ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝔸𝕃 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 1}

【 SIX 】

     ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇꜱᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪᴅᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴛᴀᴋᴇɴ ɪɴ ᴛᴇɴꜱᴇ ꜱɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ. Jar Jar was mostly still out for the count--at least until we arrived abruptly at the surface and he was shaken awake.

"Mmm!" He cried, glancing out the window in the back. "Dis'n loverly."

Obi-Wan pressed a button on the control bar and deactivated the plasma roof keeping the water from entering the transport. I stood up at once and stretched, the freedom in my legs reinvigorating me after that long, stressful journey. Qui-Gon stood as well, looking around thoughtfully.

"Beautiful city," he remarked, looking around.

"Theed," I told him. "It's the capital of Naboo. I grew up here."

It was beautiful, I'd give him that. But it was full of mostly bad memories. Just being here put an ache in my heart.

"You don't sound so happy about that," Obi-Wan noted, glancing up at me as he steered us toward the shore.

I determinedly looked away, not meeting his eyes. "It doesn't matter."

"Yes it does," he protested.

"I'm fine," I said sharply. Thankfully, at that moment, we arrived at a dock, so I hopped out smoothly, changing the subject as quickly as I could. "Come on, we need to go find my sister and warn her."

Qui-Gon pointed, following me out of the ship. "I fear it may be too late for that."

I spun around quickly, following his gaze. Sure enough, the destructive battle vehicles were making their way down the main street of Theed, the one that led directly to the palace. If Padmé didn't know she was in trouble already... she would soon.

I bit my lip, hard, then held out my hand for Jar Jar as he struggled to make his way out of the ship. "Come on, we have to go," I insisted. "Come on!" I repeated, sharper this time, as Obi-Wan took his sweet time pulling himself out of the bongo.

But Qui-Gon had been right. It really was too late. When we approached the palace, I could already see a battalion of battle droids leading a group of distinguished officials out of the palace--among them being Governor Sio, the queen's handmaidens, and... my sister.

Only it wasn't my sister. I could tell, even from this far away. My sister and I shared certain similarities that allowed me to identify her even from a distance, from the way she walked to the way she carried herself. Sabé was a convincing decoy to most anyone... but not to the queen's own sister, no matter how little time I'd spent with her.

Thankfully, I could see Padmé disguised as a handmaiden not too far behind Sabé. As long as I knew where my sister was, she'd be safe, and that was all I needed to know.

As they got closer and closer to our hiding spot on one of the covered bridges extending over the streets below, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and I pulled out our lightsabers, glancing meaningfully at each other. We had to time this, and we had to time it right. Any mistakes would result in the death of any of those officials.

When they were merely inches from crossing under our bridge, we dropped down, igniting our lightsabers and jumping into action immediately. I twirled my saber as a couple of droids shot in my direction. The shots deflected--sadly not back at them, meaning I'd have to do the dirty work of killing them myself--but at least I was safe, and so were the others. With a couple of twirls and lightsaber spins, the droids' heads were on the floor, and the group they were escorting were free.

"Woohoo!" I heard the familiar cry of a Gungan behind me and realized Jar Jar had tried to jump with us and had fallen flat on his face. As Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan took out the remaining few droids, I helped Jar Jar to his feet, and he scratched his head sheepishly. "Mesa thanking you again," he told me.