ℝ𝔼ℂ𝕂𝕃𝔼𝕊𝕊 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 2}

【 TWELVE 】

     ᴍʏ ᴅʀᴇᴀᴍꜱ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɴɪɢʜᴛ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ.

Obi-Wan and I had decided to leave tomorrow, to leave the rest of today to prepare for our journey and cool off after our heated day. I had to admit, distance from Obi-Wan was something I desperately needed, but my isolation gave me way too much time to think. Think about Obi-Wan, think about my past, think about this disturbing erased file mystery.

Only a Jedi could have erased those files... I knew that much. In a library of Jedi archives, only someone very powerful and very experienced could have had the ability to pull that off without anyone noticing, especially with Jocasta as the Chief Librarian. From what I remembered of her, she was always very in tune with the Force, always very present and sensible. No simple Knight could have tampered with the archives without her knowledge.

My mind wandered far that night, each possibility I came up with more unlikely than the last.

Why do you care? My tiny voice in the back of my head kept prompting me. Why should you care?

I had to admit I didn't know. As disturbing as this mystery was, I was sure it had to be some sort of mistake... an accidental stroke of keys that had led to a misplaced planetary system. Yet I couldn't stop obsessing over it, even as I lay in bed last night, watching millions of hovercraft race past my window.

Even in sleep my dreams were plagued by darkness, a mysterious hooded figure whispering to me.

"Come find me, Emeré," the voice, sounding strangely monotonous, whispered. "Come find me."

I tried to place the voice, to chase the figure. But the voice was ever elusive, sickly sweet and so piercing I couldn't even identify if it was masculine or feminine. The closer I got to the figure, the farther away it would become.

Eventually, as I jolted upwards in bed for the third time, covered in sweat, I gave up on trying to sleep. Trying to calm my mind, I pulled myself to my feet, wrapping a simple robe around my arms, and venturing to my window. With the press of a button, the glass slid open, letting a nice breeze filter into the room, soothing my feverish skin and bringing fresh air into my tired lungs. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed this view while I was gone... with the constant hum of activity and glow of the lights and the stars above. It had a way of soothing me, a way that, even with its busyness, the peaceful plant of Naboo never could.

I stood there watching the movement of the planet until the sun rose and my dreams were scattered and long forgotten.

I knew as I got ready that morning that I would regret not having tried harder to get a good sleep. Especially when I was finished getting ready and discovered I still had an hour until I had to meet Obi-Wan at the landing platform.

Trying to keep my mind off of how tired I was, I decided to go for a little walk before we left, hopefully to help wake me up and get me ready for the coming mission. As I made my way towards the door, my eyes caught upon my reflection in the mirror, and I grimaced. My hair and robes were neat, but my eyes betrayed me. Puffy and bloodshot, I almost looked like I was hungover rather than tired. I rubbed my eyes a couple of times, trying to fix the look, but my attempt was futile. This late in the game, almost nothing would work except more time to sleep. And time was one thing I didn't have.

I led myself out of the room before I could have any more chances to ridicule myself. I didn't know where I was going as I walked mindlessly, letting my feet lead me. I didn't recognize where I was going until I hit the stairwell and the memories rushed back to me.

Training as a padawan wasn't always easy. Lots of days were difficult and demanding. In fact, we were more often confronted with a rough day than an easy day. Everyone had their own way of coping with that. Mine was seeking refuge and solitude in a place I knew no one else would go. The roof of the Jedi temple.