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Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or anything Star Wars related.

CH. 7

"THE JEDI FUGITIVE"

"With the way things are going on out here, you wouldn't even think the recent events have taken place," Padme commented, glancing around at their seemingly normal surroundings.

It had been nearly twenty minutes since Padme Amidala and Obi-Wan Kenobi went into town to gather supplies for the Jedi.

"Yes, well the Empire will soon suck the life out of this place if it remains in power."

They both walked in silence as they continued on their way. Just when they were almost to the market they were heading for, Obi-Wan stopped dead in his tracks. Padme curiously stopped in tow beside him. "What is it?"

"It appears I am famous," he answered.

Padme followed his gaze until she spotted what he was referring to. On a banner that shown high above the city, a picture and a name ran across the glowing screen. She gasped when she saw it…

WANTED: Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi

"Maybe we should go," he added, turning around to start back in the direction they had come from. To his displeasure, he came face to face with two clone soldiers that were walking along the sidewalk. The two troopers glanced up at the banner before returning their attention to him. "Hello."

His lightsaber was drawn the moment their blasters were pulled from their holsters. With one swipe of his blue blade, the first soldiers weapon was sliced clean in half. With an upward thrust the soldier was cut down. The second met the same fait as Obi-Wan's next swipe decapitated him. The citizens in their vicinity fled the scene while he snatched one of the blasters from the ground and handed it to Padme.

"Take this," he ordered. "Stay close behind me."

Just then he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Quickly whipping around, he used his lightsaber to deflect the shots that were meant for him and the Senator, sending them back towards their attackers.

"Go!"

"I'm not leaving you alone," Padme retorted, opening fire on the dozen or so clone troopers that were now moving in on them.

"Just go, I'll be right behind you!" he exclaimed.

Padme reluctantly obliged and took off at a full sprint after shooting down one of the soldiers. Obi-Wan held them at bay while she retreated. She managed to get around the corner unscathed and took cover in a nearby alley, struggling to catch her breath and calm herself. Then she tightly gripped her blaster and prepared to peer around the corner, but Obi-Wan flew around it and almost collided with her before she got the chance.

"Come on, Senator."

"I think we are beyond formalities, Obi-Wan," Padme replied, rushing down the alley after him. "Where did they come from?"

"I am not entirely surprised to find troopers wandering the streets," Obi-Wan answered. "If the Empire has indeed taken over, there is nothing to stop them from doing whatever they please. I assume they are searching for what is left of – "

Obi-Wan and Padme immediately halted when a group of clone soldiers rounded the corner at the opposite end of the alley.

"Get down!"

Padme dove behind a dumpster while Obi-Wan's blade stopped the blaster fire concentrated at them.

"You get down too!" Padme shouted as she took several pot shots at the soldiers from behind the dumpster.

"Don't worry about me, Senator," Obi-Wan shouted back. "Stay here!"

"Where are you going!"

Obi-Wan was already charging down the alley towards the troopers by the time the question left her lips. She continued to shoot at the clones as he ran at them and flipped through the air.

Using the Force to push most of the soldiers to the ground while he still flew through the air, Obi-Wan effortlessly made short work of those that managed to stay standing with a series of precise maneuvers. His lightsaber swiftly cut through them as the others climbed back to their feet to join the battle.

"I don't think so," he calmly remarked, calling on the Force a second time to pull a ladder connected to the wall from its place beside him. Propelling it towards his adversaries, the steel object slammed into them and knocked them all unconscious on impact.

Looking back over his shoulder he called out to Padme. "Let's go!"

Padme hurriedly ran out from behind her hiding place to join him. His eyes widened in shock when he saw several troopers appear at the end of the alley behind her.

"Padme, watch out!"

He was too late. Just as Padme spun around to face the soldiers, blaster fire rang in the air and a shot connected with her shoulder. She let out a cry of pain as the blaster she held flew out of her grasp and she hit the ground with a loud thud.

Obi-Wan sprang into action and deflected the shots that followed, sending them back and taking the troopers out with their own blaster fire. He immediately deactivated his lightsaber and knelt down beside her.

"Padme, can you hear me?" he asked, inspecting her wound. Then something else caught his attention. The fabric covering her side was soaked in fresh blood – obviously due to a separate injury than the one her shoulder had sustained. "Hold on, Padme, I'm going to get you out of here…"

When more soldiers arrived in the alley, there were no traces of the man and woman they had been chasing.

"No sign of the fugitive, sir."

"Spread out and cover the grid," the commanding officer barked his orders. "Secure the perimeter – don't let them escape."

"Right away, sir."

Yoda was startled out of his meditation when he heard a commotion coming from outside his chambers. Grabbing his walking stick, he made his way through the doors and was met by a busy crowd of Jedi. He watched them for a moment before spotting Obi-Wan among them. It seemed it was he who had the full attention of the others. Then he saw her…

Senator Amidala.

She lay unconscious on a medical bed that rested in the center of the room. The Healers gathered around her, tending to her injuries. Yoda couldn't tell how severe they were from his place in the room, but the concern on Obi-Wan's face gave away the fact that they weren't anything to be dismissed or taken lightly. When Obi-Wan saw his older Master he quickly pushed his way through the crowd to get to him.

"Master Yoda," he breathed heavily, lacking his usual formality as he spoke. "We were attacked by clone troopers. Senator Amidala was hit by blaster fire – I couldn't stop it in time."

"Blame yourself, you cannot," Yoda calmly replied. "Knew the risks, she did, before leaving."

"Yes, Master."

Yoda thoughtfully looked at Padme as the Healers continued to look her over. "How serious?"

"I don't know yet," Obi-Wan answered, following Yoda's gaze. "She has a wound to her shoulder and another to her abdomen. They haven't told me what her condition is."

"Patience, you must have."

"I know, Master, it's just…"

Yoda raised an inquisitive eyebrow at the younger Jedi. "Feel responsible, you still do?"

Obi-Wan bowed his head in shame. "I didn't check my surroundings properly before I summoned her out of her place of hiding. I made a rash decision and she has paid the price for my carelessness."

"Be everywhere at once, you cannot," Yoda said as he smacked Obi-Wan in the shin with his stick. "Choose our own destiny, we all do. No different, is it, for the good Senator."

Obi-Wan turned back to the Healers when one of them called out his name and he excused himself as he quickly returned to Padme's bedside. Yoda watched him for one last moment before returning to his chambers.

"How is he?"

The old Jedi Master turned when he heard the voice that came from the far corner of the room. He let out a heavy sigh as he took a seat, the blue figure sitting down as well.

"Much of you, there is, in your apprentice," Yoda replied.

The figure let out a soft chuckle. "I will choose to take that as a compliment, Master."