If Hate Leads to Suffering... | Obi Wan Kenobi

Act I. vi

"I still suggest you stay here and take the test." Obi-Wan and Xaela walked down the halls away from the Jedi Council. Anakin had gone to look for Chancellor Palpatine at Master Windu's request.

"Master, do you not enjoy my company?" Xaela teased and Obi-Wan shook his head.

"You know I do, but think about what's good for your future." He stopped walking and faced his Padawan.

Xaela looked up at him. For once she was completely confident in her verdict.

"You said this was my decision." She reminded him. "The Trials will still be here when I get back, I will not abandon this mission - especially when it just got interesting."

Her Master shook his head, but respected her choice and continued along the corridor.

"So you will accompany Anakin and the Senator to Naboo." He said and Xaela disagreed.

"Anakin can handle it himself. Tracking and taking down a bounty hunter, on the other hand, someone needs to be there to keep you in check."

"I think I can handle myself, my Padawan." Her Master said and Xaela crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Like how you handled yourself jumping through a window?" She asked and Obi-Wan sighed like he always did when she got like this. "What would of happened if you fell, Huh? Did you expect yourself to just sprout wings and fly?"

"You speak as if you're already a Knight and not still my Padawan." Obi-Wan sent a look at her as they stopped for the elevator.

"I think getting a little practise in is good, you certainly act like a child sometimes."

"If you wish to complete one last mission as my Padawan, you have to remember to still respect me as your Master." His voice had a hint of a warning tone as they stepped inside the elevator.

"I understand." Xaela looked down as the doors closed and they descended. No one spoke, and Xaela started to grin. "So I'm coming with you?"

A ghost of a smile crossed her Master's face.

"I thought you already decided that, Master." He teased.

~*~

They accompanied Anakin, Padme, and two of the Senator's people down to where they would board a ship for Naboo. Farewells and good lucks commenced.

"Anakin." Obi-Wan drew his Padawan's attention away from the Senator. "Don't do anything without first consulting either myself or the council."

"Yes, Master." He said and Master Kenobi turned to Padme.

Xaela wiggled her eyebrows at her friend and Anakin couldn't help the smile on his face.

"I can see why you dream of her." Xaela made fun of him. "You better be careful cause I just might take her from you."

Anakin pushed her head and the two of them laughed before wishing each other good luck. Xaela then said goodbye to Padme, promising to get to the bottom of things quickly, and the two of them were off.

The first place Obi-Wan took Xaela to was a diner. Which was odd because she thought they needed a reading on the dart they found. She had never been there before and was a bit skeptical, until she realized that her Master knew the cook.

They sat down in a booth and Master Kenobi asked about a poison dart that he had found from the assassin. Xaela enjoyed her Jawa Juice as the two conversed. A Kamino Saberdart from the Outer Rim, definitely a planet outside of the Republic; Xaela had never heard of it, despite all her time in the library.

As her Master and Dex kept talking, Xaela finished her juice, and looked over to find Obi-Wan's only partially drank. She eyed the glass, wanting to ask for it but not wanting to be rude and unprofessional as they were getting important information. She wanted him to see that she was mature enough to be a Jedi Knight, and not still a Padawan. However, her Master, eyeing her in his peripheral vision, was amused slightly at her attempt keep her mouth shut. And - not diverting his attention from Dex - slid his glass over to his Padawan for her to take. She smiled and finished his off too.

"12 parsecs outside the Rishi Maze." Obi-Wan said as they left the diner. "Are you familiar with that area?"

Xaela shook her head.

"Nothing comes to mind."

The librarian was no help either. Insisting that if a planet did not show up in the archives, it didn't exist. While Obi-Wan checked the monitors, Xaela hit the bookshelves, searching for older maps that might've been overlooked.

Obi-Wan took the large stack of datacrons and books from Xaela's arms so she could see.

"These are all the Outer Rim, Rishi Maze, and 'K' system maps I could find, Master." She rubbed her arms and followed him to a table. "And one of them is just a really old map of the galaxy."

"This is from before you were born." Obi-Wan laid out the map and scanned its content.

Xaela eyed it.

"It's from before you were born too."

"Then this is really old." He said and Xaela laughed.

However none of the datacrons were any help. It appeared to them that Kamino did not exist. But Obi-Wan's faith and trust in Dex's knowledge made him insist that they keep looking.

It was once again a late night in the Library. Xaela strolled the shelves an uncountable amount of times, always coming back with a new datacron or map, however they slowly became broader and broader. Eventually she started looking for anything that might mention the word 'Kamino', not caring about the topic.

As she walked back to the table with a couple more stacks of reading material, she noticed Obi-Wan rubbing his neck with a painful expression.

"Tense, Master?" She set the books down.

"I haven't spent this much time reading in a while." He admitted and turned his neck, but it didn't help.

"Would you like some help?" Xaela asked and he said please.

Xaela stood behind him and placed her fingers on the back of his neck and shoulders, trying to find where he was knotted.

When she did, she massaged his neck with her hands. Obi-Wan closed his eyes for a minute and let out a sigh of relief. It took all of Xaela's strength to shut out her thoughts. The thought of touching him, the thought of how good he looked, the thought of her being able to relax him. She tried her best to keep her mind a blank slate.

He unintentionally let out a soft moan and Xaela felt shivers run down her back.

"Thank you." Her Master said, leaning out of her touch and fixing his posture.

Xaela moved her hands away and went to the other side of the table to sit as far away from him as she could. Ashamed of her thoughts that she so desperately hoped she blocked from him. Obi-Wan rolled his neck again, Xaela forced her stare on the open book in front of her.

"I feel so much better." He said and picked up one of the new datacrons Xaela got. "Back to work."

And they both read futility.