Happy Life Day everyone! Here's a hopeful little chapter for you! (For the sake of the festive spirit, we'll pretend the eventual canon fate of our characters isn't something we already know.)
(Good thing I'm also writing a non-canon side story that branches off this one and fixes everything called 'The Conundrum'. :P)
Intrepid Rescuers (part 4):
It seemed like the Force was finally with them – or maybe it always had been, considering that they'd just saved Shaak from certain death – because when they stepped into the next turbolift they found, not only did it go all the way up to the observation deck at the very top of the dreadnaught's tower section, it also had a button on the control panel labeled 'Escape Pod Hall' and was only one up from their current position.
"Look, Master," Anakin said brightly, pointing at the control panel as they filed in. "It's like the Force heard you for once."
"Very funny," Obi-Wan said wryly. But he could not have been more relieved as he pushed the button for the next level.
Beyond the fact that Shaak needed to get off this ship and find herself some medical attention, he was also drowning in guilt for even contemplating for just a minute how exotically beautiful she was, how nice it had felt to have her lithe body clinging to his, and what it would be like if he were to perhaps kiss her lush silver lips.
It all felt like the grossest defilement of Satine's memory.
Not to mention being anything but Jedi-like.
The lift stopped only seconds after it had started and the doors opened. No one moved for an equal amount of seconds as Obi-Wan and Shaak continued to not look at each other thanks to that awkward moment of awareness where a realm of possibilities had suddenly appeared before them.
Anakin looked from one to the other and then sighed loudly, jolting the two Jedi Masters into action.
"I'll just…" Shaak started to say as she stepped out of the lift, in the most subdued tone Obi-Wan had ever heard from the usually confident Togrutan.
"Wait, I'll come with you," a remorse-filled Obi-Wan said quickly, following her.
"And I'll stay here and guard the lift," Anakin said, unmistakable mirth barely hidden in his tone and trickling down their bond.
Obi-Wan ignored him in favour of catching up with Shaak as she strode past a few escape hatches before she settled on one that she liked and pressed the button to open it. (It was probably chosen for the simple fact that it was now out of easy earshot of Anakin.)
Not knowing what possessed him, Obi-Wan climbed into the pod after her. "I'm sorry," he started with when she stopped and gripped the back of a chair. "What happened earlier, I should not have been…"
"You have nothing to be sorry for," she interrupted, gaze firmly fixed on the transparisteel window that gave a more than effective view of the battle going on outside. But he doubted she was actually looking at it. He certainly wasn't. "You were right to stop what should never have started, as brief as it was."
Obi-Wan watched her faint reflection in the window. Her grey eyes looked haunted.
He felt haunted.
Satine's love and his long years of hidden devotion to her sat like a storm cloud over his heart. But at the same time, there had been a spark of connection between himself and Shaak that he'd never thought to feel again. The question is; am I really going to remain devoted to a dead woman's memory for the rest of my life? Would Satine even want me to?
As a good Jedi Master, it would make sense to do so. But when in the universe have I ever done what made sense? Falling in love with a pacifist Mandalorian? Twice. Taking on an emotional wreck of a nine year old Padawan to train against all advice to not do so? Following the teachings of a Master who was as close to a rogue Jedi as one could get? Clearly my inclination towards doing the sensible thing is flawed, so why should I stop now?
Decision made, Obi-Wan reached forward and touched her tense shoulder with cautious fingers. "Shaak." She tensed further and the reflection of her eyes closed as she turned her face even further away from him. He almost withdrew his hand, but he forged on. "I know I'm not the only one who felt something back there, and maybe… maybe I wasn't right to stop it."
She inhaled sharply and then slowly turned around. Her wide eyes were like swirling, melted beskar as she searched his, and so incredibly beautiful they stole his breath. "But that is not the Jedi way," she said in a confused tone that equalled his own state of mind.
His mouth quirked ruefully as he slid his hand down her arm and gently grasped her fingers, so slender and delicate compared to his despite the sharp nails on the tip of each. "While that is true, we all know that some of those rules are frequently bent to suit."
Her mouth quirked up in mirror of his own and she squeezed his hand. "Like Skywalker is so good at doing?"
His rueful smile grew with a wince and a shrug. "What can I say? I'm a terrible influence on the boy."
She laughed softly, which sounded like music to him, much like her melodious voice, so different from Satine's and yet containing a similar quality of calm self-assurance that ensnared him like honey. One of her fingers was now tracing his palm almost absently and sending little jolts of electricity up his arm, but he had no doubt she knew exactly what she was doing. "We all noticed."
He wasn't surprised that the rest of the Council had picked up on Anakin's excessive fondness and protective streak towards a certain senator; it was nearly impossible to miss after all. At least they haven't yelled at either of us for it... yet.
Then she raised her free hand and stroked a finger along the line of his beard. "This will be interesting," she murmured, mostly to herself.
His foolish heart nearly stopped at the implications as he recalled that Togrutans were naturally sensual creatures - as Ahsoka had demonstrated countless times with her snuggly ways that defied traditional Jedi aloofness.
And it continued to fluctuate madly as Shaak's eyes met his with a smile filled with promise. "I will find you in the Temple after this battle is settled. We have much more to discuss regarding bending rules, I think."
He inhaled slowly and deeply as something inside him whimpered Satine's name, still struggling with the feeling that he was betraying her with just the thought of touching another woman. And he was actually doing it. But the electricity travelling up his arm and down from his cheek where Shaak was touching him, not to mention the look of guarded hope in her eyes, had him pushing that guilty feeling down to somewhere deep inside himself where he could deal with it latter. "I think so too," he finally said in a quiet murmur that felt wrenched from his roiling innards.
This time, when his hand rose to touch her face, he let it, brushing the back of his fingers across her cheek the way he'd wanted to do earlier. Her berry-red skin was indescribably soft against his own rougher textured offering, but she didn't seem to mind as her eyes closed and she leaned into his touch with a faint purr he never would have recognized if he hadn't heard Ahsoka make the same sound. (For different reasons, of course, but still the same sound.)
They stood like that - with joined hands and touching each other's faces – as she opened her eyes and they gazed at each other for a few perfectly endless moments as something in the Force and within themselves stood up and took notice of how very right this felt. He wanted to lean forward and kiss her so very badly, but he just knew that if he started, he likely wouldn't stop until Anakin came to find out what was taking so long, and there was no way he was giving the younger man the satisfaction of finding his former Master in such a position. Nope. No way in the seven Corellian hells.
Resolved, Obi-Wan reluctantly drew back from her touch. "I have to go."
She sighed softly and hugged herself as he backed away another step. "I know. May the Force be with you and help you bring a swift conclusion to this unfortunate situation."
His nod expressed a wealth of responses. "Thank you. And you as well. Be careful flying down to Coruscant, please."
Her smile expressed amusement and so much more besides. "I have a feeling I'll be landing on the planet in a much more civilized fashion than you will."
Obi-Wan huffed. "Knowing Anakin, you're probably right."
With nothing left to be said in that moment, Obi-Wan flashed her a smile filled with both anticipation and regret, and then he turned and left the pod, hitting the hatch closure on the way out. A red light on the wall indicated that the pod ejected a few seconds later.
He nearly sagged to see that she'd gotten away safely, but there was no time for that. Not to mention he could feel Anakin watching him avidly from the doorway of the lift. He determinedly straightened his spine and shoulders and then plastered on a neutral expression before turning and striding towards someone he knew was just dying to tease him.
"Not one word," he said sternly as he stepped into the elevator.
"Did I say anything?" the smirking young man said in a direct and deliberate copy of their earlier conversation while he hit the button for the highest floor of the tower.
"No," Obi-Wan reluctantly admitted. "But I can feel you thinking it."
"I wasn't thinking anything," Anakin lied with the most innocent, angelic expression ever pasted to an almost twenty-two year old's face as the lift rose swiftly up countless levels.
"Right," he drawled in disbelief. "And for both our sakes, you'll continue to not think anything."
Anakin gave him the biggest fodder-eating grin. "As you wish, Master. My brain is officially on holiday regarding anything that has to do with codes and attractions and vaunted Jedi Masters defying said codes to form attachments they shouldn't."
"Anakin," Obi-Wan sighed in defeat. Sometimes, I just can't win.
Fortunately for his sanity's sake, if nothing else, the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.
Past the large foyer, there was an overly large arched doorway that led into the darkly appointed observation deck. Contained on the large open floor were a handful of work stations and one black chair in front of the central window; one amongst many such windows that surrounded the entire circular room and gave a prime view of the battle outside. In a brief glance, Obi-Wan couldn't tell who was winning, seeing dead ships from both sides floating aimlessly and an equal number of shots exchanged in both red and green laser bolts.
In the chair was Chancellor Palpatine. The old man's wrists were manacled to the arms, Obi-Wan saw, as Palpatine turned the swiveling chair around to face them.
"Well, we made it to him, at least," Anakin thought down their bond as they stepped forward to embark on their task as heroic rescuers.
"True," he thought back. "But we haven't actually saved him yet. There's still Dooku and Grievous to contend with. Not to mention getting three of us off the ship with only one working Interceptor."
"Positive thoughts, Master. Positive thoughts."
"When did you become the wise one?" he thought as they walked down the balcony stairs to the main floor.
"I don't know," Anakin thought back with a mental grin that belied the serious expressions they were now sporting for Palpatine's sake. "But I can guarantee I learned it from you."
In that moment, despite how maddeningly cheeky and reckless his former Padawan could be - frequently inspiring Obi-Wan to want to gag him or tie him down to the nearest immovable surface - he couldn't have been a prouder Master as brotherly love for the boy filled him to the brim, pushing to the wayside whatever qualms he had about their mission or his future interactions with Shaak Ti.