Chapter Nine: Trouble in the Temple
The next few hours of the tour passed fairly quickly, and Padmé marveled at the countless halls and rooms she had seen, happy to have a guide or she surely would have gotten lost.
Her favorite room other than the Room of a Thousand Fountains was the creche. As soon as Obi-Wan made his appearance there, the children old enough to walk scrambled to grab onto his legs, doing their best to pull him down to the floor. He eventually gave in with a dramatic flair and laughed heartily as several of the toddlers began tickling him.
The creche master, a kindly-appearing Tralonian female stole over to Padmé's side with a smile. "He's so good with children." She said in broken Basic. "Almost good as Master Yoda. They just love him."
Padmé smiled warmly and sighed at the sight of the Jedi who had playfully turned the tables and had several of the younglings pinned, returning the tickling gestures with vigor, while several took advantage and jumped up and crawled onto his back. Almost deciding to offer some help when Obi-Wan seemed to disappear underneath the pile, she heard a laugh and a muffled "I give!" and one by one the children tumbled off of him. However, they immediately began pulling on his pants leg.
"Tell us a story!" "The one about the draigons!"
"Not today." The knight insisted to groans of disappointment. "We have a guest!"
Only then did the children notice Padmé's presence.
"This is Queen Amidala from Naboo." Obi-Wan introduced and immediately the younglings began bowing and curtseying, but Padmé stopped them, kneeling in front of the group.
"No…no. Please call me Padmé. I'm here as Obi-Wan's…special friend." Her eyes glanced up and caught the Jedi's, receiving a wink in return.
"Do you know any stories?" An adorable Sullustan female with large dark eyes asked.
"A few." Padmé admitted just as Obi-Wan's comlink sounded.
"We'll come back later and maybe Padmé can tell you a story. You all behave now." He added as he tousled the hair of a small boy.
The young woman joined Obi-Wan as they left the creche to a chorus of good-byes. Once outside the room, Obi-Wan checked his message and then looked to Padmé guiltily. "Are you hungry?"
Padmé grinned and then realized they had lost complete track of time. "A little."
"We've missed second meal. Anakin is worried about us."
"Maybe we should go check on him." Padmé suggested as she took Obi-Wan's offered arm and together they walked quite slowly down the hallway toward the north padawan educational wing, unaware that behind them watching over the half doorway entry to the creche were two sets of eyes.
A small with dark hair watched the couple before turning to the creche Master holding her.
"Is Knight Nobi in love?"
A smile spread over the Tralonian's face as she hugged the youngling tight. "I believe so Tira, I believe so."
Anakin stood as still as he could outside of the commissary as he waited upon his Master and Padmé. An earlier message had included an apology for missing second meal and an explanation that they would be joining him for third meal after his afternoon classes.
Well, the commissary doors had opened for third meal fifteen minutes ago, and the padawan's hand tapped agitatedly against his comlink.
What was keeping them?
Almost convinced that if they didn't appear in the next thirty seconds, he would contact them again, Anakin breathed a sigh of relief when he spied them far down the hallway. But then his brow furrowed dangerously as he noticed Padmé's arm wrapped tightly through his Master's, and his Master's opposite arm crossing his body to hold onto her hand.
A feeling that Anakin had never experienced before crept upon the young boy, and he squeezed his eyes closed against it. When he re-opened them, his Master was standing in front of him with a look of concern and although Padmé stood close by, she was not within reach of the older Jedi.
"Padawan? Are you all right?" Obi-Wan asked after he experienced a surge of emotion along their training bond that surprised him. An unfamiliar aura, he recognized what felt a lot like envy.
Was his padawan jealous?
If that were true, then they would need to have a talk. He needed to explain a few things to the boy. How Padmé was too old for him, for starters. But their talk would have to wait. The commissary was only open for another half an hour, and Padmé was probably famished. He sure was.
They entered the dining room together and Obi-Wan glanced over to check on the availability of the guest table only to find it occupied. Captain Panaka sat amidst a group of none other than at least six council members, and Master Yoda was one of them.
There was no choice, he decided. Anakin would just have to understand.
"Anakin." Obi-Wan calmly announced to the boy. "Go eat with your agemates. I'm going to take Padmé up to the knight's level."
"But!" Anakin began to argue, although he couldn't think of any other alternative. Asking his Master or a visiting queen to eat on the lower levels with the padawans was out of the question, and never did a padawan eat on the upper levels.
"We'll meet you afterward." Padmé consoled him, noting the look of disappointment on the lad's face. She gave Anakin a sympathetic pat on the shoulder right before she turned and walked away with Obi-Wan. Neither of them saw the narrowed blue eyed glare that bore into the Jedi Knight's back.
Anakin slammed down his tray on the padawan's table and stabbed at his nerf roast unmercifully. Too wrapped up in his own pity, he didn't hear the approach of a pair of older padawans until they were seated on either side of him.
"Aww, what's the matter little Ani?" Taldor cruelly teased. "Your friend already dump you?"
"Shut-up Taldor." Anakin hissed through clenched teeth.
"Look at 'em runt." The older boy continued, glancing up into the third level where Padmé was leaning over the table, just inches away from Obi-Wan's face. "She's got the hots for your Master all right. Yeah, she wants it bad." The boy whispered into Anakin's ear just before he found himself lying flat on his back on the floor with his tray of food flipping off the table and into his face.
Up on the third level of the dining hall, Padmé let out a gasp of surprise as one of the drinks on their table suddenly tipped over, spilling into Obi-Wan's lap, almost as if by its own power.
But Obi-Wan knew whose power had caused the incident. He had felt the tremor in the Force just before it had occurred and immediately traced it to the lower level, where he sought out his apprentice in the sea of padawans below, only to discover that Anakin was nowhere to be seen.