Chapter 37

Laetitia pulled herself together and went to find the younglings. She couldn't lose focus when everyone's life was in danger.

She entered the council's room and found a bunch of younglings hiding behind the seats.

"Guys, it's me. You can come out." She said, trying so hard to not show her fear.

A 2-year-old boy came out and hugged Leah.

"What are we gonna do?" He asked, crying.

Leah broke the hug softly and said "You're gonna stay strong, that's what. Come on, you're supposed to be a boy. You gonna let other girls see your tears?" She said, trying to make them smile.

Laetitia felt someone closing in on them. She turned to the younglings.

"Hide!"

And she activated her lightsabers and got into defensive position. She waited for the doors to open but the person she saw didn't scare her. It was Anakin.

She was relieved and happy that her dad was okay and was there to help them. She couldn't hold back the tears and jumped into her father's arms.

"Dad!" She said, crying. She didn't even care if people knew she was Anakin's daughter. What was the point now?

The younglings looked at each other, confused.

Dad?!

Anakin held his daughter tightly and comforted her.

"It's okay, Little. I'm here."

He broke the hug. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt something was wrong with you and came to the Temple to find you but the clones were attacking us. What's going on?!"

Anakin hesitated to answer. How was he supposed to look into those big brown eyes staring at him and say 'I'm here to kill all the Jedi and the clones are helping me'?

He just said "I don't exactly know but you can't be here. You need to leave the Temple."

"I'm not …"

"Leah, for once, just listen to what I have to say!" He said angrily.

Laetitia blinked in surprise. She had seen her father angry before but never with her. It was weird.

"Okay." She said quietly and turned to the younglings "Come on, guys. Follow me …"

"No" Anakin interrupted.

Leah frowned.

"What do you mean 'no'?"

"I'll take care of them. You just go and stay at your mother's apartment. Neither of you leave the building, understand? It's not safe outside." He muttered "Not for a Jedi."

Laetitia looked at her father for a second. There was something different about him. She could feel it. She figured it was not the time to argue, so she quietly said "Okay." And looked down at her feet.

Anakin realized he had been a little too harsh, considering everything she just went through today. So he sat on the ground and used his hand to lift Leah's head.

He said softly "Little, I promise I'll take care of them but I can't do that if I don't know you're safe. I can't live with myself if something happened to you, so please, go and leave the Jedi to me."

Leah nodded. He was acting like her father again.

As soon as she left, Anakin turned to the younglings with a cold expression on his face and his lightsaber in his hand.

A boy came closer "Master Skywalker, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?"

Laetitia snuck out of the Temple easily. She knew the place like the back of her hand and practically discovered the secret tunnels underneath the Temple.

She still couldn't get what she saw out of her head. Her dad was angry. Too angry, more than usual. It's not like Anakin was the calmest Jedi but this time, something was off. It was like he was a completely different person.

Something was wrong. She knew that much. But she couldn't tell what. She groaned. Not knowing always made her go crazy.

She decided to go back to the Temple to find out what it was. She had promised her dad to go to 500 Republica and she will, once she went to the Temple.

The bodies were everywhere. The floor was filled with blood. On her way, Laetitia had killed 3 clones who were trying to kill her. There was blood on her hands and robes but she didn't have time to wipe it off.

She sat on the ground and rolled a body. It was her master, Cin Drallig. He was the one who taught her how to be a good swordsman. Everything she knew about lightsabers and fighting, she had learned from him.

She closed her eyes and released the anger she felt in the Force. She didn't have time for her anger to take over and let her do something stupid.

She was taken by what she was seeing. There weren't blaster marks on Drallig's body. He wasn't killed by clones. He was killed by a lightsaber.

She gasped. Who could've done this?

Then, she remembered the younglings. She had left them in Anakin's care but she had to go and see if they were all out.

Laetitia slowly entered the council room and gasped in horror. All the younglings were dead. Even the boy she had told to stay strong. She lost her energy and fell on the ground. She had promised to protect them but failed. They, too, were killed by a lightsaber.

She heard someone coming. She unclicked her lightsabers from her belt and hid behind a council seat to attack the person.

The doors opened and a bloody and injured clone came in. Laetitia recognized him immediately.

"Chuckles!"

She went by his side but he didn't look like he was gonna make it.

"Hey, kid."

"Hey." She smiled sadly.

"Did you see the person who did this?"

He struggled to say "Gene… general Sk…" He couldn't finish his sentence. It was like he was afraid to say it.

Laetitia frowned. General Sk…? Who could it be?

She realized Chuckled wasn't doing so well.

"I ordered you to stay alive." She said with tears in her eyes.

He said, smiling and gasping for air "Sorry … I know you hate it when we … disobey you …" He died with a smile on his face.

Done :(