one night in coruscant || obikin

19.

She directed me to the 'fresher, and I stepped in, removing my boots and tunic, but leaving on my bloodstained pants. As the warm water rushed down my back, I leaned forward, pressing my forehead into the cool wall. I tried to breath slowly as I watched crimson blood drip across the floor, from my hands, down the drain. There was a lot of red.

Don't misunderstand me, I was glad that Ventress was dead- she had caused havoc in the galaxy; tortured the souls and taken the lives of so many innocents- but I was upset with the way I had killed her: merciless, barbaric, and full of hatred.

Several hours later, after the woman- Cerra Amnes as she introduced herself-stitched Anakin together, fed him, and put him to bed, I meandered through the house, and found the room that she had designated as mine. I walked in, and collapsed upon the bed. It had been an exhausting day.

The wall held holo-pictures of the life of a young boy, who looked to be training as a pilot. In the last picture, the boy- now a young man- was holding a helmet worn by those on the galactic pilot force, grinning like mad. I smiled, thinking of him out there shuttling people from planet to planet. As I drifted off to sleep, I thought of Anakin pod racing as a boy on Tatooine.

Ventress haunted my dreams, screaming things that I wished never to hear. I woke up, shouting, and Anakin stumbled into my room, seeming to be feeling much better. "Master, what happened?" I shook my head. "Nothing... sorry to wake you." He shook his head back at me, his hand rubbing his neck. "No, its fine. I wasn't asleep...."

We sat there, and I spoke after a moment. "How bad are your injuries?" He shifted. "Nothing that I haven't dealt with before, master." I shook my head at him, irritated. "Anakin, please let me see. I worry..." He sighed, removing his tunic and turning around slowly to show me everything. As the fabric fell from his shoulders and down to the ground, I gasped.

Long cuts meandered all across his back, his shoulders. His arms had small prick marks all over them, and a deep gash ran from the back of his neck, across his chest, and down around to his abdomen. I knew that some of these would leave more scars on his skin, and I sighed. Just another sacrifice we have to make to the order.

I felt slightly better about killing Ventress as I took in the havoc she had wreaked on my Anakin's skin. I reached out tentatively, and he nodded at me. I traced the sides of the scars, and he sighed gratefully, nearly moaning in relief, for I was using an old trick my Master had taught me: draw from the life of the plants around you, and breathe it through your fingertips. This will soothe the pain of superficial wounds, for the life of plants are dedicated to growth. His head tilted back as a thankful tear slipped from his eyes. I smiled that I could help him.

We sat in silence, and he looked at me, questioning me silently. At this, I sighed. It had been a long day, and I would undoubtedly like to have Anakin's arms around me. "Fine. but you have got to find some way to sleep on your own, Ani." My ex-padawan smiled at the old name and crawled under my covers, tucking his arms around me and resting his forehead against the top of my head. We slept soundly the rest of the night.

The next few days found Anakin and myself exploring the planet whilst he recovered from his injuries and his heart rate returned slowly to normal. Perfect meditation spots seemed to appear everywhere I turned, and Cerra made excellent tea. I felt so at peace all day, so glad to have some time alone with Anakin and to myself as well to contemplate what I had done to Ventress.

Anakin had shot the transmitter and some other spots on my ship with a heavy blaster when we arrived, so it looked like we were attacked, to make an excuse for our lack of communication back to Coruscant. To be honest, I wasn't quite sure why I wanted to do this; it was unlike me to just spontaneously abandon my duties.

I asked Anakin about this, and he suggested it had to do with the Ventress situation. He gazed at me, the soft kindness- which only I seemed to see- in his eyes, and I melted. He sheepishly opened his arms, and I quickly shuffled over, wrapping mine around his waist and tucking my head into his chest as he squeezed me ever so slightly. I knew he was there, and that he was safe, and that I would be alright. Everything would be alright...

"Do you want to talk about it?" he suggested, and after a moment I replied that I was very shaken by what I had done. I told him I knew that one day I would likely kill another sith. I told him that I hadn't expected to feel as much remorse, like with Maul. My voice was muffled as I spoke into his chest, his arms still around me. "I.. suppose... it was because I felt so... dark... in that moment. She was hurting you, and I couldn't take it, but what I did was still so dark. It... it scared me, Ani." He held me closer in response.

I paced around the kitchen for probably twenty minutes on the evening of our second night. We would need to return to Coruscant tomorrow, but I simply didn't want to leave. The temple would bring questions, and questions would need answers, and answers were just so complicated, because I knew what a terrible liar I was-

"...Master? are you alright? You're all.. scrunched up, tense." I turned around, and saw Anakin standing in the doorway, concern on his face, his gorgeous face... I turned away. "I am fine, Anakin. Go to sleep, I will be right there." He nodded, but I still sensed his doubt as he walked away down the hall to the room.

"Goodness... he needs to learn to sleep by himself." I turned. Cerra held out a mug of tea for me, and I gladly accepted. "Yes, he does. He has always been very dependent, he needs to work on that. I can't have him being all needy, now can I?" She contemplated this.

"Well, Obi-Wan, I would say that to deprive young Anakin of your presence would only make him more dependent. But, of course, I have no knowledge of how a Jedi ought to live his life, so don't heed my words too much." She smiled at me, before patting my arm. "I know you must leave tomorrow, but if you are ever in the outer rim again, please stop by- you two have been excellent company. I get so lonely out here..."

As she trailed off, I felt a pang in my heart. I know how that feels... I wrote myself a mental note to send her an R5 unit, as a thanks for her hospitality and as a form of company. I sipped again from my tea, and replied gratefully.

"Well, Cerra, you have been a lovely host. I cannot thank you enough for your hospitality- we have already overstayed our welcome. But, I promise to stop by the next chance I get for some of this tea. Goodness, what is in it?" She laughed. "That, dear, is only for me to know. But I promise to give you more next time you visit. Goodnight, and good luck, my dear, and.. ah, may the force stay with you? I think that's what you say." I nodded, we exchanged kind smiles, and she shuffled off to her room to sleep.

I slept in my own room that night.