Chapter 5.

                                    

                                          
Obi-Wan's POV
                          
__________
                          
"I can't express how glad I am to see you, Ahsoka," I told the Togrutan teen, who was carefully dressing and bandaging the wound on my shoulder.
                          
I could almost hear her smiling, and it wasn't hard to picture the all-too-familiar look of tired happiness softening her orange and white face. "I'm just sorry it took us so long to contact you," she responded with a sigh. "We've been having so much trouble here, that was the best we could do." She sat back, inspecting her work, then patted my arm. "You should live."
                          
I laughed, standing from my perch on the little table and going to join Satine where she sat on the other side of the room. Resting my hand on her shoulder, I gave her a gentle squeeze, so she placed her hand over mine, fondling my fingers.
                          
Ahsoka, with her back to us, rinsed out the cloth in her hand, dipping it into her bowl of water, then wringing out the liquid again. She cast a glance over her shoulder, pushing her blue and white montral back, and I was once again struck by the exhaustion giving her seventeen-year-old face more years than she ever deserved. "I'll take this out, but I'll be back in a minute."
                          
I nodded, then sat next to Satine, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. "It's a nice place," I commented, indicating to the airy, simply-furnished room Ahsoka had introduced as their lounge. With couches – although skimpy in the cushioning department – pushed against the painted walls, a thin rug warming the stone floor, and shuttered windows on three sides, the small house offered both shelter and comfort. A holographic screen in the far corner, tuned to the Holonet, played through a series of advertisements, the volume turned onto mute. Warm bulbs, set to a dim lighting, helped provide what the shuttered windows were prevented from, and opposite us was another couch, laid out with blankets and a pillow. 
                          
Ahsoka ushered us into the house, checking the darkness outside before shutting the door tight behind us. "Take the room on the left. I've already got it organized for you. I'll sleep elsewhere tonight."
                          
"Are you sure?" I queried weakly, my head spinning from my wound and my late night – or was it early morning? I didn't know. "Satine and I can –"
                          
"Don't mention it," she cut me off, guiding us into a cramped room with a bed and a low cabinet. "We can argue tomorrow," she ended with the ghost of a smile before she closed the door.
                          
I pursed my lips just slightly. She must have slept on the couch overnight. If we were staying here for a while, I seriously considered taking up her offer to argue in the morning. A pang of longing tugged at the strings of my heart. Debating – and arguing – with the young girl was so familiar and so tainted by happy memories, I had to work hard not to get swept back to the past ... back to the time when we were a threesome ....
                          
"This certainly beats living out in the open, doesn't it?" I asked Satine, partly to distract myself from my thoughts.
                          
She hummed noncommittally, curled up against my side in a most unladylike posture – not that I minded. I only thought she would.
                          
I tilted my head to look down at her. "What's wrong, my darling?"
                          
She didn't look at me, her gaze fixed blankly to a spot on the wall. The only response I got out of her was another half-hearted hum.
                          
Ahsoka entered through the archway, tinges of stress colouring her mostly shielded Force signature. "Sorry I didn't come back sooner," she apologized quickly. "I was held up." She stopped when she looked at me properly. Her shoulders slumped before she hastily composed herself. "You've got a cut on your cheek; I'll go get something to patch that up. I'm sorry, I don't even know how I missed it!" She turned to leave again, an anxious frown creasing her face, but I stopped her.