| Title: Silent Nights (Part Eight) Author: Ginger Ninja ***** Mace Windu, Jedi Master and member of the Jedi Council, panted for breath as he chased after his long time friend Qui-Gon Jinn as they headed for the Temple Hanger. Nothing would slow this man down, Mace knew. Qui-Gon had only one thing on his mind: finding and capturing Maari, his beloved Padawan's attacker. Mace Windu was not going to be the one to slow this man down. Heck, no one would be able to slow Qui-Gon down. He was a man on a mission. The pair arrived at the hanger and Qui-Gon wasted no time in getting in the speeder the council had provided. It had a modified cage in the back that had a built-in shield that stopped anyone from using the Force. Mace had had the foresight to give Qui-Gon the keys; Qui-Gon knew where they were going. Mace jumped in the passenger seat and didn't even manage to get the speeder-door before Qui-Gon was moving forward. Mace didn't bother complaining; he knew it would be pointless. Holding a sigh back, he sat back and remained silent, not daring to distract Qui-Gon from the traffic surrounding them. Crashing would not be a wise move right at this moment. ***** Obi-Wan brought his lightsaber up in front of him, waiting for Maari to attack. He was very aware of the Darkness pressing in on him from all sides but he kept his focus on the Light. If he did that, nothing seemed so frightening anymore. His mind, for the first time in a very long time, was perfectly clear. With a snarl, Maari sprung forward, dragging her red blade up from her right side in a glowing arc. Obi-Wan sidestepped and ducked the blade, bringing his blue 'saber up behind his head in time to protect his back. He shoved Maari back and stood up straight as she came at him with short, sharp thrusts. Obi-Wan blocked the flashing blade with his own as he kept moving backwards to avoid any blows that came a little too close for his liking. Maari pushed him into a defensive posture, relentlessly swiping, thrusting and lunging at him. Block right, block left, up, down, across his body. Maari's furious attack gave Obi-Wan little opportunity to gain the upper hand. She was a confident fighter with a lot of skill to back her up. She ducked down and made a swipe for Obi-Wan's knees. Obi-Wan jumped over it and swung his 'saber round to protect his upper torso just in time. Maari grinned, her anger making it an ugly, twisted expression. She clearly felt that she was going to win this fight. Anger started to seep into his mind, once again replacing the Light. Obi-Wan *hated* this woman. He hated her with a fiery passion. She had made his life hell, made him see sickening sights no one should ever have had to see. He wanted out and he was willing to do it anyway he could. He didn't notice as his blue glow started to dim and change into a darker, purpler colour. His lightsaber changed as well but Obi-Wan was too distracted to notice. Maari seemed to notice his change. She cackled. "Beat me boy!" she goaded him. "Stab me and you'll be free! Skewer me! Hack me into pieces!" Obi-Wan's Light grew darker. His face was tight with rage. Everything could end right now, with one simple strike. He closed his eyes. The end was within his grasp. Maari stopped attacking and waited for Obi-Wan to finish her off. If he did, her work would be done. The Jedi would be destroyed. This boy was powerful enough to do it. Once he embraced the Dark, he would be an unstoppable foe. Obi-Wan's deep purple blade extended further from his hand in both directions, becoming a fearsome double-bladed weapon. His anger fuelled the Dark surrounding his mind and the Light was all but engulfed. Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. "No more," he hissed. "I'll make you pay for what you did to me." And for the first time in a very long time, Maari felt fear coil itself around her heart. ***** Qui-Gon slammed the breaks on suddenly and without warning. Mace's head cracked against the dashboard. Mace turned his disbelieving gaze onto Qui-Gon, expecting an apologetic look. Qui-Gon wasn't even looking at him. He was gazing out of the window, his eyes not seeing the traffic that moved on ahead of him. Angry drivers honked their horns, demanding an explanation. Mace knew Qui-Gon was in another place entirely so he used the Force to move the speeder to a safe spot where it would be safe to stay while Qui-Gon remained incapacitated. ***** Qui-Gon wasn't sure what was wrong exactly but he knew Obi-Wan was angry, dangerously anger and out of control. If Qui-Gon couldn't reach him, the boy would turn to the Darkside. Blocking out everything around him, Qui-Gon focused intently on the bond he shared with Obi-Wan. As before it took a lot of concentration and even then Qui-Gon could only get a short message through. The Darkness clogging the bond was far too complex to clear entirely and by the time he did, Qui-Gon would be far too late. //Give into the Darkness and you become just like her.// Qui-Gon pulled back from the bond, praying that the message was enough to stop Obi-Wan from making the worst decision of his life. ***** He could feel her fear, he could taste her terror and part of him exulted in knowing he could make her feel how he had. But at the same time, part of him was screaming at him to stop this. The Darkness around him whispered to him, promising freedom from his pain and power to never be made so helpless ever again if he tore Maari to bloody chunks. He stepped closer to the trembling woman. She fell to her knees. "Please, have mercy!" she begged. He grinned, standing over her, purple double-bladed lightsaber poised to slice off her head with one, smooth move and then hack the rest of her body to pieces. //Give into the Darkness and you become just like her.// He stopped moving and the blades lowered slightly. Become just like her? Never! She was the reason for all his suffering! All that pain! But...but he didn't want to inflict that kind of pain on anyone. But he had to dispose of her! Maybe there was another way? Maybe he could just... Light and Dark struggled for control of him. Monsters loomed, safety comforted, death, life, fear, happiness, joy, anger, comfort, safety, contentment. Hope. The Light. It was the only way to make sure Maari never hurt anyone again. Obi-Wan's blaze of purple was once again blue, and crackling energy shot out around him, growing brighter and brighter and swallowing up more and more of the shadows surrounding him. He felt his feet lift off the ground as the maelstrom of Light took hold of every shadow it came across and assimilated it. Swirls of Light wrapped themselves around Maari's ankles, overcoming her Darkness. Maari roared in anger but her red flow grew weaker and weaker as Obi-Wan's pure energy ate it up. Desperately, she reached out with all the power she had left and sent an orb of red lightning at Obi-Wan. One minute he was floating, lost in a peaceful wave he hadn't felt in so long. Then he crashed painfully to the ground. Maari ran over to him, sure that her victory was at hand. Obi-Wan rolled on to his back and recoiled when the thin blade of Maari's lightsaber burnt his face. "No Jedi escapes from me!" she snarled and grabbed Obi-Wan by the hair and forced him to his knees. Her anger was making her powerful despite her rapidly depleting shadows. Obi-Wan felt serene. The Light told him she could no longer hurt him. He told her as much. She didn't seem to notice his strengthening power, even if it was threatening to blind her with it's brilliance. "Oh really?" she said, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "We'll see about that!" Shielding her eyes from his radiance, she put all her strength into her one, final stab. Her blade reached its target. ***** Qui-Gon snatched the controls and threw the speeder back into the teeming traffic lanes. Mace didn't bother pestering him with the questions that were mounting on his mind. Qui-Gon's entire focus was in the mission at hand Mace sat back and held on for dear life as Qui-Gon took a sharp left out of the bustling lanes and headed to the downtown district. Qui-Gon could feel Maari's dark presence clearly here and he knew she was close. Strangely though, her presence was dimmer than before. /No time to ponder on that now! I'm nearly there.../ Qui-Gon parked the speeder less than gracefully and sprang out before Mace had even unbuckled his safety harness. The Council Member thankfully remembered to engage the brakes and then he too left the speeder and went after Qui-Gon. Having the speeder simply float away would not do. Qui-Gon ran up the stairs, shoving every poor bystander out of his path. Closer, closer...each step up the staircase led him closer to her, and closer to his Padawan's salvation. Qui-Gon made it to the top of the stairs and hurtled down the hallway to the door that Maari hid behind. Raising his hand, he used a huge Force wave to remove the solid obstacle that stood in his way. Drawing his lightsaber, Qui-Gon entered the domain of Maari, just as he felt an almighty burst of agony tear through his abdomen. Mace skidded to a stop by his friend's side. "Qui-Gon what's wrong?" Qui-Gon gasped for breath. "Obi-Wan." ***** Obi-Wan remembered reading an article once about a 'well hard' smuggler who stabbed himself just to see how painful it really was, thinking he was 'man' enough to feel no pain whatsoever. That smuggler had said only this: "There are no words to describe the moment a blade enters the body. It adds a whole new spin to the word pain." Obi-Wan knew exactly what he meant. Maari twisted the blade and revelled in his agonised expression. Unbeknownst to her, Obi-Wan was far from dead, despite his clear agony. So firm was her belief in victory, she failed to notice the swirls of Light that twisted round her legs and up to her chest. Obi-Wan squeezed his eyes closed and his head lolled. He could feel the power in his body building beyond the point that he could control it. Slowly raising his head, Obi-Wan held his arms out in front of him, either side of Maari's blade. His palms were held outstretched. Obi-Wan's eyes snapped open. The blue energy that encased his body was routed into his hands. His quietly confident gaze locked onto Maari's suddenly doubtful one. "Where there is Light, there can be no Darkness," Obi-Wan whispered to her. Blue energy crackled through the air. A lance of Light thrust itself into Maari's chest and sent her soaring backwards. Her red blade was gone in the Light and any wound Obi-Wan had gained was healed instantaneously. Obi-Wan floated to his feet and glided over to where Maari lay prone on the quaking ground. "Damn you Jedi!" she screamed. "No," Obi-Wan's voice was disarmingly calm. "Damn you." Light invaded Maari's body. Her mouth opened in an endless scream that never made a sound. Her body was gone before she had a chance to scream. Obi-Wan slowly lowered to the ground, exhausted. Panting heavily, he squeezed his eyes closed and lowered himself flat against the cool ground beneath his body. Freedom was his. ***** Qui-Gon suddenly sprung to his feet, any traces of the anguish he was in gone. He ran into the main room of the small apartment, leaving a completely confused Mace in his wake. What had happened? Was Obi-Wan alright now? The councillor's comlink beeped for attention and Mace answered as he once again followed after Qui-Gon. "Over it is." Was Yoda's only sentence before he ended the call. ***** Qui-Gon found Maari sprawled on the floor. He placed stun binders round her wrists as she began to stir. Mace came in at the same moment, a happy grin on his face. "Mace stop grinning like an idiot and help me restrain her!" Qui-Gon snapped, oblivious to why Mace was so joyous. Mace nodded and helped Qui-Gon not only place binders round the young woman's wrists and ankles but inject her with a Force-inhibitor. Without waiting for Maari to become completely cognisant, the two Master's lifted her up and dragged her back to the speeder and threw her in the cage. When she was safely locked up, Qui-Gon allowed himself a sigh to end all sighs. Mace placed a hand on his friend's shoulder in a comforting gesture. "It's over Qui-Gon," Mace said. "Obi-Wan's free." Qui-Gon looked up at his friend, tears glistening in his eyes. "Obi-Wan's alright?" he whispered in amazement. "I have assurances from Yoda himself," Mace replied with a smile. "Come on Qui, let's go home." Qui-Gon nodded, and brushed away his tears. He couldn't control the smile of pure and uncontained relief that left him soaring. Obi-Wan was going to be all right. Qui-Gon tested the bond he shared with Obi-Wan. It was restored to its former glory. Qui-Gon could also feel that Obi-Wan was fast asleep and it was a sleep that was perfectly natural. Qui-Gon laughed, a truly wonderful sound to Mace's ears as they jumped into the speeder. There had been times in the past few days when neither man expected to hear that sound come from Qui-Gon ever again. All the way home Qui-Gon was trembling with excitement. Mace had to get the pair home. Qui-Gon was too jittery to drive. /Just like a kid on his birthday/ Mace thought in amusement. Once back in the Temple hanger, Qui-Gon, Mace and a semi-conscious Maari were met by several council members. Mace insisted that Qui-Gon leave Maari to them. "Go on, get to the infirmary," he insisted. "I'm ordering you." And for the first time, perhaps ever, Qui-Gon did not disagree with a direct council order. He strode through the infirmary doors moments later and was rewarded with a warm, yet tired welcoming from one very special person. //Heya Master.// ***End Part Eight*** |
| hello |