Falling from Grace 7/16

by Christina, kenobijedione@yahoo.com

Rating: this chapter R for violence, language, innuendo

Warnings, disclaimers, etc. in part 1

Chapter 7: Crimson Tears of Goodbye

Obi-Wan shot up, unsure if the sound was in his head or if Kalyia had heard it as well. Looking down at her, eyes half-closed with sleep, he realized it was sent to him through the Force. He quickly picked up his light saber, thumb placed over the ignition. With the help of the Force he pulled his discarded shorts to him and slipped them on.

"Come on, Kalyia," he said, tossing her clothes at her.

The girl sat up groggily and looked at Obi-Wan.

She smiled. "Well how very unselfish of you, but we're not done yet, Jedi," she teased, reaching up for him to pull him back down to her.

"Anakin's in trouble."

Fear clouded her features as she registered the sincerity on his face. She threw his t-shirt on, not bothering with the bathing suit, and struggled to get into her shorts as she followed him across the meadow. He sprinted with Jedi speed, and Kalyia could not keep up no matter how hard she tried.

Finally, she made it to the house, finding the front door wide open. Instinctively she shouted for her mother. Hearing no answer but the hum of light sabers and the crackling of electricity as blades clashed, she raced up the stairs, finding her mother cowering in the corner of her darkened room. A quick inspection showed she wasn't hurt, only frightened, and Kalyia kneeled in front of her, breath coming in quick gasps.

"What happened?"

The Queen shook her head just as guards burst into the room, blasters drawn. Kalyia rolled her eyes. Good for nothing guards. Ignoring their pleas for her to stay where it was safe, she pushed past them toward the sound of the battling light sabers.

At the entry way of the guest room near her bedroom, the room Sena had been staying in, she saw Obi-Wan and Anakin, the blue and green glow of their weapons, fighting a dark clad figure, his saber glowing blood red. She swallowed hard as she watched them parry, the dark figure easily blocking even the quickest of the talented Jedi's moves.

Kalyia didn't know what, but something made her look past the fighters to the bed, and she screamed at the sight. Her friend, her best friend, laying motionless in a pool of blood. Red was everywhere: soaking the ivory satin sheets, pooling on the floor where it dripped from the mattress, even seeping under the bed to parts unseen. Ignoring the swirl of deadly blades she ran past the warriors and climbed onto the bed, oblivious to the sticky liquid sullying her skin and clothes. Cradling her friend's head in her lap she began to cry, realizing that a long, deep burn to the side of her body left Sena no chance to be alive. She dipped her head down, whispering softly to the girl she'd shared so much of her childhood with. She did not hear the guards enter the room, did not hear the barrage of blaster fire, and did not hear Obi-Wan's frantic shout to cut all weapons. She didn’t' feel the lasers whip past her, nor the one that sizzled into her upper thigh.

And suddenly, it was quiet. She felt a presence next to her on the bed but only fought it--it was trying to pry her from her friend. No, she would not leave her friend. Finally, a soothing voice came to her ear, calming her at first. Infuriating her in the next moment.

"Kalyia, come on, you're hurt. We have to get you to a medic."

Then Obi-Wan pulling her off the bed and hoisting her into his arms, weaving past the body of the slain dark figure and into the hall. It was then that her thigh began to ache, then that she pounded at the Jedi with tiny fists, energy quickly vanishing from her.

"Put me down!" she commanded the unheeding Jedi, struggling uselessly in his arms. "Sena's hurt, I can't leave her. Damn it Obi-Wan! Don't make me leave her!"

The tears came again, this time in body wracking sobs, and Obi-Wan desperately ignored them even though they ripped through his heart and made him want to cradle her in his arms, love her, sob with her. But he didn't, he had a job to do as a Jedi and her protector. Reaching the room that was transformed into a makeshift infirmary, he laid her down on one of the cots and stepped aside as the medic examined the blaster wound. The girl was practically unconscious, and the medic began a blood transfusion immediately before addressing Kenobi.

"Jedi, you have healing powers, yes?" he asked in strange basic, as though it wasn't his first language.

Obi-Wan stepped forward and nodded. The medic gestured to her still bleeding leg.

"The Princess has lost a lot of blood," he stated superfluously. "May you heal her wound so the bleeding stops?"

Obi-Wan nodded again and wordlessly placed a hand over her bloodied thigh. He struggled to remain calm and in control of the Force, as brief images of the intimacy they'd just shared flitted through his mind. Closing his eyes and blocking everything out, he healed her, flesh sealing over wound underneath his hand, a warmth flowing through and out of his body, surrounding the Princess. When he lifted his hand, all that remained was a scar where the gaping wound had once been. The medic gasped.

"Powerful the Jedi are," he remarked needlessly.

Obi-Wan nodded again, refusing to look away from the girl. He placed his clean hand on her forehead and sent a healing message throughout her body, as well as a calming one. Then, he leaned over, kissed her forehead gently, and left the room. He found his Padawan in the hall, sitting on the floor, legs crossed in front of him. Obi-Wan joined him, watching the guards clean up the guest room from his distorted angle.

"Kalyia?" Anakin asked softly, turning to look at his Master for the first time.

Obi-Wan nodded. "She's okay," he said, his voice choked with emotion that he didn't bother to hide. "Oh Padawan, I'm so sorry I wasn't here--"

Anakin shook his head quickly. "Sena's dead," he remarked flatly, uncharacteristically cutting his Master off. "She's dead because I couldn't protect her."

Obi-Wan shook his head fiercely. "No, Padawan. No, your job was not to protect Sena. It was to protect the Queen and her daughter."

Anakin nodded sadly. "That's where I was--I sensed danger and I immediately went to the Queen's room. I left Sena alone--" his voice cracked and he gave up an anguished cry. "I left her alone to protect the Queen and he killed her!"

Obi-Wan felt tears surface and he didn't hold them back this time. His Padawan had done exactly right. It was his mission to protect the Queen and that's what he had done. It was Obi-Wan, the Master, not the Apprentice, at fault. He had indulged himself in pleasures that he knew made his mind weak, and someone had died. Roughly, he pulled his crying Padawan into a sideways hug.

I am proud of you, Padawan. You protected the Queen as was your job to do. It is I who should be ashamed. It is I who did not protect as I promised to.

***

"No!"

Kalyia awoke with a start, breath surfacing in strangled gasps, her entire body trembling. It was the same dream again, the same dream she'd woken from several times earlier that night. If this went on, she'd never get any sleep. Shuddering in a breath, she started when she saw a figure in the chair next to her bed. Her eyes quickly darted to the guard at the door, who stood, calm and alert. Peering closely at the hooded figure she realized it was Obi-Wan and exhaled sharply.

Kalyia wasn't quite sure what to say to the Jedi, and was glad he was asleep at the moment. If it wasn't for their indiscretion, Sena might be alive now, and she was angry. No, she was downright pissed. Her hand floated down to her injured thigh, bandaged now but already healing because of Obi-Wan's Jedi magic. She was grateful to him for that, if not for his healing through the Force she would have been immobilized for several weeks rather than the several days bedrest the medics were insisting on now.

She hadn't realized her visitor had awakened until he shifted and leaned forward, pulling his hood from his head. Kalyia immediately looked away, focusing bleary eyes on the guard at the door. She bit down on her lip as his smooth voice floated through the room.

"How are you feeling?"

The Princess didn't answer. Obi-Wan furrowed his brow and reached a hand up, brushing stray hairs away from the girl's face. She flinched away from him as though his touch burned her. Obi-Wan swallowed hard and pulled his hand away, cradling it in his lap. He stared at his intertwined hands for a while before focusing his eyes back on Kalyia.

"Sweetheart, please," he whispered cautiously.

Kalyia turned toward him abruptly, green eyes flashing anger. "Don't sweetheart please me, Jedi," she spat. "I want you to leave me alone. Forever! You hear me? I don't want to see you!"

Obi-Wan sat back, stung by her words. He glanced up at the guard who hadn't moved a muscle and wondered if he were not a Jedi, whether he would not have gotten kicked out by now. "Kalyia--" he began, unsure of exactly what he was going to say. "I'm sorry about what happened to Sena--"

A bitter laugh escaped Kalyia's lips. "You're sorry about what happened to Sena?!" she gasped incredulously. "You're sorry?! Oh come on, Obi-Wan, don't you realize this whole thing is our fault?! In all your Jedi wisdom, that thought did cross your mind, did it not?"

Obi-Wan didn't speak for a long while. He swallowed hard, swallow after swallow that did not wash down the terrible taste in his mouth, or the severe lump that was rising in his throat. "It crossed my mind," he said at last, his words coming out in a strangled whisper.

"But I don't--" he stopped, closing his eyes and dipping his head, pulling the Force into his mind and gaining clarity. "I don't believe that things would have been different if you were in your bed and I in mine," he stated softly.

Kalyia stared at him in disbelief for a long moment, then let out an anguished cry. "You are too much, you know that?! We were--"

"I know what we were doing!" Obi-Wan shouted, uncharacteristically furious. He stood and paced the floor, his fists clenching and unclenching at his sides seemingly of their own volition.

"Damn it, Princess, don't you think I've been over this ten thousand times in my mind?! Don't you think I want to know exactly what happened, exactly what could have happened, and exactly how I could have stopped it? Screaming at me is not going to bring Sena back!"

"No, maybe it won't," Kalyia seethed, pure fury flashing through her emerald eyes at the Jedi. "But I can be damn sure that you are not assigned to protect me anymore!"

Obi-Wan stopped pacing and stood deathly still, eyes boring into Kalyia, so deeply that she felt he could see into her soul. "Is that what you want?" he asked softly, hurt and disappointment clearly evident in his voice.

Kalyia nodded without hesitation. She swallowed swell after swell of tears down but forced them not to fall. She would not let him see her cry. She would not let him see anymore pain from her. Ever.

"I'll petition the Council in the morning," Obi-Wan said, his voice husky with emotion. With that, he flipped his hood over his head and with the slightest bow, he turned and walked out of the room.

Kalyia turned over onto her side and released a strangled sob. Tears flowed down her cheeks and anguish wracked her small body. She wept until morning, for the loss of her best friend, and the loss of the man she loved. Somehow she knew she would never see him again.