Chapter 7
They made their way back to where he'd left the eopie. Obi-Wan helped Lorna mount, then swung up behind her. The beast grunted in protest at the double load but set off at a steady pace when he clicked his tongue.
As they rode, Lorna watched as the last vestiges of twilight faded from the sky. The moons cast long shadows across the dunes, transforming the warm desert into an otherworldly landscape of silver and black. The air grew chill, and Lorna shivered, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders.
"It's not much further," Obi-Wan assured her.
She nodded, remaining silent. The gentle swaying of the eopie had a soothing effect, and she relaxed into the saddle. With Obi-Wan's solid, strong presence behind her, the weight of her physical and emotional exhaustion settled over her. The adrenaline and fear that had sustained her were fading fast. Fatigue seeped into her muscles until it took all of her energy just to stay upright on the saddle.
At last, she spotted a humble dwelling, little more than a dome of weathered stone half-buried in the sand. Obi-Wan dismounted and helped her down. He led the eopie to a small lean-to beside the hut, removing its saddle and giving it a pat before turning to her.
"It's not much," he said, clearing his throat as he gestured vaguely at his home. "But it's shelter from the sand and the cold."
She managed a wan smile in his direction. "After the last year, any refuge is welcome."
He swung open the door, ushering her inside. The rich, spicy scent of sapir tea greeted her as she entered. Her chest tightened slightly. The last time she'd had sapir tea, she had been in the Jedi Temple. She wondered where Obi-Wan had gotten this small luxury on such a remote planet.
His small lamp bathed the room in warm, golden light. She glanced around, unable to help her curiosity about this glimpse into the Jedi Master's home. A narrow cot tucked into a circular alcove, a battered table and chairs, a few crates that served as storage – sparse, but infinitely more welcoming than her room above Evo's.
"Please, sit," Obi-Wan gestured to one of the chairs. "I'll make us some tea."
She sank into the offered seat, her fingers absently tracing abstract patterns on the table's scarred surface. Her mind wandered in sluggish thoughts and half-formed plans as a profound weariness enveloped her.
The soft clink of a mug being set before her drew Lorna back to the present. Steam curled invitingly from the green liquid within, smelling of sapir leaves.
"I know you must have questions," he said, taking a seat across from her at the table. "As do I. But perhaps it's best if we both get some rest. We can talk in the morning."
She nodded, wrapping her hands around the warm mug. The heat seeped into her palms, chasing away the lingering chill of the desert night.
"Thank you," she said softly. "I just… you have no idea what a relief it is that I found you, Master Kenobi."
"I am sorry for... for how harsh I was with you outside the cantina," he said softly, staring into his mug. "Surely you can understand the necessity of keeping my identity a secret here. Please, at least in public, accustom yourself to calling me Ben. And whatever you do, don't call me Master." His brow furrowed slightly and he met her eyes, his gaze kind but serious in a way that brooked no argument.
"I understand," she agreed, a slight flush creeping into her cheeks as she realized how she had allowed her surprise at seeing him to momentarily cloud her senses outside the cantina. Of course, he could not use his real name in public as she did. Unlike herself, he was well-known in many places throughout the galaxy as a Jedi and a Clone War general.
They sipped their tea in companionable silence. Her eyes began to feel heavy. Obi-Wan rose and gestured to the cot.
"You take the bed," he said. "I'll be fine on the floor."
She started to protest, but a massive yawn cut her off. "If you're sure..."
"I insist."
As Lorna settled onto the bed, Obi-Wan retrieved an extra blanket and pillow from one of the storage crates and spread them on the floor nearby. She was asleep before he even extinguished the lamp, covering the hut in a blanket of darkness.
As Lorna awoke the next morning, she squeezed her eyes shut against the blinding sunlight streaming through the windows opposite her bed. For a moment, she forgot where she was. She abruptly sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and taking in her surroundings. When she noticed the table and chairs where she had sat the night before, her shoulders relaxed. Master Kenobi had brought her to his home.
As the fog of sleep cleared, questions that had been pushed aside by exhaustion the night before began to surface in her mind. She wondered where Obi-Wan was, but a quick scan of the hut confirmed he was not there.
She rose from the bed and shuffled to the table. The two teacups had been cleared away, replaced by a cup of water and a plate of bantha jerky and haroun bread. She realized she was ravenous.
She devoured the bread, then drained the water in long, grateful gulps. Grabbing a piece of jerky, she chewed the tough, salty meat as she headed for the door, curious about Obi-Wan's whereabouts.
When she opened the door, arid, dust-laden air surrounded her and she had to raise her arm to shield her eyes as they adjusted to the Tatooine sunlight. Walking around to the back of the hut, she spotted Obi-Wan under the lean-to with the eopie, scraping a thick-bristled brush over the skin on its flank.
"You're finally awake," he said with a slight smirk. "It's almost mid-day."
"I can't remember the last time I slept so well," Lorna admitted, stretching the last traces of sleep from her muscles.
Glancing around, she noticed other structures around the hut that she had not seen when they'd arrived in the dark. A moisture vaporator jutted up from the ground, taller than the hut. Connected to it was a transparent, dome-shaped structure that had been built from salvaged materials. Inside, Lorna could see an array of tubes and pipes that contained rows of green plants growing without any soil. The earthy smell of manure lingered in the dry desert air.
"I never pictured the famous General Kenobi tending crops," she remarked, unable to keep a note of surprise from her voice. And though she didn't say so, she also never pictured him looking quite so… unkempt. His auburn hair, once neatly styled, was long and windswept, the tidy beard now shaggy and uneven. The disheveled farmer before her stood in stark contrast to the legendary warrior she'd heard about during the Clone Wars.
He nodded towards the hydroponic structure. "This setup provides most of what I need. The rest I trade for or purchase in Mos Eisley. The less often I need to venture into town for supplies, the better. The self-sufficiency serves a purpose."
"How long have you been here?"
"Almost a year." So he had been here almost the entire time she had been in the Underworld. He finished brushing the eopie's skin, and the beast let out a satisfied grunt. He gave it a gentle pat then said, "There you go, girl. That ought to give you some relief from the sand mites."
"Why are you here?"
"Because it is an Outer Rim planet outside of the Empire's control," he answered shortly.
He walked over to the moisture vaporator and unspooled a hose coiled around its base. Carrying it to the lean-to, he released a valve and filled the eopie's small water trough.
There had to be some reason he'd chosen Tatooine, some reason he hadn't been looking for other Jedi survivors. Why he wasn't being forthcoming about it, she couldn't guess.
"But why here?" She tried not to let exasperation from his terse responses creep into her voice. "Where are Master Yoda and Master Windu and the rest of the Council? Why does Emperor Palpatine think the Jedi are traitors?"
Obi-Wan didn't look at her, but his shoulders tensed visibly as she spoke. She hadn't meant for her questions to all come forth at once, but she had been left in the dark for so long, she felt desperate for answers now that there was someone who might provide them.
He put the hose away and headed in the direction of the hut entrance. Lorna followed, her steps determined as she plodded through the sand.
Inside, Obi-Wan grabbed a rag and began wiping the sweat from where it had collected on his brow. "I promised you answers, Lorna, and I shall give them as best I can."
He sipped from a glass of water, swallowing hard. He gestured to the bed. "Please, sit."
She did as he asked and he pulled a chair over to sit across from her. She remained respectfully silent, waiting for him to speak, reminding herself that a Jedi was meant to show patience.
"You asked why the Emperor thinks the Jedi are traitors. Emperor Palpatine is a Sith Lord," he began.
Lorna's blood turned to ice in her veins. "How can that be?" she asked, her voice wavering.
But even as she said it, she realized it explained a lot of things. Her mind raced, piecing together fragments of information she'd gathered over the years. "The Sith... I remember when you defeated one on Naboo. My Master told me about it. She said it was the first Sith the Jedi had seen in a millennium."
Obi-Wan nodded gravely. "Yes, Darth Maul. We had hoped the threat had ended there, but we were wrong." His voice turned sardonic, a bitter smile twisting the edge of his mouth. She concentrated, recalling hushed conversations she'd overheard between Jedi Masters. "During the Clone Wars, there were whispers... Master Secura mentioned rumors of a Sith Lord secretly manipulating events from within the Republic. But Palpatine? He was the Supreme Chancellor. How could no one have known?"
"The Dark Side clouds everything," he said, his eyes hardening. "We were blind to the threat growing right before our eyes."
Her thoughts whirled as the pieces fell into place. "If Palpatine is the Sith Lord... it explains so much. Why he turned against the Jedi, why he's hunting us now. We were the only ones who could have stood against him."
His expression grew even more solemn. "The depth of Palpatine's deception goes beyond what any of us could have imagined. The Clone Wars, the fall of the Republic, the rise of the Empire - it was all part of his grand design to seize power."
She shivered as she grasped the full scope of Palpatine's deception. The galaxy had been reshaped by a plot so vast and intricate, it defied comprehension. And now, she and the other surviving Jedi were all that stood between the Sith and total domination of the galaxy.
"And the rest of the Council? Other Jedi? There have to be other survivors."
"I returned to the Temple after… after the order to execute the Jedi had been given." His eyes grew distant and guarded, and Lorna could sense pain and anger simmering beneath the surface of his thoughts. "I set the communication beacon with a message warning any other surviving Jedi away. I cannot be certain how many were saved on account of that. Master Yoda and I were the only surviving Masters from the Council, though I do not know where he went after I came here. As for other Jedi - I do not know. You are the first I've come across."
A prickling sensation burned behind Lorna's nose as her grief settled upon her. "So many dead…" she whispered, closing her eyes. Visions of that night at the Temple played in her mind, so she opened her eyes again, searching for something to focus on to keep the violent images away.
Her gaze met Obi-Wan's, his gray-blue eyes regarding her, reflecting the same haunted, grief-stricken expression she knew must be mirrored in her own. There was a small relief at simply being able to sit in her sorrow with someone who didn't merely sympathize but felt the truth of it deeply.
"You're the only Jedi I've seen since I escaped the Temple," she said softly.
At the mention of the massacre at the Temple, Obi-Wan's features tightened. She hesitated, acutely aware of a burning question she had been avoiding - the fate of Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan's former Padawan. But as she studied the lines of distress etched into Obi-Wan's face, she decided against broaching such a potentially painful topic. Some wounds, she sensed, were still too raw to probe.
"Where did you go after?" he asked, a little too quickly.
"I was able to hide in the Underworld for the last year. That was where I met my friends who were supposed to get me off-world."
She explained to him finally how she had met Niko and Sinya and how they had slowly learned to trust each other at Evo's. He listened attentively as she recounted the events in the hangar, his arms crossed over his chest. At the mention of the Inquisitor, he uncrossed them briefly to stroke his beard in contemplation.
"Then we must be cautious," he said, his voice grave. "If they can sense Force users, venturing into Mos Eisley could be dangerous for both of us."
"Master K–Ben," she caught herself, forcing herself to use his preferred alias finally. She already hated it.
"I understand the need for caution, but there is still the problem of my ship." She kept her tone as respectful as possible. "I need credits for repairs, which means finding work in town."
He rose from his seat and went to the kitchenette, filling a kettle with water for tea. "If we have patience, the Force will guide us." He looked at her with a small, tight smile. "Perhaps we can find alternative means to acquire what you need."
Her earlier annoyance at his reticence resurfaced. She still didn't understand why a Jedi Master of such fortitude was content to simply hide on a backwater Outer Rim world while a Sith controlled the galaxy.
"You don't really intend to just stay out here in the middle of nowhere indefinitely, do you?"
"Yes, actually," he replied dryly.
"But why?" She didn't say so, but the thought of going back to a life of hiding, leading a rudderless existence while clinging to survival, filled her with despair. She could not, would not, live like she had on Coruscant, cowering in the shadows.
He set the kettle on the electric burner and then turned to face her. "I've promised you my aid until you can repair your ship and continue on your way, and I shall give it. My path does not converge with yours beyond that. I am to remain here until the Force guides me elsewhere."
She studied his face, noting that he had not answered her question. But his tone made it clear he wasn't willing to elaborate further, so she opted not to push it.
He turned back to the stove. "Sometimes, young one, wisdom lies in knowing when to act and when to wait."
His advice reminded her of something Master Secura would say, she realized as the ache of her Master's absence emerged from her subconscious. She found herself wondering what Master Kenobi had been like as a mentor. A bold thought came to her.
"Well, if I'm to remain here for now, perhaps... perhaps you could continue my training?" She held her breath, watching his reaction carefully.
His eyebrows rose in surprise, conflicted emotions flickering across his face. "My days as a teacher are over," he said quietly.
Lorna's hopes deflated, but she pressed on, despite being aware of the weight her request placed on Obi-Wan's shoulders. "Please, I was so close to facing the Trials before... before everything happened. I know the Order is gone, but I need to be prepared for what comes next. Sith Lords, Inquisitors, the Empire–the galaxy has changed! I cannot afford to leave my training unfinished." She paused, then added softly, "You may not want to leave Tatooine, but I want to find other Jedi. I want to help them. If you could guide me while I'm here, even a little, it would mean everything."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes, a deep sigh escaping him. Lorna recognized the signs of meditation; he was reaching out to the Force for guidance. It surrounded him so powerfully that it seemed to hum with resonance, filling the small space between them. She felt almost envious of the strength of his connection.
When he opened his eyes again, there was a gentle resolve in his gaze. "Very well," he said at last. "We will begin your training tomorrow."