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"There’s no need to gloat, you know. It’s very unattractive."
"I wasn’t aware you found me attractive, Annika."
"I don’t Miharu."
"Lie all you want, you know it’s true!" the black-haired man yelled to her as she got up from the game table and walked into another room. "Did you want to challenge me in a game of Sabaac, Nom?"
The Dathomirian witch raised her eyebrows and her hands at him.
"What? A simple game, that’s all!," he smiled.
"I have warned you before Miharu."
"OK, OK. But…you know, Chibi Dathomir had to come from somewhere," Miharu purred.
Zap!!
"OW!!" Miharu yelled. This was the second time Nom had followed through on her promise to use Force lightning on him.
"Next time, you will be wise if you listen to my threats."
The black-haired, blue-eyed man shrugged his shoulders and went to the medicine cabinet to fetch the tube of bacta ointment.
"That was a little harsh don’t you think Nom?" Kyoko laughed.
"No."
The first thing Mika did that day was trip over a table. Her knee was
scraped and she was nursing some bruises. Mika, Annika, and Kairiku were
watching holovids of the cartoon show that was based on the adventures
of the Sailor Jedi.
"Look, that’s me!" Mika squealed. The blonde girl smiled proudly.
Kousotsu walked in. "Hey, odango atama?"
"Yes?" the three girls asked in unison.
"Um…this one," he said pointing to Mika. "I found the bacta ointment, Miharu had it."
"Thank you!"
"Is this the cartoon about us?"
"Yup!" Kairi-chan said. He sat down on a small chair to watch. A man dressed in a black tuxedo jumped up and used his lightsaber to defeat a Sailor Sith.
"I think I might like this show," he said, "Of course, I’d have liked it a lot more had they not changed my name to ‘Kevin’. What’s wrong with Kousotsu?"
Koumi popped her head into the room, "Oh, odango atama?"
"Yes?" the three girls once again asked. Kousotsu laughed.
"The white haired one. Obi-Wan is outside he wants to talk to you. It seems urgent." Annika jumped up and down and quickly ran out. Koumi joined the group in watching their animated selves fighting the bad guys.
Obi-Wan was pacing in the Room of a Thousand Waterfalls. This room held the secret entrance to the Sailor Jedi headquarters. Annika’s stomach did flip flops at the site of the blue-eyed Jedi Master. He took one look at the tall girl, turned and started to leave.
"Obi-Wan, did you want to see me?" she asked. He turned around and almost ran back.
"Yes, I did. I wanted to ask you something," he said nervously. His eyes darted quickly over the ground and his cheeks blushed slightly. "I along with several other Jedi have been invited to a dinner in honour of Master Yoda. I was wondering if you’d like to accompany me."
"Really?" She almost fainted.
"Yes. I thought that you being a princess, you could help me with etiquette and protocol. The planet has a Royal family and you would know more about these things than any member of the council."
Annika’s face fell. He just wants me to go with him so I can impress the royal family, she thought. Her heart sank to her feet. "Oh. I’d be honoured. Thank you. When do we leave?"
"Unfortunately, it will have be this evening."
She said she understood then excused herself back to the Room Behind the Waterfall. She sulked the rest of the day. She had never admitted the feelings she had for Obi-Wan to anyone. She never told anyone she had been madly in love with him from the moment she saw him. He had seemed familiar to her, as if she had known him for a thousand years.
Audra watched as Annika selected a slim, white gown, matching shoes and a small diamond necklace. "Shouldn’t you be happy? You have a date with Master Kenobi. Half of the senshi are jealous," she offered the still sulking Bakuran girl.
"I know," she sighed, "but they have nothing to be jealous of, Audra."
She packed her pink suitcase and set off to the launching pad. She was greeted by Master Yoda, who escorted her into the red ship.
Obi-Wan smiled and waved when she entered. She remembered the first time she met him. Bakeru had turned into Sailor Death Star, she tied up Priire and hid her in Anakin’s room. She tied up Annika and hid her in Obi-Wan’s room. Obi-Wan rescued her. From the very second she saw him standing over her with a puzzled look on his face, she was in love.
Now she sat, as his invited guest, and she felt terrible. Her dreams of a romantic life with the handsome Jedi Master, it seemed, would forever remain dreams.
The ship landed safely and quietly. Obi-Wan avoided Annika every chance he got. He ducked down hallways and busied himself with conversations. The dinner was lovely, and the King and Queen were more than pleased to have a castle full of Jedi.
After the meal, pleasantries were exchanged and Annika started for the room she had been given. Obi-Wan stopped her.
"I need to talk to you, privately," he said. He led her out to the terrace. The two moons of the planet were shining brightly on them. The stars of the universe twinkled and glinted against the blackness of the night sky.
"I have to apologise to you, Annika. I have to explain things to you, but I don’t know where to start. I know I’ve been aloof, it’s just that… I get so nervous around you. I look at you, and I get shaky, my heart races and I forget who I am," he laughed. "That sounds bizarre, but it’s the truth.
"When I found you, tied up in my room, I knew who you were. Not just your face and name, but your inner self. I knew you from millennia ago. I see more in you than a soldier, more than a princess, I see the woman I’ve loved from the beginning of time, the woman I’ll love till the end of time."
Annika’s feet were frozen. She thought her heart had stopped. Obi-Wan reached up and wiped tears from her cheeks. She didn’t even realise she had been crying.
"Please say something," Obi-Wan pleaded.
She understood how Xarae felt now. Xarae always had such undying love and passion for Khameir, a deep unexplainable connection. For once in Annika’s life, she was speechless. She stared at the man who stood there, silhouetted in the moonlight, his eyes begging her for a response.
She stood on her tippie-toes, leaned closer, and kissed him softly.
"All the girls are going to hate me," she whispered.
