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Kiara O’Ben was 19 when she first met the love of her life, Derik Kenobi. And after a year of dating, they finally tied the knot.
A year later, they welcomed their first son, Owen Kenobi, into the world. Derik was happy because once the boy was older, he could teach him how to work on their farm with him. Their homestead was by one of the many rivers on Stewjon, and they lived very rural.
And about two years later, they welcomed their second son, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Kiara was worried for her precious boy as he was very small for his age, and she was worried he would not make it past two months. But the god’s seemed to have heard her prayers as he survived.
And as she looks at her little boy, now five, she smiles as he giggles on her lap.
“We’re home,” Derik calls out as he and Owen enter the house.
Owen smiles proudly at his momma. “Momma, guess what? Guess what?!” Owen excitedly says but practically yells.
“Yes, sweetie?” Kiara laughs.
“I herded the chickens into the coop all by myself.” Owen smiles proudly.
“Good job, Owen.” Kiara smiles. “Looks like he might be stealing your job, Derik.”
Derik laughs. “Wait till he gets older.” Derik snorts. “How is Obi doing?” Derik smiles as he picks up his son. Obi-Wan laughs as Derik tickles him. “Here comes the tickle monster.”
“Momma, help me!” Obi-Wan cries, and Kiara laughs before putting on a serious face.
“Now, don’t you go and start torturing my boy!” Kiara playfully lectures as she takes Obi-Wan back into her arms.
“Your boy?” Derik raises his brow.
“Hmhm, stop teasing him, and I might let you have him again.”
“Alright, alright. The tickle monster is gone now.” Derik surrenders, and Owen laughs at the whole thing.
“You beat the monster, Momma!” Obi-Wan wraps his arms around Kiara’s neck.
“Of course I did; I wasn’t going to let some monster take my son,” Kiara states, and Obi-Wan laughs.
“Love you, Momma.” Obi-Wan states, and Kiara smiles.
“I love you too, my little Obi,” Kiara states and then sets Obi-Wan on the floor with Owen. “Now, how about you two go play while I talk to Dad?”
“Yay!” Owen states and takes Obi-Wan’s hand. “Let’s go play with the sand, Obi.”
“Remember, not by the river, boys,” Derik calls out.
“We know!” Owen states and leaves with Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan then rushes in a second later and grabs his special Varactyl plush, which Kiara had made for him for his third birthday.
“Don’t get it dirty, Obi.” Kiara softly says, and Obi-Wan laughs and then rushes out.
Derik smiles and then turns to Kiara. “Was he showing again while we were gone?” Derik asks Kiara seriously.
“Yes, he levitated his cup and broke it when I was feeding him,” Kiara states.
“What are we going to do? The villagers can’t find out about this. You know how they feel about all that magic stuff,” Derik states, and Kiara shakes her head.
“I know; maybe we could hide it and teach him to hide his gifts.”
“Kiara, we can’t hide it. We’ve never dealt with this before. We can’t take that risk.” Derik pauses. “You know what these people do to people with magic.” Derik softly says.
“We can’t just give up our son. He’s our son. And if it means we must move, then we shall move.” Kiara states.
“Where, Kiara? How? We have no money; we are barely getting by.”
“We’ll move more rural then until Obi can control it,” Kiara states.
“I know you want to protect him; I know. And I only want to protect him too. But he can’t stay here.”
“Then where will he go? An orphanage, another family? Because no, I do not trust my boy with anyone.”
“The Jedi, Kiara. They are the only ones who can protect him.”
Kiara’s eyes go wide. “We have already talked about this. He is not going to the Jedi. I want him to grow up with people to love and to be loved.” Kiara states.
“They do, Kiara. They are like one big family.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard.”
“Kiara, please listen.” Derik pleads. “He’s not safe here; he’s not. And as his father, I will do everything it takes to keep him out of harm’s way, even if that is to send him away from this place.”
“He needs his family.” Kiara cries.
“I know, dear heart, I know. He will always have us. In here.” Derik softly brushes Kiara’s forehead. “And in here.” Derik places a hand over his heart.
“I’m so scared for him.” Kiara cries in Derik’s arms as he hugs her.
“I know, Kiara, I am too.”
“I only want to protect him from the universe and the monsters,” Kiara states.
“I know. Me too. And we will be doing that. He will live, and he will have an amazing life. One filled with adventure and happiness.”
“He’ll be the best of them. He’ll be all over the news. “The Jedi’s Greatest Master: Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He will help so many people.” Kiara softly states. “I just wish he didn’t have to leave us.”
“I understand. But he’ll be safe. And as you said, he’s going to be a very important and special person when he grows up; I see it now.”
“Yes, our special boy.” Kiara cries.
“We have weeks, Kiara. We can make it very special and happy for him, for us.” Derik comforts.
“Yes, we have weeks.” Kiara gets out of the hug and wipes her eyes. “We have to make it beautiful. You can carve some gifts, and I can make him some plushies.”
“But… What about Owen? What will we tell him?” Kiara asks, and Derik sighs.
“We cannot tell him now; he would do something rash to protect his baby brother. When it gets nearer, we’ll explain it to him.” Derik states, and Kiara nods sadly.
Suddenly, the door slams open, and sweaty and out of breath, Owen runs in. “Momma, Dad, someone took Obi!” Owen cries.
“Calm down, son; what happened? Explain.” Derik kneels down.
“We were making sandcastles, and I needed a bigger bucket, so I went into the barn to get one. I got it and was walking back when I saw Obi screaming and kicking against a man with fancy clothes on. I ran and tried to help, but he had a bike. And he went away.” Owen explains, still crying. Derik nods, his face serious, and grabs his rifle and blaster.
“Owen, you stay here, and if someone that is not us is coming, you hide. Understand?” Kiara commands, and Owen nods.
“Are you bringing Obi back?” Owen asks, and Derik nods.
Kiara and Derik head out and come upon the place where the boys were playing. They can both see the signs of the struggle. Kiara holds back a sob as she gets on her knees and picks up one of Obi-Wan’s small boots.
“You head back to the house and stay with Owen. Use the extra blaster if you need to. I’m going to follow these bike tracks.” Derik states, and Kiara nods.
“Be safe,” Kiara states and Derik nods.
Kiara goes back to the house while Derik uses his own bike and follows the tracks.
It’s almost midnight, and Kiara is sitting on the couch, Owen fast asleep on her lap. She looks down at the small boot in her hand and wills herself not to cry. She can only hope that Derik brings back Obi-Wan.
An engine startles her out of her thoughts. The sound of footsteps is heard, and Kiara’s hand goes to the blaster by her leg; she takes it and points it at the door. The door opens, and she almost presses the trigger but stops when she sees it’s Derik.
It’s Derik, and he’s alone.
“Obi-Wan?” Karia rasps out, her voice worn down by crying.
“I’m sorry,” Derik whispers, his eyes red. “The tracks went into town. The villagers said they saw a man fitting Owen’s description of the man carrying a boy and entering a ship, taking off.”
Kiara lays Owen on the couch and stands to walk next to Derik. “He’s gone?”
Derik doesn’t answer, and Kiara falls to her knees, sobbing uncontrollably. Derik gets teary-eyed.
“I found his plushie at the entrance to go into town,” Derik whispers. Derik hands the sandy plushie to Kiara, and Kiara grasps it and sobs, painful and horrible sobs.
“Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan.” Kiara cries and cradles the plush. Derik hugs her, and she continues to sob.
“Obi-Wan!”