| Title: The World We Loved Author: Anna Disclaimer: What story with borrowed characters is complete without one? So now we know I didn't invent these characters, and can't claim them...so I don't get paid for using them, either. Okay? Okay. Notes you might need: Read JA 5 and 6 first, this has spoilers...or don't...this is an AU. Cerasi ain't dead cuz I like her too much. Obi-Wan is back home with Qui-Gon. So anyway...And PLEASE review! *g* Rating: G or PG for this chapter...I dunno about the whole story, though...it changes. Archive: Let me know so I can visit it! :o) Warnings: some angst, later on it deals with kidnapping. // are Cerasi's thoughts. So are thoughts in ~ Chapter One "Cerasi!" a voice-possibly a siren, she wasn't sure yet-screamed at her. "She's coming around!" //Where am I?// She tried to speak, and heard herself grunt. //That's a start,// she encouraged herself. Cerasi tried again, but blacked out mid-grunt. //Oh, for the love of...// was her thought, but that too was swallowed up. She woke up again, this time to a peaceful darkness. It was so familiar... //I'm home!// She thought, and the relief that brought nearly strangled her heart. "Mmm..." she mumbled. //That was supposed to be Mother, idiot,// she scolded her lips. "You're awake," she heard someone say, breathlessly. She nodded once. Once was all her head would allow. "How do you feel? Do you want water? I have some rations, if you want them. Or a pillow or blanket. Roenni found some pillows!" he laughed, and Cerasi placed the voice as Nield. "No..." she muttered, since it was easier than saying 'water'. Nield filled the silence with chatter, which Cerasi tried to follow but eventually gave up and just enjoyed the noise. It had been so long since she'd heard anything... "Nield?" she said softly, after an hour or so. "Yes?" he sounded so eager. Too eager; it was frighteningly out of character for him. The young red-head considered telling him this, but decided not to push herself too much. "Whe--" //Say it, wimp.// ~No! Don't!~ The second voice sounded much more appealing. It just wasn't telling her to ask what she really wanted to know. "What's happened?" Nield smiled. "You mean why are you in a home instead of underground? It's temporary. The Elders ran to the woods..." he laughed. "And the Young took over the city!" "More fighting?" she sighed. "Yes...but the Young are united again." he frowned. "So are the Elders." "Against us, no doubt." "It's as temporary as our stay above ground," Nield growled. "It's a start to uniting all the people," Cerasi countered. There was silence for a while. "So...uhm...where's Obi-Wan?" "He...he's gone." at Cerasi's alarm, he went on, "To the Jedi. The older Jedi came and got him after you were hurt." Cerasi swallowed hard. At the moment, happy though she might have been to see Nield, she wanted Obi-Wan there. He had been the one to catch her...why wasn't he the one to greet her? "Nield," another Young said from the doorway. "We need your help. We'll watch over Cerasi for you." as he walked out with her, Cerasi heard the Young snap, "She just woke up from a coma you twit! You didn't need to tell her that." //No. You didn't.// ~I told you not to ask.~ Cerasi healed quickly, thanks mostly to her friends' constant efforts. She was always quick to thank them, commend them, smile at them, or speak with them. She was up on her feet as soon as they thought she would be safe doing so. She refused to complain to them, replacing that with optimism and cheer. The Young were beyond happy to have her back. At nights, she walked around her room, trying to work out the stiffness in her left side that ganged up on her through the day. In the oppressive silence, interrupted only slightly by her shuffling around on the torn carpet, she had nothing to do but think. What was she to do with Melida/Daan? They were fighting centuries before her birth. How could she be so arrogant as to think that she could stop it? //Obi-Wan thought we could, or else he never would've left his Boss-Master.// ~He must've figured it out before you did, because guess where he is now.~ Nield thought there was hope...that or he was simply enjoying seeing the Elders retreat to the woods. The other children were the ones who thought this could be done...except the ones who had supported the division amongst the Young. //That was all of them except me and Obi-Wan!// she recalled. They could wait until the Elders died. But if there was hatred amongst themselves, they could never hope to keep peace. She looked out at the black city, charred and dulled even more with night's shadows. "It looks better underground," she whispered. Cerasi learned many things over the next few months. First was what had happened after she was shot. Obi-Wan-and the rest of the Young-had thought her dead. The Elders had taken her away and cared for her. Cerasi had remained unconscious even after the Young, led by Nield, had attacked the Elders and driven them back. They discovered her, alive, and took her back to their newly conquered city. Obi-Wan had gone back to Coruscant before the Young took Zehava. Cerasi was not stupid; she knew there was more than they were telling, something that they were deeply ashamed of, but they refused to tell her that or anything about Obi-Wan. Including why he left. Second was that she had two mental voices. One was hers; her thoughts, unspoken comments, dreams, fears, and memories. The other mental voice...was different. It went out of Its way to play devil's advocate. If she thought one thing, It always spoke the opposite. This was unknown to her friends; the one thing both her minds agreed on was that there was no reason for them to know about it. Third was that, for every doubt she had about peace, her friends had twice as much hope. Fourth lesson was that Nield had destroyed the Halls of Evidence after all. "We voted on it!" she'd cried. He regarded her cooly and replied, "We re-voted after Kenobi left." The last thing she learned was the one that was keeping her up. The fact that she was still alive was only known to the Young and a few Elders. It was only important on Melida/Daan; how many people had died in this war since it began, and how many people on other worlds didn't care? She paced around her room, kneading her hands, sweating bullets because, of course, the chilly night. She did not want to dwell on it. She did not want to do it. Any answer would be a bad one, if it had taken her dearest friend away from here. And she did not, not, want to know what that answer was. ~Liar. Come on~ It taunted, ~You can do it! Come on, Cerasi, be a big girl!~ It was right, no matter how cruel this need was. She had to contact Obi-Wan Kenobi. ***End Part One*** |
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