rev·e·la·tion n. 1. Something revealed, especially a dramatic disclosure of something not previously known or realized.

From what Anessen said, she had a feeling that they were prepared to wait for a very long time for her.

The girl had to come down sometime. A humanoid can last 3 weeks without food, and 3 days without water. She didn’t want to have to go 3 days without water. One day was enough. She knew what it was like. It was mandatory for every Padawan to go a day without any thirst-quenching liquid, as a part of their endurance training. What’s more is that she only had food capsules. Adai laughed to herself darkly when she noticed that she had eight days worth of capsules.

“Lle n’hama de eller ten’oio!” Anessen’s father called up to her.

He’s taunting you, she told herself. Don’t listen to him. He’s trying to coax you down. If you go down there, you might have to kill him. You don’t want to kill him. Not even in self-defense. He doesn’t look down on you, or hate you, or want to spite you. He’s afraid of you because you’re different from him.

At least she hoped it was true. She didn’t dare read his mind, for fear of what she would see there. She felt some sense of deep loss and longing from him, but other than that, he was cold. For a moment, she wondered at how such a kind, benevolent soul could have been fathered by such a humanoid.

Who was Anessen’s mother, and where was she? She had to be the contributor of her son’s compassionate and passive gene. She sensed that there was a long story behind it, and that it was a sad one. But she also sensed that she was not in fact dead. For some reason, Adai found herself happy that it was so.

But as the Padawan was thinking this, another tremor in the Force came to her. It was far less painful and intense as the last, and it was more like the feeling of being hit by a thick cloud of steam more so than being tackled by a boulder. What was it this time?

Adai wiped her face with her hand in a frustrated manner.

What the Force was going on out there! She turned angrily toward the stars as if to demand an answer from the hundreds of inhabited systems she knew existed there. The Padawan held her gaze on the sky however, when she found she couldn’t look away. Her slate eyes passed over the thousands of twinkling stars that littered the deep, velvet blue of the sky. There were battles going on up there somewhere, right? Her heart leapt out of her chest at the thought that Coruscant’s star was somewhere out in the field somewhere, and odds were, she had probably looked straight at it unknowingly, even if it were for only a nanosecond. Adai sighed, and turned from space.

She settled herself on a thick branch high up, with her back to the trunk. She pulled her knees up under her chin and crossed her arms, putting her face down on her arms to try and fall asleep. Would they know if she was asleep? She supposed not.

-:-

Adai Seth sensed it before she heard it. She was startled awake and felt compelled to look east through the boughs of trees. The stars were just beginning to fade as dawn kissed he horizon, but something caught her eye amid the white specks in the sky. She noted that one of them was moving, though only slightly. To and fro it moved, but the small light barely deviated from it’s path. After a minute of curious staring, Adai was startled to find that it was growing larger.

Could it… no. It couldn’t.

Could it?

It wasn’t possible. It was in no way shape or form possible at all.

She glanced down when the light faded and revealed a vague shape that was larger than it was before. The Padawan looked down to see if the elves noticed it too. The instant that she met eyes with one, she abruptly turned around and climbed farther up as quickly as she could, as high as she could.

The branches up there were much smaller and flimsier, but she willed them to hold her weight, until she was able to poke her head out of the top of the leaves. When she saw the shape take on a more familiar form, she held down a squeal of joy, and instead smiled broadly; the first smile that showed in three days.

They were looking for her, she knew it.

Over here, she called out with her mind. I’m over here! Help me!

Adai reached down to her belt and took her lightsaber from its clip, ignited it, and waved it around frantically above her head. It was this move that caught the attention of the elves below. There was a shout directed at her and then there was angry talking. But she didn’t care.

Adai was being rescued.

The ship was plainly visible in the sky now, and she could hear it. Oh yes, she could hear it. The familiar sound of engines propelling a metallic craft through the air made her giddy with intoxication.

Ah yes. It was about time that the elves were aware of it. They were talking frantically, incessantly to each other, and in a moment they were gone from the base of the tree.

The ship was ridiculously close now, and she could sense the pilot had seen her unmistakable beacon. They flew right past her, so near that she was almost blown from her perch in the tree, and made a wide turn before landing some three hundred yards away, disappearing beneath the line of trees. Adai powered her saber down and leapt down from the top of the tree, doing a summersault to break her fall before jumping up again and running in the direction of the landing.

Adai dashed through the trees and found herself in a small clearing. She stopped at the edge of the clearing, her eyes searching for the Republic insignia somewhere on the ship. But there it was, on the side; the paint was chipped and some parts covered with the black streaks of blaster fire, but it was there nonetheless.

The Padawan caught her breath when she felt an intense aura inside the ship, and then the hatch opened. She could barely see anything in the dim light but a bright green saber extended out of the darkness, and a figure exited the ship.

“Little one! Come with me,” came a masculine voice from next to the small vessel. Adai could’ve sworn she recognized it, but..

You should know me, Adai Seth. I’m Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Adai gasped. Him? Of all the Jedi to find her here, it was him? The famous Master Kenobi?

“Yes, it is me. Now you must hurry, come on!” he called to her. She saw him beckon her to the ship. Why did they have to hurry?

Suddenly, someone had her in their strong grasp as they twisted her right arm painfully around her back and held a knife to her throat.

The Jedi Master crossed the clearing faster than she could comprehend and with one swing of his saber, Adai’s aggressor released her with a sharp cry of pain. Obi-Wan grabbed her wrist and hauled her away from the scene. It only took her one glance over her shoulder to see what the Jedi did: the form of Anessen’s father was on his knees and hunched over, clutching what remained of his right hand.

Master Kenobi roughly ushered her into the ship, and quickly closed the hatch, and took off again. There was a slience for a moment.

“How did you know I was here?”

“The astro droid on your ship managed to get out a faint distress signal. We knew you were missing shortly after the battle was over, but… due to complications, no one was able to search for you until now. I was able to locate the hyperdrive you left in the planet’s orbit, and I also noticed that the SOS was coming from these mountains here. I knew you weren’t far. Where there’s a ball, there’s a boy, or so to speak.”

Adai nodded, and looked around the small ship. There were two pilot’s seats and a small sitting area behind the cockpit. She turned her attention to the pilot of the ship. Why was he alone? She felt something from him… it was vague, and Adai knew he had his shields up.

The Padawan cleared her throat. “Master Kenobi?”

The man sighed. “Yes, little one?”

“Will I have to leave the Order for what I did?”

She felt a small tremor emanate from him.

“No. No you won’t.” He pushed a few buttons and rose from the pilot’s seat, to kneel in front of her on the floor. He put his large, worn hand over hers, avoiding direct eye contact for a second before locking his eyes onto hers. “Because the Order has been destroyed.”

Adai’s stomach reeled. Her mind was thinking at the rate of hyperspeed, and she couldn’t form any coherent thoughts. She suddenly fell forward right into Master Kenobi, tears skewing her vision. He ran his hand through her hair and shushed her gently.

“What will I do now, Master Kenobi? Where will I go? What about my training?” she said between quick, hyperventilating breaths.

The Jedi Master embraced the young Padawan, holding her close. She suddenly missed Anessen. She felt his breath in her hair, but she was not comforted at all.

Calm your mind, little one.

How…

You felt it. That it what you felt. Chancellor Palpatine was revealed as the Sith Lord we were looking for… and ordered clones to collectively murder all of the knights.

Adai looked up at him. “What about the other Padawans? The Younglings?”

Master Kenobi looked down. “Anakin slayed them.”

Ada gasped. “Your own Padawan?”

Kenobi sighed and rested his face in her hair. “Yes. My own Padawan.”

The girl sniffed. “Where are we going now?”

Obi-Wan let her go and stood in front of her. “Tatooine.”

“Why Tatooine?”

“Whatever remaining Jedi after the Purge are now considered fugitives. Criminals. What remaining shreds that are left of the Republic want us dead, Adai Seth. We have to go into hiding. Even Mast Yoda has done so too.”

“Master Yoda…”

Master Kenobi nodded.

“Why Tatooine, though? Aren’t there other neutral planets that we could hide on?”

“We are going to Tatooine, little one, because I have very important cargo to deliver there.”

Adai looked at him questioningly, huddled within herself, eyes still red from the tears. Master Obi-Wan Kenobi took her hand and led her to a container of sorts in the back of the passenger area. She walked up to it and reverently peered over the edge to gaze at this cargo.

It was a sleeping newborn.

“Who is he?” Adai whispered, though did not take her eyes off the child.

“His name is Luke Skywalker.”

-:-

THE END.

-:-