"Why thank you, Madame Sor'tya. Yes, he is a fine padawan." Obi-Wan agreed before bowing respectfully to the planet dignitary, noting the curious glance of an approaching Anakin.
The 16-year-old young man handed the glass of wine he had retrieved for his Master and sipped on his own cup of iced cha. "What was that all about?" He asked Obi-Wan as they both watched the Devaronian governor move away through the crowd.
"Nothing of importance." Obi-Wan replied candidly.
"Master." The Jedi padawan persisted. "I know you were talking about me."
"Eavesdropping again padawan?" Obi-Wan teased as he took another sip of the emerald green liquid.
"No, I wasn't eavesdropping. I just happened to overhear the last few words." Anakin waited, not entirely patiently, for a response. "Well?"
His Master sighed heavily. "Master Sor'tya was merely pointing out your many fine…uhm…assets."
Anakin's master had so rarely teased him over the years that the young man could not quite read the features of the older Jedi.
"Madame Sor'tya?" He gulped. "Why? What did she say?" His words came out in rapid succession.
"It appears, padawan," Obi-Wan responded, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder while adding a wink to the gesture, "that her daughter is eligible…and interested."
Obi-Wan's lip quivered as he fought to hide his threatening grin in response to the look of total disgust on his padawan's face.
Anakin peered through the crowd before finally resting on the hunchbacked form of Tally Sor'tya, the daughter of the reigning Governor. Without that prior knowledge however, Anakin seriously doubted that he would have been able to tell if Tally was male or female, based upon appearance alone. A thick coat of spotted fur covered every visible aspect of her body. He looked back to the Jedi Master, knowing that the face he made revealed his horror of the possible implications of Obi-Wan's comment.
"Master….you wouldn't." He gushed in disgust.
"Why not?" Obi-Wan feigned innocently as he and Anakin slowly skirted the crowd who had gathered for the post-negotiation celebration. "Her mother is an important political figure on this planet, and Tally has…a great personality. Just think about coming back home from all of those missions, Anakin. A female like that would be the kind of mate who could warm up a man even after a mission to the Hoth System."
Looking at his padawan's face after this comment, Obi-Wan could not help but laugh. If he had informed Anakin that he was to be bonded to a Hutt, his face couldn't have displayed a more sour expression.
"Master, please be serious!"
The older Jedi comforted his young charge with an arm about his shoulders as they exited the building.
"Don't worry Anakin." He responded seriously. "The Force will guide me when it comes time to find you a bondmatch. And besides, we still have three more years until your Shidoki ceremony. That's plenty of time for me to find you a suitable spouse."
"Well, just make sure the Force provides someone who is a little less…hairy, Master." Anakin deadpanned, to which Obi-Wan chuckled in reply.
"I'll do my best, Anakin." He promised.
As they made their way back to their quarters to prepare for departure, Obi-Wan became slightly apprehensive. Three years did seem like a long time, but then the last time he had mentioned the Shidoki to his padawan, it had been five years until the ceremony. And at that time, five years too seemed like a long time.
The years were passing quickly and as a Jedi Master, he was ashamed to admit that he was procrastinating in his duties – at least when it came to this particular one.
The problem was, that he honestly couldn't think of anyone good enough to bondmatch with his padawan. Anakin was the Chosen One, so who could possibly be worthy?
"The Force, guide you in all things, it will." Yoda's voice replayed in his head.
Had the Force guided his own Master in this? Or had Obi-Wan just been lucky?
"There's no such thing as luck."
It was Qui-Gon's voice now that he heard from his memories. True, when his Master had informed him at the age of fourteen that his bondmatch for the Shidoki was a young padawan he knew by the name of Siri, he had at first been appalled. The young girl was arrogant and rude, and ever since their first meeting, she had striven to beat him at every lightsaber match that they had fought. And a few times, she actually had done it.
Less than a year later though, the council had sent he and Qui-Gon on two subsequent missions together with Siri and her own Master, Adi Gallia, and they quickly became good friends. Such good friends in fact, that a year before his own Shidoki ceremony, Obi-Wan realized that he was in love with her. He had never felt more alive and complete in the Force.
But then his entire universe collapsed when Siri was killed during a dangerous mission in the Outer Rim.
It was the darkest moment of his life and Obi-Wan couldn't understand the reasoning behind the Force for it to have happened. Eventually however, he cast aside his despair and began to heal, but in the process, had resolved to remain single.
The Force only provided for the Shidoki once in a Jedi's life. At least that was what he had been told.
So, he devoted himself to becoming the best knight he could be, and then to become the best Jedi Master the Order had ever witnessed. But his worries for his own padawan were now creating havoc with that goal.
Perhaps, Obi-Wan thought, he was relying too much on his own beliefs and opinions when it came to a bondmatch for Anakin.
Extensive meditation on the subject would be necessary before it was too late. If he was going to be able to provide his padawan with a suitable and worthwhile mate for his upcoming Shidoki ceremony, then the Force was simply going to have lead the way.