Blood In The Water

Chapter 23: Kiros

Obi-Wan looked at me rather baffled. My shoulders slumped as I looked away, not wanting to see him when he says the words "we're done." Tears threatened to fall from my cheeks, but I fought them back. I then felt a hand under my chin, forcing me to look at Obi-Wan. His face had softened as his blue eyes met mine.   

"Iretia, I don't care if you're related to Palpatine or even to Dooku. You have proven to the Jedi and to me that you're stronger than that. It doesn't matter where you come from, but what matters is what's inside of you in here." He stated before placing a hand on my heart. "And you are Iretia Emestre, a Jedi Knight and General, and the woman who stole my heart. Nothing will change the fact that I love you, Tia."

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I smiled at his words. "Oh Obi, I love you too. You're such an amazing and wonderful man."

Obi-Wan wiped away my tears before placing a hand on my cheek. "And you are an amazing and wonderful woman."

With that he leaned in, giving me a kiss. Once we pulled away, we pressed our foreheads together, wearing smiles. It was here with Obi-Wan that I felt safe and where I felt I was at home. 

••• 

Days later, Obi-Wan, Anakin, Ahsoka, O-Mer, Rex, Cody, Lucky, the rest or our troops, and I went to Kiros. Lucky had been made the new captain of my battalion after Gregor went MIA. I refused to believe he was dead, despite what everyone told me. I knew he wasn't, I just had a feeling. 

We were sent by the Jedi Council to Kiros where the artisan colony dwelled. Master Yoda informed us that the Separatist had already gotten there. But by the time we arrived in our cruiser, we saw no Separatist fleet. Something felt very wrong.

"It's been 10 rotations since Master Yoda's transmission. I just hope we're not too late." Anakin mentioned.

"Rex. Take us down." Obi-Wan urged. 

Rex nodded. "Yes, sir."

We took shuttles that lowered us into the planet. The clone troopers brought out tanks and AT-RTs. Meanwhile the rest of us were on BARC speeders. Ahsoka was in a sidecar attached to Anakin's speeder, while I was in a sidecar attached to Obi-Wan's speeder. O-Mer was with Rex in his speeder. Lucky and a few other troopers were on speeders behind us. As we rode through the town, there was no one in sight.

"Anybody else think it's too quiet?" Ahsoka asked. "I haven't seen any colonists."

"They're probably hiding." Anakin suggested.

"Let's hope they stay hidden. It makes our job easier if we don't have to worry about them in battle." Obi-Wan stated.

"I don't like it. The clankers have never been shy about using civvies as living shields." Rex mentioned. 

"They've got to be somewhere in the town." I assured him.

"Let's make for the city center." Anakin suggested.

As we made our way towards the city center, we saw droids on Flitknot Speeder Bikes, the typical Separatist speeders. I grabbed the controls of the blaster canon in front of me.

"Biker droids dead ahead!" Ahsoka exclaimed.

"Squad, tighten up! Form on me!" Anakin ordered.

I quickly began blasting at the droids, taking down one by one. I used the Force to push back a few, making them collapse onto the ground before blasting them into million pieces. Once they were all taken care of, I looked over at Obi-Wan. "We're all clear, Obi."

Once we made our way to the city center, we saw the place filled with tanks and droids. We continued firing, taking down the droids while Rex fired a rocket launcher, destroying a tank. There were two tanks left, Ahsoka rushed over towards one of the tanks, while I jumped on top of the final one. We both threw detonators into the tanks, jumping out of the way in time. When all the droids and tanks were taken care off, we mounted off our speeders.