AN: Hello again! I hope you've been enjoying Obi-Wan's and Charlie's slowly evolving relationship. I know its been slow, but we'll have a lot more of the pair of them over the next couple of chapters. I've been planning the last stages of the story, and I can promise were no where near done. As always, enjoy the chapter, and review! May the Force Be With You! -Emma

Disclaimer: It belongs to George Lucas.

CHAPTER 11

Charlie had decided that the archives was one of her favorite places in the temple so far. Run by the imperious Jocasta Nu, it was an immensity of information on literally everything. Charlie was stunned by how much there was to know, wondering in the back of her mind if Jocasta Nu knew all of it. Obi-Wan showed her how to palm her way into the archives. He pointed out holos she could use to search, and those that contained specific articles, specific movies, and all sorts of other types of information. Somewhat overwhelmed, Charlie was happy to let Obi-Wan pull what they should be researching, and hand her the holos he wanted her to read.

She didn't know how long they'd been working. A droid had brought them lunch at some point, something she assumed Obi-Wan ha requested. They worked through lunch and into the afternoon. She had yet to finish, but thought she had come up wish some good leads so far. She plugged in a few key words into a search, and selected to articles that came up as a response. She condensed everything onto one holo, and sat back, stretching.

Obi-Wan looked up then, having been thinking about having an early dinner.

"I've condensed some reading for tonight onto this holo." Charlie told him.

"How about some dinner, Obi-Wan? My eyes are killing me." She squinted at him to emphasize her point.

He smiled in return. "I was just thinking the same thing." he said.

He pressed a few button on his comm unit, reading a message and replying.

"Anakin is bringing take-out back to my quarters, and you are more than welcome to join us. Perhaps we'll make more headway after we eat."

Charlie nodded her agreement, squashing the nerves that came with the thought of seeing Obi-Wan's quarters. She stood, helping him clear the scattered holos, and tucking her's under her arm. He copied her, and together they left the archives, waving goodbye to Jocasta Nu.

She followed him to his and Anakin's quarters, not quite sure where it was. Obi-Wan was clearly well known. Any number of padawans and Jedi knights acknowledged them as they passed with a wave of a hand or a nod of their head.

Finally, they reached a metal door much like her own. With a touch, he let them both in.

Charlie looked around, admiring that tastefully decorated apartment. She could see Obi-Wan's influence, but also Anakin's. Their force signatures were everywhere. She smiled at the easy companionship.

"Well," Obi-Wan said, interrupting Charlie's musings, "its still got the feel of a bachelor pad, but I've sort of forced Anakin to keep it somewhat neat. He is a terrible slob."

Obi-Wan sighed with resignation, but Charlie could see the affection in his gaze. She smiled at his plight, knowing full well there was no maliciousness behind his statement.

Obi-Wan invited her to have a seat as he made tea.

"The holo over there," he pointed to a holo in the corner of the living room, "has access to the net. See if you can't access our research."

Charlie walked over and took a seat. She'd had plenty of experience with computers, and this one was no different. She pulled up their research before vacating her seat for a place standing by the window. It afforded a fantastic view of Coruscant's afternoon rush hour. She watched, entranced by the orderly movement of the ships.

Obi-Wan brought their tea over when it was done, and she accepted her cup with a soft thank you.

She made the mistake of meeting his gaze, then. Emerald and blue-green eyes met, and time seemed to slow.

"Thank you, Master Kenobi." Charlie said quietly, and averted her gaze.

He tucked a finger under her chin then, and forced her to meet his gaze again.

"It's Obi-Wan, darling." he said, his voice soft.

The endearment and his touch burned her skin and his eyes pinned her where she stood.

Charlie was certain he was going to kiss her, and she didn't seem to have the willpower at the moment to pull back.

But then, just as quickly as they'd gotten close, he pulled back, leaving her alone by the window.

She'd felt it too, but hadn't realized what it was. Through the Force, they could both feel Anakin's approach.

Charlie silently thanked Obi-Wan for having the focus to see what was coming, while cursing the terrible timing of the young padawan.

The boy burst into the apartment, yelling his greeting and dropping the bag of food on the counter in the kitchen.

He looked surprised but happy to see Charlie again.

"Oh, hello again Charlie!" Anakin said, his voice bright. "I'm glad you could join us for dinner. You are staying, are you not?" The Padawan's blue eyes regarded her questioningly.

"Yes," Charlie responded with a smile, "I am staying. Obi-Wan and I were going to continue our research after dinner. We made a fair amount of headway, and I'm interested to see where the path leads."

Dinner was an enjoyable affair. Anakin ate like she expected him too.

"So barbaric, my young apprentice." Obi-Wan said, shaking his head. Again, there was no venom behind the remark.

Anakin merely smiled and continued to eat with gusto. She enjoyed the conversation. The affection between the master and his padawan was clear in their good-natured ribbing of one another. Charlie joined the conversation every now and then. She found Anakin to be a lively conversationalist, and enjoyed teasing both him and Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan's eyes never failed to sparkle with amusement.

They did continue to search after dinner. Their goal was to find out the attack plan of the separatists. This was no small task, and they were not a large team, so they had to go planet by planet. They'd pinpointed some major security risks, though, and had plenty to show for their efforts when Charlie announced that she had to return to her quarters for the night. Anakin yawned beside her, announcing that he was off to bed. To Charlie's happy surprise, he hugged her before entering his room for the night.

Charlie and Obi-Wan watched him until the door shut behind him

"Come." Obi-Wan said to her, shaking his head at his padawan's antics. "I'll walk you back to your rooms."

"That's not necessary." Charlie protested softly, but her heart wasn't in it. She simply wanted to spend more time with this man. He smiled and brushed away her protests, and out they went.

They made small talk on the short walk back to her apartment. She hadn't realized how close she was, and was disappointed when the short walk ended.

The pair stopped in front of her door, and again Charlie was caught with his finger under her chin and his gaze on her. The look in his eyes was identical to the one he'd had earlier in his apartment.

"Finally." thought Charlie, throwing all her reservations into the wind.

But before either of them could make a move forward, they were interrupted yet again. This time, by Obi-Wan's wrist comm.

The Jedi Master checked the small comm, and when he saw the readout, he sighed.

"I do apologize for these interruptions, darling, but its the council. Duty calls." he said, voice heavy.

He sighed again, and settled for hug and a kiss on Charlie's forehead.

Charlie nodded with understanding, and stepped out of the embrace, knowing that if she didn't let go now, it was likely that she could never let go. She was still numb from the contact his lips had made with her forehead.

"Good night Obi-Wan." she said as she palmed open her door.

"I hope we meet again soon." she said, cursing herself the minute the words came out of her mouth. They sounded so formal, so awkward.

But with that, the door shut behind her with a whoosh, forcibly cutting off her contact with those blue-green eyes.

Charlie wasn't sure how to feel as she readied herself for bed. It was clear he felt something, though she couldn't be sure it wasn't simply friendly. It had been a while since she'd had to read the signs of another person's feelings, and she was very out of practice. To add on to that, something about Obi-Wan threw her off balance.

"No, Charlie." she said firmly to herself. "How could he ever want you over some Jedi he's been working with for years." He had to have someone. It wasn't possible that someone of his status and attractiveness didn't. She couldn't be that lucky.

Charlie sighed, resigning herself to a simple friendship with the devastatingly attractive man, but holding on to one last thread of hope without really knowing it. She sternly told her subconscious not torture her again, and promptly fell asleep.

Her comm unit woke her, beeping incessantly. She groaned, thinking that it was too damn early, but smiled realizing that she had survived the night without another very real dream. The sun was just peaking into her windows, and she realized that it wasn't her alarm that had woken her, but a message.

It was from Obi-Wan, Charlie saw with a heady mix of giddiness and trepidation.

Charlie-

Please report to the council room as soon as possible. We are to report on what we've found.

-OBK

Charlie jumped out of bed, and readied to leave as quickly as possible. She had been summoned by the council, and whether it had been Obi-Wan or Mace Windu doing the summoning didn't matter.

She grabbed a few pieces of dried fruit from her pack to tide her over until lunch, and, checking her weapons, left the room. R4 stood watch once again.

When she entered the council room, the members appeared to be in separate conversations. Her entrance stopped the noise, and Mace Windu spoke upon her approach.

"Master Silverstar." he said, "Good morning. Thank you for coming so quickly. I trust your stay has had no problems so far?"

Charlie shook her head.

"Good." Windu responded. "We are in need of a report on the work you and Master Kenobi did yesterday."

Obi-Wan stood up to join her at the front of the room. He held a holo with the broad outlines of what they'd found listed on is. Charlie gave him a quick smile in greeting, now willing to reveal anything else while in front of the council.

"Absolutely." said Charlie, now focused completely on her work.

"We started research potential targets for the separatists and the droid army, beginning with the outer-rim of the Republic and moving inwards."

She and Obi-Wan worked their way through the important points and potential targets. The council looked thoughtful as they brought up each now point, and Charlie struggled to come to terms with the enormity of the galaxy and what the Jedi had to defend and protect.

When they'd finished with all the targets, Charlie still had more to say.

"There is something else, Council." she said.

Obi-Wan looked at her questioningly, but she shook her head. She hadn't told him this.

"I don't want to cause any strife, but there is someone among you working without your knowledge. The instruction to create a clone army and disappearance of the planet Kamino from your archives both had to be done from within and high up. Someone is doing this from the temple or the senate. If this traitor extends their reach and starts revealing valuable Republic secrets to the separatists, that…"

But before she could finish, Yoda interrupted.

"Bad, that would be." the green creature said, nodding with a frown on his face. "Useless, does a traitor render our defenses. To the bottom of this, we must get. Suggestion, you have, Master Silverstar?"

"Yes, Master Yoda." Charlie said. "I believe the traitor, whoever it is, will have something to do with my former master, Darth Sidious. When I was back on Utapau, he seemed to know so much about the inner workings of the Jedi Temple and the Republic itself. He must have a trained spy. My research tells me that it is possible this traitor will have a remnant of my trainer's force signature imprinted on him. I trained in mind-to-mind battles with Sidious. I know his signature, and I might be able to recognize it, give proximity to the traitor."

"Basically, I want permission to keep a sharp eye out. I know observing force signatures isn't a terribly common skill among the Jedi, but it's one I've cultivated. It has become like a sixth sense." Charlie finished.

What she was proposing wasn't out of her realm of skill. She pretty much observed the force signature of everyone she met anyways. This wouldn't add too much stress.

The council looked thoughtful.

Yoda spoke again. "Meditate on this, I will." he said, with determination. "Council dismissed, until then."

Charlie bowed low, turned, and left the room, hungry and wanting to find the mess hall.

Before she could reach the lifts, a large hand caught hers. She turned to see Obi-Wan, having moved ahead of the rest of the council.

"You did a wonderful job in there, Charlie." he said approvingly. "It isn't always easy to face the council, even when you're on the council."

Charlie grinned at him, feeling his praise warm her chest. How did this man have so much power over her?

But Obi-Wan wasn't finished.

"Come out with me tonight, Charlie?" he asked, making her freeze. He wanted to go out with her? Charlie's head was telling her that this was a terrible idea, but her heart was screaming YES!

Throwing caution to the wind, she smiled at him.

"Sure, Obi-Wan. What did you have in mind?" she said.

He released her hand, and she felt the loss of contact like a physical blow.

He smiled back, full red lips parting to reveal flashing white teeth.

"I grab you at eight and we'll go somewhere I go pretty often." he said.

Charlie smiled, nodded, and boarded the lift. His grinning face was the last thing she saw before the doors slid shut. And try as she might, Charlie couldn't find it in her to wipe the grin off her own face.

Charlie looked fantastic, and she knew it. After she left Obi-Wan on the top floor of the temple, she'd gone to breakfast. She'd spent the rest of the day continuing on the research while simultaneously worrying about their... outing.

When she'd finally given up focusing on her work, she sent a droid out for some proper clothes and set about getting ready. The droid had done a really spectacular job picking out her outfit.

She wore black leggings and a skintight red dress that come to just below her butt with a zipper up the entire front. She'd added chunky black boots. the outfit enhanced what cleavage she had and accentuated the lithe body that her hard training had given her.

Her dark hair was wavy over her shoulder, and for once not in a braid. She'd done her best with her makeup, green eyes smoldering and lips matte red. She considered herself in her mirror. Pronouncing herself acceptable, she grabbed a black leather jacket that the droid had also brought, and slipped it on. To her happy surprise, it had a pocket ready-made for her lightsaber. She'd be foolish to go anywhere outside the temple without it, and was happy the droid had realized she would need somewhere to carry it.

She left her forearms unwrapped, as the sleeves of her jacket took care of covering them for her. She also trusted Obi-Wan not to put them in danger, and dressed like this she didn't think anyone would recognize her for what she was.

Deeming herself fully presentable, she threw her credit counter, lipstick, and extra knife into the other inside pocket of her jacket. She couldn't sit still for some reason. Eventually she recognized the feeling as nerves, but that didn't help anything. So she took to pacing and speaking to R4 while she waited.