Attachment Was Forbidden (Obi-Wan x OC)》under edition

XII. It Can't Be

*Obi-Wan's POV*

I couldn't believe what was happening; all the clones had turned against us. Fortunately, I had managed to survive. When I was at the battlefield riding the lizard, Boga, a volley of laser blasted from behind me and I had to jump to the bottom of a water-filled sinkhole. Then, I escaped from my troops and met Master Yoda and Senator Organa. The rest of the Jedi were in missions with many clones, or at the Temple, together with Aure and Azha, and we knew they would be attacked.

"How many other Jedi managed to survive?" I asked, hoping that any of my friends would be alive.

"Heard from no one, have we." Master Yoda replied.

"I saw thousands of troops attack the Jedi Temple." Senator Organa informed us.

I feared the worst; what if we didn't get there in time? What if the clones had killed everybody who was in the Temple already? Had Aure and Azha survived?

I don't know why, while we escaped, I felt a sharp pain in my heart, like something terrible had happened. It was hard to breathe for some seconds, but I recovered and tried to ignore that bad feeling, hoping that nothing really bad had happened to Aure or Azha.

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Chancellor Palpatine had requested the presence of every senator at the Senate building; I suspected it was a trap, but Senator Organa decided to go anyway while Master Yoda and I headed to the Jedi Temple.

Yoda and I made our way through the Temple, avoiding as many clones as we could see. Then, in one of the main halls, I saw her: Aure. She was surrounded by about ten clones and she had no weapon; she looked scared, closing her eyes tightly, she didn't want to see what was about to happen to her. That's when Master Yoda ignited his lighsaber and jumped towards the clones; I joined him and we killed every clone. It felt weird to kill those who had been my allies a few hours before, but every guilty feeling disappeared when I remembered how much deaths they had caused.

I approached Aure, whose eyes were finally open, and took her shaky hands in mine. I checked out if she was injured, some bruises were on her beautiful face and her upper lip was bleeding a bit, but no serious wounds could be seen. I looked into her eyes and felt how confused and scared she was; I wondered how much time she had been hiding in the Temple, waiting for someone's help. I also felt something different about Aure, something new, but I couldn't guess what was it exactly. Then, I noticed some red marks on her neck, like someone's fingers had wrapped around her, trying to choke her. I frowned; whoever did that didn't want her to just die, but also to suffer. I caressed the skin of her neck gently and she hissed under my touch; I brought back my hand and held hers again, bringing it to my lips to kiss her knuckles softly. Master Yoda walked away, inspecting the building to make sure we were not in danger. I didn't hesitate to circle my arms around Aure's body and holding her close to me, her head resting on my chest.

"Thank goodness you're alive." I whispered against her ear.

Aure's hands clung to my robes while she fought back the tears. "I was so scared."

"I know." I kissed her forehead and a question came to my mind. Aure was fine, she wasn't hurt, so why did I feel that sharp pain in my heart? I came up with a possible reason, but I didn't want to admit it. "Where is Azha?"

"I don't know." Her hands clung tighter to my clothes and I felt her body stiffen against mine. "She wanted to protect me so she ran away. I tried to stop her, but she escaped and I couldn't find her. I lost her." Her voice broke at the end of the sentence and her breath became heavier. "I'm so sorry." She started to cry uncontrollably.