A/N: Sorry for the delay everyone, but this was a longer chapter and it took a while to write. I also had a bit of writer's block (note I started a new story and that seems to be helping). To help keep everyone updated on the posting schedule since it tends to be a bit haphazard for all of my stories, I updated my profile page with a story status note. If something is going on to delay posts, I'll try to post it there to keep everyone informed. Thanks for reading everyone.
Chapter 36: Master vs. Padawan, Husband vs. Wife
"No, Obi-Wan, please!" Aila pleaded, reaching for the datapad that had been snatched from her.
"He's on Alderaan!" Avarik shouted, having ignored the letters contents and searched for the sender's coordinates. Intent on reaching his former padawan before Anakin had time to flee; Avarik dropped the datapad to the floor, shifted Aila out of his arms, and moved towards the small landing bay in the back of the chateau that held his starfighter and a small transport shuttle.
"Obi-Wan! Stop! What are you going to do?" Aila raced after her husband terrified for what she had accidentally revealed. She knew Anakin must have been trying to find a way to reach her and had not realized that Obi-Wan had heard the name Lord Vader before.
"I'll do what I should have done on Mustafar, I will kill him!" Avarik did not look back at Aila, but kept moving towards his ship.
"No! Please, this is not his fault. He has done nothing."
"He is a Jedi! He tried to kill you! He will pay!"
"No!" Aila rushed towards her husband and grabbed at his arm, trying to stop him. "Please, don't do this!"
"I must!" Avarik stated vehemently as he wrenched free of her grasp and moved more quickly away from his wife.
"Obi-Wan!" Aila shouted out loud and over their Force bond as she tried to keep up with him, but he seemed to be using the Force to evade her. "Listen to me. Anakin is not your enemy, nor is any other Jedi. The Emperor has twisted what actually happened. He is your enemy!"
"You are blinded by that holovid, my goddess." Avarik sternly answered over their bond as the door to the landing bay closed and he locked it behind himself.
"And you learned nothing from it!" Aila shouted back as she pounded her fist against the locked door upon reaching it.
"I am sorry this upsets you, my goddess, but it must be done." Avarik answered over their bond as he called an astromech droid over to join him on his trip. While the little droid situated itself in his starfighter, Avarik fired up the engines, not wanting to waste a second in reaching the Jedi that had eluded him these past few months.
"Obi-Wan!" Aila protested. "Do not do this, open this door!"
"No, my goddess. You will be safe there. We will talk when I return." Aila continued to shout at him to stop as he left the landing bay and flew his starfighter into the acid rain that was a constant part of Vjun's weather. However, Avarik took no notice of it, or Aila's protests. His mind was focused on one thing, revenge. Anakin had hidden Aila from him and the evidence showed he had tried to kill her over the past few months. Now his former padawan would learn how it felt to lose a loved one, for all Skywalkers would pay for Anakin's crimes.
As the door remained locked, barring her from reaching her husband and his departing ship, Aila knew she had to do something because he had stubbornly set his mind on his task. "Obi-Wan, stop this right now!" She continued to shout over their Force bond as she made their way back to their bedroom.
Although Avarik could hear Aila over his Force bond, he did not respond as he contemplated the best way to destroy Anakin. No matter what Aila tried to do to plea to her husband, he stubbornly refused to answer her. However, being ignored by her husband did not top Aila. She knew she had to do something to stop him and it was this that drove her to enter her and Avarik's bedroom and begin to rummage frantically through drawers and shelves. Items crashed to the floor around her as Aila discarded them and searched for what she needed.
"Milady? What are you doing?" Kestin asked breathlessly having sprinted to her mistress's aid. The young handmaiden had heard the crashing sounds of items being haphazardly thrown to the floor, and had gone to investigate.
"I've got to find…." Aila trailed off as she opened another drawer and spilled the contents onto the floor.
"Find what, milady?" Kestin drew closer to Aila, glancing at the mix of clothes, jewelry, and various other items that lay scattered across the floor.
Without answering Kestin, Aila's hand grabbed the cylindrical hilt she had been searching for. Obi-Wan always carried his crimson bladed saber with him, never touching the cerulean bladed weapon he had used as a Jedi.
"Isn't that a lightsaber?"
"Obi-Wan's." Aila answered distractedly as she rose to her feet and ignoring Kestin, sprinted back to the sitting room to pick up the datapad her husband had discarded earlier. She keyed up Anakin's message and found where he had sent it from. She would put these same coordinates into the other ship in their hangar and follow her husband, but first she wanted to give Anakin and Padmé a chance to escape. Replying to the message, Aila's note was simple: "Run, Obi-Wan is coming!" She just hoped her two friends would receive the message before her husband and herself reached their hideaway.
"Milady? What is going on?" Kestin asked as Aila sent her urgent message back to Anakin and Padmé.
"I have to stop Obi-Wan." Aila answered before sprinting back towards the locked hangar bay, Obi-Wan's lightsaber in one hand with her datapad in the other. Upon reaching the door she twisted the hilt in her hand searching for the activation switch. As the blade came to life in her hands and cast a bluish glow upon her and her handmaiden, Aila did not hesitate and plunged the blade into the durasteel door that was blocking her from her desired destination.
Shock washed over Kestin's face as she watched her mistress press the heated blade of the lightsaber into the door. She could see the door growing red hot as the blade began to melt through it. "Milady! Stop him from what?"
"He's going to kill his best friend!" Aila half cried as she answered, struggling to move the lightsaber down the door as she attempted to speed up the melting process.
"Who?" As Kestin spoke, she reached towards Aila's hand in an attempt to stop her mistress. The handmaiden was certain that the woman was overreacting to her husband's actions. Avarik must have locked that door for a reason, and Kestin felt it was her duty to make sure Aila stayed where she was.
"Anakin."
"Skywalker?" Kestin questioned as she gently tried to pull her mistress's hand away from the lightsaber. "But milady, he is your husband's enemy. He has tried to kill you countless times."
"No!" Aila brushed away her handmaiden's hand so she could continue her work on the door which now had the upper corner melted away. "The Emperor has been lying about Anakin's involvement. The Jedi are not the enemy."
Kestin frowned at her mistress before reaching towards her once more. She kept her tone gentle as she tried to coax Aila away from disintegrating the door. "Milady, you are upset and confused. We have had peace since the Emperor took over the Republic, only the remaining Jedi have posed any threat to our way of life. Why don't you come and sit with me and we will wait for Lord Avarik to return. He would not want you to disobey his orders."
Aila's head shook slightly as she pushed all her weight against the saber in her hands, willing it to work faster as she started to come to the middle point of one side of the door. "He is not thinking clearly. I can't let him go through with this."
Kestin rolled her eyes at her mistress's stubbornness. She was beginning t o see why her and Avarik got into so many arguments. "Milady, I must insist that for your own safety you come with me. Lord Avarik knows what he is doing." Kestin was more forceful this time as she pulled Aila's hand off the lightsaber that remained ignited and embedded in the durasteel door. However, Kestin had not been prepared for Aila's resolve to complete her task. Acting on some instinct she did not know she had, Aila stomped on one of Kestin's feet, and with the woman yelping in pain behind her, Aila kicked back at the other woman's shin so she lost her balance and toppled to the floor. Kestin fell backwards against the floor and ended up hitting the back of her head hard, causing her to pass out.
Turning towards her handmaiden in horror over what she had done, Aila temporarily forgot about the melting of the doorway and knelt before her friend. "Kestin! I'm sorry, are you all right?" When there was no answer, Aila put two fingers to her handmaiden's neck. She was relieved to feel a steady pulse and the steady rise and fall of her handmaiden's chest. The groan of pain from Kestin further relieved Aila that she had not seriously hurt her handmaiden. "I am sorry I had to do that Kestin, but I have to stop my husband. Hopefully in time, you will understand why."
Kestin groaned in response, but her eyes did not open to her mistress's words. Aila felt bad that she was leaving Kestin in such a state on the floor, but it appeared the handmaiden would be all right. Kestin's injuries, if any, would heal in time, but if Aila did not reach Alderaan in time, it might be too late to save the lives of the Skywalker family.
Usually Aila had to be in danger for Avarik to fly recklessly, and in his mind, she was. Anakin had committed too many wrongs against Avarik and his beloved wife. First he had hidden her away from him and then had tried to kill her several times. However, now he could make sure that he did not harm her again. So he had pushed his ship into an aggressive course to Alderaan, trying to reach his desired location before the traitorous Jedi Master and his family had a chance to escape.
Vaguely, in the back of his mind, Avarik could sense Aila's distress over his Force bond. However, he focused his mind away from her. It did pain him to sense her sadness, but he knew he had to complete this mission. Aila just did not understand the danger she was in with Anakin still alive. Any Jedi was a threat to them, they had been since the day Avarik had brought Aila to the Jedi Temple all those years ago.
The Council had condemned their love for one another and tried all they could to split Avarik and Aila apart. Even Aila knew that, as she would often comment that what the Council tried to do was wrong. Unfortunately her opinion of the Jedi was clouded by the holovid she had watched long ago. Avarik wished she had never seen them, because she was too fixated on the Jedi being in the right although they had done everything in their power to destroy her and Avarik. Only without the Jedi could Avarik secure his wife and unborn son as he could not let his enemies roam free. One day Aila would see that Anakin had forsaken them the day he became a Jedi Master and understand why Avarik had to pursue him.
Aila sat at the controls of the Imperial theta class shuttle in the landing bay of her current home on Vjun trying to orient herself with the controls. It had been some time since she had last piloted a ship and she was trying to recall all that the crew of her Nubian cruiser had shown her. Unfortunately, she did not have time to go over an extensive review of her knowledge, so she started flipping switches to bring the ships engines online. As the controls for the shuttle were placed in different locations from her Nubian cruiser, her progress was slowed. However, eventually she got the shuttle started and the main opening of the landing bay opened.
Aila winced slightly as she pushed the shuttle out of the landing bay, her movements a bit shaky as she was not overly confident with her flying ability. There was a tense moment as she broke into the stormy weather of Vjun where she could hear a horrible sizzling sound as acid rain fell against the ships hull. She was almost too late in realizing she had forgot to initiate the ships shields to protect it from Vjun's elements, but paranoid for her safety, Avarik had required that all ships that she flew in be equipped with alarms when it detected precautions for her safety had not been met. Aila had been startled and caught off guard by the alarm and had frantically started pushing random buttons to get it to stop. Somewhere in that frenetic rush, she managed to press the button that brought the shields up to full power.
With the alarm stopped and her ship drifting further from her home and out of Vjun's caustic atmosphere, Aila sat back in her chair and gave a great sigh of relief. "This is why I hate flying." She commented to herself as she brushed aside the cold sweat that had formed on her brow at the sound of the alarm. Although she was still a bit shaken from the ordeal, she could not help the small smile that formed when she realized she was echoing Obi-Wan's usual comment about space travel.
It was the brief happy memory of her husband that pushed aside her fear and anxiety and drove Aila to grip the control of the ship with determination. She had to stop Obi-Wan. If he killed his best friend then all the good she fought for over the last few months, would be lost. Aila was not sure what she was going to do, but she knew she had to do something to stop Obi-Wan. With her resolve strengthened Aila was once again set on her task. Although Aila did not have the finesse of some pilots, including her husband, she managed to steer the ship out of Vjun's atmosphere and key up her datapad to Anakin's note so that she could input his coordinates into the ships computer for her jump into hyperspace.
Aila and Lord Avarik were not the only two people set on their task. Kestin groaned once more as she rose to her feet, holding a hand to the back of her head and trying to massage away the ache. She had risen it time to peer through the melted door to the landing bay and see her mistress's departing ship. Kestin groaned again, not in pain this time, but in frustration at Aila.
Aila was too stubborn for her own good. She was always interfering in Lord Avarik's plans and causing him trouble. Kestin was certain that the Emperor would not have exiled them had Aila not provoked him. However, the Sith's wife was set on her belief that the Emperor was evil. Kestin did not know where Aila got that idea. Since Palpatine had taken over, the galaxy had been more secure. There had been no more war and Avarik had been able to squash the pockets of resistance formed from the remaining Jedi. The fact that Lord Avarik had changed his allegiance from the Jedi to the Emperor should have been very telling and Kestin could not understand why Aila did not see it.
There had been a time when Kestin had been terrified of his Lordship. She had seen him during one of his rages after a fight with Aila. At the time she had felt sorry for her mistress, but now that she had lived with Lord and Lady Avarik for some time, she could see that Aila brought much of Avarik's anger on herself. She had heard Aila claim that she did all of this out of love, but Kestin also knew that if she was married to Avarik, she would support his lordship and do all that she could to help his cause. She would not dwell on the past like her mistress, but look to a future that was far brighter than it had been during the Clone Wars. There was nothing wrong with Aila's husband's association with the Sith. He was just showing a passion to protect the people he loved and ensuring that they lived in a more peaceful galaxy. However, his wife appeared to be ungrateful as she was on her way to defy him once more.
Kestin could not stand for this any longer. She usually did not stand between Avarik and Aila, but her mistress was pushing things too far. Lord Avarik had a job to do and did not need to worry about his wife's safety or her interference while trying to get it done. Aila might be mad at her later, but at the end of the day Kestin's loyalty was to Lord Avarik as she was prepared to do anything for the Sith Lord. Unfortunately, with Aila taking the last of the ships in the landing bay, there was no way for Kestin to go after her unless she got some help. The problem was there was only one way to get that help.
Kestin was a bit surprised at first to see that her feet had carried her to the main communications room in the Chateau Malreaux. However, her shock turned into a small smile as she realized her unconscious brain had been processing the decision she had made on her own. There was only one person who could grant her an additional ship so she could reach Lord Avarik with the necessary backup he would need to defeat Jedi Master Skywalker and perhaps if Kestin was careful she could get her employer back to full time service of the Empire.
"Yes?" A curt voice asked as an image of a stern Imperial guardsman appeared over the comm. unit. "State your name, rank, and business."
Kestin held her head high as she answered, "I am Kestin Vanís, loyal handmaiden to Lord Avarik. It is urgent that I speak to his majesty, the Emperor."
"Stop it R2, you are going to wake them." C3PO chastised his counterpart who was beeping frantically as he maneuvered towards Anakin and Padmé's bedroom. The golden droid did not know about the message Anakin had sent to Lady Kenobi as the Skywalkers found it best to keep the golden droid out of the loop of their actions. It was late in the evening, but R2D2 had received an urgent message from Lady Kenobi that he knew Anakin and Padmé needed to receive.
"I am sure this can wait until morning, now come along R2." C3PO continued with his prodding. The droid put a metallic hand on top of his domed counterpart as he tried to steer the droid away from his master's bedchamber.
R2D2 ignored the protocol droid and gave him an indignant squeal before pressing forward, moving as fast as his mechanical body could carry him.
"Why I never!" C3PO stated in outrage. He could not believe R2D2 would use such language with him and he was so stunned by it that he did not know how to answer. When he saw that the little droid was still continuing its path away from him, C3PO became even more outraged and finally found his voice. "Fine go give your message, I hope Master Anakin fries your circuits for waking him and Miss Padmé. Urgent message indeed! Who would bother sending them a message, no one but Senator Organa knows we are here. Stupid malfunctioning scrap pile." C3PO muttered as he moved towards the front of the cottage and away from the mayhem he was certain R2D2 was about to cause.
"I do not know why Master Skywalker insists on keeping him, he's too much of a bother if I do say so myself." C3PO continued to speak to himself as he scanned the small kitchen area for something Miss Padmé had forgotten to clean. When he found nothing, the golden droid moved onto the main living space to see if all of the twins' toys had been put away.
"I just do not know what could be so important…. Oh my!" C3PO exclaimed with a shout as the cottage's front door was ripped off its hinges and slammed into the wall adjacent from it. Within the doorway was a mysterious figure of a man. Just behind him, the outline of a starfighter could be seen from the faint red glow of the crimson lightsaber in the man's hand.
"3PO?" Obi-Wan's cultured accent was heard through the growl emitted from the figure at the door.
"My word. Master Kenobi?" C3PO began moving towards the cloaked figure. "Is that you? I can tell you I do not know what happened to that door, but I will see to it…." The droid was silenced in an instant as Lord Avarik entered the Skywalker home, raised his saber, and beheaded the droid.
"That is what I needed to know." Avarik stated as the droid's lifeless body fell to the floor in a heap. Now he knew he had made it to the right location and he was certain that if that annoying droid was around, so too was his former padawan.
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin's shout was heard from an adjoining hallway as the young Jedi sprinted into the main sitting room, lightsaber held inactive in his right hand. Avarik could vaguely make out the sounds of Luke and Leia crying as they had been startled awake by the sound of the front door being Force shoved into the cottage.
"We meet again, my padawan." Avarik intoned with menace, shaking the hood of his cloak aside so that his enemy could see his face.
Anakin's breath caught in his throat and he took an unconscious step backwards as he saw his former mentor's bright yellow eyes. They had shown like that on Mustafar, but it was still disconcerting not to see the warmth they once held. From Aila's cryptic note that R2D2 had just provided, Anakin knew why his former friend was here, but he could not stop himself from confirming it. "Why are you here?"
Avarik's response was to laugh with a bitter coldness that made the hairs at Anakin's neck stand on end. "I think you know, my padawan." Avarik appraised Anakin's appearance. The younger man had a light brown tunic thrown over a pair of sleep pants. Having been in a rush to put it on, the tunic was open at the front. Furthermore, Anakin's feet were barefoot and his hair was tousled from sleep, which told Avarik, Anakin had just risen from bed. "I'd like to say that I am sorry for disturbing your slumber, but we both know that would be a lie." Avarik was glad he had not had time to put on his cloak before departing to Vjun; it meant he would have an advantage in movement that Anakin's haphazard dress would not allow.
"Obi-Wan please, we need to talk." Anakin shook his head, his thumb resting on the switch of his lightsaber in case he needed it. Over his Force bond, he urged Padmé to gather the children quickly and escape out the back of the cottage as he had been doing since R2D2's message.
"We have nothing to discuss. You are my enemy and I am here to destroy you for your crimes against me." Avarik slowly started moving to his right, while Anakin started moving to his left. Both warriors appraised each other as they circled around the furniture and each other.
Anakin shook his head. "Obi-Wan, please, I am your friend. I always have been. Let's talk about this." Anakin found it a bit unreal that "The Hero Without Fear" was trying to negotiate with "The Negotiator".
"About what?" Avarik snarled. "About how you kidnapped Aila or how you tried to kill her?"
"I have never tried to kill Aila and I did not kidnap her, I hid her away." Anakin answered as he tightened his grip on his lightsaber, he still had not ignited it as he was sure that would encourage Avarik to strike at him. If nothing else was accomplished by this back and forth exchange with his former mentor he hoped it gave Padmé time to escape with the children.
"From me!" Avarik shouted.
"From Sidious." Anakin corrected. "You could not protect her after Mustafar. Your injuries were too severe and you told me to see to her safety. I figured she would be safer on her home planet until you were strong enough to find her. I was sure Sidious would not look for her there."
"Lies! You were hiding her from me. You are just like the rest of the Jedi, trying to keep us apart!"
Anakin sighed and shook his head sadly. "Obi-Wan, you know…."
"That name no longer has any meaning to me Jedi." Avarik growled out. "I am Lord Avarik, Dark Lord of the Sith."
Again Anakin shook his head. "You are my friend and mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi. Husband to Aila Kenobi and soon to be father of…."
"The son you tried to have killed." Tired of the chatter, Avarik lunged at Anakin, who ignited his cerulean blade in time to block the attack from Avarik's crimson one. Eerie shadows filled the sitting room from the beams of red and blue light in the center of the room.
"Son?" Anakin asked, as he took a step back to better position himself. He was caught off guard by Avarik's comment. "I thought…."
"Anakin, no!" A shout from a voice Anakin had not heard from in years sounded in his head.
"Listen, to Master Jinn, you will." Another familiar voice, one that was more current sounded in his head as well.
"Qui-Gon! Yoda!" Anakin took a few steps back as if he had been slapped, allowing Avarik an opportunity to strike at him. Moving at an unnatural speed, Avarik lunged towards Anakin's left side.
"I hate to break it to you, my padawan, but Qui-Gon died just after I vowed to train you. A mistake I regret making." Avarik vehemently spat as Anakin barely blocked his attack. He then swung low at his padawan's feet in an attempt to succeed there. "And after I am finished with you and your family, I will be sure to find Master Yoda and see that he shares the same fate."
At the threat to his family, Anakin instincts kicked in and he leaped over Avarik's lightsaber and rolled catlike to his left, rising to his feet in time to lunge towards Avarik. "You will not win, Obi-Wan."
"On the contrary, I trained you and I know your fighting technique. You might be the Jedi Master, but that just proves where your loyalties lie." Despite Avarik's confidence in his abilities he was forced back by Anakin who was moving the blade of his saber with a precision born from years of training.
"You have let your Master twist your mind! He is the one who is your enemy. He has tried to kill Aila and I am sure he will try to do it again."
"Liar! It was the Jedi who plotted to kill her and it was the Jedi who tried to separate us."
Anakin growled in frustration. "The Council never tried to kill her. Yes, they tried to separate you two, but you know I was not part of that. How could I be when I have Padmé?" Anakin lunged left at Avarik, but missed as the Sith feigned moving left, but shifted his body to the right instead.
"They accepted you and Padmé because you were their "Chosen One," they would never accept me, which is why you turned against me when they made you a Master." Avarik spun to his left and right, blocking two blows from Anakin who was trying to catch Avarik off guard to disarm him.
"You know I tried to decline becoming a Master, but you would not let me!" Anakin kicked out at Avarik, nearly catching the Sith's shin, but the Sith extended his left hand, the hand Anakin had not taken in their last attack and pointed it at the Jedi Master. His fury granted him powers a Jedi never used, powers Anakin had only seen once and was not prepared for with Avarik. His rage induced, lightning to spring from Avarik's fingertips as he sent a small stream of it shooting at his former padawan. A female scream rang through the house at the same time of Anakin's.
"Padmé!" Anakin exclaimed through gritted teeth, trying to rise from his sprawled out portion of the floor and fight through Avarik's vicious attack.
"Her time will come, my apprentice. I know you two are Force bonded and she will feel your death echo over your bond. Pity I have to end your life first to get to her." Avarik advanced on Anakin's prone position.
Although his body was still trembling from the brief lightning attack, Anakin forced himself up into a standing position and held his lightsaber at the ready. However, with the aftershocks of the lightning still affecting him, he was not able to keep a hold of his lightsaber as Avarik used the Force to wrench it from his grasp and bring it to his own hand.
Avarik made a tsking noise in disapproval. "How many times have I told you that this weapon…" Avarik made a point of drawing Anakin's saber close to the younger man's neck. "…Is your life." Avarik crossed his crimson blade over Anakin's cerulean blade so that it formed a "v" against Anakin's neck. He then pressed the sabers downward, forcing Anakin to his knees.
Realizing it was over and there was nothing he could do, Anakin was frantically calling back to Padmé over his Force bond, pleading with her to get up, respond to him, and more importantly escape with the children.
"You should have known this day would come, my padawan." Avarik's eyes flashed menacingly. "It was only a matter of time before I found you."
"Do what you like with me, but do not hurt Padmé, Luke or Leia." Anakin stared up at his former mentor hoping he could reach the good man he once was.
Avarik scoffed at Anakin's plea. "After you and the rest of the Jedi tried to destroy my family? You shall pay for your crimes against Aila, Jedi!" He spat the term out before adding. "As will your family." Avarik raised his arms, prepared to scissor Anakin's head off, but before he could move the blades a sharp female voice sounded from the doorway.
"No, Obi-Wan!" Aila was breathing heavily, having been frightened from her rather rough landing and then sprinting from her ship to stop her husband. Aila's rather abrupt landing outside had not been heard over the battle between her husband and his friend.
"Aila!" Avarik shouted some of the yellow in his eyes automatically receding at the sound of her voice. "How did you get here?"
"We have two shuttles. You cannot do this."
"How did you get through the door, I locked it. And where is Kestin?" At Avarik's feet, Anakin did not listen to the exchange between husband and wife as he was still trying to get a response from Padmé. It seemed like she had been knocked out by the Force lightning attack he had sustained and he was not sure where she had been in relation to preparing the children for escape. In the background he could hear Luke and Leia's cries and he wanted to rush to them, but he was stuck where he was.
"I used your Jedi lightsaber to melt through the door, and I left Kestin unconscious on the floor." Aila walked over towards Avarik and when she saw him turn his head to her slightly and quirk an eyebrow, she added. "She tried to stop me and I had to knock her out to get here in time. You cannot do this, Obi-Wan."
Avarik cursed under his breath before taking a deep breath to calm himself. "We will discuss this later." Avarik intoned even though the muscles in his back tensed as Aila rested a hand on his shoulder.
"Anakin is your friend."
"No, he's not. He tried to kill you!"
"No, I…." Anakin started to protest, but silenced himself as Avarik's arms twitched slightly.
"No! Obi-Wan! Listen to me."
"No, you listen. This is not up for debate. The Jedi are our enemies and you may not like it, but this will happen. Now go wait by your ship, I do not want you in here." As if to emphasize his resolve Avarik turned his eyes from Aila and towards Anakin where they were returning to the sickly yellow color they had been before Aila entered the room.
Aila did not falter in her resolve. "I will not leave. You cannot do this. How can you tear apart your friend's family when you are always worried about your own?"
"He asked for it. Now I will say it for the last time, Aila. Leave here."
"No." Aila answered back in defiance.
Avarik's breathing accelerated in his anger, but he would not be deterred. "So be it." Then in disregard of Aila's request he started to move the two sabers in his hands.
Aila had not planned what she was going to say, but the moment they left her mouth she knew they would work. One simple sentence ensured Anakin did not meet the same fate as Count Dooku: "If you love me, you will not kill him."