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          "What do you think is going to happen now?"

           Aaryn's eyes shifted to watch the timid man next to her. His face was red and streaked with tears that had come and gone the past few days. Her hands ached to reach over and wrap him up in her arms. 

          He, too, wanted nothing more than to crumble in her embrace.

          But they couldn't here. They had been much too cautious for the last two years to let it all fall apart now. 

          "Aaryn?"

          "I don't know, Obi." Her strained voice spoke out. 

          He inched closer, slipping his hand in hers. They both relished in the feeling of the other's heartbeat through their palms.

          "He's your brother. Aren't you worried?"

          "You're the best Jedi I've ever met. I trust that you'll teach him well."

          Obi Wan scoffed. "Says the chosen one."

          "Oh, will you stop that!" Aaryn laughed and bumped her shoulder against his.

          "Seriously. What if they don't allow it? What if they think I'm not ready?"

          A gentle sigh escaped her mouth as the words left his. Her grip tightened on his hand, trying desperately to hold him as close as she could. 

          "You heard Qui Gon. Train the boy no matter what. He deserves this. After everything he has been through. I can't believe that I wasn't there for him and mom-"

          Obi Wan's hands gently cupped the sides of her face, pulling her thoughts away from the family she left behind. Aaryn's eyes crept across his features, creating a map of every little detail. Her eyes lingered on the shape of his lips, causing a blush to spread across his face. 

          "It's not your fault. You couldn't have known." He whispered as the pads of his fingers danced across her skin. They trailed down her neck and shoulders, bringing goosebumps to her flesh. "There was nothing you could have done."

          "Qui-Gon isn't your fault either."

          "What?"

          "We were stuck. Even the Force couldn't help us with that." She sighed and pulled his hands from her shoulders. "You're going to have to be more careful around me once we're knights, you know?"

          He let out a warm chuckle and turned away from the girl next to him, focusing on the large doors. "Oh, I'm aware. However, I think you are going to have more struggles with that than I am."

          She scoffed at that. "You are a horrible liar, love."

          "Love?" He gaped at the name, his brilliant blue eyes growing wide. 

           The door swung open before Obi Wan could ask anything else. The small, but wise, green Jedi stood before the two with his hands folded over his cane. "Come in, you can, Skywalker and Kenobi." 

          The young padawan's shuffled inside, careful not to be too close. They tried to avoid any suspicions regarding their relationship, but they also worried that they were sometimes painfully obvious. 

          Both settled on the ground, kneeling before the short Master Jedi. Their robes cascaded down their shoulders, pooling on the floor beneath them. Obi's, a soft brown in stark contrast to Aaryn's black ones. 

          "Confer on you the level of Jedi knight, the council does." Yoda spoke as he paced in front of them. "But agree with your taking this boy as your Padawan learner, I do not."

          "Qui-Gon believed in him." Obi Wan argued as Aaryn ducked her head.

          Yoda sighed. "The chosen one the boy may be. Nevertheless, grave danger I fear in his training."

          "Master Yoda, I gave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin." Yoda grunted and shook his head at the newly knighted Obi Wan's defenses. "Without the approval of the council, if I must."

          "Qui-Gon's defiance I sense in you. Both of you. Need that you do not. Agree with you the council does. You apprentice Skywalker will be."

          Obi Wan bowed his head, looking over to Aaryn as he expected her to do the same. Instead, she raised her head high and proud.

          "What will become of me, Master Yoda?" She said with a smile.  

          "Finish your training with Obi Wan you will. Ready to be a knight you are not." He shook his head as he stood in front of her.

          Aaryn's face scrunched into one of confusion and anger. Obi Wan could understand her frustrations, he had heard her complaints of the council several times in private. She was never so openly emotional in front of one of its members, especially her previous master.

          "I beg your pardon but I am perfectly ready to become a knight. Forgive me, Obi Wan, but Master Yoda, I am more powerful and skilled than any other Padawan. I am ready." 

          "Too loud your emotions are, Padawan. Manage them you will learn. On a path to the dark side we fear you are."

          "No." She hissed, rising to her feet. "You said I was the chosen one. You said I was meant to become something extraordinary and now you're afraid of it."

          "Aaryn." Obi Wan whispered in a desperate attempt to calm her.

          "Take your tradition and your silly little codes. I am not going to be toyed around by the Jedi Order any longer." Aaryn grabbed the lightsaber hilt at her hip, using her strength in the force to crush it to scraps of metal. She grabbed the blue kyber crystal that had fallen to the ground and stuffed it in her pocket. "Piss off."

          Her heavy stomps from her boots followed her out the door along with a surprisingly gentle slam. Obi Wan sighed and stared down at the pieces of what was once Aaryn's lightsaber. He knew that she thought about this several times but never thought that she would follow through with it.

          "Talk to her you must." Yoda nodded and gestured with his cane towards the door. "Excused you are."

          Obi Wan stood and thanked the Master Jedi before he shuffled to the doors. Aaryn was nowhere to be seen but there was no one who knew the elder Skywalker better than Kenobi. Once he was sure the door was shut behind him, he took off in a sprint, leaving the building as fast as his feet could carry him.

          "Aaryn!" He shouted as he chased after the black-cladded figure. "Aaryn, please. Won't you stop and listen to me?

          "You heard them, Obi Wan! I'm on a path to the dark side." Aaryn's stomps continued on

          "I know you don't think that's true."

          "Do I?" She growled as she finally turned to face her friend. "Do you? What do you think, Obi Wan? Am I on a path to the dark side?"

          He shifted nervously under her intense stare. "I-I think that you sometimes get ahead of yourself and forget the code, but that does not mean-"

          "Oh, bullshit!" Aaryn shouted. "I see you jump when I'm fighting, always wondering if I'm going to take a fatal swing. I know when you cringe at the harsh words I say and I know that you are always scared that one of these days, I'm going to have enough. Well, here it is Obi. I'm fed up with the Jedi lies."

          "Aaryn." He whispered and cautiously took her hands in his. They were cold in his warm hands. Her hands were always cold it seemed. "I'm not scared of you."

          The sun began to fall, turning the Coruscant sky a bright red with soft swirls of orange. It was fitting, Aaryn thought. The sky seemed just as angry as she did.

          "Maybe you should be."

          "Please don't leave." He pleaded. His hand moved to her chin, holding it gentle between his fingers. "Aaryn, you know I-"

          Aaryn hurriedly pressed her lips to his with a soft and brief peck. One that both wish would have lasted longer.

          "You shouldn't. You're a knight now and I'm... A runaway." She smiled. It almost felt painful. "We'll meet again, Obi. I'm sure of it. It seems that you can't really escape the Skywalker family."

          "I wish I could. They're awfully troublesome."

          The young woman pulled away from his grasp, tugging the dark hood over her head. "Good luck. I think you'll need it."

          Obi Wan's eyes fell. She was truly leaving and he couldn't wrap his brain around it. He wanted to reach out for her or maybe even run after her. Could he run away with her and leave behind the Jedi Order?

          "May the Force be with you, Obi."

          "And to you as well, my love."