Part 13
His dark eyes were full of concern. The touch of his hand felt warm and assuring. Kirana threw her arms around him, bringing his body close to hers for comfort, trying to stop the trembling of her body. Trying to forget her nightmare.
Obi-Wan held Kirana tight, to keep her from shaking. He could feel his shoulder become wet with her tears. He could feel her heart beat rapidly against his chest. His heart went out to her. Kirana, don't worry, I am here. It was just a dream. No one can hurt you.
Slowly, Kirana pulled away from him. Obi-Wan held her on his lap and with his free hand, he gently wiped away her tears, which fell across her lovely features. Kirana breathed deeply to keep herself from shuddering.
"Are you all right Kirana?" asked Obi-Wan.
Kirana looked around, her eyes full of uncertainty. When she didn't answer his question, Obi-Wan gently pulled her up from his lap.
"Come, lets go to one of the larger rooms where we can talk," he said.
"Alright," she agreed and allowed herself to be lead from her room.
Both of them quietly made their way to the main cabin which had a magnificent view of the stars. They walked inside and the door shut behind them, making a hissing sound.
"Kirana, are you alright?" again asked Obi-Wan.
"I'm fine, now, I guess," she said quietly.
"Tell me, Ki. What happened in your dream?" asked Obi-Wan.
"I - I'm not sure," she said, looking down.
"Kirana, please tell me, I want to help you," he said as he tried to convince her. He came until he stood right in front of her, refusing to give up. She lifted her head up and her eyes met with his. She then told him slowly, every detail of her dream.
"This dream, you've had it before?" he asked.
"Yes I have. It was the night before we left for Tatooine. I told Master Windu about it. You see, both dreams were similar, except the second one was a bit different and had more detail. In the first one, I wasn't that aware of my surroundings, all I could see was darkness. The second time, I felt mist and the walls had moisture," she frowned, trying to remember all the details.
"Was there anything else?"
She looked at him nervously. "I had no lightsaber. That was strange because in the first one I did and in the very beginning of the second. But I don't understand, why wouldn't I have my lightsaber? I remember feeling so helpless. I couldn't fight and then I was cornered into a wall and there was no way out."
"You keep dreaming of him," said Obi-Wan.
"Yes, he's always there. And - when his lightsaber went through me, it was an odd feeling, almost peaceful. Then - the last thing I saw was your face..." she stopped, as if she had found it difficult to speak. "But how did you know I was having a dream?"
Obi-Wan sighed. "It was quite strange, I can't explain it, but somehow, I knew you were in trouble, I could feel it. Your cries were so strong and loud in my mind, I couldn't block it out. Then, I went to your room and found you shaking, so I tried to wake you," he put his hands on her shoulders.
Kirana was speechless. How could this be? How can we have a connection so strong through the force? It didn't make any sense to her. They argued constantly and she didn't understand why they had a connection. I wouldn't think we would be able to reach each other this way. But then, she remembered Tatooine, how she had saved Obi-Wan through the force, how she had called out to him.
"I know this is hard to believe. It's unexplainable, but maybe we do have a deep connection between us." His blue eyes looked into hers.
Kirana didn't say anything, but she smiled. "Well, now I know I can always count on you, Obi. Thanks for being there for me."
Obi-Wan smiled. "You're welcome, and I also want to thank you, for putting up with me. And, uh, while we are actually being nice to each other, I just wanted to apologize for yesterday..." His eyes focused on her lips.
He didn't need to finish his sentence. Kirana immediately knew what he was referring to. Kirana blushed, remembering how he had kissed her.
"Don't, Obi. I should be the one to say sorry. I didn't mean what I said. I guess I was just, I don't know, stubborn and upset," she said quietly.
Obi-Wan pursed his lips. "But let me ask you something, I'm serious. Did you ever have any feelings for me at all?"
Kirana felt her face flush. What should she say? "I, um...well, maybe, sometimes...I might have...," she looked at her feet.
Pleased, Obi-Wan held both of her hands and drew her closer. Kirana didn't resist. "I see, well then, that changes everything," he laughed. "Why are you trembling?"
"I'm - I'm not trembling," she insisted shyly. When she looked at his face, she realized he never looked more handsome then he did now.
Obi-Wan could see she was affected by his closeness. He slowly lowered his face and pressed his lips against hers. But this time, she didn't pull away. As their lips met, it seemed forever, like an eternity shared between them. He slowly pressed trails of kisses down her neck and onto her shoulder, before bringing his lips to hers once again. They kissed with so much passion, that Kirana had to pull away to catch her breath. They both smiled at each other and felt a peaceful kind of emotion between them.
Kirana rested her head on his chest. She could feel his hands on her bare arm. Wait a minute. Bare arm? At that instant, she realized what she was wearing. She looked down at her nightgown that barely reached her knees. It had no sleeves, but instead two thin straps on her shoulder. In shame, she disengaged herself from his arms. She had forgotten her robe!
Obi-Wan grinned as he realized. He removed his robe and placed it around her shoulders.
"Oh, thank you," said Kirana as she cuddled into his robe, enjoying it's warmth and spicy musk scent.
"You don't have to thank me, Ki." Then he added, with a rakish grin, "Although, I have to admit you looked rather lovely before I gave you my robe." He laughed as he moved out of the way, avoiding Kirana's playful punch on his arm.
"Yeah, well, that's the last time you'll ever see me wear that in front of you! It's inappropriate." she said, trying not to smile.
"What a shame!" replied Obi-Wan.
Kirana rolled her eyes. "Okay, hotshot. I think I'd better go now, it's late."
But before she could turn away, Obi-Wan kissed her one more time. "I'll see you in the morning."
"Goodnight," she said as she hugged him.
"Goodnight," said Obi-Wan.
Qui-Gon sat in a deep trance when all of a sudden there was a loud explosion. He jumped up and raced towards the control room. Alarms blared out everywhere. "What was that?" asked Qui-Gon.
The pilot looked grim. "Something hit us and it was no accident." He pointed outside.
"Pirates. Only pirates have vessels like those," said Qui-Gon.
At that moment, Obi-Wan, Kirana and Shmi walked in.
"Master, what happened?" asked Obi-Wan.
"We're being attacked by pirates," said Qui-Gon, looking at his apprentice.
The pilot frantically threw the hyperspace throttle forward, trying to get to lightspeed. Everyone braced themselves but nothing happened.
"It's not working!" said Shmi, with alarm.
"One more direct hit, and we're done for!" exclaimed Kirana.
"Why are they attacking us? We have nothing of value," said the pilot.
"We know that, but they do not. We must land somewhere. We won't be able to hold out against them for long." said Qui-Gon.
Shmi looked at the panel. "Look, we can land at this small planet named Zeriaa."
Obi-Wan looked at his mentor. "She's right, Master. We have no other choice."
Kirana cut in. "But it could be dangerous, it could be poisonous down there."
Qui-Gon frowned. "We'll be no safer up here than down there. Let's go!" he said.
The pilot quickly maneuvered the ship towards the small, colorful planet, trying to avoid the hits from the pirates. "They're coming in too fast!" said the pilot.
Then the worst possible thing happened. A direct hit was made at the back of their ship. A warning sign flashed. "We're losing oxygen!" said Obi-Wan.
Suddenly, the shooting had stopped. Kirana looked out. "Hey, they stopped their attack!" she said.
"We're not out of danger yet. As soon as I land, I want everyone to evacuate. If we don't, the ship will explode with us in it. The damage is too extensive. We'll never survive," said the pilot.
Everyone looked at one another.
At full speed, the ship headed closer and closer towards Zeriaa. As soon as they landed, everyone jumped up and ran towards the hatch. But to their dismay, it wouldn't open.
"What do we do? The ship will explode!" shouted the pilot.
"Not if I can help it," said Obi-Wan. With one powerful kick, the door flew open and everyone ran as fast as they could.
"We have to get far away!" shouted Qui-Gon.
The ship exploded. Everyone dropped to the ground. When everyone opened their eyes, all that was left was a pile of debris.
Kirana stood up, wiping the dirt from her tunic when her gaze fell to the pilot on the ground. She gasped. A blaster shot had gone through him and blood began to protrude from the wound. He was dead. She turned to alert the others when a sharp voice cut through the silence.
"Don't move."
