Order 66 ~ Obi-Wan X OC

Teeka, the Cloak, and the Ring

*Obi-Wan's POV*

The day after a week passed was worrisome. The week after the week passed made me pace around the cave. The month then the year destroyed me. After the year, I called around, asking if anyone had seen my wife, Aletia. 

When she first went missing, even Owen seemed a little concerned but he was no help either. Eight years had passed and still, every time I see him, he asks me if I'd received any signal from her. The answer was always the same. 

"Not yet."

I was convinced that she would eventually come back to me. She had to. The force wouldn't do that, would it? It wouldn't keep us apart forever, right?

Part of me itched to go to Corellia, to follow in her footsteps, and find her.  But I couldn't leave the growing boy who had just reached ten. His sandy hair looked just like his father's when we first found him on this same planet. It was like seeing the ghost of the past.

I stirred around the soup that I had cooking on the stovetop. Part of the rations from my job at the Whale Post was I got a small portion of the creature to take home. Every night, Florence would make us the same soup from it every night. Since she's left, I've tried recreating it but it's never quite right.

I ladled a scoop into an old bowl and took it out to the ledge. I sat down and dangled my feet off the sandstone, staring out across the dune sea. I brought the spoon up to my mouth and tasted it. It was still off just a little. 

"Should have brought some soap," Someone spoke in Jawaese behind me. I turn around quickly and notice the familiar Jawa. "I could smell you from Anchorhead." After Florence not returning and Teeka not getting his payment, he became snarky. He was kicked from his old tribe but he eventually found a new one. 

"You're late," I say, standing up, and placing my bowl of soup aside for later. Like clockwork, Teeka comes here every day at the same time. 

"Do you have the credits this time?" He mocks the Florence situation. I glare at him disdainfully. 

"Do you have it?" I ask, motioning to his cart of strange items. 

He digs through the pile of crap before pulling out a brown satchel with a model ship poking out of it. "A hundred," He tells me the price of it. "It's very rare."

I pull the toy out of the bag. It was practically falling apart at every screw. "They don't make these anymore," He still says, pleading his case.

"I'll give you-" The wing of the model T-16 Skyhopper almost falls off and I sigh. "I'll give you fifty."

"Seventy-five," He tells me sharply. "I've got a new tribe to feed, thanks to you." I press my lips in a line. Before I can say something back, my vaporator sputters above me. I ignore it since it's been happening the past couple of days. 

"Trouble with your vaporator?" He asks mischievously. 

"Yes," I say, tired of his tricks. "I had some parts stolen. I need a new processor board."

He exclaims excitedly as he turns back to his cart, rummaging through the rusted parts. He turns around and holds one out. "You're in luck!"

I roll my eyes as I take it. "Teeka, if you're going to steal my parts, and then sell them back to me, could you at least clean them first? As a courtesy?" I ask as I examine the old dirty processor board. 

"Cleaning costs extra," He expresses snarkily. I glare at him before going to place the satchel and the processor board on a pile of boxes.

He follows me quickly. "You need anything else?" He asks as he runs back to his pile as I grab my bag of credits. "I have a whole new batch of salvage." I walk over to him, curious about what he was making a big deal out of. "Here, look."

The small Jawa pulls out a long brown robe. It was a Jedi's robe. I take it carefully, examining everything on it. "We stripped that Jedi's old ship. Ooo, I also found this there."

I open my palm and he drops a small object into the center of it. I knew this ring. It was Florence's ring. I took a deep breath. That means that the cloak was probably Mace's. And that old Jedi ship was possibly her's. She was dead. My heart sank.

"I'll take the ring and the cloak." The Jawa squeals as I drop an obnoxious amount of credits in his hand. I ignore him as he walks away and I slide the silver ring on my smallest finger, my pinky. It fit well enough. 

I went back to the ledge, hugging the cloak to my chest as I sat down before I let the tears freely fall down my cheeks.