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Missing Scenes
Post Revenge of the Sith: Deep Into That Darkness Peering
She couldn’t remember how she got here or where she was for that matter. The sterile walls all looked the same to the former handmaiden, no matter where they took her. The only thing that changed was the persons who brought from one room to the next. Sometimes they would speak harshly to her demanding answers to which she had no way of answering even if she wanted to. Other times they tried more subtle ways of getting her to speak, through kind gestures and simple acts of friendship. But she was no fool having seen such tactics before herself. Although seeing it being used on her by her former friend no less was almost too much to bear. But then that was part of their tricks as well.
Sache you wretched traitor! I hope your soul is consumed in the Abyssal of chaos!
She had spat out in fury during one of the earlier interrogations. It galled her to think that her friend even now openly working for their enemy would dare say she served the Alliance. That she was on the same side as Sabe that Soren was working with them. She knew they were just lies; they had to be after all Soren’s uncle was one of the more powerful members of the Empire a Moff to be exact. As if they would dare to think her stupid enough to fall for that. Even in her weakened condition she knew enough about her situation not to speak even when in the presence of friends. Even if they had enough information on the Alliance to sound convincing she wasn’t about to fall prey to their ruse, once was bad enough.
As such nothing came of it and despite their attempts to make her speak Sabe remained silent for the rest of the duration. But as the hours melted into days the situation got progressively worse. The friendly gestures promptly wore thin and a more firm, fierce form of interrogation progressed. Yet despite all the beatings, the mind games and threats of death, she did not speak, would not speak and so now they left matters in far more sinister hands.
Throughout the tortures, the mind tricks and over all hostilities there was one constant threat that always lingered. If she did not talk Lord Vader himself would intervene. In truth she wanted to spend some time alone with the Chosen One. She wanted to unleash hell on him, to laugh as she drove her blade through his blackened heart to spit on his face as he breathed his last breathe. But despite their warnings, their jeers and taunts she had yet to see the Sith Lord himself. In reality while part of her wanted to see him to just to unleash her anger the more rational parts of her dreaded the moment when she knew she’d have to face him once more.
But as the door to her small cell opened Sabe knew without question the moment was upon her. The familiar hiss hush of the Sith Lord’s respirator promptly filled her throbbing ears and soon the fallen Jedi was entering the small chambers, his presence literally filling the entire room both physically and mentally. There was such darkness that surrounded him that it was almost oppressing in its nature to the point she could almost feel her soul gasping for air. For all the mental bravado she held in her fury upon her arrival there was none to be found now.
Though she kept a painfully neutral expression her shattered mental walls would soon give away her weakened state. For lack of sleep, food and water were taking their toll on her body almost as much as the beatings and tortures inflicted. Yet she kept up the fight, because she knew she had to. Because if she didn’t many more would die by this monster’s hand and with their passing would come the downfall of all her mistress sought so hard to preserve.
Once a handmaiden always a handmaiden she reminded herself fiercely as she heard the buzz of interrogation droid floated into the room. Her heart instantly sank at the sight of it. She had heard rumors that the Imperial army would often use truth ‘serums’ to confuse and blind their victims so they sang like Gamuna birds. Up until this point it was never deemed necessary to poison her for the truth but it would seem Anakin or Darth Vader as he was now known as thought differently. Rising to her feet as quickly as she good Sabe tried to ignore how the room spins as she did so. Backing away to the corner of the room which in truth was only too close to the towering dark entity for her liking she attempted desperately to avoid the needle that was aimed for her.
But as she did so she felt his hand grab her arms roughly holding her in position as she cried out in fury. Instinctively she struggled fruitlessly to break free from his grasp, her eyes turning fiery once more as memories of the past were forced to the surface by his single action. However it was short live and soon she could feel the pinprick of the needle against her already bruised shoulder. The contents promptly drained and soon the dark lord released his grip and practically threw her to the flat metal plate that acted as her bunk.
“I’ve tried to go easy on you, but as usual you just can’t resist a challenge. But then neither can I, which is why I am here now.”
He stated simply as she stared at him in disbelief before shaking her head. But as she did so she could feel the room beginning to thrum as her head suddenly felt strangely light. It’s the poison she told herself as she tried to glare at the fallen Jedi in silent defiance. However once more that is no bravado to be found, although the hatred still lingered as well as the fear.
“So let us try again shall we? Where are the data crystals?”
Her thoughts were foggy as though filled with cotton. She could hear Darth Vader’s voice and somewhere in the back of her mind she could almost register that something was touching her thoughts but she couldn’t register whom or what it was. It was dark though and cold. She didn’t like it and so she shrank away within her thoughts, hiding within the massive but now crumbling walls that was once her most powerful mental defense.
Closing her eyes Sabe imagined she was hiding behind them slipping into a dark corner so far and deeply hidden that even this nightmare couldn’t find her. But a sudden sharp pain snapped her back to reality or so it felt. Her shut eyes squeezed harder in their closure as she felt the sting of pain dance violently across her already bruised cheek. She cried out in pain as she tried to figure out what had caused it though somewhere in the back of her mind she knew the Sith lord had just hit her because of her lack of response.
Yet even then she remain silent and was promptly rewarded with a pain of a different kind. The black tendrils she had felt only days ago now pierced her mental walls; their edges razor sharp and without mercy. She screamed in pain trying to block the vital information desperately burying them into small mental boxes locked and protected but to no avail. Desperate she opened her eyes hoping somehow by some miracle that she would find some escape from the horrors that were tearing her thoughts apart. That somehow if she accepted the strange reality that was felt under the guise of poison she would be able to find some new form of defense.
But instead she found something else entirely. Though she was still in the confines of the Imperial Cell, she noticed the dark lord that was once a Jedi was no where to be found. Instead there was another in his place.
Obi-Wan?
She whispered in disbelief before suddenly realizing she was no longer clad in the deep burgundy outfit she was wearing moments about but rather the simple but dark garbs of a Jedi knight. As she studied the strange clothes curiously she noticed it was oddly familiar.
This outfit wasn’t like the other Jedi’s garb. It was far darker then the usual gentle shades of brown, it was almost too dark in fact, so close to black that it could have easily been mistaken for the shade of darkness. Confused her hand slipped to where a lightsaber would normally to rest and it was the sight of it that caused her skin to turn ashen.
This was no ordinary Jedi Knight’s outfit nor was the lightsaber that now rested in her shaking hands.
Though it was designed to suit Sabe’s small physique it was without question Anakin’s old uniform and more importantly his old lightsaber.
"…by the gods…what is going on?”
She whispered to the form that was Obi-Wan feeling the tendrils of fear and panic gripping her heart in ways she never thought possible.
The vision of Obi-Wan walked amongst the dead bodies in the Jedi Temple alongside Master Yoda. 'Not even the younglings survived...'
Obi-Wan looked directly at Sabé, his disappointment magnifying at the sight of her. 'How could you? How could you do this? The masters, padawans...the younglings! They were defenseless!'
Suddenly Sabe found herself at the ruined temple she didn't know how she got here but for the moment it didn't matter. To her horror her eyes fell upon the bodies strewn about as her mind registered the nightmare she had experienced over a year ago. It was just as she remembered it to be but worse somehow. Shaken by the disturbing sight she caught the familiar accented voice of Obi-Wan and whirled around hoping to face him to ask what was going on. But the sight that greeted Sabe silenced the former decoy immediately.
Never had she seen such sorrow or dissappointment directed at her like this. Instinctivally she stepped back shaking her head as his words seemed to cut her deeply as her hand grabbed for her blades. But there was none only the lightsaber that was not hers.
"Master it wasn't me...You must believe me...I didn't do this..."
Master!?Her eyes widen as she jerked back in horror. Had she really done this? Was it really her hands that were now covered in the blood of the innocent?
'You did this, your hatred did this. Does this make you any better for it? Are you rightfully avenged now?' Obi-Wan was not cross, but thoroughly despondant, for it was his teaching that had failed. He hadn't done enough. He felt as though he could have saved these lives if he would have been a better teacher.
The images blurred and changed, showcasing various scenes of the battletorn Naboo, from her parents home, to her family, old friends long gone, finally landing for a longer period on the room that was to be Padmé and Anakin's childrens' room, the ornament left by a ghost of the past.
Finally an image of Anakin Skywalker appeared, his eyes glowing with a fiery vengence seething hatred for Obi-Wan, directed at Sabé. The vision called out to her, taunting. 'I'm responsible. I don't deny it. You want to kill me? Go ahead, it's your deathwish.'
Obi-Wan called out to her from the mists, 'Don't give in to hate.'
Frozen she blinked feeling the tears coming to her eyes at the dark weight of his words as Sabe stepped back fearing now to come near the one she loved suddenly feeling unworthy to be in his presence.
"...I...I don't know..."
She admitted in a barely audible rasp her eyes widening horror as she watches the slaughter move before her eyes knowing somehow she was linked to them. She couldn't say how but it was there without question. Yet the more she saw, the more she expected to see - wanted to see. The twisting of images brought back a rush of memories. Of her days as a decoy or her time posing as a separatist of fighting with the resistance.
Though the slaughter was not her own, there was something twistedly familiar about it. As though somehow if she had her way it would be those responsible for this suffering laying still and lifeless as their prey does. Even worse was the satisfying feeling that it encouraged. AS though somehow it was plausible because it was rightous anger.
The feeling couldn't have been more stronger then it was at the sight of the empty crib; of the hanging wreath that lingered behind serving as a reminder of the all that was lost and destroyed by the hand of the 'chosen one'.
"I hate you."
She whispered quietly feeling her hands shake as her eyes narrowed feeling as though by her fury alone she could summon the demon responsible for all the destruction. Yet as this thought echoed in her mind Sabe could almost hear the hiss hush of the monster's breathing in the back of her mind, yet she couldn't be sure if it where it was coming from.
However as the shifting images came to a pause SAbe found herself emerging from the mists to find herself face to face with the very one who destroyed her life twice over.
"Butcher of children, murderer of the innocent. I will make you pay..."
She growled at the sight of him, her voice deep and unnatural as she stepped forward drawing the blade that was never hers to wield. The former Jedi in turned just mocked her words angering her further.
"Your death will avenge them,so they may rest in peace!"
She continued to move forward to begin the battle before faltering as Obi-Wan's voice echoed in warning through the mists that now surrounded her nemesis and herself. Staring at the taunting dark form before her Sabe can still hear the hiss hush of the resporator and struggled to ignore it as it too seemed to cloud her thoughts.
"I have to do this master."
She quietly replied torn between the need for vengeance and the desire to appease to her love's words of wisdom.
"It has to be done. If I don't more will die...You have understand...Order must be restored, this madness must be stopped."
She said desperately feeling as though she was being torn in two different directions.
With each strike of her lightsaber at Anakin, Obi-Wan was being cut and bleeding in front of her.
'Sabé...' he coughed out. 'Stop. Stop... Please...'
The hatred was venemous, flashes of red, searing, burning.
'You aren't this. You aren't this hate. You are better than this.'
Obi-Wan was being torn apart with every piercing, hissing slice of the lightsaber which had morphed from blue to red, the color of his blood which seeped from his wounds.
'Sabé!' he called out once more with his final breath and then he faded into oblivion.
But despite his warning Sabe's need for vengeance took control and soon she was lost in the heat of battle striking Anakin's form with such ease and skill that it baffled her.
In the back of her mind she could hear his voice feels the hiss hush echoing in her mind as she found herself blinking back in shock as the image of her enemy was changing into the form of her love.
Her eyes widen in horror as she tried to stop herself, to draw back her blade but the need was too much. The blade hungered for vengeance and in truth so did she. But this wasn't the sort of justice she wanted. Obi-Wan was innocent, it was Anakin she sought to destroy and yet everytime she saw Anakin and struck her blade it was Obi-Wan who recieved the attack. The blades colour shifted between blue and blood red marking the transition that Sabe feels helpless to control as she felt as though she was drowning her own rage.
Anakin had to die. The lives he had stolen, the children he had butchered they had to be avenged didn't they?
She knew the answer or rather thought she knew the answer and narrowing her eyes shes slammed the blade into the fallen Jedi's chest driving it through his body. But to her horrified gaze Anakin's form shifted into Obi-Wan causing Sabe to drop the now blood red blade as he called her name his dying breathe ragged as she desperately dropped to her knees by his side. Tears now poured down her cheeks as the pain of loss is too much to bear. Sobbing she wathed as he faded away leaving her in darkness as she wrapped her arms around her should rocking back and forth as sorrow racked her body.
...Obi-Wan...Oh gods...I'm so sorry...Please...
But only silence answers her tears and slowly Sabe found herself opening her eyes once more as her body now lies limply on the makeshift steel bed of the small Imperial cell. Still lost in the dream or nightmare of moments ago Sabe clenched her eyes shut as if willing it to all dissappear.
"...Obi-Wan...I'm...sorry..."
She whispered not reconizing the danger of the situation.
The dark lord already furious at the lack of information to be found in the almost comatose handmaiden suddenly stopped dead in his track as he made out the soft whisper that had escaped from her bleeding lips. She hadn't registered of even responded to any of his administrations; not to the serum or to his powerful probing of her thoughts or even when he had tried to gain her focus through force. Yet just like that she was speaking...Not only speak she was uttering the name of his treacherous former master. Not only was it infuriating but it was down right insulting, it was though she was mocking him all this time.
No longer able to control his temper any longer the Sith Lord grabs her roughly by the throat causeing the woman's eyes to fly open as she finally registered her surroundings.
"Do not ever say that name in my presence again. Understood?"
She didn't respond for his grip was too tight for her to breathe let alone reply. Yet even so her lack of response came across as defiance to the former Jedi and in a blind rage of fury he slammed her face full force against against the far wall before pulling her back as he glared at her shaking bleeding form.
She tried to nod but the room was spinning so much she could barely hold her head up. He was about to say something further to make his point more clear, when he sensed a familiar signature. One he had last felt on that fateful day on Mustafar. His eyes narrowed to slits as he knew instantly who it was and realized without question he was not yet ready to face him. Not like this. It was too soon and his body was still not yet his own.
However the thought only served to provoke his anger that much further. But he was no fool and despite the rage it encouraged Darth Vader finally gave in to instincts and decided he was still not battle ready for a foe such as Obi-Wan.
However still determined to leave his mark he casted a quick glance to Sabe who now lay limp before throwing her across the small chamber causing her body to slam against the door's outer frame with such force that it cracked her skull leaving massive gouges on her temple and her brow. But if she had felt the blow it didn't show as her boy was limp and pale as though she were lifeless already.
Satisfied that his temperment had been somewhat soothed Lord Vader promptly left without another word quietly departs from the room ignoring the interigation droid as he does so. Upon departing from the cell the Sith Lord is promptly greeted by an approaching commander who stiffens and salutes upon seein ghim.
"Lord Vader there has been two security breaches. I have already dispatched some of the troops to tend to the matter, however I believe the Grand Moff requested your assistance."
HE didn't reply only stiffly nodded and soon departed careful to avoid the powerful signature that lingered nearby. Now was not the time and he would be patient whether he liked it or not. For as his new master once said - True rewards are earned by those who wait....And wait he would until the moment was right and then he would embrace his destiny and destroy the one how made him as he was.
Elsewhere Sabe's eyes open slightly only to find everything to be red with her blood...She knows she should breathe but it hurts too much so she tries to hold her breath. She wanted to move but she can't, her body was bent all over the place like the twisted warped metal that was her sister's wedding bracelet.
In truth she just felt so tired and cold. What she would give to feel the warmth of Obi-Wan's presence. If only to just hear his voice telling her she was safe, that everything was okay. It would all be okay if only he were here to let her go. But she killed him somehow...She couldn't remember but she knew his blood was on her hands and the thought caused a choked sob to gurgle from her bleeding mouth.
...Obi....wan...
She tried to speak but the words would not come and so she just closed her eyes and tried to imagine that he was near and for just a moment it almost seemed real. Like a dream she could feel his warm hum and yet she instinctivally shied from it feeling shamed for things she hadn't done and yet had. She wasn't worthy of this gentle warmth and yet she wanted it so much to feel it wrapped around her soul.
The darkness began to close around her thoughts and she knew that soon she would be crossing the realms of the living and the dead. Soon she would enter the massive gates of harmony, and be welcomed by her family, by her dear 'sisters' and her queen. The thought made Sabe smile weakly as even in its broken state it still managed to widen as she could almost feel Obi-Wan's presence.
How she longed to be near him and yet she knew she shouldn't, she wasn't worthy, not anymore. Yet she could not resist saying his name one last time, if only in her thoughts for it carried the warm memory of the one who was the greater half of her soul.
...Good-bye...Obi-Wan...i'm sorry...I failed you...
And then without another thought she slipped into the darkness once more.
