She drifted between sleep and consciousness feeling a pang in her. It
wasn't a regret nor a threat but more like the echo of a longing, a very
ancient calling finding its way within her mind at last. She couldn't tell
exactly, it was hers and alien at the same time. It mingled in a confused
way with the joy of smelling his scent on her skin, the giddy, hardly
believable reality of his warm body resting here by her side. She felt as
if her chest was expanding to welcome those new sensations.
She rolled over, automatically reaching for him. He was lying on his side, wide awake, following her every move with keen eyes. They both lay there for a minute, observing each other without saying a word. A slow smile crept on their lips.
"Don't you ever sleep?" she whispered, following the harsh curve of his cheekbone with the pulp of her fingers.
"Not much," he answered.
She reached for the blanket but his hand prevented her from doing so. His ran his palm down her side and softly curved the back of his hand to trace the cradle of her hip.
"Don't worry about that." He nimbly pushed her hair from her eyes, smoothing them idly. "Go back to sleep, it's not the morning yet. I'll watch over you."
Noor yielded and settled against his warmth, leaning her forehead against his as he draped strong arms around her. There would be time to think about it later.
-- A few hours later.--
The sun wasn't up yet; a strong breeze was rippling the sea. The waves were tinged with the same steely shade than the clouded sky. Minevan was right, the rain was near. Unconcerned, they both savored the freshness of the morning, making their way up to the tomb.
Lukas was nowhere in sight.
Kenobi was slightly nervous under his cool exterior. " Revealing the purpose of our mission here to reassure him was one thing but trusting him to keep the tomb is another."
"We didn't have any other option. He would have called the Foundation right away if we hadn't let him have it his way. Somehow, I'm not sure we want to explain to a committee of aging scholars that we are Jedi knights coming from a planet called Coruscant to prevent a intergalactic genocide."
He shrugged and shook his head, still not fully convinced.
"Let's go inside to inspect the room, I don't think he will say anything if we just have a look until he comes," offered Noor.
Two hours later, the Jedi were sitting on the floor of the small hidden room, Noor retranscribing the inscriptions to translate them while Kenobi made a copy of the paintings and various elements of decoration. Sometimes she would stop her fastidious work just to watch him immersed in his contemplation, his hand quickly sketching the mural and his sharp eyes going back and forth between the sheet of paper and the wall. What reverence he put in the outline of the painted knight--
After a few minutes of companionable silence, Noor declared: " this is quite strange, the inscriptions here are the same than in the tomb only put in a different order. The different sequences are mixed up."
"Does the text make sense? Does it give any indication?" asked Kenobi, peering her notes from over her shoulder.
"Yes, it makes sense, it seems to tell a story, but it's not the Prince's one." She stood up to fumble in her pocket and sighed. "I forgot my father's journal back in the tent, it must have dropped at some point." Obi- Wan smiled lightly to that and took the notepad she was handing to him.
" See if you can make head or tail of my translation. I'll be right back." With that she was out of the room.
On the way back to the cliffs, a lightening split the clouds and a loud rumble echoed from afar. A few drops started to fall and suddenly it was as if the sky had been torn, pouring huge amounts of water. Blinded and already soaked after a few seconds, Noor ran to the closest tree, a venerable fig tree with a thick foliage. She stood there a moment, inhaling the fresh scent rising from the earth and the sweet smell of the ripe figs above her head. She made out a silhouette through the screen of the rain and waved at Yentl. The young woman rushed towards the shelter, and grinned at Noor, brushing her dripping black hair back.
"I haven't seen that in a long time!" exclaimed the expert diver from the university of Haifa in a slightly accented English. The two women chatted for a while, waiting for the storm to abate.
The wind changed of direction and brought a strange smell mingled with the rain's one. It was subtle, slightly sweet and metallic. It was somewhat familiar, but Noor couldn't remember exactly what it was. A bead of moisture landed on her forehead.
"Damn! The rain is piercing through the leaves!" she groaned. Another thick drop crashed on the arm, making her mechanically look up in the foliage, vaguely annoyed.
Yentl, realizing that her companion had fallen silent, turned towards her. She started to inquire about her researches when she spotted a dark stain spreading on the other archeologist's sleeve.
"Noor," she said, her voice suddenly nervous. "Are you hurt?"
The young woman lowered her head to face Yentl, pale as death itself, her eyes widened in shock as a bead of blood trailed down on her forehead.
"It's not mine," she breathed.
The two women hesitantly looked up and saw William Lukas' contorted face, his dead gaze staring back at them from a few bows above. Thick dark blood was leaking slowly from the soaked cloth wrapped around his neck and was falling drop by drop on the floor. Another sticky droplet landed between the petrified women. Noor snapped out of her horrified stupor, she gripped Yentl's trembling arm, tugging her toward the meal shelter, where she left her to explain what happened to the others and darted towards the tomb under the pouring rain.
Kenobi was already waiting for her at the entrance, concern creasing his brow. "I sensed pain through the link, what happened? What's that blood? Are you injured?" He managed to keep his voice more or less even, seeing her panicked expression.
"No. Not me." She wiped nervously the blood trickling on her forehead. " William. They killed him, he was dead, in the fig tree---his blood falling on us," she stammered hurriedly, sorrow thickening her voice.
He framed her face with his hands, trying to appease her but she pushed him away forcefully, tears of rage filling her eyes.
"This went too far! First Gabrielle, now William! And maybe this whole plan mess explains why my father and my brother suddenly killed themselves in a helicopter crash in the desert? How many more will have to die when we are supposed to protect them?"
"A lot more if we don't stop this now. We do this for a greater good Noor, whatever it costs."
" Were you so rational when you held your dying Master? Were you so certain about the rightness of it all when that blade slashed him and took his life away?"
Kenobi's eyes widened slightly under the impact of her words but he clenched his jaw and countered: "What are we supposed to do Noor? Stop the mission now and let them get the plans? They would have died for nothing."
He drew a long calming breath. It would be over soon. "I found them, Noor."
She blinked, trying to pull herself together. "What?" she croaked. "You found them like that? In the matter of half an hour?"
He nodded. " Thanks to your translation. The fresco in the small room is an old code used by the Order to communicate information in times of war. It's very complex and few Jedi can actually grasp it since it's not used anymore."
"How do you know about it then?" she inquired.
"My Master and his wayward lessons about all the hidden aspects of diplomacy. It drove the Council positively insane." He smirked absently.
"Where are they?" she asked anxiously.
"All around us actually," he replied with a sweeping gesture toward the series of antechambers. "The secret room was the last key, not the place where the plans were hidden. The solution was right under our nose."
"The paintings," she breathed, surveying the coded murals around her. " You don't mean to destroy everything, do you?"
"No other choice, dearest, no other choice," he said, taking a moment to tuck her hair behind her ear in his usual discreet way to show his affection before walking toward the exit.
~*~
The team of searchers were already in London, preparing the opening speech of the exhibition and what McGrath had thought to be a routine call from his sister-in-law turned out to be really concerning.
"Do they know who did that?" he asked. He meant to remain calm and not to let his anxiety show. But Noor sensed his deep sadness for his colleague and his worry for his family.
"No, the Police have been nosing around since this morning without results yet. Can you tell Dr Minevan what happened? I don't have time to give him a call. We're really busy here."
"Minevan?" Garrett repeated hesitantly.
"Well yes, you know, the lanky chap with a Roman king's first name who has been working with you for the past 6 months. He is now with you in London to report to the Committee, you haven't forgotten yet, have you?" she asked with a slight smile.
"What are you talking about? Sir Tarkin isn't here. Lukas was the one supposed to report before joining us to the British Museum."
Noor frowned. She saw him leave for the airport with the other archeologists when Kenobi and her were on their way to meet William.
"He told us he was coming with you, Garrett. What was he doing in your Jeep this morning if he wasn't going to London?"
"We just gave him a lift to Tel-Aviv to collect the analysis of the mineral samplings, he will be back tonight."
Noor made a quick reckoning and shut her eyes. According to the police, William had been killed a few hours before dawn. Just before the team left. The tomb was under his care. Minevan had let them lead him to the plans and then he got rid of Lukas before he could warn anybody. Where have they been during this time? She let go of the phone and dropped her head as a sob escaped her.
"Noor? Noor! Are you alright?"
"He didn't plan on coming back: his tent is empty," she answered slowly, rubbing her eyes. "The great lord Tarkin really had us there. He was after the plans too, hence his sudden affectation here, his ability to shield his mind from us and William's death."
Garrett went mute with shock.
" We didn't see anything," she concluded hoarsely.
" How could we? He was appointed by the Committee and his conduct was above suspicion until last night. Don't beat yourself over his death, lassie, you couldn't risk having the Foundation and the rest of the team here learning this," he affirmed.
" No, we couldn't," she murmured. "Kenobi found the plans early this morning."
Garrett paused for a moment. " It means that you are leaving for good this time, doesn't it?"
She drew a big breath, " I don't know yet, Garrett. A shuttle will bring us back to Coruscant tonight. You must know that destroying the plans implies destroying the tomb too."
"Do it, there's not time left," Garrett stated urgently.
~*~
In the middle of the night, two shadows wrapped in large brown cloaks, slipped noiselessly out of the camp and crept to the tomb for the last time. They unpacked their equipment without exchanging a word, they both knew exactly what they had to do. Noor went to place the explosives in each room with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She surveyed the paintings she had known all her life, reverently brushing her fingers over them before returning to the generator on which Kenobi was busy fixing the detonator. The explosion would pass for the result of a failure of the electric system without leaving any trace. He made the last adjustments, checked the installation and herded her quickly outside.
A deep tremor and a blazing flash of light blew away the precious excavation and the Alrahans' binding to Earth in a big tumbling of rocks. From the distance, Noor watched the entrance collapse, lifting a thick cloud of dust. An unusual silence fell then, not a murmur troubling the night, not a rustle of the wind playing in the trees' foliage, even the ever going sound of the waves nearby seemed hushed.
She turned towards him. "What will the Jedi have me do with my life now?"
"After going back to report to the Council, I guess that you could resume your duty in the Army or become a master and teach the ways of the Force to a padawan."
She winced. " You'll definitely have to come up with something more appealing than that if you what to talk me into going back in that huge, overcrowded, polluted urban hell that's Coruscant. Besides I already teach here, what would be the difference?"
His eyes shifted briefly to the ground, settling back on her somewhat hesitantly.
"Me-"
A mute question was suspended behind his word as he stood there, suddenly unsure.
This couldn't be the same Obi-Wan Kenobi she knew, she thought amused but moved deep down.
"Is that appealing enough?" he asked with a touch of smug irony, snatching away the humble side she had just discovered before she could even savor it.
She lifted an eyebrow, smiling wryly. " Let me see, I would give up my promising career and my family for an impossible smart ass who pretends I have no effect on him whatsoever just for the pervert pleasure to drive me insane. That's hardly convincing."
He shrugged, "You're free to go."
She rolled her eyes at his matter-of-fact way to dodge a battle of wits.
He tugged on the oversized sleeve of her Jedi cloak, bringing her to him. " But then will I have to come after you. As you wisely noted, I'm quite stubborn," he finished quietly, giving her his patented wolfish grin. Something in his eyes left no doubt on the matter.
Obi-Wan wasn't overly demonstrative. Nor was she. There was no need, she knew for sure what lay tacitly beneath the cover of sarcasm and the stern Jedi composure now. It was all she needed.
"I think I'll take that chance with you."
~*~
--Two days later.--
As soon as the shuttle had landed on Coruscant, the two knights had been summoned in the Council's circular chamber. The Twelve had congratulated them and listened gravely when Master Kenobi expressed his deep concern about Tarkin Minevan.
"Given the size of the mural, he can't have duplicated the whole formula. The information he gathered isn't accurate which give us time before they break the code and have a chance to build anything."
Noor remained silent all through the audience. The mission was far from being over but it didn't have any importance anymore. Her part ended there and she didn't want to hear from the plans or Minevan ever again.
Before they walked past the huge wooden doors, Master Yoda stopped her. "Know about your loss, we do. Our sympathy and care, you have."
" We managed to bring the body of knight Baron back to the Temple. She received the funerals she disserved, the Order is still mourning her," added Master Gallia.
Not knowing what to do or how to react, Noor just crossed her arms on her chest and bowed deeply to the Council before exiting.
Obi-Wan walked her wordlessly to her quarters, looking down on the floor, lost in thoughts. The expression on his face was very grave when they stopped in front of the door. "We have some matter to sort out."
Noor groaned and smiled, "For the next ten hours or so I'm dead to the world. The only two words my brain recognizes now are shower and sleep. Can we talk about it later?"
"Are you going to leave me without answers for the next 10 hours or so?!" he said as his face fell.
She immediately threw her arms around his neck, urging his forehead to rest against hers as she drew him near.
"Listen to me, Obi-Wan," she whispered.
Then she poured everything she felt for him from deep within into their link. The impatience, the longing, the tenderness, the ache. He closed his eyes as the rush of emotions ran through him. He knew now how she felt touching his skin, how she would always give in to one of his smiles and how it bothered her to no end, how she had come to adore anything that was him.
"No matter what happens, promise me that you'll keep listening to that. It's the only truth about us. Do you promise?"
He nodded slowly, his eyes sinking into hers. Then he took a few steps back and gave her a small hopeful smile.
"I'll come for you in a few hours," he said.
She watched him go and keyed in her room's entry code. She made her way through the narrow hallway and stopped cold. Master Windu immediately stood up from the chair in front of her desk to greet her.
"Noor, I wanted to congratulate you in person--" he began. His dark gaze expressed pride and affection and--something sadder.
His sentence remained unfinished. They both lowered their eyes to the floor.
The door closed behind them with a quiet hiss.
*****
She rolled over, automatically reaching for him. He was lying on his side, wide awake, following her every move with keen eyes. They both lay there for a minute, observing each other without saying a word. A slow smile crept on their lips.
"Don't you ever sleep?" she whispered, following the harsh curve of his cheekbone with the pulp of her fingers.
"Not much," he answered.
She reached for the blanket but his hand prevented her from doing so. His ran his palm down her side and softly curved the back of his hand to trace the cradle of her hip.
"Don't worry about that." He nimbly pushed her hair from her eyes, smoothing them idly. "Go back to sleep, it's not the morning yet. I'll watch over you."
Noor yielded and settled against his warmth, leaning her forehead against his as he draped strong arms around her. There would be time to think about it later.
-- A few hours later.--
The sun wasn't up yet; a strong breeze was rippling the sea. The waves were tinged with the same steely shade than the clouded sky. Minevan was right, the rain was near. Unconcerned, they both savored the freshness of the morning, making their way up to the tomb.
Lukas was nowhere in sight.
Kenobi was slightly nervous under his cool exterior. " Revealing the purpose of our mission here to reassure him was one thing but trusting him to keep the tomb is another."
"We didn't have any other option. He would have called the Foundation right away if we hadn't let him have it his way. Somehow, I'm not sure we want to explain to a committee of aging scholars that we are Jedi knights coming from a planet called Coruscant to prevent a intergalactic genocide."
He shrugged and shook his head, still not fully convinced.
"Let's go inside to inspect the room, I don't think he will say anything if we just have a look until he comes," offered Noor.
Two hours later, the Jedi were sitting on the floor of the small hidden room, Noor retranscribing the inscriptions to translate them while Kenobi made a copy of the paintings and various elements of decoration. Sometimes she would stop her fastidious work just to watch him immersed in his contemplation, his hand quickly sketching the mural and his sharp eyes going back and forth between the sheet of paper and the wall. What reverence he put in the outline of the painted knight--
After a few minutes of companionable silence, Noor declared: " this is quite strange, the inscriptions here are the same than in the tomb only put in a different order. The different sequences are mixed up."
"Does the text make sense? Does it give any indication?" asked Kenobi, peering her notes from over her shoulder.
"Yes, it makes sense, it seems to tell a story, but it's not the Prince's one." She stood up to fumble in her pocket and sighed. "I forgot my father's journal back in the tent, it must have dropped at some point." Obi- Wan smiled lightly to that and took the notepad she was handing to him.
" See if you can make head or tail of my translation. I'll be right back." With that she was out of the room.
On the way back to the cliffs, a lightening split the clouds and a loud rumble echoed from afar. A few drops started to fall and suddenly it was as if the sky had been torn, pouring huge amounts of water. Blinded and already soaked after a few seconds, Noor ran to the closest tree, a venerable fig tree with a thick foliage. She stood there a moment, inhaling the fresh scent rising from the earth and the sweet smell of the ripe figs above her head. She made out a silhouette through the screen of the rain and waved at Yentl. The young woman rushed towards the shelter, and grinned at Noor, brushing her dripping black hair back.
"I haven't seen that in a long time!" exclaimed the expert diver from the university of Haifa in a slightly accented English. The two women chatted for a while, waiting for the storm to abate.
The wind changed of direction and brought a strange smell mingled with the rain's one. It was subtle, slightly sweet and metallic. It was somewhat familiar, but Noor couldn't remember exactly what it was. A bead of moisture landed on her forehead.
"Damn! The rain is piercing through the leaves!" she groaned. Another thick drop crashed on the arm, making her mechanically look up in the foliage, vaguely annoyed.
Yentl, realizing that her companion had fallen silent, turned towards her. She started to inquire about her researches when she spotted a dark stain spreading on the other archeologist's sleeve.
"Noor," she said, her voice suddenly nervous. "Are you hurt?"
The young woman lowered her head to face Yentl, pale as death itself, her eyes widened in shock as a bead of blood trailed down on her forehead.
"It's not mine," she breathed.
The two women hesitantly looked up and saw William Lukas' contorted face, his dead gaze staring back at them from a few bows above. Thick dark blood was leaking slowly from the soaked cloth wrapped around his neck and was falling drop by drop on the floor. Another sticky droplet landed between the petrified women. Noor snapped out of her horrified stupor, she gripped Yentl's trembling arm, tugging her toward the meal shelter, where she left her to explain what happened to the others and darted towards the tomb under the pouring rain.
Kenobi was already waiting for her at the entrance, concern creasing his brow. "I sensed pain through the link, what happened? What's that blood? Are you injured?" He managed to keep his voice more or less even, seeing her panicked expression.
"No. Not me." She wiped nervously the blood trickling on her forehead. " William. They killed him, he was dead, in the fig tree---his blood falling on us," she stammered hurriedly, sorrow thickening her voice.
He framed her face with his hands, trying to appease her but she pushed him away forcefully, tears of rage filling her eyes.
"This went too far! First Gabrielle, now William! And maybe this whole plan mess explains why my father and my brother suddenly killed themselves in a helicopter crash in the desert? How many more will have to die when we are supposed to protect them?"
"A lot more if we don't stop this now. We do this for a greater good Noor, whatever it costs."
" Were you so rational when you held your dying Master? Were you so certain about the rightness of it all when that blade slashed him and took his life away?"
Kenobi's eyes widened slightly under the impact of her words but he clenched his jaw and countered: "What are we supposed to do Noor? Stop the mission now and let them get the plans? They would have died for nothing."
He drew a long calming breath. It would be over soon. "I found them, Noor."
She blinked, trying to pull herself together. "What?" she croaked. "You found them like that? In the matter of half an hour?"
He nodded. " Thanks to your translation. The fresco in the small room is an old code used by the Order to communicate information in times of war. It's very complex and few Jedi can actually grasp it since it's not used anymore."
"How do you know about it then?" she inquired.
"My Master and his wayward lessons about all the hidden aspects of diplomacy. It drove the Council positively insane." He smirked absently.
"Where are they?" she asked anxiously.
"All around us actually," he replied with a sweeping gesture toward the series of antechambers. "The secret room was the last key, not the place where the plans were hidden. The solution was right under our nose."
"The paintings," she breathed, surveying the coded murals around her. " You don't mean to destroy everything, do you?"
"No other choice, dearest, no other choice," he said, taking a moment to tuck her hair behind her ear in his usual discreet way to show his affection before walking toward the exit.
~*~
The team of searchers were already in London, preparing the opening speech of the exhibition and what McGrath had thought to be a routine call from his sister-in-law turned out to be really concerning.
"Do they know who did that?" he asked. He meant to remain calm and not to let his anxiety show. But Noor sensed his deep sadness for his colleague and his worry for his family.
"No, the Police have been nosing around since this morning without results yet. Can you tell Dr Minevan what happened? I don't have time to give him a call. We're really busy here."
"Minevan?" Garrett repeated hesitantly.
"Well yes, you know, the lanky chap with a Roman king's first name who has been working with you for the past 6 months. He is now with you in London to report to the Committee, you haven't forgotten yet, have you?" she asked with a slight smile.
"What are you talking about? Sir Tarkin isn't here. Lukas was the one supposed to report before joining us to the British Museum."
Noor frowned. She saw him leave for the airport with the other archeologists when Kenobi and her were on their way to meet William.
"He told us he was coming with you, Garrett. What was he doing in your Jeep this morning if he wasn't going to London?"
"We just gave him a lift to Tel-Aviv to collect the analysis of the mineral samplings, he will be back tonight."
Noor made a quick reckoning and shut her eyes. According to the police, William had been killed a few hours before dawn. Just before the team left. The tomb was under his care. Minevan had let them lead him to the plans and then he got rid of Lukas before he could warn anybody. Where have they been during this time? She let go of the phone and dropped her head as a sob escaped her.
"Noor? Noor! Are you alright?"
"He didn't plan on coming back: his tent is empty," she answered slowly, rubbing her eyes. "The great lord Tarkin really had us there. He was after the plans too, hence his sudden affectation here, his ability to shield his mind from us and William's death."
Garrett went mute with shock.
" We didn't see anything," she concluded hoarsely.
" How could we? He was appointed by the Committee and his conduct was above suspicion until last night. Don't beat yourself over his death, lassie, you couldn't risk having the Foundation and the rest of the team here learning this," he affirmed.
" No, we couldn't," she murmured. "Kenobi found the plans early this morning."
Garrett paused for a moment. " It means that you are leaving for good this time, doesn't it?"
She drew a big breath, " I don't know yet, Garrett. A shuttle will bring us back to Coruscant tonight. You must know that destroying the plans implies destroying the tomb too."
"Do it, there's not time left," Garrett stated urgently.
~*~
In the middle of the night, two shadows wrapped in large brown cloaks, slipped noiselessly out of the camp and crept to the tomb for the last time. They unpacked their equipment without exchanging a word, they both knew exactly what they had to do. Noor went to place the explosives in each room with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She surveyed the paintings she had known all her life, reverently brushing her fingers over them before returning to the generator on which Kenobi was busy fixing the detonator. The explosion would pass for the result of a failure of the electric system without leaving any trace. He made the last adjustments, checked the installation and herded her quickly outside.
A deep tremor and a blazing flash of light blew away the precious excavation and the Alrahans' binding to Earth in a big tumbling of rocks. From the distance, Noor watched the entrance collapse, lifting a thick cloud of dust. An unusual silence fell then, not a murmur troubling the night, not a rustle of the wind playing in the trees' foliage, even the ever going sound of the waves nearby seemed hushed.
She turned towards him. "What will the Jedi have me do with my life now?"
"After going back to report to the Council, I guess that you could resume your duty in the Army or become a master and teach the ways of the Force to a padawan."
She winced. " You'll definitely have to come up with something more appealing than that if you what to talk me into going back in that huge, overcrowded, polluted urban hell that's Coruscant. Besides I already teach here, what would be the difference?"
His eyes shifted briefly to the ground, settling back on her somewhat hesitantly.
"Me-"
A mute question was suspended behind his word as he stood there, suddenly unsure.
This couldn't be the same Obi-Wan Kenobi she knew, she thought amused but moved deep down.
"Is that appealing enough?" he asked with a touch of smug irony, snatching away the humble side she had just discovered before she could even savor it.
She lifted an eyebrow, smiling wryly. " Let me see, I would give up my promising career and my family for an impossible smart ass who pretends I have no effect on him whatsoever just for the pervert pleasure to drive me insane. That's hardly convincing."
He shrugged, "You're free to go."
She rolled her eyes at his matter-of-fact way to dodge a battle of wits.
He tugged on the oversized sleeve of her Jedi cloak, bringing her to him. " But then will I have to come after you. As you wisely noted, I'm quite stubborn," he finished quietly, giving her his patented wolfish grin. Something in his eyes left no doubt on the matter.
Obi-Wan wasn't overly demonstrative. Nor was she. There was no need, she knew for sure what lay tacitly beneath the cover of sarcasm and the stern Jedi composure now. It was all she needed.
"I think I'll take that chance with you."
~*~
--Two days later.--
As soon as the shuttle had landed on Coruscant, the two knights had been summoned in the Council's circular chamber. The Twelve had congratulated them and listened gravely when Master Kenobi expressed his deep concern about Tarkin Minevan.
"Given the size of the mural, he can't have duplicated the whole formula. The information he gathered isn't accurate which give us time before they break the code and have a chance to build anything."
Noor remained silent all through the audience. The mission was far from being over but it didn't have any importance anymore. Her part ended there and she didn't want to hear from the plans or Minevan ever again.
Before they walked past the huge wooden doors, Master Yoda stopped her. "Know about your loss, we do. Our sympathy and care, you have."
" We managed to bring the body of knight Baron back to the Temple. She received the funerals she disserved, the Order is still mourning her," added Master Gallia.
Not knowing what to do or how to react, Noor just crossed her arms on her chest and bowed deeply to the Council before exiting.
Obi-Wan walked her wordlessly to her quarters, looking down on the floor, lost in thoughts. The expression on his face was very grave when they stopped in front of the door. "We have some matter to sort out."
Noor groaned and smiled, "For the next ten hours or so I'm dead to the world. The only two words my brain recognizes now are shower and sleep. Can we talk about it later?"
"Are you going to leave me without answers for the next 10 hours or so?!" he said as his face fell.
She immediately threw her arms around his neck, urging his forehead to rest against hers as she drew him near.
"Listen to me, Obi-Wan," she whispered.
Then she poured everything she felt for him from deep within into their link. The impatience, the longing, the tenderness, the ache. He closed his eyes as the rush of emotions ran through him. He knew now how she felt touching his skin, how she would always give in to one of his smiles and how it bothered her to no end, how she had come to adore anything that was him.
"No matter what happens, promise me that you'll keep listening to that. It's the only truth about us. Do you promise?"
He nodded slowly, his eyes sinking into hers. Then he took a few steps back and gave her a small hopeful smile.
"I'll come for you in a few hours," he said.
She watched him go and keyed in her room's entry code. She made her way through the narrow hallway and stopped cold. Master Windu immediately stood up from the chair in front of her desk to greet her.
"Noor, I wanted to congratulate you in person--" he began. His dark gaze expressed pride and affection and--something sadder.
His sentence remained unfinished. They both lowered their eyes to the floor.
The door closed behind them with a quiet hiss.
*****