A/N: Hey guys! Here's the next chapter, and it's the longest one yet! Plus, it's also only from one perspective! *gasp* It's magic, I know! (Not really but I'm tired and overstating things. Hell, I'm not entirely sure if that sentence even made sense.) Anyways, I was trying to find something else to put in between this one and the last one but that didn't happen obviously so sorry if it feels a bit rushed. (Though Robotoid Lamb Chop assures me that it isn't.)

This chapter does have some sad stuff in it so just some warnings... (I'm not really sure how those work but this should be good enough for now.)

Thanks to everyone who followed/favorited and to david davies 5851 for reviewing.

I don't think I'm forgetting anything so enjoy the chapter! (And now I get to sleep! yay!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars and it doesn't look like I ever will.

*Obi-wan's POV*

Elytra walked in the apartment one day after school, smile on her face and a bounce in her step. "You look extra happy today," Anakin said. Of course, I thought with a shake of my head, he would be the one to point it out. "Something happen?"

Elytra threw her bag off to the side and practically skipped over to where we were sitting on the couches. She jumped up and held her arms out wide. "Guess who aced all her finals?" she exclaimed.

A chorus of cheers went up. "That's amazing, Elytra!" Ahsoka said, wrapping her arms around her in a tight hug, which Elytra gladly returned. They broke away and Elytra went over to her bag, pulling something out.

"I bought some ice cream on the way home for us to have. I thought we could celebrate a bit. Maybe watch a movie or something? I mean, passing my finals isn't that big, but you guys have also been working really hard so maybe a relaxing night is in order."

"I think that's a great idea," Padme replied, "We could use a break." Elytra's face lit up even more if that was possible.

"I got a perfect movie! It's called The Avengers and it's all about superheroes. You guys will love it!" She dashed off somewhere, leaving us alone with the ice cream, which Anakin promptly stole.

"Yes! She bought chocolate!" He grabbed two spoons and ran to the couch, "Snips, come get some ice cream!"

"Anakin Skywalker, don't you dare eat directly out of the container!" Padme yelled, striding into the living room. "And you'd better not being passing your bad habits on to Ahsoka either!" I tried, and failed, to hide my laughter at seeing the scared look on his face. Padme was very intimidating when she wanted to be and Anakin was clearly not looking forward to getting his ass chewed out any further.

Elytra walked back in with the movie and started setting it up as Padme took the ice cream from Anakin and brought it back to the kitchen, grabbing bowls as she mumbled something about "uncivilized Jedi."

I made my way over to the living room and across from Anakin with a smirk. He glared at me. "Don't. Say. A word, Obi-wan."

I grinned, "I didn't say anything. Did you hear me say something, Ahsoka?"

"I didn't hear anything, Master," she replied cheekily. Anakin put his head in his hands with a long-suffering sigh.

"Okay, movie's all set up!" Elytra said, turning on the TV. Padme walked in with the bowls, not-so-passive aggressively giving Anakin the one with the smallest amount, (which was still quite a bit actually) and taking her seat next to Ahsoka. Elytra took her own seat next to me and started the movie.

We were only a few minute in when Elytra got a call. She pulled out her phone and frowned down at the number before answering it, moving more into the hallway to hear. I watched her closely. Something seemed off about this…

"Hello? Yes… Oh… I- um… yes… um thank you for calling…" She ended the call. Her phone dropped to the floor, her hands shaking too much to hold anything. Her face remained blank. I stood up and walked the short distance over to her.

"Elytra? Are you okay?" Her gaze slowly focused on mine, face still impassive.

"My mom…" she swallowed, "There- there was a car accident. She was rushed to the hospital but by the time they got there she was-" The last word never came out. Her legs collapsed from underneath her and it was only my close proximity to her that kept her from falling to the floor. She broke down in my embrace.

I did the only thing I could think of. I picked her up, still keeping her head where it was on my shoulder, and brought her into the bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I set her down gently on the bed, sitting beside her. She gripped me tightly, burying her head into my chest.

I rubbed soothing circles into her back, whispering comforts in her ear. "It's okay. Let it out. It's okay, you're going to get through this. Shhhh. I'm here, I'll help you. You're not alone." I could feel her tears seeping into my shirt, warm and wet and my heart shattered with every broken cry she let out.

"I j- just- I can't believe s-she-" she hiccupped.

"I know. I know," I said as I rocked her back and forth. We sat there for some time, the sounds of her sobs the only thing filling the silence in the room. I wanted to help, wanted to relieve her of her pain in any way I could. But there was next to nothing I could do that I wasn't doing already.

When her cries had lessened slightly, I pulled her away from my shoulder, steadying her with one hand and tilting her head up with the other. "Elytra." I spoke softly. "Can you look at me please?" Her red-rimmed eyes met mine, and for a moment I was surprised at how much sorrow I could see in them. There was always some small amount of happiness she harbored, like an inner strength. I saw it in her eyes every time I looked at her, no matter what her face and body language said otherwise. Whether she was angry or worried or scared, it was always there, like a defining feature that made her different from others, made her Elytra. To see no sign of it at all… it was disheartening to say the least, and I felt my chest ache at seeing her like this.

I pushed those feelings away for the time being. Elytra needed help, my own emotions could wait. "My master was the closest thing I'd ever had to a father and it hurt, gods it hurt so much, when he died. I was lost in my sorrow and pain, a pain I wouldn't wish on anyone, even my worst enemies. You have to deal with that pain and I am so sorry that you have to.

"But where I had to deal with it alone, you won't. I'll be there for you. Anakin, Ahsoka, Padme, we're all going to help you get through this. You're strong, Elytra, stronger than you think you are right now. That's how I know you're going to be okay." I wiped away a few tears on her cheek. "You're not alone in this, Elytra. Remember that."

She nodded, lip quivering as she mouthed an okay, her voice too shaky to speak. I pulled her back to my chest, wrapping my arms around her. "You're going to be okay."

Elytra fell asleep not long after, the ordeal draining her more than any physical activity ever could. I made sure she was comfortable and tucked in the bed before leaving the room. The others were still waiting in the living room, ice cream and movie long forgotten. Ahsoka sprung up from her spot on the couch as soon as she saw me. "Is she okay?"

I sat down with a sigh, "She will be. Right now she's sleeping." Ahsoka nodded and sat down as well, face showing nothing but concern for her friend. I knew they had overheard the call that started all this and I'd be lying if I didn't say I was glad to not have to explain it. It was something I felt Elytra would rather have told them herself, when she was ready to. Luckily, that was all irrelevant now.

"She's going to need help," Anakin said, a faraway look in his eyes that told me he was remembering his own time with grief. "You can't get through this alone."

"I already told her we would be there for her. That we'd get through this together." I replied. There were no objections, not that I expected any.

What happened after that was a blur, to be honest. It seemed this night brought up unpleasant memories for us all. Even Ahsoka, though I had no idea what my grand-padawan could have been thinking of. It seemed like we would have spent the whole night like that… until the scream sounded through the house, coming from the bedroom.

Anakin was the first one there; his seat was closer to the hallway than the rest of us. I made it to the room shortly after him, only to find that he already had it covered. Elytra was sitting up, arms wrapped arounds her legs and chin on her knees. Anakin spoke to her in a voice softer than I had ever seen him use before, saying something about nightmares. Ahsoka made to go over by them, but a held out an arm, stopping her before she could cross the threshold. I shook my head as we stepped back, shutting the door behind us.

"Let Anakin talk to her. He can provide better advice than most of us can right now." I said to Ahsoka. "And we don't want to overwhelm her right now. It's better if we speak to her one at a time, until she says she's ready." Ahsoka mumbled an agreement and turned away. I saw the helplessness that crossed her features before she left. She knew there was nothing she could do and it bothered her. Padme must have noticed as well.

"I'll talk to her," she said before following Ahsoka into the living room. I leaned up against the wall where I was and sank down to the floor. I didn't belong to either conversation happening in this apartment right now. The best (and only) thing I could do was wait.

I didn't wait long. Soon, the four of us were back in the living room. Anakin told us that Elytra had a nightmare. He said he told her some things that could help and then she went back to sleep. Sleep. Sleep was sounding really good. It was late and we had all been on emotional rollercoasters ourselves, of course we were tired. Yet, none of us made any move to sleep. Finally, we were able to convince Ahsoka at least, and she curled up in the corner of the far couch, asleep in minutes.

That all changed when we heard screams a second time. Padme was the one who was up first that time, and after she came back, we decided that one person would stay in the bedroom to keep watch over Elytra and the other three would rest in the living room. Then we would switch out every hour or so. Padme took first watch, then Ahsoka, then Anakin, then me. We'd repeat the order if necessary.

I couldn't sleep at all. No matter how hard tried to force my body to rest, it wouldn't, and I ended up tossing and turning on the couch for most of the night. When my turn came, it was almost a relief. I was through with attempting to sleep, at least now I would be doing something.

Sooner than I expected, it was the end of my watch. I got up to leave, but a hand grasping my own stopped me in my tracks. Elytra was awake, staring up at me. She must have woken up from a nightmare. There were no screams anymore. That had stopped after the second time. Now she only let silent tears fall.

"Obi-wan," she whispered, voice scratchy from the crying, "Please don't go." She clutched my hand as if it was the only thing keeping her from breaking down completely, and I had to wonder if it actually was.

"I won't," I replied, kneeling down to be closer to her level. "Now go back to sleep. You need your rest." She nodded, shifting in to a more comfortable position before freezing.

"Could… could you lay with me?" She looked up at me pleadingly, grasping my hand even tighter. After a moment's consideration, I nodded, knowing she wouldn't be able to sleep any other way. The others needed their rest anyways and I didn't mind staying up.

I climbed into the small bed, sitting propped up on the pillows next to her. She still held my hand. "Is that better?" She nodded again, curling up into my side.

"Thank you… Obi-wan…" she said, each syllable growing quieter and slower as she fell back asleep. I had only planned to stay for a bit longer, long enough to make sure she was completely asleep, but as I lay there with her, it seemed all my weariness finally caught up to me. There was something… strangely relaxing about having her warm body curled up against mine, about still having her hand firmly gripped in mine and seeing her chest move up and down with each breath she took. Briefly, my tired brain tried to make sense of surge of warmth that rose in my chest, but I was beyond caring at that point. I finally stopped forcing my heavy eyelids to stay open and succumbed to sleep.

Waking up was slow, my sluggish mind only putting bits and pieces together. There was something heavy on my chest, a warmth up against me. I heard breathing that was not my own, the soft inhales of someone else. I pushed my eyes open finally, and then everything made sense. The memories from a few hours before came back as well.

During the night, we had somehow moved in our sleep. That heavy weight I felt on my chest was her head. She was snuggled up close to than before, which probably had something to do with the fact that my arms were around her, pulling her close. Our hands were still together, the only thing that was the same from when we had fallen asleep.

I didn't mind being like this, even though I knew I should have. Simply being around Elytra had made me feel right. Better than I had felt in a long time. In fact, not since that time on Mandalore… No it- it couldn't be… could it? Was that warm feeling I had in my chest what I thought it was? There was no way it could be anything else.

I thought about getting up, untangling myself from her because I was a Jedi Master, damnit, I shouldn't feel like this, but I never acted on it. Couldn't bring myself to break away. I forced myself to admit the truth; I had fallen in love with Elytra. I'd felt it for a while, to be honest. It only took a tragic moment to make my brain finally realize it. Kriffing impeccable timing, brain.

There was no shame in those thoughts, despite all of them going against the code I had lived by while life. It was like all of a sudden I had subconsciously decided to screw the Jedi , which had begun to sound better and better with each new realization. It seemed like the Force just kept throwing more people to love in my direction, maybe it was time I started listening to it.

I glanced down at Elytra and the warmth built up again. As far as I knew, she hadn't woken up once during the time we were together. Just me being here really seemed to help. Maybe it wasn't just me who felt this way…

I sighed inwardly; now was not the time for that. Elytra need time to heal, to come to terms with her mother's death. Patience was always my strong suit; I had no problem with waiting to tell her how I felt. I'd be there to help her through everything, do anything she needed, and hopefully, at the end of it all… I'd know how she felt, too.

"I'll be here, waiting," I whispered into the darkness, only now just brightening with the first hints of sunlight. "When you're ready to know, I'll be here, ready to tell you."