Star Wars Episode ii:

Remain A Mystery

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Author: Marina Kenobi
Summary: 10 years after TPM, Obi-Wan and Anakin go back to Naboo...AU
Spoilers: TPM
Feedback: If you want more, you give me some.  E-mail me at marina_kenobi@yahoo.com.
Rating: PG, for now.
Category: AU/ Action/ Adventure/ Angst/ Humor/ Romance
Archive: My site, Corra's site, any others, please contact me.
Note: All words between "//" and "//" are spoken through a Jedi link.
Disclaimer: I don't own these guys, though I really want Obi-Wan...All recognizable characters belong to Lucas and LucasFilm.  Marina is my character.

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They were only halfway to Naboo when Marina finally got sick of waiting patiently for her fellow Jedi’s story.

So, it seemed, did his Padawan. The blond young man quite suddenly stood up from his seat, walked over to where his Master was quite intently studying his datapad, and smacked the older Jedi.

What the…Marina was astonished to see the young Jedi—Skywalker, she told herself—treat his Master with such disrespect. The astonishment vanished a moment later when she realized Kenobi had been sound asleep. Now how do you like that…

Kenobi noticed the deadly glare she shot him as he stood up and stretched. He smiled sheepishly. “Political reports can be pretty boring,” he offered. Marina didn’t bother to formulate a response.

Skywalker remained standing, folding his arms over his chest and towering over both Marina and Kenobi. “I believe Jedi Qwin has been waiting patiently for our story long enough, Master. Will you tell her or do I have to?”

Kenobi held up a hand to stop his apprentice. “No, Anakin, I’ll tell it myself.”

Seemingly satisfied, Skywalker retreated to his seat and settled in to listen.

“The last time I was on Naboo,” Kenobi began, “was ten years ago, when I was still a Padawan. My Master and I had been sent there in response to a request from Supreme Chancellor Valorum. Do you remember the big trade taxation controversy?”

Marina nodded, intrigued by where this was going.

“The Trade Federation took things into their own hands by blockading Naboo,” Kenobi continued. “My Master and I attempted negotiations, but the Federation wasn’t very willing. Upon learning of the Federation’s plan for invading Naboo, we went to inform the Queen—not the same one that is serving now. My Master convinced the Queen to come to Coruscant with us, but as we were escaping the planet, our ship’s hyperdrive was damaged, and we were forced to land on a small planet called Tatooine.”

“Tatooine?” Marina asked. “Where is that?”

Surprisingly, it wasn’t Kenobi who answered, but Skywalker. “It’s a small desert planet located in the Outer Rim.” He smiled. “Basically, it’s the middle of nowhere.”

Marina smiled at his sense of humor. It was refreshing to hear after spending so much time recently around old Jedi who didn’t find anything remotely amusing. “And that’s why it was attractive to land there—no unwanted attention for the Queen.”

Kenobi nodded. “When Master went into town, he met Anakin–” he nodded towards his Padawan, “–who turned out to be instrumental in helping get the parts we needed. My Master decided to bring Anakin with us to Coruscant. The Queen tried to convince the Senate of her plight, but the only thing she managed to convince them of was that a new Chancellor was needed.”

“But what were you two doing during this time?” Marina questioned. If she was going to hear the story, she wanted to have the full story.

The Knight and his Padawan exchanged glances. Kenobi nodded at his apprentice to indicate he tell the next part. “I was being tested by the Council, to investigate my untrained Force talent,” Skywalker said quietly. “Master Obi-Wan remained at the Temple with his Master, awaiting further instruction on…certain matters.”

Suddenly, a piece of information surfaced in Marina’s brain. Ten years ago…that would mean Skywalker wasn’t trained as a normal Initiate. That must mean… “You’re the Chosen One!” she exclaimed.

It would have seemed silly to an outsider, someone outside the Jedi Order, that the thousands of Jedi making up the Order did not know the name of the one rumored to be the Chosen One, the greatest Jedi ever prophesied, their ultimate hope. But all the rumors that had been circulating around the Temple for the past ten years had only mentioned that a boy very much past the normal age of acceptance had been permitted to be trained as a Jedi, and that it was because he was likely to be the Chosen One. The Council had tried to keep his identity as much a secret as possible, in order to grant him some sense of normality, and even Marina, the Padawan of a Councilor, had not been privy to the information. But this all makes more sense…

Skywalker blushed slightly at her exclamation, then shrugged. “That’s what some people have said,” he replied.

For a guy who’s supposed to “bring balance to the Force,” he’s not too egotistical, Marina thought.

Kenobi broke the silence that had followed Skywalker’s offhanded comment. “The Council sent us to protect the Queen once again, because she had decided to return to Naboo. Because the Council had yet to reach a decision regarding Anakin, he traveled with us back to Naboo. A battle ensued with the Trade Federation. The Queen enlisted the help of the Gungans, another species native to Naboo, and they fought a massive land battle while the Queen broke into her palace to capture the Federation’s viceroy. Anakin accidentally ended up a part of the space battle, attempting to knock out the droid control ship–”

“Which I did,” Skywalker interrupted.

Or I could be wrong, she wryly amended.

The elder Jedi gave his apprentice a look, but finished his monologue. “–turning the tide of the battle once it was down. The Queen was successful in her mission, and the trade war ended. Anakin became a local hero for his bravery.”

“So why did you hesitate to speak of this incident earlier?” Marina questioned the two male Jedi.

A flicker of surprise chased itself across Kenobi’s face. He recovered so quickly, however, that Marina wondered if she’d imagined it. “There wasn’t enough time,” he claimed smoothly. He paused a moment before he continued on. “And my Master was killed in action during the latter part of that mission,” he added quietly.

Marina absorbed this information without a word. Master Adi must have attended his funeral, Marina decisively thought. But why didn’t she let me come?

“But Master Obi-Wan was also granted permission to take me as his Padawan Learner shortly after that,” Anakin added helpfully.

“I’m sure, however, that you’ve heard enough about us,” Kenobi inserted. “Why don’t you tell us a little about yourself?”

Marina’s natural instinct was to snap off something rude to Kenobi, but instead she opted to calmly tell him, “I was trained as the Padawan Learner of Master-Councilor Adi Gallia since I was twelve years old. I passed the Trials a year ago and have been sent on various missions throughout the galaxy, serving mostly on teams of older, more experienced Jedi Knights.” Deciding that this was all she wished to divulge to the two men at the moment, she stopped talking at that point.

“So in other words, this mission is the first time you’re serving, as a Knight, on a team that doesn’t have boring old people?”

“Anakin!” Obi-Wan said sharply.

“Sorry, Master,” Anakin replied. “I stand corrected; this team does have boring old people.”

The comment drew a smile from both Marina and Kenobi. Shaking his head, Kenobi muttered, “I’m not that old…”

These two certainly make an interesting team, Marina dryly thought, smile still on her face. They treat each other like brothers.

The two males continued their “discussion” of Kenobi’s age, seemingly forgetting of Marina’s presence as their discussion degenerated into a wrestling match of sorts—started, of course, by Anakin. Marina observed the young Padawan said to be the Chosen One thoughtfully. In so many ways he seems to still be a child…perhaps the Council is right in not taking older trainees. Perhaps the life of a Jedi is too hard for anyone except one raised in seriousness among the Jedi—too hard even for the young man known as the Chosen One. Who knows what may happen when he has to face reality someday….

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