A/N: I am going to try to post again to this story this weekend. It depends on how crazy DRL becomes.

Chapter 36: The Council Apologizes

Obi-Wan had been a bit surprised when he saw the apartment that the Jedi had helped him acquire. It was far grander than anything he expected them to provide. It had a large living area with a balcony overlooking the cityscape of Coruscant. The dining and kitchen area were five times the size of the little alcove in his former quarters at the Temple. Additionally, the apartment had a large master bedroom suite.

The Council had not provided a lot of furniture, but enough to get Aila and him started. They had a small table and chairs for the kitchen area, a sofa in the sitting room, and a bed, larger than the one at Aila's house back on Earth, for the master bedroom. All the furnishings were nicer than those usually found at the Jedi Temple, and Obi-Wan suspected that they were trying to appease him after what they had done to Aila.

Aila was now resting comfortably against the pillows of their new bed while Obi-Wan unpacked their few belongings before he would order them something for dinner. He would have made something for her, but their kitchen appliances would not be installed for another day. He decided to order Alderaanian food because it was light and would be the least likely to further complicate Aila's weakened state. Since she had not eaten much while he was away, he did not want to overburden her system with overly spicy food.

Aila was startled when Obi-Wan woke her up in a strange room. "Whe…Where are we?" She asked as she glanced around the large room. The only furniture in it was the bed she was resting upon. There was a large series of windows to her right and a doorway leading to another room to her left. There was also a door in front of and slightly to the right of the bed that was ajar from where Obi-Wan had entered the bedchamber.

"Our new home." Obi-Wan responded to Aila's question as he sat down next to her and placed a tray of food in front of her.

"But… What about the Temple?" Aila asked in confusion.

Obi-Wan felt a surge of irritation directed to the Jedi Council, but he suppressed it and smiled at Aila as he said, "The Council has granted us permission to live here. I will not let them hurt you again."

"Obi-Wan." Aila stated regretfully as she placed her left hand over his right. "I am fine, I was just being silly. I do not know what came over me."

Obi-Wan just shook his head sadly. "You did nothing wrong my goddess. What you felt was the separation of our force bond. You were not prepared for it and it was natural for you to have that reaction."

"Force bond?"

"Yes, we have a connection, you and me. I wanted to tell you about it, but the Council demanded I leave on the mission immediately. They said that they would speak with you about it so you would not worry, but obviously they did not do that."

"What is a force bond?" Aila questioned, curious as to why she had felt the way she did when Obi-Wan left.

"I'll tell you later, first you need to eat something." Obi-Wan stated indicating the tray of food he had brought in.

"But…"

Obi-Wan interrupted her by picking up a spoon from the tray and scooping up some soup for her to sip. "I am not going anywhere anytime soon. I promise I will tell you, but first you need to eat and then rest some more. You need to regain your strength."

Aila arched an eyebrow at him while she grabbed the spoon out of his hand, "I am fully capable of feeding myself. Why can't you tell me about force bonding while I eat."

"It is complicated and I want you fully functional when I describe it to you. Now is not the time to burden you with the information."

"Yes, but what if you have to leave again and you have not told me?"

"You will know soon enough, the Council will not send me on another mission immediately, they know I am not pleased with them."

Aila rolled her eyes at this as she began to sip at her soup. "I am perfectly fine, you can tell me. I can handle it."

Obi-Wan smiled and kissed the top of her forehead lightly as she placed her spoon back on her tray, "Not today my love, I want you to just eat and rest today."

"You are lucky I love you my stubborn Jedi Knight." Aila replied sarcastically.

Obi-Wan chuckled lightly in response and said, "I know, my goddess." The two of them then fell into silence as Obi-Wan watched her finish eating while he periodically nibbled on something that was on her tray.

It was better that Obi-Wan did not start telling her about their force bond while she ate because after their conversation and brief meal together, Aila felt herself growing tired once more. Obi-Wan encouraged her to rest, at the same time suppressing the urge to punch the wall in his anger at the Jedi Council. Aila could have worried herself to death because of their behavior. Luckily Obi-Wan had returned from Tatooine before permanent damage could be done. However, he was still furious that the Council could just sit in their chambers and let Aila fall into her weakened state.

Obi-Wan picked up the dinner tray and took another look at Aila. With the little food and rest she had since Obi-Wan came home, she looked better, but Obi-Wan knew it would be a few days before she was completely back to normal. With this thought, he felt his angry feelings surge forth again and he knew he needed to meditate to gain control over his emotions.

Stepping out of the bedroom to leave Aila to her repose, Obi-Wan took the tray to the kitchen and quickly rinsed off the dishes before stepping into the sitting room. Once there he took up a spot on the floor in front of the balcony and sat down cross-legged. He took in a deep breath as he watched various speeders travel around the city before he closed his eyes to begin his meditation. However, five minutes into his meditation, the silence that surrounded him was interrupted by a buzzing noise coming from the front door.

Sighing in frustration, Obi-Wan stood up and walked to the door to find out who could possibly be interrupting Aila and him. What he saw surprised him. A young deliveryman with short auburn hair was carrying a large bouquet of flowers and a card to go with them.

"Who are these from?" Obi-Wan asked with confusion.

"I am not sure sir, I was only told to deliver them." The man stated as he handed Obi-Wan his burden and then turned to leave.

Obi-Wan shrugged as he closed the door behind him and set the flowers on the floor by the door. The assortment was a vibrant colorful mix of flowers from both Naboo and Alderaan. Obi-Wan opened the card to see who sent the flowers and was surprised to find a get well message for Aila signed by Master Yoda. Obi-Wan smiled at the Jedi Master's thoughtfulness and was just about to move the flowers to another location when the buzzer to the front door rang again.

Curious as to who was at the door now, Obi-Wan left Yoda's card leaning next to the flowers on the floor and went to open the door again. Now a pink skinned twilek stood before him carrying another bouquet of flowers and another card. Obi-Wan took them from the twilek and closed the door behind him once more before opening the card. These flowers were from Master Gallia. Again Obi-Wan was about to move these flowers as well as the ones from Yoda to another location, but the buzzer to the front door rang again before he had the chance.

"What in the blazes is going on?" Obi-Wan asked as he opened the door a third time to see a blue skinned humanoid carrying another batch of flowers. There were nine other delivery people of various species standing behind him, all carrying flowers from each of the members of the Jedi Council. Once Obi-Wan had collected all the gifts from the various delivery people and closed the door behind him, he found that one whole corner of the sitting room was covered with different flower arrangements. Master Yoda's and Gallia's arrangements were the largest and Obi-Wan suspected they had influenced the other Council members to send them as well.

The Council might have been trying to apologize, but Obi-Wan did not think they were truly sorry. After Master Mundi's speech on attachment and the rather cold reception he had received from some Council members, he knew that they were not sorry. They had only sent the flowers in a mock attempt to be compassionate after Obi-Wan had told them they were lacking in that trait. Sighing in frustration, Obi-Wan set to the task of arranging the flowers in various parts of the apartment for Aila to see when she was healthy again. Although the flowers were sent on false pretenses, Obi-Wan knew that Aila would still enjoy looking at them later.