Duchess Satine Kryze happened to be at her apartment on Coruscant when there was a knock on her door. She had dismissed all of her guards, much to their disagreement, for the night and was about to go to sleep. The chrono read 10:47 as Satine stood up to answer the door. It was rather late for visitors, but the Duchess still pulled a robe on over her nightgown and opened it. Standing outside waiting was Padme Amidala, with Ahsoka Tano standing slightly behind her. They both looked like they had been crying.
"Senator, padawan, come in," Satine said, opening the door more and standing to the side to allow the two visitors in. She tried to push all the confused thoughts aside, but she couldn't help but wonder what had happened.
The two guests took a seat on the couch as Satine closed the front door and followed them in. She sat down on the chair to the left of the Padme and Ahsoka. "What brings you here at this hour," the Duchess asked. Padme and Ahsoka exchanged a worried glance before both looking down at their feet.
"Satine, I'm sorry…" Padme mumbled, just loud enough to be heard. She sounded as if she was too scared to deliver whatever news she brought. Satine sighed. Something must be really bad to have Padme worried.
The senator from Naboo opened her mouth to finish what she was going to say, but no words came out. Satine glanced at Ahsoka, who was looking up now, but the young jedi refused to make eye contact. The padawan continued what Padme was saying.
"Duchess, it's just, Master Kenobi...he…" Ahsoka paused. Realization hit Satine just as Ahsoka finished her statement. "He's dead."
Satine looked at her two friends, shocked. She couldn't get herself to say anything. It took her a second to process everything alone, but as soon as she did, she broke down in tears. Padme put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder, but it didn't help. Satine only buried her face in her hands letting tears stream down her face. Ahsoka and Padme exchanged a worried glance before turning back to Satine.
After a few minutes, she had finally calmed down enough to speak(barely). She sat back up, crossing her hands over her lap, but she still didn't look up nor wipe her tears from her cheeks.
"How did he...," Satine couldn't bring herself to say the last word. She had just reunited with Obi-Wan and now he was gone. Ahsoka sighed, dreading the explanation that was coming. She looked at Satine, giving her an are you sure you want to know glance. Satine nodded, and Ahsoka began to explain.
"Anakin, Obi-Wan, and I were headed to an emergency meeting when a sniper started shooting at us. We managed to take cover before devising a plan to go after him. Anakin flanked the sniper from the right, I was covering the lower streets, while Obi-Wan went after him," Ahsoka stopped to catch her breath before continuing. "I don't exactly know what happened next, but I heard a shot and looked up to see Obi-Wan falling over the side of one of the buildings." Satine let out a muffled sob, and Ahsoka looked at her, concerned. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"
"No, it's fine," Satine managed to say, realizing how ridiculous she probably sounded. She couldn't believe it. She had always known the risks Obi-Wan had taken, fighting on the frontlines. She knew it wasn't guaranteed that he would live to the next day, but this was different. He hadn't been killed fighting for the republic, he had been shot down by a sniper on the streets of Coruscant.
"His funeral will be tomorrow," Padme practically whispered, "in the Jedi temple at 6:00, if you want to come." Anakin had told Padme that Obi-Wan and Satine had been friends, so she had decided it would be best to tell her of his death, but she didn't think that the two had been this close. Satine was obviously devastated.
"I'll be there," Satine muttered, "if you don't mind, I think I should get some rest."
"Of course," Padme replied, standing up walking to the door, followed by Ahsoka. She began to leave, but quickly turned back to Satine, who was still seated on the couch.
"I'm so sorry," she said before turning to return home.
As soon as Satine heard the door close behind her, she stood up and walked to the apartments kitchen, and made herself some tea. Truthfully, she had told Padme and Ahsoka she needed to get some rest because she just wanted to be alone. Satine knew there was no way she would be able to sleep, not after hearing about this. She knew how she dealt with grief, and sleep never seemed to come this soon. Too many thoughts, more than usual, filled her head.
She poured the tea it into a mug as she heard it finish and went to sit back on the couch. She leaned back on took a sip, thinking back on what Ahsoka had told her. Satine still couldn't believe Obi-Wan was dead. After everything, he at least deserved to die serving the republic. The duchess wrapped her robe around herself. It was huge on her, not meant to fit her. Technically it wasn't hers. The robe belonged to Obi-Wan, but she had 'stolen' it from him back when he was protecting her during the Mandalorian civil war and had kept it close to her ever since. Now it was all she had left of him. She could feel tears coming again, and she didn't bother to try and stop them.
Satine lay down, pulling her feet up on the couch and buried her face in the nearest pillow. She tried to focus on something else, but her train of thought remained on the dead jedi master. Satine stayed like this, crying into the pillow, until exhaustion took hold of her and she drifted into sleep.
When Satine woke the next day, one of her handmaidens standing behind the couch. She sat up, still wrapped in the Jedi robe, a cup of cold tea sitting on the table next to her. The handmaiden gave her a worried look before asking if she was alright. Satine sighed. She knew she wasn't alright, but she couldn't let Obi-Wan's death get in the way of her role now. She had to push it aside for now, if she could even do that, so the duchess merely nodded. She stood up and headed to her room to get ready for the long day ahead of her, trying to forget about Obi-Wan.
The long day of senatorial meeting and politics finally ended. Satine had been told she wasn't herself too many times. In all honesty, she wasn't, but nobody needed to know that. Putting Obi-Wan's death behind her, even for just a few hours, was harder than it seemed, and she had never thought it would be easy. During one of her meetings, something, she didn't exactly know what, had broughten up the topic of Jedi. Someone had asked if anyone had heard about the Jedi master's death the night before. Before she knew what she was doing, tears had filled her eyes and she had ran out of the room sobbing. Padme, who had also been at the meeting, had run after her and found her locked in her flat. The senator from Naboo had then returned to the meeting and told them to continue without Satine.
Meetings may have ended, but the worst of the day was still yet to come, Obi-Wan funeral. Jedi's funerals were usually only open to other Jedi and close friends, which Satine technically was, though very few knew about their relationship. The Mandalorian Duchess met Ahsoka outside the Jedi temple. The togruta managed a weak smile, not necessarily comforting, but a friendly gesture, before turning to walk into the room where Obi-Wan's funeral would take place. Satine followed behind, taking her place besides Padme.
Most of the funeral was a blur, Master Yoda spoke words of remembrance, there was some other speech, but when the talking finally ceded, Satine found it the most unbearable. The room was filled with silence as the funeral slowly came to an end. Unable to hold back any longer, Satine broke down in tears, covering her mouth with her hand. Her eyes drifted to the covered figure that was Obi-Wan's body, but it was too much to look at, just simply covered in a cloth, so she averted her eyes. Ahsoka leaned towards Plo Koon.
"I'm worried about Anakin," she whispered, "he hasn't said a word since it happened."
People finally began to exit the room, leaving Satine alone. She looked at the spot where Obi-Wan's body was before it was lowered, and letting out a muffled sob, she turned to leave.
Obi-Wan lay back against the familiar feel of the cushions of the couch in his room at the Jedi temple. It had been a long time since he had been here, since he had been himself. Finally the mission had ended, Dooku's threat was gone, and he had undergone the transformation back to the Obi-Wan Kenobi everyone knew and recognized. As Mace himself had said, everyone's a little tired of looking at that ugly face of yours, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but agree. He was filled with relief when the transformation was completed, though it was rather strange(and would be for a while) to look in the mirror and see himself with only the slight stubble of his regrowing hair.
The feeling of relaxation was broken when there was a knock at his door. Not wanting to stand up, he opened the door with the force, revealing Anakin standing in the doorway shifting on his feet looking uncomfortable, out of place. Why wouldn't he be after the former master and padawan duo's last conversation?
"Anakin, come in," Obi-Wan gestured for the knight to come join him, offering a fake smile. Anakin noticed that without his beard, Obi-Wan was easier to read, his emotions no longer hidden, and now he didn't seem pleased. This was most likely because of Anakin's accusations earlier. Anakin sat down on the seat across from Obi-Wan, deliberately trying to avoid eye contact with the Jedi master. Silence fell upon them, neither wanting to start the dreaded conversation that would come. After a few drawn out minutes, it was Anakin to speak first.
"Do you realize how many people you hurt," the knight sighed. He didn't want to argue, but Obi-Wan needed to know the effects of his faked death.
"Look, Anakin, you have to understand. What I did was for the better. The council-"
"NO!" Anakin spat, standing up and slamming his fists against the table. Now he was mad. "Do you expect me to believe that following the council's orders outweighed the consequences of this. It wasn't just me you betrayed, Ahsoka, Padme, Satine-"
The conversation was cut off as soon as her name was mentioned. Obi-Wan's face feel. He hadn't thought this would affect Satine, he wanted to tell her but he knew the council would never approve. Part of him had hoped she would never find out. Certainly she couldn't have been at his funeral. Only close friends and fellow Jedi were allowed to a Jedi's funeral, and if Satine would've even been able to come to Coruscant, she wouldn't have been allowed in. But Anakin spoke again, countering what the Jedi master had though.
"She was there Obi-Wan, she wept for you." Before he could even process what he was doing, Obi-Wan was pushing his chair back and running out of his room and down the halls of the Jedi temple, leaving a stunned, and still very ticked off Anakin behind. He continued to run towards the nearest docking bay with only one thought on his mind: Satine.
The next month was hard. Satine was unable to focus most of the time, her mind drifting back to Obi-Wan and the time she had spent with him. She tried to cover how she felt most of the time, but her guards and advisors easily figured out something wasn't right. Satine told them it was nothing when they asked, but they knew better. Even so, no one asked much more. A month may have passed, but she still felt empty, like somehow she was missing something, or someone.
A few hours after the attack, the news came to Mandalore. A group of bounty hunters working for Dooku had tried to kidnap the Supreme Chancellor. In the end the Jedi had put a stop to it, no names mentioned. Satine knew she should have been worried, but she still felt nothing but sorrow. Ever since his death, she hadn't felt much else. She walked back to her quarters and changed into a nightgown, and tried to sleep, but she couldn't. Her mind kept drifting back to the attack, how the Jedi had stopped it, and then to Obi-Wan. She just layed there, looking at the ceiling, crying. A few minutes passed before a guard knocked on the door to her room.
"Duchess, a man claims he needs to see you now. He wouldn't give me his name and refuses to leave," the guard said. Satine groaned and got up, wiping her tears with her sleeve.
"Send him in," she replied tiredly, grabbing Obi-Wan's robe and pulling it over her nightgown before walking to the main room. The guard opened the door, letting the man in, before returning to outside Satine's room. The duchess looked up to see who would want to see her at this time. She couldn't believe what she saw. The man standing a little aways from the doorways was no other than Obi-Wan Kenobi, a worried look on his face, his eyes locked on her. Satine blinked, worried she was just seeing things, but when she reopened her eyes he was still there. It took her another moment to realize he wasn't dead.
"Su cuy'gar," she whispered to herself. The supposed to be dead Jedi walked up to her until he was standing a few feet away and placed his hand on her shoulder in an act of sincerity. He looked right at her, but Satine had averted her eyes and was looking at the floor beneath them instead. Even if he wasn't force sensitive, he would be able to tell she was distraught.
"Satine, I-" he began, but was cut off instantly.
"Don't," she hissed, her voice grief-ridden and filled with a newfound anger. "I thought you were dead, I thought I never got a chance to say goodbye. I couldn't take it, do you understand how much it hurt. I was lost, all because of a stupid lie!" She shoved his hand off of her shoulder and walked away from him stopping at the large window that overlooked Sundari, a clear sign she didn't want Obi-Wan to come any closer. "Do you understand how much pain I had to put up with!"
Obi-Wan didn't say anything, he didn't know what to say. He just stood there, his arm reaching out to her as if she would disappear any second. He knew he should speak, but her words had hurt him more than he would've liked to admit. The silence didn't last long though, Satine spun back around to look at the Jedi. Her crystal blue eyes filled with unspilled tears.
"All this grief, pointless. Why did you put me through this? Couldn't you have just sent me a sign, any sign, that you were alive. Just one message would've been all it took. This whole time I was suffering for nothing!" her voice was filled with venom that had struck Obi-Wan just as she had hoped. She could feel the damage of her words, she was a politician after all, words where her weapon of choice, just as powerful as any lightsaber or blaster.
"Satine, I didn't have a choice," he finally spoke, taking a step closer to her.
"Shi ne'johaa Kenobi!" she yelled. Obi-Wan couldn't understand her, but he got the gist of it from her tone. He had only made her more mad. He knew better than to speak again.
Unknowingly, minutes of silence passed. The Jedi and Duchess continued to stand facing each other, the only movement coming from the city behind the windows. Hesitant to move, she eventually walked to the couch and sat down, making sure to stay as far away from Obi-Wan as she could. The Jedi sighed and turned towards her, trying, and failing, to catch her gaze as Satine continued to glare at her hands, both in fists of anger, set on her lap. Slowly and cautiously Obi-Wan began to walk towards the couch and took a seat across from her, resting his head on his hand. He sighed before speaking again, more cautious of his words this time.
"I don't know what to say. Satine, I never meant to hurt you, it all happened so fast, I never had time to plan out what would happen, how this could affect you. I didn't want to drag you into this…" Obi-Wan's voice softened and faded. Satine could hear the pain in his voice, the desperation for forgiveness, but she wasn't about to give in. Still, she couldn't speak, no words felt right. Instead she remained as she was, tears now rolling down her cheeks leaving a wet streak that she didn't bother to wipe off. Obi-Wan usually would've found this amusing, the Duchess of Mandalore, the woman who found any reason to argue with him, at a lose of words, but now, he was only more concerned.
She looked up, her eyes meeting Obi-Wan's, and couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Satine had never seen him so close to crying, so much emotion filled his eyes alone. Just the sight of him like this tugged at her heart. Countless times people had told her that Jedi were emotionless, knew nothing of love. She knew this wasn't true, though she had stupidly doubted herself more than once over it, but now looking at the desperation that had washed over him she knew the truth. He was real. He was alive, sitting in front of her, broken.
Her expression softened as she reached forward to place her hand against his cheek. The feeling was strange without the beard she had gotten used to. "What did they do to you?" "Superficial only, I promise," he leaned in slightly to her touch. She didn't believe him for a second. "Part of my disguise while undercover. I went through transformation, became Rako Hardeen. It was rather painful, I don't recommend doing anything of the sort." His usual humor had returned and Satine almost smiled at the comment, almost. Obi-Wan could see her eyes brighten, but it wasn't enough. He hated seeing her like this, just as much as she hated seeing him like this.
Reaching up, he placed his hand on hers that was currently caressing his cheek and intertwined his fingers between hers. Despite how rough and calloused his hands were from years of war, they felt nice against hers. Despite this, Satine pulled her hand back, her anger at him for the deception getting the better of her once again. "Why couldn't you atleast tell me you were alive," she choked out through her tears.
"Satine, someone could've killed you for information like that, I couldn't risk it. We can recover from this, but if I lost you, I don't know what I would do…" his voice faded again and he, once again, reached out and placed both hands of Satine shoulders so she was facing him. "Please just hear me out."
The amount of desperation in his voice was unbearable. He was begging for her forgiveness, and even though she didn't quite know if he had it, he just looked to broken to continued fighting over this. Meeting his glance, she gave him her full attention. Even though the words were on the tip of her tongue she couldn't quite say them. Instead she simply nodded, tears continuing to fall. Obi-Wan opened his mouth to speak again, but was silenced when Satine broke from his grip and threw herself in his arms. Once the shock wore off, the Jedi Master let himself relax in the embrace, wrapping one arm around her waist while the other held the back of her head tightly against his chest.
"I'm so sorry," he repeated quietly over and over into her hair, unaware of the tears now spilling down his cheeks. Still, Satine couldn't bring herself to speak, but that may have also been because Obi-Wan was holding her so tight against his chest she could barely breathe. She pulled away slightly, just enough to look into his eyes while still keeping her arms wrapped around him. He moved his hand to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing away her tears.
"Obi, don't apologize, please, I..I'm..I'm fine, alright" Satine stuttered, not entirely convinced she believed herself. Obi-wan must've not been convinced either because he instantly leaned closer, brushed his lips against her cheek, and tightened his already strong grip on her. Aware of the fact the she was blushing, Satine eventually managed to squirm free of his arms and pulled herself onto his lap, her legs stretched out on the couch behind her. She immediately curled up against him again, nuzzling her head under his. "You came all the way here just to tell me." Her voice was soft and slightly muffled due to her position. Obi-Wan noticed she no longer sounded like she was crying.
"You deserved to be told in person," he responded, quickly kissing the top of her head while stroking her back. Just at those words, Obi-Wan could tell that Satine wasn't mad anymore, or at least not as mad. She was less tense than before and her force presence was peaceful again, the same as always. Obi-Wan had always liked that, just being near her he would feel so much more relaxed, unless, of course, she was mad at him, which wasn't an unusual occurrence. He could still remember the feeling of realization the he loved her once again when the council had sent him to investigate on Mandalore. He didn't understand how he had spent 16 years without her, not that a single day went by without her crossing his thoughts. Sometimes it just took one simple thing to spark his memory…
Obi-Wan was drawn out of his thoughts when Satine reached up and began caressing his check, where his beard would have usually been had he not shaved it off for the sake of the mission. "I love you," she whispered leaning forward so her forehead was resting against his.
"I love you, too." Satine smiled. It wasn't very often that he said that. "More than you could imagine." With that, she leaned forward and their lips met. Obi-Wan ran his hand through her hair, pulling her closer, not wanting to let go of her, not wanting the kiss to end. It was all too soon before the Jedi and Duchess pulled back. After catching their breath, their lips met again, and again, and again, more passionately every time. Obi-Wan knew the Jedi code, he knew these feelings were forbidden, but at the moment all that mattered was her.
Neither of them wanted this moment to come to an end, but of course, it had to. They both pulled back, breathless, gazing into eachothers eyes. Satine knew that Obi-Wan would have to leave in the morning, and she was faintly aware that is was past midnight and she was exhausted, so much so that she curled up right there on the couch, resting her head on Obi-Wan's shoulder, and closed her eyes. Within a minute she was asleep, her breath warm against his neck. Obi-Wan lifted her, careful not to wake her, and laid back against the couch, setting Satine on his chest. He used to the force to bring a blanket draped across a chair to him and placed it across them. Placing one last kiss on Satine's head, he shut his eyes and fell asleep too.
They remained like that, asleep in eachothers arms, for the rest of the night. It wasn't much, but for the two lovers in a galaxy at war, never knowing what the next day may bring, it was more than enough.
True enD