CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE.
Elly's quarters were quiet. She was sitting at her desk with her leg up by her chest as she scrolled through her datapad. The curtains had been pulled to, leaving her in relative darkness as the sun set across Coruscant. She had been studying quietly in her room since the Council meeting. She had nothing else of importance to attend to so put all her energy into her language studies.
The thoughts of the meeting had left her the second she exited that room. It was something that she could no longer control and any worry over it would be unnecessary. She had only recently come to accept that but it was serving her well. She had put it to one side to focus on her study of Binary.
But as the evening drew in, her study was interrupted by Obi-Wan. He opened the door to her room and the soft whoosh made her head snap up. There were only a few people that knew her room key and when she saw it was Obi-Wan, she grinned.
He looked exhausted but his face brightened when he saw the blonde. Once the door had closed behind him, he walked over to her. He wrapped his arms around her neck from behind, resting his chin against her head as she held onto his arms.
It was their quiet way of greeting each other while Elly finished her page of notes. But once they were done, she got up and he pulled her into a hug. His arms engulfed her, protecting her as she buried her face in his chest. She hadn't seen him since the meeting and she knew that he wanted to talk to her about it. She felt it.
"What did you think was happening earlier?" He asked softly once they had pulled apart. Obi-Wan discarded his cloak and shoes and climbed onto her bed while Elly packed away her datapad.
"I expected Windu to tell me I was expelled from the Order," She admitted as she placed her datapad in the drawer beside her bed. He tilted his head, a frown spreading across his lips as he urged her to come and sit in his lap. She complied and crawled onto the bed and settled into his lap. Her legs straddled his hips.
"You've complied, they would have no reason to do so," He retorted. Elly nodded her head, cupping Obi-Wan's face with her hands. She let her fingers run across his bearded cheeks as she admired him. His eyes had bags under them which meant he hadn't been sleeping very well and there was a sense of heaviness to him.
"He doesn't like me. He never has. He would do it out of spite," Elly said simply as she met Obi-Wan's gaze again. He scoffed as he let his hands rest on Elly's hips.
"Elly, he is a Jedi Master." Elly didn't look convinced so Obi-Wan quickly added, "That is against the Code." Elly chuckled.
"It depends how you interpret it." Her words were almost teasing and he rolled his eyes. He reached forward and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead,"Windu would collapse if he knew the truth," She mumbled as they rested their foreheads together.
"I would never tell him." It wasn't a simple statement, it was a promise and it made Elly's heart warm. She had never understood why Obi-Wan had protected her these long years but the more time she spent with him, the more she understood. They had always been more than friends even if they had never admitted it, "You are better now," He added after a moment. Elly hummed in agreement.
"I am but I won't be like this forever," She opened her eyes to look into Obi-Wan's and the concern quickly etched across his face. The fear seized his heart for a second before he hid it away. He couldn't fear for her.
"What do you mean?" He asked. His words were calm and gentle.
"It is naive to believe that I will be able to keep this level of control for the rest of my life. Things will happen." Obi-Wan hummed softly in agreement but he also didn't agree at all. He understood why she believed that but he didn't.
"You must have more faith in yourself," He said. Elly chuckled and pulled back from him.
"You have too much faith in me," She replied. It was a snappy response, not annoyed but simply what she believed.
"It is all I have," He retorted almost as quickly as Elly had come out with her reply. She tilted her head forward and nuzzled her face in his neck. She had no reason to believe that she would fall. She had so much control. Her emotions had been in check and the anger and annoyance that used to plague her had vanished. Everything was put into a new light but the worry still existed. She had never believed she would fall all those years ago and yet she had.
"I feel more in control than I ever have," She admitted softly. Obi-Wan moved his hand to her jaw and pushed her face up so he could look into her eyes, "And that is because of you," She said. He tilted his head, confusion in his eyes, "You have taught me things I never knew I needed to learn."
"Like what?" He asked as he ran his thumb along her cheek. Her skin was much softer than he remembered and he desperately wanted to pepper her face with kisses. But he let her speak first.
"How to love," She said and then she leant forward and pecked his lips, "How to love unconditionally but with boundaries and I suppose, your meditation techniques helped too." Each statement was met with a peck on the lips and he grinned against her lips. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her tightly against his chest. He had once believed he could never love but with Elly, it came to him so easily. It was terrifying and yet totally exhilarating.
"You are perfect," He mumbled against her lips. She grinned and kissed him once more.
"As are you."
-
It had been a few weeks since the meeting and Elly and Obi-Wan had been sent out so many times. Elly had quickly become familiar with the battle strategy and how to command a battalion. It had taken her a few missions to adjust to the battlefields but it came naturally to her. Obi-Wan had let her take the lead a few times and it was her last mission.
They all knew it would be her last mission but Obi-Wan didn't want to admit it. The thought of Elly having her own battalion was one that bothered him. He trusted her but the thought of her being apart from him for extended periods of time filled him with sadness. He had grown used to their touch and private moments on the ships.
But he knew that he couldn't stop her. So, they had powered through the mission. A droid army had begun forming and it was their job to take it down before it did any damage. The mission had gone well but there were so many casualties. Too many casualties.
The clone medics were over-run with people and Obi-Wan was injured. Elly hated seeing him in pain so rather than waiting. She grabbed the supplies she would need and grabbed Obi-Wan's arm. She wrapped it around her neck and they headed out of the medbay.
The ship was travelling through hyperspace and Elly knew that in a bunk they would be left alone and she had all the supplies she needed to heal him. Elly had become adept at healing her own injuries and she had once considered becoming a medic rather than a protector. So, she knew what to do and despite Obi-Wan's protests, she wanted him helped now.
Once they had found her bunk, she opened the door and placed him on the bed. She switched the light on and ran the wipe under the tap. It activated the sterile solution inside and she sat down on the floor in front of him. He was still donning his armour and the blood was leaking down his leg. It wasn't a particularly nasty cut so she knew that it would be fine to take care of it herself.
"Did I ever tell you that I almost went into the medical sector rather than continuing my training?" She asked, trying to distract him from the pain that the antiseptic wipe was surely about to bring. He shook his head and she smiled softly, "My Master had given me so much medical training that I am sure I could care for this whole battalion by myself. I would always stitch up my own wounds and I even managed to realign my own nose after I broke it once. My first Padawan was horrified," Elly continued, a soft chuckle leaving her lips. It was odd that the topic had never come up with Obi-Wan but she didn't question it. There were a lot of things they hadn't spoken about despite all the time they had spent together, "Qui-Gonn taught you about poisons, didn't he?" She asked curiously. Obi-Wan nodded, hissing in pain and flinching back as she ran the wipe along the cut. It brought all the blood with it and the wound became more clear to her, "Tell me about it," She said, urging him to talk to her. She knew that he needed the distraction while she worked on healing the wound. It wouldn't be long now.
"Well, Qui-Gon always wanted me to know some basic medical training. He taught me how to stitch wounds and treat them in case there was no bacta on hand." He explained as he stared up at the ceiling. His eyes squeezed shut but he continued to talk, "We went through natural remedies for things and also the different antidote names for poison." He continued and then he felt Elly begin to spread bacta along the wound. It was cooling, soothing the stinging, "I taught all of it to Anakin and he had to save Lili," Obi-Wan said as the tension in his bones seemed to ease.
"Your daughter?" Elly asked, prompting him to continue.
"Yeah, she was poisoned by the criminals she used to be friends with. That was my fault really," He said. The slimy cooling gel made him feel a lot better and she could hear how his voice had become less strained. The pain vanished. He looked down and met Elly's concerned gaze. A small smile on her lips.
"I doubt that," Elly said as she let her hands rest on his knee, looking into his eyes. He sighed and pushed his hair out of his face, admiring her for a moment before he stared off at the wall again.
"I forced her to help us and I didn't trust her enough." Obi-Wan responded as he ran his hands along his face. He settled back against the bed and Elly frowned. They hadn't discussed Lili much but when they had, he always spoke so happily of her. It was odd to hear him so regretful.
Elly moved up onto the bed and rested down beside him. She lay on her side and moved her hand to his jaw, gently turning it so he was looking at her. Her fingers ran through his beard, scritching the skin and he melted into it, his eyes falling closed.
"She wasn't to be trusted then. You did nothing wrong and you saved her," Elly responded and gently leant forward. She pressed a soft kiss to his forehead before she let her head rest back against the bunk. He sighed and let his eyes open, looking at Elly.
"I feel like I have failed her," He admitted. Elly shook her head.
"You didn't know about her. You did everything you could and you gave her the freedom she always wanted. That is the best thing you could have done," Elly said. Obi-Wan hummed in response before he let his eyes close. There was a long silence and Elly was chewing the inside of her cheek the whole time. She didn't know much about Lili and Obi-Wan and she never wanted to presume but she seemed happy. From what Obi-Wan had told her, Lili was happy and there was nothing else he could have done other than that.
Obi-Wan opened his eyes after a few minutes of silence and he pulled Elly's face closer to his. He then pressed a soft, long kiss to her lips. All of the love and longing and worry pressed into that one kiss and when he pulled back, he said something completely unexpected.
"I love you." Her heart could have stopped right there, her eyes widening but he didn't break eye contact with her. So, she returned those words in kind.
"I love you too."
-
Once they had returned back from their last mission, they gave their battle report and they went straight to Elly's room. They both knew that it was her last mission with his battalion. There had been an odd sense of melancholy to the flight back to Coruscant but Elly tried her best to ignore it. She knew when she was sent a message on her datapad that come the morning she would have her own battalion.
Her time living in blissful ignorance with Obi-Wan would come to an end. She was prepared for that but it didn't make the prospect any less nerve wracking. Obi-Wan had been her safety net in battle and she knew that even if something went wrong, he was there. But now she would be without him and that scared her.
Not as much as it used to but it still lingered. The worry that something could happen when they were no longer together but she had to face that fear. She had to face that worry head on or she risked going down a dangerous path once more. A dangerous path that both she and Obi-Wan had swore they would never face again.
And so, they wouldn't. Elly had faced the Council meeting the next day head on and when she was informed of her new position, she took it with pride. She forced a smile onto her face and wore the title 'General' with honour as she was sent to the clone barracks to meet with her new battalion. There were so many men.
So many clones and they all had that same friendly look. She knew that she would be fine and when she first walked into the barracks, Commander Sytik, her second-in-command greeted her. He had a warm smile and he seemed to know the battalion like the back of his hand already.
He had taken her to meet every single clone and he had informed her that he would be her first point of contact for any issues. He was the first person she talked to, someone she could always turn to for issues when they were on missions. He was her confidante and she trusted him. She knew it was naive to trust so quickly but Sytik was easy to trust.
There was a warm smile on his face and he felt kind. She could feel not even one inch of malice in his soul so when she left his side, she felt good. She felt safe and she knew that leaving Obi-Wan's battalion wouldn't be as scary as she initially believed. She had been placed in safe hands. She would be okay.
THE END.
ELLY WILL RETURN in 'out of touch'