Chapter 14: Same, New and Different Exploits
"Go. We'll handle this."
At Qui-Gon's urging, the queen didn't linger more than necessary. "We'll take the long way."
Everything spiralled out of control soon after that. Everyone left at a brisk pace for the other exit, leaving the two Jedi to deal with the newcomer. Zarya herself hid again, not wanting to catch the Sith apprentice's attention. The atmosphere was tense as the force users all discarded their most outer robes and took their lightsabers in hand.
Meanwhile, three of those rolling droids came in, activating their shields and shooting at the guards who quickly took cover behind pillars. It was evident that they were stuck there until they could find a way to get through the droid's shields.
Zarya was looking left and right, observing the two ongoing light shows in the hangar. One made by blaster fire, the other lightsabers. She knew the outcome to both fights. She was powerless to help either.
Unless…
Okay, I know you said don't do anything stupid, but they need help!
She sighed heavily, making her decision. Anakin's ship was already moving anyway.
Stay safe out there. It's just like podracing, you'll know what to do.
She could feel his confusion at that, but his attention rapidly diverted when he finally found the ship's trigger, shooting the droids and allowing Padmé to lead her group out of the hangar to go after the viceroy. He started panicking a bit when he wasn't able to stop his ship from taking to the sky, but easily gained confidence when he realized he did know what to do, as he always does when in the driver's seat.
As he disappeared to space, the nearby tower's shots missing him entirely, Zarya was left to plan her next move alone, huddling in a ball in her hiding spot as the fierce sword fight kept going nearby. She knew she stood no chance against Darth Maul, and would only be a distraction to the Jedi, but fighting wasn't her goal.
Luckily, Maul either didn't notice her or didn't care, since he slowly guided the fight towards a heavy set of grey doors he opened by force throwing an object at its panel, showing the big room containing high bridges and giant tubes glowing with a white hue.
Green and red lightsabers were left clashing alone when Obi-Wan got kicked away, his own blue one deactivating for now.
Now was her chance.
She didn't have a bond with Obi-Wan like she did Anakin and so she had no idea if it would work, but she knew she had to try. She did it quite often, Anakin asking her to share images with him at night, as they were both laying on his small cot on the floor in his room, when she told him stories happening in lush green forests, high, white mountains or near the endless blue ocean.
Trying to share images with someone she didn't have a connection with wasn't as easy. There wasn't a mental rope to follow along, only emptiness between both of their minds, and she didn't know how to cross that emptiness without simply throwing the images in the void.
Or worse, in the Sith's mind instead.
With a grunt, she stopped trying to reach Obi-Wan's mind when he caught up with the two others, joining the fight again. He couldn't afford to be distracted right now.
In addition to that, they were going deeper and deeper in the other room, the mental distance increasing by the second. Before she could hesitate, Zarya left her cover to follow them, making herself as small and discreet as possible not to catch their attention.
Finally, another chance came when Obi-Wan was pushed over the edge of a bridge, catching himself on another one bellow. Darth Maul wasn't too far behind, falling on another bridge and fighting off Qui-Gon when the latter didn't let up his attacks.
She tried again when Obi-Wan managed to get on his feet again, pushing the images she wanted him to see as strongly as she could. When it still wouldn't work, she changed her plan. She had to get his attention.
She was only a bridge above him anyway.
"Obi-Wan!"
As she intended, he immediately looked her way at her whisper-shout, incredulous.
"What are you—"
Before he could finish his question, they made eye contact.
She still got easily disorientated when looking in someone's head so freely, no barrier between them, especially since she avoided doing it as much as possible. She almost turned away when she was hit with the adrenaline/determination/worry that was swirling in him, but she held fast. She didn't waste any time, focusing on the images she wanted him to see, since she knew he could see her mind as much as she could see his.
Obi-Wan, stuck behind a red ray shield while Qui-Gon was fighting the Sith alone.
Qui-Gon, stunned by a hit in the face, then struck in the stomach with a killing blow.
Obi-Wan, screaming in grief and denial, rage and anguish painting his traits.
The Sith, prowling, waiting for the opportunity to kill the padawan next.
Surprise, denial, anguish, confusion, she felt it all as he saw what would happen in a few minutes only. She didn't let him linger on it, practically screaming 'HURRY!' in his mind before breaking eye contact, and the connection at the same time.
He jolted before running at top speed to his master, jumping to his platform without a backward glance. From her spot, she could only see the fighters for a few seconds before they were too deep in the hallway lined with ray shield projectors, out of her sight.
He hadn't made it in time. Obi-Wan was still too far behind to fight besides his master, but maybe he would find a way. She had done all she could, the rest was in his hands now.
She stayed a few minutes, looking up to the hallway they disappeared to when she finally took notice of just how high the ceiling of that place was. Then she glanced down, looking at the enormous drop below her.
Yeah, she was useless here; let's get away from these far too high bridges with no rails.
Careful not to stray near the edges of the bridge, in case her still clumsy limbs decided to act up near them, she slowly walked back to the hangar to wait. She could faintly feel Anakin's panic/excitement/thrill as he was no doubt destroying the blockade, unintentionally or not.
At least one of them was having fun.
(( ))
Waiting was definitely no fun. She kept glancing at the sky, hoping to see the ship return after the explosion seen even from here, and at the door the force users left in. Anxiousness was eating away at her, though she was trying to keep it down as to not worry Anakin too much.
This fight was… very important. Duel of the Fates. There was this big thing about how it wasn't about the fighters' fates, but Anakin's. Whether Qui-Gon made it or not, things would end up a lot differently for him. She wasn't too worried about that though, because it wasn't just Qui-Gon who could guide him in the right direction anymore. She was here, and she'd be damned if she let him turn into the monster Vader was.
No, what she was truly worried about; was what would happen to them after. They didn't go to Coruscant before coming to Naboo, and while it didn't change things much for the time being, it did change things back in Coruscant. The Jedi council haven't met them; Qui-Gon didn't insist they get trained yet. Who knows if his dying wish would be enough, should he still die. If he even had the chance to make that wish this time around.
For another, Palpatine didn't get the chance to become chancellor. A lot could change by that in the long run, from the coming clone wars, to the empire's rise. No use to dwell on all that for now though, what's done is done.
The yellow Naboo ships were the first to arrive, cutting her train of thought short and entering the hangar one by one until all were inside. The pilots were practically jumping from their seats in elation, cheering loudly and running to each other, clapping each other on the back and hugging anyone in proximity.
Anakin was at the center of it all, being lifted on a tall man's shoulders, being congratulated and pointed at in disbelief. He was smiling wildly, laughing with everyone while R2 whistled cheerfully near him in agreement when he had to confirm that yes; a nine year old did blow up that entire base, no big deal.
It was, of course, a big deal. That boy had unknowingly gained the friendship of an entire planet, which could be in his favour one day.
Also, no one would ever hear the end of it. Years later, he'll still brag about it, mark her words.
His joy was contagious, adding a laugh to her breath of relief at seeing him in one piece. She had known that he could do it, but it was still reassuring to be proven right.
It didn't take him long to push through the crowd to get to her and hug her tightly.
"Zarya! Did you see the explosion from here? It was wicked! I was nervous at first cuz' the ship was on autopilot for a while until artoo was able to override it, than he was like; 'we should go back' and I was like 'What? No way, we're already here and mister Qui-Gon told me to stay in the cockpit.' And then I did cool tricks that I could never do with a podracer before, and I found myself inside their base and near their reactor, I think, cuz' suddenly I shoot at it accidentally and everything starts 'sploding! So now I'm like 'We need to get outta here!' and I shot more droids on the way out and everything goes 'BOOOOMMM!'"
She laughed alongside him, nodding along to his excited chatter, yet couldn't hide her apprehension from him for very long. Still holding her by the shoulders, he grew concerned.
"What's wrong?"
"The Jedi aren't back yet." She glanced back at the door where they went. Anakin followed her gaze, suddenly as worried as her.
"You think we should tell someone? Maybe they need help?"
"Maybe someone should go check on them. But they'll need to be careful!"
As they both agreed, they went to the nearest grown-up, a pilot who turned out to be the leader of the group. He sobered up fast when he understood that the Jedi encountered an enemy strong enough to separate them from the rest of the group and arranged for a team to go see if they could assist them in anyway.
The team, armed with simple blasters, hadn't left five minutes when they came back.
Qui-Gon was alive.
He was breathing hard, his tall frame hunched over and supported by his padawan with his arm over his shoulders on one side, the other over the shoulders of a pilot when he'd come to assist. Obi-Wan looked tired and worried, but mostly alright apart from that.
The children didn't have the time to reach them before a stretcher was brought, the older Jedi falling to his knees before he could be laid on it. Anakin gasped.
When Qui-Gon was out of their view, probably being brought to a hospital, Obi-Wan made his way to them, feeling more exhausted with every step he took. He stopped them from following the older Jedi with a hand on one of their shoulders each, looking them over for injuries.
"Are you both alright?" he asked, his core-world accent more pronounced than usual.
They both nodded at the same time. He was observing them as if to make sure, lingering a second more on the way Zarya was carefully avoiding looking at him directly in the eyes.
"What happened to mister Qui-Gon? Is he gonna be okay?"
Obi-Wan sighed, crouching before them. He was holding his side lightly, Zarya noticed.
"He was struck in the stomach by our adversary." He made a slashing motion from one side of his waist to the other. Not stabbed through, then. "I don't know what will happen to him, but I believe he can survive this, with medical help. If he's going to make a full recovery though…"
They all grew silent, not knowing what to say. People were still milling about celebrating, tending to the injured and the few deceased, or even stealing glances at them. The three of them seemed severely out of place, all of a sudden.
"What now?" Zarya broke the silence.
"Now… I need to call the council. Tell them everything that happened."
"And us?" Anakin inquired. "What happens to us now that mister Qui-Gon is hurt?"
"You'll stay by me. We'll meet the council and decide what happens next then. It will be alright."
She had a feeling he was telling himself that as much as them.
(( ))
The red and white ship, very different from the sleek, gleaming ones of Naboo, carefully landed in front of the queen's guards standing at attention, the queen herself with her captain, handmaidens and councillors, the recently captured viceroy and his acolyte standing at the front. Obi-Wan, Anakin and Zarya were right beside them, watching over the whole procedure.
As the ramp of the ship lowered, the guards made quick work of escorting the trade federation's leaders to it, where they will be 'going back to the senate to explain all this', as Padmé put it.
As they climbed in the ship, Coruscant guards, she assumes, come out, followed closely by a group made up of many different species she instantly knows is the Jedi Council. At their sight, Obi-Wan walked forward to meet them, guiding the two children to follow him.
They were intercepted by an old man dressed in dark, expensive looking robes. Despite never seeing his actual face before, Zarya recognized him. Her breathing stopped, stuck in her throat.
Palpatine.
("I think I might have heard a name, something like Darsidis, or Darksius. They were walking away, so I didn't hear very well."
Zarya stopped walking abruptly, surprising Hostias enough for him to stop too. He looked at her in confusion, a worried glint in his brown eyes when he saw the fear in her turquoise ones.
"Darth Sidious? W-was it Darth Sidious?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right. Do you know him?")
She still has her chip in her head. He could have control of that chip. He was right in front of her.
She felt nothing from him, not a single shred of malice hinting at his true colors. He seemed to be a completely ordinary man, with no connection to the force. Somehow, that scared her even more.
He smiled at them, but looked a little bit tense. Obi-Wan bowed lightly when the man looked at him.
"You have shown great bravery, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Naboo is indebted to you."
With another smile touched a bit by curiosity, this time directed at them, (she looked at the floor, holding Anakin's hand tighter. No way was she looking in his eyes.) he walked pass them to reach the Queen, probably having never heard of them until now.
Despite her relief at being of no interest to him for now, Zarya could still barely breathe as Obi-Wan bowed again to the council members, she and Anakin following his lead, before falling in step next to them. Obi-Wan, a hand on Anakin's shoulder, didn't see her distress from the other side of the boy, but Anakin did. As the queen and her senator conversed, he carefully made eye contact with her.
What's going on? You feel terrified!
That man…the rich looking one. Something is seriously wrong with him.
As she carefully took control of her breathing before she could make a scene, Anakin narrowed his eyes at Palpatine, searching for any clue at what could've caused her to react so strongly. She knew he wouldn't feel anything either, but at least he could be suspicious of him this time around.
(( ))
A spacious room in the palace with many chairs and tables was offered to the council so they could hold a meeting in peace before the celebrations. Almost all of them had come to Naboo, mostly because Qui-Gon was in no state to be moved to Coruscant, and would only be put out of the bacta tank in a day or two. Obi-Wan refused to leave without him.
Bacta was apparently some kind of gelatinous substance with healing properties. She had heard of it, but it wasn't all that common back on Tatooine.
The children were standing in the middle of the room side by side, Obi-wan not far behind them. Most council members were sitting in a semi-formal manner, some having attempted to form some kind of half-circle with their chairs, others sitting near the tables and leaning on them.
Anakin was just finishing the last test they each had to go through when the dark skinned human, Mace Windu, put his weirdly shaped datapad down (Zarya was used to the cheaper models found on Tatooine.)
He exchanged glances with some of the others before turning back to them, his expression unreadable.
"Padawan Kenobi told us you two had an unusual connection with each other. Can you describe it to us?"
By the way they had all looked at them both whenever only one of them was doing one of their test, they wanted more in-depth information since they could most likely see and feel how Zarya and Anakin were always communicating with each other, be it by talking in their mind, constantly exchanging looks and leaning towards the other when one of them was feeling too nervous without needing any prompting.
Zarya wasn't naïve enough to think they hadn't noticed all this, since they were currently more attuned to the force, and therefore all living things, then she could hope to be.
"We can hear each other's thoughts sometimes," Anakin started when she was getting distracted. "But we always know the other's emotions, no matter if we're far away."
More looks were exchanged between the council members, some sceptical, others curious.
"They might just be very sensitive to the Force," said a cerean. Ki-Adi-Mundi, if she remembered right. "It is not unusual for any Jedi or force sensitive to catch stray thoughts or emotions in weaker minds around us."
Did that idiot seriously just called us weak?
I thought he meant that about the ones around us that we can read their minds, not us specifically?
By the way he phrased it, it sounded more to me he thinks we are both sensitive and weak-minded at the same time, which would be why we can communicate this way.
Anakin couldn't completely refrain from frowning when he exchanged a glance with her again, both of them feeling irritated at his insinuation. Before anyone could add to his theory, Zarya went in more details.
"It's been this way since the day we met, and it hasn't happened with anyone else. If we focus really hard, we can also share some senses."
"Share senses? How do you mean?" Asked a Lannik. His small stature didn't affect take away his intimidating appearance, with his missing eye and heavily scarred face. He was also among the ones who observed them the most intently, especially when they were silently talking with each other.
"It's mostly sharing what we're seeing, but sometimes hearing too, though that's a bit more difficult," continued Anakin. Zarya saw Obi-Wan shift subtly at that from the edge of her vision.
"Still, we can't just assume it's anything beyond a strangely strong bond, like we sometimes find in twins and the likes. This kind of attachment is dangerous, and I fear it may grow stronger with time!" That thisspiasian was starting to lose any hope to gain Zarya's respect.
"Fear? If it is fear that guides your judgement, perhaps you should re-evaluate your stance on this." Was it just her or was Plo Koon sassing his fellow master? That she could respect. Mace intervened before the snake-like master could defend himself.
"Let us say it truly is a Dyad, something that no one here has any experience with, the only real problems is their previous attachments, and that they are too old to be trained."
"They're too old, or we found them too late?" Argued a Zabrack with long, dark hair. "Why should our failure in finding such powerful Force sensitives sooner be a punishment to them?"
Zarya wasn't entirely certain what was going on. These weren't exactly the arguments she remembered, they'd put more emphasis on Anakin's fear and their own scepticism at him being the chosen one than anything else. His age and attachment was also part of their reasoning, but not its entirety. There was something they weren't saying, and she didn't know what, or why. Things… weren't going the way she was anticipating them.
Obi-Wan hadn't even mentioned the prophecy once, to her knowledge.
"Much uncertainty I can feel, from everyone." Yoda finally spoke. Every person in the room turned to him, listening with more respect than for anyone else. "An unusual case, this is. Enough to bring confusion and discomfort, mmmh?" He chuckled at that, looking mostly at those who voiced their concerns. "Not every day a bond like this one is created, and for a good reason, they usually are made. Right is Master Koth. Late we were, to find the young Skywalker's. Strong they are, and train them to guide that strength, maybe we should."
Some were nodding in agreement, others in acceptance. Others were frowning in disagreement, yet no one dared to object for now.
"We will come to a decision later, when we figure out how we should go about it since they are an exception to our norm," concluded Windu.
"So they will be trained?" Obi-Wan asked with a note of hope in his voice.
Windu sighed. "It appears so for now."
Zarya was impressed that Anakin only let slip out a smile. His excitement was through the roof.
Hers… was tainted with resignation.
(
That was a long one! No idea if these chapters will keep growing in size or not, but we'll see.
Sooooo… What now? Would the council send Anakin and Zarya to be among the other initiates for a while since they are still young, or should they be padawans from the start?
Who should train them? Together or separated?
I have a vague idea of where I want to do go, but if everyone wants something else I might just change tracks!
Thanks to Minna Kivel, That's balderdash and TigerAkemi1 for the reviews!
Until next time!
-Maginary
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