part 2 of "New Beginnings." Disclaimer in part 1.
A/N: Layla was literally betrayed and abandoned by her family when she turned 18, so that kind of explains some of the stuff that's said here.
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"Yeah, I know! I'm trying here, ok? Geez, give me a break! Hey, do me a favor and try to find the coordinates for Naboo whilst I figure this crazy thing out," I replied.
"Yeah, all right. How the hell am I supposed to do that?" she scoffed.
"I don't bloody know! Check that starchart over there or something!" I suggested, gesturing towards the hologram that hovered in the air next to her.
"Right," she agreed.
While she was doing that, I went back to trying to get the ship off the ground. Sending out a prayer to the Force and whatever other deity that might have been listening to me, I pulled back on another lever, letting out a loud whoop of triumph as the engines fired up and and the transport rose into the air.
"WOO-HOO! Yes!" Casey and I shrieked in unison as the darkness of space surrounded us, giving each other a high-five.
"Did you find the coordinates?" I asked hopefully. If she hadn't, this was going to be one short trip.
"Yeah," she answered, entering them into the nav-computer. I sighed in relief.
A few moments later, an indicator light flashed on the control panel in front of me, alerting us that it was safe for us to take the ship into hyperspace. Casey and I exchanged nervous glances. Letting the Force guide me this time, I pulled back on another lever and a moment later the stars seemed to shift around us as we entered lightspeed.
"All right! We did it!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, we're in the clear for right now, but what if they have a way of tracking us?" Casey said pointedly.
I didn't answer for a long time, but instead gazed thoughtfully out the viewport at the darkness of space around us. The sight of it was almost hypnotizing if you stared at it long enough. I had to admit, Casey had a good point. It hadn't even occured to me until just now that the Council would have a way of tracking us down.
Finally I spoke again. "Let's just hope not. We're doing this for a good cause, but I don't know if the Council is going to see it that way. If they do track us down before we get there, we're basically screwed as screwed can be," I said quietly.
Neither of us spoke for a few minutes. The only sound to be heard was that of our breathing and the soft humming noise coming from the ship's engines. I couldn't stand it. The silence that had fallen in the air between us seemed far more deafening than even the shrillest of screams.
"So what's your plan now?" Casey asked suddenly, her quiet voice startling me out of my reverie.
I shook my head and glanced over at my friend. "Hmmm? What?" I muttered.
"I asked you what your plan was," she repeated. I didn't answer for a moment, lost in my own thoughts again, but I was brought back to reality by Casey grabbing my arm a bit roughly. "You do have a plan, right?" she demanded.
"Casey, Casey, Casey. Of course I've got a plan. Everything is totally under control," I assured her.
She looked at me expectantly now, letting go of my arm. "Well what is it, then, Miss I've Got Everything Under Control?" Casey prompted impatiently, her tone becoming just a bit sarcastic.
"The pit area just on the other side of those red shield walls," I said softly, mostly to myself.
"What about it?" she asked, looking slightly confused for a moment.
"We have to get there ahead of them. Everything depends on it," I replied quietly, as if this explained everything.
"Okay? Would you mind expanding on that just a little bit here?" Casey asked.
I sighed. "You remember that one part in the movie where they all got stuck behind those stupid red shields?" I asked.
She nodded. "Eee-yeah. Why?" she said hesitantly.
"All right. We'll simply slip past the shields, go around the pit, and find a place where we can conceal ourselves while we wait for them to show up. We let the scene play out partially the way it was meant to, just until Obi-Wan gets stuck behind the last shield. Then we'll jump in and distract Maul until Obi-Wan can get to us and slice Maul in half and send him hurtling down into oblivion. Simple as that. Good plan, huh?" I elaborated proudly.
Casey just stared at me in stunned silence for a long time. The shocked expression on her face plainly said, *Have you lost your merry little mind?!* Finally she spoke, breaking the silence, reaching over and whacking me upside the head.
"Hey, what the heck was that for?!" I demanded irritably, glaring at her as I rubbed the sore spot on my head where she had smacked me.
"Layla, you've lost your merry little mind! You're out of your gourd. It's finally happened. You've snapped. That is the *stupidest* thing I've heard yet, can I just say that? Just out of curiosity, exactly how long did it take you to think that up?" Casey said bluntly.
I gave her a wounded look. "I didn't hear you give any suggestions," I pointed out to her, pouting just a little bit.
"Layla, this is a Sith we're talking about here. Just how long do you think we're going to be able to hold our own against him? You know just as well as I do that once we get involved in the fight, he's going to come after us too," she remarked.
"Casey, I'm not going back on this. There's no way. It's too late for me to back out now. I told you that you didn't have to come with me if you didn't want to. You could have stayed at the Temple," I said, raising my chin slightly in a gesture of defiance.
Casey rolled her eyes. "Okay, stop that *right* now. You are not pulling that 'I don't have a friend in the world' bullcrap again. It's really starting to get old. You think that just because you were betrayed and abandoned *one* time, you don't need anybody and you can take on the universe alone. Well I've got news for you. You can't. You aren't invincible, nobody is. Not even the Jedi," she snapped.
Speechless, I stared at her for a long time, totally taken aback. Her words had struck a chord in my heart, and though I wanted to deny it, I knew I couldn't. But I still couldn't help thinking that she didn't understand what I had been through. I felt the sudden sting of unshed tears rising in my eyes and I turned away then, not wanting her to see me like that. I had never been one to cry in front of anyone else. To me, it was a sign of weakness and vulnerability, and I had felt that way far too much during the last two months. I couldn't afford to now, not with so much at stake here.
Suddenly I felt her hand fall on my shoulder. I hesitated for a moment before turning back to face her.
"Look, Layla. I'm sorry. I know you've been through a lot lately. I had no right to blow up at you like that. Truce?" she said apologetically.
I nodded. "Truce," I agreed.
"Good. Hey, do you want to spar for a while?" Casey suggested, obviously trying to cheer me up.
"Sure, why not? Sounds fun. Just let me figure out how to put this thing on autopilot or something," I said.
Casey glanced over at the control panel for a moment, then turned back to me and tapped me lightly on the arm. I looked over at her and saw the look she was giving me that clearly said, *You must be blind.*
"What?" I asked, looking at her curiously.
"Ummm, Layla? Look right there," she remarked.
I followed her gaze and immediately felt like an idiot. Right there in the center of the control panel was a lever marked 'autopilot'. I laughed weakly as I felt my cheeks flaming with embarrassment.
"Oh, ummm, hehe, right. I feel like a total dork now," I muttered as I pulled back on the lever.
Casey rolled her eyes and smacked me upside my head again. I yelped in pain and glared at her, massaging my head where she had smacked me. She only started laughing hysterically.
"Don't worry. You are a dork," she commented.
"Hmph! Well, I'm glad to see that at least *someone* is getting some amusement out of my pain and apparent stupidity," I shot back sarcastically.
"Here, have an emotional band-aid," she said, grinning like an idiot as we both stood up.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Hey, that's my expression, you poop. If we live though this, remind me to disown you," I said jokingly as we headed for the lounge.
"Huh?! You wouldn't really do that, would you?" Casey asked, startled.
I laughed. "No, you know I wouldn't ever do anything like that. I may be an evil, vindictive little witch, but I'm not *that* mean," I reassured her.
"Good," she said with a sigh of relief.
We both came to a halt as we reached the lounge, and turned to face each other. Unhooking our lightsabers from our belts, we ignited them and the blades blazed into existence with a snap-hiss, mine a dark magenta, and Casey's a deep emerald green that instantly reminded me of the lightsaber that Qui-Gon carried.
"Do you want to start, or do you want me to?" I asked.
Casey shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. I think I started last time, so you can start this time if you want to," she said indifferently.
I nodded. This was a classic thing with us. We had both constructed fake lightsabers a few months ago in a moment of sheer boredom, and we sparred with each other whenever we got together. We had a routine set of katas already worked out which I started now, taking a somewhat narrow swing at her with my blade, which she easily deflected.
"Ha! You missed! You're getting sloppy!" Casey gloated.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Don't get cocky," I said, quickly dodging a swing to my midsection.
"You're just jealous," she joked.
Parry. Thrust. Feint. Dodge. "Me, jealous? Never. A Jedi does not get jealous," I countered playfully.
She grinned as she aimed another blow towards my shoulder, which I blocked easily. We had been through this same set of katas at least a thousand times in the past, but now that we could actually use the Force, we were able to sense each other's movements before we even made them.
"Of course. I stand corrected once again," she conceded.
I laughed as I feinted a swing to the right and then went for her unguarded left side. But again, she blocked my move. Paraphrasing just a little bit, I repeated Yoda's oft-spoken phrase, doing my best impression of the dimunitive Jedi Master.
"Jealousy leads to fear. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering," I said.
Casey aimed a swing to my unguarded side, but I blocked her blade, twirling out of harm's way gracefully. Then I rushed at her again, deciding that it was her turn to be on the defensive now.
"Do you surrender yet?" I taunted playfully.
"Never! I will never surrender!" she said dramatically, dodging my swin before launching another counter-attack.
"Then prepare to meet your end, Sith!" I shrieked.
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine," she said calmly as she blocked another blow.
"Oh that is just *such* a rip-off of one of Obi-Wan's lines," I remarked.
She looked at me, unperturbed, as our blades met, hissing and sparking for a moment with the combined energy. I met her gaze, then pushed her backwards as I spun away. But Casey had quickly regained her footing and we went at each other again.
A/N: Layla was literally betrayed and abandoned by her family when she turned 18, so that kind of explains some of the stuff that's said here.
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"Yeah, I know! I'm trying here, ok? Geez, give me a break! Hey, do me a favor and try to find the coordinates for Naboo whilst I figure this crazy thing out," I replied.
"Yeah, all right. How the hell am I supposed to do that?" she scoffed.
"I don't bloody know! Check that starchart over there or something!" I suggested, gesturing towards the hologram that hovered in the air next to her.
"Right," she agreed.
While she was doing that, I went back to trying to get the ship off the ground. Sending out a prayer to the Force and whatever other deity that might have been listening to me, I pulled back on another lever, letting out a loud whoop of triumph as the engines fired up and and the transport rose into the air.
"WOO-HOO! Yes!" Casey and I shrieked in unison as the darkness of space surrounded us, giving each other a high-five.
"Did you find the coordinates?" I asked hopefully. If she hadn't, this was going to be one short trip.
"Yeah," she answered, entering them into the nav-computer. I sighed in relief.
A few moments later, an indicator light flashed on the control panel in front of me, alerting us that it was safe for us to take the ship into hyperspace. Casey and I exchanged nervous glances. Letting the Force guide me this time, I pulled back on another lever and a moment later the stars seemed to shift around us as we entered lightspeed.
"All right! We did it!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, we're in the clear for right now, but what if they have a way of tracking us?" Casey said pointedly.
I didn't answer for a long time, but instead gazed thoughtfully out the viewport at the darkness of space around us. The sight of it was almost hypnotizing if you stared at it long enough. I had to admit, Casey had a good point. It hadn't even occured to me until just now that the Council would have a way of tracking us down.
Finally I spoke again. "Let's just hope not. We're doing this for a good cause, but I don't know if the Council is going to see it that way. If they do track us down before we get there, we're basically screwed as screwed can be," I said quietly.
Neither of us spoke for a few minutes. The only sound to be heard was that of our breathing and the soft humming noise coming from the ship's engines. I couldn't stand it. The silence that had fallen in the air between us seemed far more deafening than even the shrillest of screams.
"So what's your plan now?" Casey asked suddenly, her quiet voice startling me out of my reverie.
I shook my head and glanced over at my friend. "Hmmm? What?" I muttered.
"I asked you what your plan was," she repeated. I didn't answer for a moment, lost in my own thoughts again, but I was brought back to reality by Casey grabbing my arm a bit roughly. "You do have a plan, right?" she demanded.
"Casey, Casey, Casey. Of course I've got a plan. Everything is totally under control," I assured her.
She looked at me expectantly now, letting go of my arm. "Well what is it, then, Miss I've Got Everything Under Control?" Casey prompted impatiently, her tone becoming just a bit sarcastic.
"The pit area just on the other side of those red shield walls," I said softly, mostly to myself.
"What about it?" she asked, looking slightly confused for a moment.
"We have to get there ahead of them. Everything depends on it," I replied quietly, as if this explained everything.
"Okay? Would you mind expanding on that just a little bit here?" Casey asked.
I sighed. "You remember that one part in the movie where they all got stuck behind those stupid red shields?" I asked.
She nodded. "Eee-yeah. Why?" she said hesitantly.
"All right. We'll simply slip past the shields, go around the pit, and find a place where we can conceal ourselves while we wait for them to show up. We let the scene play out partially the way it was meant to, just until Obi-Wan gets stuck behind the last shield. Then we'll jump in and distract Maul until Obi-Wan can get to us and slice Maul in half and send him hurtling down into oblivion. Simple as that. Good plan, huh?" I elaborated proudly.
Casey just stared at me in stunned silence for a long time. The shocked expression on her face plainly said, *Have you lost your merry little mind?!* Finally she spoke, breaking the silence, reaching over and whacking me upside the head.
"Hey, what the heck was that for?!" I demanded irritably, glaring at her as I rubbed the sore spot on my head where she had smacked me.
"Layla, you've lost your merry little mind! You're out of your gourd. It's finally happened. You've snapped. That is the *stupidest* thing I've heard yet, can I just say that? Just out of curiosity, exactly how long did it take you to think that up?" Casey said bluntly.
I gave her a wounded look. "I didn't hear you give any suggestions," I pointed out to her, pouting just a little bit.
"Layla, this is a Sith we're talking about here. Just how long do you think we're going to be able to hold our own against him? You know just as well as I do that once we get involved in the fight, he's going to come after us too," she remarked.
"Casey, I'm not going back on this. There's no way. It's too late for me to back out now. I told you that you didn't have to come with me if you didn't want to. You could have stayed at the Temple," I said, raising my chin slightly in a gesture of defiance.
Casey rolled her eyes. "Okay, stop that *right* now. You are not pulling that 'I don't have a friend in the world' bullcrap again. It's really starting to get old. You think that just because you were betrayed and abandoned *one* time, you don't need anybody and you can take on the universe alone. Well I've got news for you. You can't. You aren't invincible, nobody is. Not even the Jedi," she snapped.
Speechless, I stared at her for a long time, totally taken aback. Her words had struck a chord in my heart, and though I wanted to deny it, I knew I couldn't. But I still couldn't help thinking that she didn't understand what I had been through. I felt the sudden sting of unshed tears rising in my eyes and I turned away then, not wanting her to see me like that. I had never been one to cry in front of anyone else. To me, it was a sign of weakness and vulnerability, and I had felt that way far too much during the last two months. I couldn't afford to now, not with so much at stake here.
Suddenly I felt her hand fall on my shoulder. I hesitated for a moment before turning back to face her.
"Look, Layla. I'm sorry. I know you've been through a lot lately. I had no right to blow up at you like that. Truce?" she said apologetically.
I nodded. "Truce," I agreed.
"Good. Hey, do you want to spar for a while?" Casey suggested, obviously trying to cheer me up.
"Sure, why not? Sounds fun. Just let me figure out how to put this thing on autopilot or something," I said.
Casey glanced over at the control panel for a moment, then turned back to me and tapped me lightly on the arm. I looked over at her and saw the look she was giving me that clearly said, *You must be blind.*
"What?" I asked, looking at her curiously.
"Ummm, Layla? Look right there," she remarked.
I followed her gaze and immediately felt like an idiot. Right there in the center of the control panel was a lever marked 'autopilot'. I laughed weakly as I felt my cheeks flaming with embarrassment.
"Oh, ummm, hehe, right. I feel like a total dork now," I muttered as I pulled back on the lever.
Casey rolled her eyes and smacked me upside my head again. I yelped in pain and glared at her, massaging my head where she had smacked me. She only started laughing hysterically.
"Don't worry. You are a dork," she commented.
"Hmph! Well, I'm glad to see that at least *someone* is getting some amusement out of my pain and apparent stupidity," I shot back sarcastically.
"Here, have an emotional band-aid," she said, grinning like an idiot as we both stood up.
I rolled my eyes at her. "Hey, that's my expression, you poop. If we live though this, remind me to disown you," I said jokingly as we headed for the lounge.
"Huh?! You wouldn't really do that, would you?" Casey asked, startled.
I laughed. "No, you know I wouldn't ever do anything like that. I may be an evil, vindictive little witch, but I'm not *that* mean," I reassured her.
"Good," she said with a sigh of relief.
We both came to a halt as we reached the lounge, and turned to face each other. Unhooking our lightsabers from our belts, we ignited them and the blades blazed into existence with a snap-hiss, mine a dark magenta, and Casey's a deep emerald green that instantly reminded me of the lightsaber that Qui-Gon carried.
"Do you want to start, or do you want me to?" I asked.
Casey shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. I think I started last time, so you can start this time if you want to," she said indifferently.
I nodded. This was a classic thing with us. We had both constructed fake lightsabers a few months ago in a moment of sheer boredom, and we sparred with each other whenever we got together. We had a routine set of katas already worked out which I started now, taking a somewhat narrow swing at her with my blade, which she easily deflected.
"Ha! You missed! You're getting sloppy!" Casey gloated.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Don't get cocky," I said, quickly dodging a swing to my midsection.
"You're just jealous," she joked.
Parry. Thrust. Feint. Dodge. "Me, jealous? Never. A Jedi does not get jealous," I countered playfully.
She grinned as she aimed another blow towards my shoulder, which I blocked easily. We had been through this same set of katas at least a thousand times in the past, but now that we could actually use the Force, we were able to sense each other's movements before we even made them.
"Of course. I stand corrected once again," she conceded.
I laughed as I feinted a swing to the right and then went for her unguarded left side. But again, she blocked my move. Paraphrasing just a little bit, I repeated Yoda's oft-spoken phrase, doing my best impression of the dimunitive Jedi Master.
"Jealousy leads to fear. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering," I said.
Casey aimed a swing to my unguarded side, but I blocked her blade, twirling out of harm's way gracefully. Then I rushed at her again, deciding that it was her turn to be on the defensive now.
"Do you surrender yet?" I taunted playfully.
"Never! I will never surrender!" she said dramatically, dodging my swin before launching another counter-attack.
"Then prepare to meet your end, Sith!" I shrieked.
"If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine," she said calmly as she blocked another blow.
"Oh that is just *such* a rip-off of one of Obi-Wan's lines," I remarked.
She looked at me, unperturbed, as our blades met, hissing and sparking for a moment with the combined energy. I met her gaze, then pushed her backwards as I spun away. But Casey had quickly regained her footing and we went at each other again.