*Obi-Wan's POV*
I couldn't believe what was happening; all the clones had turned against us. Fortunately, I had managed to survive. When I was at the battlefield riding the lizard, Boga, a volley of laser blasted from behind me and I had to jump to the bottom of a water-filled sinkhole. Then, I escaped from my troops and met Master Yoda and Senator Organa. The rest of the Jedi were in missions with many clones, or at the Temple, together with Aure and Azha, and we knew they would be attacked.
"How many other Jedi managed to survive?" I asked, hoping that any of my friends would be alive.
"Heard from no one, have we." Master Yoda replied.
"I saw thousands of troops attack the Jedi Temple." Senator Organa informed us.
I feared the worst; what if we didn't get there in time? What if the clones had killed everybody who was in the Temple already? Had Aure and Azha survived?
I don't know why, while we escaped, I felt a sharp pain in my heart, like something terrible had happened. It was hard to breathe for some seconds, but I recovered and tried to ignore that bad feeling, hoping that nothing really bad had happened to Aure or Azha.
-------
Chancellor Palpatine had requested the presence of every senator at the Senate building; I suspected it was a trap, but Senator Organa decided to go anyway while Master Yoda and I headed to the Jedi Temple.
Yoda and I made our way through the Temple, avoiding as many clones as we could see. Then, in one of the main halls, I saw her: Aure. She was surrounded by about ten clones and she had no weapon; she looked scared, closing her eyes tightly, she didn't want to see what was about to happen to her. That's when Master Yoda ignited his lighsaber and jumped towards the clones; I joined him and we killed every clone. It felt weird to kill those who had been my allies a few hours before, but every guilty feeling disappeared when I remembered how much deaths they had caused.
I approached Aure, whose eyes were finally open, and took her shaky hands in mine. I checked out if she was injured, some bruises were on her beautiful face and her upper lip was bleeding a bit, but no serious wounds could be seen. I looked into her eyes and felt how confused and scared she was; I wondered how much time she had been hiding in the Temple, waiting for someone's help. I also felt something different about Aure, something new, but I couldn't guess what was it exactly. Then, I noticed some red marks on her neck, like someone's fingers had wrapped around her, trying to choke her. I frowned; whoever did that didn't want her to just die, but also to suffer. I caressed the skin of her neck gently and she hissed under my touch; I brought back my hand and held hers again, bringing it to my lips to kiss her knuckles softly. Master Yoda walked away, inspecting the building to make sure we were not in danger. I didn't hesitate to circle my arms around Aure's body and holding her close to me, her head resting on my chest.
"Thank goodness you're alive." I whispered against her ear.
Aure's hands clung to my robes while she fought back the tears. "I was so scared."
"I know." I kissed her forehead and a question came to my mind. Aure was fine, she wasn't hurt, so why did I feel that sharp pain in my heart? I came up with a possible reason, but I didn't want to admit it. "Where is Azha?"
"I don't know." Her hands clung tighter to my clothes and I felt her body stiffen against mine. "She wanted to protect me so she ran away. I tried to stop her, but she escaped and I couldn't find her. I lost her." Her voice broke at the end of the sentence and her breath became heavier. "I'm so sorry." She started to cry uncontrollably.
I caressed her back, trying to calm her down. "Don't worry. She's a strong girl. She'll be fine." I assured her, although I wasn't sure about that myself.
The truth is that I was really worried about Azha's safety; I suspected that the pain in my heart had something to do with her, but I didn't want to believe it. I loved Azha like she was my own child, I couldn't bear the thought of her being... Gone. She was too young, too good to leave us.
I was lost in thoughts of Azha, when Aure's voice brought me back to reality. "Obi-Wan, there's something I must tell you... Something important." I looked at her face and saw her nervousness and worry.
I shook my head. "Not now. We'll talk later, when we're out of danger." Aure nodded in agreement and looked away, but I took her chin and turned her head towards me. "Hey, don't worry, we'll be fine." I said with a small smile; she tried to smile back, but it seemed impossible to her.
"Let's follow Master Yoda."
We walked through the ruins of the Temple until we came across the bodies of some padawans. I was shocked by the sight of the children's dead bodies on the floor; whoever had done this had no heart, no soul. I felt Aure's shaky hand wrap around mine and I squeezed it. I looked at her, she was as shocked as me, speechless.
"Not even the younglings survived." I said solemnly.
"Killed not by clones, this Padawan. By a lightsaber, he was." Yoda commented while he inspected the kid's wounds.
I frowned. "Who? Who could have done this?" Aure stiffened next to me; she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "Do you know who did this?"
She didn't answer, she just looked around. She was too scared, too shocked to talk, like she was trying to recover from a hurtful experience. She knew, but I wouldn't make her tell me if it was so difficult to her. I followed her gaze, trying to find out what she was looking at, but she wasn't looking at anything. She was looking for something. Someone. Azha.
I also looked around, hoping that we wouldn't find Azha's dead body, wishing that she had been lucky enough to survive. But all my wishes and hopes were destroyed when Aure gasped, let go of my hand and ran away. I called her name, not too loud in case any clone was still around, but she didn't stop running, so I followed her.
When I found her, my heart broke. It was like that sharp pain in my heart, multiplied by a hundred. Aure was kneeling besides someone. I couldn't see their face, but I saw long blond hair and I heard Aure's desperate sobs. It was Azha, she wasn't moving, her body was on the floor and Aure cradled her head. I gulped and approached them. I knelt down behind Aure and glanced from behind her shoulder at Azha's body. I couldn't stand looking at her for more than a few seconds. Her chest was covered by three blaster shots. I had to look away while Aure cried uncontrollably. My mouth stayed opened, as breathing became more difficult; my eyes filled with tears I didn't want to let go. I couldn't hear anything but Aure's cries and laments. I tried not to cry, I wanted to look strong to be Aure's support, but I couldn't. I rested my head on Aure's shoulder and cried with her; Azha was taken away from us before I could tell her how much she meant to me, I never told her how much I loved her and she would never know. She had always been such an active happy girl, seeing her lifeless figure was something I couldn't understand. I would never see her smile, or listen to her laugh and her excited voice. Azha was too young, she had so much life ahead, so many things to learn and so much time to spend with me... With us. But she was gone. I couldn't believe it; it felt like the day Qui-Gon died, the day I left Aure in Naboo, the day we broke up, the day she forgot me. All at the same time.
When I finally gained some strength, I stood up and held Aure by her shoulders, trying to make her stand up too. However, she didn't want to move, she kept holding Azha's body, shaking her head, screaming that she wouldn't leave her again. It was a difficult task, but I finally made Aure let go of the dead body and stand up. I turned her around so she was facing me; she resisted, punching me on the chest furiously, still convinced that she wouldn't let her go. I hugged her strongly and caressed her hair and her back while she calmed down, still crying on my shoulder. In front of us, Master Yoda watched the scene with a sad expression on his face.
"Is there any way?" I asked him, hoping that there was a possibility of bringing her back to life, but he shook his head sadly.
-------
We were at the computer room. I had recalibrated the code in order to warm any surviving Jedi to stay away from the Temple. Meanwhile, Aure was sitting on the floor, shocked, depressed, looking away at nothing in particular, probably lost in her own thoughts.
Before leaving, I headed for the hologram area.
"There is something I must know..." I told them. I needed to know who was responsible of those children's deaths, as well as the Jedi's. We knew it had been someone who owned a lightsaber. A Sith Lord?
"If into the security recordings you go, only pain will you find." Master Yoda warned me, but that didn't stop me.
"I must know the truth, Master." I had a bad feeling about it, like something at the back of my mind already knew what I was about to see.
I flipped some switches. A hologram appeared in front of me; it showed Anakin slaughtering Jedi, including the younglings. Aure stood next to me, watching the shocking images without saying anything.
"It can’t be... It can’t be..." That was all I could say. I couldn't believe my own eyes.
Then, the hologram showed Anakin kneeling before a figure covered with dark clothes. Anakin called him "Lord Sidious". I watched in horror. Tears welled up in my eyes, I felt betrayed. How could Anakin do something like that? He was a Jedi! My own apprentice. My friend. My brother!
"I can’t watch any more." I switched off the hologram.
We stood in silence for a few moments. I looked at Aure next to me and remembered the red marks on her neck; I raised her head so she would look at me and I touched the marks as gently as possible.
"Did he do this?" I asked with concern, already knowing the answer. Aure nodded in response and looked away avoiding my eyes. "He could have killed you." The concern in my voice turned into anger.
"But he didn't. Azha saved me." I heard the hurt in her voice when she pronounced the girl's name.
Anakin had choked Aure, but I knew he hadn't killed Azha. Her wounds were not caused by a lightsaber, but by a blaster. She had been killed by clones.
Master Yoda talked again. "Destroy the Sith, we must."
I instantly knew what he wanted me to do. "Send me to kill the Emperor. I will not kill Anakin."
"To fight this Lord Sidious, strong enough, you are not." He reasoned.
"He is like my brother… I cannot do it." I didn't think I was able to kill the boy I had trained and raised.
"Twisted by the dark side, young Skywalker has become. The boy you trained, gone he is, consumed by Darth Vader."
"I do not know where the Emperor has sent him. I don’t know where to look." I complained.
"Use your feelings and find him, you will. May the Force be with you." And with that, Yoda left us to face Lord Sidious by himself.
I turned to Aure. I could still feel something strange coming from her. It wasn't her fear or her nervousness. I couldn't guess what it was, but it had me worried. She walked to me, the feeling becoming stronger by every step she took.
"Are you going to do it?" She asked me, taking my hands.
"I have to."
"How will you find him?"
I thought for a moment. "Let's see Padmé."
Anakin and Padmé were in love, so I was quite sure that Anakin had told her where he was going. We hoped that she would tell me where he was, although she would probably try to protect him at all cost.
*Aure's POV*
We didn't go to Padmé's apartment until the next day, on the afternoon. We stayed the night hiding in a discreet motel, in a cheap room where nobody could find us; at least that's what we hoped. I don't think I had ever been so grateful for Obi-Wan's company. Who knew what I would have done if he hadn't been there to comfort me? Yes, he also cried, he probably felt worse than me, but he still tried to make me feel better.
I barely slept. He didn't sleep at all. It was when fatigue took over me, when I was drifting off, when my mind stopped working properly, that my mouth said those important words I had wanted to tell him for days.
"I am pregnant." It was barely a whisper, he probably wouldn't have heard it if I hadn't been laying so close to him.
"Really?" He whispered back, not sure if he should believe it or I was just too tired and talking without thinking. I nodded and moved slightly, snuggling against his body to get some warmth.
Obi-Wan kissed my cheek and I felt his smile against my skin. His hand moved from my shoulder down to my stomach, where it rested for the rest of the night. I managed to sleep for some time, but Obi-Wan stayed wide awake to protect me and the baby. He finally had a reason to smile.
-------
~ Hello there!
I'm so so so sorry for Azha
This was a difficult decision to make
Sad chapter, I know
Thanks for reading!
Comment your thoughts and opinions
& may the Force be with y'all! ~
D.Xx