Obi-Wan was hurrying down a hallway in the Jedi Temple when he was spotted by his master Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon said with a hushed but testy tone. "Where have you been? Do you know how late it is?"
Obi-Wan stopped and bowed slightly in front of him. "I'm sorry, Master, but I have an urgent matter I must speak with you about."
Qui-Gon folded his arms. "I'm listening."
"I was doing what you had instructed, Master." Obi-Wan explained hurriedly. "You know, letting the Force guide me."
"And where exactly did the Force guide you, my young Padawan?"
"Into a nightclub." Obi-Wan answered innocently.
Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow. "A nightclub?"
"Yes. And there was a girl there."
"A girl?" He scratched the side of his chin through his thick beard. "You mentioned something about girls on the comlink."
"On the comlink?"
"Yes, you do remember our conversation on the comlink earlier, don't you Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon Jinn asked suspiciously.
"Uh... vaguely." Obi-Wan searched his memory, but the time when he was drunk was still fuzzy at best. He cringed slightly in embarrassment as he began to remember. 'Oh Force! Did I tell him I love him?'
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Nahlia stood by the stairs of the main hall of the Jedi Temple admiring a towering golden statue of a Jedi Master with a strange orb in his hand. It was late at the temple, but still the occasional knight or padawan would come down the stairs or cross the hallway and give her a curious second glance. She supposed that the short black dress and silver thigh high stockings she was wearing were not usual attire at the temple. One young woman, a tall blue skinned Twi'lek like her friend Trindi, scowled at Nahlia as she passed.
"Hi." Nahlia managed an awkward smile as she tried to think of something to say. "Nice... outfit," she said, referring to the black pants and tank top the girl wore, accessorized by a lightsaber hanging from her leather belt. After receiving an odd look from the girl, Nahlia realized how silly it sounded and set her eyes quickly onto the plush, dark blue carpeting in front of her feet.
"Thanks." The Twi'lek padawan said with a shrug, then continued on her way.
'"Nice outfit", ' Nahlia sighed to herself as she watched her go. 'Good one, Nahlia.'
Just then, behind Nahlia, a voice spoke up. "Lost, are you?"
She turned around quickly, surprised by the sound but saw no one there on her eye level. Then she heard someone clear their throat and she looked down to find standing in front of her was a small grayish green creature, with gray hair, pointy ears, and a cane.
"Um... not exactly..." Nahlia explained. Suddenly her short black skirt seemed very short indeed in front of such a tiny fellow. She tugged at her skirt a bit in an effort to make it seem longer. "I was asked to wait here, for Master Jinn."
"Mmmm..." He nodded back, not entirely oblivious to her efforts. "Obi-Wan brought you here then, did he?"
"Yes. But, how did you know?" She asked. "Are you Master Jinn?"
"No. Jedi Master Yoda, I am." He said proudly, then added with a wink. "Much taller, Master Jinn is." He snickered to himself. "Yes, much taller..."
"Well that's one way to tell you apart, I suppose." Nahlia smiled and began to relax in the Jedi's presence. "Master Yoda. I've heard of you... my name is Nahlia."
"Nahlia, tell me, why wait you for Master Jinn?"
"Obi-Wan said he had a vision, he thinks I'm in some kind of danger."
"Mmmmm..." He nodded, now troubled. "A dangerous world, it is."
"He thought Master Jinn might be able to sense what I was in danger from and stop it."
"Strong with the Force, Qui-Gon is." Yoda sighed. "But difficult to read, the future can be."
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"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon said, his patience waning. "Do you remember what you asked me about girls?"
"Um..." Obi-Wan did his best to remember the entire conversation but the fog didn't seem to want to lift, not much anyway. Finally, he remembered and blurted out, "I asked if it was all right to kiss girls."
The Padawan's exclamation caught the attention of the blue Twi'lek girl who had just appeared at the end of the hallway. Her full lips curled into a little smile directed at Obi-Wan as she continued to her room.
"Shhhh..." Qui-Gon quieted Obi-Wan, "This is not a conversation I wish the entire temple to hear. Now, do you remember what my answer was?"
"You said... uh..." Obi-Wan thought hard for a moment, "that I shouldn't?"
"Yes."
"But I already knew that, Master."
"Then why did you ask me?" Qui-Gon responded in a voice very near yelling.
"Shhhh..." Obi-Wan hushed him.
"What?"
"I thought you didn't want the entire temple to hear us, Master?"
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon asked in a lower, but still testy tone, "Why did you ask me if it was all right to kiss girls, if you already knew it wasn't?"
"I don't know," He shrugged, then finally admitted. "Actually... it was probably the all the drinks I had."
Qui-Gon's eyes nearly bugged out of his head. "You were drunk?!"
Obi-Wan jumped at his master's outburst before quickly hushing him again, "Shhhh!"
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Yoda stood in front of Nahlia with his eyes shut as she watched him anxiously. He leaned on his cane as he concentrated on the young woman in front of him, reaching out with the Force in an attempt to determine what lay in her future. He caught glimpses of her past first: her birth in a Coruscant hospital, her childhood where, he noted, only a mother was present, growing up in poverty, her mother's illness and death only a few months before. It troubled him how from first seeing this girl at the temple, he sensed death all around her. He now knew why. But this, was not what troubled him most about the girl and what he saw of her past and future, it was whom he saw in her future. Yoda opened his eyes and looked up at Nahlia sadly. "I am sorry, child."
"What did you see?" Nahlia asked. "Did you find out what I'm in danger from?"
"Know you, what danger Obi-Wan saw..." Yoda pointed up at her with one gnarled finger as he repeated softly. "Know you..."
Nahlia hadn't put two and two together before, but the seriousness in the elder Jedi's voice snapped it all into place for her. She did know what Obi-Wan had seen. Nahlia trembled slightly as a chill went down her back.
Yoda could sense the girl's emotions in turmoil. "So sorry, I am..."
"Th-there's no way..." She said, fighting tears. "There's no way to change this, is there?"
Yoda shook his head sadly. "Many paths you may take, but the result, always the same."
"I see..." tears slowly began to run down her cheeks, "I see... thank you... Master Yoda." Nahlia began to step back. "Thank you..." She turned suddenly from him and walked briskly towards one of the exits, sobbing.
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Qui-Gon sensed his Padawan's chagrin as they walked down the hallway towards the main hall. He sighed, then put his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, Obi-Wan."
"It's just that," Obi-Wan's eyes remained on the dark blue carpet in front of him. "I've disappointed you Master."
"You're a young man, curious about the world," Qui-Gon tried to reassure him. "It's natural for things like this to happen." He then smiled and wagged a finger at him almost playfully. "Just don't let it happen again."
Obi-Wan finally smiled back. "I won't Master, I didn't much enjoy being drunk anyway. It made me talk funny... and forget things... and stagger when I walk... and kind of nauseous..."
Qui-Gon chuckled at the thought. "A glass of ale from time to time is all right as long as you don't over do it. Just remember this rule of thumb when it comes to drinking: blue - good for you, red - better off dead."
"Yes, Master."
"Now," Qui-Gon said as he continued with his padawan towards one of the entryways of the main hall, "let's put that all in the past and find out what's going on with your friend."
As the two men entered, Obi-Wan stopped suddenly and looked around, concerned. "Where did she go? I told her to wait here." He noticed Yoda still standing in the hall by the Jedi statue where he had left Nahlia. Obi-Wan quickly approached him, followed by Qui-Gon. "Master Yoda!"
"Yes, young Obi-Wan?"
"I left a woman waiting here earlier, have you seen her?"
"Mmm... left, she did." Yoda explained, pointing to one of the exits, "just a few minutes ago."
"She left?!" Obi-Wan exclaimed worriedly. "Where did she go?"
"I know not." Yoda responded.
Distressed, Obi-Wan dashed hastily in the direction Yoda had pointed.
"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon Jinn called after him, bewildered. "Where are you going now?"
Obi-Wan did not stop but shouted back, "I must find her, Master!" before disappearing through the entryway and down the hall.
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Nahlia wandered through the aisles of the Jedi Archives, looking up the towering shelves in astonishment and concern. "Now, I'm lost..." she muttered. The vastness of the Jedi Temple, and her own emotional state had left her confused and disoriented. She looked up and down the alleyways but no one appeared to be there. 'Never a Jedi around when you need them.' She mused. Exhausted, she found a chair in front of one of the archive computers and plunked herself down.
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"Master Yoda?" Qui-Gon asked as they continued their conversation in the main hall. "Obi-Wan said that this girl may be connected to the disappearance to the Senator's daughter, and may be in danger, were you able to read anything from her?"
"Read her future, I did." Yoda explained. "That is why she left."
"I see..." Qui-Gon knew by the troubled look on Yoda's face that it couldn't have been good. "Obi-Wan said he had a vision of her death."
"Mmmm..." Yoda nodded, deep in thought. "Die, she will...but not as soon as Obi-Wan thinks..."
"She's in no immediate danger then?" Qui-Gon responded, both relieved and curious. "What exactly did you see, Master? Is she connected to our case?"
"No. No connection to Miss Fantui, I saw..." Yoda continued to look troubled as he leaned forward on his cane, his brow wrinkling as he spoke. "Her death I foresaw... and parts of her life... and more... concerns your Padawan, it does."
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Obi-Wan stepped rapidly down the main aisle of the Jedi Archives, looking carefully down each aisle in search of Nahlia. He finally stopped a bit frustrated at his lack of success. 'Mistress Yaddle said she saw a strange girl headed this way. But where is she?' In the silence of the Archives, he suddenly noticed the sound of soft but steady breathing behind him. He turned around and approached one of the chairs facing the archive computers to find Nahlia there, curled up and asleep. Obi-Wan quietly went down on one knee by the side of the chair. He reached out to her small hands she held clasped in her lap and stroked one softly as he said her name. "Nahlia...Nahlia, wake up."
With that, she opened her eyes, slowly, drowsily, it took only a moment for her to recognize her waker.
"Hello." Obi-Wan said solemnly.
"Hi." She responded softly. "I got a little lost." She tried to brighten his mood with a smile but found it difficult.
Obi-Wan smiled back slightly in return. "I'd say you got very lost." He couldn't help but sense the pain within her, even without the use of the Force he could see it in her dark brown eyes. "Are you all right?"
"Just...tired." Nahlia answered, her sleepy eyes still a little puffy from crying earlier.
He rested his arms on the arm of her chair as he looked up at her. "Is that all?" He pried gently.
So much about this young man seemed alien to Nahlia. His gentlemanly air, the innocence and kindness with which he looked at her, with which he spoke to her. She was completely caught off guard by it. "You really do care, don't you?"
"Of course." Obi-Wan replied - a little surprised by the question.
"That's sweet." Nahlia reached out and slowly ran her fingers along his Padawan braid.
"Nahlia..." He pressed her for more of a response, still gentle but persisting. "What happened?"
"Master Yoda read my future." Nahlia looked down at her hands in her lap instead of into Obi-Wan's eyes. "I'm not in danger, at least not in the way you think."
"What does that mean?"
"It means..." She searched for a way to explain. "You don't need to worry about me."
"I promised I'd protect you."
"You can't." Nahlia said, matter of fact. "Some things even a Jedi can't stop."
"Nahlia, what is it?"
"I don't want to talk about it." The anguish in her voice grew and she began to tear up again. "Please, don't make me talk about it."
Obi-Wan couldn't help but feel his heart sink as he looked into her eyes and sensed her pain. "Okay." He quietly agreed.
"I'm exhausted. I want to get out of here, go home..." Nahlia attempted to get control of her emotions and focus on the here and now. "Will you show me the way?"
Reluctantly, Obi-Wan nodded.
TO BE CONTINUED...
