Disclaimer and such in Part 1
Obi-wan walked through the small hallway that connected the bedrooms and stepped down into the sunken living room where Padme was seated on the larger of the two couches. It had been three days since they had arrived at the little treetop house, each passing with little disturbance. The quiet hadn't bothered anyone, though. In fact, the repose they experienced during those days actually created the perfect setting for everyone to heal. Qui-gon and Rohhe were completely better, Padme still had on her bandages but fervently believed she didn't need them anymore, Canton and Obi-wan were almost completely healed, no longer needing to change the dressings on their wounds everyone few hours, and Zared was making a surprising recovery but was still bedridden.
Obi-wan let out a small laugh as he moved to sit next to Padme on the couch. She was hunched over her own left shoulder, picking angrily at the bandage that restricted it from moving.
"What's so funny, Kenobi?" She said a bit testily as she looked up from her work with a frown.
Obi-wan's smile grew larger at her anger, but he managed to bite back another laugh.
"Nothing...you know, it'd probably be okay if we took that thing off." He gestured to the offending material.
As soon as he said that, Padme's face lost all its anger and instantly lit up.
"I agree," She said excitedly but paused and let out a small sigh, "but Qui-gon told me not to take it off for at least another day or two."
Obi-wan nodded and leaned back against the back of the couch and started to meditate, content to let her keep the thing on. Padme's brow scrunched up in thought. She was completely frustrated. She wanted that cast off and she wanted it off right away. She could feel in every fiber of her body that she was healed. Besides, she figured Qui-gon was just being overly cautious, and hadn't considered her remarkable healing skills when he had told how long she'd have to keep the bandage on.
"Oh what the heck," Obi-wan opened one eye to look in Padme's direction when she started speaking," Qui-gon won't be back from hunting for another couple of hours and if I can get along just fine without the dressings when he's not here, then when he gets back I can prove to him that I don't need it anymore." Padme smiled at her conclusion.
Obi-wan smirked. He was glad he was still a Padawan so he could be a bit mischievous from time to time and go along with fellow Padawans on crazy ideas and not get into too much trouble. He turned to face Padme and placed a hand on her arm.
"Alright," He studied her arm and reached out with the Force to get a better reading of how her shoulder was healing, "just relax your arm while I remove the bandage."
He slowly unwrapped the gauzy, white material to expose her slightly bruised arm. Padme grimaced a little at the sight of the bruising, but was relieved that she didn't feel any pain when she tried to move her shoulder. When Obi-wan finished unwrapping her arm, Padme slowly stretched it out in front of her to try to get her muscles used to moving again.
"It feels a little stiff." She said with a frown.
Obi-wan eyes impishly lit up.
"You know, we could probably remedy that problem...if you're up to it that is." He grinned knowing his last few words would strike a nerve in her.
Padme narrowed her eyes.
"I'm up for anything Kenobi."
"Good."
He grabbed her by her right wrist and pulled her out to the wrap-around balcony. It was when Obi-wan started to remove his large brown cloak and outer tunics that Padme caught on to what his idea for stretching out her arm muscles was.
"Oh, you are in for it now Obi-wan." She said with a smile that reached both of her ears. She then too started to remove her cloak and outer tunics.
Obi-wan loved the banter she constantly threw at him. It really helped to make all situations they found themselves in much more enjoyable.
"We'll just see Miss Naberrie." He said while hanging up his previously removed cloak over the balcony railing and preparing himself to jump over it and into the tree limbs.
"That's Jedi Naberrie to you." Padme grabbed her saber from her belt and flipped over his head and onto the branch he had been headed for. She stood in ready stance with her blue-violet saber lit and a huge smile on her face.
Obi-wan let out a small laugh.
"I guess you got that levitation problem fixed." He winked and mirrored her movements, flipping over her head and onto the branch behind her. Lighting his blue saber, he raised an eyebrow at her.
"Ready?" He questioned teasingly.
"Strange, I was just about to ask you the same thing." They both grinned and, putting their sabers to the lowest setting possible, readied themselves for the sparring session that was about to take place.
Being the younger and less experienced of the two, Padme waited for Obi-wan to attack first. Through all of her training, she had learned that Jedi are defensive fighters and never the aggressor; therefore, whomever had the most to learn in a sparring session was supposed to take the defensive stance.
Obi-wan lunged towards Padme with lightening speed. Her reflexes were honed enough, though, to sense it coming and to jump onto a higher branch, but, following her movements to the new branch and connecting sabers with her, Obi-wan didn't skip a beat.
They parried for a few moments until Obi-wan got a good kick in to the back of Padme's knees making her fall down a few branches. She recovered quickly, though, and, during her descent, grabbed onto a nearby tree limb and by swinging under it, landed back on her feet.
Obi-wan smiled and jumped down to her branch to meet her.
"Not bad...not bad..." He said with an irritating smirk on his face.
"I haven't even warmed up yet." Padme countered and waited for her friend's next attack.
She didn't have to wait long. A few moments later, he crouched down and attempted a kick to bring her to her knees. Padme dodged it without difficulty, however, by jumping backwards and kicking off the huge tree trunk to flip over Obi-wan's head. Their sabers clashed mid-air.
They continued sparring for a while, equally matched, but Obi-wan could tell that Padme was beginning to get tired and knew that soon he would best her.
Padme landed on a wide tree branch and quickly turned to face her opponent. She knew she was tiring, but she would rather be tortured than admit it to Obi-wan. They stood facing eachother with grins on their faces. Their grins quickly faded, though, as the presence of five life forms came into their minds.
"Obi-wan..." Padme started but Obi-wan held up his hand, quieting her.
Obi-wan looked around, trying to determine where the life forms were coming from. He could sense that they weren't far off. When he saw them about two hundred meters away, casually walking through the branches in his and Padme's direction, Obi-wan instantly grabbed Padme by the shoulders and spun her around to pin her behind him against the tree trunk. Both of them concentrated on pulling the force around them to conceal their presence and make themselves invisible to the naked eye. As soon as they summoned the Force, though, the five Iagonians jerked their heads in the direction of Padme and Obi-wan and looked directly at them. One of the five ( all men ) started shouted, obviously giving orders to the remaining four. Obeying the leaders shouts, the other four crouched down onto all fours and started to sprint towards Obi-wan and Padme with teeth barred.
"Shit." Obi-wan muttered and grabbed Padme's hand.
They sprinted as fast as they could through the trees, but the natives to the planet were obviously much more skilled among the branches than they were, because only after a few moments they were almost upon the fleeing couple. Padme and Obi-wan drew as much strength as they could from the Force to keep themselves from stumbling or falling to the ground, but they were quickly tiring due to the fact that they had spent all of their energy in their earlier sparring session.
Obi-wan had no idea where he was leading the two of them, he was just trying to keep them from getting captured by the attackers that were only a few meters behind them.
In the middle of his sprint, Obi-wan almost saw the furred hand, that came out from behind a tree trunk, too late. He ducked out of its way and reignited his saber, ready to defend his and Padme's lives to the death. Padme did the same.
"I am not here to hurt you...come with me if you want to live." A petite female Iagonian stepped out from behind the tree trunk and offered Obi-wan her hand. Padme looked behind her. She could clearly see their attackers approaching. She and Obi-wan needed to make a decision and they needed to make it fast. Moving her free hand quickly, Padme grabbed onto Obi-wan's arm and gave it a tight squeeze, assuring him that whatever action he chose she would trust and follow him.
Obi-wan's brow furrowed. He followed Padme's gaze to the five attackers and sighed. Turning back to the female Iagonian, he clenched his teeth and placed his hand in hers. The creature's face twisted into what one could only assume to be a smile as she turned and pulled the two young Jedi straight through what had appeared to be a solid tree trunk and into darkness.
tbc...
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Okay, I know this a short chapter to give ya'll after not writing for a couple weeks, but rest assured. I have the other half of this almost done. (I have four pages of a hand-written, small print, outline for this chapter and this section doesn't even make up a whole page of it.) I just didn't want to leave you guys with nothing for sooo long. The next part will be up within the next couple of days, I promise!
Now onto thanks:
Sassy: Thank you sooo much for all the compliments and reviews you have given me! Plus, I really appreciate the shout outs for me to continue my story in the author's notes of your story "An Indecent Proposal" (get another chapter out soon please!) ( shameless plug: check out sassy's awesome story at: )
Jedi Keladry: Lol, thank you for being "patient and civilized" while waiting for this next installment. All the wonderful words of encouragement you've given me have really help me get inspired to write. And you better get another chapter for "Hope's Sanctuary" out soon or else! :-P ( another shameless plug: check out Keladry's incredible story at: )
Saskia: Thank you for all the fantastic words you have said about me and my story at your site. I really appreciate them. ( Yet another shameless plug : check out Saskia's kick ass Obidala website at www.obidala.com )
AND THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO IS READING THIS. THANK YOU
ALL FOR THE SUPPORT!!!