Snowhere to Go: Chapter Twelve

In the short while it had taken for Obi-Wan and me to make our way through the palace, out a side door next to the kitchens, and into the beautiful city, a calm had passed over me. Perhaps I had given up on the idea of Obi-Wan falling in love with me, or maybe I had finally decided our current relationship was more important to me than risking asking for more. Whatever my heart had decided, the only worry in my head right now was about the Separatists. I needed to focus on my influence as a politician and not finding a husband.

Our conversation flowed freely as it used to and we walked for what seemed like hours. At one point, Obi-Wan's comm rang. It was Anakin informing him that Mon Mothma had safely made it out of Chandrilla space and was due to arrive in Aldara in exactly one hour. That was good news and improved my mood all the more.

I joked with Obi-Wan about the pitfalls of trying to raise a teenage boy and he shared some humorous stories with me. He claimed as padawan himself, he wasn't nearly as much as a handful. Anni was special, but apparently, he was also stubborn. Dormé and he were a good match, and I could see them spending their lives together. I could also see the possibility of them killing each other. It could go either way.

But not Obi-Wan and I. We would be happy. Our lives together would be perfect.

Where had that idea come from?

"Are you all right?"

"Yes," I confirmed immediately. I wasn't about to let a random thought ruin our time together. "It's lovely here, isn't it?"

"Actually, I think we ought to be heading back," Obi-Wan suggested. "The sun will be setting soon and the temperature is dropping."

"You're probably right," I confirmed. "The breeze coming off this mountain is as cold as ice."

"Probably because it's covered in it. Snow too, for that matter."

I turned to glare playfully at him and noted he had that telltale sparkle in his eye. He loved toying with me. I usually played along, but at the moment, my heart was yearning for other things. To press my lips against his, for one.

Stop, my mind demanded. I wasn't going to force this! Remember?

"Where are we?" During our stroll and lengthy discussion, I had lost all sense of time and direction. I turned to see the points of the palace spires as well as some of the buildings of the city behind us, but we had traveled a fair distance.

"I believe this to be Appenza Peak."

I craned my neck to look toward the top of the mountain. The climb up didn't seem all that dangerous. Perhaps another time, Obi-Wan could accompany me up there, so I could see Alderaan in all its splendor.

"It was discovered by religious pilgrims before the Sith Wars and is rumored to have certain Force-sensitive properties."

I smiled at Obi-Wan, although he was staring up at the mountain as well. The longer I looked, the more my breathing slowed. He was security, my calm center in the midst of a storm. I desperately needed in him my life. Could I honestly be satisfied with just being friends with him? I wasn't sure.

Almost as if my heart cried out to him, Obi-Wan turned to face me and slowly reached for my face. And just when my heart rate had finally slowed down, it sped up again. Was he about to caress my cheek? If so, I would certainly melt into a puddle right at his feet.

"You have a stick in your hair," he stated instead, plucking the leafy piece of wood out and tossing it to the ground.

"Thanks," I stammered, though I was hardly able to speak.

The awkwardness had returned and I despised it. I opened my mouth to say something – anything - but was quickly hushed.

"Sh! Do you hear that?"

I figured Jedi had enhanced senses, but once I'd focused, I did actually hear something. It sounded like a groan and was coming from high above our heads.

Before I realized what was happening, Obi-Wan had grabbed my hand and was screaming for me to move. We raced toward the granite wall of the mountainside just as I noticed a tidal wave of snow and ice hurtling downward toward us. If I'd been alone, I would've run in the opposite direction, but I finally saw where Obi-Wan was headed. There was a dark shadow on the side of the rock ahead that could be a cave. It might be safe, but if the avalanche was as devastating as it sounded, we'd be trapped!

"Shouldn't we be….?

The question I had tried to scream out was swallowed up in a powdery white cascade. The impact had pried our hands apart as well as tumbled me backward away from Obi-Wan.

Panic gripped me as I fought against the tide, only to lose the battle and succumb to the frozen shroud wrapping itself tightly about me.

A/N: The prompt/challenge word for this story was "avalanche". And here we finally are.