Chapter One

Hyperspace Dragon

Obi-Wan Kenobi got used to the heat of Tatooine long ago, so he hardly noticed how his sweaty tunic clung to him as he entered his home to change after his morning combat training. After a tumultuous first year on the desert world, one in which he teetered on the edge of despair, dangerously touched the Dark Side, fought an ancient cult of Sith, made new friends, and fell in love with a woman who saved him in more ways than one, the past two standard years proved to be blessedly uneventful, allowing the Jedi to establish a comfortable routine.

Up before the first sunrise, Obi-Wan trained with his lightsaber, and occasionally the Sith lightsaber bow staff he'd taken, before meditating. Afterwards, he'd eat then get to work on their home or garden or head to town for supplies, depending on their needs. He'd gotten to know his few neighbors and checked in from time to time to see if they needed assistance, often trading farm labor for nerf meat. When his companion and mate Mayli was home, they'd work together, but as she flew for Jabba the Hutt as a smuggler, she could be gone for several days at a time. So Obi-Wan took on the domestic activities, finding a peace in the mundane work, allowing his mind to focus on other things such as Mayli, his future training of Luke, which would begin soon, and his continuing education with Qui-Gon Jinn.

Since Qui-Gon showed up two years before, Obi-Wan found solace in the visits from his former master, a connection to the Jedi and his past he thought violently severed at the end of the Clone Wars. Unfortunately, Qui-Gon's visits were not regular. He would appear as an almost full-bodied spirit occasionally and sometimes only a voice on the wind. Obi-Wan found his attempts to summon Qui-Gon when most convenient for him to be fruitless. One time his master appeared suddenly before him as he was walking Sniff around the enclosure, startling Obi-Wan so much he slipped and fell in the eopie's dung. Another time, Obi-Wan had been kissing Mayli in their living room, beginning to remove her clothing and head to the bedroom, when suddenly, there sat Qui-Gon. Of course, things became very awkward as Mayli, not Force sensitive, could not see nor hear the spirit, and Qui-Gon, even through his ghostly pallor, appeared embarrassed and disappeared. On his next visit, he revealed his frustration to Obi-Wan at not always being able to control his appearances, and the increasing feeling of himself being brought, little by little, into the Cosmic Force, which he knew he'd become a part of completely soon enough.

"I wish we could have begun our conversations earlier," lamented Obi-Wan to his master one morning after his meditation, Qui-Gon's image faded, barely visible in the morning suns. "Before the Clone Wars, before Anakin and Palpatine, before even Count Dooku and…"

"No use focusing on the past," Qui-Gon said predictably. "Focus on the now, my son. The Living Force." His master chuckled. "Plus, I did reach out to you a couple of times. You just weren't ready."

Obi-Wan nodded, remembering his initial conversations with the spirit Qui-Gon, how he'd missed opportunities in the past. But he'd been distracted by training Anakin and a war and the Sith. Now, he could truly focus on the Force. And Qui-Gon taught him the deep mysteries, showing him things through shared consciousness techniques, Obi-Wan learning how to achieve the sense of immortality Qui-Gon grasped through the joined powers of the Living and Cosmic Forces.

"But what about me…well, disappearing?" Obi-Wan asked Qui-Gon one day as he tended Mayli's desert garden, his master studying one of the flowers that along with being beautiful also produced an excellent sticky sweetener perfect for livening up bland dried rations bought in town.

"I'm afraid I don't understand," Qui-Gon shook his head. "But perhaps you should not take much stock in the visions of this Sith Scholar."

"You took stock in some ancient prophecies," Obi-Wan reminded, trying not to sound bitter or snide, but matter-of-fact. When Qui-Gon simply nodded, still looking at the plant, he continued. "And Jac's visions of the future, all came true. They found Mayli, and thus me, through them. Brought them right to Tatooine, out of the millions of places she could have been."

Again, Qui-Gon nodded.

"Vader strikes and I…disappear. On something called Death Star," Obi-Wan said, more to himself then to Qui-Gon.

"I don't know, my friend," Qui-Gon said. "There are thousands of secrets of the Force to discover." He paused. "What does Mayli think?"

Obi-Wan smiled, knowing Qui-Gon approved of Mayli, happy Obi-Wan found someone to heal him, make him laugh, share his life with. But of course, Qui-Gon never was good at following the Jedi Code.

"She thinks Jac is a moron. You've seen her ship. That ugly rat on the side is named Jac," laughed Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon laughed too, and Obi-Wan enjoyed talking with his master in a way he never could before, not just as master and student but as friends. Qui-Gon shared with him stories from his own past, before Obi-Wan came into his life, that included love and loss, things the younger Jedi never heard before. And occasionally he mentioned visiting Yoda in his own exile, which piqued Obi-Wan's curiosity, wondering how the other remaining Jedi faired. Qui-Gon would just shrug, assuring Obi-Wan Tatooine seemed a bit more pleasant than Dagobah, although Yoda didn't need to worry about water and had not secured a lover.

But this morning had marked over a month since he's seen or heard from Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan wondering if he'd finally given his spirit to the Cosmic Force. Changing into a dry tunic and slacks, tossing the sweaty ones aside for his next training session, he looked in the mirror of their 'fresher and groaned. He looked a bit shaggy and needed some maintenance.

Mayli would be home that afternoon, gone for the past four days on Nal Hutta, but home for the next week, and Obi-Wan couldn't wait. He'd purchased tickets to a show in Mos Espa, found a new cave system for them to hike only two hours away by freighter, and noticed a new plant in their garden. He looked forward to seeing her face light up when she saw it, her violet eyes smiling at him, her platinum blonde sheet of hair just begging for him to bury his face in and kiss her neck. Yes, he'd woken up quite sprung that morning in anticipation of her arrival, but he definitely needed to make himself look presentable as well.

He whistled as he trimmed his beard, noticing a bit more grey in the auburn, but not caring, as Mayli always said she liked it, went with his blue eyes well, made him look wise. After grooming, he went around their sparsely furnished home, tidying things up, straightening the pillows on their sofa, chuckling to himself how she made them from the fabric of stolen Sith robes. She'd fashioned shelves from wood and other materials discarded by businesses in town, the proprietors looking at her curiously when she asked for their trash. Still, everything looked neat and tidy in their home, and Obi-Wan felt proud of his woman, his scavenger.

Picking up his lightsaber he'd placed on their dining table, he walked over to one of the shelves which housed a small chest. Opening it, he placed the weapon inside, next to Anakin's and the Sith Scholar Dia's. He'd been able to practice with it today, but mostly defaulted to a simple stick, as Imperial patrol ships seemed to be more and more frequent, and he didn't need someone catching a glimpse of the Jedi blade from the sky. He needed to remain the hermit Ben Kenobi, uninteresting.

Pausing for a moment to consider his work for the day, he donned his sand robes and headed outside, repairing parts of their Tusken Raider defense system knocked down by the previous week's winds.

Mayli sat in a cantina in Mos Eisley, waiting patiently to receive her next assignment from her contact before returning home and to the arms of Obi-Wan. And a shower in their tiny refresher, hoping their vaporators collected enough water for a quick dousing. She just returned from a run to Nal Hutta, the swamp world from which the Hutts originated, and she felt thoroughly gross. But she needed to get her assignment before leaving, so she sat with a group of fellow pilots playing a lazy, uncompetitive game of sabacc.

One of the smugglers who worked for Jabba only on occasion, a clone named Wires, smiled and shook his head as Mayli won the hand and collected her winnings, chips rather than credits, nobody in the mood for true betting.

"You hang out with that hermit who lives near Water? Ben Kenobi?" he asked as the next hand was dealt.

"Yup," she said, studying her cards. "We're friends."

"Friends?" teased Sel, a female, orange-skinned Twi'lek.

"Oh shush," hissed Mayli, but smiled at her friend. Most thought Mayli lived in Water, the small oasis town near their home, a place Obi-Wan and her visited when they lived in their original hermitages when they first met. She kept an address there for postal purposes, although it was a general store she paid to use as a fake residence, no questions asked. And nobody seemed to care. "Why do you ask about Ben?" she inquired.

"Well, during the Clone Wars, my battalion once served under a General Kenobi. One of the Jedi leaders. You know…before," he said, frowning at his hand.

Mayli took a moment to think, pretending to be considering her cards, although she felt pretty sure she already won the hand. "Might be related," she shrugged causally, then continued the lie. "I've run into a couple of Kenobis in my travels. Whole clan of them in Hapes." She chose a place more isolated, somewhere Wires probably never went.

"I haven't thought about the Jedi in a long time," scoffed Sel, throwing down her cards, shocking Mayli by winning. "None of that mattered anyway, did it? Republic, Empire, doesn't make a difference. Same things happening. Ryloth still in bad shape, depresses me to visit my family. Still a slave trade."

Mayli just nodded, considering her friend's words. She'd traveled around the galaxy now under two regimes and had to agree with Sel. A lot of the same troubles still existed. However, the Empire seemed to be tightening its grip on the galaxy. Planets not knowing slavery before suddenly subjugated. Laws enacted without the use of the Senate, which seemed there for show. Tatooine even saw more patrols, although Mayli felt uncertain what they were patrolling for, as criminal activity, including the enterprise for which she worked, operated out in the open.

"Mayli?" came a voice, and she turned to see her contact approaching. "Week from today, Mos Espa port, headed to Nal Hutta."

"Again?" she groaned. "Does Jabba hate me?"

"On the contrary, you're one of his favorites. Efficient, amusing, attractive," smiled Jabba's aide. "You know, he would probably allow you to make requests."

Mayli nodded thoughtfully. She had only once before, during her year of unpaid labor, to visit her family on Corellia. She might just make some requests to worlds who were not covered mostly in sludge.

A while later, she shut down her ship, the Womp Rat One, in the cave near her and Obi-Wan's home, secured the protection devices, and trudged up the hill, the first sunset shooting rich shades of orange across the sky. As she approached the house, Obi-Wan, looking handsome as always in his simple white tunic and pants, walked out to greet her, wrapping her in his strong arms. Neither said anything, they just held one another for some time before he led her into the house.

"I missed you, love," he said. "Caf?"

"Oh Obi, I missed you too," she said, already starting to peel away her flight suit. "Caf would be great, but I seriously need a shower. Is there enough water?"

Obi-Wan walked into the back of their pantry, which also served as their central plumbing station, where the water from their various moisture devices made deposits. "Enough for a soak and a rinse, if we pick up some extra stores in town tomorrow."

Mayli just nodded, and headed to the room, pulling her shirt off. "Sorry, sweetheart, but Nal Hutta is…ugh."

Slipping into their refresher, a small space with a sink, a latrine, and a shower, all built by the couple, the most challenging space of the house as they had to figure out plumbing, electrical being Mayli's specialty, combat Obi-Wan's. But the space worked fine, the toilet only backed up once, and with minimal water, they mostly used the space for dry soap bathing. But today, Mayli needed water.

She jumped in and turned on the flow, the water trickling over her body. She quickly grabbed her sponge, doused it with her one luxury, Ithorian botanical soap, and shut off the water flow to conserve for rinsing. She washed her hair before running the sponge along her body.

Mayli gasped suddenly, feeling a sudden rippling of energy over her body, as if hands were caressing her. The energy moved and concentrated on her breasts, lightly teasing the tips of her nipples. She let out an involuntary groan of pleasure, then almost slipped as the energy moved swiftly down to her more sensitive space. The force found her clitoris and playfully swirled around the spot, sending an orgasmic euphoria through her. Mayli cried out as she slipped on the suds, gripping both sides of the tiny shower.

"Obi-Wan," she moaned. "Just get in here. Now!"

Laughing and smiling smugly, already completely naked, he opened the curtain and Mayli pulled him in, both now slipping and sliding, but regaining balance as Mayli pushed her body against his, kissing him hard.

"You know it's not fair you can do that, use the Force," she said, pulling away to look into his eyes, alight with desire.

"Are you complaining?"

"Absolutely not," she said, wrapping her hands around his erection, stroking him up and down, Obi-Wan throwing his head back and moaning, encouraging her movements. "I just wish sometimes I could do that to you."

"Oh darling," he said, squeezing her rear, his lips moving down to her neck as she touched him. "I love what you do…I…ooohhh…I…." But Mayli stroked him harder with one hand, her nails of the other running along his back, getting wetter and ready for Obi-Wan as his panting became more pronounced. She loved making him lose control, as he always seemed so proper.

Soap now covered him as well, and he kissed down her body, finally kneeling in front of her. He licked the curves of her pelvis, his fingers finding her vaginal opening and sliding inside. Mayli moaned more, starting to feel her climax build, Obi-Wan knowing just where to apply pressure.

"Ben!" she cried out, now needing him inside her desperately, wanting them to come together, craving that deep intimacy.

Obi-Wan understood, and got to his feet, his eyes wild with desire. Mayli leaped up to wrap her legs around his waist, and he brought her back against the tiny shower while, simultaneously moving his member into her. She knew he again used the Force to keep balance, as the floor was slick, but he didn't budge, thrusting hard into her, both hands on her breasts, mouth on hers. They no longer kissed, but breathed into one another, giggling on occasion. Mayli's hands gripped his now sudsy hair.

She felt him harden even more and shudder within her, spilling his seed with a deep sigh. The warmth, the hardness, Obi-Wan's face buried in her neck as he groaned in pleasure brought Mayli to a deep climax, and she lost all track of herself as she gave into the moment, closing her eyes and calling out his name in a chant. After a while, her orgasm subsided, and she opened her eyes to find him looking up at her, both now still, soap dripping to the bottom of the shower.

"I love you," she whispered before kissing him.

"I love you," he said.

They began to disengage from each other, but finally succumbed to the slipperiness of the situation and slid to the floor laughing.

"We should have built a bigger shower," he said, getting to his feet and turning on the stream of water.

They both rinsed quickly, not knowing how long the water would last, needing to conserve for drinking as well. Afterwards, Obi-Wan insisted on making dinner, allowing Mayli to lounge on their bed in her night shirt, reliving their intimacy with a smile on her face. After their first crazy months together, hiding from then fighting a cult of Sith, then spending another several months building their home, they now seemed to be comfortable and at peace, just enjoying one another. She hoped it would last forever, but she also knew the outside world, the outside galaxy, always found a way into peace and happiness.

A couple days later, Obi-Wan and Mayli walked down the streets of Mos Espa, their concert that evening, an opera performer from Coruscant. Before lunch, Obi-Wan needed to make a withdrawal from the bank account in which Bail Organa made regular deposits.

Walking into the ramshackle structure, still one of the nicer buildings in town, Mayli pulled him to a stop.

"Listen, Ben, we don't need to keep taking money from the senator," she whispered. "I make enough for us to be comfortable, and you get supplies by trading for labor at the neighboring homesteads. We're good."

Obi-Wan shook his head and smiled. While he, as a Jedi, never worried about money, he knew making her own was a matter of pride for Mayli. But he also knew the importance of the account.

"This is how we check in with one another," he explained. "Make sure the other one is okay. If he keeps depositing and I keep withdrawing, well, we're kind of saying hello to each other."

Mayli nodded reluctantly.

"And you said yourself how nice it was to have a rich royal fund our monthly steak dinners," laughed Obi-Wan, approaching the nearest teller and giving the account number to him.

The account set up by Bail and Obi-Wan before they parted went through multiple channels, but on Obi-Wan's end looked like he collected a monthly pension from a mining company in the Corporate Sector. Since his arrival on Tatooine, no trouble occurred when making withdrawals, and in recent months, with both Obi-Wan and Mayli working, they found they had extra funds for small luxuries.

But something was different today, Obi-Wan watching the eyes of the teller narrow as he looked at the holoscreen.

"Is something wrong?" Obi-Wan finally asked.

"No…just different. But so many things are these days," he laughed. "It seems your former employer has made the same total deposit, but divided it, unevenly I might add, between three accounts. You now have two more accounts in your name, Mr. Kenobi."

Obi-Wan felt baffled, not knowing what to say. Why would Bail do this?

The teller chuckled. "Probably another creative way to avoid those new Imperial banking regulations."

"I'm sure that's it," Mayli said smiling, Obi-Wan thankful for her quick response as his mind still churned. "They always put their employees first. Great place to work, right Ben?"

"Yes," he responded, still distracted. "Could you please let me know the numbers and amounts?"

"No problem."

After loading Obi-Wan's credit chip and entering the account numbers and credit amounts into his data pad, the couple emerged onto the street once again, Obi-Wan's mind spinning. What could this all mean?

Mayli pulled him into a nearby open market for the shade and grabbed his data pad, looking at the numbers.

"Did you and Bail ever discuss sending specific messages to each other?" she asked.

Obi-Wan thought back. "No. Just the deposits and withdrawals. Just checking in with each other."

"Because…" Mayli said, studying the numbers. "I think he's trying to talk to you."

"What?"

"I think he sent you a message," she said. "This looks like a cypher." Her eyes lit up. "I think I can decode this!"

Obi-Wan felt his stomach drop. While Mayli studied the numbers, a myriad of possible disasters went through his head. Had something happened to Leia? Did Vader know his children survived?

No, no. If something truly bad had happened, Bail would not have checked in. But what was he trying to say?

Mayli began to laugh. "This is the cypher used in that old children's story, The Hyperspace Dragon." She looked up at him smiling, expecting him to understand.

"The Hyperspace Dragon?"

"Yes, you know, the fable about the little girl who makes friends with the giant lizard who can move about in the vacuum. They save several Core planets from the invasion of the evil…you don't know this story? Seriously?" She looked at the baffled Obi-Wan. "All kids are told the story, at least on the Core worlds. It's a popular fable, legend, several hundred years old. And the girl and the dragon had a cypher they would use to communicate with each other. In my early school years, my friends and I would write messages in Hyperspace Dragon to each other."

Obi-Wan laughed at the ridiculousness of the story, but Mayli shrugged.

"Those Jedi didn't raise you right," she teased. "You don't even know how to speak Hyperspace Dragon."

"But Bail would know I didn't know…ah…Hyperspace Dragon," Obi-Wan said, getting serious again.

"But he would know you were smart and could figure out this was a cypher. And Hyperspace Dragon is one of the most popular numbers-based cyphers," Mayli winked. "He was banking on you not being an idiot."

"Oh stop," Obi-Wan said, snatching back his data pad. "So, can we figure it out quickly?"

"Well, I haven't used it in years, but I can download the story while we're here in town and decipher it. And also read you the story. It's one you should know if you're going to be one of us regular folk." She sighed, a whimsical look on her face. "I remember my dad reading it to me. I always wanted to read it to my own children." She looked thoughtfully down the road. "Let's see if we can connect in the general store."

She ran down the road, leaving Obi-Wan to watch her before he left as well. Without Mayli, he would not have known where to begin, probably taking a day or two before he figured out the numbers made a cypher. Not for the first time he felt very grateful to have her by his side.

Mayli worked throughout the afternoon, only taking a break to attend the concert. Before bed, she read the story to Obi-Wan, who smiled at her lively narration, remembering her earlier comment about reading it to her own children. Obi-Wan found the story very entertaining and began to wonder what else he missed being raised Jedi.

The following evening after they returned home, Mayli worked on her data pad at their dining table, mumbling to herself, Obi-Wan trying not to pester her. But the gnawing feeling in his stomach returned. What would Bail say to him? What was wrong?

"Ah ha!" cried Mayli, leaping up and running over to where Obi-Wan sat in their living room. "Here is the message."

Everything fine but would like to speak with you directly. Do not contact if unsafe. Not an emergency. Plans.

Obi-Wan read the message through five times before looking up at Mayli. Not an emergency. He felt a weight lifting from him, but now his curiosity was piqued. Plans. What could that mean?

"Plans," Mayli said. "Plans for the twins?"

Obi-Wan shrugged.

"Plans to defeat the Empire?"

Obi-Wan shrugged again. He knew from watching the holonews when they visited town that things were not going well with the Empire and some of the Core worlds. While others simply rolled over, some, like Alderaan, put up a fight.

"I'll go to Alderaan," Mayli said, snapping Obi-Wan out of his thoughts.

"No!" he cried, standing up. "You are absolutely not going to Alderaan."

"How else are we going to contact the senator?" she said. "Plus, Jabba does business there. I could be sent there anyway." She paused, thinking. "My contact said I could make requests. I could request Alderaan, or a nearby system, after I return from Nal Hutta. I'll go to the royal palace…I've seen it before…and…"

"No!" Obi-Wan now shouted at her, making her jump. He rarely raised his voice, but the thought of his beloved Mayli entering into this mess created by Jedi negligence was too much for him. "It is far too dangerous."

"More dangerous than flying out to the Unknown Regions to rescue you from a space station full of Sith?" she yelled back, her arms folded, face red with anger. "I can do this, Ben. I blew up that station. I work for Jabba the Hutt. I'm a smuggler. I'm not some desert flower."

But she was, he thought. She was his desert flower, the one thing in his life that was good, wonderful, kept him from going mad.

"You need to stay here and protect Luke," she said quietly.

Obi-Wan nodded, knowing he couldn't leave Tatooine again, especially with the increased Imperial patrols. And what if Vader suddenly decided to drop by his childhood home? Would he be able to sense Obi-Wan and Luke? He went to the Lars farm on a bi-monthly basis, checked from afar weekly, now seeing a toddler Luke from time to time walking behind Owen, smiling, laughing, not a care in the world.

"This is the only way to speak with him," Mayli continued. "A transmission would be detected."

Obi-Wan nodded again, knowing they did not have any communication devices in their home for a reason, and they used electricity very minimally through their solar panel.

"Ben," she said softly, now standing in front of him, holding his face in her hands. "I knew when I decided to stay with you that someday something like this would occur. I suppose this is what happens when you love a Jedi."

Obi-Wan couldn't help but think about Padme and what happened when she loved a Jedi.

But Mayli continued. "I'm strong, Obi-Wan. Let me help. And if you don't let me…" she smiled at him. "I'll go anyway."

Obi-Wan crushed her to him, holding her tightly for a long time, not able to say a word.

Two and a half weeks later, after another run to Nal Hutta and another week with Obi-Wan, Mayli stood on the ramp of her ship in the port near Jabba's palace, where she picked up the goods to be taken to Kuat. She'd requested a Core world from Jabba, stating she wanted to stop by to visit some friends on her way home. The Hutt immediately granted her request, proving Mayli to be one of his favorites.

The couple embraced, and Obi-Wan whispered in her ear, "Come back to me."

"It's just another run," she whispered back, then kissed him softly on the lips, turned, and disappeared into the Womp Rat One.

Obi-Wan watched the ship until it broke the atmosphere and disappeared. He sighed, turning to their landspeeder to head back home.

Author's Note: Welcome to my new story! I'm so excited to share the next tale in my exile Obi-Wan Kenobi trilogy. This story features adventure, romance, humor, and some surprises along the way. If you haven't read my first story, Tatooine Hideaway, I suggest beginning there, as it explains Mayli and Obi-Wan's current state.

I usually update my stories weekly on Sundays. However, this first chapter is posted early as I am on vacation in Hawaii next week.

In the next chapter, Mayli heads to Alderaan to meet with Bail Organa, encountering some trouble along the way. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan sees the impact of the Imperials in his own backyard.

Please follow/favorite/review/recommend. Thank you for reading!