Crimson Eyes ~ Sequel to: The Valkyrie, An Obi-Wan Story (completed)

Chapter 38: Liars and sinners

"It's none of your business, Arthas." I sneered.

"But it is, my little dragon." He stalked near until he was standing right behind me, his shadows waving over my shoulders. "I know you're afraid of telling him." Leaning down, he let his lips ghost dangerously close to my ear. "You're afraid that he'll send you away again, leave you, lock you up. Just like he has done before."

I tried to muster up the words to protest, but deep down I knew he was right. I was left silent, staring into his eyes in the mirror defiantly. "He will eventually, anyway. He will leave you, because he will never be able to love you. No, because after all this time, all he can see when he looks at you is the woman he loved before."

My breath stocked in my throat as his hand drifted down my arm, his words sending daggers through my heart. I could feel his presence, a cold waft of air right behind me. He was voicing the exact thoughts that I'd kept hidden for so long. My deepest, darkest fears, that he had somehow uncovered.

"He will always try to fight the power that frightens him and his fellow masters. He will forever try to change you, change you into her." His gaze almost turned sympathetic when he saw the silver lining my eyes. Arthas reached up, his finger trying to catch the tear that rolled down. For a moment it seemed to stop against his skin, until it ran right through it.

"But I won't, because I see you for who you are, and you are perfect." Then, those eyes turned darker as they stared right back into mine, his hand closing around mine at my side. "We are equals, you and I."

A shiver ran down my spine. He straightened up, his figure towering over me in the mirror, my body huddled within the shadows now flowing from him. "Both forces of nature, feared by people who don't understand us. People who could never see us for who we truly are, who would continue to fear us and try to change us until we become the villain they believe us to be."

I diverted my gaze away from his when it became too intense, his words settling into my head. Closing my eyes, I tried to stop him from vanquishing that last remainder of hope, that last spark of life that lived within me. "Don't waste your time with a man who will never accept you." Arthas said sternly.

Those words were like a dagger through my heart. I slowly let out a deep breath, feeling the pain running through me. "You're wrong about him." My voice was weak, dripping with uncertainty. Nevertheless, I raised my eyes back to man standing behind me. "And I will prove it to you."

Arthas smiled sadly right before I darted around his figure, heading towards the door. '

I was going to him. I was going to tell Obi Wan everything and prove once and for all that he would not leave me. Prove it to both Arthas and myself that he would accept me, and not the woman he loved once before. That our love was real and that no honeyed words or hidden truths could change it. It was the ultimate test and if he failed it I... I didn't know what I would do, but I could only hope feverishly that he wouldn't.

Almost ripping the door from its hinges, I burst through the opening and stopped almost immediately when I barged into the hallway. For there he was, eyes widened and mouth hanging agape, auburn hair tussled and the white shirt unbuttoned at the top with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, standing in the middle of the hall.

"Obi Wan, I, -" Quickly glancing back into my room, I found that Arthas had disappeared into thin air. My mind was reeling but all thoughts seemed to disappear the more I looked at him. "I..." I stammered as I glanced back at him, hand still grasped around the doorknob. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to retrieve my coat, my dear princess." He smiled faintly and so softly that my knees wobbled as my eyes darted to those lips the moment they moved. All those dark thoughts and emotions seemed to evaporate as I recalled the exact way they'd felt against mine mere hours ago. Obi Wan cocked his head to the side, eyes trailing over me, noting the rapid rising and falling off my chest. "Where were you going in such a hurry?"