Allana

Few days after the rescue of Master Koth, the failure at Grievous' capture attempt but victory against the Seppies in the space and ground battles, there was a rumour that reached the Senate.

It was said that the leader of the Council of Neutral Systems, —The Duchess Satine of Mandalore— is secretly building an Army of her own. I thought it didn't make sense, that woman has fought for peace her entire life according to Padmé and I don't think she would betray the Republic. Padmé said the same when she told me and we both think that there's something else behind the rumours that reached our ears.

To investigate the matter, Obi-Wan was sent to Mandalore, but, after about twenty four hours, he asked Anakin and I to come and help him escort the Duchess to Coruscant, so, we did what we always do: we divided the legions and formed one with members of each one of the battalions. None of the Wolves came today though, only members of the 501st and 212th. We wanted it to be more discrete, so, I left instructions to Wolffe and asked him to make sure that everything was safe for our arrival at the capital with the Duchess. In no time, we arrived at the peaceful planet and guided the man to the encounter with Kenobi.

We watched the beautiful Duchess get on board of the cruiser alongside some members of the Senate and two guards as we reached Obi-Wan's side.

"Reporting for escort duty General." Said Anakin as we greeted Obi-Wan with smiles.

"Oh Anakin, Allana, am I glad to see you." Obi-Wan answered.

"Hmm, you sound tired." I commented.

"The peaceful ways of the locals wore me out a bit." We chuckled alongside the Captain and Commanders, after that, we hopped on the large ship and felt it taking off.

We all moved below decks where we'd prepare a defence against the opponents of the Duchess.

"You know your marching orders." Kenobi told the troopers of the battalions as I placed my hands behind my back. The ends of my hair —that was braided by my sister and had multiple silver ornaments like the ones she wore it when she disguised herself as a pilot— tickled my skin. "The safety of The Duchess Satine is of the utmost importance, the Death Watch will stop at nothing to assassinate her before she pleads her case to the Senate."

"The Death Watch may be backed by the Separatists, so, stay sharp." Said Anakin. "R2, use your scanners to probe for any suspicious droid activity." The droid beeped.

"Anything else Generals?" Asked Rex, I looked at him.

"No, that would be all." I answered and he nodded, then, Cody moved his hand indicating the troopers to patrol the area, that's when Obi-Wan's communicator started to beep.

  "Yes?" He asked once he had answered the contact.

"The Duchess and her Retinue requests your presence." Said a man.

"Very well." Kenobi looked at us and we made our way to the elevator in silence, Anakin, Kenobi and I walked in, followed by Cody and Rex.

  "I sense some...anxiety from you about the Duchess." Said Anakin once the doors closed, I smiled.

"So do I." I commented. "But you've got nothing to worry about Obi-Wan, she couldn't be in safer hands."

"Yes, I know." Kenobi said quite dryly. I looked at him from the corner of my eye, he was thinking, whenever he brushed his beard with his hand, he is, then, I looked at Anakin, who is standing to my left, he had a complicit smile on his features that I returned.

"Then why-" Anakin tried to speak but his Master cut him off.

"Never mind, it's all in the past." I frowned but with amusement.

"The past huh? So you're close to her?" I asked.

"I knew her." Obi-Wan answered with annoyance. "A long time ago." My eyes met Anakin's and we both smiled tenderly, we both know the past is not something you can easily forget.

  The doors opened and we walked out. Ani told the boys to stay out and secure the entrance alongside the Duchess's guards, so, we walked in and heard a monologue about how war is the worst and why they should remain neutral. Duchess Satine had some amazing arguments to be honest.

"Excuse me Your Grace." Senator Merrik called her attention. "Are you suggesting we oppose the war on humanitarian grounds?" He asked taking a glass that was probably a martini from the trade the droid lady placed before him before she continues offering drinks.

"I'm going to oppose it as an affront to life itself." She answered. "As the designated regent of 1,500 systems, I speak for thousands of worlds that have urged me to allow them to stay neutral in this war."

"And yet some might argue that the strongest defence is a swift and decisive offence." Obi-Wan said as we walked into the room completely instead of staying at the entrance without saying a word. When we stooped walking, we bowed our heads at the woman, she remained silent and smiled for an instant.

"You are quite the General now aren't you, Master Kenobi?" Said she.

"Forgive me for interrupting Your Highness, I meant no disrespect."

"Really?" She asked and I looked at Anakin and he looked at me. We raised our eyebrows a bit and an amused smile on our faces. I bit my lip to suppress my smile from growing as I looked at the front again. This...was going to be interesting to watch. "Senators, I presume you are acquainted with the collection of half-truths and hyperbole known as Obi-Wan Kenobi?" I chuckled but hid it quickly with a cough. Anakin pushed me a bit with his arm discreetly and I breathed in to avoid laughing again and keep it together. I have the habit of laughing at the wrong situations.

"Your Highness is...too kind."

"You're right, I am." My eyes met a pair of blue ones again. Our smiled kept on growing. After a second, we looked at the back of Kenobi's head.

  "Something definitely happened here." Ani whispered at me and I nodded my head.

  "Allow me to introduce my fellow Jedi." We placed our hands behind our backs as Obi-Wan pointed at us with his hand. "Allana Naberrie and Anakin Skywalker." We gave a couple steps forward and bowed gently at her.

"Your servants, Milady." I said and she smiled again.

"I remember a time when Jedi were not Generals but peacekeepers." She said taking a new cup.

"We are protectors Highness." Anakin told her. "Yours at the moment. We fight for peace."

She scoffed. "What an amusing contradiction."

"What Master Skywalker means is that we are acting at the behest of Your Highness, to protect you from the Death Watch and the Separatists." Obi-Wan jumped into the conversation again.

"Indeed." I said. "These people don't share your point of view Your Grace."

"I asked for no such thing." She said and I breathed out slowly. She'd be hard to please, even if it's for her own good.

"That might be so, but a majority of your court did." Obi-Wan added and I looked around and the Senators looked at the ground.

"I do not remember you as one to hide behind excuses."

"I do not remember you as one to shrink from responsibilities." In that moment Senator Free Taa placed himself in between the two grown ups that definitely have a long history.

"I am certain we all agree, Duchess Satine and General Kenobi have proven there are two sides to every dilemma." Said Orn.

"Indeed." Merrik added.

"Now in regard to the Senate to vote, we think-" Free Taa was cut off.

"I think a multitude makes discord, not good counsel." Said Satine, proving how good the arguments she has for her cause are. That's a good and very important point.

"Right again My Lady." Said Free Taa.

"There may be two sides to every dilemma." Obi-Wan spoke to Anakin and I. "But the Duchess only favours hers." I sighed and chuckled. "What?"

"Oh, nothing." I said and he narrowed his bright blue eyes, turned around and looked at Satine again as a droid walked past us with the martinis. Anakin took two glasses and handed one over to me, I thanked him with a glance and he smiled. "If I may comment." I spoke and gained everyone's attention. "A Republic military presence is the only sure defence against the Separatists, your Highness." The Duchess stood up.

"Even extremists can be reasoned with." She said and I frowned.

"I must disagree, it is my experience that has shown me that most of the Separatists, their main leaders —that are the ones who want you out of the game— lie and set you up. They don't reason, they manipulate."

"Agreed." Said Kenobi. "But Allana, perhaps they can be reasoned with...if one can be heard over the clanking of their battle droids." He added and Satine scoffed. Shit. I meant to contribute to the conversation, not add fuel to the fire. I breathed in and took a long sip of my martini.

"Ah, the sarcasm of a soldier."

"The delusion of a dreamer." I took another sip of my glass as I smiled. This was pure entertainment though. I looked at Anakin and he was smiling too.

"Duchess, Master Jedi." Merrik intervened. "It's been a long trip, I think we can all use a little rest and refreshment." I smiled again in agreement.

"Hear, hear." Free Taa called our attention. "Now let us put politics aside until after dinner."

"Fine!" Both Jedi and Duchess said at the unison. She walked past Kenobi and walked out of the room having every single one of us following her with our eyes until the doors made it impossible. No one said a word. I met my husband's gaze again and we smiled at each other before we looked at our colleague.

  With a final shot, we finished our drinks and handed the glass over to the droid lady before we walked out of the room. As we walked through the hallways, we enjoyed a silence, more or less.

  Obi-Wan was walking in front of us. Behind him, Anakin and I were silently discussing what had happened, and argued about who should ask Kenobi the questions, like when we were kids.

"He's your Master." I whispered. "You do it."

"He gets angry at me when I try to pull this kind of jokes, he's okay when you make fun of him." He whispered back.

"There's only one way to decide then." I lifted a fist and then he did the same. Rock, paper, scissors. We shook our closed fists three times and then he extended his hand completely it while I only extended two fingers, he groaned annoyed.

"You always read my mind, that's not fair." He didn't whisper this time.

"I don't need to read your mind dude." I didn't whisper either. "The thing is that you always, and I mean always, pick paper."

"That's not true."

"Yes, it is."

"No, I-"

"You're nineteen and twenty, and still behave like ten year olds." Obi-Wan said, he's not wrong. I punched Ani's arm. If only he had whispered. He didn't complain but did send me a glare, so, I pointed at Kenobi with my eyes and he rolled his eyes.

"Anyways." Said my husband and I smiled. "You and Satine have a history."

"Seriously? That's what this whole kids game you did was for?"

"Yes." I answered and he sighed.

"An extended mission when I was younger." Obi-Wan explained as he clicked the button that'd call a lift. "Master Qui-Gon and I spent a year on Mandalore protecting the Duchess from insurgents who threatened her world." We entered the elevator. "They sent bounty hunters after us." The doors closed and I clicked the button this time, after that, I reclined my back against the wall beside the control panel, Ani placed himself opposite from me, he crossed his arms as we listened to his Master, who also reclined his back against the other wall, facing the metallic doors. "We were always on the run, living hand-to-mouth, never sure what the next day would bring."

"Sounds romantic." Anakin said and I smiled while Obi-Wan sent him a glare. In no time, we reached the floor where our room was, so, we walked out.

"A civil war killed most of Satine's people." I frowned with sadness as I placed my hands behind my back, noticing that Skywalker did the same. "Hence her aversion to violence. When she returned, she took on the difficult task of rebuilding her world alone."

"You didn't stay to help her?" I asked.

"That would have been...problematic." We walked into the room we were lent and spotted a bunk bed and a sofa-bed. "My duty as a Jedi demanded I be elsewhere." I hoped on the lower bed, sitting down and looking at Kenobi, while he sat on the sofa and Ani reclined his back against the frame of the door. There was a short pause where the Obi-Wan's ocean of emotions could be felt: a small combination of sadness, disappointment and guilt.

"Demanded?" Asked Anakin. "But it's obvious you had feelings for her, surely that would affect your decision." My eyes went from my darling's to Obi-Wan's.

"Oh it did." He answered honestly. "I live by the Jedi Code."

"Of course." I said. "As Master Yoda says, 'a Jedi must not form attachments'." I felt Anakin's eyes on me, we both broke that rule, but at the end, we're living a happiness that not many can experience, as selfish as it sounds.

"Yes." Said Obi-Wan. "But he surely leaves out the undercurrent of remorse." I bit my lip, I felt sorry for him. In that moment, his communicator beeped. "Yes Captain?" It was Rex.

  "General, something's wrong with Skywalker's astromech." Said the trooper.

"Hey." Ani complained in a whisper.

"Shh." I said with a frown, waiting to hear the rest of whatever Rex had to say.

"Scared him real good sir." The Captain continued. "I've also lost contact with two of my men." Obi-Wan stood up.

"I'm on my way down to assist you." Kenobi stood up and so did I.

"We'll go Kenobi." I said pointing at Anakin. "If there's something dangerous down there, the boys and I can handle it."

"What she said." We walked out of the quarters and headed to the elevator, again, I clicked the button and we started to go below decks.

  We didn't speak, we just enjoy a silence, like we do whenever there's the chance but I couldn't stop thinking about what Obi-Wan said, 'I live by the Jedi Code'. We were raised and trained to do the same, but we decided not to. What if one of us had decided to back up? I was close to because I didn't want to affect Ani's brilliant future as a Jedi Knight, and mine, what if I had definitely said no? I would've broken two hearts in that process and...how can someone live with a broken heart?

  I breathed in and walked up to Ani, wrapping my arms around his torso. He chuckled as I placed my check against his chest, surprised, but at the end, he returned the embrace, placing his right hand on my lower back, the left one on the back of my neck and his chin on top of my head. He made goosebumps appear on my exposed skin as he gently moved his gloved fingertips through my relaxed muscles. He kissed the top of my head and then placed his chin over my head again.

  He breathed in and the echo of his heartbeat filled my ears, I was certain of two things: 1) I love him and I could never live without him and 2) thank God we decided not to follow rules this time.

  About three minutes later, a ding echoed, we had reached the cargo bay. We broke the hug with a smile and walked out as soon as the doors opened.

"Alright men." Said Skywalker. "What's the problem? We're missing dinner."

"We're not sure yet sir." Answered Cody. "But there's still no sign of Mixer and Redeye." I crossed my arms as R2 approached us, beeping. I extended my hand with a smile indicating the Commander to give me a minute and bent down beside the droid.

"What's the matter buddy?" I asked, R2 beeped again. "I know, I know, but we're here now." I smiled more. "Use your scanners, see if something's out of place." I looked up and as soon as R2 pulled the scanner out. I stood up and started to walk behind him, as well as Anakin, Cody, Rex and the men.

  We walked through the maze of boxes and reached one that was wild open, I frowned.

"Well, what do we have here?" Asked Rex as we analysed the box, that was being illuminated it with the small flashlight his helmet has. "Looks like the contents of this box are missing."

"Or it got up and walked away." Anakin commented and my eyes snapped towards him.

"Please say that was a joke." I said.

"Alright." He turned around, ignoring me, causing a groan to escape my lips. "Fan out, separate squads, I'll contact Obi-Wan." He clicked the communicator that rests on his wrist as R2 placed himself close to my leg, making me gently pat his head with my hand.

"Anakin, what have you found?" Kenobi asked in a whisper.

"There's a large open container and the contents are missing and I still have two men unaccounted for." Ani answered as I continued to look around.

"That's not good."

"You think?" I asked with sarcasm, but talking to myself really.

"Keep things quiet you two, I'll stay with the Senators."

"Got it." We said at the same time and R2 turned his flashlight back on.

  I grabbed my lightsaber from my belt as the communication ended, the astromech beeped again.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Did you find something?" Asked Anakin as we followed him through the dark hallways of the cargo bay. I saw something moving at the distance, so, I patted Ani's chest with the back of my hand, he sighed. "There you are, Redeye, where have you been? You've had us all...worried." He kept moving but in a strange way. The left side of his body seemed down, as if he was dragging his own weight, as if something was moving him, as if he was a puppet. I feared we had a similar situation to the one of the Geonosian worms, so, a wave of worry and fear washed me over.

"Redeye?" I asked and something whirred. I narrowed my eyes and tightened my grip around the steel handle of my weapon, a second later, I turned it on, as well as my husband.

  Whatever that thing is, threw the corpse of the trooper and we avoided the impact, that brought the attacker into the spotlight and the shadow was no longer a shadow but a very clear image.

  The gigantic spider droid made a deep chirruping as it started to move towards us. We made a single spin with our lightsabers, as if that indicated we were ready. A second after that, the droid threw itself to where we were, each one of us cut a leg of the spider, making it collide against some boxes.

  The spider stuck the blades it had for legs on a few of the boxes and threw them at us, the wooden cubes filled with the Force knows what hit us and caused us fall and hit the ground with a thud. As the droid crawled up to us and Anakin placed himself above me in a protective way, blue blasts were fired by our troopers. Ani stood up and offered a hand, I took it and he pulled me up as we looked at the droid collapse against the boxes.

"Are you okay?" He asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, you?" He nodded, I looked at the boys who ignored the protective scene they saw. "Thanks."

"Our pleasure General." Said Rex with a gentle smile that I returned. Our gazes returned to the droid, but we quickly heard metal hitting metal, so, we turned around.

"The lift!" Ani and I said at the same time and we all saw how another assassin probe opened the doors and crawled up. We all rushed behind it but it was too late, those things are too fast.
"Obi-Wan." Anakin spoke through the communicator as I looked up, trying to spot the droid but the darkness of the lift's tube made it impossible for my sight. "There's assassin probes down here, one made it up the lift, we'll try to hold the others here." The Jedi Master didn't even answer, we knew the droid was probably already at his position. After a sigh, I turned around and faced the men.

  "There might be one left, spread out and find it." I ordered.

"Watch it." Said Cody and I turned around spotting small spiders crawling out of the giant one, I sighed.

"Man, I just wanted to have dinner." I said and Anakin chuckled as we turned our lightsabers on and walked backwards, being surrounded by the small and yet deadly and little assassins.

In less than a second, the troopers started to fire their blasters and we cut those that we had around.

"They're everywhere." Said Rex.

"Get behind us." Anakin ordered as we cut by the half with swift moves the small droids that jumped to get us. As we continued to destroy those things, R2 showed up chirping and electrifying the tiny assassins, so, with his help and the boys, we finished with them in about six or seven minutes.

"Are them all? Please tell me they're all dead." I said trying to shake off one of those awkward shivers that seem to never fade away. I hate spiders.

"Yeah, oh." Said Anakin. "You have one on your head." I moved my hand over my head but there was nothing and he started laughing, so, I punched his arm for the second time today.

"That was not funny." I cracked a smile as he rubbed his arm.

"Not for you, but for me, it was." I rolled my eyes as the rest approached. "Good work men." He told the troopers. "You too buddy." He told R2 once he had reached our side, making the little silver and blue astromech beep triumphantly.

"Assassin droid." Said Rex looking at the ground. "How did that monster end up in the hold?"

"The question is, who smuggled him on board?" I spoke.

I started to move around —still feeling the nasty shivers coming and going— looking for the protocol droid that should be in charge of all this, soon enough I found him, sitting on a box.

"I'm looking for the droid that services the cargo bay." I said as we approached.

"Uh, yes ma'am, are all those creatures dead?" He asked as he stood up.

"That's what we're trying to find out." The droid started to walk to the opposite side to get a device. "You're in charge of the cargo manifest, right?"

"Uh, yes, I have it right here."

"Well, where did they come from?" Anakin asked.

"It is right here, on the manifest." I grabbed the device and read out loud.

"For immediate delivery to Coruscant: one container marked 'medical supplies'. " I looked at the droid. "There's no name on this chart, there's no indication of who shipped it." I was starting to loose my patience.

"No ma'am, just the Senate stamp, always accepted for transport here aboard the Coronet." I frowned and looked at Anakin.

"Boys, stay here and stay sharp, Anakin, with me." I started to walk away as the troopers nodded and Anakin walked beside me towards the lift to get back to the superior levels and meet with Obi-Wan.

My mind was racing and I bit my lip hard enough to make it bleed, I frowned when the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Shit." I whispered and Ani chuckled, we always laugh when the other one cusses.

"There's a traitor among them right?" He asked.

"Yes." I tried to clean my lip. "But the question is who? Why would a Senator want to kill the Duchess if they're members of her court?"

"The reason why they want to kill her is for her not to plea the case before the Senate."

"Then, someone must be infiltrated, someone must be working with the Death Watch and will make anything so that she doesn't get to Coruscant safe and sound." The 'ding' echoed again and we walked out.

"It's a good thing we're here then." I smiled.

We reached the dining room where the Senators and Obi-Wan were in no time. I raised my eyebrows as I admired the mess that was made up here: droids all over the ground, a big one on the table, broken glass and food on the floor as well, it seemed like it was more fun up here than down there.

We walked in and Kenobi met us at the entrance, I handed the manifest over for him to have a look.

"One of our four distinguished Senators appears to be a traitor." Anakin said as I crossed my arms and looked over Obi-Wan's shoulder at the Senators trying to analyse their behaviour but, all of them seemed a bit nervous.

"I sense it too." Said Obi-Wan, he turned around and looked at the ground. "It looks like one of our little visitors is still alive, I have an idea how to expose the turncoat." He handed the manifest back. "Return to the hull of the ship, destroy the last assassin droids, I'll find out which of the Senators is the traitor." We nodded and walked away again. 

[...]

We reached the bay again and started to go through the area. We had been informed that the third one was loose, so, we turned our lightsabers on and started to walk through the hallways quietly and carefully.

About three minutes later, our communicators started to beep, again.

"Anakin, Allana." Obi-Wan called. "Tal Merrik is the traitor." I blinked surprised. "He's taken Satine hostage."

"Copy that, but we've got problems of our own right now." Anakin answered as we looked around illuminating the area with our lightsabers. The blue of his saber seemed brighter right now, mine looked whiter. We shifted communications from Kenobi's to the troopers.

"Cody, Rex, have you found anything?" I asked as I heard R2 behind me. Anakin always insists that he goes with me for protection.

"All quiet over here ma'am." Rex answered. Not even a second had gone by when we heard a blaster firing. Our attention snapped towards the left and we ran towards the noise.

We found both Commander and Captain on the ground, struggling to get off the droids from their armours, I cut the one Cody had on while Ani cut the one Rex had on the helmet and R2 electrified one that the Captain had on his arm.

"Thanks little guy." Said he and they stood up.

"Well, we found the little ones." Said Anakin and we turned our lightsabers off. "What about the mother?"

"Haven't seen it." Rex answered, in a second, the mother droid shrieked and threw itself towards us. I pushed Rex and the machine tackled me. When I was on the ground, the assassin droid raised its claws and aimed for my head but I grabbed them before they could get stuck to my skull, cutting the palms of my hands causing me to groan, I pushed the blades up and proceeded to kick the belly of the droid, making it fly away from me.

I turned my lightsaber on, as I stayed on the ground and adopted a defensive position, placing my free hand on the ground and extended my leg, waiting to jump in case that thing attacked me again but it didn't, instead, it started to crawl away as soon as Cody and Rex opened fire against it. I stood up and threw my saber at it, I wasn't the only one who thought it'd be a good idea, my saber cut the front legs while Anakin's cut the hind ones, it fell and I rushed to it, placing my feet on the head to make it stand its ground and stabbed it, burning it inside out.

I turned around and nodded at the boys, they nodded back. I turned my lightsaber off and placed it on my belt, Anakin did the same.

"Are you-" He tried to ask.

"I'm fine, we have to reach Obi-Wan." He nodded. "Cody, Rex, place troopers in every escape pod, we have to make sure Merrik doesn't escape."

"Meanwhile, we'll look in every floor we can to find them." I nodded and we started to run to get to the elevator and he ran beside me, my hands burned but I was sure I'd be fine, at least I hoped I'd be.

We hopped on the lift and waited for the doors to open, we walked in and they closed. While we waited, Anakin contacted Kenobi and explained that we were looking for Satine and Merrik. After a fair amount time, the doors opened and we ran out of the lift coming and going from left to right through the hallways of every floor trying to spot them, meeting with Kenobi at a mid-point.

"Did you find them?" Obi-Wan asked, there was desperation in his voice.

"No, but we've stationed troopers at every escape pod." Anakin said.

"Merrik will try to signal his allies for help, we have to find him." He ran to the elevator and we ran behind him, then, we quickly entered and Kenobi clicked the button. The ambience felt tense in the small lift.

I looked at my hands, the cuts were still bleeding but the a few were drying already. I don't like the sight of blood and it burned again, as if the adrenaline started to fade away, so, I tried not to focus on it and talk about something, the first thought that popped in my head was Obi-Wan and Stine's past.

"Um, this may not be the time to ask, and it's none of my business but...were you and Satine ever-" I spoke.

"I don't see how that has any bearing on the situation at hand." Kenobi cut me off speaking dryly and coldly, turning around to face me with a rather angry frown, Anakin giggled beside me while I shrugged.

"Sorry, I was trying to defuse the tension." I raised my hands, playing innocent and his frown turned softer when he saw the cuts on my skin, I frowned and looked at my hands again. "Oh, that, it's nothing really." The doors opened and we walked out. As we did so, we heard a crash and the ship trembled, we almost lost our balance. "What the hell was that?" I asked as we saw our troopers running through the hallways to get to the area where the noise originated from.

"I don't know. We'll take care of this Obi-Wan." Said Ani as an alarm echoed all over the ship. "You, go find your girlfriend." We started to run away before he could think of an answer giggling.

"Right." I laughed and high-fived Skyguy. "Uh, no, guys she's not my-" We laughed again as he groaned very loudly and started running faster until we reached the battle zone. The echo of blasters being fired started to be louder and louder.

We arrived by the left of the main hallway. Ani jumped to be on the right flank while I stayed on the left one. I rolled over the ground while he jumped and we managed to get in between enemy lines, we started destroying the droids as they approached the soldiers to try and make it easier for all of us.

We cut off arms, chopped their metallic bodies by the half, deflected their red blasts back to them in seconds, etcetera. I was stabbing one when Anakin pushed three of them against the wall using the Force, those were the last ones, we turned our lightsabers off and started to run again to reach Obi-Wan's position and deal with Merrik.

We ran and when I heard voices, I made us stop by placing our backs against a wall.

"The second I'm away, I'll hit the remote and blow the Coronet to bits." Merrik's voice said and my eyes met Anakin's.

"There's a bomb on board?" I asked in a whisper and I sensed his worry that only increased mine. We started to move slowly, we have to take that remote away from his grip. 

"I will not allow that." Satine said and I frowned. Same Duchess, same.

"We need to find that bomb and disable it." I whispered but Anakin shook his head.

"There's no time, we need to act now and avoid him from activating it." He whispered back.

"What will you do?" Asked the Prince as we resumed the approach. "If you shoot me, you prove yourself a hypocrite to every pacifist ideal you hold dear, and you, Kenobi, you are no stranger to violence, you'd be hailed as a hero by everyone on this ship, well...almost everyone, come on then." I tightened the grip around my saber as we approached from behind, I guess one of us needs to do what has to be done. "Who will strike first and brand themselves a cold-blooded killer?" So be it.

I enlightened my lightsaber, not realising Ani did the same, two lightsaber blades went through Merrik's body, he grunted as I opened my eyes wildly. He dropped the remote but before it could hit the ground, I pulled it towards my hand using the Force. I turned my lightsaber off and Anakin pulled his out, the corpse of the traitor Prince fell to the ground.

Satine threw the blaster she had in her hands away as I disarmed the remote quickly.

"Anakin..." Said Obi-Wan and he turned his lightsaber off too, as well as his apprentice.

"What? He was going to blow up the ship, besides it wasn't only me." Ani sighed. "I must admit, I didn't expect that from you." He looked at me.

"Believe me, me neither but someone had to do it. What I didn't expect was for someone else to do it." I said as I finished disarming the remote and looked back at Anakin and he shrugged.

There was a silence, Obi-Wan's eyes went from us to the Duchess, I looked at Anakin and he looked at me, we looked back to the front and I covered my face with one hand as I placed my saber on my belt, Anakin did the same, our eyes met again and we were trying not to laugh or giggle, this was quite...uncomfortable? I didn't know.

"Obi-Wan, I-" Satine said but she stopped talking when Cody's voice called us.

"General Skywalker." He turned around. "General Naberrie." I turned around too. "The last of the droids have been defeated."

"Very good Cody." Said Anakin, then, we turned around to face the two grown ups.

"I must get back to the business of diplomacy." Said Satine.

"As you say Duchess." Kenobi said. "Some other time." I noticed a hint of sadness in his voice, so, I smiled kindly at him, in return, he gave me a half smile.

We all started to walk behind the Duchess, escorting her.

"Cody, there's a bomb here, the only way it can be activated is manually but we have to disable it, it makes me uncomfortable to think that thing is still on." I said.

"Yes ma'am, we'll work on it." I smiled and thanked him.

As we walked, we found out that the only person who knows where is the bomb located is Obi-Wan, so, he guided them, it also turned out that the only member of the Anti-bomb squad that came was killed in battle, so, the guy that knows how to disarm things easily, aka. Anakin, also went with them, leaving me with the Duchess alone.

I looked at my hands again as she sat down on the special seat she had in the room where we drank those martinis, silence fell upon us.

"What happened to your hands? They're stained with blood." She asked, I looked up and smiled at her.

"It happened during a fight against one of the droids but it's just a scratch Milady. I'll have it checked when we arrive at the Capital." She smiled.

"The Jedi are always so tough." I giggled.

"I'll take that as a compliment." She giggled this time. "Are you alright?" She nodded.

"Just shocked but I'll live another day. Perhaps your escort was needed after all General Naberrie."

"I won't tell Master Kenobi you said that." She laughed, then, silence fell upon us again but she interrupted it quickly by talking again.

"I'd appreciate that." She sighed. "When I saw you walking in I thought you were Padmé wearing a disguise."

I chuckled. "We actually get that a lot."

"I can bet." Her blue eyes looked at me and I could see her judgement. In a minute, she looked away.

"You're judging me." I whispered and she looked at me again.

"I'm sorry, is just that...it surprised me that you could've stabbed a man through the heart and seem not to be affected by it at all." I chewed my lip anxiously and meditated my answer.

"As Jedi." I started my explanation. "We are trained to hide our emotions and to be empaths which is pretty controversial. I've fought in this war for an entire year, soon it'll be two and...I've killed two people, I've destroyed countless droids but only two actual lives." She limited herself to look at me and listen to every word I spoke. "The first one was a friend who tried to kill me...it still hunts me, and Merrik..." I sighed. "The Jedi are told that giving up a life to save a hundred is the best option and...I thought it was the best thing to do. I don't think the killing act was right but I had to do it."

"And what about the other Jedi? General...Skywalker?"

"He thought about the same thing, one for many." She frowned, letting my words sink in. "Maybe you can call us 'cold blood killers' but truth is that we only did our job Duchess."

"I appreciate what you did in any way General, you indeed saved many lives, mine included. Both of you did." I smiled. "Thank you."

"Thank you Milady." The door whooshed open, revealing my fellow Jedi.

"The bomb has been disabled Your Highness." Anakin spoke. "I expect we'll be arriving at Coruscant soon."

"Thank you General Skywalker." Satine said and stood up. "I shall meet with the rest of the Senators and prepare for landing." We bowed our heads as she walked out, being followed by her guards.

We walked out too and headed to the room we had to rest a bit before our arrival. When we arrived, Kenobi jumped and rested on the bed that's on the top while I sat on the other one, there was a chair and a first-aid-kit on the desk, so, Anakin grabbed it and healed my wounds making me smile. He looked up to make sure Obi-Wan didn't see him and kissed my knuckles after he had clipped the bandages. When he was done, I dedicated myself to clean the handle of my lightsaber until the stains of dry blood were no longer all over the silverish iron handle.

After half an hour had gone by we walked out again and the ship landed. We were the first ones to get out of the ship alongside R2. Once outside, we met with Chancellor Palpatine, he smiled at us and we bowed our heads, placing our hands behind our backs.

"A job well done Master Jedi." He congratulated Obi-Wan.

"Thank you Chancellor." He said.

"Your Excellency." Anakin and I said bowing our heads again in a greeting and moved to the side so that the Chancellor met with the Senators. When they left towards he transport, the Duchess approached us but we knew she'd like to talk with Kenobi alone, so, Anakin placed a hand on my shoulder and we walked away from where they were.

We were still able to hear the conversation, specially when she said, and I quote, 'that Kenobi's beard hides too much of his handsome face.' I couldn't avoid the chuckle to escape my lips, Anakin nudged my ribs and I bit my lip again to shut my laughter down. Satine looked at me and smiled.

"I hope to meet again with you Generals, hopefully under different circumstances." She said.

"Likewise My Lady." Said Anakin and we bowed our heads before she walked away towards the transport. As soon as she was considerably away, we approached our friend and I finally let the laugh out, Ani laughed alongside me.

"What was that all about?" I asked as I stood to Kenobi's right, Ani stood to my right as well. Obi-Wan remained quiet as a smile made its way through his lips.

"A very remarkable woman." My husband complimented her, we can all agree on that one. He placed his forearm on my shoulder again and I looked at him, he smiled, his eyes said that he didn't only complimented her, I smiled back.

"She is indeed." Said Kenobi, whose eyes were not leaving the blonde Mandalorian.

We stood there until we saw their transport fly away.