Beloved Daughter: Thanks for the review, all will be revealed as to the intruder below! That whole chapter came to me in an afternoon while waiting at the Doctors office, the conversation between Nawe and Kravis really flowing pretty smoothly, and I wanted to get the view of an outsider to all the shenanigans surrounding Kenobi at the senate. I think you are right about the stream of thought that Obi has, it needs further structure editing, so I'll make amends on that and update it. It was very hard to write that part and I definitely wanted it to come across as a little confusing, but if it's not getting the message across then it's still not right. Hopefully there will be another update in about a week as I have some momentum going again and I can see where I want to take the story.
Linnup: Thank you so much for the two reviews. I love slipping in dialogue from the movies when it fits in with what's going on. I wasn't planning on bringing in any Manderlorien stuff into this story, but we'll have to see how things pan out! I'm a fan of the Obi-Satine dynamic, but I don't think I'll bring that in here, it's pretty complicated as it is! I appreciated your suggestion for writing my own universe, so I thought I'd explain why that's unlikely to happen. One of the reasons I like writing in the SW universe is the fact that I don't need to come up with very much! The details of the thing have been so well documented that I can just dip my toes in and come up with something recognizable. I wouldn't even know where to begin to create something as well rounded, there'd be too much time taken up with describing stuff and I don't have the patience for that. But as I said, I really appreciate the comment and I was very flattered by your review.
Ranger Do-Urden: No apologies necessary, I have been on the receiving end of some heated reviews in the past and I am just glad you took the time to express your genuine interest in this story. I keep forgetting how much I've actually written with this story! I had to do some furious editing on one of the chapters after I completely forgot a really important part that happened ages ago and just before I posted I had to re-write a whole sequence! Anyway, now that Clone Wars is on hiatus (Can you believe the cliffhanger they left us with, oh my goodness, poor Obi I'm…Oh…Sorry..got a bit sidetracked!) I'll be able to move along with this and hopefully get several chapters out there over the next month or so.
I know us writers harp on about this a lot, but the reviews you have all sent really do egg us on to complete stuff, especially when, as a writer, you're going through a tough patch where the muse has flown the roost, so to read these posts this last week was especially touching and got me straight back to the computer and notebook to get this chapter out.
OK, so just a quick reminder. This is not a romance story! Just in case that gets mixed up in things, I repeat, this is not a romance story!
"Get under the bed, now!" hissed the figure in front of him. Nawe was still in shock at the sudden entrance of the figure, so he didn't move at first, but then the door to his room burst open with random blaster fire emptying from the new intruders. He dove under the bed for cover, the sound of blasts being deflected by a swinging blade filling his ears. The thuds of three bodies hitting the floor ended the sounds of battle and the blade was turned off as he looked out from his hiding place. He looked on the saber wielder with new admiration, but there was always the chance this figure meant him harm.
"I'm Asajj Ventress, and I'm here to rescue you," said the woman before him. It was obvious to him now that he'd had a chance to look on her voluptuous figure that she was female, how had he missed that? But the name was a mystery to him.
"You're who?"
The patience of Asajj was not something she had ever truly mastered and Yoda's seemingly menial task of protecting the "Hero of the Republic", who at that moment looked like a wet-behind-the-ears child to her was proving to be less than patience inducing. So she rolled her eyes and spoke more slowly to get through to him.
"I'm here to rescue you. I'm a friend of Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"Old Latterie? Where is he?"
"Knowing him, on his way here to do my job. But he's not here now and we need to get to the roof where master Yoda is waiting for us with a transport. We're not out of this yet."
"What's going on? Why did those people just try to kill me?"
"My guess is you've outlived your usefulness. And with Kenobi on the loose, it makes you a liability the ruling council can't afford to keep. Plus it gives them more to blame Kenobi for if they claim he killed you. Grab a blaster and let's get moving."
"Wait, why should I trust you? How do I know you're not here to kill me once we get to the roof?"
"Really?" she exclaimed, glancing and pointing around the room at the dead hunters she'd just slaughtered to protect the whelp. "After I –" she sighed heavily, staring at him in disbelief, "you know what, you stay here with that one blaster and ponder that thought while the countless assassins descend upon. I'm going to Master Yoda."
And with that she left the room. A rather stunned Nawe fumbled for a blaster and headed out after her to be met with further blaster fire and the chance to see Asajj in action. She now wielded two purple blades which arched around her, lighting the hallway, the main lights having been either switched off or blasted out. Her assailants fell swiftly and she was dashing off down the hall to the staircase, and Nawe had to jog pretty hard to catch up.
"Ah, the skeptic follows!" she said as they headed for the stairs just as another set of attackers emptied from the elevator behind them.
"Up to the top, quickly now!" barked Ventress as she pushed Nawe up the first few steps. Then she turned back with relish to their pursuers and leapt into their blaster fire, sending it back into them as she swept to their position. Several limbs flew past her head as her blades bit deep through their flesh. A pattern of disarm, then behead overtook her conscious actions as her training kicked in. She found herself breathing heavily, not from the exertion, but from the exhilaration she felt with the force flowing through her aggressive actions and into the searing flesh of her assailants to power her shots and her victory. She knew the dark flow and its intoxicating effect on her body and once this batch of aggressors had fallen, she stood for a moment to allow the dark thoughts to pass into the force around her, dissipating and allowing her to surface above the darkness once more. She still had a job to do and Nawe was far from safe. She would feel a lot better once they left the building and could use the boy to find Obi-Wan. Now that she had her voice back there was so much she wanted to tell him, to talk to him about. The half conversations they had had now desperately wanting to be completed verbally.
'Soon', the force flow seemed to be soothingly communicating to her, and at that moment that was enough for her, no questioning the meaning, no hesitation in the suggestion, she just knew it to be true, that soon she would be in the calming presence of her friend.
With the hallway clear of attackers, Asajj dashed back to the staircase and leapt up them two at a time to catch up to the tiring Nawe.
"Hold on there, Slow-Steps," she said and grabbed him around the waist as she leapt up the next flight. Once up, she ignited her blades again and slashed the steps away from beneath them, as a horde of hunters ploughed their way up the stairwell below them. Ducking a volley of blaster fire, Asajj got ready to move off again with her young charge. Nawe had been firing at them as she had completed her maneuvers and once again she grabbed around his waist and leapt up the next set of steps, leaving only another five sets until they were on the roof.
Suddenly, from the floor immediately above them, a door swung open and fresh blaster fire rained down on them. Using her body and blades to shield him, she backed them against the staircase wall behind them and Nawe continued to fire from behind her, once over her shoulder, then under her arms, then to the other side of her as she shifted in front of him. His moves seemed to flow with her own almost seamlessly as they covered the holes in each other's defenses, but the shots were getting closer and closer and far more intense with each volley. The ping of grapple guns firing below them had Nawe concentrate his fire downwards, and although his aim was good, taking down several opponents, they seemed to be relentless in their attacks and endless in number.
A gasp from Asajj had Nawe snap back to his rescuer, who stumbled to one knee as a shot got through her blades. Nawe grabbed her injured arm and she hissed at the touch but was able to draw strength from him to continue to deflect back shots to the hunters above them, keeping them at bay. But the two new formed allies were pinned down and things were becoming desperate.
Nawe kicked out at the grapples as the figures below began their assent, knocking two of them off the rails and the fading screams affirmed his success, but another grapple shot up and buried itself in his foot, causing Nawe to yelp and claw at the thing as it dug deeply into his flesh dragging him to the edge of the rail.
/Yoda!/ screamed Asajj through the force to the absent gnome as another bolt came too close to Nawe before she deflected it. But the answer in the force didn't come from the roof as she had expected, but from the floor below them where she had found Nawe. A surprisingly loud bellow of rage filled the stairwell and suddenly all firing from below them was turned on the new presence that was flinging bodies away from it. The hook in Nawe's foot was wrenched free, pulling the skin off his foot with it and he clutched at the gaping wound, howling as his blood seeped between his clenched fingers.
"He's here!" gasped Asajj, distracted by the turbulent presence of Kenobi as he tore the blasters from the hunters' grasps. The distraction was enough to cause a bolt to fly through Ventress' thigh and she screamed out her failure and the pain that shot through her body as she collapsed against the wall.
Another howl from Kenobi saw him leap up past the fallen pair to the hunters above them and a terrifying gurgling sound descended on them. Asajj realized Obi-Wan was using his bare hands to rip into the hunters and the lifeless body of one of them fell past, a stream of blood pouring from the gaping hole in his throat.
"No!" exclaimed Ventress to the surprise of Nawe, who still clutched his damaged foot. But he mistook her cry as a moment of compassion for their assailants, when really what she felt was the darkness that was enveloping her rescuer. Obi, the light beacon, was cruelly tainted, she could see that and feel that as he continued to decimate the attackers.
"Obi-Wan, Stop! This isn't you!" she screamed, "help us get out of here, please!"
That seemed to do the trick, the desperation in her voice had Obi-Wan spin around and he saw her pleading eyes. She looked on him in horror at his right, blood red eye and his brow furrowed in apology for his recklessness. The man he had been holding at bay raised his concealed knife to strike at Obi-Wan's throat, but Obi's head snapped around as he lifted his free hand and twisted it, using the force to snap the man's wrist. He then dumped the writhing body over the rail and down the stairwell leaving the remaining hunters staring on in horror at the fate of their companion.
Obi turned to them, his face becoming stern once again as he looked on the cowering fellows.
"Tell Ameda I know it was him that cast this roll and I have the proof, so he had better leave me and mine alone. Do you understand?"
The frozen men nodded once before Obi used the force to push them back through the door which he barricaded with a twisted part of the railing he ripped from the stairwell. Then he dashed to the stricken Nawe and Asajj. He cast his eyes down, unable to meet their gazes with his own, feeling ashamed by his viscious actions and the guilt at the healed eye that he didn't deserve to be looking at them with.
"Can you move?" he asked of them, assessing their injuries. Nawe was losing a lot of blood, but Asajj's wounds seemed quartirized. Instinctively, Obi went to rest his hands on Nawe to heal the wound, but something stopped him. He suddenly froze feeling a battle inside of himself. Nawe and Asajj stared at each other for a moment, not sure what was happening, when the tension suddenly broke as R2 rose up on his jets. His whistle had Obi whisk around and he stared at the droid then back to Asajj and Nawe.
"R2, take Nawe, I have Asajj," and with that he scooped her up into his arms and leapt as she had with Nawe up the rest of the stairs to the roof. He kicked the door open and sprinted to the glowing force presence of his old teacher.
"Ar, good to see you once again it is, my friend."
"No time, they need help and we need to leave, now!" gasped Obi as he lay Asajj down at Yoda's feet.
"Your skills they need, better than mine by far in this area, proven that you have already."
"No!" snapped Obi, angry that Yoda would suggest he touch them to heal them. That was tapping into a part of himself he just wasn't ready to confront at the moment. By using those skills he was confirming that his own healing was legitimate somehow and that was the last thing he felt, so healing someone else was only going to sink him further into his personal hell, rather than truly assist the injured party. How did he know that such contact wouldn't merely pass on this tainted feeling that seeped into his consciousness into another host to ravage as it was ravaging him with every action he took. He shivered at the thought of his hands being used as such violent weapons inflicting such sloppy, pain inducing kills and the fact that at the instant of the kill he had secretly reveled in it. He had to get off that building, now!
"We need to get going before more of Ameda's goons show up," he said changing the subject.
Obi looked at the craft Yoda and Asajj must have used to get there.
"What a piece of junk! We can't get off world in that thing! What were you thinking?"
"That best thing at the time we found was. Hard for Jedi to find way off world it is now."
"You shouldn't even be here! The plan was for you to get the younglings off world before –"
He couldn't take this right now. His emotions were raging, he was furious with them all for being there and he wasn't even sure why. But talking only seemed to make things worse.
"I'm leaving," he called and stumbled into the transport feeling drained, but he headed for the cockpit to get it ready to leave.
"Take us here, you will," said Yoda suddenly right behind him.
"What!" exclaimed Obi in shock, not expecting the Jedi master to be almost on his shoulder.
"Here you will take us. From there a ship we will find."
"You're kidding, right! A diner?"
"Trust your old teacher, you will Obi-Wan. Much to discuss when get there we have."
"I just want to get off this planet," said Obi as he started the engines. Nawe and Asajj were situated in the back of the craft at this point where R2 and Yoda took care of them while Obi flew the small vessel low over the Coruscant surface with the lights off, the force guiding him through the maze of buildings to their destination.
/Something is very wrong/ said Asajj to the Jedi master as her eyes never left the back of Obi's head. /He's not well, he's more unbalanced than I've ever sensed him to be./
/Agree with you I do, young one./ conceded Yoda, /but little we can do to help him here. Soul healer, he needs and neither of us fill that role can./
"Aid your recovery this will Hero Nawe," said Yoda out loud to the quiet lad and he placed his hands on the boy's foot stemming the flow of blood and guiding the flesh to bond together. It was a patch up job, but it would keep for the time being. Just as Asajj was gazing at the back of Obi's head, Nawe was staring with deep concern at his former captain.
"Master Yoda, my I ask you something?" he enquired quietly, not wanting Obi-wan to hear him. Yoda merely nodded while treating Asajj for her injuries.
"Is…is he..alright? I mean, I've never seen him actually get angry before. He seems so…different."
Yoda nodded again.
"Hurt deeply inside he is, healed he needs to be. Calm we must be and patient with him."
"I hear you all talking about me, by the way, can't tell you how much I appreciate the secrecy!" called Obi from the pilot's seat. "And I'm fine, I just need to get a descent sleep, for crying out loud! Now either talk to me like I'm actually present, or quit talking all together! We're here, by the way."
And he landed the ship in the parking lot to the diner Yoda had indicated. Feeling uncomfortable remaining in their presence after hearing the two conversations, he left the ship as quickly as he could to breath in the relatively cool Coruscant air. Of course, it was obvious he was anything but fine, but he was damned if he was going to admit that to them as they discussed his health behind his back. Why were they even in this ridiculous part of the planet, anyway? The place looked completely dead, their's was the only ship in the lot, but he had to admit getting something to eat was a good idea, although what that had to do with a ship was beyond him. He stumbled a couple of steps to the wall of the diner, holding himself against it as a deep ache took over all his muscles and he took a series of deep breathes. It had been quite an adventure, rescuing Nawe and finding Asajj there too, then getting to the roof and seeing Yoda still here on Coruscant. That had been overwhelming, his light beacon within the force singeing at Kenobi's tortured soul and making all communication prickly and painful. How could he have made Asajj stay here with him with so much danger surrounding them. It also left the younglings out there vulnerable to Maul's influence. Didn't they realize this was exactly what the sith wanted? The Jedi scattered and the younglings unprotected. If he were out there that's what he'd be doing in Maul's place, seeking out the vulnerable and playing them against each other, finding the strongest and bending them to his will to create a grand army of the sith, and hang the rule of two, he would be creating his own myth of the sith to see the order last a thousand years of war and conflict throughout the -
NO!, That wasn't what he wanted at all! Oh how his head ached, how he hated the ease with which his darker thoughts consumed his conscious mind. Without realizing what he was doing, he was banging his head to the wall with a steadily increasing force, the pain it generated draining all the pain and internal hiss of the mess Palpatine had left behind.
A warm hand was placed on his shoulder, but it quickly felt like a fire was burning through his flesh at the touch and he spun around swatting the offending hand away, wanting to be furious with the owner of the hand, only to look in complete shock on the Diner's owner.
"Dex!" he exclaimed at the appearance of his old friend and grabbed the basalisks shoulders to steady himself as he felt his body begin to shake, overwhelmed by the emotions he was feeling towards the heavily scarred Dex.
"Dex I.." he could feel his body heaving as great sobs of guilt, hurt, relief, frustration, so much his body and mind was having difficulties dealing with. He was suddenly thrown back to the small shuttle trapped in Maul's grip. There were four of them on that shuttle, weren't there? Where was Boba?
"Boba!" he gasped, feeling confused and constricted, "Where is he? Did Maul take him?" He began to scan his surroundings for the boy, still clutching Dex's shoulders. "I can't see him. What's the point of getting a new eye if I can't see anything! Is he safe?"
The concerned look Dex gave him was mistaken for pity and Ben pulled away from him.
"I don't need your pity, you old basalisk, just answer the question!"
"Which one?" Dex asked calmly to the startled Ben. He was still shaking, his head aching terribly and his fresh eye incredibly sore and scratchy. He shook his head and rubbed at his eyes coming back from the transport ship to find himself at the back of Dex's diner.
"Let's get you inside with a nice cup of Java juice, lad," said Dex softly and wrapped his arms around Ben for support.
"Don't patronize me!" exclaimed Ben, "I know you think I'm damaged somehow, that I can't cope with all this," and he waved his hands around at the small group gathered in the parking lot and then up to his new eye, "but I'm perfectly capable of seeing myself into a 2-bit diner."
He flung his arms around him, hugging himself after feeling suddenly terribly cold and very alone. They couldn't understand, none of them could, he was changing both physically and mentally and their looks of horror, pity and regret were tearing him apart. He just wanted them to leave him alone, he wanted to slip away, find somewhere quiet to meditate but he slumped along into the diner instead. He found a booth at the back of the joint and slid in deep into the corner, sliding down to rest his head on the leather cushion, hiding himself as much as possible from them. However, he couldn't help feeling that perhaps a Java juice wasn't such a bad idea.
The others entered quietly and sat together at the other end of the place, Nawe huddled in the corner with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders courtesy of Dex, who returned with steaming cups of Java juice for them all. He slid Obi-Wan's over the table to him, but got no response from the prone figure, so returned to the others at Yoda's request. Yoda and Asajj sat the other side of the booth to Nawe and Dex, neither talking for the moment, waiting for the maelstrom of Obi's presence to drift into sleep, which it did pretty quickly once he had settled down.
"So, what's the plan?" asked an exhausted looking Nawe. He'd lost a good amount of blood from his foot wound and it still pained him, but his mind was preoccupied with getting Obi of world and to people who could help him.
"I have a ship that might suit us," said Dex to the assembled group. He looked up to the booth where the limp body of his friend was lying, but a quick glance to Yoda told him the lad was not to be disturbed. It was clear the former captain needed to decide when he could face the group once again, and although it was a risk, Yoda was willing to take it. Obi-Wan might not want to come back to them, but Yoda had faith in the boy, even now, that he would choose the path leading back to his friends.
"Tell us of this ship, you must, but wrong something is, yes?"
Dex sighed, the gnome knew everything!
"Yes, master Yoda, the price for the ship is extremely high, even with my contacts and calling in all the old favors I have on this ghastly world. I'm afraid everyone wants to leave the planet and there just aren't enough transports, especially for our little mission here," and he pointed to Nawe and Obi.
Yoda nodded in agreement.
"Help with that, I can," he said and grinned at the four armed Dex.
/He's up to something/ thought Asajj casually, her thigh throbbing, but feeling better thanks to some guidance she had received from Padme during her stay on Tatooine. She wasn't about to ask the gnome for more help and he seemed OK with that.
A low moan from the hidden Obi-Wan had her attempting to leap up in concern, however, and she was about to go to him when Yoda laid his hand on her shoulder.
"Time it is not for your true reunion," he said quietly, "rest he needs and distance from us all for now, give him."
From the sounds he was making, he didn't seem to be getting any rest, but the gnome hadn't led her wrong yet and she'd learned a thing or two from him too since meeting him at the Jedi temple after all this craziness had ensued and they'd been thrown together to survive the Jedi Order dissolution. She was feeling pretty exhausted herself after so much exertion and her injuries so despite her desire to listen to the gnome and basalisk talk she found herself drifting off and quickly slumped into the seat and dozed off.
She was walking through shadows, and pulled back darkened curtains as she tried to find her way through the mirky surroundings. Someone was screaming, tormented by an unknown assailant and she knew she needed to get to them, whoever they were, they needed her.
She gulped down several breathes of air as she recognized the Nar Shaddar holding cell she had been dumped in during her ordeal with Dooku and paused in her journey. Maybe she didn't want to go any further inside, maybe those calls and cries were her own. She had not been able to completely recall her torment in this place and Padme had warned her that potential flashbacks might occur and there was always the fear in the back of her mind that the rage she had managed to control with the force sensitives she had been thrown in with recently would crash out of her and hurtle her back into the dark cycle Maul had wanted her to follow.
Another mournful, despairing cry of pain came from the cell ahead and she realized this was not her voice, it was far too deep, too masculine, too hauntingly familiar, she had caused such a scream to come from that throat, she vaguely remembered when trying to heal him herself in her confusion after the Krayt dragon attack.
She couldn't abandon him now, no matter what location she found herself in. She stepped forward cautiously, not really wanting to see her rescuer in torment, but feeling obligated to go to his aid. She edged to the cell door where his huddled form was twitching in between kicks and hits from another figure present. It was suddenly obvious to Asajj that both men were Kenobi and they had been fighting each other tooth and nail from the looks of things, but the one on the floor was the worse for wear at this point. Another scream came from that Kenobi on the floor as he was kicked savagely in the stomach, a spray of blackened blood emptying from his body. He looked up to see Asajj, his pale blue eyes glistening with tears and his skin covered in sweat. The other figure immediately spun around, it's yellow and red eyes gleaming through the bloodied and beaten face and he laughed out and then lunged at her, startling her to wakefulness.
She shot up out of her seat and rushed to Obi who was tossing and turning on his bench, shivering. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him awake, only to get blasted across the diner as he released a powerful force wave to shove the presence he felt shaking him as far away from himself as he could. The loud crash of her body hitting a table at the opposite end of the diner had all eyes focus on the recovering Obi.
He couldn't believe what he had done, staring for a moment at his outstretched hand, the horror of his actions on waking, once again hurting someone who was just trying to help him. He clambered from the booth and raced from the diner, desperate to get away from them all before someone, anyone else got hurt, or worse, he lost the battle inside himself allowing him to turn into the one thing he couldn't bear to become. He felt as beaten down as the dream had left him, the red/yellow eyed version of himself feeding off the aggression he had felt towards the hunters for harming his friends, and the frustration at finding Yoda and Ventress still in harm's way after the plan had been for them to flee. It never occurred to him that they had done that for his sake, rather it was further proof of the failure of his plan and he felt like another weight had landed on him.
He could sense his old teacher following him as he had started to wander through the Coruscant back streets, but he really didn't care. He was damned if he was going to acknowledge the interfering gnomes presence and the fact that there was no one around this part of town allowed him the freedom to continue his walk-about.
After wandering for a few more blocks, however, he stopped and hung his head, the weakness creeping back into his limbs and he breathed a heavy sigh. He sensed Yoda behind him still keeping his distance, waiting for Obi-Wan to make the first move.
/I'm still running away, aren't I? Even after all these years, I'm still running away from that fight, that moment of hate. And the little gnome knows it!/
He turned to see the Jedi master sitting on an upturned box, using his stick to push at a pile of discarded food containers.
"Hmph," he said, almost clearing his throat as Obi's attention was placed on him. "Always preferred 'old troll' to be thought of. Old gnome from where I do not know came."
Obi chuckled at the Master's words, feeling somehow comforted with the thought the master could sense them.
"I have to stop running," confessed Obi-Wan quietly, "but I'm not sure how to do that."
Yoda looked up at the disheveled visage of his former student. Dark and light forces were battling ferociously inside him and twisted around him, pulling him in every direction `to get a hold on his soul, but that beacon of force within Obi-Wan was still burning, just muted by the damage Sideous and Maul had inflicted on him. It was not a question of hope to save the young man at this point, but a question of time that the healing would need to get the Obi he knew existed, the one so much greater than the hacked up shell standing before him. And he smiled warmly, realizing that his affection for Obi-Wan was what the boy needed to see. He opened his arms and waited, never taking his eyes from the turbulent storms of Obi's, one dark blue, the other still a swirling mass of red and purple.
Obi was startled to see his master appearing so open to him. For a heart stopping moment the darkness within him swirled up, wanting to crush the creature in his own trick, but Obi knew better than to trust such feelings and took a tentative step forward, his face softening and the start of a smile creeping towards his features. Yoda took a step towards him and Obi knelt down to receive the embrace he desperately needed. This physical contact was a real booster to his internal strength and although still feeling generally exhausted, his mind seemed clearer and his limbs lost some of their heaviness and pain.
"First step, this is. Much work this will take. But at your side, always, will you find us."
"Us?" questioned Obi, but he felt her presence even before he looked up into her deep purple eyes full of concern.
"I'm so sorry," he blurted out, rising to move to her," Are you hurt?" and he scanned her body as she backed away a little, suddenly intimidated by his concern for her.
"I'm – " she began, but a lump was forming in her throat with the threat of tears not far behind. The dream had been bad enough, returning her to the scene of her torment and then to be confronted by the hateful persona of Kenobi had shaken her to the core. Her back still ached from where she had landed on the table after his throw, after she had only wanted to get him as far away from that place as she wished to get. So she was unsure how to approach him and had wanted to remain in the diner, but something had drawn her to him, a mutual pain she knew she could help him overcome if he would only accept her help. She stopped speaking, however, when she saw the look of genuine euphoric surprise on his face.
"You're talking!" he exclaimed and clasped her shoulder, "Of course you're talking! You were talking in the stairwell, I heard you myself. This is wonderful!" His genuine smile was like a wash of fresh energy through her system, she'd never felt anything like that before and she stood dumb struck in front of him just gazing into his eyes. A sense of relief swept over her and she was suddenly laughing uncontrollably at the ridiculously jubilant man before her. His infectious smile was the complete opposite from either visage from her dream and her only response to his sudden emotional change was her own uncharacteristic behavior, a laugh she wasn't even aware she could achieve. It broke all the tension that had been between them and he found himself laughing also.
Just as they both seemed to calm down, Yoda cleared his throat and they looked down on the old troll. His ears twitched, causing his white tufts of hair to fan out around his proportionally large head. They looked back at each other and immediately burst back into deep roles of laughter, tears streaming down their cheeks. For his part, the Jedi Master began to hobble back to the diner, confident the two would soon join him and the others.
"Hmph," he grumbled as he passed the pair, "Hungry I am. Yinpatta stew I need."
After a few more moments, Obi-Wan's breathing eased as he came down from the high created by his laughing. The tension was rising again between them, but he knew it would never be as bad as it had been earlier, and perhaps his self imposed cocoon could do with some cracks to let his friends in. That laugh from Vetntress was worth hearing again.
"I needed that, thank you." He said breathlessly.
"Me too," came Asajj's reply between her receding giggles, and she wiped the tears from her face. She knew he was still deeply hurting, but something had shifted him closer to her and she was determined to cling to any hold she could get on his light side. She would never see those red and yellow eyes within his face again.
"We should really find out what those three have been planning in our absence," said Obi and he too wiped his face with his hands, the tears having a cleansing effect on his skin, "and the thought of Yinpatta stew is too tempting to pass up."
They started the walk back to the diner in silence. For Obi it was because he just needed to find a moment of peace to himself without having to communicate with anyone. To him the silence was a comfort. To Asajj, it was more like a barrier between them that she wanted to break through, but knew it had to be Obi who did that. It was becoming uncormfortable for her, however and she finally broke the silence as she spoke softly.
"What is Yinpatta stew, anyway?"
"You've never had -?" came Obi's startled reply and he sighed, reaching over to place his arm around her shoulder, "well, you're in for a treat, it's the best stew in the galaxy. That'll put hairs on your head!"
And as the two companions made their way back to the diner ….
Grievous stalked through the medical frigate, his dark cape swept behind him. The click of his curled toes had the crew quickly shuffling out of his way as he moved through the ship. The detention section of the facility was teaming with insipid life as the captured force sensitive fugitives Maul had him accumulating were struggling with their droid minders, some fighting to maintain their Jedi nature, others writhing in desperation as the force was removed from their grasp by the drugs his work force was pumping into them. Each one was being isolated from their fellows in slightly different ways, all to test the best ways to bring the beings under control. They had only managed to secure five creatures so far, but the reports from Grievous networks were bringing in countless opportunities to exploit as more of the ex-Jedi were sent to their home worlds. They were becoming such easy prey and although Grievous was a warrior at heart and wanted to get back to the front lines of this expanding conflict, he could see the usefulness in his bosses experiments. There was a young Togruta female who was giving them some trouble, but Maul had singled her out early after they had found her defending the broken body of her master and she had taken out a full battalion of their droids before succumbing to their superior numbers. If Grievous felt admiration, he would have felt it for this child, but all he saw now was a potential lieutenant of exceptional quality that Maul could bring to full potential.
He continued through the ship to Maul's suite, where he found the sith once again submerged in the bacta treatment that was completing his healing. The wound to his stomach from the plating had almost killed the Zabrak and the skin around the closed wound still looked angry and inflamed. But the severed leg was much improved, he would be ready for the permanent prosthetic after the next treatment. He had spent the last two days, when out of the tank, getting the fitting correct and calibrating the servos to the perfect balancing point for his body. It was painstakingly tiring work, even for the sith lord who had become so frustrated at the lack of progress on one occasion that he had shattered his bacta tank with the twisted remains of one of the service droids Grievous had assigned to him. Needless to say, all the droids were now reticent to assist the sith, but what choice did they have? The two present now chatted to themselves over the changes they had made to Maul's specifications while he continued his healing.
Grievous waved his hand at them and they left the room as the general circled the tank contemplating breaking the news of Kenobi's escape to him. He couldn't put this off, Maul would undoubtedly find out and have his limbs removed rather more painfully and inconveniently than Grievous would like, so he ran his hand over the controls and Maul's eyes immediately shot open as his body floated to the top of the tank.
/This had better be good, Grievous/ he thought out to the general below him. Grievous was still finding this form of communication very disconcerting and shook his head to clear his thoughts as he felt the sith's presence billow over his mind. He had to cough violently for a few moments until he could regain his composure. His hatred of the Jedi Order had driven him to the separatist cause and Maul's assurances that he would be able to eradicate that Order had certainly come true, now the general merely craved revenge against those force sensitives who clung to the delusion of the Jedi way and Maul was allowing him to indulge his vengeance with their force sensitive captives, so the discomforts of Maul's leadership were tolerable, for now. The need for the mind intrusion was the breathing mask Maul refused to remove until he was completely free of the bacta treatment, finding it a tedious waste of time to remove the apparatus every time he had to descend from the tank.
"My lord," Grievous began, "Kenobi is missing on Coruscant, the senate let him slip through their fingers."
Maul's reaction surprised him. The sith chuckled in his head, it felt like ice picks piercing his soul and he shivered despite himself.
/What concern is this to me,/ Maul slipped back into the bacta, /What do I care for one lost soul within the maelstrom of talent that lies at my feet merely waiting to be scooped up and educated to the path of the sith. My new order will rise up to meet the fools who bathe themselves in the light even now and we will have a conflict to last millennia as we battle across this galaxy and the next. As for Kenobi, he will join us soon enough of his own free will, and I will have him crippled at my feet before I give you the pleasure of separating his head from his body. Now leave me in peace!/
The last sentence spiked within Grievous' mind to bring the general to his knees, as Maul established his dominance in their dynamic. The cyborg was unable to prevent the gasp escape his voice box as the spike within his mind continued to dig in deep, making sure the point was drummed home in the subordinate. Maul continued to chuckle as he sank back below the bacta surface and released the general from his mind. If Obi-Wan thought to escape him so easily, he was sorely mistaken, their end game was about to begin and he could feel the dark side of the force throbbing with anticipation at their final confrontation.