"So how's life at the Temple?" Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Jai were sitting in Senator Padme's living room, waiting for something to happen. Jai was bored.
"Its actually kind of boring. Like, yesterday we were in the sparring room, me and Ran were, and Master Windu comes in and asks us," She got up and deepened her voice to sound more like Mace Windu. " 'Haven't you younglings have anything better to do?'Doesn't he know that there is an unavoidable war coming and we need to practice as much as we could? So I told him that, and-"
"You did not. Tell me, please, that you didn't tell Master Windu that," Obi-Wan begged through laughter. Both he and Anakin were laughing.
"I did! And so he told me that I should respect the masters and he would've expected better from a youngling, especially a Kenobi. What were you, Obi-Wan, a kiss-up?"
"No, not exactly. I just followed the rules!" Obi-Wan protested.
"I'm with you, Jai, Master Windu can be kind of...you know..." Anakin faltered, uncertain what to say in front of Obi-Wan. He was saved from continuing by Obi-Wan getting up and drawing his lightsaber. Anakin quickly followed suit, and Jai hurried after them. When they arrived in Padme's room, there were two deadly kohuns on the bed, making their way towards Padme. Anakin sliced them in two, and started to put away his lightsaber.
"Not so quickly, Padawan." Obi-Wan put a hand on Anakin's wrist, then took a running start and jumped through the window.
"Obi-Wan!" yelled Anakin, then ran out the door and down the stairs. Jai caught Padme's eye.
"Men!" they said in unison, then laughed. Then, Padme's handmaidens came and swooped down upon their mistress. They offered condolences and sympathy, and one even ventured as far as to scoop the kohun pieces up and throw them away. Jai could hear Padme's voice through the handmaiden's ruckus, and she shooed them away.
"Annoying, aren't they?" sighed Padme. Jai remembered the game she'd played with Padme once, when she was six.
"Obi, I'm bored..." She tugged on his belt.
"Not now, Jai, I'm trying to concentrate." Jai huffed and walked away. Padme found her and asked if she wanted to play a game.
"Ye-es... What kind of game?" asked Jai.
"An alphabet game. I'll say a word, then you say a word that begins with the next letter but is similar."
"Okay!"
"Um... Bothersome!" Jai said, sitting on the bed.
"Cursed. I swear, your hair gets shorter every time I see you!"
"Distracting. Yeah, I know. Younglings aren't allowed to have long hair, 'cause it might get stuck in something or cut off. It hurts if it gets tangled in something!" Jai said ruefully, touching her chin-length caramel hair. It was just a shade lighter than Obi-Wan's but Jai's eyes were much darker. Hers were dark, dark blue, and his were more gray-blue.
"Exasperating. I can see that. Are you going to let it grow out when you become a Knight?"
"I can't think of one that starts with F!" Jai complained after thinking hard.
"I win!" Padme cried.
"Anyway, I'm not going to be a Knight. Skip Knight and go straight to Master, that's my plan!"
"Good luck with that!"
The two of them were sitting on the bed, still talking when Obi-Wan and Anakin returned. Obi-Wan looked battered and tired, and Anakin looked like he was ready to kill something.
"Didja catch 'em, Obi-Wan?" Jai asked.
"Come on, Jai, we've got to get back to the Temple."Obi-Wan started to leave, Anakin following him.
"Oka-ay... 'Bye, Padme!" Jai called from the living room.
"Good-bye!"
When they reached the Temple, Jai headed off to the youngling's wing, while Anakin and Obi-Wan went to the regular rooms. Jai flopped down on the bed, exhausted even though she hadn't been the one who'd jumped out the window. Remembering that, she got up to go lecture Obi-Wan. She knocked on their door, and Anakin answered.
"Hi, Jai. What're you doing here?" he asked, confused.
"Is my dear brother here?" she asked tightly.
"Yeah, sure, c'mon in, one second. Obi-Wan! Jai's here!" he shouted.
"What do you want?" Obi-Wan came in, wiping his face with a towel.
"What was that, back in Padme's room? Did you even think before you jumped out the window? No, of course you didn't! Did you think you were invincible? Men! Always thinking they can't possibly be hurt, because they are so strong and everything. Well guess what! You are not invincible!" Her audience looked stunned after her tirade.
"I'm just going to...um..." Anakin edged out of the room.
"I am a grown man, Jai. Did it ever cross your mind that what I did might've been the only way to catch whoever sent the kohuns? I can, and will, make my own decisions!"
"You could've died! Why didn't you just throw a tracker onto the droid, then followed it by vehicle?" That stopped Obi-Wan. "I just don't want you to die, is all. You should take better care of herself, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You think Garen would've thought you were brave, or just stupid? I think he would've thought you were stupid for jumping out of the window!" She flounced out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
"That girl...acts like a mother, sometimes. I swear." Obi-Wan went back to his room.