Duel of the fates

Chapter 24

Calypso's POV:

I had made an educated guess about who Satine was. I had thought maybe a mother or sister at first, because Obiwan never said much about his life before going to Coruscant, only that he'd been born on an outer rim planet called Stewjon.

But when Id heard from the council about our mission and he had immediately become nervous, I knew he knew he had previous history with someone in Mandalore. However I had not been aware that Satine and the Duchess we were tasked to protect was the same woman.

I wanted to pepper him with questions, but figured now wasn't exactly the time. He was tense the whole way to Mandalore and it helped me feel better. To see someone as emotionally strong as Kenobi to be undone at the thought of a former lover, it helped me not feel so weak.

Once we came out of hyperspace and saw Mandalore before us, I look to Obiwan. I couldn't gauge his thoughts becauae outwardly he seemed fine. I could sense how tense he was however and wanted to help distract himself from thinking of the Duchess.

"You and my father spent a lot of time on Mandalore?" I inquire.

Obiwan nodded. "When I was 18 your father and I were tasked to escort the Duchess from Coruscant back to her home on Mandalore. However, upon arriving we encountered insurgents who did not believe in the duchesses views of peace and neutrality she hoped to build Mandalore's foundation on. They sent bounty hunters to eliminate her, which sent us all on the run. For more than a year we went all over the galaxy, protecting Satine." His eyes warm as he says her name and he smiles, remembering the past.

"Once the immediate threat had been extinguished and the insurgents driven to Concordia, Mandalore's moon, we returned and Satine began to rebuild Mandalore to what it is today." He finishs as we descended upon the hangar right outside of Mandalore's core city.

"You and father left her alone to rebuild Mandalore?" I ask.

He was silent for a time. We landed and he turned to me. "We had no other choice. Once the insurgents were driven out of Mandalore the duchess had no immediate need for us to remain here. We were called back to Coruscant and assigned another mission."

"But the duchess needed you. She needed you by her side, I'm sure she wanted you by her side. To help rebuild the planet you liberated," I insist.

Obiwans eyes were incredibly sad. "It is too late now to entertain the thoughts of what could've been. The truth of the matter is I left and she restored Mandalore by herself successfully. Further questions into what was the right choice will never be answered and will only hurt the both of us, so it is pointless to ask them." He said and rose to leave.

I decide against anymore questions. I had been trying to help him feel better and now I feel I've made everything much worse. At least I had an idea of what to expect when we arrived before the duchess.

*****

Mandalore was gorgeous. It kind of reminded me of Coruscant with all the buildings close together. However the atmosphere was much different. It was so peaceful. There was no one hurrying about the city, no one yelling or causing a scene.

Once we arrive in the great hall where we are to meet Satine, I was absolutely in awe of the planet she  rebuilt. If her strength and perseverance in rebuilding Mandalore spoke anything of the kind of woman she was, it was no wonder Obiwan had fallen for her.

We stood before a throne surrounded by guards and awaited the duchess. I looked up to Obiwan and he seemed to be fidgeting with the sleeves of his Jedi robes. I reached for his hand and squeezed it lightly, trying to reassure him that everything was going to be okay.