Chapter Fifty-One

The three of them, to Aalea's surprise, encountered no obstacles as they left the palace. Apparently the events of yesterday were still so much the topic of discussion no one thought anything of Aalea, Obi-Wan and one of Nadira's handmaidens leaving the palace in the middle of the night.

One of the guardsmen at the palace entrance asked them where they were going, but Obi-Wan quickly explained that Nadira was still feeling poorly and he and Aalea, since it was quite late, were escorting one of her handmaidens to the apothecary for some medicine. At the mention of the Rose of Sylvonna's distress, the guardsman's eyes filled with tears. He quickly waved them through.

Now, Aalea was surprised to see Obi-Wan was leading her and Nadira to the Sylvonnan space port. It was pretty much deserted this time of night and any personnel around only glanced idly at them.

Obi-Wan took them to the skipship. He turned to Nadira.

"Are you ready, your highness?"

Nadira nodded, her eyes sparkling from the lights of the starport.

Obi-Wan keyed in the code to open the ship. The door opened and the ramp lowered to the ground.

Obi-Wan gestured for Nadira to enter. She hesitated for a moment then, lifting up her gown, ran up the ramp.

Just as Aalea was about to follow, Obi-Wan grabbed her arm and jerked her back. He then closed the door behind Nadira.

"Why did you do that?" Aalea cried. "Aren't we taking her to Ishan?"

"We have. He's inside."

"What? That's where he's been hiding all this time?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "That's why no one could find him. While I was searching, I decided to stop by and check on the ship. He must have memorized the entry code when we took off from Tarkasia. I think he was hoping to stow away with us."

Aalea looked back at the ship.

"So, what are we supposed to do while they're in there?"

"Wait," Obi-Wan said.

He walked over to where some storage boxes were stacked against a freighter which was parked next to the skipship. Carefully arranging his robe, he sat, leaned back against the freighter, folded his arms before him, stretched out his legs and crossed his boots at the ankle.

Aalea stared at him. Crazy. That was the only explanation. Obi-Wan had gone crazy. She walked over and sat on the box next to him.

"Master, please, forgive my impertinence, but this is nuts! What is this going to solve?" She waved her hand towards the skipship. "So you brought them together. What do you think is going to happen? That they're going to take one look at each other and fall madly in love?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Whatever happens, Aalea, it can't be any worse than what's already occurred." He cocked an eyebrow at her. "What's the matter, don't you believe in love at first sight?"

"No, as a matter of fact, I do not. And I don't believe you do either."

"You'd be surprised," he said softly. He looked at her for a long moment, then closed his eyes.

She stared at him, unable to believe he was just going to sit there while Nadira and Ishan were inside the skipship. But he didn't stir.

Aalea leaned back against the freighter, took a deep breath and set herself to wait. After about a quarter of an hour had passed, she couldn't stand the silence any longer.

"Master?"

"Hmmm?" Obi-Wan said, his eyes still closed.

"Whatever gave you this crazy idea in the first place?"

He didn't answer her at first.

"Master Qui-Gon did," he finally said.

"You've spoken with him?"

"No," Obi-Wan replied, his eyes still closed, "but I asked myself, what would my master have done in this situation? He would have looked for a solution inside the problem, not outside. So I imagined what it must have been like for Ishan to have to meet the girl he was supposed to marry in front of so many people. I also remembered something he said while we were on Tarkasia. About how parents should do what's best for their children. All that hoopla yesterday wasn't for the benefit of Nadira and Ishan. It was for the glory and ego of their parents.

"But this," and he opened his eyes, gesturing toward the skipship, "is for them." He then looked over at Aalea and she was struck at how beautiful his eyes were under the lights of the starport.

"Of course," he went on in a dry voice, "if you're right, and Nadira and Ishan should discover they don't care for each other, at least they can find that out privately, without a hundred pair of eyes upon them. And we're no worse off than we were before."

Aalea had to admit his reasoning made sense, sort of. She gazed back at him.

"Very insightful, Master."

Obi-Wan inclined his head, a slight smile on his lips.

"Thank you, Padawan," he said, his eyes dancing.

Aalea shook her finger at him.

"Don't you push it, Kenobi. You're only my master until this mission is over. You're still just a lowly padawan like me."

Obi-Wan held up his hands in mock surrender.

"All right, all right, Aalea. I'm sorry," he said laughing.

Aalea glared at him but his laughter was so infectious Aalea soon found herself laughing too. Then, as she looked over at him, she felt something stir inside her. The feeling twisted within her like a fish caught on a lure or a bird struggling through a wind storm. It pushed and pulled at her this feeling; made her want to run away from Obi-Wan and, yet at the same time, never leave his side.

Both of them had stopped laughing, but they continued to gaze into each other's eyes. Aalea was suddenly aware of Obi-Wan's presence in a way that made her heart beat fast and the bottom of her stomach feel as if it were dropping away from her.

Then she saw Obi-Wan stir as he looked back at her. He sat up and moved away from the freighter, his eyes never leaving hers. Aalea's breath quickened and she was suddenly afraid to move. She felt a ripple of excitement as he inched closer to her.

Suddenly, the sound of the skipship door opening drew their attention away from each other.

Obi-Wan rose quickly from the crates and so did Aalea. They walked over to the ship.

Aalea peered up into the dark opening. At first she could see nothing, then Nadira walked out, her hand firmly clasped by a tall young man with dark golden eyes and black curly hair.

Nadira's face was unveiled and she gazed up at Ishan, her green eyes dancing.

Ishan looked down at Aalea and Obi-Wan, a sheepish grin on his face. Then he turned and carefully escorted Nadira down the ramp.

Obi-Wan glanced over at Aalea with an I-told-you-so look on his face. She glowered at him for a moment, then gave him a small smile, inclining her head slightly in acknowledgment of his insight regarding the two.

Obi-Wan bowed to Nadira and Ishan.

"Your highnesses."

"You were right, Master Kenobi," Prince Ishan said as he gazed fondly down at Nadira. "She is very charming."

"Yes, Jedi Obi-Wan," Nadira said, nodding her head briskly. "You were right. He is very tall." She gazed up at Ishan with shining eyes.

"We'd better get back to the palace, your highnesses," Obi-Wan said.

As Aalea and Obi-Wan escorted the prince and princess through the capital, she moved close to him.

"Did you really think they were going to come out of there liking each other so much?" she whispered.

"I really didn't know," he replied in a low voice. "But, as I said before, I figured we didn't have anything to lose."

"So you took a chance?"

"Yes, I guess you could say I did."

She tilted her head as she looked up at him.

"Master Qui-Gon would be very proud of you, I think."

He looked at her and smiled. She smiled back.

To be continued...