Couldn't resist drawing that particular scene ^^ Her dress didn't exactly come out as I imagined but OMG look at Obi O.O

"Blast it." Obi Wan cursed as the engine groaned and sputtered, the last signs of life fading from the machine as it came to a halt in the middle of an abandoned road in the forest. He slapped the body of the hoverbike, trying to get it back to work but it seemed every last bit of fuel had been drained during the chase.

I chuckled softly against his back, unwrapping my arms from around his torso and smoothly swinging my legs over the seat. Meanwhile he continued to tinker with the vehicle, curses falling from his lips. Planting my feet on the ground, I breathed the scent of the forest in deeply and sighed contently.

We had gotten away. It hadn't been easy, firing over his shoulders in that somewhat uncomfortable position, but within half an hour the last of our pursuers had disappeared somewhere in the bushes after being hit by a well-aimed shot from dear old me. I'd swung back to the seat behind him after, not being able to face him any longer than was necessary without doing something stupid.

I could steel feel the thrill heightening my senses as I stood there, smoothing out my dress as I glanced back at Obi Wan while he glared at the machine. "It's not going to work." I chuckled softly at the irritated look he gave it. Then, I looked at my back, noting the torn edges of my cape I'd ripped off and thrown at some of the pursuers. They'd gotten tangled in the fabric and fallen to the ground subsequently. Not a complete waste of the dress, but it still brought a pout to my face.

"We've got about an hour of walking left in that direction." Obi Wan sighed as he stepped off the hoverbike and pointed west, right through the middle of the thick of the forest. "And my commlink was shot during the fight, so there'll be no calling for transports." The grumpiness that showed on his features was adorable, especially when he ran his hand through his hair and ruffled it.

"Not to mention, it will be dark and freezing soon." He braced his hands on his sides as he pondered.

"Then we better hurry." I smiled at him before striding off into the forest and off the road, my dress swirling behind me as I faded behind the trees.

"Lyanna, wait!" With hurried steps he caught up to me as I nimbly climbed over roots and stems. "This may not be the best idea!"

"Don't tell me you're afraid of the woods, master jedi."

"No, -" He scoffed from behind me as I heard the leaves rustle in his path. Twigs crunched beneath his feet and his breathing was loud, so loud I was sure any animal in a mile's radius would be scared off. "I only believe we're not wearing the proper attire for a hike."

"Where's your sense of adventure?" As I took another step forward and onto a patch of soft moss, I eyed him with a smirk before I practically toppled backwards. An undignified yelp escaped from my lips as my heel sunk fully into the soft ground. Right before I fell backwards an arm wrapped around my waist and kept me from doing so. I hung back, hands wrapped tightly around his upper arms, back bent as I looked up at him with wide open eyes.

As he was holding me, Obi Wan glanced down at the 6-inch heels I was wearing and lifted an amused eyebrow. "As I was saying, -"

"I beat Dryden hand to hand wearing this."

The smile on his face grew as he glanced down at me. "I was only, -"

"And escaped that ball room, running full speed while deflecting multiple shots with a lightsaber, I'll have you know." He was full on grinning when he noted the blush covering my cheeks. "I think I can manage walking."

"All right, princess." Obi Wan pulled me up on my own feet and waited till I had gathered my own balance before letting me go entirely.

"Doctor."

"Doctor." He added with another grin, narrowing his eyes playfully and put his hands on his hips. "Don't let me stop you."

"Hmmpf." Turning back, I saw that the soft moss stretched on and on along the direction we were supposed to go.

He noticed my stare and took pity. "Look, we can go back to the road and wait for another vehicle to, -" Obi Wan halted midsentence when I bent down and loosened the straps of the heels, taking them off. "Oh." He cocked his head to the side, eyes wandering down my legs when they were exposed.

With a victorious smile I held up the heels and walked another few steps. It felt like walking on clouds, soft and cold to the touch but oh, so glorious. My dress slipped over the moss, twigs and vines getting tangled in the red fabric but I didn't mind in the slightest. I hadn't felt this free in months, 6 months to be exact. I glanced back at Obi Wan as I ventured further. "You coming?"

He merely chuckled in answer and followed in my footsteps. And so we walked on, minutes passing by in comfortable silence as we made our way through the forest, letting the mission dawn in our minds as the adrenaline slowly but surely faded. I particularly enjoyed the view, the trees with little buds and the bushes with all the different colours, the tiny flowers sparking amidst the dense moss. To pass the time I started humming to a tune I knew all too well, feet slowly picking up the rhythm.

"Where's that from?" Obi Wan asked after a while as he wandered beside me, pushing aside the branches that got in his way until we reached a clearing.

"It's a Valerian song." I smiled genuinely at him, forgetting the fact I hadn't done so in a while. It was only when a look of wonder crossed his face that I remembered. "One they always played during Ostara." I quickly diverted my gaze when my stomach dropped.

If he noticed the slight tremble in my voice, he didn't say. "It's the festival of spring; hope, new life and new beginnings. The streets always filled with hundreds of people, dancing, feasting, performing these dances. I'm sure they're celebrating it right now back home." My feet demonstrated the traditional steps, dress swirling around my legs at the turns.

My feet halted in their steps as my grin slowly faded to a faint smile. "Back when Anduin was king, he had the honour of the first dance. Fire is the force of renewal, after all. I'm told that he made it quite the spectacle." I glanced down as even that last smile went and a deep sigh escaped my lips.

"This year was to be my first time performing it as the phoenix." My eyes ventured to the skies, to the planet hidden behind that endless nothingness, hoping to spot the fires that now danced in the lanterns lightening the streets. There was nothing there, nothing to fill my heart with that sparking hope. My mouth pulled into a thin line, eyebrows knotting together as my nails sunk into the palms of my hand.

Slowly I heard his footsteps drawing near. A few moments passed before I heard him move and saw an outstretched hand facing my direction. Glancing up at him and turning his way, my heart started hammering in my chest when he smiled softly. "You still could." Obi Wan whispered, holding out his hand. "If you'd grant me the honour."

"But... you don't know the steps." I cradled my hand against my chest as my stomach fluttered. The light of the dawn casted warm shadows on his face and made his auburn hair light up like fire.

"I'll learn." There was a decisiveness in his voice combined with a certain gentleness that melted my previous reluctance.

So, I obliged, placing my hand in his and letting him pull me closer against him. "All right." I whispered as he looked down upon me, our chests almost pushed against each other. I had to tear my gaze away and to our feet. "It starts with this, and then one step there, -" And so I began teaching him the dance, feet following my own.

As he'd said he learned quickly and soon he was twirling me around the clearing, chuckles falling of his lips as I leapt and turned in the moss, bare feet gliding over the ground. He lifted me up multiple times, not caring about the way his fingers touched my bare skin, not caring about the mission we'd just returned from.

It was nothing like those dances there, anyway. Dances where every single step had to be perfect, where backs were always straightened and every muscle tensed. Here though, every single step was swift and true, carrying you wherever you wanted to go, each move the unspoken truth of what played within. Each jump was full of energy, each turn a surprise. It was an ode to freedom and joy more than it was to beauty but if was far more mesmerizing to watch.

Still, it almost felt absurd. The bare feet, the forest, us dressed in those clothes that were almost torn apart and covered in dirt while we laughed as we danced. All it did feel like was freedom, a certain carelessness that I hadn't felt in a long time, especially not in his company. I wanted to drown in it, feel like that forever.

As we continued to dance flames started to play around the edges of my dress, skimming over the moss and flaming around during those turns. The crackles of the fire filled the clearing, joined by our laughter. Without me truly realising even my skin started to glow and my hair turned translucent, like flames dancing behind my head with each turn.

I was a wildfire, a flame dancing over the ground. Not destructive or powerful, not even dangerous in any way. It was joy and hope more than anything else.

It was glorious.

Then, when the last lift had come and he had me twirling around in the air only to drop me back in his arms, hands positioned just beneath my ribs as my back arched and my head threw back, my wings appeared just for a moment. Like a phantom on the wind they danced behind me for a few seconds, flames filling the clearing. Obi Wan merely glanced at them as the flames faded and the light of dawn replaced it, only to carefully place my feet on the ground.

"Always one for spectacle, aren't you?" He smiled, something not far from adoration filling his eyes as he kept his hands there.

It had me rooted to the spot. I couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Not when he was so close by and lowering himself still. "Did you expect otherwise?" My voice was barely above a whisper. His smile grew until his eyes dipped, glancing at my lips. That playfulness slowly faded as he lowered his head further, lips barely grazing mine. It had my breath stocking in my throat before his eyes suddenly darted to a faint glowing in the corner of his vision.

I barely noticed it, having just closed my eyes, until he suddenly snapped back and took my hand in his own, lifting it further into his vision. It was when that glow caught my attention too that I stepped back further. For a moment I was completely baffled when I saw those scars on both our arms dancing in a faint light, fluttering like fireflies in the dark.

"The bond, it..." Obi Wan muttered before he quickly diverted his gaze back to mine. "What is happening?"

Then, I felt it, like a phantom that strung between us. A small tug on a cord that was supposed to be gone, pulling me towards him. A warmth on the other side of that infinite darkness, calling out.

It had been destroyed, reduced to atoms. So how could it ever do this, glow with that warmth and seemingly mending the scars? How could it feel like he was actually there on the other end of that endless nothingness, reaching out? How could it even respond to him when I'd severed all those ties to the last strand?

With one yank I pulled my hand from his grasp and stepped back, cradling my arm against my body as my mind raced. With that that phantom disappeared again like snow before the sun. "I don't know, I..." I glanced up at him hopelessly and found that same fear edged in his eyes. "I thought I destroyed it."

Thought. Obi Wan's eyes widened at that word, when he realized there was a possibility for it being there, for it being capable of mending. He opened his mouth as if to say something until a thunderstrike broke his concentration and rain suddenly started to fall from the sky. At the first drop he only glanced up incredulously until it started to literally poor.

I was glad of the interruption. I was still breathless as I processed everything, taking another step away and past him into the direction we were supposed to go. My mind was raving like a wildfire, roaring like the thunder around us.

There were no answers waiting for me, no explanation as to what the hell just happened. Never in history had a wound like that been healed before, never had a broken bond been restored. It just wasn't possible.

"Wait, Lyanna, -" He reached for my arm as he walked after me, the rain already soaking his hair and matting it to his face.

Obi Wan was seeking for hope, I knew that. But I couldn't give it to him just yet without knowing for certain. "We have about half an hour left to go." I dodged his fingers and continued walking. "We should keep moving."

I only heard a defeated sigh coming from him after that. Believing he'd followed my example and had decided to shut off his mind again, I dove into my own thoughts and tried to think of a credible explanation. There had to be something, something to explain that it wasn't the bond we felt but another trick of the force. Not sha'hani, but only a glitch.

I didn't notice the violent shivers that went through my body due to the cold rain and merely wrapped my arms around myself subconsciously. It was when I felt a soft coat suddenly enveloping both my shoulders that I glanced back at him.

"You were getting cold." Obi Wan mumbled as he wrapped his arms around himself, now only in a white button-up.

"Yes, and now you will." I groaned and moved to shrug of his coat and give it back to him.

"Don't you dare." He simply put up his hand and stared off into the distance as he matched our steps.

"Don't be ridiculous, -"

"I'm still the general." He cut me off before I could continue and sent me a warning glare, making me huff in response. A few seconds passed as I scowled and he glanced my way every so often, his glare softening with each glance. His voice was much gentler when he spoke up later. "And I like the way it looks on you."

My lips pulled into a grin as I huffed, but my body warmed even in that freezing cold.

~

When we arrived, the moss changed into gravel and the grey skies turned dark blue as the clouds vanished. There were but minutes of sunlight left. Our clothes were soaked with rain, our hair damp against our faces and our limbs frozen to the bone.

I grunted and jumped over the tiny stones, but my feet were starting to protest fiercely at the few hundred metres we still had left. Every single small stone cut into the sole of my feet, each step a pure agony. The fact that I could see the pavement so close by had me huffing in irritation as I stopped in my tracks.

Warmth suddenly enveloped me as Obi Wan came closer, arm reaching out but not yet touching. He seemed reluctant as he glanced at me, not for what he was trying to do but for my own reaction. "Would you like me to, -" He stopped mid-sentence, voice seemingly caught in his throat.

It had me thunderstruck for a few moments. How did we dance so carelessly in the woods a mere 30 minutes ago, only to fall back to this? Was it the base that loomed in the distance that'd pulled him back?

"I would, uhm, appreciate that, yes." Mumbling I let him snake his arm under my legs and shoulders only to lift me up into his embrace. My head fell against his shoulder as my palm laid flat against his chest, not daring to look up into his eyes.

He didn't utter a word either as he made his way over the gravel and towards the base. A fear crept up on me, fear that all would return as it was before. That he would become the jedi once more, and I the doctor. That I'd be locked up again and kept from all those missions he went on, only to patch him up when he came back. Fear that he wouldn't talk to me anymore just like we hadn't for months.

Much to my own surprise and fear, I didn't want us to go back to that.

A lump grew in my throat until the only thing I could do to distract myself from that feeling was to fiddle with the golden clasps of his shirt. "When will you be going on your next mission?" I tried my hardest to keep the tremble from my voice.

I felt his chin move down to face me but I refused to meet his gaze. "Want me gone already, doctor?"

Even though I'd told him multiple times to call me so, I now hated the word as it dropped from his lips. "No, I..." Sighing deeply, I refrained myself from speaking any more and dropped my hands in my lap.

"I think it'd be best if you went along next time." I felt his voice reverberate through his chest and instantly looked up at his eyes when the words dawned on me. He smiled when our gazes met, relief flickering through his eyes. "You're part of this quest now, my darling. I would like to see you take down Dryden permanently."

I couldn't help the grand grin that appeared on my face, nor the kiss that I planted on his cheek after as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Now, now." Obi Wan chuckled. "You're making me feel evil. Have I been treating you that bad?"

"Mmh." I continued to stare into his eyes, at which he had to divert his gaze with a soft cough. "It would be a pleasure to kick his ass with you by my side, master jedi." The low tone I used had his muscles tensing under my fingers, his breath hitching in his throat. Especially when I leaned down and placed another kiss on the corner of his mouth did his grip tighten around my legs, nails digging into my skin. It left me grinning in his arms.

"Hey, you two!" A most familiar voice suddenly echoed over the courtyard, making us both turn our gazes towards him. Anakin strode across the pavement, dark tunic swaying behind him as a large grin covered his face. He let his eyes travel over us, the formal attire that was now soaked through, my bare legs revealed by the slipping dress and Obi Wan's coat wrapped around my shoulders.

"What have you two been doing out in the woods?" Anakin basically purred as he crossed his arms, a knowing smirk now playing along his lips.

"Anakin." Obi Wan shot him a warning glare as he carefully placed me back on my feet now that we'd arrived on even ground. "Don't try me."

Anakin chuckled at that, glancing my way as I grinned. "I didn't know you'd be here, general Skywalker."

"I can see that." He winked in response. "Master Kenobi called me here to watch over the base while you were away. I suppose he would've told you if you hadn't been distracting him with, -"

"Anakin!" Obi Wan quickly interjected with a frustrated sneer.

While Obi Wan massaged his temples I was left grinning back. "It's good to see you, Anakin." Gods, I'd missed his playfulness, his taunts even.

"Likewise, feathers." He nodded at me with a smile. "But I'm afraid I'll have to steal your boyfriend for a while. The council is waiting on him."

"I'm not her, -" Obi Wan protested but it ended in a groan muffled by his own hand as he rubbed his face. "Fine." He sneered, following Anakin as he started to stride off.

"And here I was, thinking I had become his wife a few hours back."

They both snapped their heads my way with baffled expressions, making me blurt out a laugh that soon turned into an undignified fit. "Your faces!" Their own gazes connected as I continued to giggle, doubling over as tears started to stream down my face. "You should see your faces!"

"Did she hit her head?" Anakin mumbled.

Obi Wan tried his hardest to fight the grin but failed miserably. "I don't believe so." He muttered. "But perhaps Dryden might have drugged her."

"Mmh, viable explanation." Anakin smirked and then cast a knowing look his friend's way. "A more fitting one would be what you did to her in the woo, -"

"Careful." The jedi master scowled. "I'm sure if I asked, the queen would be more than willing to set your tunic on fire."

Anakin smiled yet again but refrained himself from saying anything else. As he looked at the queen, his mind wandered off to his former padawan and how he would've enjoyed this moment with her. How Ahsoka would've laughed with the queen, mocking their expressions. How they'd probably be left giggling for hours while they were stuck in that meeting. How well they'd gotten along if only they had had more time to get to know each other.

If only Lyanna had been there when Ahsoka had been accused of those bombings instead of on some far away medical station separated from everything around her. She could've helped Ahsoka unearth the true culprit, helped her hide from the jedi. Maybe she could've convinced his closest friend to stay if the council hadn't sent her away.

In the end, the jedi council had sent both of them away.

Anakin's smile faded, his eyes turning dark.

"Come." Anakin mumbled; the joy drained from his voice. He felt the concerned glance of his former master now focussed on him as he turned towards the base. "The council is waiting for us."

~Plays the empire theme~

Tuh tuh tuuuuh tuh tuhduh tuh tuhduh

He's coming.