Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, it belongs to George Lucas. I don't own the characters Bant or Garen either, so, as it turns out, all I own is the idea and the plot.

A/N: Thank you to Ladysherlock92 for reviewing! I understand the time-line flaw. This is, after all, AU. Sorry I forgot to clarify that fact in the last chapter! Dont' worry, I'll fix it later!This idea was a result of playing with my best friend. We understood the fact that they weren't Padawans together, but she liked the character anyway, and it was her idea to make them fall secretly in love. I just expanded on the idea by putting them together as Padawans. In case you were wondering who was Obi-Wan in my games with my friend...that was me. Anyway, please keep the reviews coming! And in answer to your other question, well, the first chapter was supposed to get you thinking. But you will find out in this chapter!

I would also like to thank SoloKenobi and vegetakittenfor reviewing. I'm glad you found it interesting! Not many people review my stories besides my dear Master, Eowyn Skywalker, and my brother, Foral McDer, so any reviews are appreciated. Come to think of it, they haven't reviewed this story yet! Weird...anyway...

And now, chapter 2, the chapter that turns angst. Sorry to those of you who dislike angst, but it was unavoidable.

Chapter 2: She Must Never Know

Obi-Wan Kenobi looked at the dark-skinned girl, nodded, then turned back to his own quarters. He understood her frustration. he had the same frustration himself. Although not quite the same. He closed and locked the door, then flopped over onto the cot in the corner. He took a deep breath, then sat back up. It was very exhausting trying to keep up this secret. Why can't I just tell her? he asked himself. He sighed as the answer once again surfaced in his mind. Because I'd get thrown out of the Order, that's why. He went through the same argument with himself every time. He wanted so much to tell her how he felt, but he knew he couldn't. She would tell someone else, and before long news would reach the Council, and he would be in big trouble. That's why he kept quiet about it. But he couldn't just sit still. Even if she couldn't know who he was, he could still let her know how he felt. He could see by the look on her face whenever she saw what he had left that she was pleased. Even though they both knew she shouldn't be.

Obi-Wan sighed in frustration. He knew he should not be thinking like this, but he couldn't help it. He had known that he had at least some feelings for her since before he could remember. But she had also disliked him for just as long. He didn't know why she didn't like him. Maybe it was the fact that he always seemed to get the better of her in a conversation, maybe it was the fact that he bettered her in lightsaber practice every time. Whatever the reason, he had simply played along with it, pretending that he didn't like her either.

He stood up and looked around his quarters, wondering what he should do next. His mind was practically blank, like it usually was after something like that. He was about to lie back down when someone knocked on his door. He went to open it, his mind racing to figure out who it might be. It was Garen, Clee Rhara's student, and his best friend. Garen walked into the room and glanced around, then turned to Obi-Wan, his bright blue eyes catching the struggle his friend was in. Garen Muln was the only other person who knew the truth about Adi's secret admirer. "Her again?" he asked, but he already knew. He hated to see the way this situation was eating up his friend. Obi-Wan nodded, staring at nothing. He closed the door again and walked over to the sleep couch, once again sitting down on the edge of it. He looked up at Garen, then put his head in his hands and fell backwards onto the bed. Garen shook his head and looked at his friend. "Why don't you just tell her?" he wondered out loud. "It would take a whopper of a load off your mind."

Obi-Wan didn't look up, just lay there and shook his head. "I couldn't do that," he answered. "You don't know how much trouble I would be in if she found out. She doesn't even like me! My best chance with her is if she never knows." Garen nodded. He understood his friend's fear of getting thrown out of the Order, but he still didn't like the fact that Obi-Wan kept it all inside. There must be someone else they could tell. It might help him lose some of this stress he was giving himself.

"I know," Garen said. "I just don't like to see you like this. I mean, just look at yourself! You haven't been eating, you don't sleep. I just feel like I ought to do something about it."

Obi-Wan sat straight up and stared at Garen. "How did you know I can't sleep?" he asked.

Garen smiled. "You've been so caught up thinking about her that you don't notice that I see it all. It's eating you up inside, Obi-Wan. You have got to at least tell someone. And I mean someone besides me, 'cause I don't count." Obi-Wan looked at his friend. He knew Garen was right, but who wouldn't get him in trouble? Garen interrupted his thoughts once more. "Why don't we go get something to eat? Bant said she'd be in the dinner hall waiting for us." Obi-Wan nodded and followed Garen out the door. "Besides," Garen added in a low voice as soon as they were out in the hall, "telling Bant might help."

Bant waited impatiently in the dinner hall of the Jedi Temple. The large room was full of Jedi students, but it was beginning to empty. A few groups still lingered around, talking about this, that, and such. She glanced toward the door and finally saw what she had been waiting to see. Her soft yellow eyes widened in delight as the two tall teenaged students hurried in the door, her salmon-colored skin glowed with pleasure as they ran toward her. She looked at first one, then the other, and her pleasure vanished. She knew something was wrong. She looked at Garen. The two of them had been worried about Obi-Wan for some time, but something told her that she was soon going to find out what was going on. Garen confirmed this. "Don't worry," he told her. "He's going to tell you everything." The Mon Calamari led the two boys to an empty table and the three sat down. Obi-Wan's eyes dropped to the table. He was not prepared to tell Bant, but he knew he probably should. He just couldn't bring himself to, so he waited for her to ask again, hiding in the silence that suddenly filled the large room. Almost everyone else had left.

After a moment, Bant could stand it no longer. "Obi-Wan, what's been going on?" she asked anxiously as she turned to him. "Garen and I have been very worried about you. Please tell me." Obi-Wan looked up at her, his usually flashing blue eyes dull, yet filled with something she had never seen before. She had asked, and now the moment he had been dreading had come. He glanced up at the ceiling and took a deep breath, then turned back to Bant.

Bant waited expectantly, almost panicking, hoping this wasn't anything serious. If something had happened to her friend, she didn't know what she would do. Obi-Wan saw the concern in her eyes and tried to get it over with as soon as possible. He didn't want Bant to think there was something wrong. "It's nothing serious," he assured her. "It actually has to do with Adi's secret admirer." He knew Adi had talked to her friends about him. She trusted them to keep her secret safe, and Bant was one of her most trusted friends. The tough thing was she was one of Obi-Wan's most trusted friends as well.

Bant was relieved at this, and was immediately more at ease. "Does it now?" she said, visibly more relaxed than before, although she was still worried. She couldn't imagine what this had to do with her friend's health. However, she tried not to show it. "I was just talking to her before you guys came in here," she continued in a light tone. "She was talking about how she found a flower in front of her door this morning. As a matter of fact, she couldn't stop thinking about it, or asking me if I knew who it was that was leaving stuff there. I wish I could tell her, but I don't have the slightest idea." Bant's easy voice only succeeded in unsettling Obi-Wan, but this time there was no hiding from the one thing he had to tell her. Bant got right to it, noting Obi-Wan's sudden discomfort. "What do you know about it?"

Garen cleared his throat loudly and looked away, not wanting to see the pain on his friends' faces as one tried to force it out, and the other tried to grasp it. Obi-Wan's voice was so thick he could hardly get the words out. Bant didn't seem to understand his torment, so she just looked at Obi-Wan and waited. She was beginning to get very worried again. Finally, he got it out, though it was rather choked and must have been hard to understand. "It's me," he muttered, his voice cracking with the effort, the words nearly getting caught in his throat. He struggled for breath, recovering from the shock of finally disclosing his secret to someone, as Bant stared at him, almost uncomprehending. His eyes dropped back to the table as he realized that she was probably wondering how in the world she had become friends with such a scoundrel. She must have sensed his thoughts, as she smiled and shook her head, her soft yellow eyes moistening at the thought of what her friend had just told her.

Garen heard the silence and turned back to find Obi-wan with his arms and head down on the table, and Bant looking at him compassionately. She turned to Garen and asked silently, "You knew, didn't you?" Garen nodded. It was an unnecessary question, of course. Garen had known, but hadn't told Bant, thinking it was best that Obi-Wan told her himself. Garen could see the obvious disgrace his friend was experiencing, and felt even worse for him. There must have been something he could do. "Do you want to talk about it?" Bant asked. Obi-Wan shook his head as he took a deep breath and leaned back, covering his face with his hands. He knew Bant wouldn't tell anyone, but he still couldn't believe he had just given away his biggest secret. He ran his hands hastily across his face to hide the fact that something besides the sweat from the lightsaber training earlier had been running down it. Bant turned to him again and told him, "I won't tell her, I promise. I'm not sure I understand what you're going through, but I can see now what's been eating you. I'm sorry I haven't been able to understand before."

Obi-Wan held up a hand to stop her and leaned forward again. He didn't want his friends to feel responsible for his problem. "It's not your fault," he assured her. He closed his eyes and heaved a deep sigh. He was frustrated, tense, humiliated, and he knew his Master would be able to feel it. Right now he didn't care much about that. He was just thinking about what his friends might be thinking of him, a rule-breaker, almost inevitably to be thrown out of the Temple. He couldn't drag them along with him. He didn't even know if they would want him around anymore. What good was he anyway? Brought up for 17 years to abandon such feelings and the first time he felt it he couldn't get rid of it. He could feel the emotion welling up again and put his face in his hands. Then he felt something he never expected. A hand on one shoulder, a fin on the other. He looked up to see both his friends looking determinedly at him.

Garen spoke first. "You aren't dragging us down with you. We're going with you voluntarily." They had obviously read his thoughts, considering their incredibly strong bond to each other. The trio had been friends for as long as they had known each other. This had resulted in a strong connection between them all which kept them together through the toughest of situations. Bant smiled at him again.

"We do still want you around," she said, her voice full of sympathy as she pondered what the young Padawan thought of himself. She looked over at Garen and continued. "We won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with us. I'm glad you told me, and I understand that it must have been very hard for you, but that only makes me appreciate it even more. Now, let's get you back to your quarters. You've had a long day, and you need your rest." Obi-Wan didn't argue, simply followed the other two out the door and into the hall toward his room. He was suddenly very exhausted, and, though he tried to keep going, he stumbled to his knees. Bant and Garen stopped and looked back, concern evident in their faces. Obi-wan tried to stand, but merely succeeded in slumping against the wall. He closed his eyes. He couldn't handle this kind of emotional stress; he just wasn't used to it. Garen went to help him up, but a firm, strong hand came down on his shoulder. He turned to see a tall Jedi Master, Obi-Wan's Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. Garen moved aside for him and glanced worriedly in Obi-Wan's direction.

"Allow me," Qui-Gon said gently. "I wish to speak with him anyway." Obi-Wan just sat there, not wondering what had happened, not even wondering whether his friends were coming to help him. He just sat there with his eyes closed, exhaustion covering him and dulling his senses. He was slipping into a black pit of nothingness, until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to see his Master bending over him concernedly. He could hardly focus on the faces behind the tall figure as he began slipping into unconsciousness again. Qui-Gon shook him gently, then helped him to his feet. Obi-Wan nearly collapsed again, but his Master caught him and carried him to his quarters.

When they had arrived at Obi-Wan's room, Qui-Gon laid him down on his sleep couch, then turned to the other two. His piercing blue eyes searched the two Padawans standing in the center of the room. He finally broke the silence with the one question the pair was hoping he wouldn't ask them. "Can either of you explain his strange condition?" he asked skeptically. He knew at least one of them knew the reason, but the question he was asking himself was whether or not that one was going to tell him. If not, his Padawan was obviously hiding something from him. If that was true, it must be something particularly unsettling, or else Obi-Wan would not have kept it from him. Obi-Wan did not keep many things from his Master.

Garen glanced at Bant in a questioning gesture, then answered the Jedi Master as best he could without going against his promise to his friend. "He was overly stressed," he said simply. Qui-Gon's eyebrows rose in suspicion. He could sense that Garen was not telling everything, but he didn't press the point. This must be quite serious, he thought to himself. He dismissed the two and closed the door. There was little he could do until his Padawan returned to consciousness, which, if he was really overly stressed, would most likely be some time. He sat down on the floor in the center of the room and meditated while he waited for his Padawan to come around.

A/N: Please keep on reviewing!