Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or any of its associated characters; they all belong to their respective owners. I only own any characters or plotlines that you do not recognize.
53. "Bounty Hunters" (pt. 1)
"When was the last time we heard from the medical station?" Elara asked.
Her words broke the cool yet stuffy recirculated air of the cockpit, which had existed in relative silence for the past few minutes. The hyperspace jump to Felucia wouldn't take them long, but little conversation had passed between the four Jedi inside the ship during that time. Perhaps it was because of the atmosphere that Elara and Ahsoka had walked into––it had been oddly tense and charged. The air had almost crackled around Anakin and Obi-Wan as they stood toe-to-toe, staring one another down. Elara's immediate fear had been that her brother had gone right ahead and done what she'd asked him not to do. That he'd gotten angry with Obi-Wan, that she and Ahsoka had missed the explosive berating by mere moments. It had her eyes darting between the men in a desperate attempt to decipher whether or not that had been what had happened. But the way that both men had so easily shifted away from one another and dismissed the tension so casually suggested otherwise. Something had happened, but she couldn't be sure what. She was simply thankful that Anakin hadn't added unnecessary tension to an already strained situation..
Or, perhaps, the reason for silence was as simple as the fact that no one had anything to talk about other than the mission. They'd all donned airs of professionalism––Ahsoka included––and buckled in with what was hopefully a simple recon mission. If they were lucky, they'd fly right up to the med station, diagnose what was wrong, and be back on their way to Coruscant. There was a gnarly sinking feeling in Elara's gut, however, that warned that nothing was ever so simple.
"Almost a week," Obi-Wan provided from his seat across the aisle. "At first we thought they weren't returning our calls or reporting to us due to communication issues; it's a common enough occurrence. But given the Separatist's recent and heavy presence in this area… there has been cause for concern."
Elara couldn't help the way her head swiveled so she could look at him, just as it always had. She also couldn't help the tightening in her chest when she laid eyes on his poised form. He sat with one elbow braced on the arm of his seat, and his hand hovering at his chin. There was a relaxed aspect to his expression, but a tension furrowing his handsome browline ruined the illusion he was completely at ease. Elara had to wonder if that unease was caused by the mission at hand, or their closeness. Their mandate offered stressful potential repercussions. If the med station was gone, then that meant a great loss of life, as well as the loss of a foothold in the system. That was stressful enough. But then there was the issue of the nature of their relationship. Tentative at best, her and Obi-Wan's current dynamic made it difficult to figure out how to interact with one another. Their encounter in the courtyard had ended unexpectedly well. In fact, there was a hopefulness to it. It left Elara feeling as though they could return to a kind of friendliness again, figure out a way to side-step the acrid words and venomous exchanges. But they'd not had a chance to fully figure out just what their new normalcy would be. Was it going to be awkward exchanges and avoided eye-contact? More civil than friendly? It had been nagging on her mind ever since she discovered they were to be deployed together again. And she wondered if he, too, found himself tangled up in such a web of thoughts.
Before those thoughts could slip further into matters not related to the mission, Elara sucked in a breath, and tore her eyes away from Obi-Wan. Instead, she now focused on the streaking blues and whites of hyperspace outside the windows.
"Let's hope that we don't drop into a debris field here in a second…" Anakin muttered from the pilot's seat. Elara tutted quietly at the thought, had her fingers drumming against her knee. Such an event would cause navigation issues; but it would also be terribly disheartening. There was a slight, almost imperceptible lurch as the ship dropped out of hyperspace and cruised smoothly towards a mottled green and beige planet. "Well… there's Felucia, dead ahead."
Elara peered around Ahsoka's co-pilot's seat and eyed the space that sprawled out before them. "And no debris field," she tagged on. There was a wary relief in her voice, because things were rarely what they seemed to be in a war zone. She'd learned to never trust things immediately on sight.
"But where's the medical station?" Ahsoka queried with a shake of her head. She eyed the screens installed at the co-pilot's station with a critical narrowing of her eyes. "I don't see anything on my scanners…" Just as the words left her mouth, a warning sound trilled from one of the monitors. "Wait! There's something…" It didn't take long to see what the beeping had warned them of––a number of droids came cruising towards their ship with a wicked determination. "Vulture droids."
"Kark…" Elara hissed to herself.
"Hang on!" Anakin ordered as he cranked the steering console to the left.
As asked, Elara's hands immediately flew and clung to the arms of her seat. She grimaced a little as she slammed hard into the side of her seat regardless, but knew it would be the first of many bumps. Vulture droids were nasty things; they were small starfighters that could land on the wings of other crafts and tear them apart, piece by piece, until they blew up. The Separatists would leave stations of them floating in space, where they waited for an unsuspecting vessel to pass. And once they did, they commenced their ruthless attack. Avoiding them was an absolute necessity. So it was no surprise when Anakin started throwing the ships into rolls and spirals, avoiding the streaks of red ack-ack that cut past their windows.
"I guess we know what happened to the medical station," Obi-Wan drawled.
There had been no debris field, no chunks of hulking steel drifting mournfully through space, no silent, floating graveyard for those on board the ship. That meant the Separatists, upon destroying the station––as it was now clear that was what they'd done––had come in and swept up their mess. All to trick them. All to draw them back to this location to investigate, so they could add more Republic names to the death toll. Elara felt something in the pit of her stomach twist nauseatingly. On that list of the dead they'd have to add the few hundred names of those that had been on that med station. Medics, soldiers, volunteers… good people whose lives were all senselessly snuffed out for the sake of a trap.
But before she could linger on such a distressing thought, the ship lurched violently. The strap around Elara's lap dug sharply into abdomen as it restrained her from flying out of her seat. She grunted a little at the brief jolt of pain, and her heart started to hammer inside of her chest. No matter how many times she was in a ship that got hit, the panic set in all the same. The lights and screens all flickered, alarms started frantically blaring, and the smell of smoke started to filter through some of the vents. She could feel that they were starting to lose altitude; that airy, dreadful floaty feeling had started to build up in her stomach. They were starting an unexpected, very quick, descent into Felucia.
"That's not good!" Obi-Wan bit out.
"They took out the plasma conduit!" Ahsoka informed, fingers flying across consoles to check their wounded systems. This essentially meant the ship was a lost cause; they were crashing, and there was nothing that they could do about it.
"At least they didn't out right blow us up!" Elara griped in a tense blip of optimism.
Outside the cockpit windows, the star studded blanket of space quickly gave way to the hazy, tan skies of Felucia. Vulture droids were still swooping around them. The ship had started to shudder, as though it might completely come apart at its seams. On top of that, they were rapidly speeding towards the ground, cutting through clouds wickedly.
"You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Anakin darted his eyes over at his Padawan, and then craned his head over his shoulder to shoot a look over it.
Elara grimaced as she ripped an emergency oxygen mask out from under her seat. As she pulled it up to her face, she said, "Unfortunately, yes." With that, she pressed the mask over her mouth and nose and looped its strap over her head.
"Almost certainly not," Obi-Wan snipped back. He, too, grabbed for his oxygen mask, with hands that shook much more than Elara's were. Once it was on, his head flew back against his seat-back, eyes crumpling shut. A sting of pity worked its way through Elara at the sight of him. For as excellent a flier he was, Obi-Wan didn't like it. No matter who he flew with, his hands were always finding something to cling to the minute the ship or craft made a movement he didn't like… especially if one of the Skywalkers were flying it.
"Looks like we're doing this the hard way…" Anakin, having now donned his own mask, started to press a series of different buttons. "Starting ejection sequence."
"How come every time you fly, we crash!?" Ahsoka griped, voice strained as the ship continued to jolt and jostle. The pressure inside the cabin was also climbing to uncomfortable heights. It felt as though someone were trying to squeeze all of their heads until they popped. The temperature seemed to be rising, too.
"It's not my fault! It's the ship!"
"Is now the time to argue about this!?" Elara interjected, voice muffled by her mask.
"Ready to eject!" Ahsoka cut in.
"Waiiit!" the younger Skywalker drawled. They were very close to colliding with a large outcropping of rock. It was times like these where Elara could truly see why people called her brother reckless. For it was in these moments that she wholeheartedly agreed with him. Her hand flew down to grab the emergency pull-handle installed at the right-hand side of her seat. If she hadn't trusted in the Force, and how it guided her, she might have berated Anakin. For though the air trembled as it did in the face of danger, it was not vibrating in a desperate attempt to get them to act immediately. "Now!"
But just as the 'n' of 'now' vibrated at Anakin's teeth, Elara was already pulling on the handle. There was a wicked jerk and a cruel rush of air as her seat was promptly ejected from the crashing ship. She hadn't had to eject herself from many ships before. In the times that she had, she'd found it deeply unpleasant. There was barely enough time to register her qualms with it, however, before preservation measures were automatically launched. A padded, yellow shell burst forth from the back of the seat and locked around Elara in a protective sphere. That terrible dropping sensation rose in the pit of her stomach again. Her hands clutched the arms of the seat and her eyes slammed shut; because the thought of hurtling towards the surface of Felucia still was unpleasant. Especially in something as small and confined as the safety pod.
The fall didn't take as long as one might suspect. Only a handful of seconds that stretched on for eons in Elara's head. The impact of the pod was rude, jostling her neck sharply enough to have her hiss out in pain. Vertigo set in as the cramped vessel bounced and flipped and spun, colliding with unknown surfaces and objects as it crashed to the ground. She counted herself lucky that she hadn't eaten anything prior to embarking on the mission; otherwise, she might have vomited it up into her oxygen mask. The whole nauseating experience also lasted a blissful short period of time. Though, even once the pod came to a halting stop, her head still spun. She clutched it as the puffed yellow walls split open in the front, which sent daylight spilling inside. The air that toppled in after it was thick and humid. Felucia was, after all, a jungle planet, blooming with bright foliage and odd plantlife.
Elara ripped the oxygen mask off, unbuckled herself from the seat, and unsteadily tripped out of the safety pod. Three other pods surrounded her, and from those pods her companions appeared. Good, she thought to herself––she didn't want to go hiking through the jungle alone today. She bent forward at the waist and braced her hands on her knees, grimacing as the spinning in her head started to cease.
"Ha––you alright there, Master?" Anakin teased. Despite being a little unsteady on his feet, Anakin seemed unperturbed by the experience.
"Oh, I'm fine, Anakin," Obi-Wan drawled sarcastically. A grimace had tangled his lips up, and gloved hands reached upwards to fix the messy splay of his hair.
Elara righted herself and, as she moved towards her brother, leveled a straight, unwavering finger at him. "Next time one of us has to fly for a mission, it's going to be me," she deadpanned.
"I'm on board with that," Ahsoka groaned. She had both hands placed on the small of her back as she arched her spine, as though working some cricks out of it. A wince briefly twinged across her face.
Anakin's hands flew up in defense. "I did nothing this time––we got hit in a blind spot."
"This time," his Padawan reiterated dryly. The two shared a look––silent warning from Anakin and an eye-roll from Ahsoka––before she turned to gaze at their surroundings. "Where on Felucia do you think we are?"
Obi-Wan craned his head around as they started to walk, moving away from their crash sight.
"I'm not sure," he admitted.
Elara had never been to Felucia before; her three companions had. They were familiar with the landscape and its natural flora and fauna. But from what she understood, the planet was populated, but sparsely so. It was mostly just sprawling jungle landscape, which would make it remarkably difficult to decipher one's location from just a quick glance. All around them, tiered tree-like plants towered over them, stretching into the hazy sky. The foliage closer to the ground consisted of verdant, leafy ferns, and brightly colored flowers the size of a small child. Particles of dust and pollen drifted lazily through the air and gently clung to the fabric of their tunics. Insects buzzed and chirped, creating a constant, low, humming sound. The smell of damp earth was on par with the scent of humidity. Of all the planets to crash land on, this one wasn't so bad. But they'd still crash landed, which meant this: they had no resources, no ship, and no way to contact Coruscant, the Council, or any passing Republic vessels. It was an unfortunate circumstance, but one they'd have to overcome. There was no other option.
They had taken, perhaps, several steps when a low growling sound all had them halting. Elara's hand instinctively moved to her hip, fingers ghosting over the hilt attached to her belt. If she'd known that they were going to crash, she would've perused through Felucia's profile to figure out its potential dangers. She then shuffled herself half a step forward to put Ahsoka just slightly behind her, ensuring that if anything were about to attack, it would have to strike Elara first.
"I don't like the sound of that…" Ahsoka muttered.
The ground started to tremble a little under their feet, and the crisp sound of snapping foliage met their ears.
"And I don't like the look of that," Anakin added. He pointed ahead of them where, some ten feet away, two massive creatures lumbered through the jungle. "We don't wanna scare them…"
The creatures were bipedal things with long, drooping arms, covered in grayish skin that looked armor-like in the way it was laid. Elara gaped up at their towering stature, which put man of the GAR's walkers to shame. Forward set jaws swept forward in sharp angles, and discerning, angry eyes sat deep in their faces. They grumbled and groaned as they hulked past, paying the Jedi––who were puny to them in comparison––no mind. With each step they took, the ground shuddered beneath them as though trembling in fear of the things that trod across it. They didn't look like the sort of things that you'd want to scare or piss-off; because you would likely be squashed into the dirt within seconds of doing so.
They all stood still until they'd passed, which was when Obi-Wan sighed. He stepped forward with a shake of his head and gestured forward into the jungle, which seemed to stretch on endlessly. "We can't just wander around aimlessly. We need a plan."
"I agree," Elara said, which had Obi-Wan's head snapping around towards her. They agreed with one another often, so it shouldn't have been odd that she'd spoken up in support. But he almost look surprised that she'd openly agreed with him. Perhaps because of their previously contentious meeting, he thought that she'd keep such opinions to herself. That she'd rather not have it known that she agreed with him. She flashed him a brief smile––a quick lift of the corner of her mouth––in what she hoped was reassurance. "Getting lost could be the death of us."
"You," Anakin jutted his head forward and in Obi-Wan's direction, "always taught me to go on my instinct." A slight edge had entered both his voice and his expression. His eyes happened to dart towards Elara, who arched an eyebrow at him, silently questioning his attitude. This was either stress born, a lingering effect from whatever had transpired in the ship, or some combination of the two. He proceeded to clear his throat and roll his shoulders back. His expression schooled itself a little. "And my instincts tell me to go that way," he continued, voice taking on a much more agreeable tone. He gestured in the direction the hulking creatures had gone. They were barely out of sight, and the ground still trembled with each one of their footfalls.
"No, that––that doesn't seem right," Obi-Wan countered. He gestured in the completely opposite direction. "I think we should go this way."
"Why do you even ask for my opinion? We never do things my way."
"We crashed the ship your way." A bite of snark had entered his voice, and the corner of his mouth lifted in the faintest of smirks. It was nice to see, given that the expressions that Elara had seen from him as of late had been rather stoic in nature.
Anakin narrowed his eyes at his former Master, and his lips twisted downwards. "Very funny. I see your sense of humor survived the landing," he snipped back.
"It's about the only thing."
A slight throb started to press against the inside of Elara's skull. As a result, the starts of a headache began to bloom. She lifted a hand to rub her forehead with gloved fingers; the bickering was the last thing they needed, especially after crashing out of the sky. And given that Anakin was likely still battling with how to interact with Obi-Wan once again, that bickering could elevate to arguing very fast. But before she could further agonize over such a possibility––and figure out a way to prevent it––a gentle nudge brushed against her ribs. Looking down, Elara found that Ahsoka had just pushed her elbow into her side. The young woman then jerked her chin forwards, and darted her eyes in much the same direction. Following her gaze, Elara first found herself looking at the thicket of jungle ahead. Eyebrows furrowed in confusion of what Ahsoka had wanted her to see––until she spotted the jagged column of smoke that cut a slate grey streak through the sky. The formation of the smoke suggested civilization. It looked like the sort of stuff that drifted steadily out of a chimney. A relieved smile curled across Elara's face. She turned her eyes back to Ahsoka and nodded to her encouragingly. With a proud flash of a smile, the young Padawan turned her attention on the two clashing Jedi, who were eyeing each other with heavy, sarcastic gazes.
"Uh, if you two are done arguing, I think there's some smoke on the horizon, which means people––and a way off this planet," she pointed out with a gentle poise. A calm voice in the steady rise of tumultuous tones.
Both men fell silent and turned to look at the mentioned smoke. Eyelids fluttered and mouths opened wordlessly. Neither of them said a word, almost shamefully, as they seemed to realize that if they'd just stopped snipping away at one another, they might've seen it, too.
"Best not waste time. If the Separatists monitor those vulture droid stations, then they could be on our tail. And I don't know about any of you," Elara passed between her brother and Obi-Wan as she swept a hand across the back of her dampening neck, "I don't want to be in this humidity any longer than we have to. Let's get moving."
OOOO
It didn't take them too long to reach the village from which the smoke originated. But it had taken them long enough that the heat had caused sweat to start to bead on their brow lines. The temperature wasn't unbearable, but it was certainly oppressive. The village in question was small, nestled quaintly in a verdant clearing in the middle of the jungle. It received natural protection from a cliff face off to the right, and on all other sides, thick jungle tangled and twisted, creating a barrier of a different kind. Small, domed huts dotted the area, suggesting a modest community called this place home. Organized beds of plants also seemed to imply that this was a farming community. It seemed picturesque. The only thing was… no one was around. No one was crossing from one hut to another to visit their neighbor, or tending to the crops. In fact, there were tools scattered across the ground as though they'd been thrown aside hastily. Baskets lay abandoned with plants spilling out of them. For as quaint as the bigger picture of this place was, the smaller details suggested something far less so was going on.
"Maybe they've got a ship we can… borrow," Anakin suggested as they passed through the village's front gate. It was a beautiful, simple square archway, handmade and quite old.
Elara clucked her tongue and threw her hand into her brother's arm. The intonation of his suggestion did not imply an actual borrowing would take place. "We are not stealing from innocent farmers," she reprimanded under her breath.
"Well, it doesn't look like there's anyone around to steal from…" he muttered back.
"Does it look like they wanted to leave?" She gestured to a rake, which had been haphazardly tossed into and on top of a field of plants, some of which appeared to be crushed under the handle. She watched as Anakin's mouth twisted into a considering frown.
"They're growing healing herbs," Ahsoka pointed out.
"Nysillim I believe," Obi-Wan agreed, eyes cast to the crop of plants on either side of them, "one of the most valuable crops in the galaxy."
The plants that grew on either side of the winding pathway through the center of the village were, indeed, nysillim, which was a key ingredient to many medicines across the galaxy. The plant itself had a spindly, wobbling stalk, at the top of which two leafs split open to reveal a blushing red, spotted bud. And there was lots of it.
"You'd think that they were trying to supply their own medical station," Elara commented gently. She reached out a hand to gently caress the velvety bud of a nysillim plant. "They've done well for themself; it's an impressive crop, especially considering this planet was a battle ground not too long ago."
They continued along the crooked central path, which led them to the village's humble thoroughfare. Aside from the croaking and chirping of insects, it was eerily quiet. The faint sound of wind chimes tinkled faintly, likely wafting towards them from the back of the village. There was no faint murmuring of hushed voices, no scuffling of worried feet, no clattering of something falling over by accident. It was just… quiet. But it didn't feel… dead, for lack of a better word. There was an energy in the air that danced across Elara's skin and buzzed around her ears. Silent and tenuous, it was the sort of feeling that often overcame her whilst bivouacked behind enemy lines. That sort of energy didn't so potently cling to a space that was no longer inhabited.
"This place looks deserted," Ahsoka commented as they came to a stop in the thoroughfare.
"I'm not so sure about that," Elara said with a tentative drawl. She rubbed her hands together, where that tenuous energy tingled the most. "I can feel it in the air––there are life forms present, they're just not in sight. They're scared."
Obi-Wan nodded as he peered around the eerily still village. "I concur. The crops are ready to be harvested. Tools are lying about… No, something's amiss."
"Farmers don't abandon their crops without good reason, especially with something as valuable as nysillim," she tagged on. It was another agreement between them, though this one seemed less shocking. Their eyes did meet briefly, but shot away quickly, as though stung by a live wire. There was still a weight to their agreeing with one another, a strange one that she couldn't say she quite understood. But, again, that was not the focus of their mission, and it was certainly not the most pressing matter at hand.
"Well, there's one thing I learned where I grew up…" Anakin started, moving through the thoroughfare and to the left. Elara followed after, eyebrow arching, curious at what lesson from Tatooine he was about to impart. "… if you wanna know what a farmer is up to, look in their barn." He gestured to a large metal structure, which looked more like a hangar than a barn, which sat at the top of a moderately sloped earthen ramp.
There was a subdued but long-suffering sigh from Obi-Wan. "Do I want to know why that's a lesson you learned?"
"Chalk it up to rambunctious childhood curiosity… and a penchant for picking fights," Elara drawled flatly. The comment earned a wry look from Anakin, which was shot over his shoulder with a lopsided smirk.
"Like you didn't sneak into those barns, too…"
"To come after you."
Anakin clucked his tongue and shook his head, a smirk drawing across his face as they started to climb the ramp. "You had fun."
Elara hurled her eyes into a mighty roll––though he wasn't wrong. Sneaking into barns, for whatever reason, had always been a rebellious, heart-pounding, fun activity. The best memories she had of it were the times that they'd slip inside one to take refuge from the double suns. They'd just sit inside, tucked away in an innocuous corner, and let their skin cool off, wincing as they felt it tightening with freshly garnered burns. But Anakin was right; if the farmers were hiding anything, it would likely be in the barn. They'd once stumbled across a bantha farmer's barn that was filled with barrels of contraband water. Another time, a shipment of weapons hidden amongst crates of farming supplies. If there was going to be any hint of what had happened in this place, it was going to be inside.
Once they reached the top of the ramp, Anakin reached out and pressed a button that would open the barn's massive front door. And when it lifted, they were greeted by a peculiar sight. Inside there were not crates filled with nysillim, or haphazardly organized piles of farming equipment. There weren't pieces of farming machinery or land speeders that befitted the type of people that lived here. Instead, there was an SS-54 assault ship docked inside. It took up nearly the entire space, looming over them like a hulking shadow.
"This is an odd ship for farmers," Obi-Wan commented. "Perhaps somebody's here to pick up the sillim."
Ahsoka gave a shake of her head, which swayed it back and forth slowly. "I still don't get it… where is everyone?"
Elara frowned and turned away from the assault ship to peer across the expanse of the village. Her eyes danced from hut to hut, which were decorated with large, curved windows. Even from here she could see that there was no one inside them. If the villagers really were still there, they'd certainly hid themselves well. "I suggest we do a search of the place. Something's clearly happened, and I've got a bad feeling about it. If there's anything we can do to help these people, they may be willing to assist us in return," she suggested.
With a bob of his head, Anakin also turned his back on the ship. "Let's do it. At the very least, if there's no one here, maybe they've got a communications system we can hijack for a bit."
The village was small, so it was decided that there was no need to split into pairs to do their search. Ahsoka did accompany Anakin, as she was his Padawan, but both Elara and Obi-Wan went about their searches separately, which was probably for the best. Things between them were still awkward at best, and it would be no good if that tension was what they started to focus on. But it was odd to branch away from each other. They parted ways at the thoroughfare, with murmured 'I'll go this way's leaving their lips. It didn't feel right, not being beside him, even given the circumstance. But it was for the best. For them. For the mission––especially for the mission, which was the most important thing at hand.
The first place that Elara went to look was one of the huts. Each one was elevated off the ground––likely to keep them from flooding in the rainy seasons––and the only way in was up a stocky little ramp. The door was already open, which she found peculiar, so as she entered, her hand went cautiously to her hip. She stopped at the top of the ramp, fingers dancing across her lightsaber hilt, as she turned a glance across the living space. It was small and humble, but comfortable. A table, risen to knee height, sat in the middle of the room, with a number of pillows settled around it. There was a teapot sat in the center of it, with several cups placed at varying spots around the table; the pillows looked to be in a slight disarray, as though kicked and shoved aside in a hurry. With eyes still slipping cautiously around the room, Elara slowly moved towards the table. She dropped into a crouch beside it and reached out, her hand reaching for the teapot. When her fingers came into contact with its side, it was still warm. Not hot enough to burn her fingers, but warm enough to suggest that it had been abandoned fairly recently.
A troubled frown twisted across her face. She suddenly wished she possessed the gift of psychometry, which would allow her to connect to the Force and sense the history of an object. It would grant them much insight to what had happened here. Where the villagers had gone. Because it was becoming glaringly obvious that they had disappeared recently; very recently, likely in the time since they'd crash landed. But where had they gone? And why had they gone there? While Elara continued her troubled sweep of the room, she noticed something lodged into the floor on the other side of the hut. A panel––no, not a panel… a hatch. A potential hiding place. A bubble of anticipation started to grow in Elara's stomach at the fact that they might start to get some answers. She started to rise to her feet when, all of a sudden, she heard a peculiar sound it was rough and whirring, mechanical in nature… and it was getting louder.
When she turned around, Elara barely had a moment to register what it was she saw before she was being hoisted off her feet. A metal hand––larger than any living person's––had grasped hold of the front of her tunic and lifted her a good three feet off the ground. The thing that had grabbed her easily stood at seven feet tall, and was made completely out of metal. It was a hulking, sentient suit of armor, it seemed, and cold blue eye-like eyes stared her down mercilessly. Immediately, one of Elara's hands grabbed hold of the thing's arm, and the other shot down towards her lightsaber; but she quickly found it wrenched upwards by the thing's other hand. A grunted sound of pain was wrenched from Elara's grimaced lips. And then from its bulky metal arm, a small serrated blade appeared, which craned forward to buzz and spin a dangerous two inches away from her wrist. That had her hand tensing instinctively, no longer attempting to wrench free.
"I wouldn't if I were you," its gruff, mechanical voice insisted.
"Put me down," she hissed.
"No."
With that, the metal creature turned on his heels and jerkily started to make its way out of the hut, toting Elara through the air like a petulant loth cat. She swung her legs forward and kicked at its chest, only for the soles of her boots to meet impassive metal. The kicking and squirming did nothing to affect her captor, who lumbered forward with jerky steps that whirred and clicked each time.
"Who are you?" she demanded through grit teeth.
"None of your business," it replied.
"If you're kidnapping me, it's my business." When it didn't respond, she tried another question. "What did you do to the villagers?"
It shook her a little, and her eyes darted towards that still spinning blade, worried that it would crash into her wrist. She supposed she should be thankful the thing was made of metal; it steadfastly held her hand and prevented it from being chopped off. "Shut it."
Elara found that she very much disliked being carried as she was. The toes of her boots dangled uselessly over the ground, swinging and pawing like they might find purchase on something… which they wouldn't seeing as there was three feet between them and the earth. The grimace that had screwed itself across her face made her feel like an angry child being toted off by a chiding mother. Or like Anakin when she used to throw his small body over her shoulder and carry him away from a fight. This made her feel small and defenseless. Because she was well aware that this mass of metal could snap her neck if it so wished, or crush her bones with a squeeze of its fingers. Elara knew when to pick her battles; this was not one she could win. Such was why she begrudgingly allowed it to haul her over to another hut––inside of which Anakin and Ahsoka had been cornered by three other people, all with blasters.
Anakin, whose face had been pinched in severe displeasure, spotted his sister and immediately blanched. Gone was the heavy furrow between his brows, the sharp frown on his lips. Blue eyes flew wide and shoulders stiffened in worried shock. "Elara?"
It was then that the three blaster wielding individuals swung their attention towards her. It wasn't hard to clock them all as thugs. One individual was a Kyuzo man, dressed in heavy armor, with a large hat sat atop his head, and blasters at his hips. Another, a Frenk woman, stood with a hood draped over her head, casting shadows on her narrow, angular face. The third with a Zabrak woman with pale skin, a nasty sneer, and a pistol aimed right at Anakin's head. They all kept their weapons trained on Anakin and Ahsoka, but were all now glowering at the Jedi dangling from their compatriot's grasp. Elara figured she must've looked a sight––feet dangling, lips grimaced, and her hand restrained and claw-like, as the metal being had placed a thumb strategically on a pressure point, which made it exceedingly hard to move her fingers at all.
"Where did you find this one, Seripas?" the Zabrak woman drawled, eyeing Elara distastefully.
"She was snooping around the other huts; thought you might want all the intruders in one place," said Seripas.
"Good thinking," she commended. And then, as she gave Elara a once-over, her eyes narrowed. It was a considering kind of look, the sort that made her skin crawl as that gaze was dragged intently across her face. Elara got the sense that this woman thought she recognized her, which was both odd and concerning. The Zabrak woman cracked her mouth open to speak again, but was immediately interrupted by someone else.
"Put her down," Anakin bit out on the other side of the hut. His eyes were burning, now, the pinched aspect of his expression swiftly returning. The tell-tale signs of anger were starting to creep over him, crawling across his shoulders and curling in his fingers.
The Zabrak woman swung a snide smile in his direction. "I don't think we will. I suggest you stand down."
"After all, four on one is hardly a fair fight––even for a Jedi," said the Frenk woman, her voice high pitched and almost grating.
Suddenly, Ahsoka visibly smarted, shoulders going stiff, head swinging around. "Wait a minute––four on one? You mean four on two," she stressed, bringing attention to herself. Elara was, after all, particularly detained, so she couldn't exactly be counted as a third party in this.
"We don't count you, knee-high," spat Serapis.
The zapping sound of an igniting lightsaber broke through the air, followed by a prim, familiar voice.
"Do you count me?" asked Obi-Wan.
Across the room, everyone reacted. First and foremost, Serapis flipped Elara around so she faced forward, trapped her between his arm and his chest––and took care to pin her arms to her side while he was at it––, and held the spinning, serrated blade to her throat. She craned her head back as far as possible, cringing at how she could feel the vibrations of it in the air. Her eyes landed on Obi-Wan, who had turned towards Serapis, his blade slightly extended towards him in silent warning. His expression was drawn, but there was a fierceness in his eyes. A look that any sane person wouldn't dare trifle with. Blasters cocked, whirring as they warmed up, and sights were trained on different individuals. Both Anakin and Ahsoka ignited their lightsabers, and fell into defensive positions. Just when the tension in the air felt as though it was going to break, anxious footsteps came pounding up the ramp behind Obi-Wan.
"Stop! Don't harm them!" Everyone's attention ticked towards a small Felucian man, who waved his arms at them frantically. "Can't you see these are Jedi? We are saved!"
"Saved?" Ahsoka questioned.
"Need I remind you Casiss, you already made a deal with us?" the Zabrak woman questioned. She angled a warning look down at him, an eyebrow arched, lips curling downwards at one corner.
"But with the Jedi's help––"
"Excuse me, but help you with what?" Ahsoka interrupted.
Casiss, who stood no taller than five feet, reached out and placed a hand atop the Zabrak woman's blaster. He pushed on it and, surprisingly, she allowed him to lower it. With a voice that spoke hushed and low, he uttered a single word:
"Pirates."
Before any of the Jedi could react to the news that pirates were involved in this whole debacle, the Zabrak woman scoffed, placed a hand on her hip, and glowered down at the Felucian man.
"Casiss, we have a deal; you can't just go back on it when you feel like it," she bit out none too gently.
With a pleading look, Casiss reached out a vibrant yellow hand and placed it on her wrist. "Sugi, let them go. Even if they do not help, you do not want the trouble that harming Jedi will bring. Please. Allow me to speak with them."
The two shared a long, intense look. A grimace steadily continued to pull across Sugi's face, and Casiss' became steadily more pleading. The tension in the room did not dissolve. In fact, it seemed to grow as the two argued silently, trying to come to some kind of conclusion. Elara sincerely hoped that conclusion would be arrived at soon, because her neck was getting stiff, and she was really quite tired of not standing on solid ground. Her wish was soon granted, as, with a begrudging huff, Sugi shoved her blaster into the holster on her hip. She waved a stiff hand at her compatriots.
"Stand down," she grunted. There was a pause, as though the thugs were unsure whether or not she was truly asking them to. "Do it!"
The Frenk woman and Kyuzo man each slowly lowered their weapons, and once they had, Anakin and Ahsoka righted themselves, but did not deactivate their sabers. Instead, all Jedi eyes turned to Serapis, who still held Elara firmly to his metal chest. The sound of whirring ceased as the blade retracted into his arm. And then, gracelessly, he just let her go. Elara's feet came crashing down against the floor of the hut, and the sudden impact threw her wildly off balance. She stumbled forward and away from her captor, arms flailing to try and regain her stability. A firm hand caught her by the elbow and held fast, and in turn, her hand came slapping down on the arm that belonged to her savior. The gentle firmness of Obi-Wan's grasp on her arm sent a shockwave of heat and electricity coursing through her body. It tore a quiet gasp from her mouth, one that likely came off as a result of her fumble. Elara's eyes flew to meet his as he pulled her closer towards him, trying to give her something more stable to cling on to. Her other hand came to grasp hold of his bicep, fingers curling over the worn fabric of his battle tunic. She could feel the muscle beneath that fabric tense at her touch, and watched as that tension flooded through the rest of his body. No longer at risk of toppling over, Elara should have let go of him. But she didn't. They were close. So close, the closest they'd been in well over a week.
"Thank you…" she murmured.
"You're welcome…" came the equally quiet, stricken reply.
For a moment, she forgot that they weren't alone. That this was a moment being observed by others. It just felt like them, standing alone in a hut on Felucia, clinging to one another for balance. Gripped one another with that same tightness they had in the hangar, like it would silently manage to win the other over, understand where they were coming from. There was an unspoken desperateness to how they clung to one another, to how their fingers dug into covered flesh like they wanted to reach the other's skin and feel its warmth. Like they wanted the other as close as physically possible, because the distance they'd put between them was wrong. And just as Elara felt herself listing into him, into this seconds long moment that felt like a lifetime, a scoff absolutely shattered it.
"Are all Jedi so dramatic?" Sugi drawled.
Both Elara and Obi-Wan wrenched their hands away from one another like the other's body was as hot as the suns of Tatooine combined. Elara placed both hands on her hips and turned away, casting her gaze out of one of the windows. Obi-Wan could be heard clearing his throat as though nothing had happened. But something had. Something that shouldn't have happened, not when they were supposed to be finding a way to find a new normal. Something that couldn't happen given the situation they were currently in. But it had happened in it was unignorable; because in that moment, Elara had sensed that not all was lost. Because if Obi-Wan wanted to stay strictly true to his word, he would have released her immediately. He would not have looked at her the way he had, or held her as tightly as he did. And while that stirred up a sense of hope, it also made things complicated. Terribly, beautifully, and frustratingly complicated.
OOOO
Casiss––the village elder––invited all present parties to join him in his home their current plight. They'd gathered around a long, narrow table and were offered a meager meal to pick over as they spoke. It came to light that Sugi, Serapis, Embo––the Kyuzo man, and Rumi Paramita––the Frenk woman––were all bounty hunters. The information had Elara dropping her head into her hands. Just her luck. First they crash land, then they discover there's an issue with pirates, and now there are bounty hunters, too? No wonder Sugi had been staring at her so hard; she likely had seen the bounty profile on Elara, and had yet to place her face. She feared for the moment she did. For even if they reached some kind of agreement, bounty hunters were fickle. If they could secure a good payday, they often did what they could to ensure they got it. Obi-Wan and Anakin immediately tensed up upon hearing these people's profession, and Ahsoka's eyes had widened in realization. A silent agreement seemed to bounce between both men; that if anything were to happen, they would do their damndest to
Thankfully, discussion of their work was batted aside as Casiss started to weave the tale of how they came to have pirate troubles. Other Felucians had started to show themselves, poking their heads into the home tentatively, peering at their guests with wary eyes. They came to listen, came for food, and lingered by the walls and doorways with a sad kind of caution. It was very clear they didn't trust newcomers easily; and for good reason, Elara found, as she listened to Casiss speak. He spoke of the pirates arriving one day out of the blue, raucous and abrasive. They stormed the village brashly, uncaringly, discovered the nysillim, and struck up a deal with the Felucians.
"Simply stated, if we don't give the pirates a portion of our crop, they will destroy our homes with us in them," Casiss explained.
"Hm… I see your dilemma…" Obi-Wan hummed.
"Sillim farming is a meager trade. Without all our herbs to sell, we will have no money for food, fuel, or equipment.
"And yet you can afford to pay mercenaries?" The look that the Master Jedi shot Sugi from across the table wasn't terribly kind; and it garnered him a sneer from her in response.
"These bounty hunters drive a far more reasonable bargain than the pirates."
Anakin, who'd opted to lean against one of the walls instead of sit––likely to keep an eye on all the bounty hunters on that side of the table––asked, "Why not just fight them yourselves?"
Casiss sighed and leveled a stubby finger at him. "Easy for you, perhaps. But look at us!" He gestured to himself, his simple clothing, and his small but bulky stature. "We are farmers, not warriors. Even with the bounty hunter's help I had feared the worst. But now––there are seven of you!" His expression had brightened it had become immeasurably hopeful as his eyes flitted between the Jedi in his presence.
Across the table, Sugi leaned forward on her arm and cocked a querying, scarred eyebrow. "What do you want, Jedi?" she asked.
"We need a ship; ours is beyond repair, I'm afraid," Obi-Wan revealed.
Elara huffed a little snort as she reached for a piece of fruit that was sitting on her plate. 'Beyond repair' was putting it gently. The ship was likely scattered across a several mile radius; even if they could repair it, they wouldn't be able to find all the bits and pieces. She had remained quiet through most of the meal, suddenly very wary of what she did and said in front of these bounty hunters. She tried not to meet their gaze head-on, or let them see her face from anything that wasn't her profile or some other odd angle. It was the best she could do without her robe and hood, which she found herself longing for more and more as the evening wore on.
"The one in the barn––that'll do," Anakin interjected.
Sugi scoffed a sound and twisted around in her seat to face him. "That's our ride. It doesn't go anywhere without us, and right now, we're busy," she snarked.
Obi-Wan sat forward with an arched eyebrow. "Busy extorting farmers?" It had been made abundantly clear during this discussion that he did not like their trade; and it was causing a low level of tension to steadily build every time he made a passing comment about it.
"I don't hear you offering to help."
"Unfortunately, we couldn't help even if we wanted to."
The statement had Elara's head whirling around towards him. Ahsoka was sitting between her and Obi-Wan and she, too, wheeled around to gape at him in surprise.
"What?" Ahsoka sputtered.
"Surely there's something we can do," Elara said. Leaving these people to fend for themselves didn't sit right with her. They were stranded here anyways, why not do a little good while they hashed out an escape plan?
With a sigh, Obi-Wan darted his eyes at his three companions and then looked back to a now troubled looking Casiss. "Would you mind if my comrades and I spoke outside for a moment?"
"Of course, of course… take your time."
The three Jedi excused themselves from the hut and slipped outside into the pleasant cool of the evening. It was a disarming contrast to the heat of the day, and caused the lingering sweat on Elara's skin to get chilly rather quickly. A small fire had been started in a stone-lined pit just outside, so it was up to that they stepped. A bubble of warmth and light surrounded them, flickering and wavering as the breeze. With a huff, Ahsoka flapped her arms in a manner that almost came off as petulant.
"Master, these farmers are in trouble; why can't we help them?" she questioned. There was a simmering passion behind her voice, which spoke of an innate need to help.
"Believe me Ahsoka, I would like nothing more. However, we need to report that the medical station has been destroyed. If we stay too long, the Separatists will show up looking for us here," Obi-Wan explained.
"But––"
"Better they get robbed by pirates than attract the attention of General Grievous and his hoard."
With a sigh, Elara shook her head. That sigh drew everyone's attention, and with a flap of her hand, she gestured to the humble village around them. "How are we going to contact Coruscant? I highly doubt that the Felucians have a long range transmitter that will reach that far. My point is this: we're going to be stuck here for a period of time regardless. We've dealt with pirates before, and if worse came to worst, we've dealt with the Separatists quite a bit. What's the harm in helping out a bit?"
Obi-Wan's mouth wrestled itself into a thin line. His eyes flashed with something––regret, or possibly guilt––as he shook his head. It would seem that, for the first time today, they did not agree.
"Elara––"
Two things happened simultaneously. The first being that Elara felt all air wrenched from her lungs at how softly he said her name. The second being her name being interrupted by the terrified, child-like cry of,
"Pirates! Pirates, pirates! The pirates are back!"
A young Felucian child had come barreling up the central path, arms waving frantically as they called out a warning to anyone who would listen. Elara frowned sharply as her attention shot to the darkness of the jungle beyond the village. There was a low rumbling sound that grew steadily closer––the grumbling of speeder engines. Everyone who had been in Casiss' home spilled out of it, and the child who had warned them all barreled past them and into the safety of the hut. It would seem that, no matter their opinion on the matter, they had no choice but to deal with it, now.
It wasn't long before six speeder bikes came roaring into the thoroughfare. Atop each one was a Weequayan pirate… which struck Elara with an odd sense of deja-vu. When she said that they'd dealt with pirates before, she hadn't exactly expected a repeat performance of what they had experienced before. Each pirate scowled meanly at the assembled crowd of Felucians, bounty hunters, and Jedi. But none of them said a word. The fire sat between the crowd and the pirates, and it cast an eerie green light on all currently present. It was Sugi who stepped forward, separating herself from the crowd, to address the situation.
"That's far enough!" she called, voice powerfully slicing through the night and the rumbling of the bikes. "I speak for the people of this village. State your name and business!"
"My name is my own business!" one of the pirates snarled, standing up on his bike to thrust a spear towards them. "And my business is taking what's ours!"
"There's nothing here that's yours, unless you're here to buy it," Sugi shot back with a passion that surprised Elara. Bounty hunters loved contracts. They stuck to them because it ensured them payment, ensured their job, offered recompense should it be broken. But even then, any bounty hunter that she knew didn't speak like that on a job. Not like it personally affected them.
"Buy it?" half-laughed a raspy, lilting, terribly familiar voice. Elara's face, which had remained stoic, suddenly went slack at the sound of it. "Ha-ha-ha!" A shadowed figure hopped off a bike at the center of the group of pirates and sauntered forward and into the greenish firelight. "Kenobi, Skywalker… Pretty Jedi… I can't believe you came all this way to see me!"
Standing before them, in all his piratical glory, dressed in that vivid red frock coat, and with that Kowakian-lizard monkey on his shoulder was none other than the grinning––the beaming:
"Hondo."
Afterword; FINALLY our space pirate is BACK! I'm so, so, so excited for the next chapter, because we're gonna have some real good Hondo content; getting him back into close proximity with Elara is going to be a time and a half for everyone involved. I'm so ready for it.
Review Replies!
bambam411: I'm so glad that you enjoyed their lovely, awkward reunion! It was fun coming up the level of awkward that they were going to be at, and the dialogue that would fit there within. And I just… had to drop a reference to Quinlan in there. Because I've always just seen him as being, like, the one other Jedi that at all attempts to make flirtatious passes at Elara. Which just incites such a rage inside Obi-Wan because it's Quinlan. I wish I could be as patient and calm as Elara, too. I… just get anxious xD I thought it was important for the last chapter to center around Elara and Obi-Wan's reconnection, because it sets up a lot of the way they're going to be interacting with one another in the next few chapters. I really hope that you enjoyed the introduction to bounty hunters and pirates! And rum is a wholly applicable to have now that Hondo is back; we all know he'd love it! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
ZabuzasGirl: I am also very excited for the episode with Quinlan! Not only because it's going to be Obi-Wan, Elara, and Quinlan having to deal with one another, the HUTTS. And the way that Quinlan interacts with the Hutts is a nightmare, so poor Elara is going to be so gd anxious. Poor thing; but I'm so excited. I hope that you enjoyed the start to Bounty Hunters! I'm really looking forward into getting into the meat of the episode in the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
DCDGojira: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! And, AHH, CONGRATS ON THE VAX!
MsRosePetal: If Anakin had waited to confront Obi-Wan, that conversation would have gone much differently. There probably would have been a lot more vitriol and anger. Dealing with it right away was a must, especially since they were going to be working with one another, and are going to continue to do so. I think Obi-Wan has started to realize that denying it all point-blank isn't helping him, or anyone. And there are some more awkward moments to come, of course… but also some sweeter/comedic ones. It's all leading to the next build up and breaking point! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
Guest: Still planning things out that far ahead, so we'll see if that would work with what I end up planning!
Nerdette92: Of the two interactions in the last chapter, I was most worried about Ani and Obi's. Because it just felt like it could go ballistic at any moment, but I didn't want it to; so striking that tense atmosphere between them felt really precarious to work with. So I'm glad that it read well! Get ready for flirty Hondo… 'cause I predict in the first three paragraphs of the next chapter, he'll be right there, flirting away! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
weasleylover10: That image is funny, and probably because it's the last thing she'd do, but was also definitely something she considered doing for a moment. Very Anakin of her xD I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
lolistarkiller: I'm very much looking forward to the process of Anakin attempting to tell Elara about his and Padmé's relationship. Because he's definitely going to keep trying to tell her, and keep getting interrupted. War is a very tough time to try and admit these things, as Obi-Wan and Elara well know at this point. And I agree, I think the CW did a lot in developing characters, including Obi-Wan. Like everything with Satine really fleshed out and added a lot of depth to his character, and that's definitely one of the many things that the CWs did beautifully. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
PrettyRecklessLaura: I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
RJNorth: For 47: I contemplated going so many different routes in this chapter to describe Elara's pain, and doing it through Ani's eyes just felt… the best way. Because it was an unadulterated look into what she experienced without the bias of knowing what it was about. How awful it was, how impactful it was. And it was definitely an opportunity to show how much their trust has developed; as adults, she now knows she can trust him enough to open up about things, as well as to trust him to protect her as she's done with him. For 48: Yeahhh, I really do love peppering in the little tidbits about not wanting to lose one another… because I know it's going to hurt… and I always need to remind everyone of that, apparently xD And writing Elara having a halfway decent interaction with Palms was definitely icky; because he's LEARNING. He's starting to pinpoint the things that he knows will get a positive reaction out of her. And I'm so happy that you're on board with the way that Obi's dealing with all of this! Trying to move on, but just cannot because everything just… reminds him of her, and that drags him back into thinking. It's an endless cycle. For 49: Ani sharing his news about him and Padmé is going to be… so fun to write. So, so fun to write. For 50: Blinker and Acks are the dreamboats of Contigo Squadron, and I'll go to my grave believing that. I'm sure Acks wouldn't mind a good hug, so he's all yours! For 51: Elara realizing what's been going on with Anakin and Padmé is definitely going to be the first real big thing that happens between Elara and Ani. 'Cause it's going to become evident that they've been keeping secrets from one another… that doesn't happen a lot. That's BIG for them. And, oh my god, yes, the realization of 'dear god my best friend is sleeping with my brother, oh NO' is going to be amazing xD For 52: These two definitely deserved to have an interaction that wasn't as laden with pain as many of them have been as of late. Their civility is shining through in an unconscious way of signaling the other that 'I don't' want it to be this way, can we please change this.' And it is a testament to their morals that they're willing to take the high ground (hah) and try and figure out how to be around one another without being cruel. And it was BIG for Ani to really listen to Elara and not go absolutely balls-to-the-wall in his frustration with Obi-Wan. As you said he did his brotherly duty, but he didn't go overboard. Obi-Wan has consistently been the difficult one to write this journey for. Figuring out how his emotions and thoughts would develop up to this point has taken so much hoop jumping and critical thinking; I feel like I could write an analytical paper on this man's psyche at this point. He's definitely unknowingly gearing himself up to the point where he's going to be brave enough to just GO FOR IT. Also, hope you're ready for flirty Hondo… he's heeeeeere! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again and may the Force be with you!
monkeybaby: I'm so glad you enjoyed the last chapter, and hope you enjoyed this one, too! Thanks again!
RemiSparklez: Delving into both Elara and Obi-Wan's thoughts in the last chapter actually helped me a great deal in feeling out where they'll be for the next few chapters. Because I'd had a perceived idea, but now that I'm writing them, it's changed (and for the better). I also really want to get more Ahsoka stuff into this story, especially with Elara, I just find it a little harder to find moments/ideas for it. And soon enough, Obi-Wan and Elara are going to be working with one another under Ack-Ack's watchful eye… and it's gonna be great. I also really like Sleeping at Last's "Senses" album! There are a couple that I think I ended up putting on one of my playlists for this story, because the words and feel of them just fit so, so well. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
MalirBly: Thank you so much! And writing with the iPad has gotten better over this last week, I just had to adjust to it. Still some things I'm figuring out, but it's been smooth going! I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
Elizabeth: I'm so happy you enjoyed the balance of the tension and anticipation in the last chapter! That's the general mood for the next few chapters as they both figure out what they want to do with their relationship. Also, my work at all being compared to any aspect of Dickens or (especially) Sir ACD got my heart AAAAAALL a-flutter! I'm a massive literature nerd and an even bigger Sherlock Holmes nerd, so I did a wee squeal when I saw what you wrote; it made me immensely happy and left me very, very flattered! I want to keep dropping little bits about Quinlan/little appearances because I just… I just KNOW that Quinlan does not allow Elara or Obi-Wan to have a peaceful life. He's definitely a flirt, and he definitely flirts with her, much to Obi-Wan's chagrin. Also, I, too, lost it a bit when I realized he was in TPM! (And him finding Obi-Wan and Elara making out and never giving them live it down is absolutely something that would happen. Quinlan would do that. Absolutely) And we got Obi-Wan murmuring Elara's name in this chapter, just as she did in the last one… ugh, these two will be the death of me, I swear. And yes, I wholeheartedly agree with what you said about Obi-Wan knowing that Elara would never be cold to him; that his thinking was a way of self-punishment, because he thinks that he deserves that. But it manifests itself in an indirect way, which is partially why such thoughts left him more than a little confused. Elara's kindness, while much welcomed, also hurts him just a little bit. Also, I cannot thank you enough for mentioning all that stuff about kindness. It's both a big theme in this story, and very important to me in real life. A lot of things can be solved and avoided and gained through kindness. And figuring out how to wield that in a way that isn't selfish or detrimental to one's self is truly a journey; so I'm really glad that the role it's played in this story has managed to strike you so :) I really loved adding the bit about non-verbal communication between Ani and Obi; what with all their hand signals and sideways glances, it just felt like a lot of that scene would have happened through looks and glances. I do want to get an Ani POV soon, hopefully in the next chapter (or two) to get his perspective on all of this. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again for you absolutely lovely review!
EverMineEverThine: I'm so glad you've been enjoying the story! I've had a blast building Obi-Wan and Elara up to this point, where passion is just bubbling beneath the surface and waiting to boil over. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
WaywardandWanderlust: I, too, was more nervous for the Ani/Obi talk than the Obi/Lari one! But mostly for the fact I had no clue on how to properly write it all at the time. I figured it would either be low-key and tense (as it ended up being), or ballistic. Ballistic didn't feel right, so I went with disconcertingly calm and quiet xD I really want to get more Ahsoka and Elara stuff in this story, I just have to figure out where to fit it all/come up with ideas for stuff that would make sense in the context of the story. 'Cause I've got lots of, like, one-shot bits, but nothing that feels like it fits in the main story itself. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
camelotprincess1: Things are definitely going to be striking that 'almost on the tipping point' area in the Skywalker-Kenobi relationships. Like Anakin and him bickering almost to the point of arguing; and Elara and Obi-Wan having moments like the one in this chapter, where they get caught up in one another for a hot second. And Obi-Wan's recognizing how much their relationships have changed has definitely nudged him along the right path of reconsidering his stance with his and Elara's relationship. I love Quinlan for as little as we ever see of him; and I want to keep peppering in mentions of him/little appearances, because he's just so brash and absolutely delightful. It's been an age and a day since we've seen or heard from Ahsoka, so I was really happy when I remembered she was involved in this mission! The Disaster Lineage dynamic is just something that's… so, so good, and adding in Elara as being sort of the level-headed-but-ready-to-throw-hands one makes it so much fun to write. I hope you enjoyed the chapter; thanks again!
thenerdnextdoor: It's all good! I'm really happy that you were able to go see your family after so long! I couldn't imagine not being able to see my mom for that length of time, ugh, it would kill me. I'm glad you got to spend time with your family! :) I really love getting into the nitty gritty details of… everything. I think one of the reasons I love writing HCs on Tumblr is because I can do more of that. More of the really telling little things; live I've got a Modern!AU HC list about how they all drive a car, and I think it's telling that Anakin would speed 10+ miles over the speed limit, Obi-Wan would drive at the speed limit exactly, and Elara would go at or 5–10 over. I just love little things like that, they really tickle me xD I'm really happy that Elara and her kindness and compassion seem realistic! I often worry that it doesn't read that way. Because I've tried to ensure that, though she's genuinely kind and that's a big virtue, it's also a flaw. It's what gets her in trouble, it hurts her sometimes… but not enough to get her to stop being that way. As her mother told her, a simple act of kindness can help change the galaxy; and those are words that she lives by. And Ani definitely had his big-boy pants on when he spoke with Obi-Wan, which is telling for how much he's grown as a person! And his relationship with Obi-Wan definitely played a role in how he handled the situation, too. I also figured that if Obi-Wan is at ALL going to move forward, recognizing the collateral damage of what has happened needed to happen. It's not isolated between himself and Elara. It's got a bigger shockwave than he ever could have imagined. And you are absoLUTEly correct in Ahsoka being an unknowing buffer; she just keeps interrupting would-be arguments between Anakin and Obi-Wan (thank GOD). You are the FIRST person that I know who also watches Dimenson20, so this brings me IMMENSE joy! I love aCoC, but Fantasy High is my first love of theirs and it is so incredibly delightful. Gorgug just constantly asking people if they're his dad is the best running D&D gag I think I have EVER seen! If all this were canon, Ack-Ack would definitely be getting his own spin-off series. He and Contigo get up to enough that it would make for a GREAT series! I'm so glad that you're still enjoying the story so much; and, again, it's always lovely to speak with you! Thanks again, and I hope you're ready for Hondo!
And thank you to those that added this to their follows/favorites; it means a lot!
That's that for now! Up next is flirty space pirate Hondo, who's going to try and get a rise out of Elara… who might just happily enter a foray of words with him… also, jealous Obi, eye-rolling Anakin, and more pirate/bounty hunter goodness. Thank you all again! Y'all rock!
~Mary