Hey! I'm on a Little One frenzy, haha! Enjoy the chapter everyone. :-)
Zhymmia stared in horror. It couldn't be possible. How could they have found them?
She didn't know what to do. Terror froze her in place. She felt so helpless and vulnerable and she hated it, but her fear held her firmly in place.
TIE fighters began to exit the Star Destroyers, their piercing scream echoing in the night air. The sound tore Zhymmia out of her stupor and she quickly ran inside.
No one had yet noticed the issues outside because of the music. Everyone was still dancing and smiling. Seeing their cheerful faces, Zhymmia suddenly felt so alienated from them, but that thought quickly left her mind as she shoved through the crowd, not caring that she was supposed to be silent because of her veil right now.
Zhymmia caught sight of Obi-Wan first and ran to him. "Obi-Wan! Obi-Wan they're here! They found us!"
"It's all right," he said softly, placing calming hands on her shoulders. She could feel him trembling, though. "Zhymmia, get the others while I search for Anakin and Padmé."
Zhymmia nodded and then ran to find the others.
Padmé held Anakin tightly. He was trembling horribly. She heard him mutter "kichita", but she wasn't sure what it meant. She had heard the others talking about it, though; it stumped them all. That was the least of her concerns, though; while she still hadn't gotten a straight answer out of Anakin as to who "he" was, she had a rather good idea, and the prospect was not pleasant. It left her trembling as well.
Padmé felt Anakin's shivers cease however. His quick breathing slowed as he seemed to be finally calming, but his muscles were tenser than ever. Padmé felt his grip on her tighten, but it wasn't from fear – it was from anger. She could feel it coursing through him – a rage and lust for blood that she felt when he had hugged her on Mustafar.
"Anakin…?" Padmé said hesitantly.
Anakin slowly pulled away from her, his eyes flaming red but calm. It looked demonic, and it made Padmé jump. Anakin flinched and the look vanished, but though his eyes were blue once again, they were cold and hard, still harboring a rage.
"I'm going after him," he said quietly.
Anakin leapt out of bed and threw his clothes on quickly before tossing Padmé hers. "Get dressed. You won't want to be here when the stormtroopers arrive."
Padmé quickly dressed herself and ran out of the room. "Anakin, wait! What do you mean when the stormtroopers arrive? They don't know we're here!"
Anakin whirled around to face her, startling her, but his anger wasn't directed at her. "Oh you'd better believe they know we're here, otherwise Palpatine wouldn't have suddenly decided to drop in on Taris. He must have caught a glimpse of me through the Force…"
Shaking his head, Anakin turned to walk away.
"Anakin!" Padmé called out to him.
Anakin didn't stop. Padmé ran after him, leaving the apartment in her mourning outfit. Perhaps Anakin should have thrown a better thing for her to wear – running in a gown was not easy.
Or maybe that was done on purpose – Anakin was getting far ahead of her, after all.
Growling in exasperation, Padmé grabbed a hold of her long dress and ran as hard as she could towards Anakin, but it was no use; she lost him in the crowds.
Obi-Wan ran as fast as he could without trying to look like he was as panicked as he felt.
How did Palpatine find them so quickly? He must have sensed Anakin, and Anakin's panicked call for Obi-Wan probably was felt by Palpatine too, even if the latter couldn't quite distinguish its purpose. Obi-Wan would have been exasperated with Anakin for doing such a rash act, but he had a feeling that it was probably just that instinct he had developed as "Little One" – to automatically call out to the others for help whenever he got stressed or panicked.
Now the question was just finding him.
Obi-Wan had hoped that when Anakin and Padmé left they would talk out their problems since they would be alone together, so he didn't find any need to follow them. He certainly regretted that now.
It seemed that the Force was with him, however, because he quickly caught sight of a flash of black and sensed a rabid anger that he had felt on Mustafar and on Nihoma when Anakin first remembered.
Running into the darker street that Anakin had just entered, Obi-Wan caught up to him and quickly grabbed the boy's arm.
"Let go," Anakin snarled, trying to get Obi-Wan off him.
"Anakin, calm down," Obi-Wan tried to say calmly, but it came out as a bark when Anakin shoved him.
"Calm down?" Anakin looked at him disbelievingly. "How can I be calm? This is all my fault!"
"Anakin, no one saw this coming,"
Anakin growled and began to pace. Obi-Wan could sense the conflict in him – having that experience as Little One had really messed with his head and way of thinking. He still had the rage and twisted views of Darth Vader, but they conflicted with Little One's innocent and childlike thoughts, and the conflict was driving Anakin insane.
Trying to get Anakin to calm himself so he could see reason, Obi-Wan asked, "How is this your fault? Did you call out to Palpatine?"
"No, but—"
"Then I don't see how you can be blamed for this," Obi-Wan cut in.
Sighing in frustration, Anakin leaned against the wall of a building as TIE fighters screamed overhead. "Don't you get it Obi-Wan? It's me he wants, and I've led him right to Rowan's home! They shouldn't get involved in this – they can't handle Palpatine!"
"You can't handle him, either," Obi-Wan reminded Anakin.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Anakin snapped. "I'm powerful enough to handle him by myself!"
"Anakin, your physical power and power in the Force are not what are in question here," Obi-Wan sighed. "Your mental and emotional ability to handle it is."
"I can handle it just fine,"
"No, Anakin, you can't," Obi-Wan said firmly. "The moment you sensed him, you grew afraid, and that's understandable, but where the problem comes is that you acted on that fear and panicked. It's natural for you to react that way right now – it's how you would've reacted had you been amnesiac still. However, we can't take that risk while fighting Palpatine."
"We?" Anakin looked at Obi-Wan. "Since when did this become a team effort?"
"The only team effort we need to concern ourselves with is getting out of here," Obi-Wan stressed.
"I can't leave, Obi-Wan," Anakin objected. "Even if you don't want me to fight, I still can't leave. Palpatine came here looking for me and he will never, never stop until he finds me. I don't want the others to get any more involved than they already are. Believe me, things are bad enough for them right now – they're already in danger of getting executed with a high probability of it happening if they're caught. I don't want it to be a certainty!"
There it was: Anakin's need to keep everyone safe. Goodness, no wonder the boy was so conflicted; he had three different ways of thinking clashing with each other.
This wasn't the time to be confronting that, however. "Anakin, they chose to get themselves into this and they're choosing to stay in it. They know the consequences. Now let's go before we do put them in danger."
"I can't!" Anakin yelled. "I'm not running and hiding from him anymore!"
"You have to run!" Obi-Wan yelled back, finally losing his patience. "You cannot handle him! What is your plan, Anakin? Are you just going to go up to him and expect him to welcome you back? Or are you going to run up and simply start fighting him and expect to win? Anakin, you have to think!"
Anakin had paused, his face paling. Obi-Wan sensed fear course through him and then he looked Obi-Wan dead in the eye. "I am thinking, Obi-Wan."
Anakin looked hard at Obi-Wan, his eyes softening, before he looked away. "My idea, though... I'm really not a fan... but..."
Obi-Wan finally caught his meaning, particularly after he looked at Obi-Wan pleadingly and said, "Kichita…"
"Oh, I don't like this," Obi-Wan shook his head. There were a lot of ways this could go wrong, and he voiced that.
"Palpatine will kill all of you if I stay," Anakin replied, sounding calmer than before. Instead of anger, his voice was filled with dread. "I have to go back to him... this is the safest way to do it. You said it yourself; we're not ready to fight him. He's got an armada."
Obi-Wan still didn't like this... but for once Anakin seemed to have an iota of logic in his argument. Approaching Anakin slowly, Obi-Wan reached out and placed his hand on Anakin's head, pulling him to the ground to sit in front of him. Even though it had been Anakin's idea, Anakin still tried to get away, hating and fearing the idea more and more.
"It'll be fine, Anakin," Obi-Wan said softly. "But you have to let me into your mind or this will hurt you."
"I'd much rather fight him…" Anakin suddenly argued, but his voice trembled from fear.
"I know you would," Obi-Wan chuckled softly. "Now let me do this."
Anakin let out a raspy sigh, shivering noticeably, and then he closed his eyes, leaning forward until he was practically in Obi-Wan's arms. Obi-Wan smoothed his hand over Anakin's forehead and then closed his own eyes, concentrating.
Zhymmia had managed to get Ryatsi, Ton, and Rowan so far, but she was still having difficulty finding the others. She then caught sight of Numel.
Running towards him, Zhymmia grabbed his sleeve. Numel jumped and turned around before raising a questioning eyebrow at Zhymmia. "I didn't think you'd want to dance with me."
"Shut up, you murglak," Zhymmia snapped. Then she hissed, "Palpatine's here!"
The amused and flirtatious twinkle in Numel's eyes vanished and was replaced with horror. "What?"
"Just find the others and tell them!" Zhymmia shoved Numel in the opposite direction. "Move!"
It had been such a good day. Ryatsi had been enjoying herself quite thoroughly until Numel found her and told her that Palpatine's fleet had arrived.
Panting as she ran, Ryatsi fled towards the city to get to the apartment. It seemed the logical place to meet so everyone could gather some supplies and then get the blazes out of there.
She felt her skin prickle and her lungs sting from the cold biting air as she raced through the city. She also felt her nerves tie her stomach in a knot as she grew hopelessly lost.
Ryatsi turned a sharp corner, entering a dark alley. Realizing what a bad idea that was, she was about to turn and leave when she recognized Obi-Wan and Anakin sitting on the floor.
Obi-Wan had his hand on Anakin's forehead. The distance between the two wasn't much; it seemed like Anakin had been trying to hug him as if it would get rid of the Imperials, but Ryatsi had no idea what they were doing now. Both men had their eyes closed and were breathing deeply, and, unnervingly, at the same time. Anakin let out a small moan and then Obi-Wan opened his eyes, pulling his hand away.
Anakin collapsed into his arms.
Ryatsi ran forward. "What happened? What's going on? What did you do to him?"
Obi-Wan blinked and then frowned, apparently trying to get his wits about him. He then gently placed Anakin on the ground and stood. "What are you doing here?"
"I was trying to get back to the apartment," Ryatsi replied suspiciously, still wanting an answer. "What did you do to him?"
Obi-Wan looked up as more TIE fighters flew overhead. He then hastily reached into his robe and pulled out a blaster, tossing it to a completely stunned and baffled Ryatsi, who barely caught it.
"Shoot me!" he hissed with urgency.
Ryatsi stared at him. Had he lost his mind? "What?"
"Ryatsi, you have to trust me," Obi-Wan said. "Whatever happens, you have to stay with Anakin. He'll need you more than ever right now, but just you – you're a doctor, you can get away with it. Stay with him and don't engage the Imperials; let them capture you."
"Are you mad?" Ryatsi gaped.
"Take care of Anakin," Obi-Wan continued, ignoring her comment. "Tell the Imperials as much truth as you can – Palpatine can read your mind, Ryatsi, so don't hide anything front him except for your non-Imperial involvement with Anakin. Do you understand?"
"What—how can you—"
"Do you understand what I'm telling you?" Obi-Wan interrupted urgently.
"I understand your words but certainly not your meaning—"
"That's good enough, then," Obi-Wan interrupted. "Now shoot me, and the moment you do, grab Anakin and get out of here, but don't run from the Imperials when they see you."
"Obi-Wan, I can't shoot you!" Ryatsi looked at him in horror. He really had lost his mind. "I'm not going to shoot you! What is wrong with you? What's wrong with Anakin?"
"I had to erase his memory," Obi-Wan quickly explained, nearly making Ryatsi drop the blaster – her jaw certainly dropped. "He can't be around Palpatine with his memories; Palpatine will read into his mind like an open book. If he doesn't remember anything, it's a clean slate. It's safer that way, and Palpatine won't try to hurt him if he wants him to stay alive."
Obi-Wan looked at her grimly. "You have your Little One back. Now shoot!"
"I can't kill you!" Ryatsi shook her head.
"It's on stun, Ryatsi, it's just so you can say you got Anakin away from the others!"
"What?"
"Ryatsi!" Obi-Wan yelled.
Ryatsi raised the blaster and, grimacing and closing her eyes after taking aim, pulled the trigger.
She heard the grinding sound of a stun blast make its way out of the weapon and then heard Obi-Wan fall to the ground. Opening her eyes, she gasped and ran over to him, checking for injuries. He was fine.
Ryatsi sighed in relief and then looked at Anakin. Obi-Wan… Obi-Wan had wiped his memory?
"You have your Little One back."
No, Ryatsi thought. This wasn't right. This was so messed up – Anakin didn't deserve to be stuck like this again. Sure, he had been adorable and trusting and kind, but… but this was wrong!
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the familiar sound of armored boots hitting the ground. "Did you hear that? It sounded like a stun blast."
Ryatsi shook Anakin roughly. "Anakin, get up,"
Anakin moaned and stirred, his eyes opening slowly to reveal a blank expression. He looked around, confused.
Ryatsi spared him no time to get readjusted. She grabbed his arm and dragged him to a standing position. If she was going to get caught by the Imperials for some insane Jedi reason, she at least wouldn't let the Imperials see Obi-Wan. She had to get out of the alley and get the Imperials away from here.
Making sure she had a firm grip on Anakin's hand, Ryatsi ran out of the alley, making as much noise as she could while doing so. It didn't take much – after that fiasco she was panting for air.
Anakin was completely confused and disoriented, simply going wherever Ryatsi took him.
The sound of the stormtroopers' footsteps grew closer until Ryatsi turned the corner and they were pointing their blasters at her head.
Padmé looked everywhere, but there was no sign of her husband, and now that stormtroopers were beginning to make themselves known, she really needed to avoid their attention. Frustration and fear coursed through her – where was Anakin?
She was just about ready to give up when she saw Capt. Mentzer and Rowan, who were running towards her.
"Have you seen Anakin?" she asked them breathlessly.
"No," Rowan shook his head. "But we'd better get back to the apartment so we can regroup."
"That's probably not a great idea," Padmé quickly said. "Anakin told me that the Imperials probably know that we're staying at your apartment and so we should avoid it."
"If he said all that to you, then why are you asking us where he is?" Capt. Mentzer inquired.
"Because I lost him in the crowds," Padmé sighed. "I have to find him – he ran off in a frenzy like he was bent on killing Palpatine himself."
Rowan placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll help you find him."
Stormtroopers were everywhere. It was a miracle they hadn't been noticed yet.
"This way's clear," Jifo whispered to Ress, motioning for him to follow.
The two ran through the alley, Jifo leading the way. He ran to the other end and peeked around. There were stormtroopers approaching. "Blast it,"
Jifo was distracted when he heard Ress trip and fall to the ground. He quickly looked back at the clone trooper. "Are you alright?"
"Fine, but someone's—"
Ress paused. "Sir, it's Gen. Kenobi!"
"What?" Jifo ran over to Ress and kneeled beside him, seeing the Jedi Master unconscious on the ground. "What happened?"
"It looks like a stun bolt, sir," Ress answered as he examined the Jedi.
"But if they stunned him why didn't they take him prisoner?" Jifo stuttered. "This doesn't make any sense…"
"Did you hear something?" a voice asked, recognizable as that of a stormtrooper since it was filtered through a helmet.
"There's no time to ask those questions here, sir," Ress shook his head. "Let's get out of here."
The two hauled Obi-Wan into their arms and quickly waddled/ran away from the scene.
Where was he? Things were certainly cold here. He shivered and hovered closer to the panicky lady. She was jumpy, but she was definitely better than those weird guys in plastic. And what were those things they were pointing at them?
"We surrender!" the panicky woman quickly said, throwing her hands in the air, which also dragged his left arm into the air. He stared at her and then looked at his right arm. Should he put it up too? "Look, I have Lord Vader with me right here – we need to speak to your superiors immediately!"
"Lord Vader?" the plastic guy sounded confused. He was confused too. What was Lord Vader? What was this all about?
"Just call your superiors," the panicky lady said.
The plastic guys looked at each other, uncertainty swimming between them. He was uncertain too. He was confused. Why was the panicky lady so panicky? Why did those weird guys wear plastic? Why was it so cold? And why weren't the others feeling the cold too?
One of the plastic guys grabbed something on his belt and talked to it. "Sir, we have a woman who claims to have Lord Vader with her. She identifies positive as one of the missing members of Death Squadron."
Huh?
He would ask what was going on, but he didn't know how.
"Bring them aboard the ship," the tiny thing said.
What did any of this mean? He would try and figure it out but those weird plastic guys scared him. He didn't like them at all. He wasn't even sure about the panicky lady. He just knew he liked her more.
The plastic guys pointed the weird things in their hands at him and the panicky lady and said, "Move it."
"This way!" Jan called.
Moeema and Carh'la followed her as she ran through winding alleys to get them to the apartment safely. The moment they had heard about the fleet they all had decided to meet there before fleeing the planet.
Moeema could only imagine what Jan must have been going through as they ran. She could imagine a million different frightening thoughts were blowing through the woman's mind. They were certainly going through Moeema's head.
She hoped Anakin was alright. Rowan and Capt. Mentzer had gone to find him and Padmé.
Moeema clutched the stitch in her side as frost came out of her mouth; gasping for air in the frigid cold was never a pleasant sensation. Carh'la coughed beside her.
The familiar apartment building came into view, towering over them as they ran.
"Stang this is bad,"
Shiine already knew about the fleet that had arrived, but he had volunteered to help Zhymmia and Numel find Kobayashi, Marrax, and Ooke, who were still somewhere in the throngs of the party. The only issue now was that people were beginning to grow restless as rumor spread that stormtroopers were on their way. There was no doubt in Shiine's mind that these rumors would reach sociable people like Kobayashi, Marrax, and Ooke, but the question was what they would do when they found out. Would they start searching for the others or would they try to get out as quickly as they could?
"Where are they?" Numel hissed.
The fidgety crowds all jumped alongside the Imperials when the door was kicked open and stormtroopers entered. "Nobody leave the building,"
Jan led the other two as the turbolift doors opened. Worry riddled her mind as she walked down the hallway, fiddling with the card key that would open the apartment door. Where were the others? Rowan and Capt. Mentzer had volunteered to search for young Vader and his wife, but Jan had expected to see at least one other Imperial. However, so far, they hadn't seen anyone.
What were they going to do? Jan wished beyond belief that this whole issue had never happened, but wishing that made her feel guilty. She wasn't sure how things worked out in this galaxy, but she could imagine it was a miserable existence to be Darth Vader before this began. Still… did Rowan have to get involved?
Sighing, Jan put the card key into the slot and waited as the door opened. She motioned for Carh'la and Moeema to hurry up and then rushed inside, waiting for them to enter before closing the door.
Jan ran to the kitchen to grab supplies so they could get out as quickly as possible, but she froze in mid step when she entered the threshold of the room.
"Hi Mother," Raltharen said as he leaned against the counter sipping a glass of water.
Jifo and Ress groaned as they placed Obi-Wan on the ground for what seemed the hundredth time. Jifo leaned back, placing his hands on his lower back and sighing. "Any sign of stormtroopers nearby?"
"No, sir," Ress answered after pausing a moment to investigate.
Jifo slowly bent down, ignoring his aching back, and shook the Jedi Master. "Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan, wake up!"
Obi-Wan stirred a little, but he was still rather out of it. Jifo shook him again, but Ress hissed, "Sir, someone's coming!"
Jifo moaned in exasperation and wrapped his arms around the Jedi's torso while Ress picked up his legs and the two were on their way again.
The two continued, going to the edge of the city. Jifo realized he started recognizing the area. "Oh, blast… Ress, we're going in circles. That's the beach pathway that leads to the dance!"
"Yes, sir," Ress nodded, sounding nervous. "And I think that party's been canceled,"
"What?" Jifo twisted around so he could see what Ress was talking about and saw a group of stormtroopers surrounding the large building where the dance was taking place. "I hope everyone got out…"
Obi-Wan shifted a little, moaning. Jifo and Ress immediately returned their attention to him. "Obi-Wan?"
"I don't think he'll be fully awake for a while," Ress surmised. "But it's probably best we get out of here anyway – there are too many stormtroopers around here."
Jifo nodded. "Right… let's just see if we can get out of the city."
Ryatsi had studied many rare diseases in her years in medical school. She had originally wanted to be a pediatric trauma surgeon and had therefore studied pediatric diseases as well. One of these diseases was called hyperneurofibrae afferentes, more commonly known as EPS, or extreme pain sensitivity. It affected both full grown and pediatric patients, but could be more harmful the younger the patient was. Ryatsi remembered she had one patient, a pediatric patient when she was serving as the resident doctor of the pediatric intensive care unit at her hospital, who was suffering from this disorder due to brain trauma that affected the nervous system. The patient was extremely sensitive to touch, and even blowing on the boy's skin caused him to flinch in pain.
Well right now she felt like she had hyperneurofibrae afferentes. Just standing aboard the shuttle going to the Star Destroyer Conqueror, the flagship for the emperor's fleet, made her feel like someone was putting red hot knives into every part of her body. She knew it was extreme stress from the situation, but now she could really sympathize with that patient of hers.
Anakin stood extremely close to her, holding her hand tightly. Every time a stormtrooper would look in his direction the lights would flicker, and Ryatsi would feel those hot knives all the more.
Sweat began to form on her forehead, and she did her best to relax. If she was going to pull this off she had to look the part as well as play it. She needed to make sure that she didn't get herself killed. At this point, she was the only one who could look after Anakin now that they were in the clutches of the emperor himself.
The shuttle shuddered and bounced as it landed in the hangar and the stormtroopers prodded Ryatsi and Anakin with their blasters, telling them to move.
Ryatsi led Anakin down the ramp where more stormtroopers waited to escort them wherever they were supposed to go.
Breathe, Ryatsi… she told herself. Just breathe…
Anakin's grip tightened as they walked through the hangar, but he didn't say a word. Ryatsi didn't even know if he could say a word.
This was so messed up.
The two were led to a turbolift and stood in silence alongside the stormtroopers as it sped to whatever deck the superior officer would be waiting on. Anakin's grip tightened some more.
When they arrived, the doors hissed open and Ryatsi saw that the hallway only led to one door. Were they on the observation deck?
The stormtroopers led them through the door, and Ryatsi froze.
"Emperor Palpatine, we've brought the prisoners," one of the stormtroopers said.
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