Part 3 - A Force Bond

PART I - PART II

The next day the four Jedi left Alderaan to return to the Jedi Temple. Both masters were oddly quiet towards their Padawans, who went about the business of boarding the star liner without looking at each other, or their masters. Jeran gave Traelyn a medical text to study while Qui-Gon played Dejarik with Obi-Wan, who fell asleep while thinking about his next move.

Master Jeran looked up from the holonovel he was reading while Qui-Gon said, "Perhaps you should not have taken such a long walk in the moonlight last night, my young apprentice."

Traelyn kept her eyes on the text she was reading, while her face grew hot with embarrassment. He knows, she thought. They both know. She felt her master's eyes on the back of her head. They know I was naked and wrapped around Obi-Wan like a vine around a tree. She waited patiently for the words of chastisement that were sure to come.

But neither master said anything, except for Qui-Gon, who merely noted that Traelyn looked as if she could use a cold drink. Obi-Wan immediately went off to the galley for refreshments. When he returned with iced Auerilian tea for all of them, he sat down next to Traelyn and a ripple in the Force came over them.

They smiled at each other, while behind their backs their masters exchanged a knowing look.

"You know what I dreamed about last night?" Obi-Wan said quietly. "I dreamed about that night you came to see me, before I left for the agricultural corps. You saved me, you know."

Traelyn sipped at her tea. "I always thought you saved me, Obi-Wan. If it hadn't been for your distress, Master Jeran might never have discovered my empathy and taken me in."

"Yes, but Master Qui-Gon didn't take me as his Padawan because he was waiting for you to grow older. He wouldn't have come for me if Master Jeran hadn't taken you as his apprentice. He told me that he hoped I didn't mind being second choice," he smiled.

"I'm sure he wouldn't have been your first choice as a Master, either," Traelyn said. "You disagree with him a lot, don't you? You're very different from each other."

Obi-Wan looked defensive. "He's a fine Master," he said stiffly.

"You haven't changed a bit, still seeing the best in everyone!"

"They know, don't they?" He asked.

"Yes, they do, but I don't sense any dismay, just a mild sense of disapproval. We must be mindful of our feelings, Obi-Wan. We can't let anyone else know."

"That won't be easy," he grinned. "Considering how I feel!"

"It will be our secret, like our old hiding places used to be."

Another Force ripple passed between them as they shared that memory.

Across the room the two Masters looked at each other and shook their heads. Qui-Gon sighed. He had a lot to tell Obi-Wan when they got back to the Temple.

"There is something special between them," he said quietly to Jeran. "We would be foolish to try and break it. "

"Surely you remember Yoda trying to separate them when they were younglings, and that didn't work. Perhaps it's the will of the Force," Jeran replied. "We will have to keep their secret."

* * *

"Good morning, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said as he sat down next to him on a bench in a private area of the Room of a Thousand Fountains. He'd known he'd find Obi-Wan there, as he knew it was a place he often went to think.

Obi-Wan tried to calm himself, certain that he was in trouble over his recent liaison with Traelyn. "Master, I've been expecting this. My behavior on Alderaan, I know it was wrong, but I don't feel sorry for it."

"Ah, so you are sure I am here to talk about Traelyn?"

"It was the music, and the moonlight, and the wine, and she was so beautiful in that dress," Obi-Wan rambled, looking away, his face flushed with embarrassment.

"So, you're saying you couldn't help yourself? It was just lust and you took advantage of your oldest friend?" Qui-Gon's eyes twinkled with amusement that Obi-Wan could not see.

"No, Master, it wasn't like that at all! In fact, it was not like anything I've ever experienced before, it was nothing like being with a Companion, it was... transcendent." He turned around and saw the smile on Qui-Gon's face. "You're not angry with me."

"Calm yourself, Padawan. There are things I need to tell you, to teach you. Things that only two Jedi can achieve. They will make that experience pale in comparison."

* * *

Traelyn sat in the café in the University Complex near her first class of the day. It wasn't long before she was joined at the table by her friends, Baleen and Togaron. Togaron was handsome man from the other side of Coruscant, and Baleen was Alderaanian. They were a couple, and although Traelyn never mentioned it, she always knew when they'd spent a night together. Their emotions spilled over as if they couldn't contain their joy.

"So, Traelyn, how did you like Alderaan?" Baleen asked, innocently.

Traelyn had to hide her grin behind her stimcaf mug. Quickly she dampened her emotions, not that anyone else would notice, but her thoughts and feelings were threatening to overwhelm her. As a Jedi, she had to maintain a calm face at all times.

"It was lovely, Baleen. The palace is beautiful, and there was a full moon over the mountains."

"Oh, I bet it was grand, having dinner and dancing at the Royal Palace," she replied wistfully,

"I was nervous being around all those important people," Traelyn said. "Took all my mental disciplines to stay calm though dinner."

Togaron looked at her suspiciously. "Well, the trip seems to have agreed with you, you're radiating with happiness, and it can't be because this is the first day of the new semester. Even a Jedi isn't that warped!" He said with good humor.

Traelyn laughed. "No, it's embarrassment I'm radiating, you should have seen the dress I was given to wear, I felt positively naked!" Then she blushed deeply, remembering her nakedness with Obi-Wan, which hadn't been the least bit embarrassing at the time.

"Hmmm," he replied. "If I didn't know better, I'd say our Jedi friend is in love!"

Baleen chuckled. "You don't know Traelyn as well as you think you, Togaron."

No, and neither do you, my friend. Traelyn thought. But as much as I want to tell you everything, I cannot. As a Jedi, I have a certain reputation to uphold, true or not.

* * *

Obi-Wan stared at Qui-Gon. "You mean it can be better? I don't believe it! Why is this such a secret?"

"Because not everyone can do it," Qui-Gon replied. "It's pretty much only the humans, or the near-humans. Some of the other species don't believe it's true, especially the ones who don't practice recreational lovemaking. So it isn't discussed openly, it's a secret passed down from Master to Padawan."

"I don't think Traelyn would like me poking around in her mind," he said thoughtfully.

"Well," Qui-Gon replied, "I am not suggesting that you two are ready for this. It may be several years before you feel ready to try it. But you should know about it nonetheless. You know how dangerous this love could be for you, and for the Jedi. But I will not ask you to give her up, because I believe it is the will of the Force that you love each other so much. But, everyone in the Temple knows you and Traelyn are close friends and have been since childhood. I do not want to see a hint or hear a whisper that the nature of that friendship had changed to one of a sexual nature."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes, Master." He sighed. "I bear a great attachment to her, and I know it's against the code, but it's been there since we were very young."

Qui-Gon looked thoughtful for a few moments and then continued, "I know. It was not always against the code, this sort of relationship. But a few thousand years ago a Jedi made a wrong choice. He sacrificed an entire village of innocent lives, three thousand people, to save the lives of his wife and baby. Do you understand that is not the Jedi way? You must swear to me that you will never let your feelings for her interfere with your duties as a Jedi."

"Yes, Master, I understand, I swear to you I will do my duty, always."

"Could you sacrifice Traelyn's life?" He asked bluntly.

"She would expect nothing less from me. Neither of us could live with ourselves if I did not."

"Protect your heart, Obi-Wan, and hers too. Love can be a dangerous thing." Qui-Gon looked away, remembering his own great love, who had become one with the Force not long after he had pledged his heart to her. He would never know that sort of love again, but perhaps his Padawan, whom he loved like a son, would know the joy that he'd missed out on.

Obi-Wan looked up at his Master. "I am sorry for judging you back then, Master. I didn't understand."

"Am I that transparent, my young apprentice, that you know who I'm thinking about?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, but I can think of no other that would put that look of pain in your eyes. I am sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Obi-Wan, be happy, And be sure of yourself, in everything you do. And above all else, remember that you both are Jedi."

Obi-Wan nodded. The fate of the two young people had been sealed.

* * *

Traelyn finished her drink and gave her mug to the serving droid. Sighing, she picked up her things and rose from the table.

"I suppose we better get to class," Togaron said, as he slipped into his jacket. Gently he touched Baleen on the elbow and guided her towards the door. Outside, rain had begun to fall heavily.

"Oh, stars," Baleen complained. "It wasn't supposed to rain today, and I'm wearing a brand new sweater."

Traelyn felt a flicker of whimsy. "Come closer," she said to her two friends. Puzzled, they moved in close to her. As she stepped out into the sticky, polluted rain, she raised her hand and pushed away the water with the Force. Laughing, the three friends ran across the square to the classroom building without feeling a drop.

"See!" Togaron said to Baleen. "She's different today! Something's definitely going on with Traelyn."

Traelyn just laughed. "I hope no Jedi saw me do that!"

"Saw you do what?" Asked their friend Brolton as he approached them from behind. Brolton was a Corellian with an irrepressible sense of humor. He often boasted that he'd been born in hyperspace while his parents' were fleeing a Hutt freighter they'd just robbed. Traelyn knew he was lying, but couldn't see any purpose in spoiling the fun he had when telling the tale.

"Nothing, just using the Force trivially," she laughed.

They entered the classroom and came face to face with their new professor. "I'm Professor Grazloe," he said. "This is Physcophysiology for Humanoids. "

He was eyeing them suspiciously, taking notice of Togaron and Baleen's fine clothes, and Brolton's generally happy attitude. Traelyn felt a tendril of resentment from the older man, but then he turned his attention towards her.

"And what backwater planet are YOU from?" He asked with disdain as he eyed her from head to toe, from her worn leather boots, up past her baggy, coarsely woven tunic to the hood pulled down over her forehead. "Or did you get dressed out of the charity bin somewhere?"

"I beg your pardon?" She asked in her prim, Coruscanti accent, as she took down the hood of her cloak to reveal her unfashionably plaited hair and her Padawan braid. "I'm from Coruscant."

"Which I'll bet you're not," Brolton remarked boldly. "Anyone raised anywhere near the Core ought to recognize a Jedi when they see one!"

"A Jedi?" The professor said in disbelief. "Right!"

The professor took a step forward and took Traelyn's Padawan braid in his hand. Her friends gasped, for no one touched a Jedi without permission. Slowly, she took the braid out of his grasp, making a minute gesture with her right hand.

"You will not touch me again," she said softly. "We may take our seats, now."

The older man looked puzzled and dropped the braid, while motioning towards the rows of chairs. "You may take your seats, now."

Traelyn felt a tickle of thought nudging at her mind. He's empathic! She thought. She put heavy Force shield around her emotions. Empathic but weak minded.

She removed her cloak, and took a seat. Her friends joined her, Togaron on one side and Brolton on the other, as if she needed protection from the odd man who was running the class.

"May I ask where you're from, Professor Grazloe," Baleen asked, trying to pull his attention away from Traelyn.

"Locaria," he said. "We study the healing the of the human psyche through empathic means, in order to cure the physical ailments. You'll be learning that the Core way of treating patients is not the only way," he said almost rudely.

Traelyn felt an uneasy prickling on the back of her neck. A whisper of warning from the Force. Vaguely she recalled snippets of a conversation that had taken place long ago... back to Locaria... family doesn't want her....afraid of her...

So that's it! She thought. He's afraid of me. Oh, this will not be pleasant. I may to use a few trivial Force tricks to get through this semester!

* * *

Fifty-Two years later, Obi-Wan Kenobi sat his ghostly self down on Traelyn's bed and watched as she unpinned, unbraided, and brushed out her long red hair.

Did you do something to your hair? You dyed it.

"I did not."

You had some gray hair this morning, my love, I saw it. Now you don't.

"I didn't dye it, I healed it," she replied.

He was astonished. You used the Force to change your hair color? He burst out laughing. She turned her back on him and continued brushing out her hair.

"Go ahead and laugh, you still look thirty-five."

Well, I wouldn't know, I can't see myself. What happened to 'A Jedi's beauty comes from within'?

"It's still true, there's just something about being the oldest person around that bothers me. Besides, It's not that much different from healing my aching joints."

I notice you don't teach the younglings those ridiculous lessons we learned about wasting the Force.

She laughed. "Not likely."

Trust me, the Force is infinite.

* * *