Luminous Dust 12/16
Title: Luminous Dust
Author: Dolly (darthdolly)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Anakin/Obi-Wan
Timeframe: post RotS AU
Summary: coming soon. maybe! ^^;;
Spoilers: possibly for RotS
Warnings: Contains slash and mentions of mature themes, but nothing explicit.
Notes: This is the sequel to my story What Comes of It, which can be found HERE. So you'll probably want to read that story before you read this one, but you could probably figure this one out even if you don't read it.
Click Here for Previous Chapters
New Chapter:
Chapter 12
A small crack appeared on the computer screen, then began to creep across it.
Deep down, he had known that this was a bad idea. But after years of impulsively following his feelings and only making things worse by doing so, Anakin had finally forced himself to ignore them. He had let Obi-Wan go, thinking that he had done the correct thing by doing so. Anakin had still been worried, of course, but he had done his best not to let his fear rule him.
For all the good it had done.
Anakin felt fear rise in his chest as he fervently skimmed through the message that Padmé had sent. Obi-Wan was gone. Someone had taken him from Anakin . . . again. Anakin didn't know why they had done it, how they had done it, or even who they were. But all of these things were irrelevant-- he would hunt them down and kill them, regardless. Rage blossomed from deep within him, unearthed by the flood of emotion after having been buried for so long beneath his calm and his love. But his love was gone now, and Anakin's calm was no match for his fear.
One last crack shot across the screen before it exploded, shattering the message in a shower of shimmer and steel.
Pressure from the Force activated the com unit on his desk, and Anakin spoke. "Notify the Admirals that I will be departing immediately, and put the negotiations with the Rebels on hold," he ordered. "I have urgent business to attend," he said, his voice smooth and hard. The subordinate on the other end responded with a series of confused sounding squawks, and Anakin cut him off. "Calm yourself, Lieutenant; I hope to resolve this quickly." And he did.
Ignoring the garbled protests, Anakin switched off the com and headed to the Palace Hanger. Given the strength of their bond, finding Obi-Wan would not be difficult. But this did little to reassure him. He knew, as if by some outside source, that Obi-Wan needed him.
And when did Obi-Wan every truly need Anakin, except when he was in terrible trouble?
~*~
Obi-Wan eyed the young woman warily as she strode confidently into the room. Tall and lithe, the redhead did not have a particularly formidable looking physique, but her demeanor and her presence in the Force gave her away for what she was.
"Good morning, Obi-Wan," she said with a not-quite-kind smile. "I trust you have had a pleasant stay with us?"
"As well as can be expected," he answered dryly, lifting his chained hands slightly. Thankfully, Malen had removed his bindings yesterday before leaving, but the guards that had brought him to this room had chained him before he even set foot out into the corridor. The chains couldn't hold him, of course, but he saw little need to point this out to his captors.
"Come now, I'm sure a Jedi, even a young one like yourself, could get out of those," she cooed condescendingly, and with a wave of her hand the cuffs fell away from his wrists. "Now, I'll get right to the point," she began, seating herself comfortably in the chair across from his so that their knees nearly touched. "Commander Malen asked you before if you would consider discussing a change to the timetable with your Master," she said, leaning forward slightly. "Will you do it?"
"As I said before, no," Obi-Wan said calmly, though he found her treatment of him both irritating and somehow amusing. Strong in the Force or not, she seemed to have almost no inkling of who he was besides the Emperor's Consort; or perhaps, she simply did not care. "And this isn't something that I'm going to change my mind on, Miss . . . " he trailed off.
"It's Jade," she said shortly. "And I'm sorry to hear that you won't reconsider your decision, Obi-Wan," she said, only a hint of regret in her tone and not a bit of surprise. "I didn't think you would." She stood abruptly and turned to walk towards the door, and Obi-Wan started slightly as he felt her reach out and brush against his senses with the Force. His eyes narrowed as he regarded her still figure from behind.
"Then why did you bother?" he inquired, injecting just enough sharpness into his voice to let her know that he knew that there was something more going on here.
Her smooth stride faltered, but only for a moment. "It's not as though any harm could come of it," she replied, sounding very nearly smug. And Obi-Wan supposed that she was right, at least for now. He may have figured out that there was more to this scheme than Malen had let on, but there was nothing he could do about it.
At least not yet . . .
~*~
"Well, I'm not at all surprised that you couldn't convince him, but it was good of you to try," Malen said, letting out a small, irritating sigh. "We'll just have to kill him now. It's a shame, really, since it will probably make Vader rather upset." He paused for a moment, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "And you're certain that's the best course of action?"
Jade shot him a cold glare. "Of course I'm certain," she scoffed. "Don't forget that I'm the one who thought this up in the first place," she said reproachfully. "And you've agreed with me every step of the way. You haven't forgotten, have you?" She pinned him down with her gaze, standing in front of his chair with one hand on her hip in an intimidating yet indifferent seeming stance.
"No, of course not," he said hastily, as she had expected. "I'll see that that's . . . taken care of right away," he assured her.
"Good," she replied shortly. "I'd hate to see you let everyone down with your indecision."
"Of course not," Malen replied, his tone that of a man whose dignity had been assaulted.
"I'll see you tomorrow when we leave, then," she said neutrally, but then brought a brief smile to her face before she turned to leave. Without another word, she left Malen's cabin and headed straight for the base's hanger.
"What took you?" Thrawn asked tensely after acknowledging her approach with a nod. Jade merely raised an eyebrow, not even considering her minion's nervous inquiry worthy of an answer. He, like Malen, was merely a tool, albeit a more useful one. The Admiral frowned, but followed after her as she headed towards a small transport ship. Quickly and quietly they boarded, and Jade prepared the ship for launch with practiced ease. Everything was going smoothly and according to plan; she was not worried. Yet Thrawn did not seem nearly as at ease as she was, and his anxiousness was an annoying bit of clutter on her otherwise clean mental plane.
"Malen doesn't suspect a thing," she murmured, intending to sound soothing. "He's going to kill the Consort, but I don't think he'll do it right now. We have plenty of time to get clear of here before Vader comes."
"Good, and good riddance," Thrawn said loftily, so easily reassured by her words. "I'd hate to be one of the Rebels when he gets here. I'm sure he'll do a fine job of obliterating the lot of them when he finds what's become of his precious Consort," he said disdainfully.
"Yes," Jade nodded as she launched the ship. "Even fools like Vader have their uses, however brief they may be."
Sorry for the wait, guys! ^^; But now that the holidays are over I'm getting back on schedule with this. Thanks for reading! ^_^
Author: Dolly (darthdolly)
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Anakin/Obi-Wan
Timeframe: post RotS AU
Summary: coming soon. maybe! ^^;;
Spoilers: possibly for RotS
Warnings: Contains slash and mentions of mature themes, but nothing explicit.
Notes: This is the sequel to my story What Comes of It, which can be found HERE. So you'll probably want to read that story before you read this one, but you could probably figure this one out even if you don't read it.
Click Here for Previous Chapters
New Chapter:
Chapter 12
A small crack appeared on the computer screen, then began to creep across it.
Deep down, he had known that this was a bad idea. But after years of impulsively following his feelings and only making things worse by doing so, Anakin had finally forced himself to ignore them. He had let Obi-Wan go, thinking that he had done the correct thing by doing so. Anakin had still been worried, of course, but he had done his best not to let his fear rule him.
For all the good it had done.
Anakin felt fear rise in his chest as he fervently skimmed through the message that Padmé had sent. Obi-Wan was gone. Someone had taken him from Anakin . . . again. Anakin didn't know why they had done it, how they had done it, or even who they were. But all of these things were irrelevant-- he would hunt them down and kill them, regardless. Rage blossomed from deep within him, unearthed by the flood of emotion after having been buried for so long beneath his calm and his love. But his love was gone now, and Anakin's calm was no match for his fear.
One last crack shot across the screen before it exploded, shattering the message in a shower of shimmer and steel.
Pressure from the Force activated the com unit on his desk, and Anakin spoke. "Notify the Admirals that I will be departing immediately, and put the negotiations with the Rebels on hold," he ordered. "I have urgent business to attend," he said, his voice smooth and hard. The subordinate on the other end responded with a series of confused sounding squawks, and Anakin cut him off. "Calm yourself, Lieutenant; I hope to resolve this quickly." And he did.
Ignoring the garbled protests, Anakin switched off the com and headed to the Palace Hanger. Given the strength of their bond, finding Obi-Wan would not be difficult. But this did little to reassure him. He knew, as if by some outside source, that Obi-Wan needed him.
And when did Obi-Wan every truly need Anakin, except when he was in terrible trouble?
~*~
Obi-Wan eyed the young woman warily as she strode confidently into the room. Tall and lithe, the redhead did not have a particularly formidable looking physique, but her demeanor and her presence in the Force gave her away for what she was.
"Good morning, Obi-Wan," she said with a not-quite-kind smile. "I trust you have had a pleasant stay with us?"
"As well as can be expected," he answered dryly, lifting his chained hands slightly. Thankfully, Malen had removed his bindings yesterday before leaving, but the guards that had brought him to this room had chained him before he even set foot out into the corridor. The chains couldn't hold him, of course, but he saw little need to point this out to his captors.
"Come now, I'm sure a Jedi, even a young one like yourself, could get out of those," she cooed condescendingly, and with a wave of her hand the cuffs fell away from his wrists. "Now, I'll get right to the point," she began, seating herself comfortably in the chair across from his so that their knees nearly touched. "Commander Malen asked you before if you would consider discussing a change to the timetable with your Master," she said, leaning forward slightly. "Will you do it?"
"As I said before, no," Obi-Wan said calmly, though he found her treatment of him both irritating and somehow amusing. Strong in the Force or not, she seemed to have almost no inkling of who he was besides the Emperor's Consort; or perhaps, she simply did not care. "And this isn't something that I'm going to change my mind on, Miss . . . " he trailed off.
"It's Jade," she said shortly. "And I'm sorry to hear that you won't reconsider your decision, Obi-Wan," she said, only a hint of regret in her tone and not a bit of surprise. "I didn't think you would." She stood abruptly and turned to walk towards the door, and Obi-Wan started slightly as he felt her reach out and brush against his senses with the Force. His eyes narrowed as he regarded her still figure from behind.
"Then why did you bother?" he inquired, injecting just enough sharpness into his voice to let her know that he knew that there was something more going on here.
Her smooth stride faltered, but only for a moment. "It's not as though any harm could come of it," she replied, sounding very nearly smug. And Obi-Wan supposed that she was right, at least for now. He may have figured out that there was more to this scheme than Malen had let on, but there was nothing he could do about it.
At least not yet . . .
~*~
"Well, I'm not at all surprised that you couldn't convince him, but it was good of you to try," Malen said, letting out a small, irritating sigh. "We'll just have to kill him now. It's a shame, really, since it will probably make Vader rather upset." He paused for a moment, looking vaguely uncomfortable. "And you're certain that's the best course of action?"
Jade shot him a cold glare. "Of course I'm certain," she scoffed. "Don't forget that I'm the one who thought this up in the first place," she said reproachfully. "And you've agreed with me every step of the way. You haven't forgotten, have you?" She pinned him down with her gaze, standing in front of his chair with one hand on her hip in an intimidating yet indifferent seeming stance.
"No, of course not," he said hastily, as she had expected. "I'll see that that's . . . taken care of right away," he assured her.
"Good," she replied shortly. "I'd hate to see you let everyone down with your indecision."
"Of course not," Malen replied, his tone that of a man whose dignity had been assaulted.
"I'll see you tomorrow when we leave, then," she said neutrally, but then brought a brief smile to her face before she turned to leave. Without another word, she left Malen's cabin and headed straight for the base's hanger.
"What took you?" Thrawn asked tensely after acknowledging her approach with a nod. Jade merely raised an eyebrow, not even considering her minion's nervous inquiry worthy of an answer. He, like Malen, was merely a tool, albeit a more useful one. The Admiral frowned, but followed after her as she headed towards a small transport ship. Quickly and quietly they boarded, and Jade prepared the ship for launch with practiced ease. Everything was going smoothly and according to plan; she was not worried. Yet Thrawn did not seem nearly as at ease as she was, and his anxiousness was an annoying bit of clutter on her otherwise clean mental plane.
"Malen doesn't suspect a thing," she murmured, intending to sound soothing. "He's going to kill the Consort, but I don't think he'll do it right now. We have plenty of time to get clear of here before Vader comes."
"Good, and good riddance," Thrawn said loftily, so easily reassured by her words. "I'd hate to be one of the Rebels when he gets here. I'm sure he'll do a fine job of obliterating the lot of them when he finds what's become of his precious Consort," he said disdainfully.
"Yes," Jade nodded as she launched the ship. "Even fools like Vader have their uses, however brief they may be."
Sorry for the wait, guys! ^^; But now that the holidays are over I'm getting back on schedule with this. Thanks for reading! ^_^