-12-

"Hello Princess," Genesis said walking into Meleana's dark holding cell. She was curled in a ball on the floor. The room reeked of vomit and decayed flesh. "Have they still not treated your wounds? If I didn't know better I'd say the Aqualish wanted you to die."

Meleana looked up at him through her half shut eyes. "What do you want?" She asked in a weak raspy voice.

"Well not you in this state." Genesis let out a puff of air. "I've asked them to treat you, unfortunately, they don't really care what I have to say. That's the trouble with lying, it always comes back to haunt you. If I'd told them who I really was they'd do whatever I said."

"If you told them who you really were you'd still be in a cage." Meleana shut her eyes, her elevated body temperature made them burn constantly.

"How does it feel? Knowing I'm your only hope of survival?"

"All they need to do is forget to give me the force inhibitors once."

"They won't and by the time any Jedi gets out here you'll be gone. They want you to die, as far as their concerned you killed one of their own. Letting an infection take you gets them their way without getting their hands too dirty."

"Then I guess I'll die," Meleana said calmly.

"Or you could come with me."

"I'll just die here, thanks."

"You will," Genesis said as if to clarify. The idea that she would choose to lie there and die wasn't something he could understand.

"Unless you brought me some medical supplies, I think its time for you to leave."

"Are you going to make me?"

"I'll throw up on you if I must."

He stared at her a moment longer before leaving.

It was days before Meleana's cell door opened again. When it did she didn't bother looking up, sure it was Genesis again. He'd been her only visitor. She opened her eyes when she was hoisted off the ground violently. Two Aqualish dragged her out of the cell by the arms. They tossed her into a shower and streams of hot water began pouring over her. She cried out when the scalding water rushed over her infected back and shoulder. Without the force the pain was almost unbearable. As soon as she was cleaned they hoisted her out of the shower.

She was dressed in clean dry clothing before being deposited into a new clean cell. Thankfully they left her shivering on the small cot in the room; Meleana was too weak to have gotten there on her own. A few minutes after the doors were shut, they opened again. Meleana didn't bother to open her eyes until she felt a hand on her shoulder, and then she did so with great effort.

Seeing Obi-Wan crouched over her she blinked and swiped her hand out clumsily. If this was a hallucination it wouldn't have been the first she'd had in the past few days.

"Is she alright?" She heard Anakin ask in his sweet young voice.

Obi-Wan gently brushed the hair from her damp face and placed his hand on her forehead. Feeling her hot skin he gently ran his hand over her cheek to comfort her. He looked at Meleana's wet hair and dry clothing. It was obvious they had made some effort to clean her up before he arrived. He'd been sent to look for her, and had expected to find her in fine condition. Meleana seemed like the type to forget to check in with the temple.

"Where are you hurt?" Obi-Wan asked.

She wasn't sure she had the strength to name both injuries. "Back," Meleana croaked out.

He very gently rolled her over and lifted her shirt. He grimaced at the huge black gash down the center of her back. He pulled a bacta pack out of his belt and sprinkled it on the wound, not sure what good such a small amount would do on such a large badly infected area.

"Anakin, wait outside. Make sure no one comes in." he said, not wanting to be distracted while he attempted to heal Meleana.

Obi-Wan kneeled on the edge of the cot and held up his hands just above Meleana's injury. Even from a distance he could feel heat radiating off of it. He wasn't sure how much good it would do, even the temples best healers would have needed time to treat such a large wound, and the additional infection, which had clearly spread throughout her body, wasn't exactly helping.

He did what he could, which wasn't much, and dropped down lower so he could look into Meleana's clouded blood shot eyes. "Who did this?" He asked as he pulled off his robe. He laid it over her shivering form.

"Bounty hunter," Meleana squeaked out weakly.

"The one that's been trailing you?"

Meleana nodded.

"Is he the reason you're locked up?"

Meleana nodded again.

"Did you kill anyone?"

She shook her head.

Obi-Wan nodded, "I'll be back." He hated leaving her in her condition she was in, but sitting by her and comforting her wouldn't do any good.

"Stay with Jedi Ariadne," Obi-Wan said to Anakin, "Contact me immediately if anyone comes in to see her."

"Where are you going?"

"That depends on what the Aqualish have to say." Obi-Wan placed his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Go sit with her, talk about machines."

Anakin nodded. "Alright."

Obi-Wan walked at a quick pace back into the head office of the prison. A protocol droid was waiting to translate along with the prisons warden.

"Why haven't her injuries been treated?" He asked in a calm tone.

"He says they have a request on file for the Jedi to receive medical attention, but treatment is on a first come first serve basis. She will need to wait until a medic is available." The protocol droid responded.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath to calm him self, he wasn't buying the wardens excuse. "In that case perhaps she should be transferred to a facility on Coruscant for treatment or released so she may be taken to a med center while she awaits her trail." Obi-Wan didn't need the droid to translate the warden's response. No was easy enough to decipher in any language. "Allowing a Jedi to die in your custody will not be taken lightly, particularly if she is found to be innocent."

"He says she will not be found innocent, and the penalty for her crime is death."

"You must have quiet a bit of evidence against her to be so sure of yourself. If you'd allow me to review it, it may help me understand why you've put her in the position you have."

"He says the witness statements will be available for you to review."

"I would also like access to the crime scene as well as the victim."

"The victim's body has already been released. You will have access to any other evidence you need."

At least the warden was sure enough in himself that he didn't deny Obi-Wan access to the evidence, though that in itself was troubling. "Is there a room where I might have some privacy to go over the holos?"

Obi-Wan finished reading the witness testimonies, all of which said the Jedi had attacked the security officer from behind, killing him instantly. He'd looked at the holos of the body first, the easiest was for him to judge Meleana's involvement, or lack thereof, was to determine the weapon that had been used. Judging by the extent of the tissue damage a vibroblade had been used, not a lightsaber, and all of the wounds were inflicted from the front. This alone should have been enough evidence for the Aqualish to release her. In a fair trial there was no definitive way of proving Meleana's guilt. He looked over the holos of the victim once more before getting up to retrieve the security holos from the slavers vessel.

Anakin was in the midst of telling Meleana a story about podracing when the door to her cell opened.

Genesis stopped at the door seeing the pint sized Jedi standing next to Meleana. He scanned the room for any dark corners his master may have been hidden in. "Your Master's looking for you," Genesis said to the young Padawan with a warm smile. "He's waiting for you in the Wardens office."

Anakin reached for his comlink, he hadn't reached it when Meleana's hand gripped his.

"Go," Meleana said. Genesis would kill Anakin before he had the chance to key in Obi-Wan's code.

Anakin furrowed his brow, not sure whose orders to follow.

"Go," Meleana said again this time more firmly.

Genesis smiled at Anakin as he walked passed. "I certainly wasn't expecting that," he said after Anakin had walked out. "I'm not sure what to do now…" Genesis sighed. "Well I'm sure you won't be going anywhere just yet." He stalked over to the cot and grabbed Meleana by the arm. He yanked her up, ignoring her scream of pain. His lips closed around her neck, first sucking the biting down on her skin until he'd broken it.

He pushed Meleana back down onto the bed and spit the blood out of his mouth. "Just so your Jedi friend knows I'm here." He started for the exit. "Oh and you should really see a medic, your bloods tasting a little rancid."

Obi-Wan and Anakin hurried in moments after the bounty hunter had left. Obi-Wan rushed over to her and carefully lay her back down on the cot. He looked at the bite mark on Meleana's neck, and the blood drizzling onto the cot.

Meleana's eyes were shut, and the bite on her neck was the last thing on her mind. Her joints ached, she was freezing and boiling at the same time, she couldn't stop shaking, and everything hurt. She wondered how much longer her body could fight the infection before it finally killed her.

"You're going to get out of here," Obi-Wan said in a soothing tone. "Just hang on."

"We're going?" Meleana whispered without opening her eyes.

"Not yet. The holo from the slavers ship is missing. I need to go down there to see if there's a copy." Obi-Wan caressed her forehead. The Warden had refused to release Meleana based on the evidence they had. "I'll be back in a couple of hours."

Crissida was lying on Ketana's sleep couch, flipping through her datapad, aware that here sister was staring at her, but not quiet sure why. She'd gotten used to sharing Ketana's small room. Being confined in the Jedi temple seemed like a piece of a cake compared to most of her adult life.

"What?" She finally asked.

Ketana let out a puff of air. "Nothing." There was no reason to bother Crissida with her troubles. She already knew what her reaction would be.

"I don't need to be a Jedi to know that's a lie."

"We need to find you another place to live."

"We've already had this conversation."

Ketana dropped her hands to her side. "I know, but having you here is distracting me from doing my work. My mission partner has been in prison for the last month and I was too preoccupied with you to notice."

"You don't need to be preoccupied with me. I can take care of myself."

"As long as you're here you'll be a distraction. I could get in a lot of trouble if they find you. I'm already in a lot of trouble. At this rate I'll be a Padawan for the rest of my life."

"Is that even possible?"

Ketana grit her teeth in frustration. "I'm not asking you to turn yourself in, I'm just asking you to try and think of an alternate solution. My Master will be back from her mission soon, and if you think she won't notice the change in me, you're wrong. I want to help you but there's only so much I can do."

Crissida wrote a few names and numbers into the datapad and tossed it to Ketana. "One of these people should know if there's a bounty on my head. I wouldn't trust any one of them though. If no one's trying to kill me I'll leave."

Ketana looked down at the datapad. She suddenly felt guilty for even bringing it up.

Despite Meleana's pain, she'd finally managed to fall asleep. It seemed as though she'd just lost consciousness when she was jerked back into her painful reality. She could feel the scabs on her shoulder and back split as she was wrenched into a sitting position. She half opened her eyes to glare at Genesis.

"I'm surprised your Jedi friends aren't here to protect you."

Meleana was shaking uncontrollably. A layer of sweat coated her ashen skin and dark red spots covered most of her body.

"I'm not medic, but I'd say you're running out of time." Genesis sat down on the cot next to her. He wrapped an arm around her and purposely put pressure on her wounded shoulder. "I can fix you. All I'll ask in return is that you'll leave here with me willingly."

"I'd rather die here than go anywhere with you." Meleana said with as much conviction as she could manage.

"Oh come now, don't let stubbornness be the death of you."

"Force inhibitors and lack of medical treatment will be the death of me."

Genesis reached for a vial on his belt. "I thought I made it clear, I have no desire to kill you." He twirled the small bottle in his hand. "At this point you've left me no choice but to help you. You will need to remove your shirt of course."

Meleana glared at him. "I think my infection has progressed beyond the point where anyone other than a healer can help me," she said slowly.

"I didn't say I could cure you." Genesis sighed and opened the vial. He dumped the contents down the back of her shirt. "Little bugs," he said seeing the shocked expression on her face. "They'll eat the dead and infected skin."

"'The infection is in my blood."

Genesis rolled his eyes. "Must I do everything for you? Even without your precious force, you have an immune system."

"What are you going to do with me?" Meleana asked wondering why the bounty hunter hadn't already done something.

"I thought giving you some time to think would help you come around," he said in a conversational tone. "And to be honest having you in a weakened state isn't exactly a bad thing. I'd rather you not be able to fight back."

Meleana looked down at her shaking hands, she wasn't sure she'd have the strength to make a fist, much less fight off an attacker.

Genesis watched as the bugs finished their work and dropped down onto the floor. "We should get going. I'd rather we leave before the Jedi gets back."

"You think they're just going to let you walk out with me?"

"I've made arrangements with them. The Jedi's arrival helped, they were so worried he'd take you that they were more than happy to give you to me for punishment. They get to see you suffer without being to blame."

Genesis lifted her up off the cot and slung her over his shoulder. "Could you stop shaking?" He asked walking her out of the cell. "It's a little unnerving."

"I hope I have a seizure and knock your head off." Meleana knew she could put up some sort of a fight, but she would never be able to win in her condition, it would only make things worse.

Genesis waved to the on duty guards as they passed. He dropped Meleana into the back of an open top speeder and slid into the driver's seat. "How does it feel to be free?"

Meleana glared in response as the speeder began to move. They had only been driving for a few seconds when she heard Genesis curse and felt the speed increase. Meleana rolled off the seat as he took a sharp turn down an ally.

"Why don't Jedi ever give up!" He shouted in frustration and pushed the accelerator. "See we waste time talking and this is what happens! Damn chatty women."

Meleana rolled her eyes and buried her face in the floor of the speeder.

"I can go faster," Anakin said, keeping a close eye on the speeder ahead of them. He pushed his speed.

"Just get along side of him," Obi-Wan said watching as Genesis took another sharp turn. There wasn't much land on Ando, and soon they would be flying over open ocean if he didn't turn around.

"Are you going to jump?" Anakin asked as they drew closer to the other speeder.

"Yes, just follow behind us, try to stay bellow the other speeder if you can."

"No problem," Anakin said confidently. It seemed like an eternity since he'd been able to have fun doing anything, and this was fun.

Obi-Wan stood up as they approached the other speeder. He focused before jumping, sure Genesis would try to shake him. The speeder shook under his weight as his feet touched down on the hood. Genesis jerked the speeder to the side, nearly flipping it. Obi-Wan attached his cable launcher to the hood just in time to avoid being tossed off of the craft. He swung himself back up and into the speeder.

Genesis looked at Obi-Wan and the ocean in front of him and sighed. "You've spoiled all my fun," he said calmly.

"Pull over." Obi-Wan said unclipping his lightsaber.

Genesis shook his head, opened his door and slid out into the ocean flying by beneath them.

Obi-Wan jumped into the drivers seat and slowed the speeder to a stop. He turned around to look at Meleana. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Meleana said into the floor of the speeder.

Anakin pulled up next to them. "That was wicked!"

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow, but decided there would be time to scold Anakin later. "Do you remember where the ship is?" Anakin nodded. "Meet us there."

Looking around at the tranquil halls of healing Meleana couldn't help but feel as though she were a little too familiar with the place. Not that she was complaining, without the temples healers she'd have been on a funeral pyre years before making it to knighthood.

Though she no longer felt, or looked, like the living dead, the healers had insisted on keeping her. Apparently they were concerned that if released Meleana wouldn't take their recommendation of bed rest seriously. They were right. Even in the halls of healing she'd been caught out of bed stretching and going through training exercises a few times. Meleana had argued that it would prevent her from having future visits to the halls, the healers were not amused.

Meleana had been in the midst of one of her more active training exercises when there was a knock on her door. She immediately leapt back into bed and under the covers.

"Come in," she said. Meleana smiled at Master Windu as he entered. "Master Windu," Meleana bowed her head.

He looked over the thin layer of sweat coating her. "The healers tell me they've been having some difficulty getting you to rest."

Meleana licked her lips nervously. "I appreciate their concern for me, but I feel the best way to prepare myself for future issues, is to push myself. What better place to test my endurance than surrounded by healers?"

"Perhaps you should heed their advice; it would help them lighten their work load." Mace smiled at the look of unwilling defiance in her eyes. She'd never been one to follow orders blindly. "But I'm not here to scold you for getting out of bed. I thought you might like the completed details of you last mission."

Meleana leaned forward and nodded. "Have the slavers been removed from Republic space?"

Mace nodded. "As far as we can tell from the information you recovered from their facilities, that was the last of their bases within the Republic. The slaves have been returned home, and some additional arrests have been made. Were you able to take a look at their client list before uploading it?"

Meleana shook her head. "I was multitasking."

"Well it included quiet a few high profile clients, as you might imagine. I suggest you use some of your prescribed bed rest to read up on some of the Holo-Net gossip. "

Meleana furrowed her brow. "Did you really just say that?"

Mace smiled. "Additionally, I was wondering if you might help me with something. Master Titania is still handling a trade dispute in the midrealm, and her Padawan had been acting… unusual. She should have noticed your disappearance long before any of us did. The fact that she was not communicating with her mission partner is alarming. Have you spoken with her since you returned?"

"No," Meleana said shaking her head. "You're my first visitor."

"I was under the impression you were close."

Meleana paused. She didn't want to get Ketana into any trouble, but Master Windu had a point, she had been acting out of sorts. "If the healers will allow it I'd be happy to go have a talk with her."

"That won't be necessary. Do you have any theories that might help explain her behavior?"

"No Master." None that I care to share at least, she wanted to add.

"In that case I'll leave you to your rest. It appears your fever has returned." he said with a grin.

Meleana smiled sheepishly. "Thank you for stopping by Master Windu. Perhaps if the healers ever feel I can be trusted to take care of myself we can continue where our last training session left off."

Master Windu nodded. "May the force be with you."

"And you Master." Meleana let out a puff of air when the door shut behind him.

She couldn't help but wonder what Ketana was up too. Now that the subject had been brought up it was all she could think about. It was unusual that she hadn't stopped by to see her or apologized for her lack of contact during their mission. That paired with the argument they had had before she left had Meleana thinking something was distracting her. Something like her sister. Ketana wasn't the jealous type, it wouldn't have bothered her that Meleana had been Knighted first, but being torn between her family and her loyalty to the Jedi might.

When Meleana was finally discharged from the halls of healing she was itching to do something, anything. After several failed attempts at reaching Ketana, she contacted Master Windu.

She spent hours practicing lightsaber techniques with the Jedi Master before he was called away to handle other duties. Meleana tried once more to get a hold of her picturesque Jedi friend gone rogue, only to be ignored.

For the entire week she was confined to a bed all she could think of was not allowing her self to be put in that situation again. After Master Windu left she spent hours going through various forms until she was satisfied that she had done each correctly.

She stopped to take a break, seeing that the sun had set. She tried once again to contact Ketana, this time intent on asking her to come and spar with her, and once again was ignored. Meleana sighed and tucked her comlink back into her belt.

"You're still here?" A familiar voice said from the dojo's observation booth.

Meleana looked up and smiled at Obi-Wan. "You are stalking me."

Obi-Wan smiled. "Anakin and I passed by earlier while you were sparing with Master Windu. I'm surprised you didn't notice us."

"Where is Anakin?" Meleana asked craning to see behind Obi-Wan.

"He's gone to bed."

"Is it that late?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Thus my surprise to see you. Are you well enough to be exerting yourself like this?"

Meleana rolled her eyes. "I'm fine."

"Hmm," Obi-Wan leaned forward. "You know I think I've saved your life enough at this point to have a say in it."

Meleana arched her brow. "Is that so? And what do you think I should be doing if not training?"

"I was just on my way to the dinning hall and I'm guessing you haven't stopped to eat anything today."

"The dinning hall is no where near here. You just happened to be walking by on the opposite end of the temple?"

"I may be stalking you." There was a hint of mischievousness in his voice.

"Alright, I'll have dinner with you, but you have to promise to spar with me tomorrow, and I expect you to stay at least one hundred meters away from me until then."

"I think I can manage that."

Meleana and Obi-Wan had nearly finished their meals when Meleana noticed a familiar face entering the dinning hall, or at least it appeared to be at first.

Meleana muttered a curse under her breath, in the middle of Obi-Wan's speech.

"Is it that upsetting that I dislike Correllian liquors?"

Meleana turned back to him. "Not you, but on the subject of Correllians…" Meleana shook her head and looked back up at Crissida. "I can't believe her!"

"Who?"

"Excuse me," Meleana said getting up and storming across the dinning hall. "What do you think you're doing?" She asked Crissida, who was dressed in Ketana's clothing with the hood covering her face. "Are you out of your Novaing mind?"

"Meleana, right?"

"What in the name of the force are you doing here! No wonder Ketana's been acting strange! How long have you been impersonating her?"

Crissida gave the angry Jedi an almost obnoxious look. "she said I could stay. It's not your problem, so just mind your business."

"Not my problem? I just spent the better part of a month locked in a cell and came very close to death, because my mission partner was too distracted to notice I'd disappeared. I'd say it's my problem. I take it no one but Ketana knows you're here?" Crissida nodded at her. "And how long do you think you can keep this up? It took me a day to notice you. When Ketana's Master gets back she wont even need to see you to know something's up. And the fact that you would have the audacity to go parading around dressed up like a Jedi while avoiding your prison sentence in the Jedi temple…. Don't even get me started."

"You've already started."

"Give me one good reason not to march both of you up to the council right now." Meleana crossed her arms over her chest.

"Shouldn't you talk to Ketana first?"

"Well see I would if she'd answer any of my calls, or the door when I knocked on it. I cannot believe she would be so stupid!"

"You're causing a scene."

Meleana glared at Crissida. "Go back upstairs and tell Ketana that I'm going to deal with her before any of the Masters have a chance to, and if she ever wants to earn the title of Knight she's going to need to do some serious reflecting on her current situation."

"Can I get something to eat first?"

"No." Meleana stared at her challengingly until she finally backed off and retreated from the dinning hall. Meleana returned to her table and sat back down with a frustrated sigh.

"Everything alright?" Obi-Wan asked watching her stab angrily at the food on her plate.

"No," Meleana took a deep breath and dropped her fork to her plate with a loud clang. "I need to get some sleep. I can't think straight right now. Good night."

Obi-Wan kept his eyes on Meleana as she stalked out of the dinning hall, wondering what could have caused her to get so frustrated so quickly. Following her to see if she was alright crossed his mind, but she had asked him to remain one hundred meters away from her after dinner.

The next day Obi-Wan left Anakin in the temples archive room to work on his general studies. Slaves weren't exactly given the best education, and holos were better than he was at retelling historical events. Assuming Anakin actually sat though all of them.

Meleana had left the night before without giving him a time frame for there sparring match. It took him longer than he'd like to admit to finally come to terms with the fact that he had spent the better part of a morning sitting in his quarters waiting for her to call. He shook his head, not sure what had come over him, and picked up his comlink.

"Yes?" Meleana snapped.

"You're busy, I'm sorry to have bothered you." In the back of Obi-Wan's mind he was chastising himself for being so timid. He couldn't remember the last time he'd behaved that way.

"No Obi-Wan," Meleana stopped him before he could shut off his comlink. "I'm in the middle of something. Meet me in the dinning hall in about an hour?"

"Sure." He heard Meleana shut off her comlink and clipped his back onto his belt. "What is wrong with me?" He asked aloud.

"Looking for your Padawan?" Garen asked as he approached Obi-Wan, who hadn't noticed him walk in, or up to the table in the dinning hall.

Obi-Wan turned to him. "No, just waiting for someone."

Garen took a seat and noticed Obi-Wan had no food in front of him. "You're not eating?"

Obi-Wan continued to scan the entrances to the room. The lunch time rush had started and he didn't want Meleana to miss him. "I'm waiting for someone. I'm not eating until they get here."

Garen shrugged. "You can always eat twice." Garen watched Obi-Wan silently for a few minutes. "So how was your mission Garen? Oh it was good thank you Obi-Wan. How have you been? I've been sitting here waiting for someone."

Obi-Wan furrowed his brow and turned to Garen. "Do I get to participate in this conversation?"

"Hopefully, at some point, you will. Who are you waiting for? And do they know you're waiting for them? Because if they do they'll find you."

"She's late."

Garen waited for Obi-Wan to elaborate. He didn't. "Is it Siri?"

"No… Why?"

"You've got that look about you. It's an incredibly obvious look by the way, I'd tone it down if I were you."

"What look?" Obi-Wan asked, annoyed both that Garen had called him on it, and that he was so transparent.

"The look you've given Siri since you two were teenagers."

"I told you it's not Siri."

"Daryn then?"

Obi-Wan's mouth dropped. "Really? Am I really that transparent?"

Garen swallowed a mouthful of food. "To me you are. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. So it is Daryn?"

"No! It's no one."

"The busty brunette?"

"The…." Obi-Wan buried his face in his hands. "Honestly?"

"The pretty Knight you made me sit with? Cute, but very serious aristocratic features, long brown hair, big violet eyes, and not afraid to flaunt her… assets, that one?"

Obi-Wan felt his cheeks flush. "I feel like we're thirteen again."

"Well I wouldn't, Oafy-Wan wasn't exactly a nickname that made women's hearts flutter, and if it is the brunette you're waiting for she's standing over there looking for you."

"Wonderful, just after I've lost every shred of my dignity."

"We can always trade places again. If you're her type I'm her type right?"

"Garen!" Obi-Wan said peeking up at him from beneath his hands. "This isn't funny."

"For you, I think it's hilarious." He waved until he had Meleana's attention. "I will never understand your relationships with women."

"Now is really not the time to have this conversation," Obi-Wan said composing him self. "Besides, I've already decided we can't see each other anymore."

"That's a portion of what I don't understand. I'd say if she can handle the emotional detachment…" Garen smiled at Meleana as she took a seat. "Hello," he said cheerfully.

Meleana smiled at Garen then at Obi-Wan. "I'm sorry I'm late. I was handling some unpleasantness."

"It's alright. I was worried you'd be waiting for me. I got caught up with Anakin."

Garen hid his grin by taking a swig from his drink. "Well I've got things to do." He pat Obi-Wan on the shoulder. "I'll see you later."

"You don't have any food?" Meleana asked.

"No… I was waiting for you."

Meleana looked off into the distance as though she were watching her problematic morning replay itself. "I don't know what made me think I'd have an appetite after that."

"After what?"

Meleana looked around the room. "I don't really want to talk about it here. Too many prying ears with Jedi hearing. Let's go back to my ship? I can cook something for you if you're hungry."

Obi-Wan stood up. "No that's fine."

"Is it because of my cooking?" Meleana asked as they walked out of the dinning hall. "Because I have a recipe."

"A recipe?" He asked with a smile.

"Well… I have a few, but something gets lost in translation with most of them."

"What language is you cook book in?"

"Basic," Meleana said with a giggle.

It amazed Obi-Wan that she had so quickly gone from stressed out and serious to giggling over her sub-par cooking. "And this one recipe what is it?"

"Cold noodles with mixed vegetables and sauce. I have to cut the vegetables, cook the noodles and make the sauce, yet somehow, it almost always turns out fine."

"It doesn't sound like there is too much possibility for failure in that one."

"The sauce can go terribly wrong."

Meleana tossed her robe onto the booth in the Jaded Star and headed for the kitchen. Obi-Wan did the same. He stopped her before she could actually start cooking anything.

"Meleana I… I'm not really hungry."

Meleana bat her eyelashes at him. "So you lured me back here under false pretenses?"

"Not really, you invited me."

"What's the matter?" She asked seeing something was troubling him.

He kissed her, rather than answer her question. His mind was telling him he'd already allowed himself to go too far with her, his body was pinning her against the cooling unit. He broke the kiss momentarily to speak. "We shouldn't see each other any more."

"Ok." Meleana said before he crushed her lips again.

His hands had already slid under her shirt when he pulled himself away again. "I mean it."

"Ok," Meleana said again, this time a little more insistently. "Stop it with the mixed signals."

"So you're alright with that?"

"Pinning me to the cooler or not wanting to see me any more?" Meleana asked, genuinely confused.

"The latter."

Meleana nodded. "Yeah I'm fine with it. Generally though, I don't get 'I don't want to see you any more' mixed with passionate kissing and groping."

"Its nothing you did."

"Obi-Wan, I'm fine with it really. I'm not going to lie, I'll miss the sex, but you aren't the only man in the galaxy."

"So that's it then?"

"Did you want something else?"

He stitched his brow, she was much better than he was at being emotionally detached in these situations. "Typically there's more emotion."

"I'm sorry?" Meleana's confusion was only increasing as he went on. "Do you need to cry or something? I won't tell anyone if you do."

"No… I just mean… never mind. I should probably go."

Meleana shrugged. "If that's what you want."

"It isn't necessarily what I want," Obi-Wan said stopping him self before he could finish leaving the kitchen.

"Then stay?" Meleana raised one of her arched brows at him. "Are you feeling alright?"

Obi-Wan took a deep breath and shook his head. "Yes I'm fine. I should go." He turned and quickly left the kitchen.

Meleana looked at the door, expecting him to come back in and babble incoherently. After a minute had past she opened the cooling unit and pulled out a bottle of juice.

"You're really alright with this?" Obi-Wan asked appearing at the door.

Meleana gave him a concerned stare. "You're really starting to worry me. You should probably go before you embarrass yourself… any more."

"Right, I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Meleana set the juice down on the counter. "Obi-Wan… How can I put this delicately...? Men are like missions; you get them done and move on to the next one. Do you get hysterical after every mission?"

"No."

"See my point?"

"Yes."

Meleana fixed her purple eyes on him trying to discern what exactly he was thinking. "Should I pour you a drink or are you leaving? It's really up to you. I'm fine either way."

"I really should go."

Meleana rolled her eyes when he had finally left. No matter how much wisdom she gained, she was sure she'd never understand men.