DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters (Shal-Nyx, K'yllyn, Annah, and Clira) are the creation and property of the author and Caeryn Myer. The storyline and the actual story are the property of the author .
"No, Anakin, I don't think he'll mind."
The blonde boy nodded and sat down on the floor, taking the box in his hands and turning it upside down, dropping the contents on the carpet. Sitting across from Irain Al-Dara, who grinned and began to set the wooden pieces up, the two apprentices were happy to do something.
After having completed his exercises, Anakin had wandered over to the quarters he knew well, figuring, and it was a good guess, that Obi-Wan Kenobi would find his way back to Master Myrrdin's.
Turning back around to face the screen once more, catching up on her paperwork, K'yllyn Myrrdin smiled despite herself. The younger ones were an energising presence. Their laughter seemed to lighten the room, and when Obi-Wan walked in, pausing to watch the two teenagers on the floor argue over who went first, she gave him that smile.
"Better day?"
He shrugged and slipped off his robe. "Got some answers, which helps. Any news on Casius 4?"
Irain raised her head, suddenly listening.
"They're not sending me. The ministers came to an agreement last night."
"Wonderful."
Irain went back to the game, sticking her tongue out as Ani used the Force to cheat. "Hey!"
Obi-Wan chuckled. "You know the rules, Padawan."
There was a grumble and a small "yes, Master" in response.
"So, any news?"
Kneeling down next to her, taking her hand in his and kissing the top, Obi-Wan nodded. "Yeah, they're testing me for the syndrome that affected her."
"That seems a little obvious to me."
"It is only if you know the bloodlines."
K'yllyn sighed loudly. "They did a damn good job covering the truth. Have you contacted Angorthas yet?"
"Angorthas? Oh, yes, of course! That hadn't even occurred to me. If this thing is unique to that-- her, ah-- my," he corrected, "people, they might have more information."
K'yllyn smiled sympathetically. Even if Obi-Wan had absorbed the new twist in his life he was correcting himself constantly. If it weren't bordering on tragic, it'd be amusing. "It's worth a try."
"Never give up?"
"And never show them your fear."
"Except when it's necessary."
"Obi-Wan!"
He shrugged. "I was kidding..."
"I didn't find it that funny."
"K'yllyn... "
"Don't give me that," casting a glance to the apprentices on the floor still, she stood up, hooking a hand around his arm and pulling him back into her bedroom.
"What?"
Closing the door behind them, giving him an unforgiving glare, K’yllyn said, "Nothing has changed, you’re still Obi-Wan Kenobi and don't give me some bull about not knowing what to do. Look at it this way, outside of wonder boy out there, you've got a gift that most of us don't have. Either make it part of you or shed it."
"That's a lot easier to say when it's not you who has to do it."
"Yeah, well, I'm just as involved as you are, just not like… well, you already know. I'm here, you're here and we'll get past this." Clapping a hand over her mouth, K'yllyn suppressed a laugh.
"What?"
"Now I know my Master had good taste in men."
Her laughter contagious, Obi-Wan's glower broke into a slight grin. "I could say the same for you."
"Oooh, flattery, this is more like the Obi-Wan I know."
"Well, if I have to be who I am, I guess I should make the most of it."
"Damn straight."
"Except for that insipid maverick tendency… "
"It fits you well enough. However," K'yllyn intoned.
"What?"
"Go shave."
Obi-Wan opened his mouth, ran a hand across his fuzzy cheek, and then nodded. "Not this?"
"Tell you what, when you're sixty something, I'll put up with it, okay?"
"Sounds like something to look forward to."
"Probably, now go shave."
Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.
"Is your arm hurting?"
Shal-Nyx sighed, sitting in the chair at Qui-Gon's workbench, trying to adjust the band around her arm. "It feels like I've been stung by a bloody Raksharan wasp."
"Leave it in." Qui-Gon suppressed a sigh. Raend, after lifting the fever, had inserted a small tube into Shal-Nyx's arm, using it to draw the blood he needed, but rather than taking it out and making a fresh hole when he returned with the serum, the healer had opted to leave the little tube in. As a final act before leaving, the healer had set a band of fabric over the wound, despite her protests about the entire package being irritating.
Shal-Nyx gave Qui-Gon an unhappy look.
"Pet, leave it in."
She sighed and leaned back in the chair, rubbing her temples. The dark circles under her eyes were visible now; it was plain to see that whatever was setting her moods on edge was also taking her body with them, and that worried Qui-Gon.
Digging through a stack of back-dated reports, sorting them and reading them as he had to, he was doing his best to actually pay attention, considering what he really wanted to do had nothing to do with datapads. "So, tell me about the recent dreams."
She gave him a weary smile. "You just want to know if they were sex dreams."
"Well, they are more fun."
"That they are. Well, they were fuzzy again, a lot of disjointed images. However, despite my objections, even the Force wants me to take a Padawan."
"The girl you defended to Yoda?"
Shal-Nyx nodded. "Had this image of her with the apprentice braid," she chuckled, "stuck on some senatorial errand with me. One of those a-diplomat-never-shows-her-boredom lessons."
"'Padawan Shelsi,' it has a good ring."
She stood up slowly, wandering her way over to the couch and his side. "She has a lot of potential."
"'Master Shal-Nyx,'" Qui-Gon said experimentally, smiling as he raised his arm so she could settle up against his shoulder. "That sounds even better."
Resting her cheek against his chest, drawing a deep breath, she nodded slightly. "I suppose, presuming they don’t kick me out for my behaviour these last few weeks."
~They wouldn't dare.~
Taking the datapad from his hand, setting it aside, she pulled his hand near her face, staring at the lines of his palm. "They might, and if there's no cure, I'll resign for them."
"I'd visit you."
"Oh, thanks, such loyalty."
"Shala, I love your company but I don't think I could ever leave the Order. It's not just a duty to me, it's a life. You used to feel the same way. Besides, I like the idea of you being a constant thorn in the side of the Council."
"So says the porcupine quill."
"Point taken," Qui-Gon acknowledged. "Now, to broach a less pleasant subject… "
"I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that it's a moot point to retrieve him, no matter how much I want to."
"It's the right choice."
With a sad sigh she released his hand, shifting to lay her head on his lap. "It's the only choice. What about you, you can't tell me you're content."
"No, I'm not. I," he paused, his words catching in his throat. Despite his intimate participation in the whole… situation, he had never spoken his mind, not to a clarity that she was now asking for. "I want him too, Shala, but I also know we can't. It's not that I fear fatherhood, the idea is, in fact, seductive; but our lives are so hard and unpredictable. We never know if we'll never return from a mission alive, and I cannot bear to put that burden on a child. It's-- it's cruel. I have faith in the Force, it will watch over him, it has to."
"Simply because you say so?"
"No. It will because it was the will of the Force to conceive him, it was the will of the Force for him to survive-- both of you. It is the will of the Force that our paths and his have parted. With fortune, presuming it exists, the paths will cross again."
"For a renegade you're a bloody optimist."
"Guilty as charged." With a slight shrug, Qui-Gon bent over just enough to kiss the top of her head, hearing her take a long breath and exhale it slowly. "What am I going to do with you, pet?"
Enjoying the feel of being wrapped up in his arms, the warmth of his body was relaxing her. "Same thing you always do, enjoy my company and continue to defend yourself to the Council until the second sun of Gin-Himou goes nova."
"Which will be in about a thousand years."
"Could be worse." Absently scratching her arm, trying to wedge fingers underneath the band, she glared at Qui-Gon when he grabbed her hand and pulled it away.
"Leave it be."
Shal-Nyx sighed and adjusted herself, resting her cheek and ear on his thigh. She chuckled when she felt him shift bodily.
"Don't laugh too hard down there or you'll be doing more than just laying on me."
Biting her lip, she grinned, something she hadn't done in a while. She knew perfectly well just how close her head was to his groin, not that she minded. If she had really wanted to draw his attention she needed only to lean back, something she would have done already were exhaustion not looming over her. ~Another time, luv, another time.~
Qui-Gon nodded slowly, marshaling his self-control. Even if his mind was set on other things, his body was still trying to betray him. Stroking her hair, then realising that that, too, wasn't going to keep him still, he grunted and picked up the datapad once more.