Crimson Eyes ~ Sequel to: The Valkyrie, An Obi-Wan Story (completed)

Chapter 48: Choices

"As I said, miracles."

His smile was contagious. So badly, in fact, that it had me mirroring his expression, grinning from ear to ear without even noticing. Those little wrinkles appeared by his eyes, making the urge to trace them with the tips of my fingers almost unbearable. It was mesmerizing how they lit up his entire face until he was practically beaming back at me. It made a flutter appear in my stomach that only grew with every second that his eyes brightened.

I chuckled softly and leaned against him, breathing in his scent and letting it wash over me. Mint and pine, mixed with the freshness of a morning ocean breeze. It eased off the tension that had gotten its grip on my muscles. The tautness slowly ebbed away as that sea scent washed over me. My fingers glided over the skin of his shoulders as I leaned in closer, letting his warmth envelop me while our foreheads pressed together. He mirrored my actions and closed his eyes contently.

"No, not a miracle." I breathed softly, sighing as I looked down at the scar. From between the edges the darkness pulsed weakly, as if trying to escape the boundary that only grew thicker around it. "I couldn't see before, but now..."

My words drifted off as my mind wandered, going to the moments that scar had been most present. The moments when I'd glanced at the skin, pulsing with darkness, and found only loneliness and resentment in my heart.

The last few months I spent on Valeria, after our first fight in Coruscant, at its worst when I tried to sever the bond the moment before the trial and when he'd sent me away mere days ago. It all seemed to click in my head until the full picture was finally shown to me. Obi Wan's hand threaded through my hair and pulled on it gently, redirecting my gaze back to his.

I could feel his chest rumble beneath my fingers as he spoke deeply. "Tell me." His voice was musky, his eyes narrowing in worry.

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. This is all new. I guess we have to find out the further we go along, since this kind of magic is rare but..." I sighed deeply as I sorted it all out in my head. Tried to understand it myself, even. "Obi Wan, our bond, it's... it's not like any other I've ever heard of."

His eyebrows knotted together; concern written all over his face. "At first I thought that it was because you were a Jedi, since no Valerian has ever bonded with another species before, but it's more complicated than that. I suppose everything is complicated when it comes to us, but, -"

As my words turned into soft mumbles his grip on my waist tightened the tiniest bit. "Lyanna." He warned, growing impatient. It shook me from the train of thought I'd let myself get dragged into.

I took in a deep breath and then blurted out in one go. "I think you were my anchor." The confusion in his eyes only seemed to expand as he cocked his head to the side, eyes growing distant as his mind raced, no doubt trying to figure out the meaning behind the words. Only then did I realize that that word would make no sense to him.

"When I came back, I came back because of you. Because of your words, your voice that lured me back. I heard them right before I would've passed through the gates of Valhalla and I used them to find my way. They're the only reason... why I am here." I explained. The fog in his eyes seemed to clear.

"I think that because of that my life was tethered to yours, similar to the way Arthas's was bound to mine." I explained as my fingers played with the silken hair at the nape of his neck. "At first I didn't even realize, but it makes sense. We can't just simply return from the dead, after all, without paying a price or having some form of consequence."

"Consequence?" Obi Wan questioned as that worry only grew. I could feel the unrest in him expanding, the force around him feeling restless. Those calm oceans turned into winter storms.