Night, and the harsh sun had set at last over the mountains, leaving the
Mojave desert in a kind of lost world all it's own.
        Raen rolled down the window of her borrowed car and sped up, hoping to make
Hollywood before her friend Marissa (the car's owner) had kittens about the
length of the auto loan. She shook out  her shoulder length  magenta hair and
grinned. Her 21st birthday had commenced, and she was in no way interested in a
night in, alone, at home. Her glee turned to a shriek of terror and a skidding
slide as she jerked the wheel of the Jeep Cherokee hard to the left and jammed
on the brake, jerking up hard on the emergency brake at the same time. As the
vehicle came to a shuddering stop, Raen let out a whoop of pent up air, and
flung the door open, staggering out.  She saw what she desperately hoped to see,
that she'd missed hitting the body that lay in the road, and that said body was
moving.
        "Hey, mister!" she called, shaky, and advanced on him, wondering if she should
go and get the tire iron just in case.
        His head swung in her direction, but all she could see was the longish brush
cut and the four inch long ponytail gathered at the back. He tried to stand, but
the bathrobe, or whatever he wore, got tangled with his legs, and all he managed
was a kneeling wobble.
        "Mister? Are you all right?" Raen was standing over him, hands out just barely,
an offer of help.
        Recoiling slightly, the man seemed to be searching for something, then accepted
her hands. As his fingers grasped hers, his eyes tracked up to meet her own, and
she gasped in shock, trying briefly to pull away. All she accomplished was to
pull him to his feet. He kept her hands in his, and she felt the calluses of
heavy work on his long, lean fingers and palms.
        "Oh, no. This is so not happening." she stated flatly, her grey eyes never once
leaving his confused but steady blue-green ones.
        "Hello," he managed finally, a small frown between his brows.
        "Please tell me you're an hallucination caused by some well meaning but
incredibly stupid friend who put some 'shrooms in my dinner and my own
ridiculous addiction to the Star Wars fan fic on the net." Raen gasped out, all
her words running together in her haste to get them out before she stopped
breathing, or swallowed her tongue, or something equally as embarrassing.
        "I beg your pardon?" he tried, and she swallowed hard.That voice. Those eyes.
If this was a fake, she didn't want to know.
        "Okay. Who are you? Where'd you get the costume? Why are you here? Why were you
lying in the road?" she rapid fired at him, totally blowing off the thought that
he might be real.
        "I don't think..." he began, but she held up her hand.
        "You can knock off the accent. I think it's great, but it's really
distracting." she said kindly, and he gaped at her.
        "Wait," he said softly, disengaging his hands from hers, and she blushed to
find that she had been holding onto him all the while. His fingers took up a
light touch at her temples, and she felt awfully warm, and awfully vulnerable.
She also felt a soft gentle touch on her mind that wasn't her, and gasped.
        "I apologize for startling you," he began, his hands moving to her arms to
steady her. She stared up at him with a deer- in - the - headlights look on her
face and babbled, "You're you.. him.. Obi-Wan Kenobi."
        "Yes. And you are Raen deMarcos. I'm pleased to meet you. Can you tell me where
I am?" he asked pleasantly, ignoring the most incendiary blush he'd ever
encountered in a humanoid. Her face was so red he thought she might
spontaneously combust if he reacted to it.
        "Uhmmm, this is California, USA, Earth?" she squeaked.
        "Are you asking me or telling me?" he couldn't help laugh, and then sobered,
toying with the long braid that fell from behind his ear to nearly his waist on
the right side of his head.
        "Telling," she , too , calmed down, and looked back wistfully at her borrowed
wheels. "C'mon. We'll go to my place and figure things out. This road isn't the
best place to hold a summit meeting."
        "Thank you," he said softly, following her to the SUV.
        Gingerly, he got in on the passenger side, and she instructed him to buckle up,
then got the vehicle into gear and headed back the way she had come.
 
 
        Obi-Wan had  never been quite so appalled at a transport in his life, and he
had been on many. The vehicle, a land vehicle at that, bumped, rattled, and
shimmied over every irregularity on the road surface. It squeaked, and groaned,
and roared, and smelt of exhaust. He held on for dear life to the handle above
the door, not feeling terribly secure in the shoulder and lap restraint. She
drove too fast, took corners and curves too fast, and was creating a very
un-Jedi like terror in him. He cleared his throat to ask her to slow down, but
one look at her face, one soft brush against her mind, and he realized that this
was everyday for her, that she was, in fact, going slower than her usual, in an
effort to prolong her time in his presence. He held his peace, barely, and
settled back to endure the ride.
        "How did you get here?" she eventually asked, taking her attention off the road
to glance at him.
        "If you promise to keep your eyes on the road, I'll try to explain," he
reasonably informed her, and she giggled at the stress in his voice.
        "You can't be scared by a poor Earther driving," she grinned, and stared at him
a moment, seeing that he was indeed a little white around the lips. "You are!"
she yelped, then, taking her foot off the gas slightly, she slowed down even
more and drove sedately.
        "Better?" she asked hopefully, and he sighed.
        "Immeasurably. Thank you. Now, as to my being here, it would appear to have
been an accident. I was at the Jedi temple, working through a series of
exercises, manipulating energy beams, and I thought I heard a cry from one of
the other rooms. I went to see what was wrong, and got caught in one of the
other padawan's energy manipulation  webs. I don't recall exactly what happened
after that, until I heard you call me 'mister'."
        "You gotta be shittin' me." Raen gaped at him," You got pitched thru who knows
how much time and space by somebody's science project?"
        He snuck a tiny look into her thoughts to verify her meaning, and replied," Uh,
to put it succinctly, yes."
        Raen began laughing. She just couldn't help it. Obi-Wan found it was his turn
to blush.
        "I'm sorry.I am. " she stopped her laughter with effort, and pulled into a
private driveway, a very long private driveway, that ended up at a modest little
house nestled into a copse of trees that were never meant to grow in the desert.
        "Well, we're here." she parked the car and got out, and he followed her lead.
        "You live here?" he queried, and she nodded. She motioned him to follow, and
unlocked the door. When he attempted to follow her in, though, she turned and
planted her palm in his chest, staying him.
        "Look, you have to realize that here, you're just a fictional character. No one
could have known you were real. Hell, I don't believe it half the time, and I'm
talking to you. Please tell me you won't get too offended by my decor." Raen
begged, and Obi-Wan nodded hesitantly.
        Raen let him in, and turned on the lights. His own face stared back at him from
the walls, as did his Master's, and the Enemy's. The images continued in the
form of figurines, small and large, and magazines, and books.... He took a deep
breath to center himself, and let the world flow around him.
        "Well, I can see why you stopped me at the door," he remarked,  and wandered
about, picking things up to scrutinize them, and replacing them.
        "Tell me, do you have a ..." he searched for a term that wouldn't hurt.
        "An impulse control problem? An obsessive/compulsive problem?" she supplied, a
small, uncomfortable grin on her face.
        " That would be the term." he smiled back, and she shrugged.
        "Probably. But, hey, at least I'm honest about it."  she began to relax, but
stiffened when she felt that little touch on her thoughts again.
        "I thought you Jedi-types were supposed to be all chivalrous and stuff," she
scowled at him, and he drew back a bit in shock.
        "How do you mean?" he asked.
        "I mean, aren't you supposed to ask before you go creeping around inside
somebody's head?" she folded her arms across her chest and glared. She was
rewarded by a deep flush spreading from his neck to his hairline.
        "I apologize. It was wrong of me." he bowed deeply.
        "It's okay, "  she  relaxed again, and told him," I guess it's second nature,
yeah? "
        "Yes. I should have asked, but I didn't know where I was. I was alarmed, and
off balance. It won't happen again."
        " I didn't say never to do it again. I kind of liked it," she confided, "It
felt all tingly and warm in my head."
        "I've never heard of it feeling like that," he watched her out of the corner of
his eye, as she stepped quite close to him.
        "I give you permission to creep around in my mind, any time you want. But don't
say I didn't warn you: there's things in there that will probably freak you out
completely." Raen made eye contact with him, and he wondered what in the world
she meant.
        "I'll consider myself warned," he confirmed, and she smiled.
        "You hungry? Thirsty?" she changed the subject.
        "Yes," he admitted, and watched her as she walked into the kitchen adjacent to
the main room. He thought a moment about what his master would do in a situation
like this, and came up with nothing. He couldn't begin to even imagine his
master dealing with this woman. She was ...well...strange. And the things she
had lying about. A chill crept up his spine.
        "Do you eat meat?" she called, interrupting his thoughts.
        "I'm not picky. Whatever you wish to feed me will be sufficient,"  he called
back, and felt a surge of emotion from the kitchen that startled him. Lewd
images woven into a tangled mass of embarrassment, surprise, desire, and
amusement. He followed it and stared at her as she went through cupboards and
drawers. He'd had no need to touch her mind to receive that.
        "Are you...." she began to yell, but noticed him in the doorway and finished in
a whisper," Okay?"
        Her cheeks were pink as she averted her eyes from his searching ones, and he
hid a grin. "Perfectly." he replied, and stood behind her. If she continued to
think those thoughts, that loudly, he was in for a restless time of it. As far
as he could tell, she was unaware that he heard her without touching his mind to
hers.
        "Can I help?" he asked, taking a box of some food item out of her hand and
pretending to study the picture on the front.
        "Uh- no. I can do it quicker by myself." she stammered. He was standing way too
close. She needed to get some distance. Her fantasy should NOT be standing in
her kitchen, offering to help cook macaroni and cheese. It was just wrong, and
her nerves were jumpy enough. The whole situation was wrong.
        Obi- Wan let her pluck the package out of his fingers, and felt hers linger on
his a bit longer than necessary. The thought that she projected for a brief
instant was so licentious, he almost didn't remember to breathe.
        Raen was back at the stove in an instant, muttering over her pots and pans,
leaving him to sort out her mental imagery. His person had been prominent. And
naked. And busy with hers. Oh, very busy. He tucked it away for further thought
later, a wicked half smile on his face, and went back to the living room to look
around some more. If  standing next to her and touching her hand brought on that
kind of response....."
        A few minutes later, Raen carried two bowls of something that smelled extremely
savory to her cluttered table, and set them down. Obi-Wan, already seated on her
couch, looked into the bowl she set before him, and saw little sausages swimming
in a sea of cheese sauce with noodles. Raen handed him a spoon silently, and
fled back to the kitchen, returning with two bottles of Newcastle brown ale.
        "This is good." he enthused, and heard ' So are you'  dimly in his mind. He
nearly choked, and she patted him on the back, still oblivious to the fact that
he had heard her thought, and seen her earlier one.

        When they had finished eating, Obi-Wan settled in for some serious question and
answer conversation. He demanded to know about his "fictional character" status,
about what she knew, thought, and speculated on concerning him, his master, The
Enemy, and events. Raen had gone on in detail about the movie, the books, the
trilogy, and ended up turning on her computer to show him the official movie
site.
        "Well." he finally said, gaining her complete attention, "Some is true enough,
but the duel  in the Theed complex never happened, and I've never met anyone
named Anakin, nor has my master." he stretched and yawned.
        "But, if the rest is even close, how do you explain it ? And why?  My God, how
am I supposed to rationalize all this?" Raen almost wailed, and Obi-Wan set a
comforting hand on her shoulder. Her face flushed almost instantly, and she
ground her teeth.
        "Perhaps we should be discussing your reactions to me, instead," he breathed,
intoxicated by the waves of plain simple lust radiating off her. "I can hear and
see some of the things you think and feel. "
        Raen froze up, looking as if she might bolt, but he didn't release his grasp on
her.
        "I....that is...er..." she stumbled along, then got herself together. "Yeah. I
have a thing for you. It started the first time I saw the damn movie. I guess
having you actually here is kind of making me crazy." she admitted, and to her
surprise and humiliation, he chuckled, kindly.
        "Look, I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable, but I never had to worry
about what I thought around a guy I had the hots for. I'll just go bury myself
in the back yard now." she grimaced in absolute mortification, and grabbed the
dishes to remove them to the kitchen. Obi-Wan's hand  stopped her.
        "I never said it made me uncomfortable. "  he said softly. "It most definitely
surprised me, but..." he let the sentence hang, releasing his hold on her.
        "But..." she prompted, nervy and not too sure what to do about the situation,
if anything.
        "But right now, I need to try and reach my master. " he finished, letting her
off the hook. His serious stare deep into her eyes settled her down
considerably, and she nodded.
        "You do that, and I'll clean up. And try to keep my filthy mind to myself." she
summoned up the ghost of a smile, and fled to the kitchen.
 
        Obi-Wan stood, stretched all of himself in a joint popping display of
relaxation, and then folded to the floor in a crossed leg stance, reaching out
to the Force, and casting his mind into it, searching for his master's presence.
It took a very, very long time, then,*!?!* . His master was aware of his search,
but the distance was too great for any depth to the link. Only faint traces of
emotion flowed back to Obi-Wan, relief, dismay, amusement, acceptance. The sense
that Master Qui-Gon Jinn would be coming for him as soon as possible, however it
could be accomplished. The link faded, but maintained a thin thread, enough to
follow. Obi-Wan swam back up out of his meditation to find himself nose to nose
with Raen. Her eyes were concerned, and her fingers were searching for a pulse
in his wrist and his neck.
        His eyes blinked, trying to focus on her, but she was too close. He shifted,
and she let out a small "EEP!", falling on her backside.
        "i thought you were in a coma or something!" she growled accusingly, and he
grinned at her.
        "He's coming for me," the happy padawan asserted, and her surliness evaporated.
        "Here?" she cried, darting a look around, and he knew she was thinking about
cleaning.
        "It will probably take him a while to find me," Obi-Wan muttered, and turned a
limpid gaze on her that made her quiver. "If I might trouble you for a little
while longer, may I stay here?"
        Raen very nearly did swallow her tongue that time. How long could she deal with
having the very essence of her wet dreams staying under her roof before she went
insane? "Sure. You're welcome here," she found herself saying, while her
thoughts chased themselves around her brain like crazed weasels.
        "I appreciate that," he murmured, and watched her face from under lowered
lashes. He could tell he had stirred up a hornet's nest, and wasn't quite sure
why it amused him so. He was just thankful that she couldn't pick up his
thoughts, and that his voluminous Jedi robes covered the more obvious results of
her projections on him.
        "Where shall I sleep, then?" he asked as innocently as possible, and felt sorry
for his needling when she forced herself to say," I'll make up the couch for
you," and went very quickly to another room down the hall to retrieve bedding.
His bladder let him know, on no uncertain terms, that it was in need of
emptying, thank you, and he stood, wondering where her 'fresher unit was.
        Raen reappeared to deposit a load of sheets, blankets, and pillows, and told
him, "Bathroom's down that hall, if you want a shower, or whatever. "
        He nodded his thanks, and made a beeline for the room. When he returned, the
couch was made up like a harem bed with multiple pillows, thick comforters, and
clean sheets.
        "You needn't have gone to such trouble," he began, but she just shrugged it off
with a grin, and left him standing with a soft "Goodnight," in her wake.
        "And to you," he said quietly, stripping off layer after layer of padawan
uniform, folding it all as he went. With a heartfelt sigh, he let go of the
tension the last few hours had caused, and settled himself into the soft nest
Raen had created for him. Sleep remained elusive. Obi-Wan listened as the shower
turned on, then turned off minutes later. He listened as she crawled into her
bed with a rustle of covers, and sighed as deeply as he had. He heard her
breathing change when sleep came for her, but not for him.
        "Sith," he cursed under his breath, rolling onto his side. Every noise the
house made around him piqued his attention. With a grimace and a swish of
fabric, he swept back the comforters and knelt naked on the floor, emptying
himself to the Force.
        Raen's dreaming mind insinuated itself into Obi-Wan's meditations, and he came
back to himself with a start, cursing. "Hot and cold running padawan?!" he
breathed, near outrage, before the hilarity hit him, and he began laughing, the
image of tiny padawans dripping out of a bathroom spigot too much to bear. He
got himself back under control when he sensed her stirring in her sleep.
        "Apparently, her fixation is more than it seems," he murmured to himself,
considering for a moment how she had disrupted his trance unconsciously, even
through his shields. At least she hadn't been in the middle of yet another wild
flight of lustful fancy at the time. His body could only take so much before it
decided  it needed a very cold shower, or some companionship.
        Shaking out his all enveloping overrobe, he threw it on over his nakedness
against the chill desert night and prowled around a while, before seating
himself before her computer. He had seen her work it earlier, and  replicated
her actions. Research, he told himself sternly, and  began surfing her
bookmarked websites.
        An hour later, he shut down the internet, and shut off her machine, his mind a
whirl of conflicting impressions and reactions.  "Whoo" he blew out a breath and
sank back in the chair, unsure whether her should be glad that he was viewed as
severely fuckable, or disturbed. He settled for both, and tried to visualize his
master's reaction to the things he'd read, both about himself, and his master.
There was no way he could possibly second guess the Master Jedi, but he
determined to show the results of the febrile writings to him .
        Obi-Wan rose, dropped the cloak on the end of the couch, and settled down to
sleep again. He succeeded.

        Raen knuckled sleep out of her eyes, marveling at the dreams she had enjoyed
last night. By far the most annoying was the one where OWK was here, in her
home, sleeping on her couch. She yawned and stretched, sliding out of her bed
and padding naked to the bathroom across the hall. Her eyes grew wide and round
as she took in the figure standing in front of her mirror, using her toothbrush,
and she screamed, seeing he was nude, remembered she was nude, turned bright
scarlet from her waist to the tips of her ears, and fled back into her bedroom
and slammed the door.
        "Yes, goodday to you too," Obi-Wan said pleasantly to his own reflection around
a mouthful of galactic bubble mint toothpaste, the kind with his likeness on the
tube.  He spit and rinsed his mouth and the sink, then whisked the towel off the
shower door and wrapped it around his waist. Without missing a beat, he tapped
on her door and announced," Bathroom's free," before heading to the couch and
his clothes.
        Raen peeked her head out the door, sure she was going more than slightly mad,
and dashed into the vacated bathroom with a sheet wrapped so firmly around her
that only her eyes showed. The door clicked shut .
        'Ha!' he thought, ' See how well she takes to having her world shaken up some,'
. He had definitely slept, as evidenced by the fact thet he felt refreshed
enough to play jokes on his host, but his own dreams had been invaded by hers.
Not all of them had been about him, no, but enough to wake him fairly early, and
very uncomfortably, his own hands mimicking what she had been...he cut that
thought short before he needed another shower. Soloing in the bathroom was
unsatisfying when the instigator was only one room away. He shook his head,
reminding himself that he mustn't take advantage, no matter what her overactive
imagination fed him.
        " Thoughts are not an open invitation, Kenobi," he berated himself, and
finished dressing, using the cast off towel to dry his spiky hair before
gathering the long bits in the back into a pony tail and squeezing the water out
of his braid. He jumped at her hand on his shoulder.
        "I heard you." she said wonderingly, the sheet around her dripping body, her
hair in her eyes.
        "Sorry? " he didn't understand.
        "I heard you thinking." she clarified, and blushed again.
        Obi-Wan's brain suddenly locked. He sucked in a breath, and tried to remember
if he had meant to send his small discontent to her in retribution for the
sensual dreams that had assailed him. He didn't think he had.
        "Uhmmmm," he temporized, and she pulled her hand away.
        "I apologize for ..." if possible, she blushed even more fiercely, and he
wondered  how she managed to route so much of her blood to her skin so often and
not faint.
        "You've no need to apologize, Raen, you have no training to keep your thoughts
in your head, where they belong. I do. I shouldn't have been leaking at you like
that."  his hand touched her hair gently, and the room seemed to contract. They
both gasped, and Obi-Wan stepped back, his hand falling to his side.
        "Force!" he sat down on the arm of the couch before he fell, and Raen just kind
of folded in on herself, coming to rest on the floor in a wad of sheet. Obi-Wan
stared at her for a long moment, and she shivered.
        "Wow," was her first coherent thought, and she was surprised to find it
simultaneously come out of her mouth.
        "Are you all right?" Obi-Wan went to one knee before her, his hands forcing her
head up so he could look into her eyes.
        Raen nodded silently, her own hands coming up to cover his, then sliding up his
arms to mirror his, cupping his face as he did hers.
        "This is insane," they both spoke at the same time, and suddenly dissolved into
helpless giggles.
        'Oh, my God,' she projected, unaware, 'Dimples...'.
        Obi-Wan couldn't help it, he howled with laughter, rolling on the floor.
        Raen growled,"What?" swatting at him. He caught her hand, again kneeling before
her.
        "I have to teach you how to shield, my friend, and I have no idea how," he
gasped, still holding her wrist, and stared at her quite hard. She squirmed, and
that amazing blush reaction came into play again.
        Still wet, bedraggled, and wrapped in a water sodden sheet, she caught him off
guard, not telegraphing her intent at all. Rocking up on her knees, she threw
her free arm around his neck, and firmly attached her mouth to his, kissing him
very thoroughly, very sweetly.
        Obi-Wan, completely unprepared to ward off a direct frontal assault,
capitulated, winding his arms round her, pulling her into his lap, and returning
the kiss before he thought about what he was doing. When it came to him that he
perhaps shouldn't be doing this, it was too late. She was pulling back slightly,
'til only her lips brushed his, feather light, then the contact was broken, and
she stared hard at her knees, rather than at him.
        "I'm sorry," she whispered,"I shouldn't have pushed..." .
        "No, no. I'm not angry, but I can't take advantage of you like this. It's not
right..." his words drifted off, and he brought her up to meet his intent look
with one hand under her chin.
        "Take advantage?"  she repeated, glaring at him now. " I'd think I was taking
advantage of you, if anything," Raen favored him with a dead in the eye gaze.
        "You don't even know me. You're obsessed with a false image." he tried to
maintain his equilibrium, but the warm, wet woman in his lap made focus rather
difficult. He felt her shift her hips more comfortably and swallowed. Very
difficult.
        "I'm perfectly capable of making a decision on my own, Mister Jedi, and my
rampant hormones be damned." she spoke quietly, but seriously. "I wonder if you
credit me with a mind at all, or if I just appear to you as a lustful
primitive."
        " Yes? Shouldn't I be wondering the same thing? After all, I'm your fantasy, am
I not?  I'm the one plastered to your walls, on your toothbrush, on your
websites..." he ducked back as she thrust her head forward, her expression
fiery, no trace of blush remaining on her white features.
        "Maybe you didn't look far enough. Maybe you're so taken with the surface you
didn't think about what was under it. If you were to have a devotion to
something completely out of reach, something not real, and then suddenly- SPLAT-
it lands on your doorstep, would you deal with it very well?" she snarled,
wriggling out of his grasp, off his lap, and rolling to her knees. With as much
dignity as she could muster, she drew the sheet around her, got to her feet, and
stalked off to the bathroom.
        Obi-Wan blinked, wondering what had just happened. He shifted his position, and
looked after his hostess, eyeing the closed bathroom door with a puzzled frown.
How did the conversation slip so totally out of his control?
        Raen exited the bathroom and headed in his direction, dressed in cut off shorts
and a tank top. Her hair was scraped severely back from her face into a
ponytail, and she wore a determined  expression on her pretty face.
        "Okay, pal. Here's the deal. I want you to do your little trick with reading my
mind, but I want you to do a damnsight better than you have been. Take your
time, be thorough, look real carefully." she stood before him with arms folded,
foot tapping, and somewhat apprehensive anger rolling off her.
        "Why?" he responded, at a loss to understand her motives for requesting
something she plainly wasn't eager to have done.
        "You need to have a clearer understanding of who you got stranded with. You
need to see more of me than what I've accidentally shown you." she was adamant.
        "You don't need to do this." he tried to forestall her, but she knelt in front
of him again, and refused to move.
        His face took on a slight frown of concentration, and Raen bit her lip when his
mind touched hers, requesting entrance, full disclosure. She acquiesced, and he
felt her shudder as he merged fully into her thoughts.
        'No hiding, little friend,' he chided her mentally when she shied away from
his probing, and that communication shored up her resolve. Obi-Wan was impressed
as she immediately went still, allowing him complete access to her
consciousness.
 
        When he sat back and gave her a considering look, the sun had changed its
position in the sky, and the room was appreciably warmer. Raen opened her eyes
and watched his face. All through the meld, he had been sure to read her only,
not let her see into him. Now he was not so certain that had been a prudent
decision, or just a small goad to her. He cleared his throat, and spoke.
        "I didn't know." he said softly, meeting her level gaze.
        "Now you do. I'll leave you to figure out all that trash you just plowed
through while I go return my friend's car and pick up my own. I should be back
in a few hours. Make yourself comfortable," she was remote, and he felt the
sting, nodding.
        While she was gone, he prowled her home, trying to muddle through all the
information he had accessed from her mind. Her obsession was not just with him,
but with the Enemy as well, and his master. Qui-Gon Jinn was an icon to her, to
be admired but never thought of as anything other than an ideal, a paragon. He
chuckled over the obvious hero worship, wondering if she'd still feel that way
if she had to spend the night with him in a cave on an inhospitable world and
listen to him grumble and snore all night.
        The Enemy, he was her idea of the deepest, darkest urges, the unknown, the
bogeyman, who was - eewww- incredibly sexy. He mulled the thought over a few
times, then shrugged.
         Himself. Hmmmm. She was definitely in a state of anxiety about him. She saw
him as a man, a very attractive man. His ego swelled, and he absently told it to
get bent, concentrating on why she was so enamored of him. In her eyes, he was
what a man should be. Strong, intelligent, deferential. Ugh. She made him sound
like a model padawan. If only she knew... Her impressions of him were less to do
with his being perfect, thank the gods, but with him as more of a sympathetic
figure, accessible, desirable,
a safe haven. Well, he'd failed miserably at that, hadn't he, he mentally
berated himself. Her regards were far from the worshipful wanting that he had
originally perceived them to be. Think first, then react, he reminded, and let
out a huge sigh. Now he had to contend with having misjudged his rescuer, and
alienated her as well.
        "Kenobi, sometimes you just screw up magnificently," he sighed to himself,
disgusted that he'd taken her fantasies for him as the sum total of her reasons
for helping him. His master would have a field day lecturing him about making
judgments from incomplete data if he were here.
        Obi-Wan sat at her computer, drumming his fingers on the desktop, then decided
that inaction was a bad idea. He stripped off his tunics, grabbed up his
lightsaber, and strode onto her back porch. The broiling sun caused his eyes to
water, and he waited for his vision to clear before sweeping into a set of
exercise katas, his body's motion distracting his mind from the pursuit of Raen,
his mind and body in tune with the Force. He didn't notice the time slipping by,
or hear her when she arrived.
        Raen searched for and found Obi-Wan, his sleek body moving with incredible
grace and power, his face untroubled by effort or worry. She stood at the back
door watching him for a few minutes, her mind carefully blank, thinking about
numbers, baseball scores, and cranky old men bowling with their trousers too
low. She shook her head, and ambled to the kitchen, depositing a bag of
groceries on the counter and  setting about preparing a really good meal to make
up for being such a bitch earlier. Her thoughts centered around the homey tasks,
and she  began singing to herself.
        Obi-Wan was walking in slow circles, cooling down from the intense workout he
had completed, when he heard the most lovely voice drifting from the house. He
sidled closer to hear it better. It was Raen,  and he cringed at having been too
wrapped in his training exercises to hear her come home. Her voice was soothing,
almost magical to his ears, even if the song was somewhat melancholy.
        "I close my eyes, only for a moment
        and the moment's gone-
        It slips away
        and all your money won't another minute buy-
        All we do crumbles to the ground
        though we refuse to see---"
 
        He was enthralled. He wanted to run in and just listen, but feared she would
stop if she saw him, so he stood there, the sun baking down on him, drying the
sweat on his body, his entire being just swaying slightly in time to her
phrasing.
        Then she stopped with a quick, venomous, "Damn!" and a crash of breaking glass.
The spell broken, Obi-Wan tried to casually walk in and assess the damage. She
was on her hands and knees on the kitchen floor, picking up shards of broken
crystal in her bare hands.
        "Can I help? " he asked solicitously, and she jumped with a screech, the
crystal shards flying all over the floor.
        "Please don't sneak up on me!" she snapped, and he looked contrite until he
noticed the small drops of blood dripping to the floor from the ball of her
thumb.
        "Shit," he breathed softly, and she did an immense double take.
        "Did you just say that?" she demanded, pulling the glittering tiny dagger out
of her flesh. She was more amazed at his cursing than her minor injury.
        "I didn't mean to frighten you," he said sheepishly, a worried frown on his
expressive features as he cradled her injury in both his hands. She shivered
lightly at his touch, and he backed off, letting her go.
        "'S'nothing, " she laughed it off, holding her hand under the cold water in the
sink.
        Obi-Wan spotted the broom in the corner of the room by the refrigerator, and
cleaned up the shattered glass. Raen gaped. He tossed the debris in the garbage,
and replaced the broom and the dustpan, then walked to her side with a kind of
half guilty look on his face.
        "I heard you singing," he mentioned, looking not at her, precisely, but in her
general direction.
        Raen grimaced in embarrassment, and ducked her head. "Sorry," she said , trying
to will the sink to swallow her whole.
        "I ..." he began, but she erupted into speech at the same time, "I didn't mean
to disturb your..."
        His hand came down gently on her shoulder, "I liked it," he informed her, a
wistful smile curving his lips upward marginally. Her eyes tracked to his hand,
and he immediately removed it.
        Raen swallowed hard, and tried desperately to keep from thinking those thoughts
at him, the kind that always seemed to surface when she least wanted them to.
She knew, intellectually, that he was much more than the sum of his parts, but
it had been so long since anyone's parts had interacted with her's, nearly two
years since she had any kind of social life, and he was her ideal, and standing
way too close...
        He must have heard her, because he stepped away, putting space between them.
        "I didn't mean for this to become a game of keepaway."  Raen offered, and
Obi-Wan cocked a brow at her choice of words.
        "Look," she tried again, "Last night was my birthday. I was going to Hollywood
when I found you, but I couldn't just leave you there in the road. I'm trying to
make a nice dinner for us, to celebrate my birthday, and to apologize for
turning into such a ballbuster earlier." she shut off the water.
        "And?" he prompted.
        She blew out a breath before answering, "And.. I guess I owe you some
explanations about my behavior. I'm fairly certain you just picked through my
thoughts concerning you, and not much else. "
        Obi-Wan nodded minutely, and folded his arms across his chest. her eyes
greedily tracked the movement, and he received the most concentrated thoughts on
bookkeeping he had ever endured.
        "What?" he was shocked, and looked it.
        "Uh... I'm trying not to harass you?" she offered, and got the biggest shit
eating grin she'd ever seen in return.
        "You don't have to try so hard," his voice came out smoky, and she thought she
was going to faint. She turned away from him and dried her hands, then shooed
him out of her kitchen so she had room to maneuver. Her darted glances in his
direction as she worked told volumes about what his tone of voice had engendered
in her.
        Obi-Wan hid a smile at her random and very loud thoughts. He wondered briefly
if this new idea of his, to get better acquainted with her, was a better idea
than brushing her off as he had been inclined to do before their odd wrangle
that morning. He decided to let whatever happened, happen, and deal with the
repercussions later. His fingers brushed over his lips and he recalled the
single kiss that had started the whole boulder rolling.
        "Your birthday, then?" he asked, leaning against the wall, "I ruined it, didn't
I?"
        Raen stopped her industry, an incredulous look on her face as she turned to
regard him. 'Uh-OH' she thought, 'He's still half naked,"
        She hadn't had time to disguise her reaction with calculus, or anything else,
and it flared, bright as neon, to Obi-Wan.
        "I guess my brain doesn't illustrate things very well," she replied tartly, and
turned back to her cooking. Her voice was muffled by the sound of hissing from
the pan on the stove in front of her as she continued, " If I could have had
anything in the universe, it would have been a chance to meet you."
        "What about that actor fellow, my double?" he couldn't resist the gentle tease.
        "Well, he's very pretty, but he only played you. It wouldn't mean the same
thing."
        Obi-Wan flinched as a gout of flame came up around the edge of the pan and
licked at her hand, but she ignored it, so he continued on his quest for
conversation.
        "What had you planned?"
        "Well, like I said, I was on my way to Hollywood to hit the clubs, try and meet
some new and interesting people, drink myself into a coma, get laid, whatever."
she spoke absently, involved in measuring something exactly before pouring it
into a huge tureen. She suddenly seemed to hear what she was saying to him, and
froze, then, cleared her throat.
        "I can't believe I just told you that." she moaned, and he laughed, long and
loud.
        "Why? Don't you think I've ever gone to a club and had a ridiculously wicked
good time?" he countered, and she gave a little chuckle.
        "One could only hope," her tone was dry.
        "And I certainly think I could be induced to do it again." he informed her with
mock gravity.
        "You read some of the things on the net," she gasped in horror, and turned that
charming shade of red again.
        "Oh, my, yes. I did. However, I feel the need to correct a few terms." he
shifted to a hipshot pose and sternly told her, "I am not now, nor do I have any
recollection of ever being a " Padawhine" nor a " Paddlewan" . "
        Raen gulped audibly, and assured him," I didn't write those,".
        "No, you didn't, but I read the one you did write," he grinned devilishly at
her, and she felt about the size of a microbe.
        "Your punctuation is awful, but the rest was quite.... educational." he
continued, enjoying watching her squirm.
        "But that was ....!" she burst out, frustrated.
        "Personal? " he finished for her," Private? Oh, I'm sure. But as the subject
being written about, I felt a certain justification in reading it. I'm sure you
can understand." he smiled with patented Jedi serenity, and turned on his heel,
calling back over his shoulder, "I need a shower after working out."

        Raen could swear he was still laughing at her, even if she could no longer hear
him over the sound of the water and her cooking...her cooking! she dived back
into her project before the homemade stroganoff was ruined.
        In very few minutes, Raen had finished the main entree, and set it aside to
simmer. With a few moments of peace and quiet, she tried to organize the chaos
of her thoughts. Then it sunk in that he was getting clean again, and again had
no clean clothes to put on. Her skin crawled in sympathy, and she fled to her
closet to try and find something he could fit into .
        Her choices were few, but she managed to compile a not- too- bizarre outfit,
consisting of her favorite nightshirt, a huge green T- shirt with the legend "
In Space, No One Can Hear You Burp" across the front in white, and a pair of
enormously long sweats in grey. She hoped they fit. He was taller than she, and
correspondingly wider in the shoulder and narrower in the hips. The water shut
off, and she heard the sound of humming. The same song she had been singing
earlier. She grinned and crossed the hall, knocking on the bathroom door. It
opened, letting out a cloud of steam.
        "I remembered you had no clean clothes. I hope these're okay." she piled the
clothing into his hands, and strode away before he could say anything, positive
or not.

        "So, how do I look?" Obi-Wan asked as he wandered out to Raen, doing a slow
spin to give her the whole view.
        "Clean," she allowed, taking in the form that filled out her clothes much more
impressively than she herself did. The shirt was a little large for him, but the
sweats were nice and snug in all the right places. She snapped her mouth shut
before any incriminating drool fell out and she disgraced herself even more
completely, concentrating on last season's R B Is for the Mets. Her guest,
having a long list of names and numbers flow through his thoughts, decided that
he looked acceptable. He also decided that her code for filthy thoughts was
somewhat annoying.
        "Look," he sat down on her couch, "I don't mind the smut that you dream up
nearly as much as I mind the numbers that suddenly pop into my head whenever you
try to protect my delicate sensibilities. Please, feel free to think all the
filthy thoughts about me that you like, just stop doing maths in your head." he
made his tone light, and she responded with a little hiccup.
        "Can't you just shut me out?" she finally managed to ask, setting bowls and
utensils on the coffee table again.
        "Believe me, I've tried. When Qui-Gon gets here, I'm going to beg him to see
why I can't. That's why your dreams affected me so last night. You slipped right
by my shields without a hitch, and -bang- there I was, right in the soup." he
said ruefully, and treated her to the puppy dog eyes that so many fan fic
authors had gone into such detail over. He had to do it,  just to see if it
worked. It did, and she succumbed in an instant. 'So much for Jedi  Mind
Tricks,' he thought,' Maybe I should see if that look works on hostile
bureaucrats as well,' .
        "I don't know how to stop," she tried to apologize, and he waved off her
agonizing.
        "It's all right. I can take it. I wonder occasionally where you come up with
some of those ideas, though."  he grinned at her discomfort.
        "That isn't very nice, you know," she scowled, and he had to wonder  what she
meant. The look he gave her asked just that.
        "You enjoying picking on me for something I can't seem to control." she
clarified.
        " How did you...?" he gawked, then realized something. "You said earlier that
you heard me thinking." he stated flatly.
        "When I was in the shower," she agreed.
        "I thought then that I had just lowered my shields a bit, to punish you for a
less than restful night's sleep. But I hadn't. I didn't just now either."       For
the first time since recognizing him in the road, Raen felt a shudder of fear
creep up her spine. This was way weirder than discovering a fantasy made flesh,
weirder than said fantasy falling into her lap, even weirder than having an
argument with said fantasy about her lewd inclinations about him. She shivered,
and he noticed.
        "We definitely need Qui-Gon's perspective on this phenomenon." Obi-Wan opined,
and Raen irritably remembered that she needed to clean the place up before the
padawan's master made an appearance. With a sniff of annoyance, she went to
fetch the tureen of stroganoff, returning with it clutched in one arm, a towel
wrapped around it to avoid burning herself, and two wine glasses in her other
hand.
        "Let me help," he offered, and she remanded to him the heavy serving bowl,
setting the glasses down and hurrying off for the bottle of champagne she had
chilling in a bucket of ice.

        After dinner, which Obi-Wan couldn't say enough nice things about, they sat in
companionable silence, drinking the not- too- bad champagne.
        "Happy twenty-first to me," Raen broke the silence, toasting the air with her
crystal flute.
        "Your 21st birthday?" Obi-Wan asked, refilling her glass after she drained it.
        "Yup. Legal for everything. Big deal," she stuck her tongue out at life in
general, and her companion laughed.
        "You do realize that I never planned to disrupt your life like this, don't
you?" he asked, sobering.
        "Disrupt? Hey, I have no life, really. You made my day. In some twisted,
demented, sad way, I wish I could repay you." she returned, and leaned back into
the remains of the nest she'd created out of bedding for him the night before.
         His callused fingers swept a small caress across her cheek, and she shivered.
He drew his hand back and asked, "Does my touch cause you so much discomfort?"
        "It's not that, not at all. I just can't seem to not think a certain way when
you touch me, that's all."  she only flushed a little at her confession, just a
rosy tinge to her cheeks.
        "I thought I made it clear that I could survive being thought of as a ..." he
never got to finish the sentence.
        "But that's not all I see you as! Didn't you get that from inside my head?" she
cried, flinging herself around on the couch to confront him.
        "As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, I can survive being
thought of as an object of lust, but only for so long. if the thinker doesn't
make good on her projections, I can get quite testy. I can do that, you know.
I'm a Jedi. We're very good at getting testy." he smirked.
        "Testy? " she goggled, " Make good?"
        "That is what I said."
        Raen sat stunned for a moment, then, " If this is just to shut me and my loud
brain up, I don't..."
        "Did you think I was made of stone, Raen? Did you think a lovely girl  flinging
naughty mental pictures would have no effect on me? You were very specific today
about any thoughts I may have had about taking advantage of you, and I assure
you that if I didn't have any inclinations of partnering someone, that I'd be
able to fend off at least a small army of ardent but unappreciated wenches. Now,
are we clear on this subject? Can I kiss you now, or is there some nebulous
committee I need to petition?"  There, he had achieved testiness. He hoped the
show was worth it.
        Apparently it was, because he found himself with his hands and his lap full of
a very motivated young woman. Her fists were balled up in the front of his
borrowed shirt, and her mouth fed on his, tasting faintly of the wine they'd
drunk. His hands found the band that held back her hair, and he undid it,
letting his fingers comb through the soft mass. She pushed away from him
dazedly, and he was reluctant to let go of her, but he did.
        She didn't leave, just scooted closer to him, her body draped  across his
chest, arms around his neck, her cheek pressed against his.
        "This had better not be a dream," she breathed in his ear, and he agreed
silently, his hands gentle on her back, his lips teasing at her neck and
shoulder. Raen inhaled deeply of his clean scent, her tongue tracing the curve
of his ear. Obi-Wan shuddered, his arms tightening around her, and sighed, his
exhalation hot and moist against her skin. She leaned back from his embrace,
tugging impatiently at his shirt until he dragged it off, and looked expectantly
at her, eyebrows raised.
        "Why don't you help me?" she asked softly, holding out her arms to him. He
pulled the tank top out of her waistband slowly, savoring the skin that was
revealed inch by inch, his warm fingers stroking across her belly, her sides,
her breasts, glorying in the rich texture of her. The garment was
unceremoniously tossed away, forgotten before it even hit the floor. He was
pleased that she wore nothing under it, and lavished his attention on her taut
breasts, his long fingers playing lightly over her nipples, his eyes
avariciously drinking in the sight of her parted lips, her half closed eyelids;
his ears taken by the sound of her tiny whimpers. She was his canvas, and he
intended  to paint her with every brush at his disposal.
        She leaned forward  into his body, skin touching skin at last, her mouth
covering his, but delicately, plucking kisses from his lips and  backing off
before he could retaliate, teasing him. His fingertips brushed the sides of her
face, then captured her head in a gentle but unbreakable grip, holding her still
so he could claim her mouth, devouring her.
        She squirmed, and he released her, his breathing shallow. Obi-Wan  moaned
quietly, his hands returning to her hair as her lips closed over one nipple, the
other  rolled between her fingers and thumb. His head fell back against the
cushions, and he surrendered to the sensations.
        Raen took her time, laving and nipping at his chest, her hands roaming over his
body, learning his shape. She delighted him when she curled her  legs up under
her and threw one over his hips, straddling him to gain better access to him.
         Obi-Wan determined that two layers of clothing between them was two too many,
and removed his hands from her glossy hair to work at the buttons of her shorts.
Her breath in his ear was ragged as she transferred her affections from his
nipples to his throat, biting and sucking at he skin, drawing his blood to the
surface, and then easing the sting with little butterfly kisses. He  undid the
last button, his fingers sliding down the back of her pants to caress the smooth
globes of her buttocks, and she gasped out something he didn't catch.
        "What? " he asked, breathless, passion glazed eyes focusing on her face.
        " There's more room on the floor," she repeated, and he smiled, tumbling the
both of them off the couch and pushing the table out of their way with the
Force. His body covered hers for a moment, his mouth scorching hers, then he was
up on his knees, drawing her clothing off with one pull, both shorts and
underwear sailing back over his shoulder. He leaned back down over her,
trembling fingers ranging over her body.
        "This doesn't seem fair, " she whispered as his legs twined with hers.
        "Mmph?"  he inquired , distracted from her breasts by her words.
        " You're still  covered," she gently reminded, and he grinned- she could feel
his mouth curving upward on her flesh.
        With one hand wrapped tightly around his braid, Raen used the other to push the
stretchy fleece down over his flanks, freeing more skin for her to fondle.
Obi-Wan took the hint, pushing them far enough down to finish the task by
wriggling alone. He sank to the floor beside her on one hip, pressing against
her, his head propped up on one fist. The fingertips of his left hand slowly
stroked up and down the valley between her breasts, his breathing again slow and
even.
        Raen stretched out, arms above her head, toes straining. He laughed at her
pose, enjoying the view.
        "You really do have a lovely voice," he said from out of nowhere, and she
favored him with a glance that plainly demanded," Are you crazy?"
        " I think you sound like an angel," he delivered a chaste kiss to the end of
her nose, and she giggled. Stifling anything more he had to say, she licked at
his lips, drawing his tongue out to play with hers. Her arms wound around his
neck, and she molded her body to his, her pubic hair tickling against his balls,
his heavy erection trapped between their bellies.
        Obi-Wan rolled onto his back, taking her with him, and she clung to him until
her knees took her weight , resting above and to the outsides of his hips. He
felt her wet heat above his groin, and groaned, his hard won moment of unlabored
breathing lost as she swiveled her hips atop his, her hands guiding and holding
his to her breasts.
        " I want to taste you," he panted, his eyes darkened to sea green with need,
his hips matching her movements.
        "Later," she choked, and inclined her body toward his, trusting him to support
her with his arms, her breasts crushed to her chest by the angle and his hands.
Her eager mouth sought his again. She broke the kiss with a cry, and he thought
he had done something awful, until she inched up his body, pawing at a drawer in
the table by the couch.
        "Aha!" she cried in triumph, holding up a flat, foil wrapped packet the size of
a half-dollar. Obi-Wan relaxed, recognizing a seemingly galaxy- wide item, and
watched her as she ripped the foil open with her teeth, and crawled backward
toward his knees. With a sigh, she brought her face into contact with his shaft,
rubbing her cheek and hair over it, and he shifted under her, his voice loud in
his own ears as her lips slid over the crown, her tongue giving a tantalizing
lick to he tip. She sat up and rolled the latex down over his head, then used
her lips to continue it toward the base in one long, hot movement.
        Obi-Wan's eyes rolled back into his head for a moment, his neck muscles
strained as his skull ground into the carpet. He cringed inwardly as he heard
his voice crying out,"OHHHH, Sith, Sith , Sith...! "  His hands dug furrows into
her carpet, and his hips bucked  before he could control himself.
        Raen had her eyes open, staring up at his face as she released him from her
mouth, and she had licked her way back up his stomach and chest before he had
the opportunity to do much more than blink. His hands closed on her waist,
sliding down to her hips as she resumed her stance, and her movement.
        "It's been a long time for me,"  she said, her chest heaving, " I may be a
little rusty."
        "Great good Gods, Raen, if this is rust, I'm afraid of shiny," he chuckled
breathlessly, his right thumb cresting over her hip and dipping low into her
mound, caressing her clitoris. She wailed, bringing a broad smile to his face,
and he continued his manipulations, his left hand seizing her right nipple and
twisting it delicately. Her motion ceased, and she shook, hard, a wealth of
profanity flowing from her.
        "Gods, so beautiful," he marveled, and held her as she fell forward onto his
chest, his lips at her ear whispering soft words.
        She pushed herself up on his chest, and lifted her hips away from his, using
one hand to guide his throbbing cock into her. Gingerly, she eased him in,
hissing as his girth stretched her open. Her teeth bit hard into her lower lip,
and his concern made him throw caution to the wind. He opened up the rapport
between them that he'd established at her demand, and said directly to her mind,
*Force, Raen, if it hurts you, stop!"*
        "Not on your life, Mr. Jedi," she grunted, easing down a bit more, sweat
beading her skin, " This feels so damn good, I may not live through it,"
        Obi-Wan  verified her assertion with the last scrap of his rational mind, and
when he felt the truth of her words, gave in utterly, lost in a whirlwind of
pleasure. His agile fingers found their way to her nerve bud again, and she
screamed, dropping the rest of the way, sheathing him in a volcanic fist that
clenched around him. He whimpered at the intense sensations, his control fleeing
as she started to move above him hesitantly, small  forward and back jerks of
her hips. He urged her on with his hands cupping her ass, and his voice,
crooning," Sing for me, my angel, sing."
        Raen's head flung back, and her body suddenly seemed to remember what to do,
slamming up and back in a frenzy, her mouth in an O of impending orgasm. Small
mewling sounds rushed from her throat, gaining volume as she chased her
fulfillment, and Obi-Wan swallowed sharply, feet planted on the floor, his hips
canted up to maximize the stimulation, while he desperately tried to hang on, to
wait for her. His fingers dug, bruising hard, into her hips, and he moaned," So
hot... so damned tight..."
        His words proved too much for her, since she heard them twice, once with her
ears, and once in her mind. Raen came with a shriek, burying him in her to the
hilt, and he shouted her name, his own release following close on the heels of
hers. She fell onto his chest, both of them sweaty, both gasping for air. Raen
moved a tiny bit, and his spent member slipped from her body. She reached down
between them and gently removed the condom, twisting to the side to tie it
closed and drop it. Obi-Wan's hands moved up her back to her hair, tousling it.
They rested  without further activity until their gasps had died down to normal
respiring.
        " So, does reality have anything on fantasy?" he asked with an impish grin, and
she bit him on his shoulder, not very hard.
        "How many fantasies do I get to play compare and contrast with?" she  demanded,
and he had to laugh, bouncing her up and down on his belly.
        "How many do you want?"
        "All of them," she decided, and rolled off him to the side, her head pillowed
on his shoulder.
        "Does this mean I don't have to sleep on the couch anymore?"  he wondered, and
Raen slipped her arm across his waist, leaning up on her elbow to look into his
face.
        "Your only other options are the floor or my bed. With me."
        "Well, nice though your carpet is, I think I'll have to choose your bed, with
you."  he pulled her close for a long, very wet kiss. " Can we go there
directly? I'm rather partial to soft mattresses, and I don't think more rug
burns will enhance my Jedi mystique at all."  he grimaced, inspecting his rump
over his shoulder after he climbed to his feet and helped her up.
        "Now? " she queried, glancing at the clock on her desk. It read  7:15 . She
stared at him incredulously.
        " Early to bed, early to rise... " he  raised his eyebrows at her, then wiggled
them suggestively. Raen laughed, stooping to retrieve the  used latex and
deposit it in the trash. She walked into his embrace, and led him to the
bedroom.
        "Strange, in those fictions on your internet, no- one mentioned anything about
the heroine walking funny." Obi-Wan ducked her swat in his general direction and
allowed himself to be dragged into the bedroom by his braid.
 

        At seven o'clock in the morning, Obi-Wan's pleasant dream was shattered by the
most awful sound he had ever heard, and he bolted upright in bed, tossing the
covers away and staring around wildly. The  object of his displeasure seemed to
be a small clock on the bedside table nearest Raen , who slept on, oblivious.
        With a cursory investigation, he found the off button, and sighed with relief
at the blessed silence, then turned his attention to his bed partner. One finger
trailed from her shoulder, down her back, and over her buttock. She shivered,
and moved into his touch, but refused to awaken. He grinned devilishly, and bent
down, applying his lips to her cheek, her shoulderblade, and finally her rump,
then he nipped her. She yelped, flipping onto her back to glare up at him.
        "Good morning, little singer," he greeted cheerfully, and dropped a swift kiss
on her breast. " Your clock woke me."
        " Oh. OH!" she jumped out of the bed, scurrying to the other room and sitting
at the computer, switching it on. Obi-Wan followed at a more sedate pace, and
watched her, amused.
        "What are you doing?" he finally asked, leaning his hands on the back of her
chair.
        "I've got to log in to work, or my pay'll get docked. I don't actually have to
do the work right now, but I have to begin the downloads on time." she responded
without looking at him, her fingers flying over the keyboard.
        "What is it that you do?" he was curious; up to that point, he hadn't really
considered  how she supported herself.
        "I proofread textbooks on the net, then send my results to a publishing company
in Toronto." she hit one last button with a flourish, and swiveled the chair
just as he let go of it. She looked up at him, a relaxed expression on her face.
        "How were your dreams last night?" she inquired, and he tried the stern visage
his master turned on him when he'd been exceedingly impudent. It didn't even
phase her.
        "Much more restful, angel," he replied, and was rewarded with her flaming
cheeks. "It seems all I need to do to sleep peacefully is to wear you out." he
teased.
        "Wear me out?" she grinned,"Who passed out first?"
        "Hmmmm," was his brilliant rebuttal, and he pulled her up out of the chair.
"Shower?" he offered, changing the subject. She accepted, and preceded him back
down the hall, swaying her hips exaggeratedly, casting little come hither
glances back at him over her shoulder.
 
        Raen washed his back with care, muttering a small,"Oops," whenever she
discovered another scratch mark or livid love bite, much as he had done not ten
minutes before.
        "Perhaps we should have been more concerned with muzzles and mittens than with
condoms," he offered, leaning both arms against the slick tiles as she turned
the washing into massaging.
        " What a funny guy,"  she muttered, her touch altering from soothing to
tickling. Obi-Wan writhed away from her merciless fingers, spinning  in the
tight confines of her shower to grab her up and halt her attack. He bodily
pushed her to the wall, holding her up with the strength of his arms alone, and
growled with mock- anger.
        " You need to be taught better manners, little singer, " he purred, "How dare
you tickle a servant of the light when his back's turned?"
        " She who hesitates is lost," Raen replied, with what she hoped was a fierce
glare. He laughed and kissed her, then set her back on her feet.
        " I hope you plan to feed me, now that you've had your wicked way with me,"
Obi-Wan hinted, rather broadly, he felt.
        "If you'll remember, Mr. Jedi, I fed you before I had my 'wicked way' with
you." she shot back, stepping out of the tub and reaching for a towel. He
stopped her and dragged her wet body back into the tub, holding her under the
spray with him, licking the water from her shoulders.
        " Cold!" she shrieked, as the hot water ran out. Her lover's laugh was husky,
and he kept her under the icy deluge for a moment before letting her go.
        " Consider that payback for my cold shower yesterday," he told her, while
trying to elude the towel she had rolled and was snapping at his unprotected
ass.
        " You...you...!" Raen was livid, and trying to come up with a proper foul thing
to call him.
        " Obi-Wan," he offered, distracting her from her towel attack.
        "Pardon?" she let him take the towel from her grasp, and he began drying off
with it, looking at her in anticipation.
        " You were trying to think of something to call me, and  I suggested Obi-Wan.
It is my name, you know," he pointed out, wondering if she was getting his
point, without actually trying to read her surface thoughts.
        "I know your name," she turned away from him, snatching up another towel and
drying in silence.
        " You've only said my name once," his voice held a hurt note in it, and Raen's
shoulders tightened. Obi-Wan watched her body language, and saw a huge
difference in her. She was afraid. He moved in close, wrapping her in his arms
and his towel, waiting.
        " I didn't want to say it because - " she stopped, and he could feel the
tension in her rigid stance. " I haven't said your name because I was terrified
if I did, you'd disappear, and I'd never..."
        His mind touched hers tentatively, and he whispered in her thoughts,   * Say
it, Raen. No fear. *
        " Obi-Wan," she whimpered, and tensed as she did. He remained a steady presence
, his arms stayed around her, and his chin came down on her shoulder, his lips
against the skin behind her ear. His voice was a rumble against her back.
        "I've been waiting to hear that from you since last night."  he swung her up
into his arms and carried her across the hall.
 

        "But I can't ! " Raen's voice was strident, and Obi-Wan poked his head inside
the sliding glass door, alert.
        " Look, you asshole, don't threaten me! " she snarled into the mouthpiece of
her communications device. He reminded himself automatically that it was a
'phone', and kept listening, amazed at the quality of her outrage.
        "You know what, Mr. Hazet? You can shove that particular piece of information
up your ass sideways and light it on fire! You have no right to harass me! I
can't see where you get off telling me to find someplace else,  I own this! "
she was spitting with fury, almost aglow with it. Obi-Wan drew in a hissing
breath as she slammed down the instrument, and let it out with a gust when the
phone broke into three distinct pieces. He watched her for a moment as she
shook, and padded up behind her when she said softly, "Shit."
        " Is there anything I can do ?" he asked, the hand unburdened with his
lightsaber coming to rest on her shoulder.
        " I dunno." she laughed bitterly, " Get me a one- way ticket off this rock?"
        " Come with me, " he directed, and went back outside. Listlessly, she followed,
and watched  as he cut two branches off of one of her trees with his weapon, and
trimmed them of twigs and leaves. The result was two short staves, each three
feet long, He tossed one to her, and she caught it, looking down at what she
held quizzically.
        "I don't get it." she said, turning her gaze to him. He had set aside his
lightsaber, and held the other stick. Neither one was any bigger around than a
thin dowel, and he saluted her with his.
        " I think you could do with a bit of tension release." he informed her, and she
gawked at him, mouth open.
        "Are you kidding?" she squawked, eyes wide, " I ..."
        " You are in need of letting that anger out. Here's your chance to spar with a
Jedi." he waited, and she took the bait, her fist closing around the wood.  Her
feet shifted wider apart, and she lifted the makeshift practice sword.
        " Come on, pretty angel. Attack,"  he encouraged, and she stepped forward,
tentatively knocking the stick against his. He sighed.
        " Pretend I'm the one you just talked to, the one who made you so angry," he
prodded, and barely got his own stick into guard position to block her swift
overhand  slash. He danced backward, letting her work off her aggressions, and
found he was getting quite a good practice, himself, avoiding her wild blows.
After nearly a half hour of her chasing him around the deck, he called quits,
and she dropped her stick, then herself, to the floor.
        "No, no. You have to keep moving, or you'll stiffen up." he directed, hauling
her up by one hand. She rose, trying to convince her lungs to take in enough
oxygen to keep her alive, and wandered around, sweating. She cast him a dirty
look when she noticed that he was, if not fresh as a daisy, then at least not
trembling and sweating like a racehorse, as she was.
        " I train for three to five hours a day, unless on a mission with my master.
Then it's haphazard, whenever the opportunity arises," he answered her unspoken
question.
        "You did very well, considering the fact that you've been driven by anger, and
that always burns up very fast, leaving no reserves. " he complimented, and she
smiled wryly.
        " I thought anger leads to the Dark Side," Raen said, pulling up the hem of her
t- shirt to wipe sweat from her eyes.
        " Yes. And no. Giving in to anger leads to the Dark Side. Just having anger
means you're alive. Even Yoda gets angry, he just doesn't act on it."
        "Huh," Raen grunted, and dropped to the ground again. Obi-Wan folded his body
gracefully beside hers, and slung a companionable arm around her shoulders.
        " Now do you care to tell me what the problem is?" he asked, and she grimaced.
        " I've been evicted." she spat, " I don't know how, but somehow, the property
this house sits on has been deeded to someone else. I own this house. It
belonged to my grandparents, and I inherited it. It's mine!"  she was getting
wound up again, and he rubbed his hand up and down her back to soothe her.
        "SShhhhh," he calmed, " Is there no legal help to turn to, no mediator? Or your
parents?"
        " The paperwork is legal, insofar as I understand it. My grandfather had a deal
with the previous owner of the land, and the house really was owned by him, but
now, I have no legal leg to stand on. The former agreement was verbal, so I'm
screwed. And my parents died when I was a baby. My grandparents raised me." she
stared off into space, refusing to lean on his shoulder, denying the tears of
frustration that threatened.
        Obi-Wan hung his head, not knowing anything about the laws that governed his
new friend, and out of ideas. Raen gave a sad sigh, and he felt the rage in her
just fade away, replaced by melancholy. His arm tightened around her, and she
finally gave in, her head falling to his shoulder, her own arm sliding around
his waist.
        " Trust in the Force," he whispered to her, his cheek resting on her hair.
        "And here I thought I was the one guilty of rescuing 'pathetic lifeforms',"  a
deep voice said amusedly from behind them.
        " Master!" Obi-Wan cried, leaping up,  and Raen jumped, struggling to her feet,
as the two men hugged with relief and joy. Then Qui-Gon stepped back, holding
Obi-Wan's shoulders and just looking at his apprentice.
        "None the worse for wear, then, except for the lovely bites and bruises," the
elder Jedi smiled, and both Raen and Obi-Wan flushed guiltily.
        " Master, I..." Obi-Wan began, but a glance from his master quelled him.
        "Aren't you going to introduce your friend?" the Master prompted, and his
padawan reached back behind him and grabbed Raen's hand, dragging her forward.
        " Master, this is Raen deMarcos, my angel." he said, with great seriousness,
then," Raen, this is my Master, Qui-Gon Jinn."
        " I know who he is, " Raen hissed into his ear, ready to spontaneously combust
from embarrassment. Obi-Wan was treated to another of those thought barrages,
this time thankfully devoid of sexual content. The thoughts that assailed him
now were involved with the need to clean the house so that her icon wouldn't
think her a waste of flesh and space.
        Kindly, Qui-Gon reached out a hand to her in greeting, and she wiped her own on
her shorts before grasping his, her eyes round and huge.
        "She's quite a fan of yours, Master," Obi-Wan couldn't keep himself from
tweaking her, and she glared at him.
        "Padawan, why is it that your impudence always surfaces on strange, new
worlds?" Qui-Gon demanded smoothly, taking his apprentice down a peg.
        Raen giggled, and the Master turned his attention on her. Specifically her
throat, which was vividly decorated. He cleared his throat, and directed his
gaze to her face. "Thank you for your hospitality to Obi-Wan," he began, and her
feet shifted nervously. Qui- Gon continued, " I'm not completely certain how
long it will take to recreate the patterns in the Force to return to our proper
place, but I know how to do it. I pray you'll see fit to allow me to stay here
with my apprentice until I can do so."
        Raen reminded herself to breathe, then gave out an undignified squeak before
she managed to make her voice work, " O-of course, Master Jinn."
        He smiled down on her, and she felt faint. Obi-Wan surreptitiously grabbed her
elbow to steady her. * Overwhelming, much, Master?* he demanded mentally, sure
the message was private, until he caught Raen staring at him.
        " You heard?" Jinn asked her, and she nodded. The tall man wore a puzzled
frown. Abruptly, he motioned Obi-Wan away from her, and waited for a moment.
Raen waited, as well, and eventually asked for an explanation.
        "You heard nothing from me just now?" Qui-Gon asked, now looking more confused,
rather than less.
        " No, sir, nothing."
        " And yet you heard what my apprentice said to me, to my mind alone." it was a
statement, and the tone of his voice made her shake with apprehension.
        " You're frightening her, Master," Obi-Wan pointed out from several meters
away, and Qui- Gon turned to him.
        "I can feel her fear from here." the padawan said softly. Qui- Gon nodded and
set his hand on Raen's head, feather light. Her knees shook, but she stood
still, accepting.
        " I am not unhappy with you, young lady. I am concerned. I am inquisitive by
nature, and I have never seen any circumstance such as this before. Please
believe me when I say that you've nothing to fear from me."
        " Only your disapproval." the words came from both young people, and  Qui-Gon's
concern shot up immediately to worry. He called on the force, and Obi- Wan felt
his master's shields come down around his mind as they hadn't since he was
twelve.  He was suddenly nervous.
        *Try now, Obi-Wan* his master said into his mind.
        * What shall I say, Master? That I really wish you'd quit sneaking up behind
me?*
        Raen laughed, and covered her mouth with her hand, stifling it.
        " I take it you heard that, as well."
        "I'm sorry, sir," Raen responded, feeling better than she had a moment ago. She
sneaked a look at Obi-Wan, and he tried to present an innocent face, then gave
it up and just settled for being supportive. He felt his master remove the
shields.
        " This is disconcerting. I can't find the presence of a soul- bond, or a tremor
in the Force. I can't feel the force strongly in her at all. I don't understand
this." Qui- Gon frowned, and Obi-Wan intervened, recognizing Raen's fatigue and
distraught nerves.
        "Master, might we take this inside? We were working out, we need a shower, and
I think a bit of refreshment would sit well."
        "Hmmm? Oh, yes, of course, padawan. Please." he gestured to the door as if the
place were his, and they entered.
        Raen  gasped, staring around her home in horror, and darted to the remains of
Obi-Wan's bedding strewn all over her living room, as well as assorted bits of
clothing, gathering it all up and staggering down the hall with it, then
bustling back in to straighten furniture and tidy stacks of papers.
        Obi-Wan watched, then steered his master into the kitchen, fetching drinks for
all three out of the refrigerator.
        "Padawan," Qui-Gon began, taking the glass Obi-Wan offered, " An involvement
with this woman..."
        " Was somehow inevitable."  came the reply from inside the icebox. Obi-Wan
reappeared with a bowl of fruit, and set it on the counter.
        " Are you suggesting that it was the will of the Force?"
        Obi-Wan looked up into his master's stern visage, and shrugged. " I'm not
ruling it out. I don't think of the Force as meddling in my lovelife, Master,
but something sent me here, and she found me. The first day I was here, I
touched her mind, to try and help me see how to behave, to stay safe. She felt
the touch. "
        " You didn't use a heavy hand, apprentice?" the frown deepened.
        " You know better, Master. After that, things sort of...progressed. We've
gotten along, we've argued, we've loved. In that order." he smirked, and was
relieved to see the ghost of a smile breach his master's armor. He continued, "
Her thoughts occasionally leap out at me, images sometimes, or words. Or
mathematics."
        "Mathematics?" Jinn was incredulous.
        " Some of her thoughts were...a bit rude. When she found out I saw and heard
them, she tried math to disguise them, so I wouldn't be inconvenienced. "
Obi-Wan was grinning as his master read between the delicate words. An answering
grin was wiped away when Raen bounded in and skidded to a halt, her thoughts in
chaotic swirls.
        "Raen, settle down. He's a Jedi, not a judge. He won't bite you."  Obi-Wan said
with humor.
        "I'm okay. I've got a handle on it," she assured him, and he rolled his eyes.
        " And I'm a Hutt."
        " Eeewww. Bad pictures," she wrinkled her nose at him, and Qui-Gon gave a
surprised laugh.
        " I find I owe you an apology," he addressed Raen.
        " Excuse me?" she gaped up at Qui- Gon.
        " Indeed. I had first taken you to be a timid soul, easily led. I can see I was
mistaken," he smiled, and Raen looked to Obi-Wan.
        "What have you been telling him? " she demanded, hands on hips, her chin up.
        " Nothing but truth, I swear ! " Obi-Wan fended off her glare with upraised
hands, and she saw she had been settled, whether she liked it or not.
        " You are so not cool when you do that," she scowled, then lightened
considerably. Turning to Qui-Gon, she asked, " So, Master Jinn, have you found
out what's wrong with me?"
        Qui-Gon tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robe before replying,   " It's
not a matter of wrong, per se. It seems to be more  a matter of odd. I can't say
as I've ever come across this kind of a... tie, for lack of a better word. I've
never even read of one."
        " So..." she was not going to let it rest. Obi-Wan opened his mouth, but his
master stayed him.
        " I don't know."
        " You don't know!?"  Raen nearly shouted, " You're a master!  You're supposed
to know this stuff!  How  can he not know?" she rounded on Obi-Wan.
        " He's not a God, Raen. He's not omnipotent." he returned, and she threw her
hands up in the air.
        " What if I got hit by a car and killed?  Would he have to feel that? What if
you guys just fly away and I keel over?  Would  distance matter? " she was
getting wound again, but Obi-Wan let her, knowing she knew when he interfered,
now.
        " I wonder those same things. I think we'll need to figure this out before we
even attempt to return home, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon spoke in low, calm tones.
        " Yeah. See the ball, be the ball, Danny," Raen blew out a breath she hadn't
realized she'd been holding in.
        Qui-Gon shook his head at the non-sequiter, and waited for Obi-Wan to
interpret. He just shrugged at his master, grabbed the bowl of fruit, and
followed Raen into the living room. Setting the bowl down, he gestured his
master into a seat.
        " We'll be back in a moment, Master." he said, and shooed Raen down the hall ,
close behind her.

        With the shower on and the bathroom door closed, Raen whispered to Obi- Wan, "
What do I cook for him? Where is he gonna sleep? Where are we all gonna sleep?"
        " Well, I'm somewhat fond of sleeping in your bed, with you; however, if you
want to ask him..."
        She stared at him, aghast. " Not! So not, it's freaking me!"
        He pulled her close and climbed into the tub, lifting her in with him. The hot
water was like a benediction, and they simply stood under it a moment, enjoying.
Then she elbowed him in the ribs.
        " OOF! What was that for?"
        "As if! " she glared." Qui-Gon Jinn in my bed? Only if we're on the floor in
the living room."
        " What's wrong with my master?" he demanded.
        " He's your MASTER. I can't think of... Look, it's like walking in on your
parents when you're just hitting puberty. Not going there." she  didn't need to
go on. He saw it in her head, and understood her point immediately.
        " Aaah. Right. Got it. "
        "Wash my back?" she asked, turning away from him. He complied.
        "You know, you really only send me thoughts when you're in an excited mental
state. Try something now. Think at me." he rinsed her back, and began  rubbing
her shoulders.
        * YOU NEED TO SHAVE.*
        "Ow." he winced, and his hands went to his head. Raen whirled and caught him as
he listed sideways. A sharp rapping at the door was followed by a call of
"Padawan?"
        " I'm fine, Master!" he called back, and a "Hmph"  came from Qui- Gon.
        " Did you hear me?" Raen helped him to sit on the edge of the tub.
        "Gods, Raen, you deafened me," he announced, and she had the decency to look
abashed.
        " Sorry,"
        " No, I told you to try. Just try more quietly next time." he kissed her cheek,
and moved back under the water. She joined him.
        "Oh, shit." she said after they had finished showering and were drying off.
        "What? " he asked, trying to deal with the disposable razor she'd handed him.
        " We can't have sex." she said, not happily.
        " Huh?" he stared at her in the mirror perplexedly.
        " The noise. He'll hear." she grumped, and he laughed.
        " What do you think he is, Raen?  A saint?  A cloistered  monk?  He took me out
to a brothel for my 21st birthday. I think he knows about sex by now."
        Raen seemed to consider it, then pinched his ass. "Okay, Mr. Jedi. I bow to
your arguments."
        Obi-Wan yelped and wiped his face, then turned and picked her up, settling her
bare rump on the sink edge. "I thought we had this discussion about my name." he
reminded her, biting her lightly on the shoulder. She shivered, and flung her
arms around his neck.
        " Obi..." she hung on tight. and he returned the embrace.
        " Come on, singer. We need to find some food and work out some problems.
Tonight will take care of itself."
        "Clothes." she reminded, and he grinned, wrapping a towel around his hips.
        "If I know my Master, he brought me a fresh uniform."  he left her in
possession of the bathroom.
        "Raen! "  Obi-Wan called from the living room, and she hopped out along the
hallway on one foot, pulling her left boot on as she went.
        "Yeah? " she huffed, not fully comprehending the scene in front of her. Obi-Wan
was patting his master on the back, an entirely unsympathetic grin on his face
as he tried to soothe his master's hysterical--laughter.
        "He went to the net." was all Obi-Wan could manage, Qui-Gon's whooping laugh
drowning him out. Tears slid down the older Jedi's face, and he slapped his
thigh.
        " Care to share the Joke?" she asked, and Obi-Wan hooted with mirth.
        "Obi!" she finally lost her patience, and he crossed the room to her side,
leaning into her, still laughing fit to bust.
        " He found the QJEB. "  Obi-Wan gasped out, and  Raen twitched with a mixture
of amusement and annoyance. Her arms automatically went around her lover as his
tightened around her waist.
        Qui-Gon turned and saw them, wiping moisture from his eyes with the cuff of his
robe. "I haven't had this much fun in years," he sighed, and a twinkle came to
his eye, "Perhaps I should write something myself."
        Raen snorted, and managed to walk toward Qui-Gon, padawan blanket still
attached and walking with her.
        " What was the commotion in the shower, Obi-Wan?"  his master asked, contained
and serene again.
        " I concluded that all of Raen's mental projections were involuntary reactions
to emotions, Master. I asked her to think at me, purposely."
        "And?"  Qui-Gon's brows rose.
        " And she took my head off with a gentle reminder that I needed a shave."  the
apprentice glanced ruefully down at the top of Raen's head. He didn't need to
see her face to determine the intensity of this blush.
        " What have I told you about thinking before doing?" Jinn shook his head sadly.
        " But Master..."
        " Not the experiment itself, padawan, that was an excellent idea-- however, the
timing could have been better. A couch, for instance, might prove a less
dangerous testing ground."
        Raen gave a quick snort of  agreement, and detached herself from Obi-Wan. She
called back over her shoulder, " How do leftovers sound for  a late lunch?"
        " Much better than they did for breakfast," he rejoined, and sat on the floor
at his master's feet.
        " I have a problem, Master." he confided, and Qui-Gon nodded for him to
continue.
        " I find that I don't want to leave her here. No, I've not gone and fallen
madly in love. "  he dispelled that question already on his master's face. " I
like her. I feel comfortable around her. It's not just a physical heat--
although there is that, undeniably. It feels wrong when I think of leaving, and
her staying."
        " Indeed," the cryptic remark did nothing to help him .
        " Master, you aren't being very forthcoming."
        " I don't know enough to be terribly helpful in this, padawan, and I don't
intend to make this decision for you. You must think this through very
carefully. And you must not try to make any decisions concerning Raen without
her consent. "  Qui-Gon finished just as Raen re-entered the room, glancing at
her clock. The phone rang.
        " Well, shit," she grumbled, reaching for it and discovering the extent of the
damage she had done when she'd slammed it down in a fit of rage earlier. It was
not in answerable condition, so she let her answering machine get it.
        Qui-Gon started in his chair when he heard Yoda's voice  come from the replica
of the Naboo Queen's Nubian starship, then he grinned. The grin vanished as the
message followed.
        " This  is to notify you, Ms. deMarcos, of your official  eviction date. You
are to be clear of the house by midnight, thirty days from this date, October
15, 1999. If you are not compliant with this notice, authorities have been
apprised of the situation, and are prepared to remove you by force. The
stipulated recompense for the structure has been recorded, notarized, and will
be wired directly to your existing bank account no later than November 1st,
1999. Please feel free to call if you have any questions, but be aware that any
threats or demands will be recorded and handed over to civil authorities."
        Raen  struggled to catch her breath, and failed. She was out the front door
and running before either Jedi could catch her, though Obi-Wan's fingers brushed
the hem of her shorts as she flew by.
        "Sith Hells," he muttered, and sprinted after her, his master watching
carefully, not interfering.
 
        Obi-Wan caught up with her near the end of her driveway, more he because she
had stopped and was bent over, hands braced on knees, choking on sobs she didn't
want to inflict on anyone else., than any other reason.
        "Raen," he tried, but she ignored him. He lost patience. "Look you, I can't
stand to see you cry! " he burst out, and she coughed.
        " You could've not followed me, " she offered, straightening up and wiping at
tear tracks on her cheeks.
        He found he had nothing to say to that, and just gathered her close to his
chest, tucking her head under his jaw. He held her for a while, feeling the
shakes in her body slow, then stop altogether. At last, she pushed him away a
bit, and looked up into the face that had haunted her for months.
        " There are options, now." he offered, and she shushed him, fingers on his
lips.
        She silently took his hand and began walking back to her house.
        When they arrived, she let go of Obi-Wan and strode to Qui-Gon, who hadn't
moved from the chair. Raen dropped to her knees in front of him and expectantly
stared up into his broad, noble face.
        "Yes?" he asked, and waited patiently for her to organize her thoughts.
        "Master Jinn, when you two leave, can I go with you? Is there any way for me to
make a living there?" she queried.
        " I don't know. What can you do?"
        " I can proofread any text in a language I know, no matter how boring it is. I
can do clerical work, bookkeeping, cooking, cleaning, anything to do with
laundry. If I don't know how, I can learn." she was empty, and desperate.
Obi-Wan resisted the urge to add anything, knowing his master already knew how
he felt.
        " Have you thought about how monumental a change this could be? You would be
leaving everything you know behind. Your friends, your life here, your job..."
Jinn trailed off at her scoffing noise.
        " With all due respect, Master Jinn, I have only one friend here. No life, no
family, no home. And one job is much the same as any other. Do your work well,
get paid, pay bills. " she said quietly, and waited.
        " Think about it until we are ready to go. If you find you still want this, we
will take you with us." his voice was clear, no hints as to his own opinion
concerning the idea. Then his demeanor altered ," Did I hear someone mention
food a short while ago?"
        Raen got up much more gracefully than she had knelt, and, nodding her thanks,
made for the kitchen again.Obi-Wan took the opportunity to crouch by Qui-Gon's
side and murmur," I didn't mention it to her, Master, and it wasn't precisely
the most precipitant thing on my mind when I caught up with her."
        Qui-Gon nodded, his eyes hooded. " And what if she decides to come? What then,
padawan? Will you expect her to cleave only to you, or will you stop thinking
about her entirely, once the newness has passed?"
        "I hardly think either would be realistic, Master," he began, somewhat
offended. " I am coming to like her a great deal, but infatuation is far from
likely, for either of us."
        " I see. And what did she feel for you when you arrived so fortuitously?"
        " The closest I could safely guess would be awe and lust, my Master," he
replied honestly, "Though that turned quickly enough to annoyance and lust, I'm
certain," he had to laugh.
        "As am I , my padawan, as am I." Qui-Gon chuckled easily, and swung up out of
the chair in an elegant swirl of long brown robes and long brown hair. " Let's
help her with the meal."
        " Ummm, I think not, Master. I've been ejected from her kitchen enough to know
better." he tugged briefly on the hem of his master's robe to stay him.
        " Ah."

        Raen carried out yet another tureen of stroganoff from the kitchen, and Obi-Wan
distinctly heard her thanking a deity called Tupperware for keeping it safe the
night before. He smiled at her, taking the hot bowl, and setting it on the
coffee table, then accompanying her back to her kitchen lair.
        " I can handle some chores, you know. I can do that. I'm a Jedi. We face things
much worse than helping to fix a dinner." he gently teased, and she smirked in
return, then just leaned on the counter, looking at him.
        "What's  He doing?" she asked, indicating his master with a nod of her head.
        " Lurking about, probably making good on his threat to write some of his own
smut and post it to one of those sites." she gave an unladylike guffaw, and
covered her mouth with her hand. Obi -wan grasped that hand and pulled it away
from her mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist.
        " I didn't even talk to you before I asked him," she cast her eyes down at the
floor.
        " I asked him about it after we left the shower. So I'm guilty as well. " he
tipped her chin up.
        "Why?"
        " Because I feel  it would be wrong to go without you. I don't know why."
        " Ah." she put no emphasis on the word, and her thoughts were carefully empty.
Obi-Wan felt she had more to say, so he waited.
        " You know, I think I like you," she finally said, and grabbed a gallon of milk
from the refrigerator . He stared at her retreating back as she carried it in to
his master.
        *Bring the glasses, please,* he shook his head, which was ringing, but not
nearly as bad as it had been from her earlier attempt, and complied.
        "Still too loud," he whispered in her ear as he set a glass before each of
them. She grimaced.
        "Sorry, again." she apologized, and Qui-Gon looked amused.
        " Now that she has some idea, have the -ahem- rogue images been abolished?" the
Jedi master asked, gazing into his bowl suspiciously.
        " Now that you mention it, yes," Obi-Wan admitted, and poured the milk.  They
ate in silence for a while, until Raen hopped up and strode to the television,
which had never been turned on in Obi-Wan's presence.
        "It's not holoview, but I guess it's okay," He sniffed, and Raen stuck her
tongue out at him. Qui-Gon turned his head to watch a procession of animated
bugs carrying foodstuffs on leaves over their heads.
        "Oh, no, not Disney. " Raen grabbed the remote and switched channels with mind
numbing speed.
        "Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're my only hope," the grainy holo of a young
woman in white beseeched, and Raen choked, barely avoiding spraying the table
with milk. She turned off the T.V.
        " She said my name," Obi-Wan tried wrestling Raen for the remote, and won,
switching it back on. Majestic music played over a desert scene with a
landspeeder whooshing across it. The screen darkened, and cut to a commercial.
        " You remember how I told you about three other movies? Well, you're in this
one. Do you want to see the old you? How  the Mighty Lucas envisions your
demise?" Raen was desperately fighting to pry the remote from his fingers.
Qui-Gon's hands came down on both of their's, and he extracted the device with
no trouble, settling back into his seat.
        " Perhaps you two should take this opportunity to visit this area for the last
time. That is, if you still intend to join us?" he quirked a brow at Raen.
        "Yessir," she glared at Obi-Wan, who sat grinning back at her. She got a
wonderful idea, "Obi, wanna go for a ride in my car? It's probably the last
chance I'll have to drive it."
        Obi-Wan shuddered, looking to his master for an excuse not to go, but Qui-Gon
merely nodded. He sighed heavily and went after Raen, who hooked her thumb into
his belt, pulling him closer.
        " I'll let you drive," she whispered in his ear, and his steps were quicker.
 

        The car in question was a green 1960s four door convertible with white
interior. It sparkled in the late afternoon sun and Obi-Wan fell in love at
first sight. He took the keys and climbed into the driver's seat, while Raen
took shotgun, giving him instructions. He followed them perfectly, and pulled
back out of the driveway. On the road finally, he increased his speed, the air
whipping by.
        Raen had no idea how long they had been gone, but the stars and moon had
replaced the sunset long before she directed him to pull off the road. The area
was deserted, nothing for miles except sagebrush, cactus, and a few Joshua
trees. She plucked the keys from the ignition and let them fall to the floormat.
        "What's..." Obi-Wan's words were swallowed by Raen's ardent kiss.
        "You did mention something about fantasies last night," she offered, as she let
him go and slipped over the seat, into the capacious back. "This is one of them.
"
        Obi-Wan's grin was very wide as he joined her.

        Qui-Gon was at the computer, tapping furiously at the keyboard when they
returned, only marginally disheveled and giggly. He turned at their entrance,
and smiled an absent greeting before returning his attention to his writing.
        " Oh, Gods, he's really doing it," Obi-Wan breathed, head in his hands, and
Raen began to worry. She drifted nearer to try and peek over the master's
shoulder, but he held up one huge, long fingered hand and she backed off.
        " You may read it later, my friend," he intoned, and she colored, before
turning on her heel to fetch clean bedding for her newest guest.
        As she made up the couch, Obi-Wan cleared the dishes from dinner, and washed
them all.
        "I could have done them," she told him when he emerged from her kitchen. He
shrugged.
        " I wanted to do something, so I just did them before you could tell me no.
Again." he pulled on a lock of her hair, and she tugged his braid in return.
They both started giggling, and Qui-Gon turned to stare at them.
        " How am I supposed to complete this little essay with the two of you chirping
and twittering in the background?" he demanded with mock severity, and Obi-Wan
executed a little half- bow, taking Raen's hand and drawing her along with him.
        In the tiny laundry room, he pulled his original uniform from the dryer and
began folding it. " You may want to pack a few things." he suggested, "Things
you'll need 'til you get situated on Coruscant."
        " Yeah. I probably should." she considered.
        " You'll probably stay in our quarters until you can get an assigned suite of
your own." he continued, sneaking a glance at her.
        " You mind that?" she was cautious.
        " Only if I have to take the couch again." he replied, and she covered a laugh
with a light cough.
        " Is a padawan's bed big enough for two people?"
        "Only if they're well acquainted." he tried for serious.
        " Would you say we're well acquainted?"
        " I'd like to think so." he set aside the huge brown over cloak and picked her
up, setting her on the top of the dryer and nestling between her thighs.
        " Will I get to see you once in a while, on Coruscant?" she asked.
        " I'd think yes, " he answered, " since I have a feeling you'll be finding work
and lodgings at the Temple. You're going to be very much in demand, you know."
        " Why is that?" she twined her arms around his neck, face close to his.
        " We've never brought home a stray from Earth before, nor one that talks, and
most especially one that can link her mind to a padawan but is locked tight to
the Master."
        " Ahhh. I'll be the starring lab specimen," she nodded, and he nipped her ear,
his hands squeezing her hips.
        "You'll be no such thing. You'll be my friend. " he corrected, and her legs
hooked around his haunches, pulling him closer.
        " Can I be your good friend?" she rubbed her body against him.
        " Oh, I think so." he acceded, and picked her up again, as though she weighed
nothing more than a child, and carried her to her room.

        It was still dark when Obi- Wan woke Raen with  a gentle shake and a kiss. "
Raen, get packed if you still want to go. It's near time." he touched his lips
to her shoulder, and got up, dressing in the dark.
        One medium sized satchel later, and she stood at his side in her front yard,
wondering what her friend would make of her disappearance, and the note she'd
left behind.
                             " Sorry I couldn't say good bye in
                                         person, but an opportunity like
                                this only knocks once. Take any
                                       of my things that will remind
                                       you of me, and know I'll miss
                                           you.    Love always, Raen"
        She'd had the brains to leave a message on her friend's voice mail, and
expected her to show up by noon to investigate the cryptic innuendo. Her bank
account, thanks to her P.C. banking, would flow directly into her friend's, and
that was that. She looked around her home once again, and felt the bulges of her
14 inch tall collector's dolls in the bottom of her sack, and grinned. Obi-Wan
had rolled his eyes at her packing them, and she'd pinched him.
        " Ready?" he asked, joining her to watch the dawn.
        "Yup."
        " Regrets?" he pressed, and she leaned against his shoulder.
        " Do you guys have Chinese take out on Coruscant?" she asked soulfully.
        " I think we can fake it," he assured her, one arm around her shoulders as his
master came toward them.
        " You're sure you want to do this?" his dark blue eyes bored into Raen's.
        " Yessir!" was her answer, and she stood as tall as she could.
        " Very well. Padawan? Hold her tightly." Jinn was no-nonsense as he began
concentrating on something Raen could neither see nor sense. Then Obi-Wan
followed his master's lead, and she could see, and feel the waves of light and
color that swirled around all three of them. Her eyes rolled up in her head, and
she fainted dead away from the sensory overload.

        Raen awoke to someone tapping lightly on her face with a soft dry hand. A hand
with only three digits. A hand that belonged to a very short, very green, very
old Jedi Master. Her head fell back, and she felt it cradled in someone's
lap--Obi-Wan. She could hear him in her mind much more clearly, now, and he was
talking mentally with the little Jedi master at her side. She frowned. She could
only hear Obi-Wan's side of the discussion, which was about her.
        "Raen? " came the familiar voice of Yoda, " On Coruscant, you are. Welcome. as
well, you are."
        " Thank you, Master Yoda," she tried to lever herself up to a sitting position,
and Obi-Wan helped her.
        " Much to talk about, have we. Yes. But settle first, you must." he said
kindly, and she nodded. She tried to stand, but sagged, so that Obi-Wan had to
lift her.
        "To your quarters, take her. Take some time, it will, this transition fully to
understand," Yoda commanded, and waddled off across the council chamber, tapping
his stick as he went. Obi-Wan nodded his respects to the other masters in
attendance, and took his leave, while Qui-Gon stood unflappably in the middle of
the circle and fielded the questions left unanswered.
 
 

        End  Part  One.
        If you want more, or have comments, criticisms, or questions,
do please let me know.
rabid@cnmnetwork.com