Assassin (A Star Wars Fan-Fiction) Book 3

Chapter Twenty-Four

She was wearing a white hospital gown when he entered the room.

Sekhmi and Boba had already said their good-byes, while Chewie remained in her old bedroom, locking the door behind him to grieve among her old belongings. He had no idea where Anakin was, probably briefing the Council on what officially happened on Alderaan without Windu's help and Gerg was doing his best to control the Press and let the universe know that the Rancor Slayers will no longer be an organization.

Which left Obi-Wan, alone, in the presence of his wife's corpse. 

The first time his eyes fell upon her lifeless form, the air left his lungs and his hand covered his mouth to stifle a gasp of pure shock. So pale...so sickly...so heartbreaking...so...ghostly. The doctors had re-braided her long blonde hair, though the strands had lost their shine and usual luster. Dark bags rested beneath her eyes and made her appear years older than her actual age. Her fingers were so thin that the bones in her hands stuck out like jagged rocks on a seashore. She was nothing like the woman he'd seen before.

He didn't want to approach her. Out of all the terrible, yet necessary, things in the universe he'd had to do over the years as a Jedi, this was the very worst. His heart rattled at a million miles an hour in his chest like a war drum and ached fiercely. But, regardless, his feet moved against his will and brought himself closer and closer and closer to what remained of the woman he loved.

He didn't want to look at her, he didn't want to see her this way, he didn't want the image of her at the end of her life to poison the beauty he'd held dear throughout it. There were so many things he didn't want, but he had no choice now. 

Heart heavy and feet like lead, Obi-Wan walked over to Denali's side.

"Give me your hand." He said to her.

"Obi-"

 "Don't ask questions, just do it." He told to her. She groaned in frustration, but did as he asked. She held her right hand out to him, and he took it in his. Her promise ring seemed to sparkle even more than it had before, a beautiful representation of his love. Obi-Wan took that ring off, handed it to Denali, and slid a different one on. Instead of just a small blue stone on a silver band, there was a miniature diamond on a golden one.  

Obi-Wan cringed at the memory and the breath was taken from his lungs once more as he closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"This is the real thing, not a promise ring." Obi-Wan said to her, assured her. Denali put her left hand over her mouth in pure shock as she gazed at the stone. She then looked at Obi-wan skeptically.

"Obi, are you sure you didn't drink something that's made you lose your sense of judgment?" Denali asked. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. Then put his hands on her shoulders, a huge smile on his face.

They'd been so young, so naive. So deeply in love they would've done anything to be together. The couple had been through so much in such a short amount of time. He'd just lost his master and she'd just lost the man who rescued her from death as a child, the man who showed her that the Jedi weren't terrible like her friends had led her on. All they had were each other.

"Denali, I love you. I'm serious about this."

"But Obi-"

"If we don't do this now, we may never have another chance." He said as he showed her the golden ring on his finger. The only difference from hers was that it didn't have a large diamond in the center. She looked up at him and gently placed her hand on his cheek. She didn't know what to think.

He stuck his hand through the collar of his robes and pulled out the faded golden ring he kept on a thin chain around his neck. 

"Obi, we're only teenagers. You may change your mind about me." She said to him. He just shook his head.  

"I'm not leaving you. I love you, Denali Bleway." He said as he got on one knee. Denali could feel the rain of her cheeks become replaced with tears of happiness. "Denali, will you do me the honor of becoming my secret wife? My one and only love?" He asked her. She smiled through her tears and pulled him to his feet, out of the puddles of water that seemed to flood the street. She hugged him tightly and refused to let go. She'd never. And Obi-Wan hugged her back just as tight.  

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She whispered into his ear.

He left her.

Overcome with emotions of guilt and sorrow and pain, Obi-Wan Kenobi fell to his knees and held his head in his hands as he sobbed, drowning in his despair. She counted on him, depended on him, loved him unconditionally until the very end. Why hadn't he come sooner? Why had he been quick enough to save Windu, but too late when it came to the woman he loved?

'I'm not leaving you'...

He lied.

He lied and now she was dead.

* * * * * * * * * *

Carefully, the surgeons carried the three smallest bacta tanks they could find onto the freighter ship Jedi Master Kit Fisto had used to enter the atmosphere undetected. In a matter of days, the specimens inside the blue liquid would be safely hidden away, far away from enemy eyes. Gerg and the Jedi watched as the doctors checked the vitals one last time before they allowed the nurses to load them onto the space vehicle.

"Have any name ideas?" Gerg asked with a small smile as he stood beside his fellow Nautolan acquaintance. Master Fisto chuckled ever so slightly. It was a sad sound, but a chuckle none the less.

"I haven't thought much about it, to be honest." He answered truthfully, then was silent for a moment or two as he pondered what names came to mind. "I guess it all just depends on what the genders of the children are going to be." Gerg thought for a moment as well.

"If they're bouncing baby boys, I'd name them Rydel, Jay, and Dixon." The bounty hunter concluded. Kit chuckled once more, the noise a little happier, and shook his head.

"And if they're female?"

Gerg thought again.

"If they end up being giggling baby girls, then Shendira, Kalani, and Deidre." Gerg concluded once again. "'Shendira' because of the actress, 'Kalani' because of an old friend of the Rancor Slayers who helped us out of a jam back when Danik and Denali were young, and 'Deidre' because...well, Deidre was a pet rancor we had a few months ago that everyone loved. Sadly, we couldn't keep her. She ate too many of the people who were in charge of feeding her."

"Why would you name a child after a pet rancor?"

"Because what if she ends up having the same fiery personality?" Gerg joked with a smile, but that smile evaporated into thin air when he noticed a larger fourth bacta tank being carried up the loading ramp of the ship. "Hey, what's that? What's going on? Who's in there-"

"You don't see anything unusual..." Master Fisto quickly waved his hand in front of the young bounty hunter's eyes. "You don't see anything unusual...You're thinking of rancors and Deidre and all the people she ate during feeding time...You don't see anything unusual...Rancors...Deidre...Nothing unusual..." He continued to wave his hand back and forth, then gestured for the people loading the ship to keep carrying that last tank up and into the cargo hold. "Rancors...Deidre...Nothing unusual..."

"Rancors..." Gerg mimicked back in a dazed state.

"Thank you for your help, Gerg." Kit clapped him on the back once the cargo bay doors had closed, concealing the secrets within from Gerg's sight. "I'll be sure to tell the Kaminoans of your name suggestions." The master began to walk away, but was stopped as Gerg spoke up one last time.

"Hey, I have a question before you leave." Gerg said with his hands folded over his chest. Kit stopped in his tracks and waited patiently for Gerg to speak. "What exactly do you have planned for those kids when they've grown?" He hesitated a moment, debating on whether or not he should tell the bounty hunter the truth, then believed it wouldn't harm anyone to let him know.

"The eldest will be taken care of by a friend of mine, a general in the army who's always wanted a child of his own. The middle child will be raised on a moisture farm on a desert planet where Republic sympathizers can keep an eye on them, and the youngest will go to a kind politician you've met destined for greatness." Kit smiled. "Have no fear, friend. They're going to be alright."

With that, he disappeared onto his ship.