Chapter 10: Reunion and Repercussions

The next time Obi-Wan woke up he felt definitely better. The world was still blasted white but at least he knew where he was. And the queasiness that had bothered him last time he woke (and not to mention during and after the disastrous dinner at Lazerian IV) was totally gone. Actually he felt slightly hungry and a bucket of sapir tea would have been wonderful.

What was even more wonderful was the sight of his Padawan's face as he woke.

"Master! You're alive!

The grin that accompanied the comment could have made a fair competition with Tatooine's twin suns.

"Of course I'm alive," he answered, "shouldn't I be?"

Then a thought struck him.

"Speaking of which, what are you doing here? I thought you were confined to avoid spreading the flu virus within the Temple?"

Anakin's little nose scrunched in dismay: "I was. I was stuck with Master Windu for two days, but since neither of us has any sym…symp…..symptoms we were allowed to leave his apartment again. Do you know that Master Windu has a padawan's room but no padawan?"

"I know," Obi-Wan confirmed, "he used to have a padawan, but she was knighted long time ago."

"Oh…"

"Oh, maybe you can keep my room too when I'm knighted, then. Then I could come and visit you and take care of you when I've saved your life and…"

"Anakin, what are you talking about? You're ten years old and won't be knighted in many many years yet. And I assume I will be the life saving one for the next years to come."

"Well, I saved yours this time so it's one count for me," Anakin grinned.

"You didn't. I just got a flu," Obi-Wan protested.

"Yeah, but I got you home to the healers…"

Obi-Wan's brain snapped into gears. It was something about the boy's demeanour, and frankly he didn't quite understand how they had managed to get back to Coruscant. The last thing he remembered was boarding the ship when they left Lazerian IV and then his memory was a huge black hole. Could it really be that… ?

"What happened?" he said plainly.

"You passed out when we were in hyperspace and I didn't know what to do at first so I decided to let the autopilot take us back and I did the landing myself."

Anakin was beaming with a well-deserved and very un-Jedi'sh pride.

"You did? No, you didn't'. Did you?"

"I did! The Space Control thought that I was just a little kid playing and they were terribly insisting and then I decided that they would just disturb me and we had to get down so I switched them off and landed. It was just like pod racing…just bigger!"

Obi-Wan could feel the familiar headache growing again.

"I…well, I have to thank you for getting us back here, Padawan. But don't you ever do that again, at least not until you're old enough to fly a spaceship."

A slightly mischievous grin appeared on the boy's face: "I won't, as long as you don't go down like that and leave to me to rescue us, Master."

….

The following afternoon Obi-Wan was released and allowed to return to their apartment on the strict condition that he should stay inside it for another three days, before going out into public again.

"You shouldn't be contagious anymore," Healer Shan proclaimed, "but we want to be 110% certain."

"I will do as you say," Obi-Wan confirmed, knowing very well that the alternative would be to stay in the Healer's Ward for the same amount of time. After all he had a padawan to look after. On his way out he almost collided with a Knight entering the ward. To his surprise the Knight blushed and looked away before limping into one of the inner rooms of the Ward.

"What was that about? Did I insult anyone while I was unconscious?"

Healer Shan shook his head: "No, you were admirable quiet. I guess he may feel bad about your pale and ragged looks. Didn't you recognise him?"

"No?" Obi-Wan was still confused.

"It was Knight Aroon. He was originally assigned to the mission you've been to," Shan explained.

"Oh," Obi-Wan suddenly remembered the explanation that had been given during the mission briefing in the Council Chamber. "The one with the ankle?"

Shan just smiled.

"Oh, right. You're not allowed to tell."

A faint suspicion began to form in his mind. Could it be that…? No, a Jedi Knight wouldn't do that, would he? But on the other hand, anyone that knew about the Kingdom of Devit's ceremonial dinners would most likely do anything to stay away.

"I see," he said neutrally, "I hope Knight Mithrial has recovered well from his stomach flu as well."

Shan smiled and arced an eyebrow.

"Well, then, I'll be on my way and I promise to stay indoors in our apartment for the next three days. Thanks again Master Shan."

And with that Obi-Wan left the Healer's Ward in deep thoughts.

He spent the next couple of days digging into files which he managed to acquire from the Temple's main computer. Knight Aroon's ankle must have recovered with an impressive speed, because two days after he and Anakin had left for the mission he'd been hurt in a duel i dojo #7 and this time he'd come to the healers' with a strained ligament. The miraculous healing seemed to be contagious indeed because his opponent had been Knight Mithrial whom should have been too weak after several days of stomach flu to put up such a formidable match in the duel.

He almost chuckled when he realised how thoroughly fooled both he and the Council had been. Mostly the Council actually.

By the third day he was released from his grounding and was allowed to move freely in the Temple again as Healer Shan declared him free of any potential remaining Tastige flu virus.

"Now you're allowed to walk around without being a public threat," Shan said with a smirk. "Just be careful the first couple of days when you are in the dojos. The food poisoning has drained your strength, so you still have some recovery to do before you're up to full speed again."

"Yes, Master Healer," Obi-Wan sighed. He would never admit it but the rather short walk from the hooverlift to the Healers' Ward had taken his toll on him.

As he was about to leave, he was once more almost colliding with not only one, but two beings, who were entering the Ward on rather wobbly legs. Both beings had a most interesting green complexion, which would have been all good if they were Twi-Lek. But they were in fact human. Instinctively Obi-Wan pulled away. That colour didn't bide well for the surroundings.

"I think I've got a really nasty stomach flu," one of them groaned, "please Master Healer, do you have some antidote? I've spent most of the night in the 'fresher."

Healer Shan raised both eyebrows quizzically: "But Knight Mithrial, you seem even worse for wear now than you did when you had the last stomach flu?"

The only answer he got was a new groan and with surprising speed the Knight bolted towards the 'fresher door. Almost simultaneously the other Knight whom Obi-Wan now recognised as Knight Aroon set a steady course for the second 'fresher door.

With a shrug he left the Healers' Ward, hoping fervently that the bugs the two knights had wouldn't decide that his body was a perfect new home. He'd seen more than enough of the 'freshers inside recently.

…

His intention was to get a nap before Anakin had finished his classes for the day. He never came that far. When entering the small living room his glance fell onto the reading pad. Had he really closed it down and activated the locking code two days earlier? And hadn't he left it on top of the table in the living room but found it on the desk the morning after?

He surely had.

By the time Anakin bolted through the door he had the most certain feeling of what had happened and he was not impressed. He really had some work to do by teaching his Padawan about ethics.

"Master! You're home!"

"Yes, of course. Where else should I be?"

"Dunno'. Weren't you to see Master Healer Shan today? Are you deemed well? How do you feel?"

"Yes, Anakin. I went to see him and I'm officially free of the Tastige flu virus. However, I was told not to overexert for the upcoming couple of days as the food poisoning was quite rough. Actually, I believe some food would be nice now, so I was waiting for you to come home so we could go to the refectory and have a small celebration that we've experienced our first mission. I feel a bit hungry."

"Yes, Master," Anakin beamed.

The refectory was quite crowded when the two of them entered but they managed to find a small table for themselves and sat down with their loaded trays. Anakin's definitely carrying a heavier load than Obi-Wan's.

By the time they had finished the main course Obi-Wan cast a thoughtful glance a this Padawan.

"Anakin, since this is a celebration of sorts, you have my permission for today to dig into whatever desserts may be on the menu today."

"Really, Master? Thank you."

Anakin came back with a tray almost as full as the regular dinner tray had been.

"You want some, Master?"

"No thanks, Padawan. And I believe you should be careful as well. So many sweets may be tough to your stomach when you're not used to it," Obi-Wan admonished.

"I'll be fine, Master," Anakin retorted with the natural self-confidence of a ten year old.

It didn't take him long to polish off the plates.

"Thanks, Master. I'm really stuffed now. But it was soooo worth it."

Obi-Wan nodded, hiding a smirk.

"My pleasure, Padawan. Let's get home and have some rest. Or at least I will. I assume you have some assignments to do."

"Yes, Master."

The side effects didn't take long to occur.

Half an hour later Obi-Wan heard hurried steps towards the 'fresher door. A few minutes later a pale padawan came out.

"Master, I'm not feeling very well," he complained.

"You don't?"

"No. I think maybe I ate too much as you said."

"You're sure of that? I heard that Knights Aroon and Mithrial have got a new stomach flu. You haven't happened to be close to them recently?"

Anakins complexion changed from delay pale to deep crimson.

"I…no….Master. I….they….no, I haven't," he stuttered.

Obi-Wan met his Padawan's glance with a mild, but stern expression.

"How did you do it?" he said plainly.

Anakin's face turned almost purple.

"You know?"

"I guessed it. My reading pad had moved from the table to the desk and it doesn't move by itself."

Anakin hung his head, mortified.

"I wasn't spying, but when you went to bed you forgot to switch it off so I was going to do it, and then I saw what you've been reading. They fooled us, Master. Didn't they?"

"I guess they had learned about the celebrations in the Kingdom of Devit," Obi-Wan admitted.

"So…yesterday when I went to the refectory they were sitting by a table when I passed by. I…had some of the leafs from a Malastarian Birch in my pocket so I levitated them into their salads. I knew from the preceding class in botanics that those leaves would cause some…uhm…digestion problems for humans. You almost died, Master."

"No, I didn't. I was just very ill from a combination of food poisoning and flu. None could have foreseen that," Obi-Wan said mildly. "You are aware that what you did to them actually is a revenge?"

"I…yes, Master. But I still think they deserved it," Anakin said meekly.

"And you are aware that Jedi do not seek revenge?" Obi-Wan's voice was more stern now.

"I…," Anakin's voice trembled for a moment and then he turned towards the 'fresher again.

The next time he emerged he was more subdued.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" he asked.

"Yes," Obi-Wan admitted. "I was fairly certain that you'd done something to them, but I didn't know what. So I allowed you to eat as much dessert as you wanted, and I did expect something like this to happen. After all, I've done the same mistake myself," he added. "I assumed that feeling a bit of what they have to go through would remind you of your emphatic skills in a way that my words couldn't. However, when this is done with -probably later in the evening, I want you to learn one thing, and learn it well: A Jedi never, ever seek revenge. That's one of the things that make us Jedi. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master!"

And with that Anakin bolted for the 'fresher for the third time.