fall from grace, obi-wan kenobi (o.h)

03. The Force

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  ANOTHER NIGHTMARE, ANOTHER SLEEPLESS night for Xzara. They were becoming more frequent, worse every time. She saw death and destruction, the fall of a democracy, the rise of an empire. She had no clue what I meant, but she saw Anakin and Obi-Wan at the centre of it.

It was still dark out when she woke in a cold sweat. She lay still in her bed, letting the images of the nightmare float away into her subconscious for another night. A few minutes passed before she got up, the cool floor a shock to her feet.

Xzara began to head for the washroom, set in her way of another shower, but as she passed her balcony, she paused. It was raining hard, a thunderstorm to be exact. She had a better idea, opening the doors wide, she stepped out into the freezing rain, letting it soak her body, letting it wash away her fears and worry until it was only her left.

A knock at her door snapped her out of her trance. "Just a moment!" She called, quickly grabbing a robe and wrapping it around herself. There was a small hope in her that it was Obi-Wan at the door, but as she opened it, she caught a glimpse of a metal arm and knew immediately who it was. "What do you want at this hour, Magnus?"

Her brother laughed. "I heard you stomping around, figured you'd want someone to pummel in a sparring match."

Xzara couldn't help but smile. Though her and Magnus didn't always see eye-to-eye, she could always count on him to be a shoulder to lean on. "You read my mind," She laughed as well. "Give me a moment. I just need to get dressed."

"Of course," Magnus nodded as she closed the door softly.  The frown she had worn for the past few minutes returned as she trudged about her room, picking up her sweaty and dirty sparring outfit, which she forgot to clean from her last sparring slash training session.

She cringed as she placed at on her damp skin, and cringed even more as the smell hit her nose. "Dear god," She mumbled, sneering down at the white leather. For good measure, she sprayed the floral perfume gifted by her father last spring solstice to try and mask the scent of old sweat. "Lead the way." She smiled as she opened the door.

Magnus smirked. "Just 'cause you're in a bad mood, don't expect me to go easy on you."

They began walking through the endless amount of corridors. Xzara chuckled, shaking her head slightly. "I could say the same to you."

"Ooh!" Magnus laughed amusingly. "It's like that?"

Xzara nodded, grinning. "It's like that."

"Agh!" Xzara flopped to the floor, defeated. "How?! How can I not beat you!"

Magnus laughed loudly, standing over her with a proud grin on his face. "What can I say? I'm the best." He held out his hand, offering a truce to his sister.

Xzara stared at his hand for a moment. "No," She huffed. She groaned, struggling to get up. Her joints felt dead, she could barely get up on her own. "One more time, come on."

"Are you sure?" Magnus asked her, concerned. "You can barely stand." He went to reach for her arm to steady her, but she pulled away, nearly falling over in the process.

"I'm fine, Magnus," She spoke through gritted teeth. "One more time, please." She stared at him, pleading.

Magnus let out a loud and long sigh. "Fine," He rubbed his hands together. "You wanted this, Zar." He positioned his body into a lower stance, keeping his hands in front of his chest.

Xzara stood still, watching his movements carefully. Her mind wandered back to a particularly difficult memory when she was nearly killed by Daren. He rushed at her, but she stopped him mid-air somehow. All she did was place her hand out in front of her and he was helpless. Xzara had enough of the ruff fighting, she was tired, but her pride kept her from losing, so using this power would do.

Magnus began to run, aimed for her torso. Xzara closed her eyes, listening to the sound of his footsteps — she heard the foot he applied the most pressure, the foot he favoured, and she could hear his breathing, how hard and focused it was. She smiled, imagining Magnus floating still in the air as she placed her hand out in front of her. She heard a gasp. "Xzara! What?...how?"

She slowly opened her eyes. There he was, just how she pictured it, floating softly in the air. A smile slowly spread across her face. "It worked," She whispered triumphantly. She looked back up at Magnus, who looked scared out of his mind. "How does it feel?" She asked curiously. "Does it hurt?"

Magnus slowly shook his head. "No, there's no pain," He glanced behind Xzara for a moment. "Just weird," He looked back at her. "How are you doing this?"

Xzara shrugged. "I don't know!" She laughed, genuinely proud of herself. "I did it to Daren, so I thought I'd try it again."

"What is it?" Magnus asked shakily.

"The force," The sudden new voice spooked Xzara. She whipped around, losing her focus and dropping Magnus with a thud. Obi-Wan stood at the door of the training room, a bright smile across his face. "It's the force, Xzara."

Xzara stared at him, unable to think or say anything. He stepped forward, she could see Anakin and Ahsoka poke out from behind, both with that same smile. "Have you always been able to do that?"

"Um," She thought back to early childhood memories of her toys floating to her when out of reach. "I think so, yes."

"Wow," Obi-Wan seemed taken aback. "That is incredible, Xzara." He stared deeply into her blue eyes — she did the same, smiling up at him.

"Thank you," She told him genuinely. She had never had someone be openly impressed with her skills, only being told her brothers were better or that she could try harder. "But what is...the force, exactly?"

Obi-Wan's smiled grew wider. "Why don't you come with me?"

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Authors note

First off, I'm sorry for such a short chapter, but I felt it was right to end it where I did. But besides that, I'd like you to meet Magnus! The second youngest in the Ardmore family! He has a metal arm, but we'll get there later. Also, Xzara can use the force!! Exciting stuff and more to come!