Chapter 20
Obi-Wan woke up early the next morning, as was his habit, even though his body was crying out for the extra rest he needed after a long and difficult mission. But he knew from experience that it was no good to try to go back to sleep, so he rose, dressed, and performed his morning meditations. By the end, he felt somewhat refreshed.
He stepped quietly out of his cabin and headed down the dim corridor. The ship was so quiet that he assumed he was the only one awake, but when he reached the galley, the door was ajar and a bar of light flooded the floor. Stepping in, he saw Siri standing with her back to him, looking out the porthole at the flickering light of hyperspace streaming past the ship. She was still dressed in the fur tunic and dark leggings of Zora, but her hair was free of the twisted locks and metal ornamentations of a slaver, instead tumbling loose around her shoulders. At the sound of his footsteps, she turned and saw him. An expression flitted across her face so quickly that he couldn't be sure, but he got the sudden impression that his presence was unwelcome.
"Sorry, were you meditating?" he asked, taking a step backwards toward the door.
"No," Siri said quickly, half-raising a hand as though to stop him from leaving. "No, I was just thinking. Brooding, really. You don't have to go. Do you want some tea?" He saw that she already held a steaming mug in one hand.
"Thank you. That would be wonderful."
Siri stepped over to the teakettle and poured another mug, and then the two of them sat down together at a table and sipped in silence for several minutes.
Finally, Siri spoke. "That's getting to be a beautiful shiner." At Obi-Wan's puzzled expression, she gestured toward him. "Your eye. It's already three different colors. What happened?"
"Oh, yes." Obi-Wan touched the swollen eye self-consciously; he'd forgotten to put bacta salve on it the night before. "Ever fought an enraged Wookiee in hand-to-hand combat inside a turbolift?"
A sly smile crept across Siri's face. "Can't say that I have."
"I don't recommend it."
Siri's laughter pealed out, the sound unexpected and bright in the quiet room. "Didn't I warn you about him? Now you'll have to appear before the Chancellor looking like you've been in a schoolyard fight!"
"The... the Chancellor?" Obi-Wan asked in surprise.
"Yes. When we dropped out of hyperspace during the night to make a course adjustment, we received a message from Dar Wac, his executive assistant. Apparently His Excellency wants to thank us in person for our efforts in restoring law to the spice trade."
Obi-Wan's brow creased slightly. The accomplishment had been important, certainly, but not exactly on the same level of achievement as the business with Naboo nearly two years ago. He would not have thought it worth the Chancellor's time to meet with them himself, now that all was said and done. But there was no sense in arguing with the whims of the most powerful man in the galaxy.
Another silence fell between them, this one longer. Several times it seemed as though Siri was going to speak, but then thought better of it. At last, Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "You look so different," he said. "As Zora, I mean. It's a wonder I recognized you at all."
"Well, that was the point," Siri said, smiling a little at the compliment. "I was undercover. Not that I ever looked that much like a Jedi anyway." Obi-Wan smiled in understanding; Siri had always stood out from the other Jedi due to her habit of wearing a flight suit, rather than the more typical Jedi tunics and robe. "You look different, too," she said to Obi-Wan. "It's the longer hair. It makes you look older."
"Well, that was the point," Obi-Wan quipped back. But rather than smiling, Siri looked distinctly uncomfortable, for no reason that he could fathom.
Silence reigned once more. Left sitting at the table, Obi-Wan was remembering with some discomfort the less-than-warm welcome he'd given Siri when he first found her in Krayn's prison cell. They hadn't had a proper chance yet to talk about it. Steeling himself, Obi-Wan decided to take the direct route and get it over with as quickly as possible.
"Are you very angry with me?" he asked Siri.
"Angry with you?" Siri asked blankly.
"Because of... what I thought you'd done. I've been thinking ill of you for more than a year."
Siri's expression cleared. "Oh. That." Unexpectedly, a soft sound of amusement escaped her throat. "Obi-Wan." She shook her head. "You really are a piece of work sometimes. I have a feeling you've already punished yourself for that more than I ever could."
"I should have had more faith in you," Obi-Wan said, determined to get everything out in the open. "You deserved as much, after everything we've been through."
"You didn't lack faith in me," Siri contradicted. "You just didn't want to assume the best about me, because you were afraid you'd be doing it for all the wrong reasons."
Obi-Wan pondered this, and grudgingly admitted that there was a ring of truth to it. He blew out a breath softly. "I don't know how you do that," he said. "Know things about me that even I don't. I only wish I were half as good at reading your mind. I can't tell at all what you're thinking now. I can tell you're upset, but I can't tell why."
Siri abruptly stood and walked back over to the porthole. "I'm trying to come to a decision," she said, staring out again at the undulating waves of hyperspace flicking past the ship. "And it's tricky, because if I choose wrong…" She stopped. "I don't want to hurt someone, but I'm afraid that no matter what I choose…" she began again, and then stopped.
"It's complicated!" she finished in exasperation. Siri rubbed her face with her hands tiredly. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"
"No," Obi-Wan said frankly. "Why don't you try starting at the beginning?"
"The beginning," Siri repeated. She sat down across from him again, and after a moment's thought leaned forward with her elbows on the table and meeting Obi-Wan's gaze with her bright blue eyes.
"Do you ever have visions of the future?" she asked.
Obi-Wan pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Sometimes," he answered. "Sometimes when I'm meditating, I try to get a glimpse of what may happen during the course of a mission."
"Ever had one about something... more personal?"
"No. But I never tried. Qui-Gon discouraged trying for that sort of thing, and I actually agreed with him. I think I'd rather not know what lies ahead for me." He laughed nervously. "In case it's something unpleasant."
"But for the visions you have had," Siri persisted. "What do you do about them?"
"Do?"
"Do you try to make it happen, or try to stop it?"
"It depends. Was this a good dream that you had, or a bad one?"
"We were speaking hypothetically."
"Well, then hypothetically speaking, is it good or bad?"
"I haven't decided yet," Siri said slowly.
"Well, first of all, how does this hypothetical dreamer know it was a prophetic vision?" Obi-Wan asked. "Even Jedi dream ordinary dreams."
"Do ordinary dreams come to a Jedi when she's meditating, trying to see the future?" Siri spoke more forcefully. "And then, after she's done something - something that should have killed that future for good - why does it continue to visit her in her sleep? For years. It's always exactly the same. And it always comes... at certain times. Under a certain set of circumstances." She offered no details, and Obi-Wan understood he was not supposed to ask.
"Master Yoda says the future is always in motion," he reminded her. "It may not come true, even if it is a vision from the Force."
"Then why does the Force bother to show it to me?" Siri snapped. "What good does it do? Unless I'm meant to do something about it."
"Qui-Gon would agree with that sentiment, I think," Obi-Wan said with a hint of a smile. "He's always saying everything happens for a reason, and he has a tendency to err on the side of action."
"Obi-Wan!" Siri said impatiently. "Stop quoting Jedi wisdom to me! If I wanted to know what Yoda and Qui-Gon thought about it, I would have asked them. I'm asking you, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You personally."
"Well, you probably should ask them," Obi-Wan said. "They're much wiser than I am."
"Obi-Wan, this is important!" Siri made an exasperated sound and turned away from him. "Never mind. I'm sorry I asked!"
"Wait, Siri. Just wait." He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Here's what I think. If you're not certain whether this event is desirable, maybe the best course for now is to continue to act as you would have before you saw the vision."
"But even inaction is an action-"
"I'm not done yet. If it is the will of the Force that you act, whether to stop the event or facilitate it, I think it will be made clear to you in the critical moment."
"You mean, wait?" Siri looked unhappy. "I hate waiting."
"It's... it's not a very good answer, I know," Obi-Wan said hesitantly.
"No, it is." Siri slumped back down into her chair. "I just didn't want to hear it. You have a tendency to tell me things I don't like to hear, Obi-Wan."
"Sorry."
"Don't be. I missed that about you." Siri seemed to struggle for a moment, then continued: "I missed everything about you, actually. Even the annoying things."
"I missed you, too. It's been a long year and a half."
"I wasn't just talking about that," Siri said. "I've been missing you for much longer than that."
They were treading on dangerous ground now, and Obi-Wan knew it, but he couldn't seem to stop himself from saying, "I feel the same way."
"Obi-Wan?" Siri began slowly, deliberately. "You know that thing we don't ever talk about?" At his expression, she quickly added, "I still think we shouldn't talk about it. But I think that-" she took a steadying breath - "I think that I may have overreacted, back then. When I said that... we couldn't be friends anymore. I think I could handle that much... now. But only if you want to." Her eyes were subtly pleading with him.
It was several moments before Obi-Wan could trust his voice enough to speak, but there was only one answer he could give to a request like that from Siri Tachi. "Friends... would be great."
Once they arrived in Coruscant's crowded skylanes, Anakin piloted the ship deftly to the Republic Executive Building, a dome-shaped building similar to, but smaller than, the nearby Senate Building. The Executive Building housed offices for many of the Senators, as well as the Chancellor's opulent suite at the pinnacle of the dome. Anakin skillfully guided to the ship into the cavernous docking bay, where they disembarked and were met by two Red Guards, who flanked them silently and escorted them through the bay toward the pillared hallways that would take them to the Chancellor. Obi-Wan couldn't help casting several sideways looks toward the guards, who were swathed in floor-length scarlet robes with their faces totally obscured by red helmets. Each of them carried lethal force-pikes resting casually on their shoulders.
Many in the Order were uncomfortable with the very existence of the Red Guard, which Palpatine had created to replace the blue-robed Senate Guard that formerly carried out the duties of protecting the Chancellor. Some, such as Master Windu, felt it was not appropriate for the Chancellor to have what amounted to a small but highly-trained military force who answered to him and him alone. The Chancellor, of course, maintained that the Red Guards were merely bodyguards. Yet no one seemed to know the identity of any of the guards, nor even exactly how many of them there were. Some in the Senate had tried to have the Guard disbanded or at least subjected to Senate oversight, but Palpatine, it seemed, was able to rise above the bureaucratic entanglements that had so hampered Chancellor Valorum, and the issue eventually died in committee.
Obi-Wan glanced to his left and saw that, as always, Qui-Gon's face betrayed nothing – yet he could sense his Master's distaste at their escorts.
The two boys weren't looking at the guards at all; their attention was on the becaped and bejeweled Senators passing them on the left and the right, most of them trailing entourages of smartly dressed aides and security guards and HoloNet reporters. Ivan looked thrilled to be here, and nearly overwhelmed at the pageantry around him, not to mention the anticipation of shortly meeting the most powerful man in the galaxy. Anakin, on the other hand, was affecting a bored expression, and Obi-Wan wondered if perhaps he had been here before. Qui-Gon had indicated that the Chancellor himself had requested his and Anakin's services in escorting the Colicoids through pirate space, and perhaps the meeting had taken place here.
He shot a glance at Siri, expecting to see her looking as unflappable as ever, but was surprised to see her reach down and tug self-consciously at the hem of her fur tunic. The nervous gesture seemed out of character for Siri, who had never been intimidated by those in power; even as a young girl she was more likely to be irritated or amused by them, and he didn't expect her reaction to the Chancellor to be any different.
It was only then, watching her, that he noticed how shockingly out of place Siri looked in these opulent surroundings, still dressed as a rough-and-tumble slaver, and she was accordingly getting many strange looks from the beings they were passing.
Obi-Wan slowed his steps slightly, allowing Qui-Gon and the two boys to get ahead of him, and fell into step with Siri.
"Want to borrow my robe?" he asked her in an undertone.
"Why, what's wrong with what I've got on?" she hissed back.
"Nothing," Obi-Wan said carefully.
"That's right, nothing. As if I care what I look like!"
They had hardly gone another ten steps before Siri made an exasperated sound. "All right, fine. Since it means so much to you, hand it over."
Obi-Wan knew better than to smile as he pulled off his robe and held it out, but unexpectedly she laughed softly as she slipped her arms through the sleeves. "I must have been out of my mind to agree to this," she whispered to him wryly. "I haven't been in civilized company for a year and a half, and now I'm going straight up to meet the Chancellor?"
Obi-Wan fastened the tiny hooks at the top of the robe, so that the rusty brown folds fell down over her slaver gear nicely. The robe fit her almost perfectly, since the two of them were about the same height, although the sleeves were a bit too long. "Good manners are like flying a speeder," he reminded her. "You never forget."
"You're making a rather rash assumption, Obi-Wan." At his questioning look, she continued: "You're assuming I ever had good manners to begin with."
Obi-Wan smiled. "Well, yes, but whenever you embarrass someone, it's because you intend to, not because you forgot the proper forms."
"Yes, that's true," Siri said thoughtfully. "I'll make sure my breach of manners towards Palpatine is completely deliberate, then."
Obi-Wan laughed, but Siri didn't. After an uncomfortable moment, he cleared his throat and asked, "You are joking, right?"
Siri raised an eyebrow coolly, and said nothing.
"Siri..." Obi-Wan began in a warning tone.
"What? It was your idea!"
"Yes, but I certainly didn't mean to encourage you to-"
"No, no, no, you've made the challenge, it can't be revoked now," Siri said seriously. She smoothed her blonde hair and then walked on, quickening her pace to catch up to the others.
"Siri, don't you dare—" was all the further Obi-Wan was able to get, when abruptly he realized they were now walking through the blast doors leading to the antechamber of the Chancellor's Suite. Already, Qui-Gon was giving their names to Dar Wac, the Rodian who served as Palpatine's executive assistant.
"Yes, Master Jinn, His Excellency is expecting you," Dar Wac responded, and at a gesture the Red Guards standing in the doorway stepped aside to let them through.
Obi-Wan didn't dare do more than shoot a stern look in Siri's direction as they walked into the suite, but she had plastered a serene expression on her face and wouldn't look at him.
He had a bad feeling about this.
Obi-Wan had been in the Chancellor's Suite before, two years earlier when Chancellor Valorum had briefed Qui-Gon and himself before dispatching them to the Naboo Blockade. The room looked markedly different now. Before, it had been decorated in rich shades of blue and gold. Now the furnishings and trim were a steely gray, in sharp contrast to the broadly curving crimson walls and carpeting. Valorum had favored highly detailed and realistic artwork, but now the room was scattered with sculptures of indistinct hooded figures and an enormous, abstract twist of neuranium that must be worth an unthinkable sum of credits.
The expansive curved window behind the Chancellor's desk, however, still offered an incredible view of Coruscant's urban skyline, and it was in front of this backdrop that Palpatine rose smoothly from his desk and greeted them.
As one, the five of them bowed deeply to the Chancellor.
"Master Jinn, thank you for coming," Palpatine said formally. "And Anakin, my boy!" A warm smile flooded across his face, which Anakin didn't hesitate to return. "It's so good to see you again!"
He turned next to Obi-Wan. "It has been far too long, Master Kenobi," he said sincerely. Obi-Wan was slightly discomfited by how long Palpatine held eye contact with him before moving his gaze to Ivan.
"Your Excellency, this is my Padawan Learner, Ivan Bal-Tova," Obi-Wan said.
"It's good to meet you, child," Palpatine murmured, his eyes sliding dismissively past Ivan and on to Siri. Qui-Gon smoothly picked up the introduction: "May I present Padawan Learner Siri Tachi, who infiltrated Krayn's organization under the direction of her Master, Adi Gallia."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, young lady," Palpatine responded.
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Excellency," Siri said politely, and then continued on blithely: "I like your nude very much."
In the sudden dead silence that followed, Obi-Wan wished the crimson carpet would swallow him up right then and there.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Qui-Gon looking perfectly calm as though Siri had done nothing untoward, although after so many joint missions with her, he was familiar with her outrageousness and surely knew she was having fun at everyone else's expense. Anakin was staring at Siri, his mouth slightly agape. On his other side, Obi-Wan could sense Ivan struggling not to laugh.
"I beg your pardon?" Palpatine asked, his face as blank and polite as though he were simply an old man who wasn't quite sure he had heard right.
"Your nude," Siri said brightly, gesturing to a small figurine displayed on the Chancellor's desk. Obi-Wan looked at the statue long enough to ascertain that it did, in fact, depict a nude humanoid form, and felt his pulse start to come down. Perhaps the situation could be salvaged yet.
"Ah yes, one of my favorites," Palpatine said. "This is Wapoe. The Atrisians worship him as a demigod."
"Him?" Siri repeated with raised eyebrows, looking pointedly back at the figurine's decidedly feminine curves.
"Wapoe is the demigod of disguise," Palpatine explained. "The Atrisians believe that whatever form he appears in, you can be sure that what you are seeing is not his true face."
"Fascinating," Siri said.
"Well, I didn't request your presence to bore you with a lesson in mythology," Palpatine said with a pleasant smile. "Please, sit down and allow me to thank you all for the important service you have given to the Republic."
There were only four chairs arranged in front of the expansive desk, and Ivan was left to stand awkwardly behind and to the side of Obi-Wan's chair as Palpatine launched into a typical politician's speech, full of many words and very little meaning. Obi-Wan tried to focus on the words nonetheless, but it was difficult not to be distracted by Siri, who was now only too happy to try to make eye contact with him. Obi-Wan resisted for several minutes, but at last he was forced to accept that Siri would not rest until she had had her little gloat. With a silent sigh, he glanced over at her and saw she wore a mocking little smile, as though to say: I could have done so much worse, Kenobi.
And she could have. If there was one thing he knew about Siri, it was that she was capable of almost anything. She had begun to show more self-restraint later in her apprenticeship, but she had still not lost those rough edges that had so exasperated him whenever he was paired with her on a mission.
I'm in for it now, Obi-Wan suddenly realized. Why did I just agree to be friends with her again, knowing she's going to continually subject me to this sort of thing? What was I thinking?
Aghast at his own impulsiveness, Obi-Wan frowned disapprovingly at Siri in the hopes that this would chasten her enough to make her behave properly for the rest of their audience with Palpatine.
Disappointingly, the effect of this was to cause Siri to violently restrain a laugh, and she quickly covered her mouth with her hand and turned the sound into a cough. Several faces glanced over at her for a moment, then back to the Chancellor.
"… of course, I don't expect the transition to go smoothly," the Chancellor was saying, "but more ships will be sent temporarily to Kessel to ensure the Colicoids comply with all rules and regulations as set forth in the charter established by my predecessor's administration…"
Obi-Wan kept his eyes fixed on the Chancellor's face as he waited for Siri's silent fit of amusement to pass. Kriff it all, she could be exasperating! Siri was a grown adult. Why couldn't she rein in her impulsiveness for a few minutes, just long enough to hold a dignified audience with the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic? Why couldn't she be… well, more like himself? He risked a glance at Siri to see if she had calmed herself yet. She locked eyes with him, and to his surprise, he saw that she was perfectly composed.
Then she frowned disapprovingly at him, and her stern expression was so obviously a mockery of his own a few moments ago that Obi-Wan was horrified to feel a sudden spasm of laughter twitch in his chest, like a monster trying to get out.
Quickly he turned his laugh into a polite little cough and felt his cheeks burning as he stared fiercely at the carpet and struggled to control his twitching lips. Kriff it, kriff it, kriff it! Why did he let her do this to him? So much for the legendary Kenobi control. It had been undone in only a few minutes by the childish pranks of one Jedi Padawan named Siri Tachi. Now he wanted nothing more than for this audience to end as quickly as possible so he could find a private place to let the joy come bubbling out freely. He didn't even care about the teasing he'd have to endure from Siri now that she had found a chink in his armor.
And then, in a sudden flash of insight, he understood at last. This was why he had agreed to be friends with her again. Because he didn't merely tolerate her outrageousness – he liked it. Some part of him deep inside admired her for it. Some part of him wished he could be like that, too. But it wasn't who he was. He'd have to settle for enjoying that freedom of manner vicariously. And Force help him the day Siri found out he enjoyed her bad behavior. He'd have no peace from that day forward.
It made him smile just thinking about it.
His mind suddenly clear, Obi-Wan found himself able to concentrate at last on the conversation between Qui-Gon and Palpatine regarding the spice trade, and even make a few contributions of his own. Siri also joined in, her comments full of blunt honesty and wit, but as respectful toward the Chancellor as Obi-Wan could have wished. Siri really could be beautifully polite, when she made up her mind to be.
The time flew by, and at last Chancellor Palpatine rose and thanked them graciously one final time for their service. The five Jedi bowed low and took their leave of him.
Anakin lingered in the suite a little longer than the others, and Palpatine leaned in close to Anakin's ear to murmur something. "Do come and see me soon, my boy," he urged quietly. "I look forward to hearing all about this mission from your unique perspective."
After they exited the antechamber and began walking back through the echoing pillared hall, Qui-Gon paused a moment to turn a mild gaze on Obi-Wan and Siri, and shook his head slowly from side to side.
"Children," was all he said, and the gentle remonstrance was plain to hear in his tone. Still, Qui-Gon wasn't bothering to hide a tolerant smile from them, which gave Obi-Wan the courage to immediately quip back: "But Master, she's the one who started it-"
"That is not true!" Siri objected, but just then they were interrupted by Dar Wac as he came trotting down the corridor after them, calling, "Master Kenobi, wait!" The Jedi paused, and waited as Dar Wac caught up to them.
"Master Kenobi, the Chancellor would like to have a word with you in private."
With me? Obi-Wan thought, but out loud he merely said, "Yes, of course," and followed Dar Wac back to the Chancellor's Suite. He glanced back once, and smiled to see Siri grimace at him and ominously draw a finger across her throat. It described perfectly what he was feeling.
TO BE CONTINUED