Obi-Wan followed his master through of the now quiet spaceport. It was late, and he simply wanted to go back to his bunk and sleep. His mind however, kept drifting back to what he'd seen in his meditation. The intense green light. He shook his head, he didn't have time to investigate it now, nor did he want someone else to do it either. He had this gut instinct that he was the one that needed to find this out. Why, he didn't know, but Obi-Wan had been taught that gut instincts were no different than prodding from the Force.

Qui-Gon looked over his shoulder to find his Padawan deep in thought. He smiled slightly wondering what would cause his rather serious student to think this hard. The older Jedi knew that Obi-Wan wasn't one to give into sulking broods, so he was naturally curious.

"Something I should know of, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan looked up from his thought and shook his head. "No, Master." He shook his head again and gave his master a rueful smile. "Just something I saw in my meditation."

Qui-Gon slowed to a stop and raised an eyebrow at his apprentice. He was well aware that Obi-Wan was a bit unique when it came to meditation. He had never confided in his master what he saw, but it was clear that he usually saw something. Masters Yoda and Windu were convinced that Obi-Wan could actually see manifestations of the Force in people.

Qui-Gon wasn't so sure. He'd trained this boy, he knew him better than anyone else. Obi-Wan didn't act if he saw anything different than anyone else in his or her meditations.

Perhaps he thought everyone saw what he did. Qui-Gon had no doubt that his Padawan would be a powerful, but kind man and Jedi. It was what he'd been groomed for, just like Qui-Gon before him. "Something you feel you should follow up on?" Qui-Gon asked quietly, wondering exactly Obi-Wan had seen in his mediation.

Obi-Wan looked up again and then frowned. "I feel…it's something I should look into, yes, but…I don't feel as if I have the time." He shook his head, obviously trying to pull together what was going.

"Because of the mission?" Qui-Gon asked, trying to help his padawan express his thoughts.

Obi-Wan nodded. "That's part of it, but there's something else. Something elusive. It's as if I don't do this now, I won't ever be able to do it. As if I'll miss my chance." He looked up at his Master. "Is any of this making any sense?"

Qui-Gon smiled at his apprentice. "You have tonight. If you can't find it by then, we'll arrange for someone else to take our mission."

Obi- wan stared at his master, shocked. Qui-Gon had never considered not taking a mission for the sake of his padawan. In fact, his master believed that padawan learners should be exposed to as many worlds as possible so that they had a greater understanding of the galaxy around them.

"Yes, Master. Thank you, Master."

Qui-Gon nodded. "I'll expect you back by morning meal so that we may decide the next step, whatever that may be."

Obi-Wan nodded, "I will be there, Master."

As Qui-Gon turned to leave, Obi-Wan sat down against the wall of the hallway and took a deep breath. He needed to find that strange intense light again and the only way he knew how was to meditate again. Not that he particularly minded. Meditating was becoming something of a joy for him. It got him out of the tediousness of his routine missions.

Letting his eyes fall shut, he let his mind drift trying not too look for anything in particular. The Force had a nasty habit of denying him what he wanted to see the most in his meditations. Bant once said it was like looking for your shoe. As soon as you stop looking for it, there it was.

His master had a much simpler view. Obi-wan simply didn't understand the more subtle workings of the Force yet. While that was true, Obi-Wan found himself liking Bant's explanation better.

So he let his mind drift on the sea that his mind perceived as the Force. He let it take him where it willed, until he once again saw the intense green light. He hovered around the light, trying to make out any landmarks as to the being's whereabouts. He was absolutely certain that the being was on Coruscant, as well as near to him. The Force came to him, like a whisper on the wind. He never saw things that were far away. Just impressions. This was too deep to be very far away.

Unfortunately, he couldn't quite make out where the strange aura was. Somewhere near by, on Coruscant, in this area of the planet-city, but he couldn't seem to narrow it down any further.

Just as he was about to float back to consciousness and risk a physical search, the aura flared briefly and he got a better impression of where it was, and who the owner was. A female, and human. She was in the spaceport somewhere. He had some vague impressions, but it was more than enough to go on.

Like a cat, Obi-Wan flowed to his feet, determined to find this strange Force signature. He now knew that he could track it, much like a dog does with a scent. Letting his mind wander and the Force guiding him, he started to walk back to where he'd been waiting for the liner.

The signature had a strange taste to it. Almost metallic, like he'd put a piece of steel in his mouth and sucked on it. At the same time flowed through him like liquid chocolate. Not suffocating or disturbing just...unusual. Obi-Wan resisted the urge to speed up, with his eyes closed and all his senses focused on the strange signature he wouldn't know if he'd run into anyone or not until it was too late. The Force was also urging him to go slow, to have patience.

He tracked the strange Force signature almost the entire way back to his gate, when he felt the Force pool. It was an odd occurrence and not one that the Jedi usually overlooked. Opening his eyes the young Jedi apprentice once again found himself staring at the two girls in the corner.

The End

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