Finding Beauty in the Darkness *Obi x OC*(COMPLETE)

Counting Stars

Obi POV

I'm surprised that Ryanne didn't seem to care about my past before the castle. She just shrugged and asked why I stopped but I remembered her exchange of information and asked for a drinking story. I get the privilege of hearing about her first experience with whiskey with Garak. This should be interesting... I have to hold back my laughter as she tells me about sitting on an old man that she called Santa and told him she had been naughty. It gets worse as she continues on and by the end of it she had tried to kiss Garak before passing out. I am in awe.

"Oh my God." I blurt out before my resolve cracks and I start to laugh. "That was amazing."

I knew the story had to be funny but after knowing Ryanne for a while now I almost can't picture any of that. She tells me to shut up as her cheeks tint red and I apologize as the laughter dies down.

"I get my answer now, but grab your bottle, I can hear the breeze and I'd like to sit outside."

I comply and grab the bottle of whiskey and my cup and follow her outside after she grabs a blanket. I help her spread it out on the ground before we settle on it.

"So what was your question again?"

"Why you stopped being a criminal."

"I got seriously injured in a job gone bad with a group so I left them behind and had decided to go on my own if I survived. Once I healed, a man hired me to intimidate a woman and scare her away from the castle. It didn't work and I had been caught by Master, Kiki, and Mitsuhide. I was curious about them and Miss Shirayuki and decided to surrender to Master and earned his trust until he let me work for him. I enjoyed it so I decided to stay. Any more stories?"

"Well, there was a night that Garak came to visit with a few of her friends and we all got so drunk we decided to play hide and seek out here in the forest. I fell into the creek and decided that since my clothes were wet I should take them off so I was in my underwear and got lost. Garak found me a few hours later hugging a tree and crying because 'moss grows north but I'm blind so how to blind people navigate the woods'."

"So what I'm hearing is that even drunk you're still a danger to yourself but are also hilarious?" I snicker and she elbows me.

Ryanne and I trade stories and questions for a while as a warm breeze moves through the trees. She laid back on the blanket a while ago and I abandon my drink and decide to lie back beside her. The clouds are moving quickly overhead, blocking the moon and stars every few seconds but they're still sparkling through. It reminds me of the nights I'd spend like this alone in fields before I came to work for Master.

"Obi?"

"Yes Miss?" I turn my head to find her staring up at the sky almost sadly.

"Are the stars out tonight?"

"Yes but the clouds block them at times."

"It's been so long since I've seen the stars... When I was a kid, before my eyes started to fail me, Marnie and I used to sneak onto the roof of our grandfather's cottage at night and count the stars and constellations. There were so many things I took for granted that I wish I spent more time remembering."

I shift closer to her and sit up slightly and take her hand in mine, telling her to point her finger. She looks at me in confusion but does it anyway. I lift our hands toward the sky and point out the first constellation I see.

"Right there is Orion." I tell her as I trace the paths with her finger.

I look to her and find her smiling softly with her eyes closed as she visualizes it so I continue.

"Here is Gemini... and Monoceros... and Lepus."

"How do you know them?" She asks.

"When I was a child, before I left home, my mother used to do this with me every night when I couldn't sleep."

"Can you see Ursa Major? That was the only one my grandmother taught me before she passed so it was my favorite."

My eyes scan the sky before finding it right above our heads. I move our hands and slowly trace lines to connect the stars. I let our hands fall back to the blanket but neither of us let go. I feel her fingers slowly lace with mine and I glance over at her. Her cheeks are tinted pink but she looks peaceful as she looks up at the sky.

"Obi, is it beautiful?" She asks, referring to the sky, but I can't look away from her eyes.

"It's absolutely breathtaking, Miss."

"I'm glad." She whispers softly. "If you think it's beautiful, it's enough for me to believe."

I smile as I finally tear my gaze away and lay on the blanket beside her again. We sit in a peaceful silence for a while as the breeze passes over us, until I hear her yawn. I go to ask if she would like to go back inside but I notice her breathing even out as she falls asleep. I'll let her sleep for a little while before I move her into the cottage again. My eyes widen as she moves around and she settles curled up to my side with her head on my chest.

"Garak may have been right about something after all..." I mumble as I brush her hair from her eyes with my free hand.