Dimpled Knees and All

Oncidium

Archive: M_A and my own site. Others please ask

Category: PWP, pre-slash

Pairing: NA but leading to Q/O

Rating: G (believe it or not)

Warnings: Ummmm for cuteness? Not my usual stuff here

Summary: Obi-Wan, age 5, hates his dimpled knees

Disclaimer: The characters in this story do not belong to me; they belong to George Lucas. I just like to play with them and will try and return them in somewhat the condition in which they were found. No money was made.

Feedback: Yes, please (hellsmouth@sympatico.ca)

Notes: Thank you to my Master, Briony, and to my friend, Lynn, for tossing the ideas out to me in the first place.

Obi-Wan crawled up behind the air exchanger and peeked out. He knew that these practice salles were off limits to initiates, but something always made him risk reprimand to sneak in and watch.

As he peered around from his hiding place he could see them. Dozens of knights and masters were spread out around the large room. Some chatting, others performing the advanced sabre techniques that he loved to watch. Obi-Wan just marvelled at the grace and fluidity to their actions, as they seemed to move effortlessly from one position to the next.

Master Yoda always told him that his own clumsy fumblings would one day match, if not surpass, the beauty before him, but he remained sceptical.

A small frown creased his young forehead as he realised the knight he really came here to see was missing. He had been told that Qui-Gon Jinn was the best swordsman the Jedi had, and, after watching him from his secret place for several days, Obi-Wan could believe it. His katas were flawless and he always bested his opponents when he sparred.

Obi-Wan wanted to be just like him when he grew up.

His frown only increased as he looked down at himself. He had had to roll up his leggings above his knees in order to not get them dirty during his crawl through the ventilation shaft. What greeted him was not altogether a reassuring sight.

He had seen Qui-Gon in short leggings once, when the air exchanger was broken (how he hoped it was nothing he had done) and the room was stifling hot. The tall Jedi's legs had been long and slender, perfect for running and leaping out of harms reach.

Obi-Wan stretched his own legs out in front of him as far as they would go, but it was no use. Those horribly dimpled knees still stared back at him, mocking him and making him realise that "big" was still a long way away.

He sighed in frustration and curled the offending limbs back under himself; if he couldn't see them, he could go back to pretending his legs were lean and strong like the others. In his mind, he was big. Five, after all, is a very important age for any young Jedi. You got to move from the crèche into the initiate's dormitory. That meant that you were well on your way to becoming a Padawan.

It was just too bad someone didn't tell his body that. No one would be afraid of a Jedi with dimples in his knees.

Obi-Wan peered out again from behind the air exchanger to continue watching the grownups. They seemed very different when kids were not around. They smiled and joked and no one was saying, "No, Obi-Wan, I don't know why we call mud, mud and not wet dirt" looking very much like they might be getting a headache. Sometimes grownups could be very confusing. These were important questions, much more important than if he had four bantha burgers and he gave Bruck two, how many would he have? That answer was easy. Four. Because he would never give Bruck a bantha burger.

A high pitched squeal to the left, caught his attention and he saw two senior padawans had broken away from the rest of the group and were near his hiding spot. Make that, they were kissing next to his hiding spot. Obi-Wan made a face. He had seen that more than once, and it still just made his stomach lurch. Bant had chased him once all across the fountain garden and when she caught him, she had held him down and kissed his face.

His only opinion on that was it was embarrassing, kinda salty and took forever to convince everyone she was not his girlfriend. His face screwed up even more as the padawans continued to kiss and before he knew it, he made a loudish "Ick".

"What was that?" he heard one of them say.

"It sounds like someone is behind the air exchanger" the other said as he started to get up and come toward Obi-Wan's hiding spot.

Obi-Wan panicked and, as quickly as possible, tried to get back to the ventilation shaft, and in his haste, skinned his knees on the sharp edge. Oh, it hurt. He wanted nothing more than to sit for a moment fanning them saying "ow ow ow ow ow" while he waited for the sting to go away. This would not have happened if he had good knees like Qui-Gon and not baby ones. But he had to get away so people would not know he had sneaked into the training salle to peek, because, while he was pretty sure that Master Yaddle would not feed him to a Gundark if she got called out of council to discipline him one more time, he really did not want to test her on it.

He would just have to keep going for now and hope his knees did not come completely off before he reached the initiates' dormitory. Obi- Wan bit his lower lip and crawled for all he was worth down the narrow metal passageway, feeling the cold floor keenly under his damaged knees. Tears welled up in his eyes as the sting became worse and try as he might to tamp them down, because he was quite sure that a big Jedi like Qui-Gon would not cry, they spilled from his large, grey-blue eyes.

He was so intent his burning knees that he did not notice when he stuck his hand into a vent that angled sharply downward, sending him toppling over sideways into it. For a moment, his world consisted of a series of bumps and jolts and the vaguely disorienting feeling of rolling out of control down an unknown air vent. His stomach flipped over as it felt like it was trying to crawl into his throat on his steep, sliding descent. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and silently wished for "anywhere but here" and a moment later got his wish as he went crashing through a vent grate onto a smooth floor.

He opened his eyes, relieved that his world had stopped moving, and started to sit up. His momentary feeling of relief was soon replaced with the feeling that someone hard just poured something sour and fluttery into his stomach. He had fallen directly into a senatorial meeting room, and there, staring at him as if he were as surprising as a wookie in a bathing suit, were Master Yoda, Master Yaddle and Senator Vallorum.

Obi-Wan stood and tried to bow smartly, as he was taught to do to people who deserve respect, which when you are five means bowing to everyone, just in case. He tried not to look at the faces of the people in front of him; he knew what he would see: disappointment, maybe even some carefully controlled anger. Perhaps today he would find out if Master Yaddle was serious about the Gundark, because what kind of Jedi would he ever be? Here he was in front of two of the oldest Jedi and the person who might possibly be the next Supreme Chancellor of The Republic: a Jedi initiate who just embarrassed them by falling into the room through a ventilation shaft. His hair mussy, eyes teary, his clothes rumpled and soiled, and his knees all bloody. Now, he would never be a Jedi, but that was okay. No one would have been afraid of a Jedi with dimpled, scarred knees anyway.

He kept his eyes downcast, expecting to be reprimanded harshly, but instead he heard… laughter. First Master Yoda's chocking wheeze, then the rolling, deep thrum of Senator Vallorum and finally the higher chortle of Master Yaddle. Obi-Wan looked up and saw all three elders helpless with fits of laughter. Obi-Wan tried not to blush as the embarrassed indignation took over. Here he was, about to be tossed out of the Jedi, and all they could do was laugh.

He was going to say something about this when Master Yoda hobbled over and placed one clawed hand on his shoulder. "Believe, I do, Senator, Initiate Kenobi's entrance, marks end of our meeting, it does."

Obi-Wan boggled a little at Master Yoda. Did this mean he would not be put out of the Jedi?

"Come, young one, get knees healed, we must. Take you to meet someone, I will." Master Yoda gently led him from the room. "Long time it has been since initiate entered a room so. Take you to meet him, I will. Tell Qui-Gon, padawan, I have found him. Great future ahead, I foresee for you. Very similar you two are"

Obi-Wan smiled. Maybe there was hope for him, dimpled knees and all.