The Clone Wars Gets A New Victim

Chapter 19: The Fixer

 Grim had already known she had escaped far from unscathed. What she hadn't expected were the scars her torture had left. Obi-Wan had those same scars, she hadn't seen them, but she suspected he had. They had gone through the same torture after all.

While Obi-Wan's scars were hidden underneath his robes, Grim's scars poked out through her tank top. Only a few of them, but it was enough to have just a little bit of her scars showing. She didn't know how to feel about them. She felt too young to be carrying scars like these.

Grim didn't want to face what had happened to her on Zygerria and Kadavo. How much she was still hurting from those places despite being safe at the Jedi Temple. She knew Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had to have been hurting as well. Anakin would too, but she wouldn't know how to comfort him.

Grim found Obi-Wan meditating. "May I join you, Master Kenobi?" Grim asked him.

Without even opening his eyes Obi-Wan replied, "of course, Grim."

She smiled and sat down next to him. She rested with her legs crossed and her hands on her knees. Grim closed her eyes and let the Force carry her. Sinking into its embrace.

She connected to all the light she felt surrounding her. Reaching out and feeling the comfort of it. Grim felt at peace, and as if even only for the moment, her pain from what had happened had been washed away.

Obi-Wan's voice came from beside her, "are you doing okay Grim?" He asked her.

"What do you mean?" Grim asked.

"What happened on the mission. Are you doing okay after all of that?"

"Are you?" Grim asked him.

"Not completely," Obi-Wan admitted. "I may not be for a while."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" she asked softly.

Obi-Wan chuckled softly and almost sadly. "I'm afraid not Grim, nothing more than you already do."

"And what is it I do already?"

"You're here. As I am for you."

"Of course I'm here, I wouldn't leave you alone."

"One day you may have to."

"I would hate for that day to ever arrive."

The two Jedi fell silent. Falling back into the Force and into their meditation.

Grim felt comforted in Obi-Wan's presence. He was like a beacon of light, she thought. Even when they both hurt, he could still manage to comfort her. She just wanted to return the favor to her Master. She found herself resting her head on his shoulder.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes. "Are you falling asleep?" He asked her.

"And if I am?"

"Then you might just trap me," he joked.

"Good," she joked back. She then wrapped her arms around him, hugging him and trapping him.

Obi-Wan laughed. "Now you're just doing it on purpose."

Grim laughed as well. "And what're you going to do about it, Master?"

Obi-Wan laughed again and so did Grim. "Hmm, how would I get you to free me?"

"Oh negotiation, really? I should've suspected as much," she joked laughing.

"Does that really surprise you, my young padawan?"

"I suppose not," she replied. She released him and stood up. "I'm going to find Ahsoka."

Obi-Wan chuckled and smiled.

Grim headed off to find Ahsoka. "Hey Ash," said Grim when she finally did. The other Padawan had been practicing with her lightsabers.

Ahsoka turned around and deactivated the blades. "Hello, Grim."

"How are you doing?" Grim asked. "I'm sure that mission was hard on you, they were your people."

Ahsoka sighed. "Yes, it was hard. But I got through it, and in time so will they. What about you?"

"What do you mean?" Grim asked.

"Dear, I was in a cage hanging over the edge of the palace, you were on Kadavo and I don't even know what was done to you," Ahsoka replied. She walked over to her and placed a gentle hand on Grim's cheek. "What happened to you?"

"Being in a cage sounds pretty traumatic," replied Grim, avoiding the question.

"I will admit it was," Ahsoka replied. "But you already knew what I went through."

"I'm sorry I didn't warn you-"

"That's not what I'm getting at, I don't know what you went through. You don't have to, but I'm here if you want to talk about it."

Grim almost broke. "I think I do," she admitted quietly. The two moved to a bench and sat down. "Even before we were all captured after that slave auction, Master Kenobi and I got caught. They tortured him while I watched, but he refused to say anything...so then when he was recognized as Obi-Wan they tortured me instead," she told her quietly.

"That's awful," Ahsoka whispered. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, Ash," replied Grim. "Neither of us broke. And after the auction we and Rex were taken to Kadavo, as you know," Grim paused for a moment. "They hardly tortured us to break us. They tortured others. We couldn't help or we'd make things worse." She started crying.

Ahsoka wiped away her tears and kissed her forehead. "You don't have to say anything more. I'm sorry that happened to you Grim."

"What about you?" Grim asked. "Being in that cage?"

"It was awful," she admitted. "And there was that shock collar...it was awful. I still can't believe how a person could do that to another person."

Grim sighed. "That's one awful thing in common about our universes. Wherever we are, there are going to be horrible people."

"But there are good people too," Ahsoka reminded her. "That must be true for your universe as well, after all you came from it."

Grim blushed a little, smiling at Ahsoka. "True," she replied. She kissed Ahsoka and the other padawan kissed her back. They broke away smiling.

"I wish we didn't have to fight in this war," Ahsoka admitted. "We're Jedi, I thought we were supposed to be peacekeepers."

"This war was made so we couldn't be," Grim said quietly. "But one day, I promise you, we won't have to fight wars anymore."

Ahsoka smiled. "For just now can we pretend that day is today?"

Grim smiled back. "Yes. Just for now."

And for that moment the war didn't exist.