The Jedi were quick to take precautions. So intense was the feeling of foreboding that they altered the sleeping arrangement so that all seven people in the house slept in the large living room. It wasn't the most ideal arrangement but for the sake of safety it was the best that they could do.
The sleeping mats were comfortable enough for the Jedi, but it was clear that the royals were used to softer beds.
"You'll get used to it soon enough," Qui-Gon had told them, "It's preferable over being killed because it took us too long to get to you."
None of them could really argue with that.
A few nights in, Qui-Gon found that sleep wasn't coming easily no matter how much he cleared his mind, and he barely managed to stop himself from sighing impatiently. But he picked up on the awareness of the mind next to him, and turned onto his side to find himself face to face with Falon.
"You're unable to sleep too?" She whispered from the neighbouring sleeping mat.
"The disturbance is keeping me awake," he said, "It's happened before."
"To me as well."
"What are you going to do when this is all over?" He couldn't help but be curious, since she had been on the same planet for almost a whole year.
"If I can, I'd like to simply stay in Coruscant for a time," she replied, "Partly because it's home, but also because it's so incredibly different to here. I like thinking about finding one of the tallest buildings and just...standing. Looking down at everything. Feeling the wind on my face. There's no wind here; I miss it."
"And that would make you happy?"
She gave him a faint smile. "I think so. I suppose I'll have to wait and see. But I'm not unhappy now." Self-consciously, she averted her gaze and pushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "What about you?"
"I imagine I'll return to Coruscant as well, and continue Obi-Wan's training at the Jedi temple until we are required elsewhere."
"Perhaps Sii and I will see you there."
"Perhaps you will."
They fell into a comfortable silence that lasted for several minutes before Qui-Gon felt sleep finally within his grasp and gave into it.
Prince Lern was making a show of juggling pears for Obi-Wan and Sii when the two older Jedi entered the dining room. But when he threw them up into the air one by one, they changed course and drifted over to Sii, who then juggled them without making physical contact.
"He only does that because he knows he can't hope to match my skill at doing it the real way," Lern said to Obi-Wan.
"Well, I was impressed, if that's any consolation."
"Consolation? It's what I was hoping for." The prince winked at him, making him blink in confusion, but their attention was diverted by Qui-Gon using the Force to take the pears from Sii and put them back on the table where they belonged.
"Perhaps eat the food, instead of playing with it," the oldest Jedi suggest to the teenagers, who all just grinned and sat down to do exactly that. "Good morning your majesty, your highness." The king and princess were already at the table and halfway through breakfast. They nodded in acknowledgement of his greeting before returning to their conversation.
The boys were having an animated discussion about fighter ships with many emphatic gestures, while Qui-Gon and Falon talked with each other about some of their favourite planets they had visited.
Half an hour later, when everyone was about to leave the table, all four Jedi abruptly stiffened. Within seconds they were on their feet and in action.
"We need to get them into the living room, it's the most defendable room in the house, then two on offence while keeping two on defence to ensure that if any get around us, they won't be able to do any harm," Qui-Gon instructed the other three Jedi before turning to the royals, who were visibly confused but on their feet having sensed the urgency. "The three of you need to follow us, and quickly."
"What's happening?"
Obi-Wan glanced at the prince. "We're under attack, and if we don't move quickly then we're all going to be dead within the next twenty minutes."
"There's at least twenty of them, and they are going to be on us in two minutes, so move!" Falon told everyone, and the seven of them quickly ran out of the room and through the corridors until they reached the living room.
"Get into the corner," Qui-Gon told the royals, pointing, but the king went the opposite way, towards a picture hanging on the wall.
"Wait," Raoul said, pulling the picture away from the wall reveal a hidden compartment in the wall. He pulled three small blasters out of it, which he then distributed among his family. "This house has been prepared for attack before."
"Do you know how to use them?" Sii asked, and the two male royals nodded.
"Just point and shoot, right?" Sierrn said with a nervous laugh, smiling even as fear shone in her eyes.
"Still, the corner will help us defend you." Qui-Gon again pointed to the corner in question, and waited until the three of them followed his instructions and knelt down there, blasters ready just in case.
"Sii and I will take the defense," Falon said, and she and her padawan moved to stand in front of the royal family, blue lightsabers ready. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon nodded and approached the door, waiting for the attacks which they could sense were about to spring forth any second.
The assassins came like lightning, quick, and barely visible if one of the Jedi stopped focusing for even a moment. They were armed with powerful blasters, but also masters of unarmed combat. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan tried to hold them back and keep them near the door, but even as they managed to strike down some of those coming at them, others managed to dodge for many seconds before they were caught out, and more still were able to get around the outside of the offense in the confusion.
Sii took on two of them as they came around Qui-Gon. Meanwhile, Falon stood in front of the three people they were trying to protect, deflecting all the blaster shots she could as they came her way. The confusion of the fight made it hard to tell what was happening amongst the moving bodies and the blurs of weapons and blaster bolts.
After at least fifteen assassins had fallen, someone new entered the room. Qui-Gon sensed immediately that he was the leader, merely by the way he held himself, and his thoughts were confirmed by the fighters around him. The leader immediately went after Qui-Gon, with skill far greater than those of the warriors that served him. Realising that to win, he would need to be able to manoeuvre more freely, Qui-Gon rotated himself and his attacker as they fought until he was in front of the door and could duck out of it into the more open and spacious corridor.
Once he was followed, Qui-Gon could see that the leader carried not only a refined blaster, but also a mace that seemed to be charged with a similar kind of energy. Deflecting the shots fired at him wasn't impossible, but the man was fast and closing in on him, meaning that soon the mace was going to become an issue as well.
The Jedi decided that the only way he was going to come out of it alive was if he put himself on the offensive. So he began striking out with powerful strokes, keeping everything measured and in check. He never allowed himself to lose himself in a fight the way padawans tended to when they began duelling. Instead he kept himself aware of everything around him, everything that could be used as an advantage and everything which could be used against him.
His attacks were parried by the mace, but such a crude weapon could not hold off a lightsaber for long, and it was clear that the lead assassin knew it, as he quickly and slightly desperately manoeuvred so that he had put some distance between them and could resume using his blaster.
The distance made deflecting the blasts more difficult, and Qui-Gon flinched as one of the blasts grazed his upper left arm, leaving the skin there feeling as though it were on fire. Having experienced blaster grazes before and knowing how they only got worse, the Jedi knew he had to end the fight quickly.
He gripped his lightsaber tighter and lashed out aggressively, managing to cut off the hand that was clutching the blaster, causing both to fall to the floor. But the man barely hesitated despite losing the limb and brought his mace up to clash against the lightsaber. Usually the strength of any Jedi, let alone one as strong as Qui-Gon, would be more than enough to win out in such a confrontation, but his arm grew weaker and more painful by the second. Qui-Gon realised, a few seconds too late, that he was about to falter in a way most likely to have deadly repercussions.
However, before he could do anything about it or consider that he could be about to lose his life, a single blaster shot rang out. The assassin leader dropped to the floor, quite dead.
Qui-Gon stared at the person who was standing some way behind the fallen man, the one who had fired the shot. Princess Sierrn was taking in deep breaths, clearly unable to believe she had accomplished such a feat. After a few seconds she shot Qui-Gon a shaky but rather proud smile.
"Just point and shoot, right?" She said again, and he had time to smile before a lightning strike of pain jolted through his injured arm and festered around the burn. He dropped to his knees and automatically grasped at it, close to but not on top of the graze. Sierrn's blue eyes widened and she spun on the spot, her long blonde hair whipping around behind her. "Jedi Ti-Tarn! Master Jinn is injured!"
Falon appeared at the door in seconds, and when she saw Qui-Gon half on the ground, made a request over her shoulder for the med kit before rushing to her fellow Jedi's aid. "How long ago did you get it?"
"A minute, perhaps two," he got out, and she helped him move to sit against the nearby wall as Sii appeared with the med kit, Obi-Wan following behind.
"Master," the human padawan said with audible concern, but Qui-Gon held his gaze with a calm that was incredibly impressive for someone who had just been injured by a blaster.
"It's merely a wound, Obi-Wan," he said, "Are any of you injured?"
"Only bruised, thanks to your protection," King Raoul said as he approached from down the corridor. "We owe you our lives."
"They had long and sharpened nails," Sii informed the Jedi Master, "We all have a few scrapes, but nothing that won't heal."
Meanwhile, Falon had been rummaging in the med kit until she found the blaster balm. She used a small knife to cut his sleeve off before covering some of the balm pads with the blaster balm and dabbing it on the burn area. Qui-Gon let out a low hiss but was otherwise silent and the perfect patient.
When a drop of blood appeared on his arm, he frowned slightly and glanced up at the woman tending him. The small red trail on her cheek that told him that it had fallen from her chin.
"Oh, sorry," she apologised, "Sii, can you please get one of the small bandages? The cut is on the edge of my forehead on the right side, if you could cover it."
The Etti grabbed the bandage and leaned in to push loose strands of her hair out of the way until he could see the jagged cut that had been made by one of the assassins. He quickly covered it and then cleaned the small trail of blood that had been on her face with a small cloth.
"Thank you, Sii." She smiled gratefully at her padawan. "Please go with Obi-Wan and stay with the royals, settle them down somewhere. The danger has passed." The teenagers nodded respectfully and left. The Jedi Knight's eyes went back to the man she was tending to, and she knelt beside him so that she wasn't stuck bending over. "You know, you're not very worried for someone who just got hit by a blaster."
"I know that I am in good hands," Qui-Gon said evenly, and blue met dark brown as their eyes locked. Falon smiled, pleased by his trust in her. She continued to slowly dab at the wound, which was now much smaller and far more faint than before. "I think that's enough."
"Just another minute to be sure, I don't want this getting infected and diminishing your strength." Her free hand was resting slightly further down his rather impressively sized bicep. The minute passed in another one of their companionable silences and when she finally withdrew and discarded the balm pad, he slowly got to his feet.
"Thank you." He smiled widely. "I'm usually stuck doing this sort of thing myself."
Her head tilted to the side just a little, surprised. "You don't get your padawan to do it?"
"Only if I have no other choice, I prefer to be a little more independent."
"I've lost count of how many times Sii has patched me up." Falon chuckled as they slowly walked down the corridor in the direction of the dining room.
"And he doesn't mind?"
"On the contrary, I think he enjoys the chance to look after me instead of the usual opposite," she said, grinning.
They entered the dining room and walked down along the length of the table. As they sat down, Sii met Falon's eyes and curled his padawan braid around his finger. She wound her own braid around her hand, and Sii then released his braid, looking satisfied.
It was something that could have very easily passed as random, but Qui-Gon could sense that it was a deliberate exchange of some sort. As Sii turned back to Lern and Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon glanced at Falon.
"What exactly was that?" He asked.
"Oh," she said, surprised, "A small system of ours. If one of us fiddles with our braid then we're asking if the other is alright - neither of us are fiddlers by nature and so never touch it otherwise. If the other mirrors it, then that's our way of saying that we're alright, and the person who asked then immediately relinquishes the braid if they also are fine, and keeps a hold on it if it's not the case."
"Subtle, and clever," Qui-Gon considered, "I like it."
"Obviously in more extreme circumstances we can sense each other's distress with the Force, but it's helpful for more minor scenarios."
"I don't doubt it."
With the threat neutralised, it was only another few weeks before everything was sorted in the capital as well, and the Jedi were able to make preparations to return to Coruscant and leave the royals in peace.
"Thank you for everything," King Raoul said to them as they stood in the palace hangar, ready to depart, "We owe you our lives."
"You're most welcome," Qui-Gon replied, and Falon echoed his statement right before Princess Sierrn leapt forward to give her a big hug.
"I wish you the very best, Princess," the female Jedi said to the girl as she briefly hugged her back.
Meanwhile, Prince Lern was bidding farewell to Sii with a hug of his own, one that the Etti returned with a polite - if stiff - pat on the back, with promises to try and keep in contact.
Then Lern turned to Obi-Wan and hugged him too, but lingered as he pulled away.
"I'll miss you too, Obi-Wan," he said, with a hint of shyness that didn't make sense until he quickly leaned in to press a kiss to the other boy's cheek.
"Lern!" Raoul scolded, while Obi-Wan meanwhile turned scarlet.
"Sorry," Lern said, but with a grin at Obi-Wan that made it clear he wasn't very sorry at all. The padawan gave him an uncertain smile back, still looking a bit too perplexed and embarrassed to offer much more.
"I think it's time we were going," Qui-Gon said mildly, his surprise having already given in to vague amusement. The others agreed.
Falon, knowing her padawan well, had guessed of Sii's disapproval of the whole thing before even glancing at him to see it on his face. As they headed inside, she signed at him, not a word to him, Sii, this isn't the time for your thoughts on romance to be expressed.
Sii's frown shifted to a more neutral expression as he signed back a mere agreement.
They settled themselves in on the ship, and Qui-Gon situated himself next to Falon with the obvious intent of asking her a question.
"Yes?"
"You and your padawan are fluent signers," he said, and she nodded, "Is there any particular reason for that?"
"Yes," Sii answered from where he and Obi-Wan were sitting opposite, "But not one that concerns anyone who isn't us."
"Don't answer questions directed at me, Sii," Falon said firmly, making his cheeks turn a slightly darker shade of blue. She turned back to Qui-Gon. "He isn't wrong, though. It's not important to anyone who isn't him or me. If there ever comes a time where you need to better acquaint yourself with signing, however, I'd be happy to assist you."
Qui-Gon smiled. "I'll keep it in mind."
Obi-Wan being super bi (in some regard) is Very Important to me. That is all. Thanks for reading, let me know what you thought!
-MayFairy :)