Hi there! Here's another chapter, maybe not my best one but certainly one
of the longest. Oh well you'll tell me, if it's bad I can change it.
*****
The shuttle slowed down, waking Noor up. She was still wrapped in his cloak, bathing in his scent. She sleepily brought the coarse fabric to her nose. It smelled of wood and rain and something she could not describe that was entirely him. She pushed it away and watched the ceiling for a moment, remembering what had occurred a few hours before, trying to rationalize.
'All right, nothing really happened. We were both exhausted, mentally and physically, we didn't really realize what we were doing, not that we actually *did* anything anyway. He is strong, I needed that I guess... Nothing wrong, nothing meaningful, just a human reflex of preservation. Yes, something quite innocent in fact---'
A little voice in her head scoffed, 'uh, huh, innocent, yeah, right!'
" What's wrong with me? I can't believe I'm rambling as if I were 16 again!" she exclaimed aloud to the empty cabin, "there's no need to be all edgy about going in the cockpit and see him. This is only old Kenobi! He doesn't care in *that* way for me, no---"
No?
'Well, I can't blame him for that,' she thought as she promptly got up and made her way through the ship.
She fumbled nervously with the door opening system, wondering how he would react. She paused at the entrance of the room, gazing down at him from the top of the stairs as he faced her. He was standing straight with his hands in his uniform pants pockets, his head slightly bowed forward, checking their progression on the terminal, looking all fine and gorgeous---
'That was irrelevant.' She mentally kicked herself.
He looked up at that moment, catching her rolling her eyes at her own foolishness.
"Is there something wrong, Alrahan?" he asked distractedly, returning to his data reading.
"No, nothing."
She noted the return to 'Alrahan' and that he was even paler than earlier. Her eyes went automatically to his side. She reached a hand to his clammy forehead to check for any sign of fever, but he smoothly avoided her touch and went to take his seat switching the shuttle to manual piloting.
"Good thing you got up on your own, it saved me from having to come after you. We are approaching Earth," he stated, his voice neutral.
'No, I won't get pissed off or upset, I knew better than that,' she chanted in her head as she plopped down in the co-pilot seat, sulking nonetheless. They remained silent for a while, watching ahead of them.
She started fidgeting in her seat when she heard his breathing become more labored but did not comment.
Finally, exhaling an exasperate sigh to cover her growing concern, she bent forward and switched on the automatic pilot.
"I'm really not impressed, you know. Don't be such a baby, show me that wound."
"I was not trying to impress you, Alrahan. I'm trying to keep us alive," he answered, closing his eyes.
"By letting yourself die? Smooth plan, General."
She raised an eyebrow when she caught the various emotions and sensations he was broadcasting. The energy emanating from him was clearly colored with reluctance, he hated to feel vulnerable almost as much as he probably hated to have to depend on her, but his strength was weakening. He'd had to draw deep in his energy to heal her soul, she realized with a pang of guilt.
This was her fault.
"Come on, hero, my turn to take your shirt off," she said with a forced lightness as she helped him to tuck it out of his pants, starting to open it clumsily.
"That sounds ominous."
Her laughter brought a slight smile on his tense face. She gave up her attempt to undo the uncooperative buttons and just pushed the material up on the left side, discovering with a frown that it was stiff with dry blood. She gazed down and almost gasped.
" Force!" she muttered, fighting the lurch of her stomach at the sight of the ugly gash just beneath his ribcage. It had bled profusely. She hurriedly reached for the rags that were once her officer jacket still wrapped around her arms and cleaned the wound. Noor gently traced the unharmed skin below, assessing the damages. He had been hit sideway, causing the shot to tear his flesh in a long and deep lesion without touching any organ fortunately. She felt him shudder under her fingers. She lifted them, afraid to have caused additional pain and impulsively put both her hands above the injury, closing her eyes as she summoned the Force to her.
Sensing a sudden heat, Kenobi cracked his eyes open and pushed her hands away.
She protested. "I can't leave you like that, I'm not very experienced but I sense that it will make it better."
"It will take too much of your energy. You are not a trained healer, it can be dangerous and I need you to pilot the shuttle."
" Fine, if I don't heal it, then I'll stitch it, your choice."
"There are medical supplies in the cabin."
She shook her head and went to retrieve the med kit. This bloke was really beyond her sometimes. 'No, most of the time,' she corrected automatically.
"All right, Kenobi, breathe."
After disinfecting it, she held the needle near one purplish side of the wound and plunged in quickly, wincing as she heard his sharp intake of air. He made no sound as she worked, even though she knew that the pain must be almost unbearable. She waited patiently until his guards were down and took advantage of a moment when he was catching his breath to put him to sleep.
Once she was done, she checked her handiwork, quite pleased with herself, given the fact that it was her first try, something she had purposefully avoided telling Kenobi.
She put a hand on him and focused on healing him further. A faint bluish glow appeared in the cradle of her palm. A draining wave passed through her body down to her hand as the light grew in intensity and swept gently over the sutured flesh. The Jedi moaned a bit in his sleep. After a few seconds, the angry red color wore off and the swelling went down, the inner tissues were almost back in place. It would probably still be tender but the scar was sound.
Noor prudently stopped when she felt a strange weariness coming over her. Even if the stitches had made her own intervention a simple complementary care, she wasn't trained for this indeed. She walked to the cabin on slightly weakened legs and came back with his cloak. She draped it around him and watched him rest for a moment.
The young woman went then to her seat and gauging the close distance from Earth, took the commands of the craft.
" I didn't know that your planet was so beautiful," Kenobi said later groggily, emerging from his slumber. He was staring ahead, fascinated by the blue and tawny orb. The bluish coat of ozone was making it shine almost ethereally in the darkness of space.
"Yes," she breathed, quite in awe herself at the sight of her home.
He cast her a sidelong glance and exhaled. "Well, I think you ought to know that at least we're heading the right direction." He pointed to the clearly visible Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. " The less good news is that the hit we took caused the reactor to leak. I don't know if we have enough power to reach it."
"What?!"
"You heard me."
"And this is all you have to say?" she snapped, her temper rising quickly.
"What did you expect me to say? I was put to sleep before I had time to warn you and healed despite what I've told you. Once again. Calm down now, everything will be fine," he answered coolly.
"Yes, piece of cake!" she grumbled, forcing herself to shut up before she created another riff between them.
Kenobi rose, gripping his seat for balance and walked out of the cockpit.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Noor called after him.
"See if I can't fix the generator. Keep the shuttle as stable as you can."
She managed to maneuver the ship through the different spheres but it was difficult, her senses seemed to be numbed, her reactions were too slow. She started to wish Kenobi was in here piloting. She was unfamiliar with the commands of this type of craft and--
A red warning light began to blink.
::What's this?:: Noor inquired nervously.
::The beginning of our troubles. There's no power left!::
"Oh God, that's really not the moment!" she yelled gauging the tremendous distance between them from the ground and the harrowing speed with which it narrowed.
::Blast! The generator is on fire!:: he cursed. Another light started to blink in front of her, confirming his words.
The shuttle was losing altitude fast. The desert and the sea blended together in the dusk and seemed to lung up at them. Noor, fascinated by the spectacle of their own fall, couldn't bring herself to seize the commands.
:: What are you doing? Alrahan!::
Suddenly the power was back, the altitude was stabilized by a pull of the Force just before they hit the rocky edge shielding the coast line. They avoided the cliff by a few feet.
Kenobi hurried back to his seat and turned his head sharply towards her. " That was close."
She breathed out and glanced at him, still a bit lost.
" Look out!" he shouted.
Using the Force again, he shifted the craft on one side in time to pass through the crack between two huge rocks. The system chose that precise moment to die. The shuttle reeled and dipped down.
"Get down!" he ordered.
The ship crashed, shaking the cockpit hard. It slid for a few meters, raising big amounts of sand before coming to a stop.
Noor did not dare to move nor to open her eyes, the thick black smoke in the confined compartment made her cough. She caught a motion by her side, then she heard a dulled noise and saw the twilight sky over her. The shuttle was lying on its side and she discovered that Kenobi had managed to open the cockpit.
"Are you hurt?" she asked anxiously, finally finding her voice along with her breath while her heart was still threatening to burst out of her chest.
"Brilliant, Alrahan! That was brilliant!" he fumed, hoisting her out from the wreck. "Now hurry up, the craft is on fire."
"Glad to see you are alive. No, I'm not injured either, thank you," she muttered sarcastically as he moved away. She jumped down to the ground, refusing the assistance he didn't offer anyway. They ran quickly, putting as much distance between the burning ship and them as they could but were still thrown to the ground with the force of the explosion.
"I *can't * believe this! Where the hell did you get you pilot license?! Now you see why I told you not to use the Force to heal me--it affects your reactions!" he seethed as she rose, shaking the sand off her tattered clothes. "You could have killed us!"
"I didn't, so save your breath, we have a long walk down to the city. I don't know what happened," she said calmly, much to her own surprise.
"Aren't those enormous pieces of rock big enough for you to see?" he carried on, apparently unmoved by her new found self control.
"Oh, and weren't those blaster shots easy enough to deflect? Everybody knows that battle droids can't bloody shoot straight! Jedi skills, ha! My big toe!" she retorted stormily, sending to hell any thought of diplomatic precautions.
"For Force's sake! Can't you watch your language? I thought that nobility was a guarantee of a certain elegance, Lady Alrahan!"
She turned, her eyes blazing. Long locks had fallen from her loose braid and were blowing in the wind, making her look perfectly uncivilized. " All right, what exactly do you know about ladies? Or women in general, Master Kenobi, Jedi knight?"
Noor watched his face tense up, but he remained silent.
She nodded firmly, " Right. My point exactly."
That was underestimating Kenobi's own stubbornness. "Let me tell you what happened: I was wounded because I was protecting you! We almost crashed because you didn't pay attention to what I had said," he snapped.
"I had just lost my best friend! What was I supposed to do? Letting you bleed to death and lose you too?!" she yelled back, feeling her eyes burn.
They both fell silent and looked away, ashamed of their outburst.
"Damn it," she mumbled, starting to head for the archeologists' camp.
She didn't get very far. She was grabbed by a shoulder and spun around, her arms clasped tightly by his hands.
"Wait." His voice was gentler but determined. "The orders are to find and destroy those plans at all costs. At all costs," he repeated catching her chin in his fingers, forcing her to meet his gaze. "No second thoughts. No matter what. Is that clear?"
She frowned and shook her head fiercely
" Noor-" he sighed wearily.
"Sorry, it doesn't work like that with me," she said resolutely.
"Well, you'll have to force y-"
Kenobi never finished his sentence. She shoved him against the closest rock and grabbing a fistful of his shirt, she yanked him down and silenced him with a firm kiss.
All she was aware of for a few seconds was the familiar warmth of his body, the sensation of her breasts pressed against his hard chest, the alarming softness of his lips sliding smoothly along hers, adding a sudden and delightful pressure there as his arms closed around her, drawing her more intimately agains--.
Wait a minute, he was kissing her back!
She pushed against his chest, stepping away and kept still for a moment, Kenobi's expression mirroring her own as the size of her eyes nearly matched the diameter of the moon.
Did she just---? And did he just---too?
"What was that for?" he asked hoarsely, shoving his hands in his pockets awkwardly.
"What was the kissing back for?" she shot back uneasily, the mere thought that *she* had kissed her former master *this* way was enough to send her mind reeling with shame.
"I asked first."
"To make you shut up. Had I known it was this efficient, I would have tried earlier," she said bluntly.
Before she had time to react, she was the one backed against the rock. Kenobi was looming over her with a disturbing half smile, calmly invading her private space.
"I see no objections to the last part of you sentence, the first part wasn't very nice."
"You know I'm a sarcastic bitch, Kenobi."
"You are." He nodded, smirking at her mock shocked face, "Obi-Wan."
"No, Obi-Wan is *your* name," she said, pocking his chest and smiling broadly.
She was finally relaxing in his closeness---
"Funny, aren't you?" he said with a sardonic grin. "After a kiss like that, I think you can call me by my first name instead of my title, my last name or that lovely nickname of Uptight Freak."
Or not---
"Oh. You knew."
She felt herself blush under his gaze. And he was damn aware of that.
"I did."
His smile faded as he looked at her, gently pushing back the wild curls from her face as his gaze slowly came to rest on her mouth. She felt the urge to babble. And to smack herself for doing so.
" What about you? Was that another 'I don't know what came over me, it was a big mistake, let's forget about it' type of thing? Or did you just assume that I was some kind of tramp---" She was growing very distracted by his head slowly descending towards hers.
Her mind went totally blank when his word brushed against her lips.
"No."
She fought to mumble something, anything to wipe that cocky expression from his face and the growing amusement in his eyes. His lips touched hers tentatively, retreating a little. Her eyes fell shut and she sent her pride and shyness to take a hike, meeting him halfway in a bruising kiss.
'A humiliated man never makes a good lover,' she thought impishly.
Their hands tangled urgently as she pulled him closer, desperately seeking his body with hers. They both laughed in each other's mouth when their teeth clinked in their haste. They let the thirst they have had for the other soften in a slow, enticing caress.
He buried his hands in her hair and tenderly traced the seal of her mouth, waiting for her lips to oblige him, before proceeding unhurriedly to make her lose her mind as their tongues met in a languid battle. Her hands naturally found their way under his shirt and she grazed experimentally the smooth skin she discovered there. She felt him freeze as his breath caught for a split second. Noor smiled against his lips and absently registered that they should probably cool off a bit.
'Yes, in a while---' she mused.
A blinding light made them jump guiltily apart.
Noor put a hand above her eyes. Two Jeeps were coming their way on the narrow path climbing from the shore to the rocky plateau where they had crashed. The cars stopped a few meters away from them and two figures she couldn't quite make out in the dusky light got out, asking in Hebrew if they were all right. When she answered affirmatively in the same language, one of them exclaimed:
"Dr Alrahan!"
A spark of recognition crossed Noor's features. "Dr Lukas!"
She took a few steps in his direction. A short and plump man in his early thirties hurried to take her hand between his and shake it warmly.
"Thank God! You're alive! That's unbelievable! You---You disappeared months ago, everybody was so concerned about you. We even thought that you had been taken away by a militia. We saw the explosion from the dig, we went to see what happened and we find you!"
The joyful relief showing on his good round face and in his babbling were endearing. Turning towards Kenobi, he stuck out his hand. "William D. Lukas, I'm a geo-archeologist from the university of Idaho working on the site of Caesarea."
"Where are my manners?" she said as gracefully as if she was having tea with the baroness ***, earning a discreet smirk from her companion. "This is---" She gazed up at him looking for inspiration as the two men exchanged a handshake. "Ben. Ben Kenobi. Ben is a historian, he will assist me on the dig."
The young man nodded and gave a genial smile to the Jedi before turning back to Noor. His anxiety was plain on his face. "May I ask what happened then, what was the cause of your disappearance? And how did you come back?"
"Oh, well, we fell, from the sky," she stammered, glancing at Kenobi with a tight smile, " Quite literally in fact---"
She was saved by the arrival of a second Jeep on the plateau and drove up by them.
A gruff voice with a thick Southern English accent burst from the window of the car. "Noor Alrahan! You'd better have a good explanation for the freaking five months you had us worried sick!"
A bulky man around thirty-five got out of the Jeep and slammed the door closed. He abruptly engulfed Noor in a bear hug and almost without transition barked a series of questions, pointing successively to the burning wreck and Kenobi who was standing there, an eyebrow raised. "What the hell is going on here? And who's that?"
" 'That' is Ben Kenobi," said the Jedi, adopting the identity Noor had provided and meeting the taller man's glare with his cool one.
"Kenobi? Is it some kind of Japanese name or something?"
Kenobi stared blankly at him.
The young woman eyed them both, trying to hold back a nervous giggle in front of the ludicrous situation. "Calm down, Garrett! There's no need to put on your protective big brother show. He's only a fellow scholar from college. We were in helicopter, and we had a generator problem. We crashed but, as you can see, we're fine."
"He certainly doesn't look like an Oxford graduated," the other man grumbled. Unwilling to create further argument in front of the others, he finally said, "Let's just go back to the camp, it's late." He sent a 'don't you think you're off the hook' glance to Noor.
Garrett had definitely not smoothed his driving style and the bumpy winding road bordering the cliff wasn't helping to reassure the passengers.
"Garrett, I survived a helicopter crash today, I'd appreciate not ending my young and brilliant career in your filthy Jeep!" she said loudly over the roaring engine. He answered by a dismissive gesture which told rather well how much he cared about female ranting in his car.
"So, you are a historian, Mr. Kenobi. In what field, may I ask?" Dr Lukas inquired, turning around to speak to him from the front seat.
"Ancient wars and weaponry," answered the Jedi easily, not so far from the truth.
He had said the right thing: the other man's face lit up. " Oh, of course! You're here to study the new pieces of weaponry that was found a week ago, near the tomb of the Prince!"
"Exactly," approved Kenobi, a bit unsure. Noor, who was wedged between him and the door, exchanged a surprised look with him and nodded to Lukas. Perfect timing.
"How is Maeve?" she asked, leaning forward to address Garrett.
"Ready to chew you out."
"Yes, well, she's still in England."
"No, Dr McGrath is here. You're in for the ride of your life, lass," he stated sympathetically, reaching over his shoulder to pat her hand where it rested on his seat.
Lukas kept on chatting cheerfully, completely oblivious to what was going on around him, talking alternatively to Garrett and Noor who were both obviously brooding. " Oh yes, Dr McGrath will be quite happy with their coming. There's lot of work with the dig-up of the warehouse near the shore. It might take days it's a very big building, they will need strong arms."
Noor snorted, watching Kenobi suppressing a wince, before she groaned as they stopped in front of the camp.
"Oh God, she's going to kill me."
She hopped out of the car and made a bee line for one of the big desert tents, followed by Dr Lukas who retired to his own tent.
Remained alone with Kenobi in the Jeep, Garrett didn't lose time. "Listen, young man, Noor is an adult and leads her life as she wishes so I won't waste my time threatening you like some old wanker. I'll simply say that if you hurt her, you'll regret it," he warned quietly.
"Knowing Noor, sir, she will be the one hurting me," Kenobi answered with a slight smile which was slowly echoed on Garrett's face.
"The Alrahan women are quite a handful, aren't they?"
Both the man shared a 'tell me about it' look."
"I am here to protect her. You needn't worry. About me at least," the Jedi said more seriously.
Garrett peered at him. "You're one of them, aren't you?" He raised his hand in a appeasing gesture when Kenobi shot him a sharp glance. "I was with Maeve when she learned about Noor and her father. I swore to remain silent about this, calm down. I won't add a word about this, but you have my trust."
Kenobi assessed him for a moment and sensing no treachery in him, nodded slightly before opting for a subject change. "Is this Maeve that bad?
"Oh yes, Maeve McGrath is the only person in the world Noor actively fears, not obeys, but fears. Rightfully so, I must say, she's a very good woman but no one would want to make her angry."
"Does that mean that Noor pays a minimum of attention to what she says? Is she human?" inquired Kenobi lifting an amused eyebrow.
The other man chuckled. " It's her sister."
"That makes her fearful indeed."
"I'm Garrett McGrath by the way, the eldest fury's husband. I'm working with Stephen Breitstein and Eduard Reinhardt on the underwater excavations of King Herod's artificial harbor."
" I could have guessed that, you * look* like an archeologist," said the Jedi, smiling as he pointedly eyed McGrath's rugged looks and scruffy outfit.
McGrath laughed good-humouredly at that. His retort was cut off by a feminine call from a tent nearby. " Ah, Maeve is summoning us in. Time to go in the arena."
Kenobi was surprised to see a petite attractive woman holding the flap of a tent open for them. Her features were delicate, her eyebrows arched beautifully above two large nocturne eyes matching her thick dark hair. She looked like an older and neatly dressed version of Noor in darker shades. A strong sense of determination and authority emanated from her.
Garrett laughed quietly as he passed by him, "Don't be fooled by her sweet looks."
'I know better than that,' thought Kenobi remembering her sister.
Inside, Noor was walking back and forth on the thick dark red woolen carpets laid on the floor. Her jaw was set in a way he knew well, she was very upset about something.
"The Foundation replaced me!" she explained with a deep frown.
"It was to be expected, Noor. After five months they couldn't let the search of the houses coming to a standstill because you were missing. Dr Stabler and Dr Stanley needed a new leading archeologist, this Sir Minevan just showed up at the right time, that's all," offered Maeve, trying to appease her sister.
"Minevan? I've never heard his name mentioned anywhere, how comes he got *my* job then?"
"I have no idea, dear, but if the committee and the University of Haifa appointed him, it means that he has good qualifications."
"All I see right now is that I'll have to give him reports and explain all my actions in the site. He won't let me wander around without asking questions."
Kenobi spoke up. "Calm down, Noor, let's meet the man before drawing hasty conclusions."
"I'll go get him," Garrett volunteered and exited.
"I trust that your husband and you knew about our coming here, Doctor McGrath," he said turning towards Maeve who nodded.
"I knew it would happen one day, anyway. The Council contacted us after Noor's disappearance. When people here thought it was an action of the local militia and various other speculations, we didn't correct them. Now that she is back with you, we will have to figure out something else. Let me tell you bluntly, Master Kenobi, that I disapprove of Noor's implication in this matter, I never hid my opinion to the Council." She snapped up a hand firmly to silence her sister's protestation. "However, you can count on our help and complete discretion."
A smile flickered in Kenobi's gaze as he nodded his assent and his gratitude. He had always appreciated spirited personalities.
The tent parted, revealing Garrett followed by a tall man in his forties with a pale gaunt face. The two Jedi glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes.
:: Weird,:: sent Noor.
Kenobi lightly shook his head, signifying to her not to talk through the connection and shield her mind as Sir Minevan was greeted by Maeve.
He turned towards Noor and his metallic blue eyes warmed up amiably. His demeanor was the one of a refined and agreeable cultured man, belying his stern features and bony figure. "Finally I meet the young Dr Alrahan. Last time I saw you, you were a baby, Lady Noor. You mustn't recall me but I worked with your father on the hippodrome's excavation."
"What I don't remember, sir, is having seen your name in the reports. You mustn't be very famous in the archeological circle," Noor said pointedly.
The gentleman laughed quietly. He did not seem to take offense of the young woman's sharp answer and dismissed gently Maeve's calling to order. "I see that I'm addressing a genuine Alrahan, there's no fooling you, young lady," he answered, " I was a mere student in his second year back then, this is the reason why my name did not appear in the publications. After my studies, I changed my orientation although I kept practicing on a voluntary basis. So, you are right, I am not very famous in this circle but I do my best to be competent."
He went to take a chair after being introduced to Kenobi. "I heard you were kidnapped by the militia, Lady Noor. It must have been quite--- picturesque," he inquired with an amused smile brushing his thin lips. The visual was indeed rather laughable. "Were you part of the hostages too, Mr. Kenobi?"
" In a way, yes," intervened Garrett from behind Minevan, with a sly grin on his unshaven face, "Those two simply eloped. Couldn't wait, just decided to get married without even telling us."
Minevan turned to face Garrett, missing Kenobi and Noor dropping their heads and rolling their eyes and his wife fighting back a laughter.
"How romantic," the older man stated with a touch of friendly mockery.
"Isn't it?" answered Noor under her breath, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
The archeologist took his leave after a short while, soon followed by Kenobi and Noor who was to show him his sleeping quarters.
"My brother-in-law must be some clandestine spy genius, what a brilliant cover he gave us," she said, shaking her head as they strolled in the settlement.
"Well, it's true that it was a rather awkward." Kenobi started diplomatically
She burst out laughing, and he laughed quietly, "All right, it was the lousiest excuse I've ever heard, but at least, it will enable us to sneak out to discuss our business and go to the tomb together without raising suspicions."
"Did you feel something when Minevan entered?" "No, nothing."
"I know, it's strange, usually I'm usually able to sense people's aura, but there was nothing there."
" Some people are able to shield it from us, that's why I asked you not to use the link in front of him. We need to keep an eye on him, anyway."
She nodded and stopped in front of one of the big tents. "Here's home. You'll share with Garrett. He insisted that I should sleep "safely" with my sister at least for tonight. You have a wild night ahead of you, Kenobi, he snores like a bantha."
"Don't be so cheery, after what Garrett told Minevan, the sleeping arrangements might be changed," he retorted roguishly.
They went on planning the various things they would have to do the day after, deciding that she would come up with an excuse to go inspect the tomb while he would assist Maeve on the warehouse excavation near the shore.
Without warning, Noor declared: "You know, I hate forward women, I think it's vulgar and pathetic."
"And your point is?" asked Kenobi, lifting an eyebrow.
"Will you invite me for a last drink?" she blurted out, trying to sound flippant.
He chuckled and drew her to him, letting her snuggle up in his arms as he kissed her brow. "No, I won't."
"Do you spoil people's fun as a personal entertainment or is it part of the Jedi master conditioning?" she asked, resting her forehead against his chin, sensing him smile in her hair. " Garrett would skin me."
"You definitively have a point here."
He sobered up and lifted her face up. "We can't let this happen again while we are here, Noor. The mission is our priority until we go back to Coruscant and sort this out properly. Do I have your agreement here?"
" I guess so. Let's remain focused and professional," she sighed, stepping back.
"That's the idea, yes."
He bent down to put what was meant to be a chaste goodnight kiss on her cheek, but as soon as their skin touched, all his good resolutions vanished. He impulsively grabbed her waist to pull her closer and took her mouth with a tender urgency.
He suddenly broke the kiss as he felt her matching his hunger and moved back.
"I think you should go now," he said a bit breathlessly, quickly adverting his eyes when he caught sight of her face tilted back, offered, gazing at him from under her long eyelashes as amazed and dazzled as he was. A faint blush was coloring her cheeks, her lips were swollen with his kiss---
He almost gave in the temptation but kept a safe distance between them, barely allowing himself to tuck her hair behind her ear.
He watched her walk away until she disappeared in the camp. He glanced at the dark sky dusted with stars as if looking for an answer and retreated in his tent.
*****
The shuttle slowed down, waking Noor up. She was still wrapped in his cloak, bathing in his scent. She sleepily brought the coarse fabric to her nose. It smelled of wood and rain and something she could not describe that was entirely him. She pushed it away and watched the ceiling for a moment, remembering what had occurred a few hours before, trying to rationalize.
'All right, nothing really happened. We were both exhausted, mentally and physically, we didn't really realize what we were doing, not that we actually *did* anything anyway. He is strong, I needed that I guess... Nothing wrong, nothing meaningful, just a human reflex of preservation. Yes, something quite innocent in fact---'
A little voice in her head scoffed, 'uh, huh, innocent, yeah, right!'
" What's wrong with me? I can't believe I'm rambling as if I were 16 again!" she exclaimed aloud to the empty cabin, "there's no need to be all edgy about going in the cockpit and see him. This is only old Kenobi! He doesn't care in *that* way for me, no---"
No?
'Well, I can't blame him for that,' she thought as she promptly got up and made her way through the ship.
She fumbled nervously with the door opening system, wondering how he would react. She paused at the entrance of the room, gazing down at him from the top of the stairs as he faced her. He was standing straight with his hands in his uniform pants pockets, his head slightly bowed forward, checking their progression on the terminal, looking all fine and gorgeous---
'That was irrelevant.' She mentally kicked herself.
He looked up at that moment, catching her rolling her eyes at her own foolishness.
"Is there something wrong, Alrahan?" he asked distractedly, returning to his data reading.
"No, nothing."
She noted the return to 'Alrahan' and that he was even paler than earlier. Her eyes went automatically to his side. She reached a hand to his clammy forehead to check for any sign of fever, but he smoothly avoided her touch and went to take his seat switching the shuttle to manual piloting.
"Good thing you got up on your own, it saved me from having to come after you. We are approaching Earth," he stated, his voice neutral.
'No, I won't get pissed off or upset, I knew better than that,' she chanted in her head as she plopped down in the co-pilot seat, sulking nonetheless. They remained silent for a while, watching ahead of them.
She started fidgeting in her seat when she heard his breathing become more labored but did not comment.
Finally, exhaling an exasperate sigh to cover her growing concern, she bent forward and switched on the automatic pilot.
"I'm really not impressed, you know. Don't be such a baby, show me that wound."
"I was not trying to impress you, Alrahan. I'm trying to keep us alive," he answered, closing his eyes.
"By letting yourself die? Smooth plan, General."
She raised an eyebrow when she caught the various emotions and sensations he was broadcasting. The energy emanating from him was clearly colored with reluctance, he hated to feel vulnerable almost as much as he probably hated to have to depend on her, but his strength was weakening. He'd had to draw deep in his energy to heal her soul, she realized with a pang of guilt.
This was her fault.
"Come on, hero, my turn to take your shirt off," she said with a forced lightness as she helped him to tuck it out of his pants, starting to open it clumsily.
"That sounds ominous."
Her laughter brought a slight smile on his tense face. She gave up her attempt to undo the uncooperative buttons and just pushed the material up on the left side, discovering with a frown that it was stiff with dry blood. She gazed down and almost gasped.
" Force!" she muttered, fighting the lurch of her stomach at the sight of the ugly gash just beneath his ribcage. It had bled profusely. She hurriedly reached for the rags that were once her officer jacket still wrapped around her arms and cleaned the wound. Noor gently traced the unharmed skin below, assessing the damages. He had been hit sideway, causing the shot to tear his flesh in a long and deep lesion without touching any organ fortunately. She felt him shudder under her fingers. She lifted them, afraid to have caused additional pain and impulsively put both her hands above the injury, closing her eyes as she summoned the Force to her.
Sensing a sudden heat, Kenobi cracked his eyes open and pushed her hands away.
She protested. "I can't leave you like that, I'm not very experienced but I sense that it will make it better."
"It will take too much of your energy. You are not a trained healer, it can be dangerous and I need you to pilot the shuttle."
" Fine, if I don't heal it, then I'll stitch it, your choice."
"There are medical supplies in the cabin."
She shook her head and went to retrieve the med kit. This bloke was really beyond her sometimes. 'No, most of the time,' she corrected automatically.
"All right, Kenobi, breathe."
After disinfecting it, she held the needle near one purplish side of the wound and plunged in quickly, wincing as she heard his sharp intake of air. He made no sound as she worked, even though she knew that the pain must be almost unbearable. She waited patiently until his guards were down and took advantage of a moment when he was catching his breath to put him to sleep.
Once she was done, she checked her handiwork, quite pleased with herself, given the fact that it was her first try, something she had purposefully avoided telling Kenobi.
She put a hand on him and focused on healing him further. A faint bluish glow appeared in the cradle of her palm. A draining wave passed through her body down to her hand as the light grew in intensity and swept gently over the sutured flesh. The Jedi moaned a bit in his sleep. After a few seconds, the angry red color wore off and the swelling went down, the inner tissues were almost back in place. It would probably still be tender but the scar was sound.
Noor prudently stopped when she felt a strange weariness coming over her. Even if the stitches had made her own intervention a simple complementary care, she wasn't trained for this indeed. She walked to the cabin on slightly weakened legs and came back with his cloak. She draped it around him and watched him rest for a moment.
The young woman went then to her seat and gauging the close distance from Earth, took the commands of the craft.
" I didn't know that your planet was so beautiful," Kenobi said later groggily, emerging from his slumber. He was staring ahead, fascinated by the blue and tawny orb. The bluish coat of ozone was making it shine almost ethereally in the darkness of space.
"Yes," she breathed, quite in awe herself at the sight of her home.
He cast her a sidelong glance and exhaled. "Well, I think you ought to know that at least we're heading the right direction." He pointed to the clearly visible Eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. " The less good news is that the hit we took caused the reactor to leak. I don't know if we have enough power to reach it."
"What?!"
"You heard me."
"And this is all you have to say?" she snapped, her temper rising quickly.
"What did you expect me to say? I was put to sleep before I had time to warn you and healed despite what I've told you. Once again. Calm down now, everything will be fine," he answered coolly.
"Yes, piece of cake!" she grumbled, forcing herself to shut up before she created another riff between them.
Kenobi rose, gripping his seat for balance and walked out of the cockpit.
"Hey! Where are you going?" Noor called after him.
"See if I can't fix the generator. Keep the shuttle as stable as you can."
She managed to maneuver the ship through the different spheres but it was difficult, her senses seemed to be numbed, her reactions were too slow. She started to wish Kenobi was in here piloting. She was unfamiliar with the commands of this type of craft and--
A red warning light began to blink.
::What's this?:: Noor inquired nervously.
::The beginning of our troubles. There's no power left!::
"Oh God, that's really not the moment!" she yelled gauging the tremendous distance between them from the ground and the harrowing speed with which it narrowed.
::Blast! The generator is on fire!:: he cursed. Another light started to blink in front of her, confirming his words.
The shuttle was losing altitude fast. The desert and the sea blended together in the dusk and seemed to lung up at them. Noor, fascinated by the spectacle of their own fall, couldn't bring herself to seize the commands.
:: What are you doing? Alrahan!::
Suddenly the power was back, the altitude was stabilized by a pull of the Force just before they hit the rocky edge shielding the coast line. They avoided the cliff by a few feet.
Kenobi hurried back to his seat and turned his head sharply towards her. " That was close."
She breathed out and glanced at him, still a bit lost.
" Look out!" he shouted.
Using the Force again, he shifted the craft on one side in time to pass through the crack between two huge rocks. The system chose that precise moment to die. The shuttle reeled and dipped down.
"Get down!" he ordered.
The ship crashed, shaking the cockpit hard. It slid for a few meters, raising big amounts of sand before coming to a stop.
Noor did not dare to move nor to open her eyes, the thick black smoke in the confined compartment made her cough. She caught a motion by her side, then she heard a dulled noise and saw the twilight sky over her. The shuttle was lying on its side and she discovered that Kenobi had managed to open the cockpit.
"Are you hurt?" she asked anxiously, finally finding her voice along with her breath while her heart was still threatening to burst out of her chest.
"Brilliant, Alrahan! That was brilliant!" he fumed, hoisting her out from the wreck. "Now hurry up, the craft is on fire."
"Glad to see you are alive. No, I'm not injured either, thank you," she muttered sarcastically as he moved away. She jumped down to the ground, refusing the assistance he didn't offer anyway. They ran quickly, putting as much distance between the burning ship and them as they could but were still thrown to the ground with the force of the explosion.
"I *can't * believe this! Where the hell did you get you pilot license?! Now you see why I told you not to use the Force to heal me--it affects your reactions!" he seethed as she rose, shaking the sand off her tattered clothes. "You could have killed us!"
"I didn't, so save your breath, we have a long walk down to the city. I don't know what happened," she said calmly, much to her own surprise.
"Aren't those enormous pieces of rock big enough for you to see?" he carried on, apparently unmoved by her new found self control.
"Oh, and weren't those blaster shots easy enough to deflect? Everybody knows that battle droids can't bloody shoot straight! Jedi skills, ha! My big toe!" she retorted stormily, sending to hell any thought of diplomatic precautions.
"For Force's sake! Can't you watch your language? I thought that nobility was a guarantee of a certain elegance, Lady Alrahan!"
She turned, her eyes blazing. Long locks had fallen from her loose braid and were blowing in the wind, making her look perfectly uncivilized. " All right, what exactly do you know about ladies? Or women in general, Master Kenobi, Jedi knight?"
Noor watched his face tense up, but he remained silent.
She nodded firmly, " Right. My point exactly."
That was underestimating Kenobi's own stubbornness. "Let me tell you what happened: I was wounded because I was protecting you! We almost crashed because you didn't pay attention to what I had said," he snapped.
"I had just lost my best friend! What was I supposed to do? Letting you bleed to death and lose you too?!" she yelled back, feeling her eyes burn.
They both fell silent and looked away, ashamed of their outburst.
"Damn it," she mumbled, starting to head for the archeologists' camp.
She didn't get very far. She was grabbed by a shoulder and spun around, her arms clasped tightly by his hands.
"Wait." His voice was gentler but determined. "The orders are to find and destroy those plans at all costs. At all costs," he repeated catching her chin in his fingers, forcing her to meet his gaze. "No second thoughts. No matter what. Is that clear?"
She frowned and shook her head fiercely
" Noor-" he sighed wearily.
"Sorry, it doesn't work like that with me," she said resolutely.
"Well, you'll have to force y-"
Kenobi never finished his sentence. She shoved him against the closest rock and grabbing a fistful of his shirt, she yanked him down and silenced him with a firm kiss.
All she was aware of for a few seconds was the familiar warmth of his body, the sensation of her breasts pressed against his hard chest, the alarming softness of his lips sliding smoothly along hers, adding a sudden and delightful pressure there as his arms closed around her, drawing her more intimately agains--.
Wait a minute, he was kissing her back!
She pushed against his chest, stepping away and kept still for a moment, Kenobi's expression mirroring her own as the size of her eyes nearly matched the diameter of the moon.
Did she just---? And did he just---too?
"What was that for?" he asked hoarsely, shoving his hands in his pockets awkwardly.
"What was the kissing back for?" she shot back uneasily, the mere thought that *she* had kissed her former master *this* way was enough to send her mind reeling with shame.
"I asked first."
"To make you shut up. Had I known it was this efficient, I would have tried earlier," she said bluntly.
Before she had time to react, she was the one backed against the rock. Kenobi was looming over her with a disturbing half smile, calmly invading her private space.
"I see no objections to the last part of you sentence, the first part wasn't very nice."
"You know I'm a sarcastic bitch, Kenobi."
"You are." He nodded, smirking at her mock shocked face, "Obi-Wan."
"No, Obi-Wan is *your* name," she said, pocking his chest and smiling broadly.
She was finally relaxing in his closeness---
"Funny, aren't you?" he said with a sardonic grin. "After a kiss like that, I think you can call me by my first name instead of my title, my last name or that lovely nickname of Uptight Freak."
Or not---
"Oh. You knew."
She felt herself blush under his gaze. And he was damn aware of that.
"I did."
His smile faded as he looked at her, gently pushing back the wild curls from her face as his gaze slowly came to rest on her mouth. She felt the urge to babble. And to smack herself for doing so.
" What about you? Was that another 'I don't know what came over me, it was a big mistake, let's forget about it' type of thing? Or did you just assume that I was some kind of tramp---" She was growing very distracted by his head slowly descending towards hers.
Her mind went totally blank when his word brushed against her lips.
"No."
She fought to mumble something, anything to wipe that cocky expression from his face and the growing amusement in his eyes. His lips touched hers tentatively, retreating a little. Her eyes fell shut and she sent her pride and shyness to take a hike, meeting him halfway in a bruising kiss.
'A humiliated man never makes a good lover,' she thought impishly.
Their hands tangled urgently as she pulled him closer, desperately seeking his body with hers. They both laughed in each other's mouth when their teeth clinked in their haste. They let the thirst they have had for the other soften in a slow, enticing caress.
He buried his hands in her hair and tenderly traced the seal of her mouth, waiting for her lips to oblige him, before proceeding unhurriedly to make her lose her mind as their tongues met in a languid battle. Her hands naturally found their way under his shirt and she grazed experimentally the smooth skin she discovered there. She felt him freeze as his breath caught for a split second. Noor smiled against his lips and absently registered that they should probably cool off a bit.
'Yes, in a while---' she mused.
A blinding light made them jump guiltily apart.
Noor put a hand above her eyes. Two Jeeps were coming their way on the narrow path climbing from the shore to the rocky plateau where they had crashed. The cars stopped a few meters away from them and two figures she couldn't quite make out in the dusky light got out, asking in Hebrew if they were all right. When she answered affirmatively in the same language, one of them exclaimed:
"Dr Alrahan!"
A spark of recognition crossed Noor's features. "Dr Lukas!"
She took a few steps in his direction. A short and plump man in his early thirties hurried to take her hand between his and shake it warmly.
"Thank God! You're alive! That's unbelievable! You---You disappeared months ago, everybody was so concerned about you. We even thought that you had been taken away by a militia. We saw the explosion from the dig, we went to see what happened and we find you!"
The joyful relief showing on his good round face and in his babbling were endearing. Turning towards Kenobi, he stuck out his hand. "William D. Lukas, I'm a geo-archeologist from the university of Idaho working on the site of Caesarea."
"Where are my manners?" she said as gracefully as if she was having tea with the baroness ***, earning a discreet smirk from her companion. "This is---" She gazed up at him looking for inspiration as the two men exchanged a handshake. "Ben. Ben Kenobi. Ben is a historian, he will assist me on the dig."
The young man nodded and gave a genial smile to the Jedi before turning back to Noor. His anxiety was plain on his face. "May I ask what happened then, what was the cause of your disappearance? And how did you come back?"
"Oh, well, we fell, from the sky," she stammered, glancing at Kenobi with a tight smile, " Quite literally in fact---"
She was saved by the arrival of a second Jeep on the plateau and drove up by them.
A gruff voice with a thick Southern English accent burst from the window of the car. "Noor Alrahan! You'd better have a good explanation for the freaking five months you had us worried sick!"
A bulky man around thirty-five got out of the Jeep and slammed the door closed. He abruptly engulfed Noor in a bear hug and almost without transition barked a series of questions, pointing successively to the burning wreck and Kenobi who was standing there, an eyebrow raised. "What the hell is going on here? And who's that?"
" 'That' is Ben Kenobi," said the Jedi, adopting the identity Noor had provided and meeting the taller man's glare with his cool one.
"Kenobi? Is it some kind of Japanese name or something?"
Kenobi stared blankly at him.
The young woman eyed them both, trying to hold back a nervous giggle in front of the ludicrous situation. "Calm down, Garrett! There's no need to put on your protective big brother show. He's only a fellow scholar from college. We were in helicopter, and we had a generator problem. We crashed but, as you can see, we're fine."
"He certainly doesn't look like an Oxford graduated," the other man grumbled. Unwilling to create further argument in front of the others, he finally said, "Let's just go back to the camp, it's late." He sent a 'don't you think you're off the hook' glance to Noor.
Garrett had definitely not smoothed his driving style and the bumpy winding road bordering the cliff wasn't helping to reassure the passengers.
"Garrett, I survived a helicopter crash today, I'd appreciate not ending my young and brilliant career in your filthy Jeep!" she said loudly over the roaring engine. He answered by a dismissive gesture which told rather well how much he cared about female ranting in his car.
"So, you are a historian, Mr. Kenobi. In what field, may I ask?" Dr Lukas inquired, turning around to speak to him from the front seat.
"Ancient wars and weaponry," answered the Jedi easily, not so far from the truth.
He had said the right thing: the other man's face lit up. " Oh, of course! You're here to study the new pieces of weaponry that was found a week ago, near the tomb of the Prince!"
"Exactly," approved Kenobi, a bit unsure. Noor, who was wedged between him and the door, exchanged a surprised look with him and nodded to Lukas. Perfect timing.
"How is Maeve?" she asked, leaning forward to address Garrett.
"Ready to chew you out."
"Yes, well, she's still in England."
"No, Dr McGrath is here. You're in for the ride of your life, lass," he stated sympathetically, reaching over his shoulder to pat her hand where it rested on his seat.
Lukas kept on chatting cheerfully, completely oblivious to what was going on around him, talking alternatively to Garrett and Noor who were both obviously brooding. " Oh yes, Dr McGrath will be quite happy with their coming. There's lot of work with the dig-up of the warehouse near the shore. It might take days it's a very big building, they will need strong arms."
Noor snorted, watching Kenobi suppressing a wince, before she groaned as they stopped in front of the camp.
"Oh God, she's going to kill me."
She hopped out of the car and made a bee line for one of the big desert tents, followed by Dr Lukas who retired to his own tent.
Remained alone with Kenobi in the Jeep, Garrett didn't lose time. "Listen, young man, Noor is an adult and leads her life as she wishes so I won't waste my time threatening you like some old wanker. I'll simply say that if you hurt her, you'll regret it," he warned quietly.
"Knowing Noor, sir, she will be the one hurting me," Kenobi answered with a slight smile which was slowly echoed on Garrett's face.
"The Alrahan women are quite a handful, aren't they?"
Both the man shared a 'tell me about it' look."
"I am here to protect her. You needn't worry. About me at least," the Jedi said more seriously.
Garrett peered at him. "You're one of them, aren't you?" He raised his hand in a appeasing gesture when Kenobi shot him a sharp glance. "I was with Maeve when she learned about Noor and her father. I swore to remain silent about this, calm down. I won't add a word about this, but you have my trust."
Kenobi assessed him for a moment and sensing no treachery in him, nodded slightly before opting for a subject change. "Is this Maeve that bad?
"Oh yes, Maeve McGrath is the only person in the world Noor actively fears, not obeys, but fears. Rightfully so, I must say, she's a very good woman but no one would want to make her angry."
"Does that mean that Noor pays a minimum of attention to what she says? Is she human?" inquired Kenobi lifting an amused eyebrow.
The other man chuckled. " It's her sister."
"That makes her fearful indeed."
"I'm Garrett McGrath by the way, the eldest fury's husband. I'm working with Stephen Breitstein and Eduard Reinhardt on the underwater excavations of King Herod's artificial harbor."
" I could have guessed that, you * look* like an archeologist," said the Jedi, smiling as he pointedly eyed McGrath's rugged looks and scruffy outfit.
McGrath laughed good-humouredly at that. His retort was cut off by a feminine call from a tent nearby. " Ah, Maeve is summoning us in. Time to go in the arena."
Kenobi was surprised to see a petite attractive woman holding the flap of a tent open for them. Her features were delicate, her eyebrows arched beautifully above two large nocturne eyes matching her thick dark hair. She looked like an older and neatly dressed version of Noor in darker shades. A strong sense of determination and authority emanated from her.
Garrett laughed quietly as he passed by him, "Don't be fooled by her sweet looks."
'I know better than that,' thought Kenobi remembering her sister.
Inside, Noor was walking back and forth on the thick dark red woolen carpets laid on the floor. Her jaw was set in a way he knew well, she was very upset about something.
"The Foundation replaced me!" she explained with a deep frown.
"It was to be expected, Noor. After five months they couldn't let the search of the houses coming to a standstill because you were missing. Dr Stabler and Dr Stanley needed a new leading archeologist, this Sir Minevan just showed up at the right time, that's all," offered Maeve, trying to appease her sister.
"Minevan? I've never heard his name mentioned anywhere, how comes he got *my* job then?"
"I have no idea, dear, but if the committee and the University of Haifa appointed him, it means that he has good qualifications."
"All I see right now is that I'll have to give him reports and explain all my actions in the site. He won't let me wander around without asking questions."
Kenobi spoke up. "Calm down, Noor, let's meet the man before drawing hasty conclusions."
"I'll go get him," Garrett volunteered and exited.
"I trust that your husband and you knew about our coming here, Doctor McGrath," he said turning towards Maeve who nodded.
"I knew it would happen one day, anyway. The Council contacted us after Noor's disappearance. When people here thought it was an action of the local militia and various other speculations, we didn't correct them. Now that she is back with you, we will have to figure out something else. Let me tell you bluntly, Master Kenobi, that I disapprove of Noor's implication in this matter, I never hid my opinion to the Council." She snapped up a hand firmly to silence her sister's protestation. "However, you can count on our help and complete discretion."
A smile flickered in Kenobi's gaze as he nodded his assent and his gratitude. He had always appreciated spirited personalities.
The tent parted, revealing Garrett followed by a tall man in his forties with a pale gaunt face. The two Jedi glanced at each other from the corner of their eyes.
:: Weird,:: sent Noor.
Kenobi lightly shook his head, signifying to her not to talk through the connection and shield her mind as Sir Minevan was greeted by Maeve.
He turned towards Noor and his metallic blue eyes warmed up amiably. His demeanor was the one of a refined and agreeable cultured man, belying his stern features and bony figure. "Finally I meet the young Dr Alrahan. Last time I saw you, you were a baby, Lady Noor. You mustn't recall me but I worked with your father on the hippodrome's excavation."
"What I don't remember, sir, is having seen your name in the reports. You mustn't be very famous in the archeological circle," Noor said pointedly.
The gentleman laughed quietly. He did not seem to take offense of the young woman's sharp answer and dismissed gently Maeve's calling to order. "I see that I'm addressing a genuine Alrahan, there's no fooling you, young lady," he answered, " I was a mere student in his second year back then, this is the reason why my name did not appear in the publications. After my studies, I changed my orientation although I kept practicing on a voluntary basis. So, you are right, I am not very famous in this circle but I do my best to be competent."
He went to take a chair after being introduced to Kenobi. "I heard you were kidnapped by the militia, Lady Noor. It must have been quite--- picturesque," he inquired with an amused smile brushing his thin lips. The visual was indeed rather laughable. "Were you part of the hostages too, Mr. Kenobi?"
" In a way, yes," intervened Garrett from behind Minevan, with a sly grin on his unshaven face, "Those two simply eloped. Couldn't wait, just decided to get married without even telling us."
Minevan turned to face Garrett, missing Kenobi and Noor dropping their heads and rolling their eyes and his wife fighting back a laughter.
"How romantic," the older man stated with a touch of friendly mockery.
"Isn't it?" answered Noor under her breath, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
The archeologist took his leave after a short while, soon followed by Kenobi and Noor who was to show him his sleeping quarters.
"My brother-in-law must be some clandestine spy genius, what a brilliant cover he gave us," she said, shaking her head as they strolled in the settlement.
"Well, it's true that it was a rather awkward." Kenobi started diplomatically
She burst out laughing, and he laughed quietly, "All right, it was the lousiest excuse I've ever heard, but at least, it will enable us to sneak out to discuss our business and go to the tomb together without raising suspicions."
"Did you feel something when Minevan entered?" "No, nothing."
"I know, it's strange, usually I'm usually able to sense people's aura, but there was nothing there."
" Some people are able to shield it from us, that's why I asked you not to use the link in front of him. We need to keep an eye on him, anyway."
She nodded and stopped in front of one of the big tents. "Here's home. You'll share with Garrett. He insisted that I should sleep "safely" with my sister at least for tonight. You have a wild night ahead of you, Kenobi, he snores like a bantha."
"Don't be so cheery, after what Garrett told Minevan, the sleeping arrangements might be changed," he retorted roguishly.
They went on planning the various things they would have to do the day after, deciding that she would come up with an excuse to go inspect the tomb while he would assist Maeve on the warehouse excavation near the shore.
Without warning, Noor declared: "You know, I hate forward women, I think it's vulgar and pathetic."
"And your point is?" asked Kenobi, lifting an eyebrow.
"Will you invite me for a last drink?" she blurted out, trying to sound flippant.
He chuckled and drew her to him, letting her snuggle up in his arms as he kissed her brow. "No, I won't."
"Do you spoil people's fun as a personal entertainment or is it part of the Jedi master conditioning?" she asked, resting her forehead against his chin, sensing him smile in her hair. " Garrett would skin me."
"You definitively have a point here."
He sobered up and lifted her face up. "We can't let this happen again while we are here, Noor. The mission is our priority until we go back to Coruscant and sort this out properly. Do I have your agreement here?"
" I guess so. Let's remain focused and professional," she sighed, stepping back.
"That's the idea, yes."
He bent down to put what was meant to be a chaste goodnight kiss on her cheek, but as soon as their skin touched, all his good resolutions vanished. He impulsively grabbed her waist to pull her closer and took her mouth with a tender urgency.
He suddenly broke the kiss as he felt her matching his hunger and moved back.
"I think you should go now," he said a bit breathlessly, quickly adverting his eyes when he caught sight of her face tilted back, offered, gazing at him from under her long eyelashes as amazed and dazzled as he was. A faint blush was coloring her cheeks, her lips were swollen with his kiss---
He almost gave in the temptation but kept a safe distance between them, barely allowing himself to tuck her hair behind her ear.
He watched her walk away until she disappeared in the camp. He glanced at the dark sky dusted with stars as if looking for an answer and retreated in his tent.