HEY FICSTERS! Sorry it's been so long! I hope you are still getting a kick out of this story! I know I am! Anyway, when she last left Mady, she was torn on whether to go with Ben to his home on Arbra or to stay and complete her training...I hope you guys like what I did with it! Anyway, here it is...CHAPTER 25!
Her sigh of discontent was like a language to him. He had heard it so often that he had come to know its subtleties and inflections. All its dialects and colloquialisms…and he knew it well enough to know that the worry was nearly too much for her to bear.
"You know what you have to do, Mad." He said, gently.
"Yeah." She said simply trying to hide her cracking voice.
"You know I'll be fine." He said.
"Yeah, I know." She said, looking down and quickly and wiping her eyes. There was a long silence. He didn't like this any more than she did and it showed on his face. His brow furrowed as he looked at her trying to be so brave. He would have liked it better if she'd gotten mad or made him stay. Not now…she was trying so hard. His fingers came up under her chin and lifted her head. The puffy eyes looked up into his steel grey ones.
"If it'll make you feel better I'll bring you back a leaf." He said, with a little grin. She laughed exasperatedly and hugged him.
"Just contact me once or twice, okay?" she said.
"It's a deal." He said. He kissed her quickly and was gone from the tree house in nothing flat. A few minutes later, Mady heard from somewhere close in the forest, the engines of a small Jedi class freighter start up then fade into the night. She walked wearily back to her bed and crawled in hoping that Arbra would be just as tame as Ben had made it out to be.
"Madylyn! Madylyn, wake up, Girl!" Jared said frantically. As she opened her eyes, she found a streak of sun shining directly into them like a laser beam. She covered them and sat up slowly.
"What?" she asked wearily.
"Ben's gone!" Jared reported. Mady plopped back down onto her pillow.
"I know." She said, in a tired voice.
"Wh-what do you mean, 'you know'?" Jared asked stunned.
"I saw him go. He's going to see his family." She said, waking up slightly more.
"Why would he leave in the middle of the night…and without a word?" Jared asked himself aloud.
"He got a comm from your brother. Something happened and he needed Ben on Arbra." She said crawling out of the bed.
"What did he need him for?" Jared asked.
"He didn't say…didn't know…" Mady explained.
"I see." Jared said as he looked out the window seeming to contemplate the situation. Mady grabbed a piece of fruit from the kitchen before joining Jared at the window.
"Did you just let him go?" Jared asked.
"If I hadn't, he wouldn't be gone." Mady said, shooting Jared a smile. Jared laughed.
"Well then…I think we should make the most of this time." Jared said. Mady nodded and walked over to grab her outer tunic.
"You won't be needing that…believe me, you'll be warm enough." Jared said. Mady's smile faded slightly as she sighed.
TWO WEEKS LATER...
The tiny holographic monster on the table slammed the smaller one to the ground as if it weighed nothing.
"Check mate." Lakaar growled. Axol smiled at him somewhat halfheartedly from his leaned back position.
"That's the fifth game. I think it about time to call it a night." Axol suggested.
"Fifth game we've played, fifth I've smoked you." Lakaar pointed out.
"Yeah…off night, I guess." Axol shrugged.
"Something wrong?" Lakaar asked. Axol sighed.
"I haven't heard from Ben in two weeks now." Axol said.
"Well, we know he's on Degobah. How much trouble could he get into there? And with Kiito?" Lakaar said.
"That's the thing…he's not on Degobah anymore." Axol said.
"Where is he then?" Lakaar asked.
"He got a message from his father and had to go to him on Arbra. He was on his way there." Axol said.
"When was that?" Lakaar asked
"Twelve days ago." Axol said simply.
"When were you going to tell me?" Lakaar asked, feeling slighted.
"When I knew what the hell to do." Axol answered. There was a short silence before Axol's communicator started beeping. Axol read the message and sat straighter.
"Sweet Force, it's him!" Axol said in disbelief. Lakaar sat straighter too as he watched Axol read. When he had finished, he looked over at his Wookiee companion.
"He needs our help…Mady followed him…" Axol said, gravely.
ONE WEEK EARLIER…
Mady circled Jared in the clearing. His posture was poised and strong, lightsaber locked into a fighting grip. Mady whirled her nonchalantly as she smiled boastfully at him.
"I've beaten you once, Master. I can do it again." She said.
"Are you sure of that?" he asked, omnisciently.
"If I wasn't, I wouldn't tell you." She said.
"Then I've taught you one lesson well." He said. With that, he lunged. He had a natural affinity for leaping just when she least expected it. She got her guard up and blocked a few blows before ending up, mysteriously to her, on her back. She went to sit up only to be stopped short by his green blade.
"Several others, alternatively, might need some work." He said, extending a hand to her and helping her to her feet.
"If your combat was as biting as your wit, you'd need no more training." He said as she dusted herself off.
"I know, Master. I'm sorry." She said. She followed him into the dense forest as he told her tales and taught her the lessons learned by great Jedi past. They came to a lake that had a gigantic boulder in the center of it. They stopped and he looked over at her with a nearly giddy look on his face.
"Let me guess." She said.
"Do you even need to?" he asked.
"I suppose not." She said defeated as she sat cross-legged on the bank and focused all her power into lifting the behemoth from the swamp. Axol smiled as the thing ever so slowly began to shift…then rise only slightly…then more. All of a sudden, at the peak of this triumph he heard Mady cry out. The boulder crashed back into the water sending large waves in all directions. Mady gripped her stomach and folded to her side and into the mud. Jared grabbed her and called her name, but nothing seemed to bring her out of this rigid trance. Then as quickly as it had come, her body went limp and she gasped for air. She grabbed the front of his robe with one hand.
"Ben's in trouble! He's in pain!" she raved.
"Easy Madylyn! Easy now!" he urged. She looked up at him regretfully.
"I have to go, Jared. I have to go!" she said desperately. He could only look down at her in the mud and wonder if them meeting had really been the blessing that he had perceived it to be.
And he knew there would be no stopping her. She had been living with him for long enough for him to know that if Ben was involved she was as unstoppable as a basilisk war droid. He led her the next morning to his old ship which they quickly had up and running. She hugged him and promised she'd return and like a shooting star across the sky, she blasted for blackspace.
Little more than a week of uneventful flying later, she settled down on the tiny forest world of Arbra. She had never been there before, but once you've seen Endor, you've seen Arbra as the locals would say. The evening sun shone through the trees in golden streaks that would go unnoticed by Mady this night. The ship's loading ramp crunched down layers of leaves in the little clearing that they called a spaceport and she walked down it trying to appear as casual as she could with a bowcaster strapped to her back and a lightsaber at her hip. A man in a Jedi robe approached her and shook her hand.
"Welcome to Arbra, my Jedi sister!" the man said cheerily.
"Thank you. You're a Jedi, I take it." She said, needing to fairly jerk her hand out of the man's grasp.
"That I am, Mason Katarn is my name." The man introduced. Mady's eyes lit up.
"Do you know a Ben Katarn?" she asked, wanting to be sure of her intellect.
"Know him? He's my son!" the man said. Mady nodded now noticing the similarities in their appearance. They looked nearly identical add a few years for the father. Mady reached and shook his hand again.
"Sir, my name's Madylyn Conway…I know your son." She said, in a somewhat urgent tone.
"Has something happened?" he asked.
"I'm not sure, sir. But I…I had this…well, it's kind of a long story…" she explained.
"Then a spaceport is no place to tell it. Come we'll fix you a good meal and we'll talk." He said, throwing his arm around her and leading her to his home.
"So he hasn't been back here?" she asked a few hours later over a bowl of soup.
"No, we haven't seen him in person for years." He said.
"Would you like some more, Madylyn?" Deena Katarn asked, warmly lit by the fire. She was a very pretty woman and barely showed her age. However, Mady looked at her and saw traces of her own mother whom she'd barely know. Perhaps, Ben's mother was simply what Mady would have wanted in a mother. Either way, she made a mean stew.
"No thank you, Ma'am. I'm full." She said, with a polite smile. She turned back to Mason.
"He said you told him that his getting here was urgent." Mady suggested.
"Did I say that?" he asked.
"Well…he said it sounded urgent." Mady corrected.
"All I said was that I'd like to see him…but then, it's been so long since he's even heard my voice, I can understand why he might not recognize subtleties like that anymore." The man reasoned.
"I suppose." She said.
"Well, there's nothing we can do tonight. In the morning we'll take a few ships out and begin looking." He said. She nodded.
"Yes, sir." She said as she stood and began to make her way for the door.
"Where are you going, Madylyn?" he asked.
"Back to my ship. Gotta get some sleep for tomorrow." She said.
"And you'll get it in my home, if you don't mind." The man said, with a smile. She smiled back.
"Thank you, sir. I'll do that." She said.
"One more thing, Madylyn." he said.
"Yes sir." she responded.
"I see you carry a bowcaster. Where you raised by Wookiees?" he asked.
"No, sir." she answered.
"Then where are you from, child?" he asked. She shook her head slightly.
"Sir, I'd rather not say." she replied, not wanting to offend her Jedi host.
"Come now, girl. I'll pass no judgement upon you." he said. She looked at the floor. This man was giving her a place to sleep...perhaps she owed him at least this.
"Mandalore, sir." she said, almost shamefully. There was an uncomfortable silence.
"I see...so you're..." he began.
"Maybe I should sleep on my ship." she said making her way for the door. Suddenly, she was stopped by a hand on her shoulder.
"Deena and I made up the spare room for you. Sleep well." He said with a warm smile. She nodded and shuffled wearily to bed. Perhaps her vision had been wrong…and she'd spend the rest of the night hoping for that fact.
She awoke slowly the next morning having gotten very little viable sleep. She walked yawning into the other room to find Ben's father eating breakfast.
"Good morning, Madylyn. Would you like a bite?" he asked as he swallowed a bite.
"No thank you, sir. Considering your wife's stew I won't need a bite for days." She said with a groggy smile. The man laughed.
"That's very true. It's a wonder I'm not a Hutt by now!" he joked back. She laughed with him.
"Will we be leaving soon?" she asked, gathering her bowcaster onto her back once more.
"Yes, yes. As soon as I finish breakfast. Why don't you go and prep you ship and I will meet you in about an hour?" he suggested.
"Alright. See you soon then." She said as she walked outside. Her steps were weary as she made her way to the clearing. As she turned the corner around the docking station, she was frozen in her tracks. Without so much as leafless patches where it had been, her ship was gone. She marveled for just a moment…but that would be a moment she would sincerely wish she had back.
She suddenly felt her head jut forward as something slammed into it from behind. Her vision spun as her knees hit the ground, but knowing her luck, she wasn't quite unconscious. She felt them push her the rest of the way to the ground and as she regained consciousness she felt them trying to tie her hands. Her face was full of leaves as she writhed around trying to get the men off of her. As she further regained normal cerebral function, she found that it was a good four men working on restraining her and for some reason her connection with the Force seemed severed. She managed to free a hand and reached forward for her bowcaster only to have a boot come down roughly pinning her hand to the ground. She looked up in horror and saw Ben's father staring down at her, hand outstretched. The weight of the men lifted from her back and as they lifted her, she seemed to fairly fly to her feet. She still struggled against their grip as she stared with disdain at Ben's father.
"Turn her around." He said as he pulled a small injection gun from his belt. The men roughly spun her and it wasn't more than a second before she felt the sting on the back of her neck, but it wasn't an injection really more like a constant and excruciating pinch. Suddenly, her whole head seemed to be filled with noise and her body went nearly limp. The noise was nearly too much to bear…then nothing. Gone as quickly as it had come…and it left a hole, it seemed, where the Force had once been.
"That should take care of your Force affinity for a while…and don't try to take it out…it'll take half your spine with it." Ben's father said nonchalantly as the men spun Mady back around.
"Bring him out." He said, darkly. There was a lull in the gathered crowd and only the sound of a struggling man could be heard. Mady looked over to her side and saw Ben being dragged from the crowd. His tunic and undershirt were gone as were his boots and his very body looked quite worse for the wear. He could barely hold himself up. Her eyes widened as she saw the scene play out. Tears filled her eyes instantly as she looked upon Ben…reduced to this. Suddenly, a hand grabbed the front of her tunic and jerked it diverting her attention.
"Don't you even look at him, you little shutta!" Ben's father said through clenched teeth as her reddened eyes snapped over to him.
"What are you doing? He's your son!" she pleaded.
"The son I raised is dead! And you killed him!" he yelled, mere inches from her face. It really was remarkable how he had changed from the man she had known just the night before. She just shook her head slightly as she looked up at him.
"He comes back here spewing your Sith trash! Even after helped kill the high council!" the man ranted.
"Ben didn't kill anyone!" Mady protested.
"But he helps and accepts the one who did! That's worse!" he said.
"And you knew I would come for him!" she realized out loud.
"Exactly. I knew you'd not give up your new prized apprentice." he insinuated.
"The Council was corrupt! They had to be stopped!" Mady fought.
"My son has told me that time and time again! You brainwashed him with your Sith lies! The Council has never been corrupt." Ben's father pointed out. Mady's frustration seemed to overflow finally.
"Frack you, old man! I don't have to explain myself to you!" she fumed.
"And I need no more of your Sith explanations…so we find ourselves at an impasse." He said darkly. Mady smiled cockily.
"So what're you gonna do now? Philosophize me to death?" she asked sarcastically.
"Only half correct, Sith." He said, matching her arrogant expression. As she looked up at him her smile faded as she could guess which half of her statement she was correct about.
"I thought Jedi didn't kill their prisoners." She said, trying desperately to sound sure of herself.
"Considering your crimes I should think the High Council would condone such an act." He reasoned.
"So you'd kill your own son because he may or may not have associated with a Sith?" Mady asked, wrenching slightly in the arms of the men that still held her tight. The man in front of her nodded.
"Leave it to a Sith to be driven by emotion. I had thought of that, and while I could kill him emotionlessly as I should, he is still of my own blood." The man mused. Mady just looked at him.
"So we'll let him decide for himself which side he's on." The man said. He motioned the other set of men to bring Ben over which they did. His father pulled a stun baton off his belt and turned the energy variation knob up to high. Ben hadn't noticed any of this as he was just staring into Mady's eyes and she into his. A crowd of Arbrans had gathered in a circle that surrounded them all. Suddenly, he felt his father nudge his arm then hand him the stunner. Ben took it numbly.
"Hit her." His father said simply. Mady's eyes widened. At that power…the shock could be enough to kill her. She jerked in the men's grasp but they held fast. Their gloves would shield them from the enormous voltage.
"What?" Ben asked in disbelief. He couldn't believe that his own father would be capable of doing such a thing to a sentient being…Sith or no.
"Show me that I raised you to be a Jedi! HIT HER!" the desperate man yelled. Ben looked at his father then down at the stunner then up at Mady. There was only slight fear on her face now…but then a look that confused him. An oddly sinister smile crossed her face…then a scoff passed her lips.
"Well, well…look at the noble Jedi." She said saturated in sarcasm. Ben looked at her puzzled.
"Just like all weak Jedi before you. Your sense of honor cripples you and all of your kind! Your pathetic Order will be wiped from the face of the galaxy…all for you flawed beliefs." She said darkly. About halfway through this tirade, Ben had figured out what Mady was trying to do. As the cries of "do it!" and "hit her!" went up from the people of the colony he realized what Mady wanted. Let the people have him as their hero…and her as the villain. Then, for the briefest moment as if confirming his theory she shot him a look. It was a look so quick and so intimate that none around them would have ever been able to decipher it…but he could. She wanted him to obey his father. She wanted him to be the champion that she knew his could be. And if this was how it was to end...on a tiny forest laden planet on the edge of the galaxy where no one need ever even hear of these events…then so be it.
"Yes, Jedi. Let me go! So I can wipe out everything you hold dear!" she urged one last time. And with that Ben proved he was a Jedi. He heard no sound at all…seeming deafened himself by her pain. It only seemed as though he was watching from a distance. He could see her fight the scream for a few seconds as her face turned red, eyes grew bloodshot and sweat instantly appeared on her brow. Her eyes never left his as he urged her mentally to be strong. Silent to him was the scream that to all assembled echoed surely for miles into the trees. As if being able to take no more her eyes seemed to drift off and gaze blankly at nothing. The scream stopped as she went limp in the hulking arms. Ben pulled the stunner away and sounds returned, particularly the sickening thud as the men tossed her body aside like a sack of flour. She was motionless. Ben just stood there frozen staring at her as a medic ran from the crowd. Ben's father put his hand on his shoulder…and Ben was too numb to swat it away. The bittersweetness of the whole affair was nearly too much for Ben. He had regained his father's respect and trust…but at what cost. He had worked his whole life to make his father proud…and had planned to spend the rest of it making her proud. The medic kneeled at Mady's side and put her fingers to Mady's throat. Then she readjusted them, her very posture seeming bewildered at something. He turned to Ben and his father with an unreadable expression on her face.
"This girl's alive." She said nearly as solemnly as she would have had the announcement been the alternative. Ben had to hide the sigh of relief that still slightly escaped him.
"Damn Mandalorian tolerance!" Ben's father cursed under his breath. He snatched the stunner from Ben's hand.
"I'll finish this myself!" he said. Ben held a hand to his father's chest.
"Dad, wait!" Ben said. His father turned that unsure eye on him once more.
"This is no way to execute a Sith. In some backwoods clearing with a fracking stun baton! No…for a Sith, let alone a Sith so wicked, the execution must be more…ceremonial…and more public. The hunters are not even here. We must wait until we have our entire colony present for this." Ben said.
"They won't be back for three days." His father explained.
"The perfect amount of time to prepare the execution." Ben said, eyes gleaming falsely. His father looked at him for a moment then smiled.
"Alright son. Three days it is." He said with a small smile. Ben did his best to smile back as his father's arm wrapped around him and the walked away. The two giant men gathered Mady up and took her from the clearing as the disappointed crowd dissipated. Ben's mother remained and looked on sadly as the beasts dragged the girl away to await an execution that was against all the Jedi teachings she'd ever known.
"Force be with her." she whispered under her breath as she finally turned and left the clearing.
That night Ben walked slowly so as to hide his worry. He entered the detention building which had hardly been used since the old war. Two men stood at the door of the only cell. Beyond them, Ben could see her curled up in one of the corners getting what could barely be called sleep.
"What do you want, Ben?" one of the men asked. Ben cracked his knuckles as he looked at them suggestively.
"Privacy." He said menacingly. The older man cracked a small smirk and handed Ben a key to the cell.
"Don't be too long." He said. And with that the two men were outside and they shut the door behind them. Ben rushed to the cell door and threw it open. Mady aroused slightly and instinctively curled tighter, hands up in defense. Ben kneeled down and took hand gently.
"Mady, it's me!" he whispered. She glanced up at him cautiously. Before sitting up to her knees and throwing her arms around him.
"Thank the Force! Oh I am so glad you're here!" she said in a tone slightly louder than a whisper.
"SHH! I'm supposed to be kicking your ass right now!" Ben urged. Mady cringed as she realized how loud she had been.
"Sorry." She said more quietly. He gathered her to him.
"Not nearly as sorry as I am." He said as tears streamed down his face.
"Why? You did just what I wanted you to do. I am so glad you got the hint." She said as she held him. He pulled her back.
"I could have killed you." He said somberly.
"No, you couldn't have." She said trying to make his feel better.
"And what makes you think that?" he asked. She smiled arrogantly.
"Because I just refuse to die." She said before breaking into laughter. Ben laughed too if for no other reason at her simple fortitude. Here she was in a prison cell after a brush with death with her day numbered…cracking jokes. His smile faded.
"It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." He said. Mady looked at his tear streaked cheeks and nodded.
"I understand, Ben." She said acceptingly. There was a pause.
"And at least you didn't take a limb." She said, smiling. Ben smiled too.
"Listen…I've contacted, Axol. He's on his way with one of the Masters to try to clear your name." Ben said. Mady thought for a moment.
"How far away is Dantooine?" she asked. Ben slowly realized what she was driving at.
"About four days…but, think about it. We're talking about Axol here. He can make it in two." He encouraged, knowing full well that it would be close. Mady smiled again, but less convincingly.
"We'll keep our fingers crossed then." She said optimistically.
"We could try to bust you out before then." Ben suggested.
"How?" she asked.
"Blow the walls right off this place and blast into the night with a speeder." He said, having thought it out.
"I can't let you do that, Ben. Run from your own family…let them live under the illusion you've joined the Sith." She said. He sighed
"Well, Mad. I guess it's really up to you, isn't it? I'll go along with whatever you decide." He said. Mady looked up at him and knew this was true. She looked into her lap as she tried to choose between her risk…and Ben's rapport…
So there it is everyone! What's the best way? There's no guarantee that Axol will get there in time...on the other hand, can Mady bear to let Ben live out his days knowing full well that his parents think he's a Sith. Leave a review and keep watching for the next chapter of "Choices from a Dark Past"!