The Duchess and The Jedi.

Chapter 9

Blaster fire lit the sky as an unknown attacker fired on the pirate stronghold. Anakin gripped his lightsaber tightly and advanced on the attacker. To his left a pirate who had been shooting well fell to his knees screaming in pain. Sometimes being a Jedi is the worst job in the books. Anakin thought to himself. Why can't I help them all? Why do they all have to die? Why can't I seem to help anyone? Anakin had been having bad dreams sense the star of the Clone Wars, he had not talked to anyone but Padme. He wanted to talk about them with his master, but every time he seemed to get his old master back, Obi-Wan would change again. He would become someone Anakin didn't know. Why can't I get the Obi-Wan I knew back? Even though that Obi-Wan might have been a fake, he was someone I called a friend. I just want that friend back. A laser bolt missed Anakin's head be a hair, Blast! Anakin dodged another blast coming from the same direction. He flipped to gain higher ground just as Hondo ran to his side. "What is going on?" He yelled at Anakin, "Who followed you here?" Anakin looked at Hondo like he was stupid, and jumped down so he could cover him.
"How should I know, Obi-Wan does not exactly share everything with me," he yelled back at Hondo, "honestly Obi-Wan and I have not seen each other in almost a year. He was living on Mandalore, with Satine. I guess he never thought to com me." Anakin said covering Hondo's flank. Hondo moved closer to Anakin for more protection, and also to cover Anakin's flank.
"Did you know I have known Obi-Wan sense he was a boy?" Hondo Said sending a spray of blaster fire randomly in the direction of their attackers. "He defeated my father's whole pirate fleet when he was 12 years old. That kid was one hell of a pilot, he flew a whole star crouser by himself while his master to be Qui-Gon fought off nasty hutts. That's what I heard anyways, but when our ship was going down, Obi-Wan got in an aircraft and came over to see if there were any survivors. He saved me and my father." Hondo smiled looking back on the memory. It seemed like Hondo and Obi-Wan went further back than Anakin thought. Anakin thought that he would have said something about it when he first found out what Obi-Wan's name was.
"Why didn't you know who Obi-Wan was when you first met us when you had Dooku?" Anakin said deflecting blaster fire with his lightsaber. "Obi-Wan never said he knew you." Hondo looked at Anakin and laughed.
"Skywalker, that's because he introduced himself to me as Ben, not Obi-Wan. So I didn't know it was him until we sat down and talked after I brought your Padawan and those younglings back to him." Hondo said sending more sprays of blaster fire. "Obi-Wan went by "Ben" back then, I am not Obi-Wan, don't ask me why because I have no idea." Anakin flipped around Hondo covering him from all angles while Hondo fired where Anakin was not. Ben? Why did Obi-Wan go by Ben? Do I even know who Obi-Wan really is? Because as time goes on it feels like I am learning more about Obi-Wan than I have in the last 14 years I have known him for! Anakin deflected a laser bolt and spun taking down one of the attackers. Assassin droids? What's this about? Anakin ran towards the other droids but out of the corner of his eye he saw a figure leaping higher than he had ever seen anyone force leap. They drew two lightsabers and landed in front of him. The figure was quickly followed by Obi-Wan who jumped equally as high but made a slightly sloppy landing.
"Maybe if you had spent more time perfecting you're landings, Kenobi, you would not have to take a moment to regain your footing." The new figure yelled to Obi-Wan laughing.
"Funny," Obi-Wan said back to the missetory person. "Maybe if you had not spent so much time learning how to stick your landings you might have become someone." Obi-Wan stabbed back at this new person. It was clear to Anakin that Obi-Wan knew who ever this new person was, but Anakin could not make out who it was. Blue lightsabers, curved handles. No! It can't be! Can it be? Ventress!!! There was no longer a doubt, it was Ventress, her fighting style, and now her voice came clear to Anakin.
"Hondo, do you know Ventress?" He asked grabbing Hondo and pulling him behind some crates for cover.
"Ventress? That's Kenobi"s friend." Hondo said "She showed up a few months ago after the attack by General Grievous. She is my security, my left hand. We gave her a family and a place to call home." Hondo smiled looking at Ventress.
"So, where did she get her lightsabers?" Anakin asked.
"Obi-Wan stopped by a few weeks ago and gave her a box with two Kyber crystals." Hondo answered him, "I think Kenobi sent her to protect me. Nice Jedi, that girl."
"Hondo, Ventress is not a Jedi, she was a sith. She fought under Dooku for years, she was his student." Anakin said looking Hondo in the eye. "She is bad news, why Obi-Wan is trusting her worries me. I think Obi-Wan might be sick or being manipulated." Anakin said heading out from behind the crates. "This is not the Obi-Wan I knew, and I think all this has something to do with Satine." with that Anakin stood and started to walk towards Obi-Wan and Ventress. Anakin deflected the blaster fire from the assassin droids and kept his steady forward advance on the two lightsaber wielding people.
"Obi-Wan care to share why Ventress is here?" He asked when he finally got to their sides.
"Well as you know Dooku left Ventress, so Hondo the his band of pirates took her in when her life as a bounty hunter didn't work out so well. She tried to save me from Darth Maul and Savage Opress, that's how she met Hondo and these "lovely" people." Obi-Wan said smiling. "Then I found out what happened to her master, I knew him when I was younger. Master Ky Narec was a good friend to master Qui-Gon, as it turns out Ventress and I went on a few missions when she was still a Jedi." Obi-Wan said taking out two assassin droids.
"Obi-Wan has looked out for me for the past year. I have been living here for a year but living with Hondo and his men for only a few months." Ventress said smiling taking down an assassin droids herself. "They took me in with open arms, they gave me a family and I am not hunted. I also help out my brothers when we look for proft." Asajj seemed proud of her new found family and life.
"Well congratulations Ventress you have gone from Sith, to Bounty Hunter, to Pirate. What an unfortunate adventure." Anakin said deflecting blaster fire.
"Anakin you forgot about the Jedi part." Obi-Wan said kicking down an  assassin droid. "You know that she is trying to change her ways, I am sure there is a bett-Ahh." Blaster fire hit Obi-Wan in the left arm.
"Obi-Wan!" Asajj screamed jumping to cover him. She moved faster than Anakin remembered, she used one of her lightsabers back handed like Ahsoka used to. "Obi-Wan are you Ok?" she asked Obi-Wan pulling him to his feet.
"I'm fine." Obi-Wan said gripping his lightsaber tightly. "Let's scrap these tin cans shall we?" Obi-Wan raised his lightsaber and flipped over Asajj and the two of them moved in sync the two of them took out the remaining assassin droids. Sparks flew around Asajj and Obi-Wan stood in the middle of a pile of scrap droid parts. "Nice work Asajj." Obi-Wan smiled at his friend and deactivated his lightsaber.
"Obi-Wan hold still let me look at your wound." Asajj said grabbing his left arm.
"Ow!" Obi-Wan said trying to pull away. "I said I was fine. Now I have to get back to my wife."
"Satine is here?" Asajj asked a big smile coming across her face. "Oh no! She is going to kill me! I mean look at you!" she said her smile going away the moment she really thought about it. "Is Bo here?"
"Bo is here, I am not sure where she is at the moment. I would guess she is trying to find out about these droids. Why don't you go and find her and bring her to me." Obi-Wan said smiling. "I know how close you and Bo got after the death of your friend. Go have some fun." Obi-Wan chuckled to himself as Asajj ran off to find her friend.
"Master, what in this galaxy made you trust her?" Anakin said walking closer to his former master. "I mean she tried to kill you like a hundred times."
"Yes and she failed all 100 times she tried but the 3 times she tried to save my life, well as you can see, she did a hell of a lot better than you and Padme did back on Geonosis." Obi-Wan said smiling. "She has become like a family friend."
"But master, you gave her Kyber crystals." Anakin said still trying to reason with Obi-Wan. "You gave her new lightsabers! Why would you do that?" Does he want everyone to die?
"The crystals came from Illum, and I gave them to her because she never got a chance to make her own lightsaber." Obi-Wan said holding up his. "The red ones she had were given to her, and the one she had before that belonged to her master. So when she came to me and asked me to teach her, I brought her the crystals and we made lightsabers." Obi-Wan smiled looking at his newest lightsaber. It looked a lot like his old one but had some new buttons on the side and a differently patterned hand grip.
"Master you said that like you and Ventress sat down to make Maja muffins!" Anakin yelled at Obi-Wan, "You just gave Ventress a lightsaber! What's wrong with you Obi-Wan? Or should I call you Ben?"
"Anakin, nothing is wrong with me. And I told Hondo my name was Ben because I didn't want to give a pirate my name." Obi-Wan started, "You see Anakin I-" Obi-Wan stopped talking and looked up from his lightsabers a grim look on his face. "I sense something in the force." he said suddenly looking very sad.
"Master what is it?" Anakin asked knowing that look all too well. Something was really bothering Obi-Wan. Why can't what Obi-Wan is thinking be written on his tunic?
"Something is very very wrong." Obi-Wan answered, "something happened to Satine and Asajj. Hurry Anakin we have to find them." Obi-Wan called on the force to grab the lightsaber he had dropped when he was shot and begun to run. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew that he was going to find something he didn't want to see. Obi-Wan rounded a small hut to find Satine and Asajj kneeling beside Bo, she looked hurt, and hurt bad.
"Obi," Satine's voice cracked, "Can you do anything?" Obi-Wan's heart broke for his wife, because she knew there was nothing he could do, but he knew she wanted him to be able to do something.
"Obi-Wan, do something Kenobi!" Asajj yelled at him. "She is dying do something you fool." yelling, anger, pain, so many emotions flooded Obi-Wan. This is my fault, I brought her into this. I asked her to come when Anakin- Anakin! It's his fault! He did this to her, if he didn't come for us, she would be ok. Anger filled Obi-Wan, his eyes sparked a yellow then subsided.
"Obi-Wan what happened?" Anakin came up behind Obi-Wan. It's his fault he did this! Obi-Wan thought.
"Obi-Wan," Bo said faintly "Kenobi, I need to tell you something." she was weak, he doubted she would make it. Infact he knew she was not going to make it.
"Talk to me Bo," he said kneeling beside her.
"You take care of my little sister!" she said struggling to hold back tears. "She is everything to me, just as she is everything to you. And one more thing Kenobi, find the blasted pile of bantha poodoo who arranged for this attack, and make him pay!" Bo coughed up some blood onto Obi-Wan's tan tunic then she looked at her sister. "Sis, you take care of that handsome man of yours. I always liked him, maybe i was jealous that you had him and I didn't. But he is a good man, take care of him." Satine let a tear roll down her cheek.
"Bo, don't talk like that, you're going to be ok." Satine said trying to convince herself. I'm not going to lose my sister! She will be okay, she has to be. "You are ok, you'll be fine." words came out of Satine's mouth even though she knew them to be lies.
"Satine, you know I'm not going to make it. And for what it's worth, I didn't kill dad, I only said I did because I knew mom would make me duchess, and that was your destiny, not mine." Bo said smiling at her sister. "Asajj, don't loose yourself in sorrow, just remember that you are always going to be my best friend, and I will always be yours." Bo looked up at her makeshift family and smiled. "This is the only Family I ever needed." then she looked up at the sky and smiled, she had seen many things in her short life, she has seen the suns rise on Yavin, she had seen the bottom of the sea on Camino, she had been to the a gladiator fight on the home planet of the Duggs, Malasare, she had loved, hated, and lost people she called family, she had had a good life, but now she saw the end of it. "GoodBye my friends." she whispered. 

    Obi-Wan sat alone in the ship's cockpit, had Bo really just dies in his arms? No she will come in any minute and laugh at me for believing her joke. She has to. The door hissed open and Satine walked in. "Obi-Wan, Hondo wants to see you." she said wrapping her arms around her husband. "I know, I miss her too, she was my sister. Despite the fact that we fought all the time and hardly ever saw things in the same light, she was my blood and I loved her. I am making arrangements for Ahsoka to come and retrieve her body." Obi-Wan didn't look at his wife, how could he? He had failed her, he was not fast enough, not strong enough. No! Things like this happen. Bad things happen to good people, it can't be prevented. But it could have bean! If Anakin-No! I can't think like this, it is wrong! But it is Anakin's fault! If he was not angry at me. Me, always me. Always-No, Obi-Wan get it together, you are a Jedi master. You're better than this, you are more than this. Obi-Wan took a deep breath and stood.
"Alright, let's go." he attempted a smile but failed spectacularly, for when he did, a small tear escaped and rolled down his cheek.
"Obi-Wan we can do this another time." Satine said taking his hand, "We don't have to do this now." she looked at her husband trying to read him, trying to know if he was going to be okay.
"No Satine we don't but I do. This is my fault, and I need to find out who attacked us." he answered looking down at his feet. "I will make whoever took her from us pay!" for the first time in all her years of knowing her husband, she had never really seen the angry side of him. It scared her, but she knew this was something he needed to let out.
"Obi-Wan, just remember who you are." she said pulling him down and kissing him. "In your quest for revenge, don't forget about Obi-Wan, don't lose yourself out there."
Obi-Wan looked down at his wife, suddenly back from whatever dark place he had bean. "Always. I will never lose myself. Bean there, done that." Obi-Wan smiled and kissed Satine on the forehead. "I know I will have you there to slap me back into myself if I do anything dumb right?"
Satine smiled at Obi-Wan. "Come here you." she pulled him down and kissed him. She needed that, that knowing that he was still himself. Now she could know that he was going to be okay.