"You better come back very very soon!" Luna insisted, embracing her sister so tightly that the wound on her back, albeit almost completely healed, complained in protest. But Satine didn't mind as she hugged Luna back, savouring the fact that her youngest sister was once again at her side, even if it were only for a brief time.
As promised, Lie Ren had led them through the forest to the river beside which their ship had been parked and, from there it was simply a matter of following the river upstream. They had found the ship just as they had left it, door sealed shut, its silver paint shining, having been washed by the recent rains. A couple of birds of different shades of green and blue lined the edge of the ship's ceiling, and looked at the new arrivals with scrutiny and squawked in disdain as they fluttered away from their most recent roost by the opening of the hatch door. The small group had made their preparations and were pleased that the ship should get them through the meteore field and to Mandalore, provided its pilot hadn't become rusty from lack of flying as of late. However, even as they checked that the machinery and engines of the ship were still functional, the time of their departure fell upon them all too soon.
"And you better not cause the Miraluka any trouble." Muttered Satine, acutely aware that at some point over the months the girl had reached her in height.
"Hey, trouble seems to follow you around, not me." Luna laughed, squeezing her sister closer before reluctantly letting her go but she held onto her hands a little longer, new calluses and marks that hadn't been there before now tainted her once smooth skin. Satine, with some hesitation also released her sister, looking at her, drinking in each detail.
"Please stay safe, Luna." Satine begged, and her sister paused as if seriously contemplating her words but then a cold chill filled the air as a more aggressive wind swept past her knees, causing both their dresses to flutter in panic and, just as suddenly as the shift in the weather, Luna's eyes hardened.
"Safe?" Luna hissed, her grip tightening on Satine's hands to the point that it was almost painful. "Safe would have been you staying by my side!"
"Luna?" Satine tried to take a step away from her sister, unable to understand this sudden shift but the girl was now gripping her wrists, stopping any retreat.
"Months I waited for you to find me while you were galavanting with your own personal Padawan." Luna hissed, never had Satine seen her sister so angry, so hurt.
"It wasn't like that!" Satine pleaded, "We were looking for you and Bo."
Luna scoffed. "You were having the adventure we always dreamed about while the rest us- while Mandalore- suffered! You shirked your responsibility as the Duchess of Mandalore!"
"It wasn't like that, I swear!" Begged Satine but her voice barely escaped her as a whisper.
"Even now, I'm barely recovered from my last torment and you are so eager to leave me behind!"
"I wanted you to come with us! But you yourself agreed you'd be safest with the Miraluka!"
Luna shook her head solemnly. "You are the eldest of us and should be the wisest but you are still the most naive. Of course I would have said that but you should have fought for me to stay!" And then Luna grunted, and savagely released Satine's hands. "Now, whatever happens to me, Satine, is on your hands!"
And, from nowhere, the cord of a whip encircled Luna's slender neck and she gasped, her hands clawing at the leather that restricted her breathing.
"Luna!" Satine shrieked but as she reached out to her sister, Luna was pulled back, like a disobedient dog on some leash and, from the forest, a low, blood curdling cackle filled the air. Holding the other end of the whip, emerged Balik, more hideous than Satine remembered, half his face burnt from his recent encounter with Obi-Wan.
"No!" Satine shrieked but, as she reached out to her sister, her eyes shot open and she found herself in bed, a cold sweat trickled down her temple, and her heart was racing so severely it was deafening, her breathing shallow and fast.
Had that been a dream?
Satine tried to focus on the ceiling above her bed, on the low hum of the ship's engine.
Yes, it had to be.
She and Obi-Wan had left Draboon several hours ago and had already manoeuvred past the asteroid belt and were en route back to Mandalore. She had left Luna in the hands of Lie Ren and the Miraluka and her sister had sent her off with a smile… Had that been real? Had she made the right choice? Or was she just being naive and selfish?
The words of her dream echoed within her mind, pushing any remnants of sleep she may have had out of her system, replacing it with doubt and unrest. Sighing, Satine pushed herself out of the uncomfortable bunk and, on slightly wobbly feet, silently began to walk towards the cockpit.
She must not have actually cried out in her sleep as Obi-Wan seemed at ease at the helm, one hand on the steering while the other scratched one of the Zini, which had returned to the ship upon sensing their imminent departure, under the chin. The creature gave of a comforting 'grr grr' sound as it twitched its large ears in pleasure.
"I'm certain I've got a few more hours on watch before it's your turn to pilot. '' Obi-Wan absentmindedly commented as he sensed her approach from behind however, his brow creased as he felt the unease emitted from the woman, causing him to turn in concern. "Is everything ok, Satine?"
"Just nightmares." She sighed, struggling to dispel the guilt the dream had instilled in her.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Obi-Wan inquired carefully as, much to the zini's frustration, he stopped his scratching and got out of the pilot's seat, allowing the autopilot to work unattended for a few minutes.
Satine quickly shook her head, she wanted desperately to dispel the memory of that dream from her mind but, just as swiftly as the beautiful dreams were forgotten, the ugly ones lingered. However, the Padawan couldn't pretend that the duchess' emotions weren't disturbing the Force and, with a tentative step, unsure if he was permitted such actions, he placed his hands around her, pulling her in close, and allowing her to nestle her face in his tunic. Satine didn't react immediately, still unfamiliar with this new closeness that had been formed between the two before she put her hands around his back and allowed the warmth of his body to push away the nightmares, even briefly.
"Does this help?" He whispered into her hair and he gently felt her nod her head against his chest in response. The pair stood in silence like that, their solitude allowing such actions to unfold with simply the stars and the vacuum of space to witness.
Satine looked up at the man, savouring the softness of his features, the kindness in his eyes and she so desperately wanted to reach up and caress his face, feel his warmth against her fingers, against her lips but doubt stopped her. Since that night… they hadn't even spoken of that night... Satine didn't even know what to think. To her it had felt like more but had it simply been a passion of the night, to vanish with time?
Satine had almost looked away as a result of these thoughts that had plagued her but as Obi-Wan leaned in, his lips pressed against her own and he dispelled them with ease.
" That definitely helped." Satine smiled when they parted, causing the man to smile down.
"Would it be so bad if we drifted in space a while longer, holding each other like this?" He wondered wishfully.
"You think they'd notice if a Jedi Padawan and the duchess of Mandalore went missing?"
"Neh, we wouldn't even make the papers." Obi-Wan tried to joke.
Padawan and Duchess… her own words echoed in her mind, "What will happen with us once we get to Mandalore?"
"Nothing will change, you will fall into trouble, quite literally at times, and I'll do my best to get us out of it." Obi-Wan laughed but Satine looked up at him sternly, pushing him slightly away so she could look at his face more fully.
"You know that's not what I mean." She argued.
"I know." Obi-Wan admitted looking down at the duchess.
"How can you be so…" But Satine bit back her words, knowing she was ruining the moment and she doubted they would have many more left.
"Calm?" The Padawan finished. "Trust me, I'm a jumbled mess inside. You know, rebelling against Jedi law isn't really in my nature… but my master always used to say, concentrate on the moment."
"Wise words." Satine said lightly, smiling a little.
Obi-Wan nodded his head. "So I think, for now, we should focus on this, come what may in the future."
"Come what may." Satine muttered, leaning up and kissing Obi-Wan slowly and deeply, the man reciprocating the kiss without hesitation.
The rest of the journey to Mandrolore, thankfully, remained uneventful. The pair passed the busy hours working around the ship, ensuring it flew smoothly. The only hiccup, at least to Obi-Wan, was that this return trip to Mandalore, unless they found somewhere to refuel, would be their last because they did not have enough fuel to enter hyperspace and escape to Coruscant. For the time being, this was to be a one way trip.
However, when all work was done and all that would be left was to ensure autopilot didn't encounter any problems, the pair would sit in the cockpit, sometimes in the chairs, sometimes sitting on the ground so that, at least, their shoulders were touching. Other times Satine would be on Obi-Wan's lap, leaning back so her back was pressed against his chest and his hands would rest on her knees.
For months the pair had travelled together, following protocol and etiquette as had been expected from them. However, after the recent events that had unfolded on Draboon such formalities had vanished and, with them, the walls that had kept them apart. The comfort that now had developed between them was different from the one of before, even if, deep down, each knew it could not spoke of the mundane from before the war, laughing and gasping at the appropriate and more inappropriate moments of the stories told, of younger days, of different people. If any traveler had seen them, they seemed to be absolutely regular. Not a duchess and Padawan, but just a man and woman, happy to be in the company of the other.
"How does it feel to be back home?" Obi-Wan enquired when, too soon, the planet of Mandalore came into sight. Satine looked on at her home, its pale colour an indescribable shade, clusters of clouds obscured certain areas from view, plaguing the poor souls hidden in their shadows with their deadly rains. In the silence of space, as the planet continued on its rotation, one wouldn't suspect a war was unfolding upon its surface, that countless lives were being lost each day it dragged on. In space, no barricades had been set up, rebel or otherwise. With careful adjustment so as not to give away their own position, so they could still receive radio signals, they entered the planet's atmosphere. Although the war was, without doubt, still raging upon the pale planet's surface, it seemed that, at least, the rebels hadn't won just yet.
"That things have gotten a lot worse since we've been gone.'' She finally answered, as the ship leveled before what remained of Kaldabe, its dome caved in one sector, smoke billowing like some hungry creature. In the darkness of night, flashes of explosions and blaster fire defiled the darkness and silence as more men and women were added to the list of the dead.
Obi-Wan put a comforting hand on the woman's shoulder as she looked at the once proud capital of Mandalore. Her home had once been within its walls, where she and her sisters had spent their childhoods, but now that also must have vanished, along with the homes of countless others she did not know.
"They haven't spotted us because of the cloaking, right?"
"Yes." Obi-Wan agreed, sensing the duchess's melancholy as she continued to look forward towards the destroyed city. "However we are running low on fuel, once we land we will not be able to leave again."
Satine nodded her head in understanding, the pair had returned to Mandalore knowing full well that there would be no escape off-planet this time.
"Land us on the north side." Satine ordered, her eyes falling on a distant piece of desert that held their destination.
"What's over there?" the Padawan inquired, though he began manoeuvring his ship in the direction anyway.
"Our way in." She confirmed, "though you may not like it, my dear Obi-Wan."
Hi! Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Next one will be up next week and feel free to drop a comment. Happy weekend everyone :D