Currently, suspected clandestine love affairs were the last thing on Obi-wan's mind. More pressing was the issue of getting rid of an insistent hostess, without offending anyone. This was a unique situation, for him at least, as normally he would have just offended whoever it was wittily.
He'd been walking about the actual compound with his padawan, trying to find a deserted area to give her some real-situation practice. Unfortunately they'd run into Ianthe, who'd been (seemingly) wandering as aimlessly as they had been. Attaching herself to their party, she'd made any sort of constructive action impossible.
Not that she was a completely insufferable character. She was simply unreadable. It was a given that she had some ulterior motive, or manipulative purpose in being so civil, but it was impossible to discern.
Obi-wan had always thought himself a good judge of character and rather insightful, but it was like running into a glass wall. He simply did not understand why she was being so insistent in keeping his company, or if it was the padawan she was after. Thinking it might be easier to maneuver alone he sent Mel off to clean the vents, but the woman still did not leave him alone!
He was almost to the point of throwing caution to the wind and just asking her when she let on. As soon as she did, he suddenly regretted ever wanting to know.
They were standing some distance from the bay where the ship was 'docked', in a completely empty hall. She looked about demurely, before asking lightly "Do you know how long you will be staying?"
Obi-wan shook his head, puzzled. "Not very much longer, I'm afraid. We've already been here for some time, and there are appointments to keep."
She sighed, a weird occurrence for such a polished surface. "How regretful." Her voice was an alluring contralto, the sort of 'bedroom voice' that bewitched more men than she had time to care about.
"Really? I would have thought our visit a nuisance." You know, keeping you from your petty rebellions.
She sighed again, eyes very oddly moist. Obi-wan hardly had a moment to wonder if she was drunk beneath the layers of coy perfume before she began dropping the bombshell.
"So is it true that Jedi are forbidden to love?" She asked, though she did not leave time for a reply. "I've always thought that so very unfair."
"But its really is for the better good-" He tried to protest, afraid of what she would say next. He'd heard of this, seen it before but it had never happened to him…
"Love is such a beautiful thing." She was definitely not feeling any pain, if that strangely wispy voice could come from such a pointy, solid woman. "It should be allowed to run free. Not… denied, or-or commanded because of some misguided attempt at peace." It was obvious as to whose love had been commanded. State marriages were arraigned very, very early here, sometimes even before the child was born. Sometimes they worked out for the better, more often for the worse. Infidelity was the norm, sessions of court notorious for the amount of bed hopping present. "Do you not agree? Shouldn't love be able to run its own course and be decided by those who are in love?" The hidden question was almost obvious, a desperate, sad plea from a sad, desperate woman.
Obi-wan did not hesitate, though there could have been massive repercussions from either avenue available to him. "Sometimes love is no more than a inconvenience. It is a powerful force, but should not be allowed to dictate the actions of those who have lives at stake. Jedi do not love because to love is to hate. One cannot deny hate if one does not deny love, as one cannot hate without loving. Love also leads to jealousy, which is but a shade of greed. These things lead to the Dark Side, which must be avoided at all costs."
She opened her mouth to protest, eyes borderline full, but he stopped her. "I have seen the consequences of love. They are impossible to avoid, no matter how pure the love may be. No woman or man is worth the fall of a Jedi, or even the death of one. It is a heavy price to pay, but one that the entire order must undertake." Pausing, he swallowed. Had he done right, to lecture so? She was not a student, in fact she was something of ten years older than he was, and far more experienced in the art of love. "I am not the one to pin your hopes on. I am not who you want, and I cannot be your escape."
She nodded once, before regaining a smidgen of her once-regal bearing. "You will promise never to speak of this again?" It was a thinly disguised order, and he nodded. She gave a slight bow, and left him standing alone.
Feeling suddenly weak from such an emotionally charged and thin line he had had to walk, Obi-wan leaned against the wall. It was difficult to know exactly what he thought, or truly felt at that moment. He knew nothing of love himself, and did not want to know. He'd seen the horror of too much love, of a forbidden union bringing down an entire galaxy around his ears. He'd also seen too many women like Ianthe, strong in public but dying inside. This total absence of love, with only a physical connection, had ruined just as many lives. Sex was no replacement for love, though so many tried to make it so. Such a double-edged sword should hardly be allowed, or even had been invented in the first place. Whoever had been the first to think of such a thing should have been killed, burned, and blasted into oblivion before his dangerous ideas had had time to spread.
Or was it a purely natural reaction? Was he betraying his primal self, by denying even the idea of love? It was difficult to tell, and pointless to mull over. Shaking his head, he trudged off toward the ship. For once, he was hoping that Vader would be free. It had been ages since he'd actually had a saber opponent who was a challenge, and it was exactly the sort of thing to keep his mind off the futility of love and its various trappings.