Qui-Gon hurried through the Jedi Temple, weaving his way in and out of the various throngs of students who were huddled together in groups. Some of them glanced up at his arrival, and there were a few bows and a few chirruped greetings by some of the prettier girls. He hastily accepted the bows with a wave of his hand but ignored the salutations by the salacious females, especially the blonde one with the blue eyes. His dark eyes were scanning the crowds, and annoyance was quickly furrowing his brow. Taking a deep breath, he willed himself to relax. He would find her. It seemed as though he spent his days in a state of constant worry as he searched for his Padawan, who almost always was somewhere different. Her list of duties that she kept tacked to the wall of her bedroom hadn't been updated in three months, so he really had no idea where she was today. Ana was completely haphazard about her schedule of events, and she usually relied upon Qui-Gon's simplistic manner of storing the list in her head, or asking Clah'Diam to keep everything written down. The Twi'Lek was remarkably organized, and Qui-Gon once more thought what an unusual pairing they made. He took a corner rather quickly and almost ran straight into the aforementioned Twi'Lek, who was smiling at him with wide, golden eyes. Her tattooed eyebrows were raised, and she offered him a little impish grin. "Looking for La'Ana again? She goes missing quite a bit, doesn't she?" she said in a cheerful voice. She bent at the waist to pick up the papers she had dropped, then re-shuffled them neatly in her arms. "She had crèche duty at nine o'clock, so I told her to scat and I would take care of her Galactic History class. She's probably still there; she liked hanging out in the nursery."

He bowed to Clah'Diam. "Thank you, Clah'Diam, I do not know how I would have found her otherwise." He said, then took off again. He walked slower, more leisurely now that he knew where she was. He might have guessed it of her, anyway; she had a remarkable fondness for small children and little babies. Considering the crèche was a good distance away, he settled into a semi-meditation that he often adopted whenever there was a spare moment. He couldn't get fully into a trance, but rearranging his thoughts would be good before he met up with Ana. They had quite a bit to talk about today. Ana had become slightly more receptive to him, opening up a little further and a little further each day. She no longer became hot-tempered and angry whenever he mentioned Wathearu, and he sensed she was beginning - only a bit, mind - to trust him. As she had said, she trusted him enough to give him a chance. The new hairstyle of her Padawan braid had been a remarkable step, and she had been questioned about it several times when the rest of her classmates saw the change. When they asked why, she merely sniffed and informed them that she intended on completing her training. For reasons he still couldn't pin down, this irked him whenever she said it. Part of him wanted a hidden meaning to it, wanted her to say that he was her Master, and that was why she grew it back. But she still too wary about revealing everything to him, and he was careful not to press too hard. It was rather like watching an oyster; every time she opened up a little more, he could see the pearl of a woman that she could have become. But he knew that if he threw caution to the winds and merely thrust open the oyster, she would snap down on him and leave him with very sore fingers.

He opened the door to the crèche and was instantly greeted by the sound of a shrieking baby. Around him were glass containing pods where the newborns and the infants were kept, their monitors beeping gently in the hubbub as the red lights alerted the nurses that they needed to be fed. A redheaded nurse gave him a very annoyed glance as he politely shut the door behind him and offered her a smile. "Are you here to volunteer?" she snapped. "If so, please go over there and start changing bottles."

"Perhaps another time. I am actually here in search of my Padawan, La'Ana Shaddem." Qui-Gon said lightly. "Do you happen to know where she is located?" The nurse rolled her eyes and pointed at the wall. "Thank you very much." he said, then jumped out of the way to narrowly avoid being whacked in the shins by a runaway stroller. In it was a chubby blonde boy who was propelling himself along without using his hands or feet, and screaming with delight. Behind him, shouting for him to stop, was a rather fussy looking Jedi Knight, Ta-Foon. She made a face at him as she went by, still calling out after the Force-sensitive child. Qui-Gon strolled over to the playpen in the corner, and what he saw warmed his heart.

Ana was on her hands and knees, crawling around on the floor, loaded down with two little girls. They were both giggling wildly, and the larger on had a firm grip on her Padawan braid and a handful of her curly black hair. He realized this was the first time he had seen her smile genuinely, a true smile, even though she winced whenever the toddler yanked too hard on her braid. Ana rolled over suddenly, spilling the two girls onto the carpet and they shrieked girlishly with delight, the rest of the children piling on her in excitement. They burbled and chattered loudly in baby-talk as they clutched eagerly at her hands, tunic and leggings as she played with them. When she caught sight of Qui-Gon, she blushed ferociously and stood up, brushing off the babies who were still clinging to her tunic. She stepped over the playpen walls and came up to him. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "I get a bit carried away when I play with the children. It's quite a demanding job; but I love it so."

"You're very good at it," Qui-Gon said truthfully. She had looked becomingly natural whenever she played with the children. "However, I believe it is time for you to accompany me to the gardens. I have something I wish to discuss with you." At the worried look on her face, he laughed softly and soothed her. "It is good news - to a point. Now come, get your outer robe and we shall leave." He took the robe off the hook by the door and helped her into it. Ana felt a familiar shiver run down her spine as his large hands rested briefly on her shoulder for a minute; every time they touched, no matter how innocently, she always got a very curious feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hadn't identified it, mostly because of her disparage of meditating, but at the moment she just wanted to leave it be. Some things were better left a mystery.

09

It really was funny, Ana decided, seeing Qui-Gon up to his elbows in dirt as he weeded Wathearu's garden. They had begun a silent habit of going there whenever they needed to talk or meditate, and as they spent more time there, the garden gradually expanded. The daily chores such as weeding, cutting, mowing and watering were handled together, and they just had the Eastern corner of the garden to complete before they could meditate. During the time they had been working, he had asked about her love for creche duty and noted that she was one of the few Padawans who truly enjoyed it. "They see it as a burden," he said. "But you don't seem to mind at all."

"It's very relaxing," Ana said sheepishly. "Something's very innocent about their faces, the way they have no idea about the worries and struggles us adults go through. What about you, do you like the creche?" she asked. Qui-Gon rocked back on his heels and thought for a moment, wiping his forehead and unconsciously smearing a stripe of dirt across his cheek. His smoky blue eyes were far away.

"I do," he said finally. "It's a hard job, no doubt, but as you said, there is something relaxing about it nonetheless." He went back down on his knees and pulled up a weed the size of a small shrub that was quickly eating away at one of Wathearu's carefully trimmed trees. "But I do wish to tell you something," he said after a long moment. She paused and looked at him, worry creasing her brow. "Master Windu approached me yesterday," Qui-Gon said slowly, "And offered us an assignment if we wish it."

Her heart did something very strange as he said this, but he hurried on, seeing no look of opposition on her face. "It would be a very simple assignment; we are to offer protection to Senator Bulgrasse, and only for a few weeks at most." he said, glancing at her. She was very far away, and he knew she was not thinking of him, but of the last mission she had been on. No aggressive force had been needed on the last trip, and her Master had still died.

"What do you think?" she asked quietly, her lashes lowered. He thought about it for a moment.

"I believe you are ready," he said simply. "It has been shown to the Council that we trust one another to some extent, and there cannot be any halt in your training. I believe you can be proud of the skills you display as both a warrior and a peace-negotiator."

"All right," she said very softly, her eyes still far away. "All right, we'll go. When do we leave?" She turned to him and he nodded slowly.

"If we accept the mission, we will leave the day after tomorrow." he said. Ana reached across and wiped the dirt off his cheek with her thumb, almost unconsciously. He tried to ignore the pleasant crackle of electricity he felt rippling down his spine whenever they touched. He had tried his best to disregard what he had come across when he meditated, but it was no use. There couldn't be any doubt about it; he was attracted to Ana.

He just hoped it wouldn't jeopardize the mission.

A/N: Short chapter, sorry Thisby! Oh, and thanks to ChewiiWoofy for taking my story down off of that fanfiction website. NEVER DO THAT AGAIN, and I mean it. Please, to the rest of you, REVIEW! I'm desperate for reviews! Please!