Hiding Love!, with their feelings now front and center in their lives padawans Barriss Offee and Ahsoka face a problem unlike any other they've dealt with before. And falling asleep miles away from the Jedi Temple probably won't help.

Chapter 7: A Relationship Begins

Barriss woke up to the feeling of the sunlight lightly warming her face, Ahsoka pressed up against her body and hid her own face from the suns harsh rays. A light snore from her friend told Barriss she was still asleep 'good god, it's hot up here...wait' "Ahsoka wake up".

Ahsoka's only answer was to roll over and grunt. Thinking quickly Barriss began to trace the markings on her friends face with her finger, Ahsoka offered a light smile but kept her eyes closed "not a bad way to wake up"

"Ahsoka we're still on the senates roof"

"what!" Ahsoka was on her feet in seconds

Barriss sat up and took a quick glance around "shh, somebody might hear us up here"

"we have to get back to the temple, Skyguy's gonna be pissed"

"Ahsoka relax, we will just have to think of something to tell him"

"no that doesn't work with Anakin, he'll just sense that we're lying. We just have to get back as fast as we can"

"then we should probably get going".

Barriss ran after her friend as both padawans made their way up the Jedi temples front steps and inside the first hallway, slowing to a fast walk Ahsoka looked around the first corner "shit!, I mean crap"

Barriss took a moment to catch up to her "what?"

"you should probably prepare yourself for this" before she had time to question her friend Anakin rounded the corner, the fierce look on his face instantly brought Barriss' heart to her throat.

Their master wasted no time in starting his lecture "just where the force have you two been?, I've been trying your com-link for hours now". Before either girl could form an answer into anything more than random ifs or buts a familiar voice forced all three to turn, Barriss had to rub her eyes before her mind would accept the sight of James Clever running up to them with Obi-Wan following in a casual walk.

James stopped and bowed slightly to Anakin "I couldn't help but overhear sir Jedi, I think before you scold these two I might be able to help explain why they were so late getting back"

Anakin raised an eyebrow at the young teen in front of him "very well kid, but first I'd like to know who it is I'm talking to".

As James opened his mouth to answer Obi-Wan finally strode up beside him, with a compassionate nod to the boy Obi-Wan answered for him "Mr. Clever here is our new mess hall assistant cook, the Jedi will be keeping a close eye on his family for the next few months while he sorts out a few problems".

James' rugged features lit up as he listened, once it was clear Obi-Wan was done the boy nodded back to Anakin "pleasure to met you sir, I've heard many stories about the great Jedi Skywalker. But back to the matter at hand, padawans Barriss Offee and Ahsoka Tano are not to blame for their tardiness"

Anakin stole a quick glance to his padawans "really?"

"you see sir late last night I encountered a...personal problem, having met both girls before I contacted them and asked for their help. With their help the problem was resolved but in solving it we got separated, Barriss and Ahsoka must of spent the night looking for me while I came here to wait for them and ran into master Obi-Wan".

Obi-Wan continued the explanation "Mr. Clever's family is in some financial trouble so I offered him a job, in return for his services the Jedi will make sure his family is well taken care of".

Anakin seemed to relax as his former master spoke "well then, Barriss, Ahsoka I believe I owe you an apology. I'll let you and Clever here catch up, meet me back at the quarters in a few hours".

Ahsoka did her best to hide the confusion from her voice "yes master" Barriss nodded a reply before both Anakin and Obi-Wan left the three teens and disappeared around the corner.

Once they were alone James shot both girls a sly grin "not bad huh, growing up like I did has it's advantages once in a while"Ahsoka's face quickly went from confused to angry, seeing her reaction James slapped his own forehead lightly "idiot, sorry Ahsoka I forgot I had yet to apologize to you. As I explained to Barriss last night that incident a few days ago was all my fault. I'd like to apologize and ask for your forgiveness"

With a nod from Barriss added to the apology Ahsoka stretched a hand towards James "apology accepted, just make sure it never happens again"

"oh you won't have a problem with that miss, and Barriss I'd like to thank you. After what you said last night I decided it was finally time to take control of my own life, I owe you everything. If there is ever any way I can repay you just let me know, so...if you don't mind me asking...what exactly were you two doing last night?. I'll admit I don't much about Jedi but it seems like two padawans would have little reason to be on the senates roof that late at night".

Much to Barriss' delight Ahsoka answered rather quickly "we had reason to believe a senator was feeding information to the separatists, our mission was to go to the roof and...spy on him"

"really?"

Ahsoka was already turning away from the conversation "sure why not, come on Barriss we have Jedi stuff to do"

Barriss bowed lightly to James "please excuse us James, apparently we have Jedi stuff to do"

"of course Barriss I understand, I hope to see you again though"

"I'm sure we'll met again James, and remember if you ever need someone to talk to..."

"I know".

Barriss followed Ahsoka inside their quarters, Anakin laid on the coach flipping his lightsaber in small circles in the air above his head "I can't stand these down days, there's an entire galaxy out there depending on us to win this war"

Barriss took a few steps closer to her master "even someone as powerful as yourself needs rest, despite what half the galaxy thinks we're not superheroes"

"that might be true but we're the closest thing this galaxy has to them, if we don't protect the galaxy who will"

"we are peacekeepers not warriors, someday people will have to learn how to deal with problems without the help of the Jedi"

"maybe, your very smart for your age Barriss. You two should probably get some rest, by the sound of it you had a long night" Barriss offered a light bow before turning and heading back the hallway, as the door to Ahsoka's room opened Barriss saw her friend already laying on her bed. Barriss let the door close behind her and stepped as lightly as she could to Ahsoka's bedside, with a tremble she was still unable to hold back Barriss leaned down and kissed Ahsoka's forehead. Before she could pull back Ahsoka wrapped an arm around the back of her head and pushed their lips together, Barriss ran a hand up and down her friends back Lekku as she returned the kiss.

After a few seconds both pulled back out of breath, Barriss couldn't hide the grin on her face "you didn't bite me that time, we must be getting better"

Ahsoka ran a hand through her friends short black hair "I heard Skyguy out there, he thinks we didn't get any sleep last night"

"you can thank James for that, I can't believe Anakin bought his story"

"you have to be a pretty good liar to fool Anakin that's for sure, truth be told last night was the best nights sleep I've had in a while"

"me too, so what now. I mean master Anakin assumes we're sleeping so we probably have a few hours to ourselves"

"I don't know, sometimes it's just nice to enjoy the quiet" as Ahsoka finished talking she scooted over in her bed and patted the empty spot beside her. Barriss wasted no time in laying down, once she was comfortable a gloved arm immediately wrapped around her waist. As time rolled on Barriss lost track of how long they laid in silence, not wanting to ruin the moment she decided to ask a question that had been bothering her in her head 'Ahsoka'

'yeah'

'do you want to talk about this?, I realize it's a lot to take in'

'Barriss we've spent the past few days debating this, I think we earned the right to enjoy it for a while'

'I suppose you're right, but what if...' her thoughts were cut off as Ahsoka's arm tightened it's grip around her waist 'no more talking, we're doing the right thing, I know it'.

Barriss might of found it a bit odd to be in bed at this time of the day had Ahsoka's small form not been nuzzled beside her, the pattern with which her friends chest rose and fell told Barriss she had fallen asleep. Barriss did nothing to fight the feeling inside her, a smile spread on her face watching Ahsoka sleep 'she's right, I should be enjoying this' but despite the thought a knot still formed in her stomach every time the body beside her shifted position.

Ahsoka woke up as fast as she fallen asleep "Anakin!" before Barriss could question the sudden outburst she was thrown off the bed and hit the floor with a loud thud. "ow!, Ahsoka what the hell?" as Ahsoka opened her mouth to answer the door leading into their room housed a light knock before it swished open and Anakin stepped inside "sorry to wake you two but...Barriss I trust there's a reason you're on the floor?".

"yes master, just meditating. Ever since the force meld it helps to be as close to Ahsoka as possible" the lie came to mind so quick it kind of hurt to say but Barriss was still able to force a smile in her masters direction.

Anakin looked back and forth between his padawan "guess that makes sense, anyway I'm supposed to inform you that master Yoda wishes to see both of you".

'oh no' Barriss shook the thought from her head "what for master?"

"I think he just wants to check on your force meld, makes sure there's no...negative consequences"

'oh god' Ahsoka was less successful in hiding the fear from her voice "what negative consequences?"

"not sure

Snips, don't worry though I'm sure everything's fine" Anakin's words were filled with such raw confidence that even with all Barriss knew she found it difficult not to believe her master "we'll head there straight away master".

Barriss pulled her hood back over her head as they neared Yoda's quarters, apparently seeing the worried look on her face Ahsoka offered a hand towards her friend. With a sympathetic smile Barriss grabbed the hand in front of her with her own "you're not worried about this?, a Jedi as smart as master Yoda is bound to sense something between us"

"so?"

"so we'll kicked out of the Jedi order, how does that not scare you?"

"oh it does, I'm just better at hiding it. All we can do is hope our feelings aren't made obvious"

"uh huh, you think maybe holding hands is a tad obvious?"

Ahsoka cast a glance downwards "oh yeah, he would probably pick up on that. But I do have an idea"

Barriss stuck both her hands into the pockets of her robe "really?"

"really, now try to hold onto this feeling" a sharp pain hit Barriss' arm before she had time to react "ow!, mother!..."

"a little self control Barriss"

"did you just bite my arm!"

Barriss placed a hand over the small hole in her robe as Ahsoka wiped a drop of blood from her mouth "feel that, hold onto it. If we're lucky your pain will make getting to our real feelings more difficult".

"alright this could actually work, but later I think we should really have a talk about your biting problem"

Ahsoka let a sly grin cross her face "it's not a problem, I pretty much got it figured out"

"funny" Barriss felt her feet stick to the floor as they neared master Yoda's quarters.

Ahsoka gave her a pat on the back "we'll be fine". The door swished open to reveal the tiny form of master Yoda standing with his back to the door, much to her surprise Barriss also saw several young-lings on the other side of the room.

Each young-ling looked past the master at the two padawans standing just outside the door, following the young ones gaze master Yoda turned to the door "ah padawan Offee, padawan Tano, please step inside". Both girls bowed lightly before stepping inside the room, Barriss did her best to keep the rip in her robe covered as all eyes in the room shifted to her and Ahsoka.

Yoda moved to the middle of the room before speaking "wondering why I called you here you are"

Barriss nodded politely "Skywalker said you might want to check on our force meld"

"ah yes, right his was, but gives a good lesson for the young-lings your situation does" as Yoda talked he shifted his focus to the group of young-lings waiting patiently at the side of the room "gather around young-lings, say hello to padawans Barriss and Ahsoka".

Each young-ling nodded before forming a small circle around the three cushioned seats in the middle of the room "hello Barriss, hello Ahsoka" talking together the young-lings voices were the most innocent thing Barriss had ever heard 'hard to believe each one of these kids will grow up to be powerful Jedi'.

As soon as the thought stopped Yoda raised a finger in Barriss' direction "perfect Barriss, sense that kids. Able to talk to one another telepathically these two are" a room full of small arms raised at once, looking around the room Yoda pointed to a small human female.

A smile spread over the girls small face "but master Yoda, aren't all Jedi able to sense each others thoughts?"

Yoda climbed onto one of the cushioned seats and sat down "very good Rose, while correct you are the connection between Barriss and Ahsoka is much stronger than normal. Able to hear each others thoughts without even wanting to they can, surely demonstrate for you they will if you ask nicely".

The unison please that followed instantly brought a smile to Barriss' face, before she could answer Ahsoka spoke up, her soft voice filled with compassion "of course we will kids". Both Barriss and Ahsoka sat down in the two empty seats opposite master Yoda and crossed their legs, as Barriss closed her eyes Ahsoka's presence was instantly recognizable beside her 'so what does he want us to say?'

'not sure, I don't think they can even hear what we say. All anyone else can do is sense that we're talking'. "Great job you two, a show of the power a force meld brings perhaps?" after a few moments of silence the young-ling that had spoken before began to rise, a few laughs could be heard around the room as more and more young-lings began to float. Yoda let out an impish laugh "hmm, learned to fly my young-lings have, very impressive, very impressive".

Once the young-lings had all been brought safely back to the floor Barriss and Ahsoka opened their eyes and sat in a more relaxed position. Yoda waited till the young-lings had reformed their circle before speaking "seen what a force meld can do we have, but can anyone tell me why a force meld is so rarely used?" the same young-ling who had answered before raised her hand "go ahead Rose"

"a force meld can be very dangerous to both Jedi's minds"

"very good Rose" before Yoda could continue another hand shot up from a twi-lek young-ling "master Yoda"

"yes young-ling"

"I thought you said that only master Jedi had the power to form a force meld"

Yoda nodded to the young-ling "ah yes, brings us to the real reason you're here that question does. Padawan learners Barriss and Ahsoka are, know how they have managed to form this meld we do not. Any ideas young ones?" all young-lings in the room remained quiet as their eyes roamed over Barriss and Ahsoka.

After a while the same twi-lek from before raised his hand "maybe a force meld between their species is easier than others performed in the past"

Yoda nodded slightly "perhaps young one, any other ideas?". Rose immediately raised her small hand "master perhaps Barriss and Ahsoka share a special connection"

Barriss swallowed a lump in her throat as Yoda got down off his chair "interesting Rose, please continue"

"well if they cared about each other before the meld maybe that connection made it a more natural thing to form the force meld...in their minds at least"

Yoda let out another impish laugh as he stood between Barriss and Ahsoka, after taking a hand from each he put them on top of each other and placed his own hand on top "truly wonderful the mind of a child is, while possible that could be Rose it can't be the answer here. Very well trained these two padawans are, an attachment to each other they cannot have" Barriss did her best not to show the relief on her face, for a few moments Yoda closed his eyes and left the room silent.

The presence inside her was instantly recognizable as master Yoda but it didn't stay long enough to become anything beside a small shiver, Yoda reopened his eyes and let go of both girls hands "fine for now you both are, go you can, say goodbye young-lings".

Barriss rubbed the sore spot on her arm as she walked down the hallway leading to their quarters "I can't believe you bit me for nothing, why didn't master Yoda just tell Anakin he wanted us to speak with the young-lings?"

Ahsoka shook her head "I have no idea, so which one do you think was right?"

"what do you mean?"

"well the twi-lek said a force meld might be easier between our respective species but that Rose girl seemed convinced there was a connection between us even before the meld"

"I'm not sure Ahsoka, perhaps the next time we have some time to ourselves we can do a little research and see if there is a special connection between our species"

"I guess it's worth a shot"

Barriss opened the door to their quarters with a wave of her hand and stepped aside for her friend to enter "something else is bothering you, I can feel it".

Ahsoka shrugged as she led the way through the door "it's nothing"

"you're lying"

Ahsoka sighed heavily and flopped down on the coach "ugh fine, it's just...did what master Yoda said bother you?"

"not sure, it takes me a while to realize what he's saying"

"he said we were well trained enough to know we shouldn't form an attachment to each other"

Barriss took a seat beside her friend "yeah, that I heard. Ahsoka if want to end this...I will try"

"no Barriss that's not what I meant, but do you think that we're doing something wrong?"

"well we are breaking the Jedi code, but it doesn't feel wrong"

"what doesn't feel wrong?"Anakin walked in the door with a confused look on his face.

Barriss inched away from Ahsoka as nonchalantly as she could "oh...uh letting my hood down master"

Anakin's look questioned the excuse but shrugged it off as he walked into the small kitchen "by the way that reminds me, how about Raven?"

"I'm sorry master"

"Raven, your nickname. Because of the hair"

Barriss pulled down her hood and ran a hand through her short black hair "sure master, if that's what you want to call me" Ahsoka quickly pushed Barriss' head out of the way "now hold on a second Skyguy, I didn't get to pick my nickname". A short smirk crossed Anakin's face "neither did I Snips".

A freshly showered Barriss stepped into her shared room still running a towel through her hair "Skyguy went to bed" Ahsoka was already laying on her bed with one leg crossed over the other "it doesn't feel wrong to me either".

Barriss looked at her friend for a moment before their previous conversation came to mind "thank you" throwing the towel on her small dresser Barriss sat down on her cot and began to remove her Jedi robe.

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow in her direction "what are you doing?"

"going to bed, what are you doing?"

"I meant why are you sleeping over there when this bed fits two just fine?" as the words left her friends mouth Barriss stopped unzipping her robe "I don't know, do you want me to keep the robe on?"

"yeah as hot as it gets in here at night, you'd sweat to death"

"I guess you're right" fully aware of the eyes

on her Barriss finished unzipping her robe and let the long black garment fall to the floor, Ahsoka turned her head away before she could see anything "I can tell you're embarrassed, hop under the blanket".

With her friend staring at the wall Barriss found it much easier to move her olive skinned body across the room, even though a black bra and panties still covered her a blush crept across her face as she slipped under the covers beside Ahsoka "you can look now".

Ahsoka turned back and opened her blue eyes "see, was that so scary?"

"not as scary as the thought of Anakin walking in here in the morning and seeing us like this"

Ahsoka quickly shook her head "Skyguy always knocks in the morning, ever since that first time"

"what first time?"

"lets just say the experience was unpleasant for both of us and leave it at that"

"point taken, so...goodnight"

"yes, it is" Ahsoka leaned in and lightly kissed the tattoos on Barriss' face, Barriss was completely unable to hide the blush on her face as she closed her eyes and let the troubles of the last few days drift from her mind.