Disclaimer and Such in Part 1
Padme had been right. Rohhe and Qui-gon had indeed yelled and lectured at her and Obi-wan for being completely careless in their actions, but had decided not to implement their punishments until they got off Iagone. Besides their lectures, though, the two Masters had also expressed to the padawans that they wanted to meet Illyria within the next couple of days. They were very alarmed, yet also intrigued, when Obi-wan had explained to them that the Iagonians could sense when the Force was used, so they wanted to question their supposed native friend about the issue further. The Masters then went into warning Padme and Obi-wan not to use the Force anywhere near the house, lest it would give away the position of their sanctuary. In the end, Qui-gon and Rohhe had dismissed their Padawans telling them to go off in separate directions to think about the occurrences of the past day and a half.
For her silent reflection, Padme had chosen to relax in a large, comfortable chair situated on the wrap-around balcony. It had been several hours since she and Obi-wan had returned from their adventure, and she had spent the majority of that time replaying Qui-gon's lecture in her head and kicking herself for her poor judgment. She never would have acted so rashly, she conceded, if she had not been trying to impress Obi-wan. She didn't know why she would even want to impress her best friend in the first place, which is what frustrated her the most. Wrapping her cloak tightly around herself, she watched the rain, that had unfortunately decided to start falling right in the middle of Qui-gon's and Rohhe's lectures only adding their intimidating angry personas, fall in one big sheet off the overhang under which she sat.
Adjusting herself in her seat, Padme didn't notice Lt. Canton appear through the drapes that separated the porch from the interior of the house.
"Hey," He said while placing a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump slightly in surprise, "mind if I join you?"
Padme shook her head with a smile, "Of course not."
She motioned for him to sit down in the chair on her right. As he sat down, Padme discreetly looked the young lieutenant up and down. All of his wounds were healing nicely, and although the burns on his leg were still prominent, they didn't seem to bother him much. She figured that his current health was most likely due to the fact that he was only a year or two older than Obi-wan and had the great regeneration skills that went along with that age.
They made small talk for a few minutes, striking up conversations about the rain or the Jedi Order, but soon Padme felt comfortable enough with the man to her right to bring up something that she had been wanting to ask either Canton or Zared ever since she had learned that she would not be able to use the Force while she stayed on Iagone.
"Lieutenant..." She started but Canton cut her off with a raised hand.
"Please," He insisted, "call me Canton."
"Alright," She hesitated a moment, "Canton...may I ask you something?"
Canton smiled and turned his body to properly face the beautiful Jedi seated next to him.
"Anything."
Padme paused. She was unsure of how to start the conversation she had in mind.
"Well," She began and cast her eyes to her lap, "I...um...well...that is..."
Canton grinned at Padme's loss of words. Placing a hand on her knee, he encouraged her to refocus her thoughts and reassured her that she could say anything to him.
"Well," She started again, "without the Force I haven't been able to relax very well or focus my thoughts..."
Canton smiled.
"So I've noticed."
Padme let out a small laugh at the man's teasing.
"Yes, well," She blushed and kept her eyes on her lap, "I know it's quite apparent and that has to do with what I wanted to ask you..."
Canton squeezed Padme's knee to persuade her to continue. Padme briefly glanced at the action, but didn't think too much of it.
"I was wondering..." She looked up and smiled shyly at him, "what are some of the things you do when you need to relax, seeing as you're not experiencing the same problem as I?"
She avoided making eye contact with him in her embarrassment. She never thought, as a Jedi, that she would be asking such things of someone who was not Force-sensitive.
She bit her lip, "I hope that's not a silly question."
Canton gave Padme a warm smile.
"That's not a silly question at all."
"You know," He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands underneath his neck to use as a headrest," I studied the Force and the Jedi Order quite a bit back in my university days..."
Padme raised her eyebrows. She hadn't known that the order she called family was so...researched.
"So," He continued, "I can somewhat imagine what you're going through right now."
Canton paused to reflect for a moment to think of a way to better explain his point.
"I guess it would be like me trying to live without water," He concluded, "Yes, I could survive, but I would be very miserable."
Padme's eyes warmed up at the analogy. She could definitely see the parallels between the two situations and was glad that he understood what the Force meant to her.
The lightening flashing and thunder roaring brought their conversation to a halt for a moment.
'Weather here is truly a mystery to me:' Padme thought while creasing her brow, 'hot one moment, cold and rainy the next. I don't even want to imagine what else could be in store for us.'
Her mind was forced to pry itself off the rain, though, when Canton continued to speak.
"As for relaxing, I'm not quite sure if I have specific techniques I use everytime I'm in need of a little repose, but I can give you a few pointers to get those nerves of yours tamed."
Padme turned and gave her full attention to the man beside her. She didn't want to miss a word of what he was about to say.
"Usually quiet activities are nice, like closing your eyes and trying not to think a single thought or practicing a series of calming moves and positions to free your body of negative energy, but sometimes screaming and making a lot of noise helps as well, like screaming at the top of your lungs or exercising as hard as you can to fatigue your body so much that you can't help but rest and relax."
Padme thought a moment about all of the methods Canton had just shared with her. They were a lot like the methods Jedi used, well, expect maybe for the screaming, but none required the Force. She really liked the idea of exercising all of her worries and negative energy away, and decided she would have to implement that technique soon.
"Thank you Canton," She gave the lieutenant a brilliant smile, "I will definitely have to try some of those things."
Canton was glad he could help out the young Jedi in any way possible.
"Anytime Jedi Naberrie," He patted her knee again with his hand, "Anytime."
"Please," Padme grinned and repeated Canton's earlier sentiment, "call me Padme."
Canton grinned back at her. Soon, they slipped in a comfortable silence and simply enjoyed sitting back and watching the rain fall.
Obi-wan walked through the sunken living room and towards the portion of the balcony where he had seen Padme exit to earlier. He had finished his reflection period and had wanted to seek her out to ask her how she was fairing with her Forceless meditations.
He reached for the gauzy, white curtain that separated the interior from the porch but stopped his actions when he heard Padme's and Canton's voices. Curious, he opened the curtain slightly to see what his best friend and the young lieutenant could be up to. He smiled as he saw the mirth in both their eyes as they talked and laughed about whatever their conversation topic was, but his smile was soon replaced with a frown when he noticed the large, male hand that rested on Padme's knee. Much to Obi-wan's confusion, a sharp pang of jealousy coursed through him.
'I'm a Jedi,' He thought while his brow furrowed, 'these feelings are not permissible.'
His thoughts turned to the Jedi Order, as he watched the pair continue to laugh about an unknown topic. He knew that while they weren't outright banned like other romantic relationships, inter-Jedi love affairs were generally greatly frowned upon. But why was he even thinking about that in the first place? Never before had he cared about the rules of the Order about love. It completely frustrated him that his changing feelings, even if he didn't know what they were yet, were clouding his judgment in the situation, just like they had when he and Padme had been sparring.
With a sigh, Obi-wan suppressed his jealousy and took one final glance at the young couple in front of him.
'I need to forget these new feeling about Padme...and soon.' He gently closed the thin curtain and walked away.
Padme frowned as she saw the curtain that lead to the living room close. She had known Obi-wan had been standing there observing her and Canton, but she was confused as to why he had not come out to greet them. The thing that confused her more, however, was the jealously and indecision that she felt, even without the aid of the Force, radiate off him.
Her brow furrowed as she thought about why Obi-wan would become jealous while watching the conversation she was having with Canton. Her thoughts were interrupted, though, by the lieutenant's soft, tenor voice.
"Something wrong?" He asked with curiosity forming in his eyes.
Shaking her thoughts from her head to think about them later, Padme replied with a smile on her face.
"No, just daydreaming."
Padme was relieved when Canton accepted her answer and let the subject go. Giving the porch curtain one last confused glance, she settled herself further into her chair and went back to silently watching the thick sheet of rain fall.
TBC...