The Negotiator and the Fire Fang

Epilogue II

I do not protect the balance. I am the balance.

---

"I have a message for you." Sahrea Shan said as she appeared beside Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was reading on their bed when he looked up to his dead wife.

He had aged much in their time apart. How could he not? Not only was Tatooine a rough place to live, but he had lost so much in life. It had begun to take it toll on him. However, the impact of his losses did nothing to dull the handsomeness in his face. If anything, it honed it.

He sprung up and wrapped his arms around her, not even bothering to mark his page in the parchment text. The feeling made her heart leap.

She loved being near him. The familiar feel of his body. His height, his smell. The way his arms squeezed against her back, making her feel protected and loved and safe. He made her feel grounded when she existed only in the Force. Kenobi pulled back enough to see her face, but refused to let go.

"What is it?" he asked softly, pressing his forehead to hers. She closed her eyes as his nose brushed against her cheek. She nuzzled into him more. His breath on her neck sent spirals of energy galloping throughout her body. How she missed him. Even though time was instantaneous for her, like the sensation of sleeping, all their time apart was still felt. It still weighed heavily on her.

"Someone is coming for you. Someones, actually." she told him. She opened her eyes, her lashes brushing against his cheek. They were inches apart. She couldn't have pulled away from him if she tried.

"A boy. A padawan with a green saber and unnaturally blue eyes." she stated. His face stayed the same, but his eyes lit up curiously. His hand found hers and intertwined their fingers together.

"And the other?" he asked. Sahrea bit her lip. "An old foe." The male's name slipped from her mind. She had trouble remembering sometimes. The Force was so expansive. Her mind was spread wide over time and space. It made it difficult. She closed her eyes.

"A long awaited meeting this will be, between you and this old enemy. Died once he did, from a saber's blade, brought back to life with a brother's aid. Come he has to settle the score and soon the conflict will be no more." she canted. Sahrea had no idea why that came out as a rhyme. It was not intended. Obi-Wan's brow drew together.

"Maul." he muttered. She squeezed his hand. "You must face him." she told him. Kenobi put a hand to her cheek. "It must be done." he said. No sooner had he finished speaking had the Force pulled her away.

It was dark now. She was in the desert. She turned and saw a crackling fire and before it, Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was standing, facing something in the desert. No, someone. If he knew of her presence, he made no acknowledgment.

"Look what has become of you." A familiar voice said, chilling Shan to her core. "A rat in the desert." Maul said by the light of the fire. It shifted the shadows that clung to his body.

"Look what I have risen above." Obi-Wan replied coolly. Sahrea stepped back, away from the two, heart pounding in fear. The air grew cold. The Dark Side of the Force always pooled closely when a life would be lost. Maul began to walk around the side of the fire.

"I have come to kill you, but perhaps it's worse to leave you here, festering your squalor." the Zabrak said as the two circled the flames.

"If you define yourself by your power to take life, the desire to dominate, to possess, then you have nothing." her husband replied, looking regal in the flickering light. Maul bared his teeth angrily. He pulled out his saber and dug it into the sand. The grains he flicked suffocated the fire, leaving Maul only to be illuminated by his crimson blade.