Dreams

Chapter 31.

My eyes slowly opened, and I blinked a few times, waiting for my pupils to adjust to the dim lighting. Fog crawled through my brain, clouding my thoughts and muddling my sense. Where was I? What happened?

I shifted, then realized my hands were restrained behind my back. Everything came rushing back. I had been accused of the bombings on the Jedi Temple, Ahsoka had come back, and the Jedi had arrested me.

When the brain fog cleared somewhat, I became more aware of my surroundings. My stomach jolted into my mouth. The brown walls in the circular room felt close, as though hugging tightly around me, extending comfort, whether asked for or not. A low bench, cut into the wall, served as a temporary bed for me, though it held more memories than it offered rest.

A young girl of sixteen, her orange-and-white face saddened and hurt slumped against the bench. Her blue eyes followed a frustrated man as he paced in front of her, helplessness furrowing his brow.

"I just don't know what to do!" he sighed, throwing his hand up in exasperation.

The girl also sighed. "Me, neither."

Then she was called upon to be sentenced.

 I shuddered as my eye traced the circular pattern mosaiced into the centre of the room. It would be my turn soon, and judging from the twisting feeling in my stomach, I didn't think it would end very well. 

I sat uncomfortably for a few minutes, wondering why my hands still trembled. A tingling pain travelled up and down my arms, flitting around in my chest and seeping into my muscles. What was that about?

Then a surge of power in my body reminded me. Before one of the clones had stunned me, I had that immense power pumping through my veins. I hadn't dealt with it properly, and I felt a little sick because of it.

But far worse than feeling slightly nauseous was the overwhelming sense of loneliness that had invited itself into my heart, coiling around and around it like a creeping vine. I missed Obi-Wan terribly, and I missed Ahsoka.

A soft sigh escaped my lips. Where were my friends? But maybe I had been pushing them away, and I was simply getting what I deserved. I didn't know.

A door on side of the room hissed open, and a pair of Temple guards entered, their faces hidden by those expressionless masks. They stood on either side of me, indicating for me to get to my feet, then they ushered me to the centre of the room. I stopped on the pad in the centre and took a deep breath, then let it out as a sigh as the roof receded and the pad lifted up. Straightening my back, I set my mouth in a grim line, steeling myself for the coming ordeal.

Like the last time I was here for someone's trial, the members of the Council stood at their podiums, illuminated by cream-coloured lights. Masters Yoda, Mace Windu, Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Plo Koon were all present, but I noted with a frown that the fifth podium was occupied by Shaak Ti. Where was Obi-Wan?

I tugged against the cuffs binding my wrists, suspiciously eyeing the Jedi before me. I didn't like where this was heading. But my senses whispered in my ear that something else was going on – a couple of other things, actually. One murmured of a warm comfort, and the other felt like cold knives hovering inches from my back.

"Knight Skywalker," Mace began grimly, his dark eyes fixed onto me, "the charges against you are serious. You have been accused of placing and detonating both the bomb outside the Jedi Temple's main door and the bomb in the Council chambers. Also, the Council has decided, though not unanimously, that the Dark Side has been sensed, strongly, in you. In addition to those, new information has very recently come to light, informing us that you murdered an entire camp of Tuscan raiders on Tatooine. What do you say for yourself?"