The Second Padawan

Chapter Eighty-Three

I awoke, my ears ringing. There was a buzzing noise and bright light, I was in the Jedi Temple Infirmary. I looked to my right and saw Anatoli.

"Master? Can you hear me?" He asked.

"Of course..." My throat was dry and hoarse.

"Take this." A voice handed me a cup, I jumped at his presence then I realized it was Anakin. I had to turn my head fully to the left to view him. The cup almost slipped out of my hand. I grasped the cup with both hands and drank the liquid down. "The droids said..." He paused. "They sterilized your eye, but your sight is gone.."

I sighed, "That's not the only thing that's gone, Master. My connection to the force...it's vanished." I confessed. He gave me an unsurprised glance. "You knew.."

"You don't have a force signature, Master." Anatoli interjected. "When we arrived at the scene, we only sensed the boy Tybalt...I...I thought you had died."

"We'll get this all sorted out, Gigs." Master placed his hand on my shoulder. "Everything will be fine."

The door opened and Obi-Wan stood in the doorway. "I'm glad you're awake. We revived the statement of events...I'm so sorry." He referred to Jado, and I suppose Ismene.

"Did you capture Count Dooku?"

"Unfortunately, he got away. We scanned the entire ship, and there was no trace of any sentience. His ship was also missing from the hangar."

"Then...I have failed, an immeasurable amount."

"You aren't the first Liyah, don't be so hard on yourself, the boy, Tybalt, is still alive because of you. ."

"But now, I have a constant reminder of such." I pointed to my eye. I could feel it was open, but I could not see. It wasn't darkness, like if it was closed, if I hadn't had vision prior, I wouldn't have known I was half blind. Things were just relatively blurry, I'd have to adjust.

"The funeral is tomorrow." Obi-Wan changed the subject, "We've all been invited."

"Then we best get going." I got out of the bed, Anatoli stopped me.

"Are you sure you're okay to be walking?" He asked me, and looked at both Master and Obi-Wan.

"My eyes the problem-" I almost fell, my hip felt like it was on fire.

"That's not entirely true. Your hip was battered, you'll need one of these." Anakin pulled out a cane that was leaned up against the wall. "Until you get into a bacta tank. We knew you wouldn't miss Jado's funeral, so we denied the droids into taking you to one."

"Thank you." I said, appreciative. If I missed his funeral, I'd regret it for my life. "Where's Tybalt?"

"The boy on the other hand, he needed immediate attention. His back and spine were broken. He's in bacta now, on Jakku." Obi-Wan answered.

Anatoli walked extremely close to me, making sure I didn't fall. It was somewhat a nuisance, but I understood he was simply trying to help the best way he could. They couldn't sense anything going on with me, so I basically was an inanimate object.

Once we boarded the Jedi cruiser, Master pulled me aside to talk privately.

"Tybalt, before he was sent to the medical bay,  he told us that a Jedi did this to you. Do you know who it was?"

I looked down at my cane, and back at him. "It was my father. He killed Jado, Ismene, and partially blinded me." Master listened to what I said, a glare on his face. I recognized this glare, it was his unbridled rage brewing.

"I'll make him pay." He said flatly. "He's going to pay." He repeated.

I couldn't push my emotions to the side anymore, I broke down crying. "I'm not the Jedi I should be Master. I'm not." I wiped my tears out my face, "I failed, worst than I've ever failed before, and I've been pushed for such!"