~~~ Obi-Wan's POV ~~~
I can see flashes of light in the blackness around me. The air is thick; the putrid smell of scorched wood assaults my nose. As I look around in the black night, I can't see anything except the silvery grass plains as it is illuminated momentarily by lightning. I look down at my hands just as the lightning streaks across the sky. My hands are covered in the blackest of ash. Suddenly, a dreaded thought hits me... where is Laurana? She's hardly ever not beside me when we're together... and I can sense her. I look around desparately trying to find her. No. No. No! NO! This is not happening! As I turn searching the empty fields, I spot flames climbing higher reaching toward the sky as it engulfed a palace. I take to a knee for a moment plucking a few blades of the silvery grass. I look them over a moment. Home? I am home? How!? I immediately jump to my feet and start running towards the palace, which was a good 1000 feet from me. I can sense Laurana... she's trapped. Scared... like no Jedi has ever been before. I can hear a voice echoing in my head, but I can't make out what its saying. As I run, I tear the left sleeve off my uniform hastily. I take the fabric and tie it around my mouth and nose to protect my airways for when I get in. I push heavily on red hot, metal door. When it doesn't budge I put two hands out and focus overpowering the blockage and forcing the door to crack open just enough for me to slide in without burning myself or my clothes. I carefully move under two fallen pillars. I can feel the heat on my back as I crawl under the pillars. The air as blazing with heat and as I stand up, I wipe the sweat from my brow. I could hardly see through the thick black smoke, but I manage to see a few feet in front of my face. I reach out with the force, trying to find my sweet Laurana. Where could she be? I close my eyes stepping out of the way of a falling wooden rafter. My time is running out. I have to find her. Now. Like right now. I can feel the temperature of the hall increasing.
I hear the calls of a dying woman with my improved hearing. I move through the main hall to her side... the blaze surrounding us on three sides. She is a servant of the palace, a nanny. Heavyset, but sweet. "S-she i-i-is..." the woman says coughing as I hold her. She grabs my bare arm lightly in her hand "Y-your l-l-lover is... upstairs." Her blue eyes close and her body goes limp in my arms. I sigh slightly and lay her gently on the floor. I have to find Laurana and I have to find her now. I consider stripping my Jedi robe to move faster, but instead I take off my belt off as I run and secure it to my body. I might need it to wrap Laurana in it. I'd do whatever it takes to get her out of here alive. That's my motivation. My determination. My sole care. My only meaningful duty.
I choke momentarily coughing on smoke but that dosn't stop me. I run up the steps jumping over sections that had been burnt out. The smoke is enough to kill a bear, but it won't stop me and my love for sweet Laurana. I feel a lack of oxygen weaken my body... but I refuse to give in. I feel a spark hit my cheek and I feel the burning pain momentarily but that won't stop me either. I pass a window and look out, civilians. Damn it all. I've got a secondary worry. All the people out there... are now my responsibility. Why can't I ever have only one duty? I'd give up all that I am for her. She means everything... the Jedi Order says never fall in love... for this reason. I am no fool. I know my own heart surely though. She is my driving force. All that I have known and all that I wish to know. And it all seemed to be slipping away from me. It brings a tear to my eyes. Not from the ash or the the burning cinders, but because I'm genuinely afraid.
I rush up the last part of the staircase. I dash down the hallway, reaching out with the force to find her. There, in my bedroom, stands my mother with Laurana on her knees beneath my mother. My mother says, "You'd give all you have for THIS girl!? How stupid are you!? You could do so much better than this child!! SHE DOESN'T MATTER!!!"
I retort, "She knows my heart mother! SHE MATTERS TO ME!!!!"
"You're not thinking clearly!!" She replies, wih a voice like ice. Filled hate and anger. "Your feelings for her aren't real! They are all the illusion of a Jinn! That's all she is, a Jinn... a manipulator. And now she toys with your heart! You must choose Obi-Wan! You were embarassed to bring her home because you know I know the Jinns for what they are. You were the reason this happened. Now you must choose.... the heathen Jinn woman. Or your family."
