ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝔸𝕃 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 1}

【 SEVENTEEN 】

     ɪ ᴏɴʟʏ ʜᴜɴɢ ᴜᴘ ᴏɴ ᴏʙɪ-ᴡᴀɴ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴀᴄᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴏᴠᴇʀ. Even from the hangar I could hear the deafening roar of the crowd, cheering, and my heart rate spiked.

"They're done," I breathed. "Kriff, I need to get back to Qui-Gon and the others."

"Go," Obi-Wan instructed me. "And stay calm, Emeré. Don't let your emotions cloud your judgement."

I laughed wrly as I made my way out of the hangar, making way for people beginning to shuffle their pods in. "You're starting to sound like Qui-Gon."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Obi-Wan asked proudly.

"Of course." But I couldn't help but feel my heart sink. It was Obi-Wan's dream to become a Jedi Knight, possibly to be on the Council. If we became friends, lovers, what have you--that would be all over for him, wouldn't it?

Only if the Council found out.

That small voice in the back of my head was back, and I groaned aloud, starting to jog toward our viewing platform. "Shut up," I told myself. "The Council would easily find out."

Not if you tried hard enough. The voice seemed to laugh at me. Besides. You're not the only one struggling with these feelings.

I swallowed hard as a couple of my memories of Obi-Wan trickled to the surface of my memory...

"I like you, Emeré," Obi-Wan had said to me back on Naboo. "But I don't want to."

Later, when I'd been out on Tatooine, and Obi-Wan had called me, just for me, just for my company, when I'd asked him why, he'd replied, in regards to us keeping away from each other, with, "Turns out, I don't want to."

I raised a hopeful eyebrow. "Does that mean I should... admit my feelings to him?" I asked that voice in my head.

But the voice didn't respond. That voice was me... it was no wiser than I was.

The choice was entirely up to me.

"Emmy!"

I jerked my head upward curiously, my thoughts spiraling away. The viewing platform the group was a part of was sliding downward, Padmé's face bending over the edge and noticing mine through the swimming crowd. She looked elated, euphoric, jubilant. And at once, I knew who'd won.

Before the platform even touched the ground, Padmé had jumped out and was barrelling at me. She collided with me with such force we almost tumbled over, but I held my ground, laughing at her antics.

"He did it, Emmy!" She cried. "Anakin--he won the race! You should have seen the last lap, he was neck and neck with Sebulba, but then their pods collided, and Sebulba crashed, and-" Padmé's eyes widened, noticing something over my shoulder. "Here he comes!"

"Wha-" Was all I had the chance to say before she grabbed my hand and pulled me off, following eagerly behind Qui-Gon and Shmi to get to the little boy who had just saved us... and earned his own freedom.

Qui-Gon, with his speed and agility, was the first to reach Anakin. The boy was standing in his pod, looking in excitement at the crowd surrounding him with cheers. As Qui-Gon approached, Anakin high-fived him, then laughed as Qui-Gon secured him under his arms and lifted him up onto his shoulder.

Shmi, Padmé and I were right behind him, laughing and clapping along with the crowd. "Mom!" Anakin cried excitedly, noticing her approach. "Mom, I did it!" Shmi lifted a triumphant arm into the air, and Anakin laughed again. "YEAH!"