Phew, finally I'm back! Hope you enjoy the new chapter!

Chapter 5

Half an hour later, Qui-Gon and his apprentice had boarded the ship they were assigned to and were in the cockpit, ready to take off. Qui-Gon was navigating the ship, while Obi-Wan suddenly sensed a disturbance in the Force. Strange enough, his Master didn't seem to have noticed anything, so Obi-Wan excused himself from the cockpit and went to check on it.

Obi-Wan knew he couldn't suspend the ship's movement just because of something only he had sensed, so he decided that he'd find that disturbance before the ship take off.

He sensed the disturbance was near the ramp and he used his force-enhanced speed to rush to the position only to bump into Virgille again.

"Hey!" Came the familiar yelp, and the two of them were sitting on the floor once more.

Obi-Wan gasped: "The angry youngling!"

Before he could do anything, the ship was already beginning to move. Swiftly, it left the docking bay, and was out of the atmosphere of Coruscant.

"Oh Force!" Obi-Wan jumped up and dragged Virgille abruptly to the cockpit.

Qui-Gon was surprised when he heard a loud "How rude!" and Obi-Wan reappeared in the cockpit with a struggling youngling in his arms.

"What's this all about, Padawan?" Qui-Gon frowned.

"Master," Obi-Wan scowled, "I am despaired to inform you that we've got a little stowaway here."

"I am not a stowaway!" Virgille yelled, "You are in big trouble now, Mister!"

"Oh, I'm scared!" Obi-Wan mocked, "You're the one who's in big trouble now, Missy –" Before Obi-Wan could finish, Virgille suddenly bit his hand furiously. Obi-Wan yelped and Virgille extricated herself from his capture immediately.

"Why, you little!" Obi-Wan gritted his teeth and looked at his swollen hand with anger and self-pity.

"You deserve it, I have warned you before." Virgille glared at him fiercely.

As Obi-Wan was about to have his revenge, Qui-Gon's voice burst sternly: "Enough, you two."

They both froze and turned to face the impatient Master.

"Obi-Wan, may I know what is going on here?" Qui-Gon furrowed his brows.

"Ask her!" Obi-Wan clenched his fists.

Virgille winced under Qui-Gon's intense stare, "I do not lie. I was in the hall, and then Master Lal'mar stopped me and asked me to help her find her datapad."

"But why were you on this ship?" Qui-Gon asked gently as he sensed the nervousness and fear in the child's voice.

"Because Master Lal'mar finally remembered that she'd left the datapad on this ship. Of course she told me to forget about it since you were going to leave the Temple in this ship soon, but I thought I could be fast enough to fetch the datapad before you took off." She swallowed, "I'm sorry, Master…uh, what's your name?" She asked awkwardly.

Qui-Gon smiled as he put his hand on the little girl's head, "Qui-Gon Jinn."

She swallowed again, "I'm sorry, Master Qui-Gon, really."

Qui-Gon's smile grew warmer as he rubbed Virgille's red hair, "That's all right, little one. And what is your name?"

Virgille instantly straightened herself, "I am Mira from the House of Virgille. And I prefer you to call me by my family name." Obi-Wan recognized it was her famous grandma-talk again, but it seemed the angry youngling could be not annoying sometimes.

"As you wish, Virgille." Qui-Gon shook hands with Virgille and Virgille grinned brightly with pure happiness of being forgiven.

Obi-Wan was considering if he should remain silent for a while until his Master and Virgille have talked enough, but Virgille didn't forget his existence.

"Now you believe me?" She frowned at Obi-Wan.

"Kind of." Obi-Wan answered in mock coldness, "But why do you want my Master to call you your surname, too? He won't – what's that word again – denigrate your esteemed given name."

"But I found out that I like hearing people calling me Virgille after meeting you that dawn." Virgille gasped, "You still remember what I said yesterday?"

Obi-Wan nodded smugly and thought: Children are only children – they're always so easy to get excited.

"Oh…that's impressing…" Virgille contemplated with a grandma-look on her six-year-old face, "Not even Master Lal'mar could remember what I said."

Obi-Wan suppressed his impulse to roll his eyes, "That's because they don't need to, Virgule."

"It's Virgille!" She yelled angrily.

"Whatever." Obi-Wan waved his hand dismissively.

"How rude!" Virgille cast him an enraged glare.

"All right, you two." Qui-Gon interrupted their potential battle, "Obi-Wan, we need to jump into hyperspace now, so maybe you'd like to put off your little conversation for a moment?"

"Obi-Wan? Is that your name?" Virgille asked.

"Yeah…" Obi-Wan answered cautiously.

"I like that name!" She beamed, "It sounds friendly and caring!"

"Huh?" Obi-Wan widened his eyes confusedly.

"Well, that's exactly how Obi-Wan treats most of the people." Qui-Gon smiled affectionately at Obi-Wan which made the younger man blush slightly.

"What are you trying to do here?" Obi-Wan frowned at her.

"Nothing!" She grinned brightly, "It's good to know the only person who remembers what I said has a good name. Erm…" Her expression instantly turned into a serious look, "Will I have the permission to call you that?"

"Sure…" Obi-Wan was surprised at Virgille's fast changing mood, "Virgule."

"Virgille!" She barked.

"Whatever."

"How rude!"

Qui-Gon smiled slightly while he shook his head with no choice: there seemed to be a certain pattern of arguing between those two. Then he decided that it was time for them to jump into hyperspace.

The five days in hyperspace couldn't be boring with a talkative six-year-old around, and they were even somewhat interesting and pleasant.

Qui-Gon had reported to the Council concerning Virgille's being on-board, and the Council approved his opinion to keep Virgille at their side instead of taking the time to send her back to Coruscant.

Virgille finally found the datapad, which belonged to Master Lal'mar, that she had been looking for and showed it to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan proudly. Even though she was a babbling child with a very short temper, Obi-Wan began to like her unique grandma-talk and grandma-look – he even found himself think the kid unique and cute; she was just a child, after all. And Qui-Gon had liked her since she apologized to him sincerely about her boarding on the ship without permission.

Virgille was a little nervous and frightened when she found herself on the way to a remote planet at the beginning for this was her first time to leave the Temple, but she soon overtook her tension and fear with the help of Obi-Wan. Although Obi-Wan still pronounced her last name wrong, they became friends at last, despite their still frequent conflicts.

They had projected the hologram of Zephyrenes to get a brief idea of what a Zephyrene is. Zephyrenes are blue-skinned humanoids, with thin leather wings on their backs and glass-like, convex eyes. Their sizes are various, from short to tall. Yet they are mostly very thin for their military-loving nature makes them all warriors, ever prepared to fight. The Zephyrenes shown on the hologram wore uniforms and boots, and their main weapons were blasters and electrostaffs.

However, Qui-Gon was not having an easy time – he was always trying to remember the wiped memory through hard meditations, but all he could get was the frightened feeling that he'd had during that mission.

Obi-Wan tried very hard to analyze his Master's dream in order to find the stimulations of Qui-Gon's memory, but he didn't succeed, either.

In Virgille's opinion, maybe Qui-Gon would find his memory when he was at the same place while his memory got wiped. But Obi-Wan then reminded her that they wouldn't have much hope to escape if they did get to that place.

Qui-Gon was frustrated and disappointed with himself, but Obi-Wan encouraged and comforted him with the thought that things might get better once they arrived on Zephyrann.

"Padawan," Qui-Gon said hesitantly as Obi-Wan helped him up onto his feet again after another meditation, "do you think…" he hesitated, "I've humiliated your apprenticeship?" He knew this question sounded stupid, but it had troubled him since he first realized what the dream meant.

Obi-Wan stared at him in disbelief, "Of course not. Why would I?"

Qui-Gon cleared his throat, "Well, since your Master has clearly done something shameful in the past and that mistake is now having a dangerous influence on the present…"

Obi-Wan smiled tenderly at his worried Master, "Master, how could I ever feel that way? It has always been my honor to be your Padawan and at your side." He patted Qui-Gon's hand soothingly.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan. It is my honor as well to train you." Qui-Gon returned the younger man's smile gratefully.

To be continued...