Pairing: Q/O
Rating: G
Category: Angst, pre-slash
Archive: Master and Apprentice--anyone else ask please
Summary: Obi-Wan takes an important step as a padawan.
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone, much less these fine characters--although I own a couple of action figures of them, does that count? Probably not. Oh well, I refuse to make any money off them in any event, so please don't sue me.
Notes: Thank you to my favorite lurker for helping me fix the end, and to Cori for her eagle eyes. :-)

Moving Day
by Nicole D'Annais
Copyright 2000


Obi-Wan walked slowly into the room and set his pack down on the bed. He sneezed as dust flew up from the covers; he'd have to get the droids in to clean. Sunlight streamed in through the window, lighting the dust particles as they fell like snow to the bed, adding to the dream-like quality of the room.

So, this was it. He was to move in here. Today. Not that moving was a large undertaking--he had few possessions, and most of the important ones fit into the pack he had brought with him. Still, it was a big step, one he was surprised his master had taken. It wasn't as if they'd grown extremely close over the two years they'd been master and apprentice. Not that they were strangers after everything they'd been through, but there was always some kind of barrier inside his Master that Obi-Wan had not been able to breech.

"I think it's time for you to move into the other room in my quarters, Padawan." Out of nowhere, a simple sentence, one that had left Obi-Wan blinking without a response as his Master turned to speak to a passing Knight. The "other" room. The one meant for Qui-Gon's padawan.

Xanatos' room.

Now he stood in the middle of the room, taking in every last detail, from the chipped places on the bookcase near the door, to the desk and chair that looked to be in better condition than most of the furniture, to the sag in the center of the bed. The back of the door had scuff marks--perhaps whatever Xanatos had thrown at the bookcase that chipped it had bounced off the door after.

Thrown at the bookcase? Strange that he should think that straight off. Or that he should have such a clear mental image of the dark-haired man, much younger, with a padawan's haircut, hurling boots at the bookcase. Obi-Wan shivered despite the warmth of the sun. He felt Xanatos' presence in this room like a cloud. Real or imagined, it was more than he wanted to deal with. He had to wait. He wasn't ready.

The door slid open as he shouldered his pack and opened it. He stepped into the living area and saw his Master staring out the window, a smile on his face--the first smile Obi-Wan had seen his Master wear when he was alone. A small ray of sunlight through the fog that had kept Obi-Wan from getting too close.

Silently, Obi-Wan turned and went back into the room and reached for the comm link to call for the service droids. Once assured they were on their way, he took one item out of his pack and crossed to the shelves. Blowing away the dust, he placed the rock in the center of a shelf at eye level, watching as the sun glinted tiny lights in every direction from the bits of reflective crystal in the stone.

He would stay.
-----
End


Comments? ndannais@squidge.org