Chapter 2

/Siri Tachi/

I was brought back to the awaking world to the sound of my Master's crooning.

"Siri, my youngling…" I groaned and turned over in my sleeping couch. Master had always called me that ever sense she first choose me to be her padawan. It was her sweet little nickname for me.

"You have a visitor at the door."

"Do I have to?" I mumbled with my eyes still closed.

She chuckled softly, "Yes you do. The council will be checking in on your meditation hours, you better get going my padawan." She let her voice take in a stern edge to it. I noticed that as her first warning, so I groggily sat up and got ready for meditation.

"Who is it anyway?" I asked while picking out an outfit.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi." She told me from the other room.

I paused, throwing the shirt on my sleeping couch.

I almost forgot that we were sharing the punishment. I bit my lip, uncertain about how I felt for him. It had to be friendship. I wanted only friendship. But still the feelings were something I've never encountered before, and I was afraid of them. I didn't want to believe this new affection for the older apprentice. I almost disliked him for making me feel this way for him.

I shoved anything of that matter out of my mind, centering my thoughts on the day ahead.

I picked out a white civilian shirt with sleeves that reached to my elbow with tight-fabric black pants with a white stripe bordered by two yellow stripes down the sides. I wore my hair down, to fall to just above my ribs.I threw on my Jedi cloak over it and tried to sneak past Master to get to the door.

"What are you wearing, Padawan?" I stopped in my tracks, and looked over my shoulder to look at her, refusing to turn around.

She gave me a stare and I sighed and turned around.

"You are not wearing those clothes in the Temple." She said disapprovingly, but not really demanding that I change clothes.

"There are NO rules in the Jedi Code telling me that I have to wear the same outfit every day. Besides, if I get in trouble for this its not like they could do much worse to me. They already took my missions away."

She let out a sigh of defeat, and waved me to the door, her tea piping in her hand.

I smiled at her as my thank you. I stepped toward the doors and theyslid open to reveal a brilliant face grinning back at me.

" Kenobi. Haven't you ever heard of sleeping in?" I said sarcastically.

"My Master made me get up early this morning to cook him breakfast. I'm usually not a morning person. But-" He grinned again, "I can see that you're not either."I couldn't stop myself from smiling back at him. I quickly hid my smile with a glare, which only made him grin wider.

"Are we going to mediation or not?"

"Certainly," he said stepping to the side of the doorway and gesturing me to go first. His eyes wandered over my body, no doubt looking at my clothes.

I smirked as he walked with me to the meditation room. Once we got there we signed in, and I was over my morning mood by the time we picked spots in the room. To my surprise the room was completely empty, its wide grey walls stretching up to a high ceiling, and yellow carpeting spread across the floor.

I sat on one of the small, round elevated pads and crossed my legs. While I was positioning, I noticed how Kenobi sat directly across from me, his eyes glowing with determination.

I openly frowned at him. When he smiled hopefully back at me, I shot him down with glower. Laying my arms down on my legs, I was ready to let the black wave of mediation claim me.

Then Kenobi opened his mouth.

"Siri… what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to meditate, Kenobi."

He laughed, apparentlyextremely amused.I tried to ignore him, and focused on a distant object in the far corner of the room. But Kenobi wouldn't leave me alone.

"Your starting out all wrong. Have you ever meditated alone before?" I thought back on it, and realized that I had always meditated with my master. I wasn't about to let him know that.

"Shut your mouth, Kenobi. Let me concentrate."

He shrugged in defeat, "Alright." He crossed his legs, closed his eyes and stood perfectly still, yet relaxing at the same time. It seemed as if he was already in a deep meditation. I was privately amazed. How was he so quick? Where did he learn to do that?

I assumed that my Master had always guided me into meditation, and nervously realized that I really didn't know how to do it myself.

As quiet as I could, I leaned closer to Kenobi as I could, observing him. I imitated him, crossing my legs and holding my posture completely strait, breathing in through my nose and out of my mouth. I closed my eyes, trying to relax.

I heard a small, suppressed chuckle.

"Then how to you do it Kenobi?" I snapped, embarrassed with myself.

His bright face never once faltered as I threw attitude at him.

"Here, let me show you." He said rising of his stump-chair and advancing towards me. I leaned away from him instinctively. He raised an eyebrow, as if asking me if I wanted his help or not. I tried to relax as much as I could, as he took my arms and placed them in front of my crossed legs.

"Now keep you back strait, but relax your muscles." He said, I obeyed stubbornly, but apparently I didn't do it right.

"No, No here-" he placed his hand lightly on the small of my back, erecting my spine upright, "now relax this…" his hands warmly pressed against my shoulders.

My head snapped around to him, my eyes narrowed, "Watch your hands Kenobi." I said, my tone giving him a clear warning.

He raised his hands in the air, still grinning at me innocently with those changeable eyes of his. He returned to his seat, never taking his eyes of me.

"Now close your eyes."

I stared at him, deliberately disobeying him.

"Do you want to do this or not?"

I rolled my eyes at him then closed them, waiting for his next instruction.

"Breathe in through you nose and out of your mouth, as slowly as you can. Good. Now, think only about the Force, surrounding everything, in everything, let it consume you."

A wave of tranquility swept over me as I listened to his voice. If he was still talking, my mind tuned him out as I only focused on the Force flowing through me…

"Siri." His melodic voice rang clear in my ears.

My eyes flew open, and I gasped as I saw Kenobi's face.

"Kenobi? What are you doing? I was meditating-"

"And you lost track of time. Its lunch in the main hall."

I looked at him, a little confused as I got off the seat and walked with him to the exit. I saw his friends looming by the door, and I wondered if they ever separated.

Bant Erain, GarenMulun, and Reeft all waited for their friend at the doors by the sign in pads.

Bant's long brown hair flowed down from her head and down to her waist her braid rested on the side face. Her pale orange Mon Calamari skin stood out boldly compared to those of her friends. Her features were soft, and round. Her Personality somewhat contradicted her looks. She was saucy, and believed she always had the right answer, but she was a good friend.

Garen had short, light brown hair that framed his face nicely, his braid camouflaged nicely on the side of his head. His chocolate brown eyes were always filled with laughter. He was known as the funny one in the group, always finding something to entertain him and his friends. Though his playful personality did not stop him from excelling as a Jedi Padawan.

Reeft was some-what the nerd of the group. It seemed like the only people he really opened up to were that of his friends. He was always talking with them, and when he did not accompany them, he was the quiet sort. His black hair was neatly tucked back into his ponytail, and his braid stuck out from right behind his head.

Kenobi signed himself out, and nodded to me, smiling, "See you after lunch Tachi."

I didn't reply, as I signed myself out. I found my blonde apprentice's braid between my curls, and ran my fingers over it subconsciously as I watched the three friends walk away together, laughing.

I turned away from the data pad, and saw Bruck waiting for me. I smiled at my friend, and walked toward him.

"Defying the dress code again, I see." His low velvet voice teased.

"You bet." I punched him in the arm lightly.

"Siri, you've got to start listening to your Master."

"Please, Bruck. She doesn't mind. And the council doesn't seem to mind either. Calm down."

Bruck had stunning features, and maybe if he didn't have such a bitter personality more people would be attracted to him. His skin was darker,

Bruck Chun maybe wasn't the best type of person to others, but he was always nice to me. Never once did he treat me with the sourness I've seen him treat others with. I knew there was a sweetness that was dying to come out of him. He was always allowed to show that side of him with me. He was truly a sweet friend, tying to look after me. But sometimes he could be a real jerk. He was a total drama king if you allowed him. And periodically we found our two strong personalities butted heads.

He shook his head and mocked being disappointed with me. I laughed and jumped up to his dark locks, shaking them. He grunted playfully and smiled a rare smile in my direction. I flashed back at him, thinking about how so many people misjudged him, and why he would act so mean to others.

Bruck was such a good friend of mine. I could never imagine him as anything else. But sometimes I had the feeling that he wanted so much more from me, that I wasn't ready to give. At least, not to him.

/Obi-Wan Kenobi/

Over the next two weeks during our punishment, I had a lot of attitude thrown my way. Glares we shot, words were spat, and I always received the annoyance from her when I would only smile at her actions.

Slowly but surely, I was prying myself into Siri Tachi's life, and hopefully, if she allowed me, into her friendship.

And one day I made a break-through.

We were heading to meditation together, like we always did.

"Get enough sleep last night Kenobi? You're going to need all your strength for class later today."

I grinned, "Is that a challenge?"

"Possibly." She arched a perfect eyebrow at me.

"You know if you spent as much time practicing your attitude as you do your lightsaber skills you may actually pass for a good Padawan." I teased her, trying to get on her nerves.

She looked up at me and smiled, her a rare and positively radiant smile.

"You know, if you spent half the time you do trying to insult me as you do your saber skills, you might actually be good at it." She shot playfully back, still smiling up at me.

"Ooh, that one stung." I said, teasing her.

We reached the data pad and signed ourselves in. We searched the vacant room for our familiar seats in the room. We sat and no words were said as we prepared ourselves to meditation. I heard an exasperated sigh from her when I closed my eyes for a moment's time. I opened one eye, peeking at her.

She was holding one knee close to her body with both her delicate hands, while the other was dangling limply from the meditation seat. A sheen of blonde curls fell loosely over her face, as she stared at something I could not see.

I reached out shyly with the force, trying to sense her. I felt rushes of certain emotions I could not comprehend. I did manage to realize that something was troubling her. I intended to find out what.

"Siri?"

Her eyes lifted slowly to mine, her eyes still caught up in her thoughts.

"What's wrong?"

She took a deep breath, and her eyes closed thoughtfully. I waited patiently for her to speak. I was entirely stunned that I was allowed to see her like this. She barely ever let her emotions control her facial expressions.

"A had a dream…A nightmare."

"What was it about?" I prompted her gently.

"At first it was about our mission on Sorrus…then…" her face grew painful, "Then it was about my family." She paused for a moment, "about Alderaan."

I waited for her to continue, my feelings grave.

"I-I was on Alderaan." She gulped, "with my mother…with my entire family. I don't remember my family very well, but my mother-" she closed her eyes and a small smile shone on her face, "I remember her perfectly." The smile fell as she remembered the nightmare.

"We-we were all in the fields-were I think my home used to be-and I felt…a disturbance. I couldn't see anything then, blackness surrounded my dream, but-but I could still feel them, hear them-"

Tears overwhelmed her green eyes, and I moved off my couch and to her side, placing my hands comfortingly on her shoulder and arm. She continued.

"There was so much pain, it hurt so much, you could not imagine. It was like- like every living thing had been ruthlessly murdered at the same time. I heard…I heard a thousand screams all cry out at once…and were silenced." Tears fell from her eyes as she spoke.

I rubbed her shoulders sensitively, trying to get her to calm.

Abruptly, she twisted in the couch, and her face fell into my chest. Tears soaked my robes, but I dare not move her. Her arms wrapped around my chest, holding me close for comfort. I held her in my arms, and decided to help her through this.

I closed my eyes, stretching out with the force and found her Force signature. It was unusually open; the barrier around her mind was down temporarily, I was sure. For now, I used the Force to help her, like I did on Sorrus.

I linked our minds carefully together, and then settled a calm around us both. I focused only on our matching breaths, our matching heart beats, we were one mind, two bodies. I guided her into deep meditation, releasing all dark thoughts of the nightmare to the Force.

We stayed that way, just holding each other. I didn't know how long we were like that, and nor did I care.

I was finally in Siri's life, I was finally her friend. Warmth shot through my body, it might have been meditation, or something I felt from her, but there was defiantly something there. It was like we had formed a primitive bond between our two minds.

"Obi-Wan?" a small familiar voice echoed in my ears somewhere near.

I blinked open my eyes, remembering my surroundings.

I turned to the voice, and found Bant's face looking very confused. Behind her were Garen and Reeft, also looking very bewildered at the sight before them.

"It time for lunch." Garen's voice was a little wary as he stared down at Siri.

I felt Siri stir as she was gradually draining in her surroundings. Her head lifted from my chest, and her arms quickly retreated from my back, releasing her hold on me. She stood up on her own, clearing her throat awkwardly and kept flicking her eyes from me to my friends.

"Umm, have you officially met Siri?" I said, my voice strong and innocent.

"Yeah, we have the same classes." Garen said, a smile creeping across his face. He turned his eyes to Siri, "He's a little out of it today huh?"

Siri smiled at Garen, "Yeah, yeah he is."

"Well, If Obi wants it official," Garen held out a hand, "I'm Garen Mulun."

Siri smiled at my friend's charm and shook his hand, "I'm Siri Tachi."

From that moment, the awkward feeling was released from the situation. Garen had a talent for that kind of thing.

I smiled as my friends each 'introduced' themselves to Siri, all playing along. For a brief moment I looked beyond my friends, and the smile was wiped right off my face.

Bruck Chun stood at the door. He was staring at the five of us, his ember eyes gleaming with an emotion I couldn't read. Our eyes locked, and his eyes were narrowing his eyes at me.

Chun and I had our fights before. We had our differences, and I seriously think that he thought of me as his mortal enemy. I hated having some one to hate me, and I hated disliking someone as much as I disliked Chun. Before, we had fought to impress Qui-Gon, and now he and I had a certain boundary between us.

I knew him and Siri where friends. He started at Garen and me with a certain hate and jealously burning in his eyes. I wondered how long he had been standing there, watching us. I had a dark hunch that he saw her in my arms, and that infuriated him.

I had a bad feeling about this.

"There Obi. Now that we are all officiallyintroduced, why don't we go to lunch? I'm sure Reeft is starving." Garen said playfully. I imagine Garen saw my face then, and followed my gaze to Chun.

The room grew silent again.

Chun's eyes shifted from mine to Siri's. There was a sparkle in his eye, a feeling that I recognized. He was completely enamored of her.

I looked at Siri, and saw her eyes following everyone else's. I saw the deep friendship she felt for him, and realized that she was oblivious to his feelings for her. All she saw out of their relationship was just a reliable confidante. While he saw so much more out of it, he wanted so much more from her.

After a moment's glaring, Chun turned his back on us with a whirl of his cloak, stalking to the dining quarters.

"Umm, I'll see you in class later?" Siri said to us, not taking her eyes away from her best friend.

I felt a slight pang of jealously as I saw how much she cared for him. I found myself thinking why I couldn't be that guy in her life, and not Chun. He was so rude and so easy to dislike, why did she become friends with him? I could've been him.

I wiped away the feelings and answered her, "Sure, see you there." I said, my voice sounding unconcerned.

Without another word she swept after Chun, yelling his name and catching up to him.

Garen snorted beside me, "What's his problem?"

"I don't know." I lied convincingly. I managed to show a smile on my face, "Anyway, let go eat. I'm starving!"

I knew Garen sensed something was up with me, but being the friend he was, he would be patient until I was ready to tell him. He was such a good friend.

Bant was suspicious about this entire scenario, and I knew that she would slip in little annoying questions and hints all through out today until I told her what was happening.

Reeft had a smile on his face, blind to what was happening. His thoughts were probably only focused on the food that awaited him in the other room.

I tried my best to keep smiling and acting normal with my friends, but truthfully, I couldn't get her beautiful emerald eyes out of my mind.