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They came in hot and fast, so fast they were almost on top of the small group gathered outside the walls before he knew it. The heat from the overworked engines was intense. Sweat dripped in Obi-Wan's eyes and blurred his vision. His hands, slick with sweat, slipped on the steering grips, which were already almost impossible to move with the power assist gone. All of the controls were shot, overheated hours ago, even the emergency backup systems.

Well, all the controls but one, the throttle was fused open.

Flying the speeder, or more accurately Obi-Wan reflected grimly, the burned out hunk of metal, took every bit of his concentration. It was like trying to fly a meteorite.

He suddenly realized that he had been so busy working out how to he could keep the thing flying, he had missed something rather important, how he was going to get the thing to stop.

Obi-Wan could see one of the workers shout and frantically point to rear of the bike, but the warning was carried away in the high pitched whine of the speeder's engines. He did not need to look back at the ribbon of inky black smoke behind them to know that the engine was failing. Maybe that was a good thing, it might slow them down a bit before they crashed.

He hunched even lower over the bike's frame and yelled to his passenger to hang on, but his words too were lost in the grinding high pitched shriek of the overheating engines.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and reached for the Force, willing the bike to stop. He pictured the coupling that attached the fuel line in his mind as clear as if he held it in his hand. It was hard to loosen, either from disuse or because he lacked the proper focus, probably both.

Come on. He tugged at it with his mind. Please.

He didn't know if his success or the sudden quiet startled him more. For a few dizzying seconds he was so stunned he could not think of what he needed to do, until the wall loomed large and he remembered where he was with a start. He threw all of his weight to one side, plowing the underside of the speeder into the ground. For a moment it seemed as if it would keep going forever, spinning and churning up piles of the soft earth. His passenger went flying from his precarious position on the seat behind Obi-Wan. The speeder spun around in another full circle before finally grinding to a complete stop.

Obi-Wan lay his head on the ground for one wonder filled moment, grateful to be alive, grateful to have finally stopped moving. Then he remembered his passenger and worked to free himself from the wreckage. He had gripped the bike's handles for so long it was painful to finally let go. He pulled himself free and quickly scrambling over the top of the ditched speeder toward his companion. The man lay were he had fallen, doubled up clutching his chest and convulsing in a fit.

Of uncontrollable laughter.

Obi-Wan pulled him to his feet and helped him stand, one arm around his waist, the other securing an arm over his shoulder. The man was older than Obi-Wan but about the same size. He was limping, but he paid no attention to his injury, laughing and pounding Obi-Wan on the back as the young Jedi tried to help him walk. They moved toward Qui-Gon rather unsteadily, like a pair of drunken space freighters.

Obi-Wan stopped just in front of his master, suddenly not quite sure what to do or say. But his passenger walked right up to Qui-Gon and was talking and shaking the Jedi master's hand like they were old friends.

"So this is your lad then, the one who's caused so much trouble, I thought as much." The old space pilot laughed, "You didn't tell me that he flew a speeder like a Correlian hellfox with its tail on fire. He damn near killed us six, no seven, times."

"Me!" Obi-Wan was so indignant he almost squeaked. "That thing is unfit to fly, it has no gravity stabilizers, if you don't push the throttle full out, it's completely unstable and every single one of safeties is either faulty or missing completely!"

It was Jonna's turn to be indignant. "You don't think I would own something with all of that safety rigging nonsense?"

"That speeder belongs to you? You did that? Intentionally?" Obi-Wan face was an uncertain mixture of shock and admiration.

"Those bureaucrats at the Republic Aeronautics Safety Administration, by the time they get done with their required safety modifications they've taken all of the fun out of flying, you might as well let a droid do it. Besides, there's nothing wrong with your flying. That was a compliment. But those explosives you used were something else altogether."

Obi-Wan tried to step out of Qui-Gon's range of vision, gesturing frantically to his new friend. Jonna did not seem to notice. The movement caught Qui-Gon's attention, so Obi-Wan had to settle for wide eyed desperation. Hoping somehow his new friend would understand his wordless plea to just shut up.

Jonna continued his story, oblivious to the young Jedi's distress, "Not that you probably didn't just save my skin, but that was downright dangerous."

Feeling the weight of his master's gaze, Obi-Wan reluctantly turned to face him.

Qui-Gon silently held up the spent fuel rod casing.

Obi-Wan swore under his breath before he remembered himself and quickly assumed the penitent padawan stance. Or at least he hoped he had, but never having done it before he doubted that he had the foot position correct. He waited, eyes down, silently cringing.

Jonna gave a long low whistle, still chuckling, "If I know one thing about Jedi, it's that Jedi are big on rules. I bet there's a rule or two against using that light sword of yours within a meter of one of those fuel sticks."

At last Qui-Gon spoke. "Five rules, two meters and one very specific course that is required for all Jedi students. You did attend the lesson on compressed fuel and lightsaber safety, Obi-Wan? Or has there been some change in curriculum of which I am unaware, Padawan?"

"No, Master. I mean, yes Master. I mean I did attend Master Li's class on the dangers of crystalline energy and fuel rods." Obi-Wan hazarded a look at his master and grinned a little sheepishly, "That's actually how I came up with the idea."

His grin faded quickly under the stern warning in his master's eyes, "B-but it wasn't really my idea. I-It was Garen's. He thought you might be able to control the reaction by splitting the rod dead center…" His voice trailed off into nothing when he saw that his master was completely unimpressed.

Obi-Wan decided on a different tact. He bowed his head and quietly said, "I am sorry, Master. I will be more careful in the future, Master."

"Please don't yell at him, Master Jinn," Eiva came up and put her arms around Obi-Wan's waist. "I think he was terribly clever and very brave. Besides, I am dying to know what happened."

"I think we all are." Unseen, Marayanna had returned.

If she was surprised by the presence of a newcomer, she did not betray it. She barely seemed to notice him. She looked around wordlessly until her eyes alighted on the twisted wreckage of the speeder. Marayanna shook her head in disbelief, "Tell me you didn't ride that thing, Obi-Wan."

Jonna took a hesitant step forward. "Don't you know me, Marayanna, my love?" It's me, Jonna. I've come back."

"I know you alright, Jonna Lanird Burris, you have not changed one bit. You are the same wild and brave and reckless fool you always were." She said the words in a quiet small voice, her eyes still on the speeder. "And you had no right to come here."

"But Marayanna, you must listen. You…"

"No, you listen to me, for once in your life shut up and listen. The government of Scolia has put this moon under quarantine restriction. No one comes. No one leaves. There are no exceptions. They will track you down and punish you if you try to leave."

"But Maryanna, I am not leaving. Not this time."

"Don't you understand what you've done? What you have given up to come here?" She looked at him finally, her eyes shining with unshed tears.

"I have given up emptiness and heartache and regret, and I won't go back to it." Jonna reached out to take her hand. "I will take my chances here with you. Maraya, please don't send me away."

She took his hand and held it to her cheek, her face lined with heartache and despair. "Oh Jonna, you old fool, what have you done."

Jonna put his arm around her. His face an odd mixture of emotions, the chief among them a glowing happiness, touched perhaps by a bit of worry or sadness, but not one hint of regret.

Obi-Wan was trying hard to understand the scene before him. Their story was apparent enough. Although he knew nothing of the history between these two, it was clear that they had loved, and still loved each other, even after years of suffering and separation.

What he struggled to make sense of was something less apparent. All morning he had been flying on the wings of hope, following a call so pure and clear there had been no room for doubt or uncertainty. He had been so sure. But now all he felt around him was despair and defeat. Had he failed? Was there something important he had missed? Or had he just misunderstood. Hadn't he heard in the Force the promise of something more than just a bittersweet reunion?

He glanced at his master, who had been very quiet since his return. Qui-Gon looked back at him with those dark eyes that seemed to look more inward than outward. The older Jedi's face was serene, but there was too an air of sad acceptance about him.

It was only then that Obi-Wan remembered the package.

He had come across Jonna at the far edge of the forest, fighting for his life. A blaster and the remains of a ship his only protection from the blood-thirsty bala. Obi-Wan had seen at once that the burnt-out hull was not a defensible position and had tried to get the man to come with him. But Jonna had refused to leave without the contents of a storage unit, jammed shut in the crash. There were a few desperate moments before Obi-Wan was able to Force pull the unit open and retrieve a small travel pouch, jaws of terrible teeth snapping dangerously close. Obi-Wan had stuffed the pouch into his tunic and then completely forgotten about it for the rest of their perilous night ride.

It was a little worse for wear. As he pulled it out, some of the contents spilled to the ground. Obi-Wan managed to catch a few before they fell. It was filled with glittering stones, at least a hundred of them. He looked at them curiously; the ones in his hand were dazzling in the sunlight. .

Eiva was still at his side. "Where did you get these?"

"They belong to Jonna."

At the sound of his name, Jonna looked over to see what they were talking about. Still holding Marayanna's hands he said, "They are a gift, from the Governor."

"When he heard that you needed them, he asked the Assembly for the money to buy them. But those damn politicians can't get anything done without a lot of talk. So he raised the money himself. He even sold his own house. When I heard of it, I volunteered to bring them here."

Marayanna just stared at him dumbfounded. "Have you all completely lost your minds? I have no use for precious stones. Whatever could have made him believe we needed such a thing?"

"It was me. I asked him. I took your authorization code and sent the message pretending to be you." Eiva's voice held no hint of apology or regret.

She knelt on the ground and pulled her own bag of jewels from her belt, dumping the brilliant contents onto her lap. With deft fingers she sorted through them until she found a particular stone, intensely blue with an irregular shape. From the ground she retrieved a second stone and held them together in the palm of her hand.

When Eiva looked up at him, Obi-Wan already knew what she was going to say.

The joy on her face reflected all he had felt in the Force. In her shining blue eyes he saw the future, or the hope of it. And Obi-Wan suddenly knew he had not been mistaken.