"It's been a month. I've increased my meditations like you suggested and I haven't taken any assignments or any extra duties."
"So what is the trouble?" The pensive, scaly face of the Jedi Healer pinched in concern.
"I lost my concentration in the training salle today. I almost got my head cut off."
"Hmm. Do you know the reason?"
"If I knew the reason, I wouldn't be here talking to you would I?" Obi-Wan was trying to disguise his frustration, but he knew he was failing to do so. Healers tended to bring out the worse in him.
Healer T'Pal simply squinted her violet eyes at him and hummed again.
It was everything Obi-Wan could do not to roll his eyes. "You told me a month ago that you believed the reason I was having these panic attacks was because of the violent way the training bond between Qui-Gon and I ended."
"And you don't think so."
Obi-Wan smirked slightly despite himself. "No. I don't think so."
The healer's extremely long fingers moved to asteeple formation before she hummed once more.
Obi-Wan had to recall the information thatthe healer services had provided regarding the qualifications of this particular healer, as he was beginning to doubt them himself.
"If we are to discover the reason behind your loss of concentration and apprehension, I'm afraid a mind reading is the only way to do so."
Three weeks ago, the same offer had been made to which Obi-Wan flatly refused, but now he found himself shaking his head affirmatively. "Fine. If it will give me some answers. Do it."
He lay back on the examination table, cringing slightly as the Force restraints were fastened around his wrists and ankles.
"For your own safety, Jedi Kenobi."
"Yes, yes. Get on with it."
Healer T'Pal's face contorted in what appeared to be a smirk of her own before she placed her long amphibian like fingers to Obi-Wan's scalp.
Obi-Wan intentionally relaxed his body and his shields, allowing the healer access to his mind, his thoughts, his mental processes.
Gratefully, he was aware of the more embarassing aspects of his life being subtly ignored as the healer diligently set out to discover the hidden cause for his present condition.
He was conscious of the discovery of the severed training bond, of his grief over the loss of his Master, but found himself shuddering as the healer gently probed along an area in the far reaches of his mind that sent a sudden rippling warmth throughout his body.
He then felt the healer's gentle retreat and heard her soft humming right before he opened his eyes.
She was sitting next to him on a tall stool, her eyes squinting, her fingers tapping together rhythmically.
"Well? What did you find?"
"It is not the shattered training bond that troubles you Jedi Kenobi."
"What is it then?" Obi-Wan struggled to work free of his restraints, at which point Healer T'Pal apologized quickly, assisting him to sit up on the bed.
"Have you been, uhm...how should I put this...intimate with anyone lately?"
"Int...intimate? What? No! Why?"
A small grin lit the healer's face and Obi-Wan was nearly appalled by it.
"It appears that you have begun to form a life-bond with someone."
"What? A what!"
"We will need to consult with the council immediately. If this bond was created without your knowledge, then it can be eradicated quite easily, but we will need Master Yoda's approval and assistance."
"Yes...Yes. Fine. Whatever."
The healer left the room, leaving a puzzled and somewhat distraught Jedi in her wake.
A what? A life-bond? He had never personally known anyone to have one before, at least not a Jedi. Attachment was forbidden. Only Force sensitive beings not associated with the Jedi had formed such bonds.
How could this have happened? When could this have happened?
Think...think, Kenobi!
His eyebrows furrowed in concentration, his mind coming up a complete blank. Not since his younger padawan days had he been seriously 'intimate' with anyone. Missions for the Council had kept he and his Master far too busy. And his latest mission to Naboo had been to far too perilous for any type of extracurricular activities.
Meditate. He must meditate. Surely the answers will come.
Obi-Wan left the healer's rooms and quickly walked to the temple gardens, seeking solitude in meditation, sure that the Force would provide a solution to his problem.