Star Wars: A Bond Awakens
Chapter Five: Revenge of the Sith
Ora stepped off the ship onto a metal platform with blazing flames all around her. She wasn't sure what she was doing there, and she felt an eerie, bad aura all around her. But she knew she had to be here. She had to talk to him.
She saw the figure approaching in a long black cloak. His hair light brown and shaggy. His eyes were bloodshot. He looked like he was tormented.
He ran up to her and she to him. They embraced tightly.
"I saw your ship," he said, letting her go but not completely. "What are you doing out here?"
She looked up at him, holding onto his arms, feeling something slip away. "I was so worried about you. Obi-Wan told me terrible, awful things. He said you've turned to the dark side. That you...that you've killed younglings. Anakin, please tell me these things are not so."
He clenched his jaw. There were dark circles under his eyes. "Obi-Wan is trying to turn you against me."
Ora shook her head, trying to show how much love she held for him through her touch and her sparkling eyes. "No. He cares. He cares about us."
"Us?"
She nodded. "He knows. He wants to help you. Anakin, all I want is your love."
He furrowed his brows down at her. "Love won't save you, Padme. Only my new powers can do that."
Padme? Ora was confused, but she continued, unable to control her dream.
"But at what cost? You are a good person! Don't do this, please," Ora begged.
"I won't lose you like I've lost my mother. I'm becoming more powerful than any Jedi could have dreamed of. And I'm doing it for you. To protect you."
Her heart sank. She began to feel empty; like she lost her very soul.
In desperation, she stroked his hair with both her hands. "Anakin, come away with me. Help me raise our child. Leave everything else behind while we still can."
He shook his head. There was a twisted smile now planted on his lips. "Don't you see? We don't have to run away anymore. I have brought peace to the Republic. I am more powerful than the Jedi Councilor, and I can overthrow him! And together, you and I can rule the entire galaxy!"
Ora backed away from him, feeling more scared than anything else. "I-I don't believe what I'm hearing. Obi-Wan was right. You've changed." Tears were streaming down her face. She wondered how in all the galaxy she ended up here.
"Don't you turn against me, too, Padme," Anakin growled.
She shook her head. She couldn't believe this. Any of it. "I don't know you anymore. Anakin...you're breaking my heart." The sobs couldn't be stopped now. "You're going down a path that I can't follow."
"Because of Obi-Wan?"
"Because of what you've done, and what you plan to do. Stop. Please, just stop now and come back! I love you more than anything in all the galaxy! Please."
Anakin looked up seeing Obi-Wan on the ramp of the ship. "You liar!" he yelled. There was so much rage in the pits of his eyes, Ora wasn't sure who was standing right in front of her. He circled her now. "You're with him. You brought him here to kill me."
"No-" But it was too late. Anakin force-choked her. She felt the air being cut off. She put her hands around her neck trying to pull away, but nothing was working. Ora began seeing spots as her vision faded. There was a glitch in Anakin's figure. He glitched out and Ben appeared before her with complete darkness in his eyes. No sign of Ben at all.
Ora felt herself give up.
"Let her go, Kylo Ren!" demanded Obi-Wan.
He did, and she fell into unconciousness.
Ora woke up with a hard jerk. She struggled for breath, scratching at her neck to open her airway.
Leia and Han rushed in, hearing her panicked cry. They saw the scared woman who now looked like a terrified little child crying a pool of tears. Leia brought her into her arms. shushing her like she truly was a mere child. "Shh. It's alright."
"Ben," she whispered. "Ben."
xxx
When she finally calmed, Han pressed for answers as to what happened in her nightmare. Leia tried to get him to back off, but she too was curious and wanting to ease the young woman's mind.
She told them everything that happened. Including how Anakin turned into Kylo Ren. Han was quiet. He was never sure what to say with most things like this. Leia was different. Sometimes it seemed like she knew just the right thing to say. But this time was not one of those times.
"Anakin didn't have parents like normal people do. He was like you. A product of the Force. Pure Force prophesized to bring balance to the light and the dark. But he turned into Darth Vader. That's who he became after the dark side consumed him. Padme was my and Luke's mother. She died giving birth to us."
Yes, Ora knew all of this already. "Do you think Ben would do that? Is history going to repeat itself?"
Leia looked sadly at her. "Ben would not do that. But Anakin didn't do anything but love Padme either. It was Vader who hurt her."
Ora didn't want to hear anymore, so she stood up and walked out of the room.
They were now at the base. Someone must have carried her to her quarters to sleep. She was so exhausted she hadn't noticed.
"Hey, kid," Han Solo said, walking up behind her. She continued to walk down the corridors, trying to find her way outside. He kept up with her. "I know Ben would never do anything to you, and I know Kylo Ren wouldn't either."
Ora smiled, but her thoughts got the best of her. "How can someone hurt someone they love? And that someone was pregnant with his child. How? It doesn't make sense."
"Sometimes the dark side makes people do things they truly don't want. That's probably the worst thing about the dark side. But Ben is different from Anakin, I think. He won't hurt you. There is too much light in him and too much love for you for him to do such a thing. Maybe if he knew about..."
"I don't know if he should know about him...or her."
"Or them," Han smirked.
Ora laughed. "No, no, no. One is enough for me." She gave him a big hug. Not for just talking to her, but making her feel a little better.
"I think we should talk about the connection...the bond you have with Ben. You might be able to use that to bring him back home."
xxxKylo Renxxx
He glanced at the unconscious girl strapped in the room. He felt wary and angry. He saw her dream. Ora's dream. It wasn't him, he wanted to tell her, but what use would that be. There was so much he'd done and so much he hadn't over so many years, that it was much too late now to begin over again; to try and make her see that he still cherished and her presence.
But she didn't know about that either. He had been watching her, feeling for her presence in case she was in trouble, feeling the Force around her. He knew of her pain during the battle on Takodana. He knew how helpless she felt when she left Rey behind. But that was something that confused him entirely. Ora was not the person to leave anyone behind. Stranger or otherwise. She would have stayed, ignoring the scavenger scum's plea to leave.
Kylo clenched his jaw. She must have hated him more than he thought.
The scavenger jerked herself awake. She looked around the room, laying her eyes finally on Kylo Ren who was seated before her.
"Where am I?" she asked. She tried holding back her fear, but her voice was slathered with it.
"You're my guest." It was time now. He was now listening intently to her mind and every word and thought that came through it.
"Where is everyone else? The others?"
Kylo narrowed his eyes at her, but she couldn't see. He kept his helmet on, but his hood lay back on his shoulders. "You mean the murderers? The traitors? The thieves you call friends? You will be relieved to hear I have no idea. But you still want to kill me?"
This is who Ora and Han were speaking of? she thought. He's a monster, heartless.
The masked figure clenched his jaw tightly.
"That's what happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask."
He stared at her for a moment, feeling impatient by the dancing around subjects. So, he took his helmet off. He saw her face soften and her brows furrow in confusion. She was expecting to see a monster.
He's just a child. A young man whom Ora somehow loves. He so...normal.
Her thoughts bleed through her so easily. It wasn't hard to hear everything she was thinking. He tried forcing the thought of Ora out of his mind as he slammed his helmet into a plate of ashes, angry with himself for being so weak whenever he heard her name.
Rey found it hard to look him in the eye when he came so close to her. Good. He intimidated her...even without the helmet.
"Tell me about the droid," he gently demanded.
She started spewing technical specifications of the droid. Information he found utterly useless. "He's carrying a section of the navigational chart. Well, we have the rest," he lied. "We recovered it from the archives of the Empire, but we need the last piece. And somehow you convinced the droid to show it to you. You. A scavenger."
The girl said nothing. But he watched the fear slowly fade, turning into anger.
"You know, I can take whatever I want." He reached for her head and began using the Force to pull out whatever he could from her mind. "You are so lonely. So afraid to leave. At night, desperate to sleep, you imagine an ocean. I see it. I see the island. And Han Solo. You feel like he's the father you never had. Well, he would have disappointed you."
She was angry now. "Get out of my head!"
He stood back, feeling her having pushed back. He didn't show it, but he was concerned. She used the Force. Looking at her now, he knew what he had suspected was true. She was the little girl Luke grabbed and ran off with into the galaxy during the battle at the temple. He turned back to her, ready to push a little more. "I know you've seen the map. It's in there." He used his Force, ready to use it more powerfully if she wouldn't concede. "And now you'll give it to me."
There was a struggle between them. He felt her push back harder and harder. She was somehow gaining resistance against him by using the Force which she had never actually used before. He was growing angrier, struggling to stay calm. He can't hurt her. Not when Ora asked him not to.
Ora. She called out. Don't think about it. Don't think about Maz and what she said.
"Don't be afraid. I feel it too."
Rey looked confused, still struggling to push back. "I'm not giving you anything."
He forgot about the droid just then. He was focusing now on pulling whatever she was talking about out of her head, but she was stronger than he anticipated. He pushed even harder, and she gasped through the struggle. And suddenly, her struggle was gone. She was now staring at him with fierce eyes, ready to take on anything.
"You," Rey said with vile thick in her voice, "You are afraid that Ora will never love you again."
He let her go angry at having been pushed out by someone so new to the Force. He stared at her, trying to contain his composure. "Tell me what this Maz said to you and Ora. Now."
She shook her head. "It's not for me to say. And with as much monstrosity as you hold, maybe you will never know."
He glared at her, his jaw tightening. He struggle not to pull his saber on her. With much reluctance, he stormed out of the prisoner's room.
xxx
Snoke was angry with him for not being able to get what they needed out of the scavenger, but he tried defending himself.
Hux seemed to have the upper hand in this meeting. "We've located their base in the Illenium system. We'll be able to power up the weapon and destroy them all."
Kylo Ren shuttered on the inside. He couldn't help but think that Ora might have gone there with the rest of the Resistance. As much as he hated the thought of her so close to Snoke, maybe he should have asked her to come with him, to come to the dark side.
It didn't matter now, though. She would have denied him anyway.
He didn't want this. He didn't want Ora annihilated as Hux was intending. He spoke up trying to hide his desperation. "Leader, I can get the map from the girl. I just need your guidance.
"If what you say about this girl is true...bring her to me."
"Yes, Leader."
He turned, but Snoke continued. "And Kylo Ren, if you ever see Ora, bring her to me, too."
Kylo didn't turn to look at Snoke nor did he answer him. He couldn't show the pain and worry in his face as he walked out.
xxx
Ora was anxious and worried now. She had no idea why, but she felt in the Force.
Ben.
Something was wrong.
She knew that Rey was okay. She told her as much not long after her plea for help. Ora felt so utterly responsible for the scavenger's position that she felt irritated standing amongst the Resistance, waiting for an opportunity. She just wanted to save her now.
Finn did too. He came down with Poe and demanded they save her as soon as possible.
Suddenly, she heard his voice again in her head, willing her to see him and his distressed thoughts. They are going to destroy everything in the Illenium system. Ora, tell me you aren't there with the Resistance.
She ran over to Leia. "Leia, they are charging a weapon to destroy us. They know where we are. I think it will take about three months to charge it. But once it's charge...they have the entire Illenium system at their mercy."
For just a quick second you could see the fear in the general's eyes, but she quickly pushed that aside. A general was strong and brought order. Fear had no place when figuring out how to stop the destruction of an entire system.
"How do you know this?" Finn asked.
Leia looked at her. "He spoke to you through the Force didn't he?"
Ora nodded once.
"Wait a second. What Maz meant-you were like with him? Like actually with him?"
Leia gave Finn a tight smile. "Now isn't the time to talk about the personal lives of others. We need to come up with a plan to stop the destruction as soon as possible.
My love, I am here. Ora felt his love pour through the Force. She no longer wanted to hide from him. She knew even if she tried, she couldn't. And she needed to tell him; tell him straight away. Ben, there's something you must know.
"Poe, gather everyone into the meeting room. Finn, you follow Poe. Ora, Han, come with me." They all walked swiftly to the meeting room. There were many Resistance members trying to access the First Order's location and take apart the blueprints of their base. It was all tedious and time-consuming and it burned in her heart how she saw each and every one of them try their best to gather what they could; though it was so little.
What is it, Ora? What aren't you telling me?
C3-PO took the map out of BB-8 and placed it in the center console of the meeting room. "General, I regret to inform you that the map recovered is only part of the original. Even worse, it matches no charted system record. We simply do not have enough information to track down Master Luke."
Leia shook her head. "I just wish I could find my own brother and bring him home."
Ora, tell me. There was anger now seeping into her from his Force.
"Leia," Han began, but she stopped him.
"Don't do that." The general walked away.
"What?"
"Anything," she stated.
C3-PO shook his golden head. "Princesses."
Han jogged to Leia, trying to talk to her.
Ora looked at the map, wishing nothing bad had happened to him, or to the rest of the academy. But wishing was useless. Nothing could change the past and that's why she hated it so.
"You think someone could invent a time machine, 3-PO?" she asked.
"I don't think so because to alter time could potentially prevent someone from making the time machine itself, Princess, so no one would have the ability to go back in time to begin with."
"I'm no princess. I'm just Ora."
"General Leia says she is your legal guardian, so I must say the title of my masters. Of course, if you will for me to just call you Ora, I will be much obliged."
Ora looked surprised at the golden droid. She looked over to Han and Leia who were talking. Probably about their son.
C3-PO watched BB-8 bang his head against R2-D2's still metal body. PO then walked over to him, letting him know it was useless.
She looked back at Han and Leia, wishing there was something she could do to comfort both of them. Force knows her dreams she had to let them know about didn't help their doubts about their own son. Letting the negative thoughts, go she went back into her quarters.
It was a rather big room. The bed was pushed into one corner and there was a drawer already full of her clothes. The wardrobe as well. There was a third dresser that Leia put in, saying that it was for anything that was the baby's. Something so simple made what was growing inside her all the more real. Everytime she spoke of the child, Leia beamed with joy. Ora believed it was because she could finally be close to something that was part of her son whom she hadn't seen in years.
Thinking about not seeing her child...losing her child, that tore apart her very soul.
She hugged her lower stomach, determined to never let that happen.
But didn't Leia and Padme before her vow the same thing?