The mystery woman took her hood down, Obi-Wan noticed a Padawan braid. On it were two yellow bands and two red bands. One yellow and the top of her braid and one red at the very bottom, a yellow and red band sat in between. Her black hair was cut short, up to her chin and her braid was down to her shoulder, this was a traditional way women Padawans would keep their hair. Not every woman Padawan would do this though. All Obi-Wan could see was her facial features, the rest was hidden behind her tunic. Her green eyes were striking, bright, they jumped out at him. He looked deep into her eyes and felt a sudden sadness and emptiness. She had been through so much. She was not a Jedi at all, but just a Padawan learner, she belonged to someone. Did someone else survive? Or did she manage to escape? The feeling Obi-Wan felt when he saw the girl in front of him were not that of the Dark Side.
The young Padawan looked at Obi-Wan Kenobi just as he was looking at her. She saw a man who was once on the Jedi Council a man so very powerful, and here he was now, alone, in a hut on Tatooine. She saw a man who had let himself go a bit, longer, uncontrolled hair about as long as many Jedi Knights would keep theirs, just above the shoulder, except his was much more wild. The once tight and trim beard he was known for was not so tight and trim. It looked at it had been days since he had trimmed it. His skin looked dry, mostly from the sand and the high Tatooine suns. He sill wore his tradition Jedi clothes and she could see he still bore his lightsaber. Despite his appearance, he still seemed to be a prideful Jedi Master.
"Who are you?" Obi-Wan finally asked. "And how did you find me?"
"My name is Allura Depak," the girl answered. "I was told you'd be here. I have searched the whole planet looking for you."
"Why do you need me? Who sent you here?"
"I am a Padawan, my Master died in the Clone Wars, I was told you could help me," she answered.
"Help you? How can I help you?"
"I was told you could train me, continue my training with the Force, you would be the one would help me find my path."
"Train you? I cannot help you, you must have been mislead," Obi-Wan told her. "There is nothing I can do for you. The Council is destroyed, all of the Jedi have been destroyed, the fact that you have survived without my knowledge is questioning. Training you would do nothing, there is no Council to report to, no one to tell you you've made it to the Knight level. I would train you for nothing, the Jedi have all been destroyed."
"But, I was told-"
"You have been misinformed!" Obi-Wan said a bit rashly. "I'm sorry, I just can't help you. Even if there were Jedi left, I still wouldn't be able to help you." Obi-Wan went to turn and go back inside.
"Is it because of Anakin?" Allura asked him. "Because he turned to the Dark Side, because he's now Lord Vader, and because he had killed all of the Jedi?"
Obi-Wan stopped walking. His eyes narrowed. She had to bring all of that up, he thought. Obi-Wan slowly turned.
"Yes, what Anakin has done is a terrible thing," he replied.
"It's not your fault," Allura told him. "It's not. He was seduced, told what he wanted to hear. You, you were one of the best Jedi who sat on the Council, what happened wasn't your fault."
"Well, that is easier to say, isn't it?" Obi-Wan replied. "But, we all know who's apprentice he was, don't we. Blame can only be put onto the one who had trained him, and that was me. And, what do you know of this anyway?"
"Everyone does, my Master told me how he was beginning to fear Anakin's attitudes, his thoughts, he told me before he died. He was very wise, very strong. I only wish I could have saved him."
"I am sorry about your Master, but I cannot be your new Master, I can't help you. Whoever told you was wrong."
"I am sorry, Master Kenobi, but whoever told me isn't wrong, there is no way," she said.
"I am telling you he is, I bet I am far wiser and better knowledgeable than whoever told you in some space port or cantina."
"I didn't hear that from anyone in a space port or cantina, but Master Kenobi, I hate to say it, but you aren't wiser than who told me, no one is."
"Really? Then who is your wise source?" Obi-Wan asked. He was becoming agitated.
"Master Yoda, sir," she answered.
Obi-Wan grew silent. Master Yoda? Well, she was right, he wasn't wiser than he.
"You have talked with Master Yoda?" he asked her.
"Yes, Master Kenobi, I have. The plan was, after the battle, go to Dagobah, find Master Yoda, reform there. No one else made it back. I ran, fled there. I searched for days for Master Yoda, and when I found him, he told me to go to Tatooine, find Master Kenobi, he could help me. He told me you could help me."
"Why would he say that? Why couldn't he train you?"
"Master Yoda is in no state of mind to be training anyone. After what happened, he sort of lost it. It's very sad. He is still wise and still smart, one with the Force, but, I don't know how to explain it. He said you could, you could help me, and I, I could help you."
"Help me?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Yes, Master Kenobi, help you. When I was a Youngling, I was told my purpose in life was to help people, do good, and not just as any normal Jedi would. Everything that I would do would be for good, I had this special connection with the Force that way. Master Yoda told me this, told me I was going to be a great diplomat, be able to help and bring good where ever I went. He said even my death would be for good. I was five when he told me this, my Master told me this as a Padawan at ten, and at twenty now it is still hard to grasp at, but perhaps I am here because our paths cross here, I am to help you as you are to me."
"I don't need help," Obi-Wan answered.
"I think you do, and I know I do. I can't do this on my own."
"How would you know? You're knowledge of me comes from stories, stories you've heard. You don't know the truth." Obi-Wan became emotional. The more he tried to fight it, the more emotional he got. "If you could walk down the path I have, even for one day, you would not survive. I don't need anyone's help, not anymore!"
Allura walked closer to him and place her hand on his shoulder. In his emotional state, Obi-Wan grabbed her by the neck and threw her down, leaving only a few inches between her head and the sandy ground. Allura grasped and pulled at Obi-Wan's hands, wondering, in fear, why he was doing this. She looked up into his eyes, they were filling with tears. She stopped fighting him and began to stare into his eyes. A tear fell from them and landed on her cheek. Then, as quickly as it had begun, Obi-Wan let go, and Allura slammed into the sand.
"I, I am so sorry," Obi-Wan said. "I have let my emotions get the best of me. Keeping them bottled inside is worse than not having them. For so long I have been told, feel nothing, hate, pain, it all leads to the Dark Side, and here, I have held them in and have done something worse."
He turned his back on the young Padawan before she could see him cry. Allura looked at the back of the Jedi Master and saw his shoulders shudder. She stood up and walked to him. She didn't fear to touch him again, she knew what her purpose was, Master Yoda had told her, her Master had told her.
"I can help you just as you can help me," she repeated.
Obi-Wan quickly snapped out of his emotions, a Jedi trait of course.
"I told you, I don't need help, and I cannot help you. I cannot train you, I am sorry you have come all this way."
"Fine, then I will stay out here, right here, until you do."
Allura turned her back on Obi-Wan and stood firmly in the sand. She would stay right where she was, as long as she had to, until Obi-Wan would agree to train her. She looked back and noticed Obi-Wan had gone inside. She wouldn't leave.
Obi-Wan thought this to be like a child's game, if he ignored her, she would leave. But, when he looked out the window nearly an hour later, she was still there. He saw her use the Force to make grains of sand dance about the sky. He smiled to himself at the sight of a Padawan willing to learn, and capable with the Force.
A wind started picking up, this could only mean one thing, sandstorm. Sandstorms were common on Tatooine. They would start, and then quickly end. But, they were very dangerous. Obi-Wan didn't want the young Padawan to be outside during the storm. He opened the door and stepped outside.
"A sandstorm is approaching," he said. "Winds are picking up." His hair blew in the wind, his eyes squinted and teared. The back of the girl's robes were blowing back. "You can't stay out here. These sandstorms are very bad."
Without breaking her concentration on the sand she responded, "I will be just fine."
The sand grains that she had elevated in the air now gathered together. She then tossed them about and they landed back on the ground. Obi-Wan was curious on what she would do, how she would withstand the sandstorm.
"Well, if you need shelter-"
"I will be fine," she repeated.
Obi-Wan stayed outside as long as he could before going back in. He watched anxiously from his window what would happen. In the distance the sandstorm began and was quickly making it's way to them. A wall of sand began charging forward. The Padawan dropped to her knees and began to meditate. This interested Obi-Wan very much. A young Padawan attuned to her senses and the Force.