasn't. She could only imagine how she would feel in his place, and she swallowed a little.
"What does the Master Healer say so far?" Padmé found herself asking, feeling almost like the question was being asked outside of herself and that she was merely a spectator watching herself ask it.
"Yes, what does Healer Obuk say, Jeriya?"
Anakin stood framed in the doorway, looking at Jeriya expectantly, and waiting for the gentle Healer to tell him what was going on with his master. Padmé looked up at him quietly, her expression reflecting her genuine concern for both him and Master Obi-Wan, but she said nothing.
"We're still not sure what we're dealing with, Anakin." Jeriya's voice was quiet, calming; she was used to dealing with the upsets of worried friends and family. "Teija is doing the work on the sample you brought in but he says he's never seen anything like it before, and so far there is no matching record in the medical archives."
Anakin nodded once, glancing aside and taking in the information silently. After a moment he looked back to the slender young Healer whose compassionate eyes had never left his face.
"Can we…can I see him?"
"Master Obuk is still with him, Anakin…perhaps a bit later." Jeriya motioned for him to come and sit. "He might be a little while with your master yet."
Anakin looked around the cramped surroundings of the small waiting area, instinctively knowing that this would be his home for the next hours. He would not leave his master's side unless there was some chance of getting to Obi-Wan's attempted killer. As the Council had not given him leave to pursue that yet, he knew that here was where he must be. Slowly he sat down to wait—as long as he must—to see his master, to be at Obi-Wan's side in this desperate fight. If he must leave to pursue the enemy of his master's life, he wanted Obi-Wan to be assured of his intentions first.
Jeriya rose now, giving Anakin a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "I'd better go see to helping Master Obuk. I'll be back soon, I'm sure." With that she passed gracefully from the room and out of sight. Anakin glanced anxiously at Padmé, and his secret treasure reached over and clasped his hand tightly, silently, lending him her support and love.
Hold on Master Obi-Wan…Force's sake…please hold on.