Chapter Sixty-Seven
Fallon

I feel numb, like how you feel when you've been in the cold for too long and you feel like if you move your limbs will snap in half. You can't feel, you can't move. You're just stuck.

Jayce reaches a hand up to my hair and tugs on it gently, his little face filled with blissful ignorance. I wish I were him. I wish I didn't know what was going on.

But I do. My queen, my friend just died. And there's nothing I can do. Obi Wan doesn't know either. He is still sitting in the back of the ship, with Genevieve still in his arms, even more numb than I am. I think if I told him the ship was on fire he wouldn't hear me, he is off in his own little world, trying to wrap his head around our painful new reality.

The communication device in the ship begin to beep, and it pulls me from my thoughts. I press on the button, finding a hologram of Aiden appear on front of me. I'm so happy to see him I feel like crying again, but I try to hold myself together, smiling at my friend genuinely.

"Fallon, are you alright?"

I shake my head. "Not really...wait, where are you? Are you on Coruscant? Please tell me you aren't on Coruscant."

He shakes his head. "No, no as soon as whatever happened happened, Padmé and I left. We actually found Master Yoda and picked him up, we have been lying low ever since. Where are you?"

"We've left Taris...it's kind of hard to explain. Give me your location and we'll come to you."

Aiden nods, his hologram fading out as new coordinates appear in the ship's system. I adjust our course, jumping into lightspeed to meet Aiden and Padmé where they are hiding out near Naboo.

The jump won't rake very long, so I make my way back towards Obi Wan, finding him sitting with his knees bent to his chest, his arms around his legs. Genevieve is lying down in front of him, he'd eyes shut, her hands placed over her blood soaked stomach.

Obi Wan lifts his head to me as I approach him, his eyes devoid of life, just as Genevieve's are, his face puffy and red, his cheeks still wet with tears. I've never seen him look so broken, so hopeless.

"Aiden contacted us, he sent us his coordinates. He and Padmé found Master Yoda, he's alive and with them on their ship."

Obi Wan nods, looking back down at Genevieve. His voice is raw, scratchy and guttural as he simply says; "Okay."

I nod my head to him slowly, walking back towards the pilot seat. I pull us out of lightspeed, spotting Aiden and Padmé's ship immediately. It's a beautiful chrome Naboo starship, the only ship out in space right now. It's a little ways away from Naboo, which makes me think that Aiden and Padmé fled here when everything happened. I hope her family is okay, I hope the queen is okay. The galaxy can't loose two great monarchs in one day.

I pull our ship closer to theirs, docking at the entrance, waiting for our ships to totally sink together before I exit the cockpit once more. I find Obi Wan no longer sitting, but standing with Genevieve's body in his arms, his face impassive. I walk past him, Jayce cooing in my arms as I press the button on the wall to open our ship up, revealing Padmé, Aiden, and Yoda waiting for us.

The smiles that had been on all three of their faces, die instantly. I feel tears brim my eyes again as I walk into the ship first, with both Aiden and Padmé looking at me in shock and apprehension. I can see in their eyes they want me to assure them that this isn't real, that the blood soaked body in Obi Wan's arms isn't our dead friend. But I can't.

I shake my head at both of them, feeling a tear slip down my face. Padmé lets out a sob, slowly walking towards Obi Wan, her face streaming with tears as she stares at her dead best friend. She reaches out and touches her cheek gently, shaking her head over and over again, not wanting to believe what she's seeing. Aiden approaches Genevieve as well, grabbing onto her cold hand, tears beginning to fall from his eyes as well.

Padmé can no longer take it, she turns away from Genevieve and buries her face in Aiden's chest, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt in her hands. Aiden holds onto her as well, cupping the back of her head and sharing in her sorrow.

Master Yoda looks very saddened, his voice grave as he addresses me; "The queen's son, that is?"

"Our son," Obi Wan replies, his voice still raw. A silent tear slips down his face, his lip wobbling as he confesses to Yoda; "This is Genevieve and my son, Jayce Daulton."

Yoda stares at Obi Wan for a minute, trying to process the information he just acquired. I find myself at a loss for words as well. Obi Wan just admitted that he broke his vows, that he had a child with the queen of Taris. This is the first time I have ever heard him say it out loud. Everyone in our little group know, but we never speak of it. Padmé and Aiden seem taken aback too.

Yoda nods his head, staying silent as Obi Wan walks further into the ship, walking through one of the doors, no doubt finding a place to set Genevieve's body down. I follow after him, indeed finding him laying Genevieve down on a small cot, his body beginning to shake again as he cries. I set Jayce down on the cot as well, grabbing onto Obi Wan shoulder's and turning him towards me, wrapping my arms around his neck. Obi Wan wraps his arms around my waist, burying his head in my neck as he cries, not caring that Yoda is standing in the doorway watching him.

-

I wait anxiously for the call to connect through, and I almost let out an audible sigh as Anakin's face appears. He looks different somehow, darker, the bags under his eyes showing more prominently, a hardness in his gaze that concerns me. But his voice is the same, tender as always as he asks; "Fal, are you okay?"

"What's happened? The clones, the Jedi, Ani I want to know what's going on."

Anakin nods, crossing his arms over his chest, his voice growing grave as he informs me; "The Jedi council attempted to kill Chancellor Palpatine, so he ordered the capture and killing of the Jedi. I am being sent to Mustafar to take care of something for him, I shouldn't be long. Where are you?"

"I'm with Aiden and Padmé, we're just outside the atmosphere of Naboo."

"Where's Genevieve?"

If I tell him that Obi Wan rescued us, then he might turn him in. Anakin may love Obi Wan, but I know his undying loyalty to the Chancellor and the republic. I can't speak for the other Jedi, but I know Obi Wan did nothing wrong. I won't risk his safety, not after Genevieve. Jayce can't loose both his parents.

"She and I tried to escape the palace together...but she didn't make it. Clones shot her down. Genevieve is dead."

Many emotions go over Anakin's face; shock, disbelief, anger, sorrow. His voice conveys them all as he says; "She wasn't supposed to die, she was innocent in all this...the galaxy just lost perhaps the one pure soul it had," He murmurs, guilt flooding into his eyes now, his voice filling with worry as he asks; "Is Jayce okay?"

I nod, trying to keep my tears from spilling down my cheeks. "He's fine. Padmé has him right now."

"That's good. Promise me you four will stay there, I don't want you getting in the middle of all this."

I nod to him, trying to sound convincing as I say; "I promise. Just be careful, I can't loose you, too."

He smiles softly. "I will. I love you, Fal."

"I love you, too." I tell him, watching his hologram fade out, leaving me alone, with nothing but my sorrow and worry to be my companion.

-

"Did any other Jedi manage to survive?" Obi Wan asks, his voice sounding distant, like he's in a daze. I think we all feel that way.

We are all sitting around a table, trying to piece our stories together to learn what's happened. Yoda has the same story Obi Wan has; his clones turned on him and attempted to kill him. Obi Wan says he hard his commander talking to a cloaked figure he thinks is the dark lord of the Sith, telling him to use Genevieve and Jayce as bait to capture him. That's how he found us. Aiden and Padmé said that they heard other senators talk about the Jedi temple burning, that clones have started to attack the Jedi there. As soon as they heard that they tried to contact Obi Wan and Anakin but they didn't answer, so they fled the capital. They picked up a distress signal as they exited hyperspace and that's how they found Yoda. But we still don't know the whole truth of everything.

"Heard nothing, we have. A coded message, we intercepted, telling all Jedi to go to the temple. Says the war is over, it does."

"If any Jedi hear the message they'll be walking into a trap." Aiden points out, his face sunken and puffy, just as Padmé's is. She is sitting next to him, Jayce sleeping silently in her arms.

"Is there any way to tamper with the message?" Padmé asks softly.

"We would have to go to the temple," Obi Wan replies, rubbing a hand over his beard. "I think it's a risk worth taking, besides, going to the temple might shed some light on what's happened."

I think we'd all like some answers, so I nod my head in agreement. Whether the dark lord of the Sith is behind this or not, I don't know. But I know the Jedi aren't traitors, and I know that they don't deserve this gruesome fate. I keep wondering why Anakin believes this...he must have seen something. But if a few Jedi did betray the republic, why does that make every Jedi a traitor?

The sooner they go to the temple and find out answers, the better. And everyone seems to agree on that.

A beeping noise sounds through the ship, and it brings all of us to attention. The holo projector in the middle of the table says that the Chancellor's office is contacting Aiden and Padmé.

Aiden nods his head to Yoda and Obi Wan, who slip out of their seats and duck under the table to stay out of sight. Padmé passes Jayce over to me, and I slip under the table as well, knowing I can't be seen either. The last time anyone saw me I was getting into a ship with Obi Wan...it won't look good if I'm seen here.

Aiden accepts the transmission, and the voice of Palpatine's advisor fills the room. "Senator Parr, Senator Amidala. The Supreme Chancellor requests your presence in a special session of Congress."

Aiden tries to make his voice as calm and firm as possible as he says; "We shall both be there."

The advisor replies; "He will be expecting you both."

The transmission cuts, and the room is left in silence. The three of us get out from under the table, sitting back in our chairs. Padmé is the one to ask; "Do you think it's a trap?"

Obi Wan shakes his head. "No I don't think so. If the dark lord is who I think it is, then he will need to keep the senate intact to control all the major star systems."

"If a special session of Congress there is, easier to enter the temple, it will be."

I look down at Jayce, watching those brown eyes twinkle as he looks around at all of us. I keep staring at him as I ask; "What about us? Where will we be during all this?"

"At our apartment," Padmé responds. "You and Jayce will be safe there. Wait for us to return and try to get some rest."

I know I won't be getting any sleep, neither will any of us for some time. Obi Wan needs rest more than any of us do. He looks like a part of him has died, because I think part of him has. The small amount of light I see in him is the love in his eyes as he looks at Jayce, getting out of his seat and walking towards us. He wraps his hands around Jayce and picks him up, rubbing his back gently as he examines his son, looking into his mother's deep brown eyes.

Obi Wan leans forward and kisses Jayce on the head, looking back down at me. "Promise me you will take care of my son while I'm gone."

I nod once, meaning it with every fiber of my bones as I tell him; "Nothing will happen to him."

Obi Wan smiles down at me, still holding onto Jayce tightly. He turns his attention back towards the him, cupping the back of his head, his thumb brushing over his thick black hair, whispering softly to his son; "This will all be over soon."

I lay a hand on my stomach, feeling my child squirm inside of me. I hope Obi Wan is right, I hope this will be over soon, for my child's sake, and for his.