From The Ashes//anidala

24

FROM THE ASHES

Chapter 24

Two days later, nothing had changed and Anakin was still at a loss for what to do. Padme would be coming home in a few days, and he'd have to stay and take care of her. What about Luke? Her parents were dead so they could not come help anymore. Her sister had her own life and family on Naboo, and was also going through a lot of grief. It was a deeply helpless feeling taking him back into depression. He was roused from his gloom as Obiwan knocked on his door. "Anakin, will you take me to the med center now? I have to get my eyes checked."

"Is this the day.."

"No, it's just a checkup. I don't expect to be healed this soon." Anakin took his friend and brother to the same droid he had taken him to when he was blind. Anakin sat in a chair and waited while the droid removed the bandages to treat Obiwan's eyes with more of the formula. Anakin watched as Obiwan squinted in pain at the light.

"You can see the light, Obiwan, that's a good sign!" The droid told him not to expect too much too soon, and not to be disappointed if not much had changed yet. Obiwan's eyes adjusted to the light, and the droid asked him to open them and face him so he could examine them. To his delight, Obiwan found that he could already see perfectly! Anakin saw a smile come through his beard, and sensed his good feelings. "Obiwan! Your eyes, they look fine, just like always! You can see!"

"Yes, I can, just like before!" He looked all around the room, and then he and Anakin were able to once again look into each other's eyes. They both laughed and embraced, slapping each other's backs. The droid gave Obiwan a very thorough exam, and was amazed. This was the second miracle. Anakin's eyes had healed against the odds, and Obiwan's had healed in remarkable time.

"You Jedi must have very special eyes." The droid said. They both snickered shyly.

"I guess all that meditating and healing concentration helped!"

"Yes, it did, thank you! Maybe we can both try it to help Padme?"

"Yes, we must, and very soon!" Going to check on her, they saw she was asleep, and decided to let her rest and come back later. The droid informed them she must stay two more days for her injuries, then she could be released to them and seek outpatient treatment. This was at first good news, then a fear shot through Anakin. If she were out of the hospital, what would happen to her? Would she be arrested? What about the media? They were going to have to be cautious about everything. He and Obiwan would have to devise a very wise plan.

Anakin lay in his bed in his temple quarters, staring at the ceiling. Obiwan knocked and entered the room. "Anakin, come with me, we have a lot of work to do."

"On what, Master?" He said as he sat up on the side of his bed.

Obiwan was holding several holovid cartridges in his hand. "Look what I found! I was able to secure copies of all the security camera recordings in the places Padme helped rob. We're going to sit there and look through each and every second of them until we find a way to help her."

"You're the best, Obiwan. You always come through." The two of them went to a holovid viewer and turned them on. For a long time, they watched them over and over, painful as it was.

Finally, Anakin commented. "Is it just me cracking up because I've seen them so many times now, or do you think, maybe, Padme wasn't the one who fired the deadly shots at that family?"