"Deconstruction"

Jedi Rita

Rating: R

On a fact-finding mission for the Senate, Bail Organa is abducted and tortured. Now that he has been rescued, he must struggle to put his life back together after an ordeal that challenges all he believes in. First of a two-part story arc that concludes with "Reconstruction".

Warnings: While these events are not graphically depicted, the story deals realistically with the aftermath of torture and rape.
Timeline: Obi is 24, Bail is 25
Angst-o-meter: 10 for sure
Feedback: positive or negative; any thoughts on the moral issues raised in this story will be gratefully received.
Disclaimer: They're copyrighted to Master George, but in making them public he gave them to all of us. They belong to me in the realm of my imaginings, where money has no value. These musings are my tribute to Master George. He can accept it or not, but he cannot stop me from dreaming.
Author's note: Why write a torture story about Bail? First of all, everyone tortures Obi-Wan, and you know me: I always like to do something different. But the real reason is to further develop Bail's character. This is the guy who founds the Rebel Alliance and raises Leia to be the hellcat we all know and love, but up to this point in my story line Bail has led a rather protected, sheltered life. How will he handle it when his ideals are challenged by a brutal, personal experience of the real world? After all, the Jedi are trained to withstand torture. How will an "ordinary" person handle such violence? In some ways, the significance of this story will not really be played out until many years down the line, as the Republic becomes the Empire, and Bail Organa is forced to make choices that will have consequences for the entire galaxy. But this story is also very much about Obi-Wan, as he learns how victims must put their lives back together after the Jedi have rescued them and the mission is over.

Heartfelt gratitude goes to the Amazing Wonder Beta, Lambda Draconis, who reads my stories with all the care and attention to theme, plot and character one normally reserves for Russian novels. This story is infinitely better because of her insightful comments. Thank you so much!

This story is dedicated to all who have survived violence. And to those who have not.

"Reliable intimate relationships can help people survive profound violence, terror, and despair and enable them to live beyond their own personal pain. As Judith Herman notes in Trauma and Recovery, 'Traumatic events destroy the sustaining bonds between individual and community. Those who have survived learn that their sense of self, of worth, of humanity, depends upon a feeling of connection to others.' Restored, people return to ordinary life and expand their concern to others -- not as self-sacrifice but as self-possession. Present to themselves and to the reality of others, they do not live in denial of violence but in remembrance of presence. They have embraced a greater knowledge of the world, of evil. When we come into such presence of ourselves we are able to take responsibility for our actions and lives, in all their ambiguity. And in that process of taking responsibility, we turn the corner toward the practice of loving, the practice of transforming the world."

--Rebecca Ann Parker, "Proverbs of Ashes"

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