Chapter 25

Satine POV

When I woke up from my nap, I had a headache. A really, REALLY bad headache. The thought of Obi-wan going into battle terrified me to my very core. Not just because I'm a pacifist (something I kinda renounced when the whole deathwatch thing started) but because of my twisted past. Well, the parts I remembered, anyways. My brother, my best friend and protector, had gone into the battlefield during the last civil war on Mandalore, and had been slaughtered. His wife Leah, a woman who despised me but loved my brother, committed suicide and left me alone with her infant son, Corky. My father had been a mandalorian warrior as long as I could remember, but I didn't remember much about his actual death. Every man in my life that has gone to war died. And if I lost him….i just don't know.

I was interrupted during my musings by Anakin. If Obi-wan found out about this….

I shouldn't worry about it. Obi-wan can't tell me who I can and can't be friends with.

He's only trying to keep me safe….

I was arguing with myself. I felt like an idiot. Oh what the hell. If Obi-wan kicks my ass, he kicks my ass. I looked up at him.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing. I just thought you might like some company now that Obi-wan is gone." He smiled at me, and I was reminded of a younger Obi-wan.

"Sure. Why not?"

"Cuz your boyfriend will kill me if and when he finds out?"

"I doubt he'll kill you. He knows that would upset me."

He laughed, and we were quiet for a while. Not the companionable silence Obi-wan and I usually shared when alone, but an awkward one. Finally he broke the silence.

"How well did you know Tal Merrik?"

"I'd say pretty damn well. We were engaged, after all."

He looked up at me from his position on the floor, shocked. I smirked. "WHAT?"

"Yeah, I know. It was an arranged marriage. You know the kind that only exist in fairy tales. And nightmares, in my opinion."

He chuckled. "Who arranged this marriage?"

"My uncle Talone. He was like a father to me after my parents died."

"Oh. How long were you two engaged?"

"Two months."

"Why do you think he wanted to turn you over to deathwatch?"

"I think the rumors about me and Obi-wan being lovers when he came back to Mandalore upset him, maybe even drove him over the edge. He wasn't really all there. He watched the jedi kill his parents when he was a little kid. He even used to beat me when he got drunk." I shuddered at the reminder of so much pain.

"He drank?"

"Alot."

"I didn't even know politicians did kind of stuff."

"Politicians and diplomats hide alot of things from the people they govern. It's how they stay in power."

"Do you?"

"Nothing that the public needs to know. After my siblings were killed, I used to drink. Helped me forget everything that had ever hurt Me." including Obi-wan. "But I made no one keep it a secret. Everybody on all nine planets knew I was a drunk, but since I never hurt anyone, they left me alone."

"Why'd you stop?"

"I had a kid to raise. He needed me, and I had to stop being selfish and take responsibility. Now if you will excuse me, I need some sleep."

And I fell asleep before he could protest.