A/N: FYI...I posted 2 chapters today. This is the first one. Thanks for reading everyone.

Chapter 20: Aila's Parents

The next week and a half seemed to fly by. Aila was extremely stressed out as Christmas came closer and she would have to introduce Obi-Wan to her family. She knew her mother would instantly jump to the conclusion that they were a couple and nag her about it throughout the entire holiday.

Obi-Wan spent the time leading up to Christmas dutifully working on his ship and keeping out of Aila's way. He had managed to get most of the electronics in his ship to work, but it wasn't flyable yet. He also could not get it to send any transmissions out at the moment. He planned on taking some components with him on his trip to Aila's parents' house so that he had something to do while he was there. Aila seemed to support this decision, remarking that having something to do might detract her mother from speaking with him.

Obi-Wan was unsure of why Aila seemed to be stressing herself out over spending Christmas with her parents. However, he conceded that he never knew his parents, having grown up in the Jedi Temple, so perhaps he would understand her concerns if they shared the same experiences.

Aila's parents only lived about two hours away from her house, but Obi-Wan was relieved when they pulled up to their house. Aila has remained quiet the entire trip, but he could sense her projecting her anxiety through the force. Based on conversations with her, it was obvious that she was not a force sensitive, so she had no control over this, but he was finding it very disconcerting.

Aila waited at the door and fidgeted nervously as she shot periodic glances at Obi-Wan. He had insisted that he would collect their stuff from the trunk. He carried two small black suitcases, one with Aila's stuff and one that she had leant him so that he could pack his own things. He was also balancing several packages wrapped in colored paper that Aila had brought with her. As he started bringing this stuff to the front door, Aila's mother greeted her daughter.

"Aila!" Her mother called out jovially and threw her arms around her daughter in a hug. Aila's mother was about the same height as Aila. She had short, wavy, hair the same color as Aila's. She did not share her daughter's eye color, hers being green while Aila's were blue, but except for some aging lines they shared a similar body type.

"Hi Mom." Aila stated returning the hug.

"Did you have a nice trip?" Aila's Mom asked as she stepped out of the hug and appraised her daughter.

"It was fine." Aila said as she walked into the house and held the door open for Obi-Wan.

"That is nice dear…" Aila's mother had turned her attention to Obi-Wan, but was stopped from asking any questions about him when Aila's father walked in.

"Is that my girl?" Aila's father was tall and lean with short hair the same texture as Aila's, but much darker with a few flecks of gray. There was no denying he was Aila's father when Obi-Wan saw his eyes, they were the same as Aila's. Obi-Wan stood off to the side and gently placed some of the packages on the ground while he watched the family reunion before him unfold. Normally, he would have used the force to transport this many packages, but Aila had warned him to not use his force abilities around her parents. She seemed concerned that they would not understand them and Obi-Wan did not feel like increasing Aila's stress levels so he agreed. He was quite capable of doing things without the force, so it would not be a big deal for the few days they would be spending with her parents. Obi-Wan smiled as he watched Aila give her father a hug and trade pleasantries.

"So Aila, are you going to introduce us to your friend?" Aila's mom asked as she continued to eye Obi-Wan.

Aila took a deep breath before replying, "Mom, Dad, this is Ben. He is a good friend of mine and has been visiting me.

"Pleased to meet you Ben." Aila's father stated before shaking Obi-Wan's hand.

"Pleasure to meet you sir."

Aila's mom then held her hand out and Obi-Wan gently took it in his and placed a polite kiss on her hand as he said, "And you, Mrs. Bennet." Obi-Wan had to be careful and think about what he was saying because Aila had told him that he must not call her mother milady. He was originally going to brush this off as one of those silly protocol things him and Aila had argued over since he crashed at her house, but she had pleaded with him to make sure he was careful and he just could not deny her. He would do his best to follow everything she had told him to do, even play along with the lies she had concocted to various questions he might have to answer.

"Where are you from, Ben?" Aila's father asked.

Aila blanched momentarily and interrupted Obi-Wan before he could answer. "He's on leave from his job as a U.N. peacekeeper and he came to see me."

"A peacekeeper." Aila's father said intrigued. "So I guess you've been all over the world?" Aila was nodding her head slightly to try to signal Obi-Wan without having her parents notice.

"Yes, I have been to quite a few places."

"Have you been here long?" Aila's mother asked.

"A couple weeks, I sort of dropped in on your daughter as a surprise." Obi-Wan was interrupted when Aila tried to stop herself from laughing at the irony of that response and started coughing uncontrollably. Obi-Wan stepped closer to her and laid a hand on her shoulder with concern as he said, "Milady, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Aila stated between coughs as she regained control over herself. Her gaze met Obi-Wan's and her heart rate elevated slightly as she started losing herself in his eyes. Obi-Wan was having a similar response from looking at her. None of this went unnoticed by Aila's parents who smiled at each other.

"Are you sure you are all right, dear?" Aila's mother asked after both her and Obi-Wan had shared a silent moment with each other.

Aila shook her head to clear her thoughts, while she silently berated herself for her lapse of concentration and turned from Obi-Wan to address her mother. "Yes, I'm fine."

"Good, how about we get you two settled." Obi-Wan started gathering the suitcases he had brought in earlier and was getting ready to pick up the colored packages. "You can leave the gifts by the door. We have not put the tree up yet."

"Very well Mrs. Bennet." Obi-Wan replied as he followed both her and Aila down an adjacent hallway to the back of the house. Aila's father had left them to do something else.

"You two can stay in here." Aila's mom stated as she opened up a guest bedroom.

Aila looked at her confused as she said, "Ob…ummm, I mean, Ben..." Aila almost slipped up on his name, but caught herself before continuing. "…can have this room, I'll take your other guest room."

Inwardly, Aila's mom was smiling, but outwardly she put on a face of mock regret. "I am sorry dear, but we turned the other room into a storage room. It is filled with boxes and other things."

"What?" Aila asked confused and walked over to what she knew as the other guest room and opened it up. The second she did, a box fell towards her and would have fallen on her head had it not been for the fact that Obi-Wan had pulled her out of the way.

"Oh dear, I did warn you. Good thing Ben is here, I don't think you want to spend Christmas in the emergency room." Aila's mom said with a worried look that quickly changed to a smile as she watched her daughter clinging to her handsome "friend." Aila's mom knew her daughter well enough to tell that there was more than friendship between her and this young man. She could hear it in her voice and see it in her eyes and it seemed the young man reciprocated these feelings. Besides, Aila was not known for having many men stay at her house.

Aila had been startled by her near accident and was feeling comforted by Obi-Wan's arms around her, but when she realized her mother was witnessing this she pulled away abruptly and turned towards her.

Aila's mother flashed her daughter a knowing smile while she said, "I am sorry dear, we needed the extra storage space, but we are all adults we'll manage." Then before Aila could retort she said, "Well, your father and I have to go and finish our Christmas shopping. How about the two of you get settled. Then you can decorate the Christmas tree if you want. Your father and I have been too busy to do that yet." Then she left to go find her husband so that they could leave Obi-Wan and Aila alone.