Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. I just created my own little AU sandbox to play in.
AN: Here's chapter 20! Thanks for all the great reviews. Enjoy this next installment and let me know what you think!
Force Jumper
Chapter 20: Return to Naboo
Anakin sighed, as the woman he loved pouted before him, wielding her feminine power to the fullest. She batted her pleading eyes and slinked her arms around his neck, before pressing her lithe body against his.
"Please Ani…" she pleaded sweetly. He rolled his eyes, not believing the lengths she was going through to get her way.
"No way angel…it's too dangerous," he said, remaining firm.
"But I want to help…at least with any of the children you rescue. A female presence may be comforting," she argued.
"Sithspit…that's a really good point," Anakin thought silently, not missing Quinlan's chuckling in the background. He sent a glare at his Master, before turning his attention back to the beautiful woman before him.
"Maybe, but it's still way too dangerous. Slavers are the worst kind of filth and I don't want them even getting a glimpse of you," he argued back.
"Well…I could stay on the ship," she suggested, biting her bottom lip. He looked skeptically at her.
"You'd stay on the ship?" he inquired.
"I promise," she said, brightening up. He sighed.
"Why do you want to go with me to such a dangerous place? I mean, I know you want to help, because that's part of who you are. But I just worry that something could go wrong," he argued.
"Yes, I want to help. For once, I want to go somewhere and do more good for a few women and children in one morning than I've ever been able to do in all my time in the Senate," Padme stated.
"Dammit…she's good at this," Anakin thought silently and rolled his eyes, as Quinlan chuckled again.
"Besides, I'm in no hurry to visit my parents. In fact, we're staying for one lunch and that's it. Then we're out of there," she said, referring to their trip home to Naboo tomorrow. He quirked his eyebrow.
"So you want to go with me into a situation that could have possible mortal danger, with no reservations and yet you dread an afternoon with your parents?" Anakin asked. She smirked.
"With my mother actually. Daddy and Sola are always supportive, but mom never approves of anything I do. And there won't be any danger if I stay on the ship. I know you won't let anything happen to me," she replied.
"Why do I have a feeling that I'm going to lose a lot of any future arguments we ever have?" he asked rhetorically. She smirked and kissed his cheek, before going upstairs to get ready. Quinlan chuckled again, as Anakin took the blue milk out of the refrigeration unit.
"I'm glad you think it's so funny, Master," Anakin drawled.
"You're so whipped," Quinlan teased. Anakin scoffed.
"I am not," he argued. Quinlan quirked his left eyebrow.
"Okay, I am, but it has its perks," Anakin replied, with a smirk, as Padme returned in an outfit much like the one she had worn to Geonosis, only it was light blue in color. She held an indigo colored cloak and put it around her shoulders, as he took her hand.
"Be careful you two," Quinlan called, as Anakin jumped them to the ship hanger. They were taking the ship so they would have the ability to transport the rescued slaves to a safe haven on Naboo. They were all packed, including Anakin's disguise, and Artoo was waiting at the controls. Once they boarded, the ship slowly lifted off and left the atmosphere of Yavin IV.
"And if you are just joining us, we are discussing the recent whirlwind of events that has drawn our great Republic into a war. But what the public is much more interested in is the involvement of the mysterious renegade known as Knightblade and his apparent and perhaps even amorous connection to esteemed Senator Padme Amidala," the reporter droned on, but Padme's name immediately caught Sabe's attention. She had received a call from Padme, asking her to join her on Naboo at her parent's home. It was only a four hour journey by ship to their home planet and it was very early still on Coruscant, so she was idly listening to the Holonews while packing.
"Many of her colleagues in the Senate are calling her actions and involvement with this vigilante deplorable and citing her possible romantic involvement with him as scandalous. While the Senator will not comment on her relationship with this mysterious man, the evidence that they are indeed romantically involved keeps building," the reporter stated, as holos of the two flashed on the screen, each with him masked, but her very close to him, even some with her in his arms, and a few where their faces were mere inches apart.
"Oh Padme…I hope you're prepared for the firestorm of gossip you've created. Your mother is probably going ballistic," Sabe mumbled.
"Joining me now is Senator Amidala's former boyfriend, senior cabinet member on Senator Mon Mothma's staff, Gavin Jothra," the reporter said, as the politician, who was around Padme's age, sat down with the reporter.
"Thank you for joining me, Mr. Jothra," the reporter said.
"Thank you for meeting with me," Gavin said smugly. Sabe curled her lip in disgust.
"Sir, how do you feel about what has transpired and Amidala's involvement in all of it?" the reporter asked.
"Well, it truly saddens me that she has become so unstable. Had I known that our parting would have caused her such grief, then I would have at least sought to get professional help for the poor dear," Gavin stated.
"But our sources say that Amidala ended your relationship because of your infidelity," the reporter prompted. Gavin smirked.
"Padme was paranoid about that. She thought I was always cheating on her and finally broke it off. It's truly sad, because I loved her and I think I could have helped her if she would have let me. Now I'm afraid she's got herself into quite a predicament with this dangerous vigilante," Jothra answered.
"You slimy space worm! Oh, I am going to ruin you by making sure every little spec of dirt in your closet comes to light," Sabe growled, as she finished packing and stormed out to the living area.
"Are you ready to go?" Typho asked.
"Almost, I just have to make a quick call to my friend," Sabe replied, as she activated the main comm.
"Which friend?" Typho asked.
"My friend the private investigator," Sabe responded smugly.
"Uh oh…who pissed you off this time?" Typho asked, only half joking.
"Gavin Jothra just basically called Padme a paranoid nutcase on the Holonews, so I'm going to uncover all his dirty little secrets," Sabe mused. Typho snorted.
"That guy is scum so that shouldn't be hard," he replied. Sabe smirked.
"Exactly," Sabe responded in amusement.
Scout parried the blonde haired boy's light saber with hers, as they shuffled along the expanse of the training room. Whie Malreaux, sensing her next strike, brought his blade up and blocked the young red head's weapon. She smirked at him and he felt himself blush under her pretty stare, quickly losing concentration. She took full advantage and moved into strike. Regaining his concentration just in time, he blocked her blade and smirked back at her.
"What's the matter Whie? You seem distracted," she purred.
"If you trained as much as you talk, Esterhazy, then you'd be able to keep up with me," he retorted, as their blades clashed again. She laughed, as she dodged and evaded, leaving him shadowboxing.
"You may be good, but I'm faster. Catch me if you can," Scout tempted. He smirked.
"Careful what you wish for Tallisibeth," he taunted.
"Don't call me that," she scolded, as she saw his practice blade coming at her with no time to evade. Realizing her error, she closed her eyes and waited for the tap she would receive from his blade signifying defeat. Suddenly, she felt her entire body tingling and before she knew what was happening, she was gone from the middle of the room and up against the wall on the other side. Dizzy and disoriented, she stumbled and fell to her knees.
"Scout!" Whie cried, as he ran to her and knelt beside her.
"What…what happened?" she asked, fighting the nausea she felt.
"I…I don't know. You just vanished and then you were way over here," he said, baffled at what had just happened.
"Huh? But how is that possible?" she asked, as her vision started to clear. He shrugged, disbelief still all over his face.
"I don't know and I wouldn't have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes. What were you thinking about just before it happened?" he asked. She thought for a moment, as she stood up, the dizziness subsiding.
"I realized that I was going to lose the spar and knew that I was going to get stung by your practice saber. Then I felt all tingly and then I was against the wall," she explained.
"Try it again," Whie urged.
"What? Try what again?" she asked in confusion.
"Think about being on the other side of the room and see what happens," Whie replied. She sighed.
"This is silly," she said.
"Scout…we need to know if what just happened can happen again," Whie replied. She huffed and closed her eyes, thinking about being on the other side of the room. She felt the same tingly feeling again and gasped, as she stumbled, holding onto the wall to steady herself. She turned around, mouth ajar, as she stared at Whie who was still where she had been just a second ago. His mouth was slightly open too, as his mind was still trying to wrap around this ability as well.
"What's going on here?" Mace Windu asked, as he entered the training room. Scout's eyes widened and her mind went blank, but fortunately, Whie, ever quick, responded.
"We were just sparring Master," Whie stated. The dark skinned Jedi Master glanced between the two with scrutinizing eyes.
"I believe Ms. Esterhazy is a little below your level, Padawan Malreaux," Mace stated. Scout frowned at the insult, but Whie didn't miss a beat.
"She's still my friend. I was just giving her a few pointers," he responded.
"Fine, but you're leaving with your Master for your assignment in the morning. I suggest you both go clean-up for evening meal and then get back to your dorms for lights out," Mace ordered. The two padawans nodded and quickly left after gathering their practice sabers and cloaks. Scout didn't miss Mace Windu's scrutinizing stare, as they left.
"You didn't tell him," Scout whispered gratefully.
"Of course I didn't, you're my friend," Whie responded.
"He probably wouldn't have believed you anyway," she said.
"Or he would have and that could have been worse," he replied.
"What do you mean?" she asked. Whie glanced around the corridor, making sure they were alone.
"You've heard of Knightblade, right?" he whispered. Her brows knitted in confusion.
"What does that guy have to do with this?" she asked.
"He does the same thing you do and there are always people after him. No one can know about this except us," Whie told her. She nodded uncertainly.
"But I don't even know how I did it and you're leaving tomorrow," Scout said.
"Then practice while I'm gone and I'll still write to you," he promised, making her smile.
"You really need to stop all the self-doubting, Talli," he scolded lightly, calling her by the special name on he called her, as they continued on.
"That's easy for you to say. You're not the one that will probably end up in Agri-Corps," she replied. He shrugged.
"Well, whatever it is that you just did isn't something that just any Jedi can do. It makes you special and you'll be safe here in the Temple," Whie assured her. Scout nodded with a smile. Neither had any idea though how wrong that statement would prove to be…
Mace stood still in the training room, looking around with scrutinizing eyes after the two padawans had gone. He had felt something peculiar in the Force that had caused him to come to this room and his senses for tracking those he hunted were never wrong. Pulling a silver spray can from his cloak, he dispensed a liquid mist from the nozzle in a zigzag motion across the air. The mist was simply a mixture of water and other non-hazardous chemicals that were designed to make jump scars visible to the eye and slow their closure. Mace's eyes hardened when he saw the closing jump scars show up and he looked back down the now empty corridor. It was just as he suspected. One of those padawans had made a jump in this very room. The question of course was which one? Whie would be harder to keep tabs on, being that he would soon be on the battlefield, however, dispatching one of his agents to tail him wouldn't be too difficult. He had doubt that Tallisibeth Esterhazy could muster such ability, being that she was so weak in the Force. But all the same, she would be very easy to keep an eye on right here in the Temple…
Anakin cuffed the last patron and shoved him against the wall with the others. As usual, he only killed those where it couldn't be avoided and chained up the rest for local authorities to deal with. It went unspoken, but some of the smaller planets actually appreciated his work. They were overworked and understaffed and he gladly let them reap the glory of the takedowns of these kinds of operations. He wanted none of it. As long as no one stopped him from freeing and relocating the people he freed, then they could have the credit for busting the slavers and the patrons.
"You really think you're going to get away with this?" the lead slaver hissed. Anakin, disguised by his mask, glared at him.
"I'll be out in a few years and then I'll just start all over, but I'll be really angry then and I'll take it out on some poor girl. I'll tell her that it's your fault that she's being tortured," he hissed. Anakin disappeared and reappeared face to face with the scum, causing him to cry out with a start.
"Then when you get out, I'll be back to watch your every move," Anakin hissed, as he jumped to the other side of the room.
"You'll never know when I'm watching or when I'll show up," Anakin stated, as he jumped to the other end of the room.
"I can be anywhere in an instant anytime I want," Anakin said, as he was in his face again.
"But that sounds like a lot of work. Maybe I'll just make sure the local authorities make sure that the other inmates in the prison know that you like to rape little girls. Bet you'll last a few months at most then," Anakin hissed. The man gulped, clearly frightened by that prospect.
"That's wrong…you can't do that…" he stammered.
"Wrong?" Anakin asked, his eyes igniting like blue flames.
"WRONG? You rape children and young women! You sell them like pieces of meat to degenerate, pathetic worms. And you want to talk to me about WRONG?" Anakin roared, as he punched the man, breaking his nose. The man cried out in pain, as blood gushed from his face.
"Anyone else want to talk to me about how unfair you think this is?" he prompted. The scum was quiet as Anakin went into the back where the slaves cowered before him.
"It's okay, I'm not going to hurt any of you. Everyone hold still," Knightblade said, as he used his slave chip scrambling device to deactivate the chips in them, before pocketing the device.
"What did you do?" one young girl asked.
"My device deactivated the chip in all of you," Knightblade replied, as surprise rippled through them.
"Now everyone hold hands and close your eyes," he instructed. They did so and once he had a gather on all their Force energy, they all disappeared.
A few hours later…
"Did everyone have enough?" Padme called from the kitchenette of their ship. There were a chorus of positive affirmations and Padme sat down beside one of the young women.
"I don't know how to thank you. That was the first decent meal any of us have had in years," she said sadly.
"Just that you all had enough and that you're free now is all the thanks I need," Padme replied.
"Why?" the young woman asked.
"What do you mean?" Padme asked.
"I mean…why do you care when no one else does? And why did that man you're with risk his own life for us?" she asked curiously.
"Because slavery is wrong and we both believe that to the core of our very beings. I know it's hard to for you to believe, but there are good people in the galaxy and the place we're going is more than just a shelter for people that have nowhere to go. The people that run the refugee center on my home planet will help you receive job training so you can care for yourself and your children when you're ready. And the children will go to school," Padme explained.
"What about the ones that don't have mothers?" she asked.
"They'll be put into the adoption system. Many orphans are adopted into loving homes," Padme assured.
"And as for Knightblade, his reasons for his war on slavery are his own, but I assure you that it's the slavers that don't stand a chance against him," Padme added, as she got up and went to the cockpit to check on Anakin.
"Hey," she said. He smiled and flipped the autopilot on, before pulling her into his lap.
"Are you coming back to get something to eat?" she asked. He nodded.
"Soon…I was just thinking about things. I get so angry when I think about what they've been through," he said. She stroked his face gently.
"I know, but they're safe now and free, thanks to you," she reminded. He nodded.
"They seem to love you, not that I'm surprised," he mentioned, earning a smile from her.
"And I feel like I've done more to help people in one day than I've done in a whole year in the Senate," Padme replied.
"Is that your way of saying that you'll be making me bring you more often?" he asked. She smirked.
"That's exactly what it means," she replied, as she took his hand and led him back into the cabin with the others.
The two boys ran through the sandy alleyway for their very lives, as a man and a woman chased after them. The taller, older one tugged the small one along behind him. The older one, probably no older than nine had sandy blonde, shaggy hair and silvery blue eyes, and fair skin with strong, chiseled features. The younger one, probably four or five in age had dark chocolate eyes and a jet black mop of hair. His skin was a bit darker, naturally tanned and soft, cherub features that one would find on most children his age. The two were brothers in every way except blood and the grip the older one had on the little one told that he would die before letting anyone hurt the little one.
"Hunter…I'm scared…" the smallest one whispered.
"I know Blake," the older boy said, as he scooped him and disappeared. Instantaneously, they two reappeared in the busy spaceport of Mos Eisley. Quickly, the blonde boy snuck them onboard a ship and hid, just as the two that had given chase appeared through Hunter's jump scar. Looking around, they realized there was little chance of finding two small kids in a mass of hundreds of people.
"Damn it, the little brats got away again," the man hissed.
"Forget it, we should find bigger ones to fry. We'll get the blonde kid eventually," the female replied. He nodded, as they turned and went the other way.
"Hunter…why did they want to hurt us?" Blake asked innocently.
"I don't know B, but I'm not going to let them, I promise," Hunter replied.
"Where are we going?" the little one asked.
"I don't know that either, but anywhere is better than this place," the older one replied, as they remained hidden and the ship set course, leaving Tatooine. Little did either of the boys know, it would be making a short journey to Naboo
The next day
Despite the stares and whispers, Anakin, disguised as Knightblade, escorted Padme into Theed palace. They had just come from seeing that the slaves they had rescued were admitted safely to the refugee center on Naboo, before bidding them goodbye, and journeying to the palace. Padme smiled, as Sabe and Typho greeted her at the top of the steps and the two women hugged. Typho gave Knightblade a curt nod, which he returned and they continued on inside for a brief meeting with Queen Jamilla.
"Senator Amidala…it warms my heart to see that you are safe," Jamilla said formally, as she rose from her Throne.
"Thank you, Your Majesty," Padme responded, as the palace guards were roused, clearly unnerved by the presence of Knightblade.
"It's all right, he's my personal bodyguard and he is not a threat," Padme assured. Jamilla hesitated for a second, but then nodded.
"Stand down," she ordered. Reluctantly, the Royal Guard obeyed, as Governor Bibble stepped forward.
"So it's true that he is protecting you?" he asked, eyeing the masked man warily. Padme nodded.
"Yes and anyone I consider an ally has nothing to fear from him. He is the very reason I stand before you alive and well," Padme stated.
"Very well, I assume you are here for a visit with your family?" Bibble inquired. She nodded.
"I am stopping by this afternoon, before I spend a few days in the Lake Country. Then I'll be returning to the Senate to try and do something to end this senseless war that has erupted between the Republic and the Separatists," she assured. He nodded.
"In all my years in office, I believed war in the Republic to be unthinkable. I should have known better, what with all the corruption in the Senate," Bibble mentioned. She nodded.
"I'm afraid that there will be no easy end to this war. With Count Dooku leading the Separatists, democracy will crumble and our freedoms will cease to exist. But I will fight to keep that from happening," Padme stated.
"And what of you, Knightblade, is it? Where do you stand in this, if I may ask?" Bibble questioned.
"I fight for those who can't fight for themselves. I will not involve myself with the Jedi or Clones, but I will do whatever necessary to protect innocents from suffering. And anyone that dares to hurt the innocent or the Senator will have to go through me first," Anakin stated simply. The Governor and the Queen seemed quite impressed by his honest and quick answer.
"Very well, we will not keep you any longer, Senator. I am sure your family is anxious to see you," Jamilla said, as he rose and bowed curtly. Padme returned it and allowed Knightblade to lead her out, with Sabe and Typho flanking them.
"Now onto the real battle," Sabe mused.
"Is your mother really that bad?" Anakin asked, making Sabe laugh.
"She can be very judgmental, especially about my life and would love it if I let her run it for me. I love her, but I can only take her for about one afternoon. Sabe thinks it's hilarious," Padme said in annoyance.
"That's because it is. Your future mother-in-law is a trip," she told him.
"Sabe!" Padme scolded. Anakin smirked.
"It's fine angel. I mean, I can handle slavers and the Xal'Kaar, so I think I can handle anything," Anakin replied. Padme sighed.
"I hope she doesn't make you eat those words," Padme quipped…