Thanks for everyone's support! This is my first time writing something like the following - so Obi's not the only virgin here! ;P WARNING: Now things get steamy.

Down the Wrong Path, Chapter 5

Control, but always there's desire

The ration bar was dry and bitter in his mouth. Anakin chewed it ruefully. All the credits spent on this war, and you'd think they could afford decent rations. Maybe I'll talk to the Chancellor when we get back to Coruscant. Can't have the heroes of the war eating bad rations.

He looked up through the darkened canopy to the spray of stars, purposefully looking at the bright spot in the galaxy, to the heart of the core. Back to Coruscant, whenever that was.

The entire forest was black now. His small hand lamp barely lit up his features, into the depth of his cleft, the ragged lines of his scar, or the cliff of his furrowed brow. The pale glow was given a ghostly backup as his and Obi's lit lightsabers circled him. Anakin barely noticed them any more - the Force guided them, set into motion with a gentle push from him. With their brilliant blades, the sabers drew most of the blasted insects' attention, leaving him and his rations in peace.

He felt the sting and bit back a curse as he Force-slapped the little bugger and flicked it into the darkness. Relative peace. Every now and then one got past his perimeter. Blasted things hurt when they bite.

Anakin shivered, cursing himself for not knowing how cold this planet got at night. But it wasn't entirely his fault. It wasn't supposed to matter. They hadn't planned on being planetside at nightfall. So Anakin didn't carry his cloak with him. It just slowed him down.

Obi-Wan would laugh. Just like Anakin. Never thinking about where he was going. Just react, go with the Force, all boyish reckless abandon. But Anakin knew that was why Obi liked him, why they were such a good team. One acting on impulse. The other a calm picture of logic and strategy. Together they were balanced, as one within the Force. Like the twin suns of his home planet. They were destined to blaze across the galaxy, bringing peace and justice to the Republic.

His lids were heavy. He rubbed at them idly while he put away the rest of the ration bar. He got up, stretching his muscles that were growing taunt, and hoping to squeeze the fatigue from them. He'd rested long enough. Time to --

Eyuria...

The wave of sensations hit him. He whirled, instantly calling his lamp to his hand. There it was again. So brief yet so intensely strong in the Force. It was Obi-Wan. Had to be. This was the third time he felt the presence of his master, but still he couldn't--

Anakin kicked into the woods the log he'd been sitting on. This wasn't fair. He knew it was Obi-Wan, but where? It was like he was all around him, and yet no where, all at once. And it was never long enough. He couldn't tell where Obi was. Was he head down the wrong path? Or worse, going in circles?

Anakin suddenly felt very heavy, as if the entire forest was pressing down on him. He swayed, caught himself against a tree. How long had he been in the forest? How long had he been awake? Leaning against the tree, he let his heavy lids close and cleared his mind. He opened up to the Force, to let its warmth flow through his weary body, knead his muscles and remove the fatigue - by force if necessary. This was no time to fall asleep. Obi would not give up so easily to save him.

The energy crackled through him, ripping into his muscles. It was more than being dropped into ice water. More than touching a live wire. This must be what it felt like to step into a star, and take a really long, deep breath. And in that one instant of a fraction of a second, he could sense everything around him so intimately, there was no difference between him and them.

But no Obi-Wan.

There was, however...

The instance passed. In it's place, a distant hum. That was growing louder.

Anakin's eyes snapped open. He fell into a crouch, simultaneously shutting down the sabers and drawing them to his hands. He squinted into the darkness. The hum got louder. This was no insect. This wasn't even anything alive.

This was a sound he was very used to.

The STAP broke into the clearing. The repulsors hummed loudly as the battle droid cast a scanlight across the area. A patrol.

His metal hand flexed around his saber's hilt. Dooku. He was here. This proved it.

His left hand tightened around Obi's saber. This was not good.

A Jedi accepts the risks by accepting the mission. You must do your duty. Complete the mission. Find Dooku.

Anakin swallowed, clamped down on his beating heart, and leapt towards the patrol. His sabers snap-hissed like angry asps, looking to sink their poison into anything in their way.

The STAP swirled to him. Its twin laser cannons opened fire. He flung away their bolts as easy as those blasted insects. The STAP backed up, continuing to fire, as Anakin pressed forward, the blue blades flashing in arcs around him. Jumping onto a fallen log, he launched himself at the patrol.

The STAP managed to slide to the side. Obi's blade caught the laser cannons, nothing more. Anakin landed on his feet in a crouch and spun, ready for another assault.

But the repulsors roared as the STAP slipped back into the forest. Anakin roared as well and launched himself back into the dark forest, stretching out with the Force to follow the retreating droid. The droid would lead him to Dooku. He'd defeat the Sith Lord and put an end to this blazingly stupid war. Then he'd find Obi, and they'd all go back in peace to Coruscant, where everything would be the way it was supposed to be.

That would've made his mom really proud.

He left the clearing. Trailed by his friends the insects.

And without so much as a noise from the brush they disturbed, five Xaantin warriors followed close behind, lead by Uchalok, whose lips moved in a silent chant.

The kiss grew deep, hard, as Obi-Wan pulled Eyuria closer. Deep down, she knew none of this was real. This was the chopak. This was the trance. This was not the real Obi-Wan holding her so tightly, kissing her with such passion. But she could feel him pressing against her, growing stronger and harder the longer their tongues played in each other's mouths. And deep down, past the voice of her father telling her her duty, beyond the teachings on the chopak and the trance and the disguise, she felt herself, her true self, stirring in strong earnest to respond to him beyond doing just her duty to her people.

She was so soft. Beyond anything he could remember. But so firm as she responded just as passionately, playing with his tongue, clawing at his back. How long had it been? Ah, yes. Since they first met, almost a decade ago, when she was a young queen fighting to save her people. She had been so strong and determined. But he knew the woman under the steel. Fragile and just longing to be loved, to be alone with who she loved, without care and worry about those around her. To just be alone, with only herself to please. Obi-Wan knew her. He saw himself in her. Since that first day he saw her playing her own bodyguard he knew. Their spirits were the same. And now, all he wanted to do, was bring her the pleasure she so sorely deserved.

She pulled back to breathe in, his scent, his aura. She was lying under him, directly under his gaze. And those blue eyes. So full of warmth as they smiled down at her. Suns blazed there, chasing away the storm, shining a pure blue down at her. not for you No, that was wrong. That warmth was for her. She was as he wanted to see her now. He was hers. Her first.

A cloud flitted into his eyes. Eyuria tensed. Or was he?

"Padme, are you certain?"

Eyuria relaxed and smiled softly. He was still hers.

"Since I first saw you, so strong, so gentle, but so sad."

The warmth began to creep back in. He lowered himself towards her neck, brushing his lips, his beard, across her exposed skin.

"As were you, my Queen." His breath was hot and moist across her. She arched into him, digging her fingers deeper into his tunic as his tongue found her ear. "But what about Anakin?"

Anakin? She saw the young man in his mind, shirtless, glistening in the sun. another telan... so tempting...

"My feelings for Anakin are different," her breath hitched in her throat as he trailed his beard over it to reach her other ear. "Like yours."

Anakin. He was helplessly in love with this angel beneath him. Obi-Wan knew it. The feelings sparked off the young Jedi whenever he mentioned the Senator's name. It always made him...uncomfortable.

Eyuria felt the telan tense over her, could see the thoughts swimming through his mind. The conflict in him was intense. If it kept up, she could lose him. So she acted.

"Very, very different," she whispered, trailing one of her hands down his back and under his firm stomach, until she found the bulge that was pressing into her thighs. "Feelings that would never lead to this."

She cupped him over his trousers, squeezing hard enough to bring him back to her.

And did he ever.

His head snapped back to her neck as he chewed hungrily on it. He buckled into her grasp, groaning into her neck. Eyuria didn't need to see into his mind now. His dam was breaking.

So strong. He knew she would be. She'd be the one to make the first move. He never could have, never would have. His control had to be absolute. But always there was desire. To experience those sparks Anakin wrapped himself in. To allow himself just to feel the stirrings that the mere thought of her brought over him. Now here she was. As the stars sparkled, the waves lapped the shore, and the birds sang. She was here with him, in this moment.

And she wanted him. She had just made that very clear. It wasn't the Jedi Master she wanted. Or the general. Or the negotiator. Or any other silly title he was given that never was truly him. She wanted Obi-Wan the man. The man who for so long had kept the stirrings locked into an abyss in his heart. If he was falling over the edge into this abyss, it was because she was pulling him into it.

And nothing at this moment could convince him that this fall would lead to the Darkside. After all, the Jedi were encouraged to love everyone. Right now, this meant only Padme.

"I have loved you for so long," he groaned into her ear.

Tears came to her eyes. She didn't understand most of what he was actually saying now, but the connection they had due to the chopak and the trance made understanding his words unnecessary. She was seeing into his soul. it is your duty

The tears drew Obi-Wan away from her neck as he wiped them away.

"I'm sorry. Padme, please don't cry. We don't have to - "

Eyuria kissed his nose. "Please, we must. I've waited so long. I - love you."

The bottom of the abyss. So soft. So warm. So full of pure energy that crackled around him. This, this is love. It must be. And I was afraid of it?

She smiled up at him, ringlets cascading around her, her gown glowing in the night.

Her gown. And underneath...

With a quick flick of his wrist the Force tore her gown into pieces and scattered the useless garment to the wind. She instantly moved to cover her chest, but he was faster. He was a Jedi Master after all.

"Please, be gentle. This is my first time," she gasped as his hands, those strong fingers, ran circles around her taunt nipples.

"Mine too," he replied softly, so intent on exploring the flesh he'd just forcefully released.

"You could fool me."

Obi-Wan found her eyes again and smiled at the warmth in them.

"I plan to do much more than that, my Queen."

Then he found a new, much better use for his tongue.

Eyuria shifted her grip lower as she arched fully into him. He pulled her up onto his lap, his mouth never releasing the firm grip it had on her breast, while a free hand continued to draw circles over the other. No one had prepared her for the waves that crashed over her. This was the power of the chopak and the trance? This was not a duty. Work never felt this good.

His mouth shifted to the companion, but his hand strayed. Down, and down, gliding softly over her stomach, flittering over her thighs. Deep down, the waves of pleasure were swelling, breaking, crashing, over and over. She could see herself there, in the strange world Obi-Wan was lost in. Hearing the same waves, the same birds. He kept thinking of an abyss. To her, it was a new plateau, so high above the world no one could touch them.

And she longed to touch him.

He was so focused on her that her soft lips on his neck came as something of a surprise. Her hands were tugging at the collar of his tunic.

"I don't know how - "

"Let me."

He deftly shrugged out of the tunic. Padme's hands found his chest as their eyes met. She smiled, her eyes sparkled. And in a swift move, she pushed him down.

Actually shocked, he laughed deeply, bouncing her as she straddled his abdomen. She moved her hips lower, brushing across his tenting trousers, as she returned the favor with his nipples. He continued to chuckle, so completely out of touch with the Force right now and so not caring. He didn't need it to be with her. It was fun enough right now as was.

Eyuria was just marveling. She had seen other males bare-chested. There were warriors far more chiseled than the telan beneath her. But there was hair she could play with! And scars to run her tongue along! If this was how she was going to be spending the next couple years to make her people stronger, than bring it on.

Padme pressed herself against him, breasts fondling breasts, and caught his lips. He welcomed her without hesitation, and his hands found the small of her back to knead. She moaned into her mouth, wiggling her hips against him. The electricity ripped through him as he arched up to meet her. The sensation was more intense than the deepest, strongest connection he'd ever had with the Force. His entire soul was wrapping around them, shutting out the rest of the world. She was all he needed, wanted, had to focus on. There was no war. No Jedi. No Sith. No universe. No one else but -

Master...

Eyuria sensed the flicker and pressed into him harder.

Her hands slipped between them, down his hard stomach, and underneath his trousers.

Not yet. This could not end yet.

Obi-Wan shivered, groaned, as her fingers delicately freed him from the cloth.

Master, where are you?

A voice. Not his. Not Padme's. From somewhere. Nearby but far...

The flicker again, stronger this time. Eyuria acted forcefully by taking him into her mouth, finding a new thing for her tongue to play with.

All he saw was her hair, bouncing. So warm. So very, very warm.

Obi, please, where are you?

Obi-Wan gasped, finding it hard to breath.

"Anakin!"

Within the next second, Eyuria found herself against the wall, held there naked by an unseen force. Obi-Wan struggled backwards, blinking rapidly, shivering.

"What, what happened? Where - "

It vanished. Everything, into darkness. Had it been real? It must've been - he could still smell her on him, still feel her warm mouth.

He looked around frantically, regaining his senses, feeling naked and cold, so small and alone. No Force to comfort him.

Then he saw her. Knees drawn to her chest. But, she was naked?

"Eyuria?" he croaked, finding it hard to calm the beating in his heart. "What the blazes!" He pulled his trousers over himself, turning red. Cold metal against his back. Where was his tunic? Why was the ceiling tipping sideways? "Eyuria, what happened? What did I - "

Obi-Wan slumped over, crashing hard unto the floor. Then back into the darkness.

Eyuria wiped away the tear from her cheek, and just kept looking at him. His eyes were closed now. He would not wake for a while.

She had failed. This Padme of his, she was not good enough. His feelings for her were not strong enough for Eyuria to use.

She hastily wiped away another tear. She failed her father. Her sisters. Her people.

Pressing against the wall, she pulled herself up and shuffled outside.

Only to find one of her father's scouts waiting for her, with another bowl of chopak.

"My princess," he cried, immediately dropping to her feet.

She screeched involuntarily, quickly shielding her chest with her arms. It took a moment for her brain to revert to her status as princess.

"Give me your cloak."

"Yes, my princess."

Without looking at her, he removed it. She snatched it from his hand and quickly wrapped it around herself. It was barely a modest covering, but it would do for now.

"What brings you here, scout?" she hissed at him, hastily wiping any remnants of tears from her face.

"Our lord sent me with more chopak, and to relay information."

"And what is this information?"

"Another telan has been seen, my princess. Our lord wishes to know if this telan belongs with your telan."

My telan. Eyuria squared her shoulders, very glad scouts were not skilled enough to sense what she was thinking.

"And how would I know this?"

"You have seen his mind when you broke him, my princess?"

She snorted. "Of course I have."

"The new telan is one with light hair, dark clothes, a scar across his face, and a hand that no longer exists."

Obi-Wan knew so many telan. Eyuria closed her eyes, recalling all the faces she had seen. And then it was him. She hissed.

"Anakin."

"My princess?"

"His name is Anakin, and yes, he belongs to the telan."

She picked up the bowl of chopak. The scent was strong with this one. Perhaps...

"Go back to our lord, tell him what I have told you."

"But my princess - "

"Go now," she bit back, drawing herself up. "And tell my father our sisters will soon have a powerful telan to bring strength to our people."

"Yes, my princess, as you wish." The scout bowed, pressing himself into the dirt. He swiveled and jumped off, never again looking at Eyuria. Or the smile spreading across her face.

She knew how to do it. Obi-Wan would be broken. He would be her telan. And this Anakin was the key to insuring that.