Warnings: AU (compared to JA), knowledge of Inner Strength
series will help.
Spoilers: none
Summary: Obi-Wan tells Qui-Gon a bedtime story.
Feedback: the series keeps trudging along... still with me? :)
Notes: This is pure smush l you have been warned! ;)
I've borrowed a few terms and such in here... recognize 'em?
Thank Yous: to Nicole and Kim for reading over this for me.
Disclaimer: since it looks like lucas refuses to give us
stories about obi and qui before the movie, other than the far
too few JA series, (but full length novels about obi and ani?
sigh.) i'll have to do it myself :)
"What's that one?" Obi-Wan asked, pointing to a drawing of a
large purple creature.
Qui-Gon shifted the book he held in his lap and glanced at the
little boy who sat beside him on the couch. "Why don't you tell
me?" he asked, suddenly struck by an idea.
The child looked up at Qui-Gon. "But I don't know what it is,
I'd be wrong."
"Maybe, but why not just pretend? Tell me what you think he
should be called." Qui-Gon gestured toward the picture as he
spoke.
Obi-Wan thought for a moment, his tongue sticking out of the
corner of his mouth in concentration. He took a deep breath,
started to speak, paused and began again. "I think it's a
snarfblat."
"Okay," Qui-Gon agreed with a low laugh. He doubted the new
name was any worse than it's true name. The creature was a
margnick, a flying lizard-like creature from the Valiterin
system. "A snarfblat he is then. Tell me about him."
The boy looked at Qui-Gon for a long moment, still unsure what
was going on. "Like telling a bedtime story?"
Qui-Gon laughed. "Exactly. Tell me a story before you really do
have to go to bed."
"But I'm not sleepy," Obi-Wan protested, but spared another
glance at the paper. Qui-Gon watched as the expression on
Obi-Wan's face changed, the child's eyes lighting up. "See the
wings? He can fly, and he spends all day doing nothing but
flying around."
The Jedi hid a smile at Obi-Wan's sudden enthusiasm for telling
a story. Watching as Obi-Wan flipped through the pages, he
asked, "Is he looking for something?"
Ignoring the question, Obi-Wan continued. "There's lots of
trees and grass." Pausing, he pointed to a drawing of the
plains on Aurus IV. "He likes to fly into the wind and watch
the clouds. But it's not like here, the sky is purple and the
clouds are blue."
Qui-Gon smiled at the eager expression on the child's face as
he spoke faster and faster, the words falling one on top of the
next. "See, he's only a little snarfblat and he likes to play."
"What about his family? Other snarfblats. Where are they, do
they like to play, too?"
"There aren't any more." Obi-Wan's face fell slightly, and he
started chewing on his lip. "He's the last snarfblat."
Surprised by his sudden shift in mood, the Jedi Master wrapped
his arm around Obi-Wan's small shoulders. "He's the only one?"
Leaning into the offered embrace, Obi-Wan nodded. "Bad men
hunted them, they killed the other snarfblats." He looked at
the picture sadly. "He hid from them, and now he just flies
around, all alone. Maybe he thinks if he flies long enough,
he'll find a friend."
Blinking slowly, Qui-Gon was silent for a moment. The
melancholy note in Obi-Wan's voice tore at his heart. "And does
he? Find a friend?"
Tilting his head to the side, Obi-Wan thought for a moment.
"Yeah, he flies and flies till he reaches the end of the grass.
Then he sees a luck dragon flying through the clouds, too."
"A luck dragon?"
He turned several pages in the book, and pointed to a long,
fluffy white creature with large flopping ears and pearl-like
scales on its back. "See? This is him. His name is Muffit. He's
all alone, too."
Brushing several loose locks of hair from Obi-Wan's forehead,
Qui-Gon looked at the picture. "Muffit is alone as well?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "When he was little he flew away from his
friends and got lost. So he just wondered around, flying above
the sea all alone for years and years." While he spoke, Obi-Wan
traced the lines of the picture with his fingers. "That is,
till he meets Fizzgig."
Qui-Gon tilted his head, confused. "Fizzgig?"
"The snarfblat, that's his name," Obi-Wan replied, as if the
answer was obvious. "Anyway, Fizzgig saw the sea and got
scared. It wasn't like home, it was all shiny and wet and
different than the grass."
"What did he do?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Muffit flew over to him and said hi," he said simply, glancing
at Qui-Gon through the locks of hair that had fallen onto his
face.
The earlier somber mood lifted, Obi-Wan smiled, causing Qui-Gon
to smile in return. "Did Fizzgig say 'hi' back?"
"Of course, how else would they be friends then?" Obi-Wan
asked, giggling. He began flipping through the pages of the
book, looking for his next addition.
"Oh, yes, of course. How silly of me." He ruffled the boy's
hair with one hand, causing Obi-Wan to try and duck away. "Well
then, what did the friends do?"
"Muffit taught Fizzgig how to dive in the sea and catch fish
with his teeth!" Obi-Wan said, turning sideways on the couch to
face Qui-Gon. His blue-green eyes were glowing with laughter.
"But he wasn't very good at it."
"Muffit or Fizzgig?"
"Fizzgig. Muffit had been diving for fish his whole entire
life."
Qui-Gon hid a smile behind his hand at the tone of Obi-Wan's
voice, as if wondering why he would even ask such a question.
Clearing his throat, the Jedi nodded seriously. "Of course."
"See?" Obi-Wan pointed to a new picture. "These are Auryn
fish."
Qui-Gon laughed when he saw the picture. "But the Auryn fish is
bigger than Muffit is."
Obi-Wan's face lit up and he giggled. "But can it fly?"
"I don't know, can it?"
Rolling his eyes, Obi-Wan grinned. "Fish can't fly. Besides,
they don't eat the Auryn fish, they play with them."
Qui-Gon looked confused, but his eyes were bright with humor.
"They play with the fish?"
"Yeah, but since they Auryn fish can't fly, they can only play
with them some of the time." He pointed to a picture of a rocky
seashore. "This is where they live."
"So they don't take the Auryn fish flying with them?" Qui-Gon
asked, playing the straight man.
Obi-Wan only laughed harder and shook his head. "Anyway," he
exaggerated, biting back a yawn. "They dove in the sea, and
then Fizzgig showed Muffit how to fly through the tall grass."
Telling the story, Obi-Wan began to pantomime with his hands,
trying to show the story as he spoke. "Then they did
loop-d-loops through the clouds and told stories about the
stars at night."
"And did Fizzgig grow up?" Qui-Gon watched as Obi-Wan fought to
keep his eyes open long enough to finish his story.
"Yep, Muffit looked out for him. They played and had fun
forever."
Qui-Gon smiled softly. "Forever? That's quite a long time."
Obi-Wan nodded, rubbing his fists into his eyes. "And did they
ever get tired of one another?"
Shaking his head, Obi-Wan laughed. "Of course not. They're best
friends."
"Did they find any more friends while they were flying in the
sky?" Qui-Gon started to close the book, but Obi-Wan held onto
it.
The child shrugged his shoulders and yawned. "Maybe. There was
Bowen." He pointed at the picture of a Gerorin rock spider.
"He's a fezzik, but he can't fly either."
Smiling, Qui-Gon picked the little boy up, still holding the
book. "Little one, I believe it's time for you to get some
sleep, or Master Kohn won't allow any more sleepovers." He
carried him into the spare bedroom of his quarters, and finally
managed to pry the book away from him.
"Aww, all right," he complied, crawling under the covers.
Qui-Gon tucked the blanket in around him, and Obi-Wan smiled.
"Next time you tell the bedtime story."
"What if I don't know any bedtime stories?" Qui-Gon asked,
straight-faced.
"Then just make something up, silly." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes,
even though they were staying closed longer and longer. "That's
what you told me to do."
"I guess I did, didn't I?" He smiled and turned off the light.
"Good night, Obi-Wan."
The little boy snuggled down into the covers, holding his
stuffed wookie close. "G'night, Master Qui-Gon."
End
Okay, as mentioned at the start, I borrowed some of the terms
and names from movies I liked when I was young (and not so
young on one of them g) This is them:
Snarfblat - Little Mermaid. (okay, so isn't scifi, but this
word was too silly to resist. :)
Luck Dragon - Neverending Story. (what can i say, Falcor was
cool g)
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