Disclaimer: I don't own anything (except a few original characters) and I'm not making any money off of this.
Ch. 7: The Eye
During the meeting with Captain Namana, it was Airiana who did most of the talking; from this time on she was in charge of the mission. She had asked questions about the guards; how many there were, what kinds of training they had, how many were usually at events such as these, and so on. After the meeting, Airiana visited the public square where the ceremony was to be held. By the time she went to bed, everything was planned.
Airiana spent the next day informing Doña Daílayna and the captain of her plans and preparing the guards, and the public square. She also met with both the Nacoma and Takanya families in order to inform them what was going on. As the day drew to a close, Airiana kept checking and double-checking that everything was in place and that everyone knew what to do.
The ceremony went smoothly with only a few rowdy citizens in the crowd who were quickly subdued. After the ceremony the new reigning family had invited the Jedi to their reception ball as guests of honor. The ball was to be held the next evening, and though it meant staying on Taroga an extra day, Airiana accepted the invitation to the dismay of both Obi-wan and Anakin.
When Daílayna had heard that the Jedi would be attending the reception she took Airiana to her dressmaker saying that Airiana couldn't possibly go to the reception in her Jedi robes, especially since she was a guest of honor. Airiana allowed the Doña to lead her; she enjoyed being a bit girly every now and then and felt that she deserved to be pampered a bit after her first successful mission. That afternoon the dressmaker took the measurements she needed and set to work.
After eating a light supper, Obi-wan, Anakin, and Airiana spent a quiet evening walking through the trees, talking, playing cards (Airiana always carried a deck with her), and reading. As she closed her eyes after crawling into bed, she couldn't help but think how well the mission had gone and how well things were going between her and the other two Jedi; Anakin and her had quickly fallen into the roles of siblings – teasing, bickering, joking, and laughing – while her and Obi-wan were on their way to becoming just as close of friends as her and Ben were. On top of this, her mission had been a success and Obi-wan was going to recommend to the council that she be given the full privileges of a Jedi Knight.
Airiana awoke the next morning to a low growl of thunder moving across the sky. Slowly rising, she made her way out to the common room. Obi-wan and Anakin were already awake, meditating. Airiana joined them.
As she closed her eyes she heard another grumble of thunder and a burst of wind move through the boughs. The weather was making her restless and she couldn't relax herself. She felt as though something was lurking around the forest, bringing with it something darker than the black clouds overhead. Only once before had she felt this way.
Airiana spent the rest of the day in a trance-like state, focusing on the dark clouds, rolls of thunder, and silent winds. Sometime in the late afternoon someone had come for her so she could get ready for the reception ball; she didn't notice that the dress she wore was deep green – complementing her tan skin, dark eyes, and dark hair perfectly – that it left one shoulder bare, had a low, loose back, and ended at the floor, gliding around her as she walked. Her hair had been pulled up and curled and jewelry had been put around her neck and in her ears; with the color of the dress, the jewelry, and her dark complexion Airiana looked like an Amazon queen.
Airiana arrived at the reception with Obi-wan and Anakin. She smiled, shook hands, and even managed some small talk, but most of the evening was spent away from the crowd on a small balcony, lost in thought as the thunder continued to growl at the tree-tops. A little after midnight she was able to make her escape.
As the Jedi were climbing the stairs of their cabin, a bridge of lightning united two clouds. Airiana looked up. In the flash of light she saw a black, hooded figure riding a great, flying beast. Just as the flash went out and the figure disappeared she heard a blood curdling scream that chilled her heart and froze her soul.
"What's wrong?" Asked Obi-wan from above, noticing Airiana had stopped.
She jerked her head away from the spot where she had seen the hooded being and looked up at Obi-wan with a white face and dark eyes that darted between him and Anakin. "Didn't you…" She was going to ask if they heard it, but they obviously didn't; people don't look so calm and collected after hearing the scream of a ring-wraith.
Shaking her head to try and get the shattering scream out of her mind she said, "Nevermind," and continued up the steps.
A few minutes later Airiana was in the bathroom slowly removing her jewelry. She was looking at the mirror in front of her, but wasn't focusing on it. There was a knock on the door; she responded to it with a distracted "Mmmm?"
Obi-wan entered. Airiana was very pale indeed and her eyes seemed glazed over as if she was looking in rather than out.
"Are you alright?" he asked quietly.
"Mmmhhmm," she responded quietly while taking out one of the pins that had kept her hair in place.
"Airiana," he said more forcefully as he put his hand on her arm. She jumped slightly at the contact and turned to him as if she had just noticed his presence. "What's wrong?" he asked again in a tone that demanded an answer.
She looked into his eyes then abruptly turned back to the mirror, "Nothing."
"Yes there is and I'd like to know what."
Taking out the last pin Airiana replied in a monotone voice, "Just the weather I guess," and walked into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her.
Two hours later the storm broke. The wind tore through the trees, sounding like waves breaking upon the shore; louder as a gust of wind crashed against the massive trunks and branches then ebbing away until the next strong gust. Lightning flashes filled the sky, creating bizarre snapshots of blowing leaves and bending branches. The thunder was no longer a low growl, but a chaotic line of cannons going off right above the tree-tops.
Airiana lay in bed, wrestling with the sheets in a restless sleep. She saw Middle Earth being covered by a shroud of black clouds, ring-wraiths swirling above her, screaming. She tried to block out the sound, but couldn't; no matter how hard she pushed her hands against her ears, or how far she ran from them, she could still hear their shrill cries. With no where to go and nothing she could do, Airiana felt helpless and frightened. She laid down on the ground, eyes closed, knees pulled toward her chest, and hands covering her ears in the vain hope she could silence the deathly shrieks.
Just as Airiana felt she could take no more, the screams stopped. Fearing they would return Airiana stayed still, but her curiosity overcame her and she cautiously opened her eyes. What she saw made her slam them shut again, but it was no use; she couldn't get the fiery eye of the Enemy out of her sight.
The Eye of Sauron burned brighter than ever and was looking straight at her. She had no choice but to stare right back at it. As she watched it, it began moving away from her; zipping through the air in a straight line as if it were being pulled by an invisible string from behind. She ran after it, but it never got closer; it didn't get farther away either. Suddenly the scenery changed and Airiana noticed she was no longer in Middle Earth, but on Coruscant.
Her perspective changed now too. She now saw things as if watching them on tv or in a movie with angles and distances that allowed her to see the best views of the action. What she saw was the burning eye moving toward a man standing on the tallest spire of the Jedi Temple. The eye reached the man and merged with him through his left eye, emitting a spectacular flash of light that blinded Airiana for a few moments. When she had regained her sight, Airiana saw that the Jedi Temple had burst into flames, shadowing the man in smoke. She watched on in horror, trying to get a glimpse of the man. An opening in the smoke appeared – she saw the triumphant, laughing face of Palpatine.
Airiana awoke screaming and drenched in sweat. The storm was still howling outside and the cabin creaked and groaned with the wind. Obi-wan and Anakin to come charging into to her room, lightsabers in hand.
Airiana looked up at them with wide, terrified eyes. By the flashes of lightning they could see her face was deathly pale and that she was shaking violently. Thinking she was ill, Obi-wan went over to her, sat on the bed, and put his hand to her forehead to check for fever, while ordering Anakin to go get a glass of water and a damp towel.
Brushing some hair out of her face and continuing to feel Airiana's cheeks and forehead for any signs of illness, Obi-wan quietly asked her if she was feeling alright, but she couldn't answer. How could she tell him what she had just seen? She knew now that it wasn't a dream, but a vision. How could she tell him? The feeling of fear and helplessness that she had felt in the vision came back to her, along with a thousand memories she had tried to forget, and she could no longer control the emotions that were raging inside of her. She lost control.
Obi-wan was at a loss for what to do; he wasn't used to dealing with emotional breakdowns like this. Going on instinct, he pulled Airiana toward him and wrapped his arms around her; gently rocking her back and forth, rubbing her back, and simply letting her cry.
After about twenty minutes Airiana finally began to calm down. She was no longer crying uncontrollably and had managed to reel in some of her emotions.
After a few more minutes, Obi-wan gently pulled himself away from her. She kept her eyes down, so he put his fingers underneath her chin and tilted her head upwards, so she would look him in the eyes.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly.
Not trusting herself to speak, Airiana only nodded. Unconvinced, Obi-wan asked if she was sure; she nodded again. He still didn't believe her, but could do nothing more unless she told him what was bothering her.
As Airiana got back in bed, Obi-wan bent down and put his hand to her forehead once more. A few seconds later she was fast asleep. Obi-wan turned away and noticed Anakin standing in the bathroom doorway, holding the glass of water and towel with a stunned expression on his face. Anakin gave him a questioning look. Obi-wan replied by tiredly patting Anakin on the shoulder as he walked by. Anakin watched him go then quietly walked into the room, placed the glass of water on a small nightstand, and stole one last worried look at Airiana before going back to bed.