Disclaimer: I own none of the main characters or the waitress droid.
Note: Follow-up to "Birthday Surprise." Credit goes to jardim1 for coming up with the idea for Bant's gift. Thank you, jardim1!
"Birthday Dinner"
When Bant, Obi-Wan and Padmé entered Dex's Diner, they were still laughing from a funny story Bant had told about her and Obi-Wan's mutual friend, Garen.
"And then—and then he slipped in the mud and went down again!" Bant managed to say through her laughter, sending them all into hysterics again.
As the more surly customers gave the newcomers annoyed looks, Dex left his place behind the counter to greet the trio. "Well, well, well," he rumbled. "I never thought I'd see the day. Obi-Wan Kenobi with not one, but two lovely women hanging on his arm."
Bant smiled at the compliment, while Padmé blushed.
"What brings you folks to my cozy little establishment?" the large alien asked dryly with a grin that looked more frightening than friendly.
Obi-Wan, however, was unperturbed at the diner owner's appearance. "Today's my birthday, Dex, and I'm celebrating by having dinner with my friends here."
"A birthday, huh?" Dex grunted. "Well, I see your present," he told Bant, looking at her gift box, "but where's yours?" he asked Padmé.
The Queen squared her shoulders before firmly replying, "I'll be the one paying for this dinner. That's my present."
"Oh, so the little girl's got a big pocketbook."
Padmé gritted her teeth in annoyance. "I'm not a little girl."
"Oh, you're not? You sure look like one to me."
"Come on, Dex," Obi-Wan interjected. "Just give us a table, all right? You don't want to chase off paying customers, do you?"
Dex hesitated a moment before stepping aside to let them pass. "Yeah, all right, Kenobi. I got to get back to the counter anyway." He lumbered off, but not before muttering to Padmé, "You ain't worth my time anyway."
The brunette watched him go, gradually unclenching the hand she had curled into a fist at her side. As she sat down in a corner booth with her Jedi companions, she was still angry over the way Dex had treated her. "Master Kenobi, how can you be friends with that…that…thing! He must be the most impolite, insulting, idiotic--"
"Whoa, whoa, slow down," Obi-Wan interrupted, keeping his voice low. "Now I'll admit that Dex doesn't get along easily with everybody—"
Padmé made a noise indicating her scorn for that statement.
"But he's my friend," the young man finished. "So, can you please calm down? This is the last place you want to make a scene in."
A waitress droid came up to their table to take their orders. "What can I get ya?"
Padmé glanced at the bare tabletop. "We haven't received menus yet," she told the droid.
"We don't have menus here, sweetheart. Only things we serve for dinner are bantha steak, just about every known drink in the galaxy, and our specialty."
"What's your specialty?"
"Bantha steak."
"I guess I'll have bantha steak, then," the Queen mumbled.
"So will I," Obi-Wan said.
"Uh, I'll have two pitchers of water, please," Bant said as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Obi-Wan gave her a questioning look, but she only smiled as if nothing was wrong.
"That's two bantha steaks and two pitchers of water," the waitress repeated.
"And three cups of jawa juice, please," Obi-Wan requested.
The droid waitress took his order down on her pad, saying, "You got it, sweetheart."
"Thanks."
As they waited for their food to arrive, Bant said to Obi-Wan, "You know, I've changed my mind. Why don't you open your present now?" She pushed the box towards him, but he shook his head.
"It's okay, Bant. I can wait until after dinner."
"But—" She was interrupted by the arrival of their orders.
When Padmé received her plate of food, she only picked at her bantha steak with her fork at first. It didn't look very appetizing, but when she tried some, she found it to be surprisingly good. "I can see why you would want to come here," she said to Obi-Wan. "The food isn't bad."
"It's the only thing they make well here," he explained, digging in with enthusiasm.
As Bant watched her best friend eat his meal, she poured a glass of water for herself and shakily lifted it to her lips. "Uh, Obi-Wan, I really think you should open your present now…before you eat any more of your dinner."
Kenobi looked up in surprise, but he wiped his mouth and hands with his napkin and obediently took the package from the Mon Calamari this time, saying, "If you insist." He untied the ribbon, noticing the condition of the box for the first time. "Are there holes in here?" he asked, seeing the pinpricks in the package. He removed the wrapping paper and opened the box. His face paled. "I think I'm going to be sick," he announced.
"What is it?" Padmé scooted over to peer inside the box. At the bottom lay a tiny sleeping bantha. The Queen covered her mouth in horror. "Oh, no."
"I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. I didn't know you'd be eating bantha for dinner," his fellow Jedi said lamely.
"Ugh, don't remind me. You've just ruined my appetite," Kenobi said. He reached in and carefully removed the miniature bantha from the box and set it on the tabletop. "He's cute, though, isn't he?"
"Where did you find him, Bant?" Padmé asked, surreptitiously pushing aside both her and Obi-Wan's unfinished plates of food.
"On Kamino. One of the Twi'leks there offered to give me a specimen of bantha they had created as pets. I thought Obi-Wan might like it."
"I do like it. Thank you, Bant."
"You're welcome, Obi-Wan."
Padmé ran her finger along one of the bantha's tiny, spiraled horns. "What will you name him, Master Kenobi?"
"Well, let's see…" Obi-Wan poked the bantha with his index finger, but the creature only yawned, and then went back to sleep. "If he's like other banthas, he'll eat a lot and sleep a lot. How about I name him 'Anakin'?"
They all laughed, but then Obi-Wan became serious. "Really, though, I don't know what to name him," he said sheepishly.
"How about Ben?" Padmé suddenly asked. "Ben the bantha…it has a nice ring to it."
"If you're tone-deaf," the male Knight muttered.
"Fine then," the younger girl pouted. "Do you have any suggestions, Bant?"
The Mon Calamari started to speak, but she was interrupted by a loud crash coming from the kitchen. Three heads turned in the direction of the noise. Everyone else just kept eating.
"I told you this was your last chance, and it is! Now get out!" Dexter shouted at a droid dish-washer.
"I am going to report you, sir, for wrongful termination," the droid informed him.
"Go ahead," the large alien scoffed. "I have proof that you have faulty programming. Always breaking dishes instead of drying them! I'll win the case, and make sure the papers get my name right this time. My last name is 'Jettster' with three 't's."
As Dexter threw the droid out of his diner, Padmé glanced at Obi-Wan, remembering his earlier words to her. "The last place you want to make a scene in, huh?" she asked dryly, but Kenobi didn't seem to hear her.
"Jettster," he mumbled to himself. In a louder voice, he asked, looking at the small bantha on the table, "How about I name you 'Jet'?"
"Going for irony, are you, Master Kenobi?" Padmé said with a sly smile.
"That's correct, Your Highness," he said, his tone too sweet to be genuine.
Padmé's hand moved to give him another slap on the arm for his sarcasm, but he caught her hand this time before she could land the blow.
"Too predictable," he said with a smirk. But his confident look vanished when he felt a kick impact against his shin.
"How's that for predictable?" Padmé countered.
Bant decided to step in before things got even more out of hand. "It's getting late. Hadn't we better escort Her Highness back to her apartment, Obi-Wan?"
Kenobi was tempted to make a remark about the pain in his leg from Padmé's kick interfering with his ability to walk, but he thought better of it and only nodded.
Padmé paid the bill, Obi-Wan put Jet back in his box, and then the three of them left Dex's Diner with Kenobi giving the proprietor a wave goodbye.
Not long after the two Jedi and the Queen had left, some humans dressed in a nondescript fashion gradually began leaving the diner in ones and twos to avoid raising suspicion and began following Naboo's monarch and her two friends.
As Padmé, Bant, and Obi-Wan rode in an air taxi to Padmé's Coruscant apartment, they passed the Jedi Temple, where Bant suddenly asked the driver to stop. "I just remembered," she said, turning to Obi-Wan and Padmé with an apologetic look on her face. "I have an important errand to run. Could you two go on without me?"
"But we're only a few blocks away from my apartment," Padmé pointed out.
"I'm sorry, but this can't wait." Bant moved toward the door of the cab. In order for her to get out, Obi-Wan had to leave the cab first, and as he stood on the curb, the female Jedi hugged him goodbye. Releasing him from the embrace, she said, "I'll take Jet back to the Temple for you," and took her gift box back from him. She then looked at Padmé, who remained inside the cab. "It was very nice spending time with you, Padmé. I hope we can see each other again soon."
"So do I, Bant," the brunette said warmly.
Bant's silver eyes shone in the dark. "You know, it's such a nice night. Perhaps you'd like to walk the last few blocks to your apartment with Obi-Wan?"
The Queen nodded. "That's an excellent idea." Padmé paid the driver his fare, joined them on the curb, and linked her arm through Obi-Wan's. "Shall we, Master Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan gave his fellow Jedi a suspicious look, but he only told Bant that he would see her tomorrow for breakfast at the Temple before he began walking with the Queen in the direction of Padmé's apartment building.
The Mon Calamari watched them go, and then looked down at the box she held. She whispered to the bantha sleeping inside the package, "Where would your owner be without me, huh, little guy?"
As Obi-Wan and Padmé strolled along the street, the girl noticed how silent her companion was being. "Are you all right, Master Kenobi?" she asked with concern.
"I'm fine," he said a little distractedly. "I was just thinking how much I've enjoyed my birthday this year."
"Really?" She couldn't help feeling surprised, knowing the way she had reacted to some of his sarcastic comments. "Even though I haven't always been…" she paused delicately, "civil to you?"
He laughed. "I'll survive any bruises you've given me, Padmé." Her name fell easily from his lips, and she enjoyed the sound of it in his Coruscanti accent.
"Well, I'm glad…Obi-Wan."
They reached her building, and as they stopped outside it to say goodbye, an awkward pause grew between them.
Obi-Wan was the first to end it. "Thank you for dinner," he said politely.
She smiled. "You don't have to thank me, but you're welcome."
They fell silent again and stared into each other's eyes.
Obi-Wan slowly leaned in closer, and Padmé closed her eyes, waiting for his kiss… but it never came.
She opened her eyes again to see that Kenobi had paused, and when he caught her gaze, he blushed.
"What's wrong?" she asked softly.
He ran a hand through his hair, wondering how to answer her question. He had stopped because he had remembered that Padmé's security was probably somewhere nearby watching them, and he didn't want an audience around when he kissed the Queen of Naboo. Unfortunately, Padmé thought she had been successful in eluding her protectors for the night, and Obi-Wan had let her continue to believe she had been. Now, however, he wasn't so sure that had been a wise decision.
"There's something I should have told you," he said.
"What is it?"
Don't tell her, a voice that was not his own suddenly sounded in his head.
Bant?
It's okay, Obi-Wan. I've taken care of Her Highness' security for you.
Don't tell me… that was your 'errand'?
He could hear the laughter in her voice. Happy birthday, Obi-Wan.
He smiled and shook his head, but sobered when he heard Padmé call his name.
"Obi-Wan? You wanted to tell me something?"
As she looked up at him with concern in her large brown eyes, Obi-Wan only smiled and cupped her cheek in his right hand. "Never mind. It's not important," he reassured her, before leaning down and giving her a long, soft kiss on the lips. "Goodnight, Your Highness," he said when he had drawn away.
"Goodnight, Master Kenobi," she replied, a flush coloring her usually pale skin.
Obi-Wan watched Padmé enter her apartment building, and then decided he would walk rather than take an air taxi back to the Jedi Temple.
After all, like Bant had said, it really was a nice night out.