Chapter 17 – Little Bouquet

"Where are we, this isn't Kalevala," Said Obi-Wan as he looked over Anakin's dash.

"Nope, we're making a pit-stop," announced Anakin. "Come on. Trust me, it's for the best." Anakin waved the others to follow, while Obi-Wan and Yoda stood there giving him critical looks.

Anakin led them to a flower shop. "Jessie," he greeted a smiling attendant.

"Anakin, are you in trouble again?" Jessie chided.

Anakin laughed. "No, at least I hope not. This is my friend Obi-Wan. He's in trouble with his girlfriend, and he's gonna need your special treatment."

"Okay, tell me something about your girl. What are her favorite flowers?" Jessie asked.

"Um…" Obi-Wan hummed.

"Gee, he's worse than you were. Let's try a different tactic. What sort of trouble are you in?" she turned and fixed her eyes carefully on Obi-Wan.

"I did nothing wrong." Obi-Wan curtly replied.

She laughed, "Don't say that to your girl. Flowers can only do so much."

"Left her nine months ago, he did. Recently discovered she was pregnant, we have," Yoda answered and Obi-Wan's eyes snapped to his.

Jessie's eyes became very big. "I see. Now I recommend a big bouquet, we call this one the Anakin foot in the mouth special." She gave a light chuckle. "And I'm going to put in a miniature bouquet too, for your little one."

"Is this really necessary," Obi-Wan complained.

"Hurt, it cannot," Yoda responded.

"Yes, yes it is. Trust a married man to know when a woman is ticked off. And gifts are one of the best ways to apologize," Anakin added.

"Indeed. Your interest, it will show. Logical, Anakin is." Yoda nodded.


Satine honestly didn't expect Obi-Wan would ever show up. If he got her message at all, she supposed he'd hide it or leave it behind like one of his filthy attachments he needed to be rid of. When she looked out and saw his goofy face behind a humongous display of flowers, she almost laughed. Then she remembered the pain of waiting for that man, and finally realizing she wasn't good enough for him. That he was never coming back.

"Satine," he cautiously put forth.

"If you think a bouquet of flowers is all it's going to take to…" Suddenly something cought her eye. In the whole bundle of flowers, there was a smaller bundle tied together and lying on top of the other blossoms. "What's this?" She uncrossed her arms to pick it up.

"Oh, it's a little bouquet, for a little girl." Obi-Wan answered.

Tears came to Satine's eyes. "Oh, you bought her flowers!" Somehow the idea of her Obi doing something just for their girl made her feel loved again. Even if it was the idea of a flower shop attendant, the fact that he, of all people, could be talked into it meant something to her. "Come inside."


"I need to explain," Obi-Wan said as soon as he was through the door.

Satine looked back at him with her eyes full of anger, though inside she felt nothing but pain and anguish.

Obi-Wan stopped and faltered for a second. "The Imperial Navy was setting up blockades in this system. If I stayed…"

"The Empire now. It's the empire that made you leave us." She didn't believe him. "It's not that you were a Goaty-Chicken and ran away when it got serious." She felt the least he could do was to admit the truth.

Obi-Wan glared. "I left for your sake. To protect you."

"Protect me! I've spent the last nine months avoiding those same checkpoints. Dodging the same imperial navy. All to keep your daughter safe."

Obi-Wan stood there, seemingly at a loss for words.

"The Goaty-Chicken again, so afraid of fatherhood that he leaves us, but it's for our own good."

Obi-Wan's eyes got big, and his mouth opened in shock. "You never told me you were..."

"I only found out that morning. Don't deny it. Aren't you Jedi supposed to be more perceptive. Did the Force tell you I was pregnant?"

"No Satine, I left to protect you from the empire. I did not know about the baby. If I had…" Tears were in his eyes.

"At first, I thought the empire was tracking me. For what reason I couldn't know, but everywhere I went those dogs would soon follow. Then one day I caught one in our daughter's room. That's how I learned about her force sensitivity. They were never after me. They were after her."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should have been there for you. I honestly thought you'd be safer without me."

Satine didn't know what she felt. In so short a time her emotions were rubbed raw. She wanted to believe him. Wanted to accept that he was really here for her, but she was still in too much pain. So she put on a tough face and continued into her daughter's room.


"Ella-Reese, look what your daddy brought you." Satine put on a smile and placed the little bouquet in a vase in the child's room.

Obi-Wan stopped when he saw the baby. "Oh my!" he breathed out.

"She is yours." Satine quickly replied with a threat under her breath.

Obi-Wan let out a deep breath. "She's mine. And her name is Ella-Reese." Obi-Wan took a step towards the crib and looked down on the sleeping infant in awe. He reached out and touched the little fingers of his daughter's hand.

Does he really want this? Could he want us? Maybe he was telling the truth before. Satine thought.

Then a buzz from Obi-Wan's comm interrupted the moment. "Yes," he answered it.

"They've got a sweep in progress. You've got to get out of there now." Came the voice on the other end.

"Was that Anakin?" Suddenly all of Satine's hope left her. "You've brought the Jedi?"

"Yoda thinks there's an inquisitor with the fleet, and they've likely sensed us," Anakin went on.

"You have brought the Jedi," Satine accused.

"Yes, but the order's different now. We've changed a lot of things," Obi-Wan responded.

Satine took out a bag and began to pack it with all the child's belongings. It kept her from crying. She was prepared for her daughter to be raised in the strict attachment free way of the Jedi order, anything to keep her safe, but for a moment there she had hoped Ella-Reese would be raised with her father.

"Let me help. You can get your own things." Obi-Wan tried to wrestle the bag out of her hands.

"No, I won't be going with you." Satine was no longer able to keep back the rush of tears. "I told you on the message. I don't want to pick this up again. I'm not going to be waiting every other night wondering if you're even coming home. I can't do that to myself again. But you need to take her. Keep her safe. Even if it's with the Jedi."

Obi-Wan dropped the bag and gasped for breath. The look he gave her was so filled with pain that she almost lost her nerve and hugged him right there. Instead she pulled away and continued packing.

"Please Satine," Obi-Wan's voice was strained.

"I've avoided the Empire well enough up till now. I'll go to Cheravh. I know some people who've settled there. Just tell me, will she be trained? Will she become a Jedi?"

"I..." Obi-Wan looked out in thought, then he nodded. "Yes. I'll train her myself, and with the order we'll…"

"You'll train her?" Satine looked up into his eyes.

"Yes. We're doing things differently now. If you could only see it. Come to Tatooine and I'll show you."

Satine shook her head. "I can't do that, Obi. Not yet. Just prove it with her. Prove you're ready to form an attachment with your daughter. Raise her with love and, and, maybe in the future, I'll come."

Poor Obi had tears in his eyes as he gave her a resigning nod. "I promise, she will be raised with love."


Obi-Wan made his way to the ship, carrying the bag Satine had packed over his shoulder, and a tiny infant in the crook of his arm.

"Where's Satine," Anakin asked.

"She's not coming," Obi-Wan simply stated. Anakin seemed to understand that he didn't want to say more on the subject, and he turned back to start the ship. Obi-Wan placed the bag on the floor and sat down in a rear seat.

"Fascinating, it is. Like her father, she looks." Yoda said.

Obi-Wan laughed, and pulled his daughter closer to look at her face. "I think she looks more like her mother." The little girl opened her eyes and looked up at him in wonder. "Hello there, Ella-Reese. I'm your daddy." He couldn't help but smile as he was filled with wonder and joy. Anakin looked back and smiled at him.

Did Anakin know it would feel like this. Is this why he's been smiling since he found out? Obi-Wan questioned to himself.


"Oh my! I did not expect this from Obi-Wan. Not Obi-Wan Kenobi." Padme had finished watching the holo-recording for the third time and listening to the full account of his confession from the Lars's.

"Yup, safe to say none of us were expecting it either," said Beru.

"You know what, we've still got Leia's old crib in storage. He's gonna need one," said Padme.

"And I've designed and redesigned our future nursery like five times now," Beru said, she looked up with excitement. "It'll be nice to put some of them to use. Experiment a little."

"I suppose I wouldn't mind helping you take that crib out of storage, and setting it up when they get back," Owen offered.

"Oh, we'll have to wait till they get back, that's right," said Beru. Both women pouted.

Cliegg sighed. "I do have an extra key to his apartment. Found it this morning and I was going to give it to him tonight, but…"

Padme and Beru squealed with delight, as they got up and prepared to design the new nursery.


Hello,

I hope I wrote this well enough that you understand Satine's motives for sending away her child, that you understand her reason for not going with Obi-Wan, and can feel for her along the way. I don't really have any more immediate plans for Satine, though the way I left it I could easily pick things up again if the characters played along, and inspiration strikes me. We'll have to wait and see.

Thank you to everyone who've been commenting and leaving reviews. This story is quickly becoming my most commented on story (especially on A03), and I love reading all you have to say. Another reminder, I do cross post on A03, under the same username. There are things I prefer about both sites, and I assume you all have your own preferences as well.