Darkness Upon Us Creeps
Clutches
I brace myself as my back slams into the hard ground. The breath is knocked from me and I can barely keep my head from smacking the unforgiving turf. I feel the blast ripple through me. You lie beside me, my Master. Your eyes are closed; you are already unconscious.
I crawl, maybe the better word is squirm to you. It takes a few minutes but I finally reach you before our attackers arrive. "Master!" I touch your cheek with a red-stained hand. "Don't let go." Uncaring steps emerge from the trees as I fall upon you, darkly asleep.
My heart jolts as I wake and realize it was a dream. Then it drops into my feet when I remember that it was more than that and that we are in great danger. The cold, stone walls are tight around us. I can hear the other prisoners yelling and fighting. I am frightened, but I am a Jedi. I accept my fear and let it pass through me, as you would.
I turn to look up at you, sleeping in the corner, arms folded around me protectively. You have taken the brunt of the punishments; I am just a child to them. You are the Master, the one in charge, the one they need to - want to - break.
In your usual selfless manner, you've wrapped me in our only warmth-providing item. I do not know how you managed to retain your cloak. I brush my hand on your naked chest and arm. We should be sharing this cloak, but I am afraid that I will wake you if I try to remove it. Should I let you sleep, or can I risk letting you be cold and maybe getting sick? We need to be at our best if we are going to escape, so I decide I must cover you.
I reposition myself and begin unwinding the dark cloth. You stir and I freeze, but it is too late. Your stormy eyes look at me, and I continue with my actions. You try to push it away when I lay it upon you, but I don't let you. "You need to be covered." The brown material is draped upon us.
You sigh at your lack of strength and close your eyes, the midnight blue drained by this place to grey like these walls around us. You are so weak; I must take over as protector, but what hope have I of freeing us if you could not?
I rest here against you, pressing my eyes shut, tears rising over the banks and spilling onto your supporting chest. I do not know what they are going to do next to us. Your rough hands cup my head; only the skin is rough, the touch ever gentle. "We will be all right," you say, a promise in this dark hole. I want to believe. You urge me to rest, and I do leaning against you.
Suddenly I am pushed aside as you start coughing, doubling over in the fit. I feel I can hear every wound on your body as I watch you. You try to wipe the blood from your hand without letting me see, but I do. Force, Master, they're destroying you! I know what they've done to you, and I won't let them touch you again. I will get us out of here. That is my promise.
I hear them coming. The key rattles and the gate opens. I charge and knock down the guard; he was not expecting that. I try for the next but he throws me against the wall. You are on your feet now and attack him, but in your state you cannot fend off his blow as he strikes you in the head. I watch in despair as your elegant frame falls, ever gracefully, to the floor.
Fortunately for us, the guard was also watching you. Quickly, I recover and grab the first guard's weapon, smashing the remaining man with it. He falls beside you, but I push him away. I take your head in my lap and touch your hair. "Master!" I cry. Now is our best chance to escape. "Please, please, wake up, Qui-Gon. Please, we have to go!"
Suddenly, I am being pulled from you and dragged away. More guards have come. "No!" I won't let them separate us. I struggle to get loose but to no avail.
I wake up sometime later back in the empty cell. It must have gotten colder because I am shivering violently. I worry for you, fear maybe even that I've lost you. I huddle in the corner and wait.
A long time passes before they drag you, hardly moving under your own power, to the cell and drop you on the dirty floor. I can barely tell you are alive. I wait until they leave, then remove your cloak from where it was hidden beneath the loose stone you found in the floor. I crawl to you, very slowly for my own wounds ache terribly, and lay the garment upon your shaking body. I see the bloody streaks on your back, all the fresh wounds. It is my fault.
I move around to face you, stretching out beside you. You sense my presence and open your bloodshot eyes, a ghost of a smile touching your lips.
I frown. "How can you do that?"
"What?" Your voice is hoarse from the brutal treatment you've received.
"Smile." My eyes start to pool again. "How can you smile in this place? How can you smile when we are probably going to die here?"
The corners of your mouth never turn down. "I smile because I have you." You try to speak and your voice cracks. "I smile because I know that if I die, I will be with you. I smile because it hurts too much to frown." Your thick fingers touch my face, feel the cool moisture running down across the bridge of my nose. I see now the tears in your own misty orbs yet you smile at me and try to pull me close. I make it easier by moving closer to you, slipping beside you under the brown blanket, wrapping my arms about you. I can't help crying, but I know it doesn't matter because I am with you.
I will get us out. I have to. I can't let the galaxy lose someone like you.
