The Hidden Truth

Chapter 13: twist and turns of fate

** Spaceship **

Qui-Gon couldn't calm down anymore. He knew, that his boy needed him, but he couldn't help him. That was too much for the Jedi-Master. Obi-Wan gave him a few scares in the past, but this one was the most terrifying by far. Jinn was sure, that he would die of a heart attack during this flight. Anakin sensed his Master's distraction and stormed from the cockpit to his mentor's side. He realised just with a single look into his master's face, why he was so upset. The wrinkles in his wise face seemed to have deepen during the short flight of three days. Obi-Wan had to be in serious trouble. The boy shook his head. His "brother" was a magnet for trouble. His eyes got a sad expression. He didn't want to lose him-not now. Anakin cared to the knight very much. They did a lot of things together, they went sparring, meditated together, and Obi-Wan was the one, who taught him swimming. Kenobi even showed him how to play nasty tricks on their Master. Suddenly his shoulders began to shake. Ani couldn't hold back his tears anymore. He buried his face in Qui-Gon's tunic. This wasn't fair! It didn't matter right now, that he was a crying 14-year-old Padawan, all he wanted was to have his older brother at his side. Qui-Gon laid his chin on his Apprentice's head and closed his arms around the trembling frame of Anakin and tried to calm the boy.

"Obi-Wan will make it, Ani. He is strong in the force. These rebels can't do anything to him without a hard fight. He even fought with you because of his socks, remember?", Qui-Gon asked with a smirk.

Yes, he did. Anakin maintained, that these socks belonged to him, but Obi-Wan claimed, that those clean and fresh socks belonged to him. A very tough struggle began. They pulled out all the stops. And it ended with Obi-Wan's dirty socks in Anakin's pillow. That was awful and Ani never had a single argument with Kenobi again, it was too dangerous. The teenager shuddered and stopped crying. There were only six days to go and he knew, that the Knight would survive these very long days. This wasn't a feeling, this was knowledge.

** forest**

"Det, look at me when I am talking to you! Where are you going? I want to have an answer, right now!", a shrill female voice spoke in a hushed voice to the young man.

" I am going with the Jedi and Kyah. I'm going to show them a secure hiding place. Where they can wait for help from the Republic or where the can form a new plan how to bet the king. How shall I know this, please leave me alone. I've already said too much!" Det wanted to yell, but didn't want to wake the whole camp.

"I only want to protect you from any harm, please stay and let them die alone. She deserves it anyway!"

"How can you say that? She is a good girl! She just dislikes our king and she has enough good reasons for it."

"If king Draju knew of all that!", Edi acted dramatically. " Please just tell me where I can find you, please, Det!", she said in a begging tone.

"I will propose to head for the ghost villages in the east. But don't tell a soul of it, do you understand?", he said in an alarming harsh voice. The brown-haired woman nodded and left her opposite alone. She would lose a dear person, if she didn't do anything. This with was going to bring disaster on Det. She had to stop it.

Morning had broken, so Obi-Wan shook the snoozing girl awake.

"Kyah, you've got to stand up, we have a long walk in front of us.", he said very quietly. A loud moan erupted from her mouth and with that she was awake. The tent opened and Det entered it. There he stood with his back covered with a gigantic rucksack. Obi-Wan eyed the man closely, but wasn't able to detect anything suspicious.

"Kyah come on! We have to leave!", Kenobi said again in an urgent tone.

"But I can't walk with my knee!", she snapped back.

"Yes you can, the healer said, that it was completely healed, bacta is such a wonderful thing! Now get your butt out of the sleeping bag and rise!", he commanded impatiently. He would become a great Master with this choice of words. How often had his Master said these words to him? He missed him very much, he missed Ani, too and maybe Jar-Jar, but just a little bit. He was feeling homesick, for the first time in his life. When his thoughts came back to reality a fully dressed and ready, but tired girl stood in front of him. They left immediately. Det proposed to the old villages in the east. These were little ghost towns and nobody set foot into them because the people thought, that these villages were haunted by the spirits of their ancestors. This idea sounded good, but Obi-Wan wasn't so sure about this young man. He seemed to be dubious. When they left, they didn't see the shadow, that hid behind a tree. Obi-Wan shook this feeling of. He had to trust the young man.

"What did you tell your sister, Det?", Kyah broke the silence.

"Oh, em, Edi? Em, nothing, why?"

"Just curious. Obi-Wan, you've got to know, that she can't stand me. She hates me for spending more time with her brother than she does." Kyah said with a wry smile on her lips.

"Oh Ky! You can't say that. She doesn't hate you! She just does not like you very much.", he defended is elder sister.

"Sure you can put it this way, but it is just a euphemism. By the way, Obi-Wan, my friends don't call me Kyah, they just call me Ky." She turned to look at the Jedi, who was lost in his thoughts.

"Oh, of course, Ky. So, tell me Det how long will this journey take?", he asked the younger man, whom he doubted to be sincere.

"Four, maybe five days. This is a large and thick forest. Some parts of it are even wild jungle, it will be a hard way to the villages. But what are we going to do there? I mean you are just one Jedi, you cannot fight the war alone.", Det tried to hide his curiousness, but he wasn't able to.

"We'll see. I tried to contact my Master yesterday evening over our training bond. It seemed to be a success, because I received an answer. He is on his way.", Obi-Wan told the two. He could speak about this matter, because if Det attempted to betray them, he could reach Qui-Gon again and warn him, but the strange feeling about him was getting more distant. The stench of betrayal only seemed to exist in the camp, but somehow this whole issue was linked to Det, he couldn't explain it. He would monitor Det, all their way. Their was more about him, than his eyes could tell. The nagging feeling remained in the back of his mind, never leaving him. He had to pay attention.

Tbc…