Eleila woke up with a start. She could hardly believe what her subconscious had just thought up. It was a truly ridiculous scenario. Master Obi-Wan and herself? Never. They were Jedi, and Jedi don't fall in love. But somehow, that dream kiss . . . she hadn't really wanted it to end.
"You're being stupid," she told herself, "It was just a dream." She flung herself back onto her pillow, but she didn't fall asleep until much later, after coaxing her mind into a dreamless sleep. She didn't want to see Obi-Wan in her subconscious anymore.
~*~*~
Obi-Wan stirred in his sleep. It was the first night in months that he hadn't used a huge dosage of sleeping medication. Before his injury, it was the face of someone who he should not have been dreaming about, haunting him in his sleep. He dreamt of her, fighting alongside Anakin, and then, later, she and Anakin involved in a deeply passionate kiss. Anakin would turn to him and say, "You should not be watching, Master. These are private affairs." Then he would wake up. He remembered the girl's face vividly, as he saw it nearly every day. It was not Padme Amidala he saw at night. It was his sweet, young Eleila, who he would do anything to protect. He had wanted to chase away these dreams. So he immersed himself in medication. But now, after he had spent so long fending them off, they came back at full strength.
He was running through the woods, chasing some glowing figure in the distance. He knew he would never catch them, but he had to chase them anyway. He had to know who it was. Suddenly, the trees thinned out. His mystery figure was standing on the bank of a stream, in the middle of a clearing. It was a woman. A beautiful woman with flowing black hair in a lovely dress of pink satin. She turned, and her soft features seemed to dance with delight at the sight of him. He couldn't quite place her. Until he was close enough to see her deep blue eyes beckoning him to fall into their depths and remain forever. It was Eleila, his Pretty One, but as he had never seen her before. She stepped closer to him and took his hand. She smiled at him and asked, "Will you love me forever, Obi-Wan?"
He pulled back. He pretended to misunderstand. "Of course, Little One. You are as dear to me as a beloved daughter."
Eleila laughed. "That is not what I meant, and you know it," she said, her eyes beckoning him still further.
"We can't. We are forbidden." To his dismay, she leaned closer.
"But this is a dream," she whispered, inches away from his cheek. He tried not to look at her. "It's your dream," she continued, "Unless you tell, who will ever know?"
He gave into the urge to gaze into her eyes. They were deeper blue than he ever remembered. But dreams were like that, enhancing the things you remember the most. But that meant . . . No, he thought, I'm not thinking like that. Her lips were so close. He could swear he felt her breath. He tried to fight, but this kind of temptation was worse than even resisting the Dark Side. Why? he wondered, as he leaned in to kiss her. Because you didn't want to join the Dark Side, said a little voice in his head as their lips touched, but this . . . you want this. You want this very, very much.
~*~*~
Obi-Wan sat up with a start. Eleila shrank back further into the shadows she was hiding in. She had wanted to watch him sleep, to show herself that her dream was just that - just a dream. So far, it had been working. She had managed to convince herself, and was about to go back to bed. But the minute he woke up, so suddenly, everything she'd fought to convince herself was a dream, came flooding back into reality.
~*~*~
Obi-Wan ran his fingers through his hair, breathing deeply. It had been a dream, just a dream. That was all, you idiot, said a very sarcastic voice in the back of his head. Another, stronger one came to counter it. He recognized it as his own, speaking out loud.
"But it had been so real," he whispered, "And I didn't want it to end."
He was in trouble. It was bad enough that he was even having these feelings. But she was seventeen, and another Jedi. This was worse than even what Anakin had done.
But you haven't done anything, reminded the sensible voice that had spoken in his dream. It was, as you say, just a dream.
Suddenly, a movement near the door to his room caught his attention. He reached over to his bedside table and whipped on his lightsaber, with reflexes only a Jedi could have. Standing in the slightly green glow of his weapon was the last person he wanted to see in his bedroom that night.
"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan," said a slightly startled Eleila, "I didn't mean to give you a fright."
Obi-Wan turned off his lightsaber. The moonlight in the room cast a glow about her pale skin and contrasted with her dark hair. She's just so beautiful, thought Obi-Wan. He shook himself mentally. Not now, he thought, this is not the time.
"It's all right. What are you doing here?"
"I . . . well, I couldn't sleep," she said, "And I came to check on you."
"You're very thoughtful," he said. Why are you being so formal? he asked himself. Because you're nervous, he answered back. Great, now you're talking to yourself.
There was an awkward silence that passed. Eleila opened her mouth several times to say something, but no words ever came.
This is ridiculous, she thought. "I'll just be going back to bed, then," she said, more briskly than she meant to. Obi-Wan nodded.
"It is still late," he said.
"Well, good night," she said.
"Good night."
Eleila cursed herself as she left. Stupid teenager, she told herself, be the Jedi you are. Quit being a teenager. You never were before.
Obi-Wan cursed himself as he lay down to sleep. Don't be a moody mid-aged man, he told himself. She's seventeen. They have names for men that go after girls that young in this galaxy.
Whatever they were thinking of, it took a very long time for the both of them to go back to sleep.
