Christa and the Gardniers walked into town from the landing station and booked a suite at the Coruscant Gardens Bed and Breakfast near the Senate Hall.

The trip from Olvea, which was on the outskirts of the outer rim territories was a long one. It had taken some time to get there with Breha, and just as long to get back. In all, a three week period had lapsed since she had last seen Mr. and Mrs. Binks. But the trip was worth it. Her thoughts had been less occupied by the situation between herself and Mr. Kenobi.

After some rest, the Gardiner's and Christa first toured the Senate. There they saw the Chancellor, who invited them to dinner. He was usual nosy self, and commenced to interrogating Christa about her private life again, much to the bemusement of her companions who thought him rude and impertinent. When they were done, they visited the hall. It was lovely, adorned with beautiful art, and furnished with thousands of chairs and bold light infrastructures. Mr. Gardiner talked about the history of some of the art that lined the walls which he had studied as a youngster with his wife and Christa, and the number of planets and Senators. They sat in some of the chairs and discussed politics with the Chancellor. Christa noted just how imperialistic Chancellor Palpatine was, but reserved opinion on the man, save for another time.

They soon parted company with the politician, the Gardniers eventually more impressed with him than Christa. They remarked on his manner of speaking, how kind he was in inviting mere civilians, such as they were, to dinner. Although, Mr. Gardiner was a bit more prominent than that, as he had been anointed by Olvea's Head of State a minor position Christa which could not remember.

The following morning, the companions rose at dawn. Christa chose, either consciously or unconsciously to wear her prettiest dress. The Gardniers had scheduled a tour of the Jedi Temple.

They traveled there by airbus. The Gardiners made no attempt to disguise their excitement upon entering the ancient grounds. The temple was beautiful with shiny marble floors and large stone columns that stretched to an arched ceiling of elaborately decorated stain glass windows. From there, sunlight filtered through the colorful images and stream onto the visitors and the grand hall.

Seeing the temple with her own eyes, she could easily understand the source of Obi Wan Kenobi's arrogance. Or what she misconstrued as arrogance...which was loyalty to the Order that trained and bred him. He admitted in his speech to her that the proposal had gone against his faith and honor but he was willing to sacrifice it all for her! The realization struck Christa right in the heart... His haughty attitude to her was as he said, a subconscious reaction to his attraction to her, an effort to resist it. And though his words were unkind in his attempt to belittle her beauty and character, they both had behaved so poorly in the end.

Christa and the Gardiners walked through the temple, admiring the architecture of the ancient building, admiring the art, and admiring the many books in its library. Christa spoke at length to the librarian who explained the history of the temple and its many heroes. At the end of her speech, when she finally spoke of Obi Wan Kenobi, Christa tried her best not to look too interested. But to her surprise, the Gardiners wanted to hear more about the man, asking about his character, which the librarian praised, saying that he was the kindest person she had ever met. The Gardiners then pulled Christa away. She was hoping to learn more about his residence, his place in the temple, or whether he lived off grounds. But not without wondering why she longed to know more.

When they were done were done touring the more public areas, a guide then showed them the living quarters. The rooms were small, belonging to many of the younger Jedi and Padawans, most of whom were off on adventures and other missions. The guide conveyed to the group that the quarters were seldom used. Against her better judgement, Christa asked about Obi Wan Kenobi and was told he lived away from the temple, further into the city. The Gardniers suggested they pay his residence a visit, as it was also open to tourism, according to the map.

"I wonder, how might a private residence become open to the public?" Christa asked.

"It is, Madame, at the discretion of the master of the house," the guide answered.

"Will he be there?" Christa asked.

"Master Kenobi is away... on a mission."

Crisis averted, Christa thought. She would avoid the mortification of meeting him there.

They traveled with the guide via airbus into the center of the city with a group of tourists. They first visited the home of Master Yoda, who was also away. The guide did remark, how the Master Jedi might have returned, as it appeared his surroundings had been disturbed. Master Yoda lived, unlike many of the other residents, below ground. His home was dark, with very few windows, but comfortable and cool. They also visited the home of Master Windu. A light purplish color was prominent in most of his furnishings and art. The space was at the top of a spire, not far from Master Yoda's. They visited a few other places, and by then had grown quite tired. Christa, so tired that she was ready for sleep, even without dinner. But the tour was not done yet.

Further out from the city, and even further from the Jedi temple was Obi Wan Kenobi's residence. It sat on the outskirts of the countryside near the fields. It wasn't a skyscraper, like the others. But a grand old manor.

He mentioned in his letter to her, how he had been in line to do agricultural work for the Order and not that of a Jedi Knight. She assumed, his work would have been done there. The grounds were lovely and well kept. It was a charming place, fit for someone of a higher social rank, someone like the Chancellor.

They walked through a garden with beautiful flowers, little cherubic-like statues that decorated the landscape, fountains, and fashionably hedged bushes and trees.

They were greeted by a woman slightly older than Christa. The woman wore her hair pulled to the back of her head in a tight bun, and dressed in colorful robes. Christa could not enter, realizing how the woman might have lived there, and was mistress of the house. But Mr. Gardiner pressed Christa to enter and tour the house with them. Eventually she complied.

Despite her feelings for the man, which weren't stable at all, Christa was awestruck by the beauty of his home. She dawdled behind the other guests and admired the art, some of which were invaluable, due to being so ancient.

Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner followed the woman with the rest of the group and seemed to have forgotten about Christa. They had stopped before a painting of Obi Wan Kenobi by the time she finally caught up with them.

Christa gazed at the image, at once forgetting everyone around her.

"He is a handsome man, isn't he?" the woman inquired.

Startled out of her thoughts, Christa turned and smiled politely at the host. "I daresay he is," Christa replied.

"Do you know him?" the woman asked.

The question was so instinctive that it caught her by surprise. "Yes, I do. But only briefly."

Hearing this, the Gardiners expressed their shock. "You didn't tell us that you'd recently become acquainted with Mr. Kenobi," Mrs. Gardiner said.

"It was so brief," Christa exclaimed, "I thought it hardly worth mentioning without sounding as though I were bragging."

Mr and Mrs Gardiner accepted her reply and turned to the host, who was speaking again.

The others left Christa behind as she gazed at the painting a bit longer. When she finally came to her senses, realizing the attention she had given the image might further arouse the curiosity of her companions, did she wandered to the veranda to watch the sunset.

The veranda overlooked the garden and the air smelled of flowers and dew. It was peaceful and she was grateful to have a few moments to herself. But after a short while, she thought of the other tourists and wondered if she had fallen too far behind and set to scramble so that she would meet with the other guests.

But just as Christa had turned to walk inside, she caught a glimpse of a man. And no ordinary man at that. So stunned was she by the appearance of Master Obi Wan Kenobi! The guide had given her many assurances that he was away. What was he doing on Coruscant? Or worse, what was she doing in his house? How, unusual it might seem, to see her there.

Before she could slip out of view, Obi Wan Kenobi caught sight of her and soon appeared as mortified as she. Both turned various shades of red.

After a moment spent collecting himself, he walked toward her. To Christa's surprise, Obi Wan Kenobi looked different now. His hair had been cut short and his beard had been trimmed. He was far more handsomer than before, which made her more nervous than she would have been, for her thoughts might give her away.

"Miss Christa," he said, gazing intently into her face.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be here," she interrupted. "But my companions insisted I tour the city, the temple, and some of the private residences. I'm sorry if I've intruded."

"Not at all," he replied.

Christa stared at the man. He seemed so different to her now. So pleasant. There was a look of concern on his face as he gazed at her instead of a look of hauteur and disregard, like before.

"Are you well?" he asked.

"I am sir..." she stuttered. "And you, are you well?"

"I am."

"What are you doing here? I was told you were away on a mission."

"I was injured in battle."

"Oh no, I hope you are better now."

"Indeed, still healing but nothing too serious. Anakin injuries surpass my own. They were in service of my life. He lost an arm."

"Poor Anakin! Is he okay? Oh my, and what of Padme?"

"Anakin is well, he's having surgery at a med center on Naboo. Padme is with him."

There was something in his gaze that spoke more, but Christa could make little of it.

As they stood before each other in search of something appropriate to say, the Gardiners appeared.

"There you are Christa! We thought you were lost," Mrs Gardiner exclaimed. "I was so worried..."

Immediately, her eyes flew to Obi Wan Kenobi's bewildered face then back to Christa's as recognition set in.

"But, perhaps Mr Gardiner and I should... do something else," she finished, looking quite flustered.

"No, of course not. Have you eaten supper?" Obi Wan curiously asked.

"No, and I'm quite famished," Mrs Gardiner exclaimed. "We've toured the entire city without stopping for something to eat. We were really quite excited to be here."

Looking to Mr. Gardiner, Obi Wan Kenobi smiled easily. "I would love to have the three of you as my guest. Do you like fish?" Obi Wan inquired.

Mr. Gardiner seemed startled by the request at first, then honored. "Of course, I do, thank you, sir!" he gushed.

Christa could not disguise her disbelief. He was so utterly different, so relaxed, so open. Before he seemed so uptight and repressed, he was almost a different person now. She wondered what might have caused such a drastic change. Surely not her reproach of his behavior?

Obi Wan tossed ginger hair from his face then walked past the Gardiners. As he did, his hand swept hers. The touch caused a fluttering in her belly. Their eyes connected and both quickly looked away.

"I shall see you shortly," he said to the Gardiners. And with a polite bow he was off.

Immediately, Mrs Gardiner turned to Christa. "Can you believe it?"

"I daresay I do not," Christa numbly replied.

"He is far more handsomer in person, than in his paintings. Wouldn't you agree?"

Christa nodded. "The painting does him little justice," she answered.