The Makings Of Greatness | Obi-Wan Kenobi

Angel

Obi-Wan's P.O.V.

"Cad Bane had said Darth Sidious put a bounty on my head a few days ago." Vale explains from where she's sitting on the table. "I'm not sure if he's still alive, but if he is... He's going to come for me again- Ouch! Hey!"

"Sorry, darling."

I mumble guiltily, while finishing up the stitches covering the cut on her waist. We're still on my ship, flying back to Coruscant. I'm patching up Vale's wound with the autopilot turned on; she's just finished explaining what happened since Cad Bane captured her.

Vale's Nighthunter companion is sleeping in the ship's corner, but every once in a while I'll see its ear turn when hearing us talk. I'm standing in front of Vale, who's sitting on the table, cleaning up her skin around the wound. Taking a white strip, I cover the stitches so they won't break when she moves.

"Do you know why Darth Sidious would want you?" I blurt out curiously while patting down the white strip. My eyes dart to her face and she shrugs and answers honestly. "No... I've done nothing to provoke him in the last two and a half weeks."

"Hm..."

I hum while dropping my hands from her waist and standing up straight. Vale's still in her slave attire. Her white fabric has dirt and blood marks. I would give her clothes to change into, but I didn't think to bring any with me.

Glancing at her body for any more wounds, I notice something red on her shoulder. Moving to closer to side of her body with the red shoulder, I inspect to see if it's another wound I need to patch up. That's when I see numbers in pale red; it looks like it's healing but it's still agitated.

Resting my hand just below the numbers, I frown in confusion of why that's there. In the next second, Vale whacks my hand away and turns her head so I can't see her expression. Scrunching my brows, I open my mouth to ask her about it, but just before words come out, I realize what the numbers are.

I didn't know they'd still brand slaves with identification numbers. Clenching my jaw, I move my eyes away from the branding scar. When my eyes go to Vale's face, I see her masking her expression.

Staring at her for a moment, I figure out what she's trying to hide. Vale is masking her discomfort, and it only takes me a second more to realize she's self-conscious. This is the first time I've ever seen her self-conscious about her scars.

Skimming my eyes over her scars, I realize that over the years her number of scars has only grown. Vale has two on her neck, a few on her back, a new one on her stomach, and three on her legs. Though, I think the one that's finally making her self-conscious is the one on her shoulder.

"Don't look at me like that, Kenobi."

Vale suddenly blurts out, annoyed and I realizing I've been staring at her scars for too long. When I catch her gaze, I know I'm staring at her in remorse. I watch her roll her eyes at me before snapping and getting off the table.

"Stop it. You're making me feel utterly exposed." Walking towards the cockpit, Vale acts with no emotion. "I know I've picked up a few scars in the last ten years. So what? No one stays looking like a fresh picked daisy-"

"Vale, you're still lovely as ever." I interrupt her and come to her side. I grab her arm and turn her to face me while assuring me. "You're as beautiful as the first time I saw you."

"Obi-Wan, look at me."

Vale whispers in frustration and lets out a shaky breath. Her eyes glance at the number on her shoulder and I see her eyes watering. My stomach twist knowing she feels degraded and stripped by who she is by the permanent number on her shoulder.