broken [1]- a Star Wars story

XX

"Survival is one step on the path to living."

"Stay with me Aayla." Jed's voice is the last thing she properly hears before her mind starts to shut off, despite her conscience protesting.

I can't.

Darkness finally consumes the girl, her every attempt at staying awake, at pushing forward and clinging to life, broken.

She had not given up, but her body had.

Her body ached and felt like even the smallest movement would bring her certain death. Every breath she took rattled through her rib cage and sent venom through her wound. She begged for it to stop, begged for the pain to end.

And it had. For now.

Her mind envelopes her in unconsciousness, taking her away from the scene on the ship, heading towards a cruiser, possibly to her death. She was shielded from the pain in her body, and the pain in her mind that Obi-Wan and Jed just might lose her.

The sounds of the ship, of the gunfire on the battlefield below them, Obi-Wan's orders and panic, Jed's frustration and Anakin's pain were all fading away, becoming silenced in her mind.

Everything felt calm. If this was death, it didn't seem too bad. She felt at peace, all the pain and worries drifting away with eternal sleep. But she couldn't give in. She had so much to live for; a father, a duty, a life, a boy. So much to lose. It was not worth dying for.

She takes in a small breath, and is followed by complete silence. No ship, no gunfire, no one. Nothing. Just pure silence.

Her attempts at feeling around for something, anything, fall on air. Like she was lying in a period between existence and non-existence. She felt like she was floating in the middle of nothing, where all she could see was darkness.

The girl felt as though she should be panicking; the loneliness, the void, the darkness all being bad signs. She felt like she didn't exist, that maybe, deep inside, her mind had finally given up, given into the warm embrace of death.

Perhaps Dooku had accomplished something. He had killed Obi-Wan Kenobi's daughter after failing to turn her to the dark side. Destroyed her chance at becoming a Jedi Knight, at proving to Master Windu that she was not a waste of time.

But she felt calm. Relaxed, even. This wasn't death. It couldn't be. She was trying so hard to hold on, to keep a tight grip on whatever ounce of life she still had in her body. Obi-Wan was determined to keep the girl alive outside of her mind, also.

A sudden feeling passed through her, taking away her emptiness, the loneliness, the void which she was feeling. Suddenly, she didn't feel alone.

"Aayla."

The girls name resonated in the darkness like a soft hum, bringing warmth and contemplation with it. Aayla couldn't open her eyes, but she tried to see, tried to reach out to wherever the voice came from.

"Aayla."

She hears it again, closer, and a great sense of familiarity begins to surround the name. The voice began to hold depth, tone, and she noticed it belonged to a woman.