Obi-Wan was tired. In the last forty-eight hours, his squadron of the Youth had disarmed three groups of Melida and two groups of Daan. Some of their members had surrendered their weapons quickly and quietly, probably tired after decades of continuous fighting among themselves. But others were fighting for every step they gained into their lairs.
He had begun the fight with twenty members of the Youth plus him and now, there were only ten of them left. He leaned into his seat, releasing the pain of cracked ribs and numerous burns into the Force as best as he could. He decided against using bacta, as the Young were badly undersupplied. He possessed a connection to the Force; others weren't as lucky. Yes, he had tried to meditate during the last days, but rest was something from a misty past, and he was needed here. He had to lead others in their attempts to disarm their own parents or grandparents, in their attempts to bring peace to a war-torn planet.
A slight stir on his shoulder brought him out of his reverie. Cerasi was deeply asleep, thanks to a slight nudge of Force-suggestion. He…loved her. Loved her, if a thirteen-year old was capable of such a feeling. In the rare moments of self-contemplation, he admitted to himself that she was the last weight that bent his decision in the way he made it. He had willingly left the Jedi Order behind to help the Young in their case. Now he was a Chief of Security and his main goal was to disarm any adult group in the capital of Melida/Daan. It was a perilous task as the dwindled count of his unit confirmed.
He slightly moved his arms in an attempt to reach for a datapad to study their next target. Reports estimated the number of this group was somewhere around twenty heavily armed members of Melida. The estimated number of weapons was quite high – one of the highest he had seen so far.
His eyes spontaneously closed, thumbs unsuccessfully trying to rub weariness out of them. This was going to be hard. Cerasi was a member of the Melida group before she had joined the Youth and because of this fact, she was often met with hostility. He was authorized to pull out anyone from duty, but he also needed every hand to disarm their adversaries peacefully. The reason, that he was in love with her…no, this wouldn't qualify as a reason, nor would his bad feelings, even though he was a Jedi. A Jedi…Obi-wan sighed. He was no longer one. He put down the datapad and gently woke Cerasi up.
His instincts screamed at him, warning him of immediate danger – but he was not the one in it. The bad feelings were located around Cerasi.
His gaze found her, she was rapidly firing against several Melida who were hiding behind some rubble and slowly withdrawing towards the second exit, which wasn't even mentioned in their intel. The next thing he saw was a small red dot on her back….a sniper! He turned his head, frantically searching for him, but was unable to find him – not in time to disarm him, anyway.
The noise in the old abandoned building was overwhelming – he had no way to warn Cerasi in time, although they were fighting almost side by side. For him the decision was easy – although he was not sure if Cerasi would understand it.
He jumped, aware of the fact, that he was vulnerable without his lightsaber. But his saber was light-years away on Coruscant. He landed behind Cerasi, shielding her with his body. The shot connected with his chest with quiet thud!
He landed on the floor, bleeding heavily. Cerasi stopped firing; she was shocked by the event. Then she carefully lifted his head onto her lap, totally oblivious to oncoming gunfight.
"Obi…." She whispered her eyes full of tears. "Hang on…."
Obi-wan looked up into her face and smiled weakly. He felt it – the Force was inviting him into Its embrace, humming in his ears.
"Cerasi, I….." he managed to choke out before the Force took him forever. He was gone.
A/N: Huge thanks goes to TheMacUnleashed, Geri K and ObiBettina7 - people who reviewed. Thank you people, you brightened up my day. I also want to thank those who added my story to their alert list - it is appreciated.
As usual, my deepest gratitude to Elemarth, who checked this over.
And I have already posted disclaimer in the first chapter, so I think that it is enough!