Day 5 con't!
It took several days for Obi-Wan to completely recover
from his ordeal, but everyone said it was a miracle that he
survived at all. Scar-face, who turned out to be Macca's
brother Dithe, and the leader of the entire Venbian
Supremacist Terrorist movement, was apprehended, and with
both leaders in custody, the dangerous group was
essentially quashed.
In the days that followed, Obi-Wan noticed a difference in his Master. Qui-Gon smiled at him more and seemed to be making a special point of letting Obi-Wan know how much he cared for him. Obi-Wan did not mind that, but Qui-Gon was also being, he felt, a trifle overly protective of the younger Jedi. Obi-Wan knew it had been a close call, but the apprentice had been through other close calls before.
"Master, I won't *break*," Obi-Wan protested when Qui- Gon's handle-with-care attitude finally got under his skin, on his second day back from the hospital.
"I didn't say you were going to break," Qui-Gon pointed out. "I just said you should get some rest. I'll have dinner brought in to us this evening."
"Okay," Obi-Wan nodded. "I'll go place the order."
"I'll take care of that, you just tell me what you want," Qui-Gon said patiently. "In the meantime, I've had a hot bath made for you, I suggest you avail yourself of it before it gets cold."
"Master..." Obi-Wan grinned in half-annoyed amusement, folding his arms.
"What?" Qui-Gon asked innocently. "You're not completely well yet. Allow me to spoil you a little."
*"Spoil me?"* Obi-Wan thought he must have heard wrong. Qui-Gon was a good and fair Master, but indulgent was not exactly a word that could generally be applied to him.
"Who are you and what have you done with my Master?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously.
Qui-Gon took a swat at the apprentice with one of the hostel's towels, which Obi-Wan easily ducked, grinning impishly and flopping back onto the bed behind him.
"You keep that up and you'll find out!" Qui-Gon growled with a twinkle in his eye. "So keep quiet, unless you would rather spend the evening doing push-ups..."
"Ah, now *that* sounds like my Master," Obi-Wan said, grinning up at Qui-Gon as he tucked his legs up onto the bed and folded them.
"Impertinent brat," Qui-Gon said affectionately.
A surprised look crossed Obi-Wan's face, then he began to squirm slightly. "MAS-ter!" he said clutching his sides as his face started to flush. "Stop!" the boy gasped through the giggles that were fighting with him to come out.
Qui-Gon grinned maliciously and Obi-Wan collapsed sideways onto the bed, wriggling and giggling uncontrollably as Qui-Gon tickled him through their connection.
The big Jedi didn't need to physically *touch* the apprentice to send him into fits of laughter.
"Stop it! That's not fair!" Obi-Wan laughed, trying in vain to catch his breath as Qui-Gon's teasing made him laugh until his stomach ached.
"You KNOW I can't do it back! Master!" the apprentice whined playfully. It was true; tickling his Master in the way that Qui-Gon could tickle him was one thing that the Padawan had never been able to do, Qui-Gon's control was too good. "Oh, oh, oh, stop!" Obi-Wan gasped, nearly convulsed in laughter.
"No more cheek from you tonight?" Qui-Gon asked, letting the Padawan squirm a little longer.
"Okay, okay! I promise!" Obi-Wan giggled. "I promise, stop!"
Qui-Gon released his apprentice and Obi-Wan rolled onto his back, wiping the tears of laughter from his cheeks and attempting to catch his breath. "That's really not fair you know," the boy pretended to complain, the smile on his face belying his words.
"Mm," Qui-Gon cocked an eyebrow. "And whoever said that life was fair?"
"Ohhh, ow," Obi-Wan sat up, holding his aching stomach. "I think you set me back two weeks," he teased.
"Since you've only been recovering for four days that would be an interesting trick Padawan," Qui-Gon said dryly.
Obi-Wan felt the tendrils of Qui-Gon's touch brush against him and quickly back-peddled his statement. "I take it back! I take it back!" Obi-Wan giggled, starting to double over again.
Qui-Gon smiled and pulled away once more. "That's a good Padawan," he patted Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Now go take your bath. Dinner will be up by the time you're done."
"That's a dirty rotten trick is what it is," Obi-Wan mumbled under his breath. Unfortunately for the Padawan, his Master heard him.
Scooping the apprentice up in his arms before Obi-Wan had a chance to react, Qui-Gon carried him across the room and into the 'fresher.
"Hey, wha- wait!" Obi-Wan started fighting his Master's unexpected action, but it was too late.
Qui-Gon dropped the struggling teenager, clothes and all, into the bath, creating a rather huge and rather messy splash.
Obi-Wan sat in the tub; spluttering in wide-eyed astonishment and looking for all the world like a drowned cat.
"Enjoy your bath Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said. His tone was about the only thing in the room that was dry.
The boy opened and closed his mouth wordlessly, reminding Qui-Gon of a fish out of water, only Obi-Wan was definitely *not* out of water...
"Is this a new efficiency technique?" Obi-Wan recovered himself enough to say, wiping away the water that was dripping in his eyes. "To wash myself and my clothes at the same time?"
Qui-Gon laughed, he couldn't help it. "You may have hit upon something there," he chuckled. "Dinner will be up in about fifteen minutes," he said, heading for the door. "I'll lay some fresh night-clothes out for you. Unless, you want to keep those..."
"Umm, no, thanks," Obi-Wan shook his head, plucking at the drenched material.
"Fifteen minutes, or the food will be cold," Qui-Gon warned with a smile, pulling the door shut behind him.
"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan grinned, beginning to shed his soggy clothes.
Qui-Gon closed the door behind him with a smile. Someday, he knew, time, space, or death would eventually part he and Obi-Wan, but it would not be forever. Nothing could separate them forever.
Nothing.
THE END
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