Tomorrow, my Love

by Ellisaed

Obi-Wan Kenobi receives his first solo task from his Master Qui-Gon Jinn at the finish of their mission on the hostile planet of Meronia. The Padawan nervously accepts the responsibility, little knowing of the hardship and struggle awaiting him deep inside the Meronian caves, present in the most unlikely of forms. *UPDATED*

1. Prologue

The sharp crack, like a thunderstruck, plucked nerves with its coarse undertone, hinting urgency anew in the boy. When it reoccurred, despite his misgivings, he knew it could not be ignored. Response was haggard through fatigued senses, pained muscles, aching bones, but it was a response nonetheless. The boy lifted his bowed head and braced arms to kneel, to watch longingly. He wiped sweat from his brow, feeling the pebbles tumble more frequently upon him, like the tears rolling down her cheeks. He reached and tucked her safely, closer to the embrace of the alcove, the soothing darkness and clay rich air. Nothing could soothe her, though. Nothing but him.

The youth touched her cheek. It was warm with fever and soft like the richest of Corellia's fine fabrics, smooth like a well-worn river stone. A hand extended and grabbed his own for dear, frail life, fail like the breaths he breathed. The other tiny hand was trapped, pinned beneath the weight of too many, unsavable. The stones had sealed her fate, and they would him too if he remained any longer. He could not stay, but how could he leave her?

The crack insisted her doom, the rumbling of the caves like a funeral knell. The boy ignored it for only a last moment, leaning close to the small ear, hushing the tiny pained wails and whispering the lullaby in an ever-so-soft nuance:

"So'ru ie lien

So'ru et lie

So'ru ie bien

So'ru ie bie

I'soru ie bien

Ie li'ru e li

I'caru ie bien

Bi'soru fie ri."

"With sorrow, I'll live

With sorrow, I'll die

With sorrow, my love,

Much sorrow, goodbye.

No sorrow, my love,

I give unto thee

Tomorrow, my love,

I will live then for thee."

A whimper was heard at his withdrawal, but he feared lingering would destroy him. He rose quickly, giving no more hesitation, fighting tears but failing. His heart tore like a fiercely strained muscle at the resounding crack, rocks tumbling around him in a rush of noise mingled with the faint cries behind him. He limped faster then, stumbling but pressing on angrily, until it went deathly, horribly silent. He turned to see the tunnel caved, enclosed completely with rubble and debris, boulders like gravestones then. The youth heard a strained, agonized cry, unaware it was his own, and it echoed in the very reaches of the caves and the corners of his crushed soul.

What had he done?