ℝ𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝔸𝕃 ➵ o. kenobi {my only hope; book 1}

【 TEN 】

     ᴘᴀᴅᴍÉ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀꜱᴛ ᴛᴏ ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜᴏᴘ. She'd taken much longer than the rest of us to say her goodbyes--I could tell she held some sort of strange fascination for the boy and the shop in general. Her enchantment with the culture was passionate enough that I allowed her to take a little longer in the shop and took it upon myself to help Qui-Gon.

Unfortunately, he seemed to be in a bad mood. He noticed me approach, then looked off into the distance, his eyes sparkling wisely. "That creature was a Toydarian," he explained. "Their minds are too strong... too twisted to be easily fooled by our mind tricks. He won't accept our Republican credits."

I swallowed. "Well, maybe I can try."

Qui-Gon shook his head. "I tried twice. The second time took a lot out of me, yet it still didn't work. I don't want you overexerting yourself for something that may not even work."

I nodded obligingly, backing down. I crossed my arms under my fabric poncho, glancing thoughtfully at Qui-Gon. "So what do we do?"

He sighed deeply, crossing his arms as well. "We try to find a way to gather the money Watto is looking for. Something to trade, perhaps."

Just then, Padmé approached, looking thoughtful. She respectfully didn't ask questions and left Qui-Gon to think, but she shot a look at me, curious. I merely shrugged.

But then, as I thought about Qui-Gon's proposition, something struck me. Something to trade, he'd said. Something of value.

"Well," I spoke up slowly, "we may not have anything of value here with us, but perhaps the others do?" I gestured toward the outskirts where we'd come from. "We can comm Obi-Wan--ask if he can find anything on the ship we can use to trade."

Qui-Gon glanced at me, an astute look on his face. Then he slowly smiled. "Wonderful idea, Emeré."

"Thank you," I replied simply, and gestured toward him. "Would you like to do the honors?"

I had a comm just like Qui-Gon--he'd given one to me just before we'd left the ship--but I was still determined not to make contact with Obi-Wan unless I needed to. I'd let Qui-Gon do the talking.

Qui-Gon pulled his comm out of his pocket, looking around cautiously. He held out an arm, gesturing for our group to gather into a small nearby alley, away from the crowd. As soon as we were all safe and secure, Qui-Gon spoke into his com-link, waiting for a connection with his apprentice. "Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan, come in."

"Yes, Master?" Obi-Wan's response was almost immediate, his voice sounding almost urgent.

"I'm trying to secure the ship parts," Qui-Gon replied, "but Republican credits don't work out here. We need something to trade... something valuable. I'd like you to search the ship for anything we may be able to trade with a Toydarian."

"Yes, Master," Obi-wan replied. There was a silence for a moment as we heard him shuffling through the ship. "But if you don't mind me asking, why can't you just use a Jedi Mind Trick?"

"I tried," Qui-Gon sighed. "Twice. Their minds are too strong to be manipulated by the Force."

Obi-Wan hesitated. "And did you let Emeré try?"

"I'm not letting her try something that could drain her so easily," Qui-Gon snapped, his voice sharper than I'd ever heard it.

"It might not-"

"Enough, Obi-Wan."

Qui-Gon's voice was so jagged and forceful even I flinched. I'd never heard him speak that way before. He was always so full of peace, the epitome of patience. I'd never imagined he'd get sharp with anyone, especially Obi-Wan.