Cerasi watched as Obi-Wan helped Zehava return to a liveable, upright city. She watched as everyone took the loss of the Jedi Order in stride, simply because Obi-Wan, the former Jedi, did. And late at night, she watched as her husband tore himself from a constant, tormenting dream, and tried not to wake her with his screams.

"Obi-Wan?" Cerasi watched the wind-blown shadows dance across their ceiling.

"Yes?"

"Are you all right?"

"I suppose so." At least he was nearly honest with her.

"What do you dream of?" It wasn't uncommon for one or the other to ask that. Long ago, Obi-Wan had told her some dreams could be guides, and when they were thought to be important, the two of them could sit up past dawn talking them out.

But Obi-Wan stayed silent. Cerasi rolled onto her side and looked down at him. "Talk, chum," she whispered.

He hesitated, but one look at her, and he knew there was no way she would let him alone. She prompted him a few more times before he finally murmured, "It's about Qui-Gon."

"What happens?" She had allowed him a moment of silence, but he knew better than to hope she wouldn't ask for details.

"Sometimes he dies."

"You have two dreams about him?"

He gazed at her silhouette for a long minute. "I have many dreams about him. But I understand what you mean. No. Sometimes, the dream...continues further."

"What happens first?"

Obi-Wan sat up against the wall and closed his eyes. It was an instinct to shut your eyes against what you didn't wish to see; but instead, it made his subconscious images that much more vivid.

Hoarsely, yet steadily, he told the dream to her as he relived it. "Qui-Gon is standing with a woman, watching the traffic on Coruscant. He's not in his Jedi robes...I can't tell exactly how they're different from his robes, but they are...she's in some kind of uniform, black and grey camouflage." he tensed as the next scene played out. "The woman is herding the Jedi onto large ships. Mace Windu is injured, but he fights off two guards and leaps off the building. She's angry, but she doesn't stop." He paused, readying himself to stumble through the next scene. "Qui-Gon is in a storage building of some sort. He's looking for something...but someone drops down behind him. He tries to fight him off, but the man is too fast for him. He...he kills Qui-Gon.

"That's not the end of it, but I certainly don't understand the next part. It's mostly just images...the woman Qui-Gon was with. Some buildings."

Cerasi pushed herself up so that she could sit beside him and rest her head on his shoulder. "I've been thinking. No one here knows what's going on -what's /really/ going on- back there. The only way is to go to Coruscant and see."

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No."

"What do I have to do to get you to cooperate?" she gave a long-suffering sigh. "All right. If you don't go, I'll go alone."

The apprehension he felt about returning to Coruscant exploded into terror. "What? Why would you do that?"

Cerasi jumped at his outburst, but quickly recovered. She climbed out of bed and started packing the few belongings she had. "Why? Because...oh, I don't know...they /were/ the closest thing /you/ had to a family, back then. And see this?" in the darkness, she held out her hand. Perched on one slender finger was the ring he had given her. "Didn't /you/ say that it was a symbol of unity? Well, I guess that makes me part of your family, even the Jedi part."

"You can't leave right now!" he fumbled for any reason to stall her. Time meant he could gather an argument, and convince her not to go.

She tied the pack shut and looked at him. "Point taken?"

"If I go, I don't want you to come." Obi-Wan got out of bed; for reasons he couldn't understand, the two of them always stood when they argued.

"Oh, I'm going."

"Then you don't get off the ship." Cerasi knew Obi-Wan, while almost as stubborn as she was, was never /just/ overbearing. Even when he didn't, or couldn't, explain his reasons to her, he did have them.

She nodded at last. "I stay on the ship, and you go see what's what in the Republic."



********

Obi-Wan tried to conjure up the happy moments of his life at the Jedi Temple as he stepped off the ship. There were many, more than the memories which caused him pain.

But as he gazed up at the Temple, it disturbed him how different it was, and the joyous pasts that he'd lived shrank under the power of it. Instead, he remembered Bruck Chun, breaking his ankle, fighting with Bant, and the times under that very roof that Qui-Gon Jinn had risen his hopes to dash them again.

He was grateful it was so different on the inside. The decorations were less colorful, if that were possible, but seemed more elegant. The carpets were luxurious, the doors thicker, more polished, and some of them even had locks now. It helped erase some memories, and replace others.

"Can I help you?" an decidedly unfriendly human sniffed.

"Yes." Obi-Wan turned. "I wish to speak with the Master here."

"He's not here."

"Where is he?"

"That is classified, but if I were to tell you, I would probably tell you he was at the Capitol building." Maybe he wasn't so much 'unfriendly' as 'gruff'. "Now get out."

"Doesn't he get a tour?" a teenaged, green and silver skinned humanoid asked.

The greeter looked around. "Hallway. Door. Window." He looked back at Obi-Wan. "/Exit/."

The teenager made a face at the greeter, and ground out, "Baren..." but Obi-Wan nodded.

"I must be going. My wife has a meeting in the Capitol building."

"Popular place," Baren remarked dryly. "I have a friend there. If you see him, avoid the topic of cheese curds, would you?"

The former Jedi pursed his lips and walked away, trying to decide if Baren meant it, or was being ironic again. Not that he would have brought it up before, but...



"I'd forgotten how long it's been since we were here last," Cerasi exclaimed as the two of them strolled into the large, and also redecorated, Capitol Building.

They stopped in a spacious grey and white stone entry hall. The ceilings were nearly fifty feet above their heads, supported by huge polished columns of black wood. Odd dark vines scaled the walls and ceilings, dangling large orange flowers. Cerasi openly showed her awe, while Obi-Wan felt as if he'd been attacked by Jedi training he thought had died years before. His face was a careful mask of calm.

"Who are we looking for again?" Cerasi asked, breathlessly.

Just then, the transparent doors they had just come through swung open. They turned to see two guards, with the same gray patterned camouflage as the woman Obi-Wan had described, drag a bright red Twi'lek woman in.

There was no mistaking those pastels on the Twi'lek. "I thought they were all off of Coruscant," one of the guards grumbled as they hauled her past the two Kenobis.

"Brilliant of you," the other hissed at the Twi'lek Jedi.

Obi-Wan looked at Cerasi, who nodded. They followed after the guards, who merely went up to the front desk.

"Found her," the shorter one said blandly. The other grinned.

"Not another one," the receptionist groaned. "I'll call up. You two have a ship, no doubt?"

"Yes..." the taller replied carefully. "We will be-"

Obi-Wan felt a cold sweat trickle down his back, but he drew in a deep breath and stepped forward. "May I interest you in some cheese curds?" it was all he could do not to laugh at how ridiculous he sounded. He knew better than to look at Cerasi; the stare she gave him really would break him down.

The two guards froze and looked at each other, and at the same instant looked over their shoulders at him. "What is your name?" the taller asked him slowly.

The shorter guard shook his head. "Meet us at Landing Pad 4033." his gaze flicked to Cerasi and back. "Alone."