CHAPTER 36: The Cry of the Innocents
Though Angela wanted to stay within Obiwan's arms, she pulled out of his hold and quickly fetched her saber beside her, before she took him by his hand, and led him back over to the doors,
"I best be getting back to the Queen," she softly spoke; her voice was laced with disappointment. Obiwan nodded his head in understanding before he followed behind Angela back into his apartment.
"I'll escort you back." he said while he and Angela slowly walked hand in hand over to the front door. They left silently without acknowledging Qui Gon or Anakin who still resided in the kitchen. After leaving the Temple, Obiwan called for a taxi, and once inside, Angela scooted close to Obiwan and leaned her head down on his broad shoulder.
"I can't believe it," she whispered dreamily, Obiwan glanced down at her before he draped an arm firmly around her shoulder,
"Can't believe what?" he asked curiously, Angela tilted her head up to see his face before she gave him a sweet smile and answered,
"Us. It just seems too good to be true……not to mention sudden." She added humorously, Obiwan chuckled softly, and as he did, Angela softly bit down on her lip,
"Do you think this will work? ......Us, I mean…" she whispered as she settled against his shoulder comfortably.
"What do you think?" he asked. Angela thought about her answer for a few seconds before answering,
"Like I told you before, we are from two different worlds. With you being a Jedi, and me being the Black Rider and Ambassador, it's not going to be easy, we'd have to make it work, but I believe that we can do it." Obiwan leaned over and planted a kiss on her forehead,
"I think we can too." With a soft sigh, Angela and Obiwan relaxed against each other silently for the rest of the ride back to the Queen. When they were finally dropped off in front of the building, Obiwan paid the driver to wait for him so he could walk Angela inside. As they walked through the building to reach an elevator, they began telling each other their plans for the future.
"What do you see happening in your future, Obiwan?" she asked curiously.
"Eventually, me becoming a Master and hopefully getting a spot on the Jedi Council. And you?" he returned the question.
"Ummm…." She thought out loud, "I'm going to carry on being the Black Rider, and for some time, I'll stay involved with the Senate. But at some point, when I'm older, I'm going to take a breather from all that." She answered
"And do what?" he asked curiously. Angela shyly glanced down and smiled,
"Well I'd like to settle down and start a family when the time is right." She slowly glanced up at Obiwan who was staring intensely down at her. To her surprise, a pained expression had immerged on his handsome face.
"Hey, you ok?" she asked concernedly, that expression quickly vanished as he turned his head to face straight forward.
"Yes…..I'm fine." He answered tensely;
"I….you sure?"
"Of course." He quickly answered. Angela could tell that something bothered him, and she guessed it was about what she had said. Feeling shamed at what she told him, she softly bowed her head .They walked in silence back up to the Queen's apartment, and as they came in sight of the two doors leading inside, she glanced back over to Obiwan who still had a blank expression on his face.
"Thank you for escorting me back Obiwan. I'll see you around I guess…" she softly spoke, then she quickened her pace and headed for the doors but was stopped shortly by Obiwan's hand catching her by her wrist. She hesitantly turned around to face the tall, handsome Jedi behind her. His expression had softened immensely and now showed a caring, tender look. He then pulled her close to him and gathered her in his arms,
"Angela, I know you probably thought I was upset with you huh?" he asked affectionately,
"Was I not suppose to?" she calmly asked back; Obiwan let out a sigh and shook his head,
"I did not mean for you to feel that way. It's just…..I'm not in that sort of……position to be thinking about..…that" he answered, Angela looked him in his eyes and nodded,
"That's fine. I wasn't suggestion anything by it; those are just plans for my future. As of now, I'm not in that position myself, nor am I ready for it. So it's all good." She gave him a small smile or reassurance and he gave a small smile in return but his held something else within it that resembled something like sadness. Angela though quickly forgot about it though when Obiwan moved down to kiss her passionately on her lips. When he pulled away, he slowly released Angela and stepped back,
"I'll call on you later." He promised. Angela gave him a small, mischievous smile,
"You better." She muttered playfully. He grinned back before he quickly turned on his heel and left Angela at the apartment door. She watched him until he was out of sight before she finally turned away and entered the apartment. Ironically, both Angela and Obiwan had been so caught up with each other that neither of them noticed a figured in the shadows watching them silently…..
(Switching to Angela's P.O.V)
After Obiwan's departure, Angela headed straight for the Queen's bedchamber. Upon entering the luxurious room, she found the young Queen, looking like simple Padme, no makeup or headdress, ferociously pacing back and forth across the floor in anger. Seeing her distressed friend, Angela quickly moved into the room and placed her saber down on the bed before she walked straight up to Padme.
"Is everything alright?" Angela asked, the concern for her friend was most readable on her face. Padme turned her deep brown eyes on her and stopped moving about. Padme took in a deep breath to calm her present anger,
"I've just returned from another meeting with the Senate about our situation." She muttered, Angela's eyes widened softly and she reached a hand out to Padme and took her by the hand.
"Come, talk to me." Angela encouraged while she led her friend over to have a seat on the bed with her. Once they were settled, Angela spoke up again, "From the sour mood that you are in, I take it things did not go well." She guessed. Padme let out a troubled sigh,
"Far from it!" Padme practically cried, "The Senate is not going to step in and take action unless a commission is sent to Naboo." Angela's mouth dropped open slightly
"Why would they still push for that when I had testified for you?" Angela asked
"God only knows. That Senator…..Cumquat from the Trade Federation has gotten the entire Senate to agree with him about the commission,"
"And what does the Supreme Chancellor have to say about that?" Angela questioned,
"There is no Supreme Chancellor….Valorum resigned his position. As of right now, our only chance of gaining the Senate would be if Senator Palpatine won the election."
"Se…Senator Palpatine? He's running for the position?"
"Yes. He was nominated." Padme murmured without feeling
"You don't sound very confident about him Padme." Angela noted. Padme bowed her head and a silent tear swiftly slid down her face,
"I don't know what else to do…." She whispered. Angela wrapped a compassionate arm around her friend's shoulder, and Padme leaned in close to rest her heavy head on Angela's shoulder.
"Don't give up. The Senate will come around. We just have to be patient for a bit longer." Padme slowly nodded her head and sniffed
"Yes……we must not lose faith." Padme lifted her head from Angela's shoulder and began to wipe her eyes, "I just pray that our people are safe….." she softly murmured. Angela nodded her head and thought about all the innocents on Naboo who were probably suffering at the hands of the Viceroy.
"I pray so too, Padme." Angela murmured back.
The two young women were silent after that. After a few minuets, Padme went for a nice, hot bath to calm her nerves while Angela ended up falling asleep on the bed; Angela slept through the rest of day, she didn't even wake up for dinner. And during her deep sleep, she was granted the sight of some unpleasant dreams……….
It was like Angela was there, back on Naboo. She stood on a high hill looking down on what was once the great city she had so well guarded, now it was completely empty, abandoned. In the streets, she could see the corpses of men, woman, even children, lying forgotten on the cold ground.
"Dear God….." Angela whispered in absolute shock. Then like many of her dreams, the scene melted away, and a new one took over. Angela now stood in what looked like to be one of the many concentration camps the Viceroy had set up. As Angela looked around in horror at the poorly built setup, her eyes landed on groups of people who were gathered and walking in neat blocks being led by droids with blasters. The men looked tired, as did the women who, some, were clinging tightly to their children; they were all connected by chains. And as Angela watched them get led off, she looked in another direction only to see the same thing. Droids leading the poor people around in chains, giving orders, the people slaving away, doing labor of all sorts. When an older man in his late 60's collapsed in exhaustion, a droid was beside him, taking up his blaster and shooting the man in his head. His dead body hit the ground with a thud, then the droid simply walked off.
"I can't believe this." Angela whispered out loud, "How can the Viceroy be so cruel?" Angela began to walk solemnly through the concentration camp, her eyes wide in disbelief, when she turned the corner of a small building, the gagging smell of death reached her nose and her eyes were met with a pile of burnt corpses. Their bodies weren't cremated very well, and Angela could tell by looking at their mangled, twisted bodies, that these people were murdered in cold blood. Angela bowed her head and said a soft prayer for the dead before her head snapped up at the sound of a woman crying. Angela's eyes searched for the woman and found her walking in a small group of people,
"Oh God," she cried, "Help us!" other voices joined her plea; one voice in particular nearly broke Angela's heart. It was the voice of a small child who was looking up at the sky, a girl with bright green eyes and blonde hair,
"Black Rider," she softly spoke, "We need you, Black Rider. Where are you?" she asked. Seeing the tiny girl and the people in such a distressed and terrified state, tears welled up in Angela's eyes and began falling down her cheeks.
"I'm so sorry," Angela whispered; her tears that were first warm and represented her sympathy for the people of Naboo soon grew cold with hate. And a fiery rage then grew deep inside her heart.
"I'll kill him….." she hissed, "I swear I when I find the Viceroy, I'll kill him!"
Angela awoke from her horrific dream to the sound of Padme's voice and touch on her shoulder,
"Angela, wake up." She ordered softly. Angela opened her eyes only to find them and her cheeks wet; she had been crying in her sleep. Angela slowly sat up, it was dark in the bedchamber, Night had obviously fallen; so she reached over to the closest nightstand to turn on a lamp. Once the room was a glow with the soft light from the lamp, Angela looked over at her friend her sat next to her on the bed.
"Angela, are you alright? You were having a nightmare." Padme stated sympathetically, Angela softly nodded her head,
"Indeed I was…" she solemnly answered before looking away, "I dreamt about Naboo, Padme, and our people." Angela began, "It was absolutely horrifying what I saw, our people our dying in numbers, Padme; men, woman…..children, all of them being slaughtered like animals." Angela paused to take in a shaky breath then turned to look back over at her friend, "Padme, we must do something" Angela murmured.
"I know Angela, but there's really nothing we can do…..not without the Senate." At her words, Angela's eyes and voice became filled with rage,
"The Senate?" she repeated the name like it was her worst enemy. "Forget the Senate Padme, it's time we took things into our own hands."
"Whatever happened to waiting patiently?" Padme questioned.
"That was before I knew the true hell happening to our people, Padme. They need me, they need us!"
"I know they do. But we can't help them without the Senate…" Angela quickly jumped in,
"Oh what good is the Senate? All they seem to do is argue." Angela reached both hands over and lightly grasped Padme by her shoulders, "Padme, we went before them, we told them that we needed help, if they really gave a care in the world about our planet, we wouldn't have had to come to plea to them in the first place! And even when we did, nothing has happened. I could be doing more for our people single handily then what this so called Senate is doing." Padme pulled away from Angela,
"It's not that simple, Angela," Padme stated firmly, Angela shook her head and rose from the bed,
"No, Padme, it really is. And I'm no longer gonna wait on this Senate to come around." Angela answered before she spun on her heels and walked over to where Padme's wardrobe was. On her way over, Angela pulled the zipper down her back and shrugged off her green and gold gown before stepping out of it. She left it lying on the ground while she began stripping off her petticoats and unlacing her corset. Once she let those fall to the floor behind her, she pulled open the wardrobe and quickly rummaged around for her black gown, shorts, cloak, and boots. She found them on the far right side and immediately pulled them out and dressed in them. Once her shorts and gown were once again fitted on her body, she slipped her feet into her knee high boots,
"And what do you think you are doing?" Padme asked from the bed, Angela glanced behind her shoulder at her friend,
"What does it look like? I'm leaving Padme." She answered while she slung her soft cloak around her shoulders and tied it about her neck, when she turned back to her friend on the bed, Padme had risen to her feet.
"Where are you going?" she demanded
"I'm going back to Naboo to put an end to this for once and for all." She answered while she walked over to bed to retrieve her saber. She found it lying on the ground next to her side of the bed; once she picked it up, she instantly hooked it on her hip.
"You can't be serious, Angela." Padme mumbled in disbelief,
"I've never been more serious in my entire life." Angela answered while looking over at Padme
"Angela, you can't go. Not by yourself."
"Padme, I've been doing stuff by myself for a while now, this won't be any different."
"The Trade Federation has an army down there!" Padme cried.
"I'm very aware of that, Padme; after all it was I who knew about it before anyone else." She casually reminded
"Angela, there's no way you can take on the Trade Federation alone." Angela's eyes narrowed at the challenge.
"Watch me." Angela muttered. Then she turned on her heel once more and headed for the door, Padme quickly followed behind her
"Angela, you must stop this madness!" her friend cried from behind her,
"Oh I plan to, Padme," Angela responded while reaching for the door, but Padme quickly latched onto her other hand from behind,
"Angela, stop!" Padme softly yelled, Angela froze at her friend's command, and she glanced behind her shoulder at her friend, "You're an Ambassador to Naboo, Angela, remember? If you try to go against the Viceroy with violence against his army, you will drag us into war!!" Padme's voice was dripping with frustration; her eyes had narrowed as well. Angela turned back around to boldly confront her queen, and friend.
"You words have no effect on me, Padme. For let's face it, we went to war the day the Viceroy landed his troops on our planet. And the sooner you accept that, then the sooner our planet can be saved. Now, you've got the choice Padme, to join me and take a stand, fight back, or you can remain here waiting on a bunch on politicians to decide the fate of our planet, our people!" At her words Padme looked to be taken back, and she swallowed. Angela's voice softened as did her eyes, "Padme, Naboo is your home, and it's my home now too. All this pain and devastation…..it tortures me inside; all the innocents who suffer from the Senates stubbornness and pride, I just can't sit still knowing that. Our people have depended on me to keep them safe, I must go help them." Padme's eyes now filled with tears,
"If you go, Angela, you can be killed." Padme whispered. Angela stared into her friends deep brown eyes that glistened with her tears, then Angela let out a sigh,
"There has always been a risk of me getting killed Padme, and I've learned to accept that ever since I became the Black Rider…" she paused for a few seconds "And for the record, I don't plan on dying any time soon." Angela turned away from her friend and opened the bedchamber's door. As she stepped out, she pulled her hood up and over her head then glanced over her shoulder at Padme one last time, "We will meet again, Padme." She murmured before she looked forward and disappeared from the room leaving behind a very stunned and fearful Padme.