Summary: A continuation of 'For a Thousand Years', but also a stand-alone piece. This is a light-hearted chapter of reestablishing bonds and food-fighting.
Disclaimer: It's George's, not mine.
The Last Piece of LasagnaI rather liked the public transport, all things considered. It was a nice change from worrying about how my pilot was doing, or who was following me. Now I could simply sit back and relax; my mind free to worry about other concerns, like what I was going to say to him when I saw him again.
Not like I hadn't kept in touch or sent new information when I found it. Twice I'd even sent my own people with information that I felt too important to trust to the communication net. Both my messengers had been successful, but had the same reply when I asked for a return message – 'Why didn't she bring this herself?'
A very good question and the answer was both simple and complex. On the surface it was a matter of personal safety. Some official might recognize me, and that just wouldn't do. Whether or not my heart could take it was the real reason. I had lived with this empty hole inside me for eight months. Would he forgive my absence and fill it up again? If he did, how would I ever be able to leave him again? If he didn't it would kill me.
The time I had to spend on worry was rapidly diminishing. I stood with most of the other passengers as the speederbus pulled up to the central pad and I joined the queue for the door. Multiple elevators stood on this platform and buses and shuttles landed and took off only minutes apart. In this section of the city office workers dominated the population, but there were always exceptions. A purple-skinned twilek male in gray and yellow robes nearly knocked me down in his haste to catch one of the other speeders. I ducked out of the way, but he only took the opportunity to walk right into the back of an enormous Bilodian. Known throughout the galaxy for their complete lack of aggression, in spite of their size, I didn't think anything would come of it. I was right, in a way.
The Bilodian simply turned to the Twilek and smiled gently, "Sir, what is your destination?"
"Why that's none of your, uh, the embassy, but I – "
"Ah, no problem at all sir." And he simply picked the beaurocrat up around the waist and carried him to the appropriate speeder stand, his head tentacles dragging on the ground, nearly tripping another traveler.
I hoisted my carisac to a better position and headed for an elevator, being careful so as not to earn my own ride.
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Aside from the worries about my love life, there was the very real concern of getting into the temple without sending up a banner announcing: Smuggler Here! I wanted no information anywhere saying that I was here. So I'd told my people I was going to Ord Mantel to develop a new business interest.
The pyramid of the Jedi temple loomed before me and I wondered briefly where I'd gotten the guts to pull off this bit of craziness. ~Oh well, it would be a shame to waste the trip. ~ I clenched one side of my face up to almost close one eye and made sure that the hood of my cloak covered my hair. The simplest disguises were always the best. I let one shoulder droop and began shuffling my way to the entrance.
~ Hmmm, temple's down on its luck I see, can't afford to hire an actual receptionist. ~ The blue-skinned, white-haired girl at the counter sported the same awful haircut I'd seen on Obi-wan's apprentice. As I waited for her to acknowledge my presence my over active imagination flooded my mind with the image of Obi-wan with this same haircut. When the girl looked up I wasn't laughing, but grinning broadly.
"How may I help you Mistress?"
"Uh, yeah dese here part tings be fer da Sky-boy."
"Pardon me Mistress, I'm not sure who you are referring to."
"Sky-boy, de tall young one dat build all da ting? Got de hair like you?"
"Hair like…? You mean Anakin Skywalker?"
"Yah! Dat boy want dees tings." I lifted my bag, which appeared to be full of used droid parts.
Now she was the one ginning, "Shall I see if he is available Mistress?"
"You tell him I de one got his mahstah's robe."
She nodded absently and turned to the communication board set in the desk. "Hello, oh, Master Kenobi, is Anakin there? There's a junk – er – business woman here to see him. She said to tell Anakin she has his master's cloak." The girl went silent, obviously listening to the earpiece she wore. "Yes Master, I will tell her." She shifted back to face me; "Anakin's master will make the deal for him if you will just wait through there." Standing, she pointed to a door at the end of the left hallway.
~ Oops, got more than I bargained for. ~ I thought miserably. "Ah, yah, dat be fine." Hoisting the bag again I shuffled down the hallway to the large door. It slid open on silent tracks and inside I found a small conference room equipped with holoscreens, a large conference table and several chairs. Through windows on the back wall I could see a garden filled with thousands of plants. Setting down my bag I went to the press my nose to the glass, wondering how you got out there. I found a closure rod and was working to unfasten it when the door opened.
He'd gotten a new cloak I saw, his face hidden in the deep hood. The garment was fastened at the throat and with his arms folded; his hands were hidden deep within the sleeves. Still, I knew it was he. I could still feel the shape of him when I closed my eyes at night and he'd have to be wearing a lot more layers than that to disguise him from me.
"If that posture is supposed to intimidate me the effort's wasted. I've negotiated with Jabba the Hutt, nothing frightens me."
He'd closed the distance to within a meter, now he pulled back his hood, unclipping the robe at his neck and letting the material hang loosely. His face was a mask of indifference, and I realized I could be scared after all. Scared that our separation (and my lack of communication) might have killed off his feelings, which it apparently had. I turned to my bag, digging through the parts and changes of clothes to find the data card I'd brought.
"I found this during the clean-up at my hanger. The information should be helpful to your investigation." Pulling it out I turned, meaning to set the little square on the table, but he held out his hand for it. Unable to simply set it on the table, I placed it in his hand, trying not to touch him at the same time and noting with anger that my fingers were trembling.
His hand closed around mine and held me firmly trapped. I raised my eyes to meet his. The mask he set in place before coming in was slipping. Using his free arm he pulled me close, crushing me against him. Then he released my other hand long enough to toss the card on the table. "I couldn't give a damn about the data except that it brought you here." He grasped the back of my neck and bent to kiss me, trying to put eight months of loneliness and worry into the embrace.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, trying to do the same.
When his hand began to worm its way inside my tunic I pushed him back, "Oh! Wait! Not here." He grinned and pulled his hand back, but didn't let me go. I felt stupidly foolish, "I can't stop looking at you and I want to be kissing you at the same time."
He nodded, "Me too, and I've got a class to teach in five minutes." Reluctantly he released me and picked up both my bag and the data card. "I'll take you to my apartment and go teach my class, you will wait there for me?"
"For a thousand years. Or I could sit in the back and watch your class."
"It is a history class, you would be bored to death."
"And you'd be nervous?"
"More like aroused." He dead - panned.
I laughed out loud, "Ah, no one will know." I reached down with one hand and flipped the dangling sections of his tunic, "Isn't that what this part of the outfit is for? Camophlage?"
Rolling his eyes he took my arm and towed me away. "You lack proper respect for the Jedi, woman."
"Would be lots easier if you updated your wardrobe once every millennium or so." I quipped as we left the room and turned down another hallway.
"Fashion the concern of the Jedi it is not." Said a voice both gravely and high – pitched behind me, at about the level of my knees. I jumped and clutched Obi-wan's arm in surprise.
Unperturbed as always, he turned and bowed to the little green creature that had spoken. "Good morning Master Yoda."
"Good morning Obi-wan, introduce us you should." He gestured to me with one tiny-clawed hand. I wondered how a being less than half a meter tall managed to be intimidating.
"Jerika this is Master Yoda, a senior member of the Jedi council. Master this is Captain Jerika Delorolo, she is the contact I made last year during that Tancho incident."
"Aw yes, girlfriend she is. Pleased to meet you Captain." He bowed to me. I felt Obi-wan stiffen at the word girlfriend but managed to maintain my poise.
Bowing smoothly I replied, "The pleasure is all mine Master Yoda, but I think girlfriend is a misnomer. Lover is more appropriate, we haven't been on any dates."
Yoda shook his head in disgust and pinned Obi-wan with a withering stare, "Did Qui-gon teach you no manners Obi-wan? Take a woman to dinner you should before sleeping with her."
Without missing a beat Obi-wan answered, "Does saving her life count Master?" Somehow I was going to have to learn his trick of keeping his face blank.
"No. Your duty as a Jedi it was to protect her. Sleep with every woman whose life you save?"
Now he did blush, but smiled at me, "Ah, no Master, only the beautiful ones."
Yoda laughed, "Go Obi-wan, teach your class. Escort your… guest I will."
"Yes Master." He inclined his head and handed back my bag and the data card. Glancing at Yoda he kissed me quickly and hurried away at something just shy of a run.
"We shouldn't tease him like that."
"True, but such good reaction one gets, it is worth his embarrassment." I followed the little master down the hall and into a lift. We were both silent on the ride up and walking down the corridors that eventually led to the apartment. The door opened at Yoda's command and I started inside. He stopped me by extending the walking stick he carried, "Needs this visit he does. His task is difficult and far from over."
I was surprised by this and knelt to use the opening to ask him a question, "Why is such a young inexperienced Jedi training such a powerful apprentice?"
"Dying wish of Obi-wan's master it was. Knew his apprentice well he did. Talented and powerful is Obi-wan, no one else would do half as well, come to see this I have. Young enough to remember how difficult training can be he is. An older master would not."
"But you had reservations at first?" I insisted.
"Yes, but meant to be together they are. Only Obi-wan has not the experience to fall back on, need he has for a companion to support him. To you the Force has led him."
I stood quickly, shaking my head, "It was luck. There's no all – powerful force that controls my destiny."
He chuckled again, a sound at once eerie and sweet, "Time will tell, Captain, time will tell. Speak again we will before you leave." Turning away he shuffled off down the corridor, still snorting laughter and mumbling about luck.
I sighed a little uneasily but went inside the apartment. Having nothing better to do I slung my bag onto the couch inside the door and went to the computer terminal on the other side of the room, inserted the card, and went to work on the voice code again.
++++++
An hour's work produced zilch. If there were better programs for decoding in the Jedi's system, I hadn't found them. As I threw my hands up in frustration the door opened. I looked up, expecting to berate Obi-wan for my difficulties, only to find the eyes looking back at me were blue rather than blue-green. They were set in a face significantly younger than Obi-wan's and far more awkward. I had the impression of a half – grown puppy, one whose paws and ears promised a very big dog was in the works. He was nearly Obi-wan's height and I knew him to be just 14. He was cursed with that spectacularly awful apprentice haircut, but it looked better on him than it had on the receptionist.
He smiled brightly and crossed to me, his large hands enveloping mine. "Lady Jerika, I'm so glad you're here! How did you get in? How are you?" He dropped my hand, "Y-you're even prettier in person."
I stood my ground under the barrage of questions, happy that some things about him hadn't changed and wondering faintly how Obi-wan had any energy left for anything else. "It's good to see you too Jedi Skywalker, you're getting so tall."
He blushed, "I'm as tall as Obi-wan now. Have you seen him? He'll be so happy to see – oh you've seen him how else did you get in here?"
Grinning I told him the whole story, then gifted him with the droid parts.
He crowed with delight and pounced on them like a ravenous mynock. "Oh wizard! A phase-inversion power conductor! A – "
"I take it you can use them then?"
"Yeah, oh they're awesome!" He enthused. His gaze was suddenly captured by the computer screen, "That's one impressive security code! Are you trying to get through it or setting it up? What is it protecting?" He slipped past me and took the chair, working the keyboard, moving blocking code sections away like he was typing a letter to his girlfriend.
"It's a transmission record. I'm trying to get a lock on the incoming voiceprint, but so far nothing."
"Yeah, like you can hear the voice, but when you try to print it, it's like it's not there."
The boy was completely caught up in the puzzle, and rather than stop him from doing my job for me, I just took a seat on the couch, then laid back to watch him. I didn't realize how tired I was until I started dreaming.
++++++
I awakened to a hand gently stoking my cheek. Opening my eyes I found Obi-wan kneeling beside me examining me closely.
"Tired were you?"
"Mmmm… I stretched, "Yeah, I worked on the computer for an hour, then Anakin came in, we talked for a bit, then he took over the computer, so I laid down. The next thing I knew, I was asleep."
"Are you sure it was the trip and not the boy?"
"Ha! Takes more than an over-active teenager to tire me out. Where is he?"
"He has an afternoon class with one of the masters, he'll be home in an hour."
"Good, just enough time to make dinner then." I sat up and he pulled me to my feet and into his arms.
"Or something else perhaps."
"Now, now, I thought Jedi were supposed to be patient."
"I'd call eight months patient enough. What a dilemma, one of your excellent meals, or an hour in bed…"
I shook my head, "We have all week, no need to rush."
He leaned close, rubbing his nose against mine; "I shall simply have to bask in your presence for the time being eh?"
I grinned, and then tilted my head for his kiss. Dinner could wait a little while.
+++++
"I got the recipe from a friend, he's a chef that specializes in recipes from worlds that haven't had contact with the rest of the galaxy."
Obi-wan was eyeing the casserole dubiously, but prudently keeping his mouth shut. Anakin felt himself bound by no such restrictions. "Well, it looks weird, but it sure smells good." He turned his head to one side, looking through the clear baking dish, "What's this wavy yellowish white stuff? And is that green? Is something bad growing inside it by accident? What is -?"
"Anakin – " Obi-wan said in a soft, dangerous tone, though he obviously shared the boy's wariness.
"Sorry Master."
I grinned at their nervousness and cut out a slice of the dish, setting it before Obi-wan with a piece of bread. Repeating it for Anakin and myself, I poured wine for each of us, filling the boy's glass only halfway. Then I sat back, waiting.
Deciding to set a good example, Obi-wan bravely forked up a bite and lifted it to his mouth. Just as he opened his mouth I shouted, "Careful, it's hot!" The food fell from his fork and he nearly dropped the utensil.
"Sorry Master." I lowered my voice and copied Anakin's posture.
He gave me a nasty glare and reacquired the bite, shoving it in his mouth. Obi-wan made a spectacularly sick face and swallowed with difficulty, "I am sorry Padawan, it's horrible. I shall have to do my duty and protect you by eating it all."
Anakin's eyes widened and he quickly shoved a piece into his own mouth. After that it became a contest to see who could finish a serving fast enough to get the next one. I was glad I had served myself a large piece, because I was afraid to get in the way. However, when it came down to the last piece, both of them were sitting back patting bulging stomachs.
"Del, you should, urp – " Obi-wan was forced to stifle a large burp, "Take the last piece. Ani and I ate all the, urg, rest."
"Yeah Lady J, you take it. I've had – BURP –"
"Quite enough apparently." I divided an amused glance between them, "But you'll have to fight it out between the two of you. I'm saving room for dessert." Retreating through the half-door into the kitchen I ignored the groans of protest behind me in favor of getting plates and the dessert.
Turning with these in my hands I heard a utensil clink against glass in the other room, then a grunt of protest. Then open warfare broke out. Shouts and imprecations of doom combined with the crash of dishes hitting the floor and colliding with each other. I looked down as a serving spoon came sliding under the door and hit my foot, causing bits of cheese to decorate my boot. Since I didn't want them to kill each other I set down my burden and went back out to survey the destruction.
And destruction it was. The scene that met my eyes resembled a battlefield rather than the end of a meal. Both of them were sprawled across the table. Obi-wan's face and beard were a mask of gook. Anakin had only a few smears on his face, but as I watched, a big piece came rolling out of his collar and landed on the table. At my appearance they had frozen, now they sprang apart, jerking to their feet, a shower of dishes and utensils following in their wake. Obi-wan opened his mouth, but nothing came out, and the movement made a noodle fall from its perch on his eyebrow and land with a plop on the floor.
That was it for me. I sank to the floor and laughed until my sides hurt. A heartbeat later they joined me, sinking into chairs on opposites sides of the table. The boy howled with mirth, the master shook silently. When I was coherent again I climbed to my feet and began cleaning the table, not looking at either of them for fear of loosing it all over again. They stood and wordlessly pushed me away to clean up their mess themselves. As I backed away I discovered that bits and pieces of food kept falling to the floor as Anakin moved. I wondered how he'd managed to get so much of it on his master and yet the master had managed to shove most of it down his tunic. I resigned myself to never fully understanding the mysteries of the Jedi.