Disclaimer: Star Wars is owned by Disney and Lucasfilm Ltd. The following work is not intended to add to, promote or distort this series. This is a work of fanfiction, and the author does not profit in posting. This is simply a writing exercise written for fun.
Varykino was far more than Rex had anticipated, in terms of serenity, anyways. Though the surroundings were perhaps the most beautiful sights he'd ever seen, the location was a massive disappointment in terms of locating Commander Tano. Every inch of him told him this was nothing more than a wild goose chase for Wezz's gain, and not theirs... And that was beginning to frustrate him.
Yet he, the faithful soldier, held his tongue for as long as he could stomach. Thanks to his tenure under General Skywalker, however, that lasted abysmally short.
"And why would Commander Tano come here?" he demanded once Mrs. Naberrie was out of earshot. This had been their second day there. The somewhat pixie-looking Wezz merely smirked and raised her brows.
She shrugged and pointed out, "This was the last location she and Knight Skywalker had visited before her disappearance. She may have come here searching for the source of Skywalker's ailments." I can see the logic in that, Rex attempted to agree, though his own intuition told him otherwise.
They continued to peruse the upper floors for clues, neither truly certain of what they were looking for. Two of the remaining men were stationed below, watching the lake and their curious observers on the fishing boat. The male and female feigning relaxation had not left their post, nor had they caught any fish and Wezz was certain they were monitoring them. The clones, themselves, weren't in disagreement.
But as Abo and Fives continued to monitor the venue, a large and feathered predator caught their eyes, leading their glances skyward where an interesting sight did indeed captivate them. The bird was majestic, floating about on an updraft with two smaller fliers in tow behind its tail-feathers. So captivated, were they, that they did not notice the departure of one of the occupants of the fishing boat. The larger, oranger one.
Wezz continued her search of the upper floor, entering a vast bedchamber with large windows that captured a breathtaking view of the lake. She smiled to herself, relishing this small moment of delight, as Jedi were not often allowed such luxuries. Breathing deeply as the sun began to set on their second day on Naboo, she turned towards the closet.
Opening the vast space, her green eyes fell upon the many dresses of Senator Amidala herself and she frowned. Her upbringing with the Jedi made her often feel that these almost overdecorated clothes served no purpose but to ornamentize a person. Therefore she was adamantly against them.
But, as she opened her mind's eye once more to find yet another location to scour, her instincts warned her of passing up a valuable clue. A clue in the closet. A clue among the dresses.
Closing her eyes to focus, she stepped deeper into the abyss that was the fine ladies wardrobe. Something powerful was radiating within, she could sense it, but what it was, she could not decide.
As she moved towards the back of the closet, however, the pop-hiss of a lightsaber broke her focus. She turned round in just enough time to catch the red blade of the dripping Togruta assailant from Coruscant. Stunned, her strength almost gave in to the angry warrior. "You!" she shouted, trying to renew her strength and gather allies at the same time.
Within a minute of her cry, bolts began irrupting from the hall as Rex opened fire. The Togruta ducked and dodge, giving up his offensive stance for defensive maneuvers. But what fascinated Wezz was how Rex's bolts were directed at her, not Rex himself. She was still on the defensive, trying to volley the shots back at the Togruta, who narrowly dodged.
He turned back towards the balcony, only to be tackled by Rex. The man roared as he slammed his armor clad body into the tall Togruta, throwing him through the door as his comrades entered the second floor. Slamming the butt of his rifle into the face of his assailant, the man attempted to knock the warrior out. On the third strike, the demonic man caught the rifle and ripped it from Rex's hands, tossing it to the side as he stood and called his fallen lightsaber to his prosthetic hand.
The others opened fire as Wezz charged the Togruta, allowing Rex time enough to collect his fallen weapon and attempt to fire at him once again. His back was to the water. Open.
The pop-hiss of the Mirialan's own lightsaber stopped the match into still silence.
Stomping down the halls of their hideaway, Pestilis tore away at her disguise. The facial manipulator's she'd brought from the future powered down, revealing her ragged form beneath the youthful face of Knight Wezz. She sighed as she entered their living space, staring around at the decadence of disuse.
"Where are those brats anyway?" She grumbled to herself, only to hear her master laugh as he crawled out of the shadows. With a datapad in hand, he answered her while he read.
"I sense them on Naboo," he informed her, "Tailing the real Wezz." Rolling her green eyes, Pestilis sighed and sat down on a nearby chair, calling her walking stick over from by the wall.
"Well that was a bust." She admitted, kicking her feet up on another chair, "Skywalker returned in just enough time to catch me stealing something from his room. Destroyed the damn datapad."
Demantis frowned and set his own reading down, "Such a shame..." he replied carefully, "We could have used his call log to narrow down the list of suspects. Clearly, we need to start looking beyond the Jedi." Pestilis nodded and stared out the window at the rising sun.
"Let's just hope it is this Wezz creature we are looking for."
Chuckling, Demantis nodded, resuming his reading as he faded out of existence. The act nearly froze Pestilis, who moved towards her chair near the center of the room, but she reminded herself... he was, after all, a ghost.
Sighing, she closed her eyes and wondered deeply, why was she even pushing this far? All this effort was starting to feel like overkill.
Padme was deep in a dream and she knew it. This happiness had to be a dream as reality could never be so breathtaking.
The sun, the beach, the waves. She was on the small island outside her Varykino, the one she used to swim to as a child with her sister. It was lovely outside, with the soothing sound of running water nearly lulling her dream self to sleep.
Hey! Something startled her out of her reverie. She turned to find a blond boy, the same one from her visions on Coruscant, waving to her from near the water, "You've got to see this!" He cried out enthusiastically, reminding her of Anakin at around that age.
With a grin, despite her confusion, Padme rose and meandered down the way, noticing that she was in her swimming gear. I must have swam here. She realized, pleased at the notion. It had been some time since she'd been allowed that opportunity. Perhaps I should return home and enjoy the lake. But even from here, that idea felt like a distant dream.
"What is it?" She asked the boy. He grinned, his icy blue eyes almost too familiar.
"Leia found this creepy thing." He pointed to the girl that almost seemed to manifest next to him near the waves. She was squatted down in her checkered swimsuit, staring at a small lizard that seemed to almost be struggling to leap back into the water. But when she was mentioned, she turned her glowing chocolate eyes Padme's way. Again, she felt she knew these eyes.
Curious, the woman knelt down to observe the small green and blue creature. The girl glanced her way, "What should we do mom?" She asked innocently, "He's so little."
Padme was so startled by what the girl had called her, she didn't have the words to answer. Fortunately, someone did.
"And what is so interesting, my entire family has gathered around it?" Anakin's voice suddenly called out as he approached from the center of the island. Again, the boy dashed off, grabbing his hand and pulling him over to show him the stranded water lizard. She couldn't help but grin as Anakin chuckled and knelt down beside her.
Clearly goading the children on, Anakin's eyes grew wide along with his smile, and he turned from the boy to the girl with raised brows. "Did someone capture this little guy?" Almost instantly, the children were defending themselves, waving their hands as they created their explanation in similar fashion. What amazed Padme was how they kept talking in sync or finishing each other's sentences, as though existing in each other's minds.
"Luke was trying to build a sand castle up the hill!" Leia started accusingly.
And Luke finished, "But Leia said I needed more wet sand so-"
"He started to collect it and-" Padme watched in amazement as Anakin's eyes drifted between the two as if watching their joint thought bounce back and forth between them, a wry grin on his face.
"-she came to help, but then she-"
Padme was starting to get a headache from this stereo explanation, "found this little guy and I didn't know what to do so Luke called mom over and then-"
Anakin held up a hand at the two children who could not have been more than seven years old, "I get it." He shushed them with a smile, "Now the question is how to help him?"
The boy glanced at the girl, who glanced down at the fish and then back at him. And suddenly the two were pulling at Anakin's arms, nearly yanking him into the sand. Padme fought hard to stifle a laugh as her fearless husband nearly lost to the combined efforts of their imagined children. "Can we keep him!?" They begged synchronously.
Letting out a sigh of exasperation, Anakin glanced her way and that was when she knew she was in trouble. The two kids bombarded her next, offering to take care of the water lizard, to love the water lizard, to give him bubble baths and everything. And that was when her husband proved to be useless, what with him laughing in the sand next to her.
"I think your friend would be happier in the lake," Padme tried carefully, "With all his friends and family." When the two glanced at one another sadly, she took the opportunity to make them feel better about the decision, "I mean, how would you feel if someone took you away from us?"
Leia answered first, "Sad."
"Scared." Luke added in second.
Nodding, Padme pointed back gently to the water lizard with her hand, "Well, that is exactly how this little guy feels." She assured them, "So I don't think keeping him for yourselves is all that fair. Do you?" Begrudgingly, they both nodded.
And together, they raised their hands and focused their gaze. They soon had that distant stair Padme was so used to seeing in Anakin when he delved into the Force. Soon, the puddle of water was no longer in the sand and the lizard was swimming freely through the air, unsure of what was going on as it panicked. Padme watched, stupefied, as her dream-children levitated the lizard back into the water with so little effort, she was almost afraid. But, once the animal was free, they turned back to her, concentration gone and smiles back. And, more importantly, pride in themselves shown on their faces.
And Padme could only smile.
But, as she felt Anakin lean over to whisper something in her ear, the water of her vision rose until she was submerged in darkness. At first, she was afraid, standing even to rescue her imagined offspring, but was soon calmed when she remembered this was a dream. This wasn't real.
Padme? She heard Ahsoka in the back of her mind, her voice echoing around her, Padme, please wake up!
Senator Amidala? Captain Typho called as well, Senator, are you all right?
She followed the sounds of their voices, spying a door that seemed to retract her from the depths. The door of light she entered made her blink some, and when she was able to open her eyes, she found herself on the floor of her starskiff, surrounded by familiar faces.
And familiar eyes.
Though they hadn't said a word, a set of icy blue eyes and a set of chocolate brown eyes were gazing down at her with an expression of wonder and worry. Just like...
"Senator!" Typho sighed in relief, "Thank goodness!" He glanced up as a wiry, half repaired-half updated MediDroid ambled into the room, "See to her immediately." He then proceeded to reach down and lift her up, Jacen at her other side to assist him. No-
"Luke?" She asked, turning to the man wearily. And when all that happened was his jaw dropped, she found herself surprisingly certain. Certain enough to turn to his female companion and inquire, "Leia?"
The whole room froze, Typho and Ahsoka included. So it wasn't just a dream... she realized, fighting tears of joy that were building in her eyes. She could see it clearly now, the beach, them as children, her happiness assured. But why are they here? She wanted to know.
And then she remembered Leia's warning...
Anakin's soul!
Rex felt great pain as his insides were charged from the sneak attack. He was quite certain he lacked a liver and that his lungs would never function again. Damned lightsaber weilding... he thought to himself as he fell to his knees. The green warrioress smirked to herself and leveled her blade for an execution strike. One swing and it was all over.
One swing and Rex would be no more.
"Say goodbye!" the wretched woman cried out as her blade whisked through the air at lightening fast speed, only to be blocked. But the blade that crossed hers was not blue. Nor green. Not even the rare purple.
She could only stare at the crimson red of her partner's blade, awestruck. Then, she dared glance into his hate-filled eyes. "Why?" She wanted to know, stuttering as she stepped back, allowing the Togruta to take the defensive stance before Rex. "He killed your mother!" She shouted angrily, "You told me yourself that he was the one who pulled the trigger!" Turning his eyes away from her, the man nodded.
"Just because he pulled the trigger does not make him the man that killed my mother." He outright told her, "I will have no other life taken on that matter than the true murderer... Especially not this man's." The Togruta chanced a kind glance towards the injured soldier before turning back.
Rex marveled in the way he spoke. Commanding. Sure. Something about this warrior made him seem more a victim of circumstance than a villain. A man using something bad on the quest of something good. Or perhaps I'm just delirious, he considered internally, trying to put to rest the voice in his head that chimed this man was familiar. Or was that the near-blinding pain talking?
The woman scowled and turned towards Wezz, who still had her guard raised and a gleam of caution in her eye. "Fine. Just don't let your desire to protect him interfere with my capturing Skywalker." She spat before attacking Wezz as she jumped over the railings. The remaining commandos immediately followed her path with fire raining down. But the nimble warrior dodged every shot.
When they turned about, they found Rex alone. The Togruta was gone.
Rushing to his side, Wezz ordered the rest of the men to get their medical supplies and call the nearest medical unit. They scrambled, but were diligent as she attempted to Force heal with the little skill she had. As Rex levitated slightly from the ground, she sighed and focused and began to perspire.
But Rex was strong and filled with desire. A desire to know exactly who the mother was that his enemies were discussing. Who had he killed that left behind such responsibilities? And why could he not remember them?
Author's Note: Hi everyone, I know it's short but this seemed like the best place to stop. I hope you enjoyed this chapter despite this. I'll try and update as soon as I can, but I cannot guarantee when that will be. Thank you for your reviews and favorites! They are what keeps me going.
Also, I wanted to let you know that I'm on the hunt for betas for a different story. If you're interested, details are on my profile page.