One Path Chapter 19--Undivided
Title: Undivided
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: Padme stood rooted to the floor, looking on in disbelief as the hologram flickered off. Her throat was tight with dread, and she stared at him, then tore herself toward the control console, forced her icy hands to stop shaking so that she could manipulate the switches and check coordinates. Everything was so cold!
Rating: PG
Length: Around 2300 words
Category: Angst/Drama
Pairings/Charaters: Obidala
A/N: One Path Chapter 19. Anakin and Padme leave for Geonosis, set during an alternate AtoC.
Undivided
As Obi Wan and Arfour waited atop the asteroid for Jango Fett's ship to move far enough away, the Jedi's thoughts were elsewhere. He couldn't dismiss the feeling that something was wrong with Padme and Anakin. He scowled at himself, working to clear his mind. He had already failed once when Fett escaped Kamino. Perhaps the Force had led him here in the long run, but he knew that there was more than one way for its purposes to be accomplished, and this path had been both dangerous and unnecessary. The best course would have been for him to bring Fett back to the temple and let the Council question him. Whatever lay on Geonosis, Obi Wan sensed darkness and confusion. He should not have been here alone, and now that he had to be, he needed focus.
Anakin and Padme pulled at him, regardless. They were the two people that he cared for most in all the galaxy--his brother and the woman he loved. For a change, though, he didn't feel pulled in two directions by them. Something was wrong--very wrong. It took all of his discipline not to lift off now and set course for Naboo. To do that, though would have been a disservice to both of them.
Aren't you already doing them a disservice? he asked himself suddenly. Trying to teach Anakin to let go of his feelings when you won't do the same? Holding out your love to Padme and then pulling it back when she wants it--hiding in the robes of a Jedi?
The hardest thing I've ever had to do was to leave Shmi behind, Qui-Gon's admission came back to him.
"Yes, Master, I know," he said aloud. "And maybe you shouldn't have."
He inhaled deeply, centered himself. Drawing on the Force, he called his mind into focus, directed his attention back to the present--to the planet below, to Jango Fett and his employers.
"Arfour, I think we've waited long enough," he said.
***
Restless, Padme paced the dark courtyard. After finding Watto outside his shop in Mos Espa, she and Anakin had flown here, to a small moisture farm beyond Mos Eisley, where they'd finally learned what had happened to Shmi. Anakin ridden out on Owen Lars' speeder bike hours ago, but there was no sign yet. An animal howled ominously in the distance, and she shivered, glancing toward the garage. She started in, then changed her mind and started another circuit around the courtyard.
Beru slipped out from the house, carrying a steaming mug in one hand and a blanket over her other arm. Padme smiled wanly as she approached. Then she took the mug and nodded her thanks as the young woman silently slipped the blanket over her shoulders. Neither spoke for a while, and Padme sipped the hot beverage, studying Beru thoughtfully.
She wasn't beautiful in a classic sense, but she couldn't be called plain. From what Padme had seen of her, she was quiet, but it was a quietness much like Shmi Skywalker's. She wasn't timid or afraid to speak her mind, she simply spoke when she needed to and was content to let others do the talking when she didn't. There was a kind of strength in her that Padme admired, different from her own and perhaps more enduring--but the Senator could already see a careworn edge around the young homesteader, and she wondered if life on Tatooine would be as unkind to this woman as it had been to Shmi.
Beru looked back at her calmly, waiting for her to speak. Padme took another sip, more to gather her thoughts than for the added warmth, and then asked, "Was she happy here?"
"Yes. It's not an easy life. The farm will never have much of a surplus. But Cliegg is a good man, and he loved her very much. She loved him and Owen too. Tatooine breeds love as much as hardship," Beru said.
"I met-- my best friend on Tatooine," Padme corrected herself hurriedly.
Beru gave her a knowing smile and shook her head. "So I heard."
Padme's eyes widened. "What?"
"There's not a lot to do here at night besides tell stories. You and that Padawan were a good one. Falling in love over a comlink--right under Qui-Gon's nose and he had no idea," Beru laughed.
"Shmi knew?" Padme asked incredulously.
"Shmi knew lots of things she never talked about," Beru smiled.
Padme sighed with a mixture of resignation and relief. Then she reached into her pocket to pull out the comlink. "I shouldn't be thinking about him now," she said as she stared down at it. "Ani's in real danger, and Shmi…"
"Thoughts go where they will," Beru said, slipping a hand onto her shoulder. "Do you think something's wrong?"
"I don't know. I've been having strange dreams…I guess it's just that," Padme shrugged.
"Is it?" Beru asked softly.
Padme's gaze drifted toward the house where Cliegg Lars still sat waiting for his wife. "We were alone together when he gave me this," she said, her fingers tightening around the comlink. "I wish I'd told him then. I want him to know."
"I hope you'll have another chance," Beru replied.
"So do I," Padme said with a heavy sigh.
The hand on her shoulder slid comfortingly around her. Padme stiffened for a moment, then relaxed into the unexpected embrace. Beru looked off into the night sky for a while, lost in her own thoughts.
"What's it like there?" she asked finally.
Padme pulled back to look at her in surprise. "I'm sorry?"
"On Naboo," the other woman explained. "What's it like?"
"Oh, it's…" Padme trailed off, trying to gather words to illustrate the stark contrast between her homeworld and this one. "Very green. With lots of water. And trees. Not like here at all."
"I think I like it here better," Beru remarked.
"Maybe you'll come and see it someday," Padme smiled.
"I don't think so. I don't like to travel," Beru said honestly.
Padme nodded, accepting the statement for what it was--a simple, quiet truth. There was no rejection or impoliteness in Beru's tone. Nor, Padme thought, was there a fear of the unknown. Beru Whitesun had found the place where she belonged, and having found it, wanted nothing more than to remain there. She knew the dangers of the life she lived, and she was not afraid to face them--because this was her place, and inside the house was a moisture farmer who loved her. They had a peace which had nothing to do with what happened around them. It couldn't be changed or broken by Tusken Raiders, Galactic armies, or even the Jedi Order.
"Do Senators get to make pleasure visits?" Beru asked.
"Not very often," Padme replied a bit sadly.
Beru nodded. "Well, if you ever can come, you'll be welcome, Padme."
"Thanks, Beru."
***
Obi Wan slumped back in his seat, letting out a breath in frustration. "The transmitter is working. But we're not receiving a return signal. Coruscant's too far. Can you boost the power?" he asked Arfour.
The droid made a series of beeps, which started uncertain, and then became decidedly negative. Obi Wan closed his eyes. Despite everything that he had just witnessed in the factory city, there was much to learn. He couldn't leave yet. Nor could he return and risk capture without first assuring that the information he now had would reach Coruscant, whether he did or not.
"Okay, then we'll have to try something else," the Jedi said, looking around for an answer. Lifting off the planet meant risking detection, which him with the same problem as returning to the droid city now. There was no way that Arfour could increase their signal enough to reach Coruscant through the heavy metallic atmosphere of Geonosis. There had to be another way--but what? Suddenly, he turned to look at Arfour again. "Naboo is closer. Maybe we can contact Anakin and get the information relayed."
The droid beeped affirmatively, and he climbed back out of the cockpit again. After a few moments, Arfour told him Anakin wasn't there. Growling in frustration, the Jedi made his way back into the ship. This delay was costing precious time, and he knew it. The longer it took to transmit the message, the more likely it was that the com signal itself would be detected and his position discovered.
"How can he not be on Naboo?" he demanded of Arfour.
The droid replied with a nervous and uncertain, "Oooooo."
Recalling his earlier sense that something was wrong, Obi Wan ran a hand through his hair and began to check the instruments himself. "Anakin? Anakin? Do you copy? This is Obi Wan Kenobi," he said, lifting his ship com and shooting the call out toward Naboo. No answer came, though, and finally, he set the com down. Fear began to creep up the Jedi's spine, but he forced himself to concentrate. Still, he couldn't keep the worry from his tone as he said, "He's not on Naboo, Arfour. I'm going to try to widen the search. I hope nothing's happened to them."
Minutes crawled by. He waited, trying to slow his pounding heart as the droid continued searching. Inexplicably, he found himself thinking of the comlink he'd given Padme, of his own ridiculous level of nervous anticipation as he waited for her call from Mos Espa. Then he scowled at himself and shook his head. There was a droid army sitting nearby, of which the Trade Federation was set to take delivery. The Trade Federation was known to be allied with Count Dooku's Separatists, and now both the Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance had pledged their armies to Dooku as well. There was a clone army on Kamino, ready and waiting for the Republic, apparently commissioned some ten years ago by a Jedi Master. These things could not be coincidental, which was more disturbing to him than the very real fact that the stage had been set for a drawn out military conflict. Yet here he sat lost in nostalgia, his mind anywhere but on the present. He shook his head, wondering what exactly had happened to him--how and when his every thought had begun drifting back to Padme Amidala.
Ten years ago, he realized with sudden certainty. Everything went back to her. To her voice on the other end of a comlink. It always had--it always would--because everything before that had led him to Tatooine. To her.
Suddenly, Arfour tootled, startling him out of his contemplations. He leaned forward, eyes moving over the com controls, widening as he realized where they were. "That's Anakin's tracking signal all right, but it's coming from Tatooine! What in the blazes is he doing there? I told him to stay on Naboo!"
The droid gave another nervous "Ooooooo."
"All right, we're all set--we'll get these answers later." The Jedi climbed out of the cockpit again and leapt to the ground. "Transmit, Arfour. We haven't much time… Anakin?" Obi Wan asked. "Anakin, do you copy? This is Obi Wan Kenobi."
***
"We will deal with Count Dooku," Mace Windu said firmly. "The most important thing for you, Anakin, is to stay where you are. Protect the Senator at all costs. That is your first priority."
"Understood, Master," Anakin replied dully. Still in the throes of his guilt and grief over his mother, the Padawan seemed to have lost all his determination and confidence.
Padme stood rooted to the floor, looking on in disbelief as the hologram flickered off. Her throat was tight with dread, and she stared at him, then tore herself toward the control console, forced her icy hands to stop shaking so that she could manipulate the switches and check coordinates. Everything was so cold!
"They have to come halfway across the galaxy," she said, turning to Anakin, who still stood impassively. "They'll never get there in time to save him."
He didn't move. Didn't react at all.
"Look, Geonosis is less than a parsec away!" she cried, her hands moving over the controls again to show him the nav display. "Anakin?!"
"You heard him," the Padawan said flatly.
"They can't get from Coruscant in time to save him!" she exclaimed, her voice almost breaking in desperation. She didn't bother waiting for a response, just turned back to the ship's controls, readying for liftoff.
Suddenly, Anakin's hand covered hers. She violently shrugged him off, barely managing to restrain the urge to slap him now. Instead, she leveled a harsh, disbelieving stare.
His voice came back toneless, devoid off all emotion. "If he's still alive,"
"He's alive!" she told him fiercely. "I know he's alive."
He turned and walked away without a word. She glared at his back, angry now beyond even tears. Finally, strode after him, grabbing his arm and yanking him around to face her. "Are you just going to sit here and let him die? He's your friend--your mentor!
Finally, this brought a real reaction. "He is like my father! But you heard Master Windu! He gave me strict orders to stay here!"
"He gave you strict orders to stay here only so that you could protect me!" Padme cried whirling back around. She finished the launch sequence, ignoring him now, not caring if he tried to stop her.
"Padme!" Anakin said sharply.
"He gave you strict orders to protect me," she repeated, giving her voice a coldly determined edge. "And I'm going to rescue Obi Wan. So if you plan to protect me, you'll have to come along."
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: Padme stood rooted to the floor, looking on in disbelief as the hologram flickered off. Her throat was tight with dread, and she stared at him, then tore herself toward the control console, forced her icy hands to stop shaking so that she could manipulate the switches and check coordinates. Everything was so cold!
Rating: PG
Length: Around 2300 words
Category: Angst/Drama
Pairings/Charaters: Obidala
A/N: One Path Chapter 19. Anakin and Padme leave for Geonosis, set during an alternate AtoC.
Undivided
As Obi Wan and Arfour waited atop the asteroid for Jango Fett's ship to move far enough away, the Jedi's thoughts were elsewhere. He couldn't dismiss the feeling that something was wrong with Padme and Anakin. He scowled at himself, working to clear his mind. He had already failed once when Fett escaped Kamino. Perhaps the Force had led him here in the long run, but he knew that there was more than one way for its purposes to be accomplished, and this path had been both dangerous and unnecessary. The best course would have been for him to bring Fett back to the temple and let the Council question him. Whatever lay on Geonosis, Obi Wan sensed darkness and confusion. He should not have been here alone, and now that he had to be, he needed focus.
Anakin and Padme pulled at him, regardless. They were the two people that he cared for most in all the galaxy--his brother and the woman he loved. For a change, though, he didn't feel pulled in two directions by them. Something was wrong--very wrong. It took all of his discipline not to lift off now and set course for Naboo. To do that, though would have been a disservice to both of them.
Aren't you already doing them a disservice? he asked himself suddenly. Trying to teach Anakin to let go of his feelings when you won't do the same? Holding out your love to Padme and then pulling it back when she wants it--hiding in the robes of a Jedi?
The hardest thing I've ever had to do was to leave Shmi behind, Qui-Gon's admission came back to him.
"Yes, Master, I know," he said aloud. "And maybe you shouldn't have."
He inhaled deeply, centered himself. Drawing on the Force, he called his mind into focus, directed his attention back to the present--to the planet below, to Jango Fett and his employers.
"Arfour, I think we've waited long enough," he said.
***
Restless, Padme paced the dark courtyard. After finding Watto outside his shop in Mos Espa, she and Anakin had flown here, to a small moisture farm beyond Mos Eisley, where they'd finally learned what had happened to Shmi. Anakin ridden out on Owen Lars' speeder bike hours ago, but there was no sign yet. An animal howled ominously in the distance, and she shivered, glancing toward the garage. She started in, then changed her mind and started another circuit around the courtyard.
Beru slipped out from the house, carrying a steaming mug in one hand and a blanket over her other arm. Padme smiled wanly as she approached. Then she took the mug and nodded her thanks as the young woman silently slipped the blanket over her shoulders. Neither spoke for a while, and Padme sipped the hot beverage, studying Beru thoughtfully.
She wasn't beautiful in a classic sense, but she couldn't be called plain. From what Padme had seen of her, she was quiet, but it was a quietness much like Shmi Skywalker's. She wasn't timid or afraid to speak her mind, she simply spoke when she needed to and was content to let others do the talking when she didn't. There was a kind of strength in her that Padme admired, different from her own and perhaps more enduring--but the Senator could already see a careworn edge around the young homesteader, and she wondered if life on Tatooine would be as unkind to this woman as it had been to Shmi.
Beru looked back at her calmly, waiting for her to speak. Padme took another sip, more to gather her thoughts than for the added warmth, and then asked, "Was she happy here?"
"Yes. It's not an easy life. The farm will never have much of a surplus. But Cliegg is a good man, and he loved her very much. She loved him and Owen too. Tatooine breeds love as much as hardship," Beru said.
"I met-- my best friend on Tatooine," Padme corrected herself hurriedly.
Beru gave her a knowing smile and shook her head. "So I heard."
Padme's eyes widened. "What?"
"There's not a lot to do here at night besides tell stories. You and that Padawan were a good one. Falling in love over a comlink--right under Qui-Gon's nose and he had no idea," Beru laughed.
"Shmi knew?" Padme asked incredulously.
"Shmi knew lots of things she never talked about," Beru smiled.
Padme sighed with a mixture of resignation and relief. Then she reached into her pocket to pull out the comlink. "I shouldn't be thinking about him now," she said as she stared down at it. "Ani's in real danger, and Shmi…"
"Thoughts go where they will," Beru said, slipping a hand onto her shoulder. "Do you think something's wrong?"
"I don't know. I've been having strange dreams…I guess it's just that," Padme shrugged.
"Is it?" Beru asked softly.
Padme's gaze drifted toward the house where Cliegg Lars still sat waiting for his wife. "We were alone together when he gave me this," she said, her fingers tightening around the comlink. "I wish I'd told him then. I want him to know."
"I hope you'll have another chance," Beru replied.
"So do I," Padme said with a heavy sigh.
The hand on her shoulder slid comfortingly around her. Padme stiffened for a moment, then relaxed into the unexpected embrace. Beru looked off into the night sky for a while, lost in her own thoughts.
"What's it like there?" she asked finally.
Padme pulled back to look at her in surprise. "I'm sorry?"
"On Naboo," the other woman explained. "What's it like?"
"Oh, it's…" Padme trailed off, trying to gather words to illustrate the stark contrast between her homeworld and this one. "Very green. With lots of water. And trees. Not like here at all."
"I think I like it here better," Beru remarked.
"Maybe you'll come and see it someday," Padme smiled.
"I don't think so. I don't like to travel," Beru said honestly.
Padme nodded, accepting the statement for what it was--a simple, quiet truth. There was no rejection or impoliteness in Beru's tone. Nor, Padme thought, was there a fear of the unknown. Beru Whitesun had found the place where she belonged, and having found it, wanted nothing more than to remain there. She knew the dangers of the life she lived, and she was not afraid to face them--because this was her place, and inside the house was a moisture farmer who loved her. They had a peace which had nothing to do with what happened around them. It couldn't be changed or broken by Tusken Raiders, Galactic armies, or even the Jedi Order.
"Do Senators get to make pleasure visits?" Beru asked.
"Not very often," Padme replied a bit sadly.
Beru nodded. "Well, if you ever can come, you'll be welcome, Padme."
"Thanks, Beru."
***
Obi Wan slumped back in his seat, letting out a breath in frustration. "The transmitter is working. But we're not receiving a return signal. Coruscant's too far. Can you boost the power?" he asked Arfour.
The droid made a series of beeps, which started uncertain, and then became decidedly negative. Obi Wan closed his eyes. Despite everything that he had just witnessed in the factory city, there was much to learn. He couldn't leave yet. Nor could he return and risk capture without first assuring that the information he now had would reach Coruscant, whether he did or not.
"Okay, then we'll have to try something else," the Jedi said, looking around for an answer. Lifting off the planet meant risking detection, which him with the same problem as returning to the droid city now. There was no way that Arfour could increase their signal enough to reach Coruscant through the heavy metallic atmosphere of Geonosis. There had to be another way--but what? Suddenly, he turned to look at Arfour again. "Naboo is closer. Maybe we can contact Anakin and get the information relayed."
The droid beeped affirmatively, and he climbed back out of the cockpit again. After a few moments, Arfour told him Anakin wasn't there. Growling in frustration, the Jedi made his way back into the ship. This delay was costing precious time, and he knew it. The longer it took to transmit the message, the more likely it was that the com signal itself would be detected and his position discovered.
"How can he not be on Naboo?" he demanded of Arfour.
The droid replied with a nervous and uncertain, "Oooooo."
Recalling his earlier sense that something was wrong, Obi Wan ran a hand through his hair and began to check the instruments himself. "Anakin? Anakin? Do you copy? This is Obi Wan Kenobi," he said, lifting his ship com and shooting the call out toward Naboo. No answer came, though, and finally, he set the com down. Fear began to creep up the Jedi's spine, but he forced himself to concentrate. Still, he couldn't keep the worry from his tone as he said, "He's not on Naboo, Arfour. I'm going to try to widen the search. I hope nothing's happened to them."
Minutes crawled by. He waited, trying to slow his pounding heart as the droid continued searching. Inexplicably, he found himself thinking of the comlink he'd given Padme, of his own ridiculous level of nervous anticipation as he waited for her call from Mos Espa. Then he scowled at himself and shook his head. There was a droid army sitting nearby, of which the Trade Federation was set to take delivery. The Trade Federation was known to be allied with Count Dooku's Separatists, and now both the Commerce Guild and the Corporate Alliance had pledged their armies to Dooku as well. There was a clone army on Kamino, ready and waiting for the Republic, apparently commissioned some ten years ago by a Jedi Master. These things could not be coincidental, which was more disturbing to him than the very real fact that the stage had been set for a drawn out military conflict. Yet here he sat lost in nostalgia, his mind anywhere but on the present. He shook his head, wondering what exactly had happened to him--how and when his every thought had begun drifting back to Padme Amidala.
Ten years ago, he realized with sudden certainty. Everything went back to her. To her voice on the other end of a comlink. It always had--it always would--because everything before that had led him to Tatooine. To her.
Suddenly, Arfour tootled, startling him out of his contemplations. He leaned forward, eyes moving over the com controls, widening as he realized where they were. "That's Anakin's tracking signal all right, but it's coming from Tatooine! What in the blazes is he doing there? I told him to stay on Naboo!"
The droid gave another nervous "Ooooooo."
"All right, we're all set--we'll get these answers later." The Jedi climbed out of the cockpit again and leapt to the ground. "Transmit, Arfour. We haven't much time… Anakin?" Obi Wan asked. "Anakin, do you copy? This is Obi Wan Kenobi."
***
"We will deal with Count Dooku," Mace Windu said firmly. "The most important thing for you, Anakin, is to stay where you are. Protect the Senator at all costs. That is your first priority."
"Understood, Master," Anakin replied dully. Still in the throes of his guilt and grief over his mother, the Padawan seemed to have lost all his determination and confidence.
Padme stood rooted to the floor, looking on in disbelief as the hologram flickered off. Her throat was tight with dread, and she stared at him, then tore herself toward the control console, forced her icy hands to stop shaking so that she could manipulate the switches and check coordinates. Everything was so cold!
"They have to come halfway across the galaxy," she said, turning to Anakin, who still stood impassively. "They'll never get there in time to save him."
He didn't move. Didn't react at all.
"Look, Geonosis is less than a parsec away!" she cried, her hands moving over the controls again to show him the nav display. "Anakin?!"
"You heard him," the Padawan said flatly.
"They can't get from Coruscant in time to save him!" she exclaimed, her voice almost breaking in desperation. She didn't bother waiting for a response, just turned back to the ship's controls, readying for liftoff.
Suddenly, Anakin's hand covered hers. She violently shrugged him off, barely managing to restrain the urge to slap him now. Instead, she leveled a harsh, disbelieving stare.
His voice came back toneless, devoid off all emotion. "If he's still alive,"
"He's alive!" she told him fiercely. "I know he's alive."
He turned and walked away without a word. She glared at his back, angry now beyond even tears. Finally, strode after him, grabbing his arm and yanking him around to face her. "Are you just going to sit here and let him die? He's your friend--your mentor!
Finally, this brought a real reaction. "He is like my father! But you heard Master Windu! He gave me strict orders to stay here!"
"He gave you strict orders to stay here only so that you could protect me!" Padme cried whirling back around. She finished the launch sequence, ignoring him now, not caring if he tried to stop her.
"Padme!" Anakin said sharply.
"He gave you strict orders to protect me," she repeated, giving her voice a coldly determined edge. "And I'm going to rescue Obi Wan. So if you plan to protect me, you'll have to come along."