A/N: Sorry for the wait, readers. Between work and my already crowded free time, I forget sometimes to update...even when six chapters are already ready. ;)
4. Tatooine
The ship landed on the deserted planet – sending a warning into Irri's mind – on the outskirts of a small city.
Qui-Gon had advised Aayla and Irri to wear beige cloaks over their Jedi outfits – even if Aayla's barely there outfit couldn't be qualified as Jedi-like.
The small droid that had saved the ship earlier, R2-D2, was to accompany them, as well as Jar-Jar Binks, who would not leave Qui-Gon's side.
The two suns of the planet burnt Irri's pale skin.
As it did Jar-Jar's apparently.
"The sand it kill missa's skin."
"Wait!"
The group stopped and turned around, only to see Captain Panaka and a young handmaiden walk their way.
"Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you."
"No more commands from her Highness today, Captain. This space trek is not going to be pleasant."
"The Queen wishes it. She's curious about the planet."
Qui-Gon sighed. "This is not a good idea. Stay close to me."
The handmaiden didn't speak a word and fell into pace with the Jedi Master, while Irri looked at her closely.
She shouldn't have been older than fifteen, and yet there was a stance about her, something in her air that looked older by at least five years. Maybe being a Queen's handmaiden made you age quicker.
Irri was trotting now to keep up the pace. Master Qui-Gon was a tall man and took long strides, as did Jar-Jar and her own master. The little mech, with his wheels, had no problem keeping up.
But she was still short. And she wouldn't like running in the middle of the desert by a mile.
Once they reached the city, Mater Jinn seemed to assess what kind of people they'd meet.
"Farmers, for the most part, some indigents tribes, and carpenters. A small space-port like this one are havens for those who do not wish to be found."
"Like us."
Irri's ears tickled at the sound of the handmaiden's voice. It was awfully familiar, and yet she was certain she had never spoken with her before.
Aayla stopped the group. "Master Jinn, Irri and I will now leave you to your search for a hyperdrive. We have to look for a way to go back to Coruscant as soon as possible."
The handmaiden seemed troubled by this. "And not taking Her Highness with you?"
Master Jinn sighed. "Master Secura and her padawan are more than able to reach Coruscant before we do and alert the Senate before your queen and vouch for their witness. It is safer for a child Irri's age to be off this planet as soon as possible."
Irri protested. "I'm completely able to fend for myself, Master Jinn."
He chuckled. "As much as I'd like to agree, I do not, little one." He then bowed his head to her master, and left with his company.
Leaving Aayla and Irri alone in the middle of a very unknown place.
!-!-!-!-!
"We shall start with a local bar. That's where you usually can find pilots off duty."
Irri kicked in a stone. "And I'll have to wait outside."
"And you will be patient, young padawan. These last few days, you have been awfully close to a dangerous path I do not wish you to cross. You will wait for me, and you will stay out of trouble."
"Yes Master."
"Good. Now come. I do not like the idea of lingering here."
!-!-!-!-!
They both soon found a small bar in the middle of the city.
Master Secura took off her cloak, counting on her stunning appearance to guarantee them a free trip to Coruscant.
She put her cloak in Irri's hands and leaned down to look directly into her eyes.
"Do not move from this spot on any circumstance, understand?"
Irri winced. "What if I'm under attack?"
"You won't be. If I know something for sure, it is that this planet is familiar with slavery. I shall make you my slave. No one will harm you." She turned around and passed the dark tunnel leading to the establishment.
Irri grunted between her teeth. "A slave. Great."
!-!-!-!-!
It only took ten minutes to Aayla before she exited the bar, a satisfied smile playing on her lips.
She took her cloak back from Irri's hands and wrapped it back around her frame.
"So?"
Aayla sighed. "Patience, I said."
"Sorry."
Her master chuckled. "We have our man. He's a spice trader. But he won't leave this planet before a certain podrace which takes place tomorrow."
"Podrace? What is that?"
"I do not know, and do not wish to. Come, let's go back to the ship, I fear a sandstorm is coming."
Irri nodded and hurried behind her master, wishing they'd get back to the ship before being hit by the storm, and wondering what on Earth was a podrace...
!-!-!-!-!
They reached the ship while wind and sand were starting a dangerous dance.
Obi-Wan and the Captain Panaka were waiting for them. Well, all of them.
Aayla walked to the padawan. "I fear they haven't yet exited the city."
"This storm will slow them down."
The Captain's com bleeped. "It looks pretty bad." He took the com. "Panaka?"
"We're receiving a message from home."
"I'll be right back."
Obi-Wan waited for Irri to pass him to follow. "So, in what kind of trouble did you put yourself this time."
It was her master who answered. "Surprisingly so, none." Irri stuck her tongue at her back. "And I sensed that."
!-!-!-!-!
They all sat down in the "throne room" of the ship, where the holographic form of the ambassador soon appeared.
Irri listened carefully.
"The death toll is catastrophic. I must bow to their wishes. You must contact me."
Obi-Wan immediately rose. "It's a trick. Send no reply. Send no transmissions of any kind." And he exited the room.
Irri rose along with her master, who turned to the Queen. "I believe he is right. Do not answer, or they will find us."
The Queen nodded. "Understood."
Irri's ears tickled again. And when she finally understood what bugged her, her blue eyes met those, equally blue, of Eirtaé on the "queen"'s side. She shook her head, and Irri closed her gaping mouth. She nodded back, and hurried out.
!-!-!-!-!
Irri left her master and Obi-Wan contact Master Jinn back in the city, while she herself was waiting outside the queen's quarters.
Eirtaé showed up not late after.
"Irri..."
The young padawan couldn't restrain herself any longer. "The Queen's Sabé! So the real one has gone with Master Jinn in the city, that's why I recognized-" Eirtaé pushed a hand to her mouth, cutting her out.
"Don't tell anyone. Not even the Captain knows."
Irri shook her head and the handmaiden released her. "I swear I won't tell a soul."
"Good. Not let me accompany you back to your quarters. I long to know how you came back to Theed."
!-!-!-!-!
They both reached the deck at the same time as Obi-Wan ran to meet Irri.
"Irri, I need you in the cockpit." Then his eyes settled on Eirtaé, and he zeroed on her.
As she zeroed on him, apparently.
Irri mistook their staring. "Oh, yes, I guess I'll have to introduce you. So, Obi-Wan Kenobi, this is Eirtaé, handmaiden to Queen Amidala."
He cleared his throat. "Pleasure."
She smiled kindly. "The pleasure is all mine, padawan." Then she turned to Irri, who found out she was faintly blushing. "I'll leave you to help your friend here. If you ever wish to speak with me, you know where to find me."
And she hurried in the opposite direction.
Obi-Wan sighed deeply before taking Irri's hand and pulling her to the cockpit.
Turned out he needed her little expertise to find out what the radar pointed out in the desert.
Something – some twitch in the Force – told her it wasn't a sand-beast.
!-!-!-!-!
Later that day, Irri was dodging some blast off a training ball usually used for light-sabre training.
Obi-Wan found her twirling around like a ninja.
"Irri!"
She stopped in her tracks and gained a good blast right on the arm. "Ow! Obi-Wan!"
He chuckled. "Sorry. Can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Sure." She hurried to the table he sat at.
Her fellow padawan carefully took her wounded arm and checked the burn, then went into his pocket to retrieve a balm he applied on it. "Tomorrow you are leaving, am I right?"
"Yes, after that podrace I still know nothing about."
"Master Jinn has found a boy with unlikely high midichlorian count. He's betting our ship against a hyperdrive, and I guess, the boy himself."
"So?"
"I feel something is off with the Force, can't you?"
"Have you asked Master Secura?"
"No, she is meditating right now. I wanted to ask you. You have a strong link with the Force for someone your age. I wondered."
Irri sighed and closed her mind off her surroundings, settling onto the Force.
"Yes, sure enough, there is a disturbance, and it seems to revolve around a young boy."
"That's what I feared." Obi-Wan stood. "When you reach Coruscant, promise me you will try and find something about people who have more than 20,000 midichlorian count per millilitre of blood in the Archives."
Irri furrowed her brows. "I will, I promise, but, what for?"
Obi-Wan paused before answering. "Apparently, the boy has no father at all."
And he exited the room.
!-!-!-!-!
Irri was looking through a window on a base settled on an asteroid.
Behind her, a much older Obi-Wan, now ginger and bearing a strong beard, appeared and settled beside her.
"Thank you for bringing her to safety."
"You can thank Senator Organa too."
"I have already. How are you?"
"Heartbroken like never before." She sighed deeply. "I cannot understand why he did this."
"He had his reasons. And now, we must hide."
"I won't hide, Obi-Wan. I have to at least try and reason him."
"You won't succeed, Irri."
"And yet I know I have to try."
His hand gripped hers hard. "I won't lose you too, my friend."
She turned and faced him. "Eirtaé... I am so sorry for her loss."
A tear fell into his beard. He ignored it. "Thank you."
And Irri hugged Obi-Wan very tight, while her mind journeyed somewhere onto a huge ship called the Executor, where she knew lied her last mission...