Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Star Wars. They are the rightful property of one George Lucas, who fortunately decided to share them with the world through his films. I'm merely borrowing them in the most respectful way to have some more fun. That is all.
AN; info on the creature starring in this fic can be found by a simple Google search. Pick the first one and voila! I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed. It's good to hear my inventions are amusing you all so much. And baby Obi-wan was cute, wasn't he! The Force guided my hand on that one, I'm sure of it!

Moments – series

A nest full of love

"Oh come on, master. It's not as if those droids could have caught us."

"It doesn't matter, Anakin. I told you to stay hidden and quiet, and you did neither."

"But they were about to jump you!"

"They were not about to jump me. They were looking at the bush next to me because of the diversion I created. We could have gone undetected if you didn't jump up and started trashing droids."

"Whatever" Anakin mumbled.

"What?"

"Nothing. Master."

Obi-wan frowned, but let his answer pass.

"And while we're on the subject, you failed to fend off the three droids with the electro poles properly. When we get back to Coruscant you'll practise the third kata more thoroughly."

"Aaah, but master, I cut down all the droids!"

"You cut down the ones I was not able to catch."

"I cut down the ones you didn't see coming up behind you."

"Yes, and because of that this is the second robe I will have to bring to the tailors to get the scorch marks out."

Anakin smiled. "It does add to your appearance, master."

"Now you listen to me, my cheeky pada—"

Obi-wan had taken a fast step forward to cut his padawan off. But instead of stopping Anakin in his tracks he found his foot breaking through a maze of vines. Vines that covered a hole in the ground, one Obi-wan was unable to keep himself from falling into. With a loud rustling Obi-wan fell through the layer of vines, into the hole beneath.

Although the jedi had been surprised, he was still a jedi master. A well-trained and quite skilful jedi master. Reaching into the Force Obi-wan anticipating the length of his fall. Twisting his body he transformed his fall into a series of back flips, and after only two seconds his feet connected to the ground. Moving into a crouch Obi-wan made a soft landing. Slowly he stood up, and took in his surroundings. The hole gave access to a large cave. The only light was coming from the hole above him. The vines filtered the sunlight, casting small patches of light around the spot he was standing in. Faint sounds to his right caused the jedi master to lay a hand on his lightsaber, still safely clipped to his belt.

"Master! Are you alright?"

Obi-wan could hear a touch of concerns in his apprentice's voice. He smiled at that.

"Yes, Anakin. I'm fine."

"Hold on, master. I'm coming down."

"Maybe it would be better if you found a way to get me up there again?"

A moment of silence.

"Oh. Yeah, right."

Obi-wan didn't resist the urge to roll his eyes, he was sure Anakin couldn't see him. "Good thinking, my padawan." He could hear faint rustling above him, most likely Anakin moving away from the hole.

Again he heard a faint sound from the right side of the cave. Unclipping his lightsaber Obi-wan cast a wave through the Force, almost scanning the area like a Terrian bat. Picking up dim signatures in the Force Obi-wan carefully edged forward, not moving away from the patch of light too far. When his eyes were more accustomed to the dark he could see the floor of the cave was littered with broken plants, snapped vines, small unearthed bushes and white twigs.

'White twigs? When did you see white trees here, Obi-wan?'

He bent down and picked up one of the twigs. Except the twig was hard, somewhat brittle and had the option to fit into a socket of living body. 'Great. The one time I fall into some dark hole and I end up in a place littered with bones.'

Moving back into the light Obi-wan looked up. "Anakin? Are you there?"

To his surprise he immediately got a response. Albeit not the one he was looking for.

"Gaahhaarraahhsaaa"

Instantly Obi-wan froze. He snapped his head back down and saw four large creatures entering the cave from a tunnel he had been unable to see. Five large, slight pinkish-orange, four-legged creatures, causing the ground to tremble slightly. Obi-wan internally sighed.

'Gundarks…Splendid. Just the thing I need to end this perfect day.'

Immediately he cloaked himself with the Force, remembering from the data printout of this planet the creatures were quite dimwitted and had no Force sensitivity.

The Gundarks walked into the cave, their tongues slightly hanging out of their mouths. A Gundark was famous for it's tongue. Over 15 feet long the creature was able to wrap it around their prey, ensnaring it and suffocating it. A grown Gundark could easily catch a human and devour him.

Obi-wan discretely glanced upwards, estimating if he could make it with a Force jump. But as the Gundarks came trudging by he had to cancel that idea for the moment. Quickly ducking and rolling to the right Obi-wan avoided one of the creature's thick legs from squashing him. Instantly he rolled back to the left to avoid another foot from pounding on his head. The four Gundarks moved about the cave, settling down in the large piles of leaves, vines and bushes.

Reasonably sure they didn't see him and were completely unaware of him Obi-wan looked up at the hole again. 'Can't risk calling out to Anakin, they'll be up and about in seconds.' So he decided to mentally call Anakin. Something the boy didn't excel at, to his surprise and frustration.

'Anakin?'

Nothing.

'Anakin?'

Nothing. Obi-wan quietly sighed.

'Master?'

Finally. 'Anakin, have you found a way to get me out of here yet?'

'Well, I found some strong looking vines. I'm lashing them together to make a rope.'

Mmm, I'm impressed, he's finally showing some logic and responsible behavior. 'Very good Anakin. But hurry up, I have some unexpected visitors down here.'

'Visitors, master?'

'Apparently I fell into a nest belonging to four Gundarks. They're currently—'

'Gundarks! I'm coming, master!'

'Anakin! Wait!'

But he could feel his apprentice was too occupied to hear him. Suddenly Obi-wan had a feeling this was going to be a real disaster. Unconsciously he took a step away from the hole. And his instinctive action saved him from a great deal of pain when Anakin came crashing down the hole. Anakin did the same back flips Obi-wan had done and landed neatly on his feet. Well, at least he managed to do that right, Obi-wan thought grimly.

"Anakin! What in blazes are you thinking!"

"I'm here to save you, master!"

Anakin unclipped his lightsaber and ignited it. Obi-wan could actually see the moment the creatures had figured out there were intruders in their cave. He thought it was around the same time Anakin had ignited his lightsaber and was brandishing it in front of him, calling out to the Gundarks to leave them alone. Quickly diving forward Obi-wan tackled Anakin, bringing him to the ground. A large, slimy red tongue swiped at the air above them. Rolling off Anakin Obi-wan swiftly got to his feet. And found himself looking directly at the flat hammer-like head of another Gundark.

Swiftly calling on the Force Obi-wan made a jump over the creature's head, landing next to it's left back leg. Avoiding the tail that was sweeping back and forth he ran to the side of the cave, behind one of the large heaps of vegetation. Peering out behind he could see Anakin was dodging three attempts made by the Gundarks to wrap their tongues around his body.

"Anakin! Here!"

After a quick roll Anakin managed to look up and see his master standing behind one of the piles. Pushing himself off the ground hard Anakin scrambled to the spot Obi-wan had tackled him to retrieve his fallen lightsaber. Grabbing it he quickly dashed to Obi-wan, another tongue shooting out nearly hitting his right shoulder. In an almost elegant leap Anakin landed next to the jedi master, landing in one of the unearthed bushes.

Obi-wan grabbed him by the shoulder. Pulling him forward he managed to get Anakin right next to him. Throwing his arm around his shoulder and partly over his chest Obi-wan promptly fabricate a Force cloak around them. After a few seconds Anakin caught on and added his own strength to the cloak. Two of the Gundarks came around the sides of the heap, their tongues hanging out of their mouths swinging around. Obi-wan lazily wondered if they could actually smell with their tongues. After making a few sweeps with their heads and tongues the Gundarks backed off. Only moments later Obi-wan felt the pile move a little, and he knew the two beasts had crawled onto their 'beds'.

Slowly he released Anakin, checking if their cloak was holding up. It was, and they carefully moved around the green heap to the spot straight under the hole. Anakin looked at him.

'What now, master?'

Glad to see he remembered to mentally address him mentally Obi-wan replied.

'Well, my apprentice. It seems we have little choice but to resort to jumping out.'

'Jump! But master, that's at least thirty feet high!'

Obi-wan grinned. 'And here I thought you were the chosen one…'

He saw Anakin's eyes flash with indignation for a split second before it vanished. Then with a wicked grin Anakin folded his two hands together and held them in front of his stomach.

'Need a boost, master?'

Although he could see the humor in his statement he could only shake his head, in a very parental way.

'Just go, Anakin.'

'Yes, master.'

Obi-wan watched and held the cloak in place as Anakin gathered the Force around him and leapt to the surface. He rose off the ground high enough to grab one of the vines around the hole. Anakin swiftly pulled himself up. Leaning back over the hole he extended his arm, offering Obi-wan his help.

'Come on'

Obi-wan was grateful his student would offer him help, but the jedi master wanted to show him what it meant to truly be in control of the Force and your feelings. He closed his eyes for a moment, banishing all thoughts from his mind and tension from his limbs. Then he calmly gathered the Force around him, feeling it flow into him like meltwater from a glacier, cool and invigorating. Without opening his eyes Obi-wan leapt off the ground, through the vines and unto the surface next to the hole. Exhaling he released the hold he had on the Force, letting it flow back into his surroundings, grateful for its assistance.

Obi-wan turned on his heels. Anakin was still crouched over the hole, his arm limply hanging over it. Obi-wan was sure the selfcontrol Anakin had left prevented him from staring at his master with his mouth hanging open.

"Let's go, Anakin. We'll be late for our meeting with the council this way."

Without waiting for the young man's response Obi-wan started walking in their original direction. The soft sound of footsteps behind him told him Anakin had quickly pulled himself together. Soon after his apprentice appeared next to his side.

"We will be late if you insist on making these detours, master."

Obi-wan held his calm outer appearance. "This was not my intention, padawan. Two seconds later and we both would have fallen in."

Anakin smirked. "But I didn't. You did, and I had to rescue you."

Now Obi-wan did halt. "You had to rescue me? Don't delude yourself, Anakin. If you hadn't jumped in we could have left that place without any trouble."

"Without trouble? We were attacked by four Gundarks!"

"Who only did so because we were standing right in the middle of their nest. They had young ones to protect."

Anakin frowned. "Young ones?"

With a sigh Obi-wan explained. "When you landed in the cave, did you take in your surroundings?"

Anakin nodded.

"What did you see?"

"A lot of green, bushes and vines, piled together into two heaps. And I saw a lot of bones lying around."

"Hmm, and on top of the heaps?"

Anakin's frown deepened. "More leaves?"

This time Obi-wan did resist the urge to roll his eyes, it would do Anakin no good to hear a lecture and receive a goodnatured insult. "Those heaps you saw were nests, Anakin. And in those nests there were a few soft green eggs, bearing their young." He slightly shook his head. "Next time don't go waving around your lightsaber without thinking first, not all situations need the use of your lightsaber."

Anakin hung his head a little. Good, Obi-wan thought.

"Yes, master."

"Good. Now come on, let's get back to our transports."

They started walking again, and for a while the two were silent. When their ships came into view Anakin broke the silence.

"So we fell into a love-nest?"

Surprised at Anakin's words Obi-wan chuckled. "Yes, you could say that."

"Gross," Anakin mumbled.

- ∞ -