Disclaimer: Jahzea, Manighan, and Delios are mine. The rest are Mr. Lucas' except for Bant, Bruck and the bounty hunter, who belong to Jude Watson.
Authors Note: It started with an idea of another Padawan who lost her master, and escalated from there. I'm not entirely sure when Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stuck their noses in, but it was long before I wrote this down. It's not as complete as it could be, but it works for now. This is my first Star Wars fan fiction; my first fic was aproximately nineteen years ago.
Jahzea stood pressed against the wall of the royal hangar in Theed, her deactivated light saber on the floor halfway between herself and the ship she'd planned on leaving in. It had been pure luck that she'd been on her way out of the ship instead of on her way in. She stared into Darth Vader's mask, tired of all the running. The brilliant red of his light saber, resting near her throat, reflected onto the mask and gave it a hellish tint.
"Why come yourself?" she asked quietly, struggling a little to draw breath. If he didn't kill her outright, it was likely that she'd die anyway. He'd broken her ribs in their battle, and one had pierced her lung. She didn't have long at all. "You've sent your servants everywhere but here. Why are you here, Anakin?"
The blade kissed her throat, searing it, but she didn't react, remembering the wide-eyed boy that had curled up next to his new Master and cried over the loss of a friend, remembering the look on Obi-Wan's face when he'd had to tell her it was Anakin who had killed her newly-Knighted Padawan. "Because it was you. Because he loves you." The voice was no longer a shock. "And I would destroy him before I kill him."
She hid her surprise and the pain his words brought. Obi-Wan loved her? She didn't think Vader knew what he was talking about. Before she could ask, the door to her right flew open and Obi-Wan appeared, framed in the dusk outside. "Anakin, no," he said, and stepped further in.
He couldn't possibly have heard, could he? With a gesture, Vader shut the door and slammed Obi-Wan up against the wall. The Jedi's light saber extinguished and skittered across the floor, out of sight. "I will deal with you later," Vader growled, and turned back to her.
Jahzea could feel Obi-Wan's anguish, and it was almost overpowering. He struggled against the grip of the Force Vader had him in, desperate to get free and letting Vader know of that desperation. Without turning to look at his former Master, Vader closed his hand. Obi-Wan stilled, pale. "Anakin, please." Jahzea realized then that he was not as out of control as he seemed to be; he was keeping Vader distracted so he didn't ask what they were doing there.
"I can silence you," Vader rasped. "It will be painful."
Obi-Wan did not speak again. She could see him continue to struggle, but he had told her more than once how much stronger Anakin had been in the force. "I did not know he was here," Vader confided in her, and her eyes jerked from her friend to the dark helmet before her. "This makes your destruction all the more sweet."
Jahzea knew then that she would have to die; it would be necessary if they were to complete their mission. She understood why the distraction, why Obi-Wan fought. He would do anything to keep the children safe. It would be a lot for him to bear, what was to follow, but he would do it. She smiled quietly at Vader. "I've missed you, Anakin."
The blood red saber kissed her throat again, but she went on. "It has been a long time since I've seen you."
"It will be longer, now," Vader hissed. His light saber swung in a parody of a move Obi-Wan must have taught him, and stabbed her.
Obi-Wan's cry rang in her ears as Vader let her fall. "Do not cross me again," the Sith hissed in Obi-Wan's direction, and let the Jedi go. Jahzea watched with glazed eyes as the dark figure swept out, then she was gathered gently into Obi-Wan's arms.
"Do not cross him," she said gently, struggling to focus on his face and wincing at the tears that tracked his cheeks. "Go, Obi-Wan. Before he figures out why you lost control."
"He would never believe it was not because of your death," he whispered. So he had heard. "But you're right. Good-bye, Jahzea."
The last thing she felt was the touch of his lips to hers.
Amidala clutched the baby girl to her, tears dripping unheeded into the cloth that wrapped them both. She had heard Obi-Wan's cry - could not have missed it - and could only guess at the cause. At least, she thought, I'll have one of them.
It had all happened so fast; one minute, she and Sabe were happily playing with the twins, and the next, Obi-Wan was there, saying Anakin was right behind them. Luke went with the female Jedi he'd brought while Sabe worked to take her place, and she followed Obi-Wan with Leia. He'd hidden her outside the hangar for a reason she hadn't understood until she'd heard Anakin's voice, although not what he'd said.
"Amidala." Obi-Wan's hand touched her shoulder an instant after he said her name. She could not see his face against the bright night sky as he helped her stand and hurried her into the hangar. She didn't miss the figure covered by a brown Jedi robe and guessed what had happened. "Hurry," he whispered when she slowed, trying to see if her son's body was with the other Jedi. "I don't know how long we have."
He was utterly exhausted; she could tell by the way he slid into the seat at the controls. He turned to look at her. "Go put her in with Luke, and strap yourself in."
Her heart stopped. She still had both children, although not their father. It would be enough. Anything she had would be enough. Turning almost automatically, she went into the back as he started the ship up. She placed Leia in the bed next to Luke's, and sat down next to them.
They were in hyperspace when she moved away, sitting down by Obi-Wan. He looked at her, and she had to look away from his haunted eyes. "Are you okay?" she asked.
"I will be," he said with a slow smile, but it faded all too soon. "I'm sorry we didn't move faster."
"It's not your fault," she said, laying a hand on his arm. "You have done your best."
Obi-Wan sighed and pulled away from her. "My best has never been enough," he said softly.
"Your best got us out alive," she pointed out, and then turned to the navigation. "Where are we going?"
"Alderaan." He straightened and turned to her. "I will leave you and Leia there, and take Luke with me."
"What?" she demanded. "No!"
"Amidala, listen to me." His voice was calm, but she could not say it was devoid of emotion, and his eyes begged her to understand. "If we separate, if we separate them, he will never find them both."
She'd thought she was out of tears, that hearing Anakin in the hangar had finished them for her. But Obi-Wan was right; they knew Vader would come after the children, and if one was safe... It would have to do. "Okay," she said, and it choked her.
"I'm sorry." His voice was soft, subdued, almost defeated. "I'm so sorry, I couldn't do anything."
She straightened, swallowed her tears, and forced her voice to work. "You did do something." There, for the first time in months, she sounded like a Queen and a Senator. "You have given me hope. And is that not what the Jedi are here to do?"
His shoulders slumped and he nodded. "Yes," he said. "I suppose it was."
His use of the past tense was a surprise. "Was?" she asked, almost panicked. "How bad is it?"
"Bad." She could barely hear him. "If there are a handful left, I'd be surprised."
Her eyes widened, and she stared at him, unable to speak. He didn't look at her, studying the instruments in front of him. "You'd better get some sleep," he said finally. "It will get no easier after this."
Still mute, she stood to leave, pausing to squeeze his shoulder before she left the bridge. She could hear his soft sobs as the door closed behind her.
He heard on Alderaan that the Queen's bodyguard had been killed and her royal apartments had been destroyed. He left Amidala in Bail Organa's care, and left early the next day. He knew the former senator would take care of her and of Leia; after spending an evening with the baby girl, he was already speaking of adopting her. Amidala hadn't seemed too bothered by it.
It was ironic, he thought as he gave Luke to Anakin's step brother and his wife, that Anakin's son would grow up where his father had. He turned from them, vanishing into the crowd at Mos Eisley, then into the desert to try to find what he'd lost. He did not think Vader would return there, ever.
He found a place to live and bought it with the last of his money. His days were spent making it livable, making it home, and in meditation. He found no peace. "Master," he said softly to the still, hot air, kneeling in the center of the main room. "I have failed so much that you asked me to do."
There was no answer. He hadn't expected there to be one. He had hoped, but if there was no answer, there was no answer. He'd have to find peace on his own.
He was already a firm fixture in the landscape when he heard the news of Amidala's death, three years after it had happened. He hoped only that she'd been at peace.
As he was beginning to be.