Disclaimer: I own nothing except King Gen and the way I chose to characterize Padmé's parents.
Notes: The candy in this story is supposed to be like a lollipop and I assumed globefruit was like an orange. Please R&R and thanks for reading. If you have other suggestions for the title of this fic, feel free to include them in your review and I will consider them.
Fourteen-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi patiently waited outside the throne room of Theed Palace for his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. The two Jedi had been sent to discuss implementing popular elections on the planet of Naboo, but only Qui-Gon was speaking to Naboo's ruler, King Gen. His Majesty had taken one look at Obi-Wan and insisted that Kenobi remain outside. "A boy has no business being a part of political negotiations," he had said with disdain. Qui-Gon had then asked his apprentice to wait for him outside, quietly explaining that humoring Gen would make it easier to get him to cooperate with the Jedi in the long run.
For the past hour, Obi-Wan had been waiting with his arms at his sides, not leaning against the door or slouching against a pillar, but standing at attention. He was learning the ways of the Jedi, and he did not want to be seen by anyone as just "a boy." He was still waiting for Qui-Gon two hours later when a toddler walked into his line of sight.
Judging by the pink shirt and pants the child was wearing, Obi-Wan guessed the toddler to be female. She made her way toward him down the hall, moving quickly despite the shortness of her legs. Within moments, she had stopped at his feet, clutching the cloth of his pant legs, apparently fascinated with the material of his Jedi uniform.
Obi-Wan smiled down at her. "Hello," he said in a friendly voice. "Where did you come from?"
She didn't answer, so Obi-Wan disengaged her hands from his pant legs and took them in his own as he crouched down before her. "Your parents must be here too," he surmised. "Would you like to wait here with me until they come for you?"
She gave him a nod.
Obi-Wan sat down cross-legged on the floor, still holding her hands in his. "What's your name?" he asked.
She only stared back at him with huge brown eyes.
Kenobi sighed. "That's okay." His blue eyes smiled as he added dryly, "I'm not very talkative either."
She let go of one of his hands to make a grab at the lightsaber handle he had clipped to his waist.
He quickly covered the weapon with his free hand, preventing the girl from touching it. "Don't," he warned her. "That's a lightsaber. It's dangerous if you don't know how to use it."
At his reprimand, her brown eyes turned liquid and her mouth started to tremble.
Obi-Wan swallowed. "Wait. Don't cry," he said quickly. He searched his pockets and found a piece of globefruit and some sweets, candies on sticks. "I'll give you something to eat if you promise not to cry."
Her mouth stopped trembling and she smiled and nodded.
Obi-Wan smiled back. "Good." He held out his hands, candy in one palm, globefruit in the other. "Which do you want?"
Both of her hands touched his at the same time.
Obi-Wan shook his head, trying and failing to hide his grin. "Okay, okay. I'll give you some of each." He peeled the globefruit and then sectioned it into halves. "Eat this first," he said, handing her her half, "otherwise it'll taste sour after you eat the candy."
She ate the fruit and he finished the rest easily, being a growing teenage boy.
"Now for the candy," he announced. "There's five pieces here, so I'll let you have three and I'll have two." He divided them up as he spoke and gave the toddler her share. He unwrapped one of his suckers and put it in his mouth.
She looked from the candy in her small hands to Obi-Wan, before shyly offering him one of his sweets to take back.
"I see," the Padawan said, speaking around the candy in his mouth. "You want to be fair. I'll save this piece for someone else then, so we each have two." And he pocketed his remaining sweet. "Let me unwrap that for you." He unwrapped one of her suckers and watched her put it into her mouth as he had done, holding onto the stick the candy was on.
They had just started on their sweets when two adults, a man and a woman, came down the hallway.
"Oh, there you are," the woman cried, spotting the little girl. She ran down the hall and scooped the child up into her arms. "We were so worried about you."
The child's father looked to where Obi-Wan was sitting, an expression of gratitude on his face. "Thank you, young man, for watching our daughter. I'm glad she was in safe hands."
Obi-Wan sat up a little straighter at the compliment. "It was no trouble at all, sir, m'am," he responded, the phrase "young man" echoing in his head. At least he wasn't a boy in everyone's eyes.
"We have to leave to pick up our other daughter from school," the mother was saying. "But thank you." She turned to her daughter, who she still held in her arms. "Say goodbye to this nice young man," she told her.
Obi-Wan got to his feet and gently took one of the little girl's hands in his. He shook it slowly, conscious of how much smaller her hand was compared to his. "Goodbye," he said softly.
"Goodbye," she repeated in a shy whisper.
The parents smiled at each other over the children's heads at this display of farewell, and then walked down the hall and away from Obi-Wan.
He watched them leave, his attention only being diverted when his Master emerged from the throne room.
"Padawan?" Qui-Gon asked. He looked in the direction Obi-Wan was staring in, but saw nothing. "What are you looking at?"
"A family I met while I was waiting for you just left. That's all." Kenobi looked up at his Master and smiled. "How were the negotiations?"
As Qui-Gon was telling his apprentice about the progress he had made with the king, the toddler's parents were giving her a lecture on her behavior. "You shouldn't go off like that. It's very dangerous. What if that boy hadn't found you, Padmé?"
Their daughter did not tell them that she had been the one to find Obi-Wan, not vice versa, but she smiled and clutched her remaining uneaten sucker more tightly in her hand, continuing to savor the sweetness of the candy she still had in her mouth.