Part 4

The darkness swirled around Kirana. A blazing hot fire. A dark man. There was no escape. Kirana struck again and again with her lightsaber, keeping her mind with the force. She looked into his yellow eyes, eyes full of hatred and evil. His devilish face with black and red tatoos. His haunting smile. He came closer and closer to her, holding his double sided lightsaber, bringing his face only inches from hers. His hand stroked her face. Her face burned. Kirana jumped high and landed behind him. But he was ready. He twisted and slashed at her with powerful blows, pushing her back. Suddenly, she felt a white hot pain sear through her body as his lightsaber went through her. She felt calm and watched all this happening in slow motion.

Obi-Wan ran towards her. She could hear his screams, "Nooooooooo!!!!!!".

Kirana awoke, her heart pounding loudly. Her whole body trembled. She looked around her room, making sure she was alone. Quietly, Kirana stood up and walked outside, to get fresh air. She felt the cool breeze as it calmed her nerves. Kirana put her hands to her face, and could still feel the heat. What had she dreamed? So many questions flooded her mind. Who was that man? What was he doing to me? Did I dream my fate? She shuddered at the thought of the man she had seen.

"Kirana, are you alright?" came a voice behind her.

Kirana turned and saw Mace Windu, his face full of concern. She gulped.

"Master, I - I had a dream, actually a nightmare," she said.

"Yes, I know. Somehow, I felt you were in trouble, that you needed help. Tell me padawan, what happened in your dream?" said Mace Windu as he put his hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her.

Kirana told her master every detail of her dream, every feeling, every emotion. "What does this mean Master?" she asked.

Mace Windu sighed and looked directly into her eyes. "I do not know padawan. You should not always trust dreams. They are there to frighten you, confuse you, mislead you. But sometimes, dreams mean something. Perhaps this is giving you a clue about your future, or maybe not. Right now, I don't want you to center your focus on your dreams, you must keep your focus on the force. The force will guide you, my young apprentice. Do not fear. Remember, fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate and hate leads to the dark side. Come. It's late and I want you to get some rest."

"Yes Master," said Kirana as she listened to her mentor's words. Mace Windu took her hand and led her to her room.

"Sleep well, my young padawan," he said as he left her alone.

* * *

"Qui-Gon, why can't I come with you to Tatooine?" asked Anakin.

Qui-Gon looked down from his bed. Earlier in the morning, Anakin had snuck into his room to talk to him. He smiled.

"Because the council feels you will be safer here, Annie." he said as he sat up in bed.

"But I want to see her. I want to know if she's okay," protested Anakin.

"Be patient Anakin, you will see your mother. Patience is very important and it is something you must learn in order to become a Jedi," responded Qui-Gon.

"Yoda says he sees fear in me. He thinks I will turn to the dark side, doesn't he?" asked Anakin, with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Your fate is still to be decided, Anakin. But you are the chosen one, the one who will bring balance to the force. Now, you must go because I have to meditate. Why don't you go find Obi-Wan?" said Qui-Gon as he sat down on the floor.

Anakin shook his head. "Obi-Wan doesn't like me very much. He won't talk to me."

Qui-Gon laughed. "Don' worry, he'll come around. Tell him that I know he won't mind keeping you company. Understood?" he smiled to himself. He could just imagine the look of annoyance Obi-Wan would give him.

"Yes Qui-Gon. I'll go now," said Anakin as he rushed out of the door.

* * * I wonder where Obi-Wan went? Anakin had gone to Obi-Wan's chamber and to his surprise, he wasn't there. Maybe he had gone to see Kirana.Yup, that's it. I bet he went to go see her.

Suddenly, Anakin spotted a familiar looking Jedi, walking quickly with his long robe flowing behind him. Anakin ran to catch up. "Hey Obi-Wan, wait for me!" called out Anakin.

Obi-Wan turned around to discover Anakin at his elbow.

"Hi," said Anakin sheepishly.

"Hello Anakin. What do you want?" said Obi-Wan impatiently.

"I, uh, Qui-Gon said you wouldn't mind keeping me company." Anakin stammered.

Obi-Wan frowned. He knew that it was not his choice to keep Anakin company, even though Anakin had made it sound like that. Obi-Wan knew his master too well. He could just picture his mentor's smiling face. Obi-Wan felt guilty. Anakin was trying so hard to be his friend and all he did was brush him off. He had to respect his master's decision with the boy.

Finally, Obi-Wan smiled. "I guess you can come with me. I'm going to go see Kirana."

"Ha! I knew it. I was right. Somehow I knew you were going to go see her. Do you like her Obi-Wan?" Anakin grinned sheepishly. "I think she's really pretty."

Obi-Wan could feel his face turn red. He was annoyed at Anakin for asking him this. Why does he always annoy me? He had no intention to answer everything.

"Yes, she's very beautiful, Anakin," said Obi-Wan.

"Who's beautiful?" asked Kirana.

Obi-Wan spun around to see Kirana smiling at him. She was dressed in crisp white trousers and a white tunic. Her short black her was left loose, perfectly straight and smooth.

"You are," said Anakin, grinning at her.

"Really... thank you, Anakin." said Kirana as her eyes twinkled.

"Obi-Wan thinks you are very beautiful too," added Anakin with a huge grin on his face.

Kirana looked at Obi-Wan, seeing his face turn red. Hmm... why is he acting all shy all of a sudden? she wondered.

"Yes, you are Kirana," he finally said as he shot an angry look towards Anakin who hid behind Kirana. Kirana laughed.

"Come on, the council wishes to see us, Obi." said Kirana worriedly.

"Do you think it's about the mischief we did?" asked Obi-Wan.

"I hope not... come on Anakin, I think it'll be better with you there," said Kirana as she held Anakin's hand.

The three of them walked quickly, with Obi-Wan in the lead. Obi-Wan opened the doors to the chamber where the two Jedi Masters were waiting. They bowed and waited patiently for Yoda to speak.

"Disappointed, I am," said Yoda as he shook his head.

"You both acted childish with your pranks. A Jedi does not do these things," said Mace Windu. He then turned to Kirana.

"Kirana, you shouldn't have lied and sent Obi-Wan to the council room where we were right in the middle of a meeting."

Kirana forced herself to look into her master's eyes. "I'm sorry Master."

"Obi-Wan, what you said in the arena yesterday was inappropriate. That led me to wonder about the both of you, your feelings towards one another," said Mace Windu as he looked from Obi-Wan to Kirana.

"No, Master Windu. What I said was not true. I only said that to embarrass her, I wanted to get back at her," protested Obi-Wan.

"Revenge you wanted Obi-Wan," said Yoda, looking at him.

Obi-Wan put his head down. "I'm sorry Master Yoda, Master Windu."

"I trust you both have finally learned your lesson," said Mace Windu.

"Yes," replied Obi-Wan and Kirana.

"You may go," said Yoda as he closed his eyes.

Obi-Wan, Kirana and Anakin bowed and then left the room.

"Boy, you guys are sure lucky!" said Anakin.

Kirana smiled. "Yeah, you're right, Anakin."

"At least we got out of that one. My master already gave me a lecture before I went to bed yesterday," said Obi-Wan.

"Was Master Jinn upset?" asked Kirana.

"Yes, but I think he was more disappointed in me," he replied.

"Hey, there's Qui-Gon!," said Anakin as he pointed ahead of them. They all turned to see the tall Jedi Master heading their way.

"Well, did Master Yoda and Mace Windu speak to you both?" asked Qui-Gon.

"Yes, Master," said Obi-Wan.

"Good. Now, I have been notified we will be leaving either today or tomorrow for Tatooine. But, there's something wrong with the reflector shields in the ship and they are having some problems fixing it. Obi-Wan, I want you to go and see what you can do. Anakin, you will come with me," said Qui-Gon as he and Anakin walked in the other direction.

"Yes, Master," said Obi-Wan as he headed towards the ship.

"Wait Obi! I'll come with you," called out Kirana as she quickly caught up with him.

Obi-Wan grinned. "Why? So you can be alone with me?"

Kirana glared at him. "No. Maybe I can help, hotshot! I know a lot about ships too."

But Obi-Wan just smiled. "Okay,"

Obi-Wan and Kirana made their way through the halls and finally reached the ship. A few people, including the ship's pilot, were frantically running around. Obi-Wan walked to the nearest person.

"May I be of some assistance?" asked Obi-Wan.

The man looked up from his papers."Sure, go on in through the hatch, Sir. The reflector shields are damaged and we're having a hard time fixing them," he said as he pointed to ship.

"Thank you," said Obi-Wan as he quickly walked towards the hatch, stepping inside with Kirana behind him.

Obi-Wan scanned the damaged parts. Wires spilled out everywhere and several parts were missing.

"Here, I think this part belongs here. Look, you can see that part's missing, but there's a relative pattern along the edge. See it?" said Kirana as she examined the part.

Obi-Wan frowned. "Yes, I think you're right but what about these wires? Somebody took them all apart. Wait a minute, I think I know which belongs to which. Step aside, and let me handle this. Why don't you go over there?"

Kirana angrily looked at him. "Ha! I don't think you know what you're doing. You need help,"

"Watch and learn Kirana," he responded as he quickly put the wires together. He picked up missing parts and placed them carefully where they belonged. He worked steadily for almost 30 minutes when he finally finished. "There," he smiled as he admired his handiwork. He looked at Kirana. "What do you think?"

Kirana frowned at him. She hated to admit it but his work did look complete and finished.

But she refused to let him get the satisfaction. "It's okay,"

Obi-Wan grinned. "Admit it, I'm a genius,"

A look of annoyance appeared on Kirana's face. "Anyway, I think I'll leave now. There's some things I want to do," she said as she started to turn away. Obi-Wan watched her as she struggled to open the hatch which had been shut tight. "Great," she said.

Obi-Wan stood up and moved towards her. "Here, let me try." But to his dismay, he couldn't open it either. "Well, it looks like it's just you and me," he shot a grin at her.

"Oh, I feel so lucky!" said Kirana sarcastically. When she thought things couldn't get any worse, the lights all of a sudden went out. "Oh no." she moaned. Now what were they going to do? She couldn't see a thing. "Obi? Where are you?" Kirana tried to feel her way through the darkness. Her hands touched something soft. "Is that you Obi?" she asked.

"Yes, it's me. But now that you've found me, you don't have to stop stroking my face," teased Obi-Wan.

Kirana quickly withdrew her hand, feeling her cheeks flame. Somewhere in the dark, she could hear him laugh. She moved her hands around the buttons she felt on the control panel. She pressed one and the lights came back on, blinding her. She shut her eyes. When she opened them, she realized Obi-Wan was standing only inches from her. She moved away from him. How long was she going to be stuck in here with him? Probably not long because Master Jinn knew where they were. Hopefully, they would get out of here soon.