Times of the Past

Rained Out

     Satine sighed as she felt a few droplets of water hit her forehead and arms, pulling her thin linen shawl over her head for protection.

     She was almost finished rinsing the last of her clothes in the small pool of water at the outer edge of the current settlement they were stopped in. Others around her were doing the same, but as people began to eye the dark and gloomy clouds above them, they hastily tossed their clothes back into their baskets and bags and started to leave. They were surely going to their homes for shelter at the notion of a downpour.

     Satine finally dipped her last items into the water and wrung them out prior to putting them back in her own basket, resolving to finish scrubbing them when she got back to their makeshift tent.

     She stood up and turned to head over to where it sat a small distance away. She could see Obi-Wan just outside it, testing the strings that were holding the tarp-like material in place to see if it would hold up to the weather.

      Just as she reached him though, the rain started to pour quite heavily, and she followed him inside to escape it.

     The space was hardly enough for the three of them to stretch out to sleep side by side at night, and it wasn't tall enough for even Satine to stand up without hitting her head.

     Though, as she looked over at Obi-Wan who now sat next to her, she frowned.

     "Qui-Gon isn't back yet?"

     Obi-Wan shook his head. "I don't even think he's nearby. He must still be haggling for our dinner."

     Satine pulled her shawl down from around her head and ran a hand through her hair, glancing at the basket of damp clothes beside her.

     "Well, it doesn't look like we'll be changing clothes anytime soon either."

     He followed her gaze to the basket but then let out a chuckle. "We've worn the same clothes for much longer periods than this."

     "Still," she refuted. "We haven't had clean clothes since we left Donix and Merida's, and that was days ago. The day we finally compile clothes to wash is the day it rains enough to flood us out."

     "Don't say that," he warned, eyeing the large water droplets that were splashing into the gap at the front of their tent. "We have to sleep here, you know."

     "Yes, I know. I don't think I would soon forget sleeping so closely with you."

     Obi-Wan's cheeks flamed, but he didn't respond to the remark.

     "Well, at this rate, it may just be the two of us for tonight. Qui-Gon might not be able to go out like this right now," he said more loudly as the water began to splatter quite harshly against their roof.

     "That means no dinner then either," she pointed out, but began to sort through the clothes again.

     "True," he agreed. "I suppose all we can do is hope for breakfast in the morning."

*****

     An hour passed, and Satine finished scrubbing and rinsing the remaining dirt off of the clothes with Obi-Wan's help.

     Another hour passed, and they began to distract themselves by playing a children's game Satine had grown up with.

     A third hour passed, and the rain continued to pour down, leaving both of them a bit anxious at the water that was beginning to seep through their tent. It was getting quite dark now, and they had no candles or light sources other than Obi-Wan's lightsaber, which they were saving for dire circumstances.