Unpledged Allegiance

Obi-Wan spent the remaining hours of his day absentmindedly wandering the ancient halls of the Temple, trying to clear his head of all its cloudy thoughts. Azkara had been back in his life mere hours, yet she had managed to turn his insides out already. He knew when he took on this mission that it would be hard on him, after all, he had once loved her, had once held her in his arms. He winced at the hurt that started to creep out of his soul, hurt that he had long ago locked away, as it was all he had left to remember her by.

His thoughts went back to the last time he saw her. It was soon after Qui-Gon’s death. She was angry, as they all were. Qui-Gon was her friend, her mentor, and Obi-Wan thought, most likely her lover as well. She had seemed distant and cold, had said she needed some time. Then she was gone. She was gone and Qui-Gon was gone and all Obi-Wan had was this promise he had made to train the young boy, Anakin. He could still taste the salt of her tears as he kissed her cheek, could still feel the sting of her last words to him; “I would have saved him.” Had he known at the time it would be so long until they would meet again, he would have said more, he would have done…something. But there would be no next time, there would only be a world of hurt that he learned to push back, deep down into his soul. He focused all of his energy on keeping his promise to train Anakin.


Obi-Wan sighed at the thought of Anakin. He was ashamed at himself for his earlier behavior. Never before had he been so aggressive with Anakin, yet cornering him like he did, berating him and feeling his body so close had felt so exhilarating and so unexplainably right.

He was not surprised that Azkara had picked up on these emotions; she always had a way of bringing forth things in him that maybe he was not even aware of. He wondered also what Anakin had thought, what he had picked up on. He closed his eyes and remembered the look on Anakin’s face but more importantly, the look in his eyes as he had held him captive with his assault of questions and emotions. There was so much there behind those soulful blue eyes, things that Obi-Wan may have not been ready to see; he saw fear, confusion, sadness, guilt, passion…hurt.

*Hurt.*

Obi-Wan knew that the hurt stemmed from the comment about Padme. He had been torn about their relationship, one side of him happy for his friend, happy that he had found love and somewhere to call home; the other side of him, jealous that he could not be that home, would never be that home.

He made his way back to his quarters to find Anakin gone, as was expected and at this point, welcome. He was not yet prepared to look Anakin in the eye, not yet prepared to see that familiar hurt. He tried as hard as he could to release all of his own pain and turmoil into the Force; he had to be strong, he had a job to do. He had to find out about Azkara and her dark ways, had to find out the truth once and for all. He lied down and closed his eyes, welcoming the peaceful sleep that soon came.

Morning brought an important meeting with the Council. He woke early and looked for Anakin both with his eyes and his mind. He could sense nothing and knew that Anakin was most likely asleep in Padme’s arms. He also tried reaching out for Azkara and sensed nothing, though he had not really expected to. Their old, familiar Force bond would come back to him in due time, he thought. He quickly dressed and made his way to the Council room.

“Master Kenobi, we trust you have made contact with Azkara?” Master Windu questioned.

“Yes, I have, or she made contact with me. She was waiting for me in my quarters yesterday with Anakin,” Obi-Wan told them.

“With Anakin?” Master Yoda asked curiously.

“Yes, with Anakin.” Obi-Wan saw the concern on Master Yoda’s ancient face.

“Interesting this development is, Master Kenobi. Azkara involved with your Padawan, we did not expect or want,” Yoda said sounding concerned.

“Master Yoda, I assure you, I neither expected nor wanted this. It seems to me, however, that I must now include him, even if he is not aware. I must go on with my mission, and I will not let Anakin get in the way,” Obi-Wan said, hoping that he could convince himself as well as them.

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Azkara woke to the sound of the shower and glanced over at the door to see her young lover silhouetted against the steamed glass. She shifted her glance from the shower to the expansive window where she saw the faint outline of the moon start to rise over the Coruscant skyline, indicating that it was early evening.

'Time for the games to begin.'

She rose from the bed and made her way over to the window, remembering with a fleeting moment of guilt why she had come back. She thought of the brief kiss she had shared with Obi-Wan the day before and of how good it had felt to hold him in her arms again. She remembered the jealousy she had seen in Obi-Wan, the jealousy and the possessiveness that had come forth in him over Anakin. She thought of her long gone lover, Obi-Wan's former Master, Qui-Gon and all of the plans they had made. She saw his face, his beautiful face contorted in pain and fear; the same face she saw in her nightmares ever since that fateful day he had been taken from her. She felt the familiar ice start to flow through her veins and her plan once again became crystal clear.

'He will pay. They will all pay. I will keep my promise.'

She was brought out of her trance by the sound of her young lover's voice.

"Azkara, are you alright?" he asked her curiously.

"Anakin, you have to get dressed. It is almost time for our dinner guest to arrive and you do want to act as if you haven't been in my bed all afternoon," Azkara heard herself say through her thin veil of invisible hatred.