Memories

Chapter 26.

Anakin's POV

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"I saw my mother. She is suffering, Padmé. I saw her as clearly as I see you now." I walked away from her, then sighed shakily. "She is in pain. I know I'm disobeying my mandate to protect you, Senator, but I have to go. I have to help her."

Padmé watched me, her eyes a mix of concern and compassion. "I'll go with you."

Relief flooded through me, though it mingled with remorse because of my decision. "I'm sorry ...."

My eyes snapped open, and I gasped in a quick breath, panting as I tried seemingly-futilely to get oxygen into my lungs. I was reminded painfully of the awful feeling of having your windpipe crushed as I sucked in air, but I managed to calm my breathing enough to focus on the situation.

Once I had my wits back, the first thing I noticed was how dead everything was. The clumps of mud clinging to the circular walls, the dust layering the floor, and even the contraption by which I was restrained uttered no more than the faintest murmur. The Force seemed far away and distant, and it was with great difficulty that I could use it, even just a little.

I pulled uselessly at the magnetic cuffs around my wrists, then noticed that everything was covered in a blue haze. Above and beneath me hummed a pair of half-sphere generators, from which the energy field was being emitted. Then I realized that I knew what this was: a containment field. The first time I had heard of one of these was when Padmé and I had gone to rescue Obi-Wan from the planet Geonosis. According to his account from his time in captivity, Dooku had locked him in one of these while he talked to him.

Just then, a door on the far side of the room opened, and Asajj sauntered in, looking smugger than smugness itself. "Hello, Skywalker," she purred, her ice-blue eyes glinting in the dim lighting as her fingers played with a small device in her hands. "Look what we have here."

I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Can I say the same to you?"

Her good mood faltered slightly, but she kept her bravado alive and kicking. It frustrated me that I could only sense flickers of what was going through the Force. "Say what you like, Skywalker, but I can't wait to see your face when you realize what you've done."

I frowned, my mind flying through the hideously large number of possibilities, though I couldn't settle on one that she might have been referring to.

She chuckled cruelly at my confusion, but I detected hints of disgust and anger flashing through the Force. She wasn't attempting to restrain her feelings because she thought I couldn't pick up on them. My being half midi-chlorian probably helped.

She stood in front of me and tipped her head on the side, sticking out a mock-sympathetic lip. "I told you Dooku had a surprise for you. The trick is that this surprise is for both of you. Where one goes, the other follows." She laughed coldly at the growing concern on my face, despite my efforts to keep my thumping heart to myself. "Try all you like, kid, but those cuffs around your wrists monitor your vitals. You have a very fast pulse. Are you nervous?" She brushed a speck of dust off the device in her hands before smirking at me. "You should be. Dooku's treat isn't just going to affect you and your friend. No, this is much bigger than just two blips in the galaxy. Just you wait."

I tried to remain calm, tried to remember my training. If there was one thing Asajj did like, it was attention. I hoped I could use that to my advantage. "So, what's he doing? If he has such grand plans, maybe you can give me a sneak peek."

I was intrigued when I felt a spark of anger and betrayal flaring inside Asajj, but her face never changed, staying cool and aloof. "A magician never reveals his secrets. Have you ever heard that one?"

"I have actually," I responded evenly. A wild connection clicked in my head, and it took everything I had not to let my excitement manifest physically. I forced myself to keep my breathing normal and my heart rate consistent. "Dooku must be good at his work, then. He's not telling anyone what he's doing."

She snorted slightly, and I could see she was trying to act in control, but that surge of bitterness and hurt that I sensed confirmed my guess. "That's true. He has to make sure things are on the down-low, so people don't ruin his plans." Her tone had an edge of scorn tainting it, and the Force sparked in warning as she fingered the device in her hand.

"You're right about that," I said calmly. "He hasn't even told you, has he?"

Her eyes flashed momentarily, and she growled before regaining her composure. She stood up straighter and inspected her nails with more intensity than the already-perfect things deserved. "What's that to you?" she sniffed, holding her nose a touch higher than necessary. "We all fail people – just like you've failed Kenobi. I left a breadcrumb trail so that they know I captured you. They'll walk straight into my trap."

My heart skipped a beat. No.

She smirked, looking me up and down in mild satisfaction. "You don't like that? Well, we don't always get what we want, do we?"

"You want Dooku's approval," I spoke in a low voice as I stared her down. "He isn't giving it to you, and you don't like that."

"You want your mother!" she shot back, then looked sheepish. Guilt flickered through the Force: she hadn't been supposed to say that. But she caught my stunned expression and straightened up a little taller, quirking her lips in a sly smile. "You don't like that, do you, sweetheart? Your mother died, and it's your fault. Then you went and slaughtered an entire camp of people. That sounds more like something a Sith would do. What does that make you?" 

Her words bit into me, stinging more with each syllable she spoke. "At least," I started haltingly, "I have friends who won't betray me."

Her anger flared, temper exploding as fire danced in her ice-blue eyes, and she slammed her thumb against a button on the device. The cuffs around my wrists and ankles hummed for a moment before a bolt of electricity coursed through my body.

Writhing in the energy field from the burn, I strained my back and split an edge of the dagger wound between my shoulder blades. I flopped down, panting from the sudden pain.

Asajj lifted her thumb off the button, huffing in semi-indifferent approval. "That should teach you a lesson. Just remember, you weren't good enough to save your mother, and then you couldn't win against me. Now Kenobi's going to suffer for your mistake. You can't take care of your loved ones, can you? Think about that." After a moment longer, she swept out of the room, leaving me alone, utterly shocked and completely broken, with nothing but memories of my dying mother and fears for my beloved master. What have I done?

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Poor Ani, he's having a rough time of it, that's for sure. Did yous recognize the so-called "containment field" from AOTC? 

Asajj just got a little more interesting .... Who picked up the hints throughout the book? And just saying, she's fun to write. :)

We're switching back to Obi-Wan next chapter, methinks. Are you ready for them to live out Admiral Ackbar's words? XD (full marks to everyone who gets my reference!!)