Title:Special Delivery
Author: Lanna C
Feedback: "You may fire when ready." [email protected]
Rating:NC-17
Category:Drama, Sexual Situations
Timeline:Pre-TPM
Archive: ok
Disclaimer: All characters except Khalya Goryn are borrowed and will be returned unharmed.
Pairing: Q/f

Qui-Gon Jinn watched as his ship lifted off the sandy flat and disappeared in the morning sun. Turning quickly, he strode to the group of men gathered outside a giant canvas building. Introductions were made and a large culpa was led from the rear of the building. The culpa, a long furred quadruped with wide hooves, was saddled and loaded with supplies. The young knight took the reins that were handed to him and patted the beast on it's long forehead. He spoke quietly to the animal which seemed to be listening attentively to his every word.

A young woman flanked by two older women exited the structure and made her way to the group of men. The Jedi was struck by her beauty. Her skin was the color of honey, her hair fell in soft auburn waves down her back. She wore a simple white dress with a snug bodice that accentuated her slender waist and ample bosom. A full skirt fell just below her knees, covering the tops of her white boots.

"Khalya this is Qui-Gon Jinn," one of the men addressed the young woman, "he will present you to your intended."

Khalya nodded slightly at the Jedi, probing him with dark eyes. He stood next to a culpa, a very tall man in a dark brown robe. He was handsome, too handsome to be a Jedi, she thought, weren't they supposed to be celibate? She was pleased to see that he was young. The neatly trimmed beard that followed his jawline made it difficult to acurately judge his age, but she could see his youth in his eyes. Perhaps he would be sympathetic.

Without a word the Jedi knight put his hands around Khalya's waist and placed her effortlessly onto the front of the double saddle, then climbed up behind her. Reaching past her, he took the reins in his hand, gave it a little shake and they were off.

~*~

They had been traveling in silence for nearly two hours. Qui-Gon studied the girl in front of him. She sat perfectly straight and stiff in the saddle, a faint smell of flowers wafted from her. He sensed in her a conflicting array of emotions that were hard for him to center on. There was a storm brewing inside her, this much he knew.

~*~

"Qui-Gon Jinn is your starship out there somewhere waiting to pick you up?" Khalya finally broke the silence.

"It is, yes." Here it comes, he thought.

Khalya twisted her upper body in the saddle to face her companion. "Will you take me away from here? I have no desire to wed a man I do not know, have never seen before and is old enough to be my father."

"I'm afraid I cannot do that. I have been instructed by the Jedi Council to present you to your betrothed at the preordained coordinates in five days time, and that is what I shall do." She turned away from him in a huff, facing forward again. "It is my understanding that amongst the people of this star system it is considered a great honor to be chosen as a pilgrim bride. The planetary government in this system has remained stable for centuries due in part to the Pilgrim Bride Act. As the wife of the governor of Isoc you will have great power and wealth."

"Not everyone strives for power and wealth, as a Jedi you should know that." She would get no sympathy from him, he was obviously a strictly by the book type. Khalya swung her leg over the front of the culpa and slid down off the saddle to the sandy ground below.

"What are you doing?" The Jedi asked.

"I am walking." She did not look up at him as she spoke. "I will not ride with a slave trader."

"As you wish." He would not waste time arguing with her, the heat would change her mind soon enough. He had removed his robe and put it in a pack long ago as the temperature steadily climbed with the morning sun. It would do her good to walk off some of that anger, he decided. In an hour or two she would be wanting back in the saddle.

~*~

"I am certain they will not force you to do anything you do not want to do. If you explain your feelings to them, I am sure they will listen. There are many who would gladly take your place." Qui-Gon could keep silent no longer. Khalya had been walking for hours now in the stifling afternoon sun. She drank water from the container he had given her at regular intervals but her steps began to falter more and more as the day progressed.

"You are the naive one, aren't you Jedi?" She said laughing. "I have to be broken or dead to get out of this marriage, and being a Jedi you are not capable of helping me with either of those options." She glanced at him to see his reaction. He showed none.

Qui-Gon had wanted to travel most of the night to gain distance in case they ran in to a sand storm in the days ahead, but since Khalya insisted on walking he would stop for the night so she could rest. He could sense her determination to continue in spite of her exhaustion.

~*~

The desert cooled quickly after the sun had sank. Qui-Gon unrolled their sleep mats, then built a small fire nearby to keep them warm. They ate their dinner in silence with Khalya falling asleep right after.

Qui-Gon lay on his mat watching Khalya sleep from across the fire. Even now with her hair tangled from the wind and a layer of dust covering her, he found her beautiful. Her dress was still damp from sweat and it clung to her body. Her nipples, hardened by the cool temperature, were plainly visible through the thin material of her dress. Qui-Gon stood, searched in the packs for a blanket and finding none, collected his robe from the pack he tucked it in earlier and covered Khalya with it.

~*~

Qui-Gon woke just before dawn to find that Khalya had gone. She had folded his robe and left it on her sleep mat. He swore to himself as he broke camp and saddled up the culpa. How could he have been so stupid! He knew she was desparate to get out of this forced union. He checked the supplies as he loaded the packs onto the back of the culpa. She had taken a large container of water and a small amount of food. He looked around to see if he could tell what direction she had taken, but the wind had picked up, erasing her footprints.

He settled into the saddle and called the Force to him, asking for guidance. It seemed to urge him to travel north, into the rising sun.

~*~

Khalya poured water over her hair and body. It felt wonderful on her heated skin and scalp. She took a sip then closed the container and hung it's strap back over her shoulder. She was pleased with the progress she had made thus far and she wondered whether the Jedi had risen yet. She was touched to find that he had covered her with his robe. She hoped he wouldn't get into trouble because of this, or worse.

~*~

Qui-Gon had been travelling for hours and still there was no sign of Khalya. He felt certain he was headed in the right direction. How could she have gotten so far?

~*~

Khalya stumbled and fell again, this time scraping her left elbow as well as her knees. She got to her feet slowly as a wave if dizziness hit her. She swayed for a moment then trudged on. She knew there were settlements somewhere out here. They had sprung up around scattered waterholes on this desert moon. Pilgrim's Moon, it was called by the populations of the neighboring planets. If she could just make it to one of those settlements, she could blend in and start a new life. Not one she would have chosen had she still been on Verdn she was sure, but not one that was forced upon her either.

~*~

The heat of the afternoon sun was oppressive. Nausea and dizziness were constant companions now. Khalya's heart pumped furiously in her chest as she struggled to put one foot in front of the other without falling. She wanted so much to just lie down and rest, to stop the spinning and the sickness inside her, but she had come too far to give up now.

Taking the container of water from her shoulder, Khalya poured some over her head and face. A sound in the distance caught her attention and she turned her head in the direction it came from. A blurry image came into view, but she couldn't seem to get her eyes to focus on it. Sudden realization took hold. It was Qui-Gon Jinn, he had come after her!

"No!" She yelled, dropping the water and running as fast as she was able. How could he have found her? She had come so far! Khalya stumbled, but somehow managed to stay on her feet and keep going. She could hear him behind her gaining fast. Tears sprang from her eyes as she accepted her fate.

"Khalya stop!" Qui-Gon shouted, reaching out to grab her. She tripped and fell and he went down too, landing on top of her.

"Get off!" She sobbed. Qui-Gon got up quickly, helping her to her feet. "Let go!" She cried, storming toward the culpa in the distance. "I don't need your help!"

Qui-Gon sensed her anger and defeat and something more. Something he had not dealt with much in the past, sorrow. A deep bone jarring sorrow that tugged at his heart, making him want to comfort her.

Khalya was still crying as she headed for the culpa. There was no way out of this marriage for her now. She would be forced to give herself to a man she'd never met and to bear his children. Khalya felt dizzy again and couldn't draw a breath, then everything went black.

Qui-Gon hurried to Khalya as she crumpled to the ground. Taking her in his arms he pulled a sleep mat from a pack at the back of the culpa. He dropped it on the ground, unrolled it with a foot and lay Khalya on it. He needed to get her out of the sun, but there was no shelter in the area. An idea struck the Jedi and he quickly grabbed the other sleep mat, unrolling it as he returned to the young woman. He stuck the edge of it in the sand along side Khalya, bending the wooden slats at each end to prop it up. It was a poor excuse for a lean-to, but it provided enough shade to keep Khalya out of the sun. He sat down beside her, moving her damp hair out of her face. She was still so hot, he would have to try to lower her temperature.

He went to the culpa, unfastened the packs and quickly determined there was no medkit in their supplies. Whoever had been responsible for packing their supplies had done a terrible job, first no blankets and now this. Grabbing a container of water he returned to the unconscious girl and removed his outer tunic. He tore the garment into strips, soaking each one with cool water before placing it on her skin.

He worked into the evening, rewetting the cloth strips and placing them back on her hot skin. When he was finally convinced that she was out of danger he left her to feed and water the culpa.

When Qui-Gon returned to his makeshift lean-to he found Khalya lying there with her eyes open. She watched him in silence, her dark eyes sad and defeated. Qui-Gon felt her face to gauge her temperature again. It was still warm but not alarmingly so any longer. He removed the cold compress from her forehead, poured some more water on it then replaced it. He lifted her head and helped her to drink some water, then began to carefully clean the sand from her scraped knees and elbow.

There were tears in her eyes when he had finished, but he did not think they were because of his first aid efforts.

"No one will force you to do anything you do not want to do, you have my word on that." His instructions were to present her to her future husband and that he would do. He would not, however, sit back and see her be made to marry when she was so opposed to it.

Khalya closed her eyes. She did not trust her voice now. Why was he being so kind to her after everything she had done?

~*~

Qui-Gon sat by Khalya watching the light from the fire dance over her sleeping form. He wanted to touch her but could find no reason to now.

~*~

She was aware of the cold a long time before it actually woke her. When she did awaken she could not control her shivering or the chattering of her teeth. The Jedi sat nearby staring into the fire. He must be freezing, she thought. He had covered her with his robe hours ago and had used his tunic to make the cloth strips for the cold compress. He wore only a sleeveless under tunic made out of very thin fabric, yet he did not look as if he were cold. He must have sensed her watching him for he turned to her, his blue eyes looking inside her.

"Still cold?" He asked.

Khalya nodded trying to control her shivering. She watched the tall young man lay on the sleep mat beside her. Then facing her, he took her in his arms. She did not resist.

"This should help." He said holding her close.

His tunic was open at the front and her head rested against the smooth hard skin of his chest. She began to feel warmer immediately. She wasn't sure if it was because of their combined body heat or because she had never been in such close proximity with a man before. Whatever the reason she was grateful for the warmth of his body, it seeped through her like Corellian whiskey. She liked the feel of his arms around her.

"Any better?"

"Much, thank you."

Qui-Gon sighed, this should have been a simple mission, but not one thing had gone the way it was supposed to. Khalya was a stubborn young woman. He admired her determination, but if she was not careful it might get her killed someday. Thanks to her little detour they were once again nearly five days from their destination with enough water left for maybe two or three. He had studied the Pilgrim Moon and it's inhabitants, the Noma, in hyperspace and knew they were only a couple of days away from a settlement. Hopefully they would be able to get enough water there to finish their journey. He did not like the idea of taking Khalya into one of those areas but he didn't see any other options.

Khalya shifted in his arms. She had stopped shivering. Her breath was hot on his chest and he could feel eyelashes brush against him when she blinked. Her hand rested lightly on his side. Qui-Gon found that he liked holding her in his arms. He absently began to stroke her hair until he realized what he was doing and stopped.

PART TWO

LC