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satine [sw: clone wars] (seekingpeace) wrote in makebelievelog, @ 2012-07-09 22:05:00

Who: Satine Kryze and Obi-Wan Kenobi
What: Obi-Wan discovers his new roommate has a familiar face and needs to be brought up to speed.
When: Monday, July 9, morning - after her net post
Where: Their quarters
Rating/Warnings: G; none at present
Status: Closed; to be completed in comments


It wasn't the first time she had been kidnapped. It wasn't even the first time she'd been brought to another planet. But this time it was different. This time there appeared to be no chance of escape. Satine surveyed the room and ticked off her resources: her droid deactivator, her clothes, furniture that could theoretically be used to barricade the door, sheets that could make a rope ladder, a mirror. But she was safe here, wasn't she?

Obi-Wan had been out running. Again. His latest discussion with Anakin had meant there were yet more sleepless nights, and they had seen him out exercising before sunrise in the hopes that he could exhaust himself enough to snatch even a few hours of rest. He had detoured by the dining room on his way back to his rooms and lifted a few different pieces of fruit, intending to have a quick shower before eating them, but the apple looked far too tasty and so he had started eating it on his way up the stairs.

He must have been more tired than he realised, as he didn't realise that there was someone else in the rooms until he opened the door and sensed their presence.

He knew them...

Closing the door behind him, loud enough for the sound to travel, he spared a moment to curse the fact that he was rather obviously in need of a shower, even as he swallowed the mouthful of apple he was chewing on. After that, it was too late as his new room-mate entered the living room.

"Hello, Satine."

Even with the warning from Anakin that Obi-Wan was here, Satine was not prepared for the sight that greeted her. After all, the last time she'd seen Obi-Wan he had been under a shroud, being lowered into a crypt. Now here he was, alive and covered in sweat and eating a piece of fruit as if nothing had happened. Her composure cracked and she stepped back. But only one step. Her hands fluttered at her sides until she took a deep breath and nodded.

"General Kenobi. You're looking well. Would you like a moment to compose yourself?"

Obi-Wan stepped forward as she moved away, pausing to put his selection of fruit on the small table, and then stopped at her question. Her distress was obvious through the Force, but she covered it up quickly. Frowning slightly, he watched her for a moment before replying. "Well, I was on my way to freshen up, Highness," he told her, tugging at his tee-shirt as he spoke, "but... Are you alright?"

Stepping around the table, he moved to stand in front of her, obviously concerned about her. "I mean, aside from the 'being kidnapped to an unknown planet outside of our galaxy for no known reason and with no way home' part." It occurred to him as he was speaking that he didn't actually know when Satine had been taken from, and this could be problematic, but that was something they could work out later, when he wasn't wringing with sweat.

"Yes, that much is clear," she said, giving him a look over. He was alive, he was well and whole and stinking with it, and looking at her with those damned eyes of his and that stupid beard and she wasn't sure whether she wanted more to kiss him or to slap him. But she breathed through the surge of emotion and met his gaze, looking up and raising her brows slightly.

"Aside from that part, I'm quite well. Disoriented, but we appear to be safe for the moment, according to that note and the letter from the head of staff." Satine shrugged; she wasn't happy about being kidnapped, but Obi-Wan seemed content enough, which meant there wasn't much to be done about the situation. "I am a little surprised to see you here, however." A touch of asperity crept into her voice. "Given that the last time I saw you, you were dead."

Obi-Wan almost winced at the tone of her voice, but it made sense given what she was saying. "Ah. Yes, that business. You were at the funeral, then." He paused for a moment, smoothing down his beard as he went quiet, and glanced away. "That was, ah, some time ago, actually. I'm afraid it was essential for the mission I was on, but I am sorry for deceiving you. If it helps at all, although I doubt it, Anakin didn't even know."

"I was," she said, then looked at him more closely. "You deceived me? You weren't - you faked your own death for a mission and you lied to all of us?" Satine's eyes narrowed. She had been prepared to believe whatever force had brought them here had brought him back to life, but not prepared to hear that he'd never been dead in the first place. "I suppose I should find that reassuring." Her tone indicated that she did not.

"I did, and I have apologised for it, but it was my mission. I did what I had to do, and it was essential that nobody knew."

Of course, his mission had been to prevent Chancellor Palpatine being kidnapped or assassinated; the thought turned in his mind and mingled with his memories of what he had gone through before arriving at the castle and his very recent discussion with Anakin, and played through his thoughts as he spoke. "A Phindian named Moralo Eval was going to kidnap the Chancellor and probably assassinate him, and I had to infiltrate his team of bounty hunters to stop it from happening. In order to do that, Obi-Wan Kenobi had to die. Your reaction, and Anakin's, made it authentic, so thank you. The mission was a success, and I..." He ducked his head again, as it seemed that it was his turn for his composure to slip for a second. "I saved that bastard's life. I should have just..."

He stepped back as he registered what he was saying and folded his arms across his chest as he did so. "Excuse me, Highness, but I should take a few moments to compose myself. Feel free to try some of the fruit. And do not eat the skin of the long yellow one, it tastes revolting. If you'll excuse me," he said and then turned to head into his room.

"I beg your pardon if I'm not accepting the apology of a dead man quickly enough," Satine snapped, then stopped as his composure cracked. They had always been talented at finding each other's weak spots, but this was different. This was something more elemental. A well of grief and rage that was barely concealed. And just as she was about to ask what he meant, he was leaving the room. She was tempted to stamp her foot and demand that he come back, but it seemed only fair to give him the time to compose himself. And to shower.

When he came back into the room, she was seated and plucking some of the grapes off their stems, eating them one by one. Her brows raised at his attire - it would have been difficult to find something more unlike his Jedi robes than that... magenta monstrosity.

Obi-Wan sat down on the same couch as Satine, but left a gap between them. He stayed quiet, trying to work out what, if anything, he should tell the Duchess. He ran his fingers through his still-wet hair, and then pinched at the bridge of his nose. "I hope you don't mind, but I took the liberty of sending down for some refreshments. I think we may need it," he told her, just as there was a knock at the door. He got to his feet and answered the door, thanking the member of staff and sending them on their way before carrying the tray in and setting it down on the coffee table. He set about pouring tea for them both, and then sat back on the couch once again.

Slowly and carefully, he explained how the castle brought people from different points within their own timelines. He told her how Padme was from some time before she was, but Anakin and himself were from her future. And that their son, Luke, was from far in the future. He gave her an abridged explanation of the sort of things that happened in the castle, how the residents were toyed with on a semi-regular basis. He spoke without looking up; he simply stared into his cup of tea and recited everything to her.

Then he stopped stalling and looked round at her. "In the time I come from... The Chancellor has revealed himself to be a Sith Lord. The Sith Lord. He engineered the entire War so that he could take over the Galaxy, and he now calls himself Emperor. The Jedi are... we were...” He looked away from her at that point and closed his eyes. “Our troops turned on us. Those of us in the field were shot by our men. Those of us at the Temple... they... They marched on the Temple. Hardly any of us survived, and those of us that did are in exile, to be hunted down and killed.”

Years of politics had taught Satine the art of listening, and she took in everything Obi-Wan told her in silence with sips of tea to ground herself. Some of it was similar to Anakin's information, but expanded into further detail. It was all frankly unbelievable. But she'd woken up in a castle on a planet that was not her own, and Obi-Wan seemed serious even if she did not entirely trust him these days. Perhaps speaking with Skywalker or Senator Amidala would clear things up.

But his revelations of what had come after... that seemed beyond anything she could have imagined. And yet there was no reason for him to make up such outrageous stories, and he did seem genuinely anguished, but... she didn't know what to make of it. The Sith were stories from long ago. She turned slightly to look at Obi-Wan, her features schooled to neutrality.

"I am... so terribly sorry for your loss, Obi-Wan."

He nodded as she passed on her condolences, putting his tea down so that he could play with the cuffs of his beloved jumper. He was silent for a long while before he glanced back round at Satine. "Thank you. I... thank you," he said before looking back at his hands. He could sense her slight scepticism, which hurt more than he wanted to admit; granted, he had just admitted to lying to the entire galaxy about his own death, and if he hadn't lived through what he had just described to her, he would have been hard-pressed to believe it as well. But he was beyond exhausted and still unable to sleep, and so his tired brain did not know how to react.

One slender hand reached over and rested atop Obi-Wan's own broader, callused hands. Satine could not simply sit by and watch him sink into despair. Not Obi-Wan Kenobi, the consummate Jedi, the man who had saved her life more times than she could count and who had helped her secure peace in her system. Even if they disagreed, even if she was confused and upset and tired... he was one of the few people she considered a friend. He deserved that much from her.

"How long have you been here?" Not long, if the wound was still that fresh, she surmised.

He almost flinched at her touch, since it was entirely unexpected. He glanced round at her once more, before dropping his gaze to where her hand was. "I have been here... this place measures time in a very odd way. By the calendar in use on this planet, it is two months and three days, or almost 9 of their weeks. It's almost 13 Coruscanti weeks, though." He spoke in a soft, almost-monotone voice, reciting facts and nothing more.

When he suppressed the flinch, Satine drew her hand back, watching him closely. "Not very long at all, then." Not long to be dealing with the loss of almost everyone he cared about, if he was indeed being truthful. And clearly something was weighing on him, judging by how exhausted he looked; if not the Jedi, then something else would have had to have kept him ragged like this. She remembered this sort of bone-deep exhaustion from their year on the run together. He'd been younger then - they both had - and more able to bounce back from it. Not anymore, it seemed.

"At least you have Master Skywalker and Senator Amidala here. They must be a comfort to you," she said, trying to sound soothing. Conciliating politicians and ministers was more her area of expertise than Jedi, but she would do her best.