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HE FOLLOWED HEREVERYWHERE. Hidden by shadow, by shade. A bleeding heart, sunken eyes. In life, he had been her light. Now, he was her darkness.
Elli kept her eyes firmly on the window. She didn't want to look; the looking only made it worse. He was as he had been when it had happened. Hair swept back by wind, chinks tinged with red now greying and decayed. She tried to touch him the first time he appeared. Tried to see if there was something she could salvage from her old life. But he was ice cold, and her fingers slipped right through his skin.
She shouldn't have tried it. It had just made his presence worse.
Shaking her head, Elli kept her mind on the journey ahead. They were going to the Senate. She was going to protect Padmé. Get Padmé to the meeting, let her do the talking. Pray the Galaxy does not choose to start another war.
She didn't think she could take another war. Elli didn't sleep well, anymore. Her mind was plagued by visions and memories, her heart aching when she awake, sweating and gasping for air. She drowned in dreams, nightmares crashing like an unruly sea.
And when they returned to Naboo – the only place Elli could bare to call home – she would find no peace there. It was where everything began – where dreams became nightmares and tears became a frequent occurrence. She was starting to wonder if she belonged anywhere.
Sun scorched her back, her golden hair glinting in the light. A boy bumped her shoulder, and she smiled at him. They were 15; too young to know what the galaxy had in store for them.
"Is he going to crash again?" Xanthe asked. And she had to admit, she loved the sound of his voice.
"No," said Elli, turning back to the race. "He has to make it. We're counting on it. We can all get out of this place. I know it'll be dangerous, but—"
"But you're a little sick of the way people stare at you?" She looked up at him, the edges of her mouth twitching.
"I love you," she said. She just wished she knew that would be one of the last times.
The memory faded like water through her fingers, the planet of Coruscant coming into view. "Elliede?" Cordé came into view, dressed in Padmé's clothes. Elli wiped at her eyes quickly, hoping the handmaiden didn't notice. She probably did, and she would probably tell Padmé everything. Elli hated being a shell.
"Are we landing soon?" Elli asked, before Cordé could say anything. The girl nodded, and Elli walked with her.
Xanthe's ghost watched her go, catching her eye. Elli really hated flying.
☆☆☆
ELLI PULLED HERSELF TOGETHER with pieces of snapped and broken string. She planted a look of determination on her face, even though she feared that each step she took would make her crumble.
She belonged at the Senator's side. That's what she repeated inside her head, hoping anybody watching on would believe it better than she did herself.
Elli glanced at the pilots of the guard, Captain Typho standing tall. The girl in the mask beside him was Padmé and they both nodded towards Elli. She stood a little straighter as she walked behind Cordé.
Without warning, a blast from behind her through Elli into the air. She landed on the ground, aching but not bleeding or broken. Her ears rung with the sound of the explosion, voices distant and echoing. Slowly, she shifted, pushing herself up off the ground.
Padmé lay a few feet away, holding Cordé in her arms. The sight made Elli want to throw up. But she had a job to do.
Stumbling slightly, Elli moved as fast she could towards Padmé. "My Lady," she said, shaking Padmé's shoulder, tears threatening to spill from her stinging eyes. "We have to go. Padmé, let's go." But Padmé did not move.
Xanthe lay in her arms. His hair swept back by wind, a gaping wound in his chest. Blood stained her fingers ruby red, tears spilling down her porcelain cheeks. "Don't leave me," she whispered. But the light was fading from his eyes. Xanthe gasped for air, and Elli kept her hand on his chest, trying to stop the blood flow. "Help me!" she cried, but she wasn't sure anyone could hear over the sound of blasters. "Someone! Help!"
"There's nothing you can do," a voice said from beside her. It was a man a few years older than her. He had a long brown robe, short hair other than a rat tail down his back. He carried a lightsaber. Jedi.
"P...Please," she stammered. The Jedi – his name was Obi-Wan, they had met in the Queen's ship – tugged at her shoulder, pulling under her arm.
"We have to go," he said. Elli ignored him. Xanthe had stopped making any sound, his eyes wide and glassy. She pulled him closer to her chest, letting out a scream. Bursts of fire engulfed them as she screamed and screamed and screamed.
He wasn't supposed to leave. They were supposed to be forever. She couldn't live this eternity without him.
Pushing the familiar memory aside, Elli tugged on Padmé's arm, just as Obi-Wan had once done for her. Knowing it was useless, Elli bent down, placing her hands over Padmé, gently pulling them away. "There's nothing you can do, now," she said, hating the way the words tasted on her lips. "We have to go. I... We have to keep you safe."
Padmé didn't say anything, but she nodded and got to her feet, glancing around the landing platform. Captain Typho beckoned them under cover. The girls ran together, the immortal behind the Senator.
There was death in the air. Elli turned as she reached the doorway. Xanthe was there. Eyes glassy, unseeing. He was bent over Cordé. Would he take her with him? Were they both safe, now?
The thought made her sick. Immortals weren't meant to know what path layahead. They weren't supposed to know what came after death. For Elli hadstronger skin than most. Abandoned on a planet of sand, saved from slavery by ayoung boy who saw her, who kept her secrets. She would never die. But she hadto watched death take everyone else.
