TITLE: Finger-paints and Friendships

SERIES: Hearts and Souls

AUTHOR: Scorpio

ARCHIVE: Sentinel Cat, The Den, WWOMB and CKoS

FANDOM: StarWars (pre TPM)

PAIRING: Qui-Gon, Yoda (gen)

RATING: G

CATEGORY: fluffy stuff, friendship mook

WARNING: gratuitous use of finger-paints and mild abuse of a venerated Jedi Master's robes. Nothing in here that the kiddies can't see.

NOTES: This is all a part of the "Hearts and Souls" AU. This story is set after "It all started with a BANG!" but before "Subtle Changes".

DEDICATION: This is for Sentinel Cat. May she never know the "joy" ::snickers:: of washing finger-paint from her walls, peeling squished play-dough out of her carpeting or peanutbutter coated hair in the hopes that it really will get the bubblegum out. May all of the children in *her* life be little angels *ahem* unlike mine.

DISCLAIMER: Look, George! It's Princess Leia in a tiny metal bikini! ::ignoring the puddles of drool, Scorpio grabs the Force Boyz and runs:: //kidding!// All characters and concepts Jedi belong to George Lucas. I intend no infringement on his copyrights. This is a work of love, not profit.

SUMMARY: Three-and-a-half year old Qui-Gon Jinn is missing his very best friend Mace, however, he makes a picture and a new friend named Yoda while waiting for Mace's return.

Finger-paints and Friendships
by Scorpio

Qui-Gon frowned. He was not happy. Not happy at all. He missed his friend Mace very much. About four days ago, which was almost forever, a Knight and his Padawan had come to the creche and took Mace away. The creche Masters very carefully explained to Qui-Gon that they were "escorting Mace back to his home planet to fulfill a contractual obligation to bind himself in matrimony to Sandra Windu." Qui-Gon didn't care about all of that, he just missed his friend.

Continually reassured that Mace would soon be back at the Temple, Qui-Gon decided to make him a gift. Something that would *show* how important Mace was to him. Maybe if he did a good enough job on it, Mace wouldn't leave him again?

With this thought in mind, Qui-Gon had asked for paint and paper from one of the creche Masters. After a long silent pause, his sad blue eyes won out over the potential for messiness and the creche Master retrieved a large sheet of paper, a tray of finger-paints and a long stain-proof vinyl smock.

After the jar lids were peeled off, Qui-Gon eyed the bright and vibrant colors eagerly. Finally, he choose blue. It reminded him of the water spilling in the fountain at the middle of the garden they sometimes played in. Sticking his fingers into the jar, Qui-Gon flinched slightly. The paint was thick, goopy and *cold*. Grinning widely, he decided that he liked the feeling of the bright paint squishing between his fingers.

Pulling his fingers out of the jar, he paused a moment to eye the gooey blue paint and then the crisp white paper. With a soft giggle, Qui-Gon brought his hand down on the paper and made a long blue smear. Right away, he noticed that the thickness of the paint determined how dark the blue was. The shallow furrows made by his fingertips were a thinner, lighter blue while the thick gobs of paint that had spattered here and there were a darker, richer blue.

Grinning like a wild thing, Qui-Gon looked up over at the jars of paint again. There were so many other colors to play with as well, and he had one more hand. But which one to use? Sticking the pink tip of his tongue out the corner of his mouth and squinting his eyes in concentration, Qui-Gon finally chose bright yellow. It was the exact same color as the sun that rose up over the Temple each day.

Sticking his clean hand down in the jar of yellow finger-paints, Qui-Gon giggled at the cold squishy feeling. Finally, he pulled his hand out and slapped it down on the other side of his picture. A large yellow smear now sat besides the big blue streak. Seriously, Qui-Gon studied his painting. It was good. Real good. However, it needed just a little something extra. The tip of his tongue still stuck out of the corner of his mouth, Qui-Gon put his blue paint coated hand carefully on the blue smear and his yellow paint coated hand on the yellow smear. Then, he began to swirl his two hands around and around to create circular streaks and spatters.

Yellow sunlight mixed with bright blue water to form a bright cheery green before Qui-Gon's wide eyed stare of amazement. Swirling the two colors together some more, he watched the growing streaks of green get bigger and bigger. They reminded him strongly of something, but he wasn't sure what it was. Lifting up his hands from the paper, he tilted his head slightly to the side to study it further. Suddenly, in a flash of illumination, he realized what it was the green reminded him of.

He was about to announce that he was finished his painting when a hand tapped him gently on the shoulder. With a startled squeal, Qui-Gon whirled around to come face to face with a short wrinkled green kid that was about his height. The new kid didn't wear the same creche outfits in soft shades of blue like the rest of them, instead he had on a tan tunic and a darker brown robe over that. Qui-Gon thought that maybe this was because he was new and didn't get creche clothes yet. And while some of the new-new tiny babies were wrinkly, this was the first older child that Qui-Gon had seen with them. But Qui-Gon didn't care, lots of the children in the creche had strange and funny things. Like the little girl with the gills that had to take so many baths all the time.

Qui-Gon smiled at the new kid. He liked his ears. They were long and pointy and they stood up against the side of his head. And he was green, which was really kind of neat.

"Hi. I Quig'n. Who you?"

The new child gave a soft wheezing little chuckle and gestured to his own chest with a small three fingered hand.

"Yoda, I am."

Then the little green child, Yoda, gestured to Qui-Gon's picture.

"Painting are you, young one?"

With a big grin, Qui-Gon turned to show off his painting. He was quite proud of it. It had turned out even better than he had hoped. Pointing at the different parts, he explained what they were to the small green child.

"See? Blue for water. Yellow for the sun. An' then *swoosh*!"

Qui-Gon mimicked the motions of swirling his hands around on the paper. Yoda hummed in his throat and nodded his head gravely.

"Hhhhmmmm. Yessss. See that, I do. But what of this green, where yellow and blue come together?"

Qui-Gon frowned slightly and tilted his head again. He had figured out what the green reminded him of, but he didn't have a name for it. Glancing over sideways at the new kid, Qui-Gon finally shrugged and pointed out across the creche play area towards a curling swirl of energy that floated through the air. It practically glowed with the Living Force as it gently glided from child to child in the creche. Qui-Gon didn't know what that energy was called, but he knew what it felt like when it touched him.

"Soft glowy tingles."

Yoda turned his head and his already large eyes widened even further as he too caught sight of the strand of Living Force energy that Qui-Gon was calmly pointing out to him.

"See that, do you?"

With a quick glance that eloquently said, 'Duh!', Qui-Gon shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head.

"The Living Force, that is. Surrounds us it does. Between me and you. The sun and the water, and all living things. Life creates it. Sustains it. Binds us together."

Qui-Gon nodded his head slowly, not very sure if he understood what the green wrinkly child was saying to him. Part of it was because he spoke funny, but that was okay, Qui-Gon liked him anyway and wanted to be his friend. So, he told him that.

"I like you."

Yoda offered him a wide toothy grin and gently poked him on the arm with one clawed finger.

"A comfort that is, since like you as well, I do."

A huge smile erupted over Qui-Gon's face at that. Now he and Yoda could be friends. Mace was his first and bestest friend. But Yoda could be his second bestest friend. Then when Mace came back to the Temple, he could help Mace and Yoda be friends as well. Then the three of them could play together. With that thought in mind, Qui-Gon pointed to his painting again.

"It for Mace. He's gone to matr'm'nee."

He stumbled over the unfamiliar word, but Yoda seemed to understand. What's more, he knew all about what was going on.

"Yes. Know this I do. Unless agreed we did to allow him to fulfill his cultural duty, young Mace's family would not let the Jedi take him for training. Married to young Sandra Windu he is now. Three children he must give her in time."

Qui-Gon nodded quietly, his head tipped down. It didn't make any more sense to him when Yoda said it as it did when the creche Masters explained it. He just missed his friend and wanted him to come back. A gentle hand patting his shoulder pulled him out of his sad thoughts.

"Just fine will everything be, youngling. No need to be so sad."

Qui-Gon nodded his head and tried to pull himself back into a good mood. Yoda was right, after all. Things would be okay. Soon, Mace would be back and he already had a new friend to play with.

He was just about to smile again when a new thought occurred to him. What if Yoda didn't think that they could be friends if he was already friends with Mace? That wasn't true at all. Qui-Gon was almost a big boy now. He hardly ever had accidents at night anymore and he only needed one nap a day instead of two. He even got to eat with a little plastic spoon instead of his fingers like the babies and only a very little fell off onto his lap. Why, he was practically grown. He could have two friends if he wanted.

Worried that Yoda wouldn't know this and think that Qui-Gon didn't want to be his friend, he furiously wondered what he could do to convince the little green boy. Suddenly, he knew what would work. His face lighting up with another smile, Qui-Gon turned to face Yoda and spread his arms wide. His left hand still coated in blue finger-paint and his right hand covered with yellow, he exposed his vinyl smock which was a smear of spattered paint and swirls of color. Yoda merely gazed at him with mild curiosity.

Then, before Yoda could speak or move away, Qui-Gon stepped up to his new friend and wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, smearing yellow, blue and green paint all down the front of his tan tunic. Two small pudgy hand prints, one in bright blue and the other in bright yellow were pressed into the back of Yoda's dark brown robe. However, the ruined clothes were far from Yoda's mind as Qui-Gon's immature and untrained force sense pulsed a jolt of pure happiness and affection directly into the Jedi Master's soul.

Done with his impromptu and fierce hug, Qui-Gon let go of his new friend and stepped back. That's when he noticed the smears of paint all over the other boy. Instantly feeling contrite, Qui-Gon's eyes began to fill with tears and his chin quivered.

"I...I sorry."

He pointed one paint stained hand at Yoda's tunic. The green child looked down and chuckled lightly.

"Hhhhmmm... Yesss. Messy we are. Clean up, we should. Hhhhmmmm?..."

Blinking back his tears as a wave of relief and happiness rushed over him, Qui-Gon was thrilled to realize that, not only was his new friend not angry with him, he was also willing to help him clean up. Turning, Qui-Gon watched with wide eyes as his new friend levitated his painting to the drying racks over by the side wall. Gracing Yoda with a huge grin, he began to tell the green boy all about the time he and Mace had found a turtle swimming around in the fountain in the creche's garden and how they had had fun with the little amphibian. The turtle, Mr. Shell, still lived here in the creche and Qui-Gon offered to show him to Yoda after they were done cleaning up. But once again, Yoda seemed to already know about it.

"Yes, remember that I do. With Padawans and their pranks, does the Force test all Jedi Masters from time to time."

Not truly understanding what Yoda meant by that, Qui-Gon turned to face his friend with a wide smile.

"I be a Padawan when I get big."

Yoda's green ears quivered slightly with amusement.

"Yes, youngling. This too, do I know."


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