Hey all!
Unfortunately, this story will be on a very short hiatus, as I am leaving for a soccer tournament. I'll be back on Sunday, so be on the lookout on Monday!
How many days had passed since Rowan had arrived, Obi-Wan did not know. Long enough that he had become totally accustomed to her, but short enough that he could remember a time before her. Together they shared their small cell, bonding in their shared misery.
He still had his routine, but it had changed. Every morning when he woke up, he would nudge the little girl beside him awake, and practice his katas, teaching her the simple ones as they went along. She was quite talented, agile and quick for one so young, and enough so that Obi-Wan wondered about her life before this place.
Rowan had not told him much, and what she had was in the cryptic, abstract way that only the very young can do. She was four and a half cycles old, her favourite colour was the blue of the skies, and she could hold her breath for a minute. She had told him nothing of her family, or of her planet or of how she had come to be in such a place. Obi-Wan couldn't help but be curious about the lack of information about these things.
The mornings were the best part of the day. After that came the beatings. They would come for him sometime in the afternoon, while he and Rowan would talk and play rudimentary Temple games that he had learnt as a child. Rowan was always left behind, violet eyes wide with terror. The first time he had returned, she had screamed. Not anymore. Now the cuts and bruises were ordinary, the blood customary.
Today, however, thought Obi-Wan as he dragged his feet through the cold hallways of the prison, broken and sore, today would be a shock to her. The guards pushed him through the door, and he stumbled through to meet the puzzled face of his cellmate.
He leaned back against the wall and slid down into a sitting position. Slowly, as he rested, Rowan made her way over to him. Reaching out one curious hand, she stroked it over his clean-shaven face, and touched his hairless scalp.
"You look different, Bwan." she said, still rubbing the soft surface of his head.
He grinned at the look of awe upon her face. "Younger? Better?"
She sat down, crossing her legs over each other. "Silly. You look sillier, Bwan."
"Why thank you, Rowan. I've always wanted to look sillier." Even as he spoke, Obi-Wan could feel the pain in his limbs, the overwhelming tension in his muscles. He rolled down onto the floor, back against the wall, completely exhausted.
The little girl got up and grabbed the water and food left for him during his absence, and brought them to him. He shook his head, and pushed them away. "I'm not hungry, Rowan."
"You have to eat! Otherwise how will you stay strong?" she asked, incredulous.
He sighed, admitting defeat. Obi-Wan grabbed one of the bars, removed the wrapper and took a small, slow bite. The food turned to ash in his mouth, his jaw moving mechanically just the decompose the sustenance enough so that he could swallow it. He managed to eat half the bar in this manner before conceding defeat, and laying back down onto the floor.
"Did you practice your katas today, Rowan?" he asked, looking up into her innocent features.
She smiled brightly. "Of course! May I show you?" she asked, so politely that Obi-Wan chuckled.
"Of course."
She positioned herself in the centre of the room, her small face the picture of calm and concentration. She began slowly, arms and legs moving so precisely and so accurately that, not for the first time, Obi-Wan wondered if she had a connection to the Force.
As she moved wonderfully through the first level katas, a strange feeling overcame him. A feeling that he had not felt in a long time, since Anakin was a young boy, since Siri was still with him. Love. Love bloomed within his heart, even among the hate and anger still brewing inside, love for this little girl. The obligation, the need to protect her, to hold her, to care for her arose within him.
Startlingly, he realized a truth: she was to him, even within such a short time, essential to his existence. He felt like her father, and she was his daughter.
Rowan had completed her exercises, beaming with pride. "Was I good, Bwan?"
He smiled. "You were wonderful." Fatigue began to cloud his vision, and he closed his eyes, attempting to rest.
A cold, damp feeling shocked him out of his half-sleep, and he inhaled sharply at the sensation. He opened his eyes to see Rowan before him, holding one of the cloths soaked in water.
"I-I was just trying to help." she whispered.
"Oh, Rowan." he sighed, grabbing her free hand and squeezing it. "Thank you."
She gently rubbed the cloth over his face, wiping off the grime and blood that stained it. Just as he had done for her on their first meeting, she returned the favour to the injured Jedi Knight before her. Finally, the dirt came off his face and his wounds felt cleansed.
"You're all clean, Bwan!" she said, smiling.
He returned her smile, too tired to talk. He slid down the side of the wall, laying on his back. The young girl sat down beside him, concerned.
A long moment passed, and silence filled the room. The slow sound of Rowan's breathing mixed in with Obi-Wan's raspy intakes of air combined to make a rhythm, a rhythm of life.
"Are we going to die, Bwan?"
Obi-Wan shut his eyes. "I don't know."
He felt her lay down beside him, and he could feel the tears on her cheeks as she burrowed her face into his side. He turned her to face him, and met her crying eyes.
"I won't let anything happen to you, Rowan. Don't ever doubt that." He pulled her down next to her, and she lay her head on his chest, her tiny chest that had been heaving with silent sobs slowly calming down.
"Tell me a story, Bwan." she said, shattering the silence.
And he did. He told her of two young people deeply in love, but forbidden to be together by the Order they served in. He told her of how they decided, in the end, to stay apart and to simply carry their devotion to each other inside of them. And he told her that in the end, when the beautiful woman was on the verge of death, the man that loved her had saved her, and that they lived happily ever after, with three children and many pets and there was peace in the world.
Rowan fell asleep to his voice, content of the tale's completion.
Obi-Wan stayed awake, knowing that not every story has a happy ending.