ℝ𝔼ℂ𝕂𝕃𝔼𝕊𝕊 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 2}

【 THIRTEEN 】

     ɴᴏ ᴏɴᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴇᴇ ᴜꜱ ᴏꜰꜰ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴘᴀᴅᴍÉ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀɴᴀᴋɪɴ, but I wasn't really upset about it. Everyone I really cared about was already gone, with Padmé and Anakin on their trip as refugees and Kera following another lead toward this elusive assassin. The only people left I knew were the Council. Besides, mushy goodbyes weren't really my thing, and if Master Windu expected a warm hug out of me, he was sorely mistaken.

The trip was long but uneventful. Obi-Wan and I took separate ships, in order to separate ourselves from each other as much as possible. But even as I piloted, I found myself drifting off several times, not wanting to talk and wanting to regain some of my energy for when we had to confront the Kaminoans.

From what Dex had said about them, I was a bit anxious for the encounter. Dex's words made them seem confrontational, and I wasn't sure that was what I needed after the complete mess that had been my life for the past couple days. However, there wasn't much I could do about it but prepare for the worst, which is what I did.

To my immense relief but also partial discomfort, Obi-Wan didn't speak on the comms for the entire trip there. He kept silent, unless talking to R4 about navigation toward Kamino. The first time he actually spoke to me was when the planet was in sight. "There it is, Naberrie," he called, as if I couldn't see. "Right where it should be. Our missing planet Kamino."

"Thanks for the heads up," I replied, my voice dripping in sarcasm.

Obi-Wan ignored me. He detached his ship from its lightspeed attachment and angled the ship downward, leading him into a controlled descent into the planet's atmosphere. I didn't want to, but I knew I had to follow him. Following suit, and breaking free from the lightspeed attachment, I pursued him into the atmosphere of the planet below.

The first thing I noticed about the planet as we broke through the clouds is that it was covered in ocean--stormy blue waters stretching as far as the eye could see. The second thing I noticed was the rain.

It was pouring, harder than I'd ever seen it rain before. The rain droplets were so thick and fast it brought visibility down to almost zero, making it that much harder for the two of us to guide our way across the watery planet. We eventually found a small cluster of buildings, supported above the water on long, thin, metallic stilts. Encouraged by the sight, Obi-Wan landed his ship on a nearby landing platform, leaving just enough space for me to land beside him. As soon as the ship was stationary, I pressed a button to open my cockpit hood, allowing me to hop out of the ship and into the rain.

"Hoods up," Obi-Wan said as I greeted him on the platform.

I shot him a glare. "I'm not a padawan."

"And follow my lead," he went on, as if I hadn't said anything. He began to walk for the glass door greeting us at the end of the platform, leading into one of the buildings, but I caught his arm, pulling him back.

"Don't treat me like I'm your apprentice," I pleaded. Both of us glared at each other from under our hoods, exasperated with the other.

Obi-Wan snatched his arm away. "You have to trust me," he insisted, then walked away, not allowing me to hold him back any longer.

I clenched my fists at my side and followed, trying my hardest not to give the man a good kick in the backside. "Trust you," I repeated. "Yes, it's so easy to trust a man I hardly know."

"You know me, Em," he called backwards, obviously having heard my retort.

I shook my head, crossing my arms. "I used to think that, too."