Brotherhood

Chapter 50 - Tragedy

Author's Note: Sorry, not sorry. :')

~ Amina Gila

"Do you feel it?" Anakin asks, a little anxiously as Obi-Wan holds a hand out towards his mother. Both of them are sitting on either side of her on a bench in the garden, while Ahsoka is inside with Boba. They mutually agreed that Ahsoka didn't need to see it, and Boba certainly doesn't. Equipped with a medkit, including the tools they're most likely to need, Anakin is waiting while Obi-Wan uses the Force to discern the location of the slave chip.

"Shh. Not yet," Obi-Wan replies distractedly. His fingers twitch a little. "... Got it," he says at last, opening his eyes with a small smile. "It's right here." He reaches out, touching Anakin's mother's side, just beneath her ribcage. "It should be just under the rib. That's deep, but it's not so deep that it'll be too risky to do this without help."

As they had suspected.

"This could go wrong," Anakin's mother points out. "You could accidentally detonate it. You need to keep that in mind."

Anakin tenses. "We won't," he promises fervently. "We won't. It will be fine." And yet, the Force is humming with warning for a reason he can't quite make out. It seems to be telling him – them – to hurry. But hurry for what? Lest Sidious find out?

She is obviously not convinced, though she doesn't argue any further on the subject. "Go on then," she says with a sigh. "We have nothing to wait for."

Anakin expects to feel excitement, but suddenly, all he feels is dread, as if someone has doused him in icy water. At the same moment, he hears the engine of a starship approaching which is wrong. No one should be coming here. Sidious would never have allowed it. Unless, of course, he didn't know, which also doesn't make sense. He's the Sith Master. He knows everything, is aware of everything.

"I hear it, too," Obi-Wan tells him grimly, seeming unsure what they should do now.

Ahsoka streaks towards them, radiating alarm. "It's the Jedi," she calls, panting as she skids to a stop. "Boba is watching them now, but I don't know what they want. Threepio tried raising them on comms, but they're not answering. I don't think they're supposed to be here."

Suddenly, it all makes sense. "They know," Anakin realizes numbly. "They know that Mom knows about me and the Sith. They're here to question her."

"I already talked to them," she objects. "I told them I didn't know anything."

But Anakin hardly hears her, mind flashing with images from his nightmare-vision so long ago, images of his mother's death while at the Temple. It was terrifying then, but now, he knows it doesn't even make sense, because she'll never be able to get off Naboo with the slave chip. The vision – it never meant that she would be arrested. It meant that she would die because of the Jedi. And... that time is fast running out.

"We have to get the chip out now," Anakin blurts out desperately. "We can't let the Jedi come. We have to – have to do something. Can we stop them? Or... what should we do?" He can't accept the possibility that it's too late. It can't be. They can still do something. They can. Resolve hardening, a plan formulates in his mind. "Go inside," he orders Obi-Wan. "Get the chip out of Mom. You can do it in a 'fresher. It might be a little crowded, and Sidious might see, but it's better than nothing. I'll hold them off."

"I don't think –" Obi-Wan begins.

He never gets the chance to finish his question because a sudden rumble shakes the ground. The Force screams out a warning, and all Anakin can do is watch in horror and disbelief as the mansion collapses before his eyes, flames and smoke billowing into the air as well-placed – and hidden – explosives destroy it. Anakin never knew. He never knew about that failsafe which Sidious had in place to keep anyone from discovering the truth hidden there. And – and Boba was in there.