Obi-Wan had breakfasted with the Queen and some of her advisors at an early meeting. He thanked Amidala for her hospitality, and praised the courtesy of the Naboo. That met with the approval of the Ministers present, and they invited him to join them again, once he had finished his business out of town.

He packed and had his belongings left with the Majordomo. He then sought out Sabé and Meira. Jeré came upon him in the hall.

"Looking for the Queen, honored Jedi?" she inquired politely.

He smiled at her. "No handmaiden, I'm looking for Sabé and Meira. Have you seen them?"

Jeré shook her head with amusement. "Yes, I can take you there. This way..." She indicated the path they were to take.

The scene he came upon was quite a surprise. In a small clear patch of grass, a wading pool was set up. Jar-Jar was lying down in the water, and a small stream shot up from his mouth. Meira was laughing hysterically at this antic, and jumped from the edge of the pool to land on the Gungan's belly. Sabé was nowhere in sight.

Jar-Jar sat up abruptly. "Ohhh, big gooberfish! Huge Opee!" The child laughed even more.

Obi-Wan was annoyed that the girl got on so well with the silly Gungan. The playmates finally noticed him.

"Hi-di-ho, Jedi," Jar-Jar called out, waving. Meira waved and ooohed as well.

//Sabé!// Obi-Wan called.

"I'm here, Obi-Wan," she said, rising from behind a bush that had blocked his view of her. She had been in the water too. She was wearing a bathing suit and her hair was still drying.

She smiled at him. //You thought I'd just leave him alone with her? You should know better,// she teased.

Embarrassed at having his assumption discovered, Obi-Wan bit his lip ever so slightly.

Jeré had one hand over her mouth in an unsuccessful attempt to hide her huge smile. Obi-Wan shot her a glance and she just shrugged.

He approached the the pair, and Jar-Jar carefully picked up Meira and held her out to him, flashing him a large and happy grin. As Obi-Wan took the child, he spoke. "The bosses are supposed to take care of the little ones." At the Jedi's withering stare, he moaned and slunk away.

"Great," Obi-Wan muttered under his breath. "The pathetic lifeform is giving me parenting advice."

Meira did not notice Obi-Wan's fuming. As he held her at arm's length, she was still excited from play, dripping and wiggling in his hands. Sabé grabbed a towel, and joined the two of them, to dry off her daughter.

"Jeddi," Meira shouted with glee.

"Yes, my girl. The Jedi stopped by to see us," Sabé confirmed.

"Hug," she demanded. The child surprised both of the adults as she pushed against Sabé with her feet to launch herself at Obi-Wan and clasp him around the neck.

Obi-Wan stood and looked very undignified with the wet girl hanging onto him and giggling.

Sabé could hardly stifle her laughter, but she did, and grasped the child firmly, pulling her away to finish drying her. "I'm sorry Obi-Wan, she moves fast."

"Jedi reflexes," he remarked as he stood there with large water spots all over his fresh robes. The two Gungans snickered at the sight.

"Looks like there's going to be a slight delay in your plans. Here, give me the robes, we can put them on the bushes to dry. It's a sunny day, that won't take too long," Sabé offered. She nodded to Jeré, who got the hint.

"Come on, Jar-Jar. It's time for a walk," Jeré stated.

"Oh! Before Mesa forget, mesa got a little bitty pressi for yousa," Jar-Jar said proudly. He pulled a small box from the vest that he was putting back on.

"For me? Why General, yousa shouldn't have!"

Jar-Jar looked downright bashful as he handed her a fine brooch. It was a green jadelike stone set in gold.

"It'sa lovely. But mesa thinks I have seen this before somewhere. I can't quite place it..." Jeré said, examining the pin.

"No, no, you'sa not seen that before," Jar-Jar said quickly. "It'sa just for you. Nowsa, come on, admit it. Sometimes yousa not think meesa so bad."

As they walked away, Jeré answered. "Sometimes...occasionally....when yousa not actin' like a scoundrel."

"Scoundrel! Mesa like that!"

As the Gungan's conversation faded away, Obi-Wan looked around. Seeing that they were now alone, he removed the cloak and his tunics. The pants and boots stayed on, as they were not damp at all. Sabé brought out another towel and put it on the ground next to hers for Obi-Wan to rest on. She took some toys from a bag and gave them to Meira to occupy her while the two of them relaxed.

"It's a lovely day. The warmth is soothing, it reminds me of that back rub your master gave me while we were returning to Naboo," Sabé said.

"What back rub?" Obi-Wan asked. Suddenly, his feelings told him that this information was important.

"Oh, that's right, you were in another part of the ship. I had strained myself with practice, and Master Qui-Gon noticed my discomfort. He applied a healing technique to my back and in no time the pain was gone. It felt very good. Are you trained in that?"

Casually, Obi-Wan replied,"I don't have his experience, of course, but I'll try. Tell me where he applied the pressure and how it felt."

"All right," Sabé said, turning over on her belly, back up to Obi-Wan. She was thrilled to feel his touch again, and hoped it would be as good as it was before. "He started between the shoulder blades, and moved down, one hand on either side."

Obi-Wan began following the path she described, growing more dismayed with each step.

"Let me think, then he went back up, circled with fingertips only, down and around the small of the back, then to the side, just above my hips. He went no farther around the front than right about here," she indicated a midway point," then I felt a concentration of warmth in my midsection. Does it sound familiar?"

"It does, but I've never done the technique before. I'm not well trained in it, so I'll give you something different," he said cheerfully. There was a false sound to his levity, but Sabé was enjoying being the center of his attention, so she did not catch it. Even though it was a much more mundane backrub, she reveled in every moment of the therapy.

When he finished, she was so relaxed, she had almost dozed off. He got up to check the robes and found they were dry enough to put back on. Sabé turned back over to see him dressing again. Hiding her disappointment, she stretched and sat up. "I know, you have to go. Thanks for the treatment. I owe you one."

"No, you don't," he said. "If you must, consider it a return of the favor you did me last night. I'm still grateful for the escape."

Sabé could tell he was upset. There was something about him now that was subdued. She decided it best not to ask at this time, but to make his departure as worry-free as possible.

Meira looked up from her toys. "Jeddi go bye?" Her voice was sad.

"Yes, I'm going for a while. I'll see you again, very soon, I promise."

"Come here, I'll hold you and we'll tell him good-bye together," Sabé instructed the girl.

He gazed at them long enough to burn the images of the two of them into his memory before he waved and turned to go.

His walk through the palace halls took him near the handmaidens' quarters. As he passed the door, he heard a high pitched scream.

"My favorite brooch-the gold and green one-it's gone," wailed Liraé.

Obi-Wan exhaled a deep sigh and just kept on walking.

Peering out from behind a great statue, Saché and Jeré watched the Jedi collect his backpack and set out from the Palace.

"When do you think they'll realize how deeply they're bonded?" Saché wondered.

Jeré shrugged and let out a dismayed groan. "They're too close to see the obvious. At the rate they're going, this could take years!"