trans_9 | Get you Gone

Waiting.

She was waiting. Waiting for familiar people to arrive, waiting for the stab of seriousness to pass, waiting for the knots in her stomach to ease, waiting for calm. Outwardly, she projected what she wished her innards would have been, but people she knew and loved were leaving to some fate unknown. While she could smile and let them go with as much grace as she had, she wished to cling to each of them and forbid them to go. But. This she would not do.

Every single one of them had their part to play. Her place with with Obi-Wan, helping to protect the large group that would remain. Luke would be with Mara. The angry Jed-Eye, she had not heard from at present, but she hope we would be well, too. For now, she watched for familiar faces and pulled on the Force for much needed calmness.

As he was coming out of the precinct with a DL-44 blaster in one hand and extra Tibanna packs in the other, Luke caught sight of another familiar redhead. There was a slight hesitation in his step; he and Arha hadn't really spoken since Mara arrived, certainly not since that brief discussion in the Temple. He'd wanted to give her her space, let things sizzle down.

But now here she was, and that slight pause had Luke turning toward her, pushing the extra packs into pouches on his belt as he walked.

"Hello, Arha," he said, smiling at her. His presence in the Force had a thread of apprehension through it, along with anticipation of the imminent mission. Luke knew he was going into danger, but, well, it was what he did. "You're not armed--are you staying behind?"

"There are a great number of people to defend if things should go wrong," she said quietly, her eyes on his hands before they flicked to his face. "I almost asked to go with the bridge crew, but thought it best I stay here. If there should be someone hurt, my skills..."

She trailed off and frowned slightly, thinking over the millions of scenarios before shaking her head.

"You will be going," she said, her jaw tightening slightly.

"You guys will be fine," Luke said. "You're here, and you've got Obi-Wan and my father, in addition to the others staying behind, so don't worry about it."

He nodded, drawing a deep breath and letting it out. "And don't worry about me, either. My ally is the Force--and, well..." his thoughts drifted to Mara. "...everyone else on the team."

"I will worry anyway," she grumbled softly. "I cannot help that, now." She pinpointed him with an intense, glittering stare that ought to have sliced him clean through. "You will come back because if you do not, I will be most displeased."

It mattered not what had passed between them, he was a good friend and his lost would not be tolerated easily.

"But you have Mara Jade," Arha said quietly. "I suspect she is more backup than a room full of troops. Perhaps I shall not worry overmuch, save for the fact that I am not there to back the both of you up myself."

That look did its job, cutting straight to the core of him. He smiled, partly for her benefit and partly for his own, because that place in him that had held budding affection had just twinged, remind him painfully that it was there.

"We'll be all right," he said. "And really, don't worry, I'll come back. I promise."

She studied him for a long and fiercely intense moment, then promptly hugged him tight. Things sometimes did not work the way one expected and she would be damned if he was going anywhere without a hug at the least. Her words were sharper than her hug, which was far softer and warmer.

"I will hold you to that promise, Luke Skywalker," she said against his shoulder. "May the Force keep you, then, and bring you home safe. I wish to be cut in two, so that I could be in all places, but it is not so. All I may do," Arha murmured, "is tell you to be careful, to fight well, and to--"

She pulled away.

"A promise is a promise." It was a bad promise. It was one that was easily broken. "Do you best to come back, Jed-Eye. I shall do my best here." She frowned for a moment then reached for one of her crysknives which she pressed into his hand. The milky white of it glistened in what light there was.

"Take it with you even if you never draw it. When you come back, you may return it. This way, perhaps I shall go with you as well as stay here."

Edited 2009-10-14 03:16 (UTC)

He looked at it in surprise. "Are you sure?" he asked, blue eyes wide. "I mean, you might need it..."

Come to think of it, he'd never seen Arha or Sheeana without these strange knives. It was part and parcel of who they were, he thought. To give one to him was, Luke guessed, quite an honor.

Obi-Wan's hand landed on Luke's shoulder, his smile warm and reassuring— almost eager. For all his sober wisdom, Obi-Wan Kenobi was not immune to the excitement of a challenging battle ahead.

"Don't worry about us," he advised the both of them, pressing back against Luke's anxiety, and Arha's worry with quiet confidence, "You'll need all your focus for the job at hand."

"We will be fine here," Arha said in a subdued voice. She disliked moments such as this, where fate could swing in so many directions, but she pulled herself straight and as tall as she could manage. She clasped her hands behind her back, looking for all the world as if she were a commander looking over her troops.

She may have primarily been a healer during the jihads, but even she had wished the departing soldiers well and given them a few words of courage. It was on that experience that she drew as she stood at Obi-Wan's side.

A light chuckle, all gentle confidence and solemnity, "You'll do fine. Trust your instincts, Jedi or Bene Gesserit. What little training you have is solid, and the Force will be with you."

"I am nothing but a collection of instincts," she said dryly, but her fingertips brushed out against his arm as if the contact would quell her. It helped anyway and she stepped closer to avoid a passing group. "As I am both, I suppose blending Bene Gesserit training with what you have taught me is fair enough."

The corners of her lips twitched.

"I never did enjoy sending people off to battle. I suppose that is the healer inherent in me."

"I am good at what I do, and I enjoy doing what," Obi-Wan sobered, smile fading to a shadow of itself, "But it is never a great joy to watch soldiers go into battle, and know that fewer will return."

"Such is true," Arha said, blinking as she swept a gaze over those that were leaving, including Luke. "We will see them again, though." She leaned her cheek into his shoulder absently. "And they will have as much of a story to tell as well will, mm? The best part of these things comes after the struggle is done."

Arha ignored the stab of apprehension that jammed through her and took a deep breath before letting it out. They would, all of them, be fine. She would not let her fears cloud her vision. It would be quite fine. It had to be.

He smiled a little, sending a tendril of thanks to brush against the presence of his first mentor. It was a little odd, seeing this younger Obi-Wan get fired up about going into a fight; the old man he'd known had tried to avoid it and had taught Luke to try and do the same if possible.

"I feel better knowing you'll be helping keep an eye on the people who stay behind," Luke said. "But that doesn't mean I won't hope you guys don't have to see any action."

"Well, I haven't died yet," He replied, and grinned. It was a joke— something Anakin might have said, "Now, seriously. You mustn't leave half your attention here and get yourself killed. Neither Mara nor Arha will thank you, and neither will I."

"Remember: Patience. Use the Force," he finished, and that hand on Luke's shoulder tightened and slid away as Obi-Wan turned to find his place among those who were staying behind. He meant it as a comfort, grounding words that had given strength as long as he'd known them. Either Luke would die, or be hurt, or he wouldn't, and the same stood for all of them.

"My attention will be on the fight," he replied, "But half my thoughts will definitely be with you, Arha, and--Anakin." Luke kept himself from saying 'Father', not sure of how Obi-Wan would accept it. This man was sure different than the one he'd known.

"I will remember these things," Luke said solemnly, but smiled a little. "I've been well-trained, Ben."

"Well, at least someone's grateful for that lesson," he laughed, and it came easily. Then again, Obi-Wan was used to being on the eve of battle; he'd been having such moments on a constant basis for nearly a decade.

That smile turned into a bright grin. "Being a Jedi is a process of lifelong learning, I've found," Luke said. "I'm glad to have learned from you."

"I will be going." Sheeana wore a lumpy pack stuffed with hunter-seekers, a lasgun and the belying floppy comicality of an Ixian probe. "My worm will obey you, as will Sharp Tongue. I have ordered them to do so."

"I may not forgive you if you do not come back, Sister," Arha said with a sigh. "Nor would that worm of yours. You will, of course, use all of those, yes?" That had humor buried in it.

Sheeana hid any trepidation she might feel behind her trademark smartass smirk. She didn't talk about how Mother Superiors in her time had a habit of not coming back from important missions. What a strangely un-Bene Gesserit thing to say...

"You're turning into a worrier, Sister. There are only two possible outcomes, I live or I die. The former is more likely though, since I will be with Luq Skaiwaqer." Her comment reminded her of something. "If I am lucky, I will have a chance to, though you are welcome to as many as you wish. However..." She reached behind her and retrieved one of the hunter-seekers. It hung like a giant dead silverfish in her hand. She handed it to her.

"For good luck."

And beneath it in handsign: "If he attempts to bind the city in snow, use this on the deity. It may not kill him but it will at least slow him down until you can figure out how."

"Watch the Jed-Eye's back for me and Mara Jade's as well, if you can," she said quietly, and took the hunter-seeker with some distaste. "Staying, it seems, is my only option. This group is large, else I would go with you myself."

"I wish to kill no one," she flashed back. "It will only be a final resort, this thing.

"They hardly need my help, Sister. They are more formidable warriors than any Sardaukar or Fish Speaker. I will keep an eye for them, however." Oh yes. Definitely a worrier.

"Wish in one, piss in the other: See which catchpocket fills up first." A bit of pithy Rakian folk wisdom.

"An eye is all I ask," Arha said with a slight shrug. "And not even that. One cannot have two eyes in a thousand places. I am sure they will be fine." Her soft snort was all she had to say to the folk wisdom.

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