Chapter 7

Most of the way back to the campsite Obi-Wan silently fumed at his Master's horrible timing. He had been seconds away from kissing Satine when Qui-Gon came barging up the hill ruining everything. After a few hours of walking however, he finally managed to release his frustrations into the Force. It simply hadn't been the right time he decided and when it was, he felt certain another opportunity would present itself.

In the meantime Obi-Wan tried to be content with the memory of their day together. It had been so enjoyable! Besides the "Jedi Jamboree" game, they had gone on a few rides and shared a bag of caramel bang-corn Eventually his thoughts turned to the almost-kiss. There was something about was the look in her eyes as he had leaned forward. He had seen excitement, anticipation, desire, and something warm and beautiful he couldn't quite define. Just remembering it made his heart somersault. He looked over at Satine who had been uncharacteristically quiet and wondered what she was thinking.

As they approached the campsite Qui-Gon stopped and held up his hand.

"Do you feel that?" he asked.

"Feel what?" Obi-Wan had been so preoccupied by his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed anything. Then he felt it too. A large ripple in the Force and the distinct presence of others. His danger sense prickled. They weren't alone. How had he missed something so obvious? Immediately he reached for his lightsaber.

"Satine, go back down the path and find a place to hide. We will take care of this and then come find you." Qui-Gon instructed. Satine nodded and immediately turned back the way they had come.

Once she was safely out of sight, the two Jedi silently crept through the trees until they were close enough to see the campsite. In the clearing near the cave stood two swoops. A large male Barabel and a female Chiss stood near the vehicles talking.

"This has to be it. That ship matches the description we were given and it's obvious they've been camped out here for some time." the Chiss said.

"Yesssss," her companion hissed. "but where are they? We've checked the whole area."

"Wherever they are they can't leave without the ship. We'll wait and surprise them when they get back."

The Barabel looked annoyed. "We've been after this girl for weeks, Jerra. I'm sick of waiting. They already got away from us on Mandalore once."

"That was your fault lizard breath! Don't blame me for your incompetence." the Chiss spat angrily. "If you hadn't…" the argument continued to intensify.

"Master, what are we going to do? We can't just sit here waiting for them to leave." Obi-Wan whispered.

Qui-Gon nodded, deep in thought. "What we need is a distraction," His eyes scanned the campsite and and came to rest on the two swoops. "and I've got an idea."

Obi-Wan carefully glanced down to check his position. He had circled around the campsite and climbed onto a jagged ledge of rock that protruded above the mouth of the cave. From where he crouched he could see the bounty hunters below him. Across the clearing he noted that Qui-Gon was hidden behind a tree near the ship. It was time. Without any hesitation he leapt off the ledge and landed hard on the two bounty hunters knocking them both to the ground. Then he immediately jumped onto one of the swoops and took off at top speed. Behind him he could hear shouting.

"It's one of the Jedi! Get him!" screamed Jerra. Her companion was on the other swoop in no time and began giving chase.

A blaster shot zinged past Obi-Wan's ear followed closely by several more. He dodged and weaved through the trees to avoid being hit but couldn't seem to shake the other swoop. A quick glance back told him that the Barabel was gaining fast. This would never do! Finally he decided to change tactics. Whipping around a large tree, he turned the swoop back and gunned the engine hard straight towards the other vehicle. At first the bounty hunter kept blasting. Then, when he realized Obi-Wan wasn't slowing down and they were about to crash, a look of panic filled his cold reptilian eyes. The bounty hunter waited a few seconds longer before jerking the controls to the side to avoid the collision.

The quick turn sent the swoop careening out of control. It started to spin, throwing the bounty hunter to the ground before smashing into a tree with a loud explosion. He twitched slightly and then was still. Obi-Wan sped over to check on him. There was a large gash on his forehead and his arm was bent at an odd angle, but he was still breathing and would be alright once he regained consciousness again.

As Obi-Wan rode back towards the cave the swoop's engine began sputtering. Apparently one of the blaster shots had hit something important for when he stopped a puddle of oil began to form on the ground. Qui-Gon was tying the other bounty hunter to a tree. He looked up and nodded.

"What happened? his Master asked.

"He crashed the swoop and will probably be unconscious for a long while."

"Good. That should give us time to collect our charge and get out of here." The female bounty hunter struggled against the ropes as Qui-Gon pulled them tighter. "If you remain still this won't hurt." he told her

"Jedi scum! You think you've won, don't you?" she growled.

"Well, you are tied up." Obi-Wan pointed out.

Jerra scowled at them darkly. "Go ahead. Make jokes. It'll just give my droids more time to find the Duchess."

The blood in Obi-Wan's veins froze. "Droids?"

Her mouth twisted into an evil grin. "Assassin droids. We deployed them when we found the cave. They search using thermal imaging and since the bounty is good either dead or alive, they're programed to kill her on sight."

Obi-Wan could hear her laughing as he frantically ran down the path to look for Satine. He reached the spot where they had told her to hide and began searching the surrounding forrest. She was nowhere to be seen. Forcing himself to calm down, he reached out to the Force. She was close, he could feel it. Suddenly the leaves of a bush a few yards away began to rustle. To his great relief, Satine began to crawl out from under the sheltering branches. Unfortunately his relief was short lived. Just as she emerged, a whirring sound filled the air. The droids!

"Get behind me, Satine." He commanded as the first droid floated into sight. It was immediately followed by two more. They all started firing at once. Obi-Wan's lightsaber flew with through the air with lightning speed deflecting shot after shot. One of the droids went down after being hit by some of the deflected fire. The other two seemed to compensate for their companion's loss by increasing the intensity of their attack. This had to stop! With a mighty Force enhanced leap, Obi-Wan flew into the air and slashed one of the droids in half, then turned as he fell and destroyed the other with a powerful downward blow. They fell to the ground in a smoking heap.

Satine was visibly shaking he noticed as he assessed her for injury. Thankfully she was unharmed.

"They would have killed me if you hadn't…" she struggled to finish her sentence. "You're always around when I need you most." She stepped closer and embraced him. "Thank you."

The way she melted against him was the most wonderful feeling in the galaxy. He awkwardly put his arms around her. "You're welcome. I…"

"Ouch!" Satine yelped.

Obi-Wan tensed. "What's wrong?" he asked. While he hadn't seen any injuries from the assassin droids, perhaps he had missed something. A fury at the bounty hunters unlike anything he'd ever felt before gripped him. If they had harmed even one hair on Satine's head….

"Something stung me." she stepped away from him and swatted at the back of her neck. His danger sense was prickling again. There was a low humming sound and suddenly the air around them was filled with flying insects. Obi-Wan looked at the ground and saw more of the creatures emerging from a small hole in the dirt. He had obviously disturbed a nest when he landed after jumping to get the droids.

"Venomites!" he yelled and grabbed Satine's hand. "Run!"

They raced away from the nest with the angry venomites in hot pursuit. He ducked through several areas of underbrush trying to confuse them but still they continued to give chase. Beside him, Satine kept pace and he admired her stamina. Unfortunately their luck was about to run out. As they ran over a rather uneven patch of ground, Satine twisted her ankle and fell with a cry. Obi-Wan's heart constricted at the sound. He stopped and looked back. The swarm was still after them and there was no way Satine could keep running on a sprained ankle.

He scooped her up in his arms and began running as fast as he could. Finally he saw the silver-gray outline of their ship through the trees. They were going to make it! With a burst of energy from the Force he began to sprint the last few hundred feet. He could see Qui-Gon standing on the boarding ramp looking anxiously into the woods.

They made it almost to the ship when his foot caught on the root of a tree and he went sprawling. Satine screamed as she flew out of his arms and landed in a heap a few feet away. The noise alerted Qui-Gon who came running back down the ramp just in time to see the two of them limping as fast as they could into the clearing. They were covered in mud, sticks, leaves, and ugly, swollen venomite stings.

"What happened to you two?" Qui-Gon's eyebrows drew together.

"Quickly! Master…close the ramp! Obi-Wan shouted as Qui-Gon ran forward to help them onboard. They made it inside and closed the ramp just as the hoard of venomites buzzed into view.

"I think that is the last of them." Qui-Gon said as he finished tending to the venomite stings on Obi-Wan's back. Several of the insects had gotten down the neck of his tunic and stung him repeatedly. The thick paste of baking soda and water felt wonderfully cool and soothing against the hot, painful welts. His Master wiped his hands on a towel and stood to leave the room. "I'll go check on Satine again and set the navicomputer to make the next jump. You should get some rest."

"How is she?" Obi-Wan asked. "I feel terrible about this. It's all my fault." he sighed. She had been stung a multitude of times also, as well as having a twisted ankle and a large, deep cut on her knee from being dropped.

"That's funny. To hear Satine tell it, you're quite the hero." Qui-Gon smiled at him kindly. "Don't worry Padawan. Some bacta and a few days rest for the ankle and she'll be fine. Just be thankful neither of you are allergic to venomite stings."

That thought hadn't even occurred to Obi-Wan and he shuddered as his Master headed for the door.

"Try and get some sleep."

"I will. Thank you Master." he replied.

"You're welcome. Oh, and Obi-Wan…"

"Yes?"

"Try not to scratch." Qui-Gon said with a grin as he shut the door behind him.

Obi-Wan used the Force to flick off the overhead light and tried to relax but sleep eluded him. A million worries crowded his thoughts. Being around Satine made him happier and more content than he ever remembered feeling in his life. He craved being near her. Even now, when he remembered how she had embraced him before the venomites attacked, his stomach felt as if it were full of butterflies and a pleasant shiver washed over him. She was intoxicating.

On the other hand, the amount of anger and hatred he had felt when he thought the droids had hurt Satine scared him. He had been angry before, of course, but never like that. It also bothered him that he hadn't noticed the presence of the bounty hunters in the Force. He had been so caught up in his thoughts of Satine that he would have walked right into camp totally unprepared to defend her. This was precisely the reason why attachments were forbidden.

The thought gave him pause. Was this actually an attachment? Of course he was attracted to her, but they were merely friends weren't they? Surely Satine knew that as a member of the Jedi order he couldn't get involved romantically. She did like him though, he was sure of that. What was it Qui-Gon had said…she thought he was heroic? A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Would she be content having a noncommittal physical relationship? Would he? The answers to these questions eluded him.

At last, exhaustion overcame him and he drifted off to sleep. The answers would come, he was sure. He just needed to make sure he didn't do anything he might regret later in the meantime.

A few days later, they landed on the planet Onderon because they needed to refuel. Obi-Wan breathed a sigh of relief as the space port came into view. They had been coasting on fumes for much longer than he was comfortable with. As soon as they docked, a worker from the space port ran up to meet them.

"We need fuel." Qui-Gon told him. "How long will it take to fill it up?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait. We're all sold out and won't get another shipment until morning." the dock worker replied. "The next closest fuel stop is a few planets over if you want to keep going. Otherwise," he gestured to the mostly open hanger around them, "We've got plenty of space to leave it here for the night and we'll fill it up as soon as we can tomorrow."

This was not what they wanted to hear, but there was no way they could make it to another station. "Then I suppose we shall have to wait." Qui-Gon told the worker. He paid the fee to park for the night. Then the three of them collected a few belongings, put on hooded cloaks to help conceal their identities, and began to walk into the surrounding city of Iziz.

"I don't like this." Obi-Wan commented to his Master. "We're far too exposed here. We should find somewhere to stay and get off the streets. The faster we get out of sight the better."

Qui-Gon nodded as he looked around. "I agree." They were just passing a small diner. It didn't appear to be very crowded. "Take Satine in there. Get a seat in the back and order something while I find us a place to stay."

"Alright." Obi-Wan answered. "We'll be here." He watched as Qui-Gon walked purposefully down the sidewalk and then turned to Satine. He smiled brightly and gestured towards the door of the restaurant. "Shall we?"

Once inside, Obi-Wan looked around. He noticed a door in the back that he assumed led to the kitchen as well as a sign pointing towards the refreshers. There was a holovision playing a smash ball game on the wall. A few tired looking men sat at the counter with their backs towards the door while an older looking waitress refilled their cups with caff. She squinted at them through thick spectacles

.

"Pick a booth sweetie." she smiled at Obi-Wan. "I'll be with you in a minute."

They made their way to the back of the dining room and slid into the last booth. Obi-Wan made sure to take the seat facing the door so he could see anyone who entered. When waitress bustled over and offered them menus his stomach audibly growled.

"My goodness, your poor boyfriend is starving!" she said to Satine who blushed a deep red before turning her attention to Obi-Wan. "What'll ya have?"

"I'd like a bantha burger, some protato fries, and a chocolate shake." he said without even looking at the menu.

She marked his choices down on a data pad and then looked at Satine expectantly. "And what about you, darlin'?"

"I'll have the same, except I'd like a starblossom milkshake if you have any."

The waitress nodded. "We make shakes are the best on Onderon. It'll be out in a few minutes." she said and headed off to put in their orders. She soon came back with a try piled high with food. It smelled delicious and they both began eating.

"Mmm.." Satine moaned as she sipped her milkshake. "This is wonderful. It reminds me of a little place on Mandalore." She plucked the large piece of Starblossom fruit that garnished the edge of the glass free and bit into it thoughtfully. A look of sadness clouded her beautiful features. "Oh, Obi. Do you suppose I'll ever be able to go home again?"

He tried to imagine what it must be like for her. Would he be able to survive knowing he'd never see the Temple again? It was an awful thought. Times were changing though. Perhaps someday she could make her fellow Mandalorians see the light and embrace peace. He certainly hoped so. "I'm sure of it." he smiled. "Things may look daunting now, but if anyone can convince people to try a new way of life, you can."

She blushed and looked down at the table. "I never properly thanked you for saving my life the other day."

Now it was Obi-Wan's turn to blush. "There's no need for thanks. I…" The bell on the door rang as another customer entered. He glanced up to see who it was and promptly pulled up his hood while motioning for Satine to do the same. A large Barabel with a bandage around his head made his way to the counter and hissed something to the waitress. He took out a holopic and showed it to her. She readjusted her spectacles and looked at it closely. They needed to get out of here fast. He threw some credits on the table and silently rose from the booth. Taking Satine's hand they quietly headed for the door that led to the kitchen.

He could hear the waitress talking as they ran for the back door.

"Duchess? Jedi? No, I haven't seen anyone like that in here…We've only had our regulars and a sweet young couple I've never seen before. They're sitting right over…hey, where did they go?"

Once outside they found themselves in a narrow alley. Before they had time to run, the door of the cafe burst open and the bounty hunter stomped out.

He rubbed his scaly hands together and cracked his knuckles with a wide grin. "Well, look what we have here."

Obi-Wan pushed Satine behind him. Suddenly he remembered something. The other bounty hunter had obviously been the brains of their operation. Perhaps if he tried…

"We're not the people you are looking for." He waved his hand in the bounty hunter's face and a glazed look filled his eyes.

"You're not the people I was looking for." he said.

"You should go back to your ship. There's no need to mention what happened here."

"I think I'll go back to the ship."

With that, the Barabel turned and walked away. Obi-Wan looked at Satine and grinned. "Well, I don't think we'll be seeing him again for a while. Shall we go back inside and finish our…" Satine gazed up at him with a strange light blazing in her eyes. He wondered what it meant.

In a flash she launched herself across the alley, grabbed the lapels of his tabard and began kissing him. Her lips were warm and sweet from the starblossom fruit. Silky waves of fair hair caressed his cheek and he caught the scent of jade roses that was uniquely Satine. The soft curve of her breasts pressed against his chest as her arms slipped around his neck. When her tongue gently sought his own hot sparks of electricity jolted through his body. He could resist no longer and with an audible groan, pulled her closer and began hungrily kissing her back.

All the pent up attraction that had been building for months found release as they devoured each other. Finally, they broke apart gasping for air. Somehow, he had managed to pin Satine against the wall of the diner with his body, certain parts of which were becoming embarrassingly hard. He stepped back immediately and turned away to try and compose himself. That was how Qui-Gon found them a few moments later.

"Alright, I managed to find us a place to stay for the night. It's…" Lust saturated the Force so completely it was almost palpable. Qui-Gon stopped and took in the sight before him. Satine was leaning back against the wall, her usually neat hairstyle ruffled and out of place. She gazed at Obi-Wan with slightly unfocused eyes, her lips swollen and red. His padawan was standing a few feet away with his back to the Duchess. He had a stunned expression on his face which, Qui-Gon noted, was slightly smeared with lipstick. Both were breathing hard. Oh, dear.

"Am I interrupting anything?" he asked quietly.