Confrontations at a Lake
Chapter Eight – I Love You
(A/N: Managed to update this story. Enjoy!)
Padmé soon found herself being pulled/dragged on a muddy road, away from the protection of the forest, much to her great dismay. She knew that any second now she would pass out. The pain was excruciating. She readily welcomed the thought of blackness, though. She stumbled over her own feet, not really caring what happened to herself at the moment. She landed on her knees in the mud, not moving until the guard roughly pulled her up, making her cry out at the pressure on her arm. Worry crept into her heart and mind for Obi-Wan, she knew he was behind her.
Obi-Wan was being carried right behind her. Two guards, one on each side, pulled him along. He didn't make any effort to walk by himself, as his knees were dragged through the still wet ground. Obi-Wan passed out halfway to the palace.
Padmé slowly looked up from the ground, to find they were already inside the city. She immediately curled up into a ball as she was dumped into a cell, trying not to cry out. She lay there shivering, blood pooling around her. Soon she became weaker and weaker, a few tears leak down her cheeks and onto the floor, mixing with her blood. She put a trembling hand over her mouth, trying to calm herself down. She sucked in a deep breath and whimpered, as even that hurt, and her body stiffened when she felt something touch her back.
In the cell across from her, Obi-Wan laid in the middle of it, a shard of light falling a few inches in front of his face, blood already pooled around him.
Padmé painfully moved her neck and body, pain crossing her face. Her eyes widened as she saw what had touched her. Her body trembled, her heart hammered with fear, but she found herself in too much pain to move.
"Hello there, princess." Her cell-mate croaked, smiling down at her. It wasn't a pleasant smile, it was more of a menacing looking type of smile, yellow tobacco stained teeth showing. If he was any closer she would've been able to smell his horrid breath. His body odor was enough to make her want to gag.
"W-what...what do you want." Her voice was hoarse, every part of her body yelling at her to get up and move away, but she was weak..so weak.
"What in Gods name happened to you, princess. You look like you'll die any second now." Her cell-mate moved back to his side of the cell. He was so dirty he looked like he was made as part of the wall.
"I am dieing..." Her voice was barely a whisper, as she stared at the side of the cell, her back to him again. Tears leaked down her cheeks. "I am dieing..." She cried harder, thinking of Obi-Wan. Quickly she struggled to sit up somehow, her bloody hands clutched the bars, and she called out his name, as she tried not to sob.
"Obi-Wan! Obi-Wan, wake up! Please!" She sobbed harder, her grip loosening on the bars. "Please..."
Her cell-mate moved. "CARSON! Wake up your new cell-mate." That command came out as a growl, before he moved back to his seat.
The man in the other cell moved, putting a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, shaking it slowly. "Hey..."
Obi-Wan suddenly snapped away, his fingers curled around the man's wrist, holding tight, a look of hatred in his eyes. He realized that the man didn't want to hurt him...at least not at the moment...and let go, his arm splashed back into his blood. He laid his head down again, fighting the urge to cry out from the pain in moving anything.
"Obi-Wan?" Padmé called his name softly, still clutching the bars, tears on her face, no longer sobbing. He lifted his head at the sound of his name, than laid it back down, the scratch on his cheek was red from the blood on the floor.
"Hey, love." She barely heard him, his voice was so soft. He was oblivious to his cell-mate's movements. He was still slightly shocked from Obi-Wan's fast movements.
"I'm scared Obi-Wan.." She whispered to him, tears in her eyes again. She wished she would stop crying, she wished that this all wasn't her fault. She wished the pain would go away. She wished many things, but she knew it was pointless to even think about them.
"It's ok Padmé. You didn't do anything. I shot everyone and you were just on the horse with me. You weren't involved in any illegal activity." He whispered back to her, shocked that he had gotten that all out.
"No, no, you can't do that Obi-Wan. I won't let you take all the blame!" The pain intensified as her fingers clutched the bars even harder, blood dripping to the floor. "This is all my fault." She moaned as she let go of the bars. "All my fault. I'm so sorry..so sorry.." Padmé knew nothing except the guilt that burned her heart and mind. It consumed her. It nagged at her.
"No, don't blame yourself." Her heart beat with worry as she heard him cough, and saw him shiver, she knew pain moved through him. "They're going to kill me anyway. You've got your whole life ahead of you.."
"So do you." Anguish was evident in those three words. She shivered violently, nearly passing out as pain moved through her body. She would've fallen over had she not grabbed the bars again, her knuckles going white.
"No," He shook his head as best he could, "You said before I've screwed up my life, and you were right. I'm not going to come out of this alive, but I want you to be able to move on. Get on the right track in life." He coughed again, he sounded as if he was going to cough out his guts.
"No, you're wrong." Padmé tried so hard not to cry, wishing what he was saying wouldn't become true, "We'll get out of this, both of us, alive, in one piece. You can't give up, I haven't."
"I wish that were true." He looked sideways at the floor, sadness in his voice. He looked back up at her. "It's the end of the line for me, Padmé. I need a miracle to get out of this one."
Her heart sunk to the ground as she listened to him.
"You don't know that, you honestly don't." Tears continued to roll down her face. "You can't...oh, why did you have to steal that damned diamond!" she suddenly yelled at him. She was angry at him, but she knew she wouldn't be. "You can be such a fool sometimes!"
Obi-Wan looked at the floor sadly, "I know."
"That's it? You're not going to defend yourself? Are you just going to be a coward again? That's all you've done your entire life, isn't it. Running away from things you didn't like."
He continued to look down, and he realized she was right. Even if she was wrong, he wouldn't have fought her.
"Yes."
"You're not going to say anything are you. You're just going to sit there and wait for your death, aren't you. Well, I won't let you die!"
"Padmé...there's nothing you can do." He whispered this, as if he didn't want her to hear. "It's over."
"Just because you say there's nothing I can do doesn't make it true!"
He continued to look at the ground, unmoving.
"Then what do you suggest."
Padmé let go of the bars and sunk back to the floor, crying out as her wounds scraped against the floor, blood oozing. She quickly curled up on her side, and tried to stay silent.
"I don't know...I really don't, but I don't want you to die. I don't want to lose you." Her words came out in a whisper, a fearful whisper.
"I don't want to go either..but I can't take back the things I've done. And as my last good deed I want you to get out of this alive."
Padmé laid there and said nothing, she couldn't think of anything, her heart was beating with dread, fear not far behind.
"Just," he coughed again, "listen to me this once. Please?"
"Of course." Her voice was void of any emotion, as if she was trying to detach herself from...herself. Surprisingly Obi-Wan smirked, a real smile still evading his lips.
"Thanks."
Padmé continued to lay there, saying nothing. She inhaled deeply, wincing as pain ripped through her sharply. She stared at nothing, her eyes unseeing.
Obi-Wan's closing eyes suddenly snapped open, and he actually sat up, despite his body's cries.
"The diamond.." he breathed, "Where is it?!" He practically yelled.
"I..." She paused, thinking, "...with Comet." Those two words were said softly, almost as if she didn't care, but her eyes widened as she came to realize. "With Comet!" She almost yelled that, sitting up as well, groaning in pain.
Obi-Wan put his head in his hands. "Ohh...no, no, no! They're going to ask. I won't even be able to lie, because I don't know the truth!" To Padmé, he seemed to be panicking.
"What are they going to do to you, Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan didn't really know himself, but he decided to lie.
"They probably don't know about it...we're in different regions. I'm sure they don't communicate too much."
"You're lying." She stared right at him.
"Well, there's not too much left that they can do, or I won't be living. I wouldn't worry about that. Let's just get our story straight."
Two guards started walking down the hallway, their boots echoing throughout the aisle, alerting everyone of their presence. Obi-Wan heard them coming and he knew they didn't have much time.
"Just follow my lead, alright?"
"Yeah," Padmé nodded, trying to hide the scared look on her face.
The guards opened their cells and picked them up, pulling them along down the corridor. They soon were dumped before the King, wincing as they landed on their knees roughly. King Adama looked at Kenobi.
"You've been charged with so many things, I don't even want to name them all. You've been sentenced to hang. Anything to say for yourself?"
Obi-Wan stayed silent, looking down at the floor.
"Good," King Adama looked over to the girl, then back at Kenobi, "Who's she?"
Obi-Wan shrugged, still not speaking.
The King turned to her, expecting her name.
"Evey Hammond, your Highness." Padmé said softly, in a different accent than her usual one, looking at him straight in the eye. The King continued to stare to stare at her for a few seconds, meeting her eyes, before he looked away.
"I have never heard of you. How did you wind up here?"
Obi-Wan continued to stay quiet, though he was surprised by the fake name she had just come up with, and with her accent.
Padmé looked away from the King, to stare at the ground.
"He...he..took...he took me as..." Tears brimmed her eyes and she pretended to choke on her words, as if she really was going to cry. She couldn't continue speaking, and stared at the ground, her heart hammering, hoping that Obi-Wan would get the point.
Obi-Wan sighed and hung his head, defeatedly. "I kidnapped her, then wouldn't let her go."
"Tsk tsk. Charges just keep adding up for you, don't they?"
Obi-Wan kept his head down, glancing at Padmé out of the corner of his eyes. Padmé continued to stare at the ground. She didn't dare look at anyone, or say anything.
"Well, now that that is out of the way, to my real business. Where's the diamond?"
Obi-Wan kept his head down, offering no answer.
King Adama turned to the girl and asked her nicely. "Do you know where he hid it?" Obi-Wan glanced at her like he had before, his eyes pleading.
"I never saw him hide it, your Highness." Padmé said softly, still continuing to speak in her different accent. What she said was true, she had never seen Obi-Wan hide any diamond, he had hid it before he had ever asked her to join him.
The King nodded thoughtfully, than turned back to Kenobi. "Smart move, not involving the girl." He leaned in closer to him, "Now, you can either tell me now and be hanged tomorrow, or we'll force it out of you, and than hang you. Which do you prefer?"
"Neither." Obi-Wan thought in his head. He said nothing out loud and stared at the King defiantly.
The King smiled and leaned back, folding his hands in front of him. "I see." He looked at the guards. "Take them away. Throw Kenobi in a cell alone, and release the girl to a doctor."
The guards lifted them up roughly, and dragged them out of the King's room to just outside the door. They stopped outside the door, as they would be separating the man and woman now.
Obi-Wan stepped closer to Padmé and leaned down, kissing her passionately. "I love you." He whispered in her ear. He stepped back, his eyes showing he meant it. Obi-Wan kept his eyes on hers as the guard jerked him away down the hallway. His heart nearly broke as all she did was sob, she didn't say anything. Nothing at all. He looked away from her, than back at her, at her face. He knew this would be the last time he would see her. He hung his head as her sobbing continued.
Padmé continued to sob, tears gushing down her face as he was being pulled away from her. Before she could utter anything, she was roughly dragged through a door and out of the palace. The guard barged through a door of a hut just one hundred yards from the castle. Through her haze Padmé barely noticed a woman, not much older than herself, jump up from her seat and glare at the guard as he dropped her out from under his grip. Padmé would've fallen to the floor with exhaustion and pain and depression, had the healer not caught her and set her on the bed.
"What is the meaning of this?" the healer snapped, her hands on her hips.
"She was sent from the King." The guard said bluntly, before walking out, leaving the healer and Padmé alone.
The healer bent down to the almost unconscious girl and winced as she saw the extent of her injuries.
"What have you gotten yourself into, my daughter.." She whispered as she moved Padmé into more of a comfortable position, her expression sad as the girl cried out in pain. She quickly got up and grabbed the salve and cloth.
"I'll help you as much as I can." The healer, who's name was Aeryn, said, to the quiet room.
---
Obi-Wan was thrown into a smaller, much lonelier cell. He laid his head on the ground, breathing hard. A few tears slid down his face, as he thought of Padmé, hoping she was safe. A man came in a few minutes later.
"So, the King tells me you have some information that he wants." The man started pacing in front of Obi-Wan. "Last chance, or I'm taking you through hell and back." Obi-Wan stayed silent.
Captain Rohl smirked at his silence. "I see you're going to be a fun one to break. See you at dawn." He strolled out, looking almost...happy.
---
Aeryn turned her head as she heard a moan and something akin to a sob coming from the girl. She hurried over to her, soothing her hair from her face, staring at her pretty face.
"Tell me, what is your name?" She asked softly.
Padmé struggled to open her eyes, wondering where the hell she was. She blinked and was grateful that her eyes focused on a woman beside her.
"E-Evey.." Her tongue wasn't working for some unknown reason. Luckily, out of some unkown miracle, she had still gotten her accent to work. She suddenly cried out as the woman touched a wound on her arm. Padmé had no strength to move, at all.
---
Obi-Wan opened his eyes after a few minutes, and looked around his cell. Only a shard of light, smaller than the one in the previous cell, fell onto the floor. Obi-Wan turned to look out his small window, but fell back to his original position, since he traitorous body didn't allow movement. He looked down to his side to see a shaft of wood sticking out a few inches, from the arrow that he had taken, instead of Padmé. He sucked in a deep breath as he reached over and grabbed onto the shaft, preparing himself for the pain. Obi-Wan realized that this would make him bleed even more, but he didn't care. He pulled out the shaft and arrow, crying out simultaneously, breaking the silence of the cell block. He threw the shaft away with all of his strength. It only landed a few feet away. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and slipped into unconsciousness again.
---
"Well, Evey, my name is Aeryn, and I am here to help you. You may pass out from the pain, but that is for the best. I don't really know how long it will take you to heal. It all depends on the full extent of your injuries. I'm not expecting you to tell me how you got these injuries, nor about yourself. I don't also expect you to stay here after you heal. What I do expect you to be is cooperative." Aeryn said all this as she got the salve and cloth ready, wiping blood off her wounds. As most of the blood was gone, she looked into Evey's eyes. "Are you ready?"
At the girl's nod she put the salve on one of the wounds on her arm, knowing she should by now be immune by Evey's cries of pain, and after only a few minutes, her cries subsided. She was unconscious. Aeryn continued to put salve on her wounds, and wrapped the cloth around her arm. She moved the girl onto her side and gasped as she saw more wounds on her back. Aeryn positioned Evey onto her stomach and proceeded to lift her clothes and put salve and wrap the cloth around her middle section.
---
Obi-Wan cringed as he heard metal against metal. He opened his eyes, wondering what was going on. Obi-Wan could barely see into the aisle, as it was so dark, but he finally saw a guard passing, his sword tapping against each bar of the cell as he walked by. Obi-Wan sighed in annoyance and laid his head back down in the uncomfortable position, and fell back asleep, only to be woken up again about an hour or so by the same noise which continued every hour or so until dawn.
---
Aeryn was sitting in a chair, dozing next to Evey's bed when she heard a sound. She opened her eyes slowly.
Padmé jerked awake in bed, gasping in pain as her body moved. Her back arched off the bed as her hands clutched the bedsheets, her knuckles going white. A whimper escaped her lips as she tried to lay down comfortably, without setting her back on fire. Tears slide down her temples as suddenly she thought of Obi-Wan, her heart breaking as their last scene unfolded in her mind.
Aeryn tried to settle Evey into a more comfortable position. She didn't ask why she was crying, she just wished she could take the pain away.
"Shh, it's alright. You'll be fine.."
"I-I'm s-sorry." Padmé gasped that out, as she tried not to move, staring at the ceiling, still crying.
"For what?" Aeryn frowned, sitting back into her chair.
"F-For not being co-cooperative." Padmé's eyes shifted from the ceiling to Aeryn.
Aeryn laughed softly, much to Padmé's surprise.
"Oh hon, this is about as cooperative as I expected you, or your body to be. You're no problem at all, I've had much worse. Don't worry, I'm here to help you and in no time you'll be out and about, doing what you usually do."
Padmé stayed quiet and continued to stare at the ceiling, wondering. What DID she usually do? She wasn't a thief, like Obi-Wan, and when she had lived with her mother, she had just been a common girl, working to survive, and ever since her mother had died...well, her life hadn't been the same. Her heart sunk as she realized that she really had nothing to do fater she was healed. She would be alone, with no money. Padmé suddenly found herself becoming tired, and since she didn't fight the sensation, her eyes closed and she feel asleep quickly.
Aeryn got up from her chair, stretching her worn body, groaning as her back cracked. She moved to the window and stared into the sky, seeing it was dawn. She sighed and looked at Evey again.
"How am I going to help you get through all this, girl. You have more troubles than I care to count.." She murmured to herself softly.
---
Obi-Wan woke up to that sound of the sword on the bars again, and he almost fell back asleep, but the light outside caught his attention. It must be dawn. To serve his suspicious right, a guard grabbed him and hauled him down a hallway. He was thrown into a white room. His eyes immediately noticed bandages sitting on a cart, next to a table with a basin filled with water next to it. His brows furrowed with confusion as this looked to be a healer's room instead of a torture chamber. He was just about to attempt to stand up when a middle-aged man walked into the room, different guards behind him. Captain Rohl strolled in right after him. The guards picked him up and set him on the table, tieing his hands together in front of him. Captain Rolh smirked as he felt Kenobi's stare on him.
"Ohh, don't worry, I'm just here for when you crack. You already know the question so I won't bother asking it again." Rohl crossed his arms and leaned against the wall comfortably.
"I don't kno-" Obi-Wan's sentence was cut short by his cry as water touched his back. It normally would've felt wonderful, had it not been saltwater. The salt dripped down his back, burning his wounds from the wolves and arrow, and continued past those, hitting other smaller scratches. Obi-Wan than felt a bandage being wrapped around his shoulder, and he glared at the Captain.
"Why?"
"Why? Because we can't have you dieing before we know what we need, now can we? Don't worry, the salt water might actually help against infection."
Obi-Wan bit his lip as the doctor cleaned his side wound from the arrow, and dressed it. He than was thrown back into his cell, the salt still burning. His hands were still tied, giving him no way to stop it. He wondered how long it would be before they came back, hoping this would be all for the day. He laid his head down on the ground and hoped to catch some sleep, finding none.
---
A few hours later Padmé began to toss and turn in her bed, groaning in her sleep as pressure was inflicted on her wounds. She was having a nightmare. Everything she saw was so vivid, as if she really was there.
Obi-Wan was in a dark lonely cell, she found herself standing in front of the bars, staring down at him. She blinked and suddenly she was seeing Obi-Wan getting tortured, hearing his cries of pain. Her heart felt as if it was being crushed, she couldn't bare to watch. The scene changed again, Obi-Wan was sitting in his cell again. Padmé blinked, and suddenly she was in his cell, standing right next to him. Just as she reached to touch his cheek she found that everything around her was going black. She was being sucked away from him. She reached out her hand, and as she became further and further away from him, the harder she struggled. Noooooooo!! She couldn't see him anymore.
"Noooooooo!!" Padmé jerked awake in bed, tears on her cheeks, her breathing ragged, her heart hammering. She looked around her wildly.
"Shh, daughter mine." Aeryn was right beside her, smoothing her hair from her face, dabbing her sweating face with a cloth.
"You were just having a nightmare. Now that you are awake, do you find yourself suitable for some stew? You probably haven't had solid food in awhile, so I doubt your body would accept such things right now." Aeryn watched as Padmé blinked slowly, she knew that the girl was trying to come back to reality. She waited patiently for her answer, and smiled slightly as they bother heard a grumble coming from Padmé's stomach.
"Yes...I would appreciate some food at the moment." Padmé kept chanting in her head that she was never to forget to use her 'new and different' accent while she was here, she didn't want an accidental slip, and make people question things. She looked at Aeryn and actually managed a small tiny smile in her direction. She watched as Aeryn scooped a bit of the stew into a small bowl before walking to her side again. Aeryn set the bowl on the side table before she helped Evey sit up, wincing as she cried out in pain. She sat down in the chair comfortably and set the bowl in her lap.
"Would you prefer to have me feed you, or you feed yourself?" Aeryn already knew the answer, but asked the question anyway.
A smile didn't grace Evey's features this time, but the look in her eyes told Aeryn what she wanted. Padmé took the bowl and set it in her lap, moving her right arm gingerly, picking up the spoon. She blew on the stew and tried a bit.
"This is wonderful, almost as good as my mother's..." She ended her sentence abruptly as she realized she had slipped about her Mum. Memories of their great times together sailed through her mind, and she became sad.
"And how did you get in such a situation, away from your mother? She must be in a terrible fit. If I were why I-"
"She's dead," Padmé interrupted sharply, "My mother's dead." She glared at Aeryn as she saw the healer's eyes soften with pity. "No, I'm alright. I don't need, nor do I want your pity. Everyone loses someone eventually, it's part of life. I've gotten over my mother's death, as I will with what happened to..." Padmé paused, and whispered his name, "Obi-Wan..." Her voice was laced with pain, or regret, or perhaps both. Much to Aeryn's surprise, she suddenly moved the bowl away from her lap. "I'm suddenly not hungry."
"But you've hardly taken even two bi-"
"Thank you for the stew, but perhaps later I will eat again. I hope that this sleep now will be peaceful.." She closed her eyes, her head touched the pillow.
"Sleep well, Evey." Aeryn said softly, moving away from the bed.
Padmé said nothing. Instead she looked away from Aeryn and to the wall, a few tears leaking down her cheeks, her heart constricting as the name 'Evey' bounced in her head. An image of Obi-Wan appeared in her mind, but she quickly banished it as she fell asleep.
