Padme and Artoo joined Obi-Wan on her recovered Valiant when the Jedi and Clone forces began moving to leave Geonosis, intent on returning to Coruscant – Dooku clamped in Force-inhibiting cuffs, the other chief members of the Separatists captured, and the dangerous plans discovered were safely hidden away in Artoo's servers.

"Make yourself comfortable," Obi-Wan invited as she retracted the access ramp behind them. "I'll set co-ordinates, make the jump, and then we can sit down with some Jawa juice."

"And I'll get my answers?" Padme pressed.

"Yes," Obi-Wan agreed. "You'll get your answers."

Padme nodded his acceptance and strapped himself in for the take-off. He knew from many conversations with Obi-Wan over the years that, though the ship was originally meant to have a co-pilot, she had long since modified it for solo runs. It was, however, going to be his first time being in Obi-Wan's ship for any real length of time. The quick hop from the landing pad to the balcony of his senatorial apartment didn't really count. He'd been half-way insensible over Palo's death at the time.

The Valiant was much like Obi-Wan's quarters in the Jedi Temple. Simple, humble, and very utilitarian – and just as with Obi-Wan's apartment at the Temple, none of these things meant that the space was uncomfortable.

"Alright, we're cruising through hyperspace," Obi-Wan announced when she returned. "Artoo, do you want to go top up your power levels in the maintenance bay, or stay and listen?"

The astromech droid gave a whistle, but didn't budge.

"So, from the beginning?" Obi-Wan offered.

"If you wouldn't mind," Padme agreed firmly with a nod of his head.

"About ten years ago, I met two Masters in the Room of a Thousand Fountains," Obi-Wan started, judiciously deciding to skip a few minor details that Padme would have found interesting if he currently had the patience to hear them. Now wasn't the time. "Both were aware of the appearance of the Sith on Naboo, and could feel the encroaching darkness. One decided to leave the Jedi Order, disgusted with what he perceived as the Council's blindness over the matter."

Padme nodded to show that he understood and was listening attentively.

"The other... the other Master decided that he would do something a bit more pro-active," Obi-Wan said, picking her words carefully. "Padme, I've said it before, and I'll say it again now: Jedi are not soldiers."

Padme nodded. "I know," he agreed, and offered a small half-smile to his old friend to show that he hadn't forgotten all that he'd learned about Jedi over their long friendship.

"Master Sifo-Dyas foresaw a day when the Jedi would not be enough to protect the galaxy," Obi-Wan stated plainly. "I remember asking him if he was going to do something foolish, reckless, dangerous and secretive, in attempt to counter this vision. Master Sifo-Dyas did not counter the secretive part, and every time I think back on that conversation, I question why he told me anything at all. Perhaps he could feel through the Force that his own death would come before he could complete the task he had set for himself. I don't know."

"Obi-Wan? What did he do?" Padme asked.

Obi-Wan took a deep, bracing breath.

"He went to Kamino and commissioned an army of clones to be made," she stated.

Padme blinked.

Obi-Wan leant back in her chair to give her friend time to think through what he'd learned so far.

"Why do half the clones look like you?" he asked at last.

"Master Sifo-Dyas died before he returned to the Temple, and I requested of the Council to go and investigate his death. I went to Kamino, as I knew that to be his last destination. Master Sifo-Dyas had left, but told them he would send someone to be the base for the clones soon. That person had not arrived, and Master Sifo-Dyas was dead. I offered to be that base."

"Why didn't you cancel the order?" Padme questioned, only a little harshly.

"Kaminoans value good manners and deep pocket-books, among other things," Obi-Wan answered a little wryly. "It would have been terribly rude to cancel an order already paid for. I went back to Kamino every two years after that to help train the clones, and to monitor the project."

Padme frowned at that.

"Why did it need to be monitored?" he asked. "I get the impression that the Kaminoans know what they're doing when it comes to clones..."

"And they do," Obi-Wan confirmed. "But the other Master was Dooku, and as I have recently learned, it was Dooku who sent Jango Fett to be the other base for the clone army."

Padme's eyes grew wide in his face.

"Are you saying that Dooku almost had an army of clones and droids?" Padme checked.

"If that had happened, the Republic would have been overrun in a very short time indeed," Obi-Wan pointed out. "As it is, this is going to instead be a very long fight, even though outright war has been averted, at least for now. I cannot tell how much worse it will get before we reach the end."

For a while, the two humans and the little droid sat in silence, each sunk deeply in their thoughts of what the days ahead would bring.

"Since we don't know how it will end, let's focus on how it begins, and it can begin with forgiveness," Padme said at length. "Between us, at least. Sorry for getting mad."

Obi-Wan smiled, glad that she had not lost her friendship with the Naboo Senator.

"And I am sorry for hiding this from you," Obi-Wan answered, and reached out to take one of Padme's hands in hers.

Padme brought up his other hand and wrapped it around Obi-Wan's.

"On the bright side, thanks to the presence of the clones, we were able to capture most of the known Separatist leaders, and you just might be able to effectively end this war before it truly begins," Obi-Wan offered. "It won't be all smooth-talk, there will be some force needed, and by that I mean both types, but I have faith in you."

Padme laughed, joyfully, at the reminders; that he had Obi-Wan's faith, that the feared war had not truly begun, and that Obi-Wan had a sometimes terrible sense of humour.

~oOo~

Obi-Wan brought the Valiant in to the Jedi Temple's hangar, made sure her ship was properly docked, then powered the modified YT-1000 down.

"Time to wake up Senator," she called to Padme as she left the cockpit. "We've arrived, and you have a cauldron to stir."

"I -" Padme cut himself off with a yawn, blinked, and shook away the last vestiges of sleep from his eyes. Aware as he was that it would be a long session in the Senate with the prisoners the Jedi now held, and the evidence acquired, Padme had taken advantage of the long space-flight to get in what sleep he could after his conversation with Obi-Wan. "I thought it was witches that stirred cauldrons," he said, completing his original attempt at a sentence.

"Politician, witch," Obi-Wan said. Her tone held a clear implication that there was no real difference as far as she was concerned. Her expression, however, made it clear that she was merely making fun. "Oh, yes, and one more thing," she said, and held up a device that Padme was certainly familiar with.

Padme chuckled warmly as he took the vital bit of technology from her friend.

"Your recordings of... how much of your time on Geonosis?" he checked with a smile.

"Oh... I only did a bit of editing," Obi-Wan promised. "I removed the long, boring bits of me just trying to find a way in, or when I was stuck in my cell. Removed my visit to the fresher as well."

Padme's cheeks warmed, but he managed to raise a questioning eyebrow at that.

"I was about to be executed," Obi-Wan pointed out with a shrug. "When Dooku paid me a visit in my cell, I asked for use of the fresher. I think they took that as a 'last request of the condemned' sort of thing."

Padme nodded in understanding. That didn't mean his cheeks immediately cooled though.

Obi-Wan lowered the ramp, and exited her ship first.

"Master!" a young voice cried in relieved jubilation, and Obi-Wan was forced to brace herself as a slim body catapulted itself into her.

Padme smirked at the sight.

"Something else you forgot to tell me, Obi-Wan?" he queried, his cheeks cooled now in the face of true amusement.

"Nope," Obi-Wan countered as she held onto her new pupil. "I distinctly remember telling you a number of years ago that there was a youngling that I wanted as my Padawan."

"If she's your Padawan, then why wasn't she with you on your last mission?" Padme countered with a raised eyebrow. "And for that matter, why does her style of dress look more like your old 'bounty hunter' disguise than Jedi robes?"

"To the former, it might be because Ahsoka is only just now old enough to be assigned as a Padawan," Obi-Wan explained lightly, and set the young Togruta girl down on the floor. "To the latter though, I've no idea. Jedi Pawadan Ahsoka Tano, this is Senator Padme Amidala Nabirre of Naboo, and a good friend of mine, despite having chosen to make politics his profession."

Ahsoka gave a quiet 'eep' at having been childish in front of someone as important as a senator – especially a senator who was her new Master's good friend – then quickly bent to give the man a polite and proper bow.

"It's an honour to meet you," she said to the floor.

Padme chuckled.

"It's my delight to make your acquaintance, Ahsoka," he answered her, and set a hand on her shoulder so that he could urge her to stand straight. "I hope you'll help keep my friend out of trouble."

"You're the one who needs help staying out of trouble," Obi-Wan countered easily. "Especially as you have to take care of Jar-Jar as well."

Padme groaned. "Yes," he agreed, "and I'd better go and check up on him before I go and make a lot of other Senators very, very unhappy. Any chance I could get a good-luck kiss?" he asked hopefully.

"Your skills in the art of flirting have gotten a bit stale in my absence," Obi-Wan quipped with a raised eyebrow.

Padme sighed melodramatically.

R2D2 offered some whistled and bleeped a suggestion, to which Obi-Wan laughed.

"You're quite right," she agreed, and bent to kiss the little astromech's dome. "You're the one who needs all the luck, since you have to deal with both Padme and Jar-Jar."

"She only likes me for my droid," Padme lamented mockingly to Ahsoka.

The young Togruta giggled behind her hand at that.

Before either of the Jedi quite caught on to Padme's intentions, he was at Obi-Wan's side and had planted a soft, tender kiss on her cheek.

"I'm taking you out for dinner tomorrow night," he said firmly. "And if you get yourself assigned a mission between now and then, I will be very upset with you."

"O-okay," Obi-Wan said softly, quite surprised by Padme's actions as she raised a hand to her cheek where he'd kissed it.

Padme nodded in satisfaction and called for R2D2 to follow as he started walking away, intent on hailing a skycab to take him back to his senatorial apartments. As the little astromech rolled past, it whistled at Obi-Wan. It might have been an innocent whistle, except that it really, really wasn't. It was cheeky in every way.

Obi-Wan blushed.

"Master?" Ahsoka enquired, confused.

Obi-Wan shook her head. There was no way she was going to admit to her new Padawan that the astromech had recorded that little moment of intimacy. She did not need a student who knew where to get their hands on blackmail.

"Obi-Wan!" a new voice called out. A familiar one.

"Bant!" she answered, and welcomed her friend's embrace.

"You sneaky so-an-so," Bant scolded fondly, a smile on her face. "An army, Obi-Wan, and not a word to any of us about it!"

"Orders," Obi-Wan shrugged.

The Mon Cal folded her arms over her chest.

"Last I heard, you were against the formation of an army," Bant said.

Obi-Wan nodded.

"I wish it were not needed, I wish even more that nobody desired it," Obi-Wan agreed. "Despite my wishing, there is need. We captured key Separatist leaders today, but though we have prevented war..."

"There will still be many battles to fight," Bant agreed with a sad sigh. "Obi-Wan... who is this youngling?"

"My new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano," Obi-Wan answered with a smile. "Ahsoka, this is my friend Bant Eerin, former Padawan to Master Tahl, and an excellent Healer."

Ahsoka bowed to the Mon Cal respectfully.

"About time you took a Padawan," Bant quipped playfully to her friend.

"You haven't yet," Obi-Wan countered lightly. "Ahsoka, your first chore as my Padawan is going to be to polish my ship. That should keep you out of trouble while I give my formal report to the Council."

Ahsoka's spine abruptly straightened, and she looked frantically between the Valiant and Obi-Wan, big blue eyes silently begging her Master to be joking. The modified YT-1000 wasn't small, after all.

~oOo~

Quinlan and Siri were waiting for Obi-Wan when she emerged from the Council Chamber after giving the Council Masters her formal report. Quinlan was wearing that grin of his that meant he intended to drag as many of their friends off down to the lower levels of Coruscant as were on planet. Siri's smaller smirk meant that she knew there was gossip to be had, and she wanted it from Obi-Wan.

"I am not going anywhere with either of you," Obi-Wan stated firmly. "And you can't make me. I have a Padawan I have to check on right now."

"Aha!" Siri declared, and shoved a finger up in Obi-Wan's face. "You have a Padawan now!"

"Yes," Obi-Wan agreed with a sardonic eye-roll as she moved past her friends to walk down the hall. "And I left her polishing my ship, so if you don't mind..."

"We'll come with you," Quinlan stated, clearly still intent on getting to the lower levels, even if he had to kidnap Obi-Wan's new Padawan to get her to come.

It would be a good learning experience for the Togrutan girl, of that, Obi-Wan didn't have any doubts, and Obi-Wan was too far from the stuffy norm of Jedi Masters to have too many objections to her student getting in as many lessons as the galaxy had to offer. But she would be the one in charge of Ahsoka's corruption in regards to how the universe actually worked outside of the Temple, not Quinlan.

Thank you very much.

"So, tell me about your new Padawan," Siri goaded with an eager smile as they walked.

"Her name is Ahsoka Tano, she's a Togrutan, and she has only been my Padawan since I landed," Obi-Wan offered. "At which point I left her to polish my ship while I gave my report. I expect her to be put-out with me when we reach the hangar."

Siri giggled and Quinlan gave a bark of laughter.

Obi-Wan just smiled.

Quinlan took over the conversation then, hashing out where they would go and what they would do in the lower levels that evening. Siri made contributions, but Obi-Wan just nodded along and kept her mouth shut until they reached the docking bay where she had left her ship and her Padawan.

Obi-Wan's smile grew at the sight that greeted her.

"You have been very busy," Obi-Wan observed, pleased to find that her ship was shining like it hadn't ever been to Kamino or Geonosis, with their vastly different (but equally extreme) sorts of weather. "I am impressed."

"Thank you Master," Ahsoka said, and a bright smile lit up her tired face. She was either propping up, or was being propped up by the long handle of the large buffing mop that she had clearly used to get the Valiant as shiny as it currently was.

"But you know, I didn't expect you to work quite so fast," Obi-Wan admitted, just a touch ruefully as she gently took the buffing mop from the young Togrutan girl. "Or maybe I didn't expect it to take so long to make my report to the Council. Either way, I had anticipated helping you with the polishing once I got done."

Ahsoka sagged where she stood. Her muddled emotions of relief (that the job was done), pride (that her Jedi Master had said she did well), and frustration (that she hadn't needed to exhaust herself the way she had) were all as plain to see on her face as the markings of her race.

Obi-Wan chuckled, and pulled the girl up against her side.

"You deserve a reward for such hard work," she declared. "How would you like to see some of the lower levels of Coruscant with myself and a few of my friends?"

Through her fatigue, excitement lit up the little Togrutan's eyes at the prospect.

Quinlan cheered in victory. He had, after all, been planning on dragging Obi-Wan down with him and as many of their friends as he could.

~oOo~

Of all things, a dress had been delivered to Obi-Wan's quarters. It would have been a completely confusing matter if there hadn't been a note attached.

I'll pick you up at six. Padme.

Obi-Wan was going to guess that, while Padme had been hiding in her rooms at the temple, he'd snooped through her wardrobe and learned her sizes. Very likely he'd ordered the dress to be made for her before the incident on Geonosis, considering how much work must have gone into making it. Which meant that Padme had been planning to ask her to dinner, and it wasn't just a spur of the moment thing.

She was tempted to not wear the dress. It would be very awkward to wear it through the halls of the Temple, where everybody else wore robes. Some a little more elaborate, some a little more utilitarian, but nothing that even resembled this. Besides, where could they possibly be going that Jedi robes weren't enough?

"Oh, just wear it, Master," Ahsoka said, mischief in her eyes and a smile on her face. "The dress is nice. How often does any Jedi have excuse, cause, or even a chance to wear something as nice as this dress? And look, Senator Amidala picked one that will go with your boots, and it even has somewhere that you can put your lightsaber!"

That was a rather expertly hidden pocket, actually. Obi-Wan would be able to get to her weapon easily, and no one would even know that she was armed to look at her. For that matter, it was unlikely that anybody would know she was a Jedi at all, unless they knew her personally, if she went out wearing that. Which was actually a large part of what was making Obi-Wan so uncomfortable with the gifted garment.

Which was ridiculous. After all, she had no problem with discarding her robes and pretending to be a bounty hunter when it was called for. Why was a nice dress so different then?

"I agree with your Padawan," Qui-Gon offered as his ghost shimmered into view.

Ahsoka yelped in surprise and tumbled off the couch in shock, big blue eyes staring at the translucent image of a man in the middle of the apartment.

"Ahsoka, my late Master, Qui-Gon Jinn. Master, my shiny new Padawan, Ahsoka Tano," Obi-Wan presented blandly. "This, my young Padawan, is what the Code means about death, yet the Force," she added with a slightly mischievous smirk.

"You're... dead?" Ahsoka asked Qui-Gon directly.

"Yes," Qui-Gon confirmed easily, "and for the record, while dying hurt at the time, being dead is really very pleasant."

"Good to know," Ahsoka murmured, then visibly shook herself. "No distractions. Focusing on the moment! Or the moment to come, or- ! Master, just put on the dress already, or you'll make the Senator have to wait while you get ready to go to dinner with him."

"You are far too bossy for a fresh Padawan," Obi-Wan teased.

"You weren't much better at that age, as I recall," Qui-Gon offered brightly. "Go get changed, Obi-Wan. Enjoy this evening to the fullest. Don't focus on your anxieties."

"Fine!" Obi-Wan relented in the face of the oft-repeated advice. She then shooed Ahsoka out and eye-balled her late Master until he faded away before she started to undress.

~The End~