2: Shared Secret, Kept Secrets
Anakin stepped out of the closet and saw he was in a brilliantly sunlit bedroom, with a little girl maybe thirteen or so in the bed in front of him. The room was like none he had ever seen before; there were appliances he did not recognize, shining pictures of people he didn't know, posters of himself and Obi-Wan Kenobi—his hazel eyes widened as he stiffly stepped in front of the poster marked with the large lettering "Star Wars III, Revenge of the Sith". He stared at it, paying special attention to the bottom center where he was depicted in a deadlock light-saber battle with his Master that had only occurred a few moments before... or so he thought. Right now he wasn't entirely sure of anything.
A soft gasp sounded from behind him, and as he turned back around, he found that the blonde girl was sitting up in her bed gaping at him. Normally he would have used the Force to suffocate her, but right now he wanted answers and she appeared to be the only one who could give them. He marched up to her and stared her right in the eyes.
Lilly shook her head, reached for the glasses on her night-table and applied them, then did a double-take upon seeing the Jedi for a second time.
"Anakin Skywalker?" She said. Then, seeing the fire in his eyes corrected herself. "Lord Vader?" The Jedi observed her response. He found just a fragment of fear, but much more of admiration and... was that joy? Why would anyone be happy to see him? Padme sure hadn't been. His heart ached upon that memory.
But he decided to focus on the matter at hand. He had a similar conversation with Lilly as his master had had with Arden. Once satisfied, Vader found that his light-saber was missing.
"Do you have any weapons I might borrow?" He asked, more like a command, but Lilly was not at ease enough to mind. The girl told him there were some knives in the kitchen.
"Knives?" Vader cried, frustrated and annoyed. "Do you know who I am, youngling? A Sith apprentice does not use knives!" Lilly was shaking under her covers but did not break their eye-contact.
"I understand Master," she nearly whispered. Vader raised an eyebrow. Master, huh? He could get used to that. Perhaps this child could be of some use after all. She could show him about this new planet of hers and possibly aid him in other ways too. For she said she knew how to handle a light-saber, whether or not this was the truth would be put to the test as soon as he managed to get his hands on one or two. Another thing that crossed his mind was that if this is where he had ended up, it probably meant that Kenobi was not far.
"Do you know of the man Obi-Wan Kenobi?" he asked her.
She nodded vigorously. "Yes, of course," she tried to make her response make it seem that she disliked the Jedi; it was not very convincing but Vader appreciated the attempt. She continued to please him as she appeared to read his thoughts and added, "I haven't seen him here, yet. But maybe my sister has."
Vader saw her rise from her bed, wearing pajamas that were a bit too big, and go to her door. He extended his mechanical hand, using the Force to stop her. Lilly turned back obediently. He told her that no one could know of his presence here. Nodding, she assured him that she understood but only two seconds before a wild knocking came at her door. She turned to Vader with scared blue eyes. Thinking fast, Vader bolted back into the closet and reminded her to keep her mouth shut.
Arden ran into her sister's room and pulled Lilly into her own. The younger girl had a feeling she knew what Arden was about to show her—or, who she was going to show her. As the little girl entered the room and her sibling shut the door, she was proven correct. For there, sitting at Arden's desk was Obi-Wan Kenobi holding a damp cloth to his forehead. Lilly shook his hand yet could not help but feel a strong tug of dread in her stomach. She knew the right thing to do would be to inform Kenobi of Vader's presence, but then what? Neither of them had weapons and if they had to resort to mano-y-mano combat, wouldn't Mr. And Mrs. Ashwood hear the commotion? Plus, supposing the dark Jedi won? No, Lilly decided with a shudder, she would stay loyal to Lord Vader.
The Jedi Master felt the negative energy that this new girl was emitting. She was nearly drenching with fear and whether or not it showed with her polite grins and questions, it was definitely there. These questions... something about them did not seem quite right to Kenobi. They were too specific and hurried, as if she knew exactly what information she wanted to gather but didn't exactly want to stick around. For example, in one instance, Lilly asked what Obi-Wan what he would do if someone attacked him now without his light-saber. He replied that he would bend the Force to his advantage and rely on his own strength. Why did she want to know? Oh, no reason, she just wanted to know the best way to handle her own bullies. He wondered if Arden could also sense something strange about the little one.
"Lilly," Obi-Wan asked gently. "What I am about to ask you is very important. Now, you might not want to answer, but I need you to be honest."
He's going to ask about Lord Vader, she realized with a numb terror. He's going to ask if I saw him and I will have to lie.
When he did exactly that, she replied that no, she hadn't. Lilly laughed a little too loudly, wouldn't she have told him if an evil Sith were in her room? Obi-Wan stared at her hard and determined that she was not telling the truth. He however let her go when she told him and her sister that she needed to go brush her teeth.
Arden, still a little star struck did not say a thing when Obi-Wan asked her his question for the first time. When he repeated himself, her eyes narrowed.
"And why would my sister lie about a thing like that? If she says she hasn't seen Vader, she hasn't seen Vader!" Kenobi fell silent. "I'm sorry," Arden said, looking at her bare feet. "I shouldn't have snapped like that at you. I just don't think she would do that."
"People sometimes do things we would have never thought possible," Kenobi reminded solemnly. This was apparently not what Arden would have liked to hear. Of course she and her sister did not always get along, but to let this stranger insult Lilly like this... what was she saying? Was she not sounding exactly like—
"I hope you are not angry with me, Arden," said Obi-Wan gently, finally putting down the towel and touching the girl's shoulder. "I did not mean to imply anything, but..." he sighed and Arden could feel the pain that lingered inside of him. All anger was washed away in that one exhalation. "I fear for your sister if she is lying, if Vader has indeed found her."
Arden's eyes grew wide with fright. She asked with a sudden, over-powering terror, "You don't think he would—"
"No I don't, at least, not yet. Anakin needs your sister right now, until he has gotten the swing of this new planet and gathered some followers which I hope he has not begun to do yet. We need to keep a close eye on Lilly and see if and where Anakin is hiding."
The girl nodded, asking if they should storm into her sister's room right that very moment. Kenobi thought this through yet finally decided against it. He told her that he needed to regain his strength, for he was still worn out from the last fight he had had with Skywalker. He asked her if he may stay for the night and she replied that she wouldn't dream of having it any other way.
As it turned out, it was a very good thing it was a Sunday. For while her parents dragged Lilly to church, Arden was left at home to converse and plan with Obi. They both felt His presence whenever they walked past Lilly's door, yet neither of them dared to look inside. Whether he was there or not did not matter, it was the "what if" of the situation that frightened Arden and worried Obi-Wan. For the greater part of the day, she and her new Jedi friend got to know each other by trading life experiences and him giving combat advice (which was hard because a great deal of the things he often used involved the Force in some way). She told him about Earth and the year 2005, for example, what technology was available, what the laws were, etc. The fact that vehicles had to stay on the ground astounded Kenobi (but he could not help feel a little relieved, for flying was not his favorite activity). Also, to know light-sabers didn't even exist was a bit of a depressing shock. Yet for Anakin it was so much more...
