His Last Dawn- Rexsoka

Chapter. 7

Night 2:

Life Count: 70

Padme Amidala:

"Anakin?"

Padme was frightened.

She'd seen things that most people would never go though in their entire life. She had seen someone killed, seen the knife fly through the air, and saw him stumble off. He was probably dead by now, and his name just hadn't appeared on her wristcom yet. The strangest thing was that he kind of looked like a clone.

"Anakin?" she called again.

She knew he wasn't dead because his name had also not appeared on the registers, but a small pinprick of dread still hovered inside her.

'What if he was dead? What if he'd forgotten about her?' Padme thought anxiously to herself.

She reached out and brushed the canyon walls with her fingertips, her breath coming in gasps.

"Anakin?" her voice echoed.

"Anakin."

"Anakin."

"Anakin..."

She flinched as a branch cracked and a small trickle of stone rained down on her head, mixing with the rain that began to fall.

"Hello?" she called.

"Hello."

"Hello."

"Hello..."

Her voice echoed back at her, like another person, and she shivered from fright and from the cold that was setting into her bones. Another crack echoed through the canyon, and Padme looked up just in time to see a small boulder falling towards her. She dived forwards spinning to point the gun she held loaded in her hands up at the top of the ridge.

"Is anyone there?"

"Is anyone there."

"Anyone there."

"There..."

Padme stood up and dusted her pants off, little clouds of orange dust turning invisible as soon as they hit the cold night air. She felt a trickle of warmth creep down her arm and turned to see a gash in her bicep slowly gushing blood. She sighed and tore a piece of her shirt off and wrapped it around the wound, effectively staunching the blood.

"Anakin? Are you there?" she yelled.

"Are you there."

"You there."

"There..."

A branch snapped above her again and she twisted to point her gun at the ridge again.

"Padme!" a voice called.

"Padme."

"Padme."

"Padme..."

Padme recognized Anakin's voice and started running towards the silhouette standing at the mouth of the canyon.

"Anakin!"

"Anakin."

"Anakin."

"Anakin..."

She could hear footsteps, not hers or Anakins but from the... whatever it was running on the ridge above them. She ran to Anakin, his outline becoming clear and solid as she was swept up and into his arms. She heard it before she saw it, however, the click of a trigger being pulled, and she acted on instinct.

"Anakin, move!"

She dove at him, pushing them both clear as the red blaster shot barely missed his head. They tumbled to the ground, the orange sand flying up around them and then they rolled to a stop.

"Good call, Padme." Anakin helped her up. "Let's see who this is, shall we."

He raised his hand, then sliced it down, and Padme could hear a scream as a bounty hunter she recognized fell from the ridge.

"Aura Sing."

"Aura Sing."

"Sing."

"Sing..."

Aura Sing was crumpled on the floor of the cavern, and Padme gave a sigh of relief when she saw that the bounty hunter was not breathing.

"I think she's dead." Padme threw her arms around Anakin. "Ani, I was so worried about you."

"Well, that's one down, about sixty-seven to go." Anakin kissed his wife on the head. "We'll make it out of here, Padme. Together."

"Together." Padme stepped back and smiled.

She gazed at Anakin, her brown eyes meeting his crystal blue ones and the hope that they could both get out shinning between them. Then, the peace was broken as one gunshot was heard, and Padme gave a small gasp and looked down at the bullet hole right through her chest.

"Padme!" Anakin yelled as his wife fell.

Behind her was Aura Sing, gun still raised, then she too fell lifeless next to the body of Padme Amidala.