Star Wars: the Chosen One

Entry 16

Hours later, smoke filled the night sky and made it blacker than it should’ve been. There was no moonlight, no lingerers on the streets, no extra sounds besides the sounds of death and anguish.

Fire spread throughout the Jedi Temple, and ash settled in the rooms and doors. The bitter taste of sweat and blood filled my mouth, but it wasn’t my own.

I got in my ship and left to go see Padme. As soon as I landed, she ran straight up and hugged me, putting her arms on me as if she had to make sure there wasn’t a part of me missing.

“Are you alright? I heard there was an attack on the Jedi Temple…You can see the smoke from here,” she blurted quickly.

I could feel hear heartbeat and sense her fear.

“I’m fine. I came to see if you and the baby are safe,” I told her.

“Captain Typho’s here. We’re safe. What’s happening?” she asked.

“The situation is not good,” I answered her, putting a look of fake worry on my face. “The Jedi have tried to overthrow the Republic.”

“I can’t believe that!” she shouted.

“I couldn’t either at first, but it’s true. I saw Master Windu attempt to assassinate the Chancellor myself,” I told her.

She got a look of horror on her face.  “No,” she whispered.

“Yes,” I answered, as if it pained me to admit it.

“What are you gonna do?” she asked. Her tone was scared and she was trembling slightly.

I looked down and walked away from her, so she couldn’t see my expression. Even though I had just committed the most terrible of horrors that night, I was ashamed of lying to Padme. I hated lying to her. But I knew I couldn’t tell her the truth; she wouldn’t understand.

I decided I would get as close to the truth as I could.

“I will not betray the Republic. My loyalties lie with the Chancellor, with the Senate….And with you, my love,” I told her. I turned back to face her, hoping to see a sign of relief in her expression, but there was none.

“What about Obi-Wan?” she asked. Her heartbeat was still racing.

I tried to control my anger at her mention of him. I couldn’t help wondering why she was so concerned with him.

The last image of him and how proud he’d been of me flashed in my mind and haunted me. I grabbed onto the anger and let it push away the guilt that had started to whisper its way into my mind.

“I don’t know,” I admitted honestly, trying not to be worried about him. I focused on my hate and tried to keep the fact that he was now my enemy stay in my mind, rather than dangerous thoughts…Like how he’d been my brother just this morning.

“I don’t know, Padme. Many Jedi have been killed. We can only hope that he’s remained loyal to the Chancellor,” I told her. The more I spoke, the more I knew it was just a twisted version of my thoughts, but I couldn’t seem to stop the lies from coming out of my mouth.

“How could this have happened?” she asked quietly. She looked like she was on the verge of tears.

“The Republic is unstable, Padme. The Jedi aren’t the only ones trying to take advantage of the situation. There are also traitors in the Senate,” I explained, briefly thinking of Bail Organa and how he’d been there tonight, trying to stop the clones from killing the Jedi.

“What are you saying?” she asked.

“You need to distance yourself from your friends in the Senate. The Chancellor said they will be dealt with when this conflict is over,” I ordered her.