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

【 TWENTY-THREE 】

     ʜᴀᴠɪɴɢ ᴀ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ-ᴛᴏ-ʜᴇᴀʀᴛ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅᴅʟᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴀ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴀʀᴇɴᴀ ɪꜱ ɪᴍᴍᴇɴꜱᴇʟʏ ᴅɪꜰꜰɪᴄᴜʟᴛ. Even if you need to get something crucial off your chest, having to pause every few moments to fight another raging creature isn't the most ideal situation. Obi-Wan and I learned that the hard way, especially after he got stabbed in the toe by the Acklay.

"Blazes," he hissed, grabbing his foot. "It barely grazed me, but that hurt."

"How about, then," I suggested, "now that we've gotten our most important topics off our chest, we save the rest of this conversation for somewhere a little more safe? Not to mention... a little more private?"

The moment had passed where I hadn't cared if the whole world was watching. Now, I was extremely self-conscious about the fact that the entire planet of Geonosis, plus some visitors, had just watched me kiss Obi-Wan. And especially since we were supposed to be in the middle of getting killed, it didn't seem like the right time to have a serious talk about where this relationship was going to go.

"Yeah. Sure." He grunted as he kicked aside the staggering Krykna. I turned around to face the Acklay, hefting my sharp piece of sandstone, but Obi-Wan grabbed my hand, holding me back. "Let me."

I raised an annoyed eyebrow. "So you love me, yet you can't trust me enough to kill a weird dragon-looking thing?" It lunged at me, and I grabbed the spear from Obi-Wan's sweaty hand, slicing the Acklay's head clean off. Obi-Wan stared at me with amazed, wide eyes. "I can handle myself."

"I know you can. You've proved yourself over and over again," he told me. "And trust you? I already do. I trust you more than I trust anyone else in the galaxy." He snatched his spear back from me, slicing another Krykna leg off.

"You've sure been acting like it. Taking the poisonous dart from me, telling me to follow your lead back on Kamino... that just screams trust to me."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Em, you don't understand. I know you're more than capable. But so was Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan swung hard at the Krykna, and missing, his anger and sadness surmounting. "He died because I wasn't there for him, Em. I couldn't lose you, too. Not... not the same way I lost him. I couldn't live with myself if you died, knowing I could have done more to save you." His voice cracked.

His sentiment was sweet. "Obi-Wan... thank you for trying to protect me. But I promise you... I'm not dying. I'm too stubborn for that." I smiled at him--it was enough to get him to crack a smile. "And you don't need to go out of your way to protect me when I can handle myself." I raised my eyebrows at him. "I think if there's one thing we need to work on, it's how to work as a team."

He smiled knowingly. "You're right about that, at least."

Both of us were so preoccupied with each other that we almost didn't notice the Krykna lumbering its way over, stumbling on four legs instead of six. It took a bite towards Obi-Wan, and I jumped forward to do something--anything--but before I reached the creature, a glint of silver came flying in from the distance, slipping its way around the Krykna's neck. The silver chain pulled back suddenly, and with a snap, the creature's neck was snapped. It fell to the ground with a loud thud, unmoving.

"So you two just kissed, and now you're back to fighting?" Anakin called down from his place atop the Reek. "Typical of you two."

"Well, I thought it was cute," Padmé remarked. She was sitting behind Anakin. Thankfully, she was still in one piece, but I couldn't say the same for her outfit. Her top had been sliced clean in half by three deep claw marks along her back, leading to the lower half of the top gone.