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he day's tour of the temple with Obi-Wan had been wonderful. Even though they hadn't mentioned their relationship, Sari had felt their bond emerging again. //Or is it just my imagination?// she wondered. She huffed. It seemed she was 'wondering' a lot lately, not really having the courage to find out the facts. Maybe it was because she was afraid of what the 'facts' would reveal.
Sari found herself tidying up the bedroom even though it wasn't necessary. She refolded several of Obi-Wan's tunics two or three times-- she lost count-- and tried to get her mind off of the 'perfect' woman she had met earlier that evening.
Next to Adara Lon, Sari felt like a hopeless, little ragamuffin. The two women were physically like two ends of the female spectrum. Adara was majestically tall and perfectly thin, while Sari was short, stubby, and -- in her own opinion-- too curvy. It was as if Adara Lon had been genetically engineered based upon the desires of most of the men in the known universe. Sari felt so plain and ordinary. Certainly Obi-Wan had noticed the vast difference. What man wouldn't?
"Dinner?! I have to have dinner with this woman?!" she exclaimed to herself.
To give her something to really look forward to, Adara had invited them all to dinner, though Sari sensed the woman would have preferred a private rendezvous for two with Obi-Wan. Adara wanted to have a kind of pretrial celebration due to Sari's unexpected arrival which would certainly help win the case against Perrin. The rotten part was that Adara automatically assumed that Obi-Wan would be her own escort. Anakin and Sari were to meet them later in the evening at the restaurant, which was of course one of Coruscant's finest and most expensive, because she needed to meet with Obi-Wan..... all day.
//Yippee,// Sari thought sarcastically. //I can't wait.//
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"...and don't let her out of your sight, do you understand?" Obi-Wan glared at his padawan with a look of the utmost seriousness on his face.
"Yes, I understand. Don't you trust me?" Anakin replied. He had been listening to his master's list of do's and don'ts for the past ten minutes, and his head was whirling trying to remember it all.
"I do trust you, Anakin, it's just---" Obi drifted off and stared into space.
"Just what?"
"It's just that I don't feel right about leaving her all day. I... I don't want to leave her at all."
Anakin's brow rose in interest at his friend's unintended revelation of feelings. "Have you told her that?" the boy asked bravely.
"Told her what?"
"Told her how you feel about her? She's been here for almost two days now. Have you two talked about things?"
"What things?" the older man questioned, trying to sound oblivious.
Anakin groaned. "You've got to be kidding me!"
Obi-Wan grinned. "No...no we haven't talked about 'things'. In fact," he looked away again, "I'm not sure there are 'things' for us to talk about."
Another groan came from Anakin as he slumped onto the couch shaking his head. "You know, for someone who is supposedly wise in the ways of the galaxy, you sure don't know much about women."
"And you do?!" Obi stated defensively.
"Well, apparently more than you do.... Master," he added so as not to sound too disrespectful. "Why do you really think she came here, Obi-Wan? Look, if she didn't still have feelings for you, she wouldn't have come all this way over thousands of miles, by herself, to a place she's never been before. It would have been much easier for her to just send a message." He paused for a moment before continuing, looking straight into his friend's eyes. "Trust me..... you two definitely have 'things' to talk about."
Obi-Wan was speechless. Anakin actually made absolute sense. The padawan could see his master trying to digest all he had said and decided to wrap it up and go to bed.
"Rest assured, I'll guard her life as if it were my own. I know how much she means to you. Don't you think you should let her know? Goodnight, Master."
Anakin retired to his bedroom leaving Obi-Wan alone with his own thoughts.
//Did I teach him all that?// he chuckled.
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Night on Coruscant.
As long as one remained on the upper echelons of the planet, he would have nothing to worry about. However, darkness being the cloak worn by evil, the lower levels could prove to be quite dangerous--even deadly-- for someone not packing heat in some form or another.
It was on one of these lower levels that Adara Lon waited impatiently in a seamy, out-of-the-way cafe for her 12 o'clock 'appointment'. Surveying her surroundings, she shivered in disgust at the various 'dirty' aliens that were at her every turn. As soon as she got home, the first thing she would do was take a hot shower. Instinctively, her hand slid inside her jacket to reassure herself that her blaster was still in place.
"Miss Lon?"
The voice startled her, and she almost drew her blaster. Glancing up she was relieved to find a human male. "Yes," she replied, slipping easily into her 'beautiful woman' act.
//Wow!// he thought to himself as he stared at the woman seated in the booth in front of him.
"Please, sit down," she motioned as she flipped her golden hair back over her shoulder. It didn't take long for her to realize that he was already wrapped around her little finger.
Without taking his eyes off of her, the young man clumsily slid into the booth across from her. After a few moments of silence, Adara grinned and spoke.
"Aren't you going to ask me what I want, Mr...... what is your name?" she asked coyly, batting her eyelashes.
Finally realizing what a fool he looked like, the man answered. "Oh!... um, my friends just call me Deek." He tried to appear calm and collected by leaning back and placing his hands behind his head.
"Well, then, can I assume that I'm a friend.... Deek?"
"Sure!" Deek replied a little too eagerly.
"Okay, Deek. Let me get right down to business, if I may. I've been told that you might be looking for some work."
"Yeah, that's right. What do you got for me?" Adara chuckled to herself at his poor attempt at toughness.
"I understand you are acquainted with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Sari Zendar by a previous incident on Teemar. Is that right?" Adara waited for acknowledgment in his face, and it finally came along with a snarl and a frown.
"Yeah, I know 'em."
"Good. This is what I want you to do." Adara leaned forward, grabbing his hands, and revealed her plan.
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* More to come!.....