A Heart Full of Stars ★ Obi-Wan Kenobi

Chapter 25

-We'll see about that," he said, twirling Obi-Wan's lightsaber in his hand.

She tried to clear her mind, to ignore the pain that she knew would soon emanate from her wound as soon as she began to make any sudden movements. She never attacked first, it was too easy to beat someone as they ran towards her, full of rage. But she could see that Keal would not attack first, he was far too smart for that.

She dropped her cloak to the ground and ran towards her opponent, ready to kick him in the face with her back foot, and Keal smiled as he saw her make that mistake.

He was convinced that this fight would last no more than 30 seconds, and that was only if the young woman facing him really knew how to fight as she claimed. If not, it would probably only take him about ten seconds to kill her, which he would not hesitate to do.

When she got close enough, he made his best move with the lightsaber he had stolen, but Koral seemed to have predicted the move and avoided the blade with ease.

She then passed behind him and he noticed that she had never planned to attack him, she was just trying to get by to get a weapon. She grabbed the stick she had spotted earlier and twirled it around a bit to get used to its weight.

It was a little longer than her lightsaber and not as thick, making her grip less stable. But she hoped it would still be enough.

This time it was Keal who attacked first, and the fight lasted a few minutes where Koral found herself dominated.

She finally resolved to hold the stick outwards. She wasn't sure about this decision, she wasn't used to the length of the weapon, and she was afraid that it would hit a wall or something else unintentionally, which would waste enough time for her enemy to kill her. But she was too slow holding the staff normally and had no chance of winning.

She made a few perfectly executed attacks, but Keal blocked them with some difficulty.

-How..." she breathed in amazement.

Even when she was just a Padawan, when she had just invented these particularly fast attacks by holding her saber upside down -Maoya always scolded her for holding her weapon the wrong way- no one could resist for more than a few seconds. But her enemy had just blocked this move that Koral thought was infallible. Keal was also somewhat surprised at the turn the fight had taken. For a moment he had thought that the young woman would defeat him. If she continued to fight at this speed, he would not last much longer. He had to get away, and quickly, before he was killed. Then he remembered that she didn't know how to use the Force. If he took her by surprise, she would have the reflex to call on the Force. He didn't like to apply such morally weak techniques and using the Force against an opponent who didn't have the ability to do the same was, in his opinion, particularly cowardly. But he had no choice, it was his own life that was at risk.

He collapsed one of the brick walls between which they were standing. As expected, Koral had the reflex to use the Force to protect herself, but nothing happened when she reached out.

The fact that she couldn't feel the energy flowing through her body as she tried to use the Force frightened her more than the bricks falling on her. She realised that she had lost a part of herself, her perception of the universe and all the things around her.

She threw herself to the side to avoid the stones but found herself partially buried under the debris. She lost her breath in intense pain.

She realised that her wound had reopened when she saw the blood that was beginning to stain her dress. Maoya was going to kill her if she ruined that silk dress.

Keal noticed that the Jedi was badly wounded. He hesitated between running away and helping her. He looked towards Obi-Wan and noticed that the fool was still passed out. Perhaps he'd been a bit too hard on him, throwing him against the wall.

From the amount of blood the young woman was losing, she would probably die if he didn't help her. A few minutes earlier, he would not have hesitated to kill her, but now he felt he had found the only person better than him in combat, the only one who could teach him something. So, he decided to help her. He removed the bricks blocking her legs and moved her away from the debris, then tore a piece of her cloak to create a bandage, hoping the bleeding would stop.

Koral watched him do this, a little surprised to be helped by an enemy, but not displeased. Without this help, she would soon be dead anyway. Keal sighed angrily as the blood continued to flow. Koral began to feel her head spinning and she knew she had to stop the bleeding and fast.

-Goodbye pretty dress," she breathed, grabbing the knife she always kept on her right thigh.

She cut off the dress and the blood-soaked bandage she already had underneath. Keal folded another piece of her cloak and pressed it against Koral's wound, who screamed at the contact. But he kept up the pressure and she gradually got used to the pain.

-I was wrong," he said. You are indeed a Jedi. But I was right about you not having the Force.

-Why are you helping someone you were trying to kill just a few minutes ago?

-I don't know. I must have retained some mark of the Jedi teachings. I wouldn't be a credit to the Order if I let someone die when I was the one who cowardly attacked them to save myself.

Koral smiled and replied:

-I'm not going to take you back to the Jedi Temple for questioning, but I do need to ask you some questions about events in the underbelly of Coruscant.

-Even when you bleed to death, you Jedi are all about the job.

-We do everything we can to protect the Republic.

-But is the Republic worth it?

-We'll have time to discuss that later," she replied, noticing Obi-Wan slowly waking up on the other side of the brick pile.

When he noticed the debris, he scrambled to his feet to find Koral lying on the ground with Keal pressing on the site of her wound. Immediately he feared the worst and rushed at the two individuals, crossing the pile of bricks that was not there before, and pushed Keal away from Koral. Koral took the piece of cloak to continue pressing on her wound as Keal was forced to let go.

-What have you done?" cried Obi-Wan, ready to avenge Koral.

-Obi-Wan," said Koral.

He turned around immediately, concerned for his friend.

-He didn't do anything," she says. After you passed out, a bad wall collapsed, I got hit by a brick and the stitches gave way.

-That easily? Why are you trying to protect him? I know for a fact that he noticed that you were injured and rushed to attack you there.

-If he had hurt me on purpose, he wouldn't be helping me. Obi-Wan, I have no reason to lie to you.

She knew he wouldn't hesitate to put Keal in jail for attacking them, and that he'd tell the council that her wound wasn't healed enough for her to go back on the mission. She preferred to protect the man who had helped her, but she didn't want to lose a source of information that was necessary if she was to find out what was going on beneath their feet. If she was friends with Keal, it would be much easier to get information from him. And as for the wound, she'd figure it out later so she wouldn't have to spend another few days in the infirmary.

Obi-Wan hesitated. He didn't believe Koral, but he didn't really have any other option than to trust her. She sometimes had strange ways of getting things done, but if she felt Keal needed to be protected, he was better off going along with her than opposing her.

-I'll get help... he breathed. Don't move.

-Don't worry, Obi-Wan. I won't get far in this state.

And he walked away, leaving her alone with the one he considered an enemy. He knew that she would take advantage of the time alone with Keal to ask him all the questions she wanted answered. The sun was beginning to appear behind the skyscrapers of Coruscant, and the sky was gradually clearing. Everything was calm and peaceful, but in Obi-Wan's mind, there was only chaos.