"Deception" From Another Point of View

The Death of a Friend

I have this story posted as a oneshot on both fanfiction.net and ao3, but decided to split it up on here.

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Duchess Satine Kryze happened to be at her apartment on Coruscant when there was a knock on her door. She had dismissed all of her guards, much to their disagreement, for the night and was about to go to sleep. The chrono read 10:47 as Satine stood up to answer the door. It was rather late for visitors, but the Duchess still pulled a robe on over her nightgown and opened it. Standing outside waiting was Padme Amidala, with Ahsoka Tano standing slightly behind her. They both looked like they had been crying.

"Senator, padawan, come in," Satine said, opening the door more and standing to the side to allow the two visitors in. She tried to push all the confused thoughts aside, but she couldn't help but wonder what had happened.

The two guests took a seat on the couch as Satine closed the front door and followed them in. She sat down on the chair to the left of the Padme and Ahsoka. "What brings you here at this hour," the Duchess asked. Padme and Ahsoka exchanged a worried glance before both looking down at their feet.

"Satine, I'm sorry..." Padme mumbled, just loud enough to be heard. She sounded as if she was too scared to deliver whatever news she brought. Satine sighed. Something must be really bad to have Padme worried.

The senator from Naboo opened her mouth to finish what she was going to say, but no words came out. Satine glanced at Ahsoka, who was looking up now, but the young jedi refused to make eye contact. The padawan continued what Padme was saying.

"Duchess, it's just, Master Kenobi...he..." Ahsoka paused. Realization hit Satine just as Ahsoka finished her statement. "He's dead."

Satine looked at her two friends, shocked. She couldn't get herself to say anything. It took her a second to process everything alone, but as soon as she did, she broke down in tears. Padme put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder, but it didn't help. Satine only buried her face in her hands letting tears stream down her face. Ahsoka and Padme exchanged a worried glance before turning back to Satine.

After a few minutes, she had finally calmed down enough to speak(barely). She sat back up, crossing her hands over her lap, but she still didn't look up nor wipe her tears from her cheeks.

"How did he...," Satine couldn't bring herself to say the last word. She had just reunited with Obi-Wan and now he was gone. Ahsoka sighed, dreading the explanation that was coming. She looked at Satine, giving her an are you sure you want to know glance. Satine nodded, and Ahsoka began to explain.

"Anakin, Obi-Wan, and I were headed to an emergency meeting when a sniper started shooting at us. We managed to take cover before devising a plan to go after him. Anakin flanked the sniper from the right, I was covering the lower streets, while Obi-Wan went after him," Ahsoka stopped to catch her breath before continuing. "I don't exactly know what happened next, but I heard a shot and looked up to see Obi-Wan falling over the side of one of the buildings." Satine let out a muffled sob, and Ahsoka looked at her, concerned. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have-"

"No, it's fine," Satine managed to say, realizing how ridiculous she probably sounded. She couldn't believe it. She had always known the risks Obi-Wan had taken, fighting on the frontlines. She knew it wasn't guaranteed that he would live to the next day, but this was different. He hadn't been killed fighting for the republic, he had been shot down by a sniper on the streets of Coruscant.

"His funeral will be tomorrow," Padme practically whispered, "in the Jedi temple at 6:00, if you want to come." Anakin had told Padme that Obi-Wan and Satine had been friends, so she had decided it would be best to tell her of his death, but she didn't think that the two had been this close. Satine was obviously devastated.

"I'll be there," Satine muttered, "if you don't mind, I think I should get some rest."

"Of course," Padme replied, standing up walking to the door, followed by Ahsoka. She began to leave, but quickly turned back to Satine, who was still seated on the couch.

"I'm so sorry," she said before turning to return home.