Padme rushed over to the cot where Obi-Wan was sitting. The Emperor had just left and she was eager to see how Obi-Wan was doing. She sat down beside him and took his hand in hers. "Are you okay?"

"Aside from a pounding headache, yes, I'm fine."

Padme smiled in relief. "Good. Now, what the heck happened between you two?"

Obi-Wan grinned. "He was a little surprised by the mind probe I did on him."

"The WHAT?"

"I was able to use his mind probe on me as an entrance into his mind."

Padme found herself getting angry. "You deliberately went into that black hole of a mind? Are you crazy? It could have been dangerous!"

A mischievous light glinted in Obi-Wan's eyes. "As you can see, I'm perfectly fine. In fact, it was probably one of the shortest mind probes in history." Obi-Wan was trying very hard not to smile, but was failing miserably.

Padme smacked him on the shoulder. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, I do not think this is very funny! It was bad enough your baiting Vader, but do you have to tick off the Sith Master himself?"

From the glare Padme was giving him, Obi-Wan knew he'd better get the smile off his face. "You saw the Emperor's reaction, Padme. He wasn't angry."

Padme took in a deep breath to calm herself. "No, but you didn't know that before you tried it!"

Obi-Wan leaned in a bit. "Think about it, Padme. With all the things I've done thus far, has the Emperor reacted in anger even once?"

Padme thought back. "No, he hasn't. He always seems to react with amusement…and even respect." She shook her head. "I don't get it. He's a Sith. I thought they always reacted in anger."

Obi-Wan leaned back against the wall. "Well, I think I glimpsed the explanation for that during my mind probe. But frankly, I'm still finding it really hard to digest."

Padme pulled her legs onto the cot and leaned in eagerly. "Please tell me! What did you see?" Her anger was now completely forgotten.

Obi-Wan flashed her a high-wattage smile. "Does that mean I'm forgiven?"

"Maybe, IF you tell me what you saw!"

"Ah, conditional forgiveness."

Padme smacked Obi-Wan's shoulder again, laughing despite herself. "Alright, you're forgiven! Now will you please tell me!"

Obi-Wan's eyebrows knit together as he tried to put what he saw into words. "I caught a glimpse of how Sidious sees me…or what he thinks of me. And he…well…I did see respect. But I think I also saw…affection."

Padme gaped at Obi-Wan. "Affection? From a Sith?"

"There's more." Obi-Wan sighed loudly. He was struggling to even entertain the thought in his mind, much less vocalize it. "He almost seems to look on me as……a son."

Padme leaned back in horror. "A son? Obi, how is that possible? We're talking about an evil, power-hungry, murdering Sith!"

"I know! I can scarcely believe it myself! But I know that's what I saw! It would explain why he can't seem to get angry with me, why he doesn't want to kill me and why he seems to actually enjoy my company." Now that he was talking about it, more things were becoming clear to him. "Also, the memories he focused on in this mind probe were mostly from my childhood and my years as a Padawan. He seems genuinely curious to know more about me."

Padme was trying to let all of this sink in. "This is incredible!" Then dread flowed through her as a realization struck hard. "Obi, he's never going to give up on you! If he does think of you as a son, then he's never going to rest until you're by his side. He told you that he wasn't going to take no for an answer and now I really believe him!"

Obi-Wan grabbed her hand. "Padme, it's okay." He sent her soothing waves through the Force. It calmed her down a little, but not much.

Padme squeezed Obi-Wan's hand tightly. "No, it's not! He won't kill you and he may not want to hurt you, but he WILL do whatever he has to do to get you to turn to the dark side. It's personal now. He's not going to let you go."

"Padme, he's not going to have a choice. I'm not going to turn."

"He'd hold you here for the rest of your life, if that's what it took."

Obi-Wan pulled Padme over to him and put his arm around her. "I don't believe that's the will of the Force."

Padme looked into Obi-Wan's eyes. "What do you mean?"

"The Force made it clear to me that my life will not end here -- that I have more to do."

Relief swept through Padme. "Oh, thank the Force!" She gladly leaned into Obi-Wan's embrace as he gently kissed the top of her head. She felt elated at Obi-Wan's last words!

Obi-Wan gladly held her close. He stroked Padme's hair lovingly as he held her. Suddenly, she started to shake. At first he wondered what could be wrong, but he quickly realized that she was laughing. "What in the world are you laughing at?"

"You," she squeaked out.

"Me?"

Padme turned to elaborate, but one look at the utter confusion on his face sent her back into fits. She buried her head in Obi-Wan's chest while trying to regain control.

Obi-Wan tried to calmly wait out her hysterics without getting a complex. He drummed his fingers on the cot. "Are you quite finished yet?"

Padme sucked in much-needed oxygen as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "I think so." She looked at Obi-Wan, mirth still dancing in her eyes.

"Now, will you calmly and rationally tell me what I did to cause that?"

Padme turned herself around so she could look Obi-Wan in the face. "I'm sorry. I don't know why this thought struck me as being so funny." She cleared her throat to stop the laughter that was threatening to come out again. "I just thought, 'Leave it to Obi-Wan to touch the heart of a heartless Sith!"

Obi-Wan stared at Padme in bafflement. He failed to see the humor of the situation.

Padme took his hand and spoke with pure joy in her voice. "Obi, you are amazing! Do you not see the enormity of this? You have managed to engender a feeling akin to fatherly affection from a man whose sole purpose in life is to hate!" She shook her head in amazement. "I say again, leave it to you!"

Obi-Wan couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, but you're not exactly an unbiased observer. I'm scared to death I'm going to fall off the pedestal you've place me on, and fall hard!"

Padme grew serious. "I haven't placed you on a pedestal, Obi-Wan. I know you're human. I know you're not perfect. But I also know that you're special. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I can always count of you. You don't know what that means to me. No matter what happens, I know you'll be there, steady and strong as ever." Padme stopped as she noticed Obi-Wan's eyes get wide. "What?"

"The Emperor said something very similar to that before the first mind probe he did on me."

Padme rolled her eyes. "I never, EVER thought I'd say this, but the Emperor is right. Amazingly enough, he sees the same high-caliber qualities that I see in you. He wants to use them for evil, warped purposes, but he sees them nonetheless."

Obi-Wan looked at Padme for a long moment and then burst into laughter. He hugged his arms to his chest and leaned into the wall.

It was now Padme's turn to be confused. "Okay, what's so funny?"

Obi-Wan got control of himself and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I just thought of Vader."

Padme looked at him like he'd lost his mind. She didn't see anything humorous about Vader.

Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "It's just that I thought he hated me before, but just wait until HE finds out about this turn of events!" Obi-Wan continued to snicker.

Padme couldn't help but start to laugh herself. She had to admit, she'd LOVE to be a fly on the wall when and if Vader ever did find out! Their laughter was a great release from the strains, stresses and traumas they'd endured over the last several days. Padme shook her head. I think this is what is known as 'gallows humor!'