Obi-Wan

Obi-Wan hadn't slept. He'd stayed awake after the other Masters left, alternately meditating and listening, waiting for the strange Force presence to appear again. But nothing. Hours on end of nothing.

He was meditating in the warmth of first light when his doors slammed open, followed by the whirling storm of emotion that was Anakin Skywalker.

"Have you heard?" Anakin demanded.

Obi-Wan opened his eyes. "About Dooku? Yes, I was the one who brought him in."

Anakin stared. "Wh-what? Dooku, captured? Gods, Obi-Wan, you could have called me."

"You were unreachable last night," Obi-Wan said, annoyed. "Mace Windu even noticed. You're being a fool, Anakin."

Anakin didn't respond, but sat down in a chair across from Obi-Wan and leaned forward on his arms. "So, Dooku. Has he given up the Sith Lord?"

"Of course not," Obi-Wan said, shrugging. "But things are...interesting. I'll take you down to see him, but...what has you in a fit this morning?"

Anakin shook his head three times, quickly. "Oh, nothing nearly as important. But interesting, is all. Just interesting."

Obi-Wan waited. Anakin liked the drama of things, liked to be the first one with a good story.

"The Republic early morning holos found out," Anakin said, leaning forward with wide eyes, "that a Hapan princess has arrived onplanet."

Obi-Wan furrowed his brows. The Republic was a reputable source, but the very idea seemed ludicrous. "You're sure?"

"They found some sort of communication from the Queen Mother to the Alderaanean consulate, asking them to welcome her daughter in her time of mourning." Anakin sat back, a satisfied expression on his face. He'd been fascinated by the Hapans since before Obi-Wan knew him, first as the wealthy, powerful, pseudo-mythological creatures they seemed to be during his childhood, and then as the Jedi-feuding isolationists everyone on Coruscant saw them as.

"Mourning?" Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair. A message to the Alderaanean consulate. Bail could confirm that easily. He typed a quick message to Bail-Hapes?-while Anakin launched into the story of the tragic death of a Hapan prince and the political ramifications of the Hapan Queen Mother moving a politically strategic daughter to Coruscant in such unstable times.

"I think they're trying to gain a foothold here," Anakin said, crossing his arms. "Trying to see where our weaknesses are so they can cement some power in the Republic."

"Doesn't fit with them being isolationist for so long," Obi-Wan said, "but I suppose it's possible."

His receiver buzzed. A message from Bail-Yes. Curiouser and curiouser. Obi-Wan felt unsettled. He looked up at Anakin. "Bail confirms it. I'll go meet with him today after he's had a chance to evaluate her. Send a memo to the Council in case they haven't already heard. We'll probably want to set up some sort of low-level meeting with her as a sign of good faith, not that the Queen Mother will take it as such." He shook his head. "Too many odd things happening in such a short time. I don't like it."

Anakin raised his eyebrows. "Other than Dooku coming in with-I assume, since you're not in the hospital wing-little resistance?"

"No resistance," Obi-Wan said. "Someone took away his ability to use the Force. We're trying to track them down."

Anakin's face grew still, his thoughts settling and churning in the air between them. "No one can do that. Someone like that-we'll need a lot of our best people looking for him."

"Or her," Obi-Wan corrected absently. Anakin's gaze sharpened.

"You know who it is?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "I met someone. Someone-a woman I cannot fit into any of our normal categories. No Force ability-I checked. But the Force keeps prompting me back to her."

Anakin grinned. "I like these kinds of disturbances in the Force. More mysterious, a lot less violent."

"You like violence."

Anakin looked insulted. "No. I'm just good at it."

Obi-Wan smirked at him. "Fine. Oh, and one thing you could be better at? Making sure you have a good alibi whenever you decide to go over to the Nubian apartments for the night."

Anakin froze. Obi-Wan waved a hand at him.

"I didn't tell. I'm just saying. I don't want to know. And you definitely don't want the Council to know. I need you here, Anakin. We all do. Don't do anything stupid."

Anakin's mouthed moved a couple times, as though he was trying out different words, but no sound came out. Obi-Wan felt a bit grim. Everything was too strange. The whole world was upside down, again, after two years of pointless war. And somehow, he felt as though the answer was just out of his reach, lingering just on the edge of his awareness, waiting to be discovered. Something was happening. He just needed to figure out what it was.