Blue Eyes - Obi-Wan Kenobi

Ch. 15: The End of a Mission.

Zara and Obi-Wan slowly walked into the ship hangar. She was carrying Qui-Gon by the legs and Obi-Wan by the waist.

Their eyes were bloodshot and their movements sloppy.

That was when Zara remembered Anakin. Qui-Gon's last wish.

Her eyes widened and she frowned when she saw that the ship in which Anakin was hiding was no longer in the hangar.

The squad of yellow Naboo starfighters chose that moment to fly into the main hangar and settled down. Obi-Wan and Zara stopped walking.

Ric Olie (the captain who had flown the Queen's Nubian) and the other pilots gathered around as they exited their ships.

"He flew into the hold, behind the deflector shield and blasted the main reactor..." said one pilot.

"Amazing... they don't teach that at the academy," said another.

One last ship skidded to a stop behind the other Naboo starfighters.

The pilots and ground crew rushed towards it.

"We're all accounted for. Who flew that ship?" said Ric Olie.

Zara's face fell in disbelief.

Anakin sheepishly opened the cockpit and stood up. All the pilots, ground crew, and Zara stared at him in disbelief. Obi-Wan was too distracted by their recent loss, blue eyes riveted to the floor at his feet.

"I'm not going to get into trouble, am I?" Anakin said.

R2D2 beeped. It sounded like he was saying 'Uh oh'.

Anakin's eyes traveled cheerfully around the hangar, searching for a certain Jedi Master, who was the only reason he was there in the first place. His eyes fell on Zara and Obi-Wan and who they were carrying.

His face fell.

"No," he managed to whisper, before climbing down the ladder and running towards them, completely ignoring the congratulating pilots.

- - -

It hadn't been easy, taking care of Anakin, who had never dealt with such true loss before.

Zara had left Qui-Gon in Obi-Wan and Padme's care, and had taken Anakin aside to talk in a small room with very big windows. She'd talked to him about the Jedi Master's bravery, his strength, while Anakin cried, in shock. Zara even told him how some of Qui-Gon's last words were about him, and she promised that she and Obi-Wan would make him a Jedi, no matter what the Council said.

Zara had found herself on the verge of tears, so she'd opted to tell Anakin all this while facing the beautiful landscapes of Naboo, away from him, listening to his tears quietly hit the marble floor.

Anakin took it like a champ. He cried, sure, but he didn't sob or wail, although Zara guessed that he would do so that night, while he was alone in his bunk bed, when the news would finally, truly sink in.

As Zara managed to uncover, Anakin had somehow been the reason the commanding battleship had been destroyed, saving the Gungans and allowing the Queen to prevail against the Viceroy.

When they had reunited with the Queen, Padme had been on the verge of reprimanding Zara for recklessly jumping out of sixth floor's window, but had abruptly stopped when she'd seen who she and Obi-Wan were carrying.

After Zara had offered Anakin a comforting hug, they reunited with Obi-Wan and the Queen and her entourage in the courtyard of the main hangar.

The large, grand cruiser of the Supreme Chancellor landed about 30 feet away from them.