Category: Mindless 3am fluff, humor (hopefully!)
Setting: On a planet somewhere...Obi-Wan is still a padawan
Summary: A bit of happiness goes a looooong way
Spoilers: none
Feedback: Yes!! This is my first real fanfic. sleeperdown@yahoo.com
Website: http://www.dreamwater.net/pottedcactus/erjika
Archive: Go for it, but if you could tell me, that'd be a kindness!
Disclaimer: Obi, the Light Side, and the Dark Side belong to George. And he gets paid, too. I own pretty much everything else. And I get no moolah, not even a measly calla fruit.
"oof!"
Sarin tripped down the stairs, her half-eaten calla fruit flying from her hands. Not again, she thought. That made it, what, seven times in the past two years alone? At least this time she'd manage to land on something soft. Wait a second...
She raised herself off the body that broke her fall. As she realized who it was, Sarin felt a deep blush rising from her neck to her cheeks. Oh Gods, please no...
"I'm sorry, Sir Kenobi, I wasn't looking where I was going."
"No problem, this should teach me to be more attentive next time." He grinned.
Sarin felt her cheeks burn even more. She quickly sat up and arranged her skirts. She close her eyes and prayed fervently that no one else had seen them. She was so sick of being ridiculed every day. So maybe she was clumsy, but that didn't mean they had the right to point it out every time she fumbled or tripped.
Obi-Wan sat up and faced Sarin, who was still sitting with her eyes closed. "You dropped this," he said, handing her the calla fruit. It took a while to get her body functioning again, but she managed to take the fruit and say, "Thank you sir, I almost forgot that." He smiled (Oh Gods he's smiling at me and he's not making fun of me) and said, "Please call me Obi-Wan." Through her amazement, she smiled back. "Mine is Sarin." His grin got wider as he got up. "Sarin. That's a pretty name." He reached down to help her. "Do you work here?"
"Yes, I'm one of the servants." She hoped he wouldn't hold that against her.
"Oh yes, you're the one who brings the flowers every morning!"
She smiled shyly. "Yes, that's me."
He looked down the hall, as if he heard an unspoken beckoning. "I'm sorry to leave you so abruptly, but I'm needed back at my quarters. Something about a transmission." He made a face. "My master can be so cryptic." Sarin laughed. Good to know that she wasn't the only one confused.
"We will be staying for a few more days. I hope to see you soon." He flashed her another dazzling smile. "Thank you for everything," Sarin said as they parted. Obi-Wan shrugged self-deprecatively, but Sarin saw him blush faintly. "Well, at least we got to meet. See you around, Sarin!" Another smile and he was gone.
Sarin floated off to the gardens on a path made of clouds.
* * * *
The gardens were one of the few places where she could find peace. Alfen, the boy who teased her daily, thought they were too "girlish" for his "manly" lifestyle, so he stayed as far away from them as possible. Sarin knew it was just because he was afraid of bees.
She wandered past thyc'las and viom blooms on a narrow dirt path. She was so caught up in her own thoughts (which were now involving a certain young gentleman from Coruscant) that she nearly ran over a karom. She gasped in surprise as the karom bristled and bared its teeth. Sarin was a bit afraid- karoms were sithly creatures that were known to bite when bothered- but she decided to spread some happiness around.
"I'm sorry," she told it. "I wasn't looking where I was going." She quickly thought of the calla fruit. "Would you like this?" She held it out. That karom stopped bristling and shuffled over to sniff it. It took the fruit in its jaws, grunted in approval, and shambled off. Salin smiled and continued on her way.
* * * *
K'thla the karom wandered about the garden. All his life, no one had ever apologized to him, much less made a peace offering. He grinned around his mouthful of calla fruit. Ever since he had been converted to the Dark Side by that Sith guy (What was his name? Sidi? Dirth Sidos?), he never had an act of kindness meant for him. Maybe the Dark Side wasn't the answer. Maybe... just maybe...
A frightened shala stared up at him, blocking his path. K'thla's first instinct was to just devour the creature, but sith, just look at those big, soft, liquid eyes that turn you to goo and make grown karoms cry aw sith how could he kill something like that? He grunted and repeated the peace offering the girl had made him, and left the calla fruit to the now very confused shala. K'thla smiled to himself. Maybe there was redemption. Maybe he could find his way back to the Light...
* * * *
Danthi the shala stared after the departing karom, then shook his head vigorously. Did that karom just offer him a fruit? Well, he was never one to pass up an opportunity. He began rolling the calla fruit with his snout. At last, he had found food for his family. They had been starving for days, and he was worried that his littlest one, Shanti, wouldn't make it. Finally, they could have dinner again!
He came across a broad field, where the prince and his friend were tossing a disk back and forth.
Danthi shrugged his furry shoulders and moved on through.
* * * *
Prince Beju and his friend Marlis were playing frisbee on the royal lawn, when the prince noticed something odd behind him. He turned around just as Marlis was throwing the frisbee back.
"Heads up, Beju!"
"Wait!" He looked behind again, when he heard a loud squeak. Just as he knelt down to figure out what squeaked, a frisbee whizzed over his head. His head shot up suddenly, and he saw Marlis frozen with fear on his face.
"Oh Gods, that almost hit you!" he gasped. Beju pointed to the source of the squeak, a tiny shala rolling a calla fruit with its snout.
"If that little guy hadn't warned me, I could have been hit," Beju said. The two boys stared in wonder at the little animal.
"Weird," Marlis whispered.
"Yeah."
They got back up and started playing frisbee again.
* * * *
That evening, a Jedi and a servant girl had dinner together.
A karom shunned the Dark Side and re-embraced the Light.
A shala had dinner with his family for the first time in days.
Two boys played frisbee into the night.
A half-eaten calla fruit sighed happily. Its job was done.
~finis~