One Path Chapter 20--Bound (original) (raw)

Title: Bound
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: Obi Wan, LISTEN!!

Rating: PG
Length: Around 2100 words
Category: Angst/Drama
Pairings/Charaters: Obidala
A/N: One Path Chapter 20. The arena on Geonosis, set during an alternate AtoC. Yeah, I skipped a bunch of stuff. We know what happens. Heh.

Bound

"Obi Wan!" he heard as Padme and Anakin were roughly hauled out of a cart and dragged over to be chained on the posts beside him. His heart pounded faster. He couldn't truthfully say that he was surprised to see her and Anakin. He had hoped that one of them would be sensible enough to talk the other out of a rescue attempt--but he hadn't particularly expected it. Still, the thought of her here, mauled to death by monsters, broke his already fragile focus--and Obi Wan needed focus badly.

Don't center on your fears…

He took a breath. "Hello, Senator Amidala," he called back, keeping his tone casual.

"Obi--" she began. Then both he and Anakin winced at the rough treatment their captors were giving her. She shifted, curling her body into the appearance of a defensive crouch, but he held back a smile, suspecting that it was something more.

"I was beginning to wonder if you had gotten my message," he remarked to Anakin.

"I retransmitted your message just as you requested, Master," the Padawan replied with forced cheerfulness. "Then we decided to come and rescue you."

"Good job!" he shot sardonically.

"Obi Wan, I have to tell you--" Padme began, then broke off with a cry of pain as their arms were jerked upward and locked in place.

"What?" he called. The cart that had delivered Padme and Anakin rolled off again, and the waiting crowd roared happily at the arrival of their hosts for this gruesome affair--Poggle the Lesser, Archduke of Geonosis, Count Dooku, Nute Gunray, and the Fetts. Whatever she'd been trying to say was drowned out by the applause.

Then an announcement began. "The felons before you have been convicted of espionage against the Sovereign System of Geonosis. Their sentence of death is to be carried out in this arena immediately!"

In the wake of more thunderous applause, Obi Wan commented dryly, "They like their executions."

"Did you hear what I said???" Padme yelled.

"Sorry, must have missed it…" he replied, raising an eyebrow at the irritation in her tone.

"Well, maybe you should shut up for a minute!" she shouted as Poggle the Lesser raised his hands in the dignitary box and the crowd hushed.

"Excuse me??" the Jedi shot back.

Again, her response was cut off, this time by the Archduke, who began, "I have decided on an especially entertaining contest this day. Which of our pets would be most suited to carry out the executions of such distinguished criminals? I asked myself this over and over, and for many hours, could find no answer. And finally, I chose--"

"Never mind. I--" attempted Padme.

"The reek!" At this the crowd cheered again, and a gate was lifted to release a huge quadruped with massive shoulders, an elongated face, and three deadly horns, one sticking up from its snout and the other two protruding forward from either side of its wide mouth. The process was repeated for the nexu, which had a head half the size of its body and a fang-filled mouth that could open wide enough to bite a human in half. A ridge of fur stood straight in a line from head to rump, ending right before its whipping, feline tail. By now, the crowd was ecstatic. Their approval increased by degrees a moment later, when the archduke added the acklay, a hideous insectoid that moved on four legs, each of which ended in elongated pincher claws. Other arms waved menacingly, claws snapping in a skin-crawling rhythm. The horned head was more than two meters above the ground.

"Well, this should be fun--for them, at least," muttered Obi Wan.

"What?" Anakin asked.

"Never mind," Obi Wan replied. "You ready for the fight?"

"The fight?" repeated the Padawan, looking pointedly at his chained wrists and then back at the three monsters.

"You want to give the crowd its money's worth, don't you?" Obi Wan asked. "You take the one on the right. I'll take the one on the left."

"What about Padme?" Anakin asked worriedly.

Both Jedi turned to see that she had already managed to work one hand free of her shackles. Turning around to face the post, she climbed up the chain and stood atop the post to begin working on the second lock. "She seems to be on top of things," Obi Wan replied with a proud smirk.

***

They're all clueless, Padme thought as she balanced atop the post, working diligently at the lock that kept the remaining shackle on her wrist. Jedi males are no exception. When the first of the beasts had been released, she had promptly realized that confessions were going to have to wait. She'd hoped that they could fend the creatures off long enough that she could get close to him before Gunray or Dooku decided to permanently end the spectacle of the execution. Now she realized that even the slight delay she'd allowed in trying to be heard over the crowd may have been too long.

Rushing toward the post, the nexu leapt up to slash at her with catlike claws. She dodged, but it made another swipe, and she retaliated by whipping it with the heavy chain. It leapt up onto the pole, reaching the top before she could find an escape, and reared in front of her.

The roar was deafening, but fear pumped adrenaline through the young Senator's bloodstream, and as it moved to strike, she spun the other way. She felt the claws rake her back, but didn't let the pain slow her as she came around hard, using her momentum to whip the free flying end of the chain into the beast's face. The nexu fell back off the pole, and Padme leapt. The chain pulled her back, sending her into a spin about the pole. She kicked hard as she came around, knocking the nexu to the ground. She knew it wouldn't be down long, though, and scrambled back to the top of the pole to finish getting the second shackle off.

By the time it fell, the nexu was below her, staring up hungrily. It crouched to make another leap--

And was crushed by the reek, which was now carrying Anakin on its back. "You okay?" he asked.

"Sure!" Padme nodded, gasping.

"Jump!" he called, but she needed no urging, and had already started to leap down onto the reek behind him. Immediately, her eyes scanned the arena, spotting Obi Wan still engaged with the now wounded acklay.

She held out her hand to him as they charged past, and he grabbed it, vaulting up behind her. She half turned to steady him, keeping her arm carefully around his waist until she felt him gain his balance on the fast-moving mount.

"You okay?" she asked urgently.

"Thanks for the rescue," he managed with a breathless nod.

"Always," she responded automatically as she let her arm down, bringing her hand to rest gently on his thigh. Then, abruptly realizing she had probably just wasted her only opportunity, she cried. "No, wait! Obi Wan, listen--"

"I am listening," he interrupted.

"No, you're not! You just interrupted me again!" she exclaimed, unable to restrain the burst of frustration.

"Well, I'm sorry!" he shot.

She shook her head. "Listen! I--"

Before she could go further, though, droidekas rolled out of the gates around the area, surrounding them. He let out an explosive sigh. "This just keeps getting better."

"You're telling me," she muttered.

"Never give up, Master!" called Anakin, and the two Jedi shared an old, private grin.

"Okay, wait," interrupted Padme urgently. "Before anything else--"

She broke off again, staring in astonishment as the arena stands above them suddenly lit up with the multicolored glow of a hundred lightsabers. The fight broke out in the stands first, then thousands of droids began to pour into the entire arena.

"I--" Padme started relentlessly, but suddenly there were Jedi rushing down around them, too, and a pair of light sabers flew through the air toward Obi Wan and Anakin, who caught them smoothly and began to slash at the droids. The fight spooked the reek, and Padme and the Jedi were thrown off. The next several minutes passed in a blur for her. She hit the ground hard and grabbed a discarded blaster. She was separated from Obi Wan, somehow ending up back to back with Anakin. Briefly, she caught sight of him nearby, working a similar posture with Master Windu, but he was too far away. She could only wait, continuing to pick off droids, looking for an opening, for some answer the Jedi hadn't seen, hoping there would be time.

***

The Jedi were losing ground. Obi Wan continued to fight off droids, back to back now with Master Windu. The two Jedi moved perfect unison, giving their actions over to the Force, but he could already sense that eventually their efforts would not be enough. His fellow Jedi would not give up, but the sheer number of the droids was beginning to take its toll.

Suddenly, he saw Padme rush out, firing a blaster bolt with every step. Anakin followed, his lightsaber a green blur as he shielded her from incoming fire. She ran toward the execution cart, scrambling onto the confused and frightened orray that was hitched to it. Obi Wan felt both pride and exasperation as the pair raced around the arena, Padme firing shot after shot--

And into his moment of distraction charged the reek, separating him from Master Windu. The beast went after Windu, but Obi Wan soon had problems of his own. The acklay, which seemed to have taken a particular dislike to him, ran at him once more.

"Straight ahead," he muttered as it came, its huge claws snapping in the air.

***

Finally, it was too much. Padme and the Jedi were overrun, herded into the center of the arena. She stood in a loose circle with Obi Wan, Anakin, and Mace Windu, about twenty of their fellow Jedi ranged around them, all that remained of those who had raided Geonosis. The droid army had stopped advancing for the moment, content to simply hold them, but they didn't lower their weapons.

"Master Windu!" Count Dooku cried from the dignitary box. "You have fought gallantly. Worthy of recognition in the Archives of the Jedi. Now it is finished. Surrender," Dooku ordered, "and your lives will be spared."

"We will not become hostages for you to use as barter, Dooku," Mace fired back instantly.

"Then I'm sorry, old friend," Count Dooku said, in a tone that didn't sound at all sorry. "You will have to be destroyed."

She felt a moment of panic, her hands growing icy as they had on the ship before she and Anakin left Tatooine. It wasn't the certainty of death that frightened her. She had faced death more than once, each time with the certainty that she had served her ideals to the best of her ability. What chilled Padme Amidala now was the thought of the man at her back--who'd been there, lightsaber in hand, to defend those ideals beside her every time. She took a breath, determined that he would not die without--

"Padme!" he called.

She turned sharply at the sound, feeling the breath she'd just taken seep from her lungs as their eyes met. She swallowed hard, fighting for words that suddenly wouldn't come. He smiled.

"I know."

"Look!" Anakin cried before Obi Wan had even finished the statement. Padme whipped her head around and craned her neck to follow the Padawan's gaze and gasped. Suddenly, there were half a dozen gunships screaming down in a dusty cloud around them.

"Around the survivors, a perimeter create!" ordered Master Yoda, who appeared on one of the drop doors. White-armored men rushed out the open sides of the ships as they touched down, moving through the dust to obey him.

"Jedi, move!" Master Windu ordered. Padme raced along with the remaining Jedi, scrambling aboard the nearest of the gunships. Obi Wan was directly ahead of her, and she caught his arm as the ship began to lift off. He grinned, but his eyes flicked meaningfully toward Anakin, and she held back a sigh.

"When we are no longer in danger of being overrun by droids, shot down, or otherwise meeting an untimely end, Master Jedi, you and I are going to have a nice long chat about using that mind reading trick of yours and not telling me until after we get through the monsters," she announced sternly.

"As you wish, m'lady," Obi Wan replied in a tone of complete gravity. His eyes danced, though, and she restrained a grin, fervently hoping that the next few hours wouldn't accomplish what the arena had failed to do.