The midwives surrounded the young girl who had been in labor for over 7 hours. It was much too long. They had to get the baby out now. Or else both mother and child would be in mortal danger.
The girl saw the flurried movements in terror and wept out her pain.
The midwives felt sympathy for the young thing. It was times like this that they cursed men. On the planet of Saket, the women had two choices. One was to be damned to a death beyond the wildest fires of hell. And the other was to serve as a slave to their king. He used these young women in ways that was not even known possible.
The young girl continued to sweat but refused to scream. She was more than brave. She was very controlled about her behavior. Something they had only seen in the Jedi.
"Alright dear, When I say push you must do as I tell you." said the tentacle woven Jessamorn midwife in kindly tones.
The girl barely managed a nod.
"Push!"
And as the girl felt pain rip through her body, she opened her mouth and let out an almighty scream of pain and tears she had with held for nine months.
"ANAKIN!!!"
And far away on the planet of Naboo, Anakin Skywalker awoke, sweating from the dream that had haunted him for the past two years. He looked over at his wife Padme, as she lay sleeping like an angel. His son and daughter were fast asleep in the next room. They had been born so recently about three months ago and were the joys of his life.
He mopped his face and stepped into the bay window overlooking the lake. As he gazed at the light brought by the stars he heard a voice behind him.
"Ani? Ani...what's wrong?" asked Padme, her eyes sensing something not quite right was going on in her true loves mind.
Anakin closed his eyes as he held down his head ache that had plagued him for the past two years. The force had grown stronger with each dream, making him sense the love he had forgotten. He could no longer keep this to himself. He had to tell someone.
"Padme, I have something I need to tell you about. And I know you will be angry at me for this, but remember that you are the one woman I have always been in love with." as he said these words in his sullen quiet ones, Padme realized that there was someone else before her.
Someone that he was having a hard time forgetting.
"Tell me Ani...who was she?" asked Padme, just as quietly as Anakin had spoken. She had already felt her heart quake at the thought that there was someone else who he had been in love with.
"Is. Who is she." corrected Anakin before beginning his confession. He turned around and looked directly into her eyes as his words became a whisper and she came and leaned on the balcony post next to him.
"Some time ago, long before the clone wars had begun and I had met you again I had visited the palace of Qatar, king of Saket with Obi Wan." he began, already searching her eyes for hurt or pain. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt the mother of his children and the woman he was so in love with.
"Go on, Ani...I won't judge you, I promise..." she murmured, gently kissing his cheek.
He took a deep breath and remembered it like it was the previous day..
"There was a beautiful slave girl at the palace..."
"Nisha! Nisha! Come out! The king wants you to dance for him and his guests." said the older woman. Nisha had a lot to be thankful for. At least she wasn't part of the harem. Her dance skills kept her from there. But she was the emperors favorite slave dancer for some reason.
She asked for the lights to be dimmed and the music began. As soon as the music began she forgot all about the drudgery and sadness of her life within the palace and was transported into a world she would never have the pleasure of seeing. Her long raven hair traveled around with her, she had remembered to keep it open because she knew that was how the king liked it.
When the song stopped, she fell to her knees before his royal highness,
"Very beautifully danced, my pretty one. You shall be rewarded appropriately for this."
She got to her feet and for the first time surveyed the many viewers of her dance. Until she noticed a pair of sullen green eyes gleam at her.
"She was indeed very lovely, your highness. May I know who she would be?" asked Obi Wan, casting a warning glance at Anakin, who he knew seemed to be very interested in the young girl before them.
"One of my favorite dancers, oh Jedi. She had been born of a slave and has lived in this palace all her life. Never once seen the outside world. I never realized she existed until one day she served me. The girl has clearly blossomed into a beauty."
"Really?" said Obi Wan trying to appear interested. He felt disgusted with the fact that the old king kept slaves. He felt terrible for all the slaves, particularly for the young girl. The only reason he and his padawan were here because Yoda had told them that he had sensed there was a missing Jedi somewhere here. It was female and untrained but that she would learn.
When the young girl had been dancing in the room, it had been particularly strong.
Anakin grimaced at his master's disapproval. But it was anticipated. He had definitely been staring at the girl, with what even he knew was lust. It had been never that he had encountered a girl who somewhat matched the beauty of Padme.
That night he heard a silent weeping in the next room.
He left his luxurious quarters in the palace. The lower most floor was for the guests of the king and his master Obi Wan slept in the large room next to his.
Earlier, on he had taken heed to learn where the slaves quarters were. He wanted this girl. The Jedi be damned, what harm could this do anyway? All he wanted to do was look at her.
He crept down the rickety stairs, his light saber in place. The weeping grew louder as he moved closer to a rickety old door in the middle of the passageway. Opening it, he found its source.
Looking up, she gazed at him in a heartbreaking way. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Shhhh...." he said raising a finger to his lips as he heard footprints getting closer. The door opened just as he slid behind it. Horrified, she saw a guard standing their, all four of his hands holding a different weapon.
"I heard a noise." he said in his sinister, deep voice. The girl on the bed gave him a terrified look and said "It...it was ju-just me."
The guard grunted and backed away from the door, leering at her in a disgusting way.
"Who are you?" she whispered as Anakin closed the door behind him and stood with his back to her. What would he do now that he was in the girls threshold?
He turned around and began quietly in his dour voice. "Some noises disturbed my sleep. I think it was you in here."
She stared at him in dismay and suddenly got off the bed, kneeling at his feet. "I am so sorry. Oh please don't tell his majesty! He'll have me punished! Please, I beg you!"
Anakin noticed the scars on her back earlier, but the plain backless garment she was wearing showed thin red scars from a whip that he had recognized near each of the guards legs. Anakin leaned down and gave her a smile that she clearly needed, lifting her chin and looking into two melting pools of brown.
"You must be very defiant to have so many punishments."
"My recent wounds haven't healed." she murmured, her bare shoulders trembling and searing from his touch.
He looked at her suddenly with impatience and said "Why do you keep disobeying them?" and his hands left her shoulders as he walked to the window that over looked the gardens. Qatar kept his lawns well. With the sweat and blood of his slaves. It disgusted him to know that a Jedi, one like him, one like him who had worked to death on these lawns.
"Do you believe in the force?" he heard the gentle whisper through his thoughts. "You are a Jedi, are you not?"
"Yes...I am a Jedi...And the force believes in me." he said, trying to sound authoritative but failing when he looked at her again.
"I have always believed in the force." she continued to whisper. "And look what it has let me do..."
A beautifully carved dagger sailed through the air towards his hands and landed into his outstretched palm. He looked up at her in a grudging awe and she folded her palms and sat back down on he rickety old bed. "And yes, I am very defiant. I have refused to give myself to any of the men who have asked me to."
"You are a particularly beautiful girl. You have reason to save yourself."
"Ah yes. Yes, the very same reason that is killing my youth." she said bitterly. He turned and said to her "You are a Jedi yourself. Fight them."
She looked at him in sadness and pain. "I cannot. I'm doomed here, kind sirrah."
"I am not kind. And please call me Anakin. Anakin Skywalker. In the word defiance, we have a lot in common."
She smiled.
That was the beginning.
Anakin stopped here for a moment and looked at Padme who looked on at him in wait.She could feel her heart breaking already at the thought of what had happened. His loving someone else at first. And then, she felt sorry for the girl. Se already knew that Ani loved only her now. But even the thought of this relationship...
"Did you love her?" she asked tenderly.
"Yes. I can't lie to you Padme. I loved her with all my heart. but what I did to her was unforgivable." If he could he would let the tears he held in his heart slip down his face freely. But he wouldn't. The last time he had cried was on his mothers deathbed. But that was now nothing but a dull ache.
"What did you do to her Ani?" asked Padme now with an urgency. She could only hope and pray that he didn't do anything that they both regretted.
Anakin closed his eyes now. He could taste her and feel her. Her long black hair in his fingers, that traveled to the middle of her slender back, her pretty little mouth that always became a thin line when she was angry and her big brown eyes that had always been full of love and hope and understanding for him.
"I abandoned her..."
"Anakin! Where are you going? Come here. I keep wondering where you disappear off to. Today I want some answers." Obi Wan commanded as he saw Anakin try to shiftily escape from the dining hall of the palace. He was beginning to worry about his padawan. The boy seemed to vanish into thin air for a long time on a daily basis and it was rather queer.
"No where master. No where at all." said Anakin looking at his feet and blocking any negative vibes he was sending with the force. He was going to see his beautiful Nisha again. It was strange how much they had in common. Right down to their skill in levitation and yet she was untrained... He had a certain respect for her that he had never felt for any one before. Not even for Obi Wan.
They met in the orchards where they usually sat and talked and in her room late into the night. She used to leave the door unlocked for him. Because it was usually only him who entered her room.
Obi Wan dismissed Anakin and then followed him to where ever he was going.
It was the wrong thing to do, but there was nothing else he could do. Anakin would never tell him where he went.
Sure enough, he saw him with the pretty young slave girl again. Anakin and the girl spoke and then he saw something he could not believe until he saw it again. He saw the girl levitate a small fruit and give it into his young padawans outstretched hand. It took years of training to actually levitate! So that's where he had been going.
"Good work, Anakin." he thought to himself as he made himself visible now.
He looked at the girl and Anakin, each of whom looked equally shocked to see him. "Anakin, why didn't you tell me you had found her?"
Nisha looked at Anakin and using the force told him to keep quiet. She could not put his training in jeopardy.
"He couldn't. You see, I am with child at the moment. So I told him to keep it to himself."
Now it was Obi Wan and Anakin's turn to look shocked. Everyone knew that a Jedi could not join if it was with child. It was against the rules for a Jedi to fall in love in the first place. And Anakin knew already that he was the father. He was caught between telling his master the truth and taking her away forever with him.
"And who would the father be?" asked Obi Wan, looking at Anakin in despair and accusation. Nisha saw this and immediately said "It's not your padawan. I-I cannot reveal the name as yet. The king will have me killed."
Anakin looked at her, his sorrow not visible in his blank face but his green eyes.
She looked at Obi Wan. "I think you should go home now. I cannot come with you."
Obi Wan turned and walked away contemplating on what he would tell Yoda. They might have to wait until after the pregnancy to bring her back. But how were they going to keep her alive until then? Qatar had a foul temper and when he learnt about this
As soon as he was out of sight, Anakin looked at her in dismay. "Nisha! Why didn't you tell me? I can't leave you here! Now Obi Wan will make me leave you!"
She sighed and pulled his ear lobe gently. "We'll meet again one day Anakin Skywalker. I promise you that. And then, I will have a beautiful present in the form of your son to give to you."
He pulled her into his arms and held her close, tracing his fingers on her face and lifting her chin. Requiring no further assistance, she reached up and met his mouth with her own, her eyes gleaming with tears even as they kissed.
Padme now looked at Anakin's suffering form, horrified, not quite knowing how to react. "Oh Ani...what have you done?"
"She sacrificed herself for me. And I let her do it! How could I have been so stupid?" he moaned putting his head in his hands.
Padme's voice drifted in from behind him.
"Anakin, you sacrificed yourself the moment you left that child and Nisha behind."
Anakin flew to the Jedi centre the next day, wanting to keep out of Padme's way as she thought. She wasn't angry with him. He knew that. This was before he had met her again and before they had completely fallen in love with each other. But she was certainly upset to know that there had been a child. There still was a child.
And the more he thought of it, the more he longed to meet the child. The more he longed to see Nisha again. But she would not be a friend. He was too much in love with Padme to even think of another woman...But Nisha was his first love...what was he to do? He felt so torn.
"Hello Anakin." smiled Obi Wan. "I have a surprise for you." Anakin nodded, his head still in the clouds from the previous night and he followed his master into the training room. And that was where he got the biggest shock of his life.
Nisha sat there cross legged, about 7 various objects floating around her. She was being closely watched by three masters including Yoda himself.
"Powerful she is...Patience she has." said Yoda calmly to Obi Wan. "But she is too late to become a Jedi. She would be a useful ally, I believe." observed Obi Wan "But the mission in Syrall is too dangerous for her. I cannot send her as she requested."
"Hates the lord of the Sith, she does. And with reason." said Yoda, unhappily agreeing with Obi Wan.
"How good is her son, master Yoda?"
Yoda saw Anakin and his wizen face broke into a smile. "More powerful than his father and mother combined, young Arjuna is."
Anakin looked away when he saw Obi Wan's eyes widen and look at his face in disappointment. "So Anakin...it is you who is Arjuna's father."
Anakin nodded his head slightly and Obi Wan sighed in disappointment. He was certainly upset. But the boy Arjuna who was only 3 as yet was indeed more powerful than most of the adult Jedi's here. He was after all the offspring of two very powerful individuals.
Anakin opened his mouth and his expression became sullen again as he spoke. "Is my son here?"
"Yes." said Obi Wan. "But you can only meet him if Nisha allows you to. She is quite a remarkable young thing."
Anakin couldn't agree more. As she opened her eyes, she saw him and with the elegance and poise he had only seen Padme possess, she walked towards him and after bowing to master Yoda and Obi Wan "I promised you we'd meet again Anakin Skywalker. And I told you I'd have a present in the form of your son for you. Would you like to meet him?"
Anakin didn't know what to say. He had his sullen expression on his face again, looking like a boy who had just been scolded. She was even more beautiful than he remembered.
It irritated him no end that he still had feelings for her.
"Yes. I would like to meet him."
Nisha smiled and motioned for him to follow her. Anakin wondered. Did she know he was married? Did she realize how difficult she was making it for him? Did she even know that he was still a little in love with her?
Obi Wan, who was walking with them, smiled at his Padawan reassuringly. "Yes Anakin. She knows what she is doing."
Obi Wan still did not know about his marriage to Padme. The few who did know of it were sworn to secrecy. He wondered how would he tell Nisha this without her breaking completely.
The corridor lead to the room where all the young children were learning to control their tiny light sabers and guns. At that point both items were harmless but later on, both of these items were going to become their life savers.
She looked up at Anakin and said "Guess which one he is?"
It was easy to make out who Arjuna was. He was the only one who was holding his light saber in the right manner, mastering it skillfully, while the other's struggled to hold theirs.
He looked just like Anakin when he was a child. He had the same sullen features and similar concentration skill. But his eyes were clearly his mother's.
He saw them and immediately disregarding the instructor ran up and flew to his mother, who picked him up laughing.
Clearly, he was their son.
"Anakin, meet Arjuna. Your son. Arjuna...this is your father. I've told you so many stories about him haven't I? Here he is."
She looked back at Anakin with a small smile playing on her lips. Arjuna looked up at his father in awe and said in a tiny voice "Father is so big, mother! Father how did you grow so big?"
Anakin smiled down affectionately at his child in Nisha's arms and said "I ate lots of food, little one."
The child got down from his mothers arms and looked up at his father. "Why did you leave us father?" he asked quietly. It was hard to believe a three year old was asking such questions.
Anakin kneeled down to his son's level and looked at the child's brooding face.
"I'm sorry my son. I won't leave you again." Obi Wan smiled at Anakin's softer side. The boy hardly ever showed it. But he was evidently too fond of the child already to not show it.
"Come now. It's time I take you home. I'll be back to fetch you."
"Mother comes too?" he said, crossing his arms and looking at his father expectantly. Anakin looked up at Nisha and he had to smile. She was after all the woman who had given him such a magnificent son.
It was time he told both her and Arjuna about Padme, Luke and Leia.
He knew he couldn't have both families. But at least he could develop an understanding between them. He only hoped this worked.
"Padme. I've got company for dinner today." said Anakin quietly, as she put the twins to bed.
"Oh. Alright. I'll wear formal then." said Padme distractedly. Anakin shook his head and gently turned her around. "Not that kind of company."
"What then Ani? Stop talking in riddles."
"Nisha and my son, Arjuna. Obi Wan and Yoda found them and brought them here. The boy is an even more powerful Jedi than her or me."
"An you invited them here?! Oh ANI! What were you thinking?"
"I didn't think Padme. My son is with her. And I...well, he's my son. Doesn't he deserve the same love I give Luke and Leia? He's been without a father for three years Padme. He lived in the dungeons hidden from the King, his life in danger every single moment. His only solace was the times that Nisha took him into the gardens at night when everyone slept. It's high time he learnt what freedom is. It's time he knows what a father is."
Padme looked up at him and he saw a tear in her eye. "Ani...promise me that you'll always love me no matter what."
He kissed her gently on her lips, lingering long enough to erase her doubts and his own.
"I promise."
Nisha and Arjuna with Anakin early. Padme saw them from her balcony and sighed for a moment. If she was someone else she would have thought it a shame that it didn't work out between Anakin and Nisha. They were an extremely good looking couple. She was indeed beautiful. Beautiful enough to make her envious. And the boy was a copy of Anakin. Clearly their child.
He was wearing the Jedi suit already. And Nisha had dressed in a long white backless gown that seemed to accentuate her skin tone more than before, making her seem somewhat like an angel. There was a white flower in her hair.
On closer look she noticed that Nisha looked nervous. In fact, it seemed like Anakin was reassuring her that everything would be alright. That Padme knew everything that there was between them.
Padme sighed and put on a gracious smile her own mother had made her practice again and again. Especially in times of adversity. And this was certainly adversity.
She went down to the entrance, where the big doors opened and she greeted Anakin with a kiss that possessively said that he was hers and only hers.
Anakin however, seemed to be stiff and unyielding to the kiss, although, his response was positive enough. He put his son down and from behind him, Nisha peered at Padme.
Suddenly she smiled and said vibrantly. "Anakin hardly did you any justice when he said you were lovely."
Anakin looked at her and said morosely "I told you she was beautiful!"
"Well, you still didn't do her any justice." laughed Nisha as Anakin frowned and then smiled with her.
Padme warmed to her immediately, although she hadn't wanted to and wanted to make her seem as uncomfortable as possible. It was impossible not to like this girl with her sense of humor and ready smile.
Anakin gave an inward sigh of relief and his son went up to Padme and pulled at her long lilac dress's skirt. Padme looked down at the little boy's sullen face.
"Can I see my brother and sister, milady?"
Padme was shocked. The boy seemed to have the vocabulary of an adult. She smiled retaining her composure and said "Of course. But you'll have to be very quiet. They're sleeping right now."
The boy turned to his father and said "Father, how come they sleep so early?"
Anakin looked at his son and answered "Because they're much younger than you. They sleep more than they are awake."
Arjuna nodded understandingly and followed the adults up to the room where the twins slept. He walked in the same regal walk that Anakin had when he was younger. Padme could not get over the resemblance. It was uncanny.
Arjuna stared at the twins for a moment and said in completely innocent child like sweetness "Are you my father's wife milady?"
Nisha exclaimed "Arjuna!" she opened her mouth to say something else but both Anakin and Padme stopped her with a look. Padme knelt down to his level and said "Yes. I am your father's wife. But that doesn't mean he loves you any less than Luke and Liea."
The little boy paused and then looked at Nisha.
"But he doesn't love my mother as much as he loves you."
Anakin shook his head and Luke gave a cry as if on cue. The adults got over the shock of the question. Anakin turned around to see where Nisha had gone as Padme and Arjuna both walked together to the cot. Arjuna probably to see what the baby looked like. Anakin strode outside and looked at the long black hair he had fallen so deeply in love with. What harm would it do if he touched it just...
He ran his fingers down her hair and she suddenly bolted and backed away from him.
"Nisha...I'm-"
"Anakin, don't touch me. Whatever we had, its gone. You have a wife now."
"Thank you...for Arjuna. He's the most beautiful gift anyone could have given me. And for him, I love you. Forever." Anakin said quietly, meaning every word with every fiber of his being.
"Anakin...I'd like to go home now...please..." whispered Nisha. He was inching closer to her and now his hand swept back stray hair from her face.
"You're frightened." he murmured.
"No I'm not!" she said defiantly, her voice breaking.
"Your lips are quivering again the way they used to when I had first met you. You're frightened of me?" he said again. His fingers rose to her lips and stilled them with the touch of his hand.
"ANI! Come on! Dinner's served!" he heard Padme's voice from far away just as he swept Nisha's beauty again.
"Coming!" he called as he stepped away from Nisha horrified and turned his back, his very soul shaking from what he had almost done.
Nisha followed and kept silent as her son through the meal.
"Thank you Padme...The meal was lovely..." said Nisha her eyes smiling with her as she gave Padme a hug and smiled as Arjuna raced up, childish excitement all over his face.
"Father showed me how to use his light saber, Mother."
Nisha put both hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows at a sheepish Anakin who shrugged just as Padme hit him. "Ani, behave. I won't let you come near Luke and Liea at this rate!"
With that Padme waved a goodbye and they walked away to the ship that had brought them here.
"Anakin...what are you doing?" asked Nisha quietly, after putting Arjuna to bed, when she saw Anakin walk back and forth in her quarters at the training centre.
"Nisha. Let me kiss you. Just once. I want this out of my system. Today. I cannot live like this." Anakin looked at her, knowing that such a request was something out of bounds completely.
Without waiting for her to answer he strode up to her, gathered her familiar hot skin into his arms and brought his lips down on hers with urgency...
He woke up and felt the long raven hair in his hands and kissed its waves. He knew what he was doing was wrong. But she was...
"Irresistible?" provided Nisha. She had turned away from him as they both lay naked in her bed and she pulled the sheet around herself walking away.
"Anakin go home. They need you home."
She kissed him her tears running freely and her mouth tasting salty from her kisses. He didn't know how much she wanted him. And she could never have him...Obi Wan had told her about the suicidal mission she had today...she would accept it.
What had she got to lose?
Her son...the answer came automatically to her as Anakin held her in his fierce embrace. He never wanted to let go.
What had he done? his thoughts jumbled he wore his clothes and made his way to his ship, without looking back at the training centre for fear he might see her again, and then his urge would be unstoppable.
The last time...the last time...
Obi Wan walked his worn walk with young Arjuna in his arms. Padme had seen them from the balcony and came running down. Arjuna was crying. Anakin walked down himself and pulled Arjuna into his own arms in shock and bewilderment. He wondered what on earth had made the boy cry.
"Where's Nisha, master?" he asked just as Padme joined them.
Obi Wan sighed..."I told her not to go...I warned her it was too dangerous...it was...she didn't listen..."
Anakin looked at him in anguish. "Is she...?"
"I don't know...." said Obi Wan his eyes weary. "We lost contact with her."
Anakin's mouth set and hardened. She had gone to Syrall to kill the Sith lord. He knew she would do something rash. But what did she have against the Sith lord? Why would she...unless...
"He used her...he came to Qatar's palace and used her in a way no woman should be used...he liked using her...it was awful... I could feel it in the way she used her weapons..."
Anakin stared at Obi Wan, his mouth opening and closing then opening again. "Why didn't she tell me, master?"
"Do you still love her Anakin?" asked Obi Wan in alarm. Padme looked at Anakin waiting for his answer.
Anakin drew in a deep breath.
"I'm so sorry, master. But she will always be a part of me. Always."
With that Anakin gave Arjuna to Padme who held him like he was her own son, and made him a promise. "You'll always have someone to care for you. Remember that."
And ignoring all the protests he got onto the ship Obi Wan had arrived in and vanished into the space, heading towards Syrall.
Nisha had built that light saber in a matter of days. She was definitely a threat but not a threat enough. Neither had she got any training, nor did she have any experience. But if she did work hard enough, she would be difficult to kill. Perhaps even impossible.
Darth Jieon nodded at his words. His master had spoken. Now him being the Sith lord, it was up to him to kill her once and for all. He had had his fun with her in Qatar's palace or he would have enjoyed killing her slowly.
He laughed...each one of the Siths had enjoyed a vice before and his just happened to be using women.
His ship suddenly lurched as he crossed the Syrall plains and he immediately landed to see what was wrong.
Instead he saw his victim walk straight into his trap. There with fire in her eyes was Nisha and in her hands there was a light saber. The ship behind her was brand new and what it looked like it was from the training centre.
"We meet again." said the Dark lord.
"I had promised." she spat out.
That morning the dark lord pulled aside from the used girl, his marks all over her body and dressed. Dark blue bruises covered the once dusky skin and purple patches decorated her body.
"Get up SLAVE! Go to your quarters till I call you again!" he kicked the lifeless body and she pulled herself up, her eyes blank and unfeeling, her vibrancy long gone.
She held back her tears and thought of how to cover the bruises on her body so that her son would not see them.
With as much dignity as she could muster she said defiantly " One day, o lord of darkness, I promise you this, I will have my vengeance on you. I'll let you live until then. But only until then."
She was whipped mercilessly.
"Yes, you had promised" he hissed. She drew up her saber and put it on. The blue beam of light gleamed violently, as the lord reached into his robes and drew out his own. The red double beam stunned her but she did not show this.
The clash began instantly and she fought well. Soon enough she had Darth Jieon fighting for breath on the floor. With an almighty swing, she drew the saber up and got ready to kill her prey.
"NISHA!" she heard Anakin's voice call and she turned around just as the Sith lord chose his moment and pulled out his gun, his light saber having been thrown far away out of reach. He shot her, twice in her chest and she stumbled to the ground, but not before she plunged her light saber into the dark lord, extinguishing him and his spirit for good.
Anakin fell to his knees besides her cursing himself and moaning at her wounds. He pulled her body into his arms and touched the blood coming down from her mouth. It killed him to have her die like this. In exactly the same way his mother had died. In his arms.
"Nisha....Nisha, I love you....I'm here for you! I'm here!"
She gave him a wobbly smile as she murmured "I'm sorry Anakin...I don't have much time...I'll always love you...always....and...I'll...wait...for...you...tell Arjuna his mother-l-loves him...Please ask Padme to-to raise him a-as her o-own....Please..."
He felt tears in his own eyes as he ran his fingers through her raven hair one last time. Her eyes closed just as he kissed her forehead.
And his head dropped weeping on her body.
Padme looked at Anakin's morose and depressed face. She knew what had happened. The last time he had been this unhappy was at his mothers funeral.
"She died in my arms Padme...I could have saved her...She just died...just like that...in a moment..."
"I'm sorry Ani...I really am..." said Padme gently. She touched his shoulder and he turned around to avoid her eyes. "She had a final wish, Padme. She wants you to raise Arjuna...as one of your own...do you think you could-"
She put a finger on his lips "Say no more...he's already one of my own..." Padme left, Anakin gazing at the lake still, some of his Jedi suit still soaked in Nisha's blood...
Anakin sighed and picked a flower...
It was an earth flower, one of the most beautiful he had ever seen in his life, and he loved it's simple white beauty and intricate petal design...He held it against his heart...It was the same one she always used to put in her hair.
"I'll always remember you, my rose...always..."