#padawan bant

24) Dinner

It was loud and lively, decided Qui-Gon Jinn, but he would not have it any other way. THIS was, what Christmas was truly about, spending time with your loved ones, not the presents, even though they WERE a welcome tradition.

“Can you pass me the sauce, please?” asked Tahl aloud and not a moment later, did Yan reach for the bowl, to give it to Mace, who in turn gave it the honey skinned female. “Thank you. Bant, do you want some too?”

“Yes please,” the Mon Calamari smiled at her teacher.

Qui-Gon was silently enjoying the meal. He was beyond happy that his Master had arrived the previous day, just in time for him to be properly invited to come to his and Obi-Wan’s rooms. Needless to say, the ginger haired Padawan had been beyond delighted to be able to meet his Grandmaster and to thank him properly for the comfortable and warm sweater that he was wearing today.

“So Master,” Qui-Gon turned towards his former Master, “you still have not told me, how your latest mission was.”

Yoda, who was sitting across from Obi-Wan, was alert as well. He had even stopped levitating things onto his Great-Grandpadawan’s plate. Qui-Gon felt a little sorry for Obi-Wan, after all he was ‘forced’ to eat much more than he usual did.

“It went well, it just took much longer for the two fractions to settle down, that is all,” the older male answered honestly.

“What was the conflict about?” asked Obi-Wan.

“The usual,” replied Yan, but as he saw the confusion appear on young freckled features, did he quickly add, “power, money and wealth, my very young boy.”

“Talk about this, we should not. Enjoy the feast, we should,” Yoda cut in.

“Indeed, my Master.”

“Now Qui-Gon, you have yet to tell Mace and me, if you agree,” Tahl was widely smirking and almost immediately, Qui-Gon felt all eyes on him.

“Tahl,” he said in a warning tone. This was about Mace’s and Tahl’s idea to put him into a Santa Clause costume so that the children could have their fun while getting their presents.

“What are you talking about, Master?” asked the female Mon Calamari.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, my dear.”

“This is a topic between the adults,” said Mace Windu. Qui-Gon shot him a glare too. “Well?”

“Fine, I’ll do it… if you stop nagging me,” the bearded man with the long chestnut brown hair replied eventually.

“Good,” Tahl clapped her hands and resumed eating, while the tall male pouted.

“Of course you will all stay here the night,” said Mace, while looking into the crowd. It was a pity that his own former Padawan, had not been able to attend. She had fallen ill, but she had not wanted for her Master to miss the event. He would visit her later however, that much was clear.

“Master Yoda can take my bed,” offered Obi-Wan.

“Grateful, I am,” said the green troll. It was no secret that he and Obi-Wan shared a special bond, so it was no wonder that they were smiling at each other.

“Master, you can take my bed,” said Qui-Gon. Dooku inclined his head, he would not speak with his mouth full.

“A good thing that Bant and I brought an air mattress,” Tahl said.

“We’ll share,” piped in the Mon Calamari.

“I will return to Depa, the Force knows she needs me, but I will come back around midday,” promised Made. He regretted not being able to spent time with the rest, it was part of their tradition.

“I guess that leaves the couch to us, Padawan mine,” Qui-Gon said while glancing at Obi-Wan. The boy nodded eagerly. It would not be the first night they spent on the couch, sleeping together and it would certainly not be the last. Qui-Gon was just glad that his Padawan was still so small, otherwise he actually would need to get a new couch, a bigger one.

“That’s settled then,” concluded Yan, before he reached out to light the fourth candle again. It had been blown out during the commotion of setting the table.

18) Cookies

“Now, now Qui-Gon, there is no need to look so glum,” Mace Windu was beyond amused and it had – for once – nothing to do with the little bell in the taller male’s hair.

“Oh shut up you,” growled Qui-Gon. “If it was your kitchen that will soon turn into a battle field of bakery, you would be ‘glum’ too.”

The dark skinned female, who had been silently laughing up until now, snorted loudly. “We are going to help you clean it up,” she promised.

“You said that the last time as well,” Qui-Gon sighed and let the sentence trail off. It would do him no good to argue with his two friends. They had arranged the Christmas baking and Obi-Wan and Bant were talking of nothing else the last few days and now there was no going back. Force, they had even asked Mace to help, since the Korun Master knew one or two things about baking.

Speaking of the Padawans, a certain ginger haired human male just came running into the kitchen. He was wearing an old tunic, that was just a little bit too small for him and of course there was that little silver bell jingling in his Padawan braid.

“Washed your hands?” asked Qui-Gon fondly.

“Yes Master,” nodded the boy eagerly. Tahl and Mace were meanwhile exchanging amused looks behind the tall man’s back.

“Let me see,” demanded Qui-Gon kindly and Obi-Wan dutifully held up both his hands.

The long haired man smirked evilly and before any of the present Jedi could react, Obi-Wan found himself covered in flour.

“I think, you need to do a better job at washing up.” He grinned. “See it as my revenge for the snow you put in the back of my tunic, young man.”

“I thought Jedi are not supposed to follow the path of revenge, Master,” the Jedi in training was not amused, not at all and it did not help that his Master’s best friends were laughing at him.

“Then see it as a lesson in humility, insolent brat of mine,” he turned back to the giggling Masters, “I think somebody said something about making cookies…”

He did not notice when Bant joined her friend’s side and the two quietly planned their revenge, which turned out to be a certain long haired Jedi Master, who was covered in dough and other substances and was therefore in desperate need of a bath. The state of his kitchen was just as bad and before he could so much as declare their little ‘fun activity’ as finished, Obi-Wan had vanished into the fresher.

“That Padawan of yours is certainly a little devil,” commented Mace, who picked some dough out of his friend’s hair.

“Yeah,” agreed Qui-Gon, “isn’t that great?” his tone was happy.

The Korun Master huffed, but then shrugged. “Whatever you say.”

Meanwhile Tahl and Bant were putting the last baking sheets into the stove. They just needed to clean up now, though that would undoubtedly be the worst part of the work and of course they would need to keep an eye on the cookies.

It was only after Obi-Wan had reemerged from the fresher – he had even left some warm water for his still dirty Master – that they sat down in Qui-Gon’s living room, content and happy with what they achieved.

22) Elves

For the briefest of moments, Qui-Gon thought that Master Yoda had somehow found a way to infiltrate his and Obi-Wan’s apartment, but on the second glance, he was glad to discover that that was not the case.

“Obi-Wan? Is that you, Padawan?” asked the long haired Jedi Master.

“Why yes, Master,” now that the boy had turned around, Qui-Gon could actually see the all too familiar blue-green eyes and the countless freckles on his features.

Midnight blue eyes blinked. “What are you wearing and… why?” he eventually managed to spit out.

The boy, whose ginger hair was mostly hidden under a green and red striped pointy hat with a tourie at the end, flushed a light shade of red. “Bant bullied me into this,” he said in his defense.

Now, Qui-Gon found it hard to believe that sweet little Bant was even able to ‘bully’ anyone into anything, but he decided to let the matter drop for now. “And what exactly has she bullied you into?” he raised an eyebrow, while his eyes roamed over the costume. Obi-Wan was wearing a dark green jacket, with red trousers and white-red striped socks. He looked a little like a clown, just more fancy.

“The children in the crèche will get sweets today and the Masters were looking for Padawans, who would play Christmas Elves this year… Bant desperately wanted to join, but she did not want to do it alone,” he shrugged.

Leave it to his Padawan, to sacrifice himself for another’s dream and wish. “I see,” now the costume made sense. And only now did he notice the fake pointy ears, as well as the bells that were sewed onto the costume. “Who made the costume?”

“Master Tahl, she is really talented, don’t you think?” Obi-Wan grinned up at him.

“Indeed,” he was truly impressed, especially since he had not known that his friend could do such things.

A knock at the door interrupted their little chat. “Obi-Wan? Are you ready yet?” called a familiar female voice.

“Yes Bant, I’m coming,” he called right back. “I’ve got to go,” he said to his amused Master. Without waiting for an answer, he jumped forward, wrapping his arms around the taller male’s middle and squeezing tightly. He pulled back again, grinned and was gone out of the door the next moment.

4) Mistletoe

Obi-Wan maneuvered himself and his Master around cartons and boxes full of decoration equipment. And even though the older male had just helped him, was it clear that Qui-Gon still had no desire to actually help with the decorations, so the Padawan did not even try his luck with his teacher. Instead he would take what he could get and right now, the man was in a good mood, which meant that he would accompany him through the halls. That was certainly better than sparring, though Qui-Gon had planned that for later, and much better than studying.

Usually, Obi-Wan was a faithful and good student, but during the Christmas season, even he wanted and NEEDED a break.

 “Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon sounded both amused and also a little bit as if he was suffering, “slow down, would you?”

Blue-green eyes sheepishly looked at the older male. “Sorry Master,” he replied and did indeed slow down. He did not let go of the larger hand however, there was no way that he would let the man escape.

Qui-Gon had already opened his mouth to say something else, when a female voice cut in. “Qui, I can’t believe that you actually came out of that cave of yours.”

Tahl Ya’qul was a very close friend of Qui-Gon. She had honey colored skin and her gold-green striped eyes were very intelligent. She was also the Master of Obi-Wan’s best friend, the Mon Calamari girl, Bant Eerin.

“Very funny,” grumbled the taller Jedi.

“Hello Bant,” Obi-Wan had finally let go of his Master’s hand in order to greet his friend properly. It had been quite a while since the two of them had last seen each other, after all, their Master’s were busy people and quite skilled as well.

“It is good to see you,” Tahl’s teasing had been replaced by a gentle tone. She smiled honestly up at the older male, who looked as if he was not sure, if he should be amused or annoyed.

“Indeed,” he said. The Noorian’s gaze had been caught by something else, but before Qui-Gon could ask, the female leaned close, their faces only inches apart, but the long haired male pulled away sharply. “What in the name of the Force are you doing?” he hissed. It was not like he wanted her to stop, in fact he loved her dearly and he wanted to do nothing more than kiss her, but they were in public and there was no way that he would threaten any of their careers, their Padawans’ included.

The female shot him a disbelieving stare. “I am following traditions, like our Padawans.”

Qui-Gon looked to his side, just in time to see his ginger haired brat place a short kiss on the giggling Mon Calamari’s cheek, before she returned the favor. She was obviously flustered, but at least she did not flush a bright red like Obi-Wan did, who looked truly embarrassed. The Jedi Master furrowed his brow. It seemed he had missed something.

“Qui-Gon,” the oldest female spoke patiently. She positioned two of her slender fingers under the man’s prominent chin and tilted his face up. “It is just a mistletoe,” she chuckled.

“Ah,” he awkwardly cleared his throat. “Well…” he was sure that he was as bright as his Padawan.

Tahl decided to have mercy on her friend. She shook her head, pushed a dreadlock out of her face and then leaned up again, sealing their lips for a few sweet seconds.

 Dazed blue eyes blinked and their owner’s mouth opened a couple of times, but no words escaped him.

Bant started to giggle loudly and even Obi-Wan chuckled at the sight of a dignified Jedi Master in such a position. Qui-Gon shot them an annoyed look, then his eyes met Tahl’s again and the two older Jedi acted as one. Each of them bolted forward, getting a hold on their Padawans, before pressing a wet kiss in Tahl’s case and a scratchy one in Qui-Gon’s case, on their student’s cheeks. They did not seem to overly mind though, quite the opposite actually, even while Obi-Wan was rubbing his face.