Sith Lord Darth Revan Maybe Obi-Wan can ring Bruck's neck! Well, there's always the possibility...
Draculas Lair I know, I wish I could update more often with more material. I hope you like what I have, though.
Ewan's girl I swear, I'll try to get these posts longer.
LoriC I'm torturing my readers? Moohoohaha! That just encourages me to do it more!
Athena The doctor's kind of a weird character. I'm not sure what he's about yet. And thanks for reviewing, especially with computer problems.
O
The field was thick with lush grasses and the air was sweet with sea spray, carried over from the distant, calm waters of the ocean. The children rushed around in a giggling sort of play that all at once seemed mindless and the very essence of everything. Their caretakers were equally jubilant, rushing after them and lifting them onto their shoulders. The crechelings shrieked in delight, barefoot and unkempt.
One such child walked up to the observer, who had been watching in a silent pocket of the wild field. His hair was mussed, and grass sprinkled the shining brown strands. The boy smiled, carving dimples into hopelessly chubby cheeks. "You're little," He pointed to his companion, "Like me."
Yoda laughed softly. "Indeed, young Obi-Wan."
"Young," Obi-Wan repeated, "Are you young, too? Like me?"
"What think you?"
The smile widened and shimmered in the blue gaze. "Yeah. I think so."
That was the Obi-Wan Kenobi that resided in his heart, and the Obi-Wan Kenobi he would not forget, no matter the changes. It had been five years since he last knew of the former Jedi's state, but his love for that child was eternal.
Yoda moved into the room, and was instantly unaware of anything outside the figure in the bed. Changes, yes, there had been many, but it was Obi-Wan. You could build and rebuild on a patch of land, but the soil beneath would bear the same weed and bloom. Even when others sought to rip out the roots.
He studied the familiar eyes, encircled by sullen smears of shadow, and spoke, "No longer little are you," His breath fell heavy, "No longer young."
"Typical of the Jedi. Expecting an apology for the inevitable." Obi-Wan's smile was brittle ice. "And I wouldn't be accusing so freely when it comes to age. I'm surprised you're still alive."
Yoda thought of that child and the wound dug deeper. "Surprised, you are? Eight hundred years, I have lived, Obi-Wan. How much more, then, is five?"
The jags of the heart readouts heightened, and Marlwen was on the brink of cautioning them both when the reply sliced like a cold, clean razor's edge in the tight air, "Obi-Wan is gone."
"But see him, I do." Yoda hobbled forward, "Sitting before me, he is, clutching a mask. No longer young, but caught in a game."
"The mask is of Obi-Wan. And you've put it there yourself. I've no use for it anymore."
If it was true, the masquerade had become a tainted one, for the skin was deathly devoid of color and the gleam of the hair was shivery obsidian luster. "Died, the child has not." Yoda murmured, levitating to meet the other's level, "But lost, he surely is. In the trappings of a murderer. Such capability, I would never believe of you."
"Then diluted, you are."
The blatant mockery went without remark from Yoda, who had yet to move his eyes away from the face in front of him, "Left your Master, you did, to help children. And now, kill a child, you would? A Queen, she is. But a young girl, also. A child of innocence. As you once were." He watched the lack of expression and pushed on, "Remember, can you?"
"His memories are not mine."
"And yours? To you, what memories belong?"
"I remember killing what was weak. And I don't remember regret."
"Then made to forget, you were." Yoda confirmed without question. "By who?"
"Eliminating the useless is nothing for which I would need to repent. He's dead and I'm glad for it. I never would have lived, as long as he was living in my place."
"Faded, his scars have." Yoda noted, extending a clawed hand to the pallid cheek, where the three deep scratches had once been streaked along the bone, visible even through the grainy distortions of the viewscreen. He then moved his touch to the bandaged shoulder. "Replaced by yours, hm?"
"Pain must be remembered or it has nothing to teach."
"Teach you what lessons, then, did pain?"
And Marlwen was obliged, as Kenobi's physician, to finally interfere. "I'm sorry, Master Jedi, but this is becoming detrimental to his health. I can't have his heart out of control while he's recovering."
"Very well," Yoda acknowledged with a second-long glance at the doctor, then looked again at the silent, seething visage, "Recover to wellness, Obi-Wan. Wait, I will."
OThe tiny Master emerged from the room and was surprised that he wasn't bombarded by concerned inquiries from Qui-Gon. The urgency had relented somewhat in the man, for which Yoda was relieved. Guilt could collapse the strongest foundations, and the Order couldn't afford such a falter. Not now.
It was a sobered Jinn that approached him, arms folded across his chest. "Did he tell you anything?"
"Sought protection, he did, in words. To hide."
"Still a coward," Bruck uttered.
A frown wore in the soft green skin. "But weaponless, he was not. For he is a weapon himself. Of Darkness."
Padme spoke next, in a tone so calm and civil it edged on eerie, "And who pulls the trigger?"
OFor all the light stroked across the creamy pastel scenery, night on Naboo was still night, and bloomed in velvet black.
He thought that, perhaps, the group beyond the room would dissemble, and wait for the return of the sun before the next inquisition. But after a few hours of monitoring, Velis Marlwen determined that he was in suitable condition for another visitor. Or, should he say, visitors.
They were not who he was expecting.
The Queen of Naboo stood at the door, the Senator accompanying her in the capacity of protector. Her eyes, dark as though reflecting the newborn night, studied him carefully.
But Palpatine broke the silence, "Her Royal Highness wishes to meet her attempted killer."
Obi-Wan watched, and caught the smallest flinch pull her features at the blunt wording. "I am in no place to refuse her Royal Highness." He answered.
A swallow momentarily quivered down the column of her throat, and then she stepped forward, stopping a short distance from his bed. He felt akin to a creature shackled and put on display, such was the pale vein of curiosity in her gaze. "Why?" She asked softly, after a time.
His eyes were on her, but his focus drifted to Palpatine. "That I cannot tell."
"Master Jinn informed me you were a Jedi once."
"Another lifetime."
Amidala's delicate face hardened. "You've lived many, I take it. And you wanted to take mine, the only I could claim."
A bleached hand rested on her shoulder. "You don't have to subject yourself to this, Your Highness."
She glanced at Palpatine, then the other man. "It is my duty-my right-to know. Why did you do this?"
"My motives are beyond your comprehension."
"I'd eventually figure them out." She countered, with a tinge of humorless sarcasm.
"A great overestimation of your talents."
"Or yours."
Obi-Wan smiled. "I'm beginning to see why the Naboo people chose you, Your Highness, despite your age and naiveté."
She ignored the jab. "It is obvious you're unwilling to provide me with any purpose for your attack. But it's early. Perhaps it will be easier for you to reveal your secrets once your freedom is at stake." The Queen began towards the door, then added, "I'm a very patient person."
She left, and despite her claims of patience, did not wait for Palpatine to follow.
O