Torn (An Anakin x OC x Obi Wan Story)

eight

Jaia's mind wandered, her thoughts slowly falling to Anakin. Anakin. Somewhere, somewhere out there, he was suffering, alone, and trapped without an escape. Without control, she felt tears wallowing in her eyes. Stop it, stop it right now. Her controlled thoughts didn't help. Slowly and gently, her tears fell down her cheeks, and into her lap.

Quickly, she wiped them with her sleeves, hoping Obi Wan would fail to notice her emotions. Of course, the only possibility of him failing to notice it is if he were blind- he was sitting up with his eyes completely fixed on Jaia.

"Jaia-," he started empathetically, getting up from the cot. Fuck.

"I'm fine, really, I-,"

"Stop," he told her, kneeling down in front of the pilot's chair in front of her. Looking down she caught his concerned gaze, as Obi Wan reached out, and took Jaia's hand in between his own. Silence fell between them, and yet, Jaia felt comforted, the loss for words being enough to make her feel warmer. "Listen to me, Jaia." Her gaze prolonged. "It was never your fault."

She nodded, wanting to believe him, taking in his warm words as truth. Nodding, Jaia felt another tear trail down her cheek. Obi Wan reached up to her, swiping it away, his face focused on her own.

Without thinking, Jaia reached up, placing her hand over Obi Wan's, resting her face into the palm of his hand. It felt warm to feel his calloused hand against her face, to see his deep stare focused entirely on her. Closing her eyes, Jaia took in the feeling for just a moment, releasing a breath, and fluttering her eyes back open to meet his.

Now accented with confusion, Obi Wan wet his lips, and darted his eyes to the floor, trying to find the proper words.

His support had made her heart feel whole, had made her sadness diminish so significantly, Jaia was dumbfounded. Releasing his hand, she reached out to touch Obi Wan's chin without thinking, slowly turning his face back to her. Almost immediately, she felt foolish for doing so, his confused eyes now locked on hers.

"Thank you," she breathed lightly, then releasing his chin foolishly. Obi Wan nodded, and got up from the spot, making his way over to the cot again. "Obi Wan-," Jaia started, and he turned to her with an eyebrow raised. "I don't hate you."

A small smile danced across his lips. Jaia felt her cheeks get red, her heart fluttering suddenly from the pleasant glance she'd received from him. "Do you like Ardees?" His tone had changed now, becoming lighthearted and optimistic.

"Doesn't matter right now, does it? We're in the middle of space."

Reaching into a side compartment of the ship, Obi Wan pulled out a dark brown glass bottle with a smirk on his face. "You didn't," Jaia laughed, Obi Wan shrugging in response, "You drunk!"

"There's nothing wrong with having a leisurely drink now and again," Obi Wan responded, "Now do you want one, or not?"

"Absolutely."

*****************

Taking one large sip of the drink that was held in her hand, Jaia swallowed with pleasure. The Ardees filled her quickly, the effect taking over her mind almost immediately. Just one glass of it would do the trick. "This is my second day in a row drinking," Jaia mentioned, slightly ashamed, but slightly amused. "And I haven't had to pay for any of the drinks."

"Aren't you lucky," Obi Wan remarked with a smirk.

"The luckiest." She watched as Obi Wan took another sip of his drink, leaning back in the co-pilot's chair as if it were there for lounging. Her eyes danced across his figure, taking in the neatness of his hair, the relaxed posture of his body and the small smile that graced his lips.