BitterSweet

Chapter 2

Obi-Wan walked into the quarters her shared with his master as a proverbial train wreck. The man looked as if he had just been mugged by death itself and barely got away…except for the Correllian brazben tart with cream sauce that was in his hand.

"Well?" Qui-Gon asked cheerfully as he sat down his data pad, "How did you do?"

Obi-Wan looked at him blankly and set the pastry down on the table before he walked to his bed room.

"I take it things didn't go very well, then," Qui–Gon said to the empty room. He got up to go talk to Obi-Wan about the day's disaster. He knew that it would be a difficult task for Obi-Wan, but it was very clear that something had gone especially awry; the brazben tart was proof of such.

Obi-Wan lay face down on his bed when Qui-Gon entered the room. He looked truly pitiful.

"So what happened with the brazben tart, young padawan?" he asked soothingly.

"I'm not meant to have a vast network of city connections, master," Obi-Wan replied, matter-of-factly.

"Did you at least make one friend?"

"Worse," Obi-Wan replied as he sat up, "I think I made an enemy."

Qui-Gon's gaze begged for details. Obi-Wan regretfully informed his master of the incident with the young woman, both on the street and in the restaurant. He emphasized how much he had tried to make up for her bad day, and befriend her, and how he really did think that they could have been friends.

"It's for the better though. I'm sure she doesn't need a Jedi for a friend anyway. Besides, I must not be a friendly person. I was certainly nice enough to her," Obi-Wan concluded.

"Perhaps she was just having a bad day to begin with and needed to be alone," Qui-Gon offered, "It could have had nothing to do with you. On another day she may have been delighted to share a brazben tart with you, although I have know idea what the two of you share that causes such a craving for it. How can you stand those things?"

Obi-Wan laughed lightly, "Brazben is a very secret and sophisticated taste for only those true of heart."

"Or low intellect," Qui-Gon joked, "My point is, don't give up because you had a bad day. Do you think that young woman is going to give up brazben tarts forever based on her experience today? Of course not; she's going to go on with life as usual and get one tomorrow morning. Which is exactly what you should do."

"Get another brazben tart?" Obi-Wan asked.

"No: another friend. I promise you, you will not regret this," Qui-Gon assured him.

"Very well, master. I shall continue this somewhat frivolous task…"

"It's not frivolous, Obi-Wan. This is important to your training, as well as your well being. A Jedi must be able to blend in all walks of society, and having friends or even acquaintances sharpens that skill. You must be able to create lasting relationships if you're going to be of aid to the Force," and with that, Qui-Gon let his apprentice be to think about what the lesson really was.

That night Obi-Wan dreamt about the girl from the restaurant. She hated him, and Obi-Wan couldn't just feel it, he could see it. Beams of hate radiated from her in a crimson red color. Her eyes were black and her face in a cold hard stare. She was also in danger. The ground beneath her had caught fire from her hate and was about to crumble and send her to her death. He called out and reached for her but she drew back with a fiery hiss. She wouldn't let him near her. She looked at him despairingly before she collapsed in a sobbing heap. She was afraid: of the fire and of him; she was trapped. The ground finally broke…

"No!" Obi-Wan cried as he flung himself toward her.

He landed in a sweaty pile of sheets and pajamas. He knew what the dream meant; it was his guilt and insecurities about failing the poor young woman.

'Andra…' he thought, sadly. He had to do something, or her image would keep haunting him, and a brazben tart was certainly not going to cut it.

'I have to find her,' he thought, 'She needs something…something to make her life easier. A friend maybe…ha ha ha, the Force works in mysterious ways, it appears. I resisted the idea so much that I pushed myself right back to it. Wait, she has friends…she must, a woman that beautif – WHAT! Where did that come from? How about this: if I ever see her again, I will insist on helping her in anyway that I can, including the presence of brazben tarts. There, that'll do.'

Somewhat satisfied with his reasoning, Obi-Wan collected his disheveled bedding and went back to sleep. He was never going to make friends with a grumpy sleep deprived attitude. The rest of the night, Andra's image left him to sleep peacefully.

The next morning, Obi-Wan dressed and prepared himself with ten times the vigor and exuberance of the day before. He was excited about the prospect of a second chance. His resolve of the dream and Qui-Gon's pep-talk had renewed his faith in his chances of finding a friend. Perhaps today would be the lucky day.

"Good morning Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said cheerfully as he entered their quarters with several data pads.

"Good morning master," he replied with equal cheerfulness, "That's quite a load you have there."

"Yes, it looks as if we may be presiding over a local civil trial to do with the temple's sewage system," Qui-Gon replied.

"The sewage system? What could possible be wrong with it master?"

"Apparently, a small real estate business is insisting that our sewage is draining into to one of their neighborhoods as the result of our plumbing expansion last year," he replied as he looked over a blinking data pad.

"Are you going out again, Obi-Wan?"

"Yes, master."

Qui-Gon tossed his apprentice some credits, "Would you pick up guirri fruits on your way home? Master Gallia sent our entire stock to the orphanage last night."

"Yes, master," Obi-Wan replied as he headed out the door.

Obi-Wan smiled at the thought of guirri fruit. It had been ages since he'd gotten one from the temple's indoor orchard. The smell of its deep green skin, and the taste of the soft, fleshy inside; the mere thought made his mouth water. Once again, Obi-Wan started out toward the market place. The day was sunny and the street was busy…actually, it was very similar to the day before. Obi-Wan walked happily along, smiling at people as they passed by and greeting them with cheerful helloes.

The several hours passed and Obi-Wan filled them by conversing with various shop keepers about their shops and the city. He met a rodian named Clark who ran a shop of pottery. "Authentically re-created to look like original artifacts of many ancient worlds," he'd said proudly. Another interesting character was an old peddler woman peddling cheap jewelry. She was slightly demented as she still thought she was trapped in the far corner of a transport vessel rather than the far corner of the market place. Races and species of all sorts bustled about and Obi-Wan introduced himself to many.

'I'll have to come back soon to visit these people,' he thought, 'They are far friendlier than I thought they would be…or maybe I'm being friendlier. At any rate, today's mission has been a success. I wonder what time it is…I should probably start heading back to the temple to help Qui-Gon with that civil case.'

With his mind made up, Obi-Wan went in search of a fruit stand to purchase the guirri fruit Qui-Gon had requested. Fresh fruit was always hard to find on Coruscant, as it all had to be shipped in from other planets. The only fruit grown on Coruscant was in the Jedi Temple and the private gardens of wealthy politicians; the fruit of which was never put of for sale. An indoor market advertised the largest selection of fresh (or quasi-fresh) fruit in all of Coruscant. Obi-Wan looked the building over: it appeared clean and well kept. This was probably a reliable source of guirri fruit; so he went in. Fruit stands lined all walls of the building with another ring of them in the center. Finding the guirri fruit was going to be more difficult than he'd expected. Obi-Wan casually perused all the stands as he made a round of the building. Fruits from all over the galaxy were displayed and at prices that reflected their distance from the bright and busy center of it.

Eventually Obi-Wan came across a stand with guirri fruit. It was a popular stand, Obi-Wan determined. Most of the products were gone except for one bag of guirri fruit and a few crates of pala nuts. He moved closer to the stand through the crowd, anxious the retrieve the only remaining bag of guirri. Obi-Wan reached out and grabbed the bag…but then the bag grabbed back. Obi-Wan felt a jolt as he tried to take the bag and looked over the people obscuring his view of the energy source. He expected to find the bag caught on a nail or careless mother's stroller, but instead he saw Andra.