"Birthday Surprise"
Summary: Padmé makes a surprise visit to see Obi-Wan on his birthday, only to be surprised herself when she overhears a conversation...
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters.
A/N: This was originally written as a response to a challenge given by Ticklesivory at the Obidala Fan Forum. You had to start the fic with "Obi-Wan! You can't use the Force! That's cheating!" Here's my result:
"Obi-Wan! You can't use the Force! That's cheating!"
Padmé Amidala, her hand raised to knock at Obi-Wan's door, paused at the sound of the female voice she heard coming from the Knight's room. After a brief moral debate with herself about eavesdropping, she leaned in to press her ear to his door and hear Obi-Wan's reply.
"Oh, come on, Bant, I'm going to find out anyway. Let's see what you've got under there."
Padmé's eyes widened as she heard the sounds of running feet and feminine giggling, then the unmistakable creaking of a bed as something heavy landed on it, followed by laughter from the room's occupants. Deciding she'd better make her presence known before she really regretted it, Padmé knocked loudly on Kenobi's door.
"Just a minute," she heard him call, his voice a bit breathless. He opened the door a few seconds later, his body bent over at the knees as he panted for air, but he straightened to attention when he saw who it was.
"Your Highness," he said, bowing politely to her. "This is a surprise. Anakin isn't here right now, I'm afraid. He's on a retreat--"
"Actually, Master Kenobi, I came here to see you," she explained, keeping her gaze fixed on him so she wouldn't have to look at the girl in his bed and make an already uncomfortable situation even more awkward. She wondered, however, why Obi-Wan didn't seem very embarrassed or even eager to get rid of her. Figuring that he was perhaps too much of a gentleman to chase her away from his door, she decided to tell him why she was visiting. "Senator Organa mentioned that today is your birthday, so I thought I'd stop by and ask you to dinner to celebrate the occasion. But," she added, her sense of decorum unable to put up with being the third wheel any longer, "I seem to have caught you at an…inopportune time."
Obi-Wan looked confused at her last comment, and only when Padmé had slid her eyes down and to the right in the direction of his bed did he understand her meaning. "Oh, you mean Bant? No, we were just having some fun. You didn't interrupt anything. Here, let me introduce you." He took her hand to lead her over to the bed, but she resisted, turning her head away to face the door as the color came into her cheeks.
"No, I couldn't possibly…" she began, but her protest was interrupted by the sound of Obi-Wan chuckling.
"Your Highness, what's the matter? If you can conduct an alliance between the Naboo and the Gungans, surely you can allow me to introduce you to a Mon Calamari."
Mon Calamari? She snapped her head around and blinked as she saw that, yes, a female Mon Calamari was sitting on Obi-Wan's bed, and, Padmé noted with relief, she was fully clothed.
"It's wonderful to meet you!" the Queen exclaimed in her euphoria. "Bant, is it? I am Queen Amidala from Naboo, but please, call me Padmé."
Bant smiled at the warm greeting she was suddenly receiving from the younger girl. "It's nice to meet you, Padmé. You'll have to forgive my friend Obi-Wan here." She winked before adding "We've known each other since we were in the crèche, and I've tried to give him pointers, but he still remains as clueless about women as ever!"
"Hey!" Kenobi protested, giving his fellow Jedi a playful slap on the arm. "Don't embarrass me in front of company!"
Padmé laughed, feeling reassured by Bant's words that she had understood the reason behind Padmé's earlier discomfort and was letting her know that it hadn't offended her. She still smiled a little self-consciously at the Mon Calamari, however, before asking "Would you like to have dinner with me and Obi-Wan, Bant? I'd love to hear more about your adventures growing up as a Jedi."
Bant nodded, saying as she stood up from the bed, "And I'd love to tell them to you, Padmé. I have several good stories about the trouble I'd get into with a certain someone," she said, nodding towards Obi-Wan, who only blushed and ran a hand through his hair in a gesture of embarrassment.
"Look, if you two aren't going to do anything except talk about me all night, can I at least get to pick where we eat? It is my birthday, after all!"
"Of course you may, Master Kenobi," Padmé said, as if she was soothing a little boy. "But, um, if you don't mind…could you tell me, what were the two of you doing before I came in?"
"Well, Bant had a present for me and she wouldn't let me open it to see what it was, so I tried to use the Force to see…"
"So I grabbed the present from him, ran, and jumped onto his bed with the present beneath me to hide it from him," Bant finished. "There it is on the bed there. I put it behind me when I sat up before Obi-Wan opened the door." She pointed to a small square package wrapped up in colorful tissue paper and tied with a ribbon that was sitting on the bed.
"Oh," Padmé said softly, putting the events of their explanation together with the sounds she had heard earlier.
Obi-Wan cocked his head to look at her curiously. "Why do you ask?"
Bant rolled her eyes at the question, but Padmé gave the male Jedi her brightest smile as she said, "No reason. Come on, let's go eat. You must be starving." She took his hand and started leading him out the door as Bant followed them, her present for Obi-Wan held in her webbed hands.
Finding himself being abruptly guided out of his room, Obi-Wan thought it best to remind Padmé, "But I haven't decided where we're going to eat yet."
"Then you'd better decide soon. We'll be outside in a minute and I expect you to tell the air taxi driver where we'll be going when we get onto the street," she replied.
"Yes, Your Highness," he muttered sarcastically, earning himself a slap on the arm from the Queen as they walked through the Temple halls. "Ow! Did you see that, Bant? She hit me!"
"Come on, Kenobi, you know you like it!" the Jedi teased.
"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response—"
"Because it's true?" she interrupted.
"Except to say that you have to start spending less time with Siri," he finished as they emerged onto the crowded streets of Coruscant. "You're starting to sound like her and that's scary."
"Do you know where you want to eat yet?" Padmé asked, hoping to steer the conversation away from being about another girl Obi-Wan knew.
Her attempt to change the subject worked. Obi-Wan answered, "Yes. I would like to eat at Dex's Diner."
Hearing his choice, Bant's smiling face became worried. "Obi-Wan," she whispered, casting a concerned glance at Padmé, who was too busy trying to hail an air taxi to pay attention to the Jedi for the moment, "are you sure that's wise?"
"She'll be fine," he whispered back. "She doesn't know it, but members of her security team have been following us since we left the Temple. A few of them will probably be waiting inside Dex's by the time we get there."
Bant nodded. "I saw them too. Do you think we should tell her?"
Obi-Wan glanced at Padmé, who was still trying to get an air taxi to stop for them. "No," he said. "Let her think she's given them the slip. Let her have some fun."
The Mon Calamari smiled at the caring she saw in his eyes when he looked at the young Queen who was trying so hard to get them transportation. Deciding to lighten the mood, she playfully asked him "Hey, whose birthday is it, anyway? Yours or hers?"
Obi-Wan only shook his head and said with a grin, "No, trust me, Bant. Making sure Padmé has a good time with us at our dinner…that's as good a birthday present as anything you could get me. Speaking of which," he looked at the package she still held, "when can I open that?"
"After dinner, I promise."
"Well, dinner's not going to happen if we don't get a ride first." Stepping forward, Obi-Wan placed his fingers in his mouth and let out a piercing whistle at an approaching air taxi. The driver stopped and Obi-Wan opened the door to allow a gaping Padmé and an amused Bant inside.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Padmé asked him when they were all settled in the air taxi and on their way to the diner.
"Of course, Your Highness." Obi-Wan's stomach growled suddenly, making him blush and the girls laugh as he added, "After we eat."