Anakin ran pell-mell down the street, avoiding various aliens and apologizing when his haphazard run for freedom knocked somebody over. He knew his behavior was less than dignified, but he felt he had no choice; the sun was already gone, and Anakin didn't really know where he was. Ani had originally intended to spend thirty minutes, maybe an hour away from the temple, but he had found a lovely park, fallen asleep under a tree, and time had gotten away from him. Really gotten away from him. There was no sign of the sun in the sky. At least it never really got dark on Coruscant, so he was able to see his way. That was the Jedi temple up ahead, wasn't it?

There was no way he was going to avoid being in big trouble over this one.

He forced himself to slow down. At least he could try to sneak back into his room and "catch it" in the morning, rather than now. It would be hard to sleep with a sore backside.

If Anakin had been more attentive to his surroundings and less concerned about his destination, he might have noticed the danger he was in.

***

Motatto was a slave dealer. One of his favorite things to do was to catch beautiful, succulent little children and sell them to the highest bidder. Children were a great commodity in the upper circles. When he saw Anakin, he thought his dreams had come true.

Motatto only hesitated to take the boy right away because of his clothing. The child was wearing a Jedi outfit, Padawan hair-do included. If the kid knew enough to do some damage, then Motatto would be in trouble. His ugly Squid-like head would be squished against the nearest wall. If, however, as he suspected from the boy's clumsy flight, the child was not yet adept in the ways of the Jedi, he should make an easy target. And Motatto knew one more thing that made this whole affair seem very attractive:

No Padawan would be allowed out this late without a chaperone. And this unfortunate child had none.

So he followed in his small transport, keeping up easily with the boy's flight, waiting for his opportunity to come. And come it did.

***

Anakin stopped running for a moment, catching his breath. It seemed to him that the Jedi Temple was not getting any nearer. It also seemed that he had been facing it from an entirely different direction just a little while ago...

Drat. Not lost. Not now.

Some people have the worst luck, he thought to himself as he jogged down a side ally in an attempt to short-cut his way to the temple.

Motatto parked his transport just outside the entrance to alleyway and followed the boy in on foot.

Anakin ran to a stop, glaring at the brick wall that stood between him and his goal. Debating whether or not to turn back or simply climb over the wall, Anakin at first did not notice the footsteps behind him. It was his sense of another living being rather than his hearing that alerted him to Motatto's presence. He turned.

"Are you lost, little boy?" asked Motatto, edging closer, careful to keep his tazer-like tranquilizer hidden up the sleeve of his dingy yellow robe. Such perfect skin the child had!

"Um..." Anakin knew this squid-head was trouble, but he saw no way out. Squiddy and his stupid transport blocked the way. "I'm just on my way back to the temple. I - ah, I study there, you know. I'm a Jedi!" Anakin tried to judge the running distance between him and the street. Too far to be heard well if he screamed.

Motatto chuckled. "Going to be a Jedi, I think you mean, my lovely young Padawan." He edged closer, wondering if that delicious golden hair was natural. It would be such a pain to have to worry about a dye job. "Are you all alone out here?" he asked.

Anakin did not answer. He was momentarily distracted by another... presence, this one very close by, very powerful, but not menacing at all. He was trying to focus on it when Motatto made his move. Before Anakin could react, the squid head leaped forward and shot him squarely in the chest with the tazer. Anakin yelped, then immediate slumped to the ground.

"Well, that was easier than I expected," said the slaver, and picking up the boy, turned to leave.

There was a figure standing between him and his transport… "Excuse me," she asked in tones of polite steel. "I don't believe that child belongs to you." The speaker threw her hood back, revealing a young, pale humanoid female. Motatto still held the tranquilizer in his hand. Might as well have two for the price of one, he thought, and placing the child on the ground, walked slowly toward the human female.

"Just a little trouble with my ward," he said. "Nothing serious. Can I help you with something, miss..." and without waiting for the girl to answer, he lunged at her.

She was incredibly fast.

Before Motatto knew what had hit him, she had stepped aside, grabbed his arm, kicked his right knee out from under him, slammed him to the ground, sat on his shoulders, and was now holding the tazer - his very own tazer! - inches from his face.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she answered, and shot him with the tranquilizer right in the head. Leaving his limp form where he lay, Morru turned and walked quickly to the boy the squid head had dropped behind.

"Oh, you poor thing," she cooed as she knelt over his small form, truly feminine inflections coming into her voice for the first time in days. She noticed his uniform.

"Well, my young Padawan," she said, eyebrow arching wryly. "I'd say you're in for big trouble when you get back to the temple." She looked around. "This is no place to leave you." Sigh. "I guess I'll just have to take you there."

Morru S'mec rose with Anakin in her arms, his weight not seemingly a problem to her. She exited the alley and put Anakin down for just a moment, long enough to use a combox to call the local security to come and pick Motatto up. She had just turned back toward the Jedi temple when she felt a hand grab her arm from behind.

"Hey, what are you..." began a male voice, but that was as far as he got. Without hesitating, Morru grabbed the offending stranger's arm and threw him against the wall with all of her strength.

Obi-Wan slammed into the wall very hard.

He looked up to see a very beautiful, very not-dangerous-looking young woman staring down at him. Morru was surprised and a little concerned to find that she had thrown a Jedi Knight. They stared at one another, neither quite sure of what they should do, when to the good fortune of all, Anakin awakened.

"Ugh..." he groaned. Obi-Wan immediately turned to him. "Anakin! Anakin, are you all right?"

"Um, yeah..." the small boy answered. Morru took on a slightly less defensive posture. "You know this man?" she asked the boy, although by now she had already guessed the answer. She desperately hoped everything she had heard about the Jedi never reacting in anger was true.

"Yes." Anakin said, then turned to Obi-Wan. "This lady saved me," he pointed at her. Obi-Wan looked questioningly at Morru.

"My name is Morru S'mec," she said. "Mor-ru Sam-mec" sounded out Anakin. "I saw this boy - Anakin - about to get kidnapped by a fellow I knew to be a slaver named Motatto, and thought I'd help. I take it you are his teacher?"

Obi-Wan stood and walked over to her. "I am. Thank you. We owe you." He was captivated by her eyes. Deep, dark violet, the black pupils matched by a black ring around each iris. Beautiful.

Morru smiled. "Hm. Second time today a Jedi has said that to me." Obi-Wan's stare grew questioning. "Never mind," she said, then her tone grew apologetic. "Sorry if I hurt you," (Obi-Wan tried to look impervious) "But I'm used to living on the rougher side of life. I didn't know who you were." Obi-Wan smiled.

"That's all right. I'm fine," he said, resisting the urge to work out the kinks in his neck. "If there's anything we can do to repay you..."

Morru thought for a moment. "Well, if you're in a mood to repay, I could really use a place to spend the night. I have no money, but I can work hard, if that is required."

"Um..." Obi-Wan knew he was standing closer to the girl than was really proper, but he couldn't seem to help himself. Her eyes..."I'm afraid policy allows no strangers to spend the night in the temple except under extremely unusual circumstances," he said, his voice as silky as he could make it. "But I might be able to find a place for you somewhere else." this was crazy. What was he doing? This woman could be anything - a murderer, a thief.

Anakin walked over and took her hand. "Thank you, Morru." Obi-Wan looked at him. The boy was a good judge of character; and it was true, she had done them a service. "All right," he said, and shook her hand. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, at your service," he said. "Come with me." He began to lead the way down the street to one of the outlying residences around the Jedi Temple.

"You will be able to spend to night in safety in one of these places," he said, not at all sure why he was doing what he was doing. "Just please... behave. My head will be on the block if you cause any trouble," he said, casting a sideways glance in her direction.

She chuckled. "Don't worry. I can handle myself."

"So I noticed," said the Jedi, rubbing his arm where he and the wall had made intimate acquaintances.

"I'm not going to get in too much trouble, am I?" asked Anakin worriedly. Obi-Wan knew what he meant: "am I going to get kicked out of the temple?"

"No," replied Obi-Wan. "Although I think you will be personally responsible for the cleanliness of the floors in the Padawan quarters for some time to come." He stopped walking and knelt to eye-level with the boy. "I'm just glad you're all right. Qui-Gon told me to look after you, and..." he couldn't finish. Anakin understood; silently, he made a vow never to do anything like this again - not if it would hurt his Master Kenobi. He had never meant to do that. Would never do that.

He embraced Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan hugged him back. This was the first time they had made such contact.

Morru watched this tender exchange carefully. She had heard of the Padawan-Knight relationships, of course, but she had never been privileged to see one up close before. It made her heart long painfully for something she didn't quite understand.

The three continued their way into the darkness, toward hearth and home and out of the night.

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