Chapter 4 to Romance Among the Stars
Princess Anaria was standing by the edge of the crystal fountain, thinking. Many days had passed since her encounter with Master Obi-wan and she had spent those days training her Force-bending power. She had gotten quite good at it; she was now practicing lifting up a couch. Her eyes were closed, but her hands were up and moving in slow, monotonous circles. The couch was doing flips and traveling up, down, side to side, everywhere. Her father had taught her well…
Without warning, a terrible pain seized Anaria's chest and the couch came crashing down on the tile floor with a loud bang. One of the legs snapped off the couch and pillows went flying. Anaria's heart was wracked with agony and it was slowly spreading to her head.
Anaria massaged her temples and suddenly, an older maidservant rushed into the room. "My lady!" she cried as she ran to the princess. "Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling down in front of Anaria and putting her hand to her forehead to check for a fever.
"Yes, yes Venusia, I'm alright," Anaria said, the pain slowly dissipating. "I felt like…I felt like someone just cried out in agony. A very powerful person justreleased their sorrow and anger to the sky…"
Venusia, who was the Princess Anaria's nursemaid since the time she was born, sat back on her heels with relief that nothing was wrong. "I always knew that your father's teachings would give you pain someday," she said sternly. Venusia tried to stand up again, but her bones and joints protested mightily. Venusia wasn't exactly in her prime, but neither was she some decrepit old woman about ready to collapse any second. Her white hair was starting to come loose from its bun, but when she finally stood up, she smoothed her hair back and walked about the room cleaning up the pillows.
"Obi-wan!" Princess Anaria suddenly cried out, sitting bolt upright.
Venusia, who was still picking up the pillows, said calmly, "What, my dear?" Her hearing had faded a bit these past few years.
"Uh…" Anaria replied. "Nothing, Venusia, nothing."
"Alright, my lady," Venusia replied slyly. She knew what the princess had cried out, but she chose to keep her mouth shut this time. Anaria just sat there at the edge of the fountain, her heart racing.
Obi-wan! I hope he's alright…oh please don't let my pain have been his! Anaria's thoughts cried out to her. She knew that she should feel nothing for Obi-wan, as he probably felt nothing for her. But his face and those piercing grey eyes kept coming back to her mind's eye…Obi-wan meant nothing to her; and yet at the same time, he was everything to Anaria.
NO! her mind shrieked to her. We are just friends, JUST friends! He can't even have a crush on anyone, as his fellow Jedi Masters condone it severely. No, no there is nothing between us and you are just going to have to forget about him, Anaria!
Anaria paid attention to her thoughts, but some part of her heart was aching for Obi-wan at that moment. If she could just see him, hear his voice one more time, she'd never think about him again.
But who was it that the pain represented in her body? Was it Obi-wan? Anakin? Padmé calling out to her? One of the other Masters? That pain was utterly awful and she only prayed it wouldn't come back any time soon. The pain had been so acute, it seemed to come within the depths of her very soul. Or rather, another person's soul.
Anaria sat there on the edge of the fountain and closed her eyes. Completely leaving her body and physical being, Anaria managed to disconnect herself from her body and her mind soared through the heavens. Passing by many planets and stars, Anaria finally found what she was looking for: Master Obi-wan Kenobi.
Obi-wan was holding a small white bundle that Anaria knew to be one of Padmé's beautiful children. He got off of a land cruiser, still clutching at the bundle, and slowly made his way to a small stone hut in the sand. In the setting sun, Anaria could see the silhouette of a woman coming over to Obi-wan. She took the child out of Obi-wan's arms and gently cradled it. The woman then turned from Obi-wan and headed toward another silhouette staring off into the sunset. The two gazed upon the sleeping child and the taller of the two figures put his arm around the woman's back.
Obi-wan knew this was his cue to leave and so he turned around and got back on the land cruiser. Suddenly, he stopped, his eyes blinking a few times. Without warning, he looked up, as if staring straight into Anaria's blue eyes with his piercing grey ones.
Startled, Anaria nearly jumped out of her skin when she awoke from her meditation. Anaria exhaled in relief when she realized that she was back in her own room, and Obi-wan was a long ways away. She grinned slyly to herself; maybe he would never know it was her…
Obi-wan…
Obi-wan knew from all of his Jedi training that someone had been spying on him. He could faintly see in his mind's eye a pair of startling blue eyes that quickly vanished when he realized who was there. But why would she spy on me? Obi-wan thought. He shrugged, then a slight grin appeared on his face. Maybe…just maybe…
Obi-wan's talents of using the Force were far superior than the Princess Anaria's could ever be. A small bubble of pride welled up inside Obi-wan, but he quickly quenched it, as a Jedi was not supposed to feel pride in their accomplishments.
Obi-wan was skilled at using the Force and accomplishing other tasks simultaneously, so he revved up the land cruiser and took off. Then, once establishing a set course, Obi-wan let his mind drift from his body and he experienced the same thing Anaria did.
Thousands of stars and planets exploded into Obi-wan's sight as his mind traveled through space. Many planets he passed by, greens, reds, blues and grays all swirling together until he finally found the planet he was looking for: Nefthres. Over the green mountains and fields of giant red flowers his mind soared, until over a hill burst the shining silver city.
Obi-wan's mind instantly spotted the balcony where Anaria had stood when he had left, and he sailed through the very walls of the palace until he reached the princess's waiting room. Lo and behold, the princess was right there at the edge of the sparkling crystal fountain, grinning to herself. A maid was bustling about the room, but Obi-wan took no notice of her.
Anaria sensed that someone was in the room with her, and she looked around once; but no one was there. Pausing, then grinning again, Anaria looked upwards and out the window and seemed to stare right at Obi-wan. She couldn't really see him, but she knew he was there. She smiled at him, and he smiled back at her.
Suddenly, a huge rock wall loomed in front of Obi-wan's land cruiser and, snapping quickly out of his reverie, Obi-wan lurched the cruiser to the left sharply, narrowly avoiding a fatal collision. His heart pounding, Obi-wan shook himself awake and plowed ahead on the cruiser heading toward his ship.
That part up there about Anaria's pain was when Darth Vader cried out, "NOO!" to the sky after learning about Padme's death. just so you know...more to come i promise!
A Bleeding Rose