Mission 2: "Battle of Naboo"
Epilogue Part 2 of 8
"Troubled Dreams"
Geldar and Tso paused in the medic bay to look at Brin�tac once more. Brin�tac was sleeping in the bacta tank, and it appeared that he was healing quite well. According to the medic, in the past few days since they�d returned to the base Brin�tac had made quite a lot of progress. However, it would still be a few more days of treatment before he could be completely well enough to see anyone.
�So the mission went okay?� Tso inquired.
�Yeah,� said Geldar. �I�m just a little worried about Satchal.�
�We all are, I think,� said Tso. �He seems so upset all the time. Why, even Lialla noticed it.�
�Lialla?� asked Geldar, and he immediately brightened up at the mention of her name. �What did she have to say?�
�Well,� said Tso. �She�s quite an exceptional woman. She seems so genuinely concerned about everyone. Why, she doesn�t even know me, and she was asking all sorts of questions about me. It wasn�t like she was probing for information, though. It was just like she was simply trying to get to know me better. Not only that, but, well, I�ve been kind of depressed lately, and she had a way of completely making me feel better. She�s got a charm like no one I�ve ever met.�
Geldar looked at him curiously. �So what�s been bothering you?� he wondered.
�Oh,� said Tso trying to down-play the magnitude of his feelings. �It�s not much. I�m just having a hard time dealing with the death of my ship-mates. I keep feeling like there was something I could have done.�
Geldar put his hand on Tso�s shoulder. �I�m sure you did the only thing you could have done. I know this may not help, but the Force has willed for this to happen for a reason. We don�t always know what the future may bring, but we can rest assured that the Force will not lead us astray. What happened to you on the ship happened for a reason. There was nothing you could have done to stop it.�
Tso lowered his gaze in thought. �I�m sorry. I know what you�re saying is true, but I hope you don�t mind me saying that it doesn�t make me feel any better.�
�I know,� he told him. �That�s exactly how I feel about my mother. I only wish there was something more I could have done for her to save her. If only I�d been there a little earlier...�
Tso gave him a sympathetic look, even though Geldar didn�t notice it as such since the Sullustan turned and headed off toward the other end of the medic bay almost immediately. At the door, however, Tso suddenly thought of something and stopped to face Geldar once more. �Oh. One more thing,� he said. �I think you should tell Lialla about your mother�s death. She seems to believe that Kylarra is still alive.�
Geldar felt something drop into the pit of his stomach like a rock. �I see,� he replied. That would not be an encounter he�d want to have. It was hard enough dealing with his mother�s death alone. Now he�d have to share the pain of someone else. If Kylarra and Lialla were really close, like Lialla had said when he�d first met her, it was going to be a terrible conversation, and he didn�t want to see the hurt in her eyes and on her face. He didn�t want to see the tears streaming down her face. �I guess I have no choice.�
�I�m sorry,� said Tso, �but I didn�t think it was my place since I didn�t even know her.�
Geldar nodded sadly. �Thank you, Tso. You�re a good friend.�
**********
Satchal and Lialla entered a small garden with a fountain at its center. The garden had obviously not been taken care of in years since the exotic plantlife was growing along paths and the fountain�s water was murky and covered with leaves.
Still, the place was beautiful, and it held a peace that seemed to ease Satchal�s pain a little. It was about an hour�s walk from the base, but Satchal had hardly noticed the time slip away. With everything that was on his mind he�d been quite distracted.
�What is this place?� he wondered as they stepped through the gate.
Lialla smiled as she turned to face him. Her smile was so big and beautiful that it almost took his breath away. Whoa! What was that? he thought for a moment. I must be still dizzy from the last mission.
�This is where Kylarra lived while she was here on Naboo,� she told Satchal. �I�d often come to visit her while she was here. She hated city life, and often preferred to be alone with nature rather than live with the trappings of the city.�
�Where�s her home?� he wondered as he looked around for a building of some kind.
�She had no house,� she replied. �She simply camped out here in the garden all the time. She always said she didn�t need to have all the �civilized� things that everyone else had. She wanted to surround herself with the beauty of the natural world.�
Some woman, he thought as he considered Geldar for a moment. That explains why Geldar is the way he is. �So no one else knows about this place?� he asked her.
�No,� she told him. �If they do, they won�t come here. No one, I�m sure, has any reason to come here.�
Satchal sat down on the edge of the fountain with his head down once more, and Lialla came to sit next to him. �Fine,� he said softly, and for several moments he didn�t speak.
�It�s okay,� said Lialla. �You can trust me.�
And it was those words sparked something inside him. Suddenly, Satchal stood to his feet and faced her with rage filling his every being. �Trust you?� he snapped. �Trust you? How can you even say I can trust you? I don�t even know you.� He paused for a moment to regain control as he turned his back on her. �I don�t even know what I�m doing here.�
�Satchal!� she shouted as she stood up to face him. �Stop this. It�s not helping you. Your pain is only destroying you.�
Satchal whirled around and shoved her backwards roughly so that she almost fell into the fountain. �Shut up! You don�t know anything.�
�Then tell me!� she shouted back at him.
�Why? Why do you want to know? Are you a spy? Did the person who killed my master send you? Is he trying to torture me more?� Then he reached down and grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and shook her violently. �Tell me who he is! Is it Bher Nagg Rugge? Is that his name? Is it!�
Then, all of a sudden, Satchal found himself face down on the ground with his arm pinned behind his back. His leg had been swept out from under him, and he had been whirled around so that he fell face first in the dirt. Dazed, he lay there trying to figure out what had happened.
�Now calm down,� instructed Lialla from above him. �I don�t like it when people get rough with me.� Then she slowly released him and took a few steps back.
Satchal pushed himself up and turned back in her general direction, though he kept his gaze averted to the side. �I�m sorry,� he said, more subdued. �I didn�t mean to hurt you.�
�You didn�t,� she replied, �but I knew I had to do something to calm you down. However, in light of that outburst, I think you owe me a bit of an explanation for sure. Who�s this Bher Nagg...whatever, and what happened to your master?�
Satchal sighed deeply again, and this time he was able to make eye contact. �My master, Jin Tai Lo, is dead. He was killed by a Dark Jedi. I believe his name might be Bher Nagg Rugge.�
�Why?� she asked.
�Bher Nagg Rugge is the Dark Jedi in my dreams,� he explained.
�In your dreams?�
�Yes,� he replied. �In fact. In my dreams, I AM Bher Nagg Rugge.�
With that, Lialla�s eyes went wide with horror.
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