His master never demanded to be told what Obi-Wan did on his rest days, only that if he were going to be late home that he asked permission first. When Master Yoda answered his message with an invitation to tea, Obi-Wan packed up a few of the chocolate cookies he'd made for his master and hurried to Yoda's quarters.
"Glad I was to hear from you, Padawan Kenobi," Yoda said. "Too long has it been since we spoke." He eyed the dish in Obi-Wan's hands. "A present this is?"
"Yes, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said. "Cookies."
Master Yoda cackled happily. "More often should you visit, young Obi-Wan," he said, levitating some plates in from the kitchen.
Obi-Wan felt awkward, sitting down as Master Yoda waved him into a tiny chair. "I'll ask my Master," he said, bowing respectfully.
"Hmph." Master Yoda shot him an odd look. "Your jailor, is Qui-Gon? A prisoner does he keep you?"
"No, Master."
"Functional are your legs," he continued, "and free time you are given. Visit me when you like, you should, without waiting to be taken out like a pet."
Obi-Wan blinked. He had never thought that Yoda might want him to start paying social calls; surely he had many more important demands on his time, and Obi-Wan wasn't even his own apprentice.
Yoda was looking steadily at him. "My Padawan's Padawan you are, much better than a Padawan of my own. Spoil you, I can, then send you home to your Master." He chuckled. "Orphans of the Force, sometimes are the Jedi called, but family the Force always provides. Sometimes in friends, sometimes in partners, very often in Masters and Padawans. Part of my Line, you are, Obi-Wan Kenobi. My business and my joy that makes you." A cup of tea settled in front of Obi-Wan with a thump. "Now, cookies we shall have and your problems you shall tell me, hmmm?"
"Thank you, Master Yoda." Obi-Wan took a cookie, and sipped the tea, which was sweetened the way he liked it.
"When your age he was, sweet tea did Qui-Gon drink also," Yoda said. "Only after his Knighting did he become a tea snob."
Obi-Wan stifled a laugh, and Yoda regarded him over the rim of his teacup.
"Troubled, you are," Yoda said. "Unsettled, by Knight Morai."
"I don't know what she wants!" he said. "At first I thought she hated me, and then she seemed to be going to ignore me, and now she seems to want to be friendly. I don't know what she's trying to do, or what she wants, or how I should respond."
"Hurt, you were, when she attacked you in the Plaza," said Yoda.
Obi-Wan had long since given up wondering how Master Yoda came by his vast knowledge of everything going on in the Temple. "Yes, Master."
"Angry, as well, I think."
Obi-Wan bowed his head. "Yes, Master."
Yoda was silent as he ate another cookie, and Obi-Wan clutched his warm tea mug, hoping he hadn't just made Master Yoda ashamed of him, too.
"Love your Master, do you?" Yoda asked at last. "Feel pain, do you, when hurt he is?"
"Of course, Master," Obi-Wan said at once.
"Know, you do, the story of Master i'Purna," Yoda continued. "After he rejoined the Force, very close to Qui-Gon did Knight Morai become. Partners, they were, for many years. This you know."
"Yes, Master Yoda."
"When Qui-Gon gave up their partnership to take a Padawan, abandoned did young Bellan feel. She would not stay in the Temple to do tutorials, and instead a solitary field Knight she became." His ears twitched. "Your master hoped that warm to Xanatos she would in time, but avoid Xanatos she did."
Obi-Wan felt suddenly, fiercely jealous of Xanatos. Chosen early, by a Master who had been so eager to train him that he'd given up a partnership he enjoyed with a Knight he cared for, and ignored by Knight Morai in the bargain, and Xanatos had still Turned. He must have been the biggest fool in the Republic.
Yoda chuckled, and Obi-Wan checked his shielding hurriedly.
"A good thing you think it, to have Knight Morai's indifference," Yoda said, "but very happy would your master be if friends you could become."
"But she doesn't even like me!"
Yoda thumped his stick on the ground, dangerously near Obi-Wan's foot. "Dislike you she does not! Afraid that you would hurt your Master she was. Sad she is also, that with a Padawan to train Qui-Gon will not become her partner once more. But like you she is beginning to." He chuckled. "A berry cake she brought me yesterday," he said. "Advice she sought, on how to regain your trust. Ashamed she is of her behavior. Blinded by jealousy and fear, she was." He looked at Obi-Wan pointedly. "A lesson you should take, Padawan. Never too old is a Jedi to be overcome by emotion. Mindful we must ever be." His eyes took on the distant look that Obi-Wan was learning meant that he was testing the currents of the future. "A good friend, could Knight Morai be to you, yes. A powerful ally, at a time when allies you will sorely need."
Obi-Wan sighed. "So I should try to be her friend," he said.
"Forgive her you should, and let friendship take care of itself," said Yoda. "But make it too easy for Knight Morai, you should not. Too old, is she, for temper tantrums. Lessons should she take from this, too."
Qui-Gon had always liked to hold his saber tutorials in the large practice rooms. He claimed that the presence of other tutorials, classes and sparring matches in the room helped one to develop good concentration skills; Bellan had always privately thought that he was also not averse to having an audience. Also, she remembered more than one occasion where a training remote being used in an adjoining square had "gone berserk" and ended up firing precision beams at her in the middle of a spar.
She wondered if he'd done that to Obi-Wan yet.
Obi-Wan showed up promptly, his practice tunics immaculate. His lightsaber hung at his belt with the dull gleam that she knew came only from diligent polish, the casing as yet unmarred by the variety of scuffs and scratches that every field agent's saber quickly accumulated.
Obi-Wan glanced around the room and made his way toward her. "Knight Morai," he said, with a bow that, while respectful, was not rigidly formal. His shields were lowered slightly, and she could feel a calm attentiveness leaking through. Damn. She was going to owe Yoda a month's supply of cake for this one.
She smiled at him in what she hoped was a welcoming manner. "Good afternoon, Padawan Kenobi," she said. "Qui-Gon left me a message that he expected to be a bit late today, but that we should start warming up with the third kata cycle."
Obi-Wan grinned at her, revealing a flash of dimples. "That means he's going to attack us some time during the last repetition."
She found herself grinning back. Qui-Gon had always done that to her, too; the last repetition of the third kata cycle was traditionally done with closed eyes.
"Just don't let him fool you when he leaves you alone for a while," she advised. "It just means he's trying to lull you into a false sense of security."
Obi-Wan nodded. "At least there's nobody using remotes in here today," he said.
"You learn fast, kid."
He looked rueful. "It only takes once," he said, nodding towards a cluster of students on the far side of the room. "That's my friend Garen's Beginning Saber class," he said. "The first time Master had the remote cross the boundaries I missed it entirely. It caught me in the thigh and I nearly cut off my own foot. I heard about that for weeks."
"The first time he pulled that trick with me, I thought the remote had gone berserk and ran away. I was convinced it would turn up its intensity and burn me full of holes. It was horribly embarrassing." She shook her head, dismissing the memory.
"So, Padawan," she said, "shall we begin?"
He took his position on the mat in front of her, so as to allow her to correct his form, and assumed the first pose of the kata.
Bellan opened her senses a bit, feeling Obi-Wan like a warm spot in the Force in front of her, and began to move.
Obi-Wan synchronized his movements to hers almost at once; either he was excellent at following a teacher's lead (which was entirely possible) or they had both absorbed enough of Qui-Gon's habits that their natural rhythms were the same in this.
They progressed smoothly through the forms. Bellan watched for flaws, but Obi-Wan's form was quite good. Occasionally he would put a foot wrong or misalign his shoulders, but he always seemed to feel the imbalance and correct it before Bellan corrected him.
They paused a bit before beginning the last repetition. When Initiates learned this kata cycle, they were blindfolded for the final repetition; not until they had reached a high level of skill at it were they able to overcome their natural instinct to open their eyes.
"Do you need to get a blindfold, Obi-Wan?" she asked quietly.
"No, ma'am, I can close my eyes," he replied.
She nodded, and closed her own, sinking back into the movement of the kata.
They were about a quarter of the way through when she felt a familiar pulse over the old bond that lay not-quite-dormant in her mind. Qui-Gon wanted her to pretend she didn't know he was there.
A few seconds later she heard the snap-hiss of an igniting lightsaber and felt a rush of air at her right side. She opened her eyes and saw Obi-Wan, blocking the saber stroke that his master had aimed at her head.
"Aren't you a sneaky bastard," she said admiringly. "Good catch, Obi-Wan."
Qui-Gon nodded his agreement as he disengaged. "Your focus on the Moment has improved, Padawan," he said.
Obi-Wan brightened. "Thank you, Master, Knight Morai," he said.
"Let's go from the start of the last repetition," Qui-Gon said, taking the appropriate position.
They moved with easy grace through the kata; Bellan could feel Qui-Gon and his new Padawan in the Force near her, the one an easy, familiar glow, the other sharp-edged and pulsing a little. When she opened her eyes again, she saw Obi-Wan practically vibrating in place with eagerness. She hoped the lessons she had to teach would be enough to keep him interested. She grinned ruefully at Qui-Gon; she was beginning to understand a little why he so enjoyed teaching... a permanent audience.