Obi-Wan opened his eyes sleepily and rubbed at them with his hands. Although the light in his room was the same as it always was in the morning because of the shades over his windows, he knew it was much later than he normally got up. His Master had been teaching him how to tell time by his connection to the Force and even though he still wasn't very good at it, he knew he had been allowed to sleep much later than usual. That was definitely a good thing.

Curling deeper into his blankets, Obi-Wan thought about what he wanted to do for the day. His Master had said since they had the day off he could choose what they would do. He couldn't think of anything, but sleeping late seemed like a good way to start the day. Stretching, Obi-Wan finally decided to get up, but he didn't want to get dressed just yet. Instead, he wrapped his blanket around himself to keep warm in the cold apartment and wandered out into the common room.

As he walked in, Obi-Wan found his master sitting on the couch reading from a datapad. He looked up and smiled at Obi-Wan as he came close and held out an arm in invitation to sit. Crawling up onto the couch, Obi-Wan curled up next to his master and Obi-Wan smiled as the heat from his master helped to keep him warm.

"How did you sleep, Little One?" His master asked, running a hand over Obi-Wan's head.

"Good. I like rest days." Obi-Wan shifted slightly, tucking his blanket around himself carefully.

His master smiled again and helped him secure the blanket to keep out the chill in the air. "I bet you do." He leaned close to Obi-Wan. "Want to know a secret?"

Obi-Wan nodded in excitement.

"So do I. When else do I get to spend the morning doing nothing with my padawan?"

Obi-Wan smiled and tucked his head against his master's side and looked up at the datapad he was reading. "What's that?"

"Just something I'm reading for fun." His master flipped off the datapad and put it aside, turning all his attention on Obi-Wan. "So did you decide what you wanted to do today?"

"I don't know, what do you think we should do?"

His master shrugged. "I don't know, I thought it would be fun for you to be able to make the decision for once. Can't you think of anything?"

Chewing on his lip in thought, Obi-Wan sighed. "I don't know, what could we do?"

"Well, we could go to one of the parks out in the city, we could make a trip to the zoo, we could rent some holovids, or maybe go see one in a theater. We could..." His master shook his head. "I don't know, maybe go to some museums. Does any of that sound good?"

"It would be fun to go to the zoo, but um, Slade said he wanted to go, so I thought we could maybe um, wait till he comes back from his mission with his master before we go, and maybe go as um, a group?" Obi-Wan looked up at his master hopefully.

"That sounds like a great idea, Obi-Wan. I'd really like to meet Slade's new master. I haven't run into him before and since you two are such good friends I think it would be nice if I got to know him a little bit. So, that takes care of what we should do when Slade gets back, but what should we do today?"

"Um, maybe we could," Obi-Wan paused, thinking hard. "I don't know, what do you think?"

"That's not fair, Obi-Wan, I asked you what we should do."

Obi-Wan grinned. "I know, but I can't think."

"Okay, do you want to do something inside or outside?"

"Um..."

His master tugged gently on his short padawan braid. "'I don't know' is not an acceptable answer."

"Um, I'm not sure."

Laughing, his master hugged Obi-Wan close to his side. "All right. We should probably make a decision here, Little One. I mean, I don't mind if all we do is sit here all day doing nothing, but I thought it might be nice if we could do something together."

"Okay, maybe we could um, go to the park."

"Okay, well--"

Obi-Wan shook his head quickly. "No, wait, I mean I want to see a holovid in the theater."

His master nodded. "That's fine, we can--"

"No, I mean I want to go to the park."

His master took a breath. "Are you sure?"

Obi-Wan chewed on his lip and thought a moment. "Yes." He nodded seriously. "All right, the park it is."

"But maybe--"

"Obi-Wan." His master stood and lifted Obi-Wan off the couch and over his shoulder, carrying him upside-down to his room. "I think we can save ourselves the trouble and do both."

***

Qui-Gon carried Obi-Wan from the theater, the boy sitting happily across his shoulders. Although it had taken them the better part if an hour and most of breakfast to decide what holovid they were going to see, the decision had finally been made and Qui-Gon was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the children's production. If any of his friends had seen him they no doubt would have commented on the nature of his juvenile humor, but then, that was why he never invited them along on these things anyway.

"Did you have a good time, Obi-Wan?" He called up to his padawan. He could feel the boy's excitement along their bond at being able to sit so high above his normal height.

"It was good, especially the um, the part with the ships, where they were flying them." Qui-Gon could imagine the boy's face even though he couldn?t see it. Obi-Wan always wore the same expression of awe and excitement when he talked about ships and flying. The boy would be a natural pilot when he grew up, and it wouldn't be long before Qui-Gon would have to get others to teach him about such things. Qui-Gon's own interests tended to lie in other directions.

"So, should we head to the park now?" He'd decided to take pity on his indecisive padawan and only give him the option of one park. It was both close to the holovid theater as well as the Temple and was know for its vast amount of play equipment for children. He himself had gone there on more than one occasion with Yoda when he had been a young padawan.

Obi-Wan hesitated. "Um, can we walk there?"

Sighing, Qui-Gon continued his path to the line for the air cars. "There's very little on Coruscant we can actually walk to I'm afraid, Obi-Wan. It won't take us long to get there though, and I can help." He didn't know where Obi-Wan had developed his motion sickness; he couldn't remember very well if it had affected the boy when he was younger. It was terribly inconvenient and it made Qui-Gon feel terrible whenever he had to take the boy anywhere by air car.

"Oh. Okay." Obi-Wan's grip tightened on his head, though he said nothing else.

"It'll be all right, Obi-Wan. I promise." He patted the boy's leg as he found a place in the short line. He swung Obi-Wan off his shoulders as he stood waiting for the next car, but did not place the boy on the ground. Instead, he held him against his chest and began pointing out the different types of ships that flew by. The ones that he could identify anyway. He had no doubt it wouldn't be very long before Obi-Wan would be able to tell him more about the ships than he knew himself.

"All right, Obi-Wan. Here we go." The air cab pulled up in front of them and Qui-Gon stepped, in holding Obi-Wan's hand closely. Even before the car began to move, Qui-Gon sent a steadying wave of the Force to the young boy, trying to combat his motion sickness before it started. Obi-Wan for his part curled into his side and closed his eyes tightly because although Qui-Gon was able to mitigate most of the effects, he knew the boy was still feeling a little ill.

Qui-Gon held his padawan close to his side and focused his attention on the boy as they rode through the heavy afternoon traffic of the city. It wouldn?t take them too long to reach the park and he knew that once they were out of the air car, Obi-Wan would begin to feel better immediately.

The air cab slowed and Qui-Gon turned his attention to their surroundings. Ahead of them, just in the distance, he could see the large structure that had been used to form a large park in the middle of the city. Although the park had been there for longer than he himself could remember, it looked little different from his own memories of the space from his childhood. It was nice to know that even in a universe as changeable and often unstable as this one, some things remained the same.

"Here we are, Little One." Qui-Gon handed over the credits for the fare as he lifted Obi-Wan into his arms and got out of the cab. He smiled as he neared the entrance to the park, he could feel the great grouping of natural life just through the ornate metal gateway.

Setting Obi-Wan on the pathway to the gate, Qui-Gon breathed deeply. Even though he knew the pollution from the giant city could be felt throughout Coruscant and especially on the lower levels, the air had been cleaned here to help in adding to the peace and prosperity of the park. It wasn't often that he could find such a measure of tranquility anywhere outside the Temple, but he did enjoy this particular park.

Obi-Wan looked up at him with a bright smile, his face already clearing from the trauma of the air trip. The small boy hesitated only a second before casting one final glance in Qui-Gon's direction and running off to the gateway. Qui-Gon couldn't really blame him; it wasn't every day they were able to get out like this.

Stretching his long-legged pace, Qui-Gon started after Obi-Wan, keeping the boy just in sight. Even though there were several large, open fields the park was also home to a collection of forest like areas. He was nearly certain the park was as safe a place as they could go, but he had no desire to spend the rest of the afternoon chasing after his padawan who had decided it would be a good idea to hide in the vast area.

Qui-Gon followed Obi-Wan as the boy ran through the simple paths of the park to the center of the large area, a wide open field covered in deep green grass that blew in the light breeze. Apparently they needed to get out of the Temple more often, the Gardens were nice, but generally weren't the places for hyperactive six-year-olds to work off excess energy.

As he settled against the trunk of a giant tree, Qui-Gon let himself relax. The past few months had been very intense and it was a great pleasure to be able to take the time to rest. Obi-Wan seemed to be doing much better and his meetings with La'Re and Yoda had helped him to understand some of the things that were happening. It worried Qui-Gon that he himself wasn't able to help his padawan; he wanted to be able to guide the boy in his visions as much as he wanted to help in his lightsaber training, but it was far beyond his realm of knowledge. He worried sometimes that the gap in his experience would end up hurting the boy, but kept the concern close to himself. It wasn't as though he were dealing with the situation entirely on his own; he had the support of everyone in the temple, should he choose to call on them. But that didn?t mean that some nights he didn't lay awake in the dark worrying about it. He wanted only what was best for Obi-Wan and he would do anything in his power to make sure the boy grew to be the great Jedi Qui-Gon knew he could be.

"Master!" Obi-Wan's voice cut through his thoughts and Qui-Gon looked up to see his padawan crouched at the edge of the clearing, looking into the covering growth of small trees and bushes.

Standing, Qui-Gon walked over to his padawan, noting the boy's rapt attention fixed on something just out of sight.

"What is it, Obi-Wan??

"Look." Obi-Wan whispered his voice filled with awe. He ducked down on his hands and knees and pointed into the bush.

With a silent sigh, Qui-Gon knelt on the ground next to the small boy and peered into the darker area of undergrowth trying to see what had his padawan so excited. Stretching out his senses with the Force, Qui-Gon immediately found what had caught the boy's attention. A small, frightened kitten crouched beneath one of the low bushes, looking out at them with huge eyes. The grey and white animal could not have been more than a few weeks old and Qui-Gon could tell it had been on its own for several days.

"It's so little," Obi-Wan whispered, crawling forward just a little.

"And very frightened, Obi-Wan. You have to be careful." Reaching out slowly, Qui-Gon offered a hand to the kitten projecting all of his passiveness and good intent. Slowly, the kitten's neck extended and the tip of the cold nose brushed Qui-Gon's finger.

"Is it okay?" Obi-Wan asked, the small boy's fingers twitching as he obviously tried not to reach out to the animal.

"She's been on her own for a while now and she's very little. She needs someone to take care of her," Qui-Gon commented absently as he searched the area for signs of the kitten's mother. "If you're very careful, and very slow, she might let you pet her. Just hold out your hand the same way I did and try to think good thoughts."

Obi-Wan looked up at him for a moment, his blue eyes wide with restrained excitement. Then, turning his full attention to the kitten he reached out his small hand and waited for the animal to respond. Just as it had done for Qui-Gon the kitten took a tentative step forward to sniff at Obi-Wan hand. After only a brief moment, the kitten began to purr and rubbed itself against Obi-Wan's hand.

Laughing in delight, Obi-Wan began running his fingers through the kitten's short grey fur. A moment later, Obi-Wan scooped the now happily purring kitten from the ground and held it close in his arms. He petted the small animal happily as he held it with a gentleness that surprised Qui-Gon.

"Did you find her parents?" Obi-Wan asked, looking up hopefully from the kitten who was rubbing its face against Obi-Wan's chin.

Shaking his head, Qui-Gon looked at the picture the two made. "I don't sense them anywhere, Obi-Wan, I'm sorry."

Concern suddenly flooded the small boy's features. "But what will happen to her? If she doesn't have her parents she'll die. I don't want her to die, Master."

Reaching out, Qui-Gon ran a hand through Obi-Wan's short hair. "I know, Little One, don't worry. We'll make sure nothing happens to her." He sat silently, considering. Obi-Wan was a natural with the small animal, and taking her in might help him learn a little responsibility. It had been years since he had taken in any strays, but that didn't mean that he hadn't raised and cared for any number of pets over the years. He liked cats, and Obi-Wan did seem to get along with the animal very well.

"What if you help me look through the park for her parents?" Qui-Gon said as he stood. If they could find the mother to the kitten, they would have to let them stay together, but if not, well, that was an entirely different matter.

"Okay. Can I carry her?" His padawan hopped to his feet and looked up at Qui-Gon, a smile creasing his elfin face.

"If she'll let you."

Obi-Wan looked at the kitten that had settled in his arms for a moment. "She likes me," he said seriously and Qui-Gon had no doubt that the boy had been using the Force to feel out his place in the kitten's thoughts.

"Let's go then."

Together, they searched as much of the park they could cover. Obi-Wan looked with his eyes more than the Force, while Qui-Gon tried to keep track of the living Force and see if there was any evidence of the kitten's mother having been in the area recently. When they had covered as much of the area as they could manage, Qui-Gon called a stop to the search. He stood with Obi-Wan and the kitten near the entrance to the park as the sun was just beginning to makes its way down to the surface of the planet.

"Well, Obi-Wan, I think we've done our best. I didn't find any sign that her parents had been in the area recently, let alone actually finding them. I think that means we can only do one thing." He looked down and smiled at the serious expression on the boy's face.

"We aren't going to leave her here are we?" Obi-Wan asked, instinctively clutching the kitten closer to his chest.

"No, Little One, I think the only thing we can safely do is take her home with us. What would you think of sharing the apartment with a kitten?"

Obi-Wan's eyes lit up as he looked from Qui-Gon to the kitten. "Really? We can have a pet?"

"I think it's about time we had one, don't you?"

Nodding, Obi-Wan stroked the small animal?s head gently. "Do you hear that, you get to come home with us." He looked up at Qui-Gon. "She needs a bath."

Qui-Gon knelt and picked the small boy and cat up into his arms. "I think that's probably a good idea, though I don't think she's going to like that very much."

"Um, then maybe you could give it to her." Obi-Wan said carefully.

"Why do I get the feeling you're going to be saying that a lot?"

***

"Come in!" Qui-Gon yelled to the door as the chime sounded throughout the apartment. He was trying to keep the small kitten from tearing holes in the couch with her claws and convince Obi-Wan that he didn't need to hold the small animal all the time.

Payter walked in the room, the amusement from the other Jedi practically rolling off of him in waves.

"I thought you had given up taking in strays," Payter commented and he looked at the kitten who had crouched in a tiny ball when he approached.

Qui-Gon's eyes slid to Obi-Wan, though he didn't say anything. Shrugging, he finally caught hold of the kitten and held her lightly in his hands. "She sort of found us."

"Don't they always." Payter peered at the kitten for a moment before extending a hand towards her. She looked at him warily for a moment before sniffing it delicately. Giving a hesitant purr, she rubbed her nose against him once, then settled back more firmly against Qui-Gon.

"Does she have a name?" Payter said as he settled on the couch next to Qui-Gon, a safe and unthreatening distance from the kitten.

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon looked at his padawan, inviting the boy to share the name that had been his choice.

"Um, I don't know, I don't like that name anymore. The one she had before. I think she needs a new name." Obi-Wan crawled up onto the couch and looked at the kitten seriously.

"Obi-Wan, you've already given her five names, you need to pick one." Apparently they needed to have some lessons on decision-making sometime very soon.

"But none of the ones that I had before are good. She has to have a good name." Obi-Wan looked up at Payter. "What do you think she should be called?"

Qui-Gon broke in before Payter could answer. "I don't think Payter is really the one to ask about that sort of thing, Padawan." He'd heard the kind of names Payter thought were good, and he didn't want to inflict that on any living creature.

"Fine, what do you think would be a good name, Qui-Gon?" Payter asked as he sat back and crossed his arms.

"I think Obi-Wan should choose a name and stick with it. It's his job."

Obi-Wan began chewing on his lower lip, a sure sign he was thinking about something very hard. "Um, maybe, maybe Jes?" Obi-Wan looked up to Qui-Gon for approval.

Containing a laugh over the fact that Obi-Wan wanted to name his kitten after one of the characters they had seen in the holovid today, he nodded seriously. "I think that's a very good name, Obi-Wan. Are you sure, because once we give her that name, that's it. No more changes."

Obi-Wan looked as though he might change his mind, he even went so far as to open his mouth, but he never said anything. He simply nodded and reached out to pet the kitten. "Jes," he said softly.