*4*
The light of day slowly pulled Obi from his sleep. He stretched and gave a big yawn as his eyelids fluttered open to find the morning. He could already smell the breakfast his Master was preparing: flat fritters, fresh café, porkin strips - it made his tummy rumble. He sat up and looked around his room, eyes finding a lump wrapped completely in sheets on Cadi's cot.
"Cadi?" Obi stage-whispered to her. No response. He got off his bed and grasped her shoulder to shake her gently, "Cadi? Time to get up." Still, there was no response. Then he heard her sigh.
"No," came the very mumbled, very muffled answer at last. He laughed at her resistance.
"Yes," he continued rocking her back and forth, "come on, up!" Suddenly a hand emerged from the lump, palm facing him. There was a surge in the Force and Obi felt himself thrown back. "Hey!" he exclaimed as he staggered for balance.
"No!" it was louder this time, and even more defiant. Determined, Obi launched himself back onto the bed.
"Get up!" he demanded.
"Make me," the lump stirred a little.
"Fine," carefully, Obi scanned the lump for what looked like her waist. Finding what he assumed to be it, he wedged his hand in and began to tickle her. The lump came alive, convulsing with uncontrolled giggles.
"No! Don't! Stop!" came the pleas between hysterics. She tried to push his hands away, but he just found another spot and kept tickling. Cadi was out of air, and her now-visible face was turning bright red.
"Get up!" Obi repeated to the writhing girl.
"Okay! Okay! Stop! I give up!" she begged. Obi complied and sat back to let her breathe. Cadi pulled the sheets free from her, then sat in silence for a moment beside him.
"Well?" he said.
"Yah!" came the battle cry as Obi found the sheets suddenly attacking him. She pulled them down over his head and arms before he could react, and now he struggled to free himself. He stood up, but felt her attached to him, and stumbled to his bed.
"Muahaha! Sweet revenge!" Cadi cackled as she started to torture him with tickles. But Cadi had another thing coming, Obi thought as he lay there, completely still. After a minute she stopped and poked him, "Hey," she said, and then gasped with realization.
"I'm not ticklish!" he lunged at her, untangling himself from the sheets. She stood to run, but he wrapped the sheets around her and held tight. Her motion did not stop, her legs kept moving, and eventually she tripped and went crashing to the floor, taking Obi with her. She crawled to the door, making her way to escape, but he caught her by the ankles and dragged her back. He was just about to start another round of tickles when-
"Kids! Breakfast! Come to the table!" Qui's voice came from the kitchen.
"Praise the Force," Cadi breathed, spinning around to face Obi.
"So much for sweet revenge, eh?" he touched her cheek and got to his feet, offering her a hand. She pulled herself up and looked at him indignantly.
"This is not over, Kenobi," she said threateningly.
"So it's Kenobi now?" he teased.
"Yeah, and?"
"Well, that's not what you said last night," he ducked as a pillow came flying. "Hey! Breakfast, remember?" he prompted, motioning to the door.
"You might benefit from a shirt," she jabbed her finger into his still-bare chest.
"Oh yeah," he swiped up an undershirt and rolled it down onto himself. It was on inside-out.
"Classy, very refined," Cadi commented. Obi grinned and shoved her out the door.
"Ah! They have emerged! Morning Obi-Wan, Cadi," Qui greeted them as he juggled two frying pans of food between stove and counter. A few flips of his wrists and some well-placed plates, and within seconds Qui had three dishes of food perfectly prepared.
"I would've never thought you a chef, Master Qui-Gon," Cadi said as she prepared herself a cup of cocoa.
"And I would've never thought you'd get along so well with my Padawan, Cadi," Qui returned with a suggestive glance to Obi as he handed her a plate. Obi was busy inhaling his food, and smiled bashfully as he caught the look. Cadi looked at both of them in confusion, and her eyes narrowed at Obi.
"What's he talking about?" she asked blankly. Obi had been in the middle of sipping his café, but upon hearing her question he stopped in mid-action and stared at her.
Cadi was starting to worry now. Not only had Qui made that comment, but the look she was getting from Obi told her something was seriously up.
"Have you no memory of last night?" he said at last.
"Of course I remember last night," she still wasn't understanding.
"Well then."
"Well, what? We went to eat, I got in a fight with your friend, we took a walk, and then we went to sleep."
"Yes, right, and then?" she felt him prompting her, but there was nothing else to share with them except for her dream, and she wasn't about to tell them about that.
"That's it," Cadi heard the doubt in her words.
"I think she honestly doesn't remember, Obi-Wan," Qui chimed in.
"Remember what?" she exclaimed in exasperation.
"So you have no memory of, perhaps, getting up in the middle of the night? Wandering off to the sparring rooms?" Obi stopped there, but she could tell from his tone that there was more. Now she was getting alarmed because-
Cadi's hand flew up to her mouth as she inhaled sharply, "That was real?!?" Obi nodded slowly, obviously not understanding why she was in shock. "Oh no," she breathed out slowly. Obi brought down his mug and gave her a hurt look.
"Well that makes me feel wonderful," he said, slightly miffed.
"No, you don't understand," it was hitting Cadi now that she was in deep, deep poodoo, "I thought- I thought I was dreaming." At that she heard Qui explode with laughter behind her. She watched as he folded his arms over the counter to hide his hysterical reaction.
"Good to know I'm the man of your dreams," Obi said into his mug. Another explosion of laughter came from Qui as Obi caught the onanja Cadi threw at him.
"Wait, so that means…we-" she gasped again as this time both of her hands flew to her mouth.
"Yep, twice, if you remember," a coy smile tugged at the edges of Obi's mouth.
"I don't believe it," Cadi couldn't help herself from feeling extremely happy.
"Believe it, sweet lips," Obi winked at her over his mug.
"If you're messing with my head, I'm going to shove my foot so far-"
"Hey! Hey, no need for that," Qui interrupted gently, "we're not kidding, Cadi."
"Why are you so paranoid?" Obi asked her, his face serious and inquisitive.
"I'm not paranoid, I-" Cadi halted as she thought of what to say, "let's just leave it as I learn from my mistakes."
"Fair enough," Qui said quickly, shutting his Padawan's opening mouth.
"So Master," Obi said instead, "what's the plan for today?"
"You're going to be happy to hear, Obi-Wan, that we basically have the day off. The Council decided to leave a few of our days empty so we can get Cadi situated."
"Oh joy," Cadi said flatly.
"Yes!" Obi whispered happily, then said aloud, "So what are we going to do first?"
"First, my Padawan, you will be doing the dishes. Cadi is free to get dressed, for now," Qui inclined his head at her slightly, "and I will map out a plan for us all."
"Oh, but Master!" Obi pouted as he neared the sink.
"I cook, you clean, Obi-Wan. That is the way of things," Qui said simply.
"I'll do the dishes," Cadi volunteered. The two men looked at her strangely. "What?" she looked at them innocently, "I like doing dishes." Qui shrugged after a moment.
"If you say so. So that leaves Obi-Wan to-?"
"To go put some clothes on, right side out," Cadi said smartly before she turned the water on. Obi started to rebut, stopped, and disappeared into his room. Qui regarded her for a second, she looked up to meet his gaze.
"You certainly have an- interesting- effect on him," Qui commented.
"The feeling is mutual," Cadi replied, half to herself. Qui laughed quietly through his nose.
"He is a good boy, Cadi. I foresee you two will have quite a healthy relationship. That is, once you let your guard down a bit," his eyes smiled at her. Cadi felt her cheeks heat and she looked down at the sink.
"Yeah, I did that last night, or so I've heard."
"Relax, dear girl, it will be our little secret," he patted her shoulder and went off into his room.
The dishes were done, Cadi dried her hands as she stood by the sink. No sooner had she put the towel down when two hands covered her eyes.
"Guess who," said a young, confident and playful voice from behind her.
"Gee, I haven't the slightest idea," she said, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Oh, come on! Guess," the voice insisted.
"Okay, I'm guessing it's a saucy little troublemaker who likes to play pointless games." The hands dropped, Cadi spun around to find a frowning troublemaker.
"You're no fun," Obi said sulkily.
"I know," she tousled his hair before running off into his room to get ready.
It appeared Cadi's unbreakable barrier was back in full force, Obi thought to himself as he waited for her and his Master to emerge from their respective rooms. That meant that last night had been, at the very least, a one-time, never-going-to-happen-again, might-as-well-forget-about-it occurrence, unless Obi found a way to break that wall. At least now he knew that she did indeed like him, and her apathy towards him was just a self-defense mechanism. Figuring out how to disable such a mechanism was going to be the hard part…
The swish of a door brought his attention back to reality. Obi looked up to find his prepared Master appearing from his room.
"Are you ready, Obi-Wan?" Qui's kindly yet stern gaze met with his.
"There are many answers to that question, Master," Obi mused.
"Is that so?" Qui regarded his apprentice carefully, "What troubles you, Padawan?"
"Actually Master, I believe I'm close to solving the problem."
"Share it with me, perhaps I can help ease the situation a bit."
"Well," Obi thought for a second, his Master already knew…"I think I understand Cadi's strange behavior."
Qui chuckled a bit, "I don't mean to discourage you, Obi-Wan, but no man will ever understand the behaviors of women."
"I know, but-" he continued eagerly, "but I can feel that she likes me, she just-"
"She just doesn't want to," the older man finished knowingly.
"Yes!" Obi exclaimed, his thoughts suddenly clear before him "And do you know why that is, Master? Because frankly, it's driving me mad!" He received more laughter from Qui-Gon, and he pouted.
"It's not you I'm laughing at, Padawan- well, no, actually, I lied, I am laughing at you. That look on your face-" Qui stopped himself and cleared his throat, remembering that he had a question to answer, "I'm afraid not all boys are not as bona fide as you, and Cadi has probably had her share of heartbreaks because of them."
"But I would never do anything-"
"I know that, Obi-Wan, you know that. But she doesn't," Qui pointed out.
"How do I show it to her?"
"Unfortunately, Padawan, that is a realization Cadi must make all on her own." Obi's frown deepened.
"I'm screwed," he stated distantly. Qui gave him a comforting pat on the back.
"Have faith, my boy, the time will come. Judging from the talk I had with her this morning, she has already begun to relax." Obi's eyes lit up- a cross of elation and worry filling them.
"Really, Master? Are you sure? How do you know? What did you say to her? What did she say? Tell me everything!"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I'm not going to dispense the details of our private conversation," Qui chided, however gently, "I don't expect you to tell me what you two were communicating about yesterday in the hallway."
"You knew about that?" Obi's eyes flashed again.
"I had the feeling, you just confirmed it," Qui said smugly. Obi shook his head in defeat.
"You know me too well, Master. It scares me sometimes…"
"Doesn't it? And it's only been two years! Imagine what this will be like in ten," the Master teased.
The hushed whistle of an opening door interrupted their conversation. It was Cadi, all ready to go. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders as her head rose to acknowledge them.
"So what's the story?" she asked carelessly.
"Well," Qui began, "I've decided you could benefit from some more orientation-"
"We're going touring again?" Cadi cut to the quick.
"Basically," the Master responded.
"'Kay, when do we leave?"
"Right now, if you're ready."
"Sure, let's go," she was already starting for the door. Obi jumped from his seat to follow her, overly anxious to talk. Qui shook his head silently, remembering his younger days.
The light of day slowly pulled Obi from his sleep. He stretched and gave a big yawn as his eyelids fluttered open to find the morning. He could already smell the breakfast his Master was preparing: flat fritters, fresh café, porkin strips - it made his tummy rumble. He sat up and looked around his room, eyes finding a lump wrapped completely in sheets on Cadi's cot.
"Cadi?" Obi stage-whispered to her. No response. He got off his bed and grasped her shoulder to shake her gently, "Cadi? Time to get up." Still, there was no response. Then he heard her sigh.
"No," came the very mumbled, very muffled answer at last. He laughed at her resistance.
"Yes," he continued rocking her back and forth, "come on, up!" Suddenly a hand emerged from the lump, palm facing him. There was a surge in the Force and Obi felt himself thrown back. "Hey!" he exclaimed as he staggered for balance.
"No!" it was louder this time, and even more defiant. Determined, Obi launched himself back onto the bed.
"Get up!" he demanded.
"Make me," the lump stirred a little.
"Fine," carefully, Obi scanned the lump for what looked like her waist. Finding what he assumed to be it, he wedged his hand in and began to tickle her. The lump came alive, convulsing with uncontrolled giggles.
"No! Don't! Stop!" came the pleas between hysterics. She tried to push his hands away, but he just found another spot and kept tickling. Cadi was out of air, and her now-visible face was turning bright red.
"Get up!" Obi repeated to the writhing girl.
"Okay! Okay! Stop! I give up!" she begged. Obi complied and sat back to let her breathe. Cadi pulled the sheets free from her, then sat in silence for a moment beside him.
"Well?" he said.
"Yah!" came the battle cry as Obi found the sheets suddenly attacking him. She pulled them down over his head and arms before he could react, and now he struggled to free himself. He stood up, but felt her attached to him, and stumbled to his bed.
"Muahaha! Sweet revenge!" Cadi cackled as she started to torture him with tickles. But Cadi had another thing coming, Obi thought as he lay there, completely still. After a minute she stopped and poked him, "Hey," she said, and then gasped with realization.
"I'm not ticklish!" he lunged at her, untangling himself from the sheets. She stood to run, but he wrapped the sheets around her and held tight. Her motion did not stop, her legs kept moving, and eventually she tripped and went crashing to the floor, taking Obi with her. She crawled to the door, making her way to escape, but he caught her by the ankles and dragged her back. He was just about to start another round of tickles when-
"Kids! Breakfast! Come to the table!" Qui's voice came from the kitchen.
"Praise the Force," Cadi breathed, spinning around to face Obi.
"So much for sweet revenge, eh?" he touched her cheek and got to his feet, offering her a hand. She pulled herself up and looked at him indignantly.
"This is not over, Kenobi," she said threateningly.
"So it's Kenobi now?" he teased.
"Yeah, and?"
"Well, that's not what you said last night," he ducked as a pillow came flying. "Hey! Breakfast, remember?" he prompted, motioning to the door.
"You might benefit from a shirt," she jabbed her finger into his still-bare chest.
"Oh yeah," he swiped up an undershirt and rolled it down onto himself. It was on inside-out.
"Classy, very refined," Cadi commented. Obi grinned and shoved her out the door.
"Ah! They have emerged! Morning Obi-Wan, Cadi," Qui greeted them as he juggled two frying pans of food between stove and counter. A few flips of his wrists and some well-placed plates, and within seconds Qui had three dishes of food perfectly prepared.
"I would've never thought you a chef, Master Qui-Gon," Cadi said as she prepared herself a cup of cocoa.
"And I would've never thought you'd get along so well with my Padawan, Cadi," Qui returned with a suggestive glance to Obi as he handed her a plate. Obi was busy inhaling his food, and smiled bashfully as he caught the look. Cadi looked at both of them in confusion, and her eyes narrowed at Obi.
"What's he talking about?" she asked blankly. Obi had been in the middle of sipping his café, but upon hearing her question he stopped in mid-action and stared at her.
Cadi was starting to worry now. Not only had Qui made that comment, but the look she was getting from Obi told her something was seriously up.
"Have you no memory of last night?" he said at last.
"Of course I remember last night," she still wasn't understanding.
"Well then."
"Well, what? We went to eat, I got in a fight with your friend, we took a walk, and then we went to sleep."
"Yes, right, and then?" she felt him prompting her, but there was nothing else to share with them except for her dream, and she wasn't about to tell them about that.
"That's it," Cadi heard the doubt in her words.
"I think she honestly doesn't remember, Obi-Wan," Qui chimed in.
"Remember what?" she exclaimed in exasperation.
"So you have no memory of, perhaps, getting up in the middle of the night? Wandering off to the sparring rooms?" Obi stopped there, but she could tell from his tone that there was more. Now she was getting alarmed because-
Cadi's hand flew up to her mouth as she inhaled sharply, "That was real?!?" Obi nodded slowly, obviously not understanding why she was in shock. "Oh no," she breathed out slowly. Obi brought down his mug and gave her a hurt look.
"Well that makes me feel wonderful," he said, slightly miffed.
"No, you don't understand," it was hitting Cadi now that she was in deep, deep poodoo, "I thought- I thought I was dreaming." At that she heard Qui explode with laughter behind her. She watched as he folded his arms over the counter to hide his hysterical reaction.
"Good to know I'm the man of your dreams," Obi said into his mug. Another explosion of laughter came from Qui as Obi caught the onanja Cadi threw at him.
"Wait, so that means…we-" she gasped again as this time both of her hands flew to her mouth.
"Yep, twice, if you remember," a coy smile tugged at the edges of Obi's mouth.
"I don't believe it," Cadi couldn't help herself from feeling extremely happy.
"Believe it, sweet lips," Obi winked at her over his mug.
"If you're messing with my head, I'm going to shove my foot so far-"
"Hey! Hey, no need for that," Qui interrupted gently, "we're not kidding, Cadi."
"Why are you so paranoid?" Obi asked her, his face serious and inquisitive.
"I'm not paranoid, I-" Cadi halted as she thought of what to say, "let's just leave it as I learn from my mistakes."
"Fair enough," Qui said quickly, shutting his Padawan's opening mouth.
"So Master," Obi said instead, "what's the plan for today?"
"You're going to be happy to hear, Obi-Wan, that we basically have the day off. The Council decided to leave a few of our days empty so we can get Cadi situated."
"Oh joy," Cadi said flatly.
"Yes!" Obi whispered happily, then said aloud, "So what are we going to do first?"
"First, my Padawan, you will be doing the dishes. Cadi is free to get dressed, for now," Qui inclined his head at her slightly, "and I will map out a plan for us all."
"Oh, but Master!" Obi pouted as he neared the sink.
"I cook, you clean, Obi-Wan. That is the way of things," Qui said simply.
"I'll do the dishes," Cadi volunteered. The two men looked at her strangely. "What?" she looked at them innocently, "I like doing dishes." Qui shrugged after a moment.
"If you say so. So that leaves Obi-Wan to-?"
"To go put some clothes on, right side out," Cadi said smartly before she turned the water on. Obi started to rebut, stopped, and disappeared into his room. Qui regarded her for a second, she looked up to meet his gaze.
"You certainly have an- interesting- effect on him," Qui commented.
"The feeling is mutual," Cadi replied, half to herself. Qui laughed quietly through his nose.
"He is a good boy, Cadi. I foresee you two will have quite a healthy relationship. That is, once you let your guard down a bit," his eyes smiled at her. Cadi felt her cheeks heat and she looked down at the sink.
"Yeah, I did that last night, or so I've heard."
"Relax, dear girl, it will be our little secret," he patted her shoulder and went off into his room.
The dishes were done, Cadi dried her hands as she stood by the sink. No sooner had she put the towel down when two hands covered her eyes.
"Guess who," said a young, confident and playful voice from behind her.
"Gee, I haven't the slightest idea," she said, a smile tugging at her lips.
"Oh, come on! Guess," the voice insisted.
"Okay, I'm guessing it's a saucy little troublemaker who likes to play pointless games." The hands dropped, Cadi spun around to find a frowning troublemaker.
"You're no fun," Obi said sulkily.
"I know," she tousled his hair before running off into his room to get ready.
It appeared Cadi's unbreakable barrier was back in full force, Obi thought to himself as he waited for her and his Master to emerge from their respective rooms. That meant that last night had been, at the very least, a one-time, never-going-to-happen-again, might-as-well-forget-about-it occurrence, unless Obi found a way to break that wall. At least now he knew that she did indeed like him, and her apathy towards him was just a self-defense mechanism. Figuring out how to disable such a mechanism was going to be the hard part…
The swish of a door brought his attention back to reality. Obi looked up to find his prepared Master appearing from his room.
"Are you ready, Obi-Wan?" Qui's kindly yet stern gaze met with his.
"There are many answers to that question, Master," Obi mused.
"Is that so?" Qui regarded his apprentice carefully, "What troubles you, Padawan?"
"Actually Master, I believe I'm close to solving the problem."
"Share it with me, perhaps I can help ease the situation a bit."
"Well," Obi thought for a second, his Master already knew…"I think I understand Cadi's strange behavior."
Qui chuckled a bit, "I don't mean to discourage you, Obi-Wan, but no man will ever understand the behaviors of women."
"I know, but-" he continued eagerly, "but I can feel that she likes me, she just-"
"She just doesn't want to," the older man finished knowingly.
"Yes!" Obi exclaimed, his thoughts suddenly clear before him "And do you know why that is, Master? Because frankly, it's driving me mad!" He received more laughter from Qui-Gon, and he pouted.
"It's not you I'm laughing at, Padawan- well, no, actually, I lied, I am laughing at you. That look on your face-" Qui stopped himself and cleared his throat, remembering that he had a question to answer, "I'm afraid not all boys are not as bona fide as you, and Cadi has probably had her share of heartbreaks because of them."
"But I would never do anything-"
"I know that, Obi-Wan, you know that. But she doesn't," Qui pointed out.
"How do I show it to her?"
"Unfortunately, Padawan, that is a realization Cadi must make all on her own." Obi's frown deepened.
"I'm screwed," he stated distantly. Qui gave him a comforting pat on the back.
"Have faith, my boy, the time will come. Judging from the talk I had with her this morning, she has already begun to relax." Obi's eyes lit up- a cross of elation and worry filling them.
"Really, Master? Are you sure? How do you know? What did you say to her? What did she say? Tell me everything!"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down. I'm not going to dispense the details of our private conversation," Qui chided, however gently, "I don't expect you to tell me what you two were communicating about yesterday in the hallway."
"You knew about that?" Obi's eyes flashed again.
"I had the feeling, you just confirmed it," Qui said smugly. Obi shook his head in defeat.
"You know me too well, Master. It scares me sometimes…"
"Doesn't it? And it's only been two years! Imagine what this will be like in ten," the Master teased.
The hushed whistle of an opening door interrupted their conversation. It was Cadi, all ready to go. She tossed her hair behind her shoulders as her head rose to acknowledge them.
"So what's the story?" she asked carelessly.
"Well," Qui began, "I've decided you could benefit from some more orientation-"
"We're going touring again?" Cadi cut to the quick.
"Basically," the Master responded.
"'Kay, when do we leave?"
"Right now, if you're ready."
"Sure, let's go," she was already starting for the door. Obi jumped from his seat to follow her, overly anxious to talk. Qui shook his head silently, remembering his younger days.