Series/Sequel: No real relation to the first Padawan Hall story
except location
Other website: None
Summary: Yoda's bed is missing
Warnings: None
Disclaimer: I don't own them, though I fear the reverse is
true.
It had definitely been one of those days. Four times he'd
fallen in the practice room, and his muscles were reminding him
vociferously. He'd have finals soon and if he didn't figure out
what the problem was, he'd fail. He would feel he had let his
master down. Elbows on the wooden table, he rubbed his temples
and tried to calm down. It would not do to blow into their
quarters leaking irritability and frenetic mind babble.
"Ale, Obi-Wan?" Hogarth's voice bought his attention up to the
round, freckled face of a padawan he didn't know well, but had
been aware of for some time as one of the better students of
the light saber.
Nodding, Obi-Wan gratefully accepted the tankard and when
Hogarth turned aside rather than joining him, he nearly choked,
realizing what he was looking at. To the room at large, he
said, "That looks like a bed."
Indeed, set up at dead center of the hall was a small,
child-sized bed. Made of rough branches and covered in silk
sheets, it was peculiar in and of itself, never mind the fact
that it was so out of place.
Hogarth chortled, "Not just any bed, Obi-Wan. That just happens
to be Master Yoda's bed!"
"Sith," Obi-Wan whispered. "You're mad." He decided that he
needed to be somewhere else at once. Choosing a side door,
Obi-Wan shook his head and remembered the last time Master Yoda
had been the subject of a padawan prank. Naturally, the subject
of his worry was just outside.
"My bed," he said, ears twitching. "Seen it, have you?"
"Um, wooden frame? Silk sheets? No, sorry." He would have gone
on, but Yoda Force-slammed him against the wall. "
"Wait. Give me permission to enter Padawan Hall, do you?"
Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan thought, where are you when I need you? He
swallowed hard. "Permission? Of course, Master."
"Of course. Come with me, you will." Yoda proceeded to enter
Padawan Hall, where the noise level sank away to nothing. There
were only the sounds of Yoda's stick on the polished floor and
the small huffing noises he made as he grumbled to himself,
twitching the bed sheets a bit, then standing back to consider
Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan decided that he must have been born to suffer. That
look in Master Yoda's eye could only mean one thing. The old
Jedi had decided this was Obi-Wan's doing. Something about the
way a couple of the younger padawans were looking at him made
him realize they were the true culprits and they were
terrified. Hogarth, who was nowhere to be seen, probably put
them up to it, but they had actually moved the bed. Surely Yoda
could see that? Surely!
"A good trick this is, Obi-Wan. I have a better one. Sleep in
this bed you will, for one month. Move it to your room, you
will not." He pounded his staff on the floor once, hard. "Rest
here, it will." The huge blue eyes considered him sleepily.
Obi-Wan looked from the diminutive master to the two boys who
were now unconsciously clinging to one another in fear. What
would Qui-Gon do? Abruptly certain, he felt as if a heavy cloak
of serenity had descended over him. He made a low bow. "As you
wish, Master Yoda."
Yoda made the peculiar sound that meant he was laughing, and
started walking with his painfully crabbed gait out of Padawan
Hall, muttering all the way about heedless boys with no sense
of propriety. Obi-Wan waited until he was gone, then shook his
head. "I could fall into a bed of astria flowers and come up
smelling like bantha poo doo." Relieved laughter rocked the
room.
The two padawans who had perpetrated the prank approached him
fearfully. "We're so sorry, Obi-Wan," one of them said. "Do you
want us to go confess?"
Grinning, Obi-Wan said, "No. But you would do well to meditate
on letting other people suffer for what you have done. Not to
mention taking orders from padawan who do not have your best
interests at heart." With a solemn visage, he turned to the
group at large. "You may know that I am in training for finals
on the sixth form. I therefore rise before dawn. Padawan Hall
will close two hours after evening meal for one month."
The groans and name-calling were legion. An older padawan
bellowed, "You can't do that Kenobi! Who do you think you are?"
Obi-Wan smiled. "I am the man who is going to sleep in a bed
half his size for a month. I am also the senior padawan in the
temple. Shall we take it up with the Council?"
The youth backed down. No one else spoke up. One of the two new
padawans piped up, "I still think we should confess. What's the
saying, better late than never?"
Obi-Wan shook his head. "No. Master Yoda knew I had not taken
his bed. He chose this path for some other reason. I am content
to wait to find out why." He smiled. "Don't worry. I've had
worse accommodations on missions. So will you." The younger one
introduced himself at last as Keely, and a pleasant hour was
spent telling mission stories.
"You have to sleep where?" Qui-Gon was not pleased, and it
showed on his usually impassive face.
Obi-Wan did not answer, knowing perfectly well his master had
heard him. Instead, he folded himself down to sit on his heels
and tucked his hands into his sleeves.
Joining his padawan, Qui-Gon asked for the entire story. At the
end of it, he seemed to decide meditation was the better part
of valor, for he did not speak for some time. When he opened
his eyes at last, Qui-Gon smiled. "Yoda is a master
manipulator, is he not?" Obi-Wan chose not to respond. Rising,
Qui-Gon went to his small closet and pulled out the pad and
sleeping bag he took on missions where the accommodations were
not, say, adequate. "Gather some pillows and blankets,
padawan."
"Master?"
"I'm, going with you, of course. If you will invite me inside,
that is."
Feeling his face heat, Obi-Wan said, "But I...master, you
shouldn't have to suffer because I.."
"Because you happened to be convenient when Yoda wanted to
teach a few things like responsibility and leadership, not to
mention payback?" He shook his head, then tossed his hair back.
"I will suffer more sleeping separately from you than I will on
this." He shook the bag he held, then bent to retrieve his
pillows. "Come on. Or...do you have other plans?"
Obi-Wan picked up their blankets. Of course. Master Yoda knew
perfectly well that he and his master were lovers. Typically,
Qui-Gon was not taking the intended separation - ah - standing
up? So, Yoda was a master manipulator, was he? And Qui-Gon was
a mere babe in the woods. Obi-Wan grinned. Sure he was.
As the pair of them walked the corridors carrying their
bedding, ignoring the curious looks they received, Qui-Gon
said, "Now, tell me again about the lads who moved the bed.
When Mace and I did it, we took it outdoors. Yoda didn't know
how much we liked sleeping outside. Or perhaps he did. What do
you think? Oh, and by the way if there are any padawan in
there, I am extremely angry with you. We must not cause Master
Yoda any disrespect."
Obi-Wan wondered whether he would ever understand his master.
Opening the door to Padawan Hall, he kept his face blank, as
he'd already felt that the place was occupied. He said
formally, "Please enter, Master."
In his coldest voice, Qui-Gon said, "Thank you, Padawan." He
looked up at the small crowd of boys and young men. "You will
excuse us."
He might as well have drawn his light saber. Those exiting used
the Force to increase their speed. It wouldn't be long before
the entire temple knew that Qui-Gon was sleeping with Obi-Wan
in Padawan Hall. Well, beside him. However much a renegade he
was, Obi-Wan knew his master wouldn't actually make love to him
here. Why, anyone could walk in: one of the younger padawan, or
even an initiate on an errand.
"Sith," Obi-Wan said. "A whole month? Look at this bed! I shall
be crippled for life!"
Qui-Gon laughed out loud, a thing he rarely did. "Hardly.
Though I do not envy you. Still, you have been known to roll
out of bed..." The Jedi master started making up his own bed,
just next to Yoda's small one. "In your sleep, I mean."
Obi-Wan sat down on Yoda's bed, thinking. "Master, wouldn't
that be cheating?"
Another laugh. "My Padawan. Very well. Sleep in the bed, love.
We'll just have to see that you get enough - ah - exercise in
the morning to loosen you up before practice."
Both men settled to sleep, Obi-Wan perforce imagining what sort
of exercise his master had in mind. Obi-Wan waved a hand and
the lights went down, leaving only the reflected light from the
city coming through the large window wall. Rigorously
disciplining himself not to wriggle and turn, Obi-wan
nevertheless asked, "What lesson does Master Yoda wish to teach
you by this, my master?"
Qui-Gon's laughter this time was sleepy, and mostly mental. "I
believe he is teaching me what a good knight you are going to
be, love, and that he was right to encourage me to take you on.
I knew that already. Yoda, however, likes to drive matters home
with a force bomb."
Giving up, Obi-Wan turned over and trailed his hand down to
find his master's fingers, which tightened on his own. "Are we
not teaching the two boys who did this not to take
responsibility for their actions?"
"Why did you not set Master Yoda straight on the matter?"
"Because they were afraid, master. And fear leads...oh."
"I do think you have found two boys who need a mentor."
Obi-Wan groaned. As if he didn't have enough to do. "Must I?"
"No, but you should."
Obedient, Obi-Wan recited, "A Jedi does what should be done for
the good of the Order. I will mentor the boys, master."
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