A/N: Yet another chapter cometh.
Chapter Thirteen
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The tables were set. By one O' clock, they had packed their things as well essential food items for the long trip back to Coruscant, and each remaining member of the anxious Jedi team was waiting for Obi-Wan to fly their reasonably large ship, codename Innuendo, against the balcony sill for their planned escape.
Vespasian paced with a blunt chin in his webbed hand, while Anamaria watched him, her frequent throat-clearing betraying the fact that she was as nervous as any of them. Anakin sat deftly in a chair beside the bed, his back stiff as a board, but fidgeting often due to the action that he was sitting right next to a mass murderer, and, consequentially, the one who had slain his idol: Qui-Gon Jinn. The young ten-year-old was oblivious to the fact, however, that the very same murderer had supposedly saved his life in a futuristic sense.
"Ana...?" He questioned in a hushed tone, like a frightened child calling to its mother in the dark. His hands wrung continuously in a nervous gesture, and the silence was threatening to consume him. Anamaria, in turn, appealed to meet him, her eyes welcoming, but only as anxious as any other's eyes were. Without a word, the little boy crawled into her arms, and held her tightly, expecting no such gesticulation in return, but quite surprised, nonetheless, when the young padawan squeezed him tightly.
"It's okay, Ani... we're going home..." She reassured him, whispering gently into his ear, just as though his mother were whispering lullabies when he was a baby. She sang so sweetly. He missed her voice very much, and wished sometimes that he had refused to leave without her. But then, he had to remind himself that one day he would see her again, and free her from the wickedness, and sinful act that was slavery. No, he would free EVERY oppressed being from the jaws of slavery. His friends, his caretakers, and everyone else.
"Ana..." He asked, curling up in her embrace, "Do you ever feel lonely...?"
Anamaria cocked her head gently in his bushy hair, her eyes gentle with a suppressed calm. Anakin could be such an enigma at times. Then again, there was talk of him being the Chosen One, who would redeem all Jedi in due time. But as the young girl looked down at the little shivering bundle in her arms, she found it difficult to imagine him as the Savior of Light. The little child was just that: A little child.
"Yes, Ani... Sometimes I miss my mother, too..." She answered softly, rocking him as if he was her own son. But... Anamaria could never have children. At the mere age of six, any inkling of female sex organs had been removed to ready her for... IT. Even then, she shuddered at the thought.
'Thank God for Watchiwata's death... may his damned soul rot in Hell...' She imagined viciously. Nobody that evil deserved pity. The white Padawan imagined him in the ninth canto of Hell, chewed upon by Satan for the rest of eternity.
'Serves him right, that no-good, perverted, rat-sucking, child-molesting, slave-trading...'
It was here that she realized the room had become completely silent.
Anamaria whirled around to face Vespasian, and an immediate sense of fear overwhelmed her. The Jedi had stopped pacing in mid-step, his foot caught in the limbo between air and floor, and his almond eyes as wide as saucers. He was staring at the door with an utterly absolute expression of terror, as if some unseen censor had evaporated through the entree. Anamaria, in fearful curiosity, opposed him, and turned to stare in his place.
Red eyes stared back at her through the porthole.
The padawan's breath hitched in her throat, and she immediately began to panic. Oh, sweet Jesus, no... it was too soon! Obi-Wan had just left, oh God!
Quickly, she placed Anakin back on his feet, ordering him to the edge of the window lattice, where the missing Jedi would arrive with the ship. Her throat was tight with panic, and it hurt to breathe. Vespasian hurled himself at his lightsaber, propped heavily upon the night stand, and he whirled on his heels, though the weapon had not been activated to needlessly draw attention. There was still a slim chance that the Khajiit had not seen them.
Now the room was utterly silent. Nothing moved. Not a thing breathed. Beads of sweat echoed as they splattered upon the ground, flowing from the padawan's forehead. She wondered briefly if they were going to die. If they were going to be brutally murdered in place, then dumped in that stinking tomb.
The thing's eyes swivelled, and stared directly. At. Her.
"ANAMARIA!!!"
The poor girl jumped out of her skin as Obi-Wan's smooth voice penetrated the barrier of silence. She panted roughly as Innuendo perched precariously directly outside of the window, and the said Jedi held out a hand for the first passenger to come aboard.
BANG!!!
"ANAKIN FIRST!!!" Vespasian bellowed wildly. The door had begun to jerk rhythmically as the Khajiit on the other side began to ram it with their petit bodies. Anamaria quickly summoned the small, shaking padawan to her side, and helped him up on the window lattice. Obi-Wan was a good four feet away from the window itself, making it extremely difficult to board such a little boy onto it.
The Jedi master quickly strained his arm out as far as it could go, realizing the danger immediately. Anamaria balanced her young friend, trying to ignore the snapping hinges from the door. Anakin was shaking with fear, and tears formed in his eyes.
"I CAN'T REACH!" He cried over the noise of the huge ship. Obi-Wan strained further to his padawan's arm, and in one desperate movement, caught him as he jumped the length. The Jedi quickly pushed him back, and called for the next passenger.
Anamaria spun on her heel faster than a top, and dashed clumsily toward the bed, where a prone Darth Maul lay unconscious. Vespasian quickly fell in with her, forgetting the danger pounding just a few meters away from them. He looked up at her.
"One, two, three!" They heaved the injured creature from the bed, Anamaria at his ankles, and her master at his shoulders. Another crack signified that they hadn't much time left.
'Dammit, hurry!' She screamed within the confines of her mind. The door was a mere inch from completely splintering. They could see the outlines of the Kahjiit throwing themselves against it with all of their strength, and she hurried, panicking herself into an adrenaline rush.
With their combined power, both master and padawan were able to push the unconscious Sith into Obi-Wan's waiting arms, and the knight quickly grabbed his shoulders, adjoining support. Anamaria let go of her comrade's ankles, allowing them to be held by Vespasian as she prepared to jump into the ship.
"Godspeed, Marie!!!" He cried over the Innuendo's exhaust. She gave him a nervous smile, and propelled herself from the windowsill with a mighty heave, utterly alleviated to feel a floor beneath her feet. She quickly joined Obi-Wan, and grabbed Darth Maul's shoulders, readying to lift him into safety.
CRASH!!!!!
The sickening crack of splintering wood echoed in her ears as she saw an army of Khajiit come pouring through the bedroom door. Obi-Wan's eyes grew wide in panic, and he screamed for Vespasian to jump.
The amphibious jedi whirled heavily to face his attackers, quickly advancing towards him, and then to his family on the ship.
They wouldn't survive...
In one fluid movement, he shoved Darth Maul's feet toward the two people waiting for them, and whipped out his lightsaber, invoking it with a surge of electric-green heat.
"Master?!" Anamaria cried, fear overpowering her. Suddenly, she realized the moment his lightsaber activated...
"MASTER!!!" Her voice shrieked in the darkening sky. She pushed herself up, and prepared to jump back, when a pair of strong arms grabbed her.
Vespasian stood in proper stance as the Khajiit wickedly drew their vibro- blasters, and aimed. He paid no heed to the frantic cries coming behind him, nor the dark element which seemed to swoop over him. With a warcry of rage, he shot towards them with lightning speed.
"DIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Anamaria screamed at the pinnacle of her lungs. She thrashed wildly in Obi-Wan's grasp, her eyes violent with primitive rage. Her hair flailed everywhere, and she shrieked like a wild animal, kicking, and screaming.
THUK
Vespasian let a small gasp escape his lips as the first shot hit him. Odd... he didn't feel anything... more shots were fired, and yet all he felt was an indescribable bliss. Nothing... just... cloud nine... Sleep promised itself to him as he fell to his knees, and chanced one last look at his ship as it began to fade from his tiring vision.
"Hn... Good-night, world..." He whispered, and gave himself to the darkness.
"NOOOOOOO!!!! MASTER!!!!" Anamaria shrieked violently, and thrashed insanely in Obi-Wan's arms, "VESPASIAN!!!! COME BACK!!!!! MAAAAASTERRRRRR!!!!" A wild scream let loose from her throat. She kicked, and howled, and tears streamed down her cheeks, chin, and neck, and Anakin sat, staring dumbly at the entire affair.
Obi-Wan put up with it, though. He put up with it until he could get an arm around her, and slapped the girl. Hard. It wasn't to be mean, it was just to calm her down.
Anamaria sank to her knees, sobbing from the very pits of her chest. Low wails tore from her heart, and her whole body shook with exhaustion. Obi- Wan sank down next to her, and did something absolutely impossible.
He took the girl into his arms, and cried with her.
"Shh... shhh... calm down, Marie..." he choked quietly. The padawan buried her head in his shoulder, and wept openly. The said body part need not wait long before it was soaked with tears.
"Da-addy, daddy..." She whispered, sobbing, "I l-love you-ou da-ddy... I-I l-love you-ou..." Her contracting diaphragm contorted the words into several more pronunciations, and her righteous sorrow was making the poor child suffer tenfold.
"Shh... Shh... it's alright, Marie... calm down... shhh..." Obi-Wan soothed her, "Anakin... put the ship on autopilot to Coruscant..." He said over her shoulder, and slowly picked the sobbing girl up. Anakin watched behind his back as his master quietly carried her into her quarters, laid her upon her bed, and shut the door. There were still tears in his eyes as he came back.
The Jedi's stare averted to Darth Maul, lying helplessly encased within a steaming cocoon of cotton.
"I hate you..." He whispered venomously, "But Vespasian didn't. I'm only finishing what he started..."
And with a heavy sigh, Obi-Wan lifted the small warrior into his arms just as he had Anamaria a moment ago (though he was not as gentle) and traveled to his deceased friend's sleeping quarters, where the bed lay fresh and neat, just as he had left it over two weeks ago. Softly, the wounded Sith was placed on his bed, the sheets unraveled, and the jedi's rump sat in a chair. He stared a long, long while at Darth Maul, who's only sign of life was the rise and fall of his broken chest, and then to the sky.
'Vespasian... are you watching from heaven...?' A smile split his lips, 'I hope you're proud of me...'
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A/N: ^______^
Chapter Thirteen
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The tables were set. By one O' clock, they had packed their things as well essential food items for the long trip back to Coruscant, and each remaining member of the anxious Jedi team was waiting for Obi-Wan to fly their reasonably large ship, codename Innuendo, against the balcony sill for their planned escape.
Vespasian paced with a blunt chin in his webbed hand, while Anamaria watched him, her frequent throat-clearing betraying the fact that she was as nervous as any of them. Anakin sat deftly in a chair beside the bed, his back stiff as a board, but fidgeting often due to the action that he was sitting right next to a mass murderer, and, consequentially, the one who had slain his idol: Qui-Gon Jinn. The young ten-year-old was oblivious to the fact, however, that the very same murderer had supposedly saved his life in a futuristic sense.
"Ana...?" He questioned in a hushed tone, like a frightened child calling to its mother in the dark. His hands wrung continuously in a nervous gesture, and the silence was threatening to consume him. Anamaria, in turn, appealed to meet him, her eyes welcoming, but only as anxious as any other's eyes were. Without a word, the little boy crawled into her arms, and held her tightly, expecting no such gesticulation in return, but quite surprised, nonetheless, when the young padawan squeezed him tightly.
"It's okay, Ani... we're going home..." She reassured him, whispering gently into his ear, just as though his mother were whispering lullabies when he was a baby. She sang so sweetly. He missed her voice very much, and wished sometimes that he had refused to leave without her. But then, he had to remind himself that one day he would see her again, and free her from the wickedness, and sinful act that was slavery. No, he would free EVERY oppressed being from the jaws of slavery. His friends, his caretakers, and everyone else.
"Ana..." He asked, curling up in her embrace, "Do you ever feel lonely...?"
Anamaria cocked her head gently in his bushy hair, her eyes gentle with a suppressed calm. Anakin could be such an enigma at times. Then again, there was talk of him being the Chosen One, who would redeem all Jedi in due time. But as the young girl looked down at the little shivering bundle in her arms, she found it difficult to imagine him as the Savior of Light. The little child was just that: A little child.
"Yes, Ani... Sometimes I miss my mother, too..." She answered softly, rocking him as if he was her own son. But... Anamaria could never have children. At the mere age of six, any inkling of female sex organs had been removed to ready her for... IT. Even then, she shuddered at the thought.
'Thank God for Watchiwata's death... may his damned soul rot in Hell...' She imagined viciously. Nobody that evil deserved pity. The white Padawan imagined him in the ninth canto of Hell, chewed upon by Satan for the rest of eternity.
'Serves him right, that no-good, perverted, rat-sucking, child-molesting, slave-trading...'
It was here that she realized the room had become completely silent.
Anamaria whirled around to face Vespasian, and an immediate sense of fear overwhelmed her. The Jedi had stopped pacing in mid-step, his foot caught in the limbo between air and floor, and his almond eyes as wide as saucers. He was staring at the door with an utterly absolute expression of terror, as if some unseen censor had evaporated through the entree. Anamaria, in fearful curiosity, opposed him, and turned to stare in his place.
Red eyes stared back at her through the porthole.
The padawan's breath hitched in her throat, and she immediately began to panic. Oh, sweet Jesus, no... it was too soon! Obi-Wan had just left, oh God!
Quickly, she placed Anakin back on his feet, ordering him to the edge of the window lattice, where the missing Jedi would arrive with the ship. Her throat was tight with panic, and it hurt to breathe. Vespasian hurled himself at his lightsaber, propped heavily upon the night stand, and he whirled on his heels, though the weapon had not been activated to needlessly draw attention. There was still a slim chance that the Khajiit had not seen them.
Now the room was utterly silent. Nothing moved. Not a thing breathed. Beads of sweat echoed as they splattered upon the ground, flowing from the padawan's forehead. She wondered briefly if they were going to die. If they were going to be brutally murdered in place, then dumped in that stinking tomb.
The thing's eyes swivelled, and stared directly. At. Her.
"ANAMARIA!!!"
The poor girl jumped out of her skin as Obi-Wan's smooth voice penetrated the barrier of silence. She panted roughly as Innuendo perched precariously directly outside of the window, and the said Jedi held out a hand for the first passenger to come aboard.
BANG!!!
"ANAKIN FIRST!!!" Vespasian bellowed wildly. The door had begun to jerk rhythmically as the Khajiit on the other side began to ram it with their petit bodies. Anamaria quickly summoned the small, shaking padawan to her side, and helped him up on the window lattice. Obi-Wan was a good four feet away from the window itself, making it extremely difficult to board such a little boy onto it.
The Jedi master quickly strained his arm out as far as it could go, realizing the danger immediately. Anamaria balanced her young friend, trying to ignore the snapping hinges from the door. Anakin was shaking with fear, and tears formed in his eyes.
"I CAN'T REACH!" He cried over the noise of the huge ship. Obi-Wan strained further to his padawan's arm, and in one desperate movement, caught him as he jumped the length. The Jedi quickly pushed him back, and called for the next passenger.
Anamaria spun on her heel faster than a top, and dashed clumsily toward the bed, where a prone Darth Maul lay unconscious. Vespasian quickly fell in with her, forgetting the danger pounding just a few meters away from them. He looked up at her.
"One, two, three!" They heaved the injured creature from the bed, Anamaria at his ankles, and her master at his shoulders. Another crack signified that they hadn't much time left.
'Dammit, hurry!' She screamed within the confines of her mind. The door was a mere inch from completely splintering. They could see the outlines of the Kahjiit throwing themselves against it with all of their strength, and she hurried, panicking herself into an adrenaline rush.
With their combined power, both master and padawan were able to push the unconscious Sith into Obi-Wan's waiting arms, and the knight quickly grabbed his shoulders, adjoining support. Anamaria let go of her comrade's ankles, allowing them to be held by Vespasian as she prepared to jump into the ship.
"Godspeed, Marie!!!" He cried over the Innuendo's exhaust. She gave him a nervous smile, and propelled herself from the windowsill with a mighty heave, utterly alleviated to feel a floor beneath her feet. She quickly joined Obi-Wan, and grabbed Darth Maul's shoulders, readying to lift him into safety.
CRASH!!!!!
The sickening crack of splintering wood echoed in her ears as she saw an army of Khajiit come pouring through the bedroom door. Obi-Wan's eyes grew wide in panic, and he screamed for Vespasian to jump.
The amphibious jedi whirled heavily to face his attackers, quickly advancing towards him, and then to his family on the ship.
They wouldn't survive...
In one fluid movement, he shoved Darth Maul's feet toward the two people waiting for them, and whipped out his lightsaber, invoking it with a surge of electric-green heat.
"Master?!" Anamaria cried, fear overpowering her. Suddenly, she realized the moment his lightsaber activated...
"MASTER!!!" Her voice shrieked in the darkening sky. She pushed herself up, and prepared to jump back, when a pair of strong arms grabbed her.
Vespasian stood in proper stance as the Khajiit wickedly drew their vibro- blasters, and aimed. He paid no heed to the frantic cries coming behind him, nor the dark element which seemed to swoop over him. With a warcry of rage, he shot towards them with lightning speed.
"DIIIIIEEEEE!!!!!"
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" Anamaria screamed at the pinnacle of her lungs. She thrashed wildly in Obi-Wan's grasp, her eyes violent with primitive rage. Her hair flailed everywhere, and she shrieked like a wild animal, kicking, and screaming.
THUK
Vespasian let a small gasp escape his lips as the first shot hit him. Odd... he didn't feel anything... more shots were fired, and yet all he felt was an indescribable bliss. Nothing... just... cloud nine... Sleep promised itself to him as he fell to his knees, and chanced one last look at his ship as it began to fade from his tiring vision.
"Hn... Good-night, world..." He whispered, and gave himself to the darkness.
"NOOOOOOO!!!! MASTER!!!!" Anamaria shrieked violently, and thrashed insanely in Obi-Wan's arms, "VESPASIAN!!!! COME BACK!!!!! MAAAAASTERRRRRR!!!!" A wild scream let loose from her throat. She kicked, and howled, and tears streamed down her cheeks, chin, and neck, and Anakin sat, staring dumbly at the entire affair.
Obi-Wan put up with it, though. He put up with it until he could get an arm around her, and slapped the girl. Hard. It wasn't to be mean, it was just to calm her down.
Anamaria sank to her knees, sobbing from the very pits of her chest. Low wails tore from her heart, and her whole body shook with exhaustion. Obi- Wan sank down next to her, and did something absolutely impossible.
He took the girl into his arms, and cried with her.
"Shh... shhh... calm down, Marie..." he choked quietly. The padawan buried her head in his shoulder, and wept openly. The said body part need not wait long before it was soaked with tears.
"Da-addy, daddy..." She whispered, sobbing, "I l-love you-ou da-ddy... I-I l-love you-ou..." Her contracting diaphragm contorted the words into several more pronunciations, and her righteous sorrow was making the poor child suffer tenfold.
"Shh... Shh... it's alright, Marie... calm down... shhh..." Obi-Wan soothed her, "Anakin... put the ship on autopilot to Coruscant..." He said over her shoulder, and slowly picked the sobbing girl up. Anakin watched behind his back as his master quietly carried her into her quarters, laid her upon her bed, and shut the door. There were still tears in his eyes as he came back.
The Jedi's stare averted to Darth Maul, lying helplessly encased within a steaming cocoon of cotton.
"I hate you..." He whispered venomously, "But Vespasian didn't. I'm only finishing what he started..."
And with a heavy sigh, Obi-Wan lifted the small warrior into his arms just as he had Anamaria a moment ago (though he was not as gentle) and traveled to his deceased friend's sleeping quarters, where the bed lay fresh and neat, just as he had left it over two weeks ago. Softly, the wounded Sith was placed on his bed, the sheets unraveled, and the jedi's rump sat in a chair. He stared a long, long while at Darth Maul, who's only sign of life was the rise and fall of his broken chest, and then to the sky.
'Vespasian... are you watching from heaven...?' A smile split his lips, 'I hope you're proud of me...'
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A/N: ^______^