The Delusions of Dreamers

Six

Satine heard muttering from far, far away, as if she were underwater.  She couldn't see anything and she couldn't remember anything.  Was she dreaming? What had happened?  

Then someone nudged her, and all sense rushed back into her.

Her blue eyes flew open to find two red orbs boring into her.

Cad Bane leaned back.  "Nice of you to join us, Satine Kryze."

She tried to rub her eyes, but found her wrists were bound by chains.  "I... What...?"

"I'm afraid we have been captured, Satine," sighed Obi-Wan.  She turned her head to the right and found him next to her, and Qui-Gon was sitting on her other side.

"Why?" was all she could ask.

The pilot chuckled.  "You may have given me fifty credits for your journey, but someone else is willing to pay a lot more for you, Duchess."

"You're not a pilot, are you?" growled Qui-Gon.  "You're a bounty hunter."

"Took you long enough," Cad Bane drawled.

"You're bringing us to Jabba the Hutt, aren't you?" inquired the Padawan.

The bounty hunter folded his arms.  "Jabba just asked for the duchess, but I'm sure he'll pay a fine sum for two Jedi," he sneered.  "And you know what else will be worth the trouble?" The three of them just glared at Bane.  "The black market loves lightsabers."

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon immediately looked to their belts, and sure enough, their sabers were no where to be seen.  Satine may not have been very offended about the lightsaber situation, but she knew that escaping would be a lot harder without them.

She cast a worried glance at Obi-Wan, seeing the storm brewing in his eyes.  Cad Bane must have seen it, too.

"Don't try anything, Padawan," the Duros warned.  "Jabba doesn't care if I bring him a dead duchess."

Then he pulled out a remote and pressed a button.  Satine gasped and started spasming in excruciating pain.  Bane was electrocuting her with the collar around her neck.

"Stop!" Obi-Wan cried, lurching toward the bounty hunter.  But Bane just electrocuted him, too, and he fell back to the floor.

Finally, Bane smashed a button on the remote and the shocking ceased.  Satine let out a sob of relief, slumping against the Padawan.

"Enjoy yourselves," the bounty hunter snarled.  Then he left them alone in the small, empty cell.

"Are you two okay?" Qui-Gon asked, worry glinting in his eyes.  Satine was panting and tears were streaming down her cheeks.  No! she wanted to scream.  Her planet was at war, people were trying to kill her, she had no idea where she was, and now she had just been electrocuted by some heathen!

"Delightful," gasped Obi-Wan.  His shoulders were heaving, which was quite uncomfortable for Satine's head, but she found that she didn't really want to sit up quite yet.  "Satine?" The Padawan looked over at her, and his face seemed to flicker in surprise.

He was probably astonished that the duchess wasn't being hostile towards him.  Satine was just too tired to be angry.

"It's going to be alright, Duchess," Obi-Wan murmured.  Then he tried to pat her leg, but the movement was a little awkward because of his manacles.

Apparently, that comforting touch was not what Satine needed because it caused all of her walls to crumble, and she exploded into more tears.  The Duchess of Mandalore didn't feel very powerful or strong in that moment.  She felt like a little girl again who just wanted to go home.

"I... I didn't know I was that bad at comforting people," Obi-Wan cringed beside her, and somehow it made her laugh through the tears.

"No, it's not you," she sobbed.  Then she wiped away her tears and looked into the Padawan's bright blue eyes, taking a deep breath.  "I'm sorry, you know.  For being so... difficult." She lifted her head off his shoulder and leaned back against the wall.  "I just... all this stress and anger have been building up ever since this awful civil war started, and I have had no one to vent to.  So every day, these terrible feelings just get worse and worse, and I guess I took it all out on you two."

Qui-Gon smiled at her encouragingly, but Obi-Wan just seemed frozen in shock.  

"Now, this doesn't mean I'm going to stop being a pain in the ass," Satine said with a half-hearted smile, "but I can try to be more helpful from now on."

"We are very glad," the Jedi Master said.

Then Obi-Wan started chuckling.  "I won't believe it until I see it, darling."

Satine rolled her eyes.  "You are so insufferable."

He just flashed her a grin before turning to Qui-Gon.  "So, uh... what's the plan, Master?