Into the Gloaming

Rating: T+
Summary: In the growing darkness Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn have to deal with a political assassination.
Disclaimer: All cannon characters are owned by the Great Flanneled One, and now Disney. All others are mine. I make no money off this.
Note: This is a sequel to The Winding Path

Timeline: 38 BBY

Speech: " "
Training Bond communications: /
Internal thoughts: italics

Chapter Seven

Even though Eira didn't have to be on Coruscant at this point in time, she still felt something was wrong. This time it was a heaver feeling. Looking out the windows of her rooms, while being just out of sight, she wondered if her current feelings were because of her sensitivity. Her room were above the walls, so she could actually look out and see what was happening in Artwe.

In the early morning sunlight she watched the people, eventually her people walk towards their different destinations. The building that was bombed last year had been torn down and replaced with another one. In front of it was a small park to remember the children that were killed during that tense time. Eira's hand strayed to her stomach area. She had yet to tell her father about the pregnancy. Not knowing what he would say bothered her more than anything else. And then the strained relationship they continued to have with Berland at least seemed to calm down, but she really wasn't sure if she should trust what everyone was telling her when her feelings were telling her otherwise. Obi-Wan had always stated that she should trust those feelings, especially when he found out that her abilities were just under the minimum to be trained as a Jedi.

Eira took a step away from the window and then turned and went back into her rooms. She missed him greatly, but she tried not to let it affect her duties. With a sigh, she left her rooms and delved back into the main building and her father's office. Recently he made a space for her in the offices along with an assistant to help her with the legwork on the things she was required to do.

Half way there she felt a twinge, but disregarded it. She had digestive issues before, so thought nothing of it. Turning a corner she staggered against the wall, trying to stay on her feet as she was hit with intense pain. It was nothing like she had ever felt before. Wrapping her arms around her midsection, she slid down to the floor as she felt warm fluid come out from between her legs.

She had no idea how long she was there until she felt hands on her shoulders and Megin's voice coming from behind her. "Are you all right?" the older woman asked.

"No," Eira's voice was just above a whisper as she shook her head. She let out a gasp, and then soft groan when she felt pain course through her again.

"Then lets get you back to your rooms." Megin helped her up, but looked down at the same time. Muttering under her breath, she pulled out her comm and thumbed a code, "Davido, I need you to come to Lady Eira's rooms."

There was a pause before he answered,"Did she get hurt?"

"Not exactly, but it is very important."

"I'll be there shortly."

Megin put the comm back in her pocket as she put an arm around Eira and helped her back to the chambers she had just left. Instead of heading into the bedroom, they went straight to the refresher where Megin pulled off most of Eira's clothes. The warm fluid was a bright shade of red. When Eira looked across to the mirror her eyes widened and she shook her head as she sat down on the commode. At that point she realized what she was having were contractions. The wrong feelings she was sensing was not because of who she was around, but that her body and the Force telling her that the child she carried wouldn't survive.

With the door to the refresher open, they both looked to the opening when they heard another door open, and then close. Footsteps approached then paused before continuing again, this time getting louder. Davido appeared with a frown on his face. "How long as this been going on?" he walked across the room and stopped when he approached the two.

Eira's eyes went down to the floor and the thin trail of blood from the door. Another contraction hit her and she could feel whatever it was, drain out of her in a slight pulling sensation. At that point the contractions eased up. Eira slid off the commode and sat on the tile floor, putting her face in her hands.

Davido looked over into the bowl then back to Eira. "Does your father know?"

"No," her voice muffled. She looked back up to him. "Please don't tell him."

"That he lost a grandchild?" Davido actually rolled his eyes.

"It's not that." Eira sniffed. She thought about turning around to see the commode but decided not to at the last moment. "I've been feeling off since before I came back. I didn't even know I was…pregnant…at the time. I had hoped it was because of what I saw, but apparently not."

"With such a low birthrate, it doesn't feel right me flushing. I'll take care of this, you just get some rest." Davido placed a hand on Eira's head and then helped with Megin to get her standing and cleaned up.

"Thank you," Eira frowned while sniffing again.

She rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. As she moved out of the refresher and into the bed chamber Davido called to her, "Do I know who the father is?"

Eira paused, her back straightened. She eventually looked down and to the side, "Yes."

Davido took several steps to catch up to her. "And does he know?"

"No."

"Oh good, there you are."

Obi-Wan looked around, not entirely sure if he was being addressed or not. There were Force sensitive individuals all around him who were reacting the same way. A female Twi'lek with a similar shade of blue to Master Numa worked her way across the area to stand in front of him. "I recognize you, I think." He gave her a grin.

"I would hope so Padawan." Her somewhat stern look melted away to show a kind one. "I was Master Numa's Padawan while you were in the creche."

"Then I do know you Master…."

"Aayen Wetu." She paused, "Because of your Creche duty for the foreseeable future, I spoke to Master Numa and we hoped that you would come along with the clan for an outing to the closest science museum for little ones. Don't worry, there will be at least one other Master for our little brood."

"Was I that obvious?"

Aayen placed a hand on his shoulder while giving him a wide smile, "Yes, you were. And you may not realize it now, but I believe being a Creche Master is one of the most important duties a knight or master will ever have. It's our duty to watch over and to train the next generation of Jedi. It's also a privilege."

"Even though you mentioned that I'm scheduled to work in the Creche, I do need to speak with Master Qui-Gon about this."

"Don't be too long." Aayen backed away.

With a nod, Obi-Wan watched as she left the area and headed back in the general direction of the creche. He knew he needed to speak with his master sooner rather than later, or the decision would be taken from him. After following her out of the room, he paused as he reached out to Qui-Gon. With a nod he went in the direction of the dojos, which wasn't all that surprising, especially for the time of day.

Reaching a set of double doors, he waited for them to open. Before him was one of the private rooms for lightsaber combat training. Qui-Gon was in the middle and working through one of the high level katas. Even with his much larger size, he was still graceful when it came to wielding a lightsaber.

At a pause he turned to look at Obi-Wan, "You're late, Padawan."

"Sorry Master," Obi-Wan shrugged off his cloak and moved towards the center of the room with his own lightsaber in hand. "I was waylaid by Master Wetu." He ignited it and moved to the opening position of one of the many Ataru katas.

"What did she want?" Qui-Gon folded his arms as he took a step back. "You're lightsaber…remember training mode."

Obi-Wan paused in the middle of one of the movements just long enough to switch it over. "More creche duties, this time to help escort one of the clans to the Hands on Coruscant Science Museum."

"How many chaperons?"

Obi-Wan waited until he was finished with several tricky movements, "I want to say at least four, including me." He paused, his eyes glimmered in amusement, "You can come too."

"I've had enough young ones to deal with…brat. So, I'll let you run after them. Plus you're younger than I am."

With the Kata finished, the two faced off in the middle of the room and began an Ataru Kata that involved two people.

TBC….

Sorry it's taken so long. I've been working overtime for the past few weeks, and that sucks any type of creativity out of you. I'm also working on editing my latest original. PM me if you're interested and I can wax eloquently all about it!

I do hope I can get a chapter out once a week, but don't really count on it. I've got one more scene/chapter completed after this. I suspect the story will end up being maybe 25K words at best.