CAVITY WARNING: You will suffer with me. There's more of this day but I needed this to be its own chapter, filler though it may be.
Chapter 28 - Sanity
Cody stared at the marbled path, glad he was being carried because the procession of Naboo was… long.
The Prime —like the General— had his helmet on his hip and carried Ponds just as he did Boba.
It was still a weird concept that they mattered the same as Boba now.
That they were clan Fett and free of Kamino.
Cody ducked his head against the General again as another holo camera flashed.
He decided then and there that he hated reporters and he was glad his complexion was dark enough to conceal the flush heating his cheeks.
He was young but he was a soldier, being carried around like a baby was embarrassing.
Even if he secretly like having the General and the Prime's attention focused solely on himself and Ponds.
Ponds was being a lot braver around the cameras, but then Ponds wasn't as sensitive to the Force which blazed around the strange people around them. Some of them were wearing truly garish clothing. At least, the Queen had an excuse to look like a sculpture. She was a queen of an entire planet after all.
In contrast, Cody and Ponds were wearing the softest clothes ever, basically pyjamas.
Finally, they were up to the palace steps, and they were greeted by the Queen and the other Nubian politicians.
It was strange to realize soon that the Prime and the General would be rulers of the entire Mandalore system.
It hadn't really hit him until he watched his buire bow to the Queen and the Queen to bow to them in turn what it meant to be —not simply the best warriors— but what amounted to royalty.
The Queen caught Cody's eye with her honey gaze, "Hello, there, little one."
Cody flushed and could only manage to wave lamely at her.
There was a weird surge of excitement in the Force and camera flashes exploded around them. Cody again ducked his head, cursing mentally at all the stupid reporters as his vision even behind his closed lids sparked with dots.
The General kissed his head and Cody clung tighter to his buir.
They were doing this oisk for their people.
They were doing this oisk for their vode.
"Breathe," the General whispered. "You're doing so well, ner ad'ika."
Cody took in a shaky breath and the next was steadier.
Their buire wouldn't let them fight in the war, but they could do this.
Even if Cody wasn't entirely clear on how getting his picture taken was helpful.
The palace was equally beautiful inside as it was outside, though Cody preferred the fountains and flowers to the massive pillars of stone.
Cody fisted his hands in the General's cloak. This was the first time he had seen their General in full copper armour and it suited him. He looked like the Jedi Generals they had dreamed of when they were younger.
The capes both he and the Prime had donned had seemed like overkill on the ship, now they just looked like the sanest dressed people aside from the Queen's handmaidens who wore simple but pretty orange dresses.
They walked through the hallways in a strangely silent procession.
Cody was glad there were no more cameras but he was somewhat disturbed by the almost mournful air they grew around them and the politicians.
Even the Prime looked a bit unnerved and signed to the General covertly, Where are we going?
The General smiled sadly but answered out loud, "We are going to pay our respects to my late Master."
The Prime nearly stumbled, "Cyare—"
The General shook his head, "Not gone, ner Mand'alor, merely marching ahead."
Cody touched his cheek, "Your Master?"
The General dipped his forehead to Cody's in a gentle touch, "My buir. He was my mentor when I came of age."
There was sadness in his tone but not hurt, not like he had been hurting since they left Kamino and the tubies behind.
"He died protecting Naboo in a duel against the Sith." Queen Amidala elaborated. "He died protecting me. Master Qui-Gon Jinn will forever be remembered by the Naboo, as will Master Obi-Wan Kenobi who avenged his Master by killing the Sith Lord. And his Padawan, as well, Anakin Skywalker helped us repel the Trade Federation."
"What did he do?" Ponds asked. They didn't know much about the General's first ad, only that the boy was older than the vode and still a Jedi.
The General sighed, "My Master told him to hide, and he hid in a cockpit and ended up flying the fighter through the Trade Federations Flagship and blowing it up from the inside."
"So it runs in the family?" the Prime asked dryly.
"You tell me," the General responded.
"How old was he?" Ponds asked.
"Nine, but don't get any ideas," the General said. "Anakin is an adrenaline junky who has learned many hard lessons in his life for that particular inclination. Besides, while an excellent pilot he may be, I still think it was the droid that pulled off the calculations of such complete destruction of a vessel that large."
R2-D2 who had been following behind him this whole time made a whooping beeping sound.
"That's how you know the droid?" Jango asked, giving the astromech a surreptitious look.
"He's an agent of chaos," one of the Handmaidens said. "Which is why he makes the perfect accomplice."
The General laughed, stooping to put Cody on his feet as they came to a large ornately decorated door.
The door was opened by two of the guards opening into a dimly lit room, illuminated only by a skylight. It gave the tree that grew there in the centre of a large pool an ominous look. There were names written in a script that long ways that Cody couldn't decipher.
The Queen spoke as the handmaidens handed out glass flowers with candles in the centre of them and another came around with a burning incense stick to light the candles. "This is the hall of our honoured dead. Peacekeepers who were murdered while in service."
"Long history of that?" The Prime asked.
"Longer than you think, to remain a peaceful nation in the Outer Rim is not within a pacifist's capability," the Queen answered.
Cody held the glass flower in his hand, the flame of the candle colouring the translucent petals in flame.
Cody exchanged a look with Ponds, what were they supposed to do with this?
If this was another picture taking event, Cody wasn't going to be happy.
The General chuckled as if he had heard his thoughts, and placed a steadying hand on his back. "Come. Naboo is a beautiful planet with beautiful traditions."
The Nubians stepped back, each holding their own glass flower as they allowed the Prime, the General, Cody, and Ponds to approach the pool with its massive tree.
The General bowed to the tree, the flower out stretched in offering before he placed the glass into the water.
At first, Cody thought it would sink and the light would go out, but the glass flower floated on the surface of the rippling water, a soft current pulling it into motion.
The Prime followed, and though he didn't bow as deeply, it was still with respect as he placed the flower into the water.
The Prime stepped to the side. Cody and Ponds approached together, they had to stand on their toes a bit to place the flowers in the water in order to not drop them.
It was kind of mesmerizing watching the floating candles be pulled into the current.
The Queen was followed by her handmaidens, then by other politicians who began to place their flowers in the pool so that the lights circled the tree, candlelight flickering off the glass petals and the surface of the water.
Cody's breath caught when a statue hidden in the shadow of the tree was illuminated by the circling lights.
The statue was clearly of a Jedi. A large man with long hair and a distinctive beard. He sat crosslegged, hands folded in meditation, and eyes closed.
In peace.
"I wish I could have met him," the Prime said softly.
The General smirked and responded in an equally quiet voice, "Oh, you will. My Master is very chatty for a dead man."
Cody was certain his consternation was echoed by Ponds and the Prime as they stared at the General.
The General's grin only widened, "My Master was a scholar of the mystic arts."
"Sure," the Prime said sardonically. "And where has your buir been this last year?"
"Haunting my ba'buir. I don't think Count Dooku was as pleased to be reunited with his adiik as he might have hoped for. He was very… off kilter last time I saw him."
Cody was very confused, "Haunted? Like a ghost?"
"Exactly like a ghost," the General said cheerfully.
Ponds frowned up at him, "Are you joking?"
"Would I do that?" the General asked innocently.
Now Cody didn't know what to believe.
The Prime made a harsh sound, "You're going to be the death of me."
"The death of your sanity, perhaps," the General said.
The Prime bowed his head as if in prayer.
Cody exchanged a look with Ponds.
Clearly when it came to the matter of 'sanity' that would be left to the vode.
oOo
AN: Thoughts, tookas, or feedback, pretty please?