Disclaimer and such in Part 1
Soft lips pushing air into her mouth stirred Padme to consciousness. When the life-giving breath finally reached her lungs, she started to cough and tried to sit up, but strong hands held her down.
Qui-Gon's voice floated to her ears.
"Padawan, you must keep down. You have a dislocated shoulder and a nasty bruise across your ribcage that I still need to mend." She felt his calloused hands gently hold down her uninjured shoulder to keep her from getting up.
Only becoming aware of it upon Qui-gon's announcement, Padme felt the pain in her left shoulder grow to an overwhelming level. Taking a deep sigh and tapping into the Living Force around her, to ease both her pain and mind, she slowly opened her eyes. Kneeling above her was her Master. He didn't seem to be too badly injured but he did have a large gash across his right eyebrow, which barely missed his eye, and a bruise just below that on his cheekbone. Seeing his condition, she suddenly felt fear for all those who had been on their crashed ship.
Qui-Gon felt his Padawan's thoughts turn to ones of concern for Obi-Wan, Rohhe, and the rest of the crew. Laying a hand tenderly on her tangled braids, he spoke to her in a soft tone.
"Do not worry about Padawan Kenobi or Master Antol, they are both relatively all right; however, I'm sorry to say that some of the crew were not so lucky." He looked into her sad eyes.
"How many?" She questioned quietly after several moments of reflective silence.
"When our ship hit the ground another explosion came, killing four, three women and Captain Penkin, and injuring the remaining two."
A sigh escaped Padme's lips. This was not news she wanted to hear.
"I should have been able to protect them." Her frustration radiated off her like a tidal wave. She hated the fact that she had fallen unconscious.
Qui-Gon continued to stroke her hair and tried to send her calming thoughts through the Force.
"Padme...you know very well that the Force is present in all things. If it meant for those men and women to die, then there would be no possible way for us to change that, no matter the circumstances." He didn't wish to admonish her at a time as perilous as the one they were in, but he knew he had to help her to tap into her teachings and not feel guilty about the situation.
"Yes Master." She whispered and closed her eyes to hold a moment of reverence for all who had perished in the crash.
The sound of Qui-Gon's shifting body brought her back into the present.
When she felt a hesitation in him, her eyes opened to seek his out. He looked down and paused a moment before speaking.
"Padawan, I must get to tending your shoulder. Please, lie still for a moment." He paused again and met her eyes with a sad gaze, "This will hurt a great deal."
Padme nodded and closed her again to wait for the inevitable pain. She braced herself when she felt her master's hands travel from her right shoulder to her left.
Qui-Gon placed his left hand on the side of her collar bone and his right on her bicep. He hated having to hurt her, but there was no other option. Lining up the bones and his hands, Qui-Gon gave Padme's arm a forceful pushed towards it rightful socket, snapping the bones in place.
Padme stifled a scream by biting her tongue and clenching her right hand into a fist. As the initial pain wore off and was replaced with a dull throbbing, a tear rolled down her cheek, but Qui-gon gently wiped it away. Letting out the breath she had been holding, she looked up towards her Master. Instantly, she saw the look of remorse on his face and quickly put on a smile, through her heavy breathing, to reassure him.
"Really, Master, it wasn't that bad." Of course, he knew she was lying, but Qui-Gon played along with her charade and gave her a small smile in return.
"Padawan, I hate to tell you that I'm not trough yet, but I still need to brace your arm to your side, so your shoulder can rest and heal, and bandage your abdomen." With a nod from her, he helped her sit up. It was then that Padme got to get a good look at her surroundings.
The entire party was situated in a small glade, no bigger than fifteen meters across, under the thick forest canopy. Padme noticed that she and Qui-Gon were off towards the side of the clearing near a quiet little stream. She momentarily wondered why she had not picked up on the sound of the flowing water earlier, but discarded the thought when she looked across the stretch of grass to a scene that saddened her deeply.
Obi-Wan and Rohhe, along with the two members of the crew (two men) who had survived the crash, were digging small graves for the four who had died. Padme's eyes scanned the four men across the way, assessing their injuries. The tallest of the two men from the flight crew, Lt. Zared, had blast burns running all the way down his right side, including his face, and had a large, blood-soaked bandage circling his head. The other man from the flight crew, Lt. Canton, was faring a bit better with just a few broken ribs and some burns down only one of his legs. Master Antol was probably the best off, though. He only had a large gash on his left cheek and a slightly bleeding cut just above his left knee. Padme, however, was the most concerned with Obi-Wan, and quickly ran her eyes over his form. He didn't seem to be too injured, but the blood soaking through the bandages on his bruised abdomen and the gashes, from the cockpit window, on his right arm and face, sent daggers through her heart
The group of men had just finished covering the last grave, when Obi-Wan felt Padme's eyes on him. Quickly looking to where she was seated with Master Jinn, his face lit up. He was thrilled beyond words that she had awakened. To show her that all awkwardness was gone on his half, he gently reached out through their bond to probe her mind.
~How are you feeling?~ He asked while setting down his makeshift shovel and giving her a small smile.
~As best as I could given the circumstances, I suppose, but my shoulder and ribs are killing me. You should see how dark the bruise is that spans across my abdomen.~
Master Jinn glanced at Padme as her knelt in front of her to bandage her shoulder and ribcage, knowing quite well that she was deep in conversation with Obi-Wan. He could feel the bond between them starting to grow and anticipated that their current situation would only ensure that it would always be there, strong between them. Qui-Gon wasn't quite sure what the Force had in store for the two Padawans he and Rohhe had been carefully observing during their voyage to Iagone, but, through his meditations, he knew that Padme's path would always be intertwined with Obi-Wan's, no matter what happened in either of their lives.
~Obi-Wan, I...~ Padme started, but was cut off.
"Padawan, we cannot dwell here long. Can you stand?" Qui-Gon was now standing in front of her with his hands resting lightly on his hips.
Padme stared up at him for a moment, a little bit lost from coming so quickly out of her mental conversation with Obi-Wan.
"Um...I mean...yes, Master." Master Jinn stretched out his hand to help her to her feet. At first she was a bit dizzy, having been lying down for so long, but she soon got her footing and cleared her head.
The group of six gathered in the center of the clearing where the water and the rest of their supplies were piled.
"Alright," Master Antol spoke," we need to start out. I have already contacted the council and they are on their way, but as it took us one standard lunar cycle to get here, so will it be for them as well. We need to find some kind of permanent shelter and food source, protected and well away from our attackers. Is everyone agreed?" He looked around the small circle gathered around him. Everyone nodded their heads.
"Good, now, let us get moving." With that, he gathered what he could carry comfortably, as did everyone else, and walked out of the small glade, the remaining five following closely behind him. Padme paused a moment, though, before leaving the tiny sanctuary, to look upon, for the last time, the four shallow graves of her lost comrades.
The sun glittered through the canopy above, speckling light over the four mounds of dirt, while the calm trickling of the stream gave the grove a tranquility that finally filled Padme with the peace she needed to leave the four crewmembers behind.
"Padme?" Obi-Wan reentered the clearing with a questioning look.
"Coming." She called to him over her shoulder.
"May the Force be with you." She whispered and turned to follow the group into the unfamiliar wilderness, leaving the four she wished she had gotten to know better to their eternal rest.
Tbc...