Thanks everyone for your wonderful replies. Yes, I do seem to be on a roll, though I doubt I'll be able to keep up this daily posting for long, but we'll see what happens. :)

In Love and War - Part Seven

----------------

"Be still will ya!"

Zaka shook his head as Auna adjusted the ivory-colored tunic about his broad, furry chest. "Maybe Zaka should not go to ground-laying of Je-di's little flower and Nara's mate."

Auna stopped her adjustment of the tunic, which one of the servants had made for Zaka to wear to the funeral, and sharply eyed him.

"How many times I gotta tell ya, her name is Onara, not Nara."

Zaka only blinked his long black eyes at her. The Whiphid had started calling Onara by her name once she had awaken, though he still continued to call Obi-Wan the Je-di. But, for some incomprehensible reason known only to his Whiphid brain, he addressed Onara as Nara. She didn't seem to mind, but it drove Auna crazy.

"And yar going to the funeral. Obi-Wan asked us to go and we're going."

"But Zaka not know Je-di's little flower or Nara's mate. Would not be...pro- per for Zaka to go."

"Yar Obi-Wan's friend aren't ya?"

Zaka nodded.

"And ya likes Nara, I mean, Onara, don't ya?"

"Zaka like Nara very much."

"Well," Auna said as she finished adjusting the tunic and making sure the trousers Zaka wore fit properly, "that's good enough of a reason."

"Zaka still not see why he have to wear all these skins." He looked dolefully down at the white tunic and pants that now covered him.

"Because it wouldn't be _pro-per_ for ya to go to the funeral wearing only a loin cloth. Once it's over ya can go back to walking around half-naked."

Zaka sighed, but nodded. Once Auna was satisfied, she went over to the mirror. She and Zaka were in her room, which was located on the first floor of the manor, adjacent to his. Both the rooms were quite large and, like the rest of the manor, beautifully decorated. The Ahjanese seemed to have a great love for beautiful things.

The mirror Auna looked at herself in was made of silver, inlaid with small, precious jewels. She had estimated she could probably get about 10,000 credits for it, more if she didn't go through a fence. She shook her head as she stared at herself. She'd sooner cut off one of her four arms than rob Onara.

Like everyone else attending the funeral, Auna wore white, but, instead of the form-fitting jumpsuits or tunic and pants she usually wore, Onara had given her a gown to wear. It had taken some doing by the manor's seamstress to adjust it to fit her four arms.

But even Auna, who usually didn't care about such things, was amazed at how she looked in it. She'd never worn a dress before. It was made of some kind of soft, shimmering material that felt like raindrops on her skin. It was calf-length and showed off the white sandals she wore. Her dark hair, which she usually wore down, was pinned up and there were sprigs of a white flower called _lera_ in it. Onara had told her it was the traditional flower of mourning on Ahjane.

"Are you ready, Auna?"

Auna jumped and turned around. Obi-Wan was standing in the doorway. She blushed when she thought of him having seen her staring at herself in the mirror like some conceited knothead. He too wore white and Auna couldn't help noticing how handsome he looked. Especially since he was still clean- shaven. He looked much better without the beard, she had decided. His red- gold hair, with its distinct streaks of white at the temple, was still long however, curling softly about the collar of the ivory shirt he wore.

"Yeah, we're ready, Master Kenobi."

He walked over and took her hand. "You look lovely, Auna."

"Really? Ya think so?" she asked, now blushing furiously.

Obi-Wan nodded as he smiled at her. Auna's primary and secondary hearts thumped in her chest at that smile and the way his blue-gray eyes gazed into hers. She suddenly felt warm and quickly drew her hand away from his.

"Ya ready, Zaka?" she groused, avoiding looking at Obi-Wan and trying to still the trip-hammering of her hearts. "I swear, but ya can be as slow as frozen lard in winter."

Obi-Wan chuckled at Auna's observation, slapping Zaka companionably on his wide shoulder and advising him to not pay attention to her. The two then followed Obi-Wan out of her rooms and down the hall. They turned towards the huge foyer, went out the entrance and down a path that led to where Onara's family mausoleum was located.

All the servants were already there, as was Onara who was standing next to Simtro talking with him. She wore a white gown, simple in design, but elegant. It was similar to the one Auna wore except Onara's gown was longer, the edge of it sweeping across the grass. Her dark hair was also up, with sprigs of the _lera_ flowers in it. Obi-Wan showed Auna and Zaka where to sit, then walked over to Onara and Simtro.

As Auna sat down she watched Onara's face as Obi-Wan approached her. Whatever she had been discussing with Simtro had not been pleasant, for she was frowning, but, as soon as Obi-Wan came into her sight, her face and eyes transformed.

Auna had thought Onara beautiful since the first time Obi-Wan had shown her that pendant with the holographic image of her and Ben inside it, back when he'd been searching for Sinja-Bau. But, now, as Onara took Obi-Wan's hands and he leaned down and kissed her cheek, Onara was not just beautiful, she was transcendent.

It was as if each time Obi-Wan came into her presence she was reborn, like a new star blazing in the heavens. Since her awakening, the two were rarely out of the other's company, and, even when one was busy with something else, Auna had noted the way their eyes would search until they found the other.

Auna swallowed hard as she threaded her fingers about the other. She envied them. Not the terrible tragedy they'd both had to share, of course, but the fact that, as a result, they'd found such a profound love, and, like that Enix bird she'd heard some drunken space tramp talking about one night in a bar, a bird who supposedly died in an inferno and then was reborn from the ashes, Onara and Obi-Wan had, out of the ashes of their grief over the death of their only child, discovered a love that had given them both the courage and the hope to go on with their lives. Yes, Auna envied them very much.

Now she watched as an Ahjane priestess moved towards the front of the crowd gathered before the mausoleum. Ben and Dalan's coffins, not the stasis coffins they'd been transported in, but coffins made of beautiful blondwood and inlaid with gold, had already been interred inside the mausoleum. Only Onara and Obi-Wan, along with Simtro, had attended the actual internment which had been held at dawn.

The priestess, her weathered face creased with a dried riverbed of wrinkles, her long, gray hair straggling down her white, gold-rimmed robe, began speaking in Ahjanese. Auna didn't understand the words, but she got the gist of the message and, soon, tears were streaming down her face. Zaka reached over and put his big furry paw over her hands where they lay on her lap. Jiah, who was sitting in front of Auna, turned around and handed her a handkerchief, the cook's eyes already red-rimmed from weeping.

Soon everyone was weeping softly. Everyone, Auna noted, except Obi-Wan and Onara. The two sat, their hands clasped together, listening to the words of the priestess as she blessed the passing of Ben Gavon Kenobi Lenor and Dynast Dalan Lenor. Auna knew Obi-Wan and Onara preferred to express their grief in private, so she was not surprised to see them sitting so stoically now. The two sat apart from the servants because, according to tradition, they were supposed to be surrounded by family.

Obi-Wan, however, had no family. He had been taken from them when he was a baby, with no clue or memory as to who they were. The Jedi Order had been his family, but he was no longer a member of it. Obi-Wan had invited Anakin and Sinja-Bau to the funeral, but the message he had sent to the Temple had come back with a rather terse response from the Council, expressing its heartfelt sorrow over the passing of Ben and Dynast Lenor, but informing Obi-Wan that Anakin and Sinja-Bau were too busy with duties that had been assigned to them by the Council and, therefore, could not attend.

As for Onara's family, her mother died giving birth to her, her father was murdered nearly four years ago during the raid to kidnap Ben, and her grandmother, the infamous Lady Tsara, was killed by Anakin in self-defense. Onara's only remaining relatives, two elderly aunts, her father's twin sisters, had, upon learning of Ben's death, gone into seclusion at some far off monastery.

Auna had thought it strange for them to have done so, seeing as how they were all the family Onara had left, but Obi-Wan had explained that, according to Ahjane traditions, it was not unusual for such a thing to occur. The great-aunts had loved Ben dearly, and his death had sent both into a kind of spiritual malaise. Not the _yanol_, but more like a self- imposed retirement from the world. The monastery, Obi-Wan had told her, was the best place for them and where they now wished to live out their lives.

Auna still thought it strange, but had accepted Master Kenobi's explanation. As for Dalan's family, that was another matter entirely. His uncle, who had been Onara's first husband, was dead, as was Dalan's parents, but Dalan did have two uncles, an aunt and some cousins who, upon learning he had left everything to Onara and Ben in his will, had been furious. Now, with Ben's death, Onara was the sole heir to Dalan's province, his property and his wealth.

Onara had invited Dalan's family to the funeral, but they had flatly refused. And, according to the gossip among the servants, were probably going to contest Dalan's will in the tribunals. Auna frowned, clenching her four hands into fists. She hadn't even met these people, but she already didn't like them.

The priestess lowered her arms. Auna didn't know much about Ahjane religious belief, but, according to Jiah, they did believe in a Great Creator, as did many sentient beings in the galaxy, but the Ahjane Great Creator could take many different forms, depending upon the circumstances.

During times of bereavement, the Great Creator became the goddess Sithara, who ruled over both birth and death. It was that deity the priestess now called upon for the final invocation, having switched to Basic. She asked Sithara to judge lightly the souls of Ben and Dalan, to welcome them into the House of Eternal Light and to give them solace and peace until such time as they were reunited with those who mourned their passing.

Onara's head was lowered and Auna could see her lips moving as she prayed along with the priestess, but Obi-Wan stared straight ahead. Auna didn't know what the Jedi believed in. She knew about the Force, but it didn't seem to her that the Jedi believed in it the same way one believed in a deity.

She just hoped that, whatever Obi-Wan's beliefs were, he found solace in them. Auna's people, the Codru-Ji, had about a hundred gods. Since Auna had had difficulty keeping track of them all, she had decided to believe in only one, Decoco, the trickster god of luck and good fortune.

The priestess finished her invocation. Jiah rose from her seat and went and stood next to her. She looked over at Obi-Wan and Onara, inclining her gray- haired head. Then, for the next few moments, Auna was transported to a realm of such beauty and splendor it came close to breaking her hearts.

Jiah sang a song in Ahjanese, the words of which were beyond Auna's comprehension, but the melody and the emotions Jiah expressed through the song, the Codru-Ji woman understood all too well.

The song spoke of love and loss, of hope and despair, of light and darkness, and, finally of salvation. The melody soared through the bright morning air, rose up through the clouds and, in Auna's mind, broke through whatever barriers separated the living from the dead. And, as Jiah finished the last, clear, radiant note, Auna saw Onara was now weeping, her head on Obi-Wan's shoulder.

Once the last note died away, Auna watched as hundreds of white doves suddenly burst forth from just behind the mausoleum, flying as one towards the heavens. She followed their flight until they all disappeared.

She looked over at Zaka. The Whiphid, whom Auna didn't even know was capable of crying, was wiping at his wide nose. She gave him her handkerchief. He took it and blew his nose into it, a sound like the backfiring of a thruster engine.

"Thank you, Auna," he said, handing the now thoroughly soaked handkerchief back to her. "Zaka glad Auna make him come to ground-laying of Je-di's little flower and Nara's mate. It made Zaka sad, yes, very sad, but it was also..." He stopped as he searched for the right word in Basic.

"Lovely?" Auna suggested.

Zaka nodded. "Yes, love-ly. Very love-ly."

"Yes, it was," Auna agreed.

She looked around. The servants were all moving back towards the manor. Jiah had prepared a huge meal and Simtro had given everyone the day off. Onara and Obi-Wan had risen from their seats, but were now talking quietly with the priestess. Then, after bowing deeply over Onara's hand, the priestess left them and made her way towards the manor, giving Auna and Zaka quick, but curious looks. Obi-Wan and Onara remained in front of the mausoleum.

"Come on, Zaka," Auna said, taking him by the arm and steering him towards the manor.

"What about Je-di and Nara?"

"They'll be in. Let's just leave them be for a bit."

Zaka nodded and accompanied Auna into the manor.

To be continued....