The Countess ━ OBI-WAN KENOBI

Chapter Eleven

Leilani often feared the moment when she had to stay still and let others resolve a conflict; she felt helpless, lost in thoughts while waiting for a solution and it was eating her alive.

She locked a snarl behind her teeth, twisting the emblem on her Serennian cape. She hated this. Hated it.

If something she clearly understood about herself, was her role. Being a Jedi and a General...a Master to Nia and most importantly, a protector. She stayed right in the middle of the conflict, only to protect the ones who needed it the most; to shield her troopers, to defend the temple — to fence against false beliefs. She was never the one who had to be protected. Even when the most desperate, she could have faced death without flinching, and gripped her lightsabre tightly, thinking how the ones she loved the most would need her. And that love became her strength.

"Skimmer is still nowhere to be seen," came through the voice of Blaze, intending to keep Leilani up to date with the events below deck. "We have men everywhere, and the Generals are locking down everything, the escape pods included."

She swiftly thanked him and was fairly glad that her troops worked with at least Anakin and Captain Rex before. Only then, she inclined to do something else; so she cautiously exited the small chamber and headed back to the main hall to rejoin the Senators. They appeared oblivious to the emerging mystery, sipping their drinks and discussing trivial matters, their demeanour calm and unperturbed, with no sense of any impending threat.

Therefore, she acted the same; showing little to no signs of a disturbance, reaching out in the Force to mask her emotions and features carefully while joining the conversation again — which shifted tremendously with her arrival. Senator Aang was arguing on a recent topic, with the attempt to deregulate the banks and consequently provide the Supreme Chancellor with even greater power than before. While Senator Vivyn harshly opposed it. She would have preferred peace and negotiations, like so many would have in the Senate. To end this far quickly and without any more damage to people.

Leilani supported the same belief. Politicians solving their issues with one another, and the Jedi no longer acting as a standing military. She felt that their essence was long-lost; peacekeepers and empaths turning into mindless soldiers, carrying out tasks and orders from their so-called superiors.

They were slaves of regulations, politics, the Senate and their own blindness.

And it was certainly not the Jedi way.

Lies and deception were everywhere; burials and friends passing away one by one — it was no way to live.

"Then what would you have us do, General Serenno?" asked Senator Tanner, as she voiced her thoughts.

She holds back a sneer. "Oppose the war as a threat to life itself. If we deregulate the banks and comply with ordering more troops, our situation would only get worse and this battle may never end."

"Yet some might argue that the strongest defence is a swift and decisive offence," Obi-Wan says, appearing in the door frame, alone. He shakes his head, sending a silent message over to Leilani, while he takes a few steps forward and pauses to stand between the politicians.

Leilani looked at him questioningly, wondering when the man changed so much — he used to be on the same side as her, and perhaps, she expected him to be even more against it after losing Qui-Gon in a direct duel with a Sith. "I don't remember you as one to take violence so lightly," she said finally, her tone dropping slightly.

"And I don't remember you as one to shrink from responsibilities," came the response.

Her brows furrowed, as she looked at the man with a hint of disdain; as to why he had so drastically chosen to stand opposite her, couldn't reach her mind. It has been eleven years, and while for now, with only formal interactions, it seemed that nothing had changed, this opened up her eyes. Battles and experiences scarred them both, and just as they were far, they changed to be even further apart.