Disclaimer and such in Part 1
The small band of Flight crew and Jedi had walked through the thick jungle for almost five standard time marks, the entire way in silence so as to not attract their attackers. Since they really had no way in knowing which direction to take, the group trusted in Rohhe's wisdom and instinct to guide them. The path that he had chosen was a relatively easy one, but once in a while a stream, or fallen tree branch, would appear, making the trek a bit more difficult due to the fact that every member of the group was injured.
Padme didn't mind the path too much, though, except for when obstacles would appear and she was not able to help anyone because of her own injuries. The thing that really bothered her was that one of her arms was entirely immobile. She did gain some comfort, though, knowing that with her Jedi skills it would be healed within only a couple of days. She loved the fact that even within the small amount of time they had traveled, the intense throbbing she had felt in her shoulder earlier had already subdued itself to a small ache, and with it out of the way, she had some time to really appreciate the scenery around her.
The trees and sporadic wildlife they encountered took Padme's breath away. Growing up on Naboo, she loved nature and being outdoors so much that when she was little she would spend most of her days in the gardens around her parents estate, just lying in the tall grass and listening to the birds chirp. Her favorite thing to do, however, was to run into the woods and climb through the many branches of the native Nubian trees. Her parents even used to give her animal nicknames, because of her climbing skills and grace among nature. The lack of vegetation on Coruscant was the one thing that had really disappointed Padme when she arrived at the Jedi Temple for the first time. Sure, the Temple had its own gardens, but they seemed to be too fabricated to her. She loved the real thing and missed it terribly when she was confined to the planet-wide city she called home, which is why she liked to go on as many away missions as she could.
When Padme first saw how rich in environmental life Iagone was, she was filled with an immediate calm. She was certain she felt that calm, even though they were in a hostile setting, because the beautiful jungle planet reminded her so much of Naboo. The differences between the plants and flowers of both worlds were incredibly minute. Yes, there still were some big discongruencies that she noticed, like the size of the trees and the somewhat fruity smell the flowers gave off, but she rather strangely felt like she had simply crash-landed on her home planet and not in some unknown, uncharted system on the edge of nowhere.
With that thought in her head, Padme basked in the feeling of being home. She snapped out of her reverie, though, when she saw Lt. Zared start to stumble over a large, protruding root and fall towards the ground.
Obi-wan had seen the action too and instantly reached forward to catch the man.
"Are you alright?" He asked while grabbing the man's arm, concern filling his eyes. Zared did not look well off. The burns across his body were still greatly swelled and oozing, and he looked like he was going to pass out at any moment.
"I'm sorry, Jedi, it's nothing." Zared tried to cover up his pain by quickly regaining his footing, but failed miserably. As a result, Obi-wan had to put his arms completely around the man, in a tight bear hug, to keep him steady.
Rohhe glanced to his side, noticing the interaction between his Padawan and the Lieutenant. Pausing a moment the consider all courses of action, he stopped his walking and turned to face the group.
"Perhaps, we should rest here for a few moments." When there were no signs of protest, he made his way towards Obi-wan and Zared.
"Padawan, why don't you go sit down and meditate a while. I'll see to Lt. Zared's wounds." Rohhe placed his hand gently on Obi-wan's shoulder and gave him a warm smile.
"Yes, Master."
Obi-wan guided the wounded Lieutenant into Rohhe's arms and, before finding a spot to relax in, looked around to see if anyone else needed his help. Seeing that Qui-gon and Padme were already sitting down and redressing Lt. Canton's wounds, he decided that there was nothing left to do but settle himself in a comfortable location and rest while he could.
Padme looked up from her tending of Canton's wounds to watch Obi-wan walk from where Master Antol was seated with Zared to a particularly large tree and sit down. Her eyes traveled over his bandages as he leaned back against the huge trunk for support. Observing that the blood had completely soaked through the gauzy material, Padme's brow furrowed in concern.
Qui-gon glanced at his Padawan when he noticed that she was no longer helping him clean the burns on Canton's leg. Sensing her concern for Obi-wan, he gently probed her mind.
~You know, Padawan, I can probably handle this task myself, if you want to go tend to Padawan Kenobi.~ He smiled as he saw her face lightly flush. She had not known that her thoughts were being projected so clearly to her Master.
~I am sorry, Master.~ She turned back to tending Canton with Qui-gon, ~He is a dear friend and it difficult for me to see him so injured.~
Qui-gon placed a hand gently on Padme's right arm to stop her ministrations.
"Go tend to your friend, Padme." He said while turning to look straight into her eyes.
Padme stared back at her Master for a few moments to contemplate his generosity. He rarely ever permitted her to express her personal feelings towards those whom she was close to, when they were out in the public eye. She, however, didn't want to question him on the subject and lose her chance to speak privately with Obi-wan, so she gave him a gracious smile and stood up.
Obi-wan looked up from his meditation when he heard Padme kneel down in front of him and felt her place a hand on his knee.
Smiling, he covered her hand with his own.
"Hey..." She said timidly, only then realizing that it was the first time they'd spoken to eachother, face to face, since "the incident."
"Pad," He said while rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand, "no need for shyness around me. What happened has happened and there's nothing we can do about it."
Padme smiled at him. She loved how he could completely smooth out any situation. Her smile turned into a frown, though, when she looked down at his torso.
"Obi-wan, I really ought to look at that wound." He grimaced and caught her wrist when she placed her fingers on the edge of his tunic to get a better view of his injuries.
"It's fine, really." He paused a moment after speaking and then let go of her wrist, realizing how obvious it was that he was lying.
"Don't worry, Obi, I'll be very gentle." She grinned and turned away from him to remove medical supplies from the bag that was slung over her right shoulder.
When she was finished placing the various ointments and rags around herself, Padme shifted back to face the now shirtless Obi-wan. Blushing slightly, she realized that she never before had seen him in such a threadbare state; not that she minded, of course, because she quickly observed that, despite the large bandage, he had a really nicely toned body. Padme immediately suppressed those thoughts with a grin, though, and focused herself on her present task. Gingerly, she started to peel the gauzy material away from her friend's waist, but what she found underneath it sickened her. Obi-wan's entire abdomen was a mass of dark bruises and still-bleeding cuts.
"Obi-wan..." She whispered in a sad voice, as she completely unwrapped the material from around him and set it beside her.
"It's looks far worse than it is, I assure you." He grinned in an attempt to make her feel better.
"You're such a bad liar." She teased half-heartedly.
"I'll take that as a compliment." He joked back and leaned forward a bit so she could properly clean all of his wounds.
A comfortable silence fell between them as Padme cleansed his injuries with some of the water that they had taken from the stream she had been tended next to earlier. Occasionally, she pressed a little too hard on a gash and Obi-wan would tense up, but for the most part she was good to her word about being gentle.
Something besides the state of her friend's body was troubling Padme, though. She knew she had to speak her thoughts to Obi-wan, but it took some time in coming.
"Obi-wan..." She started with an sigh and stopped wiping away the dirt that had accumulated on his stomach.
He unfocused his eyes from the ground and turned his gaze, instead, towards hers.
"Yes?" He asked with a curious looked on his face.
"I...," She hesitated a moment before continuing, "I'm sorry I avoided you earlier today."
Obi-wan smiled.
"Padme," His hand enveloped hers once again as he gently pulled her closer to him, "I'm guilty of the same thing. I avoided you as well, so there is no need for you to apologize. It was a senseless situation anyway."
Padme shifted on her knees as she knelt to the right side of his outstretched legs. After a few moments of silence she met his eyes.
"I know Obi, but," She paused and found she could no longer keep his gaze. Looking down, she continued, "I was so afraid when I saw you falling towards that window. I didn't know if you would get hurt or if you would even survive."
Obi-wan squeezed her hand, but kept silent, sensing that she had more to say.
"But what scared me more, was the thought of losing you when we were on bad terms. I mean, what if you died and the last words I said to you were ones of awkwardness and not of friendship?" Her troubled eyes finally sought his out again.
Her words touched him greatly, because he held the same fear she did.
Obi-wan reached forward and gently cupped her face with his right hand .
"Padme," He whispered while stroking his thumb across her cheek, "No matter the circumstances, please remember, I will always care for you and you will always be my best friend."
He leaned back a little to get a full view of her smiling face.
"Well, then, Obi-wan Kenobi," She said grinning from ear to ear, "I hope that you too will always remember that I feel the exact same way towards you."
With a shared smile, they went back to their comfortable silence so Padme could finish tending to Obi-wan's wounds.
After a quarter of a standard mark, Rohhe stood up and gathered his bags.
"Alright everyone," He said while turning to the group,
"let's continue."