"We have to talk."

"Yes, yes we do."

A silence followed, as if he hadn't expected me to agree so soon. I heard his footsteps coming closer cautiously, probably overthinking every move he made. My eyes stayed clued on the stars, knowing that if I turned around and faced him my mind would drift to other things that I had no luxury thinking of at that moment.

"So, what shall we start with?" I couldn't bear the pressing silence. There was no doubt on my mind that he had been trying to find the right words, the right thing to begin with without the threat of me exploding. While I, I had been thinking if I could tell him about Maul. If I should.

"I don't think I get your meaning."

"Well, there's the attack that your colleagues most definitely want you to talk about." Turning around, I glanced at his figure standing in the midst of the room as my arms wrapped before me. He was huddled in his brown cloak, wearing those light brown tunics underneath. Dammit, why does he look so soft?

"I don't think you're interested in the months I've spend here doctoring away while you were out there playing hero, so that's not an option. Somehow I get the feeling you definitely don't want to talk about us, either. What does happen to be a necessary subject is the fact that I've just broken your nose, and with good reason."

"Mmh." Obi Wan scoffed as a small smirk started to appear and his hand went to stroke his beard in thought, but his eyes remained without humor. "Let's start with the attack, so we don't throttle each other before we get to the more pressing matters."

"Pff." I waved my hand at him as I made my way towards the cabinet filled with liquor. Numerous bottles lined the shelves, some unopened and some still half full. There were empty bottles littered around the dorm too, ones I hadn't bothered to throw away. I spent so little time here, anyway. At least time when I was sober.

"What do you want to know?" I spoke as my eyes landed on an unopened bottle of whiskey stuffed away in the back of the cabinet, saved as a last resort during the worst moments. I guess this is as good a time as any. I opened the glass door, reaching for the bottle and sniffing on the cork before opening it. The stench that followed had me huffing before I heard his voice fill the room.

"Who were they?"

Your long lost nemesis. Thinking, I closed the door and studied his reflection in the glass. There was no sign in his eyes that he already knew, that he knew that his worst nightmare had almost repeated itself. That he, in failing to kill him before, had allowed Maul to return and grow stronger in the meantime. Did I want to lay that on him? Did I want him to become even more afraid, while he'd already locked me up in here? While he'd already locked the granite doors to his heart, too?

Before I knew it he'd stuff me somewhere even deeper in the middle of nowhere, locked away from any kind of civilization where there was no possibility of Maul finding me. Where even he would never venture. "Pirates." A deep sigh escaped my lips as I filled the glass, way more than I was supposed to. Oh, you horrible, horrible person.

"Pirates?" In the reflection of the class I saw him crossing his arms and his frown deepening, those eyes studying me. "Attacking a medical station?"

Somehow, I had missed that sass. "You want one?" I held another glass up for him and glanced backwards, just a second, to see him shaking his head warily. At least it gave me the time to think about what I was going to say that didn't sound like I was hiding something. Because I knew him, and I knew he'd notice the second I was lying to him. Maybe giving him half-truths would be enough to occupy his mind.

My eyes stayed focused on my glass as I walked towards him, waiting for the moment when my mind had settled on the correct answer. "They were looking for this." My hand then reached out to the disk in my pocket, holding it up. "It contains certain information that could topple one of the main spice empires. Get this, and you get a planet and all the riches that comes with it in return."

I threw the disk at him and he easily caught it, proceeding to scan it with utmost attention. "You don't know who they were, didn't get any names?" Obi Wan asked after deciding he'd learn nothing from the disk itself and threw it back my way.

I studied him closely. He couldn't have known it was Maul unless he'd seen some kind of surveillance footage. As far as I knew, that footage had been lost together with the entire section. "I'm not exactly familiar with famous space pirates, master jedi." Not a lie, just not a full answer. In my mind, I was still cursing at myself for hiding the truth.

He let out a thoughtful hum, eyes darting to the stars as he started to pace. "Must be some pirate, to be able to hold up against you." Then, he seemed to focus on those bandages and the way I still had trouble holding myself upright. "Come to think of it, I can't recall any pirate famed to be trained that well."

Breathing in deeply through my nose, I tried to ignore the little jabs he send my way. "I had one knife, jedi." I glared his way before walking past him, our shoulders bumping. I'd tried to ignore the currents that went through my body afterwards but as always, I failed.

"One knife." Obi Wan repeated, biting on his lip to suppress the emotions he was hiding from me. "And no armor, I heard."

"You heard right."

"And you decided it was a good idea to go into battle head on with only one knife, no armor and bare feet?"

"Bloody hell, Kenobi." Turning towards him abruptly, my eyes narrowed at him as some of the whiskey spilled from the glass. He froze slightly but his defiant eyes remained steadfast. "Say what you want to say."

"There are many things on my mind, princess." He'd barely succeeded in hiding his growl. Those blue eyes that were usually so kind were now filled with restraint and contempt. "Not all of them pleasant."

Stepping closer, I snarled. "Spit it out."

"You put yourself and your staff in danger." Obi Wan simply stated, staring numbly into my eyes.

"And?"

"Do I need to say more?" He didn't even flinch when I stepped closer. "Or are the bottles in this room indication enough?"

A tilt of the head had his eyes narrowing. "I'm sure you can do better than that, master jedi."

"I'm not interested in calling you names."

"Say it!"

"Fine." He bit and advanced till we were toe to toe, eyes staring into each other. "You've been reckless, hot headed and irresponsible, behaving like some feral animal and degrading yourself to this..." His eyes wandered down my body as each word sent sharp shots through me. "If Aidan could see you, -"

"But he can't, can he?!" Obi Wan pulled back slightly while his eyes never left mine. "No, because I've been locked up here, in the middle of fucking nowhere, with no option to reach my own brother or anyone else!"

"Not even you, no, you never answered." He only studied me closely, waiting, assessing. "No matter how many messages I sent, no matter how much I pleaded for an answer you left me here to rot."

"You forget I'm fighting a war, Lyanna." He defended. "You can't expect me to answer every single message you send."

"You can at least answer one." I hissed. "That's the least you could've done after locking me up."

"Locking you up?" His voice raised an octave as he lifted his brows. "That's a grand word for putting you in a safe facility and giving you the opportunity to save lifes as you've always done, while keeping you from being locked up in Coruscant, used as some weapon of mass destruction or a laboratory experiment."

Did he do all those things? I blinked several times, just for a few seconds, but it was enough for Obi Wan to notice the hesitation.

"Don't let him get inside your head." Arthas snarled from behind me. I felt a slight current on my bare shoulder, like shadows where whispering over the skin.

Shaking my head, trying to get rid of the confusion I quickly recovered. "You mean cleaning up the messes you made." My index finger poked at his chest, eyes narrowing as I stepped closer.

"I beg your pardon?" Obi Wan tilted his head slightly, restrained anger clearly visible in his eyes.

"Those men I've saved came from your battles. If you'd let me fight, they would've never needed to be treated in the first place." My voice raised.

"No, they might've become ashes instead." Obi Wan wasn't faced in the slightest. "Or have you forgotten what happened to the clones the last time you fought?"

A sharp intake of breath followed, my heart seeming to stop a beat. It struck a sensitive cord, harder than I'd liked to admit. I could've saved those 12 men. I'd memorized their names, repeated them each morning I stepped out of bed and then each evening when I'd finished work. No matter how many clones I saved, I never could forget them.

Obi Wan seemed to notice my distress and the tears suddenly gleaming in my eyes. He tried to speak up but the words got caught in his throat. He only managed to look me in the eyes, watching as his words wreaked havoc, unable to take it back.

"See?" I could feel his presence coming closer, breath whispering over my neck. Arthas's voice was barely above a whisper, but each word rang loudly in my head. "He doesn't trust you. All he sees in you is danger."

I downed the glass of whiskey in one take and gulped slightly after. "Get out." Surprisingly, my voice came out steady as I held myself together. Obi Wan flinched, brows knotting together as he processed the order. Giving him one last glare, I turned my back to him and walked back to the window.

Only, his fingers catching my wrist stopped me from doing so. I lifted my gaze and saw Arthas standing but a few feet away from me. "You're sure you don't want to kill him?" The edge of his mouth lifted, his eyes gleaming.

"Lyanna." That damned voice, that damned accent. It turned me from the ancient Valerian before me in a heartbeat.

Closing my eyes, I tried to steady my breathing as a single tear rolled down my cheek. "I didn't mean to hurt you." Obi Wan continued softly. "But the council decided, -" He'd noticed the tensing of my muscles, the halting of my breath and stopped himself before he could continue.

"You are in the council."

"We don't always agree." At that I turned towards him, scanning his eyes.

"Then look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't consent to this." A small spark of hope formed, only to be crushed by the shaking of his head and the sigh that followed.

"It was the best we could do." He answered instead.

I didn't react. Instead, I waited for his grip to loosen so I could walk away. But those fingers remained there, holding me in place, until they started to move up to the scars imprinted on the flesh. The twins to the ones he bore on the same arm.

I gazed down and watched his fingers as they traced the lines, leading up all the way to my elbow. "When I heard about the distress call I wasn't worried. I didn't feel anything, after all." At that I lifted my eyes to his, only to see him staring down at those flaming swirls. "Then I remembered our bond was severed." He met my gaze, eyes unrelenting. "And I left before anyone could notice."

He loosened his grip, my arm falling down numbly at my side as we stared at each other. "One message." I whispered, voice breaking. "Just one. That was all I asked."

Obi Wan lowered his gaze to the floor. "All right." He sighed. "Then all I'm going to ask you is the truth." At that, he met my eyes again.

My heart started. "About what?"

"I know you're hiding something, Lyanna, I can feel it." His blue eyes turned stern, brows knotting together. "Last time it... it didn't end so well. So, forgive me if I seem persistent."

Because last time you sacrificed yourself. I finished for him, sensing the words floating through his mind. This time was something else entirely. It was a sith lord who was now undoubtedly trying to unearth the reason why I was so persistent on killing him. An ancient vendetta that would without a doubt find out why exactly, and use it against us. Find us, and then make sure it hurt.

That made it our problem, didn't it? Maul was his nightmare, his greatest fear. It was but a matter of time before Maul found us. The least I could do was warn him before it happened again. Before he'd have to hold me as I died in his arms, like he did last time, like he held Satine. If it happened for a third time it would... it would break him, I realized.

I couldn't let that happen. Not even after everything that had transpired. "It was, -" I started, stepping closer as I prepared myself for his reaction.

"Don't!" Arthas hissed in my ear, suddenly right behind to me with his hands hooked on my shoulders. Obi Wan lifted his brows at the sudden silence, eyes darting between mine. "You want to get locked up in some deep, dark hole?!" The Valerian continued, hand sliding down my shoulder where I could faintly feel his grasp.

"Yes?" Obi Wan pressed on, frowning.

"You know he won't trust you. But we can defeat him, together." Blackwing whispered soothingly as his hand soothed down my arm. My eyes stayed clued on those blue ones, trying to stay tethered to this world. "We don't need his protection. We're strong enough, you and I. We will find the sith, kill him and show him he's wrong."

The jedi's eyes narrowed as he glanced over my shoulder, his hand inching towards the lightsaber at his side. Something had caught his attention, and it had fear appearing in his eyes. "Nothing." The sudden answer startled him, redirecting his gaze back to me. "It was nothing." I repeated, forcing myself back to reality and trying to recover the iciness in my voice. "They were just pirates, jedi. What in the bloody hell would I be lying about?"

Seemingly unfazed I walked past him and towards the liquor cabinet, again yearning for that whiskey and the burn in my throat that would follow. And perhaps the forgetfulness, too.

Obi Wan stood frozen there for a while, contemplating my answer, over thinking until he sighed deeply in defeat and made his way towards the door. "I'll be leaving at dawn tomorrow, for if you change your mind."

I glanced at him, eyebrow raised with the new glass in hand, swirling the liquid within it. "Good luck with those droids, jedi." I raised the glass, smirking. "And do try not to send too many men my way."

He bit the inside of his cheek, lips pulled in a thin line as he nodded and reached out for the door. Before he could slip through, his eyes landed on me one last time. "Please, take care of yourself, Lyanna." My heart skipped a beat again, lips frozen as I stared at his eyes. "I hate seeing you this way."

The sincerity in his voice made my heart shatter. Especially knowing what I was keeping from him, still. When he shut the door behind him I was left with that guilt eating me up from the inside.