one on one with newt.

[Spotted.Newt]

At first, Riksha was confused by why Anakin had reached out, to grab her arm and stop her from leaving. She stopped, turning to look at him, eyes searching his expression. He was silent for a long time, long enough that she began to worry. He almost seemed to be conflicted, as though he were trying to puzzle something out. She was about to ask what was going on, when he spoke.

Qyu-Lyen is dead.
It took a moment for the words to sink in, to register in her brain. It was almost like her brain was refusing to process them, not wanting to believe them. But finally, she made sense of those three little words. Three words, that practically tore her apart. She stared blankly at Anakin for a moment, before a wave of emotions she had not really realized she was capable of flooded her entire being.

Qyu-Lyen is dead.
How? Why? What? No! This couldn't be! How did it happen? What? When? How? What? Riksha couldn't make sense of the thoughts that ran through her mind, a jumble of questions and other nonsense. She was feeling so many things, she hasn't even realized that many emotions existed. Before she knew what was happening, she had burst into tears, collapsing into quiet sobs, and leaning against Anakin.

Her entire world seemed to come crashing down on her, much like the droid factory two years ago. Qyu-Lyen had been the entire reason she was where she was. The only reason she put up with the Queen was for Qyu-Lyen. Whenever Riksha would get annoyed or feel a scary little burst of anger, she would remember Qyu-Lyen's patient and smiling face, his calm voice. She would remember why she was here, why she was a slave to the Queen. It was for Qyu-Lyen, and her loyalty to him was what kept her going every day.

And now, he was gone, and she had nothing.

[mugwart]

Anakin winced as she first leaned heavily against him, her will to so much as
take a breath dwindling. He hesitated for a second, then wrapped his arms
around her, holding her up on her feet. He held her for a long time, leaning
his head against hers, closing his eyes. He couldn't even imagine the pain she
was in. He didn't want to. He didn't want to think of a world without the only
person he'd ever really had the chance to be close to. Now, he thought, at this
point, it would be harder to lose Obi-Wan than it was to lose his mother. His
heart was physically aching for Riksha.
Finally, he pulled his head away, but kept his arms around her to keep her up.
She was sobbing heavily, but quietly. Everything was draining out of her - the
hope was entirely gone. The hope was puddling on Anakin's shirt, and then it
would evaporate and it would be lost. He was lost for words. How did one
comfort someone who just lost what seems to be the most important person in
their entirety? When Anakin lost his mother, he had Obi-Wan to confide in.
Riksha had no one.
After many minutes, Anakin had long sat down, Riksha leaning heavily into his
shoulder, her face hidden, her hair falling out of its neat braid. She was limp,
barely hanging on to consciousness. He cleared his throat.
"Riksha," he whispered, careful not to break her. "It's been a long while. I don't
want the Queen to be angry with you, and I need to reach Obi-Wan... soon." He
pressed his lips together. He hadn't spoken to him in two nights. He wanted to
speak to Obi-Wan because he knew he would be able to comfort him, and if Riksha
wanted to remain a secret, Obi-Wan would surely keep it. He attempted at pushing
her hair back so he could look at her, but what had fallen out of her braid was
stuck to her face, matted in tears.

[Spotted.Newt]

Many minutes went by, with Riksha simply leaning against Anakin and sobbing, not really aware of her surroundings at all. She was trapped inside her head, amidst a raging sea of pain and sorrow and other emotions. A sea that churned wildly, monstrous waves rising up and crashing down, waters swirling like a mad whirlpool. She was like a shipwrecked sailor, and the wild sea threatened to drag her down below the surface, into unconsciousness.
Anakin's quiet voice finally pulled her out of her head, out of the sea and back into the real world. She found herself sitting beside him, her face buried in his shoulder. Riksha lifted her head, coming to her senses at last. Quickly, she dried her eyes on the sleeve of her cloak, her tears ending even more quickly than they had begun. She pulled away from Anakin, standing quickly. "I'm sorry," she said.
You should be ashamed of yourself! that voice in her mind scolded. Loosing control of yourself like that! And in front of a Jedi, no less! It's a darn good thing Qyu-Lyen wasn't here to see that! Why, he would be ashamed to say you were once his student!
"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable," Riksha apologized to Anakin, then ducked out of the tree and walked away without waiting for a response.
Before, when she had walked, you wouldn't have been able to tell she was a slave. She had a fairly confident stride, as though she were on a mission. She had held her head as high as was allowed, and spoken as strongly as she dared. Now, she looked just as broken as any other slave. Her walk was tired, almost pitiful. Her shoulders sagged, her head was low. She stared at the ground, as if questioning whether it would leave her too.
The thing that neither the Queen nor anyone else had ever managed to break was her will. Traders prided themselves on their ability to break the will of their slaves, yet Riksha's had never been broken. The Queen had barely even bothered, knowing full well the one reason Riksha was loyal. Now even her will was crushed. There had been one thing she had held on to, and that had been cruelly yanked away from her by the Force.
Barely mustering the strength to make the Force-jump back up to her balcony, Riksha collapsed onto her bed as soon as she entered the room. She didn't even bother to take off the dirty cloak she was wearing. As if the two years of hard work were finally catching up to her, Riksha fell into an empty and dreamless sleep.

[mugwart]

Anakin pressed his lips together as he watched Riksha walk away, his
eyebrows creasing. Part of him wanted to chase after her, but he knew
he shouldn't. He stayed where he was, leaning forward onto a balled
fist. He let out a gentle sigh, waiting a moment before he pulled out his
communication device. It was the headset from his ship. He slid it over
his head, adjusting it so that Obi-Wan would be able to hear him properly.
He called to reach him, and told him everything he knew. All about Riksha,
all about the planet. He talked to him for a long time, into the evening.

Finally, Anakin decided it was best to go back inside. After ending the
communication with Obi-Wan, he sat in the tree for a long time. The sun
almost completely surrendered to the horizon, leaving the inside of the tree
almost entirely dark. He was beginning to fall asleep when he lurched awake
from a bad dream. He cleared his throat, standing up and feeling his way to
the entrance of the trunk. He slowly walked back to the palace, walking
carefully on his feet and to his room. He collapsed on his bed, resting his hands
on his chest and staring at the detailed, painted ceiling, processing all the day
had brought to him.

[Spotted.Newt]

Obi-Wan was a bit troubled by the news Anakin gave him.
The Jedi who had been killed on the first mission had not in fact been killed. She was a slave of the Queen.
Her reaction to the news of Qyu-Lyen's death was what worried him the most. Though he was impressed by her abolity to maintain her skills while serving the Queen, her reaction was proof that her ability to suppress emotions was weakening. Of course, he figured that any Jedi in her position would have weakened skills, but that didn't make it any less worrisome. Obi-Wan had warned Anakin to keep an eye on her. When his own master had been killed, he lost some of his control and responded in anger. Between Riksha and Anakin, they could do quite a bit of damage or get into quite a bit of trouble if they let their emotions control them.
On the other hand, the information about the planet that the young man provided would be helpful. Obi-Wan planned to share the news with the council asap.

Riksha awoke to the first rays of light filtering through her window. Yawning, she sat up, wondering for a brief moment if the events of yesterday had been a dream. But she knew they were not, that a Jedi was here gathering information and that Qyu-Lyen was dead. She was not sure exactly what she was going to do, if she was going to do anything. At this point, she was done with feeling sorry for herself, done with childish tears. She was a Jedi, after all, or she used to be at least. She should know better than to let her emotions take over like they had! Now, she was just left with a sort of emptiness where her attachment and loyalty to her former master once rested. Or rather, she was just noticing this emptiness now. Riksha realized that she had known all along that Qyu-Lyen had died, she just either had truly not recognized the feeling of the bond snapping or she had tricked herself into believing that the pain she had felt was not associated with the bond but just a severe headache or something without realizing what she was doing.
Swinging her legs over the side of the bed and standing up, Riksha pulled off the cloak she had worn yesterday and not bothered to take off. She went to the refresher and showered, knowing she wouldn't be able to fall back asleep now. Afterwards, she washed the cloak, hanging it on the balcony to dry. Then, with the sun just peeking over the horizon and turning the sky into a colorful masterpiece, she leapt up to the roof to meditate. Maybe, somehow, the death of her Master might have helped to clear away the fog in her mind that hid the memory of what really happened on that mission two years ago. Sitting down and crossing her legs, Riksha closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind and even her breathing.

[Spotted.Newt]

{I couldn't resist xD }

[mugwart]

[ ohm u stars i'm laughing ]

Anakin sat with his legs crossed, feeling the warm, rising sun on his face. It
was set up to be a near-perfect day and it had hardly even started. He was
wearing short sleeves, now, unafraid of his metal arm. He pushed his hair out
of his face, as he didn't have to hide a scar anymore. He wasn't sure why he'd
decided to rise early and come here. He'd been there since before the sun
came up. He was having odd dreams that he couldn't really remember when
he woke up. It was strange. He remembered dreams from when he was a
baby, and now he was a grown man. It frightened him, that he couldn't
remember. Perhaps it regarded someone he held dearly? How would he know
what to expect?
After a long time of sitting there, he heard rough soles hitting the textured
roof. Riksha had her back to him, her hair in the same brain, pulled over her
shoulder, stray pieces looking more blonde as the sun caught them. In a way,
she was really beautiful. Despite what Anakin had put her through in a mere
two days, she never once really got snappy with him. She was very collected.
She was among the most model Jedi Anakin had ever met.
After she stood there a minute, very minutely moving her head to take in the
landscape in the morning, Anakin stood up. He smiled faintly, taking a
quiet step towards her. "Lovely morning, isn't it?" he said gently, trying not
to startle her too much.

[Spotted.Newt]

Riksha had not noticed Anakin join her on the balcony, since she was lost in meditation. Though she was sad about the loss of her Master, she had hoped that maybe at least she would be able to unlock the memory the Force seemed so set on hiding from her. But no, instead it was even harder to reach. What did the Force want from her? What would it take to get it to back off and let her see what she had seen back then?
I swear, the Force is practically laughing.
Frustration, pent up over two years, began to slither through her like a hidden serpent that was preparing to strike. That serpent that you through outside numerous times, and each time thinking you are rid of it. But it always seems to come back. No matter how many time Riksha had released her frustration into the Force, watching it float away like a feather, it always seemed to return the next time something particularly frustrating happened.
Riksha remembered how, when she was but a very young padawan, she would occasionally get quite frustrated during meditation. Patience, young one Qyu-Lyen would say, a smile crossing his features. She would open her eyes, to see him sitting perfectly calmly in front of her. You try too hard sometimes. Relax, and all will be revealed with time. She would close her eyes and try again. She would let go of her anxiety and start again.
Perhaps it was time for her to let her old master go. Taking a breath, she released her frustration, and with it also her sadness. Though, the latter would take a little longer to leave her.

Anakin's voice brought her out of her meditation, and she opened her eyes. "Yes, I suppose it is," she stated.

[Spotted.Newt]

{bump}