The afternoon sun was low in the sky and the two young Jedi had yet to return. Qui-Gon and Adi sat in silence in the common room of their shared apartments. If Qui-Gon was worried, he showed no outward sign as he sat diligently translating some ancient cannon of law, several data pads open on the table in front of him, searching for subtle variances in meaning that the language droids often overlooked.
But Adi Gallia uncharacteristically could not settle herself in any occupation. She had started to read the latest briefing from the Jedi council, but abandoned the attempt when she found herself just staring at the words. She considered retiring to her quarters to meditate, but quickly discarded the idea. Her long elegant fingers actually tapped once on the table before she stopped them, but she could not stop herself from voicing her thoughts, "I wonder how our padawans are succeeding?"
"I believe we are about to find out." Qui-Gon answered, without looking up from his work.
At that very moment Obi-Wan came stumbling headfirst into the room, staggered, spun, and just managed to regain his footing a hair's breath away from slamming into the table still pilled high with food.
Damn, how do they do that? Adi marveled, though her beautiful eyes, ever sharp and alert, betrayed no expression of surprise.
Siri arrived next, her small compact form a blur of motion as she came flying after Obi-Wan. In a flash she was in his face, sending him stumbling back once again with a powerful two-handed shove to the chest.
"You, y-you!" Siri stammered, incapable of finding words to express her obvious outrage.
In typical Siri fashion, when words failed she took action. Obi-Wan had to move quickly to counter and block as she furiously pummeled him with her fists. He worked hard to defend himself without actually striking back at his fellow Jedi student. He was quick on his feet and managed to sidestep most of her wild swinging punches, but she was even quicker and landed more than a few stinging blows.
Adi watched in utter amazement, she could do nothing but stare at the scene before her. Although she was very familiar with Siri's temper, Adi had never seen her padawan this angry before. At least she thought it was her padawan, the girl before her was almost unrecognizable, completely covered in mud from head to foot. Her hair was tangled and spiked in every direction giving her a wild look to match the look in her eyes as she stared Obi-Wan down.
"This - is - all - your – fault, you, y-you low down, underhanded, piece of bantha dung! How could you?"
Obi-Wan had finally had enough. When Siri reached out to strike again he deftly caught her wrist and with a classic temple wrestling move, twisted her arm behind her then spun her toward him, locking both arms behind her back.
He held her fast, their faces inches apart. "My fault! You think this was my fault?" he sputtered, "If this is the thanks I get, next time I'll think twice before saving you. If it hadn't been for me you'd still be sucking up mud and eating dung flies in that miserable stink pond."
"Padawan! Release her!" Qui-Gon had finally looked up from his work.
Obi-Wan looked around as if seeing the occupants of the room for the first time. His face flushed red, but he kept his hold over the struggling girl.
"Padawan!" Qui-Gon's voice was low but his tone was dangerous. It was rare that he had to issue an order twice.
Obi-Wan reluctantly released Siri and took a quick step back, arms loose at his side, but ready, his feet automatically assuming an on-guard stance.
Adi knew Siri well enough to anticipate a renewed assault and moved forward immediately to intervene. She said nothing, but one quelling look at her padawan and a firm hand on her arm had the desired results.
Siri dropped her fists and stalked to the far side of the room, as if to put the greatest possible distance between herself and Obi-Wan. She settled herself against the wall, arms folded across her chest, and contented herself with glaring at him from across the room.
A long moment of silence followed as both subdued padawans worked to bring their emotions in check. It was Adi who spoke first
"Siri, Obi-Wan, there had better be a good explanation for this display. Please explain this behavior at once!"
The two young Jedi started talking at once in an unintelligible flurry of accusations and furious finger pointing until Adi impatiently gestured for silence, "Enough!" Her sharp tone alone ensuring that the young Jedi pupils sullenly complied.
Adi paused a moment, threw a quick glance across the room to Qui-Gon, who had settled back in his chair, apparently happy to let her deal with the situation as she saw fit, if anything looking somewhat amused. Exasperated, she turned back to her padawan, "Siri, please explain yourself."
Siri straightened her shoulders, moved to the center of the room, and stood with as much dignity as she could muster, as if she stood before the entire Jedi council in the council chambers on Coruscant. She held herself with a poise and grace that belied the fact that she was completely covered with pond scum and mud. Mud that was starting to dry, starting to smell, and itched terribly. Obi-Wan would have been impressed if not for the smug look she threw him as she began her version of the tale.
"Master Jinn had an important message for the woman who lives under the old Yelba tree, so he sent us-, er, sent Obi-Wan," she corrected with a slight stammer and a blush before she continued undaunted," to deliver the message and try to bring the old woman back to the palace. I thought he could use some help, so I decided to go with him."
"The wit-, I mean, the woman was very gracious and accommodating, nothing like the stories we had heard. She invited us in for some tea and seemed very agreeable to the idea of returning with us." Siri's eyes suddenly clouded in uncertainty and she seemed once again to be at a loss for words. She stood in silence for some time, her forehead creased in concentration as if trying to solve some complex logic puzzle.
"And then?" Adi prompted gently.
Siri's voice betrayed uncertainty for the first time, "I'm not sure what happened next. I seem to have blacked out. It must have been something in the tea!"
Just as quickly as it had appeared her uncertainty was gone, her eyes cleared and narrowed with blue laser sharp focus, aimed directly at Obi-Wan.
"The next thing I know, I-we, are in the swamp and covered with mud and he, h-he ," Siri's cheeks flushed brightly and her eyes were wide with anger and outrage.
"He kissed me!"
All eyes in the room turned to stare at Obi-Wan, he was sure of it, he could feel it, so there was no need to look at their faces, no reason at all to shift his eyes upward from their current position, carefully fixed on his feet. He could picture the exact look on his master's face, on Master Gallia's face, and with painfully perfect clarity, the look on Siri's face and that was worst of all. Maybe if he ignored them they would all just go away. It was an impossible thought, but he still did not look up and took a keen and sudden interest in the mud caked on his boots.
"Is this true, Obi-Wan?" Adi's voice betrayed no emotion whatsoever.
Obi-Wan continued his careful study of the interesting patterns of drying mud and swamp grass on his boots, his mumbled reply intelligible only to the floor.
"Padawan, you will answer Master Gallia's question." Another order.
Obi-Wan immediately looked up, cleared his throat and answered, this time a little louder than necessary, "I just thought it might help, like in the story."
Qui-Gon shrugged his shoulders in response to the questioning look Adi threw in his direction. This was going to take some time to sort out. "What story was that padawan?"
"The bedtime story they used to tell us, when we were younglings, the one with a prince and a frog." Obi-Wan looked at Qui-Gon expectantly, as if this explained everything.
"A frog?"
Obi-Wan spoke slowly, a hint of exasperation creeping into his voice. Why was this so hard for everyone to understand? "Yes, Master, a frog , a small green amphibious pond creature that eats insects."
"I know what a frog is padawan. What I don't understand is how it relates to this situation."
"It was the w-witch! S-She turned Siri into a frog!"
Obi-Wan was not sure the new expression on their faces was an improvement over the old. It was an odd mixture of wary skepticism and pity, they all thought he had lost it.
"Oh, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard." Siri's tone held only contempt. "Don't you think I would remember being turned into some slimy green creature?"
The smirk on her face was suddenly replaced by a blank look, her blue eyes flashed at Obi-Wan as she quickly crossed the room, but she was not really looking at him, she was looking just past him. Obi-Wan stepped back nervously. Her hand flew out so fast he did not even have time to flinch as she snatched something out of the air just above his left ear. They looked at each other, eyes round with surprise before looking down at her tightly clenched fist. Siri slowly uncurled each finger and held out her open palm. Their faces mirrored identical expressions of horror and disbelief as they stared at the dead body of a fruit fly in her outstretched hand.
Siri recovered first. "Even if you are right about the frog thing, and I am not saying you are, you still have the story all messed up. It was the girl who kissed the frog, not the boy. And it was not just any kiss that could transform the frog back into a prince."
She stopped and bit her lip, suddenly unwilling to follow her argument through to conclusion. But she had reached the point of no return, awash in the rush of current that would carry her over the waterfall. There was no going back. Siri was everything that was courageous so she pressed on, but the bravado in her voice had slipped so that her words now came in a strangled breathless whisper, the last few so low that only Obi-Wan could hear them.
"It was really true love that saved him."
Her hands flew to her face and she let out a final anguished, "Oh!" looking wildly from Obi-Wan to her master then back again to Obi-Wan before she spun away and bolted from the room.
Adi stood speechless, the unusual expression of uncertainty clouded her beautiful features until she caught Qui-Gon's amused expression and gave him a look that seemed to say this was all somehow his fault. With a final look at Obi-Wan that he was unsure how to read, she left the room shaking her head to go in search of her padawan and some answers.
Obi-Wan sank to a chair dejectedly, his head in his hands, relieved to finally be released from so much scrutiny. "I don't see what all the huff is about. It was just a harmless kiss."
"I just don't understand Siri, sometimes I think we are friends and then the next minute she gets angry over the slightest thing. Nothing I do ever makes her happy."
It was only the poignant look of confusion on Obi-Wan's face that kept Qui-Gon from laughing. Wasn't this exactly what he had wished for his padawan earlier today, the life of a typical teenager. He had forgotten that the life of a normal teenage boy was filled with its own problems. He had somehow forgotten the one thing that plagued male adolescents across the galaxy. Girl problems. And it was not limited to Obi-Wan's current difficulties with Siri. Qui-Gon was well aware of the budding attraction behind the particular attentions paid to his apprentice by the princess, as well a handful of other young girls they had encountered on recent missions. His padawan it seems was not.
He supposed there was a lesson here, just like the many other life lessons he helped his padawan with daily. There was more to being a Jedi than wielding a light saber. Qui-Gon wondered if he should enlighten his padawan, offer his insight into the workings of the minds of teenage girls. After quick consideration he discarded the idea, he was not sure he was really qualified to give such advice and there were some things Obi-Wan would just have to figure out on his own. He would stick to light saber drills.
"Remember padawan, you cannot let the good opinion of others, even your fellow Jedi, rule your actions. You must do what you think is right, even if they refuse to see your point of view."
He was met with only a blank look. Not exactly the advice Yoda would have given. He searched for a bit of old Jedi wisdom.
"Pay close attention to the Living Force and it will lead you to true understanding of others." Unoriginal perhaps, but it had worked for Jedi masters for thousands of years.
"I want you to meditate on the matter while I am gone."
"Where are you going?"
"I am going to talk to the witch."