From The Ashes//anidala

21

FROM THE ASHES

Chapter 21

The room in which Padme and Obiwan lay was damp, cold, and dark. Of course, the last part didn't matter, considering they were both blind anyway. Padme began to sniffle and cry, and Obiwan crawled to her side. "Shh, it's okay, we're going to get out of here. We're going to find Leia. We're going to get to the med center and they'll fix our eyes like they did Anakin's."

"What if Anakin doesn't come back?"

"He will, of course he will!"

"What if they got him too?"

"He's all right, I can sense his life force."

"What if he doesn't come back because he hates me?"

"Hates you? Anakin? Never!"

"He might just decide to take our son off and raise him, who needs me? I was so mean, shutting him off the way I did. You know all the terrible things I said, even that he deserved to be blind."

"I know, but...

""Obiwan, you have no idea how much I have suffered." She stopped crying, and her voice took on a breathy tone. "Do you realize, I had to go through everything he did? I was put in the position to do evil things to save the ones I loved, that's what he did for me! Obiwan, I will never recover from the guilt of what I went through. I am eternally traumatized. I know exactly how Anakin felt, I feel so bad for him! I should have known he wasn't evil, it was Palpatine, it was the dark side...now, I'm even blind like he was. I said he deserved it, so I got what I deserved."

"Oh, no, Padme, don't feel that way." Obiwan tried to console her.

"Admit it, Obiwan. You know it's true. I was put through everything he was as some kind of test, or punishment, maybe by the force or something? It's all too strange. I believe it." Obiwan did not answer. He knew the mysteries and the powers of the force were great, but he didn't believe they'd purposely torture this woman. Though the irony was not lost on him. In a way it was good she was able to understand exactly what Anakin felt, though he did not wish any of her misfortunes on her. She started to cry again, and to almost convulse. "I want to die, please, if any of those cronies come back in here, let them kill me. I cannot live with myself, I would rather die." Obiwan was upset to hear this, and to sense her pain. He was about to try to calm her with his hand through the force when the door burst open.

"Queenie, I am not finished with you yet." Gerapaline's voice rang out of the darkness. His heavy footsteps charged toward her and he grabbed her by the clothes closest to her throat.

"Kill me." She whispered. "I don't care. Get it over with."

He laughed. "That would be much too good for you. You must live to suffer even more. I still have use for you."

"What more do you want from me?"

"You are going to replace that child your husband stole from me. You are going to give me a child, the son I've always wanted. My own flesh and blood.You will become my concubine slave." Knowing what this would mean, she bent her head back and howled in agony. Obiwan felt so helpless to protect her. Even blind there were things he could do with the force to help her, as Anakin had done in helping to kill Palpatine. But once he had done them, they would not be able to escape, so it would only be digging their grave by angering Gerapaline.

"Leave her alone!" Obiwan yelled.

"Or what, what is my caged and blind Jedi going to do? I warn you, my men are out in the hallway. If you try anything, you are immediately dead."

"Don't do it, Obiwan, it's not worth it." Padme cried. "I will die before I let him have me. I have already lost the will to live. Death will be a relief." This hurt Obiwan deeply. He wanted to help her, but didn't know what to do. Concentrating very hard in the force, he sensed a familiar presence. He said nothing to give it away.