As It Was ▸ Obi-Wan Kenobi

9. Order Sixty-Six

The explosion had blown the windows out of the building and sent me flying out the now gaping opening. There was a momentary eerie silence where alarms blared and glass scattered as I hung by my fingertips out of a Coruscant highrise. A comm outside the door, assumingly the one belonging to the trooper that had thrown the bomb into my room, blared the same message repeatedly in an eerily familiar voice: "Execute Order 66."

And then it was a blur. More Clones flooded the room, their tones making it clear they meant to kill me. Confusion swirled in my brain as my body went on autopilot, letting go of the ledge on its own accord, landing lightly on a small outcropping a story below. In a daze I maneuvered my way to the roof where I knew there'd be extra speeders. I barely remember getting there and finding that there were no speeders, but something better: a ship. I couldn't even stop to think about how that was my battalion of Clones trying to kill me - my soldiers who had saved my life countless times were trying to kill me.

-

Nothing settled into focus again until I landed on Polis Massa and ran into Obi-Wan's arms. The weight of the day momentarily lifted in his embrace, knowing that he was here, safe and alive because the same could not be said for many others. A sob escaped me and I crumpled, tears streaking my face.

"You made it," Obi-Wan whispered, his voice ragged with emotion.

"I did," I whispered back, still grasping him like a lifeline, "And Anakin?"

"Gone," he choked out, "And Ahsoka's still missing."

"And Padmé?" I asked, sensing I already knew the answer.

Obi-Wan didn't reply but pulled away so he could look at me, his eyes brimming with tears. My heart jolted; I'd never seen Obi-Wan cry.

His hands reached up to my face, carefully folding my now frizzy braids behind my ears. He held my face for a moment before kissing my forehead.

"Come. We have much to do before we send the twins away," he said, his voice strained with effort. He always did have a knack for diving into the tasks at hand when things got hard.

"Twins?" I said, my voice flying up an octave.

He almost smiled, the sparkle of light I was so used to returning to his eyes momentarily "Leia and Luke Skywalker."

-

"Don't leave me," I whispered, suddenly feeling the weight of the impending loneliness as we stood just outside a landing bay.

Out there, I knew Bail stood waiting for Obi-Wan, waiting to hand him little Luke Skywalker to take to Tatooine, but I couldn't pull myself away. Despite everything we had survived in the last day, I didn't want these moments to end. Because to end this day, to walk away from these horrors would mean goodbye. It would mean walking away from a family I could never hope to have again. I was about to lose the one person I had for so long called home even as they were already beyond my reach.

"My darling," Obi-Wan whispered back, his hands reaching to cup my face, eyes searching mine, "You have me. Until the last star in the galaxy dies, you have me."

I choked down another sob, "I know."

"Good," he said, pressing his lips to my forehead before speaking once more, "May the Force be with you."

-

"What do I do now?" I asked, unable to tear my gaze away from Obi-Wan's retreating figure as Master Yoda appeared next to me.

"Become the Rebellion you do," Master Yoda said solemnly, "Come to pass an era of light will, but first endure this darkness we must."

I watched Obi-Wan go, his robes catching an imperceptible wind as he walked away. When he finally reached the ship he turned and looked one more time. He nodded and I felt his presence reach out in the Force, not even caring if Master Yoda was there to witness it: "I love you," the feeling said. I said it back, letting every feeling I've had for him flow into the words.

I swore I saw another smug grin form on Master Yoda's face and could almost feel him thinking that Anakin was not the only one to fall in love during this war. But I couldn't be sure because I was wiping away tears as the ship took off. The last piece of my family, gone. Padmé dead. Anakin dead. Or worse, a sinister part of my brain whispered. The Jedi scattered across the galaxy. The Republic in shambles. Order completely lost.

It would never be the same as it was. 

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a/n: "You have me. Until the last star in the galaxy dies, you have me" is a quote from "Illuminae" by Amie Kaufman. I've never read the book but I just adore that line and how well it fits into the Star Wars Universe.