Sleep
"Anakin,
do you have any idea where we are?"
"Not a one. They said if
we keep walking east, we'd reach the capitol."
They'd been
on this path for hours, and unfortunately because of money, they
couldn't stop to rest. Jordana, exhausted from the events of the
past twenty-four hours, dropped to her knees.
"Jordie, are you
all right?"
"I'm exhausted." she sighed, "I haven't
had a chance to rest."
"You mean you didn't sleep on the
transport?"
"No, I couldn't. I didn't want to close my
eyes, for fear that something might happen."
She closed her eyes
and rested her head on his shoulder. The nearest town wasn't for
miles, and even though he was willing to spend his own credits on a
room for them, he knew she wouldn't last that long. Then he noticed
a tree with a large bush in front of it deeper in the woods. He
picked her up and her bag, and carried her behind the bush. He made a
makeshift pillow with the bags, and covered her with his
cloak.
"Anakin, wha-"
"Shh, sleep. I'll wake you in the
morning."
It didn't take her long to fall asleep, and soon
Anakin succumbed to slumber.
Back at the Temple, Tahira sat
alone in her room. She didn't want to be there while Master Windu
told the Jedi Order about Anakin and Jordana's fate. Her acting had
been exquisite to say the least. After Anakin and Jordana left, she
placed their old clothing in the front seats, and used the Force to
send it flying into the wall. As a result, it erupted into flames.
She'd even gone so far as to fish out their lightsabers from the
burning rubble with her own hands. When she arrived back at the
Temple, they were about to send out a massive search to find them,
incase they were still alive. Then she proceeded to cry up a storm,
claiming how they'd ran a speeder into a wall, and how all she'd
manage to retrieve from the site was their lightsabers. And the
Council believed her too, since they found bits of their clothing at
the crime scene. She felt no remorse for a while, her tears were
fake, until she saw Obi-Wan's reaction. When she informed the
Council, tears filled his eyes, but they did not fall until after he
had left.
Suddenly the door opened and Obi-Wan himself entered.
Silently, he approached and sat next to her. There was an uneasy
silence between them.
"Why Obi-Wan? Why in the hell would you
agree to sentence them to death?" she demanded angrily.
"I
didn't want to, and neither did Yoda. But Master Windu had
convinced the rest of the Council that they were a threat."
She
didn't respond. He wrapped him arm around her shoulder she leaned
her head on his shoulder.
"Oh Tahira, was there something more
we could have done? Could we have prevented this?"
"I don't
know. I don't know if we did too much or too little. Maybe there's
nothing we could have done for them. Both of them were always so
rebellious and strong willed.
Obi-Wan ran his hands through her
ebony hair, twirling his fingers in her curls. He couldn't control
himself and kissed her on the forehead. For the first time in months,
he felt at peace, with her in his arms. And truth be told, she didn't
mind it. She loved it. For years, she'd only done this in her
dreams, after giving it up the notion that he would ever care for her
a long time ago. She snuggled close to him, relaxing against his
body.
"So, what are we going to do now?" he asked.
"You
won't like this, but I'd thought about leaving the Order." she
said quietly.
For a while, he didn't say anything, but then
replied with, "That doesn't sound so bad really."
"But-you're
a member the Council, a very respected and well liked member I might
add, why would you want to throw that all away?"
"I just
sentenced my former Padawan and friend to death, and now he is dead
because he tried to escape. I never want to set foot in that chamber
again."
She rubbed his shoulder, "Give it time, Obi-Wan. Let
the healing process complete itself. Then if you truly feel this is
not the place for you, leave the Order."
"I love you Tahira."
he said quickly.
Her breathing stopped momentarily, "What?"
she asked breathlessly.
"I love you. I have for the past few
years, but I've just been so busy with training Anakin and the
war-"
She cut him off with a brief kiss, "I love you too,
Obi-Wan."
They smiled at each other before relaxing into each
other's arms.
"You know, if Master Windu found us like this
he'd be very grumpy." Obi-Wan joked.
"I know." She
whispered.
Both of them fell asleep like that, wrapped safely in
each other's arms.
