THALIA

Later that night, Thalia and Obi-Wan were going over the final plans for the Crystal Festival when he announced that he must meditate. Thalia watched him leave the room, only to be replaced with Beth.

"So, what are you going to do?" She asked as the sound of the heavy front door closing, echoed down the hallway.

"Do about what?" Thalia asked, turning to face her.

"That young Jedi sitting out in the garden. He's nearing the end of his training and you know their code. Not to mention you're the future Queen of Troska. And if what everyone's saying is true about this impending war, he'll be going back to Coruscant faster than you can say 'hyperspace'. So, you'd better hurry up and tell him." She said knowledgably.

"Wait, hold on. You think I lo…?" Thalia asked incredulously. "Of course not. We're…"

"If you say friends I will quit this household forever and good luck dusting those chandeliers." She threatened, waving her feather-duster in Thalia's direction.

"But…" The Princess began weakly.

"Really, Thalia. You're being very silly about this. A blind man could see it and whether you see it as well or not you can't ignore it." Beth said, addressing Thalia as if she were still a little child. "Do you truthfully not see it?"

Thalia looked at Beth and then down at her lap. She thought back to all those moments she'd shared with Obi-Wan that had felt like everything balanced and the universe was at peace. The shared glances, tender moments and immense care she felt for the Padawan had become more and more frequent. If she was being honest, she hadn't allowed herself to acknowledge what she felt because she knew what would happen if she did. She would shatter into a thousand pieces because she knew there was nothing that could be done about it. The Jedi code prevented any type of attachment, so why give life to something that could never be.

However, she couldn't deny what her heart wanted. And while Obi-Wan hadn't said or done anything to convey how he felt, his eyes had always betrayed him. The moments he'd stared at her so intensely, she'd been waiting for him to do something, anything that would show he wanted what she did.

And there it was. She'd finally admitted it to herself that more than anything in the world, she wanted Obi-Wan by her side forever.

"Okay, say I did…" She began.

"Love him." Beth prompted and Thalia grimaced slightly at the word that was so foreign to her.

"Say I did…have some sort of attraction towards him…" She substituted. "…there's nothing I can do about it. Even if he did feel…"

"Which you know he does…" Beth interrupted eagerly.

"…what's to be done?" Thalia managed to finish without another interruption.

"My sweet child, there's everything to be done if you speak your mind. If it's something you both want you'll find a way to work around it." Beth smiled, leaning forward to take Thalia's hands in her own. "Love is the strongest thing in the world."

. . .

While he sat on the steps outside Thalia's home, Obi-Wan meditated his way through his minefield of thoughts. He'd realised months ago that he harbored feelings for Thalia but he'd hoped that by ignoring them they would go away, but alas they had only grown stronger.

He was torn. That was the truth of it. Becoming a Jedi had been his whole life. He'd been surrounded by this way of life long before he was even two years old. Through all the hardships he'd endured during the twenty-five years of training, his focus had never strayed from his goal of becoming a Knight. But now he was sitting here, questioning all of it. Surely, he wasn't really considering throwing it all away? But when he thought of Thalia, becoming a Jedi Knight seemed so insignificant, and that's what scared him the most. He was prepared to leave that life behind.

"Here's the final map for the fireworks display." He heard Beth's voice behind him as she descended the steps.

Obi-Wan looked up as she handed him a detailed layout of the fireworks display he'd be secretly working on with Beth as a surprise for Thalia after she'd cast the idea aside.

"Thank you, Beth." He said graciously as she carefully lowered herself onto the step beside him. "And Thalia doesn't know?"

"Not a clue." She smiled and then shook her head. "She's a bright girl but sometimes she misses the most obvious thing standing right in front of her." And after quickly studying the young Jedi's face added, "And I'm not talking about fireworks."

Obi-Wan went back to studying the layout as if his life depended on it.

"I know the Jedi code, love, but remember that it's not a life sentence. You're too young to be weighed down with such difficult decisions and responsibilities." Beth said wisely and Obi-Wan felt comforted by her words. He didn't remember his Mother but he thought this must be what it feels like to have someone like that in one's life.

"I appreciate your assistance and your council." Obi-Wan smiled warmly at Beth before the communicator on his wrist began to beep. Beth got to her feet and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder before returning inside.

Obi-Wan opened the communicator and the holographic image of Qui-Gonn appeared in the space above the small device.

"Master." He greeted.

"Hello Obi-Wan. I trust your time on Troska has proved fruitful." Qui-Gonn replied, crossing his arms in front of him.

"It has Master. I feel I have been able to repair the relationship between the Princess and the Jedi." Obi-Wan replied vaguely.

"You have done well my young apprentice." Qui-Gonn smiled before a graver expression crossed his face. "Myself, Master Yoda and Master Windu are to return to Troska in the coming days to attend the Peace Talks. We have heard rumor of a possible attempt at the Princess' life. The Bounty Hunters that were unsuccessful in their own attempts have been hired by a third party to work together in a new mission."

"We believe this plan will be put into effect during the Peace Talks, however it seems they are planning to try and overthrow the Princess' government first." Qui-Gonn continued. "We are forming a plan to assist us in the discovery of their plot and it seems you are to play a major part in this. We need to get a man on the inside of the group to discover their plan. You will be told more when we arrive on Troska."

"What does the first part of their plan involve?" Obi-Wan asked.

"We believe they have a treaty that they need her to sign to hand Troska and the Princess' leadership of the Council of Neutral Systems over to this third party. Our best guess is that they will attempt to attain a signature from her, and in failing that their assassination plot will be put in place." Qui-Gonn finished and Obi-Wan ran his hand along his jaw.

"And what of the Princess? Should she be told?" He asked.

"For the success of our mission here, she cannot know for everyone's safety. Everything depends on it." Qui-Gonn finished and Obi-Wan nodded slowly. "I will see you in a few days. May the force be with you, Obi-Wan."

"May the force be with you too, Master." The Padawan replied as the hologram disappeared.

Obi-Wan sat for a few minutes, letting the information he'd just received wash over him. He was angry. Angry that these Bounty Hunters would dare to try and hurt Thalia, as if they hadn't done so enough already. Before letting himself become to embroiled in his thoughts, he got to his feet and made his way back inside.

He didn't know the Jedi's plan, so there was no point in worrying about it yet. The assassination attempt wasn't to take place for a few days yet, so he had time to work out the best way of keeping Thalia safe.

"Are you alright?" Came the Princess' voice as he stepped back into the room, which had become comfortingly warm from the crackling fire.

"Of course." He nodded but avoided her gaze as he maneuvered himself around the low table to resume his seat next to her on the sofa.

"Is there anything I can do?" She asked and when Obi-Wan looked over at her, he was slightly taken aback with the amount of concern showing clearly in her eyes.

"No. Don't worry, everything is fine." He assured her with a smile and once she was happy with his reply, Thalia turned back to the Festival plans.

Everything was in place. The children from the school knew their roles, the feasts had been stewing since yesterday and the excited buzz from the city had been steadily growing over the past week.

The pair talked long into the night and it wasn't long before Obi-Wan could no longer keep the pull of sleep at bay. He let his head rest against the arm of the sofa and his eyes shut, allowing sleep to finally take over.