Athena Leigh Thanks for reading!!!

Six: Suffocation

The room is not lit by conventional means. There seems to be no explanation for the warm golden ambience that hovers around the familiar furniture and reflects off the stainless walls, but the footsteps that approach offer an instantaneous justification

He stands tall, his chestnut and gray-streaked mane flowing to his shoulders. Broad shoulders, squared towards me, along with crisp, sapphire eyes.

"My Padawan."

I feel that illumination kindled within me, as that little blossom of affection blooms again under the shaft of gentle light.

We smile in silent unison.

I kneel a few feet away and close my eyes. I have the sensation of floating, but my legs are steadfast on the ground. It is only the rapture of the moment that has given me such detachment from my body. My braid dangles from behind my ear, in my line of vision.

Two rough fingertips grasp it with a nearly reverent tenderness, running over the beads already in place.

I wait for the next to be added, the ceramic marking stone of lessons learned and battles won. I wait, with my breath held tightly captive in my chest. I wait…

Until I must glance up, out of wonder for why I remain alone in a mounting cold.

There are no beads, to signify growth and accomplishment.

There are no sacred words, to unify and carry on the tradition.

I look forward, past the suddenly darkened living room and kitchen, and the door is covered in chains. My eyes fall downward—and so am I.

I'm awake without wandering through the muddle between unconsciousness and clarity…because something's wrong. Despite my complete lack of communion with the Force, I can't erase every Jedi-bred reaction within me. Something is very wrong.

I roll from my back to my feet, trying to hear over the thunder of my heart.

I'm engulfed in pure black. Everywhere.

This isn't my cell. It isn't a difficult observation to be reached. This…space is claustrophobically small,so that I can barely move without hitting into a wall- cold walls. Immediately I rush to inspect them, feeling along the corners for a hidden release. I haven't forgotten Cellmate's (Cellmate? Where's Cellmate?) information regarding trick escapes, and my eyes are wide with a shivery image of hope—an imitation of it, when I realize that this cell is secure, without bars. Indeed, I cannot even find where the door might be.

I step back, into the center of the tiny room.

I'm locked in. Worse, there are no locks. Because to have a lock, you need a door, right?

For air to seep in, you need some kind of venting system…or, at least, a crack between the bottom of the door and the floor.

For a person to survive, they need oxygen.

And so much more than that.

I try to focus on the facts of the situation, and rationalize, and consider every angle with attention to each detail.

But I've been alone too long.

I began my imprisonment in isolation. It's what poisoned my will to fight. How could I have known, that after I was granted the limited companionship of Cellmate, and the presence of the other inmates, that the venom had not been eradicated from my veins, that it still slithered silently, like a viper through my body, waiting for the right moment, waiting for the perfect chance to bare sharpened, curved fangs and seize the flesh of my sanity, skin that was already battered by unyielding steel and unending nights and rip down to the bone…

I press my hands over my face and shake my head. I grapple for the remnants of my Master in my mind, traces of him left from the dream.

But all I can see anymore is the eye, just one damn eye, unblinking. In the darkness of my mind, in the blank black of the room, it's a teasing mirage of dust.

I shake my head with wild fervor. "Master I can't breathe. There's no vents. I can't hear any air circulating and without doors or windows there's no light and there's no air so I can't breathe Master and I can't see." I feel warmth running down my face and my lips start to quiver, trembling so badly I can scarcely form words. "Master, I can't get out of here. I've done everything I can and I can't get out of here."

I echo in the small cell. With all the quiet, he should be able to hear me. Yes, he'll hear me and find me, because he always finds me.

This is all just a test..or a game, maybe. A game where it all ends with me trapped in a little dark box, and after a bit he opens the box and lets in the light and says 'surprise' and we laugh and forget about the bars and the lonely eye and everything else.

I stumble into the wall and press my face against it. "Master, can you hear me? I can't take anymore. There's only so much I can take, there's only so much anyone can take and I've been alone so long." I rake my fingernails down the wall. "So let me out, okay?"

I slide down to the ground,and wrap my arms around my chest. My eyes are clenched shut, so that I can pretend there's no darkness, no darkness that can't be chased away by the brightness that will come when he opens the door.

"I-I can't breathe."

"It's alright. We hear ya and we'll get y'out." A distant voice answers, almost shouting.

I sit up, blinking and wiping at my eyes. "Master?"