nose-dive⇒obi-wan

III: Chapter 5

 Not having Obi-Wan around certainly made things a lot more difficult with Malia and teaching classes. Ranah wasn't incapable it was just stressful at times. Malia seemed to never stop crying sometimes, and all the younglings would get distracted and just want to play with the baby. When the Jedi woke up today something felt off, and her daughter seemed to sense it too because boy oh boy was Malia unhappy today. Ranah was able to shake the feeling for most of the afternoon, it had become natural for her to compartmentalize emotion or strange feelings if necessary. At around three in the afternoon, the redhead left her apartment with the baby to teach her class. She arrived at the Jedi temple, and dealt with the usual people who talked to her just to see the baby. Ranah cursed herself when she realized that she forgot Malia's blanket. "You might be a little cold today sweetie. I'm sorry." she ruffled the baby's newly sprouted brown hair. The Jedi never fully realized how strange she must seem when talking to her daughter, but she never failed to forget Malia was a person too. Her daughter deserved to have human interaction she was still a person, just a very very small one. 

The woman needed to mentally prepare herself for today's class. It was going to be a long one. Ranah was normally taught the new younglings the 3 or 4 years olds, but since having Malia she's been teaching the 7 and 8 year olds. The Council thought it might make it easier for her with a later time and older children. The only difficult parts were that since they were older they always wanted to play with Malia considering some of them may remember having younger siblings. The older younglings also had more of a mind of their own despite the fact they were being taught to do the exact opposite.  The classes also lasted an hour longer which wasn't always the best.

Ranah stepped into the classroom. "Hello children!" she chimed, as she walked over to the makeshift crib in the corner of the room to put Malia in. The baby began crying as soon as she was put down. The woman fretted with her daughter for a few minutes trying to get her to calm down. Malia stopped crying, but not after at least five minutes had passed. "Master are we going to play with the baby today?" a girl piped up. "Maybe at the end of class if you are very good." she bargained with a smile. "Master is Malia sick?" a boy asked. "No, she's just fussy today babies get like that." Ranah answered. She answered numerous questions and tried to get the baby to calm down. Eventually, the woman was able to start class.

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It was starting to get darker. There were probably 30 minutes left of class and daylight. "Okay, everyone let me check on how Malia's done and maybe you can all-" Ranah froze in her tracks at the sound of blasters firing. The Jedi tried to shake it as an accident, but the sounds kept coming. The woman felt death. This was what she was feeling off about. "Change of plan. I want all of you to go and hide. I'm going to turn the lights off. Make the room seem vacant." she was calm. The younglings did as instructed. Ranah walked over to the crib. She wanted more than anything to reach out and pull Malia into her arms, but the baby was sleeping and she couldn't risk giving away their location by having her cry. The woman settled with sitting in front of the crib, ready to protect her daughter and the younglings if needed.

They waited for a long time in the dark and in silence. A few younglings would gasp at the most horrific of screams. Ranah hated she had to put them through this trauma. The door opened, but the lights remained off. Some of the children popped their head up and she motioned for them to keep down. The Jedi slowly stood, drawing her lightsaber. The door opened completely to reveal Anakin. "Oh thank the force Ani! It's just you! Do you know what's going on?" she rushed over to her friend. "Get out of her Ranah." he warned. "Anakin? What's wrong?" she asked. "You don't understand. I have to do this." Anakin insisted. "Do what Ani? What's going on? If you want me to get out you have to help me get everyone to safety." she replied. "Get out of the way Ranah. I don't want to have to hurt you." he threatened and reached for his lightsaber. Nearly all the younglings shot up in shock. "Anakin no stop!" she shouted, he struck one down. He wouldn't stop he nearly killed all of them. Ranah jumped in front of him. "Don't fight children. It's pathetic Anakin." she snarled. "You've made your choice. I warned you." he attempted to hit her. "Whatever Palaptine told you it's not true!" she shouted, the green and blue lightsabers clashing against each other. Illuminating the room. "The Jedi are corrupt! I have to stop them!" he shouted back, jabbing her shoulder. Ranah winced, but kept fighting Anakin. The woman hoped the remaining younglings would flee, but they stayed. "Ani, chosen one or not you must realize you can't conduct Genocide because you don't like the way things are. I bet you don't think I'm corrupt, or Obi-Wan!" she tried to get him to see reason. "Quit talking!" Anakin burst, attacking Ranah again causing her to fall. The younglings who were still living were quickly slaughtered. The redhead assumed Anakin would stop there, but he began walking towards the crib. Ranah's eyes widened as she desperately tried to crawl after him. "No, Anakin, No! Anakin stop it!" she shrieked. The young man turned around, raising his hand. Everything around Ranah felt in slow motion, then it all went dark. Anakin stepped up to the crib, looking at the sleeping child. She was so tiny, and at peace. He would have a hard time doing this, but he needed to save Padmé. 

The Jedi raised his lightsaber, and brought it down across the child's back. 

The blood instantly seeped through her tiny white clothes. 

Malia made no sounds, but Anakin could feel the pain emitting from the baby. 

It felt kind of good. 

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A/N: There's probably gonna be one (possibly two) chapters and an epilogue after this. (once again i apologize for my poor portrayal of fights) (':