Clouded by the Dark Side

Chapter 21 - Admissions

Author's Note: There will be further mentions of past child abuse throughout this fic, and I think y'all know that by now, so I'm not going to continue to put warnings at the top of every chapter. :)

~ Amina Gila

Aniya Skywalker

"They shouldn't be long," I mutter, starting to pace back and forth across the room. I don't like sitting around. They need to hurry and get here so we can stop those droids. Every second we wait the more at risk we put the entire planet. I have no intention of going down like this, and nor do I think I will, but I'm not going to let everyone on Naboo go with me.

"You're not helping," Ahsoka sighs.

"Sitting around won't help either," I point out, pausing for a moment before continuing. I can sense the familiar presences getting closer and closer.

"Senator Amidala, where are you?" Ahsoka asks through her comm finally.

"We're right outside your safety room," Padme replies. Oh, good. Finally.

"Can you get the door open?" I inquire. As if in response, the door slides open and the three of them walk into the room. The familiar blue haze floods the room.

"I'm sorry," Padme apologizes as she approaches us.

"Don't worry about us, Senator. We still have a job to do," Ahsoka shrugs it off.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of this," I insist. We have to. After everything I've been through, there's no way I'm going to die from a stupid virus. It would be beyond stupid for the Chosen One's twin to die from something like this. We'll pull through this too. Somehow. I wish I'd thought faster and let the door close. It would have been easy to throw everyone through and let it close, right? Too late now, though. The only consolation I have is that my brothers aren't here, and nor is Alema. Or Qui-Gon. Whatever happens to us, they'll be fine. How well they're dealing, though, I have no idea. I can only hope Anakin will be able to stay level-headed enough to find a cure... somewhere. "It was kind of the fault of my own stupidity anyway."

"Whatever happened, it doesn't matter. We have to deal with the situation as it is," Jaufre objects, eyeing me. Of course. He doesn't want me to blame myself for the current situation. And it really is my fault, but fine. I won't dwell on it. And that look he's giving me... I know what it means, but I won't let myself think about it right now. We have a job to do and can talk about this later.

"There aren't very many droids left," Padme speaks up again. "We saw some heading towards the south entrance."

"As long as we're able, we'll help you destroy those droids before they breach the compound," Ahsoka states.

I nod. "It doesn't matter if we go out there anymore. We just need to make sure the droids don't escape. At least we can save the planet."

Rex hands one of his blasters to Padme and Appo passes one to Jaufre.

"You take the north corridor, and we'll take the south," Padme suggests. The group splits apart, Ahsoka and I taking north and the others heading south. The droids we run into are far and few between, and it hardly takes any time to shoot them down before moving on. It's not until we reach the south entrance that I hear shooting. By the time we arrive, they have already finished destroying the droids trying to break out from there.

Suddenly, the familiar clatter of destroyer droids catches my attention. Three of them come to a stop in front of us and raise their shields, firing. Ahsoka darts forwards, deflecting bolts as she goes and jumping onto one. She slices through the droid while I lunge forwards at the second, sliding underneath it and cutting it in half.