Oct 2002
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, all the characters (Except for Tasha) are property of Lucasfilm etc etc.
Hide Your Love Away
Chapter 14
Tasha snuck into Palpatine's chambers via the secret passages. She'd used them a lot since she'd started helping him.
"You have been gone a long time, Jade."
She froze before turning to the source of that softly powerful voice, a chair with its back to her. Unable to see the man seated within its confines, she took a step towards him.
"Stop."
She stopped, unable to resist the compulsion included in his words. Bowing her head, she gritted her teeth.
"Where have you been, Jade?"
"Hiding, Master. Jedi Kenobi has been searching for me."
"You have not reported on your success of that night. Did you find my information?"
"No Master."
"You have failed."
"Yes Master." The words were barely a whisper, so ashamed she was to utter them.
"Skywalker never failed me."
She couldn't speak, gritting her teeth as her anger flared up. She was always being compared to that blaster Skywalker!
"You have been gone two standard weeks, and still nothing. Skywalker simply plucked the information from his target's minds, and this didn't occur to you."
"No Master." Her tactics were different, but they worked just as well. Normally. Blaster Skywalker anyway, this was her show now, how dare his shadow continue to haunt her. "Skywalker turned his back on you Master," she snapped, "he left you when he could have ah!"
Palpatine turned, his visage calm, still seated in his chair. His gaze met her shocked on as she fought to draw breath. "You dare speak to me in such a tone?"
She shook her head, clawing at her throat. Her face began to turn blue and she was released, dropping to the floor and gasping in breaths.
"You will find a way of getting me the information I want, or I will send you away until the day you have your child, and then I will deal with you."
"Yes Master," she gasped out, dragging air down into her abused passageway. She'd come close to blacking out. It was not a sensation she was eager to repeat.
"Leave, the same way you came. Bring me the information I seek by morning."
"Yes Master." She swallowed hard. Would she have to return and face Obi-Wan? Did he even know what she needed?
He spun away from her again, the chair turning silently in a clear dismissal. Pushing herself off the floor, she slunk from the room. This had to end soon. One way or another, she'd make it end. Silent as a shadow, she slipped from the room.
Anakin left his wife's bed awhile later when a knock came on the door. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and gently smoothed her hair before crossing the room. He opened the portal and just about slammed it shut again.
"No! Wait, please I only want to talk to you."
Anakin stayed standing in the half-opened door, looking with shock at the young woman standing in front of him. "Tasha."
She nodded, her eyes darting nervously down the corridor. "May I come in?"
"No. You work for Palpatine. I know who and what he is, Tasha, I won't give you the chance to kill my wife."
"I'm not here for you, I'm here for your help."
"My help?"
She nodded, glancing down the corridor again before wetting her lips. "Palpatine doesn't know I've come. Please."
Anakin searched her features. The beauty was still there, but there were new strain lines around Tasha's eyes and mouth. Almost as if she hadn't been sleeping much. "Are you really carrying Obi-Wan's child?"
Tasha nodded.
Anakin slipped out of the room, grabbed Tasha's hands and swiftly checked them both. Empty. He looked at her carefully before leading her one room over and slipping inside with her. Dropping her hands, he stepped away. "Talk."
"I..."
Anakin crossed his arms, leaning back against the door. He'd barely blinked when her lightsaber ignited and came at him. Not having the time to draw his blade, he ducked, the blade of the amber weapon slicing through the door. With a snap-hiss, his own blade tumbled into his hand and blocked the next sweep of her lightsaber. "Your blade's not red."
"It will be! With your blood, Skywalker!" She lashed out at him again, their blades crossing in front of them, humming in the stillness of the room.
"Why are you doing this, Tasha? Why go after me?"
"If I kill you," she struck again, her eyes narrowing as he continued to block her assault. "Sidious will acknowledge me as his apprentice, his one and true apprentice. All I hear is Skywalker this, and Skywalker that. I'm never good enough!" She kicked him in the stomach, sending him slamming against the door and out into the hall. Anakin's saber shut off as he rolled, hitting the wall with a smack before lying, dazed, on the floor.
"No!"
Tasha paused, her saber upraised, as the faint, but powerful shout, reached her ears. She glanced over her shoulder to see a very gaunt looking Padmé. Her eyes widened in surprise. Padmé Skywalker was beautiful, even ill. She was grasping the door of her room to hold herself upright, but the hand pointed at the former dancer was steady. A small hold out blaster was pointed at her chest.
"Drop it, and leave my husband alone."
Anakin shook his head to clear it, knowing he had to regain his senses and was shocked when his gaze stopped shifting. Her face held no color and she looked as if she was about to collapse, but Padmé held a blaster on his attacker! "Angel? Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Don't just sit there, Skywalker, move!"
Tasha swiped at him, but her chance had past. Padmé fired as Tasha turned to follow her husband, catching the other woman in the sword arm. Tasha cursed loudly, grabbing the saber before it had fallen two inches, and slashed at Anakin. "Where are your children, Skywalker?"
He rolled to his feet, lightsaber in hand, "Is this what it's all about? Our children? You'll never find them, Tasha. They're safe from you, and Palpatine."
She lunged at him, dueling quickly and gracefully with only one hand, and keeping him on the defensive. She somehow knew that, should Anakin wish to attack, he'd kill her easily. And yet, he never took the offensive. "I'm standing in your blasted shadow. Because of you, I may not be able to raise my own child!"
Anakin continued to block her angry strikes, barely able to keep up with her, despite his injury. Her words had been thrown in his face like a challenge, or an accusation, and they'd set him back on his heels. "How do I play a part in your life? I haven't seen you since Obi-Wan rescued you!"
"Your service to my Master, the one you turned you back on!" Parry. Thrust. She lunged at him, bringing their crossed sabers between them and glaring at him over the blades. "If you hadn't come along and decided to play both sides of the fence, I would be the model the Master holds up for people to follow. It would be me who would be his chosen one. But you. You had it all and threw it away for her. Her! The senator who should have died when I had her in that cave. You ruined everything even then! By keeping your children from me, from him, you condemn me to death a year from now!"
Anakin's blade moved on reflex alone as she dropped the last bomb, slamming her blade into his and driving him to the floor. He blocked the blade, barely, from coming down on his head. He'd been right! Tasha had played a part in Padmé's disappearance. "That's not my fault. You're working for an evil man, Tasha. A man who wants to bring suffering and pain to the galaxy."
"He wants order." She fairly shouted her words at him, using them as verbal missiles. "He wants people to have structure, not the chaos of the senate that's powerless! Look at me Skywalker, when we met you could have bested me with a thought now, with his teachings I can drive you down! Do you hate me? Do you wish you'd never left this kind of teaching? Is she worth everything you gave up for her?"
Anakin rolled away and got to his feet, shutting down his lightsaber. "She is worth that and more, Tasha. I won't fight you."
She glared at him, her elegant features twisted in a mask of pain and rage, "You will fight me!"
"No." He clipped the blade to his belt.
"Anakin, what are you doing?"
He looked over Tasha's shoulder to meet his wife's gaze. He smiled softly at her. "I know what I'm doing. Go back to bed, Angel."
Tasha screamed. "Don't talk like I'm not here! I'm as important as you are, more so, to the future of the Jedi!"
"I know."
Tasha froze as Anakin's soft words filled the corridor. "What?"
He shrugged, his hands resting easily at his sides. "I've seen it. Your daughter and my son will one day have a future together."
"My... daughter?"
He nodded.
Tasha fought the feelings his revelation aroused in her, fought against the maternal feelings, and let out an anguished cry. She was so confused. Throwing her saber at Anakin's feet, she ran from him. Ran from his words, his calm presence and most of all his conviction.
Anakin took a deep breath as the lightsaber, the un-ignited lightsaber, clattered on the panels at his feet. He didn't even watch Tasha leave, but quickly went to Padmé's side, lifting her in his arms and holding her close.
Her arms went around his neck as he carried her back to bed. "She tried to kill you."
He nodded.
"Why?"
"You heard why."
"Because Palpatine still favors you."
"So it would seem."
She shuddered as he laid her down on the bunk. "Why does his approval mean so much to her? All he's done is hurt her."
He stroked her cheek, twining his fingers in the soft hair curling about her face. "Sometimes we need to feel needed. Tasha has no one. I have you. Obi-Wan has the Force. Tasha was a slave, but she liked being a slave. Now she has no one to serve, no one to tell her what to do. I think she's lost. She was born into slavery, like me, but she enjoyed it for its good qualities. She had a kind master, which is a rarity, who fed her well and clothed her in the best fashions. To her being a slave was a life of being able to do what she wished, do her master's bidding, and be provided for. From what I know, she was his favorite slave."
"Then why did she go with you when you found her?"
Anakin looked down, avoiding her eyes. "Her Master was dead."
"Did you kill him?"
"No, Obi-Wan did. He attacked us in the alley way beside his home. I don't know what he was doing, but he mistook Obi-Wan for someone else. Before I could say anything, the idiot impaled himself on Obi-Wan's lightsaber. He couldn't stop and we was so startled he couldn't turn it off." He shook his head sadly. "Tasha has never forgiven me, or Obi-Wan, for that. I should have been able to stop him, but we were so focused elsewhere..."
She squeezed his hand. "I understand. You couldn't simply allow her to be sold, having been a slave, so you opted to free her and the others?"
He nodded. "Yes. Most of them were regular house servants, glad to be free, but Tasha... Tasha being Tasha is holding a grudge."
"Promise me you'll be careful, Anakin."
He nodded, placing a gentle kiss on her lips before smiling. "I have you to come home to, Angel. I need to go find a repair crew and let someone know what's happened. Will you be alright?"
She smothered a yawn with her hand, her eyelids already drooping as he spoke. "I think so. I love you."
"Love you too, Angel."
Anakin was leaving, winking at her on his way out, as she dropped off to sleep.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this, all the characters (Except for Tasha) are property of Lucasfilm etc etc.
Hide Your Love Away
Chapter 14
Tasha snuck into Palpatine's chambers via the secret passages. She'd used them a lot since she'd started helping him.
"You have been gone a long time, Jade."
She froze before turning to the source of that softly powerful voice, a chair with its back to her. Unable to see the man seated within its confines, she took a step towards him.
"Stop."
She stopped, unable to resist the compulsion included in his words. Bowing her head, she gritted her teeth.
"Where have you been, Jade?"
"Hiding, Master. Jedi Kenobi has been searching for me."
"You have not reported on your success of that night. Did you find my information?"
"No Master."
"You have failed."
"Yes Master." The words were barely a whisper, so ashamed she was to utter them.
"Skywalker never failed me."
She couldn't speak, gritting her teeth as her anger flared up. She was always being compared to that blaster Skywalker!
"You have been gone two standard weeks, and still nothing. Skywalker simply plucked the information from his target's minds, and this didn't occur to you."
"No Master." Her tactics were different, but they worked just as well. Normally. Blaster Skywalker anyway, this was her show now, how dare his shadow continue to haunt her. "Skywalker turned his back on you Master," she snapped, "he left you when he could have ah!"
Palpatine turned, his visage calm, still seated in his chair. His gaze met her shocked on as she fought to draw breath. "You dare speak to me in such a tone?"
She shook her head, clawing at her throat. Her face began to turn blue and she was released, dropping to the floor and gasping in breaths.
"You will find a way of getting me the information I want, or I will send you away until the day you have your child, and then I will deal with you."
"Yes Master," she gasped out, dragging air down into her abused passageway. She'd come close to blacking out. It was not a sensation she was eager to repeat.
"Leave, the same way you came. Bring me the information I seek by morning."
"Yes Master." She swallowed hard. Would she have to return and face Obi-Wan? Did he even know what she needed?
He spun away from her again, the chair turning silently in a clear dismissal. Pushing herself off the floor, she slunk from the room. This had to end soon. One way or another, she'd make it end. Silent as a shadow, she slipped from the room.
Anakin left his wife's bed awhile later when a knock came on the door. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and gently smoothed her hair before crossing the room. He opened the portal and just about slammed it shut again.
"No! Wait, please I only want to talk to you."
Anakin stayed standing in the half-opened door, looking with shock at the young woman standing in front of him. "Tasha."
She nodded, her eyes darting nervously down the corridor. "May I come in?"
"No. You work for Palpatine. I know who and what he is, Tasha, I won't give you the chance to kill my wife."
"I'm not here for you, I'm here for your help."
"My help?"
She nodded, glancing down the corridor again before wetting her lips. "Palpatine doesn't know I've come. Please."
Anakin searched her features. The beauty was still there, but there were new strain lines around Tasha's eyes and mouth. Almost as if she hadn't been sleeping much. "Are you really carrying Obi-Wan's child?"
Tasha nodded.
Anakin slipped out of the room, grabbed Tasha's hands and swiftly checked them both. Empty. He looked at her carefully before leading her one room over and slipping inside with her. Dropping her hands, he stepped away. "Talk."
"I..."
Anakin crossed his arms, leaning back against the door. He'd barely blinked when her lightsaber ignited and came at him. Not having the time to draw his blade, he ducked, the blade of the amber weapon slicing through the door. With a snap-hiss, his own blade tumbled into his hand and blocked the next sweep of her lightsaber. "Your blade's not red."
"It will be! With your blood, Skywalker!" She lashed out at him again, their blades crossing in front of them, humming in the stillness of the room.
"Why are you doing this, Tasha? Why go after me?"
"If I kill you," she struck again, her eyes narrowing as he continued to block her assault. "Sidious will acknowledge me as his apprentice, his one and true apprentice. All I hear is Skywalker this, and Skywalker that. I'm never good enough!" She kicked him in the stomach, sending him slamming against the door and out into the hall. Anakin's saber shut off as he rolled, hitting the wall with a smack before lying, dazed, on the floor.
"No!"
Tasha paused, her saber upraised, as the faint, but powerful shout, reached her ears. She glanced over her shoulder to see a very gaunt looking Padmé. Her eyes widened in surprise. Padmé Skywalker was beautiful, even ill. She was grasping the door of her room to hold herself upright, but the hand pointed at the former dancer was steady. A small hold out blaster was pointed at her chest.
"Drop it, and leave my husband alone."
Anakin shook his head to clear it, knowing he had to regain his senses and was shocked when his gaze stopped shifting. Her face held no color and she looked as if she was about to collapse, but Padmé held a blaster on his attacker! "Angel? Shouldn't you be in bed?"
"Don't just sit there, Skywalker, move!"
Tasha swiped at him, but her chance had past. Padmé fired as Tasha turned to follow her husband, catching the other woman in the sword arm. Tasha cursed loudly, grabbing the saber before it had fallen two inches, and slashed at Anakin. "Where are your children, Skywalker?"
He rolled to his feet, lightsaber in hand, "Is this what it's all about? Our children? You'll never find them, Tasha. They're safe from you, and Palpatine."
She lunged at him, dueling quickly and gracefully with only one hand, and keeping him on the defensive. She somehow knew that, should Anakin wish to attack, he'd kill her easily. And yet, he never took the offensive. "I'm standing in your blasted shadow. Because of you, I may not be able to raise my own child!"
Anakin continued to block her angry strikes, barely able to keep up with her, despite his injury. Her words had been thrown in his face like a challenge, or an accusation, and they'd set him back on his heels. "How do I play a part in your life? I haven't seen you since Obi-Wan rescued you!"
"Your service to my Master, the one you turned you back on!" Parry. Thrust. She lunged at him, bringing their crossed sabers between them and glaring at him over the blades. "If you hadn't come along and decided to play both sides of the fence, I would be the model the Master holds up for people to follow. It would be me who would be his chosen one. But you. You had it all and threw it away for her. Her! The senator who should have died when I had her in that cave. You ruined everything even then! By keeping your children from me, from him, you condemn me to death a year from now!"
Anakin's blade moved on reflex alone as she dropped the last bomb, slamming her blade into his and driving him to the floor. He blocked the blade, barely, from coming down on his head. He'd been right! Tasha had played a part in Padmé's disappearance. "That's not my fault. You're working for an evil man, Tasha. A man who wants to bring suffering and pain to the galaxy."
"He wants order." She fairly shouted her words at him, using them as verbal missiles. "He wants people to have structure, not the chaos of the senate that's powerless! Look at me Skywalker, when we met you could have bested me with a thought now, with his teachings I can drive you down! Do you hate me? Do you wish you'd never left this kind of teaching? Is she worth everything you gave up for her?"
Anakin rolled away and got to his feet, shutting down his lightsaber. "She is worth that and more, Tasha. I won't fight you."
She glared at him, her elegant features twisted in a mask of pain and rage, "You will fight me!"
"No." He clipped the blade to his belt.
"Anakin, what are you doing?"
He looked over Tasha's shoulder to meet his wife's gaze. He smiled softly at her. "I know what I'm doing. Go back to bed, Angel."
Tasha screamed. "Don't talk like I'm not here! I'm as important as you are, more so, to the future of the Jedi!"
"I know."
Tasha froze as Anakin's soft words filled the corridor. "What?"
He shrugged, his hands resting easily at his sides. "I've seen it. Your daughter and my son will one day have a future together."
"My... daughter?"
He nodded.
Tasha fought the feelings his revelation aroused in her, fought against the maternal feelings, and let out an anguished cry. She was so confused. Throwing her saber at Anakin's feet, she ran from him. Ran from his words, his calm presence and most of all his conviction.
Anakin took a deep breath as the lightsaber, the un-ignited lightsaber, clattered on the panels at his feet. He didn't even watch Tasha leave, but quickly went to Padmé's side, lifting her in his arms and holding her close.
Her arms went around his neck as he carried her back to bed. "She tried to kill you."
He nodded.
"Why?"
"You heard why."
"Because Palpatine still favors you."
"So it would seem."
She shuddered as he laid her down on the bunk. "Why does his approval mean so much to her? All he's done is hurt her."
He stroked her cheek, twining his fingers in the soft hair curling about her face. "Sometimes we need to feel needed. Tasha has no one. I have you. Obi-Wan has the Force. Tasha was a slave, but she liked being a slave. Now she has no one to serve, no one to tell her what to do. I think she's lost. She was born into slavery, like me, but she enjoyed it for its good qualities. She had a kind master, which is a rarity, who fed her well and clothed her in the best fashions. To her being a slave was a life of being able to do what she wished, do her master's bidding, and be provided for. From what I know, she was his favorite slave."
"Then why did she go with you when you found her?"
Anakin looked down, avoiding her eyes. "Her Master was dead."
"Did you kill him?"
"No, Obi-Wan did. He attacked us in the alley way beside his home. I don't know what he was doing, but he mistook Obi-Wan for someone else. Before I could say anything, the idiot impaled himself on Obi-Wan's lightsaber. He couldn't stop and we was so startled he couldn't turn it off." He shook his head sadly. "Tasha has never forgiven me, or Obi-Wan, for that. I should have been able to stop him, but we were so focused elsewhere..."
She squeezed his hand. "I understand. You couldn't simply allow her to be sold, having been a slave, so you opted to free her and the others?"
He nodded. "Yes. Most of them were regular house servants, glad to be free, but Tasha... Tasha being Tasha is holding a grudge."
"Promise me you'll be careful, Anakin."
He nodded, placing a gentle kiss on her lips before smiling. "I have you to come home to, Angel. I need to go find a repair crew and let someone know what's happened. Will you be alright?"
She smothered a yawn with her hand, her eyelids already drooping as he spoke. "I think so. I love you."
"Love you too, Angel."
Anakin was leaving, winking at her on his way out, as she dropped off to sleep.