Rising From Ashes

Chapter 13 - Far Away From Home

Aniya Skywalker

The next hours are a bit of a blur, if I'm being honest. Somehow, we convinced Jango Fett – the only nearby person with a ship left, because the hangar here was demolished – to take us and Sidious back to Coruscant. During the fight, Jango was apparently getting busy evacuating the building. Why he decided to collect Plagueis' massive group of younglings he was experimenting on, I have no idea, but Jango's adopted son Din latched onto one of them and has refused to put him down.

I know why.

Grogu is tiny, and he's adorable. And a perfectly snuggle-sized thing that I would like to hold myself right now, except I haven't been able to do much of anything except hold Qui-Gon's lightsaber and stare blankly ahead of me.

I've been that way for hours. It's ridiculous by this point.

Sidious hasn't spoken to us, that I remember anyway.

There's a ripple in the Force, and it's strong on Coruscant. I'm not sure what it is or means, but something is happening here right now. Something changed, shifted.

We disembark in the Works, just to be safe. Maul is the first out to greet us. "What happened?" he demands. He's pointedly ignoring Sidious, too. Everyone is, actually, and for the first time in my life, the Sith actually seems content with brooding in silence. I'm not sure what to think about that.

"Plagueis nearly killed me," Anakin answers, the lengthy pause an indication of how he's still in shock, too. "And then... I don't know. But they fought."

"Ah," he says dryly, "I take that to have some relation with how the Empire is falling."

"What?" Sidious snaps, speaking up for the first time in the past three hours. Of course, that's the first thing he's worried about.

"Someone revealed your identity to the public," Maul replies, and he sounds far, far too smug about that. He thinks it's funny. Any other time, if the public itself wasn't in danger if the Empire shatters entirely like I know it's about to, I would, too. "That you have had dealings with the Separatists from before the start of the war. The Senate is in uproar, demanding your immediate removal and arrest."

"Would Plagueis do that?" I ask. I don't know what he thought about... everything, but the Sith have been working for this, and I don't know if he would really let that fall apart.

"No," Sidious answers shortly. He's furious. I can feel it, and I want to... get away from him. I just need distance, some time alone, some time to...

"Then who would?" I inquire.

"I think you already know the answer," Anakin replies, "But either way, I don't know if we can stay here anymore."

"There is no way to twist this, that the public would accept," Maul offers. I honestly think he would be laughing, if he weren't at risk of whatever Sidious would probably do to him, if he did. It's the revenge he always wanted to get, so I can't fault him for that. Not after what's happened to him.

"I will ascertain the situation," Sidious speaks, finally, "But we may temporarily need to... leave."

I have my doubts that there'll be anything 'temporary' about it, if what Maul is saying is true. Unless Sidious was prepared for something like this, or if he's just being delusional, because he doesn't want to let the idea of an Empire go.

"Prepare for our departure," he orders shortly, before walking out. I don't know where he's going, and I don't ask. I'm just relieved to have some room to breathe.

"Where will we go?" I ask, almost rhetorically.

"If you desire to leave, we do not need to wait for him," Maul replies, dryly. I haven't seen him in such a good mood in a long time. Maybe ever, actually.