"Since you seem to be progressing so very nicely, I've decided to let you try something a little different." Coming from Obi-wan, that was high praise indeed. But he was grinning, which was never much of a good sign.

"Great." Was Katie's response, as she rolled her eyes. Somehow, whenever Obi-wan was happy, she was very soon not to be.

He flicked her casually, acting as though the last several days had not happened. It was what all four of them had decided, unanimously, to do; though separately. This had not affected the spread of gossip throughout the ship, and Katie had been plagued by all the typical rumors and funny looks.

"So what are we doing?" Mel asked, though not quite eagerly. She was tired, as Katie had been out unusually late the night before. She'd started to wonder if her friend was going to come back at all; and the idea had worried her.

"You're going to learn a new skill." He always looked exceedingly reasonable when he smiled, which was partly why it was so very threatening. "Eyes in the back of your head, so to speak." He then pulled out two black blindfolds from a hidden pocket.

Katie snorted. Its not that he was being particularly funny, it's just that when she saw the sashes, the first word to pop into her head was 'bondage'.

He gave her a suspicious look, as though he could read her mind and disapproved. "Take these, you can tie them yourselves." He went on talking, while also handing them their lightsabers. "Now, I want you two to stand here," Point, point. "Now, I'm going to pace around you two. You need to concentrate on where I am."

Mel instinctively tried to concentrate on her hearing.

"No, that's not what I meant." He gently poked her ear. "You can hear me only because I want you to. But in the middle of a fight, are you really going to be able to ask everyone to politely to shut up so you can watch your back?" He kept pacing in a sort of figure eight, making sure they kept their attention on him and him alone.

Katie thought about this for a moment, when the obvious hit her. He meant that they should use The Force! Duh. Feeling the idiot, she felt/sent/sensed a wave (much like the heat waves one saw on hot highways) rise from her in all directions. This expanded into a sort of bubble of awareness, and she found she could 'read' the expressions on his face when he was in this bubble.

Without warning, as he had stopped speaking, he lunged at her side with the saber. She knew where he was and what he was doing, though this odd extended awareness, and blocked with a crash.

"Exactly what I meant." He conceded, nodding at her. "Generally, you get used to the idea of being able to really feel the air around you. Ideally, you keep this 'bubble' up whenever there is a chance of danger, as it is both advance warning, and a safety measure." He talked them through raising and lowering this bubble a few times, mindful of Mel's pride at not understanding this first (and then having problems with the concept).

Mel was not really, or openly, irritated; she just had a tendency to get frustrated when something didn't come easily to her (as most things did). It wasn't a flaw, per se, but it added to the competitive edge that she often had.

After he was satisfied that they understood how to do it, he expanded on the idea. "Say you lose your saber, but you are still in a threatening situation. What do you do?" He did not wait for an answer to this question, though both of them had a few. None were particularly helpful, though. "When you think of a bubble, what is one of the first things to come to mind?"

"Safety?" Mel contributed hastily. Katie nodded at her friend. She had been about to say something idiotic along the lines of 'butterfly' or 'shiny' or maybe 'wand', and was glad to be spared the indignity.

"Exactly." Obviously, if Mel had the correct answer she was good at this. If Katie did, then he was teaching them right. He was not overtly biased, but it was difficult not to be, once you knew them long enough. He simply got along with Mel better, as they had similar philosophies. "Now, if you really work on the feel of the bubble, of the energy, you can create a hard surface. Not like a table, or something, exactly… more like a shield. A wall." He demonstrated, encasing himself in a shiny, shifting surface. It was clear, composed of energy, so one could not see it. But one could see where it wasn't, and follow the patterns of light and shadow until one figured out where it was.

Entranced, Katie tried to reach out and touch the bubble. Her hand went flat, and though she'd touched a rock wall, only this rock wall stung. She backed off with a bit of a yelp, eyeing that shifting miasma warily.

Mel laughed a bit. "Katie and her shiny…" Whatever tensions there had been were gone in that moment. For once, that is. But of course, that moment should not last long.

A messenger, one of the irritatingly common techies (common, that is, when things were working. But once it broke… poof!) popped his head in. He looked rather smug, as though whatever he had to say would change the entire course of the existence of the galaxy. And in a very odd and backward way, he was right. "Lord Vader wishes to speak with his padawan."

Katie looked slightly alarmed, then simply puzzled. Why did he need her now? What would be, could be so important that he couldn't wait an hour? Uncertain, she looked at Mel. Her friend could only tell her the obvious, but it was habit.

The messenger coughed loudly, and rather pointedly. Katie hurried after him, head spinning.

Obi-wan waited for a moment, until he heard their footsteps receding. Nodding to Mel, he gestured for her to follow the retreating pair. If this was what he thought it was, then he had his work cut out for him. Besides, Mel deserved to find out whatever it was well.

Mel complied. Her master had suddenly looked very grave, and for a moment it had scared her to see an almost flash of fear in his eyes. If he was worried, she had better be.

- - -

They found Anakin pacing up and down the hall near the bridge. He was looking more concerned than she'd ever seen him, and Katie felt a cold wash of fear.

Ignoring the messenger, and not seeing the sneaking Mel, he wrapped her in a quick, tight hug with a kiss. She held him back, wondering what could have prompted such a display of public affection (a first, as she would have noted in other circumstances).

He let go reluctantly, aware that they were being stared at. Brushing gently at her hair, he smoothed back some pieces he had just knocked loose. It was a gesture that all present took as tender, or endearing, but he was really just trying to do something with his hands as he attempted to get his thoughts in order. He'd been discombobulated before as well, but she tended to distract him. He could think all right, but not about anything fit for conversation. Looking into her eyes, he regained his composure. "Try no to be alarmed."

Mel, hiding in an alcove some ways back (but close enough to hear) looked disgusted. Even when they weren't trying to hide anything, she found that watching the pair of them made her want to hurl. The very idea of her friend willing submitting, or even wanting, him to touch her was one that Mel simply could not process.

But all that was soon blown out of her mind by something far more threatening. Following some paces behind them, she peeked around the corner to the bridge. The great panes of glass (or plastic, or whatever. Mel didn't know exactly, and she didn't care) were clear of obstruction.

Mel, upon seeing what made Katie gasp and draw back into his embrace, wished that the glass had not been so very clear, or so very large.

There was a Rebel fleet, of some two dozen or more strong, and it was almost completely besieging the larger (much larger, was the only upside) craft.

"They were hiding behind one of the outer moons, sir." One of the techs piped up, looking chagrined at having missed such a large thing, as well as more than slightly afraid for his own life. The man did not add that it was a complete mystery as to how such a fleet could have found them, with the amount of the government budget spent on cloaking devices alone.

While Katie felt like she was staring the lion in the mouth, and was clinging to Anakin like a shipwrecked rat, Mel was slowly backing away. She had a horrible, sneaking suspicion that she knew how this fleet had found them.