Part 4~Qui-Gon

Qui-Gon studied the woman before him careful, weighing whether or not he could fully trust her. Certainly telling her could be no worse than remaining silent. It's not as though things could become any more confusing. After finishing the final bite of something Natalie blithely identified as pizza, he began, "I feel I should tell you exactly what my situation is."

She groaned, letting the crust of her pizza fall to the plate with a clunk. Large, dark eyes peered up at him expectantly. "Well? What is it? Married? Gay? Axe murderer?"

Smiling at the obvious sarcasm in her voice, Qui-Gon plunged ahead. "No. You see, I'm exactly from around here."

"I figured that much out. Running from the mob?"

"I . . . No, I don't believe so. You see, I was on a mission with my Padawan when . . . I really don't know what happened. But I was here. I'm supposed to be on Milrea at the moment assisting with the drafting of a peace treaty." Silently, he hoped that Obi-Wan was alright and still on the ship where he belonged. "Actually, I'm quite worried about my Padawan."

Natalie had reacted little if at all through the narrative. "Okay, I'll bite. What's a Padawan?"

Torn between certainty that she believed him to be a lunatic and the comfort of her trust, he replied, "My apprentice. I'm training him to be a Jedi."

"Jedi? Okay. I can handle that. At least you don't drink blood," she added somewhat bitterly, taking a long swig of her root beer.

"Blood? Er, no. No, I don't drink blood. Natalie, are you quite alright?"

"Oh, yeah. Just fine. Why is it that all of the men I meet are in some way completely wrong for me? Either they're vampires or killers or... Jedi Masters. I would for once like to meet a guy, go out to dinner and have him just be a nice guy. Of course, if I keep picking up guys on street corners and in morgues, that probably won't happen." She sighed and held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. "Well, I'm involved now. I'm always involved. You haven't killed me yet. Prime Directive or something, right?"

"I'm not sure what that is, but I can assure you that I have no intention of killing you. I would, however, be glad of any help you could give me. I don't know this place. I have no idea where I might stay or whether they would accept republic credits in payment." Qui-Gon saw no point in beating about the bush when she seemed just as comfortable to speak openly.

"Credits? I doubt it. Don't worry about that, though." Natalie stood, hiking her purse back onto her shoulder. "C'mon, back to the car. You can stay at my place."