Chapter 19
Naovi was not really asleep. How could she sleep after what she had just experienced. It had been so beuatiful, so incredible, and just so--right. It was right that it had been Obi-Wan. Had it been anyone else she never would have been able to do it. The Jedi Council had been so wise in thier decision to make him her new master. She lay on her side studying him. She could still see traces of the twelve year old boy she knew so long ago if she looked hard enough. She gently ran her fingers over his face. In so many ways he was different and yet still the same. Older, with more worries and cares. Many of those worries having to do with her, no doubt. But whenever he smiled at her, or spoke to her in that gentle voice she knew that he was still the same Obi-Wan who had been her first and only true friend. He shifted in his sleep and rolled over onto his back. She laid her head against his chest so that she could hear his heartbeat. She had felt him inside her when they joined. Not just physically, but in everyway imaginable. She had felt her soul open up to let him see inside. She had felt thier minds connect. In the moment they joined she knew Obi-Wan as she knew herself. The excitement he first felt when he came to the Jedi temple, his early frustrations of skills that were difficult to master, the affection he felt for a homesick youngling, the pride at being taken on by Qui-Gonn Jinn, the victorious rush that came with winning a battle, the confusion of new feelings that came with being a teenager, the tension and nerves of being with a woman for the first time, the cold lonliness of losing his master, the horror of realizing a dear friend has suffered at the hands of her master, the anxiety of taking on his first padawan, the determination to bring her back from the depression she has fallen into, the disgust at being forced to watch an enemy rape his padawan and not be able to help her, the horror of realizing the torture she has suffered for so long, the new determination to heal her, the fear of losing her, the relief when he realized she could be healed, the feeling of...Naovi bolted up from the bed as she remembered. There was something Obi-Wan had hidden from her. She hadn't tought about it until this very moment. Just before she had climaxed she'd felt a mental barrier go up in Obi-Wan. What was he hiding from her? They were supposed to have no secrets from each other. She bit her lip as she thought about it. She could just wait and ask him about it in the morning. She was sure it wasn't anything bad he was hiding from her. Maybe something to do with that pleasure worker he had been with. Careful so she did not wake him she laid her hands on either side of his head and touched her forehead to his. She would search his mind, and if it was something embarassing she would never mention it again. But if it was something serious, something she needed to know but he was protecting her from she would call him on it. Relaxing her mind she stretched out with invisible fingers and touched her master's mind. She swept quickly through the surface and traveled deep down into the very core of his mind. She hesitated a moment before proceeding forward. Her heart constricted as her senses took it in. The feelings her master had for her filled her mind like a flame spreading through a wilderness. With a startled cry she broke the connection. She stared down at Obi-Wan. He loved her? He loved her? No, she thought shaking her head. This couldn't be happening to her. This was not how it was supposed to be. But it was. She had felt his feelings for her all the way to her bones. Suddenly she couldn't breathe. She needed to get out of here. She leaped from the bed and rushed out to the balcony, heedless of the fact that she was naked. She stood on the balcony, the feeling of the chilly wind on her skin. She drew the coolness into her lungs and tried to concentrate. Why had she looked? She should have known better. Tears ran down her face as she tried to calm herself. What was she to do now? She couldn't pretend she hadn't seen what she had seen. She couldn't pretend everything was normal. Oh, Force how was she going to look at Obi-Wan knowing how he felt about her. She couldn't face him. Not yet. She needed time to think. Silently she went back inside. She crept to the closet and pulled out her Jedi robes. She hadn't worn them in so long but now she needed them. As a reminder. She picked up her lightsaber from the table and clipped it to her belt. Taking only enough credits to pay her way back to Coruscant, she crept out of the room. She made her way down the silent hall and out of the inn. She walked quickly away from the inn through town to the outskirts where ships landed and departed. The port was not very busy as it was very late at night. She saw a man who looked like he ran things and hurried over to him. "When is the first ship off this planet departing?" she asked him. "Depends on where ya want to go miss," he said to her.
"I need to get to Coruscant"
"The only direct flight to Coruscant don't leave till tomorrow afternoon miss." That was too long. Obi-Wan would come looking for her and ask questions she wasn't ready to answer.
"Is there anything sooner?" she asked him. "I need to get away from this planet as soon as possible." The man looked at her curiously.
"You ain't in trouble with the law are ya miss?" he asked her.
"No nothing like that," she assured him.
"Well, there's a flight to Kirabdu that leaves in twenty minutes. Ya might be able to get a flight to Coruscant from there"
"I'll take it," she said. Right now she didn't really care where she went, she just had to get away from here.
"It's gonna cost ya, 100 credits." Naovi stared at the man hard. She knew when she was being played. No space on a transport cost a hundred credits, no matter what planet you were on. Besides she only had a hundred credits total and she would need enough to pay her way once she got to Kirabdu. She did not want to have to send word to the council to ask someone to retrieve her. That would bring on too many questions.
"It will cost me forty," she said waving her hand. Obi-Wan had taught her how to influence people using the Force but she had never tried it until now. She could only pray it would work.
"It will cost you forty," the man said as though the words were his own thought.
"Thank you," Naovi said giving him the money. She stepped away and found a bench to sit on while she waited for her transport. Wow, she thought, it worked.
Obi-Wan woke up as the bright sunlight touched his face. He slowly opened his eyes and reached out for Naovi. His hand connectd with only sheets and that startled him into full consciousness. Naovi was not beside him. He quickly sat up and did a scan of the room. He could not feel her presence anywhere. Panic began to build up in his stomach as he got up and got dressed. He opened the closet and saw that all of her clothes were still there. All of them except her Jedi robes. His stomach lurched as he realized something else. Naovi's lightsaber was missing. Something was wrong, he could feel it. He stepped out onto the balcony. She had been her last night. He could feel her emotions. Panic, fear, and something else he could not identify. He was very worried now. What had caused these feelings in Naovi? And why had she run away? Why would she not talk to him about it? He thought that they had worked out her trust issues. Was it something he had done? Had he hurt her last night and not realized it? These thoughts tormented him as he left the hotel, following his padawan's essence. Past the lake, past town and to the docking bay. She had been here, but she was not here now. Where had she gone? Their flight back to Coruscant wasn't for an hour. He looked around the port and saw a skinny man who seemed to be in charge. He strode purposely up to the man.
"Excuse me," he said. "I'm looking for a young woman who may have been here last night. Brown hair, brown eyes, about my height, about seventeen years old"
"Lot's a girls like that through here," the man said. "Hard ta keep em all straight." Obi-Wan lifted his lightsaber from his belt.
"She would have been carrying a weapon like this." The man stared at the lightsaber.
"Oh yeah, I know who you talkin about. Came in here last night, real late. Seemed real eager to get off the planet"
"Where did she go"
"She an outlaw?" the man asked.
"No," Obi-Wan said. "She's my wife." He didn't know why he said that, it just flowed out of him.
"Well Mister," the man said. "Your wife seemed real anxious ta get away from you. Might not want ya to find her." Obi-Wan forced himself to be patient.
"I have been trying to find her for several weeks now. There is a substantial reward for anyone who can help me to find her"
"She's took a transport to Kirabdu left seven hours ago. Said she was on her way to Coruscant"
"Thank you," Obi-Wan said turning away.
"What about the reward?" the man squawked.
"You don't care about the reward," he said waving his hand at the man.
"I don't care about the reward," the man repeated. Obi-Wan looked at the chronometer on the wall. The flight to Coruscant was leaving in half an hour. If Naovi had left for Kirabdu seven hours ago she had most likley already arrived there and found another flight to Coruscant. Just to be sure he pulled out his comlink to contact Master Yoda.
"Master Yoda," he said when the little man answered him. "Naovi has left Java Cruz"
"On Coruscant your padawan is, Obi-Wan. Much turmoil I sense. Get back here quickly you must"
"I will be there as soon as I can Master." He switched off the comlink and sat down to wiat for his flight. Yoda had sounded worried and that frightened Obi-Wan. Master Yoda never got worried. What had happened? As soon as he got back to Coruscant, he and Naovi were going to have a long discussion. Whether she wanted to or not.