[b]Chapter 21[/b]
"Any news?" Anakin asked standing up from his seat as Padme entered the waiting area.
"No, not yet. On both Chloe and Yoda." She said sitting down and taking her husband's hands within her own, pulling him down to sit next to her.
"Damnit! I just feel so helpless. That if I had just come back after getting you to safety, then perhaps I could have protected her, then none of this would have happened." He said helplessly as Padme squeezed his hand in support. "I'm sorry." He said turning to Padme. "I'm making this all about myself. She's your sister."
"But she's your best friend." Padme said. "You have just as much right to feel as you do. You know her better than I ever will. And I just wish that I would have to chance to."
"Don't say that. You will have the chance Padme. Chloe is going to get better. She has to!" Anakin yelled pulling away from her and standing up. "I just lost my mother, I can't loose her to. You know this is all Obi-Wan's fault. He could have protected her, but he didn't! He just held back and watched her get gutted. He thinks he's so great, that he can defeat anybody! Well he couldn't beat Dooku, and now Chloe is in there, barely hanging on."
"You don't mean that Ani. You know that he did everything he could."
"Do I? I wasn't there, and by the way Master Black acted on the ride back here to Coruscant, I can tell that he blames Obi-Wan as well."
"Master Black was giving no indication of any such thing. He was injured too Ani." She said patting the seat next to her for Anakin to sit back down.
"I know." He said sitting back down. "I just- - I can't loose her too Padme."
"I know. And you won't."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Can I come in?" Obi-Wan asked peering through the hospital doorway.
"If you plan on coming out on your own stretcher, sure." Brady said sitting up in bed, wincing at the pain in his chest from the broken ribs he had received.
"I get it, your mad." Obi-Wan said walking into the room, stopping short just of the bed.
"Oh, you think." Brady scoffed.
"I'm angry too." He said. "I could just rip Dooku apart with my bare hands."
"Yeah, then why didn't you?" Brady asked. "She jumped in front of you. To save you. You just stood in front of Master Yoda and watched."
"I had to protect Master Yoda. The galaxy needs him. What would we do without him?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Well I need Chloe. What am I going to do without her? And for some reason I thought that you needed her too. But all you need is the approval of the council."
"That's not fair." Obi-Wan said, bringing a hand to run over his weary face. "You think I wanted her to get caught in the crossfire. If I knew what was going to happen, I would have done something different."
"Well you know what they say about hind-sight. You should have never let her go off on her own in the first place."
"You don't think that I'm not in my own living hell over what happened Brady? You don't think that I'm not beating myself up over this. I can't think straight. It's eating away at me. And I will never be able to forgive myself."
"Yeah, well at least you did your duty." Brady said bitterly.
"I guess so." Obi-Wan said quietly.
"Yeah you did your duty alright." A new voice called from the doorway causing them both to turn and look, as Anakin entered the room. "But I'm not even going to get into this right now, a doctor just came out, he's got news on Chloe, I thought you'd want to know Master Black."
"Thank you Anakin." He said pulling himself completely out of bed, cringing at the pain. Reaching over to the chair next to the bed he grabbed his cloak and pulled it on, then walked as fast as he could out of the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The blade entered through her lower abdomen piercing the spleen and damaging it completely." Doctor Wesley of the Jedi Order explained to the ragged group of warriors that lay before him. "Her body is fighting as hard as it can to just stay alive. Normally in situations such as this we would take the patients own cells to help rebuild the injured organ. But in Chloe's situation she's already fighting too hard to stay alive that the cells we would remove would not be strong enough to help reconstruct the spleen. Right now we have her in stasis in hopes that she can rebuild the strength, but as far as it looks her body has completely shut down, and is only keeping her alive."
"So, what do we need to do?" "What about Master Yoda?" Brady and Obi-Wan asked at the same time.
"Master Yoda has regained consciousness, the drug he was given was not deadly, but he was given an exorbitant amount and his body couldn't handle it. But he'll be just fine." The doctor explained to Obi-Wan. "Now Chloe. Right now we have one option that seems like it just might work. If we could get as close a DNA match as possible, we would be able to take a few cells from the match and that should be able to repair the organ."
"So family then?" Anakin asked, trying to control his happiness.
"Well yes. That's the best bet." Doctor Wesley said.
"Then Padme just needs to be tested, but I'm sure you'll be the perfect match." Anakin said smiling as he reached for her hand, but only to have her pull away.
"No." Padme said sadly. "I won't be a match."
"What do you mean?" Anakin asked as he finally grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her toward him.
"I won't be a match for Chloe." She said further. "Because she's not my sister."
"What?" Anakin and Obi-Wan asked as Brady stared on in shock.
"She's adopted. I was eight years old when she came to the family, so I know for a fact that she was. But since she was so young and so were my sister and I, it didn't feel like she wasn't our sister. And just as soon as she came to us she went off to the Jedi Academy. She was apart of our family still, but since she wasn't there, there was never a need for this to be brought to light. But she is still my sister." Padme said in a determined voice. "Even though it is not by blood."
"Why didn't the council know this?" Obi-Wan asked. "And if they did, why didn't they tell her. She has so much love for a family that is not her own."
"We are still her family Master Kenobi." Padme said. "And we love her."
"I did not mean to imply anything else Senator Amidala." Obi-Wan apologized.
"If Chloe knew that the Naberrie's were not her family she would have stopped at nothing to find her real one." Brady finally said. "And the council knew this, so they kept it from her. Just like they do for most Jedi."
"He's probably right." Doctor Wesley said. "It is Council policy to remove emotional attachments from Jedi so that they remain focused on their work."
"That is why you were almost not allowed in Anakin. Because you were too old and had developed attachments outside of the order. But with your influence and the fact that her [i]family[/i] was high in profile, Chloe too developed an ocean of feelings." Brady explained. "Knowing Chloe, the Council was sure to withhold all of this information. And now that we need to know.Senator Amidala, are you aware of who Chloe's natural parents are?" Brady asked.
"No." She said shaking her head. "All that I have ever known is that her parents were good friends of mine, and her mother died in childbirth. After which her father was not going to be able to care for her on his own. So, my parents took Chloe in. That's all I know."
"It's alright." Anakin said placing an arm around her shoulders.
"So, it would probably be that Chloe's parents were from Naboo as well. We can go back there and talk to the Naberrie's and find out who they are. And then we can find a match." Brady said determined.
"That won't be necessary young Master Black." Someone called from behind the waiting area.
"Chancellor Palpatine." Obi-Wan said with great disdain, his feelings for the politician shining through. "What brings you here?"
"I've heard about Chloe and I've come to help." He said as Obi-Wan eyed him wearily.
"How would you be able to help?" Anakin asked.
"Well you see young Skywalker, I am Chloe's father."
"Any news?" Anakin asked standing up from his seat as Padme entered the waiting area.
"No, not yet. On both Chloe and Yoda." She said sitting down and taking her husband's hands within her own, pulling him down to sit next to her.
"Damnit! I just feel so helpless. That if I had just come back after getting you to safety, then perhaps I could have protected her, then none of this would have happened." He said helplessly as Padme squeezed his hand in support. "I'm sorry." He said turning to Padme. "I'm making this all about myself. She's your sister."
"But she's your best friend." Padme said. "You have just as much right to feel as you do. You know her better than I ever will. And I just wish that I would have to chance to."
"Don't say that. You will have the chance Padme. Chloe is going to get better. She has to!" Anakin yelled pulling away from her and standing up. "I just lost my mother, I can't loose her to. You know this is all Obi-Wan's fault. He could have protected her, but he didn't! He just held back and watched her get gutted. He thinks he's so great, that he can defeat anybody! Well he couldn't beat Dooku, and now Chloe is in there, barely hanging on."
"You don't mean that Ani. You know that he did everything he could."
"Do I? I wasn't there, and by the way Master Black acted on the ride back here to Coruscant, I can tell that he blames Obi-Wan as well."
"Master Black was giving no indication of any such thing. He was injured too Ani." She said patting the seat next to her for Anakin to sit back down.
"I know." He said sitting back down. "I just- - I can't loose her too Padme."
"I know. And you won't."
* * * * * * * * * * * *
"Can I come in?" Obi-Wan asked peering through the hospital doorway.
"If you plan on coming out on your own stretcher, sure." Brady said sitting up in bed, wincing at the pain in his chest from the broken ribs he had received.
"I get it, your mad." Obi-Wan said walking into the room, stopping short just of the bed.
"Oh, you think." Brady scoffed.
"I'm angry too." He said. "I could just rip Dooku apart with my bare hands."
"Yeah, then why didn't you?" Brady asked. "She jumped in front of you. To save you. You just stood in front of Master Yoda and watched."
"I had to protect Master Yoda. The galaxy needs him. What would we do without him?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Well I need Chloe. What am I going to do without her? And for some reason I thought that you needed her too. But all you need is the approval of the council."
"That's not fair." Obi-Wan said, bringing a hand to run over his weary face. "You think I wanted her to get caught in the crossfire. If I knew what was going to happen, I would have done something different."
"Well you know what they say about hind-sight. You should have never let her go off on her own in the first place."
"You don't think that I'm not in my own living hell over what happened Brady? You don't think that I'm not beating myself up over this. I can't think straight. It's eating away at me. And I will never be able to forgive myself."
"Yeah, well at least you did your duty." Brady said bitterly.
"I guess so." Obi-Wan said quietly.
"Yeah you did your duty alright." A new voice called from the doorway causing them both to turn and look, as Anakin entered the room. "But I'm not even going to get into this right now, a doctor just came out, he's got news on Chloe, I thought you'd want to know Master Black."
"Thank you Anakin." He said pulling himself completely out of bed, cringing at the pain. Reaching over to the chair next to the bed he grabbed his cloak and pulled it on, then walked as fast as he could out of the room.
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
"The blade entered through her lower abdomen piercing the spleen and damaging it completely." Doctor Wesley of the Jedi Order explained to the ragged group of warriors that lay before him. "Her body is fighting as hard as it can to just stay alive. Normally in situations such as this we would take the patients own cells to help rebuild the injured organ. But in Chloe's situation she's already fighting too hard to stay alive that the cells we would remove would not be strong enough to help reconstruct the spleen. Right now we have her in stasis in hopes that she can rebuild the strength, but as far as it looks her body has completely shut down, and is only keeping her alive."
"So, what do we need to do?" "What about Master Yoda?" Brady and Obi-Wan asked at the same time.
"Master Yoda has regained consciousness, the drug he was given was not deadly, but he was given an exorbitant amount and his body couldn't handle it. But he'll be just fine." The doctor explained to Obi-Wan. "Now Chloe. Right now we have one option that seems like it just might work. If we could get as close a DNA match as possible, we would be able to take a few cells from the match and that should be able to repair the organ."
"So family then?" Anakin asked, trying to control his happiness.
"Well yes. That's the best bet." Doctor Wesley said.
"Then Padme just needs to be tested, but I'm sure you'll be the perfect match." Anakin said smiling as he reached for her hand, but only to have her pull away.
"No." Padme said sadly. "I won't be a match."
"What do you mean?" Anakin asked as he finally grabbed a hold of her hand and pulled her toward him.
"I won't be a match for Chloe." She said further. "Because she's not my sister."
"What?" Anakin and Obi-Wan asked as Brady stared on in shock.
"She's adopted. I was eight years old when she came to the family, so I know for a fact that she was. But since she was so young and so were my sister and I, it didn't feel like she wasn't our sister. And just as soon as she came to us she went off to the Jedi Academy. She was apart of our family still, but since she wasn't there, there was never a need for this to be brought to light. But she is still my sister." Padme said in a determined voice. "Even though it is not by blood."
"Why didn't the council know this?" Obi-Wan asked. "And if they did, why didn't they tell her. She has so much love for a family that is not her own."
"We are still her family Master Kenobi." Padme said. "And we love her."
"I did not mean to imply anything else Senator Amidala." Obi-Wan apologized.
"If Chloe knew that the Naberrie's were not her family she would have stopped at nothing to find her real one." Brady finally said. "And the council knew this, so they kept it from her. Just like they do for most Jedi."
"He's probably right." Doctor Wesley said. "It is Council policy to remove emotional attachments from Jedi so that they remain focused on their work."
"That is why you were almost not allowed in Anakin. Because you were too old and had developed attachments outside of the order. But with your influence and the fact that her [i]family[/i] was high in profile, Chloe too developed an ocean of feelings." Brady explained. "Knowing Chloe, the Council was sure to withhold all of this information. And now that we need to know.Senator Amidala, are you aware of who Chloe's natural parents are?" Brady asked.
"No." She said shaking her head. "All that I have ever known is that her parents were good friends of mine, and her mother died in childbirth. After which her father was not going to be able to care for her on his own. So, my parents took Chloe in. That's all I know."
"It's alright." Anakin said placing an arm around her shoulders.
"So, it would probably be that Chloe's parents were from Naboo as well. We can go back there and talk to the Naberrie's and find out who they are. And then we can find a match." Brady said determined.
"That won't be necessary young Master Black." Someone called from behind the waiting area.
"Chancellor Palpatine." Obi-Wan said with great disdain, his feelings for the politician shining through. "What brings you here?"
"I've heard about Chloe and I've come to help." He said as Obi-Wan eyed him wearily.
"How would you be able to help?" Anakin asked.
"Well you see young Skywalker, I am Chloe's father."