𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐎 || 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐒𝐤𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐫

Chapter 20 - Now I'm Free-Fallin'

I barely had rejoined the fighting before we found ourselves surrounded on all sides by battle droids, every Jedi clustered in the center of the arena alongside Anakin, Obi-Wan, Padme and myself. We were badly outnumbered and both sides knew it. The droids hung back then and the fighting lulled to a stand-still.

Anakin stood to my left, breathing heavily from the exertion of the battle. His cerulean eyes flicked to me then and he asked quietly, "Are you alright?"

Nodding to his question, I was about to ask the same of him when a booming voice from above cut me off abruptly.

"Master Windu! You have fought gallantly," Count Dooku called out from the safety of the archdukal box above, "Worthy of recognition in the history archives of the Jedi Order. Now...it is finished. Surrender - and your lives will be spared,"

"We will not be hostages to be bartered, Dooku," Mace sneered back at him.

"Then...I'm sorry, old friend." he said, faking sincerity, as all of a sudden, the droids turned their blasters back on us in a threatening manner.

Anakin flipped his lightsaber in his hand in a gesture which I now openly admitted was rather attractive.

"Look!" Padme spoke up then, gaining everyone's attention.

The rest of us raised our heads just as six gunships came into view. They were quickly descending around us, overflowing with the welcome sight of clone troopers. Immediately, the fighting started up once again and I deflected blaster bolts one by one. The gunships landed in a cluster around the remaining Jedi just as troopers spilled out, shooting at the droids. Padme and I jumped inside one of the ships as Anakin and Obi-Wan joined us, holding on to it as it began to ascend once more.

As the gunship flew rapidly through the air, Anakin ordered the troopers to fire on different weaponry and buildings. But as the fray thinned out ahead, a speederbike and two Geonosian fighters appeared on the horizon just over the dunes of red sand.

"It's Dooku," Anakin realized before shouting to the troopers, "Shoot him down!"

"We're out of rockets, sir." the pilot replied.

"Follow him!" Anakin shot back instead.

Padme, however, didn't seem to agree, "We're gonna need some help!"

"There isn't time!" Obi-Wan shook his head, shouting over the noise, "Anakin, Jetta, and I can handle this!"

Suddenly, the Geonosian fighters veered off briefly only to come up behind us. They fired on the gunship with a vengeance, no doubt under Dooku's nefarious orders. Several blasts rang out loudly behind us as the pilot attempted to evade the shots. But one got lucky and the blast exploded the side of the gunship...right where Padme and I had been standing.

The blast rocked the entire ship and I felt myself begin to free-fall. I could hear Padme scream beside me and Anakin cry out my name in distress. His hand reached out for mine, our fingers brushing but I was too far away for him to catch me. Rushing wind and the sound of gunfire surrounded me before I hit the red dirt far, far below. My vision blurred, the sight of the gunship fading away into the distance as my world went dark...

I don't know how long I was unconscious before I felt someone shaking me by the shoulders. Groaning, my dark eyes opened up to the familiar face of Padme hovering over me.

"Are you okay, Jet?" she asked softly, checking me for injuries.

Another groan escaped my mouth and I nodded, "Oh, sure. I skydive out of gunships all the time."

Padme sighed at my sarcasm before helping me to my feet. There was a couple of clone troopers standing behind her at the ready. Evidently, they had located us before I'd woken up.

"We'd better get back to the Forward Command Center," one of them piped up, blaster clutched tightly in his hands.

"No, no!" I shook my head vehemently, "Gather what troops you can. We've got to get to that hanger. Get a transport,"

When he hesitated, Padme ordered in a voice of authority, "Hurry!"

What took minutes felt like hours as we managed to acquire a gunship and several troopers who piloted the ship to the hangar where Anakin and Obi-Wan had been headed. But as we arrived, a Geonosian Fighter was just departing - one that Padme and I strongly suspected held Count Dooku. As Padme and the troops fired on the craft, I raced into the hangar. Master Yoda had clearly arrived to fight Dooku, exhaustion clear on his weathered green face.

Yet it wasn't the sight of this nor the injuries Obi-Wan had sustained but rather Anakin being helped to his feet by his master, his arm cut off just below the elbow. Oh, no... No, my Ani! I couldn't imagine the agony he must be in...

"Anakin!" I called out, rushing across the floor to wrap him in a warm embrace.

I let my forehead rest on his for only a moment, our eyes connecting briefly, before pulling away and grabbing Obi-Wan's hand, squeezing it gently in a gesture of comfort before letting go. We wasted no time in getting Anakin onto a ship bound for Coruscant and the best treatment. Yet until then, he was taken to the ship's infirmary.

As he was whisked away to the med bay alongside Obi-Wan, I fell back to wait in the pristine white hallway with Padme. My back was pressed against the wall as anxiety gnawed at my insides - I felt so helpless just waiting here. Silence lapsed then and I felt the exhaustion seeping into my very bones after finally stopping for a moment. So much had happened today in such a short amount of time. We'd been arrested, nearly executed, war had broken out, and on top of all of this, I had confessed my true feelings to Anakin.

And now...now I wondered where that left us...

"He's going to be alright, you know. He's strong - he'll make it through this, I promise," Padme reassured me, sensing my anxiety despite her non-Force-sensitive nature.

I cracked a slight smile at this, appreciating her trying to comfort me, "Oh, I know he will. It's just..."

I let my words trail off, biting my lower lip to not let the words spill out of my mouth as I glanced down to my once-white boots which were now covered in Geonosian red dust. But Padme, it seems, had already caught on.

She nudged me gently with her shoulder in a sisterly way, "You two will make this work. There's too much chemistry there for it not to. Too much history, too, I suspect."

I glanced over at her in surprise but she only smiled warmly back at me before wandering inside the infirmary for her own injuries to be healed, leaving me standing there alone with my thoughts.

Letting my head fall back against the wall, my eyes fluttered shut as my thoughts drifted back to Anakin...

"Wait, will I see you again? What's your name?"

Even then, I never had Anakin's deep connection to the Force or his penchant for premonitions but it seems in that one moment I did as the words tumbled from my mouth.

"Jetta Aroo. And I know we'll meet again. I have a feeling we'll be in each others' lives for a long time, Skywalker."

A groan escaped my mouth.

Too much history, indeed.