Chapter Four
The odd, frog-like humanoid squatted over a murky pool in the swamp. Its yellow eyes which protruded from its head surveyed the muddy water. When it saw what it had been looking for, it opened its maw and a pink long tongue snapped out catching a small clamshell. Laying it flat in its jaw, the orange hued creature snapped its mouth shut and its teeth jarred the clamshell to open itself. In that brief moment, the creature's tongue lashed out again and caught the mollusk within, finishing the meal in one quick gulp.
No sooner had the creature finished its meal when it began to hear a loud rumbling in the distance and feel the trembling of the earth beneath it. A moment later, animals started bursting out of the dense undergrowth followed by gigantic, brown, metal juggernauts.
The creature began to panic, frantically waving its head and limbs about. The giant machines bored down on him like giant locomotives when it suddenly saw a human clad in brown robes running toward him. In desperation, the creature grabbed onto the human.
The man tried to order the creature off but it just held onto him tighter. In that brief moment that one of the metallic juggernauts was about to behead the both of them, the man dropped and he and the creature fell flat into the mud, the machines racing over their heads.
The man and the orange creature pulled themselves up and watched as the machines disappeared into the undergrowth and listened to their sounds fade away with them.
"Oh, mooie-mooie! I love you!" The creature began to exclaim as it chased after its rescuer who had began to walk away.
"Are you brainless? You almost got us killed." The man snapped flatly without looking at the creature.
"I spake." It replied with pride.
"The ability to speak does not make you intelligent. Now get out of here." He replied calmly and dismissed the strange creature with a stern look.
"No, no!" It began again pleadingly. "Me'sa stay. Me'sa called Jar Jar Binks. Me'sa your humble servant."
"That won't be necessary." He said beginning to get annoyed.
"Oh but it tis!" It exclaimed again. "Tis demanded by da gods it tis." It was cut off from speaking anymore when another man clad in brown robes ran out of the undergrowth, followed closely by two Trade Federation droids flying on hovering gun platforms. "Oh no!"
"Stay down." The man ordered and the creature dropped to the ground covering its head with its hands, while he pulled out a silver handle which shot out a steady, green beam of light. He deflected the blaster fire from the droid platforms back at their shooters with his laser sword and watched as they blew up in small explosions.
The other man stood behind the first one and breathed heavily to catch his breath.
"You saved my again." Jar Jar propped himself to his feet and looked at Qui-Gon.
"What's this?" Obi-Wan inquired with a curious look at Jar Jar.
"A local." Jar Jar gave Obi-Wan a sheepish smile. "Let's go before more droids show up." The Jedi Master quickly dismissed the matter.
Surprised and his mouth, which ran faster than he did, not to be denied, the orange creature followed up with yet another question. "More? More did you spake?"
The two Jedi did not take notice of him as they spoke with each other while walking down the path the droid transports' had made. "Sorry, Master, my saber shorted itself." The younger Jedi apologized as he took out his saber handle and showed it to Qui-Gon.
"You forgot to turn your power off again, didn't you?" He queried as he turned the saber around and watched swamp water drip out of it. Obi-Wan nodded sheepishly. "The damage doesn't seem to be severe. I don't think it will take to long for it to normalize but this is a lesson I hope you've learned, my young Padawan."
"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan took his saber back and returned it to his belt as he and his master picked up the pace.
"Ex-squeeze me." Jar Jar's voice spouted again as the orange Gungan raced after them. "But da mostest safest place would be Gunga City. Tis where I grew up. Tis a hidden city."
Qui-Gon stopped and turned to face Jar Jar. Obi-Wan followed suit. "A city?" The Jedi Master queried. Jar Jar nodded. "Can you take us there?"
The Gungan found himself fumbling with his words. "Uhh… on second thought… no, not really. No, no."
"No," Qui-Gon eyed the orange creature.
Jar Jar's expression became squeamish. "Dis embarrassing." He shuffled his legs and looked down at his toes. "My afraid my've been banished. My forgotten." The creature said pleadingly. "Da Bosses would do terrible things to me, terrible things to me if me goin back there."
The two Jedi eyed him carefully as the sound of the Trade Federation's forces fumbling in the forest echoed in the distance. Qui-Gon took a step toward Jar Jar and looked him in the eyes. "You hear that?"
Jar Jar had heard the transports as well and nodded with an added "yeah."
"That is the sound of a thousand terrible things heading this way." The Jedi Master watched as Jar Jar took a big gulp of air.
Obi-Wan, seeing what his Master planned to do, followed Qui-Gon's lead. "If they find us they will crush us, grind us into little pieces and blast us into oblivion."
Jar Jar obviously appeared shaken. "You'sa point is well seen. Dis way, hurry." Without a pause, he spun around, nearly slapping Obi-Wan with his long ears, and ran off into the forest. The Jedi followed behind him.
- - -
The room was lit dimly by a faint blue glow. The only other source of illumination was the open window from wherein the lights of Nar Shaddaa streamed in. The scenery was just like that from the window at the bar but only from a much, much higher view. The speeders seemed like small flitting lights stopping and going now and then.
Alana switched a light on and bright white seemed to glare out from a small bulb as the blue glow dimmed out. Part of the room slowly filled with light but most of it still lay in shadow. She set down her bags on the counter table and opened up her cooler. "You want something to drink?" She asked, but no response came. She took out a pitcher of water and shut the cooler door. From one of her cupboards, she got two glasses and made her way around the counter table.
She stopped short as her table, in the center of the room, came to view. The boy just sat there, his hood down, staring out at the window. "The view's nice, isn't it? I was lucky to get this apartment when I did; prices started hiking after I'd bought it." It was yet another vain attempt at starting a conversation. She set the glasses down and poured water into them, placing the pitcher down carefully beside them. Glass in hand, she nudged her chair slowly toward that of the boy's and offered him the drink. There was still no response. "I'm sorry that I only have water." She smiled sheepishly. "I'd offer you something hard but I have something against alcohol." Only silence, and the glazed look in the boy's eyes, answered her. Defeated, she put the glass down in front of him and resigned to see what he was looking at.
Nar Shaddaa seemed just as it usually was, alive and awake at all hours. But something was amiss, something that wasn't normally there. It was faint, but a part of the horizon seemed to glow orange, like fire. It was coming from the old industrial sector, so she guessed that it must've been that burning warehouse she'd seen on the teleprojector at the cantina. It was quite strange that the fire was still ablaze, she thought. Nar Shaddaa's security forces weren't the best, but they were trained to handle fires.
"But you work at a bar?" A voice asked and Alana was jerked abruptly back to reality.
"Pardon me?" Taken by surprise and grasping for her composure, she looked at him and leaned toward him a bit. Again there was silence and she inwardly cursed her inattentiveness. She'd been trying to get him to acknowledge her and then she went and phased out. She sighed and shook her head at her own predicament.
"You said you had something against hard drinks, but you work at a bar." The boy followed up but his glazed look remained and he stared still out the window.
A wave of relief flushed over Alana and she smiled slightly. It seemed the stars were kind to her tonight. "Long story, but basically it's something to do with a father and a pitcher of Juma Juice spiked with Ryll." The boy made no response that he'd heard her but the Twi'lek went on anyway, in vain hope that he was. "But either way, there aren't that many job opportunities for a Twi'lek like me here on this backwash moon." She ended it on an upper note but it seemed to take no effect on the detached disposition of her guest. She forced a bit of her smile to remain on the corner of her lip, but it slowly faded away as the unnerving quiet settled in once again.
Alana took her glass of water and took a sip. The cold feeling soothed and relaxed her a bit. The events of that evening had taken her unprepared and she only noticed now that it had left her throat a bit dry. She found herself staring again at the fire in the distance. It was relayed to the public that the warehouse seemed to have been storing military-grade equipment and that apparently a malfunction of security equipment inside had caused them to explode. She didn't believe a thing on the news. It had probably been yet another pet project of one of the moon's crime syndicates. She wondered what really caused the explosion.
"What do you think caused that explosion?" The boy asked again, breaking the silence.
"The news said that—"
"We all know how Nar Shaddaa works." He cut her off flatly. "What do you think really happened?"
Alana paused and studied the youth's face. There was more behind him than what the eye could see. The persuasion of the thugs that had attacked her, his calm yet commanding whispers, she wasn't one to jump to conclusions but from the stories she had heard, he could be one of them. Taking a deep breath, she collected her thoughts and shared them with her guest. "I think one of the crime syndicates was working on something big. Large scale enough to attract the attention of some of their competitors… or their enemies."
The quiet was there again, but it felt more like the one that had been between her and him back at the cantina earlier that evening. She could tell that part of his attention was focused on her, but he seemed transfixed by the burning mass in the distance. "You're suggesting the Republic?"
"The Republic would have done something about Nar Shaddaa a long time ago if they could have." She rolled her eyes and took another sip from her glass. "But the Hutts have been powerful and resourceful enough to deter the Republic from taking action against their territories here in Hutt Space. I'm guessing that it was a dispute between rival crime outfits." The young Twi'lek, seeking to uncover her guest's identity, entertained a thought which to her was amusing. "Either that or the—"
"Isn't it beautiful?" He cut her off again. Alana felt as if he had meant to do it, but afraid of losing the attention he was giving her, she did not pursue it.
Returning to his query, she surmised that he had meant the orange glow in the horizon. "I guess you could say that." She paused and took in the strange aura the view seemed to emanate. "It paints," she searched for the right words but couldn't find them, "an unfamiliar glow in Nar Shaddaa's sky."
"No." His voice softened to a whisper as spoke his next words. "I meant the thought that whatever evil that would have come from there is now dead. That every individual that had sought to do harm to others is now burning in that inferno. That a massacre has undoubtedly saved the lives of so many."
Alana stared at the boy, an appalled expression painted on her face. "That's horrible. That's a horrible thing to say. Only a monster would relish in such carnage."
"So you think I'm a monster?" The boy turned and stared deep into her eyes. The glazed look was gone and the two green orbs became frightening to look upon. She felt a chill run through her bones, pain sear itself into her skin. Her head felt numb and she started feeling dizzy. But he wasn't doing it. She just knew that he wasn't. It was his pain she felt.
Her eyes did not close themselves but she felt her sight go black. Taking a few deep breaths, she felt herself calm down, and when she opened her thoughts again, the pain was gone. Gazing into his eyes, she saw pieces of what was within him, and sadness fell on her again at the thought that this child had gone through so much that he probably shouldn't have. There was no anger in her voice, only concern. "Did you cause that fire?" The boys stare wavered, the unyielding look in his eyes faltered. His head nodded his affirmation. "You didn't want to do it, did you?" He shook his head and went back to staring out the window. "But you still did. Why?"
"Because I wanted to save lives." There was a slight tinge of emotion, distinct from his regular flat tone. She said nothing, she felt that he wanted to say so much more, but for some reason he stopped. Yet there was a tension in the air, like a string about to snap, like a dam about to burst, like that deep breath before the plunge. Except it just stayed there, hanging in the air, a wound in the tranquility of that evening. It screamed and yet it made no sound.
Alana stretched her hand out to place on his shoulder but right before she could, a knock came from the door. She retracted it slowly and reluctantly, giving him one last look before getting up to get the door.
The knocking came again, heavy and demanding; it seemed like its owner was in quite an impatient mood. Alana wondered who it could be at this late hour. She got her answer when she let her door slide open.
It was the Quarren from the bar, and he had brought with him a couple of large Gamorreans. Beside the luxuriously dressed squid, the porcine humanoids looked all the more like a pack of thug bodyguards. They each carried in their hands a blaster rifle and at their sides hung a chosen barbaric looking melee weapon. There were four of them altogether, the Quarren and his three Gamorrean grunts.
"Good evening Miss Mav." The Quarren addressed Alana in his best common, which didn't sound quite so good. It was slow, erroneous in pronunciation and accented in all the wrong places. The Twi'lek gave each of the boar men a weary glance before returning her attention to the leader.
"Uhmm, yes?" Alana felt unsure of the group before her. Living on the Outer Rim teaches one how to sense when danger is coming. "May I help you?"
"Actually, you can." The Quarren's four tentacles seemed to wiggle themselves into a grin. "I've been hired by some high-paying clients to employ you into their service."
Alana's face turned into a scowl. "How many times do I have to tell you people? I'm not interested in your clients. I'm already employed and I'm happy where I am now."
"I'm actually here to talk to you about that little problem." There was something in the way he said it that unnerved Alana.
"What problem?"
"You seem to currently be… unemployed, my dear." The Quarren chuckled a bit. "My clients have dealt with your previous owner."
Alana felt her knees weaken and a pain shoot through her chest. It hadn't been the first time she had been approached like this. They had even tried to threaten Sedo, but the Bith never gave in. "You're lying."
"Have it your way, young lady. But you can check the rubble of your cantina tomorrow after your first performance tonight for your new masters." The Quarren clapped his hands and his Gamorreans, who had been distracted by the flies buzzing around them, came to attention and lumbered toward Alana.
The first Gamorrean to enter the room had to squeeze himself into the door, cracking the door frame as he force his mass inwards. Alana backed away in panic and stumbled as the pig man stretched out his muscled hand to grab her. Lying on the floor with the huge Gamorrean bearing down on her, she was just as astonished as her assailants at what happened next.
The boar man's arm fell to the floor and his horrified squeals filled the room. He was silenced shortly after by a soft hum and a flash of green.
"The lady apparently isn't interested." A shadowy figure made itself visible in the sparse light beaming through the open door. "Now back away and no one has to get hurt." A green aura emanated from the lightsaber in his hand and it cast an eerie glow about him.
The Quarren was obviously shaken, as he started cursing and barking out orders in his native tongue. He pulled out a blaster as his bodyguards followed suit, but before any of them could even lay their fingers on the triggers of their weapons, they had all fallen to the floor, lifeless. The blade of the lightsaber receded and the cloaked figure walked back into the room where Alana lay on the floor in shock.
She looked up and away from the bodies before her to see the boy's outstretched hand. Taking it, he helped her up to her feet and she stood face to face with him, looking once again at his eyes. There was no malice in them, no happiness at what he had done, but there was a firm sense of duty, and a strong sense of justice.
- - -
"How much farther?" Qui-Gon asked their guide as they burst through the undergrowth and stood before a wide, murky lake. It was dusk now, the sun of Naboo setting over the horizon.
Jar Jar turned to face the Jedi. "We'sa goin underwater, okeyday? My warning you, Gungans no liken outsiders. Don't 'xpect a warm welcome."
"Don't worry," Obi-Wan laughed sarcastically, "This hasn't been our day for warm welcomes." Right as he finished his sentence, Jar Jar flipped backwards and did a double somersault with a twist, wailing into the air as he corkscrewed himself and dived into the water. The two Jedi pulled out silver objects from their belts and waded into the lake. They were A99 Aquata Breathers and would provide them with air underwater. They had expected that they would need them and they proved themselves right.
Jar Jar's orange head popped out of the water and looked to the Jedi. "You'sa follow me now, okeyday?" With that, he submerged again and the Jedi's, putting their breathers into their mouths, dove and followed him.
As they swam behind Jar Jar, Obi-Wan was astonished at how smoothly the Gungan glided through the space. He didn't seem as scraggly as he had above, on the ground; there was actually a sort of elegance to the creature as he moved in this element. He watched as fish scattered at the sight of them coming, and wondered at the beauty of the corals and the other forms of life. They swam deeper and deeper, and as the light above them faded, another light seemed to glow from below.
They passed over a crag of rocks and what the Padawan saw amazed him more than anything he'd seen so far on this planet.
Hundreds of giant bubbles were glowing in the distance, and even from afar, he could see that there was movement within them. Life underwater within transparent living spaces.
The sight and thought was breathtaking.
The three slowly swam toward what looked like a gate into one of the bubbles and stood themselves upright on the platform before it, and Jar Jar slowly walked through the bubble membrane which seemed to magically close behind him. The Jedi followed, and found themselves looking about, appreciating the majesty of the sight. But the atmosphere wasn't quite as friendly as the air they were now breathing.
Gungans nearby that had spotted the outsiders scrambled away while Jar Jar shook himself dry, the drenched Jedi behind him taking off their Breathers, setting them back onto their belts. "So good bein home!" He exclaimed and breathed in the city air as several Gungans whispered to each other.
"Hey yousa! Stoppa there!" Came the holler of a tough looking Gungan riding on a strange two-legged steed.
The Kaadu stopped right before Jar Jar and the rider gave the orange Gungan a stern look. He clenched tightly the shaft of the electro-pole he carried.
"Heyo-dalee, Cap'n Tarpals. Me'sa back." Jar Jar gave a hopeful smile while stretching his arms sideward with open palms.
"No again, Jar Jar." Tarpals said with a dismayed tone in his voice. His next words were spoken with slight resentment, increasing in tone. "You'sa goin to da Bosses. You'sa in big doodoo this time."
Another guard riding on a Kaadu steed flanked Jar Jar and his companions, giving the orange Gungan a poke with his electro-pole. Jar Jar jumped at the slight shock and took a step backward. "How rude." He stated flatly as he looked up at both guards.
- - -
The two Jedi stood before the Gungan council, who sat on a platform a few feet higher than the ground. The platform stood in a semi-circle at the end of the Board Room bubble, where five officials sat comfortably in their chairs. The one in the center was a lot larger and wider than his peers, obviously the head of the council.
He was the leader of the Gungans: Big Boss Nass.
The large Gungan made a few clicking sounds from the sound of his mouth before speaking. "You'sa cannot be's here. Dis army of machineeks up there is new weesaw."
Qui-Gon placed his hands on his side and looked seriously into the Gungan ruler's eyes. "A droid army is about to attack the Naboo." He said firmly. "We must warn them."
"We'sa no like the Naboo." Nass paused and made another few clicking sounds before going on. "Da Naboo tink they so smarty. They tink their brains so big." He emphasized his point with a wave of his hand.
Obi-Wan, who had been standing a step behind his Master, walked forward and faced the large Gungan, attempting a moment of reason. "Once those droids take control of the surface, they will take control of you."
"Me'sa no tink so. They not know of ussen." The Gungan tapped his chest with a clenched fist.
Seeing that their plea was getting nowhere, Qui-Gon waved his hand discreetly in front of him and gave a suggestion to Boss Nass. "Then speed us on our way."
"We'sa gonna speed yous away."
Qui-Gon nodded and waved his hand again. "We could use a transport."
"We'sa give yousa una bongo." This turn of events elicited surprised looks from Jar Jar and the guards who stood behind him. "Da speediest way to da Naboo is goin through…" Nass paused and spared a glance to the rep on his right before looking back at the Jedi with a grave expression. "…da planet core." The mischievous smile on his face faded and turned into a frown. "Now go." He pointed to the exit.
"Thank you for you help. We leave in peace." Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan bowed and turned to leave.
"Master, what's a bongo?" Obi-Wan inquired as he looked to Qui-Gon.
"A transport, I hope." As the two Jedi passed Jar Jar, he moved toward them but was held back by one of the guards.
"They'sa settin you'sa up. Goin through the planet core, bad bombin." The captive Gungan warned them and a forlorn look painted his face. "Any help here would be hot." He clinked his chains as he grinned sheepishly.
Qui-Gon gave him a thoughtful look, and Obi-Wan sensed it. "Master. We are short on time."
"We'll need a navigator to get us through the planet's core. This Gungan may be of help." He reasoned and walked his way back to Boss Nass. "What is to become of Jar Jar Binks here?"
"Binks's broken the nocomebackie law. Hissen to be pune-ished." Jar Jar frowned and bowed his head as he heard this.
"He has been a great help to us. I hope the punishment will not be too severe."
"Pounded unto death." Nass said flatly and Jar Jar grimaced. Obi-Wan's face grew concerned and he glanced at the captive Gungan. "I saved his life. He owes me what you'd call a lifedebt."
Boss Nass face wrinkled. "Binks? You'sa have the lifeplay with thissen hissen?" Jar nodded in reply with an "uh-huh".
Qui-Gon's hand waved itself yet again. "Your gods demand that his life belongs to me now."
The Gungan leader paused for a moment. Then he shook his head vigorously, his cheeks wiggling and drops of spit coming out. "Be gone with him." Nass shouted angrily and waved his hand as if to shoo them all away.
The guards unlocked Jar Jar's cuffs and the now free Gungan rubbed his wrists as he watched the two Jedi leave out the door. "Count me'sa outta this. Better dead here, then dead in the core…" He paused and thought for a moment. "Ye gods, whatta me'sa sayin?" He shouted exasperated and waved his arms above his head, then quickly followed the Jedi.
- - -
Do you believe them? He had asked her. She said that she didn't, but it seemed that her faith was misplaced. They stood before what had been earlier that evening, a classy and welcoming bar, now nothing more than a heap of charred wood and metal, where the glow of left-over embers cast an eerie light.
Black smoke still floated in wisps above the rubble, and it had probably been a bright blaze but a few hours ago. There was no sign that anyone had put it out, it seemed that it had just burned itself dead.
In the distance, the sky still glowed orange, and the fire was still strong and the security forces of Nar Shaddaa still concentrated on that night's biggest disaster. The one caused by her companion.
Alana looked to the Jedi who hadn't bothered to replace his hood: dark auburn hair, skin like alabaster, green eyes that reflected light hauntingly—there was nothing about his looks that convinced her that he had caused the explosion that had shook all of Nar Shaddaa.
But he did.
She could see it in his movements, hear it in his voice. She could feel it in his stares, could smell it in the air around him.
She could taste it in his very presence.
Yet it was comforting, and she was unafraid. He had saved her and she had glimpsed it in his eyes: he was a good man. The deeds he did, he did for the sake of others.
She really couldn't understand what was wrong. There was nothing evil about him, she was sure of it, but he didn't seem to think so. He did nothing that, in her opinion, should make him abhor himself so much—yet he did.
He hated himself. And it ate at him like the darkness does a child.
"I'm sorry." He whispered as the wind picked up around them, a strand of his dark locks falling carelessly across his eyes. Watching this, Alana wiped the tear that had trickled down her cheek. "Don't be." She murmured, barely a whisper. "It wasn't your fault."
The boy looked at her and there was pain in his eyes, the kind that reminded her of heat-storms on Ryloth. Or of drinks mixed badly and left to go warm. "Wasn't it?" He bit back. "Isn't it my fault that everyone that should be watching the streets is over there, cleaning up my mess?" He nudged his head toward the orange glow in the distance. "Isn't it my fault that there is no protection on the streets for people like you," he paused and looked at the ruin before them, "and them."
He was about to continue when she placed her fingers on his lips, quieting him. "You saved many lives today," she said earnestly, looking into his eyes, "I don't know what you did, but you saved many lives today." She reaffirmed the statement. "I can see it in your eyes: you think what you've done is wrong, and maybe it is, but I don't think so." She shook her head and looked away for a moment.
"You saved my life," she breathed, "twice." She exhaled and looked back to him. "You tried to make me forget the first time, but I was stubborn." She looked back at his face and her stare could have overcome him. "You had the power to just kill me like all those others, but you didn't." She allowed a shadow of a smile. "You used it to save me, and I know, because I can feel it all around you, that you would have done everything you could to save my friends and all the other good people here on Nar Shaddaa."
She took her fingers from his lips and cupped his cheek with the palm of her hand. "For that, I thank you." She leaned in and gave him a quick kiss, "but you're only human." She smiled again, a touch of something poignant in her eyes. "And there is only so much you can do."
The wind blew by again, stronger this time and ruffled their coats. "If I can do good," he whispered, his face tilted slightly to the side, "then I will." Fragments of ash fluttered limply in the wind. "One simple action can change the fate of the universe," he seemed faraway then, too far, "and my actions will make echoes," each word spoken seemed like a weight that only dragged him down, "echoes that will not stop until they are overcome by others."
Alana's voice rose as her emotions surged. "Your echoes will all but die if you let your darkness overcome you." A tear formed at the edge of her eye. "Don't let it," she took him by the shoulders and shook him as hard as she could. But she was tired. "Do not let it take you away from all that you believe you still must do."
"A Jedi's life is sacrifice." He said flatly, his eyes glazed over with extreme grief.
"I don't want to lose you." She pleaded with him, her fingers gripping tighter though her shoulders sagged and she bowed her head, shuddering.
"I am nothing to you." He looked on ahead, blank, hollow, and yet, unconsciously, he hoped otherwise.
"You are everything to me." Alana leaned her head on his shoulder, her voice choked up but raspy and soft. She felt herself tremble, the tremor running over and under her skin before she could stop it.
Quietly, she began to cry. "You are everything to me now." Centering herself enough to let go of him, she looked back to his face. "My life isn't as magnificent as the universe." That face: so detached, so unreachable. Yet so painfully compelling.
"It is simple and small." She continued, her fingers slack on his shoulders. "The best years of my life I spent under the love and care of two people who now lie dead under that heap we called our home." The moisture stung her eyes and she sniffled, as if lacking air. "I have nothing now."
Silence crept over them, and the half-mute sounds of the city went on in the night. "Nothing except you." Her voice wavered as her tears flowed freely, and she whispered, almost afraid. "I love you, though you have shown no love for me, I love you." Her fingers found their strength and grasped him firmly once more. "Because there is good," she stressed, "in you." She searched his gaze. "I can see it." And squeezed his shoulders again. "I can feel it."
He wasn't sure why, but he wanted to believe her. And her words, right now, were precious, in a strange, strange way. "There is good in you." Alana told him. "There is love in you."
He stepped back, a small move, but a significant one. "I cannot accept your love." He turned his eyes away.
"I do not ask you to." There was conviction in her voice. "I give it freely." She cupped his cheek and let him see her again. "All I ask is that you take me with you."
He shied away from her touch. "I cannot do that."
"Then you have killed me." Her words were as strong as her feelings, "you have doomed me to a life of slavery and defilement." Her voice pitched low, like a child, all alone. "I will live the rest of my days through tortures of the flesh, since that is all I am worth to anyone." Again, she tried to reach him. He was, in some way, in the only way, her one hope.
"You are the only other person other than my now dead family that has shown me compassion, even in the slightest," she sighed, "you are the only other person who knows that I am more than a source of physical pleasure." Her last words were said with bitterness that cut like a knife: "I pray that my grief over you takes me swiftly so that I may be spared of what would be a life without meaning, without purpose." With that, Alana crossed her arms and looked away.
To the undiscerning eye, the boy's calm demeanor remained as it was, but inside, his resolve had been shaken. He stretched out his hands and held Alana by her arms, and his mouth tried to speak but it didn't have the words.
The long silence stayed like the scent of burnt metal, until he found what he thought was right to say: "I can't protect you."
"Liar." She looked back at him and smiled smugly, "you can protect me—but you can't protect yourself." She reached out and brushed the strand of hair that had fallen on his face. "Cause the battle you fight cannot be won with the arms you bear." Her hand slid to his throat, the fingers lax there, "It's within you, but I feel that it is a much greater battle than what I or any others could ever imagine." She paused. Her tears had stopped, her voice was weak, but it no longer wavered like before. "I want to protect you." She told him in a voice that was like a confession. "I want to save you from what I've seen in the depths of your eyes," she looked to those same eyes and for a moment, her eyes seemed to smile, if sadly. "From the darkness I see in your very being."
His tone was as lifeless as ever, but the words gave her hope. "I am not sure you can."
Her eyes twinkled in the evening light. "But I will try if you let me," she felt her companion run his thoughts through his head.
"Are you sure?" The boy asked in his whisper. "Are you sure this is what you want?"
She gestured with a brief, half-hearted sweep of the hand. "Look around you? Do I have anything else?" She let out a heavy sigh, "If you leave, I will have nothing," she breathed in and exhaled, her voice soft again. "And it will be hard to start anew, if not impossible."
The boy raised his arm and placed his coat over her shoulder. There was only silence and a quiet understanding, and they walked away from the ruined cantina and the orange glow in the midnight sky, their footsteps but shadows on the dusty floor.