Katie, interestingly enough, slept very well that night. She'd blacked out the moment her head had hit the pillow, and did not wake till some time after Mel had already dressed and left for her pre-breakfast bashing session.

Groggy and spent from the wild roller coaster of emotions she'd ridden that night, she swiped at her face with a very cold wet cloth. It helped, sort of, and she managed to get dressed without falling over.

After trying, and then re-trying to put her boots on the right feet, she wandered down the hall, and the stairs, towards his room. It wasn't all that early in the morning, and she wanted to talk about what had happened the night before, and what it meant for them. He was in, so she didn't have to stand about looking confused (not that that was new) for long.

"Good morning." He smiled at her. It had not been a particularly good morning, but it was difficult for anything not to be good with her around. Sweeping her up in a one-armed hug he kissed her, letting her hair down with the other. He liked it better that way.

She took up a seat at the table he was working at, where various official-looking sheets with shiny seals awaited his signature. It was difficult to keep the giddy half-smile off of her face, partially because she enjoyed being with him, but mostly because he had been lounging about shirtless. "Good morning." What had she come about, again?

"About last night." He didn't seem concerned, outwardly, though she had no way of getting into his head to see whether he was acting.

"Yes?" She was not so sanguine.

"Don't worry about it." He grinned, and reached out to gently touch the side of her face. "They can't do anything about it."

She leaned her head into his hand. "Does this mean no more hiding?" In a way the nightly escapades had been thrilling, but she disliked being a sort of 'closet girlfriend'.

"Well… not really." He pulled her in closer, her face to his chest. "I don't want it to go any farther… I don't want you to become a target." He added hastily, trying to soothe any doubts she might have had about his motives. "I don't want you to get hurt."

She only sighed in response. There was undeniable logic behind his reasoning, but she didn't like it all the same. They stayed like that for some time, her leaning against him, he stroking her hair. It would have been a exceedingly tender moment had not both of them been contemplating her possible demise.

"What should I do about Mel?" She asked, breaking the silence. "She… doesn't approve." That was putting it mildly.

"Just forget about her. They don't understand, and they don't matter." How oddly soothing an idea…

She let the silence envelop them again, not willing to give that answer. She loved Mel as well, though in an entirely different way! Would she have to choose? If so… which would be the lesser of the two evils? Living without her best friend, or her lover?

- - -

Mel was having a less peaceful time, though she was heartily enjoying it. He'd had her go through a long set of give-and-takes, then some meditation, and now they were sparring. It was oddly relaxing, being able to concentrate on just her physical reactions and discarding any moral quandaries. The meditation was relaxing as well, thinking of absolutely nothing a nice change from the queries of last night.

Easily deflecting her blow, Obi-wan called for a brief break. He'd had some simple food, fruit, bread and cheese, sent down so that they could eat without rejoining the rest of the mad society. Crunching at a weirdly patterned citrus thing, he broke the companionable silence first. "I know what you're thinking. 'How can I save her? How could she do that to me? Is she blind?'"

Mel nodded. He'd been basically right an all three accounts, which shouldn't be a surprise. He was Obi-wan, after all. "Does that mean you haven an answer?"

"No." It was about time he was honest to someone. "I don't think there is anything, anything at all you can do that won't alienate her further. And once she realizes the truth, she'll need you more than ever." Assuming, of course, that she didn't like it.

Mel sighed, looking dejected. She hated not being able to do anything, or even think of a possibility. It was so close to be helpless that she loathed it, despised having to accommodate something she had absolutely no control over. It was like watching someone play with matches, knowing they were going to hurt themselves badly, and being unable to call out or stop them. "I wish I could do something!" The worst part was knowing that even if she ignored it, the problem would hardly go away. And there wasn't anyone who could take it off her hands.

"I know…" He gently, and a tad awkwardly, patted her arm.

"Are you going to do anything?" She asked, suddenly sharply. She was looking up at him, all vagueness gone from her eyes.

"I can't." Again with the bitter honestly. "I tried to talk to him, but its not like he'll let go of her now. And she wouldn't listen even if I tried to talk to her, not in a million years." He took another bite. Crunch.

"So what should I do?" The Mel from Before would have laughed at this. The 'great and fearless leader' of her little posse, asking for help? Even if she needed it? But Mel had been brought down some notches, learned how very little she actually knew and how it was not to be in control at all.

"Nothing. Forget about it. Let her think you finally approve… or that you just don't care." Obi-wan had never understood why anyone would bother looking to him for help, not with this, considering what a fiasco it had been…

Mel sighed, heavily. What could she do?