Not an Option (JA-era, Trett/Arwen, w/guest stars...)

Well, just as I am always nervous to post a new story, I am always sorry to end one. I swear, the give & take with you guys is even more fun than writing it in the first place! Oh, well.

While I am working on fixing the Bucket (of COURSE the warranty's expired; it wouldn't be broken otherwise! ) and beating off the plot bunnies, you'll just have to get to work on your own! (Hm, was I looking in your direction, HG? Ball's in your court!) And I am pretty certain that someone with the initials J*** J*** mentioned that she had a few well underway... and maybe ready to post soon? And Sari, and... well, y'all know who you are.

So here... is the last post . The last line sort of kicked it all off, actually, inspired by Eps II & III... Thank you all for sharing it with me! We will henceforth leave Trett to the tender(?!) mercies of the Healers, and Arwen, probably, to a good therapist...

*******

The Kazar was dead. His wife blamed them. Her Master had been tortured, and was badly injured. Arwen had not felt this bad since Tyri's death. She was going to try not to cry, but...

There was a noise behind her. She turned. Garen Muln, carrying a medkit.

"Sorry I couldn't get here sooner," he said softly. She moved out of his way, half-dazed, watching as he took an IV container and replaced the one in the monitor on her master's arm.

"I should have done that," she whispered, feeling even more miserable. Why hadn't she thought of that?

"Hey!" She blinked, snapping back to the present as Garen laid his hand against her cheek and frowned at her. "You're not exactly in top condition yourself, you know. You should be resting." He looked her over critically. Arwen turned her head, realizing that her tunic was soaked in blood from the guard's vibroblade. She'd forgotten about it. He bent to look at her leg, and his frown deepened. "And blaster wounds are nothing to mess with."

"I'm all right," she mumbled. "Take care of him first." Garen had taken a scanner and was checking the two smashed hands of the sleeping man. He shook his head, then carefully put each in an immobilizer and switched on the sterile field.

"Don't have one for the ribs," he said, "we'll just have to keep him still. I've got one for the leg. Can't re-fuse the bones; they need to be set back into position. Better to let the Healers do that."

She nodded, still numb. She'd just sat here, moping, instead of trying to help Trett. And she called herself a Padawan! An old memory, an earlier failure, a Master lost, threatened to overwhelm her. She felt Ulun's hands, grabbing at her, the memory of his hot breath on her face. She closed her eyes, fighting it down.

"Stop." Garen put his arms around her, and she broke down on his shoulder. "You've done what you could do. You're both still alive. Stop blaming yourself."

She tried as hard as she could to stop, desperately fighting to get her breathing under control, to stop the deep sobs heaved out of her chest. Force, the last thing he wanted was a filthy, smelly, bleeding girl having hysterics and dripping tears all over him! She shuddered and broke free of his embrace, swabbing her eyes with a dirty sleeve. "We d-did nothing! Our mission went wrong! The Kazar is dead, my M-Master is hurt..." She shook her head. "How could I have screwed up so bad? Oh, Force, how could I have-"

"You didn't screw up!" He looked at her for a minute, forcing her to meet his eyes. "Arwen... we're not gods. We're Jedi. We're just as fallible as everyone else. We do what we can, we do our best." He hesitated. "And sometimes we fail."

Arwen looked at Trett's swollen face, trying to accept that. Exhaustion was beginning to catch up to her now, she was too tired to cry much more.

Garen looked at him, too, then looked into the main salon, where the young Kazras were comforting each other, while the other refugees were slowly sinking into a deep sleep, huddling against each other for comfort. "You went into an almost-impossible situation. You did what you could to carry it off. And it just went

 

Garen's such a sweety- *goes into whiny four year old mode* Can I keep him, please please please?

This was such a wonderful story, Renata! BRAVO! Round of applause! <Insert other forms of praise here>

Looking forward to your next story! WOO!

 

Garen knew just what to say to offer comfort. Great story Renata. I am almost sad to see it end- but that means new stories to read....right???

Kitara looks at J***J***, P-Sari, HG AND Renata PLEASE

 

*She was committed to upholding justice, to fighting evil. She was a Jedi. And sometimes... Jedi lost.*

One of the best last lines I've ever read! Right up there with "Well, I'm back." at the end of The Return of the King.

*tries to decide whether to cheer for the ending because it was so good, or feel sorry for herself because it's over.* Hmmm... I suppose it's a sign of a good writer when her readers have that kind of dilema.

I really liked Garen in the 'friend' role, as it were! He's good at saying just the right things at the right time, not to mention forcing Arwen to take care of herself.

Lucy is smuggling lettuce to your bunnies, I hope you don't mind. She says the story was absolutely fantastic!

And I think I will echo her sentiments in full! Thank you so much for sharing your wonderful characters with us and happy writing!

Sarah >^,,^<

 

I'm in the same dilemma, Sarah, I'm cheering for the end because it's so good and yet I'm feeling sorry that it's all over and I have nothing else to look forward to. This was good. Garen didn't seem to mind at all when a certain filthy, smelly, bleeding girl was having hysterics and dripping tears all over him! He said all the right things and let her cry on his shoulder. MORE! MORE!

But the ending was so bittersweet. Sometimes Jedi lost ...

There's a definite dearth of really good stories on the board, I agree. *sigh* And as for my contribution, I only have one real bunny at the moment, and although it's been coming along well, I am now at the Big Fight Scene, and fight scenes are really hard for me to write. I'm still aiming for the 15th of April as my posting date ... I really want to get it finished before I start, as I'm afraid I will call down a catastrophe upon my head if I start posting it before I've gotten the ending written.

Maybe Renata will be rewarded with a burst of inspiration and writing time, and finish her next story in the next two weeks?

 

Maybe Renata will be rewarded with a burst of inspiration and writing time, and finish her next story in the next two weeks?

!!! Unlikely, I fear. Have to take this puppy into the shop tomorrow, and of course it needs a new part, which of course has to be ordered, which of course will take up to 5 business days (thank the Force it's not the usual 4-6 weeks!)... at any rate, I am without technology for a least a week. I am trying to think of it as dress rehearsal for summer vacation. So if you don't hear from me, you'll understand why.

But once it's back, I can access my floppies again, pull up the stories (assuming that the floppy isn't completely corrupted) and see where things stand.

Yes, Garen is a sweetie. If guys only understood the "just give her a hug and let her cry" bit, instead of trying to fix things, imagine how much easier things would be all around!

 

*sniff* it's over. And I can't believe I missed TWO posts!! However they were post amazing...

I absolutly loved the last line. Very good. It works on so many levels.