14 - Still worth it

<div id="i4c-draggable-container" style="position: fixed; z-index: 1499; width: 0px; height: 0px;"><div data-reactroot="" class="resolved" style="all: initial;"></div></div>Of course the first thing I have to do is pack for travel to Albarra for the Argentuffe Open. Let's see. Changes of clothing, toiletries, reader, physical copy of Mazir's 'Of the Force', lightsabre. There, done.

"Dee-Jay! Have you seen the micro-waldoes?" calls out Anakin.

My charge of course, must have all his tools just in case Albarra is some barbarian outpost with nothing more sophisticated than a hammer. Which is unlikely since Argentuffe is part of the Galactic racing circuit. Still, everyone likes their tools.

"Where were you last using them?" I ask.

"I was working on a pulse charger. Oh." comes the reply. There is the sound of running feet then "Found it."

Anakin eventually appears with a much bigger bag. He looks back.

"I might need that charger." he says and then looks at the bulging bag.

"Don't worry Anakin. It can go in mine." I say.

"Thanks Dee-Jay! Can I take a few more then?" he says.

I look at my bag. I consider the parts littering every flat surface in the apartment. There is pretty much an unassembled racer here.

"Let me com Layferra. We can get them to send a lift van over." I say.

It will take a while longer, but it's not like they will leave without him. I make the call.

----

Some hours later we are at the campus ship pad loading everything into Layferra One. A technician pushes a pallet with a large box up to us.

"Package for Skywalker." says the technician.

I look the box over. It's large enough for a dwarf to fit in and covered in transport stickers and stencils. Just in time, as always.

Anakin leaps aboard the pallet and opens the box. Inside is a squat droid.

"R2! What are you doing here." he says.

In response the droid toots, warblers and beeps. It then swivels it's top. A hologram appears. A message.

"Hello Anakin. I hope this reaches you in time before you leave for Albarra. I think it is exciting you are following your dreams and so, as an early birthday gift I present you this R2 unit, who I think, needs no introduction to you. Happy birthday Ani." says Padme's image before smiling and winking out.

"Awesome. R2, you can help me go over the racer specs. This one's much faster, you'll love it." says Anakin.

In response the droid twitters and beeps. The pallet is lowered and R2 and Anakin head for the ship's boarding ramp.

"Those two look like they're actually talking to each other." says Joffs besides me.

"Not normal?" I hazard.

"No. I mean you can get a sense of what a mech is trying to communicate but it's not speech as such." Joffs explains.

"With Anakin, it will be different I feel. Why do astromechs lack vocal circuits?" I say.

"Hmm, don't really know. Must of been a reason originally, but now it's just how things are done. It's not like it's hard to connect them to a computer. Anyways, we best be aboard too. Can't win by staying here." says Joffs.

With that, I pick up my bag. I then sigh, levitate Anakin's bag onto the pallet and push it aboard as well.

-----

Layferra One is a lot more comfy than previous ships I have been on. A lot faster too given that I have been directed to something reminiscent of a seat in a personal jet than a cabin. This is nice I think as I settle in. An hour into the journey Anakin hasn't shown. I go looking for him.

'Happy birthday Ani.' comes the end of the message as I approach the droid bay.

"Okay. Can you play that again R2." I hear Anakin say.

Uh oh. I wait for the message to play out and then enter.

Anakin is kneeling besides R2. Both look towards me.

"I, I was just checking on R2" says Anakin with a guilty expression.

I sit down in the cramped droid bay.

"You're going to tell me to stop." says Anakin defiantly.

"No." I say.

"No? But..." begins Anakin.

"But what? We shall examine what is going on and then you can decide for yourself." I say calmly.

"But it's not allowed. Even I know that." says Anakin.

"What is not allowed?" I ask.

Anakin looks at me defiantly.

"You know. Being in, in." says Anakin struggling.

Come on kid. You're going to have to say it. I wait patiently.

"Being in love." he finishes.

"Padme?" I say. Anakin nods. "Excellent news."

"What do you mean? I'm in love and I'm not allowed to be."

"I think it is excellent news because despite your unusual origins and extraordinary connection to the Force, you are still a normal thirteen year old boy." I say.

"It's still not allowed." says Anakin stuck on his personal sticking point.

Did you stew away like this constantly for ten years, feeling you couldn't tell anyone? Then against all common sense you decided to have a secret relationship where you totally could not say anything? The Jedi may well be a stodgy bunch of mystics in good need of a kick up the bum, but you dug your own grave and then lay in it expecting a miracle.

"We'll get back to that. I want you to understand what you are feeling. It's not love, not yet." I say.

"I know what I feel!" says Anakin. He glares at me.

"Do you? What you feel is attraction. That's normal and hardly forbidden. Might as well order stars to stop shining." I say.

"You don't understand!" says Anakin.

"I don't understand? I was thirteen once too. I was attracted to girls too and was obsessive about it." I say.

Anakin looks at me doubtfully. Probably struggling to match Dee-Jay, Jedi Master with the image of me at thirteen. Adults have always been old and all.

"So who was she then?" asks Anakin.

Mentioning your daughter in a gold bikini is not useful as a teaching moment right now.

"Jennifer. She was my best friend's older sister." I say.

"What happened?" says Anakin.

"My family moved to another city. I was despondent for days. Then I met Karen, she lived next door. It's very easy to become attracted to someone. Just don't mistake it for love. That takes both time and effort from both people." I say.

"It doesn't matter because I am not supposed to fall in love anyway, ever. Because I am a Jedi." says Anakin.

Yeah, bit of a sticking point that. Still, there are all those exceptions. Some were a bit crazy, even the real ones. They are options I think you originally were unaware of. Is Conehead already married? Should look that one up.

"Even so, you are incredibly powerful in the Force Anakin. The Order might consider making an exception in your case if you ask rather than cast you adrift in the Galaxy." I say.

"But the rules say." says Anakin.

"The rules can change, have changed in fact. But, this is all still speculation. Things could change over the next ten years or so. The person you think is the one at thirteen normally is not the one at twenty," Or twenty five, or thirty.

"Oh I know." says Anakin gravely.

That does give me pause. I am talking to one of the most powerful precogs around. How does that work? Does Anakin just see a possible future, one he wants, then he warps space, time, events and people to make it happen? Is 'reality' constantly being pulled this way and that by those strong in the Force like some cosmic tug o war? The implications are frightening. Where does freedom fit in a universe with Anakin and presumably Palpy. Is that why he needs Anakin onboard? Because left alone Anakin wants a Galaxy where he can go really fast and bang Padme. Which doesn't match our would be Emperor's vision of absolute power and control. Another thought. Is this what the Jedi do when they meditate on Cosmic wellbeing and harmony? Are they shoring up a system that would fall apart were it not for their thoughts and prayers?

Nah. That makes too much sense for a universe which demonstrably has none.

Back to the matter at hand.

"Well then, it is fortunate to know that. Okay, you still don't need to worry, you weren't planning on popping the question when we get back to Naboo?" I say.

The look of horror on Anakin's face will be one to treasure for years.

"Relax, I feel you've got an easy ten years to work up to that. I'll give you some advice though. Women tend to be put off if you obsess over them like this."

"So what do I do?" says the teenaged reality warper.

Thought you'd never ask. I reach into my pouch and pull out the bluish crystal.

"Here read this. It's called 'Boundaries in Marriage'. Think of it an engineering manual for relationships. Play close attention to Chapter five."

Anakin slips the crystal into his pad and dutifully looks up the chapter.

"The Workaholic Spouse?" he says.

Phew. It was the bluish one.

"Call it a hunch Anakin. Now, I understand what you're about. I won't forbid you from viewing the message, only recommend you go easy. Viewing messages occasionally again shows you're interested. Constantly doing it is unhealthy. I shall trust in your wisdom though to find the balance. Besides, we have a racer to design." I say.

Anakin looks confused. He looks at the door, then back to R2.

"Can I watch it one more time?" he asks.

"Up to you Anakin. Ultimately it is always up to you." I say.

There is a pause. Anakin reaches towards R2 but then hesitates.

"Um, maybe later." he says and gets up before leaving for the passenger compartment.

I get up. R2 beeps at me.

"Not even close. Only the beginning." I say to the droid as I leave as well.

-----

The rest of the voyage is brief and without further incident. We disembark at the spaceport and are quickly shuttled to a set of workshops near the Argentuffe Circuit. Anakin and co. set to building and improving their racers. Since I am no help whatsoever I go for a stroll. The air is cold, with the snowstorm kept at bay by a shield covering the town, track and race village. I watch the weather hurl itself against the shield for a while. It's like being in a reverse snow globe. Everywhere there are elegant personal vehicles and powerful racers on transporters. Most are covered, shrouded in secrecy while a few are on display as if to say 'Look at me, ye mighty and despair.' Those racers have small crowds round them either gawping or trying to discern their secrets.

There is a tugging on my robes.

"Mister Jedi?"

I turn round. Lavender Twi'lek. In a fur coat.

"Yes. How my I help you?" I say.

The woman tugs again.

"Please, help us." she says.

I look around. Guess I live to serve, no specified hours. I let her lead me to a hotel, she seems quite nervous, as if sneaking about isn't her normal profession. She seems genuine, no warning twinges from the Force. Inside a small room are three other Twi'leks. Just out of their teens, if that. They have the look of runaways.

"What are you doing here?"

Three of the women begin speaking at once. The fourth just huddles and is shivering despite the rooms temperature. Their master had brought them here and they had chosen it as the perfect time to escape. They had planned to lay low until the race ended and then seek help from the authorities. The main problem is that their loyalty is bought via chemical dependency. Simple, relatively cheap and very hard to trace if you live where a slave implant may get noticed. They only managed to get their hands on enough for three. Orianna, the oldest, refused to take any so the others could make it. The others don't want to watch her die and now it's my problem.

I activate my com. Anakin soon answers.

"Dee-Jay?" he says.

"Anakin. I have four escaped slaves on a timer. Lindrazine withdrawl. See if Joffs can do something."

"Okay." he says.

I wait. After a while the com beeps.

"Joffs here. Looks like you Jedi can't even go for an evening stroll." he says.

"Ha. Occupational hazard. You able to help?" I say.

"Sure. We shall send a vehicle, bring them here and then they're on Corellia. I will get a medtech too."

I give the address and cut the com.

"Okay, help is on the way." I say.

The women nod, but still look worried. Orianna is a pale red colour. Given she was blue, I'm guessing that's a Bad Thing.

"Can't you do something?" says Terrel.

Uh no. Damn. I get to watch this women die. My job can suck sometimes. Wait. I kneel before Orianna. Jedi Healing, sure I read about that in a book, over thirty years ago. Zahn, I think. Stackpole? Better not of been Anderson. Oh well. I take her hands in mine and concentrate.

I can feel her life slipping away. Actually fixing the problem requires an understanding of biology I don't have. I need something more brute force. There. A link. I can pour my life force into her, shoring up everything. At the same time I siphon off what is wrong with her and shunt it into me. I open my eyes. Orianna is a healthy shade of blue. The mottled appearance of my hands and the violent shaking is definitely bad I think as I collapse.

-----

"What the hell were you thinking?" it's Sharon standing behind me. I sit up to face her, noticing I am not in the hotel room anymore. Instead I am above the representation of the Galaxy again.

"Saving someone's life. You must of noticed that's a Jedi thing." I say.

"One miserable slave. Was that worth your life? You are dying, you realise." says Sharon.

"Does this mean the endless, 'come to the Dark Side' conversations are going to end?" I say.

"No! Die here, die now and your essence will be in my power. I will have, let's see, eternity to express my disappointment." she says as a glowing red whip extends from her right hand. She raises the whip. "I had such hopes for you, With you as my champion I could of been freed." The whip strikes me and pain lances through me. "Was it worth it? For one miserable slave." she screams punctuating the questions with more blows.

"Arr! Certainly for the slave it was worth it." I manage.

Not the right answer. The Dark Side strikes again and again and I scream as the pain becomes unending.

-----

"What the hell were you thinking?" comes a voice through a numb haze. I open my eyes blinking against the harsh light. As things come into focus, I see a face, Green eyes, green complexion, my head cradled in her tentacles.

"Not dead then?" I say.

"Not dead? No, although it was close. Only thing that saved you was your weird biology. What were you thinking?" says Shayla.

"I couldn't watch someone die when I could help. It's a Jedi thing." I say. Haven't I had this conversation already?

"One slave? Is that worth your life? " Shayla says.

"Yes. The Jedi protect..." I get no further as Shayla kisses me. It's fortunate I'm already in a hospital bed and sedated as this is not for the faint of heart.

Which means we miss the door opening.

"Coruscant! What the hell were ... who the hell are you?" says Hera from the doorway. Shayla releases me and straightens, my head hits the pillow.

The only silver lining is that I am unlikely to be subjected to the same questions again.

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