Rating: Silly-Sexy
Disclaimer: HAHAHA It all belongs to Lucas
Summary: Walking a drunken Padawan home.

It had been a very interesting evening from the start.

My friends and I had gone out to try and relieve the general depression that hung about us from an all round shitty week by going out and having a blast at the local pub. However, we didn´t realize that it being Ladies night meant that every low life creep in the galaxy would be there.

After trying to figure out how to tell contestant number seven in his native language "No thanks you can suck your own." We were saved by a gift from the heavens.

A group of Jedi padawans and knights had blown into the place looking to celebrate the knighting of a friend in style. In their own words having a few lovely young ladies to admire and talk to while they learned the fine art of getting plastered was ideal. Them being in equal number to our party and all of them handsome and gentlemen to the fingernails we naturally agreed.

I found myself most often chatting with a strawberry blonde fellow with a gymnast´s build and changeable hazel eyes and a melodic voice I could just drown in. As the night drew on and the bar got more crowded, our chairs disappeared and soon we girls were each perched on a Jedi´s knee.

They were a bit restrained until the alcohol really started to hit them. Then they were downright adorable and almost childlike. They still possessed far more dignity then more men while sober and were unflaggingly polite. But they relaxed a bit and were warm and friendly and quite adventurous.

I don't know how he did it, but Strawberry convinced me to join the wet T shirt contest on behalf of our table. It took quite a few shots to get me to go up there. Needless to say I won our table night free drinks next week.

Then the Jedi got on the dance floor. The were utterly incapable of doing any other dancing with someone else other then formal court dances. It was rather interesting waltzing to some of the pulse pounding techogrooves.

But dear lord in heaven, When those Jedi took over the floor to do an open handed Kata to the music, I don't think there was a lady in the place that wasn't drooling.

Needless to say, shortly afterwards me and my strawberry blonde found a quiet dark corner somewhere to neck. He was a fantastic kisser. The first touch of his lips made any thought that there was anything else in the world outside of this kiss flee. His hands caressed my body, encouraging me to go from sitting across his legs side saddle to astride him. His lips on my neck and collar bone caused my hips to start rocking.

Just when I was about to suggest we lock ourselves in the coat room he suddenly stopped. He tucked his head so it rested on my shoulder as his hands petted me in such a way that it calmed the fire he was earlier throwing rocket fuel on.

"Huh?" I asked shocked. Was there something wrong?

He smiled up at me, his eyes a bit fuzzy from alcohol. "I really like you. I want you to meet my Masher before we do that." He slurred a bit

"Why?" I asked grinning.

He beamed up at me, "Cause I gotta tell him I met the girl of my dweems!"

I couldn't help but chuckle as I looked into his handsome and childishly happy face. No, this boy wasn't used to holding his liquor. And as slightly off kilter as I was, doing anything more then making out in a corner wouldn't be ethical. I always make it a rule never to sleep with anyone while drunk. Especially someone drunker then I was.

I sat back to Side saddle and remained comfortably tucked into his arms the rest of the evening in our little corner, chatting about everything and nothing. The music went from loud pounding to softer and slower.

I think I fell asleep in his lap cause the next thing I knew was the lights coming on and the cleaning droids starting to do a sweep up.

"hey, Strawberry." I said shaking his shoulder. I never really got his name in the pounding of the music. It was O- something something - E.

"Hrmp?" He asked as his head popped up and he blinked his eyes open. "What?"

"I think our friends have left us in the lurch." I said looking at the abandoned bar. "What time is it?"

He blinked owlishly at the neon clock and intoned, "Time for my masher to kill me."

Whoo boy. I pulled out my emergency credit stick and stared. I always kept that buried in my purse with enough money for either cab fare home or a hotel room. While Hotel room was a very nice idea, I really didn't like the possibility of being tracked down by an irate Jedi ‘Masher' looking for his padawan and finding his Padawan being taken advantage of.

I quick mental calculation I figured it would be enough for a public transport ticket for each of us. I stood up and watched as Strawberry weaved severely on his feet and stumbled into a nearby table before drunkenly oozing to a chair.

There was no way in hell I was letting a Jedi wander about Coruscant without all his faculties at one hundred percent. There were enough wackos out, especially at this time of night (morning?) that might want to take on a Jedi.

With a heavy sigh I realized I was going to have to walk Strawberry home and hope that the Jedi were kind enough to forgive me for getting one of their own completely hosed point me to the nearest ATM.

I pulled reached out and smiled, "Come on, Strawberry. Let me take you home."

***

  Apparently my brilliant plan of getting a highly intoxicated padawan home was not turning out to be as easy as it looked. How in bloody hell does a man weigh that much?

He was hanging on me like an alderaanian tree monkey, blinking owlishly at the world as if he had never seen any of it before. He walked on his own for a while when I used his braid as leash. Convinced him that we WERE going home and not to look at "The thing over there."

Thankfully, I managed to get Strawberry to the station without collapsing.

I groaned as I hauled us up to the ticket counter for the train. The lady behind the counter was a rather depressed looking woman in her forties. However, as soon as she got a good look at the drunken sot I had with me, she perked right up.

"Where to sugar?" She asked cheerfully while batting her very long and fake eyelashes at Strawberry. Strawberry was ignoring her and everyone else for that matter as he seemed to be staring intently at my chest.

I looked down at my wet T shirt and realized what it was that had enraptured his attention.

"So I have nipples. Get over it. Two tickets to the Temple stop please." I said as I turned to the lady at the counter.

She grinned, "Certainly, one moment as I print the tickets. Say, your fella can't seem to keep his shirt on."

It was then I looked to see Strawberry was struggling with his tunics to get them off. I frowned and chastised him, "Will you keep your shirt on. We'll be home at your temple in a minute."

He looked so hurt when I spoke to him sharply about keeping his shirt on. His adorable hazel eyes looked like they were going to cry.

"I don't mind!" The woman said trying to make him feel better, "I'm not offended. He could take the whole get up off if he wanted."

"Don't encourage him" I growled. The lady behind the counter wasn't helping matters.

His lower lip trembled as he said, "But you're COLD! Your shirt is wet and you are standing outside. Here..."

I gave in and let him pull his tunics over his head and put them on me. I looked like a Kid in her parent's clothing or the time I dressed up in my brother's Jedi costume for a school play.

So he... in his cloak and pants, I in his tunics and my skirt waited for the train to arrive.

That was when he started using the force to create a tower out of the garbage cans. I was going to stop him but frankly he wasn't harming anyone.   It was keeping him entertained and frankly I was impressed

No longer working out from lugging Strawberry's heavy ass around, I then discovered that I was indeed cold.

At the first shiver, Strawberry abandoned his project, muttered some horrified but badly slurred and incomprehensible apologies and pulled me into his cloak with him.

OK, I was a hell of a lot warmer now... and it wasn't because of the new layer of wool.

The train arrived and we boarded. Thankfully the car was empty. Only idiots would be out at this hour.

Present company included.

We were riding for ten minutes when Strawberry looked at me and said, "Can I see your breasts?"

"No." I replied flatly.

He pouted, "But they feel so nice. No one is here. I wanna see them."

I sighed, "Not now Obi-wan."

"Oh." He nodded. After five more minutes of riding he spoke again, this time a bit testily. "Can I see them NOW?"

I pointed to a vague spot on the wall, "There are cameras in here Obi-wan. We'll be at your temple in a bit."

Mollified he fell silent, nodded sagely and began using the force to create a rather good replica of the Senate building with the bits of trash around the transport car.

Finally the train stopped at the temple and we got off, strawberry trying his level best to wrap me in his cloak while I tried my level best to get us out of the train before the door shut.

***

"Ok blue eyes," I said as I gaped up at the Enormous wall and even greater towering temple, "This sucker is big. How do I get you in?" I said flatly.

"Aren't you coming in with me?" He asked lip in that pout and sad eyes. Gah, I can't win. He was moving restlessly staggering back and forth as if trying to constantly test his balance and failing dismally, taking me with him.

"Sure, I'll go in with you, as long as you promise no one will slice me in half." I replied. besides, I needed money to get home. I had none. I was hoping that the temple would be kind enough to point me in the direction of the nearest chit machine.

He grinned and giggled, "Promish. You're funny. You need to meet my masher and make him laugh. He needs to laugh more."

  I refrained from telling him that if his masher had a sense of humor at all, his masher would be laughing his ass off shortly.

  Instead I exercised the art of trying to get coherent directions from a drunk that would rather sing rather loudly about the garters wookies wear. Following his directions we came to... a wall.

  "What now Blue eyes." I asked.

  He frowned in concentration and a door magically swung open. I whistled, handy trick.

  We 'walked' inside and did my level best to follow his directions. He was now getting sleepy. Good in the fact he was no longer singing so loudly as to wake the dead and cause me to go deaf.

  Bad in the fact I was now bearing most of his weight and he wasn't awake enough to tell me if I was heading in the wrong direction.

  Finally we got to a door.

  It was a rather non-descript door.

  There were lots of other doors like it.

  Strawberry had said 'third door on left.' Before he went into alcohol induced meditation.

  I knocked, praying that Jedi were forgiving if woken up early.

  It most assuredly was 'early'.

  The door swung open to reveal a man with long brown hair that was shot through with silver. His deep blue eyes held an expression of someone coming awake. His beard was a little scruffy, sleep pants looked wrinkled from use.

  All in all, the man looked like I woke up him from a dead sleep.

  This went against every tenant my mother taught me. Right below "Never drink anything blue" was a Cardinal rule of general populace, "If you value your life, don't piss off a Jedi."

  "Can I help you?" He asked me cautiously, waiting for me to answer why this ass hole stranger (AKA me) who was not a jedi had gotten into the Jedi temple and chosen him to wake up.

  "Does this belong to you?" I asked pointing to strawberry who was starting to wake up.

  Strawberry's head lolled up and he smiled inanely, "HI MASHER!"

  Well, that answered that question.

  He looked from Strawberry to me and his impassively polite face didn't change... except for one corner of his mouth twitching.

  "Hello Padawan. I see you enjoyed yourself." he said waving me to bring Strawberry inside. However, strawberry was now really perky and happy so he weaved himself inside.

  "Oooo Yes." He said flopping onto the couch, "Wonderful time. There was this group of ladies, one was rather sad so we figured to share our happiness and cheer 'em up."

  "That was very nice of you, I'm sure." Masher said, "Completely unselfish."

  Strawberry nodded sagely, "Force rewards us for good deeds! Look what I brought home! Can we keep her?"

  I blinked. What does one say to that? Sure?

  "I don't know padawan." The elder smiled indulgently.

Stawberry began to pout, "But she followed me home."

I snorted, More like he followed me home. But I didn't say that.

  The elder turned to me as if expecting me to handle this. It was then I saw the bright laughter in his eyes.

  I smiled, "Sorry, I'm haven't had all my shots. It will be a few weeks before I am registered to be kept."

  Strawberry went into full pout, crossing his arms and legs while he sat on the sofa and went into full grump modes. He looked like a thwarted four year old.

    Masher shrugged, "Padawan, why are you so intent on keeping her?"

  He looked up at Masher, "be-CAUSE... she sweet, she's funny, she's cute, she's VERY nice seeing as she brought me home. She's trusting; see how she trusted me, a stranger to MY home! They don't make many girls like that anymore. We NEED to PROTECT her."

  Masher nodded sagely, "true. Trusting, kind with a good sense of humor is rare."

  Then Strawberry sat up straighter, "Besides... she's got the pur-tiest tits in the galaxy! take a look see..."

  He got up and was reaching to the tunics I was wearing when his master snagged him around the waist and hauled him bodily back.

  "That's quite enough padawan." He said sternly.

  Strawberry ducked his head like a scolded child before he blinked, "What time is it?"

  Another twitch from the Masher's mouth, "Time all good padawans were in their bed."

  He sighed like a little boy being told his night of staying up late was over, "Really?"

  "Really. Off to bed now."

  He frowned, "What about her? Can she come with me? I promise I'll be good."

  I blinked, He might, but in the morning I don't think I would be.

  Masher chuckled, "No, I think since we don't own her it would be best if she stayed out here."

  He frowned, "Oh-kay. Can I have a hug then?"

  His Masher looked at me pleadingly. I nodded and Strawberry had me in a rib cracking hug which ended with an enthusiastic smooch on the cheek.

  With that he walked... unsteadily... to his room.

  When the door shut his master, without turning to look said, "That's the linen closet Obi-wan."

  A muffled "Oh" and a giggle, the door opened and he went into another door. "AH! Right room! Wondered why it was so cramped."

  That door shut and that left me and Master in the room.

***

That door shut and that left me and Master in the room. Master just chuckled to himself as he looked at me. I looked back at him.

  What does one say to a Jedi 'masher' who you've just brought home his padawan from a bar. You don't even know said padawan's name and you are wearing padawan's tunics and clearly your lipstick was on padawan's lips?

  "Hello would be a good start." Masher said.

  And his collar bone, and his neck and his cheeks and..

  "Hi." I said trying my best not to blush and failing dismally.

  "Hello, young lady, my name is Qui-gon Jinn. I am the drunken sot's Master." he said bowing formally and sounding one hell of a lot more alert than I would be at this hour of the morning.

  "Um... Ella Diogenes." I said trying to figure out if I bow or extend my hand to shake. I opt for shaking, my planet's custom.

  He took my hand, his was calloused, but warm and pleasant. He smiled, "His name, incase you didn't exchange them, is Obi-wan Kenobi. One of our finest padawans" He added with irony ringing in his voice.

I smiled, "Good to know I've helped the Galaxy's finest."

  "Thank you Miss Ella. I see my padawan was in very good care." He said. then he looked at my smudged lipstick and the tunics I had on "VERY good, I see."

  Ok... I wanted to spontaneously combust. I didn't think Jedi teased about sex. It's like the first time hearing your mom tell a dirty joke.

  "Nothing happened." I said hastily, "Your padawan..um... Obi-wan was a perfect Gentleman."

  His mouth twitched, "Thank You for letting me know."

  "Will... will he get into any trouble? I mean, he didn't have enough money to get home and his friends seemed to have left without him. I didn't want him to try and navigate home while he was unsteady."

  I really didn't want Strawberry..er.. Obi-wan to get into any trouble. I felt like it was partly my fault the padawan was drunk off his ass.

  Don't know WHY, but I did. I told him not to drink anything blue. That was just asking for trouble.

  He chuckled, "Let me ask you something. How would your father react?"

I blinked, "My daddy would shoot him."

  He coughed, "You mother?"

  "She'd shoot him, then let him sit there and bleed while she lectured him on WHY she shot him."

  Qui-gon laughed outright, "He won't get into any more trouble then befitting a normal person his age doing what he did. He will more likely beat himself up over it more than I ever could. His hang-over tomorrow will take care of the rest."

  I smiled, "Good. Glad to hear it. I like him. He's a good guy. Rare thing to find these days. well, I better go, if you could just tell me how to get out and to the nearest credit machine I will..."

  He waved me off, "Nonsense! I owe you my hospitality for ensuring the safety of my padawan. Please, stay here tonight. Just as you could not let him navigate home alone, I certainly won't let you."

  Rule number three in civilian handbook. Never argue with a Jedi. See rule two about pissing one off

  "Thank you." I said smiling, "I'm grateful."

  He smiled, "Feel free to use our washing facilities while I set up the sofa for bed." I followed him to the door Obi-wan first went into and he handed me out some fluffy towels, soap and a pair of Pj's.

  I ducked into the refresher and stripped out of my clothing... and Obi-wan's, jumped into a quick warm shower, dried off feeling relaxed and put on the pj's.

  The man must have given me his spare ones. I looked like I was wearing a tent.

  I padded out, feet and hands invisible through the long sleeves and pants and saw the Jedi master putting a pillow on the couch which had been turned into a bed.

  I climbed in, feeling the exercise catch up with me and flopped into the soft cushions. The Jedi Master chuckled above me and tucked the blankets over me. The last thing I remember was the click of him turning out the lights.

***

  The first thing I was aware of as I woke up was the pain.

I felt as if something had chewed me up and spat me out. My head pounded like an Ewok drum festival was living in my head. My stomach was churning and making rather sickly noises. My mouth tasted as if an entire tribe of Wookies had performed their hygene routines in there and every joint felt as if it was swollen. How in the name of the force did I get like this.

Surely I had been in a fierce fight defending somebody. It was the only explanation I could make to myself given the fact I felt as rotten as I did and I was still dressed in my pants, boots and cloak.

I figured opening my eyes might help me determine what happened. I rolled over, very slowly to cause as little irritation to my stomach and that band of ewoks in my head I reached my back. Very carefully I opened one eye reasoning that if it exploded I'd still have the other one.

I discovered I was in my room. It was then faint whisps of memories came floating back of Nurit getting knighted and wanting to celebrate. Nurit felt that the force was telling him to go to a local bar and celebrate like civilians. We laughed and said this was the first time the force had a really great idea.

We had hit the streets feeling the force would guide us to an appropriate place for a good time. The place that pulled at us didn't seem to be the highest class of places but there was a simple atmosphere to it. Like it's reputation was built more on the service inside then the looks on the outside.

We had walked in and immediately saw a group of rather attractive ladies trying to fend off some rather unscrupulous beings. The gave the air of having recently gone through a bad patch and was looking to release their cares.

Naturally out of pure honorable intentions we had given the ladies some help by fending off other potential suitors and monopolized their time. One lady in particular caught my fancy. She was one of the quieter of the group. She had a wonderful smile she wasn't afraid to share and wore no make-up. Her clothes and manner indicated she was utterly incapable of putting form over function. Sensible with her feet firmly on the ground, always seeing the humor in every situation and the first to laugh at herself.

They joined us at the table and we all started to share a good time, laughing and talking.

And drinking. I groaned in mental anguish as I remembered her telling me something about Blue alcohol. What ever it was I didn't follow it figuring that all the other drinks would cancel out the evil of that one color. From then on my memories grew hazy and disjointed.

I remember I convinced her to enter the wet Tshirt contest. The effect of her wet white shirt clinging to every curve of her body did very interesting things to my body.

Then came the Kata dance, the necking session in a dark corner of the room, her being kind enough to walk me home, my trying to strip her to the waist to show my master her ‘pur-tee tits.'

Right.

I knew my master was going to kill me over this. I would have thought that he would have killed me already but I was in too much pain to be one with the force.

I slowly sat up at the edge of my bed and put my head between my knees as I waited for the world to stop spinning and the throbbing of my head to die down to a manageable amount. I felt terrible.

  I took stock of my situation. I was suffering from what could only be called the worst hangover in the history of the galaxy. I had disgraced the Jedi and had done things no Jedi padawan should ever do. My master had to be disappointed in me. The council would probably hear about it and I would likely receive an ungodly punishment from one of them and an ungodly lecture from both.

And yet I couldn't help but feel the greatest loss was the fact I didn't even know her name. I really liked her and wanted to get to know her a lot better. See her outside the pub, learn what foods she liked to eat. I was one of the best cooks of my class, I was sure I could make her favorite dish.

I snorted as I got up, tossed off my cloak and walked slowly out of my room and into the hall. Making my arthritic way to the bathroom. She was probably so disgusted with me she had dumped my on Qui-gon's feet and asked to be shown the door. NO there was no doubting it Kenobi. I was never seeing her again.

I touched the panel to open the door to the bathroom and stepped inside not even thinking about anything other then getting some pain pills. I heard a gasp beside me.

I turned and saw there was my girl from the club in the nude in my bathroom.   Her newly dried shirt was in her hands and she was clearly in the middle of getting dressed.

I had barely a nanosecond to take in the sight of her young firm flesh completely bared to me. For that second I completely and utterly forgot my pain and stared unabashedly.

Then she snatched her shirt close to her to cover up all those really nice bits of flesh I was enjoying the view of. Terror replaced shock on her face as she released her indrawn breath in a high pitched scream.

The scream seemed to split my skull in half as the high loud sound caused my pain to increase exponentially. I gasped in pain as I staggered backwards and hit the wall, trying to hold my head together with my hands.

The door opened once again as my master entered. The girl, bless her, stopped screaming. The pain had died down from incapacitating to down to merely excruciating. My master in his calm voice said, "So I see you are awake."

"Yes master." I murmured weakly as I nodded my head, still doubled over in pain. "'m sorry miss. I didn't know you were in here." I apologized sincerely.

I heard my master remove his cloak and what I could only assume wrap it around the girl. I heard him murmur words of comfort to her and her whisper back others. Then she snatched up her clothes and dashed out of the room.

"I trust you will be cleaning yourself up for breakfast." My master intoned ominously.

"Yes master." I whimpered back, my head still trobbing.

"Good." My master replied as he wiped a finger on my neck. "Lip stick belongs on a lady's lips."

With that he walked out leaving me alone in my misery in the bathroom. I pushed my self up with an effort and began to strip for a sonic shower. Only one thought rang through my head.

I have seen her naked and I still didn't know her name.

***

I watched as the young lady who had looked after my padawan while the boy was a drunken sot and smiled. I had to give my padawan credit for one thing. He has exquisite taste in women. While the hung over young man was trying his level best to put himself together in the bathroom, the lady and I chatted aimiably. I found her to be intelligent, sensible, funny and with the sweetest curves. There was a soft understated beauty about her.

Her looks were devious. Normally they were pleasant enough at a distance. Her clothes hid her curves for the most part. She spoke in a soft voice that you naturally leaned in closer to hear. It was then you got entranced by her eyes and you were trapped.

If I weren't cheerfully paired off already, I would have announced my intention to my padawan that I was going to give him some competition.

"So does he do this often?" She asked as she sipped on her morning cup of juice.

I smiled, "No, this is a rarity. He's only been drunk twice before. Once when there was some juice at a diplomatic event that wasn't labeled alcoholic and it was by purest accident. He was fourteen."

A smile graced her features, "Oh poor boy. He must have thought he was dying."

I chuckled, "So did I. I rushed him to the healers thinking he ate something poisonous or was allergic to something."

"And the other time?" She asked cheerfully, her eyes avoiding mine so as to pretend as if she wasn't interested. But her other body signals screamed she was hanging on every word I dropped about my padawan. I felt a small smile touch my lips.

"Three years ago when he was eighteen. He was somewhat intoxicated but the lady he was with was completely plastered." I chuckled remembering how they looked, "they were sopping wet. He brought her back here because he didn't want to leave her alone in the alcohol induced state she was. She was an interest of his."

"What happened to her?" She asked curious, her head canting to one side making her look absolutely adorable

I grinned, "She became and still is my paramour."

She choked on her juice and placed the cup down, "Oh my, how did that happen?"

I sighed, remembering the sadness on his face as my padawan wrestled with his inner battle. "After he woke up and went to his solo field assignment, I nursed her back to some semblance of health. During that time we got to know each other. When he came back hoping to pick up his courtship where he left off he found that she was now far more interested in me."

She placed a hand over her mouth, "Oh, poor guy. He must have been devastated."

I nodded, "Yes, he was. But he gave me his blessing that night and eventually his heart healed. It took several months but things went back to normal. Only remenants of that are his occasional teasing that he has to play ‘second banana to the fruit cake' and that I had managed to ‘snag the last good woman in the galaxy.'"

I could see in her eyes that she wouldn't walk away from obi-wan if a prince of the Alderaan realm offered her his undying love and worship. I hid my smile in a sip of my juice. Perfect.

The expression always goes. The padawan always knows who his master is going to be. The master always knows who his padawan's padawan will be. The same principle applies to lovers.

She hopped off the stool and sighed, "I better go. I'll be late for work if I don't. Well, nice meeting you. I've left my contact ID on your desk in case you find anything of mine here."

With that I walked her to the door of my quarters where a droid was waiting to escourt her to the front door. I walked back into the kitchen and started the second phase of my attack.

My padawan came shuffling into the room cautiously and sat on the stool so recently vacated. He looked truly pathetic with his still bloodshot eyes and slight tremor to his hands.

"You drank blue Alcohol didn't you?" I admonished.

My apprentice nodded weakly.

I immediately grabbed a pan and slammed it onto the stove. Obi-wan jumped in his seat and placed his head between his hands. I pulled out the eggs and flour and roughly dropped the large metal bowl onto the counter with a clatter. Again, obi-wan gave a full body twitch of pain.

"Breakfast?" I asked mildly

He cleared his throat, "No, thank you master. My stomach is still somewhat tender."

I nodded and immediately began to vigorously and noisily make some pancakes.   "I trust you have learned your lesson."

Again, my apprentice nodded, "Yes master. Say where is she?"

"She who?" I asked in the middle of my mixing.

"The lady who brought me home. I fear her name escaped me." He whispered softly and I could hear his unspoken fear that she had escaped him as well.

"She's left for her work. You realize you have behaved disgracefully." I said as I turned on the stove to heat the pan.

"Yes master." Obi-wan sighed, "My behavior wasn't befitting a junior senate aid, much less a Jedi."

I snored, "I hope you now know your limits with alcohol and if someone advises you against something, you should listen."

He nodded, "Yes master."

I poured the batter onto the pan and listened to the sizzle while at the same time I could almost hear my own padawan's roasting in the background. "Your losing your faculties in public like that was not only a breach of decorum, it was also extraordinarily dangerous. You are lucky."

"Yes I was, the force sent me an angel to look after me." Obi-wan sighed.

I turned the cakes and tapped the pan, "Your assignment today is going to be to run the obstacle training circuit to purge your body of your remaining toxins."

Obi-wan sighed, "Yes master."

I paused as I removed the cakes from the pan and placed them on my plate. "Then tomorrow when you are completely sober you are to take yourself to Miss Ella Diogenes' apartment and make formal apologies for your behavior. As well as thank her for bringing you home."

Obi-wan had been resting his temple on one of his hands as he stared at the counter. Now his eyes looked up at me in shock.

"Master?" His voice was filled with hope.

I smiled as I started to eat, "It seems you were right Padawan. The force really did send you an angel and one from it's highest choirs."

My padawan smiled thoughtfully. Diogenes was the name of the highest choir of angels in one of Alderaan's ancient religions. The Diogenes were the ones who performed the god's miracles on Alderaan. Apparently they were still getting work.

"Thank you master." Obi-wan smiled happily

I chuckled, "You won't be thanking me this evening after you've finished the circuit. No go before I think of something for you to do tomorrow."

I don't think I have ever seen my padawan so eager to obey my orders.

I chuckled as I dug into my breakfast. The force does speak and bring about it's wishes. But there was no reason not to give the Force a helping hand once in a while. Master Yoda has taught me well.

***

I was woken up by a ring on my comlink. I blinked a bit blearily. I felt like I had just gotten home from work and fallen asleep. My eyes flicked over to the clock and saw that it wasn't even dawn yet. After waiting for my eyes to focus I saw that it was a request to be let into the building. I frowned trying to think of who in the name of all that was holy would call me wanting into the building.

I was tempted to ignore it and go back to sleep but on the off chance this might be a real emergency I answered. "Unless you are a breathtakingly handsome man with a large stock portfolio come to ravish me senseless I'm hanging up."

"I can fulfill everything except the wealth part." Came the amused reply in familiar cultured tones.

"Strawberry?" I asked incredulous.

I heard a chuckle, "Yes, may I come in?"

I quickly leaned over and pressed the button to activate the door and let him in. I got up and hurriedly threw on my bathrobe and jammed my feet into slippers. I half ran half staggered from exhaustion to the door and activated it so I could look down the hall.

Sure enough, came my strawberry blonde looking a hell of a lot more awake then I felt. He was carrying what looked like a bag of groceries. I waved him inside and scratched my head, "What's wrong?"

He looked at me and smiled, "Nothing. I've come to make you breakfast to thank you for walking me home."

I blinked. "You woke me up at the crack of dawn to use my kitchen?"

He canted his head to one side, "I woke you up?"

I sighed deeply as I flopped onto my couch my exhaustion permeating my bones, "Contrary to the popular belief of early risers, not everyone feels a burning need to see the sun rise."

His head lowered and his shoulder slumped a bit, "I apologize. I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to make sure I arrived before you ate breakfast."

I rubbed my face vigorously trying to make my brain function. "Well you are here now and I'm not going to be able to fall back asleep. You might as well cook."

He bit his lip, "Are you sure?"

I chuckled and waved my hand in the direction of the kitchen, "Yes. You cook, I'll try and throw myself together. But let me just say, you better be one hell of a good cook to make up for waking me, strawberry."

He nodded seriously and walked into my small kitchen to start cooking. I heard the homey sounds of someone vigourously at work in the space and decided that a shower to wake me up might be a good idea.

This time when I went in I was careful to lock the door behind me.

***

The first bite into my omelet had my taste buds sobbing in ecstasy. I moaned in pleasure at the taste. If he could cook breakfast this well, I could only imagine what his deserts would be like.

"I pass muster?" He said hopefully over his own mouthful

I nodded, still rendered speechless by the sheer delight to my tastebuds.

He smiled and toyed a bit with his food, "Out of curiosity, why do you call me ‘strawberry'?"

I reluctantly swallowed my food so I could talk, "Your hair color. That blondish red is known as strawberry blonde. Besides, you aren't tall like most guys but you are incredibly sweet. There is something pure and innocent about a strawberry. But dip them in chocolate or cover them in sweet liquor and they are positively wicked and decadent."

He chuckled, "I never thought I would be likened to a strawberry."

I smiled as I decided I really liked the way his accent rolled over the word straw-burry. "I hope you didn't get into too much trouble yesterday." I said conversationally.

He groaned, "I think my master decided that your screaming in the bathroom was sufficient punishment. That tiny tiled room echoed that ungodly noise exactly the same way it reverberated in my head."

I snickered a bit, "You deserved it for walking in on me like that."

Obi-wan nodded sheepishly, "I'm sorry about that as well. I would like to make it up to you."

I waved him off, "It's alright. Forgiven."

He frowned, "No it's not alright. I need to make amends. Let take you to lunch." I sighed, "Can't I have to go to work today."

"Dinner then."

I shook my head, "Working straight through that too."

He frowned, "Surely your position at the hospital can't be that critical."

"There was a recent power surge which fried sever of the healing droids and how in hell do you know what I do?" I demanded.

He smiled a bit, "I took the liberty of looking a bit into your public records. Rather strange I couldn't find arrival papers or birth records. No school records either. It was if you dropped from the sky."

Horror flashed through me as the idea of him looking into my past shot through me. I looked away from him and closed my eyes. "I think you should leave."

"I'm sorry, I should not have looked into your records like that." He replied contritely. "I was just curious who the person who saved me from a possible fate worse then death."

I looked back up into his face and pursed my lips in indecision. "How much did you find out."

"Other then you just appeared here on Coruscant a few years ago, nothing. I searched only the Coruscant records." He replied honestly.

"If you promise not to look any further, I'll forgive you." I said as I ate my food.

"I promise I won't actively look any more if you tell me why." He replied softly

I frowned as I placed my head on my chin, "There are no visas in the public records because I came here on a specialty work visa which is kept confidential. I don't want you looking because I consider it an invasion of my privacy."

He nodded, "Agreed. One last question and I will officially drop the subject."

I arched my eyebrow, "Yes?"

"Is there anything in your past you are ashamed of that you wouldn't want me to find out?" He asked softly those glorious teal eyes searching mine "If there is, don't worry. Nothing I could hear about you would change my opinion of you."

"Why?" I asked curious

He smiled, "That you are a kind, caring person with a generous heart." I chuckled and shook my head, "No, I have done nothing I'm ashamed of. I just would like to tell you my history in my own time rather then you find it out all at once."

He straightened up, "Fair enough. Consider the subject dropped."

I smiled, "Good. Now about you making my next meal."

He cocked his head to one side, "Yes?"

I licked my lips, "If you made me something and sent it to me, that would make up for waking me up this early in the morning."

He smiled, "How many meals do I owe you?"

"Seven by my count." I smirked, "Three for the fiasco in the bathroom, two for you trying to show my breasts to your master, one for looking up my public records and one of for the incident in the dark corner."

He blushed, "I'm sorry, I'm not usually that forward."

I chuckled, "I'm not mad at you for doing anything. I'm mad at your for stopping."

He looked up at me and a smile like sunlight crossed his face, "Deal."

I smiled happily and returned my full attention to eat the food fit for the gods that was before me. Content that at least for now, the crushing loneliness was gone for now.

***

  My padawan is utterly adorable when courting. I could find him any moment of the day with a soft smile tugging at the edges of his lips. While still diligent in his studies, there is always an energy about him and a spring in his step.

I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate my thinking he was cute. I know I wouldn't appreciate my apprentice thinking the same thing about me. After all, we are men and men aren't supposed to be cute.

But what else am I supposed to think when come home to our apartments to see my padawan busy in the kitchen making the entire place smell heavenly and he's humming softly to himself while he's cooking.

Once again I step inside our shared quarters and I am hit by a scent that makes my mouth start watering. My padawan is busy in the kitchen humming a soft modern romantic ballad.

I walk into the kitchen and look around at the selection of gastronomical delights before me. I reach out and am about to snatch a very delicious looking cream puff when my knuckles are firmly rapped with a wooden spoon.

"Ouch!" I said and shake my hand to interrupt the pain. "That's a fine welcome for your master!"

Obi-wan arched an eyebrow, "It's common kitchen courtesy to ask before taking. I believe you instated that rule yourself, master."

I smiled, "May I have one now? I assume we are going to be eating all of this later."

Obi-wan shook his head, "One now, but they are not for us. They are for Ella."

I looked around at the kitchen. Every inch of countertop seemed to be groaning to culinary delicacies. "All of this is for your little Angel?"

Obi-wan flushed a rather charming color before turning away to finish stirring something sumptuous smelling in a pot on the stove. "Yes. Miss Diogenes seems to have the terrible habit of forgetting to eat regular meals. I am hoping that by preparing a few of getting her back into the habit of eating."

I nodded as I took a bite of the pastry and groaned in delight. The cream inside seemed to be lightly flavored with chocolate and mint. My padawan had really out done himself. "Excellent strategy, if I may say so, padawan."

Obi-wan chuckled, "Yes, one tends to take to a lesson more readily if there is a reward system instead of a punishment. People respond much better to positive reinforcement."

I leaned against the counter and snitched a cookie while my apprentice was concentrating on adding seasoning to the pot. "One also tends to catch flies with honey."

Again, Obi-wan looked uncomfortably shy, "I don't know what you mean, Master."

"Clever method of courtship, if I do say so myself. I've never thought of this one." I commented idly, honestly admiring my padawan's methods. "Usually the expression goes that the way to a man's heart is through their stomach. Interesting to use it for a woman."

Obi-wan covered his unease by bringing a spoonful of what I now identified as soup to taste. "If you say so master."

I smiled, "I do, and I heartily approve."

Obi-wan turned to look at me, his eyes round with shock. "You do?!"

I nodded, "Yes, Miss Diogenes seems to be a delightful girl. I can see by the distinct improvement in your temper of late that she's good for you as well."

Obi-wan blinked, "I thought you wouldn't approve because she's a civilian and I picked her up in a bar."

I waved off my padawan's concern, "This civilian was honorable enough to walk you home when you were unable to do so yourself. That alone speaks for her reliability. As for the location you found her, I seem to remember that you found one other remarkable female in a similar location."

He lowered his eyes, "I'm over that now."

I nodded, "Yes, now you are."

"I didn't mean to be so difficult." He said softly

I placed a hand on his shoulder, "You weren't. You were very honorable, generous and understanding. But the death of a dream or a hope hurts, no matter what its cause was. It's only true cure is the start of new dream."

Obi-wan smiled up at me, "Thank you master. Now hopefully I'll be able to catch this one."

I chuckled, "Obi-wan, I have the distinct impression that you are going to chase her until she catches you."

Obi-wan winked at me, "That was plan A."

"What is your back up plan?"

"Feed her so many sweets that she becomes too fat to fly away."

I laughed as I looked at the assortment before me. Most everything was either a desert, had a sugary glaze was simply a naturally sweet dish. "I see you have ferreted out that she has a sweet tooth."

Obi-wan bowed, "My master has taught me to look for the weaknesses in my opponent and exploit them."

I nodded, "Indeed, any other advice this master has given you?"

Obi-wan held out his hand before me and tapped his foot, "Always be aware of what is going on around you."

"Pardon?" I asked in a failed attempt at innocence.

"Hand them over." Obi-wan said testily.

With a dramatic sigh I pulled out the cookies and a few wrapped pastries that I had attempted to thieve. "Are you happy now?"

Obi-wan frowned, "Well, I was planning on saving some of this soup for us for dinner tonight but since you've misbehaved I'd say that it's no soup for you."

I placed my hand on my heart in a gesture of innocence and astonishment, "You mean to tell me you will punish your master?"

Obi-wan chuckled, "Did my master also tell me that when the padawan teaches the master that the relationship rings true?"

I rolled my own eyes, "I'm sure there is something in the Jedi code about padawans not being allowed to use their master's words against them."

Obi-wan shrugged, "Not in anything I've read. I've frequently heard you throw master Yoda and Master Windu's words back at them."

I tossed my hands in the air, "I can't win against you today."

"Can I help it if the force is with me?" Obi-wan asked trying to appear innocent while that smile tugged at his lips again. As annoying as it was at times, I was very glad to see it.

I crossed my arms, "perhaps a few rounds around the practice ring would change your attitude. Say Noon tomarrow so you are to cancel your lunch with Miss Diogenes?"

In seconds Obi-wan was pressing a plate laden with goodies and a bowl of that mouth watering soup into my hands. He chased me out of the kitchen waving his wooden spoon and thoroughly cursing my name, my parentage and, just to round things out, the ship that brought me to the Jedi in my infancy.

I smiled as I settled down at the dining room table for my evening meal and closed my eyes moaning in the delights on my tongue. Victory in debate against my padawan had never tasted so sweet.

***

  I smiled as I watched Ella from a distance. She was taking some time out of her day repairing Med droids to talk to the children in the intensive care ward. She was in the middle of making a sock puppet talk to a calamarian child. The young boy was burbling laughter at every turn.

I don't think I have ever seen Ella so beautiful as when she is volunteering her free time at the hospital. The young lad seemed to be enjoying himself as he waved his arms in delight at the funny voices Ella was making.

Eventually I saw her eyes lift up and catch mine. She gave a few parting remarks with what I assumed were promises to return she finished with what she was doing and came over to me. The firs thing that happened was her arms wrapped around my waist in a rib cracking hug. She wasn't ashamed about hugging in public.

Truth was, I'd take any excuse to have her in my arms.

"How are you!" She smiled, her eyes lighting up making her look truly beautiful.

I smiled as I walked with her out of the hospital, "Better, now that I am back from where I was."

She gave my hand a squeeze, "Missions for Jedi aren't suppose to be easy. If they were, they'd give them to the army."

I chuckled a bit at her joke, "Darling, when was the last time you've eaten?"

"Um." She paused as she stopped to think.

"Too long then." I frowned very unhappy about this trend. Try as I might, I couldn't shake her of the bad habit of not eating. It was cronic. I would have been very worried about her if it weren't for the fact on the force I could sense nothing wrong. But common sense told me otherwise. "Ella, you need food to survive. You must eat."

She smiled up at me indulgently, "I do eat, just little bits here and there."

I sighed, "Just promise me you won't starve to death."

She chuckled, "I can promise you I will never do that. How are your classes?"

I shook my head, "I think I detest Literature of Ancient Civilizations. Their plays are trite and make no sense."

We had reached the landing pad for public transport and were waiting in line for the next train. "Really? What are you reading?"

The next shuttle pulled up. "Ancient Alderaanian playwrites. I think I hate them."

She laughed as we climbed aboard "What ever makes you say that? I find them to be rather riveting."

I frowned as we sat, "Take the Phitet Trilogy. What is the point of that nine hour long monstrosity? They just seem to repeat themselves over and over."

She cocked her head, "Reading those plays is a bit of a waste of time. Most of the importance of the play is in the acting. But the Phitet is a master piece."

I grabbed the bar beside me and steadied myself as the train jolted to a traffic induced stop, "So my teachers insist."

She shook her head, "You need to get out of the mindset of a modern person and into the mind set of an Alderaanian of that period. To them nature was a large looming force over which they could only hunker down and pray it didn't treat them roughly, the gods were terribly real and it was every man for themselves."

I sighed, "I can imagine but I don't see how it means anything."

She smiled, "It also means you need to get away from the idea of modern society and it's idea of laws. Back then, it was do good to your friends and bad to your enemies. The idea of and organized system of justice was radical to the extreme. The Phitet is the story of the crime that made them realize there was a better way."

I cocked my head in thought, trying to imagine a world where there were no laws. You sought your own justice and were alone in that quest. My mind spun at the idea. One person's justice was another person's crime. It was a vicious and terrifying circle. I shuddered at the idea.

"So the Phitet is more then just the story of someone committing murder, someone else slaying the murderer and the trial afterward. All that crying over and over again for a better way was really society's cry for something better then anarchy?" I asked incredulous. Suddenly the entire play took on a whole new meaning. Complexity upon subtlety unfolded in my mind. I was stunned by the sheer genius of a play that had once seemed so trite and simple.

She nudged me with her elbow playfully, "See, you got it. You just needed a push in the right direction for interpretation."

I shook my head in wonder, "How do you know so much about Ancient writing."

"Easy," She deadpanned, "I was there."

I rocked my head back and laughed, "No seriously. How do you know so much?"

She shrugged, "When I go some place new I make it a hobby to learn as much about their history as possible. All of Alderaanian society seems to be based on the writings of their ancients so I read them. Helps you understand the psychology of the people."

I smiled as I watched her stand up to get out of the train car. She was exquisite. Intelligent, curvaceous, charming and there was this beautiful light inside her. I was attracted to her like a moth to a flame.

And I was planning on telling her how I felt tonight. We had kept it as just friends in case our attraction was more alcohol induced then heart felt. Now I knew that wasn't true. I was more attracted to her then ever before.

I had it all set up. I was carrying all the ingredients for her favorite dishes. My girl had a weakness of anything with sugar in it. So anything that could be glazed or sweetened I learned how to make. Her favorite desert was already in the bottom of the container. Pressed spiced honey and pastry squares.

As we rounded the corner to her apartments I steeled myself and prepared for the night ahead where I would give her a home cooked meal and my heart on a platter.

***

  I was worried about my padawan.

I frowned as I meditated and tried to chase down the feeling of unease inside of me. My padawan was in love with Miss Diogenes, that was as plain as daylight. From the times I have seen her, I could see her heart matched his. I knew she would never do anything to hurt him. In point of fact, my padawan has grown calmer and happier since he met her. He was more likely to think something out now instead of getting blocked by frustration.

But we knew so much and yet so little about her. We knew she worked in the hospital as a medical droid repair person. We knew she volunteered most of her free time to various charity projects. Anyone who has ever met her has sung her praises to the stars and back.

So what was I so worried about? I couldn't imagine that sweet girl having a sinister bone in her body. It was like she was utterly incapable of evil.

Maybe that was what bothered me. She was too perfect?

No, that wasn't it. Too perfect meant there was some deception and the girl seemed incapable of that. The force resonated at that thought, agreeing with my assessment.

I sighed frustrated as I tried to direct my thoughts along more productive lines. Perhaps it was the fact we knew so little about her. Her life previous to her years on coruscant were a complete mystery. There was literally no evidence of anything.

While my apprentice may be bound by a promise not to pry into her past, I was not. Indeed I was under the opposite obligation. Anyone wishing to court such a precious temple commodity as a Jedi padawan got a complete background check.

The fact the Jedi with all their resources could find absolutely nothing on this girl baffled us all. The Council was disturbed and needless to say I was. The researchers figured that she was a woman under witness protection of some sort and the local authorities forgot to file the papers with us, or felt it was too risky. It would explain her cagey behavior.

The council was satisfied. I was not.

Knowing mediation was absolutely useless I got up and hunkered over my desk trying to expand the search and find who she was. There had to be something. A school diploma, a credit history.

Hell, I'd be satisfied with finding a birth date.

"Alright Ella. Give me your secrets." I whispered to the screen as the latest search came up null and I entered in a new one.

***

  I watched as Ella practically purred in contentment as she picked up a square of the sweet desert and chewed it. There was an utterly blissed out expression on her face. I got the distinct impression of a cat chewing on catnip.

She leaned back against her couch and groaned as the last morsel melted in her mouth. "Strawberry, you have outdone yourself."

I smiled proudly, "I am glad you liked it. I would like to talk."

"About what?" She asked as she sucked on her fingers with all the delight of a child. However the sight of those luscious pink lips suckling and licking her fingers was doing interesting things to my body.

"About us." I said softly "I have something to say and I would appreciate if you let me finish before saying anything."

She nodded, "Alright."

I sat back, "I know we agreed on being friends because the other part of our relationship started under drug influence. I am very content to stay as friends if you wish it. However, I will let you know one thing."

She cocked her head as I deliberately held her gaze.

She nodded.

I gave a flicker of a smile, "If you think I'll forget what it felt like to have you in my arms, or the taste of your lips or the sight of your body then you are out of your damn mind."

Her jaw dropped slightly and her eyes went round. I felt a colony of butterflies take flight inside of my digestive tract and I did my best not to fidget.

After what seemed like an eternity she placed her plate on the table behind her. "Well, in that case I have something to tell you as well. Bear with me since I am not as elegant a speaker as you. Forgive me if this is worded too strongly."

I nodded, already feeling my heart sink. She didn't feel the same after all. I was certain she did. Apparently I was wrong.

Before I could utter an apology she suddenly launched herself from her end of the couch to mine, straight into my arms knocking me against the arm rest. Instinctively I reached out my arms to catch her.

Her lips were everything I remembered and more. Soft and intoxicatingly sweet. The kiss was languorous and took it's jolly sweet time. I realized that the alcohol didn't enhance my reactions to it in the least, it actually dampened the effect. Here, completely sober I was lost in the feel of her mouth on mine, her hands running along my sides and the scent of her hair as it fell in a curtain around me.

I was in heaven. After a while she pulled away slightly and smiled into my eyes, "Chair." She commanded.

I nodded with a grin of understanding. She wanted to finish what we started in the bar. My body was in full favor of that. With a judicious use of the force I managed to pull us both up and staggered into a nearby wooden dining room chair. After a few adjustments she wrapped her legs around me, hooking her heels into the leg stability bar at the bottom of the chair for leverage.

Then we both got down to doing what we really wanted to do. Which was to thoroughly enjoy each other's company.

***

  I frowned as I looked at the results of the last search. Once again, it came up with nothing.

I was just about to give up when I decided to try something on a whim.

The first result back had me absolutely stunned. I had to examine it two or three times to make sure I was really looking at it. Soon other pieces of evidence came to the screen as results from other databases around the galaxy reported back.

This complicated things.

I immediately put a call through to make arrangements to meet with Mace Windu.

***

  I smiled as I looked down on her peaceful sleeping face. We had managed to get each other's clothes off to our mutual satisfaction in the chiar though it took an absolute eternity. In the end we had to separate in order to remove the last essential articles of clothing.

I did not envy her job of standing. My hormones raging the way they were I was lucky I remained upright and I had the chair to help me. But the last bits of clothing were removed and she returned to my arms and lowered herself on me.

My breath had been taken away by the sheer beauty of it. She was warm tight perfection. My vision slowly cleared I could see tears glistening in her eyes. I cooed up at her, wanting to know why she was crying but unable to form cohearent words.

Her smile then told me what I needed to know. It was the smile of someone coming home after a very long and very trying journey. I wiped away the tears and kissed her lips in comfort, letting her know that yes, indeed, she was home.

We moved then, but our position didn't allow us the range of movement or friction either of us would have liked so pleasure constantly teased us, just a scant breath out of reach. We our breathing was ragged from trying to sustain the effort. Sweat slicked our bodies making the task even more difficult.

I finally broke the rhythm and slouched down in the chair in a desperate attempt to get the leverage I needed. It worked. She gasped and went utterly still before thrusting back against me. I felt the randomized desire in me suddenly fall into place and pool in the base of my spine.

Once, twice, three times and we flew over the edge, trembling.

She had collapsed against me as I collapsed against the back of the chair, holding her tight. Our breathing was so harsh it sounded like it was coming out in sobs. When our breaths calmed to something more normal she leaned back to look at me.

This time she cooed as the backs of her fingers brushed my cheek. I reached up and felt hers. Apparently we had matching tears.

We kissed and cuddled close together. When I felt her breathing slowing down close to sleep patterns I scooped her up and pulled us both into bed.

I've been up almost the entire night, just watching her sleep.

I loved her. Soon I'd tell her. When she woke up. But right now I was going to join her in slumber. I yawned and cradled her close before sleep pulled me down into it's soft embrace.

***

"Are you certain with what you've found Qui-gon?"

"You see the evidence. You know what the force is telling us."

"We haven't seen this in Yoda's living memory."

"Never the less, it's the truth."

"Who knows about this?"

"Just you and I. Obi-wan doesn't know yet."

"Let's keep it that way for now. She will reveal her purpose in time."

"I'm worried about Obi-wan."

"I'm not surprised, it's not every day one lands…"

"He's in love with her. And I sense she returns it."

*Pause*

"Oh dear."

"Indeed."

"then caution is indeed the only course of action. Keep watch Qui-gon, but otherwise, do not interfere."

"Not interfering in their business is usually considered wise."

"Force be with us Qui-gon. I fear we will all need it."

***

  I laughed as I tossed a fruit pit at Qui-gon. The man had just said the most terrible pun in the universe and Jedi master or not, he deserved it.

But Jedi reflexes allowed him to catch the missle mid flight. "If my joke was to terrible then why are you laughing?" He asked mildly

I growled, "Because Master Jinn, that pun is the oldest pun in the book!" Obi-wan and I have been seeing each other for over six months now and he had been slowly encouraging me to get to know his master better. It was natural he wanted two people who meant a lot to him to like each other.

I've always been uncomfortable with Master Jinn. There was something in the way his eyes followed me or looked at me that told me he had a shrewd guess about my past. But he was waiting for me to make the first move to confirm or deny that.

I would, eventually. Probably. Maybe. I didn't know. Right now I was just happy to be an ordinary girl.

Right now, Obi-wan, his master and I were sitting and chatting aimably in a small nook of one of Coruscant's many parks having an ordinary picnic.

I Really liked the ordinary world. Lives were simple and free. It was a refreshing change.

Obi-wan subtly reached over and toyed with my fingers under his cloak sleeve. "I was wondering something Ella."

"Hmm?" I asked as I looked over at him.

"There is a trip that Padawans and Masters sometimes go on. It's what most people call a vacation camping trip but we call it a bond enhancing trip." He said softly

I nodded, "Makes sense. Gives Master padawan pairs a chance to spend some time together without outside distractions or the need to fix the universe."

"Sometimes we are allowed to take someone with us." Obi-wan continued. "We were wondering if you'd like to go."

I Frowned, "I don't know. Something might happen at the hospital and they might need me. Those ICU droids are not happy campers at the moment."

"It would be good for you to get away Ella." Obi-wan said, "I've asked your superior to see if it would be feasable you might be able to go. He practically ordered me to take you."

I Frowned puzzled, "Why would he do a thing like that?"

"Becuase you haven't taken a vacation in the three years you've been working there." Obi-wan insisted. "You work there all day and volunteer your time at night. Some people said it's like you do the work of six people that never sleep or eat. You need a rest."

I waved him off, "I sleep and eat. You've seen me."

"But not with any regularity." Obi-wan pressed, "Please, you need this rest.   There will still be droids to fix when you get back."

"Besides, " Master Jinn spoke for the first time in ages, "It will give us all a chance to get to know each other a little better."

Only deep training prevented me from reacting. The way he said it and the look in his eyes told me that he knew. He had figured it out some how.

I nodded, "Alright, I'll come."

Obi-wan leaned forward and kissed me, When he pulled away he whispered, "You won't regret it, I promise. Do you know anything about campling?"

I smiled at the irony, "One or two things. Pack light, pack for the worst case, wear comfortable clothes and shoes."

He grinned and sat back, "You've got the general idea but the Temple will issue you the pack and clothes."

I nodded, "Sounds good, do you need to know my clothing size?"

Qui-gon chuckled, "It think my apprentice has a very good idea about the size you wear."

"MASTER!" Obi-wan sputtered indignantly.

"I've seen him in the halls talking to the other padawans tracing your shape in the air with his hands." Qui-gon continued

I turned to obi-wan, "You've been bragging about me to your friends?"

"Ye... No." Obi-wan recovered "Not bragging. They wanted to know what you looked like so I described you as accurately as possible."

"And very favorably I might add." Qui-gon chimed in, "'Skin like silk' I believe was one phrase he used."

I Glared at Obi-wan, trying very hard to stay mad at him. He just looked so pathetic when caught. His eyes wide and blush on his cheek. "Don't you know a gentleman is never supposed to kiss and tell?"

"I didn't 'kiss and tell' as you so brazenly put it! I only described what they could assess for themselves if they saw you right now." He tried to salvage.

I narrowed my eyes at him, "Really?"

"Honestly woman, you don't think I would disclose the private details of our life to just anyone do you?" He leaned back, "What about you, you brazen hypocrite."

"Me?" I placed my hand on my chest in mock shock. I could see by the tugging of his lips he was trying very hard not to laugh.

"What was that I caught the tail end of you saying to the other mechs in the hospital. 'he gave me the largest one I have ever gotten.'" he glared at me, "I appreciate the assessment but there is no need to broadcast it."

"Why you..." I growled, cause if I didn't I would have burst out laughing. "For your information I wasn't talking about that! I was talking about the bouquet of flowers you picked for me. It was the largest one I've ever gotten."

He frowned, "I only gave you three flowers in that."

I Shrugged, "It was the largest I've ever gotten."

He stared at me, "You've never been given flowers before?"

I blushed and shook my head.

He brushed the back of his hand along my cheek, "No wonder you cried when I gave them to you. I should do it more often then. A girl needs to get used to being given flowers."

I blushed and turned my lips to his hand. I loved him more then words could express. Before the moment could become awkward for one member of our party I looked at Qui-gon and said, "So tell me more about what Obi-wan said to his friends about me."

***

I watched my padawan as he hummed softly and happily to himself as he packed up the equipment for the trip. My padawan seemed to have this inner well of contentment since he and Ella had gotten together. But I knew she hadn't revealed herself yet.

I was hoping she'd take this trip alone with us in the wilderness and do so.   I for one have a million questions I wanted to ask her.

Yet I couldn't help but feel for my padawan. The road ahead of him is not an easy one. I could easily see him feeling betrayed that she didn't tell him sooner.

"You are looking forward to this trip, padawan?" I asked mildly

He looked up at me with a smile tugging at his lips, "Yes master. I am. Is Cyane comming?"

I shook my head, "No, I'm afraid not. She has to help her sister with the new baby. The child has turned out very ill and weak."

Obi-wan's face dropped, "Oh I am sorry. Do you want to go to her?"

I shook my head, "No, padawan. It is so rare that we see each other outside of work I won't take this from you. Besides, she's said it's nothing she can't handle."

He shook his head, "I have to say I'm truely sorry. I think Ella and Cyane would have gotten along very well together. I was hoping they would meet."

I chuckled, "Some other time they will meet and I am certain they would get along like a house on fire. Though I don't know if either of us would survive it. Between Cyane's daredevil ways and Ella's devilish humor I think we'd be torn to peices."

Obi-wan winked, "But it would be fun master, would it not!"

I chuckled, "That it would. But I am thinking perhaps it is better with just us and her. After all, maybe she'll open up more if she senses she's safe."

Obi-wan nodded, "That is what I am truely hoping. Then I will know her birthday and when to make that cake for her."

I smiled, "Obi-wan, you must prepare yourself for news not so mundane."

He looked at me incredulously, "You think she has a sinister past?"

I shook my head, "Sinister no. That girl is utterly incapable of evil. However I do wish you to be prepared incase the answer is unexpected."

Obi-wan frowned, "Unexpected? How?"

I shrugged, "I don't sense anything bad, I only sense unexpected."

Obi-wan's eyes clouded first in anger and frustration and then melted into contemplation. He knew that unexpected meant unexpected, and not bad. I could see in his eyes that he was coming to the conclusion that he should be prepared incase she proved to be more then she seemed.

He nodded, "Then I shall try to keep an open mind." I could see his struggle since Obi-wan, like all young had a natural aversion to secrets.

I placed a hand on his shoulder, "If she has keep this omission of information, it must have been for a reason. If it is unexpected, do not judge her reticence to trust you with it sooner too harshly."

Obi-wan nodded again, I could see some of his unease receeding in his eyes. "Yes Master."

I turned and once again left to attend to my own packing.

***

  The winter forest was beautiful. Incredibly tall trees, white snow glistening, deep canyons and ravines leading to icey rivers. Master had picked to go to the park in winter to feel the energies of the sleeping earth. The power of it was buried deep but strong.

My Master, Ella and I were currently walking along the edge of one those deep canyons towards a bridge to let us cross to the opposite side.

"Do you think the bridge is safe?" Ella asked me.

I nodded, more interested in the vision of her cheeks pink from the cold, eyes sparking from the sunlight more then I was with her question. "Yes, it should be. We crossed the bridge last time my master and I were here."

She frowned, "I don't like this Obi-wan."

I chuckled, "Afraid of heights are you?"

She snorted, "No!"

I poked her jacket, "Me thinks my lady doth protest too much."

She swatted my hand away. While my master and I were wearing gloves and hats, Ella did not.

"Ella," My master said as I turned to look at us, "Put on your gloves."

"And your hat." I added, "You must be freezing."

She shook her head, "I am not cold."

Qui-gon shook his head, "Put them on anyway. Just looking at you is making me cold in sympathy."

She smirked, "After we cross that bridge. Now where is it?"

"There." My master said pointing up the trail aways.

She blinked and stared at it. "THAT is a bridge?"

I Nodded, "Yes." failing to see the problem. So far, Ella had turned out to be an excellent camper. Never complaining about the lack of modern amenities, cheerfully pitching in her share of work. If she didn't know how we wanted something done, she simply asked.

She turned to me, her eyes oddly accusing, "That is not a bridge. That is three ropes strung across a mile high drop in the shape of an inverted triangle."

I chuckled, "It's got handles and a place for our feet. What more can we ask for?"

"A parachute." Ella deadpanned. "That thing isn't going to hold all three of us. It's got to be a few hundred years old."

My master simply decided to relieve her fears by example and was currently walking across. Ella turned and watched him cross. "It's perfectly safe. My master and I have crossed it every year. Watch."

My master was almost on the other end when I stepped onto the rope bridge. "See. It's not bad."

My master stepped off the bridge and was on the other side of the ravine. Ella still didn't look convinced. "I don't know Obi-wan. I have a bad feeling."

I waved my hand and walked out, "Come along. Don't dither. You are holding up the party."

"Obi-wan." her voice took on a note of warning.

I turned to face her in the middle of the bridge, "Ella, be sensible. This thing is not going to collapse under my feet."

It was then that we heard the first crack. I felt the vibration in my feet and a sickening feeling rose in my stomach.

"Obi-wan!" My master and Ella cried in unison as I felt the bridge snap in half underneath my feet.

***

From the first crack, it was like the world went into slow motion. I stared helplessly at my apprentice as the bridge, strained from the unexpected weight in winter, brittle from the ice, broke beneath my apprentice's feet.

"No!" I screamed but it was too late, the rope disintegrated beneath his feet, My apprentice seemed to hover in midair a split second before he started to fall.

I noticed odd little details. His cloak flowing about him, his padawan braid trailing behind him like a tiny flag. My apprentice's arms and legs flailed about him as he tried to get a hold of one of the ropes.

I watched as Ella Diogenes dropped the pack on her back and ran for the cliff edge in one smooth motion. When she hit the edge, she didn't even pause, but dove straight off like she was pitching off a diving board.

My apprentice seized a handful of rope only to find in both of our dismays that it was no longer attached to anything. My apprentice, thinking ahead, held onto the rope. While it was slim chances he'd survive the fall into the icy water below, he'd have a greater chance if he had something to throw at the water before he hit it to break the surface tension.

It was then I believe I witness something few people have. Ella remained on a dive to my apprentice, but her figure seemed to blur in my eyes, as if in her fall she had passed through a patch of steam.

When she had passed through she was still dressed as she was before in her grey boots, tunic and trousers. But stretching out from her back were a pair of broad wings, white as snow with a soft iridescent shimmer to them, like an humming bird. They were slim and long, built for speed. Half folded to allow her control of her fall without adding wind resistance.

Diogenes. A Messenger Angel of the highest order. Even after being prepared for this sight with all the evidence in my hands, I was still bowled over by the revelation of her true form.

I saw my apprentice throw the rope down at the last possible second so it hit the water just before he did. Through our bond as Master and apprentice I was able to tell the impact was still enough to knock him unconscious. Following close behind him into the water was Ella.

I peered over the edge breathless as I watched the ever expanding rings in the water below. It was just as the rings have just about faded from the water when something erupted from the epicenter.

Ella, with an unconscious dripping Obi-wan in her arms, was desperately beating the air with her wings, trying to pull them both free from the water. For a while it looked as if the water would hold them in its icy clutches, but she broke free, flying in tight small spirals to gain altitude.

Finally tearing myself from the sight I ran to a small outcropping of boulders, enough for some moderate shelter against the wind. Pulling the ground tarpaulin from the pack I spread it over the snow. Over that I pulled out the emergency blanket and activated its heating unit.

I had just finished that when I heard the crunch of her boots on the snow, the sound of giant wings catching the air in a stall to allow for a smooth landing.

I watched as Ella dropped to her knees into the tarp and gently lowered Obi-wan. Her wings bent around the two of them to provide Obi-wan with some protection. I hurriedly stripped Obi-wan while Ella dug into his pack to pull out some dry clothes for him.

Thankfully, Obi-wan was an excellent packer and everything was in waterproof pouches. After Obi-wan was dried and redressed, we wrapped him in the emergency heated blanket.

"We need shelter." She whispered as she stroked her hand along his face. "I'll get my pack, Watch him."

I looked up to watch Ella run to the edge of the cliff and give a little hop over the edge. She dropped from sight for a few seconds, and then reappeared, gliding calmly on an updraft across the ravine.

It was a beautiful sight to behold, watching an angel as she wheeled about, grabbed her pack and flew back over to land before me. I had a million and one questions for her, but they would all wait.

The quickest way to end a miracle is to question why it was.

Quickly, we both set up the tent around Obi-wan, making sure not to disturb him. After shelter was set we crawled inside. I knelt beside my padawan and examined him carefully with the force. He was sleeping now, the deep sleep of the healing.

I looked up at Ella who was kneeling on the other side of Obi-wan, lovingly tracing the features of his face. Her wings were carefully folded up on her back. How does one talk to an angel?

"Hello is usually a good start." She said before she looked up at me and smiled.

I blinked, "You are read my mind?"

She shook her head, "No, but after doing this for a few thousand years one gets to know how someone will react pretty well."

I looked at her, "Why are you here?"

She winked impudently, "You invited me to go camping, remember?"

I groaned, "I should have known you'd tell a joke like that."

She laughed, "Jedi Master Qui-gon Jinn, I'm still the same old me that you knew before. I'm just this too." To accentuate her point, she gave her wings a little flip.

I nodded, "Of course. Strange your clothing wasn't ripped when those appeared."

She winked at me, "I hardly think your apprentice would appreciate my dropping ALL of my illusions just to rescue his sorry butt."

My jaw dropped, "You mean..."

"The force regulates our bodily needs. Nutrition, sleep and yes, body tempreture. I don't need clothes." She confirmed.

I nod, "Amazing."

She chuckles, "We pay a price for this advantage."

"How?" I asked curious

"My will is not mine alone, nor are all of my powers. While even you jedi have a choice as to whether or not to follow, foul or ignore the force, I cannot." she whispered

"When will he wake up?" I pointed to my as yet unawake apprentice wanting the answer as much to change the subject

A Worried frown crossed her normally serene features, "I don't know, I'm not that kind of Angel."

With that she lay down on her side next to him gently stroking the part of the blanket that was above one of his hands. There was an amazing depth of love in her eyes as she watched my apprentice. I knew that should Obi-wan have died, I would have had first hand knowledge if the story of Angels dying of grief was true.

It was then we sat to our vigil, Obi-wan's master on one side, an angel on the other, to wait for him to wake up.

***

  I came to consciousness with a leisure that I usually wasn't allowed. I streached letting my muscles come slowly awake as I took stock of my injuries. All in all, there were incredibly few for a man who fell a mile into an icy river.

I lolled my head over to one side and opened my eyes and saw my master and mentor, sound asleep in a sitting position beside me. I smiled. Dear Qui-gon. I should imagine he would have been worried sick. The fact he's sleeping shows either he realized I was going to be alright, or that I was out far longer then I thought.

There was a small blue-white glow above my head illuminating the tent indicating it was night. It was the same amount of light provided by a full moon on a snowfield. Just the threshold of color vision.

I looked to my other side and saw Ella had captured one of my hands and was clutching it in her sleep, as if afraid to let me go. Her body and face was nothing more then contours of light and shadow. A wonderful vision to wake up to.

Her eyes fluttered open and fixed on mine. Her lips curved into that soft angelic smile I loved so much. "How do you feel?" She asked softly

I lifted the hand she held in hers and stroked her cheek with the backs of my fingers, "Well, thanks to you."

She smiled and leaned into my touch. "How much do you remember?"

I chuckled, "That I was a damn fool. I didn't listen to your misgivings about the rope. My master and I should have known that a fiber that old might withstand summers moisture would not be so fortunate in winters ice. I paid for that by having it snap out from under me. Thank the force I took my extreme diving lessons early."

She continued to rub her cheek against my hand like a cat seeking affection.   I gladly obliged and buried my fingers into her hair. "Yes, thank the force." She murmured.

I chuckled, "I then remember you jumping after me. I was about to yell at you when I saw something unfold from your back allowing you to control your fall. Must have been a parachute or something. I hit the water and that is all I remember. You must tell me how you managed to get me up that cliff without our freezing to death."

"It was nothing." She muttered as she seemed oblivious to everything except my touch, "I'm thankful you are alive."

I sighed in contentment as was stayed in that position. My lying on my back holding her face in one hand as she knelt before me.

I snorted as a funny memory occurred to me, "You know, I was so far gone in thinking this was the end that as we fell, I swore what was coming out of your back was a pair of wings."

"Yeah, funny that." She muttered

I laughed as I tickled her chin, "You don't have wings do you, my angel?"

She froze and lowered her chin. She took both of my hands in hers and placed it on her lap. "Actually, obi-wan." She began.

Then I beheld as silently from the corners of her shoulders rose up the bent elbows of a pair of mighty wings. In the soft whitish blue glow of the lamp they and Ella took on an exceptionally pale and ethereal look. The woman seemed to glow from the inside.

The unfurled just a little bit more so I could clearly see her total wingspan would be twice her height. Large primaries shimmered a bit in the soft light.

"I do." She finished softly.

I stared. I couldn't help it. I was struck dumb. It's not every day the girl you love reveals herself to be a creature originating from another plane of existence.

"How…" I managed to sputter, "How did you keep those a secret from me."

"It's called a glamour." She whispered, "Helps protect us and our secrets."

"But we've... I mean, I've seen you naked! I've touched your bare back." I gasped, my mind still trying to wrap around what this was.

"It's called a really good glamour." She replied.

I shook my head, unable to help but feel betrayed somehow at this secret. As a Jedi I didn't like secrets and secrecy and here my lover was telling me she was a creature of them.

Angels were known to follow the dictates of the force and have very little free will. Was her affair with me all part of some long playing farce? Did she simply take up with me to save me now and then disappear once I healed? Having the double effect of both saving my life and making sure my heart was ‘given to the force'?

Why was she here? What was her purpose? And most of all...

"Who ARE you?" I asked, my voice betraying all of my broken and betrayed emotions. All of my anger, uncertainty and grief.

She blinked once and a tear slipped from her cheek and splashed onto my hand. Her face crumpled in heart broken agony and she buried her face in her hands. She gave a few gasping sobs.

"Who ARE you!" I demanded again.

There was a small breath of wind from seemingly nowhere. Her image in the pale light of the lamp quavered as if she were made of no more then mist. Then she disappeared. Her solid warmth fading from beneath my hand.

Instinctively I reached out to try and grab her but caught nothing but thin air. I looked around and saw that all the tent seals were still firmly in tact.

"Who are you." I whispered once more into the thin air.

"She's someone who loves you." My master answered for me from behind. His voice held no accusation in it. Just a simple statement of a fact that should have been enough.

Grief overwhelmed me as I realized what I had done. I scared her away. She saves my life and I repay her by flinging accusations at her she didn't deserve. Even if they were all true, she couldn't have helped it being bound as she was. Her heart was true and she as an angel was bound never to lie.

I brought my fist up to bit my knuckles to try and hold back tears of my own. But when my lips tasted something wet and sweet I let them flow.

The sweetness I tasted were her tears.

***

  It's been three days and every second of it has been a lifetime.

I was reluctant to leave the cliffs, I kept hoping she'd come back to me. Minutes stretched on into hours. Hours turned into days and still she did not come to me.

It was now night. My master had long since gone to bed leaving me to my moonlit vigil in the snow by the cliffs. I stared up at the moon until my eyes watered and I had done a lot of thinking. I was done thinking, I needed to talk to her.

"Ella." I whispered. "Please come back. I didn't mean it. I only wish to talk. Please."

A soft breeze around me had me looking about. But there was nothing, just the wind in the trees softly waltzing snowflakes in the air.

When I turned back to look over the cliffs I she was suddenly there before me. I don't know how since my toes were on the very edge of the cliffs so she had to be floating in midair.

I didn't even hesitate. My arms wrapped around her waist in the tightest grip I could make as I stepped back from the edge of the cliffs. I could feel her struggling wildly in my arms, her wings buffeting the air and me ineffectually but still I held.

"What are you doing?" She demanded as she struggled and squirmed in my grip

"Trying to Earth you, so we can talk." I said

In her struggles, her wings had managed to get enough leverage to raise herself so her navel was at my nose. So now she pushed herself away by putting her hands on my shoulders and looked down at me. I looked up at her. Her wings had stopped beating the air and were raised half up as if indignant

"What?!?!" She stared at me as if I had lost my marbles, "EARTH me? What in the blazes…"

"Isn't it true that if a mortal catches an angel the angel is bound to earth until the mortal sets them free?" I asked as I looked up at her.

"Those are fairies Obi-wan." She replied laconically. "Wrong kind of winged creature. I am now highly insulted."

"Promise me you won't go anywhere for now." I demanded

She sighed, "Yes I promise, now put me down."

I lowered her to the ground gently and stood back to look at her. Now that I have seen her with wings, I couldn't really imagine her without them. Though I thought the grey Jedi snow gear looked a little out of place for an angel to wear.

She cocked an eyebrow at me, "Would you rather I wore this?" Her image fuzzed a bit and refocused into a flowing white gown of white and silver, the traditional dress of Angels as painted in the Jedi Temple. Complete with silver laced sandals.

I smiled a bit shyly, "I guess that is a bit extreme. You can change back now."

She rolled her eyes and she was back in the grey snow gear. "Thanks to you I couldn't fly away without discomfort anyway. I've now got snow in my feathers."

"I'm sorry." I said chuckling a bit as I lead her to the small fire I had going.

"You should be." She replied as she sat on a rock in the fire ring, "Do you have any idea how uncomfortable this is?"

"No."

"Try sticking a few icicles under your finger nails." She sighed as she bent one of her wings close around her for easy reaching. Then she began to preen.

"I have some questions for you." I started, "Why are you here? Why are you with me? How does this affect us and can I help you do that?"

"To answer the last one, Sure, if you want to. Just run your hands through and try to straighten out what you can and remove anything cold." She said as she turned so she was sideways to the fire.

I got up and stood behind those glorious elegant wings. I ran on hand along the leading ridge and marveled at the feel of the softness of the feathers. Then I dipped down and felt along the wing. Running my fingers up between two rows of feathers I marveled at the heavenly softness and incredible heat I found underneath. The temperature had to be a few degrees higher then my own. I dipped down to the primaries. They were as long as my forearm and bigger then the width of my hand.

I noticed my hand felt vaguely oily from when it was inside of her wing so I gently stroked it into the bigger, drier feathers. I could spend all day just feeling every inch of those wings, which is what I was being asked to do.

"Very good." She murmured as she relaxed into my touch, "I should have gotten someone to help me preen a long time ago."

I chuckled, "I'll keep doing this as long as you talk."

"Deal." She whispered, "Alright, I can't tell you the answers to any of the first questions mainly because I don't know them myself. I literally don't know why I am somewhere until I'm in the middle of doing something. Even then I'll have no idea why I'm doing it. As I said, my will is often not my own."

I nodded, "Understandable. So What can you tell me?"

She sighed in relief as I massaged out a chunk of ice and a burr. "I'm here to watch over you."

"That's comforting." Chuckled, "Nothing like knowing your Guardian Angel first hand."

She snorted, "I never said I was your guardian angel, I said I am here to watch. When I get an assignment like this, it usually means the force has a plan for you. What it is, I haven't a clue. I'm pretty sure my job it to make sure you live to do it."

"Is this against the rules?" I asked as I leaned over and kissed her neck.

"No." She sighed. "Then again, I am not really a full angel. Not yet anyway. Consider me something like a Journeyman."

I smiled, "Ah, so where are the full angels."

"Fighting it out there." She pointed her chin into the air. "An angel proves themselves on earth before they are allowed to the main fight. Which is keeping the bad guys of the other planes from interfering in this one. Everything from the dead of this plane to the creatures of the other planes.   Deamons and the like."

"So you are put on earth and are given something of a mortal form so you know what it is you are fighting for." I said. "I know that part. You must be a few thousand years old at least. I'm not going to ask how old you are since it's rude to ask the decrepit their age."

She reached around quickly and smacked my butt. "That's right. So I am here, to prove myself worthy of the real fight. I'm getting close since the powers I have when I am not being called are growing."

"Called?" I asked softly

"When the force wants me to do something, it gives me what I need to do it. If what it wants me to do is telekinetically move a mountain range, I can do it. However, I don't have that power during normal times. When I am not on call."

"what can you do when you aren't on call?" I asked as I finished the first wing and started on the second.

"Flight. Change my appearance, become a will of the whisp and travel through air. That was what I did to leave the tent. Some other minor powers, I'd rather not mention since they are hard to explain. But mostly I never need food or sleep or clothing since the force provides my basic bodily functions."

"Which is why you never remember to eat." I nodded. "Now that explains that, now let's get to explaining a few of my more personal problems."

"Problems?" She asked curiously

"I thought angels were supposed to be, well, angelic. I mean we've, well, been intimate." I stuttered a bit, feeling my cheeks flame.

She laughed, "I'm an Angel Obi-wan. Not a saint. That's like saying Jedi Knights have to be pure."

I chuckled, "Point taken. So I don't need to worry about doing anything that could ruin your chances. Is it true that if you cut your wing off you become mortal."

She nodded, "yes."

"have any angels done it?" I asked

"Yes they have." She sighed, "They've done it for love."

"Would you do it?" I Asked softly

"Only if you cut your braid." She replied evenly.

I nodded, "Once again, point taken." My cutting my own braid off means that I quit the Jedi. I'd sooner saw all my limbs off one at a time then do that. "That answers that question. Can you get pregnant?"

"yes, but only if we both go through weeks of rituals and mate on the wing." She replied

"Sounds intriguing." I laughed, "So we aren't going to have an accident."

"Not as such no." She laughed, "Any other questions?"

"One last one." I Said as I finished smoothing one last primary, "Am I the first mortal you've loved?"

There was a pause before she gave me the answer I didn't really expect. "Yes, you are."

I was stunned, I found it hard to believe that in her life of a few thousand years she couldn't have fallen in love before. But there it was.

I walked around to face her as I pulled her to her feet. I stared at her, wings half extended behind her, her face glowing with the lights from the fire and the moon.

I put one hand on the small of her back and the other buried in her hair as I bent for a kiss. It was warm and sweet. So devastatingly, tantalizingly sweet. I was so caught up in the kiss I didn't realize she had wrapped her wings around us until I came up for air.

I looked around at how her wings enclosed me in a protective shell. I was overwhelmed by the feeling of the soft feathers, the sensation of being held. She was looking up at me with a innocent question in her eyes as she bit her bottom lip. I suppose it was supposed to be innocent and pure. But the sparkle held something impish.

I groaned deep in my chest and my eyes rolled to the back of my head as I dove in for another kiss. This one as deep and as passionate as I could make it. I wanted more then anything to be inside her, in her arms, sending us both flying the best way I know how.

So we stumbled over to my tent. I used a judicious amount of the force to undo the door to let us stumble inside. One more flick of the force resealed the door and that was the last coherent thought I had for the evening.

***

  I stepped out of my tent the next morning wondering if my padawan had found his angel yet. Angels were forgiving creatures but notoriously skittish. I knew I would be very blessed indeed if I ever saw her again.

I looked to see that my Padawan was standing at the edge of the cliff, in much the same position I had left him in. His face was bent to the rising sun, back to me.

"Padawan." I said softly as I approached him.

Obi-wan turned to me with a soft peaceful smile on his lips. "She came to me, last night."

I let go of a breath I didn't even know I was holding. "That is good my Padawan. What did she say?"

Obi-wan turned to look at the rising sun, "She said that now I knew the rules have changed a bit. She can only see me when I am alone. But If I ever need her, I just need to call her name."

I nodded, "I will miss seeing her myself. She is a charming young lady."

"I guess in a lot of ways I have no divided loyalties." Obi-wan smiled, his eyes sparkling, "Since I'm in love with her and she's a creature born of the force, I guess one can say I am in love with the force."

I chuckled, "I guess one can. Strange she has such a lively sense of humor."

Obi-wan pointed his chin in the air and announced, "Angels are able to fly because they take themselves lightly."

"I asked for that didn't I?" I smiled ruefully.

"That you did master, " Obi-wan murmured somewhat dreamily as he pulled a long familiar looking feather from his cloak and started dusting his lips with it. "Have any other Jedi met Angels?"

I nodded, "Probably more then we know about. However there are a few recorded visitations where a Jedi seemed to have a particular association with an angel. One of which was the Jedi who first discovered the force and taught others. It was said everything we know about using the force and how to fight was first taught to that Jedi by an Angel."

It was a Common story of Jedi Lore. A young initiate female was said to have had a vision of the Force while meditating. She went off into solitude, frighten by what she discovered. When she came back after a year, she brought with her the control and saber techniques that are still taught today.

Most Jedi didn't really give it that much realistic credit. That it was just a fairy tale like any other origin story. There are other tales where Angels visited Jedi in those early founding days. Many tales of how Angels took on the disguise of a Jedi and helped fight during the Sith wars.

To be honest, if an Angel was choosing to associate intimately with my padawan, I could only wonder what greatness was in store for him.

Obi-wan's mouth turned up at the corners "I'll have to ask her, next time I see her. I bet all the visitations were strictly business related."

I chuckled, "If there was a personal relationship, it was tactfully left out of the records." As this one will, I thought quietly to myself. Just then my eyes caught a shadow flitting across the canyon like something was flying just out of sight and too fast to catch.

"Well, I best start packing my tent up and preparing for the hike ahead. We will never be at the landing sight on time to catch the shuttle if I continue to lay about." My padawan said cheerfully as he twirled his feather between his fingers and hummed to himself as he walked to his tent. A slight swagger in his steps.

Not that I blamed him. If I had done what I think he did last night, I knew I would feel my manhood would never be called into question ever again.

I looked up to see something falling to earth very slowly. Twisting and turning. I reached out and caught it. It was a snow white feather, perfect in every respect. As I turned it in the sun it had a soft iridescent shimmer to it. Shortly afterward a second fell.

*Take care of him for me. Teach him well. He has much to learn.* I heard Ella's voice from everywhere at once and nowhere at all. It was so beautiful it went beyond music.

I ran the feather between my fingers, marveling at the silky softness. "Yes I will. I promise."

***

  I once again waited to report to Mace Windu, letting my padawan put things away in our rooms. It had been an interesting hike. Every time my padawan was out of my sight it seemed as if he was visited. At night in his tent I would hear his tenor voice joined by a soft female one. Each time he went off alone to gather firewood he always returned with a goofy smile on his face.

Once we left the planet and stepped onto the ship the visitations were fewer. Obi-wan explained to me that she was simply called somewhere and had work to do. Then on our way home the council seemed a bit surprised that we had left with three and were only coming home with two but we explained that she had found ‘alternative means home'. We then were sent on several missions and this was our first chance home in three months.

Mace Windu stepped into the room and shut the door. "Well?"

I looked at him and nodded, "Ella Diogenes revealed her true form. It was as we suspected. An Angel."

Mace Windu nodded, "An angel. After all this time and she appears to a Padawan of all things."

I arched an eyebrow, "Jealous she didn't appear to you?"

Mace glared at me for my teasing, "That was not appropriate."

"You were the one who brought up Obi-wan's Rank." I chuckled. "Upset she didn't appear to a Master?"

"Worried is more like it." Mace sighed, "When Angels appear to those in the higher ranks it usually means a message is to be delivered. When angels appear to those in the Lower it means something catastrophic is coming and your padawan will be in the thick of it. I'm worried about him."

I nodded, "Whatever it is, it seems to be a ways off yet. And if she's visiting him it means its force ordained and there is nothing we can or should do about it."

Mace growled, "I don't like it."

I chuckled, "That is why I think you became a council member. You hate feeling out of control and believe for every problem there is a solution. It makes you an excellent council member."

"But there are times where I need to sit back and let destiny take its course." Mace Windu smile ruefully, "I know, Yaddle is always lecturing me on that."

I smiled, got up and bowed to take my leave. Before I left I reached into my cloak and pulled out a feather, "Here. For you."

Mace Windu took the pure white feather with a slack jaw, "What?"

I chuckled, "and a Message. ‘Angels are able to fly because we take ourselves lightly.'"

Mace's eyes went round, "She told you that?"

I shook my head, "My padawan did. Shortly before this fell to earth along with it's companion. One was meant for me, I believe now the second was meant for you."

I left Mace Windu to sit in shock in the room as I wandered back to mine. I reached my apartments to see that everything was neatly unpacked and put away. After some searching I found my padawan lying on his bed. Chest bare, the covers raised to his naval. One arm was pillowing his head while the other lay lazily across his stomach. There was a dreamy expression on his face.

I soon discovered the source of this reflective state. A white round feather the size of my thumb that was mostly down was drifting slowly towards my padawan's lips. When it got close enough Obi-wan blew a puff of air and sent the little feather rapidly back to the ceiling. He then waiting patiently for it to drift back down before sending it skyward again.

I had a feeling as what was happening earlier and what was going to happen tonight so I reached out and tactfully shut my padawan's door.

***

I watched the embers of my master's funeral pyre die down until there was nothing left but ashes. Everyone else had long since left, accept for Anakin who was asleep nearby. I covered him with my cloak to keep the chill off him and tucked the hood under his head for a pillow.

I let one tear slip down my cheek as I watched the last of the smoke drift up into the sky. I couldn't help but ask repeatedly, why. Why my master? Why qui-gon, one of the best masters the Jedi have.

"I wanted to save him, but I wasn't allowed." I heard next to me. I didn't need to turn my head to know that Ella was there. "I really, really wanted to save him. I'm sorry Obi-wan."

I reached out and wrapped one arm around her shoulder to pull her close, "I don't blame you." I sighed as I kissed her hair. "I'm only mystified why him and not me. A Padawan isn't supposed to lose their master before knighthood."

"Souls aren't interchangeable Obi-wan." She replied wrapping her arms around my waist and we held each other, "You can't tell the force ‘take me instead'"

I sighed, "Why him? What makes my soul so much more valuable? I don't think I'm anything special."

She chuckled, "You sound like I once did. Long ago and far away."

"I didn't think Angels could have self doubt." I commented.

"I haven't given up all of my secrets to you just yet Obi-wan." She sighed, "As for why him, I don't know. I do know that Qui-gon Jinn was one of the best and wisest men I have ever known."

I sighed and held onto Ella for a few moments, grateful for her company. After a while I figured she was the perfect person to ask, "What happens when we die?"

"Pardon?" she asked

"What happens? I guess I am asking where my master is now."

"Oh" she nodded against my chest, "That question. Well, it's hard to explain without a common frame of reference."

I snorted, "I am not going to die to discuss this with you."

"I hope not. However, I will do my best. In general people are given a choice. They can fully join the force or come back for another round in this plane. However, really good people and Jedi, since the first one to touch the force, have been given a third option."

"A third option?" I asked curious, "What might that be?"

"Reborn as an Angel." She said calmly.

I thought about it, "Sounds like a Job my master would love."

She chuckled as she snuggled closer to me and I held her tighter, grateful for the contact. "If I see him around, I'll let you know."

I sighed gratefully, "Thank you." Having someone I trust be able to look after my master in the afterlife as I looked after him in life was more then I could have asked for. I held her close for a while, just running my fingers through her hair or over her wings.

My eyes drifted over to the sleeping Anakin. "I'm not ready for this."

She toyed a bit with my tunic, "Most new masters aren't ready. You are no different."

I nodded, "I suppose that is only too true. But Anakin is special. Is he really the chosen one?"

Ella was silent for a very long time before she whispered, "He will bring balance. You will give him your best. That is all anyone can ask."

I pulled her close to thieve a soft kiss from her lips. Kissing her always was more comforting and brought me more balance then a hundred hours in meditation. I told her that once and she simply laughed at me. When I pulled away I still grieved over my master's death, but the sharp edge was gone.

"Come." She said as she stood up, "I've got a petitioner to vouch for among the council of Angels and you've got a padawan's hair to cut."

***

  I couldn't very well admit it to Master Kenobi, but I was excited. Today was my thirteenth birthday and I was going to officially be his padawan. Before he explained that the arrangement wasn't officially recognized until I turned thirteen.

I stretched before I bounced out of bed and ran into the kitchen to start making breakfast.

"Good morning padawan." Master Obi-wan called from the breakfast table.

I walked out and saw my master was already up and calmly eating breakfast. A simple but delicious fare of fruit, toast and jellies were spread on the table. I smiled as I sat down, "Good morning Master."

"You turn thirteen today. This means I can officially call you padawan now." He commented as he sipped some juice.

"yeah, seems strange since we've been calling each other that for years now." I laughed as I buttered a piece of toast, trying desperately not to smile.

"You seem to have an over abundance of energy this morning." Obi-wan commented as he ran his hand through his hair. While I was forced to keep mine short, master Obi-wan had let his grow longer. I've heard him comment to himself once or twice when he thought I wasn't listening about getting a beard.

"Just looking forward to the day." I said trying to play it cool.

Obi-wan chuckled, "I don't seem to remember when I was your age being over enthused about doing meditation. I remember insisting to master Qui-gon I meditated best during saber practice. Never believed me."

"I don't know why." I laughed, "I find I do my best mediation then as well."   I loved it when my master told me glimpses of his life and he was usually in a very jovial mood when he did so. I could see the death of Master Qui-gon still affected him in some ways.

He wagged a finger, "It didn't work on Master Qui-gon then and it certainly won't work on me now."

I snapped my fingers, "Nuts, looks like I am going to have to get more creative to see if I can think of some things you haven't done."

My master's eyes twinkled in merriment as he leaned over the table, "You'll have to be very creative indeed."

My jaw dropped. "You mean you misbehaved master? I was under the impression you were born a perfect Jedi. This is the stuff I wanna hear about!"

My master leaned back in his chair again, "Sorry to shatter that illusion but I am merely a human, as flawed and imperfect as the next one."

I sighed, "Yeah, I guess you aren't an angel then."

My master winked at me, "I have it on very excellent authority that not even angels behave themselves."

I frowned, my master was an accomplished diplomat and he was clearly but masterfully avoiding the subject of my present. I knew that tradition and I was looking forward to it. We've been together a long time and have been in all corners of the galaxy. I could only image what he got me.

"So, what did you do for your thirteenth birthday?" I asked

My master smiled, "Was hijacked by the pilot on the way to a mission and ended up being attacked by assassin droids, chased through a slum, leapt a building or two and ended the day by agreeing to help two thieves and black market dealers topple a government."

My jaw dropped once again. "You're kidding."

"I assure you I am speaking nothing but the absolute truth. Ask me about Paxxi and Guerra sometime. They are a stitch." I winked

I shook my head, "Master, you amaze me."

My master chuckled, "Or did you really mean to ask what I got from Qui-gon for my present in hopes of finding out yours?"

I simply stared at him, "Um."

Obi-wan chuckled, "Like I said, you are going to have to get a lot more creative to slip one past me."

"Apparently. So what did you get?" I asked eaten up with curiosity. Master Qui-gon probably got his apprentice one of those robes from Pasmin that were so light but ever so warm. Or maybe a healing crystal.

Obi-wan reached into his tunic and pulled out a small stone and handed it to him. I stared at it. It was black with red streaks that showed faintly in the light. I examined it with the force and found it to be nothing more then a rock.

"It's a rock." I said

"I'm aware." Obi-wan smiled as I handed the rock back to him. Now, your present.

That was when Obi-wan handed me a feather. I think I would have preferred the rock.

"It's a gift from a friend." My master said. I stared at it. It was a truly beautiful feather. Pure white with a slight shimmer to it like the firebirds I hear about out of legend. I've seen a feather like this before.   Master Windu has one. And I know my own master has a small collection of them in a box. Every once in a while I would wake up in the morning or come back from a trip somewhere and see my master has found a new one.

Strange, My master seems to be the only person who is able to find these feathers. I never see anyone else with one like it.

"Thank you Master." I said in all honesty, "I'll treasure it."

My master simply sat back and finished his breakfast, "And now, your padawan birthday mediation. I'll clean breakfast up. Happy Birthday Anakin."

I took my present and bowed my leave. As I was walking back to my room for mediation I couldn't help but think my master was one fanbelt short of a complete engine.

But I wouldn't want him any other way.

***  

"You knew." I muttered to thin air as I stood alone in what was to be my home for the next twenty years. I was to spend it in the burning desert of tatooine. The last of the Jedi.

"Would you... COULD you have believed me if I told you?" Ella appeared beside me as I sat at the edge of the cliff, feet dangling off the edge. "This was something you had to discover gradually."

I sighed as I looked up at the sky, I couldn't look at Ella. I was having a hard time doing so. While I have aged and was pushing the shady side of forty, Ella remained as fresh and young as the day I met her. "This is too much. I don't want this. It's too big. Besides, there has to be someone better, I failed to train the Chosen one right."

She chuckled, "Let me clue you in on some inside information. A Jedi may have been inspired with a prophetic vision but the details were muddled in the editorial process and we of the higher plane of no say in that. We can only send the visions and hope for the best."

I frowned as I turned to look at her, "Are you saying that the prophecy is wrong?"

She chuckled, "I'm saying it's ridiculous to believe that the task of bringing the force into balance is not the work of one man alone. Nor is it without pain. Anakin turned because he had no choice but to turn. He's so in tuned with the force it affects him as much as he affects it."

I ran a hand through my beard, "So in the same way your will is not your own, his is not his own?"

She frowned, "Not quite. There is a constant war going on in the other planes, let's just call it the force for the sake of argument. What happens in that plane affects this one and vice versa. Your apprentice is a barometer of the war on our side. He can't really effect it unless both this plane and mine were in crisis point. Your apprentice turned because for now the forces of dark have over-run the front line."

My eyebrows arched to my hairline, "You mean to tell me you are losing?!"

She shook her head, "Think of it more as a strategic retreat."

I felt betrayed in much the same way that I imagine countless civilians felt when my own fleet was driven back by the emperor and I had to give up planet after planet to the empire. There was nothing I could do except buy the citizens enough time to evacuate if they could. Soon there was no where to run to.

She placed a hand on my elbow, "The universe is far more complex then even I can comprehend Obi-wan. In the scale of things, I am a grunt fighter, just like you. We knew that we were going to have to make a retreat at some point, so we tried to put things in place that when we left we'd easily be able to claim it back. That's where the Jedi came in."

I glared at her, "But you wiped us out." I couldn't keep the anger and betrayal out of my voice.

She shook her head, "General How many times have you trained spies and sent them into enemy territory, giving them no knowledge of their real mission and knowing only one in a hundred would survive? But that one that does is all that matters."

I sighed, "So I, Yoda and Anakin are sleeper units, is that what you are saying?"

She nodded, "In a sense. The chosen one prophecy is merely our way of trying to let you in on this plan. But it's not the work of a single being.   Bringing balance back in this area isn't an easy task. You need someone behind enemy lines who can monitor when it's time to come back. That's Anakin. But we also need some people who hold the old knowledge, that is Yoda. You trained Anakin who went to the dark side, you will train the one who will give Anakin the reason to come back to our side."

I smiled bitterly, "Luke."

She captured my hand, "you hold the fire of our cause. You may have inadvertently ushered in the dark, but you will be instrumental in bringing the light back."

"Was this part of the plan as well?" I asked sadly as I rubbed my thumb over the back of her hand.

"No." She whispered. "My falling in love with the person I was to watch and ensure he had the strength to do this was not part of it. It just happened."

"Why were you assigned?" I asked tossing up my hands, "While we are at it, why don't we reveal all the secrets?"

She was silent for a while. Then after staring at her lap she whispered, "I started the Jedi. I guess they wanted me to finish them as well."

I stopped as I turned to stare at her. She looked up at me with an almost shy expression on her face. "You...you were the first jedi to touch the force. The one who went off a year and came back with all the first knowledge."

She nodded, "Basically, yes. Imagine my surprise when I found out this wonderful institution I helped shape was going to be all but wiped out in a few thousand years. I was offered three choices, either join the force, be reborn on this earth, or become an angel and help shape what was to come so the damage was minimized."

"You chose this." I buried my face in my hands. "I think my head hurts."

"Now you know how I felt when I first felt the force. I thought my brain was going to explode." She replied

"This is really too big for me. Being an essential player in this war I don't understand." I sighed deeply

She nodded, "I know. I said the same thing myself. I was just a snot nosed initiate, how was I supposed to change the face of this monastic order and forever change history? We are handed these jobs at times not because we are qualified to carry them out, but because we are the best of what's left to pick from."

I gave a small laugh. "How is Qui-gon?"

She smiled, "Doing well. He's earned his wings a short while ago, but hasn't mastered manifesting in different planes yet."

We sat in silence for a while, staring at the sunset. "I love you." I murmured.

"I love you too." She whispered snuggling close, "I won't leave you alone anymore. I'm here to stay for the rest of your days as a tangible or intangible."

I looked down at her beautiful youthful face. Not a line or wrinkle, no sign of age at all. Her hair was still as lusterous as the day I met her. "I feel like I am robbing the cradle."

She laughed, "Now you know how I feel. I have to remind myself at times you are an adult."

I touched my hair and beard, "I'm going to get old. There is grey there already."

She pulled me down for a soft kiss. When we pulled away she whispered, "I only see my strawberry."

I chuckled, "You are deluded, you know that. Either that or blind. It won't be too long before my desire will outstrip my capabilities."

She chuckled as she slipped a hand inside my tunics to lightly rake her nails across my chest. I groaned, she always did that when she was on top and very close to her final passion. My body responded to the tactile memory accordingly.

"I think you have a few good years in you left my strawberry." She whispered as she crawled into my lap and started nibbling on my neck, "Let's not waste them."

I swallowed as I tried desperately to control the flare of sheer desire that ripped through me. "Ella..." I warned.

"Or, "She chuckled as she nibbled my ear, "Maybe I should be gentle on the Decrepit old man."

My mind and body snapped. I scooped her up and stood up, striding over to my little hovel. "I'll show YOU who's old. I'm going to tire YOU out."

She gave a throaty chuckle that had my hormone fogged brain wondering if Angels had supernatural powers of seduction.

"I'm looking forward to it." She whispered as we ducked into my hovel.

***

  This was it. I watched from my position of invisibility. My Strawberry's time to finish his mission. It is over. His part is done.

*This is the end, isn't it?* He asked me as he danced his saber duel with his former apprentice.

*Not yet. Wait until you see Luke. Then it will be time.* I whispered back into his mind.

*What will happen?* He asked softly, *I don't want to be separated from you, ever. I want to see my master again, but I want to still keep an eye on Luke.*

I smiled, *There is a way.*

*Join the Choir.* He replied as he whirled around vader. *Yes. I want to become an angel and fight beside you against the dark.*

If I was in human form, tears would have pricked my eyes. It's hard to have that happen when you are intangible. *Yes! Yes, you shall."

Vader taunted him in some fashion saying my love's powers were getting weak.   My love simply smiled a reply, "If you strike me down I shall become more powerful then you can possibly imagine."

I snickered, *And I thought revenge wasn't part of the Jedi way.*

*Oh bite me* He growled back.

*Come here my lover, I'll show you biting!* I Shoot back. There were foot steps across the hangar bay. *There is Luke, It's time my strawberry*

*Yes* He replied as he finished giving a smile to Luke and Vader, then stood back and saluted. *Take me.*

I reached out my powers and snatched him from his plane to mine. He staggered a bit. The first time you have a body and yet not it's disconcerting. You aren't sure what is up or down. But for his sake since his mind was used to seeing bodies I made one for him to hold.

He blinked as he pulled back. *I'm here?*

I nodded and brushed some hair from his face, *Yes, you are.*

*8Where is Luke?* He asked. I touched his mind and showed him, gently. Luke was standing there, fighting a battle that would get him killed. *Run Luke! Run!* He urged. Luke Obeyed.

*He heard me* He looked at me astonished

I smiled *Yes he did. I can show you how to do that and many more things.*

He snickered, *Was that one of those ‘other powers' you didn't want to mention?*

I nodded, *Yes.*

He leaned forward and kissed me softly, I shivered. Of all the things I have done on this plane, making love was not one of them. I could feel his touch on my body, soul and mind. It was electric.

*I want to learn something else right now*

*That makes two of us.*

End