Mel crawled along, the space not being very large. Swiping at a grill with her large, fluffy brush, she listened for strains of conversation below. Often she could, and managed to learn lots of things that she wasn't supposed too. Surely Obi-wan must have known what an excellent way to eavesdrop this was, or maybe he hadn't considered it a problem. Either way, she enjoyed being fully in on the sordid gossip. Inching along another foot, now lying entirely on top of the grate, she leaned to swipe at an opening above her. CRASH!

With a loud noise, the grate came loose and she tumbled ignobly to the floor in a great shower of dust. "Sorry, sorry," She kept on babbling, as she tried to clear her eyes. She was probably sitting in the middle of an empty room, and talking to herself.

But that was not to be. Once she got her eyes clear, she suddenly regretted it. Katie and Vader were standing there, staring at her, looking like deer-in-the-headlights. But that wasn't the worst, by far. They were embracing, twined rather too closely together, and she'd obviously caught them in the middle of making out (if Katie's rather swollen-looking lips were anything to go by).

Mel's mind went blank, and her mouth dropped open. It was like running into a glass wall, repeatedly. There was simply no way to get around it, pretend it wasn't there, or understand it at all. Why? Why? Why? Kept swirling around in her head, demanding to be answered. She simply could not understand why her friend was doing this at all, much less with him! But could she do about it?

She was not in limbo for long. Before she could think of yet another unanswerable question, she was already out of the door. Half lying, half-standing, she looked up into the face of a very angry looking Vader.

He'd been having a perfectly wonderful meeting with his clandestine love, when the one of the last people who should ever find out came plummeting from the ceiling. Of course, in shock he'd only held Katie closer, instead of acting rationally and springing apart. But what was rational about a perfectly sound vent randomly giving way, and during the five minutes he was doing what he couldn't be caught at? It made one question the reality of fate and bad luck, as far as timing was concerned. The average man caught in his situation would either have to kill the other girl or buy her off, but thankfully he was not average. Waving a hand in front of her face he concentrated, intoning "You will not remember," rather gravely.

Mel blinked up at him, mind suddenly woozy and uncertain. She frowned, trying to make sense of this random development. Suddenly, it hit her. "You're using mind tricks!" She yelled, breaking from his hold and stumbling down the hall.

He let her go, sighing in irritation. She was not weak-minded, and it had not worked completely. But she would be much more confused, and it would give him time to clear up the evidence. Without any clear proof, who would take her word over his?

- - -

Mel skidded to a stop in front of the door she knew lead into her master's quarters. She'd never been inside before, and knew of its location only from a passing comment. It was odd, though. He did not have a lock on his door, merely a 'knock' (green) and open/close (yellow and red, respectively) buttons on the keypad. That's odd… she thought, for a moment. But it made things easier. Its not like she would have known his code, or anything.

Instead, she did something utterly against the master-padawan rules. She barged into a Master's room, without bothering to knock or announce her presence.

Obi-wan spun around, in a brief panic. There were papers spread all over his desk, which would have been harmless in itself, but they were all paperwork from the Resistance. Hastily shoving them into a pile, the least incriminating on top, he was ready for someone to start yelling at him (which was the only reason anyone seemed to visit him) when he realized it was only his padawan.

A breach of etiquette, but she obvious had something very important to say. Unfortunately, he couldn't understand a word of it. She was talking a mile a minute, looking rather confused and very distressed. He would have been content to just nod and smile and pretend he understood until he caught the phrase 'Katie and Vader'. Anything that he could hold over his superior was a good thing. He held up a hand, silencing her. "Slow down. Take a breath. I can't understand a word you're babbling. Let's take this one step at a time. Who?"

Mel complied, calming down. "Katie and Vader."

"I got that much. What were they doing that was so alarming?"

"Making out."

This nearly shattered Obi-wan's deliberate cool. It was a disturbing development, if his padawan was correct. "How do you know this?" It was also entirely possible that she was mistaken.

"I fell through the vents." She gestured to the thick layer of dust coating her entire person. Again, completely against form, she reached out and attempted to drag him with her. "C'mon!"

He let her drag him, though in the back of his mind he was simmering in indignation. One did not drag one's master anywhere, nor did you enter their rooms without direct permission. Obviously, he'd encouraged her too much. "Are you completely sure of this?" He asked, stopping halfway down the hall.

"Yes… no…. I was!" She protested. "But then, he-he yelled at me… and said something… and now I'm all confused."

Obi-wan nodded, letting her continue dragging him on. This sounded exactly like something that Vader would do, and it was adding a particularly disturbing element of truth. He didn't want to insinuate that his padawan was lying, but he hardly expected her claim to be validated.

Besides, her complete disregard for the proper way of thins was really starting to irritate him. Normally he thought of himself as rather easygoing about such things, but she was really going too far. Whether this turned out to be a figment of her imagination or not, he'd have to talk to her.

Once she'd reached the room she'd been trying to find, Mel did not knock yet again, barging in. Obi-wan sighed a bit, poking his head inside the room in his student's wake.

She'd stopped dead in the doorway, looking at the complete absence of dust, stricken.

True enough, Vader was there, though he was looking rather justifiably annoyed. He'd obviously been meditating, which is something that it is extremely rude to interrupt without very good reason. "What is the meaning of this?" He asked, looking for a good answer.

Mel did not give him one. She was still staring aghast at the grate nicely back into its spot, with not a speck of dust to be seen. "But-but…" She seemed to be without words, which was understandable given her situation. "Where's…?"

"I would advise you to remove your incoherent padawan, and lecture her on her own absence of manners." Vader commented, giving Obi-wan an obviously-you-aren't-a-very-good-master look. The entire effect was infuriatingly superior. But he was entitled.

Obi-wan complied, dragging her out by the ear. It rankled him to be found wanting in his skills as a master, but the situation had been rather out of his hands. Glaring at his padawan, he didn't fling her against the wall but did hold her there rather forcefully.

Mel was surprised. He'd never used The Force against her before, and now she was glad that he didn't. Without seeming to be expending any effort at all he was keeping her from moving a muscle away from the position he wanted. It also kept her from merely tuning out his tirade.

Obi-wan, later, would be rather proud of this tirade. He managed to reduce her to shameful quivering (the only motion he was allowing, anyway) within a matter of minutes. Of course, to someone as witty as himself, this had been entirely spur of the moment. "And as punishment…" He trailed off for a few seconds.

Mel took this tiny break to look around. Her eyes were drawn to movement at the end of the hall. Katie was standing there, looking utterly confused. Mel could not gasp, which she wanted to do, as the confusion melted away (for a split second) into something much too much like relief before she slunk away.

"You hereby have no free time, until I allow you to, and during that time you will be practicing the manners you sorely lack. And writing me a three page discourse on why these are vital to the maintaining of the power structure." He finished, with a flourish.

Mel drooped, as he let her go. First of all, she'd almost found out something huge and horrible. Second, she wasn't so sure anymore, and was wondering if she really did just hit her head falling like he hypothesized. Third, now she had to re-learn things she'd never liked in the first place.

This really sucked.