Obi-Wan had watched this whole exchange with growing amusement. After all the embarrassing, uncomfortable things he had been through within the last 48 hours, it was nice to see Qui-Gon starting to flush and fluster for a change.
"That won't be necessary," Qui-Gon declined quickly, his angled face starting to color slightly despite himself. "You see-"
"Oh, but that's such a sweet offer!" Obi-Wan gushed in his most feminine voice, batting his eyelashes at Warren. "That's so thoughtful of you! Isn't it Qui darling?" he asked innocently, leaning up close to the big Jedi. Laying his right hand lightly on Qui-Gon's arm and continuing to hold the dress up with his left he smiled sweetly.
Qui-Gon nearly choked and he turned a very satisfactory color.
Obi-Wan knew he was going to be doing extra exercises and scrubbing Temple floors for weeks for this, but he didn't care. The look on Qui-Gon's face right now was worth the trouble he was going to get in for it. "I'll have it sent right up young lady. Better lock the door this time Jinn," Warren said, exiting with a smile and shutting the door behind him.
"What in the name of the Force was *that* all about?" Qui-Gon rounded on Obi-Wan with very little of his usual calm, although still very remarkably restrained.
"What?" Obi-Wan asked innocently. "I just said it was thoughtful of him and it was thoughtful of him."
"But you deceived him," Qui-Gon pointed out.
"It wasn't deception Master," Obi-Wan said with an entirely too self-satisfied smile. "It was playing a part," the Padawan echoed Qui-Gon's own words to him before this whole escapade started.
Qui-Gon frowned in deep exasperation. The big Jedi seemed caught somewhere between cuffing his apprentice and laughing at the absurdity of the situation but in the end he just shrugged. "We'll talk about it tomorrow Kenobi."
Obi-Wan always knew he was in trouble when Qui-Gon last-named him.
"For now," Qui-Gon waved his hand wearily. "Just... Just get out of that dress!"
Obi-Wan paused in the doorway to his room when Qui-Gon said this. Looking back over his shoulder he grinned ingratiatingly. "Why Qui, I didn't know you cared..." he said in the most syrupy voice he could muster and then beat a hasty retreat into his room, slamming the door shut behind him and narrowly avoiding the none-too-gentle swat that Qui-Gon had aimed at the Padawan's backside.
The big Jedi tried the handle, but Obi-Wan had taken the precaution of turning the lock. Qui-Gon could hear the muffled sound of Obi-Wan's mirth coming from the other side. "Get some sleep Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon called through the closed door. "And *DON'T EVER* call me that again!"
But Obi-Wan was sprawled across his bed in a nearly suffocating fit of laughter and did not answer.
********
The Coronation went splendidly and it was indeed an auspicious affair. It actually turned out to be a three-day procedure filled with feasting and merriment. On the morning of the last day, Mareeja was installed as Radoon's
Queen for the rest of her natural life, unless she chose to relinquish, or the people voted to remover her, neither of which looked likely to happen.
However Obi-Wan's enjoyment of the whole affair was slightly tainted because he was still troubled about the way in which the princess and he had parted several days before.
The afternoon after the ceremonies were officially over, Obi-Wan sought Mareeja out. He found her on the terrace, looking out over the palace gardens.
"Your Highness?" he said quietly, coming up behind her.
Mareeja started slightly, not having heard his approach. She turned.
"So," he smiled gently. "You are Queen now. Does it feel different? You don't look different."
"It's strange really," Mareeja shook her head. "In some ways I feel no different at all, and in others, I feel as if I'll never be the same again." She turned her face away from him and Obi-Wan's heart ached.
"Your Highness," he sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I had to deceive you, I'm sorry that I broke the sacredness of your party, I only did it in an effort to protect you, and I didn't end up doing a very good job of that," Obi-Wan looked dejectedly at the floor. "I wanted to tell you a hundred times, but, but I was afraid it would change everything between us," Obi-Wan reached out and gently turned her head back towards him with his hand on her chin.
"You are a kind and enjoyable person Mareeja and I treasure your friendship. The things I said to you were not lies; I meant every word of them. As Obijeena, I came to love you like a sister, and I only wonder, can you like Obi-Wan too?" Obi-Wan inquired earnestly, his pale blue eyes searching her intense periwinkle ones.
Mareeja smiled and took his hand in hers. "Of course I can Obi-Wan. I was angry at first, but the past few days have given me time to think and I realized that I probably would not have survived that ordeal without you, so your disguise and attendance at the party are justified. But more than that," she squeezed his hand. "I treasure our friendship too. I feel that I know your heart Obi-Wan Kenobi, and that you know mine. That is not a feeling I am able to share with very many people. Let us always be friends Obi-Wan. Promise you will write to me, after you and your Master leave."
"I promise, if you will write to me," Obi-Wan agreed with a smile.
"But where would I send the letters?" Mareeja laughed. "To: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Galaxy Wanderer c/o Adventure & Danger Unlimited?" she shook her head.
Obi-Wan laughed too. "Send your letters to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. I can always pick them up there, or they can forward them."
"Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan heard Qui-Gon calling him. "Here Master, on the terrace," he answered.
Qui-Gon smiled when he saw Obi-Wan and Mareeja together, looking so happy. He was glad that they had worked everything out. Then his face straightened again as he recalled what he had come here to say. "We have to leave Obi-Wan, gather your things."
"So soon?" Obi-Wan looked a little surprised. He would have thought they would have had a day or two's layaway at least.
"Yes, I have been summoned by the Council," Qui-Gon informed the apprentice, his tone a trifle short. "By the Council?" Obi-Wan looked even more surprised. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"Yes, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said with a look in his eyes that made the Padawan very suddenly want to sink into the earth. "Something is. I have been summoned by the Council to answer some rumors that have been brought to them. Something about my having underage girls in my quarters at midnight," he said pointedly.
Obi-Wan's eyes got very large. He had never thought that something like that would ever get back to the Jedi Council.
"Oh," he said quietly. Months. He was going to be scrubbing floors for months. Or worse.
"Yes, *Oh*," Qui-Gon said with folded arms. "I think the trip back will be a good time for you to contemplate actions, and the consequences they can cause."
Obi-Wan studied his boots. *Uh, oh...* he was in for it now. Then he felt Mareeja nudge him gently in the ribs. Glancing up to catch her eye he found it sparkling with amusement. *"We'll laugh about this one day,"* her eyes seemed to say.
"Why Master Jinn..." Mareeja started to tease, easily figuring out the cause for *that* rumor. Then the look in Qui-Gon's eyes made her think the better what she was going to say. "I would love to hear how you explain it to them," she finished mildly instead.
Qui-Gon just smiled and bowed his farewell, but as they walked away, Obi-Wan heard him mutter under his breath. "So would I. So would I."
THE END
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