Chapter Nineteen
Genevieve

I let out a sigh of relief, nodding to Aiden's hologram. "So Dooku doesn't know where I am?"

He shakes his head. "He called me this morning with an update on Fett's progress. He said that finding you is proving to be more difficult. But I wonder why he found you so easily before and can't find you now."

"The senate knew where we were taking her," Obi Wan tells him. "I think there might be separatist spies that told him she was on Mandalore."

"Did he say anything else?" I ask him.

He shakes his head. "No. We're not due for another shipment for a few weeks so I doubt he'll contact me again until then."

"How are the people?"

"Everyone spirit's are up when we get new supplies, but that doesn't last forever. They don't have any hope, my queen. Their lives are about survival now, nothing more. I doubt that will change if we're going to go to war."

"I wish I was there. I should be there." I say quietly.

Aiden shakes his head. "We need you safe, your majesty. The little hope our people have would surely die out completely if anything were to happen to you."

I smile at him, trying to hide my feelings of guilt and anger. He shouldn't see me in such a way, he should see a concerned but put together monarch, not a girl crying for her people. "Let us know if anything else happens."

He nods, placing his hand over his heart. "We are one, my queen."

I do the same. "We are one."

His hologram fades out, leaving me silently mulling over my thoughts.

"Do you really think there are spies in the senate?" I ask Obi Wan.

He nods. "In times of war there usually are spies lurking around. But don't worry, I'm sure we will root out who has betrayed the republic and stop them. That's the only explanation I can think of as to why Fett found us so quickly and hasn't found us here yet."

"How will I know who to trust? As queen I will need the senate's help, but how can I rely on them if I can't trust them?"

"You'll rely on them because you have to. You'll just have to go with your instincts on who to trust within the senate or not. As queen you'll appoint a new senator for Taris, yes?"

I nod.

He places a hand on my back, giving me a reassuring look. "You know the people you can trust, so make it so those people are put in the positions to help Taris and keep it out of corruption."

"How do you do it? How do you stay so calm and level headed? You always seem to have an answer for everything, Obi Wan."

He shakes his head, his usual mask slipping. "I don't have all the answers. I say what I think is right and hope that everything will work out."

"You make it seem so easy."

"Because I've been trained to hide how hard it is."

I am taken aback by his honesty, feeling the true weight behind his words. I turn myself to face him more, bringing my hand up to touch his arm gently. "You should let someone bare the weight with you."

"I could say the same of you," He says, his eyes focusing on my hand. "But it's not the Jedi way. We are the keepers of the peace, we bear the weight of the galaxy so others don't have to."

"That sounds lonely. Do you ever wish you could get out of it? Leave the order?"

Obi Wan's eyes flicker up to me, a vulnerability there that I haven't seen before. "Once, a really long time ago."

He doesn't have to say it for me to know why. "Satine?"

He nods slowly. "But she had a duty to her people just like I had a duty to the order. Despite what we both felt, we knew it couldn't be."

"Do you ever regret not leaving the order and being with her?"

He pauses, pondering this question for a moment. "I used to, but not anymore."

"What changed?" I ask him, watching his eyes fall back down to my hand, still clutching his arm gently. As he's about to answer, a knock comes to the door, making me jump in my skin and let go of him.

Sola's voice comes from outside, informing us; "Dinner is ready, you two. I hope I'm not interrupting something."

I feel myself blushing as I reply to her, feeling slightly lightheaded. "Alright, Sola. We will be right there."

When I look back at Obi Wan he is smiling down at me lightly, holding his arm out to me. I link mine with his, my blush not subsiding as he says; "Shall we?"

I nod, wondering the answer to my last question as we make our way out of his room and down to dine with the others.

-

Anakin

It took me a few hours to find the Tusken Raider's settlement. I tried to hone in on the force surrounding my mother, trying to let the force guide me to her. This seemed to work, because a few hours after I left the Lars moisture farm I finally found it. I'm on a cliff overlooking the settlement now, counting about twenty small huts with fire pits throughout the grounds. I try to listen to the force again, wanting any indication that my mother is down there. But I feel clouded, cold, like I'm sitting in fog.

I jump down from the cliff, readying my lightsaber as I walk towards the huts. I think most of the Tuskens have fallen asleep, but as I make it to the first hut, I make sure to check around every corner just to be on the safe side. I don't see anyone, so I walk to the next hut, then the next. I can't risk barging into the wrong hut and waking the whole camp, so I try to find my mother through the force again. I try to sift through the fogginess I feel, trying to focus on the sound of my mother's voice, the feel of her touch, the light in her eyes. The force seems to be pulling me towards the hut three huts away from me. I follow my instincts, going to the hut and igniting my lightsaber. I carve a hole in the side of the hut, ducking my head inside.

I feel frozen as I see a woman tied to two posts, her figure limp and small moans of pain escaping her mouth. I rush over towards her, trying to untie the bonds that hold her up. She moans a bit louder, so I pull them as quickly as I can, catching her just before she falls to the ground. I collect my mother in my arms, seeing her peal her eyes open to look up at me.

"Ani? Is that you? Ani?" She asks, sounding disbelieving and slightly confused.

I nod, feeling tears well up in my eyes. I hold onto her tighter. "I'm here, Mom."

She smiles at me despite her pain, bringing her hand up to cup my face. "You look so handsome, my grown up son."

I turn my head in her hand and kiss her palm, feeling a small sob wrack my body. "I missed you, Mom. So much. You're safe now, I'm here to take you away from here."

She doesn't acknowledge what I said, she just keeps smiling at me, looking me over like I'm a miracle given to her by the force itself. "I am so proud of you, Ani. Now...now I am complete."

I shake my head, seeing a glazed look appear in her eyes. "No, stay with me, Mom. Stay, please, Mom." I plead to her.

A determined look fills her eyes. She struggles to speak, but she tries her hardest. "I-I love you, Ani. I love..." she trails off, the light draining from her eyes, her face. Her hand drops from my face, her head falling back towards the ground, her eyes staring right through me.

I stare down at my mother, tears spilling down my face as reality slowly sinks in. Time itself no longer exists, the world, the galaxy, all reduced to nothing as I reach forward and shut my mother's eyes. I try to sense anything left in her, any sign of life still lingering in my mother's limp form. But there's nothing. I feel another sob escape my lips, the sound is muffled as I bury my face in my mother's shoulder, clutching onto her, hoping I can will life back into her. But no matter how hard I try, she still lays still and cold in my arms, her eyes refusing to open.

I hear the sounds of two Tusken Raiders talking outside the hut and it rips me out of my cloud of despair. I don't think, I don't wait for rationality or common sense to enter my brain, I just grab my lightsaber again and exit the hole in the hut. I ignite my lightsaber, charging at the two Tusken's, cutting them down where they stand.

The sound of their cries of anguish alerts the others that something is amiss. Other Tusken's rush towards me, their voices frantic and angry. But they haven't seen angry yet, they don't even know the true meaning of the word. I don't wait for them to make it to me, I bring my lightsaber up and charge at them, slaughtering the remainder of the monsters who ripped my whole world away from me.