Title: 66
Author: Jade Blood Kenobi
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Star Wars and its characters belongs to George Lucas. Jade and Seven belong to me. That is all. :p
Summary: While battling on Felucia, Master Jade Blood is caught off guard by the orders her troopers have been given.

* * * * *

The forests of Felucia were dense with flowers and fungi that were larger than any of those fighting. Only the AT-TE Walkers managed to push through and leave a wide path for the troops. Most of the plant life was crushed or singed by blaster bolts, but Captain Jade Blood had no time to mourn the loss of such a flourishing environment.

“They’re retreating!” she cried. “Come on!”

Jade waved frantically for her company to follow as she charged forward. The droid army had lost too many and were pulling back rapidly. Now was their chance. At long last, the Separatist regime was failing, and the Republic had gained the upper hand. The war would soon be over, and the Chancellor’s emergency powers would be forfeit. Things could resume their normal pace. All she had to do was complete this mission. Win one more battle.

Jade batted at a Super Battle Droid, bringing it down in one swipe, then moving to the next. Once this one was dismantled like all those she’d faced before it, she turned to urge her troops forward again. They were all standing very still in midst of the volleyed shots, and her eyes swept across the line of them.

“Guys?” she asked gently.

A row of rifles shot up, each one pointed in her direction.

“This isn’t funny,” she chuckled nervously. Her eyes fell on Seven, boring through the dark lens of his helmet. “Seven…”

He held his blaster in a death grip, his thoughts impossible to gage with no expression to go by. His barrel was jostling. Was he shaking? He fingered his trigger gently before whispering, “I’m sorry, Captain.”

Before anything else could pass between them, Seven spun away from her and shot the clone to his right. He whirled again to his left, swept the trooper standing there off of his feet, and fired at his chest. Those remaining fired on Jade, and she deflected the shots by mere instinct.

Two more clones fell by bolts that winged back toward them after bouncing from Jade’s saber. The last wrestled with Seven until he angled his pistol into his stomach and fired. Seven stumbled away from the bodies and grasped Jade’s arm, dragging her away from the scene. She more floated than ran on legs that felt numb and wobbly.

“Stop!” Jade panted, jerking her arm so that he stumbled and finally halted. “Just wait a minute!” She bent over and put her hands on her knees, huffing tiredly.

“We have to keep moving,” Seven growled. “There’s no time for a breather.”

“That’s not why I stopped you,” she said, straightening again. “What the hell was that back there?”

“I’ll tell you, but we have to get out of sight first,” Seven insisted.

Jade nodded sourly and trotted after him until they were far away from the battle and their base. They both fell against a towering blossom and sank to the ground panting. Once Jade had regained her breath, she twisted toward him and shook his arm as forcefully as she could manage.

“All right,” she snarled. “I’m ready for that explanation.”

Seven nodded and pulled his helmet off, revealing the sweat drenched hair and reddened cheeks beneath. He swiped the sweat from his eyes, hurling his helmet away with his free hand.

“The Chancellor called an Order 66,” he said simply.

“Order… I’ve never heard of that,” Jade said warily.

“Of course not,” Seven said. “Why would you? An Order 66 means we’re supposed to immediately fire on any Jedi officers.”

Jade’s mouth opened, but there were no words.

“Back when we started our training, there were all these weird, precautionary orders we had to memorize,” Seven said. “Stuff you never thought would happen. I mean, none of us cared. It was part of the training. I just said ‘yes, sir’ and moved on. I didn’t give it a second thought.” He hesitated before adding, “that was before I met you.”

“But why?” Jade croaked.

“Why?” Seven asked back.

“Why would anyone need an order like that?” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Seven softened. “Beats me. All I know is that if we were given that order, every clone in the universe has heard it, too.”

Jade’s hand covered her agape mouth. “Obi-Wan.” The name was muffled but still clear.

“Hey,” Seven soothed, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s fine. He’s really good at staying alive. Right now, we have to worry about getting off this planet. Then we can worry about finding him.”

Jade nodded, her hand dropping from her face and into her lap. “I just can’t believe this has happened… Why would the Chancellor do such a thing? We’ve done nothing but defend the Republic to the end, risking our lives… Some of us have died!” She clenched her mouth shut and lowered her voice when she continued. “And he’s executing us? Obi-Wan himself went to the man’s rescue, and there’s no telling if he’s even alive now…”

Jade seemed to lose herself in thought but came back to herself swiftly enough to leave her reeling.

“The Temple,” she grunted. “Seven, if an Order 66 was called, what would they do to the Temple?”

Seven swallowed heavily and looked down at his hands. “Raid it. Kill anyone inside. And burn it.”

“No,” Jade said without missing a beat. “No.” Her voice was not demanding or hateful or even passionate. “No, Seven.” It was reasonable, as though he were completely wrong, and she was gently instructing him of this. “They couldn’t.”

“They can,” he said. “And they probably already have. You’re in denial. That’s natural.”

“I’m not in denial,” Jade growled. “The Jedi Temple is a symbol of the Republic. Of democracy. You can’t just burn it down.”

“Captain, I’m telling you…” He glanced up at her. “Not as your buddy Seven, but as a soldier… It’s too late.”

“You know what?” she recited from far away. “Screw the Republic. This isn’t even about the Republic. The Jedi Temple was not a warrior factory. It was my home. And everyone in it was my family. Yoda always told me over and over not to get attached to people and things. But I loved every square inch of that Temple, and I cared about every, good being that passed through it.” Tears were streaming down her face, and she couldn’t stop them. “I didn’t always agree with everything the Council said, and I went on a lot of missions I didn’t want to go on, and sometimes I dreamed that Obi-Wan and I could just fly away and never go back… But that Temple was all I knew. It’s all I had in all the universe. It was the one place that, no matter what happened, I could always go back there. And you’re telling me it’s gone and my family is dead?”

Seven stayed silent. He didn’t nod or move a muscle.

“Maybe you should have shot me,” she said.

“I love you too much,” Seven replied softly.

Jade’s lip trembled, and taking this as an obvious sign that she was teetering on the edge of breaking down, Seven pulled his arms around her. She buried herself against his armored chest and wept there, feeling his hand on her hair and his gentle shushing against her ear. After several moments of this, he spoke up again.

“I’m homeless now, too,” he whispered. “I’ve defied orders, and I can’t go back. I refuse to kill a Jedi. Not after all you and Obi-Wan have done not just for the Republic but for me. We’re in the same boat, Captain. Just like always.” His voice was so affectionate, memories calling to him from far away.

“I’m not your captain anymore,” she said, sniffling and righting herself. “Not after this. I can’t be a captain in an army that would have my head on Palpatine’s platter.”

“Then what are you?” he asked.

“I suppose…” She smiled through her tear and sweat stained face. “I’m your sister in all the ways that really matter.”

Seven grinned. “I like that. Now what do you say we find ourselves a ship and get off this Force forsaken planet, sis?”

* * * * *

“Come on, we’ve almost reached the base,” Seven said, hanging onto Jade’s hand.

“I know,” Jade huffed. “I’m coming.”

Pushing forward had never been so hard. She wanted to reach a transport and get off of Felucia just as badly as Seven, but her mind was not focusing. Instead of facing the matter at hand, she was drifting to other planets, other times. Familiar faces swept past. Obi-Wan, Zahira, Anakin, Mace, Yoda… Where were they? What was happening to them? Padawans, Knights, Masters. She had called them her family, and they were shrouded in such darkness that she couldn’t see them.

“Jade, please,” Seven said, pulling her toward a back entrance to the base’s hanger bay.

It was like losing Cher-Ryll all over again, only a hundred times more hopeless. What if she were the lone survivor? Oh, that was far too bleak even for her and not at all probable. Master Yoda was far more powerful than she. If she could survive, then surely he was alive. Not to mention Master Windu. He was resourceful and second only to Yoda. There had to be more survivors, and she would find them.

Seven stood with his back to the wall, peeking around a corner at several of his brethren milling about a space cruiser.

“That’s our ticket out of here,” he whispered. “You got my back?”

“I do,” Jade said, bringing out her weapon. She gripped the lifeless hilt, her thumb hovering over the activation button. “Ready when you are.”

Seven wheeled around the corner and out into the open, firing precisely upon the unaware clones. Two fell before they began firing back, and Jade took this as her signal to sweep out beside Seven. She was much more prepared for this onslaught, and her deflection was more accurate, sending troops flying backwards from their own bolts.

All the while, they edged toward the ship’s ramp, finally bolting inside when the last clone fell. Jade closed and sealed their entrance while Seven prepared for takeoff.

“Get up here and strap yourself in!” he called over the intercom.

Jade raced to the cockpit, flinging herself into the copilot’s chair. When she was secure, Seven lifted the cruiser off the ground and shot it into the sky. Within seconds they were free of the atmosphere.

“Where to now?” Jade panted. “We can’t go back to the Temple, and neither of us has any clue where a Jedi friendly planet may be.”

Seven took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, we can open up communications and see what we get.”

“That might be risky,” she said.

“Just let me do the talking,” he said. “Chances are they don’t know I’m a traitor yet.”

Jade mulled this over, then nodded her consent. Seven flipped several switches, changing frequencies here and there and listening carefully. There was nothing but dead air.

“I’m gonna try something,” he said. He shifted the frequency to the Jedi Temple, and both he and Jade jumped a little when the sudden transmission filled the cockpit.

“The war is over,” it announced proudly. “The Republic is victorious. All Jedi are asked to immediately return to the Jedi Temple.”

Jade glanced at Seven with haunted eyes. “You think anyone will fall for that?”

“I know we won’t,” he said, dialing the frequency away. “That’s an ambush if I ever heard of one.”

Jade was about to go on when a wavering, blue form sputtered to life before her. She thought she heard her name, but it was too faint. Seven adjusted the frequency, and she definitely recognized the voice when it could be heard more clearly.

“Bail?” she asked, leaning forward.

“Master Blood?” he asked in return. “Thank the Force.”

“Bail!” she called, grinning and choking on joyous tears. “I’m here. What’s happened? Do you know?”

“Too much to tell over an insecure transmitter,” he said. “Master Kenobi said you were on Felucia. Are you still?”

“Obi-Wan said… When, Bail?” Her eyes were so wide, Seven feared they might pop from her skull.

“He’s alive,” Bail confirmed. “We’re preparing now to leave for Coruscant.”

“That won’t last if he’s headed for the Temple!” Jade shouted. “Have you lost your mind!?”

“Jade, it’s all right,” he said. “Master Yoda is with him. I can’t say anymore. We’re bringing a ship out to meet you. Just stay put.”

The feed ended before she could go on, and she slumped back in her seat.

“Seven, just… hover away from the planet a little, but don’t drift too far,” she slurred. “I don’t want them to track us, but I don’t want us to look suspicious either. And we need to stay in one spot so that Bail can locate us.”

“How am I supposed to manage that?” he asked softly.

“I don’t know!” she barked. “Fly casual.”

Rather than argue the point, Seven drifted through space, awaiting their rescue.

* * * * *

Heat… hot enough to make flesh peel… and sun-hued eyes peering at her through shadow…

Jade gasped and slapped away the hand on her shoulder, jerking in her seat.

“Ouch!” Seven shouted, rubbing his knuckles. “That hurt.”

“Seven?” Jade asked, rubbing her eyes with the heels of her hands. “Force, what…?”

“We’ve boarded Bail’s ship,” he said. “You fell asleep while we were waiting.”

“And you let me?” she asked.

“Well, yeah,” he answered. “You were exhausted. I would have let you stay that way, but they’re waiting for us outside.”

Jade pushed herself up and limped toward the exit, her right leg tingling as it awoke as well. She waited for Seven who lowered the ramp for them both, then descended toward Bail guards and his most trusted aide, Sheltay Retrac. Jade nodded a bow to the woman, who was immaculately dressed in white, her dark ponytail cascading down her back.

“I must look rode hard and put up wet,” Jade said with a smirk.

“Despite appearances, it is a blessing to see you well, Master Jedi,” Sheltay replied politely.

“And where is the senator?” Jade asked.

“On Coruscant,” Sheltay said. “He was called to an emergency Senate meeting.”

“I see.” Jade turned a pensive look on Seven, who cast his eyes downward in response. “And Master Kenobi?”

“Also on Coruscant. I believe Master Yoda accompanied him.”

“I need to be alone,” she said, her tone sharp.

“We could show you to your quarters,” Sheltay said. She was beginning to sound a bit nervous, but Jade surmised she wasn’t completely informed about the circumstances they were facing.

“Thank you,” she said, then turned to gesture toward Seven. “And please take care of this man if you would. Give him a place to clean up and rest.”

“Master Jedi, he is—”

“He’s my brother,” Jade said. The look she gave the aide was very pointed and left room for no argument. “Treat him well.”

“Yes, of course,” Sheltay said, signaling for the guard on her left to lead them to their rooms.

Jade entered her borrowed quarters and immediately shut and sealed the door behind her. Frantically, she reached toward her utility belt and pulled out her comlink, setting the frequency to Obi-Wan’s.

“Please, have your comlink,” she prayed, then brought the device to her lips. “Obi-Wan, do you read? This is Jade. Obi, answer me…”

* * * * *

With his hood pulled up to conceal his face, Obi-Wan Kenobi maneuvered the bustling walkways of Coruscant. He knew that his only hope of finding Anakin was to find Padme. If he would tell no one else of his whereabouts, he would at least tell her. The only obstacle he had yet to face was explaining to her what Anakin had done…

Just as this crossed his mind, his comlink went off in a series of loud, scratchy blurps.

“you rea— Jade… -ser me…”

“Jade.”

Obi-Wan rushed to the nearest alleyway and fumbled for his comlink. When it finally made its way into his hands, he set the frequency as accurately as he could manage in his sudden clumsiness. He’d managed to remain so calm and force everything but the task at hand from his mind, but it all ceased to matter at the crackling voice he heard from parsecs away.

“Jade? I read you!” he called a bit too loudly. “Are you receiving me?”

“I am!” came the cracking voice from the other side, and this time it was not due to an erratic link. “Where are you?”

“I’ve just left the Temple,” he said.

“What kind of shape is it in?” she asked gently.

“Terrible, Jade,” Obi-Wan said quietly. “There were no survivors. Not even the younglings…”

He sounded as though there was more he meant to add, but his voice couldn’t take the strain.

“Oh, Obi,” Jade replied. “The younglings? Why? What threat did they pose?”

“That is something which I have neither time nor energy to deliberate over,” he said, gaining his strength again. “I must go.”

“Wait!” Jade practically shrieked. “You have to tell me what’s going on! Bail said nothing, his aide knows nothing… I’m in the dark. Give me something that will shed some light.” She paused. “Like for starters, why did the Chancellor himself order our execution?”

“Palpatine is more than what he appears,” Obi-Wan said. “He is the Sith Lord we’ve searched for. All this time he’s been plotting against us and bringing events to a head, knowing they would lead to this. Not only has he orchestrated the perfect excuse for electing himself as a deity before the Republic, but he has brought down the only ones who could have stopped him.”

Obi-Wan could envision her in the silence. If she wasn’t sitting before, she was now. Her stormy eyes would be wide, and her perfect lips would be agape. She would be valiantly fighting tears of defeat, but it was nothing compared to what was to come. The answers to questions she hadn’t even asked.

“So he did all this?” she asked. “He attacked the Temple?”

“He gave the orders, yes.” He was beginning to feel closed in, shadowed by dark walls.

“Seven told me what the clone’s orders would be,” she said. “Infiltrate and destroy.”

“Not just clones, Jade,” Obi-Wan said.

“Obi, I don’t think I’m following.”

“You received my transmission about Dooku’s defeat.”

“I did,” she said. “By Anakin’s hand.”

“Yes, and with his defeat, Palpatine sought a new apprentice.”

“Who is there left?” she asked bitterly. “He’s killed nearly everyone.”

“I saw… recordings,” Obi-Wan said. “Of Palpatine accepting Anakin as his new apprentice. Anakin was… kneeling before him. Jade, I can’t…”

“Maybe it’s a trick.” Jade’s voice sounded so small. “Palpatine wants us to think that he’s turned so—”

“Master Yoda himself told me that Anakin has turned,” Obi-Wan said bluntly. “Would you believe him?”

“I can’t believe it,” Jade said.

“And why not?” Obi-Wan asked.

“Because if Anakin can so easily abandon everything he believed in so adamantly, what does that mean for me?” she asked quietly. “I always thought I understood him, Obi. We shared a common weakness in the intensity of our emotions and our tempers that seemed to flare up with such… speed. He used to tell me that he knew he wasn’t like the other Jedi, and it bothered him. I was there for him. I told him that I knew what he felt, and that there was no need to fear it as long as he controlled himself. I told him being angry and acting angry were two different things. If you don’t hurt yourself or others, you’ll be all right. Real power comes from restraint. Don’t worry, Ani, you’ll find that in yourself…”

“Jade—”

“And what about those babies? I can remember how they revered him! How many of them said they wanted to be just like him when they were knighted! They watched him fight, and cheered him on, and he killed them! He doesn’t even care! I thought I knew him!”

“Jade!” Obi-Wan softened. “Jade… You did know him. He is not the man he used to be. I wonder now if he is even a man at all or simply a monster.”

Across time and space, he could feel her shaking and taste the bitter tears drenching her face.

“What now?” she asked softly enough to break his heart.

“I’m going to Padme’s apartment,” he told her. “If she knows where he is, I intend to find out.”

“And then?” she asked.

“I will go to him,” Obi-Wan replied.

“But…” Jade squeaked as she tried to suppress a whimper. “What will you do?”

“You know what I have to do,” he whispered, his lips brushing his comlink.

“No,” she shuddered. “You can’t.”

“I must,” he said. “Jade, I can’t speak any longer. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” she sighed. Then the feed ended. “Obi, no. Obi, wait! Don’t!” Her words were barely comprehensible. Only shrieks. “Please don’t hurt him! He’ll kill you!” She knew he could no longer hear her, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “Don’t kill him!”

She curled up, pulling her arms over her head and winding herself tightly into a cocoon of her own limbs. She rocked, barely breathing for the strength of her own sobs. Everything she loved was gone. Everything.

Seven rushed out of his room, meeting Jade’s sealed door and slamming his fist against it. He had changed out of his armor and into some more comfortable clothes, but that was all he’d had time for before the pandemonium began again.

“Jade! Are you all right!?” He pressed the panel, but the door was securely shut to him. “Open the door!”

He gave up calling out and knocked his fist into the panel. It knocked loose, and Seven fiddled with the exposed wires until the metal slab slid aside. He entered the room, then halted abruptly when he saw her crumpled on the floor. She was alive and unharmed physically, but her entire body shook with the power of her weeping.

Seven dropped down beside her, laying a warm hand on her back. “I heard you screaming.”

Jade didn’t move or respond for a moment. Eventually she unwound herself and sat up to look at him. Every year of her life was written in the lines of her face, the veins of her bloodshot eyes, and the salt in her tears. Seven was overwhelmed by the ancient sorrow in her. He was not one to have profound moments, but in this one he felt that Jade’s soul had experienced this same pain over and over for centuries. As though she were doomed.

“I spoke with Obi-Wan,” she said. “He knows who started this, and he’s going to kill him.”

“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Seven asked.

Jade shook her head. “Not in this case, Seven. It was his apprentice.”

“Sykwalker?” Seven asked, his face contorting with disbelief.

“I’m starting to wonder now about all those private meetings he had with the Chancellor,” Jade said. “But why wonder? It’s pretty clear what Palpatine’s plan was all along. Anakin being found, Qui-Gon’s death… None of it was an accident. This is all just too much to learn in one day.”

“Slow down, first of all,” Seven said. “The things you’re saying are going over my head. The guards told me we’re on our way to Coruscant to pick everybody up, so let’s wait and see what they have to say.”

Jade nodded uneasily, and Seven pulled her into his side. Something had begun, time spinning past them faster than they could fathom it and events taking place without their knowledge. There was no helping or stopping anyone. There was only waiting.

* * * * *

“Master Blood?” someone called from the open doorway.

Jade stirred and breathed in sharply, bringing one hand up to rub her eye. She felt someone solid beneath her and jumped to the natural conclusion.

“Lion?” she asked tenderly, opening her eyes only after having said this.

“Mmm, ‘fraid not,” Seven said, sitting up groggily. “Sorry.”

“Oh…” Jade said. “We must have fallen asleep.” She looked up toward the door and saw the guard there. “Yes?”

“Senator Organa and Master Yoda have returned,” he recited.

“Oh, thank the Force,” she said, getting swiftly to her feet and taking off past the dumbfounded guard.

He watched Jade sprint away, then turned back toward Seven. “Is she all right?”

“No,” Seven replied, stretching where he sat. “How about you?”

The guard blinked and shrugged. “I, uh… I’m not really sure what’s happening around here. All I know is the Senator is very agitated, and the mutterings I’ve been hearing about the Senate and the Jedi are ensuring that things won’t be the same for Alderaan. I’m not really certain what I can do.”

“Welcome to my world,” Seven grinned.

* * * * *

The Force presence of Master Yoda was strong and vital, the feeling a joy to Jade’s senses. She ran without watching her steps or knowing where her feet took her, her feelings guiding her through the corridors. When she turned a corner and saw Master Yoda and Bail at the end of the next hall, she skidded to a stop. The last few steps she took were shaky ones, and she stopped near Yoda, watching him as though unsure he actually existed.

The master peered up at her, his green eyes watery and pained. Jade wanted nothing more than to grasp him to assure herself of the life in him, but even now she felt as though that would be overstepping her bounds. The awkward silence continued until Yoda spread his arms and lifted them toward her. Jade crumbled and dropped to her knees, gathering him up as she bent over. She held on for everything she was worth, clinging to his tiny body and feeling his claws gently stroking her hair.

She gripped more than just a small yet mighty master. Though she loved Master Yoda, this moment was more than a fleeting embrace between two Jedi. Jade held on to all she knew, all that was lost, all that she would never see again. In her heart she prayed unceasingly that others had survived, but even then their time was over. They were the last.

“Alive, I am, child,” Yoda growled.

Jade sniffled and pulled back, Yoda’s wrinkled features in close proximity to her own smooth ones. “You haven’t called me ‘child’ since I was as tall as you.”

“A child you are now,” he said. “Searching for someone to hold and comfort you. Here, I am. As I have always been.”

“And Obi-Wan?” she asked.

“Facing his own destiny, he is,” Yoda answered. Jade huffed a sob, and Yoda pressed his forehead to her cheek. “Mourn him, do not. For still he lives.”

“You feel him?” Jade asked.

“I do,” he said. “Come. Meditate with me. Feel him, you will.”

Jade nodded and released Yoda. Bail was at her side, pulling her to her feet, but she shooed him away.

“Perhaps it would be better if you got cleaned up,” Bail said. “You’re exhausted.”

“I’m fine,” Jade insisted, walking wearily with Yoda to a more secluded area of the ship.

When they had entered a quiet, dimly lit room, Yoda grunted and situated himself on the floor. Jade joined him at his side, wondering if her joints really creaked as loudly as she thought.

“Master, there are some things I’d like cleared up before we begin,” Jade said.

“Yes?” Yoda asked, his ears perking up.

“How could this have happened?” she asked, resting her hands on her knees. “All this time the Sith Lord was the leader of the Senate? I don’t see how we missed it.”

“Know of the Dark Side’s secrets, we could not,” Yoda said. “Seductive, it is. And easily cloaked. More powerful than even I presumed, Darth Sidious is.”

“You faced him,” Jade said, bending her head forward. “And by your usage of the present tense, I’d say… he’s still alive.”

Yoda nodded, and his ears drooped. “Failed, I have.”

“No,” Jade said simply. “No, you didn’t.” She put her hand on his shoulder, forcing his eyes to meet hers. “You faced him, and that’s more than any of us could do. The courage that took, and the fortitude to survive a battle with someone like him… Master, I refuse to believe you have failed in any respect.”

Yoda smiled wanly. “That you would reassure me thusly, I had never imagined.”

“I had never imagined that you and I would be sitting in a room mourning the Jedi Order,” Jade said. She paused and sat back. “But we are.”

“More there are still,” Yoda assured her. “Master Kenobi for one. Wish to find him now, do you?”

“I do,” Jade said.

“Join with me.”

Yoda shut his eyes, letting his breath out in a raspy sigh. Jade breathed in deeply and let her own eyes slide closed, following Yoda into a deep meditation. There were few times in her life when she had reached such a level of inward study. Her most potent moments regarding second sight were in her dreams, and even then she remembered only part of the time. With Master Yoda leading her, she was transported to other places. Past, present, and future were all open to her, though the future came in partly-illuminated mists.

All at once she was smothered by heat. Physically she remained stoic, but her spirit gasped at the heavy, hot air. Bright orange and red waves surged toward cloudy skies, then settled. Her vision was limited, snapping two and fro.

Where are they? she called.

Yoda didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. She saw them, floating precariously above the lava, swiping as they hovered on various machinery. In the haze and her own breaking concentration, she couldn’t properly make out their forms. Her own anxiety was causing them to waver.

I have failed you, Anakin… I have failed you.

Obi! she cried.

How could he say such a thing, much less think it? And why couldn’t she fully see him? She was too afraid, too tired.

They leapt, they met, and they drew away. One of them flipped toward solid ground, and they became still. Jade couldn’t catch her breath, the anticipation murdering her. What was happening? Why weren’t they moving?

One leapt toward the other, and she saw the foolishness in the move. There was no way he could make the jump without being cut down first. He was too vulnerable.

That’s when the pain hit. She was seized by it, her teeth grinding as she groaned against the fire in her limbs. Her hands curled into claws, and her teeth parted to release the scream building in her.

Yoda leapt up from where he sat and caught her when she fell. Her back arched, and Yoda waved his hand over her struggling face. Jade went limp just as Seven and Bail charged into the room.

“What now?” Seven asked, running to Jade and grasping her hand as he dropped down beside her. “I thought you were just meditating.”

“Felt something beyond her ability to suppress, she did,” Yoda answered, brushing her closed eyelids with his fingers.

“What could she have felt that would do this?” Seven asked.

“Obi-Wan,” Yoda said, glancing up at the clone.

“Hell,” Seven breathed. “Is he okay?”

“Know, I do not,” Yoda said regretfully.

Seven sighed and pulled Jade into his arms. He pushed himself to his feet in preparation of carrying her to her quarters.

“I’ll have the pilot set a course for Polis Massa immediately,” Bail said as he smoothed a gentle hand over her hair. “There’s a medical facility there.”

“I don’t think physical, medical attention is going to help here,” Seven said.

“Either way, she’ll be safe there,” Bail said. “We all will.”

* * * * *

Seven sat by Jade’s bed, watching the machines she was hooked to with an almost stern expression. It was as though he were mentally willing them not to make some out of place noise and end her life. He played with her limp hand, threading his fingers through hers then stroking her knuckles. The med droids had cleaned her up and given her a fresh gown to wear, but there was little more they could do. Their diagnosis was exhaustion, and they claimed that sleep was all she needed. There was no coma or brain damage, much to Seven’s relief.

He heard a slight shuffle at the door, and his head snapped in that direction. The man standing there was quite disheveled and his tunics were burnt, but Seven recognized him right away.

“With the way you sense me, I sometimes wonder if you’re at all Force sensitive,” Obi-Wan said. There seemed to be nothing else to say that his weary smile didn’t already reveal.

Seven stood at once, as though preparing to salute, but he rushed the other man instead. His arms flew around Obi-Wan, gripping him tightly enough to nearly injure.

“General,” Seven said quietly before pulling away.

Obi-Wan blinked at Seven, his hands resting on the clone’s shoulders. “What was that for?”

“Because Jade can’t, I guess,” Seven said, glancing back over his shoulder.

The two released each other as Obi-Wan slowly approached her bedside. “Master Yoda said she went into some sort of seizure while they meditated.”

“Yes, sir,” Seven replied.

“He said she felt me,” Obi-Wan muttered, putting his palm to her cheek. It was cool against his rough skin, and he found that he shook.

“Not sure what she felt,” Seven said softly.

“I believe I know,” Obi-Wan sighed. He rested himself on the bed just by her hip. “Jade, I’m sorry. I had no choice. I tried to reason with him, but he would not hear me.”

As was typical with someone wrapped securely in the arms of sleep, Jade didn’t stir. Though her eyes clenched shut a bit harder.

“Your sleep is pained,” Obi-Wan observed as he stroked her cheek with his thumb. He turned and looked back at Seven. “Has she been given any treatment?”

“They just said to let her sleep,” Seven answered. “Supposedly, she’ll wake up when she’s ready.”

Obi-Wan nodded as he begrudgingly accepted this, then went back to watching Jade. He heard Seven mutter something about leaving them alone and nodded again. The door swooshed shut, and Obi-Wan swallowed a lump in his throat.

“I wish there was something to say that would right all that is wrong,” he said.

His hand slid down her face, and his palm stopped to feel the warmth of her throat. Her heartbeat there was strong, her breath easing in and out of her lungs. He envisioned Anakin’s hateful face as Padme gasped, and suddenly he could not fathom what had happened on Mustafar. How was that love? When one sees their greatest love at their most fragile, how could hurting them further ever enter one’s mind?

“It outraged me,” he admitted quietly. “There was no sense in it…”

Jade’s lips parted with a restless sigh, her breath trembling from her. Obi-Wan’s hand swept to the back of her neck as he leaned down.

“Kitten…” he breathed, then put his mouth against hers. The joining was so gradual that it became natural, Jade rising up and moving her lips against his out of sheer instinct. Their mouths slipped away, bits of saliva lingering as Jade blinked awake.

“Lion?” she asked, sounding doubtful.

He didn’t have to say anything, because her eyes gave her the answer. She grabbed for him and pulled him down. Obi-Wan didn’t struggle with her. He laid himself beside her in the bed, feeling her clutch at his hair and singed tunics.

“I didn’t know what to think,” she sobbed as though he had asked her something and she were answering. “Obi, the last thing I felt was…”

“Anakin,” he answered. “It’s over.”

Jade shook and laid against him as though she would fall into a nervous sleep again. Instead, she wrenched at his tunic and dug her fingernails into his hip. Obi-Wan grumbled and rubbed his chin over the top of her head, knowing that she had to release herself somehow. He had always been the only one to understand her ways.

“How did you find your way here?” Jade asked.

“That’s a complicated tale,” Obi-Wan said.

“I have time,” she said.

“Padme would not tell me where he was,” he said. “But when she heard what I had to say about him, she could not resist going to him.”

“And you followed,” Jade finished for him.

“I did. When Anakin saw me, he became enraged and attacked her. Jade… she’s pregnant with his child.”

“Oh, Force,” Jade shuddered into him.

“After I…”

“You don’t have to call it anything,” Jade assured him. “I felt it.”

“I went back to Padme’s ship,” Obi-Wan continued with a voice that strained. “She came out of consciousness long enough to ask if Anakin was all right…”

“Obi,” Jade said, pressing her lips against his throat.

“The droids are making her comfortable,” Obi-Wan said, his voice a bit more even. “I don’t know what her condition is.”

“Go,” Jade said, pushing away from him. “You need to see about her.”

“And you?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I’m not on death’s door,” Jade said. “I’m tired. I’ve mourned you in my dreams…” Jade whimpered as her face crumbled. “I was sure that was you…”

“Love,” Obi-Wan dipped his face toward hers swiftly, plucking at her lips. “I’m alive.”

Jade sniffled and nodded. “Go on, Obi. Make sure she and the baby are going to live, as well.”

“I will come back,” he assured her, kissing her again before he tiredly clambered off of the bed and strode out of the door that swished open for him.

Seven watched him go without calling out. He knew when the man didn’t need interruptions, and this was one of those times. Cautiously, he peeked into Jade’s room and brightened when he saw her sit up.

“You’re awake!” he proclaimed, walking back in. She nodded, and Seven proceeded with further caution. “So it wasn’t him you felt…”

“Anakin’s dead,” Jade said, the words so horrible in her mouth that she nearly gagged.

“He always was a little off,” Seven commented. “Not that it matters much to say something like that now.” He had been gazing down at his boots, but he looked up at her now. “Did he tell you much?”

“Just that Padme’s here,” she sighed. “And I have a strong feeling she won’t make it through this.”

“Why do you say that?” he asked. He moved over to the bed and took a seat where Obi-Wan had only moments ago.

“Because if it had been Obi instead of Anakin, do you think I would have woken up?” she asked.

Seven tilted his head. “But you don’t have a child to protect. She does. She’ll pull through for the baby. She has to.”

Jade only nodded listlessly. “We can only hope she’ll be strong.”

“Do you want to go see her?” Seven asked.

The redhead wilted slightly at the prospect. “I want to… But I don’t think I can take much more, Seven. I’m just so tired.”

“It’s okay, sis,” he said, tenderly brushing a strand of hair from her face. “You’ve been through a lot. Too much. Just relax, and I’ll wait for word on her condition, okay?”

Seven encouraged her to lie back, and she did, turning slightly to curl into her pillow. He lingered while adjusting her blankets, then rose and exited the room silently and with a great deal of reluctance. Even with Obi-Wan safe and sound, he wondered if he should be leaving her alone.

There was nothing he could do for her that the med droids hadn’t already done, so with a sigh he strode down the hallways until he noticed a gathering of worried faces. He was apprehensive about approaching too closely, noting that they were engrossed in whatever worrisome thing had just taken place.

Obi-Wan leaned against the glass of the room that held Senator Amidala, then moved toward the door and asked to be let in. Senator Organa and Master Yoda stayed behind, watching pensively.

“Senator?” Seven asked from the end of the hall.

Bail raised his eyes to the clone and excused himself from Master Yoda to join him.

“So what’s the verdict?” Seven asked, glancing at the doorway Obi-Wan had just walked through.

“They fear she won’t make it,” Bail sighed, trying admirably to hide his grief and failing.

“What’s wrong?” Seven asked. “Was she injured?”

“It’s nothing like that,” Bail said. “That’s what’s so confounding. She’s… fine. And yet she’s dying.”

“I’m not the brightest blaster and all, but I’m not getting this,” Seven said with a squint.

“The babies she is carrying are Anakin Skywalker’s,” Bail said. “Who is now dead… According to Masters Kenobi and Yoda, he was dead inside before that when he became consumed by the Dark Side. So it would seem that Padme is dying from grief.”

“From grief?” Seven asked. He blinked and shook his head. “Babies? Plural?”

“Twins,” Bail said, nodding.

“So she’s going into labor?” Seven asked, looking past the senator again.

“They’re hoping to save the children,” he confirmed. He watched the troubled expression Seven carried and found it out of place on him. “Obi-Wan told me that Jade awoke for him.”

“She’s looking better,” Seven said. “She’s asleep again already, but can you blame her? She wanted to be here… That’s why I’m here.”

“This… revolution has killed something inside all of us,” Bail said. “I cannot be apart of a Galactic Empire. The senate is completely taken with the Emperor, and the representatives are too blind to see that he has stolen their voice and twisted it to placate his own greed. What good is the senate at all now?”

“What good was it ever?” Seven asked. He glanced at Bail and wilted slightly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that…”

“No, you’re right,” Bail said. “The signs were there, and some of us suspected, but no one tried to stop it.”

“One thing I’ve learned,” Seven sighed, “from some pretty harsh lessons is… there’s always hope. You may not see it, but it’s there. Keep playing your role in the senate, and that gleam will get brighter until it’s time for you to seize it. You’re a strong, intelligent man, Senator. I have no doubt you’ll turn this thing around.”

Bail smiled openly, putting a hand on Seven’s shoulder. “And you’re most certainly not a typical clone.”

“I get that a lot,” Seven chuckled. “Listen, keep me posted about this, okay? I want to get back to Jade.”

“Of course,” Bail promised.

* * * * *

Jade snapped awake to the sound of water pattering off a solid surface nearby. When she began to once again recognize her surroundings, she realized that an asteroid was no place for a rainstorm. She blinked and sat up, pushing her mussed hair behind her ear as she listened more closely. It was coming from the fresher.

When she stood, she pulled a cloak laying across the bed around herself. That’s when she realized that Obi-Wan’s burnt and smoke-damaged robes were strewn across the floor. She stumbled tiredly to the fresher and twitched her fingers at the door, steam pouring out when it swished open.

She stepped over to the semi-transparent curtain that blocked her view, leaving only a milky outline of what was obviously a showering male. She drew the curtain back slightly and peeked around to see Obi-Wan, who jumped in a comically violent manner.

“Jade!” he said, grasping for the wall. “By the stars! My heart…”

“Hey,” she giggled. “Sorry about that. To what do I owe this wet, naked visit?”

Obi-Wan smiled, but it was weak and counterfeit. “I felt that I needed cleaning up, so I retreated to your room.”

“Interesting plan,” she said, looking him up and down, feeling no need to guard the hunger in her eyes. “How long has it been since I went out again?”

“A few hours,” he said, his tone uneasy. He went back to rinsing shampoo from his beard, drenching himself beneath the gushing spigot.

Jade squinted at him. “Is something wrong?”

“Seven said he left you to sleep…” Obi-Wan said, his head dipping forward and hanging beneath the water. “He told me that he was quite tired of being the bearer of bad news.”

“Obi…” Jade said, her voice hanging between trepidation and warning. “What’s happened?”

He swept his hair back from his forehead and flicked his wrist to stop the water. It trickled and died as he gathered his towel around his waist and stepped past her out of the shower. Jade slipped her hands onto his hips behind him and forced him to stop.

“Obi…”

“Padme’s dead,” he breathed.

Jade stiffened. “And the child?”

“The babies are fine,” he said, moving back into Jade’s room.

Jade watched him go and blinked where she stood. “There’s more than one?”

“A boy and a girl,” he answered. “Luke and Leia Skywalker.”

“That’s… How did she die?” She braced herself, thinking she already knew.

“Of a broken heart,” Obi-Wan said. He looked back at her over his shoulder and bit his lip in such a way that his beard bristled. “I can think of no other way to phrase it.”

Jade closed her eyes for a lingering moment. “But at least the younglings are safe. Twins, Obi, I can’t believe it.” She gazed on him again and sighed. “How could that have been so easily overlooked?”

“She did very well at keeping her life with Anakin a mystery,” Obi-Wan pointed out. “And it would seem that none of us are as skilled at perception as we once thought.”

Jade felt her heart sting. “I suppose not. What will happen to them?”

“Bail has agreed to take the girl,” Obi-Wan said. He turned and sat down on the bed. “And… we need to discuss Luke.”

In spite of everything, Jade felt a smile touch her lips. It was a slight, delicate one, but part of her former self shone in it.

“You made a decision without me, didn’t you?” she asked.

“A bit of one, yes,” he answered.

“Whatever it is, I’m there,” she said without hesitation.

Obi-Wan shook his head. “I could not ask that of you.”

“You’re not asking,” she said. “It’s a given. You’re taking him, aren’t you?”

“I’m taking him to what remains of Anakin’s family,” he said. “His stepbrother on Tatooine. I have offered to stay there and watch over him. I feel it is the only thing to do. Where else would I go?”

Jade moved back into the room slowly as she thought through her next words. “Do you think you deserve exile?”

“I feel like a fool,” he said bluntly, his eyes boring into her. “I’ve gone over the events in my mind a thousand times since I returned with Padme, and I’ve done everything wrong. I see that now. Only it does no good to see the truth in retrospect.”

“I’ve never heard you talk this way,” Jade said. She moved to his side and stood there, putting out a hand to cup his cheek. “You were once a resolved knight who believed in himself.”

“A sweet way of saying that I was arrogant,” Obi-Wan chuckled, pulling his face away from her tender touch. “After what I’ve done, I cannot see that in myself any longer. I failed, Jade. In the most horrendous way possible. I destroyed my own padawan. The only I ever had and ever will. In a non-direct way… I killed the Order.”

Jade gritted her teeth and dropped to the bed beside him, gripping his shoulders. “Don’t you say that!” She shook him violently. “You did the best you could! I was there for nearly every moment of it, and I saw how hard you tried.” She loosened her grip and slipped her hands up to his face. “There were obstacles at every turn, and no one thought you were capable. No one thought Anakin was worth the trouble.”

“Maybe they were right,” Obi-Wan said miserably.

“This is not you!” she insisted. “This is despair’s voice, not Obi-Wan’s. You convinced yourself that you’re a failure, but not me. I still believe in you. I still love you.”

They kissed then, searing each other with their passion. They became locked so tightly that Jade didn’t even recognize their position had shifted until she opened her eyes. She was straddling his lap and gazing at him lovingly as tears ran down his cheeks.

“I will need you so badly on Tatooine,” he whispered.

“Which is why I’ll be there, lion.”

* * * * *

“So… just like that?” Seven asked. There was no masking the sorrow in his voice, so he didn’t even try.

“With Palpatine in the position he’s in, we don’t really have a choice,” Jade replied softly. She reached up and petted his cheek as he hung his head. “Exile is all we have left. Yoda’s already on his way to Degobah, and Luke won’t be safe until we get him to Tatooine.” She sighed and dropped her hand. “Have you made any plans?”

Seven shook his head slowly. “I might stick around with Senator Organa for just a little bit. He offered a place to stay on Alderaan until I can figure out my next move. Maybe I’ll just get a ship and blast off to nowhere and everywhere. I don’t have to take orders anymore…”

Jade grinned. “No, you don’t. You’re your own man now.”

“That’s gonna be an adjustment,” he muttered. “I could use the vacation, though.”

Jade laughed with the joy of hearing the old Seven in that forlorn voice. She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him. “You know you’re welcome to visit anytime.”

“In fact, we insist,” Obi-Wan said as he walked toward them.

Jade broke away from Seven and grinned at him. “Took the words right out of my mouth.”

“I’ll visit all right,” he said. “Someone has to keep you two out of trouble.”

“Just knock first,” Jade said, then winked. “I mean, our door is always open in a figurative way…”

Seven rolled his eyes and kissed her cheek. “Go on before I change my mind and lock you in the brig.”

Jade hid her watering eyes and nodded as she took her place beside Obi-Wan. He led her down the corridors to the ship Bail had given them. The senator was waiting beside it, holding Luke in a bundle of blankets. Obi-Wan took the baby and held it grimly.

“Thank you, Bail,” Jade said, holding him tightly for a long moment. “Your kindness, as always, is limitless.”

“You’re welcome, Lady Jedi,” he murmured. “Take good care of the boy.”

“May the Force be with you and your girls,” Jade smiled.

“And with you, Jade,” he said, releasing her.

“Send transmissions when you are able,” Obi-Wan told him. “And be safe. This war has only begun.”

“Yes, and it is not lost yet,” Bail promised. “May the Force be with you.”

Obi-Wan bowed, and Jade followed him aboard their vessel. She held out her arms and took the baby from him, bouncing it and cooing as she settled into her seat. Obi-Wan began the pre-flight preparations and lifted the ship within the hanger, shooting off into space with the doors opened. He set their course for Tatooine and jumped into hyperspace as Jade’s baby talk drifted into his ear. When he had finished with the ship for the time being, he turned toward Jade and smiled.

“Did I hear you say ‘Lukey-pookie’?” he asked playfully.

“A fitting pet name, don’t you think?” she replied.

“You were meant to be a mother,” he said. “Though you are much a child yourself at times.”

Jade chuckled, then sniffed quite suddenly as a tear rolled down her cheek. Obi-Wan almost jumped at the change in her and put his rough palm to her tear, brushing it away.

“Kitten,” he soothed.

“No, it’s all right,” she said, taking in a deep breath. “I just haven’t dried up yet.” She laughed and sniffled in succession.

“We’ve been through terrible times before,” Obi-Wan assured her.

“Nothing like this,” she said with a shake of her head.

“But we have seen things that nearly equaled it,” he grumbled, the tone of his voice designed to ease her inner pain. “Have we not?”

“Yes,” she answered reluctantly.

“And here we are,” he said. “There are still blessings to be accounted for, and one is that we are together.” He paused. “When I thought I’d lost you, I couldn’t even think of it. I did everything to think of something else. Concentrate on getting to safety, getting to the bottom of the crimes committed… When I heard your voice, my heart skipped a beat. No, I lie. Not just one. Several.”

Jade giggled, leaning her face into his hand.

“Instantly, I knew that… Everything would be fine. Somehow…”

“But it wasn’t.”

“But it will be,” he insisted. “Don’t lose hope, love. Mourn, by all means. Just remember that I am alive and willing to drown in your tears, and that means something.”

Jade blinked tiredly at him. “I love you.”

“You know I love you,” he replied, leveling his eyes at her meaningfully.

Jade climbed up from her seat and into his lap, still holding on to little Luke. Obi-Wan cradled them both, sighing and rubbing his beard against her when Jade sobbed into him. He cried a bit himself. The only one who kept his composure was the child, who watched them with blue eyes that seemed to see for ages beyond their years. Jade made a remark regarding those eyes, and Obi-Wan guessed that Luke may even be wiser than them someday.

“I hope so,” was her reply.

The End

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