Second Chance
Warm, golden sunlight peered through a window and
bathed Jordana's face, forcing her eyes to open. But they didn't
stay open. She rolled over, savoring the feeling of the satin sheets
shifting against her skin, and how her body melted into the soft
mattress. Just then, her mind registered the sensations she was
feeling, and she jolted upright. The bedroom was enormous with
handcrafted wood paneling, golden chandeliers dangling from sky-high
ceilings, sunlight pouring through glass doors that lead to a stone
balcony. Her breath quivered with fear and wonder. She jumped down
from the bed, dressed in her pans and black undershirt, and ventured
out her bedroom door. The hallway lead to a large staircase, and the
walk there seemed to take and eternity. Descending the stairs, she
thought she heard Anakin talking and laughing with another man. She
followed the sound of his voice to a study where Anakin sat talking
with a man who was maybe around Tahira's age.
"Anakin?" she
asked quietly.
"Well, look who finally woke up." he greeted
cheerfully.
The ability to form a single coherent sentence
completely escaped her."Who-what-where-" she began.
"Jordana,
this is Dax Marlow."
Dax was a handsome man of medium height
with chocolate hair and chiseled features.
"Um...hi?"
"I
was just explaining to your friend here how I found you two. My
hunting party and I were returning from our latest trip when we found
you two sleeping under a tree. It took me a moment, but I soon
recognized Anakin here, so I loaded you two into my vehicle." he
began to chuckle, "Well, halfway back here, Anakin wakes up, and
boy we thought he was going to kill us all."
Both him and Anakin
continued shared an uproarious laugh, mimicking Anakin's facial
expressions upon awakening in the back of Dax's vehicle. Jordana
giggled nervously, not entirely sure if what she was witnessing was
real or a dream.
"Jordana, Dax has agreed to help us." Anakin
stated once they'd both calmed down.
"Help us?"
"I'll
give you anything you want; homes, cars, jobs, money, booze, food,
you name it you got it."
"While we're grateful for all of
that," she sat down next to Anakin, "Why are you doing all of
this? Why would you help us?"
"One has to wonder when they
find the legendary Anakin Skywalker lying with a beautiful woman
beneath a tree in the woods, and neither one of them look
particularly well. Anakin told me everything, and I'm sympathetic
to your situation."
"Jordana, the Temple never released a
statement about us. Palpatine might when he's informed, but that's
doubtful still. Either way, we're still in danger. If the Jedi find
out we're still alive, we're screwed. Then everything Tahira
risked will be in vain. Here, we'll be safe."
Jordana thought
about it for a moment. He was right, there was really no where else
for them to go without getting caught.
She turned to Dax, "So
what is it exactly that you do?"
"I own several businesses,
including restaurants, garages, and of course my night club."
"So
your name is pretty much plastered all over this end of town?"
"No,
everything has a different name. But the money all comes back to me.
So what do you say, would you like a job?"
"As
what?"
"Anything." He noticed that Jordana and Anakin
glanced over at each other and he rose. "I'll give you two a
little longer to talk about it." And he walked out of the study,
leaving the two of them alone.
"So what are we going to do?"
she asked.
"Well, what do you think?"
"I think we can
trust him." she paused, "I guess I'm just nervous. I've never
been anything but a Jedi, it's all I know how to be."
"Then
we'll find something." he said, taking her hand in his. "This
is our chance to start over."
Another chance to be with you.
she thought.
"A second chance." she whispered
"Exactly! A
fresh start, a clean slate, no rules and no Jedi Code, we can live as
we please." he said enthusiastically.
His broad smile and boyish
enthusiasm was contagious, and she soon found herself smiling and
growing more excited than she was ten minutes ago.
"Let's go
talk to him about a job then."
