A/N: I own none of the characters, they belong to the great George Lucas. Lucky him! But, I do own Zankou, Ghanima/Chani and Alia (just three names which I'm borrowing from Frank Herbert's Children of Dune) so no stealing! I've decided this will become an Obi-Wan/OC.

Chapter 37

From high above, light streamed down from the lofty ceilings of the Jedi Temple's main hallway. It was late in the day as Obi-Wan crossed the floor of the great hallway, heading for the Analysis Rooms. Ghanima followed behind him at a slow pace. She hadn't been within the Temple walls for so long, she wanted to refamiliarize herself.

As Obi-Wan worked in the Analysis Cubicles to gain information on their mysterious dart, she walked to where the younglings trained with Master Yoda. Her thoughts seemed to drift to Anakin and the time they lost while watching the younglings.

"It's a toxic dart. I need to know where it came from and who made it." Obi-Wan stated to SP-4, who told him to wait a moment. Diagrams and data soon appeared on the screen, scrolling past at great speed. He watched as the screen went blank and the tray slide out.

"Markings cannot be identified. As you can see on your screen, subject weapon does not exist in any known culture. Probably self-made by a warrior not associated with any known society. Stand away from the sensor tray, please."

"Excuse me? Could you try again please?" He asked, slightly confused and upset that nothing could be found.

"Master Jedi, our records are very thorough. They cover eighty percent of the galaxy. If I can't tell you where it came from, nobody can." He picked up the dart and looked at it, then looked to the Droid and thanked it for it's assistance before speaking to himself. "I know who can identify this."

Leaving the Analysis Cubicles, he looked around and noticed his partner wasn't with him. Sighing in annoyance, since Anakin did the exact same thing, he left the room and went in search of her. He didn't have to look long as he saw he leaning on a wall. He walked over and saw what she was watching, and even knew what she was thinking. Much like Anakin, Ghanima's thoughts and mannerisms betrayed her.

"Anything on our dart?" She asked as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, and they started to walk up the hall. He hated having to pull her out of some memory, but it had to be done. After all, the Temple and younglings would always be around for her to get lost in thought in.

"The Droids couldn't find anything, but I know someone who can help us." She asked who, not knowing she would regret it.

------------------------------

The two Jedi walked down a back street of downtown Coruscant that morning. It was a pretty tough part of town. Old buildings, warehouses, beat up Speeders and transporter rigs thundering past. Above, the old elevated Monospeed with the occasional "shiny freighters" hissing through. Obi-Wan stopped suddenly at a kind of alien diner. On the steamed-up windows it read "Dex's Diner" in alien lettering. Ghanima looked at him questioningly, but he walked inside and she followed cautiously.

Oh, sweet mericful Force, what is he getting me into?

A Waitress Droid was carrying plates of half-eaten food, and there was a counter with stools and a line of booths along the wall by the window. A number of customers were eating--tough-looking workers, frieghter drivers, etc. The Waitress Droid looked up as Obi-Wan and Ghanima entered, asking if she could help them with something of a southern accent.

"I'm looking for Dexter." He said and the Droid approached him, asking what he wanted from him suspiciously. "He's not in trouble. It's personal." He assured her and, after a brief pause, she went to the open serving hatch behind the counter.

"Someone to see ya, honey." She said before lowering her voice warily. "Jedi, by the looks of 'em." Steam billowed out from the kitchen hatch behind the counter as a huge head poked through. Dex called out to Obi-Wan, arms wide and happy.

"Hey, Dex." Obi-Wan replied and Dex told him to take a seat, and that he'd be right with him.

Obi-Wan nodded and sat in a booth after Ghanima. The same waitress asked them if they wanted a cup of Ardees, and they said they did. As the Waitress Droid moved off, the door to the counter opened and Dex appeared. He was a big, bald, sweaty and old alien; not someone to tangle with. He arrived at the booth, beaming hugely.

"Hey, ol' buddy!" Dex said as he eased himself into the seat opposite the Jedi, just making it. "So, my friend. What can I do for 'ya? Uh, who's your friend, eh? You breaking that Jedi Code you love so much?"

"No!" He shouted defiantly, causing Ghanima to stifle her laughter. "This is a fellow Knight, Ghanima Qualsiri. We're working together on a case. As for what you can do for me, you can tell me what this is." He placed the dart on the table between them, and Dex's eyes widened as he put doen his mug.

"Well, whaddya know..." Dex said softly, picking up the dart delicately between his puffy fingers and peered at it. "I ain't seen one of these since I was prospecting on Subterrel beyond the Outer Rim!"

"Can you tell us where it came from?" He asked and Dex grinned, putting the dart down between them.

"This baby belongs to them cloners. What you got here is a Kamino saberdart."

"Kamino saberdart?" He echoed, rubbing his beard thoughtfully. "I wonder why it didn't show up in our Analysis Archive."

"It's these funny little cuts on the side give it away." He stated, pointing back to the dart. "Those Analysis Droids you've got over there only focus on symbols, you know. I should think you Jedi would have more respect for the difference between knowledge and wisdom."

"Well, Dex, if Droids could think, we wouldn't be here, would we?" All three of them laughed at the thought of a Droid thinking.

"Kamino...doesn't sound familiar. Is it part of the Republic?" Ghanima asked, deciding to finally join the conversation despite Dex's earlier "observations" of her.

"No, it's beyond the Outer Rim. I'd say about twelve parsecs outside the Rishi Maze, toward the south. It should be easy to find, even for those Droids in your archive. These Kaminoans keep to themselves. They're cloners. Damned good ones, too." The two nodded as Obi-Wan picked up the dart, holding it midway between them.

"Cloners? Are they friendly?" He asked and Dex just said it depends. "On what, Dex?"

"On how good your manners are..." He replied, grinning. "…And how big your pocketbook is..." The conversation went onto small talk, catching up in the most discrete way possible. Every now and then, Dex would bug Obi-Wan about Ghanima and how he was positive they were breaking the code.

"So, Dex seems...interesting." Ghanima said awkwardly as they walked outside the diner, back onto the main street. Obi-Wan said he was, a little hesitantly. "He's very...colorful." He laughed and that and agreed again as they headed back to the Temple to learn more about the cloners of Kamino.