Chapter Ten: Legolas's Sacrifice and Obi-Wan's Distress
At first, Obi-Wan couldn't speak. Hell, he even forgot to breathe. Toroo thought on the offer, the offer that Obi-Wan wasn't even going to think about agree to, before nodding.
"It sounds like a fair enough bargain. How much do you want for him?" He mused. Obi-Wan was just about to protest rather vehemently, but Legolas gave him a look that erased the retort from his mind. The elfling wanted him to do this! He wanted to exchange himself for a slave that he had only known for less than a week! Obi-Wan wanted to say no. He so desperately wanted to walk away and create a plan, but Legolas was determined.
"How much will you pay?" Obi-Wan asked in resignation. He swore he felt his heart and soul rip in two.
"No more than one hundred wupiupi." Toroo replied. Obi-Wan nodded, but did not relinquish his grip on the elfling.
"Ninety-Five wupiupi, then." The Jedi said. He wanted to burst into tears right there. He wanted to race back to the ship with Legolas in tow. Force, Thranduil was going to murder him. The Twi'Lek handed the jedi a leather pouch full of coins, forcing Obi-Wan to face the reality of what he was doing. He set Legolas down before taking the pouch.
"Girl, get in here!" The Twi'Lek barked over his shoulder. Arella came racing in, fresh tear tracks on her face, her auburn hair tangled, bruises marring her dirty skin. Her eyes widened when she saw Legolas. Legolas nodded and Arella breathed a silent sigh of relief. She walked over to Legolas and Obi-Wan as Obi-Wan blinked tears away. He couldn't believe what he was doing!
"You're to be traded. This man is your master, now." Toroo told Arella. The girl looked up sharply, disbelief shinning in her eyes as she looked at Legolas. Legolas only nodded.
"Yes, sir." Arella whispered as she looked back at Toroo.
"Go ahead and take her." Toroo told Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan did his best to smile.
"Thank you. We leave in peace." He replied before leading Arella out of the shop.
"Are you just going to leave him there?" Arella hissed, anger shining brightly in her sky-blue eyes.
"No, of course not." Obi-Wan replied around the lump in his throat. "Now I'm just going to have to figure out how to get him out of here." Arella nodded. They were silent for the rest of the trek back to the ship. When they arrived, Arella collapsed on one of the beds in the bunker and Obi-Wan shut himself in the cockpit. He took several, deep shuddering breaths as he tried to calm himself down. But he could not calm down. He began to sob and he swore he felt his heart go stone cold.
"What have you done, Obi-Wan Kenobi?" He sobbed. "What were you thinking?"
He woke up to the sound of beeping. Obi-Wan blinked groggily and pushed the "receive" button. The small, bluish figure of Master Yoda appeared before him.
"In much pain, you are, Obi-Wan. What troubles you?" He asked. Obi-Wan squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment.
"It's Legolas. He sold himself to save Arella. I am sorry, master. I should never have allowed this to happen." Obi-Wan whispered. Yoda nodded and Obi-Wan felt the tears return. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Thranduil is going to kill me."
"Blame yourself for this, you must not, Obi-Wan. Given up hope, you have." Yoda remarked in a stern voice. He almost looked disappointed. "Saved, your friend can be. Give up hope, you must not. Save him, you will." Obi-Wan nodded.
"I will try, master." He sighed.
"No, save him you will. Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda told him. Obi-Wan smiled briefly.
"Yes, master. Legolas will come home safely." He replied. Yoda smiled.
"But a serious situation, this is. Careful you must be, Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan nodded. He understood perfectly. Legolas was in trouble and Obi-Wan had to tread carefully if he was going to get Legolas off of Tatooine with nothing but a scratch. It would be hard, but Obi-Wan felt ready. Legolas needed him, and Obi-Wan was going to live up to his responsibility, even if it killed him.
Legolas couldn't sleep. It was colder now, and the ground in the slave quarters was too hard to be slept on. He sat against the wall and sighed. What was he doing? At first, he thought that trading himself for Arella was the only way to save her, but now he wasn't so sure. He had felt Obi-Wan's pain when he had been forced to sell Legolas, and he could feel the Jedi's pain now. He could even hear his thoughts, but they were faint and almost incoherent. The jedi master blamed himself for what had happened, and Legolas didn't want him to do that.
It was my choice, Obi-Wan The elfling thought My choice, and mine alone. You couldn't have stopped me. I wanted to do this, no, I needed to do this .Hear me, Obi-Wan. Please, hear me.
His eyelids began to droop and sheer exhaustion took him in its arms. The elfling was asleep within moments.
My disclaimer in the last chapter got cut short. Since I can't name the website for some stupid reason, you'll just have to be content with the fact that the song I used in the last chapter isn't mine.