In•hale

There is no Passion, There is Serenity

"Hey Obi-Wan?" Chalset asked, munching on her cold porridge. He looked up at her, eyebrow raised and smacking rather loudly on his own cold porridge. Making her feel worse. "What do you think the Council wants us for? Us and our masters I mean. Usually they will only send for two Jedi to keep the peace somewhere."

Obi-Wan glanced around the eating room, a thoughtful look on his face. "If they're going to send four of us, then the situation may be worse than usual. That is if it even is a bad situation. They could be calling us for any reason really."

Chalset nodded, finished her food, and stood up, ready to leave. "Come on Obi. Better to be early than late." she said, slipping her hands in the opposite sleeves of her robe.

Obi-Wan nodded, said a brief "I'll catch up to you," and watched Chalset as she began to leave the room. She looked troubled for some reason, so Obi-Wan tried to look into her mind to see what was wrong.

Only to be met with strong mental blocks.

Wow, he thought, that's not something she does often. I wonder what was so wrong that she felt the need to put up mental blocks. Is she that worried about the meeting? No. Knowing Chalset, she's probably thinking about something that had nothing to do with the current situation.

He placed his tray on the counter and hurried out the room to catch up with Chalset on her walk to the Council room.

Obi-Wan, though he didn't know it at the time, was right about Chalset worrying about something that had nothing to do with the present matter at hand. When she was looking at him that morning, she felt something. Something that as a Jedi she was not supposed to feel. That's why she left as quickly as she could, knowing that Obi-Wan was nowhere near done with his breakfast.

And that's also why she was quite surprised when he appeared next to her while she was speed walking to get as far away as she could.

Blast. She thought.

"Hey, slow down!" Obi-Wan whined. "The meeting doesn't start for another good thirty minutes!"

Chalset didn't stop her speed, the one thing she could focus on besides him. "Like I said, better early than late." she murmured.

Since when did she start acting like she wants to go to Council meetings? Obi-wan thought. "If I didn't know better, "he joked, "I'd say you were avoiding me."

A nervous laughter escaped Chalset's throat. "Now why would I be avoiding you? You're my closest friend not the farthest."

A few more seconds of fast walking, and she finally slowed down. The feeling wasn't there anymore, it was replaced by pure nerves. The Council could be quite harsh sometimes; as if they were scrutinizing your every move.

As they approached the hallway that led to the Council room, Chalset came to a halting stop and gulped. Obi-Wan stopped beside her, his hands clasped behind his back

"Well you're the one that wanted to get here so early. What happened to your passionate stride?" he said, humor hiding in his voice.

Chalset glared at him, and resumed walking to the Council room. When the Masters inside felt their presence, the door opened and Chalset and Obi-Wan found that their own Masters were already there standing in the middle of the room.

Inside, there were twelve comfortable seats that surrounded the room in a circle, one in particular shaped like a bowl for Grand Master Yoda himself. Five of the seats were unoccupied, one of which Chalset's master, Plo Koon would have been sitting in if he wasn't standing because he too was on the Council. The floor obtained a delicate design of triangles and one large circle in the middle. The window that surrounded the room gave you a beautiful view of Coruscant, the world that was covered with nothing but buildings.

When they entered the room, a quick look of disappointment from Qui-Gon let them both know that something was wrong. Master Yoda spoke up first.

"Hmm, come to join us, the two padawans have. Enter our conversation, they can."

Qui-Gon came second. "We just received word from Bostick saying that you two were scavenging the kitchen after hours?"

Obi-Wan's face turned a shade of red.

"Really this is quite a disappointment. I expect much better from you." Plo Koon added.

Finally, Mace Windu joined in on the conversation. "Bostick is demanding that the two of you scrub his entire kitchen, which in turn, I agree with."

Before Chalset could speak up and say that it was her idea and they shouldn't punish Obi-Wan, Master Yoda began talking once again.

"But do it now, you will now. More important duties to do, you have." The little green being shifted in his chair and the mood of the room suddenly grew much more tense. "The Trade Federation has cut off all supplies to the planet Naboo, it seems. A blockade around Naboo, the Federation has. A negotiation there must be to dissolve this dispute."

"The Trade Federation doesn't want to pay taxes to do their work. They've organized a blockade in some sort of protest. The Senate has already voted against it, and now Supreme Chancellor Valorum is sending you to Naboo to the head Federation ship to negotiate with the Federation's leader, Viceroy Nute Gunray, to remove the blockade at once." Master Windu continued. "Master Yoda senses that something will go wrong during the mission. This is why we're sending four of you. We can never be too cautious."

"When would you like us to leave?" Qui-Gon asked.

"As soon as possible." Ki-Adi-Mundi, another one of the Council members said. "We cannot leave Naboo without their necessities to live for long. Queen Amidala has asked us to help her people, and that we must do."