The air was being cut off from her lungs, and Tasha gasped. The dark figure of Count Dooku lifted her off her feet, dangling her by her neck as she tried desperately to suck in a breath, or to fight him, anything, anything. A choking sound erupted from her throat as she tried to speak, to use the Force to push his hold away from her.
"And now, Ms Latasha, you will be a burden to me no more." His monotonous voice said, a sadistic grin on his face. She closed her eyes, concentrating her energy on his hand around her neck, imagining the breath returning to her lungs, her feet resting once more on the ground. Her face contorted, but not in pain, in concentration as she tried to save herself. She felt the force on her throat weakening as she reached out with her hand, gently, slowly, pushing his hold away from her. She opened her eyes, smirking at his startled expression.
She pushed harder, using a new found energy. He stumbled back, lowering his hand as Tasha fell to the floor. She braced herself, landing in a crouch. She drank in great gasps of air. Dooku had recovered himself, and was advancing towards her, lightsaber raised menacingly. But Tasha had no chance to be scared, to be apprehensive. This is what she had been training for. She raised the blue blade of the lightsaber she had been given, ready for him to make the first move.
He did, lunging at her, which she dodged, rolling past him before leaping up again. His grin disappeared briefly before being pulled back into place. He aimed his next blow low, and she parried it expertly, aiming a retaliating blow at his side, which he too blocked.
She aimed again, plunging her shot over his head. He blocked it, but she held her saber in place, pulling it down so it was centimetres from Dooku's face. She heard a groan over the cackle of the two locked laser swords and her eyes flicker briefly to Anakin, his crumpled form still trying to sit up. Dooku noticed this, another of his sick smiles spreading across his face.
"There is much fear in you, Senator," he said, twisting his saber so he had the upper hand, "not for yourself, but for your friend, your . . ." his face twisted again, "love." She gritted her teeth against his words.
"You know the Jedi don't allow that sort of thing. They seem ready to break the rules for you: a teenager when you started training, not committing yourself to the Jedi order, letting you continue your role as a royal, a senator." Tasha glowered at him, pushing him back again.
"That's it," he said, "use your anger. It's good. It gives you power. Can you feel it?" Tasha felt horrified, and pulled her emotions back in, using her saber to shove him away from her.
"You and I aren't that different Senator," he said, "neither of us belong in the order, it suppresses us. Join me, I can set you free" Tasha stalked back toward him, a fire in her eyes that no one had seen before.
"I am nothing like you, Dooku," she spat, "I will not betray everything I have worked so hard to protect." She slashed at him again, a well aimed blow as it caught his sleeve. It didn't cut him, but it gave him a wake up call. He lunged at Tasha, and she pushed him back, leaving her right arm open. He plunged his saber towards her, tearing slightly into the flesh.
She screamed, her arm burning as she dropped her saber. He hit her thigh with his red saber, and she gasped in pain, collapsing to the ground. Black spots clouded her vision as she watched Dooku lift his saber over his head, as she waited for the blow that would surely end her life, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.
The saber swung down and Tasha watched it, eyes frozen open in fear. As the saber got within an inch of her face, someone blocked it. She turned her head, and saw Anakin, a look of pure concentration on his face, protecting her.
"Brave of you boy," said Dooku, "but I thought you'd learnt your lesson."
"I am a slow learner," Anakin replied, pushing Dooku's saber away from you. He followed Dooku as he backed away, attacking aggressively. Tasha watched, struggling to remain conscious. Anakin was fighting with two sabers now? When did he get the other one? She watched as he blocked Dooku's attack, his right arm too far from his body, and Dooku sliced it off at the elbow.
"No! Anakin!" Tasha screamed-
The faces melted into the darkness, fading like ink dissipating into water until a new scene took hold:
Tasha could feel the heat of the lava surrounding the platform in her bones as she stared into the bloodshot golden eyes of the man she thought she knew better than she knew herself.
"Anakin!" her shout floated through the air, disconnected from her, like it had come from somewhere else and not her own mouth. Padme's body was sprawled on the ground in front of her, the slight rise and fall of her chest the only thing indicating he hadn't murdered her too. "how could you do this?!"
"What about you?!" he shouted back at her, the force of his voice making her want to shrink back into herself. No, not now, no retreat. "You've been in on their plan since the beginning! You've been plotting with them!"
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"The Jedi tried to kill the chancellor, don't try and tell me you didn't know! It was your idea!"
"Anakin the Jedi have tried to protect the Republic, to protect democracy not some facist dictator who's managed to manipulate you and the entire galaxy so beautifully!"
"Then why've you come here to kill me, if democracy is all that matters! The war is over-"
"Anakin the wrong side has won!" Tasha could feel the hot, dry air singeing her vocal cords as she screamed at him. No backing down. Her heart felt like he was shredding it from inside her with every word. This wasn't Anakin, there was no compassion, no goodness, no . . . nothing. All she could feel from him was an angry buzz through the force, like a big ball of furious static. None of the man he was. His gaze shifted to something above Tasha's head, and the girl turned around to see Obi-wan walking down the gangplank of Padme's ship, his expression the most solemn Tasha had ever seen. Anakin's expression only grew more furious.
"I can see which side you chose," he spat at Tasha, her hand moving reflexively to her lightsaber.
"Anakin-" she felt a flicker in the force, he was still in there, the good man she cared about. Maybe. Her hand froze on the hilt of her lightsaber, and she couldn't move it, all her will wouldn't move it.
"Let her go Anakin," Obi-wan's voice was firm, strong, everything Tasha needed to be as she panicked. Her heart increased and she struggled, losing her concentration. He was going to kill her, he was going to kill her, she had to get out-
A searing pain as the lightsaber sunk into her, her mouth opening but no sound coming out. Her body sunk to the floor, released from its Force prison. Anakin stood over her, ice blue lightsaber twinkling gainst the red, the black, the swirls of colour filling her vision. A man's scream filtered through her ears as blood rushed through them, sloshing through her head. And his eyes, the look of hatred, of understanding, of disbelief at what he'd done, in those golden eyes, and everything went black-
And she was back-
Tasha panted, holding onto the doorframe of the bathroom trying to get her breath back. it felt like she'd flown through a million parsecs in a second, her heart trying to catch up with her brain.
"Hey Tash can I borrow-" the shrill voice of her roommate Stephanie trailed off as she saw her, big hair bouncing as she walked on her platforms, "you alright, you look like you've just run a marathon!"
Tasha turned, looking in the mirror: her black hair, pulled up into an enormous bouncy ponytail looked slightly dishevelled the sheen of sweat covering her brow sticking tendrils to her face. Her face itself seemed younger than she remembered it looking last time she checked herself, a good ten years younger – she looked like an eighteen year old again. her clothes looked how she remembered she dressed at home: high waisted pink pants, tank top, her favourite black jacket with shoulder pads, big gold hoop earrings dangling through holes in her ears.
It was like she'd never –
"Yeah," she said to Steph's concerned expression, "yeah, I'm fine, just scared myself." Steph didn't look convinced, but nodded anyway.
"Okay, I'm off to work, I'll see you later?" Tasha nodded.
Surely everything couldn't have been a hallucination. It was like no time had passed since she'd –
A stabbing pain in her ribs. Tasha pulled up her tank top, not sure what she was looking for exactly, something to prove she wasn't crazy? And there, right where she'd been stabbed, was a scar, a faint silvery line of a scar. She couldn't help but smile, it had been real-
Another stab of pain-
She bolted upright, whipping her head around, gasping for breath, her eyes still wide in horror. Leia watched her from a seat on the side of the bed, her expression unreadable.
"Han, she's awake," Leia said into the COM link, standing up and walking away from Tasha.
"Leia, please don't go," Tasha called after her. Leia glanced back, looking down at Tasha's slightly pleading face. She seemed torn. Han walked in past her, sitting down in the chair recently vacated by Leia. Neither of the girls even acknowledged his presence.
He looked at Tasha, then to Leia, then back to Tasha again, taking in the look in her eyes with intrigue and slight confusion. He had never seen her look as vulnerable as she did right now. Leia turned around, leaving Tasha still staring after her as she left. Tasha felt . . . empty. As though her insides had just disappeared. And she hated it. It made her feel weak, and that was something she couldn't cope with.
"Hey, princess." Han said, snapping his fingers in front of her face. Tasha blinked, pulling herself out of it; only then did she realise she was still breathing faster than usual. She turned to him, and was surprised by how concerned he looked.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" he asked, flashing his marvellous smile. She shuffled slightly, trying to sit more comfortably.
"Like I've been shot," she said, and he chuckled slightly, "how long have I been out?"
"A few hours, that's all." he said, "you're a tough little thing, aren't ya, sweetheart?"
"Who are you calling little?" she said incredulously. He laughed again, and so did she. Well as much as she could manage. She made a small sound of pain, gritting her teeth. He smiled at her, but it was an apologetic smile, a sympathetic one.
"Don't look at me like that." she snapped irritably.
"Like what?" he said, obviously confused.
"Like I'm a kicked puppy, or something." Tasha replied, still irritable. He raised his eyebrows at her.
"Believe me, your highness, that's the last thing I was thinking of." There was an awkward pause for a second, as though Han wanted to ask her something but didn't quite know how to phrase it. Even though the silence wasn't uncomfortable, in fact for both of them it was a welcome relief; Tasha still felt the need to break it.
"Is everyone else alright?" she asked, her eyes instantly filling with concern. Han nodded, his eyes a little unfocussed, as though deep in thought.
"Luke's a little shaken up, and he's hurting but he'll be alright, eventually." Tasha gave him a quizzical look, then she remembered, the memory hitting her like a train on a track.
"Oh," she said in a voice barely above a whisper, "Ben." She slid back down onto the pillow behind her, feeling numb. Han stood up, not knowing how to comfort the girl. He had never been very good with showing any sort of emotion or comfort, and this was the first girl who had made him wish he was.
"You should rest," he said to her. Tasha immediately sat up again, pushing herself out of the pile of sheets.
"no." she replied harshly, "no. I'm fine." Stumbling slightly she got herself to her feet. She looked down at her top, and noticed about 15 centimetres of it had been cut off, and it now stretched down to just cover her chest.
"Sorry about your shirt, sweetheart, but I had to cut most of it off to just dress the wound." Tasha nodded in reply.
"Its fine," she looked over the pink marks that showed where the wound had once been, "how long until we reach the base?"
"An hour, maybe." He said, shrugging. She nodded once more and walked past him out the door.
"Let's get this show on the road then, shall we?"