Part Eighteen: The Mysterious Sandman
The first sun rose over the vast, empty landscape of Tatooine, beginning what would be the longest day in Arnold and Helga's young lives, athough neither of them knew it...yet.
Both of them watched the sunrise together, thinking about the feelings between them and the events of the last few days.
Unfortunately neither of them were very happy. Indeed both of them seemed very glum.
Helga had, in a shorter time than Arnold would have thought possible, mastered everything that she would need to control the Force. So his job was nearly over. Arnold would go back to being a Jedi Padawan and Helga would no doubt be returning to the Galactic Senate to complete her term of office.
Although they would have to stay here until they heard from Master Gerald and the others, but that wasen't nearly long enough.
Even though neither of them had actually said it, they both knew how the other felt and that soon those feelings would surely be impossible for them.
Arnold was the first one to break the silence.
"Helga, eventually we will have to talk about this," he began, looking ahead at the sunrise.
"Do we have do?" Helga said, looking down a moment, before turning her head towards him.
"Arnold continued, "We cannot pretend that soon we must part. Your training is complete. You've mastered all that you will need to learn to keep your powers in check. Soon my masters will return and our time together will be completed." He turned to look at her, and Helga could see the pain and regret in his eyes. "We cannot ignore our duities, no matter how we feel about one another. Soon you will have to return to the Senate and I to the Jedi Temple."
Helga nodded, sadly. "I know, but it's just that I..." She looked down again for a second and then looked at him and said, "I know that I'll never be able to look at another sunrise or sunset without thinking about you."
Arnold nodded and pulled Helga close to him, hugging her slightly, just happy to have her so close. "I know, I feel the same way. I wish that the universe can be the way we want it to be, and that everything can stay the way it is forever, but I know that you will always be there in my heart and my dreams, Helga Amidala."
Helga looked up at him, her eyes brightened slightly and a warm, pleasant smile crossed her lips. "Arnold Skywalker, that is...probably the sappiest thing I ever heard in my entire life football-head." She finished with a mock scowl and a small amused smile.
Arnold felt slightly better at Helga's antics, however he knew that beneath their smiles were sad feelings of their coming departure and seperation and both of them knew that the feelings that they developed for each other would eventually fade over time and that their brief romance would turn into just more past memories...good memories...but past ones to be sure.
The problem was that neither of them wanted to be apart again. They both loved one another, despite that which seperated them. Even though the universe was conspiring to seperate the two of them, neither of them really wanted to accept that fate.
Before either of them could say another word, both of them suddenly sensed something through The Force. A disturbance.
They looked up suddenly and turned their eyes to the east, towards the rocky terrain beyond the farmland.
"Arnold..." Helga began, but Arnold cut her off. "I know, I feel it too." He could sense that someone was in trouble.
"Hey there, shortman," Phil said, walking up to them, followed by Ernie. "What are you two looking at?"
"Grandpa, I think someone is in danger out there," Arnold said.
"Hummm...that's funny, nobody lives out that way, except for the Sandman." He told them.
Helga turned and looked at them strangely, "Sandman?"
Ernie spoke up then, "The Sandman is a strange hermit who lives out near the Dune Sea. Keeps to himself. Most people around think he's a nutcase."
"Whoever it is, they need help and I have to go," Arnold said.
"I'm going with you," Helga said.
"Helga, you should stay here with Grandma where it is safe," Arnold told her.
"Listen, bucko," Helga said, frowning. "Gerald said for you to protect me and so far, the safest place is with you, you said so. Plus I am a member of the Galactic Senate, I outrank you. So like I said, I'm coming with you!" She folded her arms for effect.
Arnold sighed and said, "Okay, I guess I should know better than to try and argue with you." He smiled slightly as he said that.
Helga matched his with a small smile of her own and a slightly wicked gleam in her eyes, "You got that right, football-head."
"Okay, lets go," Arnold said and ran with Helga over to his speeder bike and climbed on, then speed off towards the mountains.
Just after they'd left, Sid 3PO and Li-la Binks emerged from the spaceship in a hurry. They had been working on the impulse system when an emergency signal sounded from the subspace communicator.
They recieved the signal, which turned into a holographic message from Gerald Windu warning Arnold that the Sith were coming and to be alert.
Arnold raced the speeder bike over the dunes and the rocks, towards the disturbance he sensed. Helga was holding on tightly to him, which made Arnold smile to himself, enjoying having her hold him. Helga felt the same way.
The disturbance led them to a rocky, boulder-strewn area called Beggar's Canyon, where he slowed to a stop. Both of them dismounted and crept towards a series of smaller boulders. They could hear some talking and the sound of someone being hit. Together they peered over the rocks to see about a dozen Trade Federation Battle Droids surrounding large humanoid dressed in brown rags which covered most of his body and banages which covered his face entirely to protect it from the sun.
Arnold ducked back down, pulling Helga with him.
"What the heck are battle droids doing here?" Helga asked him in a whisper.
"I don't know, but we have to do something," Arnold said, thinking. Half of the droids were armed with clubs, while the others were armed with lazer blasters. Good enough odds with his lightsaber...
Helga stood up abruptly, showing herself to the droids.
"Helga?! What are you doing?!" Arnold asked her in shocked suprise. "Get down here before..."
Too late, three of the battle droids with the lazers began to march over to her holding their weapons at the ready.
"Arnold, stay down," She whispered to him out of the corner of her mouth. "Remember, I'm the Senator here. This looks like it calls for a diplomatic solution."
Arnold personally thought that maybe the heat was getting to her, but he stayed hidden out of the droid's sight, his lightsaber out and ready to activate if she needed help.
The three droids stood before her, all of them holding their weapons on her. The one in the middle, obviously the commander, spoke, "Who are you? State your business here!"
Helga stood up strait and with dignity answered, "I am Senator Helga Amidala of the Galactic Senate. Why are you picking on that helpless individual?"
"We are ordered by our master, Patty The Hutt to recruit people for labor purposes," The droid coldly informed her.
Helga frowned, "I see, well in that case..." Before the three droids could react, Helga struck out her hand and smached the three droids into the nearby rocks. The leader dropped his blaster, which Helga summoned with The Force and fired, hitting a few more near the fallen sandman.
Arnold stood up then and ignited his lightsaber, which drew the fire of the three remaining battle droids armed with lazers. He easily deflected the blasts hitting more of the droids. The last ones where taken out by Helga who fired her "borrowed" lazer blaster, hitting the last one right in the head.
Arnold was impressed by her shooting skills and how easlily she'd caught the droids off guard, as well as her improved skill with The Force. Incredulously at what he had done. He turned to her and asked, "That's what you call a 'diplomatic solution'?"
Helga surveyed the damaged they'd inflicted. "No," she answered, then turned to him and said, with a twinkle in her eye, "That's what I call an 'aggressive negotiation', football-head." She walked towards the Sandman, who was starting to recover from the beating he'd been given.
Arnold look after her, finding himself smiling and shook his head. Then he turned to check on the Sandman.
The Sandman, for his part, looked at then through his dark glassy eyewear covered by bandages and rags...and seemed to freeze at the sight of them. Arnold and Helga both felt fear coming from him. He began to back away from them and turn to run.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Arnold called out as the Sandman began to run and tripped over a small rock sticking out of the ground. He fell and hit the ground hard on his stomach, the bandages covering his face and held falling free.
Arnold and Helga ran over to help. they turned him over and Arnold heard Helga gasp in shocked suprise.
He looked over at her, "What's wrong, Helga?"
Helga didn't hear him. Instead, she was too busy looking down at the terrified look on the stranger's face, realizing that he was no stranger to her at all. Even though she hadn't seen him in years.
The Sandman looked back at Helga, with an equally shocked and suprised look on his face.
"H-helga?!" He spoke, suprising Arnold, though not as much as what Helga said in response...
"D-Dad?!"
Arnold blinked and looked at the man...Helga's long lost father.
To be Continued...
Next Chapter...The identity of the Sith Master is revealed, stay tuned! -D.R.
The first sun rose over the vast, empty landscape of Tatooine, beginning what would be the longest day in Arnold and Helga's young lives, athough neither of them knew it...yet.
Both of them watched the sunrise together, thinking about the feelings between them and the events of the last few days.
Unfortunately neither of them were very happy. Indeed both of them seemed very glum.
Helga had, in a shorter time than Arnold would have thought possible, mastered everything that she would need to control the Force. So his job was nearly over. Arnold would go back to being a Jedi Padawan and Helga would no doubt be returning to the Galactic Senate to complete her term of office.
Although they would have to stay here until they heard from Master Gerald and the others, but that wasen't nearly long enough.
Even though neither of them had actually said it, they both knew how the other felt and that soon those feelings would surely be impossible for them.
Arnold was the first one to break the silence.
"Helga, eventually we will have to talk about this," he began, looking ahead at the sunrise.
"Do we have do?" Helga said, looking down a moment, before turning her head towards him.
"Arnold continued, "We cannot pretend that soon we must part. Your training is complete. You've mastered all that you will need to learn to keep your powers in check. Soon my masters will return and our time together will be completed." He turned to look at her, and Helga could see the pain and regret in his eyes. "We cannot ignore our duities, no matter how we feel about one another. Soon you will have to return to the Senate and I to the Jedi Temple."
Helga nodded, sadly. "I know, but it's just that I..." She looked down again for a second and then looked at him and said, "I know that I'll never be able to look at another sunrise or sunset without thinking about you."
Arnold nodded and pulled Helga close to him, hugging her slightly, just happy to have her so close. "I know, I feel the same way. I wish that the universe can be the way we want it to be, and that everything can stay the way it is forever, but I know that you will always be there in my heart and my dreams, Helga Amidala."
Helga looked up at him, her eyes brightened slightly and a warm, pleasant smile crossed her lips. "Arnold Skywalker, that is...probably the sappiest thing I ever heard in my entire life football-head." She finished with a mock scowl and a small amused smile.
Arnold felt slightly better at Helga's antics, however he knew that beneath their smiles were sad feelings of their coming departure and seperation and both of them knew that the feelings that they developed for each other would eventually fade over time and that their brief romance would turn into just more past memories...good memories...but past ones to be sure.
The problem was that neither of them wanted to be apart again. They both loved one another, despite that which seperated them. Even though the universe was conspiring to seperate the two of them, neither of them really wanted to accept that fate.
Before either of them could say another word, both of them suddenly sensed something through The Force. A disturbance.
They looked up suddenly and turned their eyes to the east, towards the rocky terrain beyond the farmland.
"Arnold..." Helga began, but Arnold cut her off. "I know, I feel it too." He could sense that someone was in trouble.
"Hey there, shortman," Phil said, walking up to them, followed by Ernie. "What are you two looking at?"
"Grandpa, I think someone is in danger out there," Arnold said.
"Hummm...that's funny, nobody lives out that way, except for the Sandman." He told them.
Helga turned and looked at them strangely, "Sandman?"
Ernie spoke up then, "The Sandman is a strange hermit who lives out near the Dune Sea. Keeps to himself. Most people around think he's a nutcase."
"Whoever it is, they need help and I have to go," Arnold said.
"I'm going with you," Helga said.
"Helga, you should stay here with Grandma where it is safe," Arnold told her.
"Listen, bucko," Helga said, frowning. "Gerald said for you to protect me and so far, the safest place is with you, you said so. Plus I am a member of the Galactic Senate, I outrank you. So like I said, I'm coming with you!" She folded her arms for effect.
Arnold sighed and said, "Okay, I guess I should know better than to try and argue with you." He smiled slightly as he said that.
Helga matched his with a small smile of her own and a slightly wicked gleam in her eyes, "You got that right, football-head."
"Okay, lets go," Arnold said and ran with Helga over to his speeder bike and climbed on, then speed off towards the mountains.
Just after they'd left, Sid 3PO and Li-la Binks emerged from the spaceship in a hurry. They had been working on the impulse system when an emergency signal sounded from the subspace communicator.
They recieved the signal, which turned into a holographic message from Gerald Windu warning Arnold that the Sith were coming and to be alert.
Arnold raced the speeder bike over the dunes and the rocks, towards the disturbance he sensed. Helga was holding on tightly to him, which made Arnold smile to himself, enjoying having her hold him. Helga felt the same way.
The disturbance led them to a rocky, boulder-strewn area called Beggar's Canyon, where he slowed to a stop. Both of them dismounted and crept towards a series of smaller boulders. They could hear some talking and the sound of someone being hit. Together they peered over the rocks to see about a dozen Trade Federation Battle Droids surrounding large humanoid dressed in brown rags which covered most of his body and banages which covered his face entirely to protect it from the sun.
Arnold ducked back down, pulling Helga with him.
"What the heck are battle droids doing here?" Helga asked him in a whisper.
"I don't know, but we have to do something," Arnold said, thinking. Half of the droids were armed with clubs, while the others were armed with lazer blasters. Good enough odds with his lightsaber...
Helga stood up abruptly, showing herself to the droids.
"Helga?! What are you doing?!" Arnold asked her in shocked suprise. "Get down here before..."
Too late, three of the battle droids with the lazers began to march over to her holding their weapons at the ready.
"Arnold, stay down," She whispered to him out of the corner of her mouth. "Remember, I'm the Senator here. This looks like it calls for a diplomatic solution."
Arnold personally thought that maybe the heat was getting to her, but he stayed hidden out of the droid's sight, his lightsaber out and ready to activate if she needed help.
The three droids stood before her, all of them holding their weapons on her. The one in the middle, obviously the commander, spoke, "Who are you? State your business here!"
Helga stood up strait and with dignity answered, "I am Senator Helga Amidala of the Galactic Senate. Why are you picking on that helpless individual?"
"We are ordered by our master, Patty The Hutt to recruit people for labor purposes," The droid coldly informed her.
Helga frowned, "I see, well in that case..." Before the three droids could react, Helga struck out her hand and smached the three droids into the nearby rocks. The leader dropped his blaster, which Helga summoned with The Force and fired, hitting a few more near the fallen sandman.
Arnold stood up then and ignited his lightsaber, which drew the fire of the three remaining battle droids armed with lazers. He easily deflected the blasts hitting more of the droids. The last ones where taken out by Helga who fired her "borrowed" lazer blaster, hitting the last one right in the head.
Arnold was impressed by her shooting skills and how easlily she'd caught the droids off guard, as well as her improved skill with The Force. Incredulously at what he had done. He turned to her and asked, "That's what you call a 'diplomatic solution'?"
Helga surveyed the damaged they'd inflicted. "No," she answered, then turned to him and said, with a twinkle in her eye, "That's what I call an 'aggressive negotiation', football-head." She walked towards the Sandman, who was starting to recover from the beating he'd been given.
Arnold look after her, finding himself smiling and shook his head. Then he turned to check on the Sandman.
The Sandman, for his part, looked at then through his dark glassy eyewear covered by bandages and rags...and seemed to freeze at the sight of them. Arnold and Helga both felt fear coming from him. He began to back away from them and turn to run.
"Wait! Where are you going?" Arnold called out as the Sandman began to run and tripped over a small rock sticking out of the ground. He fell and hit the ground hard on his stomach, the bandages covering his face and held falling free.
Arnold and Helga ran over to help. they turned him over and Arnold heard Helga gasp in shocked suprise.
He looked over at her, "What's wrong, Helga?"
Helga didn't hear him. Instead, she was too busy looking down at the terrified look on the stranger's face, realizing that he was no stranger to her at all. Even though she hadn't seen him in years.
The Sandman looked back at Helga, with an equally shocked and suprised look on his face.
"H-helga?!" He spoke, suprising Arnold, though not as much as what Helga said in response...
"D-Dad?!"
Arnold blinked and looked at the man...Helga's long lost father.
To be Continued...
Next Chapter...The identity of the Sith Master is revealed, stay tuned! -D.R.