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The cantina didn't look too great on the outside, but it was better than nothing. After the last few weeks he'd had, he was badly in need of a drink. The hooded figure kept to the shadows as he searched for an empty table or booth. Finding none, he let out a small sigh and took a seat at the bar. He tried to look as inconspicuous as possible; after the incident at the last bar he'd gone to he wasn't too keen for a repeat performance. “What's your poison, stranger?” a lilting voice said directly in front of him.
He looked up to see a fucshia-skinned Zeltron leaning on the bar, a rag over one shoulder and a less-than-innocent glint in her violet eyes. “What do you have?”
The buxom bartender smiled, showing glistening white teeth, and straightened as she rattled off a selection of beverages. “Juri Juice is always a favorite, eyeblasters, dragonjuice, sonic servodrivers, sonic screwdrivers, Starshine Surprise if you've got the stomach for it...”
“Dragonjuice will be fine.” It was the only one of the bunch he recognized that wouldn't knock him off his seat in a nanosecond.
“You're new to these parts, aren't you,” the Zeltron said as she prepared his drink. “What brings you all the way out to the Rim?”
“The scenic landscape.” He didn't want to be rude, but he didn't want to get into personal details either. He was supposed to be in hiding. His life wasn't important, but another's was. He couldn't afford to trust anyone, not with Luke's life on the line.
To his surprise, the Zeltron laughed. It was a melodious sound that was honestly quite welcome after everything he'd been through lately. “Yeah, Tatooine's famous for its sparkling oceans and sprawling rainforests.” She set a tall glass in front of him but didn't move away. “Personally, I never understood why anyone would willingly come here for more than a stopover to a more pleasant planet.”
“Then why are you here?” he asked, genuinely curious.
She shrugged and sighed dramatically. “I made the mistake of falling in love. Sad, right?” She reached under the bar and started making another drink. “Love can make people do strange things, like voluntarily settle down in the middle of a desert world controlled by gangsters.” Her hands suddenly stopped moving. She looked up and tried to meet his eyes beneath the hood of his cloak. “You know anything about that, stranger? Love, I mean?”
“Laira!” a second voice called out over the steady din of the cantina. The newcomer froze. “You are married with four kids. Stop flirting with the customers.”
That voice. He knew that voice. He ducked his head and turned away from it. His hope that he wouldn't run into anyone familiar was smashed as soon as he heard that voice. Perhaps he could sneak out before she spotted him. Or maybe it wasn't really her at all...
“You're such a spoilsport, Mallika,” his server said with an exaggerated eyeroll. “I'm just being friendly to the new guy.” She turned back to him and set a second glass of dragonjuice on the bar with a wink and a whispered, “This one's on the house, sweetheart.”
“What you're being is impossible, Laira.” Yes, there was certainly no mistaking that voice. “Leave the poor man to drink in peace.”
“Yes, mom,” Laira chortled as she sauntered down the bar to her next patron.
He was just about to stand when another body stepped in front of him where the Zeltron had previously stood. “I apologize for my co-worker,” she said, wiping a few spots of alcohol from where they had spilled when Laira had set the glasses down. He chanced a glance up... “She can get a little too friendly someti-” ...just as she looked up from her task.
They both froze. Time seemed to stretch between them, the chatter and drunken laughter around them drowned out by their simultaneous shock. Her pale silver eyes darted around his face. Then she moved: in a flash, she was out the side door as if she'd never been there at all. The only evidence of her passing was Laira's indignant “HEY!” as she was knocked aside. “Mallika!” she called before turning back his way. “What did you say to her?” She didn't wait around for his reply, hurrying away after 'Mallika'.
Obi-Wan chose not to stick around for either of them to return. He quickly made his own exit through the front. He kept his head and eyes down, his cloak drawn tight around his body, and simply tried to become invisible. It almost worked...until he wasn't paying attention and made a wrong turn down a narrow alley.
A tingle on the back of his neck was the only warning he had before a solid mass slammed into him and knocked him to the ground. A familiar snap-hiss and the sudden heat at his throat kept him pinned there. “How did you find me?” his attacker hissed.
He stared into those hypnotic eyes for a beat. “Nice to see you again, too, my dear.” He was thankful his voice was steadier than his nerves.
Asajj drew her twin lightsabers closer to his neck. “Spare me your condescending pleasantries, Kenobi.” He hoped she didn't notice his flinch at the use of his name. “Give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now. And no smart remarks.”
He lay there for a moment, her weight settled atop him and her deadly sabers ready to taste his blood, trying to come up with a plausible excuse to keep his head attached to his shoulders. In that brief time he made notes of the changes she'd made to her appearance. The tattoos were gone from her chin, but the thin ones that outlined her striking eyes remained. Her skin, though still pale was slightly darker, most likely thanks to Tatooine's twin suns (which begged the question: how long had she been here?). The biggest change, however, was the short, dark hair that now covered her scalp. He couldn't help but wonder if it was her own or synthetic.
A twitch of her hand told him he'd run out of time. He had no answer. Resigned, he let out a huff and dropped his head to the hard ground. “I'd appreciate it if you just made it quick, darling.”
“You're not even going to try to fight back?”
He looked up at her tone. She sounded genuinely confused. “Why bother? You'd actually be putting me out of misery.”
Her forehead furrowed as she looked down at him. Her expression alone spoke volumes: where's the fun if you're not going to resist? “I'll ask one more time: how did you find me?”
“I didn't mean to,” he replied honestly. “All I wanted was a drink.”
She eyed him suspiciously. “That's all?”
He looked back with a steady gaze. “That's all.”
For the tiniest moment, he thought the last thing he would ever see was her skeptical face before her blades cut into his flesh. Then she stood. She kept her lightsabers activated as he joined her on his feet. He couldn't say he blamed her for her distrust, especially not in these dark times. “Then what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be out there being a pain in the Empire's backside?”
Obi-Wan allowed himself a small half-smile. He was glad to see her cynicism hadn't dampened. “I decided I'd take a vacation from heroics for a while.”
“Right,” she snorted. “Even now you can't be honest.”
“That's rich coming from you, my sweet.”
She bristled visibly. “I have always been honest, Kenobi. Just because you don't like my point of view doesn't make me a liar. I may have withheld the whole truth or bent it to my purposes, but I've never lied outright.”
Obi-Wan raised his hands as her voice grew louder. “Okay, okay.”
She twitched one crimson blade up to his chest. “For once just tell me the truth. If you're not here to finish me off, why are you here?”
He let out a long sigh. There was no getting out of this without either crossing blades, which would draw far more attention than he would like at the moment, or answering her sincerely. “The most I can say is this: I've come here to deliver hope. That's done, and I intend to look after it for as long as I can.” She let out a harsh laugh. “Scoff if you must, darling. But I'm following the Force's will on this. If you kill me now, the fates of trillions of beings, including yourself, may be put in danger.”
“Why should I care?”
“I know you do, Asajj. You're just going to have to trust me.” She stared at him for a long while, her knifing eyes scanning him from head to toe. He relaxed when her lightsabers retracted safely back into their hilts. “Thank you.”
“Whatever. I suggest you find someplace to hide like I did. Once this new Empire starts getting really greedy, not even the Rim planets will be safe.”
Obi-Wan inclined his head respectfully, sincerely. “Again, thank y-” Movement in his peripheral cut his words short. He launched himself forward into Asajj and pushed her against the alley wall. He silenced her cry of surprise with a hand over her mouth and raised a finger to his lips. She understood and kept quiet. The newly-dubbed stormtrooper that had spotted them approached slowly, his steps almost arrogantly casual.
“He's not buying it,” Asajj whispered, her breath drifting across his cheek. “If you're going to go this route, you need to make it more convincing.” She gave him no time to ponder her meaning before she wrapped a leg around him and pulled him close. She grabbed his head, hood and all, with both hands and brought his face into the crook of her neck. She wasted no time in letting loose a series of high-pitched whines and deep-throated sighs that echoed off the surrounding stone. “Right there!” she cried in a voice not her own. “Don't stop!”
Obi-Wan remained frozen in shock. She kept moving, kept shouting in faux ecstasy, until the trooper halted in his tracks and made an abrupt about-face at what he was seeing...or thought he was seeing. Only when he turned the corner back into the busy street did Asajj's breathing return to normal and those exquisite sounds stop. “Maybe he'll rethink interrupting anyone else in dark alleys from now on,” she said with a light chuckle. “You can let go of me now, Kenobi.”
He looked down when he realized his hands had taken hold of her hips and were currently gripping them as if his life depended on it. He recoiled from her as if he'd been burned. He could still feel her softness in his palms. “Well, that was...um...unexpected,” he stuttered.
She smirked at him. “It worked, didn't it?” She glanced back the way the stormtrooper had gone before softening her voice. “Not that I care, but do you have anywhere to stay?”
“Planning on killing me in my sleep?”
“I could have killed you at any time if I'd wanted to. I just want to make sure you're not going to do anything stupid that will get us both killed.”
There was something in her voice that gave him pause, but she had a point. “Not at the moment. I'm sure I can find a place-”
“No, you're not,” she said suddenly. “You're coming with me so I can keep an eye on you.”
“Wha-right now?” He wasn't sure he liked the idea of going anywhere alone with Asajj Ventress.
“Yes, right now. Where there's one trooper, there are bound to be more. You should know that, as much time as you spent around those clones.” Without giving him a chance to draw breath, she grabbed his wrist and led him back into the cantina. “Laira!” she yelled.
The Zeltron quickly appeared, her eyes wide in concern. “Mallika, what was all that abo-” She spotted Obi-Wan and narrowed her eyes. “Mallika, what is going on?”
Asajj simply collected her cloak as she answered. “I'm going to have to take the rest of the day off. And possibly tomorrow. You can take care of the place by yourself, yes?”
“Mallika, you can't walk out. Rendo will fire you.”
“So I'm fired then. No big loss.” She paused when she saw Laira's hurt expression. “I didn't mean you. It’s just...something's come up that I have to take care of.” Laira's gaze flicked toward a still-silent Obi-Wan, who ducked his head at her look. “Trust me, if I could avoid it I would, but it's in my best interest to handle it now.” Asajj touched her friend's shoulder, a compassionate, gentle gesture Obi-Wan had never seen from her. “Laira,” she whispered, obviously hoping he wouldn't hear, “I'll be back soon. Just tell Rendo I had a family emergency or something.”
Laira frowned. “I HATE lying. But I'll do it. For you, Mallika.”
“Thank you.” Asajj turned back to Obi-Wan, the gentleness he'd heard in her voice nowhere to be found on her face. “Come on.”
“Hey!” Laira called when they stepped out the door. “If she gives you too much trouble, you're more than welcome to stay the night with me, stranger.”
“Unless you want to be part of a three-way with her and her husband, you'd do well to not take her up on that offer.”
Obi-Wan hoped his hood kept her from seeing the blush that crept up his face at that.
Asajj had taken him to a small apartment complex on the other side of the city. After a few tense moments of not quite knowing what to do with each other, Asajj had told him to take her bed. “I won't be doing much sleeping tonight anyway,” she'd said. He'd declined, saying he wasn't tired. She didn't believe him for an instant. A brief staredown ensued and he'd relented, if only to keep the relative peace between them going for a bit longer.
He'd been more exhausted than he'd thought; as soon as his head hit the near-flat pillow he'd fallen into a blissfully dreamless sleep.
It was dark outside the small widow when the first scream woke him. His hand went instinctively to his lightsaber as he regained his bearings. Then he remembered Asajj. He followed the agonized sounds to the main room and found her sitting against a wall, her legs drawn up to her chest, her arms wrapped around them, and her head buried in her knees. Her entire body was shaking.
“Asajj,” he said gently as he knelt beside her. She didn't look at him. “Asajj, what's wrong?” He reached out to touch her shoulder. That was a mistake.
She scrambled away from him and aimed both lightsabers at his throat. He saw then that she hadn't been awake at all. Even now she was struggling to see things clearly. “Easy,” he said softly. “It's okay, Asajj. It's me.” She turned frightened eyes up to his face, her breathing ragged and pained. There were tear tracks down her cheeks. “It's Obi-Wan. I won't hurt you. Please wake up.”
She remained motionless but for the heaving of her chest as she tried to catch her breath and the trembling of her lightsabers. Then her eyes cleared. Recognition flared in them as she looked at him. She deactivated her weapons and put her hands flat on the floor beside her, her head hanging below her shoulders. She lifted one hand to cover her eyes. “What happened?” she asked groggily.
Obi-Wan settled himself on the floor when he was sure the worst was over. “You were having a nightmare. A pretty bad one from what I saw.”
Asajj ‘humph’d. “I don’t have nightmares,” she said stubbornly.
He chanced moving a little closer. “I beg to disagree, my dear.”
She let out a frustrated sigh and moved back to the wall, flattening her back against the rough sandstone. He recognized the motion as a defensive tactic; she was subconsciously making sure she couldn’t be attacked from behind by whatever had haunted her dream. “It wasn’t a nightmare, Kenobi.” She paused before clarifying, her voice suddenly tight and hesitant. “Memories. Bad ones.” Her knees went back to her chest. She hugged them against her, both lightsabers still gripped in her hands.
Obi-Wan took a moment to observe her and marveled at the transformation from Sith assassin to the woman he now saw before him. Where others had merely seen a pawn of Dooku and Sidious, he had known there was a person beneath the veneer of savagery and contempt for the universe. As much as she would have and still would deny it, Asajj Ventress did indeed have a heart and conscience. And now it looked like the latter was catching up with her. At the moment he wanted nothing more than to try to ease the pain that had created those heart-wrenching cries that had woken him.
But he had no words of comfort for her now. She would know if he was lying just to sugar-coat the truth, and the truth wouldn't be of any help either. Nor would a lecture about how the past was in the past and it could only hurt if one let it. Instead, he simply asked, “Would you like me to leave you alone?”
Asajj didn't look at him, didn't answer. He thought she was just being difficult again and stood to return to his temporary bed. Her hand shot out and clenched the hem of his cloak. “Please stay,” she whispered softly, still not meeting his eyes.
Obi-Wan resisted the urge to smile in relief. “Of course, my dear.” This time when he sat down he sat very close beside her. He hadn't been expecting the way she closed the scarce distance and laid her head on his shoulder, one hand pillowed under her cheek. Although the move surprised him, Obi-Wan wrapped his arm around her back and held her. He hoped that, even if it were just for this one night, the nightmares that plagued her would leave her be.
Asajj led him out of the city the next morning, keeping to the shadows and back alleys in case any more stormtroopers decided to make an appearance. Once they were away from prying eyes, along with an eopie she had won from a Toydarian in a game of “chance”, she turned to face him directly. “End of the road, Kenobi. Try not to get yourself killed.”
Obi-Wan looked at her. Neither of them had mentioned what had transpired the night before and she had returned to her usual winning demeanor with the sunsrise. But there was a nagging feeling that something had changed within her, something he couldn't identify. It prodded against his Force signature until words he'd never meant to speak left his mouth. “You could come with me.”
Her eyes went wide. “Have the suns baked your brain already?”
Well, no backing out now, he thought. “I'm serious, Asajj. As much as I hate to admit it, I don't particularly look forward to spending the rest of my life in complete isolation without some kind of company. And I know you would rather avoid another encounter with those stormtroopers.”
“I can handle them myself.”
He sighed at her tone. “You're right. It's selfish of me to ask you to drop everything and go with me into the Wastes. Do forgive me.” He made sure to keep his voice sincere; the slightest hint of sarcasm or patronization and their tentative truce would be shattered. “I should be going then.”
“Kenobi,” she said when he pointed the eopie away from the city to face the vast Jundland Wastes. He turned. She had her arms crossed under her chest and a very uneasy expression on her face. “About last night...” Was that a blush trying to spread across her cheeks? “Thank you. That was the first time in a long time I wasn't afraid to sleep.”
He inclined his head at her. “I'm glad to hear it.”
“Nightmares have a way of coming back for me. So, if you find yourself heading this way again...not that I want to make it a habit, but...you'd be more than welcome to stay at my place...if you want, that is.”
For the fourth time in two days, Obi-Wan found himself surprised by his once-adversary. “I...would be most honored.”
“Don't make a big deal out of it, Kenobi,” she snapped. Now he was sure that was a blush. “It's just an offer. And I may not feel like playing hostess if you decide to take me up on it.”
He tried to hide his smile at her evasion. “Understood, my dear.” He took a step towards the Wastes, but stopped himself. “I know you may not appreciate it, but may the Force be with you, Asajj.”
One corner of her mouth twitched up. “And you may think me disingenuous, but may it be with you as well.” She extended a hand as she said the last word.
Obi-Wan hesitated, then reached out. Her skin was cool against his, her grip strong. The calluses on her palm and fingers were the only evidence that she had been something other than a mere bartender. She made to pull away, but he kept hold of her hand for a moment. He didn't know why he brought the still-lethal hand to his lips to press a kiss into the knuckles. He didn't know why he wanted to turn it over and gift a twin kiss to the palm. But the look on her face was worth his minor confusion. And the fact that she didn’t behead him for it.
Before she could change her mind about that last part and without another word, Obi-Wan mounted the beast and made his way deep into the desert. He didn’t see Asajj watching until he disappeared. He didn’t see how she cradled the hand he’d kissed in farewell to her chest. And he didn’t hear her soft words lost to the wind: “When I get bored of this place, and if your invitation still stands, I’ll come find you, Obi-Wan.”