Across the Stars ~Anakin Skywalker~

05

"What about that vent there?" I suggest to Anakin, who's flying my ship. "Makes sense to me. Alright, we'll land in there," he says, piloting the ship into a massive exhaust vent. We disembark from the ship with R2-D2 and C-3PO following us. We head to a large door in front of us, and it opens automatically onto a ledge overlooking a massive battle droid factory. When the ledge begins to retract, we remain calm and focus on landing on the conveyor belt below without hurting ourselves. I quickly learn that Threepio is a major worrier, as he begins to panic when the ledge retracts. We end up separated from him, and not long after that, I feel something grab me and lift me into the air, causing me to scream loudly. I get put down in a huge bucket, from which I can't escape. I extend my retractable talons and climb to the lip of the bucket, finding that the buckets ahead of mine are being filled with molten metal, which makes me panic. I can hear Anakin shouting at Artoo to do something before I get killed. Just as the nozzle above me opens and I accept my fate, it closes again. I breathe a sigh of relief and climb out, leaping onto the conveyor belt, only to end up captured by the Separatists.

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Anakin and I stand side-by-side in a cart that will take us into the execution arena, and I'm hanging my head in shame. "Why are you so sad? Other than the obvious reason of our impending death," he says. "Because I'm the one who decided to come here to try to rescue Obi-Wan, and now look where we are," I say in response. "That's not the only reason though, is it?" He asks me. "No, it's not the only reason. I realized recently that I've been living a lie all along," I tell him. "I don't understand," he says. "I've been denying my feelings for you ever since we got to Dinauria. I love you, Anakin. Before we die, I want you to know that," I say with a tear in my eye. "I love you too, Duna," he says calmly, and he leans toward me. I lean towards him at the same time, and our lips meet in the middle, just as the cart begins to move forward, bringing us into the execution arena. We separate, exchanging a last minute "I love you" before we get chained to some very tall posts to await our fate with Obi-Wan, who we had come to rescue in the first place.

I hear some sort of garbled speech from far above me, and three creatures are released into the arena. The one that attracts my attention is a catlike beast with huge teeth, four red eyes, and a mane of defensive quills. As soon as I can, I extend my talons and scramble to the top of my post, just as I hear Anakin's voice floating up from beneath me. "What about Duna?" He asks. "She seems to be on top of things," Obi-Wan replies calmly, making me snort with laughter. I notice the catlike beast trying to climb up to me, so I get creative and use the chain that binds me to the post as a whip to ward it off. It backs off, and I return my focus to trying to escape from my chains, my talons having been retracted once I reached the top of the post. "Augh!" I exclaim as I suddenly feel an excruciating pain coming from my back. I look back and find the catlike beast is the cause of the pain, having clawed my back and part of my tail, leaving several deep gashes in my skin. When it moves to attack me again, I extend my talons again and slash at its face, making it back off briefly when I rip out one of its eyes with one of my talons. When it comes at me again, I use my chain to whip it several times in the face, making it fall off of the post, landing on the ground with a dull thud. It appears to still be alive, but not for long as a large horned beast that I recognize as a reek charges at it, ramming it with its horn. "Duna, jump!" I hear Anakin call to me, and I waste no time leaping onto the back of the reek with him. I hold my hands above my head, and he shoots the handcuffs off with a blaster.

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"Master Windu, you have fought gallantly. Worthy of recognition in the Archives of the Jedi Order. However, you are greatly outnumbered," the deep, booming voice of Count Dooku says from his position in an observation deck. It's taking everything that I have to force myself not to transform into a dinosaur, he infuriates me so much. I definitely don't want to transform in front of Anakin, so I continue to hold it in. As an army of soldiers dressed in white armor suddenly arrive, Anakin, Obi-Wan, and myself are put onto a Republic gunship and taken away from the heart of the battle. "Count Dooku is trying to escape! Follow that speeder!" Anakin says to the pilot of the gunship, and we begin to follow the Count as he attempts to escape. A sudden explosion rocks the gunship, and I fall out. The fall seems to be in slow motion, but when I finally hit the ground, everything turns black.

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"Duna. Duna, wake up," I hear someone saying, but they sound distant, and they're echoing like I'm in a cave. I will my eyes to open, and I look over at Anakin Skywalker. "Oh, thank goodness you're okay! I thought you'd never wake up!" He says when my eyes meet his. "How long was I out?" I ask. "About a week. But you're awake now, and that's all that matters to me," he replies, and I notice something different about him: he's missing his right arm from the elbow down. "What happened to your - gah... - hand?" I ask, gasping as my dinosaur form attempts to make herself known. "Dooku cut it off with his lightsaber. Are you okay?" He asks me in concern. "Yeah, I think so. Could you please turn around for a quick sec? I'll tap you on the shoulder when you can turn back around, okay?" I ask kindly. "Sure Duna," he says, turning his back to me. I strip out of the hospital gown I'm wearing and give in to my dinosaur form, letting her out for the first time in a very long time. I gently tap Anakin's shoulder so he knows that he can turn around, and when he does, he gasps in surprise. "Duna, you can transform into a dinosaur?" He asks me. In response, I nod my feathered head yes. "That's pretty cool. I've never seen anything like it before," he says, and I make a gesture with my forelimbs as if I were saying, "Oh, stop! You're making me blush!"

I return to my regular form, my dinosaur content now that I had let her out for a bit, and Anakin turns around as soon as he notices that I'm changing back into my normal self. I put the hospital gown back on, since it's the only thing that I have available to wear at the moment. "Okay, you can turn around again," I say, and Anakin turns back to face me. "Is that something that every Dinaurian can do?" He asks. "Yes, once we hit puberty, we can turn into dinosaurs, at which time we're taught to control when we transform, rather than transforming at random," I say with a smile. "Interesting. I guess it's true, what they say. You really do learn something new every day," he says, and I nod. What he does next takes me by surprise; he gets down on one knee in front of me, and I have no idea how to react to it. "Duna, what happened on Geonosis made me realize that life is too short to wait for things. Will you marry me?" He asks me, and I grin wider than I think I ever have before. "Yes, I will marry you, Anakin," I say, and he puts a ring on my finger before pulling me into a tender kiss. A short time later, we marry in a small, private ceremony at my riverside villa on Dinauria, with only R2-D2 and C-3PO as witnesses.

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Two chapters in one day? No way! Well, here you go, a second chapter for you to enjoy today. The picture at the beginning of the chapter is of Duna's two forms, which I edited together from two separate pictures. I don't take credit for the original pictures. I just thought that it would be nice to add a picture of what Duna looks like. I added another one below that shows her wearing a more casual outfit, like she probably would've worn before she became a Senator. Bye for now!