Obi-Wan was finally getting the hang of it. He sat on his sleep couch in a relaxed but upright posture, his legs folded under him. He breathed in and out slowly, trying to time each breath to his heartbeat. His eyes were shut and he could feel the force, not controlling, but guiding everything around him. It took a lot of concentration and distractions came easily. When one opened up like this, even the tiniest tremor in the force seemed like an earthquake. Normally Obi-Wan could only sustain such concentration for about 10 minutes before some vision or notion broke his focus.
But he was starting to understand how he could let each new sensation break against him like a wave hitting a rock. He still felt it, and it still eroded his concentration, but the progress was slowed. Yes, he was definitely getting the hang of it. But that didn't mean Obi-Wan understood how Qui-Gon could do this for hours. Perhaps one day he would know, but for now he was satisfied if he could hold it for twenty minutes.
Obi-Wan was surprised to hear a rustle of cloth, but he didn't break his focus. By the second and third rustle however, he had lost it completely. Was Qui-Gon fidgeting? No, it couldn't be. His master never fidgeted. Obi-Wan opened one eye and peeked sideways at him. Qui-Gon straightened his shoulders and opened his eyes in a narrow glare. Caught, Obi-Wan shut his eye quickly and resumed meditating. He was just getting back into it when he heard Qui-Gon shift position again. Qui-Gon was fidgeting!
Obi-Wan wasn't sure what to do. He could ask Qui-Gon if anything was the matter, but that might seem too presumptuous. He could ignore it, but now just the idea that Qui-Gon was actually fidgeting during their evening meditation session was too big a distraction for him to meditate. Obi-Wan opened his eyes in time to see Qui-Gon doing the same.
"I'm sorry Padawan," his master said, "I guess I'm just thinking about other things tonight."
"It's all right Master, I was finished anyway." Obi-Wan lied.
"Liar. But, I'll make it up to you. Let's go out." Qui-Gon said rising to his feet.
"Out? Where?" They were on Alderaan acting as mediators to a trade dispute. The dispute was between two neighboring planets, but senators from Alderaan had offered their planet as a neutral meeting place and then had dispatched the Jedi to make sure things went smoothly. They had a few days before the first meeting though and Obi-Wan had planned to spend the time resting and training.
Qui-Gon had that gleam in his eyes that he got when he was going to do something truly reckless. They had only been together a little over a year, but Obi-Wan had learned to fear it. "I don't know," he said, "A restaurant where we can get a good meal. And then, perhaps we'll take a walk and see the city."
"Can we do that?" Obi-Wan asked. As far as he knew, the Jedi didn't go out to restaurants.
"Who will stop us? You've never been here. Don't you want to see the place?"
"I suppose so."
"And you've never eaten in a restaurant have you?"
"No."
"Have you ever been to a tavern?" Qui-Gon asked.
Obi-Wan suppressed a giggle. "Of course not, Master."
"Or been propositioned by a prostitute?"
"No! Qui-Gon!" Obi-Wan felt his ears getting hot.
Qui-Gon was laughing. "Don't be so embarrassed, Obi-Wan. We're not monks. And I'm only suggesting that we go out to a restaurant and eat. It will be fun."
"Okay."
"Good, you've got to learn to break the rules once in a while Obi-Wan. It's good for you." Qui-Gon patted him on the back and went to the comm unit on the wall where he called their Alderaan contact.
"My apprentice and I would like to go out. We'll need clothes that are inconspicuous, dressy, but not too fancy. And dinner reservations at a good restaurant. Thank you."
Within ten minutes a small man in a loud waistcoat was in their quarters taking their measurements. He was incredibly quick and efficient and only a short while later returned with clothes for them to try on.
Obi-Wan had never worn anything but his sand colored temple clothes and recently, the slightly more complex tunic and tabard of a Jedi. He took his clothes off and carefully folded each garment and laid it on his sleep couch. He regarded his new clothes with some suspicion. The pants made vague sense so Obi-Wan put them on first and struggled with the fasteners until they stayed on him. But how the rest worked was a mystery. He had to call in the man who'd measured them. He dressed Obi-Wan with the same speed with which he did everything and for a moment Obi-Wan was worried that the man was going to try and remove his arms to make the job easier. When the man was satisfied with his work he spun Obi-Wan around to look at himself in the mirror. He stared in shock.
He certainly looked different. He was wearing a tunic and vest in complementing shades of brown and violet with a black coat that hung down to a few inches above the backs of his knees. He cut quite the dashing figure. The man certainly knew clothes, because they fit perfectly. Except the collar. He'd never had a shirt with a collar before and this one seemed ridiculously high and stiff. He tugged at it in a futile attempt to make it wider.
The man slapped his hand away. "Leave it. That's how it's supposed to be." The man said and went to look in on Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan checked himself in the mirror again, already becoming accustomed to how he looked in his new get up. He wondered why the Jedi had to wear such baggy clothes.
"You look very nice."
Obi-Wan turned and saw Qui-Gon standing in the doorway. He'd been through a similar transformation and was wearing a coat similar to Obi-Wan's, but with a loose silk shirt and no vest. It made him look even taller. Obi-Wan noticed with some dismay that while Qui-Gon's shirt had a high collar as well, it was a different style and looked much looser.
"Ready?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Sure." Obi-Wan said and tugged on his collar.
***
The streets were crowded with people. Most of them appeared to be on their way to either dinner or the theater or perhaps parties. Obi-Wan had never seen so many people so well dressed. He was glad they had changed. He never minded his robes before, but now they seemed comparatively shabby.
A few young women caught his eye as they walked past and he smiled at them. They smiled back and winked sometimes. Dressed as a Jedi apprentice he'd never gotten such attention from women. Qui-Gon was right. This was fun.
Qui-Gon turned and opened the door to a rather nice looking building. "This is the place." He said.
Inside it smelled wonderful. They were led to a table that was covered with a white cloth and had a tiny vase of flowers on it. They were seated and handed menus.
"What should we get?" Obi-Wan asked holding up his menu.
"Whatever you like."
Obi-Wan looked over the menu. There were so many items and they all looked good. He was never picky when it came to food. He was growing and thus was nearly always starving. The Jedi rarely had a choice when it came to meals so Obi-Wan was used to eating whatever was placed in front of him. He looked at the list. There were a few things he'd heard of so he eliminated those. If Qui-Gon wanted him to be adventurous then he would be. Obi-Wan had it narrowed down to three items, when he had an idea.
"Qui-Gon, would it be all right if we ordered different things and shared them?"
Qui-Gon smiled. "That's an excellent idea. I'll just let you order for both of us."
The waiter returned and Obi-Wan ordered for the two of them. Before the waiter left Qui-Gon stopped him.
"And we'll each have a glass of humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua'a please." He said. The waiter nodded curtly and turned away as though Qui-Gon had asked for nothing unusual.
Obi-Wan laughed. "What's that?" he asked.
"It's a type of brandy. You'll like it, it's very good."
"How do you say it again?"
Qui-Gon spelled it out slowly. Obi-Wan repeated each syllable after him. "Who-Moo Who-Moo Noo-Koo Noo-Koo Ah Poo-Ah Ah. Humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua'a."
Obi-Wan tried to say it fast, but tripped up on it.
"Maybe after you've tried some it will be easier to say." Qui-Gon said.
They talked while they waited for their food and drinks. It was unusual because even though Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon spent nearly all their time together, they rarely talked about anything but the mission they were on or the finer points of Obi-Wan's training. So Obi-Wan was surprised to be listening to Qui-Gon talking about himself and his experiences.
Their drinks arrived and Qui-Gon held his up. "On this day, twenty five years ago I became a knight." He said.
Obi-Wan grinned. Now he understood. Qui-Gon had a reason to be distracted tonight and a reason to celebrate. He clinked glasses with his master and took a sip. It was horrible! It burned his throat and made his eyes water. He spent about five minutes coughing with his head under the table.
"What do you think?" Qui-Gon said.
"It's strong." Obi-Wan gasped, "Is this how you celebrate the anniversary?"
"Not normally. But after my knighthood ceremony I promised myself that in twenty-five years, if I was still alive, I would take my Padawan out to dinner to honor the day."
"How do you usually remember it?"
"The way the Jedi remember everything, with a few moments of quite reflection. I want to be different."
"I know." Obi-Wan said in dismay, then he brightened, "Did you really decide to take me out to dinner twenty five years ago?"
"Well, no." Qui-Gon said sheepishly, "I actually thought of it while we were meditating."
"Oh. Well. It was a good idea. Happy anniversary Master." Obi-Wan said. He chanced another sip of his drink and managed to swallow without a coughing fit though his eyes still watered. Qui-Gon didn't seem bothered by it at all and had finished his and ordered a second.
Their food came and Obi-Wan was glad they'd decided to share. He'd never tasted anything like it. And it was beautiful too, covered with edible flowers and served on hand painted china.
They sat afterwards while Qui-Gon finished his third drink and Obi-Wan attempted to finish his first. They were strong and Qui-Gon's stories were getting wilder and wilder. Meanwhile Obi-Wan found that he was laughing hysterically at nearly everything Qui-Gon said.
Qui-Gon realized he'd never seen Obi-Wan laugh so hard before and began embellishing for maximum effect. He was sure that they were disturbing the other diners but he put it out of his mind. He had his whole life to follow protocol. Tonight would be different. Pretty soon he was lying his ass off, telling Obi-Wan scandalous yarns about various other knights until his padawan was in tears begging him to stop. He realized that his lies might be growing a bit too farfetched and that Obi-Wan might see through them. The last one, that Yoda could walk across a room with a focusing crystal pinched between his butt cheeks and drop it into a cup seemed a little hard to believe.
"Do you want to take that walk? See the city?" Qui-Gon asked after he had
paid their bill.
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