Decisions

Chpt. 8

Audrey's POV

I groan, opening my eyes. "You're awake." I look up and see Obi-wan who was smiling at me in relief.

I take a look at my surroundings and see that we were both being held by blue electric restraints that were force-proof. "Great." I say sarcastically, "We're prisoners."

A door slides open as I speak, and Count Dooku steps in.

"Traitor." I don't even bother to control my anger.

Obi-wan glances at me warningly. "Oh no, my friend, this a mistake, a terrible mistake. They've gone too far. This is madness. I will ask to have you both set free immediately!" Says Dooku unconvincingly.

"So it was a mistake to kill Qui Gon?" I challenge, glaring at him.

Dooku's face hardens immediately, "Qui Gon Jinn's death was a tragic accident. I did not mean to kill him." 

I clench my teeth, "You killed Qui Gon, and that is all I need to know!" My sentence ends in a shout. "Why did you kill him?! He was your padawan!" My eyes start to water, but I refuse to let the tears fall.

Count Dooku looks surprised and almost regretful, "May I ask, why two Jedi knights are all the way here on Geonosis?" He purposely ignores me, avoiding eye contact.

Obi-wan must have thought I was going to say something bad, because he cut in, "We're tracking a bounty hunter called Jango Fett. Do you know him?"

"There are no bounty hunters that I know of." Responds Dooku casually, "The Geonosians don't trust them."

"Who can blame them." Says Obi-wan, " But he is here I can assure you he is here."

"It's a great pity that our paths have never crossed before, Obi-wan," Says Dooku, daring a glance at me, "Qui Gon always spoke very highly of you."

I feel my anger rise, "You are not worthy of speaking his name." I growl, my voice filled with venom.

"And you are?" He stares at me.

Was I? I feel myself start to doubt. No. I had to believe.

I say nothing and hold his stare challengingly. He takes out a lightsaber and studies it. It was Qui Gon's. I clench my teeth as he fiddles with it and ignites the familiar green blade. "I see you have started to carry his lightsaber." Says Dooku, smirking.

"Get your filth off that lightsaber!" I snarl, my voice turning dangerously low.

Dooku gives me a thoughtful glance and turns around, "It will be difficult to secure your release." He says, walking out the door.

I feel Obi-wan's eyes boring into me, so I turn my head, "What?!"

He chuckles slightly, "You look so menacing when you're angry."

I roll my eyes, thinking about what Dooku had said. Was I really worthy of being Qui Gon's padawan? The past is the past. I tell myself. Focus on the present.

"Hey," Says Obi-wan softly, "Everything Dooku said about you was wrong."

I smile at him, "How'd you know what I was thinking about?"

He smiles back, "I could see it in your eyes."

We both stare into each other's eyes for a moment. His deep blue eyes, sparkling. Inviting me in. No. I tell myself sternly. I break eye contact reluctantly and Obi-wan turns red. He probably had reached the same conclusion as I had.

After a few seconds of silence, five Geonosians came in and handcuffed us to a carriage. "Where are you taking us?" I ask. They ignore me and take us through some halls. That's when I felt a familiar presence. "Anakin, you great lump!" I grumble.

"I'm going to assume that your brother's here." Says Obi-wan raising an eyebrow.

I nod. Only Anakin would do something as stupid as this. Or maybe it was Padme's idea, you never know.

The carriage comes to a halt and the Geonosians take us out, leading us out into an arena. Thousands of Geonosians cheer and I give a slight shudder. The Geonosians take us across the arena where four pillars stood, they chain us to the two on the right. I look over at Obi-wan who was frowning.

"Fancy execution," I say sarcastically.

Obi-wan rolls his eyes and we both turn our heads at the sound of another approaching carriage.

"I was beginning to wonder if you got our message." Says Obi-wan, staring at Anakin as he gets chained to a pillar.

Anakin avoids eye contact, "I retransmitted it just as you had requested, Master." There was a slight pause, "And then we decided to come rescue you." He finishes.

Obi-wan looks up at his handcuffs, "Good job." He says sarcastically, causing me to smirk.

At the top of the stands, we could see Count Dooku watching us through narrow eyes. I glare at him as the Geonosian leader said something.

Immediately four gates open the one directed at Anakin emerged first. It was a gigantic red Reek with rough skin and deadly sharp horns. The one directed at Obi-wan gave a shrieking sound, stepping out into the light, I saw that it was a vicious Acklay. The last ones that were directed at me and Padme were the same. They were both Nexuses with malevolent black eyes.

"I have a bad feeling about this," I say, staring at the beasts.

"Just relax, concentrate," Orders Obi-wan, "The force will guide us."

"What about Padme?" Asks Anakin, worried.

I glance over at Padme who had picked the lock on one of her handcuffs and was climbing on top of the pillar, "She seems to be on top of things," I say.

I look back at my beast who had gotten closer and concentrate. As soon as it had gotten close enough, I twisted around and kicked it straight in the face. It growled at me fiercely and reared, about to claw me with its claws. I dodge twice and let the next blow cut through my chains. Now free, I turn and face the Nexus who was running towards me. I groan and dodge as the beast swings its claws at me. Having enough, I run towards one of the pillars full speed with the Nexus hot on my trail. Just as I was about to hit the pillar, I swerved to the left, causing the Nexus to hit ram into the pillar with such force that it was knocked out.

I glance over to see how Padme was doing. My eyes widen in shock as I saw that her back had a deep scratch that was bleeding. I run over, about to help, but she kicks the beast in the stomach and it rolled to the ground in pain.

Anakin had managed to tame the Reek and was riding on the back. "Jump!" He tells Padme. Padme takes a deep breath and jumps onto the Reek. Anakin catches her, and she kisses him lightly on the cheek. My eyes widen and Anakin stares at me pleadingly. "Later," I say as I jump onto the Reek's back too.

Obi-wan runs up to us too. He pants and jumps onto the Reeks back. Just as we were going to bolt to the entrance, the four of us were surrounded by destroyer droids.

"Great." I mutter, "Just great." 

The Reek stops moving and a heavy silence falls. I watch the destroyers all take out the guns, and I took a deep breath. So this was how it would end. 

Then, I felt it. The presence of many Jedi, around us, surrounding us. I glance up just in time to see Master Windu take out his purple lightsaber. 

I barely make out his words, "This party's over." he says, glaring at Dooku.