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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

I'm Your What (A What-if) -- continued

Discussion in 'Fan Fiction Stories--Classic JC Board (Reply-Only)' started by JediGaladriel, May 13, 2000.

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  1. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    I was just wondering the same thing.

    I think I'll do a nice long post tonight, and get back to Han (alas, I have work to do over lunch hour today, and I hae to get ready for work now...)
     
  2. Jedi Master Mara Jade

    Jedi Master Mara Jade Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 1999
    :waves hand in front of faces:

    You did not read that.

    Oh...but I still wish we could have a showdown with Vader. SW characters can come back alive, can't they? tongue.gif

    Cant wait to see what happened to Han...I was wondering that myself.
     
  3. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Heck, he's still kinda around, JMMJ... he's talking to Amidala, and little Anakin did somehow or other come up with Padme's real name for second before forgetting it again...
     
  4. RebelMom

    RebelMom Jedi Knight star 6

    Registered:
    Apr 20, 2000
    I checked back on this to see if anything new since last time I checked. I'm impatient.
    I just have to add this

    I almost thought Luke would say
    My name is Luke Skywalker. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

    Okay. I better leave before someone kicks me out. Being stuck at home, sick, with nothing to do but surf the net seems to affect the brain.
     
  5. Vee

    Vee Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 16, 2000
    No clones, please? The only time that's been done right is "The Penitent," and it wouldn't work here ... but, "there is no death" and all. Who knows what will happen?

     
  6. SithAbigail

    SithAbigail Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2000
    I like Princess Bride too, RebelMom but I couldn't have pulled off that scene I always liked the swamp with the HUGE rats

    Ohh, and Han's wherever Galadriel decides he is. tongue.gif
     
  7. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    If you say so, Abigail...
    ----------
    Han focused his eyes on a tiny chip in the naviputer, willing the last of the cloudy vision away. The miniscule circuits began to show themselves as shadows, then finally swam up into clarity.

    Okay, still sick, but sick and seeing is better than sick and blind, especially if you're going to get the Falcon off the ground.

    And that, he figured, was what he'd have to do.

    He hadn't been worried at first. They'd been gone awhile, but hell, they'd been on Tatooine for months. Luke had lived here. They knew their way around. He'd gotten cleaned up, changed his clothes... then, there'd been a brief, intercepted message.

    Vader was here. All he could think of was Leia. She had risked everything to save him, now, here he was, safe on a ship, while she was in worse danger than Jabba could even think of putting either one of them in. Lando was probably right -- there wasn't a lot he could do in his present condition -- but when he'd come to, his head aching more than before and the bleary vision back with a vengeance, he'd thought, The double-crossing son-of-a-Hutt did it again.

    He'd come to his senses quickly enough -- Chewie had gone with Lando, and that was enough to convince Han that Lando wasn't doing anything sneaky -- but he was left with a gnawing guilt for still being here. He thought of following them, but realized that would just end up being more trouble: someone else would have to find him when it was time to go. Better if he stuck around to be the finder.

    So he powered up the Falcon, making her ready to go in a flash, and started running scans to find their commlinks.

    The Queen's party was easy to find -- the old style signals were the only ones of their kind -- but they were scattered in clumps around a five-kilometer radius. Chewie was with them. Han signaled him, and was gratified to get an immediate, if subdued, reply.

    "Chewie, who you got with you?"

    Chewie paused -- it was hard to give names in Wookiee -- then finally avoided the names altogether by saying it was the pilot and the security officer.

    "Yeah, well, tell Panaka to start calling in his troops. If we need to make a quick getaway, it's going to be hard to catch them like this."

    A voice said, "Excuse me, may I?" and Chewie barked away from the microphone. A minute later, Panaka came on. "Captain Solo, our ship is undoubtedly under surveillance. We thought it wise to stay away from it."

    Han guessed that made sense. He checked the locations of the other comm-links. "Look, Lando and one of your people are coming toward the three of you. Go do a check on your ship. See if you can get to it. I can probably get people off on the Falcon, if it's an emergency, but you're going to need that ship if you're planning on going home anyway. Keep a lock on this signal."

    "I read you," Panaka said. "I don't think any of our people has found anything anyway."

    Han didn't bother to ask what they thought they were looking for. "Just keep it together," he said. "Be ready to make a run for it."

    "All right. Panaka out."

    The communication was cut curtly -- he was old style military -- but Han had already occupied himself with programming in a launch.

    **********************

    Sabe couldn't remember exactly how the party at the canyon had split up; she only knew that Obi-Wan and Ani's son had disappeared, then somehow or other, she was running with Calrissian again, back toward the ships, while the Queen went off with Leia, Ani, and Qui-Gon. She had a vague memory of Amidala looking straight at Lando and saying, "Get the Queen to safety" before running off. Lando had accepted no arguments on the matter. Hadn't he heard Ani call the Queen by her right name? What game were they playing?

    But it had happened too fast, and it would have made matters worse if Sabe had taken time to argue. She would get back to the ship, and get the whole crew to go in and rescue Amidala. And Ani and Qui-Gon and Leia.

    And Obi-Wan and Luke.

    Are Lando and I the only ones running here?

    But of course, they were. He w
     
  8. Vee

    Vee Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 16, 2000
    "His now?" Panaka was seething, and pounded a fist into a control panel. "What the hell does that mean?"

    "Some Jedi doublespeak," Lando muttered, disdainfully.

    Panaka raised an eyebrow, and turned his gaze to Sabé. "What happened?"

    "Anakin collapsed," she replied, easing into her act. "Jinn, Kenobi, and Luke coached him into breathing mainly through comfort."

    "Why would that send Padmé into the hands of the enemy?"

    "I'm unsure, Captain, but I believe she said that Anakin's older incarnation died to save her. From what the Jedi said, Anakin collapsed because he felt his own passing into the Force."

    Lando's face became contorted with disbelief, and his speech came to him slowly. "No ... Leia said that Vader was dead."

    Before this particular mission, Sabé had a history of making connections where they should not be made. While she was a flawless bodyguard, agile and deadly, she was no detective. She felt Panaka's critical eye scanning her, and felt a history of trust being dismissed because someone decades her senior had spoken against her.

    She couldn't hold back. "The boy knew, Captain. Our most guarded secret. He said her name and suddenly we hear her calling for him. He must have guided her in some way, and the only explanation I can think of is that the child becomes a Jedi and dies for her. That may mean he becomes this Vader for whom Leia and Lando have such distaste."

     
  9. Marie D Padawannabe

    Marie D Padawannabe Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    Feb 12, 2000


    Good good good good!

    Now...write write write write!

    teehee!

    marie
     
  10. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Dritali led the way, though Kit didn't know how she knew any of this. Maybe she was a little bit Force sensitive. Or maybe she'd followed. He just wasn't sure.

    Vertash and Kerea were with them, looking fearfully over their shoulders at every night sound. Kerea was holding Vertash's arm. Dritali seemed entirely unconcerned with the presence of the Empire, or of the normal desert dangers. She simply pushed forward, toward the flatlands where Kit could see the boxy shapes of two Imperial transports squatting like predators ready to pounce.

    "This way," she said urgently. She led them toward the smaller transport, but Kit saw what she was headed for long before they got to it. She ran ahead when she saw a sniffing womp rat, charging the creature and kicking at its face. It snapped at her foot, but womp rats were skittish, and when it saw that she wasn't alone, it scurried off into the night.

    Anakin lay in the sand, mask turned up toward the sky. Some cataclysmic heat had melted the circuits on his chest, and his hands were clenched in final agony. Beside him in the sand, something glittered. Kit bent down to pick it up.

    Just a glass bauble, cheap and meant to look it. It had been set into Amidala's belt. She had been there. Kit understood what had happened without needing to be telepathic in the least.

    "What should we do?" Dritali asked.

    "We'll take him home," Kit said. "I'll need your help, children. Kerea, I know you have... "

    But the Alderaanian girl slipped in beside Vertash and Dritali, and shook her head. Her short blond hair seemed almost white in the moonlight. She would not leave any man to be devoured by the desert beasts, no matter what side of the war he'd fought on.

    Kit knelt beside him, partly in respectful mourning, but mostly to gauge how to accomplish this task. Finally, he looped his own arms under Anakin's, lifting him slightly. The robotics of the suit had gone stiff, which would make him hard to lift, but easier to carry once they had him. "You children are certain of this?" he asked.

    They nodded solemnly.

    "Very well," he said. "Dritali, you walk beside him, in the middle, and support him in the center of his back. Vertash and Kerea, hold his legs. It will be a long, difficult walk, but it is a kind and merciful thing you are doing."

    Vertash smiled slightly. Kerea's shoulders straightened. Dritali didn't react, but the gift was mainly to her, and Kit knew she would be grateful later. If Kit had one point of pride, it was that the children he'd raised considered being kind and merciful a mark of honor.

    The walk was long and difficult, but in the end, they brought Anakin Skywalker safely into Sanctuary, and laid his broken body in the garden. Kit and Dritali stayed to keep vigil until sunsup.

    ---------------

    Qui-Gon was striding on ahead, following some scent in the Force that Amidala couldn't begin to understand. But he was going the right way, so it had to count for something. Of course, Palpatine was still fairly close to where they'd been held before, so that might have played into it.

    She was afraid that they would pass poor Ani's body, but it was on the other side of the ships, she remembered now (getting out had been a strange and surreal experience, and she remembered little of it). It was, at any rate, mercifully out of sight.

    Leia walked beside her quietly, sometimes glancing over at Ani, mostly keeping to herself. The pace was quick, and it wouldn't be easy to talk even about simple things, let alone the complicated tangle in the weave of their lives. Amidala touched her arm lightly.

    Leia gave her a distracted look, then sped up her pace and ran ahead to catch Qui-Gon.

    Ani squeezed her hand -- had she taken his hand, or had he taken hers? she couldn't remember -- and when she looked at him, his eyes were bruised looking and sunken. Not so very different from the way they'd looked under the mask. He pulled his hand away and stared ahead as they walked. His pace was quickening. Amidala had a sense that she'd done this before, then she realize
     
  11. SithAbigail

    SithAbigail Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2000
    Amidala brushed her hair back, trying to think her plan out as she spoke. "There aren't very many guards. I expect no more then two, if that. This really isn't that big of a ship, Ani."

    "How do we stop them?" Ani's voice sounded very brave, too brave for his age.

    I wish he didn't have to act so old. It would be nice for him if he could just be a child.

    Throwing away her wistful thought, she sighed faintly. Ami knew she couldn't control how other's acted or the circumstances that lead to actions. All she could do was make sure she did all she could.

    And right now she was going to do all she could to save her handmaidens.

    Amidala held up a hand to make sure Ani stayed silent and tried to think. Her mind was mentally exhausted and she felt too tired to be creative.

    "I don't suppose you have any ideas Ani?"

    "This is my first time doing something like this." Ani did a smirk, something unnerving to see on a nine-year-old. Must have come from hanging around with so many spacers.

    "Cute." Ami reached out and squeezed his hand to show she wasn't being mean. She let go after a little while, focusing on the problem at hand.

    After a few seconds, she was able to think up a workable plan, using various ideas from the stories her Grandmother had told her.

    Who knew those stories would have real life use?

    "Ani, you are going to distract a guard. Make sure no one's around, just make the guard angry. I'll come up from behind and hit with something handy. We take his blaster and stun the other's."

    "You make that sound easy, Padmé." Ani grinned brightly, the expression lighting up his face. "Now come on, we hafta go save them."

    Walking into the ship, Amidala wished she was so confident about her plan.
    ****************
    Luke seethed inwardly at the Emporer, cradling his injured leg. He should have listened to Obi-Wan, he had been overconfident.

    An inner voice breathed out, You weren't overconfident. You were ready. If it hadn't been to Obi-Wan's warning, you would have gone in their, lightsaber charging and won. Now look at you, on the floor with a leg injury that might never heal. It's all Kenobi's fault.

    The Emporer had left soon after the leg injury, telling them he'd be back later. Kenobi had walked to the other side of the room a little while after mumbling apologies.

    What good was an apology when he was a cripple? How would that help him become a full Jedi? How would he fix his father's mistakes now?

    So caught up in his thoughts, Luke's brain didn't register the Emporer walking in and chuckling softly. Luckily for him, Obi-Wan did notice and promptly attacked the Emporer who was uncharacteristically holding a lightsaber.

    "It's all--" Parry. "Your--" Thrust. "Fault!" Jump.

    "Have I mentioned lately how much I adore anger from Jedi?" He laughed, and Luke's voice urged him to do something. Blasting Palpatine to smithereens was a nicer thought that came.

    Unable to stand, (Luke winced at the bad joke) sitting any longer, he stood up slowly, using every Jedi pain technique he knew of.

    The result was the leg didn't hurt but it was extremly numb. It gave him the feeling it was be extremly painful later to make up for it.

    Luke stretched and spoke, smiling sinisterly. "We're going to kill you. As slowly as we can."

    After all, I can always hurt Kenobi for injuring my leg after Palpy is dead.

    As Kenobi and Luke both edged towards Palpatine, the Emperor's perverse grin faded.
    *********
     
  12. Vee

    Vee Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 16, 2000
    Wonderful, you two! I thought about adding on (three consecutive story posts!) but I want to see what SithAbigail has in mind for that poor guard.
     
  13. SithAbigail

    SithAbigail Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2000
    Palpatine backed up nervously, waving his lightsaber a little. It was no supposed to go like this! They were supposed to fight each other. By the Force, where did my plan go wrong?

    "You killed my father. Prepare to die." Luke's voice was deadly serious and Palpatine searched for something intelligant to say.

    "It's all my bodyguard's fault!" he pointed over to the corner, gasping a little. "See that man? Drake, an Imperial Royal Guard. All his idea, I just went along for fun."

    The guard eerily stepped out of the shadows, azure eyes flashing. "I'm afraid I can't take the credit for your brilliance my Emperor. It wouldn't be right."

    Luke snorted. "Yeah, I'm going to believe that one, Palpy. A hyped-up stormtrooper thought it all up. Sure."

    "With what I've heard and seen about Stormtroopers, I must agree that they're idiots." Obi-Wan grinned and for some reason the exression just looked wrong on his face. It looked innocent, on an wicked face.

    Unfortunately, the Jedi were right. Stormtroopers were perpetually stupid. Drake wasn't all stupid though, he just didn't apply himself. At all. Besides, the royal guard just looked ditzy with classic good looks and a small frame.

    "Yeah, I guess most are kinda--Hey!" As Luke and Obi-Wan looked, then quickly looked away from the "stupid" Royal Guard, emabrassed. As soon as they were focused on Palpatine, Drake smirked.

    It's possible I slightly erred in getting one of my Royal Guards angry at me.

    As a last ditch maneuver, Palpatine took out a powerless comm and spoke into it. "Strike at the targets. Yes, you can kill everyone, even the Jedi Master."

    Palpatine changed his earlier thought to: Many, many mistakes that must have been from Maul and\or Vader brainwashing me as Drake drew a blaster and spoke softly. "I could forgive you killing my Grandfather when you extinguished Jedi. I could forgive you destroying Alderaan and with it, my fiancée because there were Rebels there.

    "I can put up with your lies. But I can't put up with you killing Queen Amidala."

    "I am of Naboo, and we of Naboo stick together."

    With that, Palpatine was stunned.

    As he fell, his second to last thought was, At least Skywalker and Obi-Wan are showing Sith tendacies.

    His last thought was, Did they have to do it at the expense of stunning me?

    [This message has been edited by SithAbigail (edited 06-04-2000).]
     
  14. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Well, it will make the rescue a bit less suspenseful!

    I was going to give Leia and Qui-Gon a big scene rescuing Luke and Obi-Wan here, so I'll have to go back and think of something else to do instead.
     
  15. SithAbigail

    SithAbigail Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2000
    ::shrugs:: I'm flexible. I can edit that out... ACtualy a rescue scene might be fun.

    My brain just comes up with bizarre scenes at night.
     
  16. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Nah, I think we can roll with the punches there! I didn't actually have the scene written; I was just going to wing it, anyway. But let's have him stunned for now, so that he can still be giving orders, and keep the pressure on them to keep moving. Then maybe we can go back and do one of Vee's "thousand deaths"...

    (And I know what you mean about night time writing... prolific, but weird... )
     
  17. Mistress Sudafed

    Mistress Sudafed Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 27, 2000
    Those posts were WOW-ing confused.gif Post more, I have a war lord! eek.gif eek.gif eek.gif I'm a bit worried about Luke, though...my apprentice, you are EVIL tongue.gif tongue.gif tongue.gif
     
  18. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    Leia followed Qui-Gon, not really knowing what she meant to do, only that she couldn't handle being in Anakin Skywalker's presence.

    Her father's presence.

    A thousand thoughts raced each other through her mind in narrowing circles, nipping at each others heels and making so much noise that she could hardly concentrate.

    And yet, she felt oddly detached from it. Luke is my brother. My brother. Did I know that before?

    (Yeah, sure, you knew it when you were kissing him on Hoth. And leading him on on Yavin. It was all right there, and you were just playing with him, right? Normal family games. But then again, with Daddy dearest hovering nearby, how could anything but blissful normalcy ensue?)

    She tried to maintain the sarcastic tone with herself, but it wouldn't wash. The fact was, when Mother had called Luke her brother, there hadn't been even a moment of doubt or even surprise. And learning about Vader had been...

    Expected.

    As she pushed her way through the sand, her stomach turned lazily. Of course. She had never once asked her foster parents who her father was. That should have struck her as strange, because she asked about everything she saw or felt. But the question of half of her existence never came up.

    Why?

    Because she had a suspicion, or a whisper of an idea of a suspicion. And to ask it would be to acknowledge it, and to acknowledge it would be terrible. Unbearable.

    Was she giving herself too much credit? Maybe she just plain hadn't been interested.

    No. No, she felt the truth of it sinking in. That connection she had felt... it had been real, and she had known; she'd known it in her blood even if her mind had never put a word to it. She hadn't needed to ask.

    Qui-Gon stopped suddenly. "They have engaged in battle," he said.

    Leia nodded. "I'll go in. You can't risk the timeline by dying now. And I'll try to get Obi-Wan out first."

    He shook his head. "There is something else here. Something unexpected."

    "I've had enough unexpected things today," Leia said. She had no patience left for Qui-Gon's philosophy; she would take matters into her own hands, because her own hands were under her control. She moved on ahead of him, toward the storm-lit part of the sky.

    He matched her step for step, and didn't try to stop her.

    She drew her blaster as she entered the small circle, but found there was nothing to do with it.

    One of the Emperor's royal guard was standing over a small, supine form in black robes. Luke and Kenobi stood with their lightsabers drawn, looking mutely at it.

    "Very well," Qui-Gon said. "It seems your foolishness has corrected itself, padawan."

    Obi-Wan glared at him, but lowered his lightsaber. "Yes, Master."

    "And you, young Luke, must be aware of your error."

    Luke lowered his lightsaber, but didn't say anything.

    "He's moving," the guard said. "If you're leaving, leave now."

    Leia shook her head. She hadn't registered that the guard was on their side. "Are you coming with us?"

    "I will remain at my post."

    It was a spoken suicide note, but Leia was too tired to argue. "May the Force be with you," she muttered.

    "If he's not dead yet," Luke said, "I'll kill him."

    "No, you won't," Leia said. "Because we have to get our parents, and then get them back in time, or you and I won't be here to kill anybody or anything."
     
  19. SithAbigail

    SithAbigail Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2000
    Obi-Wan shuddered from the sudden desert wind. They had been walking a while, he wasn't sure how log, his chromo had long since been broken. The young Padawan seemed to be the only one to notice.

    It was quite possibly as much in his head as the thought that Palpatine was going to kill Qui-Gon was.

    Palpatine. The man had lied, told him Qui-Gon was going to die, sent him awful mental messages of all the Jedi Masters burning, his friends dying screaming out Vader, everything. Obi-Wan had tried to block it out, keep his mind separate from the Emperor's. He hadn't had the power.

    When Palpatine had been stunned, it had just gone away. Leaving Obi not quite as cold, or alone or unhappy... But the memories and the anger had remained.

    I don't want to be this angry. By the force, I want to be who I was before any of this mess started!

    "Padawan? Padawan? Are you okay?"

    It was Master Qui-Gon. He was worried. "I'm fine. Just...memories, Master."

    "It's okay, Obi-Wan. I will understand if you'll be a little distant for a while." Qui-Gon grasped his hand gently but within a second it was dropped. "Now please, walk faster. We are trying to get back to the ship, Amidala and Anakin are following as soon as they finish that mission."

    "Mission? What mission? You let my parents go off alone? They're just children!" Luke just stopped and with him the rest of the group halted their steady pace. The young man's face held a mixture of anger and contempt for Qui-Gon.

    "I'm sure they wanted to Luke. Some people have a sense of duty." Obi-Wan smiled sweetly at Luke, enjoying the pain on his face for a brief second.

    "What are you saying?" Luke's stare was burning, Obi-Wan could almost feel the holes in his skin.

    "Yes, what are you saying? Luke may be many things but he has a sense of duty."

    "Stay out of this sister dear. Go away." Luke paused, hurt appearing on his face. "Maybe then I won't be able to hear your thoughts about how Vader and I being your family disgusts you. How we're full of anger, and are stuck that way."

    Obi-Wan cringed. His own shields were up but he had been told it was very hard to block family. For Luke to have to hear Leia's venting thoughts would have been awful.

    Leia walked tentatively over to Luke and put her arms around him, bring very careful to avoid bumping into his leg. "I'm so, so, sorry Luke. I didn't want you to hear that, I didn't mean it. I swear, I didn't mean it!

    Please Luke, don't turn like Vader because of my thoughts! You're my brother, I don't want you to be my fault too! I can't let that happen with you, Luke. Please, just let go of the anger."

    Leia's wails were getting a bit high-pitched and Obi-Wan looked away. He could still hear the please though but after a while, the sobs quieted.

    For a while after Luke was murmuring, "It's okay Leia... It's my fault, it wasn't yours? Nothing's your fault, I shouldn't have gotten so mad. It's my fault, I need some help, I..."

    The young man straightened, visibly winced and looking over Leia's shoulder softly talked. "I need to go see Master Yoda. I... I need some help controlling my temper. I don't want to turn out like my Father." He stopped uncomfortably. "Come on, we need to get a ship."

    With that, Leia slipped out of Luke's arms and started following the young Jedi, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon not far behind.
     
  20. Anakin's Angel

    Anakin's Angel Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2000


    Ooooh...good this is! Post you must!

    aa
    who hates YodaSpeak usually...
     
  21. JediGaladriel

    JediGaladriel Manager Emeritus star 5 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 3, 1999
    "Okay," Padme whispered to him. "You go and... do something... "

    "I was thinking," Anakin said, "that maybe you should be the one to go up. You were with... me... earlier, and I was their boss, right?"

    She sighed. "Yes, but I'm afraid that word may have gotten around about just what happened. They may be under orders to arrest me on sight." She didn't say it, but Anakin heard, very clearly, Or shoot me.

    He felt his heart seize up. He could have gotten her killed, if she'd done what he said. "Okay. I'll do it." He bent down, found a rock about the size of his hand. "Here. Just do it quick."

    She nodded. "May the Force be with you, Ani."

    "You, too." They split. He saw her fade gracefully into the shadow of the ship. She was so pretty. He closed his eyes and thought of her face, then opened them and headed for the white-helmeted guard.

    "Stop!"

    Anakin stopped and squinted. "Hey!" he said, trying to sound like he didn't know what was going on. "I saw your lights from town. Is this really an Imperial war ship?"

    "Not a war ship. It's just a transport."

    "I heard the Emperor was on it. It's a rumor all over Mos Espa."

    The guard cocked his head curiously. "I can't speak to that."

    Anakin faked a pleased smile. "Wow, then, it's really true!"

    "I didn't say that -- "

    "Kitster and Wald are going to be really jealous if they find out that I saw the Emperor's ship -- "

    Crack.

    The guard fell to the ground, revealing Padme standing behind him, the rock in her hand. She looked at it dully. "I was afraid the helmet would stop it."

    "They don't seem to be good for much."

    "Come on. Before he wakes up, or someone else comes."

    He nodded, and led the way into the ship. Just like before, the halls seemed familiar, or at least perfectly sensible. "They'll be near the back," he said.

    "How do you know that? Can you hear...?" She looked around nervously.

    "No. Can you?"

    "I did. When I first ran. But not now. I thought maybe he was... you know, talking to you instead."

    "How come?"

    "Because when I was running... well, maybe it's crazy, but I thought you said... I thought you called me 'Amidala.'"

    "Why would I do that?"

    "Because it's my name. You'll know it by the time you're... him."

    "You're the queen?"

    She nodded, distracted. "Rabe and Eirtae might not be in very good shape. They may say something by accident. But don't tell the others. My bodyguard is -- "

    They reached a blocked doorway, and Anakin held up his hand, only noticing partway through that it was silly for him to be telling a queen what to do. "Through here," he said. There was a button beside the door, and he pushed it. "You stay here," he said. "Really. I bet this door doesn't open up easy from the other side. Be really careful."

    She nodded, and he went into the cell block. He was scared, but he didn't feel like stopping. Another door was closed near the end of the corridor, and he opened it.

    "Ani!" Jar Jar said. "Mesa glad to be seeing you! Deysa hurting bad." He pointed to two forms slumped in the corner. "Wesa wasn't all together before, but den da men with guns bring them in here, saying wesa was gonna die together here."

    "Well, you're not," Anakin said. He held his finger against the button and reached in. He was able to touch one of the girls. She looked up, and her face was covered with bruises. "It's time to leave," he said. "I have to hold the door. But I'll help you when you come out."

    The girl nodded, and crawled out. She used Anakin's body to climb up to a half-standing position, and he braced her with his arm.

    Jar Jar gathered up the other one, and picked her up. "Wesa going now."

    Anakin and Jar Jar made their way up the corridor, where Padme was waiting, her hand on the button by the door, her face a mask of worry.

    The girl leaning on Anakin reached to her. "Highness," she whispered.

    Padme -- Amidala -- reached out and took over supporting her. "It's all right, Rabe," she said. "We're leaving now."

    Anakin led them out of the ship by the back way -- just in case the guard had woken
     
  22. SithAbigail

    SithAbigail Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Apr 6, 2000
    YAY! School's out for the year! To celebrate, a short post.
    ********
    Threepio nudged his companion, Artoo, making the time warped droid look at him. "Have you figured out yet why we're locked in the closet?"

    Artoo beeped out a short answer, one that made the prissy driod gasp. "What do you mean it was my telling the Guard that he should diet? I was looking out for his best instrests! And, as for the assitant pilot, there are techniques that help hair loss."

    Artoo extended his arm and banged Threepio's arm.

    How rude.

    "Well, I don't care what you say, it isn't my fault we're stuck in the closet."

    With that said, Threepio crossed his arms and continued yelling for people to let him out.
    *****
    The mystery of what happend to the droids is solved
     
  23. Anakin's Angel

    Anakin's Angel Jedi Padawan star 4

    Registered:
    May 3, 2000

    Great posts, you guys! Keep it coming...

    I love the Artoo/Threepio stuff! LOL

    aa
     
  24. Vee

    Vee Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Jan 16, 2000
    UP!
     
  25. Master Lurker

    Master Lurker Jedi Youngling star 1

    Registered:
    May 14, 2000
    Third page. Hah!
     
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