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Anakin blinked as he watched his mother become somewhat flustered shaking her head and trying to demure. "It, its Shmi, and, Um it's no trouble. I just, we don't have enough food on hand for a meal for this many people."
"Don't worry Madam," said one of the padawans, speaking up for the first time. His voice was a pleasant sounding tenor, but firm and powerful. "I have enough food to make several meals for all of us and I'll even cook it too."
"You should let him," said the other padawan, laughing. Now that there was no one around even beyond whatever aversion field they had put up she pulled her hood back. Padme saw that she was an extremely pretty Twi'lek girl around her own age, with blue skin, hazel eyes, and a grin on her face as she looked at her companion. "Harry is one heck of a cook."
"I have years as a slave myself when I was younger, and Master Micah to thank for that." The so-named Harry said with a shrug, pushing back his own hood.
Padme immediately blushed. My word those eyes! She had thought Obi-Wan was handsome, even Qui-Gon was somewhat handsome, though far too old for her to ever imagine in any capacity. Obi-Wan was in his 20s and seemed older as well, but closer in a way. This padawan looked only a few years at most older than Padme, and he was even more handsome than Obi-Wan. His face was also livelier than Obi-Wan's and the kindness and good humor shining from those emerald eyes made them quite enchanting.
She watched as Harry bowed in turn to the older woman, who looked a little flushed as he took her hand kissing her gently as Master Dooku had a courtly manner rather than a Jedi one. "Padawan Harry Potter," he said formally. "Thank you for the hospitality of your home."
Aayla laughed, reaching over and kissing the older woman's hand as well which caused Shmi to burst out into chuckles of her own and waved her hands visibly at the two youngsters. "Enough of that! If you two are Jedi like Master Dooku and Master Qui-Gon, I could do no less. Though I won't turn away your help with dinner Jedi Potter."
"Just Harry please," Harry said with a shrug. "Master Fay has never gone into formalities or titles. Respect yes, but not so much titles. There's a thin line there," he said laughing as he held up two fingers a millimeter apart before moving over to the small kitchen and for some reason pulling out a bag which no one there had noticed he was carrying.
As he moved to the kitchen Aayla drew their attention back to her as she looked at Master Qui-Gon. "So Master Qui-Gon, what brings you here?"
OOOOOOO
Setting the Scimitar down Darth Maul leaned back from the controls, already closing his eyes as he sent his thoughts out into the Force. Something had disturbed the Force of this planet, but it was gone now, it's ripples subsumed into the Unifying Force once more. But he could sense a Jedi here, not just one either, but several together, making finding them far easier than it would have been otherwise. Two of them were even making no effort to hide themselves, while a few others were.
One of those was somewhat disturbing to Maul. It was so tranquil, so pure the Sith longed to crush it utterly, but that was not his mission. His mission was to muddy the waters of the Naboo conflict, and kill Jedi. To do that he had to find them, monitor them and strike when it was appropriate.
About 45 minutes later, he was staring at the readings of his small scout bike, frowning angrily. As one of the leading duelists in the Jedi Order, he had made a study of Master Dooku and knew him by sight. The fact that he was here was a problem. He knew that Qui-Gon, who he also saw, had been apprenticed to Dooku, but that should not have been enough to get Dooku himself here. The other two were nothing, young padawans by their age, but that was all he could tell about them through his drones sensors. The other was an unknown, her features barely discernable through his observation drones pickup, but Maul could tell she was the one with the peaceful Force presence.
I realize my Force Cloak is excellent, but coming closer than this would be foolish in the extreme. I am good, but I would hesitate to take on Dooku one on one, let alone with all of the others around. No, I will pull back for now, wait until this group separates, then take on the weaker group. Just because it is time to reveal the Sith have returned is no reason to be stupid about it.
OOOOOOO
Padme kept sneaking glances over to the two padawans from where she was listening in on the discussion of Master Dooku and Master Qui-Gon. Her attention simply couldn't stay on the discussion going on between the three masters and Shmi, she was simply too enthralled with whatever was going on between Harry and Aayla. The two of them had started to take part in the discussion a time or two, but after having dealt with Anakin's shock at Jabba's death and everything else that had happened there, a response which had bordered on hero worship, the two had slowly fallen silent.
They would occasionally stare at one another, and when they finished speaking they moved over to one of the walls where they sat down, with Aayla leaning her head against Harry's chest, staring up into his eyes hazel staring into emerald.
They didn't speak now simply staring into one another's eyes, but even so Padme's instincts told her they were communicating in some fashion she couldn't follow. Despite that lack Padme knew she was watching something truly personal and deeply romantic. The little girl in Padme was enjoying the experience, even if the older girl was rather embarrassed to be watching.
Back in the main discussion Master Dooku had just finished explaining that despite his riches, Jabba hadn't actually kept much liquid cash around. Most of his wealth was in slaves, weapons, and treasures of various types.
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