Snowhere to Go: Chapter Four

"You can't hide in your cabin the entire trip."

Actually, I could, I thought, although I realized a few seconds later how childish I was being. The thought of facing Obi-Wan was a frightening concept. He'd see right through me! He always could. I had wondered in the past if that particular talent of his was a Jedi thing, but later figured out it was just an Obi-Wan thing. He could read me like a datapad.

"If I go out there," I confessed, "he's going to know I'm lying to him."

Dormé sat down on the bed across from me and thought silently for a moment. "There's an easy solution to that problem," she finally told me. "You can tell him the truth and explain why you brought him along."

My, she was full of advice this morning, but what she was suggesting was more than I was ready for. I could try to explain to her how crushed I would be if he didn't return my feelings. What if he considered us as just friends? What if he told me he was too busy with Anni to be in a personal relationship with anyone? What if…. I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. Dormé would have a reply to every one of my excuses because she always did. We'd been down this road multiple times in the past few years. Nothing had changed except for our location and the circumstances.

It was probably best if I stay hidden in my room until we reached Alderaan.

"Just tell him I've gotten hyperspeed sickness," I suggested.

A smirk lifted the corner of her mouth. "That won't work and you know it."

"True," I replied. This was my personal vessel and came equipped with the stabilizer technology to prevent kinotosis. I was running out of ideas. Unless…

"You know, I can't exactly go up to him and express my deepest desires with Anni right there with him," I told her honestly.

Once again, my faithful handmaiden's brows furrowed as if she were in deep thought. "That does present a problem. They do seem to be inseparable."

While she continued to study the problem, her hands and fingers formed a steeple posture which was a sign she was hatching a plan. I suddenly got very nervous.

"I've visited the bridge a few times," she began slowly, revealing her idea one awful concept at a time. "And I've noticed that Anakin is doing most of the flying. Obi-Wan appears to be manning the co-pilot controls as well as the navigational system. I could go down into the engine room and tinker with a couple of things – nothing unfixable of course – and perhaps Obi-Wan would go down and check on it and you could meet him there …"

The more she spoke, the wider my eyes grew. "Are you crazy? You're going to vandalize our ship? Do you even know what to do? What happens if you mess with the wrong thing and we get stranded in space?"

"Hey.." she said as an ornery grin spread across her face. "That can be plan B! That would work as well! Then you'd have a lot more time with Obi-Wan and I could figure out some way to distract his padawan."

My face revealed the opposite expression. "Don't you dare."

"All right. I'm just teasing," she confessed. "Although, my original idea has some merit. I wouldn't do anything extreme. Just detach a couple of cables or something. An easy fix."

"I don't know…" I argued, still worried.

My friend leaned over and placed a comforting hand on my knee. "Great rewards call for greater risks. If you don't do something, you're going to miss out on this opportunity and you may not ever get another one. I love you and I want you to be happy."

Although sometimes I could wring her neck, I felt the same way. "I love you too. Just be careful."

"So, plan A it is then?"

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Initiate plan A," I confirmed with some hesitation.

"Wonderful!" she said excitedly before rushing to the door, only to pause before she exited. "I'll be sure not to mess with communications just in case…you know…in case we need to call for help. No worries!"

Good heavens! What had I just done?