Chapter One

Following her horrifying vision, Melody found it difficult to go back to sleep. She needed a peaceful place to think. The seventeen-year-old girl often sought the beautiful serene atmosphere of the gardens as her favorite place to meditate undisturbed. Trying not to disturb her Master, she cautiously snuck out of the apartment. When she was certain that she had not aroused Master Gararr's attention, she headed toward the Room of a Thousand Fountains.

Once she entered the large room, she slowly made her way to the fountain nearest the largest waterfall. It was her favorite place in the entire Jedi Temple. Aside from the color of the water and some of the plants, it reminded her most of her home planet.

Melody sat down on the soft grass and stared at the water as it fell from the top of the cliffs. She remembered when Obi-Wan and Bruck Chun had fought on these same cliffs. Bruck had fallen to his death after refusing to accept Obi-Wan's help. She remembered their mutual friend Bant telling her how upset he had been. He had blamed himself for not saving him. A year ago after Obi-Wan's Master, Qui-Gon Jinn had been killed on a solo mission, it was in this same place that Melody held him while he cried on her shoulder and truly allowed himself to grieve for his fallen Master. She had just happened to be in the right place at the right time when he had finally broken down. She thought that they had made a connection, but later recognized that she was reaching. Afterward Obi-Wan had acted in much the same way as he always had toward her. She sometimes wondered if he was so upset that he hadn't noticed that she had been with him at all.

Hearing a noise behind her, Melody suddenly realized she was not alone. "Padawan Kazala," the stern unmistakable voice of Master Mace Windu said from behind her. "Does your Master know that you're here instead of on your sleep couch where you belong?"

Melody quickly wiped away her tears with the back of her hand before turning to face the Council member. She hadn't realized that she had started crying again. "I'm sorry, Master. I just needed to get out of my room for a while."

To her surprise, the Councilman sat down on the soft green grass beside her. "What's wrong Melody? Did you have another vision? I haven't seen you this upset since your vision of Master Jinn's death."

"Yes," Melody replied fighting to calm her shaky nerves.

"Tell me about your vision? Perhaps we can prevent it," he urged her.

"But my vision was wrong about Master Jinn. In my vision, I saw him die fighting a dark warrior. He stabbed by the blade of a red lightsaber and not by an explosion that burned his body nearly beyond recognition. Obi-Wan was not eighteen when his Master died so my vision might not come true."

"Melody, your vision of Master Jinn's death was the first out of hundreds of visions that did not come true, excluding the visualizations that we were able to prevent with your help," Mace replied.

"It was not the only one, Master. I've had visions of myself with children, more than just one and," Melody paused and chuckled sarcastically, "married to Obi-Wan Kenobi."

"You don't know what the future has in store for you Melody. Perhaps one day you will marry Obi-Wan."

"That's against the code, Master. I know that you don't like me and that you don't think that I will ever be a Jedi because of my family. But Obi- Wan would never go against the code that way and you know it," Melody argued. She had never told anyone, other than her best friend Pavilian from her home world, about her visions.

"Padawan Kazala, I would have thought that you of all people would realize that people change. You're not nearly as mouthy and unpredictable as you were three years ago. Sometimes rules for the greater good are overlooked and in some cases done away with entirely. You don't know what information the future may hold that will bring about the truth of your visions. I do not hate you. You're a very capable Jedi Padawan. You're exceptionally skilled with the lightsaber for your age. Yes, you sometimes speak out of turn and allow your emotions rule your actions, especially your words. However, I've observed that in the past three years you're becoming more and more Jedi-like every day. Between you and me, and if you repeat this to anyone especially Master Yoda, I will deny it. Between you and me, I believe the temple needs students like you to keep their Masters alert."

Melody could not help but smile at Mace's words. She would never have believed that he could make her feel better. He was normally the one punishing her for her sometimes-unruly behavior.

"Now Melody, whether or not your vision was a warning for the future, I think you should tell me what it was about, so that we can try to prevent it."

Melody took a deep breath and prepared to tell him what had happened in her vision. She normally told Master Adi Gallia or Master Yoda about her visions and she felt strange confiding in the dark skinned Master. "...I saw death before Master Windu, but in all my visions it was never someone that I... it was never a friend. I just can't get the image of Obi-Wan's sightless eyes staring at the ceiling out of my head. He was trying to protect me; I could see it in his eyes. He was afraid that the guards were going to hurt me, just like what happened three years ago," Melody finished. Tears again streamed down her cheeks.

"We will try to limit Obi-Wan's missions," Mace reassured her.

"But, in the vision I was with him. What if by his not being there someone else dies? It was me they wanted," Melody said, her tears again falling freely from her eyes seemingly of their own will.

"Melody," Mace sighed, and pulled the girl into a reassuring hug, "Your visions usually appear to you for a reason. We will try our best to prevent Obi-Wan from dying. You have seen other visions where Obi-Wan killed a Sith and became one of the most reliable Knights of the Order. We want those visions to come true."

"But the Dark Warrior he killed was the same one that killed Master Qui-Gon in my visions," Melody told him.

"I know," Mace said, releasing her from his embrace. "Try not to stay out here too late. Master Sifo-Dyas has arranged a duel tomorrow between you and his Padawan." The Jedi Master rose and quietly left The Room of A Thousand Fountains.

Melody stared after the Councilman as he walked away in surprise. After losing Qui-Gon Jinn, Master Sifo-Dyas had become Obi-Wan's Master. Previously Melody had not dueled against Obi-Wan. He was three years older than she was. Usually if she dueled against much older Padawans, or a recently Knighted Jedi, it was because they had become too cocky and arrogant concerning their abilities with a lightsaber. Master Yoda had often used her skills with the lightsaber to prove a point to the older arrogant Padawans. She just had not thought that Obi-Wan was one of them.

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A bead of sweat trickled down Obi-Wan Kenobi's forehead, as the young man tried desperately to keep up with his opponent's rapid movements. He had been dueling for fifteen minutes so far and was not doing well.

He had gravely misjudged his combatant's skills because she was three years younger than himself and the shortest Padawan in the temple. He was distracted by his plans that had led to this duel. He could already sense his Master's disappointment over the duel.

Obi-Wan had realized as soon as the battle had begun that what Padawan Kazala lacked in height and in experience, she more than made up for in determination, agility, and speed. She leaped in the air in a blur of motion easily avoiding the futile swings of his weapon, while she expertly made use of her own purple lightsaber. Her blade had nicked him three times already. He had barely avoided a move that would have won the match for her. Just minutes after they began he had had to duck at the very last second and now he had burns on his forehead, shoulder, and thigh.

Melody's momentum and constant leaping reminded him of a fight that he watched between Masters Yoda and Windu. However, Master Windu had lasted for over two hours because he had not assumed his greater height would ensure his victory. Obi-Wan knew that he had learned a valuable lesson today; a lesson that he would not forget even if he somehow managed to defeat his opponent.

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Melody somersaulted into the air over the top of the blue blade. She knew he had underestimated her, like all the other older Padawans she had dueled. She tried to release the anger that boiled deep inside her. She had thought that Obi-Wan knew better than to let someone's size cloud his judgment. She had heard about many of his duels in which he had often beaten senior Padawans who were taller and more experienced than he was.

Melody landed on the mats a meter in front her adversary and quickly leaped into the air again, this time in a twisting flip that she had recently perfected. She landed directly behind Obi-Wan. While he whirled around to face her, she had already swung her lightsaber at him. He spun right into the path of her violet blade, catching the weapon on the side of his neck. She deactivated the weapon and started to leave the room even before Master Syfo-Dias announced that the match had ended.

She did not turn around. She could not bear to see the look of defeat in his eyes. She had harbored a foolish crush on him ever since he had yelled at Siri Tachi for making fun of her before either of them had become Padawans. She had thought that Obi-Wan was different from the other Padawans, that he would not judge her by her size, but by her abilities as a Jedi. She now knew that she was wrong.

"Padawan," Master Gararr called, "Where are you going?" The large ursine Jedi had followed Melody out of the training room, and easily caught up with her.

"I have class work to finish Master," Melody told her as she roughly swiped her long burgundy colored hair out of her face. Master Gararr rested her nose on her Padawan's shoulder.

"Melody Anne, I know you are offended when your friends underestimate your abilities, but that is no excuse for rudeness. You should have bowed to him and shown him the respect that he did not show you," the white fur covered Jedi's words were a whisper next to her student's ear.

Melody nodded her head, turned and continued to walk down the hall toward the lift tubes at the end of her Master's speech.

****************************************************************** Obi-Wan stood rooted to the same spot on the mats, staring at his pretty opponent's retreating form. He had lost badly. If they had had their weapons set at full power, his head would be lying on the opposite side of the room from the rest of his body.

He thought that the duel was for Melody's benefit. He cockily believed that he would win. His plans had centered on his winning the match; his plans were now shattered.

He had thought by offering Melody help with her lightsaber skills he would have an opportunity to spend a lot of time with her. Perhaps in time, when he had worked up enough courage, he would ask her out. He was wrong. Wrong about her saber skills needing improving and from the anger that he sensed coming from her, she knew that he had underestimated her. She would never agree to go out on a date with him now.

"We better get you to the healers, Obi-Wan," his Master's voice interrupted his melancholy thoughts. Suddenly as he looked up into his Masters face, he realized that the dull pain of his burns was becoming more of an annoyance.

"Master," the nineteen-year-old Padawan began, "I fought stupidly. I assumed that I was better and I was not prepared for how good she was."

Sifo-Dyas nodded, "I'm glad you realized what your second mistake was Padawan."

"My second, what was my first mistake?" Obi-Wan asked.

"Your first mistake was not asking her to the Senate ball in the first place. I knew when you suggested that you duel against younger students to help them pin point their weaknesses, that you assumed that you could defeat the younger Padawans. When you suggested dueling Melody Kazala, I realized the real reason you wanted to duel her. I noticed the way your eyes brighten when she enters a room and the way you constantly glanced in her direction while in the cafeteria. Therefore, I realized that this idea of yours was some kind of scheme to attain the girl's attention and perhaps find out if she had a date for the ball. Am I mistaken, Padawan?"

"No, Master," Obi-Wan admitted. It had been a year since Qui-Gon Jinn had died, and he still could not get used to calling someone else Master. He wondered if he would ever feel comfortable with Sifo-Dyas as his teacher. At first, he had compared everything his current Master did to the way that he thought Qui-Gon would have done it. It took a good whack from Master Yoda's gimmer stick and a lengthy lecture for him to realize that he was getting an opportunity that most Padawans did not. He was given a chance to learn from two talented Masters, one a Council member, and one who was not, because he didn't always follow the code. They were two very different men and he found that despite how much he didn't want to, he was learning from Master Dias.

Master Sifo-Dyas was very patient with Obi-Wan, who could often be very stubborn and would refuse to listen to his manner of teaching. The Jedi Master knew that he needed time to come to terms with the loss of his Master. Obi-Wan wished that Melody would be willing to spare him the same lenience while he apologized and asked her for a second chance.

Three years ago Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon rescued Melody from a mission that had gone wrong and nearly cost the girl her life. Three men had taken Melody captive. She was beaten and repeatedly raped. Luckily, Melody had no memories of her traumatic ordeal. She was only thirteen when he rescued her and since then he had felt like he had to protect her.

Melody and his close friend Bant had been friends for as long as he could remember, and since he rescued her, their own friendship had grown stronger. He was going to ask her to the previous year's ball, but Bant had informed him that she already had a date. When she had stopped dating his good friend Garen Muln, Obi-Wan's off again, on again relationship with Siri Tachi was on again. Until recently, his and Melody's timing had been wrong. He had hoped that this time would be different. Apparently, he was wrong again.

To be continued...