Chapter 17
Anya was resting on the large sofa by the floor to ceiling window. A pillow behind her back and her wounded hand was propped up on a smaller pillow. Obi-Wan was shuffling around the quarters, get what ever Anya needed or wanted. She paid little attention to him as she worked on her official report to the council.
After leaving the dinning hall, Obi-Wan took Anya straight to the med center. The doctors there couldn't figure out why her hand suddenly lost feeling. They gave her several different medicines. But none worked. They told Anya to rest and keeping working getting feeling back into her hand. They suggested that maybe the healers at the Temple might be able to do something.
The moment they arrived back, Obi-Wan immediately ushered her over to the bedroom. She refused and wanted to say up a little bit longer. She was glade to leave the dinning hall and away from Palpatine. She was hoping to talk to Amidala after dinner and learn more about her grandmother. But that will have to wait for another time.
Looking up, she saw her love bending over the communit. A smile formed on her lips as she stared at his ass. He turned just enough to look at her. A devilish grin on his face.
When you're healed. Not until then.he sent to her.
Anya's cheeks blushed and looked back down at her report. She didn't realize that he had heard her. It was becoming more frequent. Each other can hear and feel one another. She, like him, had her fingers crossed. Obi-Wan told her Qui-Gon's theory about a bond, on the trip back to Coruscant. Something was happening. Since the night he told her, a strange feeling had over come them. Neither one could stand to be apart from one another for more than a few minutes. The urges to be close were growing rapidly. Obi-Wan haven't told Qui-Gon this new fact. He was hoping to tell him when they got back home.
The door chimed, interrupting Anya's thoughts. Obi-Wan answered the door to fine Luke standing there. The young man stepped aside to let him in. Anya watched the two. She could picture what they looked like when her father began his Jedi training. The roles then were revered. Luke was the student and Obi-Wan, or Ben, was the teacher. She wondered if, somehow they return to their own time, if Obi-Wan would remember her. But the way things looked, they were stuck there.
Obi-Wan and Luke exchanged a few words. Anya couldn't hear what. Giving a small nod of his head, Obi-Wan closed the door. The father hurried over to her. Sitting on the edge of the sofa, Luke gently took her hand.
"It's still numb." she said. "The doctors tried and they couldn't figure it out."
"We've been trying to get feeling back into it." Obi-Wan said coming up behind him.
"Nothing has worked. I even tried a healing trance." she replied. "Dad, I'm starting to get worried. I can see if it was my left. But my right?"
"I know. Yoda sensed the Dark Side in the dinning hall." Luke said.
"Could it be Palpatine who's doing this?" the padawan asked.
"Possible. The council wants the both of you back at the Temple as soon as possible."
"Why?" Obi-Wan asked. "If Palpatine won't do anything until the time is right?"
"The whole council agreed. It's more Yoda's doing then the others." the older man said. Luke turned the hand over. The fingers were still curled. "Have you been having any trouble with your arm?"
"No. Feels like it always had. Just when I went to grab the glass. . . "
"I don't understand either." Luke said.
"How mad was the council when we left?" Obi-Wan asked.
"None at all. They're concern. Amidala was a little upset though." the older man said. "I think she was looking forward to talking to you, sweetheart."
"What would you talk about?" the young man asked.
"I think she wants to know more about her granddaughter."
"What?" both Obi-Wan and Anya cried.
"She knows. She explained that when I arrived, it was like. . ." Luke never finished his sentence.
"Like something snapped in the mind." Obi-Wan finished. " Like a door opening."
"That's right. How. . ?"
"That's how it was for me. I knew some things. But when I first saw you, Luke, it was like a door opened and I knew everything." the padawan explained.
"If grandmother knows, I bet Palpatine knows too." Anya said. A strange, tingling feeling ran through Anya's hand. The feeling grew stronger.
"Ayna, what's wrong?" Obi-Wan sensed there was something wrong.
"There's a. . ." her voice trailed off as a sharp pain exploded in her hand. She winced from the pain.
The two men didn't know what to do. They tried to send a wave of healing energy to her. Just as sudden as it happened, the pain was gone. Noticing the numbness absent, Anya moved her fingers.
"It's gone." she said. She flexed her hand several times.
"What ever it was, it's gone now." her lover said.
Luke didn't like it. He was still bothered by it. Something or someone caused her hand to lose feeling. "When we get back, I want the healers to take a look at that hand, and you."
"Yes, dad." she said tiredly.
Both men noticed the tiredness in her voice. "Get some rest. We're leaving tomorrow after the celebration." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Good night, sweetheart."
"Night, dad."
As Luke stood, Obi-Wan laid a hand on her shoulder and smiled down at her. The other man noticed the exchanged looks. Proud swelled up in him. She had saved Qui-Gon and protected his mother and her grandmother. And from what he was told, Anakin had changed. He wasn't the Chosen One, nor was he full of fear and anger. Maybe things will turn out differently this time.
Anya's gift with the Force made her shine brightly then anyone else. Luke had always hoped. . . dreamed that his children will carry on the Skywalker legacy long after his and Mara's deaths. Neither he nor Mara had ever thought their dream would shatter when their son, Ben, died mysteriously during the Yamitar Alliance conflict. It wasn't until three months after Ben's death that they were given a second chance. Their dream would come from their little girl, Anya. Anya's birth, to some, was a miracle. Mara and Luke learned that they might not be able to have another child. The disease Nom Anor infected her, caused more damage then the doctors first thought. As time pasted, Anya grew up and grew stronger in the Force. Even at times when Anya never thought her father wasn't proud at anything she did, Luke was. And he was more proud of her now. His little girl had grown up to the beautiful young woman she is now. She was one of the most powerful Jedi Knights he ever trained and probably will be.
The look that Anya and Obi-Wan gave each other were of love and caring. No words were needed to tell how much they loved each other. Luke was glade she finally found someone special. After everything with Mallory, he surprised himself with being picky or protective when it came to someone of the opposite sex. At first he was unsettled when he learned of their love. It wasn't because he didn't trust Obi-Wan. It was because the young man was his formal master, Ben Kenobi. The feeling went away and Luke found himself excepting Obi-Wan. But what would happen if Obi-Wan asked Anay to marry him? That was something Luke would have to think about.
"I'll see you to the door." Obi-Wan said moving away from Anya.
The two men stepped out into the hallway. Anya flexed her fingers several times to get them working again. She didn't noticed when Obi-Wan reentered.
"How's the hand?"
"Fine. Like nothing was wrong." she answered.
Obi-Wan sat down on the edge of the sofa. He looked into her eyes and saw love. But there was something else there. He reached out towards her and felt. . . something wrong. Something wasn't right with Anya. Concern over took him.
"I'm fine." Anya said answering his unasked question.
"Are you sure? I sense. . ."
Anya placed a finger to his lips to silence him. "I'm not fully recovered from the wound yet. I'm still a little weak. I'll be all right. I just need some rest."
He just stared at her. He was worried. But he trusted her. "Okay." Cupping the back of her head, he gently brought her forward and their lips pressed together.
I love you.Obi-Wan sent.
I love you, too, Obi.
The full moon lit the streets of Theed. No one stirred and the only sound there was was the night creatures. A hooded figure made its way to the funeral pyre. The figure quietly stood in the entryway. Another figure stood on the other side of the room. The figure then started towards the other. As the person got closer, it noticed and sensed the other was Qui-Gon Jinn. A ray of moonlight filtered in through a window. The light hit the center of the room. The figure stopped next to the Jedi master. Qui-Gon glanced over at the figure.
"What are you still up for?" he asked.
"I couldn't sleep. I needed to be alone for a minute. Obi-Wan was driving me nuts." Anya said giving a small smile as she looked up at him. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted. . . to see this place. My last resting place." Qui-Gon replied.
"No, it's not. You're alive."
"And so are you." The two turned to look at the pyre. They were quite as the Naboo night filled their ears. "So close." he said suddenly. Anya gave him a puzzled expression. "Before, I was killed. You changed that. And this time, you were almost killed."
"At least there won't be any funeral." Anya said.
"Thank you." he said quietly.
"For what?"
"For saving my life." Qui-Gon turned to her.
"If you knew, would you have stopped me?"
"Of course." The two smiled. "Does Obi-Wan know you're here?"
"No. He's sleeping. He was running around doing everything for me. I told him to stop and get some sleep. Lets just say, I helped him fall to sleep."
Qui-Gon chuckled. "We better get you back before he wakes up." Placing a hand on her shoulder, the two started for the entrance. "How are you feeling? Luke said the feeling came back."
"Okay. We still don't know why." she exclaimed.
"Doesn't make sense. I can see if the wound had something to do with it. But it was you're right hand."
"The one that was crushed beyond repair." Anya said.
Qui-Gon didn't say a word. The council, Obi-Wan, himself, was concern. Especially Luke. The battle and Anya's hand going numb weren't connected. Qui-Gon wondered if the dark presence Anya felt while in the healing trance had something to do with it. She said it was Palpatine. And the newly elected Supreme Chancellor was very interested in Anya during dinner. What was going on? The sooner they leave Naboo, the sooner they can get some answers.
