TITLE: In Love and War: The Clone Wars and Beyond
BY: Arwyn Whitesun
SUMMARY: Having been expelled from the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan seeks to begin a new life on the eve of the start of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire.
DISCLAIMER: The Great Flanneled One created Obi-Wan, Anakin and Yoda, et al. The rest belong to me. Not making any money on this fic, but feedback can and will be accepted in lieu of payment. :)
NOTE: This fic is a sequel to "First Knight" and "Stars in the Darkness" . You can find those fics in my bio. For those who do not wish to read the entire stories, but would like to know what happened, the following synopses are provided.
_SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS FROM "FIRST KNIGHT": When Obi-Wan Kenobi and his teen- aged apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, are sent to Ahjane to negotiate a peace accord between warring provinces, as a condition of the accord, a marriage is arranged between Onara, the only child of Dynast K'lia, leader of one province, and Dynast Edress, the leader of the other.
A much older man, Edress is only interested in marrying Onara for her dowry. Meanwhile, as part of an ancient and time-honored ritual, Obi-Wan is asked to bless the marriage of Onara and Edress by spending the night with her. Reluctantly, the Jedi Knight agrees to do so, but as a result, falls in love with Onara.
Unbeknownst to Onara or Obi-Wan, however, Onara's grandmother, the formidable and ambitious Lady Tsara, who longs to have a heir for her province who would possess the power of a Jedi, sees that Onara becomes pregnant from the ritual by ensuring she does not receive the prescribed conception inhibitor. As a result, Onara falls deathly ill from the high midi-chlorian count of the child she carries.
Obi-Wan, learning of Onara's illness, goes on a desperate, and nearly hopeless quest to find an insane, ex-Jedi Healer named Sinja-Bau. Meanwhile, Lady Tsara, who has been banished for her schemes, is visited by Count Dooku at the behest of Lord Sidious. Although he does not participate actively in her plans to get her hands on her grandson, named Ben Gavon Kenobi, he does give her some assistance. Tsara has Onara's husband, Edress, murdered and puts in his place a man who is more than willing to do her bidding.
As Obi-Wan travels far beyond the borders of the Republic to the distant ice planet of Toola to find Sinja-Bau, Lady Tsara hires a cadre of merciless, trained assassins called the Red Tide to kill her own son, Dynast K'lia and kidnap her grandson, Onara and Obi-Wan's child, Ben. Obi- Wan, meanwhile, finds Sinja-Bau and, although still gripped by her madness, agrees to come with him and try to cure Onara, who is rapidly slipping away.
The Red Tide attacks Dynast K'lia's manor, killing him and a Jedi Healer by the name of Master Eo, Sinja-Bau's former apprentice, who was helping Anakin guard Onara and Ben. Anakin succeeds in defeating most of the Red Tide, killing one of their members, a youth named Rhad, but Tsara is able to escape with the baby. Anakin pursues her and, when Tsara tries to kill him, he kills her instead, rescuing Ben, who is unharmed in the process.
Obi-Wan arrives with Sinja-Bau and she, upon looking upon the dead body of her former apprentice is cured of her madness by the Force and is also given back her power to access the Force, it having been stripped from her by the Jedi Council before she was expelled from the Order. She then successfully cures Onara of her illness. But, the reunion between Onara and Obi-Wan is brief and bittersweet.
He and Anakin are summoned to Coruscant, where Obi-Wan is reprimanded for his behavior by the Jedi Council. He is sent on retreat, to a Jedi Chapterhouse on the distant water world of Bestine, where he is instructed to find his way back to the Jedi path. Anakin is given, temporarily, to another master.
Onara, meanwhile, at the behest of both her people and Obi-Wan, marries Dalan, her deceased husband's nephew, now Dynast of his province. Obi-Wan asks Onara not to tell Ben about him, for he does not want him confused about who his real father is but, at the end of the story, Onara, now married to Dalan, begins to tell her infant son stories about his father. His real father. Obi-Wan Kenobi.
SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS FROM "STARS IN THE DARKNESS": Now a Senator, Onara travels to Coruscant to take up her new duties. Obi-Wan, having completed his retreat, is reunited with Anakin, but his love for Onara and his son have not diminished. Reunited on Coruscant, he and Onara barely avoid scandal as the result of a malicious gossip-monger who spreads lies on the HoloNet about their having an affair, but Onara, along with Anakin, confronts the gossip-monger and forces him to retract his statement. However, once again, Obi-Wan finds himself before the Council and he and Anakin are sent away from Coruscant on a series of harrowing missions.
Meanwhile, Onara's husband, who is still back on Ahjane with their son, becomes friends with an Ahjane businessman named Lursan. However, Dalan does not know that Lursan is the former leader of the Red Tide, seeking revenge against Obi-Wan and Anakin for the death of his son in the kidnapping attempt of Ben commissioned by Lady Tsara. Through subtle, but persuasive means, Lursan worms his way into Dalan's confidence, encouraging him not only to drink heavily, but also in his growing jealousy of Obi-Wan.
Longing to see her son, Onara asks that Dalan bring him to Coruscant, but Dalan, his jealousy of Obi-Wan at a fever pitch, refuses until Onara finally demands that he does. The reunion between Onara and Ben is a joyful one. Sinja-Bau also accompanies Dalan and Ben, along with Lursan, whom Sinja-Bau is suspicious of, but has no concrete evidence to confirm her uneasiness about him.
Lursan is contacted by Count Dooku, who has, at Lord Sidious' request, kept an eye on Onara and her family. He gives Lursan a drug that will make Dalan more amenable to his suggestions. As a result, Lursan is able to encourage Dalan to seek Obi-Wan's death. Lursan also contracts with a Senator Gillom who is about to fall under the scrutiny of the Senate's Ethics Committee, a committee that Onara is a member of.
Dalan and Onara fight constantly once he is on Coruscant, his jealousy and anger fueled by the drug Lursan slips into his drink. After one particularly heated argument between her and her husband, Onara asks Sinja- Bau to take Ben to the Temple to visit it, unaware that, as a result of an injury suffered on a mission, Obi-Wan has returned to the Temple.
Obi-Wan finally meets his son and he is not only proud of the bright, handsome child, but feels a deep longing to be a father to him. During his visit Ben lets slip to Obi-Wan that Onara and Dalan have been fighting, and, concerned about her, he asks Onara to meet with him.
She does, but Dalan, who is now almost insane with his drug-induced jealousy, confronts her when she comes home, accusing her of being unfaithful. Onara defends herself, because, in truth, although she and Obi- Wan did kiss, they also decided it was best not to see each other again. Not believing her, Dalan attacks Onara just as Sinja-Bau returns from having taken Ben on an excursion. She in turn attacks Dalan, throwing him against the wall, having called on the dark side to do so.
Onara tells Dalan to leave, which he does, going to stay at Lursan's. The following morning Sinja-Bau, disturbed by what she did, visits Yoda at the Jedi Temple. Onara, to take Ben's mind off the fight he witnessed, takes him to an amusement complex. Lursan, having decided to exact his revenge, follows them. Dalan wakes up from his hangover at Lursan's penthouse and discovers, when Senator Gillom inadvertently tells him, that Lursan is actually after Onara and Ben, not Obi-Wan.
Dalan frantically contacts Obi-Wan, asking him to protect Onara and Ben. Obi-Wan and Anakin race to the amusement complex, but are too late. Onara has been stabbed and Ben shot with a blaster. Lursan escapes, but is soon captured. Obi-Wan, faced with the choice of turning to the dark side or bringing his son's spirit back from the Abyss, chooses not to turn. As a result, Ben is lost forever. Consumed with despair, Obi-Wan rejects the Force.
Onara, who has survived her stab wounds, is told by Obi-Wan that their son is dead and that he chose not to bring him back, not wanting to taint their child with the dark side, but Onara doesn't care. She attacks him, screaming out for her son. Then, unable to bear either the loss of her beloved child or what she perceives as Obi-Wan's betrayal, she sinks into the _yanol_, the grief unending, a state of suspended animation where she can hide from her anguish. Dalan, now contrite, asks Obi-Wan's forgiveness, which the Jedi gives him, and makes a vow to care for Onara and make up for what he did to her.
Lursan is released after Dalan, who was the only person who could tie Lursan to the death of Ben, the attack on Onara, and to Senator Gillom, who hired Lursan to kill Onara, dies in what appears to be an air-taxi accident, but was actually an assassination ordered by Senator Gillom. Obi- Wan knows that as long as Lursan is free, Onara will never be safe. He goes to see Lursan and discovers he was the leader of the Red Tide and is seeking revenge for the death of his son, Rhad, by Anakin. Since Anakin had no son, Lursan exacted his revenge by taking Obi-Wan's.
Despite his overwhelming desire to kill the murderer of his son, Obi-Wan is unable to do so. But he warns Lursan to stay away from Onara. He leaves Lursan alive, but, soon after, Lursan is killed by Count Dooku who was hiding in the apartment. However, the authorities think it was Obi-Wan and arrest him.
Obi-Wan confesses, having thought, initially, that it was Anakin who killed Lursan and wanting to protect him. Later, when he finds out it wasn't Anakin, Obi-Wan refuses to retract his confession. He longer wishes to be a Jedi, his grief over the death of his son and the loss of Onara's love having proved more than he can bear. While waiting for the Council's decision, Auna and Zaka, Obi-Wan's companions while on his search for Sinja- Bau, show up in support of him.
Obi-Wan is expelled from the Jedi Order. Anakin is assigned to a new master, a stricter, more conventional Jedi named Chereg Nygee. Sinja-Bau, now reinstated in the Order, remains at the Temple as a Jedi Master Healer. Obi-Wan, no longer a Jedi, along with Zaka and Auna, takes Onara and the bodies of Ben and Dalan back to Ahjane. While in transit to Onara's homeworld, Obi-Wan fulfills his promise to Ben and constructs a miniature lightsaber, which he will bury with his son.
As he approaches Ahjane, Obi-Wan, certain that once Onara comes out of her _yanol_, she will never want to see him again, reflects on his new life._
-----------------------
In Love and War - Part One
"Auna must not do this."
Auna angrily waved her four arms at Zaka. The big golden-furred Whiphid, his hairless face, with its two large tusks, creased with worry, struggled to keep up with her quick, determined steps as she stalked down the wide corridor of Onara's manor.
"I don't care if Auna must not do this," she snapped at him. "I'm going to do it. Somebody has to do it. It might as well be me."
"The Je-di will not like it."
Auna shook her head. "Don't care if Master Kenobi don't like it. It's gotta be done. The poor wee one and Onara's husband have been lying in those stasis coffins for two weeks now, while everybody tiptoes around with their long, sad faces, knowing it's long past time the two should have been buried, but too timid to say anything about it."
"But the Je-di wants to wait until the sleeping one wakes before he puts them in the ground."
Auna turned a corner, striding past two servants who were dusting tables and vases along the walls of the corridor. They looked at her and Zaka as they passed, and, although the servants had grown used to the strange appearance of the four-armed Codru-Ji woman and her beastly looking companion, they still drew stares.
Auna gave the servants a sharp, quick frown. The two, a young woman and an older man, jerked their heads down and went back to their dusting. Once Auna was past them, she shot Zaka a hard look, lowering her voice so as not to be heard by the servants.
"That's the problem, Zaka. Onara could stay in this _yaball_ or _yasall_ or whatever ya wants to call it forever. Ya knows the doc says there's no telling when she'll come out of it. Meanwhile, the wee one and her husband lie unburied, and everybody's walking around like the horde of the living dead, and, worst of all, Master Kenobi looks like the king of the living dead, moping around with that sad-eyed look, not eating, not sleeping. It's gotta stop, I tells ya. And it's gotta stop now."
"Zaka still think Auna must not do this. Zaka want no part of this. Je-di is Zaka's friend."
Auna suddenly stopped and planted herself in front of the Whiphid. She put her two lower arms on her hips and prodded Zaka in his big, furry chest with the hand of one of her upper arms.
"He's my friend too, you big oaf." She glared at him, her pointed ears twitching. Then she sighed. "That's why it's gotta be done. I can't stand seeing him like this. Ya don't have to have no part of it. Go back downstairs and keep Master Kenobi busy. I'll do it myself."
Zaka shook his head in a warning fashion, but Auna ignored him and, putting her hands on his wide shoulders, turned him around and pushed him down the corridor. Zaka went down it, occasionally looking back at Auna and shaking his big furry head, but she brusquely gestured at him to keep walking.
Once he was gone, she turned and proceeded down the hall to Onara's chamber. She stopped before the huge redwood and gold-inlaid door, collecting herself. Two weeks had passed since she, Zaka, and Master Kenobi had arrived on Ahjane, transporting Onara and the bodies of her and Obi- Wan's three year old son, Ben, who had been murdered on Coruscant, and her husband, Dynast Dalan Lenor, whom Onara did not even know was dead.
Upon their arrival, Auna had been certain Obi-Wan was going to hold the funerals for his son and Dynast Lenor right away. But he had told Auna and Simtro, Onara's major-domo, that he wanted to wait until Onara came out of her _yanol_. No one had gainsaid him in his decision. Mainly because, with Dynast Lenor now dead and Onara unconscious, Obi-Wan, in the eyes of the servants, was now the head of Onara's estate.
And what an estate, Auna thought, as she looked down the wide corridor and its rich furnishings. With her husband and son's death, Onara was now the sole heir of the provinces of both her deceased father and Dynast Lenor. In addition, during the almost four years of their marriage, Dalan had proven himself an astute businessman. He had not only increased both his and Onara's properties and assets, but had invested in a number of lucrative ventures and businesses. As a result, as Simtro had informed Obi-Wan, Onara was now one of the richest people on Ahjane. But, Auna suspected, Onara would gladly give up all her wealth to have her beloved Ben back, for she mourned his passing with a grief so deep she had, in effect, died to the world.
Well, Auna thought, firming her chin and straightening her shoulders, she wasn't dead. She was still very much alive, though she lay in her bed like some spell-cursed princess from one of the fae-tales Auna's Mam used to tell her when she was still a wyrwulf. But no kisses brought Onara back, not even from the man who had given up everything to be with her.
Obi-Wan, who had been expelled from the Jedi Order for having killed the murderer of his son, an action Auna, along with Zaka, had thoroughly approved of, had dragged himself around the manor these past two weeks, assisting Simtro with overseeing it and all of Onara's wealth and properties, of course, but basically keeping to himself the majority of the time.
As silent and withdrawn as he'd become the longer Onara remained in her state of grief-induced coma, he too might as well have been in his own _yanol_. Those lovely blue-gray eyes of his were as dim and lifeless as a gray winter's morning. He had lost weight, and Auna knew that instead of sleeping he sat in Onara's chamber all night, watching over her, then appearing the following morning with dark circles under his eyes.
It was all starting to get a bit out of hand, Auna had decided, and it had to stop. Obi-Wan and Onara's poor wee one was dead, that was true, and nothing could bring him back, but they were both still alive. It was time to bury the dead, resurrect Onara and give life back to those beautiful eyes of Master Kenobi. So, with that thought, Auna opened the door and walked into Onara's chamber.
To be continued....
BY: Arwyn Whitesun
SUMMARY: Having been expelled from the Jedi Order, Obi-Wan seeks to begin a new life on the eve of the start of the Clone Wars and the rise of the Empire.
DISCLAIMER: The Great Flanneled One created Obi-Wan, Anakin and Yoda, et al. The rest belong to me. Not making any money on this fic, but feedback can and will be accepted in lieu of payment. :)
NOTE: This fic is a sequel to "First Knight" and "Stars in the Darkness" . You can find those fics in my bio. For those who do not wish to read the entire stories, but would like to know what happened, the following synopses are provided.
_SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS FROM "FIRST KNIGHT": When Obi-Wan Kenobi and his teen- aged apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, are sent to Ahjane to negotiate a peace accord between warring provinces, as a condition of the accord, a marriage is arranged between Onara, the only child of Dynast K'lia, leader of one province, and Dynast Edress, the leader of the other.
A much older man, Edress is only interested in marrying Onara for her dowry. Meanwhile, as part of an ancient and time-honored ritual, Obi-Wan is asked to bless the marriage of Onara and Edress by spending the night with her. Reluctantly, the Jedi Knight agrees to do so, but as a result, falls in love with Onara.
Unbeknownst to Onara or Obi-Wan, however, Onara's grandmother, the formidable and ambitious Lady Tsara, who longs to have a heir for her province who would possess the power of a Jedi, sees that Onara becomes pregnant from the ritual by ensuring she does not receive the prescribed conception inhibitor. As a result, Onara falls deathly ill from the high midi-chlorian count of the child she carries.
Obi-Wan, learning of Onara's illness, goes on a desperate, and nearly hopeless quest to find an insane, ex-Jedi Healer named Sinja-Bau. Meanwhile, Lady Tsara, who has been banished for her schemes, is visited by Count Dooku at the behest of Lord Sidious. Although he does not participate actively in her plans to get her hands on her grandson, named Ben Gavon Kenobi, he does give her some assistance. Tsara has Onara's husband, Edress, murdered and puts in his place a man who is more than willing to do her bidding.
As Obi-Wan travels far beyond the borders of the Republic to the distant ice planet of Toola to find Sinja-Bau, Lady Tsara hires a cadre of merciless, trained assassins called the Red Tide to kill her own son, Dynast K'lia and kidnap her grandson, Onara and Obi-Wan's child, Ben. Obi- Wan, meanwhile, finds Sinja-Bau and, although still gripped by her madness, agrees to come with him and try to cure Onara, who is rapidly slipping away.
The Red Tide attacks Dynast K'lia's manor, killing him and a Jedi Healer by the name of Master Eo, Sinja-Bau's former apprentice, who was helping Anakin guard Onara and Ben. Anakin succeeds in defeating most of the Red Tide, killing one of their members, a youth named Rhad, but Tsara is able to escape with the baby. Anakin pursues her and, when Tsara tries to kill him, he kills her instead, rescuing Ben, who is unharmed in the process.
Obi-Wan arrives with Sinja-Bau and she, upon looking upon the dead body of her former apprentice is cured of her madness by the Force and is also given back her power to access the Force, it having been stripped from her by the Jedi Council before she was expelled from the Order. She then successfully cures Onara of her illness. But, the reunion between Onara and Obi-Wan is brief and bittersweet.
He and Anakin are summoned to Coruscant, where Obi-Wan is reprimanded for his behavior by the Jedi Council. He is sent on retreat, to a Jedi Chapterhouse on the distant water world of Bestine, where he is instructed to find his way back to the Jedi path. Anakin is given, temporarily, to another master.
Onara, meanwhile, at the behest of both her people and Obi-Wan, marries Dalan, her deceased husband's nephew, now Dynast of his province. Obi-Wan asks Onara not to tell Ben about him, for he does not want him confused about who his real father is but, at the end of the story, Onara, now married to Dalan, begins to tell her infant son stories about his father. His real father. Obi-Wan Kenobi.
SYNOPSIS OF EVENTS FROM "STARS IN THE DARKNESS": Now a Senator, Onara travels to Coruscant to take up her new duties. Obi-Wan, having completed his retreat, is reunited with Anakin, but his love for Onara and his son have not diminished. Reunited on Coruscant, he and Onara barely avoid scandal as the result of a malicious gossip-monger who spreads lies on the HoloNet about their having an affair, but Onara, along with Anakin, confronts the gossip-monger and forces him to retract his statement. However, once again, Obi-Wan finds himself before the Council and he and Anakin are sent away from Coruscant on a series of harrowing missions.
Meanwhile, Onara's husband, who is still back on Ahjane with their son, becomes friends with an Ahjane businessman named Lursan. However, Dalan does not know that Lursan is the former leader of the Red Tide, seeking revenge against Obi-Wan and Anakin for the death of his son in the kidnapping attempt of Ben commissioned by Lady Tsara. Through subtle, but persuasive means, Lursan worms his way into Dalan's confidence, encouraging him not only to drink heavily, but also in his growing jealousy of Obi-Wan.
Longing to see her son, Onara asks that Dalan bring him to Coruscant, but Dalan, his jealousy of Obi-Wan at a fever pitch, refuses until Onara finally demands that he does. The reunion between Onara and Ben is a joyful one. Sinja-Bau also accompanies Dalan and Ben, along with Lursan, whom Sinja-Bau is suspicious of, but has no concrete evidence to confirm her uneasiness about him.
Lursan is contacted by Count Dooku, who has, at Lord Sidious' request, kept an eye on Onara and her family. He gives Lursan a drug that will make Dalan more amenable to his suggestions. As a result, Lursan is able to encourage Dalan to seek Obi-Wan's death. Lursan also contracts with a Senator Gillom who is about to fall under the scrutiny of the Senate's Ethics Committee, a committee that Onara is a member of.
Dalan and Onara fight constantly once he is on Coruscant, his jealousy and anger fueled by the drug Lursan slips into his drink. After one particularly heated argument between her and her husband, Onara asks Sinja- Bau to take Ben to the Temple to visit it, unaware that, as a result of an injury suffered on a mission, Obi-Wan has returned to the Temple.
Obi-Wan finally meets his son and he is not only proud of the bright, handsome child, but feels a deep longing to be a father to him. During his visit Ben lets slip to Obi-Wan that Onara and Dalan have been fighting, and, concerned about her, he asks Onara to meet with him.
She does, but Dalan, who is now almost insane with his drug-induced jealousy, confronts her when she comes home, accusing her of being unfaithful. Onara defends herself, because, in truth, although she and Obi- Wan did kiss, they also decided it was best not to see each other again. Not believing her, Dalan attacks Onara just as Sinja-Bau returns from having taken Ben on an excursion. She in turn attacks Dalan, throwing him against the wall, having called on the dark side to do so.
Onara tells Dalan to leave, which he does, going to stay at Lursan's. The following morning Sinja-Bau, disturbed by what she did, visits Yoda at the Jedi Temple. Onara, to take Ben's mind off the fight he witnessed, takes him to an amusement complex. Lursan, having decided to exact his revenge, follows them. Dalan wakes up from his hangover at Lursan's penthouse and discovers, when Senator Gillom inadvertently tells him, that Lursan is actually after Onara and Ben, not Obi-Wan.
Dalan frantically contacts Obi-Wan, asking him to protect Onara and Ben. Obi-Wan and Anakin race to the amusement complex, but are too late. Onara has been stabbed and Ben shot with a blaster. Lursan escapes, but is soon captured. Obi-Wan, faced with the choice of turning to the dark side or bringing his son's spirit back from the Abyss, chooses not to turn. As a result, Ben is lost forever. Consumed with despair, Obi-Wan rejects the Force.
Onara, who has survived her stab wounds, is told by Obi-Wan that their son is dead and that he chose not to bring him back, not wanting to taint their child with the dark side, but Onara doesn't care. She attacks him, screaming out for her son. Then, unable to bear either the loss of her beloved child or what she perceives as Obi-Wan's betrayal, she sinks into the _yanol_, the grief unending, a state of suspended animation where she can hide from her anguish. Dalan, now contrite, asks Obi-Wan's forgiveness, which the Jedi gives him, and makes a vow to care for Onara and make up for what he did to her.
Lursan is released after Dalan, who was the only person who could tie Lursan to the death of Ben, the attack on Onara, and to Senator Gillom, who hired Lursan to kill Onara, dies in what appears to be an air-taxi accident, but was actually an assassination ordered by Senator Gillom. Obi- Wan knows that as long as Lursan is free, Onara will never be safe. He goes to see Lursan and discovers he was the leader of the Red Tide and is seeking revenge for the death of his son, Rhad, by Anakin. Since Anakin had no son, Lursan exacted his revenge by taking Obi-Wan's.
Despite his overwhelming desire to kill the murderer of his son, Obi-Wan is unable to do so. But he warns Lursan to stay away from Onara. He leaves Lursan alive, but, soon after, Lursan is killed by Count Dooku who was hiding in the apartment. However, the authorities think it was Obi-Wan and arrest him.
Obi-Wan confesses, having thought, initially, that it was Anakin who killed Lursan and wanting to protect him. Later, when he finds out it wasn't Anakin, Obi-Wan refuses to retract his confession. He longer wishes to be a Jedi, his grief over the death of his son and the loss of Onara's love having proved more than he can bear. While waiting for the Council's decision, Auna and Zaka, Obi-Wan's companions while on his search for Sinja- Bau, show up in support of him.
Obi-Wan is expelled from the Jedi Order. Anakin is assigned to a new master, a stricter, more conventional Jedi named Chereg Nygee. Sinja-Bau, now reinstated in the Order, remains at the Temple as a Jedi Master Healer. Obi-Wan, no longer a Jedi, along with Zaka and Auna, takes Onara and the bodies of Ben and Dalan back to Ahjane. While in transit to Onara's homeworld, Obi-Wan fulfills his promise to Ben and constructs a miniature lightsaber, which he will bury with his son.
As he approaches Ahjane, Obi-Wan, certain that once Onara comes out of her _yanol_, she will never want to see him again, reflects on his new life._
-----------------------
In Love and War - Part One
"Auna must not do this."
Auna angrily waved her four arms at Zaka. The big golden-furred Whiphid, his hairless face, with its two large tusks, creased with worry, struggled to keep up with her quick, determined steps as she stalked down the wide corridor of Onara's manor.
"I don't care if Auna must not do this," she snapped at him. "I'm going to do it. Somebody has to do it. It might as well be me."
"The Je-di will not like it."
Auna shook her head. "Don't care if Master Kenobi don't like it. It's gotta be done. The poor wee one and Onara's husband have been lying in those stasis coffins for two weeks now, while everybody tiptoes around with their long, sad faces, knowing it's long past time the two should have been buried, but too timid to say anything about it."
"But the Je-di wants to wait until the sleeping one wakes before he puts them in the ground."
Auna turned a corner, striding past two servants who were dusting tables and vases along the walls of the corridor. They looked at her and Zaka as they passed, and, although the servants had grown used to the strange appearance of the four-armed Codru-Ji woman and her beastly looking companion, they still drew stares.
Auna gave the servants a sharp, quick frown. The two, a young woman and an older man, jerked their heads down and went back to their dusting. Once Auna was past them, she shot Zaka a hard look, lowering her voice so as not to be heard by the servants.
"That's the problem, Zaka. Onara could stay in this _yaball_ or _yasall_ or whatever ya wants to call it forever. Ya knows the doc says there's no telling when she'll come out of it. Meanwhile, the wee one and her husband lie unburied, and everybody's walking around like the horde of the living dead, and, worst of all, Master Kenobi looks like the king of the living dead, moping around with that sad-eyed look, not eating, not sleeping. It's gotta stop, I tells ya. And it's gotta stop now."
"Zaka still think Auna must not do this. Zaka want no part of this. Je-di is Zaka's friend."
Auna suddenly stopped and planted herself in front of the Whiphid. She put her two lower arms on her hips and prodded Zaka in his big, furry chest with the hand of one of her upper arms.
"He's my friend too, you big oaf." She glared at him, her pointed ears twitching. Then she sighed. "That's why it's gotta be done. I can't stand seeing him like this. Ya don't have to have no part of it. Go back downstairs and keep Master Kenobi busy. I'll do it myself."
Zaka shook his head in a warning fashion, but Auna ignored him and, putting her hands on his wide shoulders, turned him around and pushed him down the corridor. Zaka went down it, occasionally looking back at Auna and shaking his big furry head, but she brusquely gestured at him to keep walking.
Once he was gone, she turned and proceeded down the hall to Onara's chamber. She stopped before the huge redwood and gold-inlaid door, collecting herself. Two weeks had passed since she, Zaka, and Master Kenobi had arrived on Ahjane, transporting Onara and the bodies of her and Obi- Wan's three year old son, Ben, who had been murdered on Coruscant, and her husband, Dynast Dalan Lenor, whom Onara did not even know was dead.
Upon their arrival, Auna had been certain Obi-Wan was going to hold the funerals for his son and Dynast Lenor right away. But he had told Auna and Simtro, Onara's major-domo, that he wanted to wait until Onara came out of her _yanol_. No one had gainsaid him in his decision. Mainly because, with Dynast Lenor now dead and Onara unconscious, Obi-Wan, in the eyes of the servants, was now the head of Onara's estate.
And what an estate, Auna thought, as she looked down the wide corridor and its rich furnishings. With her husband and son's death, Onara was now the sole heir of the provinces of both her deceased father and Dynast Lenor. In addition, during the almost four years of their marriage, Dalan had proven himself an astute businessman. He had not only increased both his and Onara's properties and assets, but had invested in a number of lucrative ventures and businesses. As a result, as Simtro had informed Obi-Wan, Onara was now one of the richest people on Ahjane. But, Auna suspected, Onara would gladly give up all her wealth to have her beloved Ben back, for she mourned his passing with a grief so deep she had, in effect, died to the world.
Well, Auna thought, firming her chin and straightening her shoulders, she wasn't dead. She was still very much alive, though she lay in her bed like some spell-cursed princess from one of the fae-tales Auna's Mam used to tell her when she was still a wyrwulf. But no kisses brought Onara back, not even from the man who had given up everything to be with her.
Obi-Wan, who had been expelled from the Jedi Order for having killed the murderer of his son, an action Auna, along with Zaka, had thoroughly approved of, had dragged himself around the manor these past two weeks, assisting Simtro with overseeing it and all of Onara's wealth and properties, of course, but basically keeping to himself the majority of the time.
As silent and withdrawn as he'd become the longer Onara remained in her state of grief-induced coma, he too might as well have been in his own _yanol_. Those lovely blue-gray eyes of his were as dim and lifeless as a gray winter's morning. He had lost weight, and Auna knew that instead of sleeping he sat in Onara's chamber all night, watching over her, then appearing the following morning with dark circles under his eyes.
It was all starting to get a bit out of hand, Auna had decided, and it had to stop. Obi-Wan and Onara's poor wee one was dead, that was true, and nothing could bring him back, but they were both still alive. It was time to bury the dead, resurrect Onara and give life back to those beautiful eyes of Master Kenobi. So, with that thought, Auna opened the door and walked into Onara's chamber.
To be continued....