All right. Thanks for all the good reviews! I take it some of you have read A Moment of Truth? I like it. It's a pretty good book. If you haven't, I recommend you do. You don't need to in order to understand this story, but like I said, it's pretty good; and it would tell you what happened the first time Anakin encountered Jenna Zan Arbor. All right. Enough with my pointless chatting! I'll let you read the chapter now. Enjoy!
Chapter Six
Revelations
The next day, everyone awoke early. Carissa was already in her clothes, and she jumped out of bed when Anakin walked into her room to wake her. He smiled, and she couldn't help but smile back. His smile was radiant and cheerful, even in the midst of what he thought was such a dire circumstance. "Good morning," he greeted.
"Morning," Carissa greeted back, still smiling.
"You ready to go?" Anakin asked.
"As soon as I brush my hair," Carissa said, already moving to the 'fresher. She grabbed a brush that one of the Jedi had lent her for her stay. Then she brushed through her silky smooth hair and bounced back out. "I'm ready," she said even as she fell in step next to Anakin. Even though he was a good seven or eight inches taller than her, he didn't seem very intimidating. This made Carissa wonder even more what had been going through her Master's mind when he had given her the current mission. Did he have something planned for the boy? That was going to have to wait, for at that moment, Carissa and Anakin arrived at the ship.
Obi-Wan was already waiting for them, and the sun was just peeking into the sky, giving the background behind the ship and orange tint through the darkness. "What took you so long?" Obi-Wan asked cheerfully.
"You know me," Anakin replied, helping Carissa onto the ship. "I like to take my time."
"That's an understatement," Obi-Wan said, ignoring the glare he received from Anakin. "We should arrive at Tatooine in about three hours."
Carissa looked down to the floor as if in a sad way. "I only wish I would have done more instead of run away like a coward," she said, growing angrier with every word. "I should have been able to do more! I could have been able to do more! Instead, I ran! I ran like a coward! I hate being a coward!"
Anakin walked over and placed his hand on the distraught girl's shoulder. "It's all right," he said soothingly. "You did the right thing. If you had tried to do anything else, you probably would have gotten killed as well. Then who would have come and gotten me or any of the other Jedi? It's all right. You weren't a coward. You are helping more than you can ever imagine." He offered a smile as he looked down at Carissa.
Carissa once again couldn't help but smile back. She put her forearms on her knees as she sat back down and closed her eyes and sighed. Then she looked back up at Anakin, who had sat back down opposite her, and then Obi-Wan. "Thank you," she said. "You don't know how much this means."
"We're glad to help," Obi-Wan replied. "And Tatooine just happens to be one of the planets we are most familiar with." He glanced over at Anakin.
Anakin winced at the last sentence Obi-Wan said. All the memories assailed him, good and bad. Memories of being a slave, memories of his mother and her sweet face, of Padme, of his search for his mother, of her death, and of the Lars. The Lars. They had let her die. They had not been there to help her! They should have been! He should have been! Tears threatened to overwhelm Anakin once again, but he swallowed them back. He knew he should have been there, but he wasn't. He was off with the Jedi, far away from her. He had been having dreams. Why hadn't he listened to them? Why hadn't he gone to help her? He could have saved her! But he had avenged her, and that was all that mattered. He had killed the ones who had killed her.
Carissa could see the emotional turmoil and battle through Anakin's eyes. She didn't know exactly what had happened, but she knew that it had been a very important thing that had impacted Anakin's life largely. She decided not to ask what had happened as Anakin's eyes cleared, leaving them a cloudy but beautiful blue once again.
Anakin immediately stopped his thoughts. He didn't like where they were going, and he wouldn't have it. He was going to keep control of himself. He looked at Carissa, who was staring at him curiously, but not saying a word. He concluded that she had decided to keep silent and let him tell her everything on his own accord. This was just another reason that Anakin liked Carissa so much.
Anakin sighed and decided to tell her. As he started talking, he was aware of the surprised look on Obi-Wan's face when the man glanced over at him. "Tatooine is the planet I grew up on," he started, immediately getting Carissa's attention. She listened intently as he continued. "I was a slave there for the first nine years of my life. Then, two Jedi by the names of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi found me. They soon realized that I was Force-sensitive. Qui-Gon was going to train me when Obi-Wan finished the trials, but he died at the hands of a Sith lord by the name of Darth Maul. His dying request was for Obi-Wan to train me. So he did. At the time that the Jedi came, the queen of Naboo also came. Her name was Amidala Padme. Several years later, Padme and I met up again. It was to be Obi-Wan and my job to protect her.
"I was having nightmares at that time. They were of my mother, whom I had left back on Tatooine as a slave. Padme and I finally decided to go look for her. The nightmares were getting stronger. When we went to Tatooine, we found that my former Master had sold her. But he told us that she had been freed and married, and he told us where we could find her. The Lars. When we went to the Lars' homestead, we found out that my mother had been kidnapped by Tusken Raiders. I resolved to find her, and I told Padme to stay with the Lars. I finally found her at a Tusken Raider camp. She died in my lap."
"Oh," Carissa said, and she wasn't pretending. "I'm sorry."
Anakin nodded and glanced over at Obi-Wan, who was looking at him. Anakin had left out part of the story on purpose, the part where he killed the entire camp of Tusken Raiders and their pets. He didn't think it needed to be said. Carissa did not need to know it.
The rest of the ride was done in silence for the most part. Carissa got up to explore the ship about half an hour after the story of Anakin's life and didn't return until they were ready to land. Anakin, Obi-Wan, and she strapped themselves in for the landing.
Suddenly, laser-cannon fire erupted out of nowhere. All three passengers immediately jerked their heads upward out of instinct, even though they wouldn't see anything because of the fact that there were no windows. The pilot also looked around, trying to place where the laser-cannon fire was coming from so that he could avoid it until they landed.
Anakin and Carissa quickly unfastened themselves and jumped out of their seats, but Obi-Wan stayed where he was. He knew he would do no good, because he really didn't know a whole lot about ships or technology.
Carissa and Anakin raced to the cockpit, where they told the pilot that they would take over. He immediately ran back and fastened himself in. Anakin jumped into the pilot's seat, and Carissa slid gracefully into the co-pilot's seat. "Do you know anything about ships?" Anakin asked, risking a glance over at Carissa.
"Let's just say that I've dealt with them before," Carissa replied, already pressing buttons and turning knobs. Sudden laser-cannon fire connected with the hull of the ship, and it lurched forward. Anakin suddenly went into a dive with the nose nearly straight down. "What in the world?" Carissa cried, letting go of whatever she was doing to grab onto her seat. "What are you doing?"
"I thought you said you'd dealt with ships before," Anakin replied. "I need to outrun him and get down to that planet or we're toast."
"I have dealt with ships before!" Carissa replied angrily. "I just haven't dealt with suicidal drivers!"
"I'm not suicidal!" Anakin replied. More laser-cannon fire connected with the ship's hull, and Anakin did a somersault and different maneuvers while Carissa worked to finish what she was doing without getting killed. "Look," Anakin said, pulling the ship back into a straight course for the planet below, "this is silly."
"You just figured that out," Carissa said.
Anakin ignored her and continued. "If we're going to get through this alive, we're going to have to cooperate. I need to know what you're doing, and you need to know what I'm doing."
"How?" Carissa replied, ignoring all the smart remarks that came into her head. "I barely know you. How am I supposed to know what you'll do besides show off with all your fancy maneuvers?"
"That's what we're going to need to figure out," Anakin replied, barely missing more laser-cannon fire. "We're just going to have to trust each other. Agreed?"
Carissa was a little hesitant at first, but she was starting to like Anakin. Besides, her life depended on their cooperation. "All right," she said, strapping herself in. She prepared herself for every move Anakin could possibly make as he started into evasive maneuvering again. She closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. Then she quickly began her work again. More than once she had to stop what she was working on at the moment and grab the gun because their attacker came into view.
Obi-Wan and the pilot sat fastened up. "Do you think those two kids know what they're doing?" the pilot asked nervously.
"Sir," Obi-Wan replied. "Anakin is one of the best pilots I know."
"Yeah," the pilot replied. "He is doing some pretty good maneuvering. What about the girl?"
Obi-Wan sighed as he looked to the cockpit. "I hope so," he said under his breath.
Anakin and Carissa were still in the cockpit and still trying to get down to the planet below. "If we keep trying to outmaneuver him, we're never going to get down," Carissa said.
"Yeah," Anakin replied. "You're right. But how are we going to get down without him killing us. Our shields are down already.
"Leave that to me," Carissa replied, getting up from her seat.
"Okay," Anakin replied. "Be careful!"
Carissa didn't respond. Instead, she ran from the cockpit, trying to keep her balance as the blast's rocked the ship back and forth and ignoring the puzzled glance's she received from Obi-Wan and the pilot as she passed them. She finally reached the back gun and got down into it, where she put a communications headset on. "Anakin?" she asked.
"I'm here," came the voice from the other side.
"All right," Carissa replied. "Make a break for it. I'll hold him off with the gun."
Anakin didn't need to be told twice. He put the ship on full speed and dove toward the planet below. He didn't feel the ship lurch any, and he heard gunfire on Carissa's side. "What's going on?" he asked.
"I'm holding him off," came the terse reply. Anakin heard some fire connect with a ship, and his own ship didn't rock, so he assumed that it was the other ship that had been hit. "How long until we get to Tatooine?" he heard Carissa ask. He could almost see her clenched teeth and determined face.
"We're entering the atmosphere right now," Anakin replied, turning his attention back to his controls to make the necessary adjustments.
"Good," Carissa said. "I don't know how much longer I could have held our assailant off."
As they got out of reach of the other ship's laser-cannon fire, Carissa took her communications headset and walked back to the cockpit, once again ignoring Obi-Wan and the pilot. When she reached the cockpit, she jumped into the co-pilot's seat once again. "That was fun," she said.
"You're telling me," Anakin replied, smiling. He looked over and saw that Carissa was smiling as well. "I only have a few more adjustments to make…" Anakin said, his voice trailing off as he messed with some of the controls. "There," he said. "We should be down to the ground in about a minute. Then I have to find a good spot to land."
Carissa just shrugged and nodded. Sure enough, they were down to the ground in about a minute; and both started to look for a good place to land. "There," Carissa said, pointing to an area next to a Krayt Dragon skeleton. "It's relatively close to my village, and we want to take them by surprise if there are any remaining Tusken Raiders. It's highly doubtful but still possible."
The whole area was desolate and just a big patch of desert as most of Tatooine was, but Anakin could make out the ruins of a village in the distance. He slowly and gracefully brought the ship down and activated the landing ramp.
Within minutes, the three passengers were outside on Tatooine's sandy ground. Obi-Wan told the pilot that he would contact him if the need arose, and they departed. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Carissa watched the ship take off and exit the atmosphere and then turned their attention to the walk ahead of them.
It wasn't a very long walk, and they arrived at the village in a timely manner. Obi-Wan and Anakin looked around in disgust, once again wondering why such animals as the savage Tusken Raiders did any of this anyway. It was rare that they attacked, but when they did, it was almost always very powerful. There were rarely any survivors, and most of them were carried away to become slaves to the Tusken Raiders. Carissa just looked around with glossy eyes.
"There's my hut!" Carissa suddenly cried out of the blue. She ran over to a collapsed hut that looked like it had been stomped by an Imperial AT-ST. Carissa pulled away some rock and dropped down into the hut through a window, hardly stopped by Anakin and Obi-Wan.
Anakin and Obi-Wan really didn't have a choice. They didn't have time to stop Carissa, so they both dropped down behind her. She just stood there. If they had been in front of her, they would have seen the tears forming in her glossy eyes as her hair was whipped about by the sudden breeze that had arisen. "Carissa?" Anakin asked, placing a hesitant hand on her shoulder. She still didn't move, so he gently shook her. She looked at him, and he saw the little drops of water running down her smooth face and leaving a clear trail behind them.
"I… can't believe they're… gone," Carissa said quietly. Anakin looked about and saw the broken glass and wood all over the place. He saw that they had dropped into a bedroom. The sleep couch was strewn about the room, only known by its red covering. "This was Benia's room," Carissa said, her voice still very quiet. Anakin also saw toys strewn about the floor, small toys that meant nothing to more mature people but meant everything to children. When he had been a boy, he treasured every toy he owned and took care of it like it was a million credits. Being a slave made it hard for him to get those things. He slowly walked over to a stuffed animal, crouched down, picked it up, and examined it in his hands.
It was a small Ewok, probably a very fun animal for a small child. It had been one of his favorite animals as a child. The Ewok's fur was a light tan, and it was holding one of their handmade axes. It had a bright smile on its face, even though it was all scratched up on top of being worn by years of use and handling. The cotton stuck out in many different places, but Anakin had no doubt that it would mean the world to its owner if they were ever to get it back.
Anakin put the animal back on the floor and stood up. He noticed that Carissa and Obi-Wan had moved on to the kitchen. The stove was just a pile of twisted metal that the Tusken Raiders had deemed useless. The table and furniture were torn up, and the plates and glasses and breakable things were lying strewn about on the floor in pieces.
They moved to the living room, where they found the furniture torn up once again. Carissa gasped and started sobbing quietly. Anakin looked over and saw that she was looking at a female human. Carissa walked over and closed the woman's eyes, and Anakin could see her shoulders heaving up and down softly with her sobs. "Rest in peace, Mom," he heard her say. She stood up, and they moved on.
"This was Naron and Torontio's room," Carissa said, still quietly. "They were my twin brothers." She gasped once again in horror. This one was stronger than the last. She ran over to something and fell down to the floor, finally letting her tears go and sobbing uncontrollably. "Benia! Naron! Torontio!" she cried. Upon closer inspection, Anakin found that she had closed the eyes of the three young children. Naron and Torontio, the twin boys, couldn't have been much older than ten. Benia couldn't have been older than three. Anakin had to turn away, as the sight tore a hole in his heart. It was too much to bear. It was bad enough that those monsters had destroyed his mother and other adults, but to kill little kids. It just served to fuel his fury against them.
Anakin looked around the room. It was about the same as the other room they had been in. The sleep couches were torn up and lay across the floor. Toys lay scattered across the floor, and the small room was destroyed along with the small lives inside it. It looked as though the siblings had been playing together during their last minutes.
Suddenly, Anakin noticed that something wasn't right. The hut had been smashed. That wasn't like Tusken Raiders. Some of the huts had been blown up. Of that, Anakin was sure. It had to be more than just Tusken Raiders.
A speeder interrupted his thoughts. He looked over at Carissa, who was hunched over the small bodies putting a blanket that she had salvaged over them. Her sobs had subsided, but they were still there. She had obviously heard the speeder, too; because she looked up from her task and looked around. "Stay here," Anakin said, as he and Obi-Wan left the room and climbed back out the window they had come in. They saw a man getting out of a speeder. He was a handsome man of about a six-foot stature. His clothes said that he was somewhat wealthy. "Excuse me," Anakin said, sensing no danger or darkness about the man. "May I ask who you are and what you are doing here?"
A sudden cry from behind Anakin and Obi-Wan startled them both, and they turned around to see Carissa running toward them. "Father!" she cried, running past the two Jedi and into the already outstretched arms of the man before them.
"Carissa, my dear!" he cried, kissing the top of her head. "You escaped! It makes my heart leap for joy seeing you alive." Tears were forming in his eyes.
"Thank you, Father," Carissa replied. "Oh! These are two Jedi whom I was asked to call upon for help. Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, meet my father Talyn Andra. Father is an important business man, and he was away when the attack took place."
"Yes," the man said, his eyes clouding over. "I should have been here. I promise that it will never happen again. I will always be here to take care of you, Carissa, my angel."
The two hugged again, and then arrangements were made for Carissa to go back to Mos Eisley with her father and catch a transport to one of Talyn's other residences. Obi-Wan and Anakin said that they would accompany the two and see them off.
All the arrangements were made, and goodbyes were said. All in all, it was about four days before Carissa finally left Tatooine, making it the end of her week. She contacted Sidious once on the plane and told him she was returning with a full report.
Meanwhile, Anakin and Obi-Wan were uneasy even as they waved goodbye. As they walked off, Anakin said, "Did you see the huts?"
"Yes, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied. "Something was not right here. I think we're going to get a little more than we bargained for. And I have a feeling that we haven't see the last of Carissa. She'll be back."
"Do you think she's bad?" Anakin asked.
"I don't know, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied. "I hope not, but I think it's a high possibility. I also think it's a high possibility that she is in a lot of danger."
Ooh! Evil cliffie! I hope you've liked it so far. This chapter was a little shorter than my other ones, but I hope you still liked it. Anyway, tell me what you think; and I'll try to get the next chapter up quickly. I thought this chapter was a little choppy, but I'll try to make future ones smoother. Anyway, review please!