AU: Pre clone war Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master, there is no Anakin, and Qui-Gon is dead
Rating: R for sexual content and mention of child molestation
Disclaimer: Naovi Redsun and Dal Bantalian are my creations. Everyone else belongs to George Lucas
To all my reviewers who liked the last chapter, big kiss
Insanity's Best Friend-You could say childhood sweethearts but I'm kind of playing the fate angle
Psalm136- one word--PATIENCE!
Chibi Chingo-The last chapter was not intended to be filler. There are some things talked about that will be quite important in later chapters
Jedi Knight Emu-I do not respond to threats and I have a strong dislike of the B word-even if it was misspelled. Knock it off.
Chapter 16
'What the Force had just happened?' Obi-Wan asked himself sitting down in the balcony chair. 'You can't do this Obi-Wan. She's your padawan.' He was losing control over his emotions and his ability to bury them. He feared that Naovi had sensed his feelings for her just now. As he'd watched her looking over her clothes, clad only in a towel, the pleasure he had given her in the shower still fresh on her face, he'd felt his desire and need for her. It had overwhelmed him until all he could think about was getting his hands on her. Touching her, kissing her, feeling her heart beat against his. He'd wanted to rip off her towel, fling her onto her back, and make love to her until neither of them had any strength left. Hehad only been distracted when she'd brought up their first meeting. Even now he could not help smile about it. He'd just gotten out of his lessons and had gone up to the roof for some air...
The moment he reached the roof he felt another presence there, though he did not see anyone. Following the force he walked over to a large statue and looked around. After a few minutes he saw a small tearstained face poke out from behind the statue. The moment she saw him looking at her she quickly ducked back. Obi-Wan smiled. This was going to be fun. He stood and waited until the little face poked out again.
"Hello there," he said as gently as possible. The youngling stared at him with wide eyes. He'd never seen eyes quite so dark.He guessed she was about four years old. Her dark brown hair was in two messy pigtails and it was quite clear that she had been up here crying for quite some time.
"Please don't make me go back," she said quietly more tears falling from her eyes.He'd never seen eyes quite so dark.
"Why would I make you go back?" he said stepping closer. She looked at him fearfully. 'Ah, a runaway,' he thought. 'Probably one of Master Yoda's. That takes me back'
"Aren't you going to punish me?"
"Punish you?" he said, surprised. Master Yoda could be strict even grumpy when he thought a youngling wasn't focused, but he'd never heard of Yoda punishing a youngling. He knelt down so that he was looking right into her eyes. He'd never seen eyes quite so dark.
"Why do you think you need to be punished?" he asked her.
"I ran away," she said. 'Thought so'
"I see. Why did you do that?"
"The mean boys were teasing me. They said I was a baby because I started crying during our lessons." Obi-Wan felt a stab of sympathy for her. Being a boy himself he knew how cruel they could be.
"What's your name?" he asked her.
"Naovi."
'Pretty'
"Why were you crying Naovi?"
"Because..." her lip trembled. He had a feeling she was trying very hard to keep her emotions in check but she was failing miserably.
"Because?" he encouraged her gently.
"I want my mama!" she cried her tears falling faster and faster. He reached out and pulled her into a hug. Her chubby little body shook as she sobbed.
"It's all right," the boy said. "Just cry your eyes out, it's okay." He knew he shouldn't tell her that. Jedi weren't supposed to be ruled by thier emotions, but for Force's sake she was only a little girl.
"It's all right to miss your mama," he said. "I missed my parents too when I first came here"
"You got left here too?" she asked sniffling.
"Oh yes. I haven't seen my parents in eight years." He felt a slight stab of pain as he remembered the day his parents had left him here. He'd been frightened and alone just like Naovi.
"That's a long time"
"I know," he said. "I'm Obi-Wan by the way. Obi-Wan Kenobi"
"Obi-Wan?" she said slowly. "That's a funny name." Obi-Wan chuckled. She wasn't the first person to tell him that, but at least she'd stopped crying.
"Maybe, but it's the only one I've got."
"Do I have to go back?" she asked him softly. He was torn. He should take her back, Master Yoda was probably looking for her. But she seemed to need a little more time.
"No," he said. "We can sit here for a little while"
"Good," she said. They sat together and he told her stories about his experinces at the temple. She laughed when he told her about the time he'd fallen over Master Yoda on his way to a lesson. He liked the sound of her laughter. After a while she crawled into his lap. He was surprised to find that he really didn't mind. It was actually kind of nice. He continued to tell her stories until her head dropped against his chest. He picked her up and carried her back down to the temple to the chamber where the female younglings slept. Master Tiag Ra was there.
"Hello Master Ra," he greeted the woman. "Look what I found."
"Oh thank you for finding her, Obi-Wan. We've been looking all over for her. Here put her in her bed." Obi-Wan carried the child in his arms over to a small bed and laid her down on it. And though he hesitated he then pulled the blankets over her.
"Where was she?" Master Ra asked him.
"On the roof. She told me some boys in her class were teasing her." Master Ra nodded.
"Young Redsun has been having great difficulty adjusting to life here at the temple." Obi-Wan nodded.
"Well thank you for bringing her back. You best get on to your next lesson." Obi-Wan bowed to woman and turned to go. However, he was not going to his lesson, but to speak to Master Yoda.
It had begun that day. From the moment he'd met her he'd felt this need to protect her. Whenever he and Qui-Gonn were on Coruscant he'd always made a point of checking on her, seeing how she was doing in her lessons, making sure she was eating, and that no one was picking on her. He always enjoyed making her laugh. Yet somehow, he had missed all the signs that Bantalian was abusing her. Even after he'd seen the gash along her stomach, he'd never even thought about the possibility that a master would deliberately hurt their padawan. How could he have been so blind! How could he have not seen!
"Because I did not want you to," her voice said behind him, startling out of his thoughts. He turned and looked at her, his breath catching in his throat. She was an absolute vision of beauty. Her dress was one she'd not worn before, pure white with thin straps that showed off her strong tan shoulders. Satin underneath with a white lace overlay. The neckline dipped low enough to show a bit of cleavage but not so much that it was indecent. The waistline was tight at the waist but then flared out. The skirt came down just below her knees and she wore brown sandals on her feet. Her hair was loose and fell softly to her shoulders. She wore no jewelry but there was no need. The dress, in it's simplicity was elegant enough without any added acoutrements. He felt all the blood in his body go straight to his groin. He took a deep breath and tried to think about anything else.
"How long was I broadcasting?" he asked.
"I sensed you were troubled the moment you turned away from me, but I only heard the last few thoughts." Good, that meant she hadn't heard his lustful thoughts for her. She stepped forward and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"You must not blame yourself for what Bantalian did to me. It was not your fault"
"I should have seen it. I knew there was something wrong. After you became his padawan, you were different"
"He didn't like that we were friends. He didn't like you talking to me, asking me questions. He never believed that I wasn't going to tell you what he was doing. He told me that if I told you he would kill you, and then he put a vision in my mind of your death. I couldn't let that happen"
"Is that why you started avoiding me?" he asked her. She nodded.
"I was afraid of what he would do if he saw us together. I was trying to protect you"
"I would have killed him," he said. "If I had known I would have killed him"
"You would have tried," she said. "But you would not have succeeded." She was probably right. He had seen Bantalian fight. Though he himself was a good swordsman, at the time, he would not have stood a chance. He leaned forward in his chair and wrapped his arms around her waist. She lifted her hands from his shoulders and pulled his head into her. The lace of her dress felt soft against his cheek. It felt almost as if their roles had been reversed. He was the one being comforted instead of the other way around. No, that's not how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to be healing her. He was supposed to be in charge, the one in control, and yet here she was comforting him.
"Maybe that's all part of it," she said. Damn, he needed to stop thinking so loudly.
"What do you mean"
"You remember what you said to me that day at the waterfall. About knowing when to let go of your padawan"
"I remember"
"And you remember what I told you about the trust between a Master and a Padawan. How it's a two way deal"
"Yes," he said slowly understanding what she was saying.
"The Sava Duez isn't a one way deal either, Obi-Wan. I know you think you have to take care of me and fix me and heal all my wounds but it's okay to need healing yourself. I'm not the only one who's been hurt by this." He realized that it was true. He did feel pain knowing what she had been through. Even before he had connected to her mind, he had felt pain for her. The pain of knowing that she had been hurt and he hadn't been able to save her.
"I would have done anything to go back and change the past," he said tears forming in his eyes. "To take away all of it. All the bad memories"
"I know," she said. "But you can't. No one can do that for me. You've done so much to heal me, just by being so patient with me and so caring. Can't you let me do the same for you? Can you let go enough to let me care for you." She was right. He had been so concerned with taking care of her that he'd forgotten that he had his own wounds that needed healing.
"Thank you, Naovi," he said. "For reminding me." She smiled and stroked his cheek. Obi-Wan grinned as he heard a slight rumbling come from her stomach.
"I think we better go eat," he said playfully. "Your stomach seems angry!"
Sorry, no steam!