A Day Off
by Alice J. Capen
(takes place 10 years before TPM)
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan wander about town on a day off.
~
Qui-Gon Jinn lay on the roof of a low gate-house. He overlooked a green pasture enclosed by a stone wall. To his right was an old, well-kept ranch house. To his left and all around the ranch were green meadows dotted with trees with spreading branches. A dappled white horse that was standing in the walled pasture spotted Qui-Gon and stared at him with curiosity. Qui-Gon like the idea of making friends with the horse, and without using any mind control, he waved to the horse to come hither.
The horse seemed happy to have someone else to meet, and to Qui-Gon's delight, he trotted quickly up to the gate-house. But to Qui-Gon's surprise, the horse jumped.
Qui-Gon cried "Whoa!!" as he thought the horse might accidentally hit him with his hooves. But the horse landed safely on the roof, and with sound of hooves scrabbling on the roof top, settled on his stomach, hooking his front hooves over Qui-Gon's edge.
The horse brought his large head down to Qui-Gon's and began gently nudging his face with his velvety-soft lips and nose. Another white horse appeared next to the first and was also gently "kissing" Qui-Gon on the face.
Qui-Gon heard, from somewhere, the soft click of his radio as it started playing a news/talk show station, first softly, then gradually louder until the volume reached the preset level programmed by Qui-Gon the night before. His consciousness took him briefly through a dreamy haze before he opened an eye to the morning sunshine. He listened sleepily to the top-of-the-hour news for a couple of minutes before opening the other eye. His padawan had known he had awakened, and Qui-Gon heard the soft footsteps of Obi-Wan before the wonderful aroma of pancakes and scrambled eggs reached his nose.
"Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes!!" whispered a happy master as he sat up in his bed. Obi-Wan placed the breakfast tray over Qui-Gon's lap. There was also juice and hot tea.
"That breakfast is actually mine." smiled Obi-Wan.
Qui-Gon smiled sardonically up at his padawan and waited expectantly. Grinning, Obi-Wan continued. "I set it on your lap only so that you can gaze upon it and enjoy its smell before I eat it in front of you."
Qui-Gon growled through his toothy smile.
Obi-Wan held a hand up to his ear. "Why, is that your stomach that I hear?" And made as if to take the tray away. Qui-Gon growled louder.
Obi-Wan chuckled as he left the room to fetch his own tray. Obi-Wan came back with his own breakfast, and sitting on the floor with his back against Qui-Gon's bed, he joined his master in eradicating hunger.
---------
The breakfast was finished, and the servo-droid took away the trays.
"What do you want to do today, Master?"
"Well.......I would like to simply wander about in the city with no particular destination in mind."
"I like doing that." said Obi-Wan. "Mind if I come with you?"
"Of course I don't mind. Seems like, though, you'd be a little tired of being with me all the time."
"Absolutely not!"
Qui-Gon smiled.
"I suppose it's out of the question to step out, not looking like a Jedi?" said Obi-Wan.
"Not....really. It depends on why."
"You know what happens whenever we go wondering about." Qui-Gon nodded his head. Obi-Wan continued, "People are always stopping us to take holos of us or asking us to do some "Jedi tricks"."
"Especially the tourists." said Qui-Gon. "What would you do if you were a tourist?"
"I guess I'd be mighty curious to see some Jedi powers," admitted Obi-Wan, "but I hope I'd be polite enough not to bother a Jedi for it. I think I would sneak a few quick clicks of my camera though."
Qui-Gon headed for the shower. "Sneaky shots are what I like best. The subject of the holo is in a natural state of action, and not in a self-conscious, effected pose, or looking into the camera with a lame smile."
Obi-Wan froze into a ridiculous pose.
"Too bad Jedi Masters can't produce a camera out of thin air. I'd capture that image and pass it around the Temple." said Qui-Gon as he disappeared into the bathroom.
Obi-Wan smiled as he softly muttered "You probably would too. I wouldn't doubt you'd be a poo about it."
"I heard that!" called Qui-Gon.
Obi-Wan muttered some more. "Yes, a handsome, suave, debonair, generous, even-tempered poo." He could feel his master's mirth.
---------
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan walked across a wide pedestrian bridge that spanned between two buildings. From that bridge, they could see the massive Temple pyramid in the distance, with tourists flying all about it, looking like gnats.
Obi-Wan asked, "Have you ever thought about putting a strip of plastisteel down the side of the Temple to make a super-fun-slide?" .
Qui-Gon burst into laughter. The image in his mind of Yoda sliding down the pyramid with his feet up in the air was comical. "Something tells me that the Council would not approve."
"What do you mean they wouldn't approve?! The slide would be a fast way to leave the Council Chamber after they end a meeting!" grinned Obi-Wan.
"I'm sure they'd prefer the usual mode of transportation. Besides, the pyramid is so tall that people would go down too fast and hit the ground hard, unless they used their Force powers. But if they do that, there'd be no point in having a slide."
"Not really. The slide doesn't have to be straight. It could be wavy, and the surface could be rough toward the bottom like sandpaper to slow people down before they hit the ground."
Qui-Gon nearly doubled over with laughter. "When you reach the bottom of the pyramid, you'll have a large hole in your trousers. Your polk-a-dot underpants will show."
"I don't have polk-a-dot underpants."
"Well now I know what to give you as a gift."
"If you do, I'll retaliate by buying you a pair of red and white striped socks." warned Obi-Wan.
"Make sure they're the thick comfy kind."
"I will."
Sometimes when people on Coruscant recognize Jedi amongst them, they would furtively touch their cloaks as if trying to receive some of the energy that may be there. But most people were too polite to touch—or perhaps, if politeness wasn't the reason, then it was the lack of bravery.
Women would smile when they saw the Jedi. Most men would pretend not to notice Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan as they approached, but they would turn and stare after the Jedi went by. Some men would have a spark of jealousy in their eyes, and some with a look of wistful fantasy about what they themselves would like to have been.
The Jedi wandered about for a while, through office buildings, shops and over more bridges until they came upon an arcade. Qui-Gon was not going to go in but Obi-Wan put a hand on his master's arm and stopped. "Let's go in!"
Qui-Gon peered inside the arcade and saw the virtual games of battle and skill. "Obi, we don't need to go in there. What these people are paying for to pretend are what we do in real life."
"Let's just look around?"
Qui-Gon smiled and sighed, and after a moment, "Oh all right."
Lights of every color strobing and flashing, bells jangling, whistles tooting, electronic explosions, android and virtual villains and monsters, artificially created fog glowing in eerie colors. Qui-Gon felt self-conscious being there. Obi-Wan was too interested in his surroundings to feel embarrassed.
They wandered through an artificial cave, dark and foggy with mysterious moving shapes with glowing eyes, and came out the other end to find themselves in a large room made up to look like city streets with "falling" buildings being destroyed by an "earthquake" while a giant roaring monster was rampaging at the same time. Qui-Gon laughed at the comedy of it. The rocking and rolling "streets" made the Jedi stagger about like drunken spacers as they made their way through the beleaguered city.
"Look!" exclaimed Obi-Wan. When they had escaped the monster and the earthquake, Obi-Wan saw a virtual reality game entitled 'Jedi Knight'. "Let's go in!"
Qui-Gon had to admit that he was curious about how Jedi were portrayed. This game required payment. Qui-Gon pressed his hand onto the scanner which read his palm and finger prints, which then charged the amount to his account. Obi-Wan did the same, and they went in.
A droid greeted them. Its salutation was for the game and not because they were real Jedi. "Greetings Masters Jedi!" It equipped them with quasi lightsabers. "Please follow me to the Council Chamber."
The Council Chamber held twelve mechanical Masters. One of them was an excellent likeness of Yoda, and another was obviously supposed to look like Mace Windu, but missed the mark just a tad; "Oppo Rancisis" wasn't quite himself, but the Jedi recognized him. The rest of the Masters were guessable as to whom they were supposed to be, but "Even Piell" was a little shorter than he should have been. The design of the room itself was not exactly like the real one, but it was close, as if it were modeled after pictures that had been taken through the windows from a ship or satellite. Tours were never allowed in the Council Chamber. All in all though, it was created with obvious effort toward realism based on data to be had.
Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were able to enjoy pretending to be pretend Jedi. The robots instructed them with gravity about the mission the Jedi were about to embark on, along with its dangers. An urge welled up in Obi-Wan. The idea of it was appalling and exciting at the same time. But as these Council Members were not the real ones, he took advantage of the situation. Qui-Gon turned to look at his padawan in astonishment. Obi-Wan, with eyes opened wide and fingers wiggling at the sides of his face, was sticking his tongue out at Windu and producing a raspberry sound.
Qui-Gon could not help but feel mortified at what he saw, but he was amused also. His face flushed as he groaned and smiled, and he covered his face with his hand. "Oh, I wish I could take a picture of that! Obi-Wan, that's very unJedi-ish."
A sudden dread came over Obi-Wan. "You're not going to convey a mental image to the Council, are you, Master?"
"No, of course not, padawan."
The "Council" apparently was not programmed to recognize raspberries, possibly because the designers knew the mentality of the players. They continued with the briefing: the space station Zorgon is primarily for communications and surveillance, but it keeps government cost down by providing a rest-stop and a restaurant for travelers. A band of pirates were trying to commandeer it by attacking it and placing it under siege. Their mission was to save the space station from the pirates.
When the briefing was over, their droid guide led them out of the Chamber and into a "ship" that was to "fly" them to their mission. The droid did not go in with them, instead it stayed out and said, "Good luck, Masters Jedi, and may the Force be with you.", then closed the hatch.
The ship felt as if it were rising up and flying. It swayed, jiggled and bumped. Qui-Gon could not help but laugh. The passengers were able to observe through a "window" that the ship went into hyperdrive, then after a short space of time, went back into normal cruising speed. The pilot's voice came through the intercom. "We will soon be landing at the station Zorgon."
After a short while, the pilot spoke again with an urgent voice. "We are encountering pirate ships! All passengers strap yourselves in! We're being attacked by pirates!" Alert lights started flashing and the ship swayed harder as if it were dodging and deflecting laser bolts.
After a while, the bouncing and swaying smoothed out and the "ship" felt as if it were gliding. The pilot's voice came back. "We got through the pirate blockade. We will soon dock at the space station Zorgon." The ship "landed". The hatch opened into a tube that led into the station.
A protocol droid with two droid guards greeted them. "Welcome to Zorgon, Sirs. We thank you for your assistance. The pirates have attempted to gain entrance into this station, and so far, we've been able to hold them off. But they're keeping us under siege, and we don't know how much longer we can hold out. If the pirates manage to seize the control room, we're doomed. The control room is the nerve center of the station and they're concentrating their attack on it. Our shields are being drained by the constant abuse."
The droid led them down a corridor toward the control room. "I don't know how much longer we can la—" Explosions pounded from the direction of the control room. "Oh no! They're attacking again, and this time, it sounds as if they're getting through!" cried the droid.
The droid ran down the hall and through a door. The Jedi followed him and found themselves in a room full of fog "smoke", laser "blasts", more explosions as the pirates broke down the defenses, and virtual people stationed at the control panels in a state of near panic. The Jedi activated their quasi lightsabers. Laser bolts from the pirates flew at them. Without having to think, their trained reflexes deflected every bolt, which accrued points for the Jedi. The game's computer quickly assessed the players' apparent skill and raised the difficulty level accordingly.
A computer-generated human voice spoke: "They've broken into the control room! They're getting through! They're getting through!" The walls were breaking away as the pirates bodily forced their way through. Another door opened and a pirate stepped through and started shooting. Qui-Gon deflected his bolts as he ran toward the pirate, and "sliced" through the pirate. The quasi saber did not actually cut through the droid, but the action of the laser going through it triggered the droid's deactivation, and it fell to the floor as if it were killed. Other pirates stepped through the door but they were immediately "killed" like the first.
Obi-Wan was busy with those that had broken through the wall. He blocked every blast, including those aimed at his master, and "killed" the pirates that squeezed through the ruined walls.
The skill level of these players were as such that the computer never before encountered. The computer brought the game level up to its highest and gave it its all. Constant explosions rocked the control room and the walls were nearly disintegrated as the remaining pirates blasted them with everything they had. The two Jedi almost forgot that this was a pretend battle as their Jedi prowess completely kicked in, and their sabers flashed with lightning speed upon the marauders, protecting both themselves and the virtual people. When nearly all the pirates had been destroyed, the computer switched tactics from direct assault to stealth. The few pirates that were left abruptly pulled out from the door and the ruined walls, and all was silent. The fog "smoke" settled to the floor in the calm.
While Obi-Wan stayed in the control room, Qui-Gon crept out the door to see where the pirates had gone, but he did not walk too far. It was a common tactic with foes to attempt to separate Jedi. The lights suddenly went out, and all was in complete darkness. Using his Force senses to see, Qui-Gon trotted back into the control room. The two Jedi waited, knowing that something was about to happen. The sense of movement was glaringly strong for the Jedi as the dark and silent shapes of pirates sneaked up to "kill" the station's defenders. The pirates were too easy a mark, and the Jedi cut them down.
The computer decided to do what it had never done before. It cheated. Virtual pirates that had not been part of the game before, had suddenly dropped from nowhere, to tackle and overwhelm the Jedi. In the dark, standing back to back, the Jedi kept slashing them down. The computer kept creating more pirates at a faster and faster rate.
"I know this isn't part of the original programming!" yelled Qui-Gon. Finally, Obi-Wan did what his Jedi reflexes compelled him to do: he threw up his left hand and the pirates were shoved violently from around them by an invisible force. The computer was not programmed to deal with something as strange and unexpected as that, and it shut down. The entire game shut down along with it, including the androids. The virtual pirates disappeared and ordinary lights came on.
"Oh oh," said Qui-Gon, "You broke it."
"Ooops."
The sound of approaching footsteps came from outside the control room door and the Jedi turned expectantly toward it. A man with the arcade logo on his shirt walked into the room and reached out his hand.
"Hello there. My name is Ling Tsea, and I'm the manager of this arcade."
Qui-Gon took his hand, but before he was able to speak...
"You're Jedi Knights aren't you? Never had Jedi Knights in here—at least not that I know of. Well boys, you made the all-time winning score!"
Qui-Gon spoke. "I hope we didn't damage anything."
"You broke nothing except the record. I've no doubt that no one will be able to match your score unless it be another Jedi. Don't worry about the game. All she needs to do is reset. You flummoxed her pretty well." He pointed his hand from whence he came. "If you gentlemen will walk this way...."
The three walked toward the game's exit, and the manager continued, "It would be great for our business if you allow us to use your image and names in our advertising."
They walked out the exit and into a lobby. Every visitor of the arcade applauded and hooted when the Jedi walked through the door. Their game had been watched by the crowd via a large view screen. The Jedi hid their feeling of dismay as they smiled.
The manager led them into his office, then closed the door for privacy and asked them to sit. "As I was saying before we were cheerfully interrupted: I would like to know if you would allow us to use you for advertising purposes?"
Qui-Gon smiled and shook his head. "No. I'm afraid that's out of the question. It's against the policy of our Order for Jedi to be used for commercial purposes."
The manager sighed. "Yes. I suppose it would make it look rather tacky. May we at least use your images in an advertising holo in the lobby?"
Qui-Gon shifted in his chair and looked at his padawan briefly before looking back at the manager. "I'm sorry, but that can't be done either. Was our playing recorded?"
"Yes."
"There's nothing to prevent you from showing that from time to time on a view screen as long as it stays in the arcade and not broadcasted out as advertising, or identifying our images as actual Jedi."
The manager slumped his shoulders a little, in gentle resignation. "I guess I sort of figured that that was going to be the outcome. But, no harm in asking."
The Jedi stood up to leave. The manager stood up also and said, "If you gentlemen visit the arcade again, see me and I'll give you free passes to all the games. I know you'll drive up the game scores which will make competitive players try to break them, which will drive up more profit for me!"
Qui-Gon mirthfully took the manager's hand and shook it, then the manager shook hands with Obi-Wan, then opened the door. As the Jedi walked through the lobby, they stopped briefly to watch a large view screen of 'Jedi Knight' with two players getting hit by mildly stinging bolts. One of the players accidentally knocked the blade out of his partner's hand as he was swinging his saber to deflect a pirate bolt, which he missed. The computer was happily racking up points for itself.
"Where to now?" asked Obi-Wan as they headed out the arcade.
"Let's just keep wandering."
"I'm getting hungry."
"So am I."
Obi-Wan pointed. "There's a 'Kitnitkees' over there."
"I don't feel like fast food. How about a salad bar?"
"I know a very nice one in the Metro Skyway Mall. It has a great selection of salads, soups, breads and desserts."
"Sounds nice, but we'd have to take a cab for that. It's too far to walk." said Qui-Gon.
"We'd make it there in about two days." smiled Obi-Wan.
"We'd definitely starve if we walk two days to our next meal. What might happen, is that later in the evening, I'll arrive alone back at the Temple with my stomach bulging. They'll ask, "Where's Obi-Wan?" I'll answer with a big burp."
"But my meat's all lean and stringy. I'd be tough to chew."
"Your head would be soft enough." grinned Qui-Gon.
"Thaaaanks."
"I suppose I ought not eat you. Your spiky, fuzzy hair would get stuck between my teeth. Then if I smile, everybody will think I grew a thicker mustache."
"And I'll give you indigestion."
"You might be right." said Qui-Gon. "Your boots would sit in my stomach for days!"
"Can you imagine your intestines trying to pass my boots, and my belt, and my saber?"
"Gad! You're right!" exclaimed Qui-Gon as he waved for a taxi. "Let's take a cab."
It did not take long for a taxi to stop. Jedi are well known everywhere for being honest patrons. There was also the superstition that having Jedi Knights around meant good luck. "Where to?" asked the cabby.
"To the Metro Skyway Mall." said Qui-Gon. The cab driver entered the destination into the nav. computer, and off they went. During the ride, they maintained the aura of mystic dignity. In twelve minutes they arrived at the main entrance of the Metro Skyway Mall. Qui-Gon paid the fare, plus the tip. The cabby thanked him, then took off.
The Jedi entered the mall where they quietly—so as to not make an uncharacteristic show—resumed their jesting.
Obi-Wan asked, "Who would you pick as a padawan after you eat me?"
Qui-Gon pointed to a store. "All I'll have to do is go to the pet shop to buy another one."
Obi-Wan muffled his guffaw. Then said in a mock threat, "I'll tell your master you said that."
"You'll get no help from Yoda. He'll laugh."
Obi-Wan knew that Yoda would. He tried to think of a snappy comeback, but could not. Qui-Gon had an impish smile on his face. Obi-Wan lost this round. He usually did loose the game of wits with his master. They walked about, looking at window displays, and browsing in stores that interested them, and enjoying the beautiful architecture of the mall.
As they walked, some people—usually women—would "accidentally" brush up against them upon passing. The mall would not necessarily be terribly crowded, yet people would find some reason to bump into the Jedi. As the Jedi were used to it while in public, they barely took notice of it; unless someone were foolish enough to attempt to pickpocket them. After a while, Qui-Gon remembered his hunger.
"Where is the salad bar?"
"I think it's two levels below us."
"Let's head on down there."
As they rode down an escalator, a woman riding up a neighboring one made a friendly salacious growl at them.
<I love being handsome.> sent Obi-Wan.
Qui-Gon grinned. <My traits rubbed off onto you. That's what happens when you spend years with such a beauteous master as myself.>
Obi-Wan thought to himself, 'That may have been a joke, but it's not too far off the mark.' They rode down another set of elevators to the floor on which was the salad bar. They walked for a time before Obi-Wan pointed. "There it is."
It was a buffet restaurant with long, giant buffet tables with salads of many varieties and cultures. Another buffet table had different soups, another had a variety of bread and muffins, and still another had dessert. The Jedi found a table by a window and sat down with full trays.
"A Jedi could get fat here." said Qui-Gon.
Obi-Wan remarked, "The look on your face tells me you're not complaining."
Qui-gon answered by diving in to his food. "Mmm. This is good." he said with his mouth full.
---------
Almost two hours later—Qui-Gon was a slower eater than Obi-Wan—the Jedi exited the restaurant and looked about themselves.
"Which way do you want to go?" asked Qui-Gon.
"Let's leave the mall and go someplace."
"Any place?"
"Any place."
"Hmm." Qui-Gon thought about where to go as they walked toward the escalator. They found the sun still high in the sky when they walked out of the mall. Qui-Gon thought about the dream he had that morning, and asked, "Would you want to go horseback riding?"
Obi-Wan answered enthusiastically, and Qui-Gon flagged down a cab.
---------
The nature preserve the Jedi choose spread thousands of acres under artificially created sky and sunlight that would darken and lighten to mimic the natural cycle of night and day of Coruscant. Farms and ranches that were for agricultural work and "outdoor" pleasure were situated in varied locales within the preserve. One of the ranches had the pleasure of receiving the two Jedi. Ranch hands led them to an enclosed field where several horses were grazing. Most of the horses lifted their heads to gaze at the newcomers.
Qui-Gon looked for a white one that might match the ones in his dream. There were four white horses that looked promising. Qui-Gon's eyes caught a beautiful midnight black mare with luxuriously feathered fetlocks.
"Look at that one." he said to Obi-Wan, pointing to the black.
"I've been looking at that one. It's beautiful." remarked Obi-Wan. One of the white horses started to walk toward the visitors. It was a lot like the horses in Qui-Gon's dream, but without the dappled pattern. Qui-Gon reached out his hand and the horse muzzled it.
"Looks like you were chosen by the horse." observed Obi-Wan.
---------
With muffled, heavy sound of clumf clumf clumf, the Jedi rode their saddled horses out of the stable yard and into the countryside. Qui-Gon astride his white horse, and Obi-Wan astride the black with the feathery fetlocks. They set their horses to an easy trot. When they neared a stream, they slowed the horses to a walk and let them stop for a drink. The Jedi said nothing as they let the rare sound of Coruscant's old nature gently embrace them. The sound of the horses drinking water accompanied by the melodic sound of insects singing for their mates, and of frogs, unseen. The cavorting of the flowing water sparkled under the realistic sun.
Qui-Gon noticed a group of long-stranded green algae floating lazily in the water. If he were a child, he probably would have imagined it was mermaid's hair. Darting shadows introduced themselves, and Qui-Gon looked up to find dragonflies had come, and were hovering and flying playfully about the Jedi and the horses with curiosity. Qui-Gon was fascinated by the way their wings shimmered, faery-like. Their bodies were iridescent blue.
Obi-Wan looked toward the undulating shadows and sunlit vista of distant hills. There seemed to be the presence of a fantasy or an unfulfilled wish behind Obi-Wan's eyes as he gazed, but his thoughts were not conveyed to Qui-Gon. The horses satisfied their thirst and were eventually showing signs of restlessness. The Jedi started their horses at a walk, and continued their ride.
They rode for a while before Qui-Gon reminisced. "I remember a couple of times, when I was a padawan, when Master Yoda and I would come here. We'd hire one horse, and he'd sit in the saddle in front of me, and we'd ride hither and yon."
"I suppose I can picture Master Yoda on horseback," said Obi-Wan, "but the concept of him being on one is foreign."
"He hasn't ridden a horse since I became a knight."
Obi-Wan asked, "Would you still have fun like we do now, when you become a Council Member?"
"Well I hope to be able to get out and about once in a while, but one would have to make some sacrifices in order to be on the Council. Not because of any Council rule that says, "Council Members must not have fun", but because being on the Council would take up so much of one's time. There's a larger part of me that prefers to be out and about."
"Master, please don't take this question wrong, because I prefer to wear what I'm wearing now, and I'm proud to wear it. But would there ever be a time when we go somewhere not looking like Jedi?"
"Yes. You may find yourself on many missions where it is necessary to wear a disguise and not call attention to yourself as a Jedi. But today was not one of them. If a Jedi, even during his free time, is called to help someone in trouble, he needs to represent the Order well and not embarrass himself by leaping about and flashing his lightsaber while wearing flowered shorts and a propeller beanie."
Obi-Wan laughed at the mental image. "And each of his sandals has a large plastic flower on it."
"Has he no shame?!" laughed Qui-Gon. "He should be kicked out of the Order just on principle!"
"Has anyone ever been kicked out for wearing goofy clothes in public?"
"I wouldn't think so. They'd probably be reprimanded, but not kicked out. Besides, I don't know of any Jedi who would be inclined to do such a thing. I do like propellor beanies actually; I think they're cute. But I wouldn't wear one outside the Temple."
"If I bought you a propeller beanie, would you wear it in the Temple?"
"No."
"You can wear it at Council!" grinned Obi-Wan.
"I don't think the Council would appreciate that. But I'll propose that all padawans should wear propeller beanies until knighthood. It could be part of their Force training; they could keep the propellers whirring."
"Could you imagine what it would look like at dinner in the dining hall?" Qui-Gon laughed. Yes he could.
They rode their horses until it was late in the afternoon, then they headed back to the ranch. When they got to the ranch, Qui-Gon stifled a groan as he dismounted. His rear end wasn't used to the saddle. He made an effort to not walk funny.
"Where to now, Master?"
Qui-Gon fought the urge to rub his saddle bruise. "I'd like to spend the rest of the day relaxing at the Temple."
"And eating."
"Yes."
---------
The sun was nearing the horizon when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan got back to the Temple. When they reached their chambers, Qui-Gon lay on the couch, face down and sighed.
"Tired?"
"Sore."
"You??"
"On my behind." Obi-Wan smiled.
"Oh."
Then he skipped out of the room and called, "I'll whip up a snack!"
Qui-Gon grunted, and closed his eyes.
Alice J. Capen