Master Apprentice Archive Happy Birthday! Quick search:

Rating: PG

Spoilers: None

Category: Humor, non-slash

Warnings: Unbetaed, so read at your own risk

Archive: Yes

Summary: Obi-Wan gives Qui-Gon a special birthday present.

"Happy birthday, Master!" Obi-Wan grinned at his teacher. The expression on his face was somewhere between hopeful, shy, and excited.

Qui-Gon raised his eyes from his datareader. How had the boy known it was his birthday? He hadn't told him.

"Master Yoda says it's your birthday. He said that you're forty-nine today." Obi-Wan stared down at the floor. He toed the carpet with his boot.

Qui-Gon nodded. It was true.

"That's almost half a century," the boy announced as if Qui-Gon didn't know this simple fact.

"Yes. It is," Qui-Gon sighed. Didn't the boy have something to do other than pester him about his advancing years?

"Five decades. Wow. You're almost four times as old as I. I'm only a quarter your age."

"Don't you have some homework or assignments to catch up on? It's not often we're home at the temple. You need to make the most your time here."

"I finished all of my homework. I'm all caught up."

"Done so soon? Perhaps I should assign more work for you," Qui-Gon replied with the barest hint of a smile.

Obi-Wan couldn't tell if his master was joking or not. Never the less, the thought of more work drained the color from his face. "Come to think of it, there are a few more things I could do."

"I thought so." Qui-Gon returned to his reading, ignoring the boy staring at him. The stare became uncomfortable, but he ignored it. Finally after several minuets, he couldn't take it any more. In frustration, he put down his datareader. "What?"

"Remember last year when you gave me that rock for my birthday?"

"Yes."

"Well, it was a very nice rock, and I really like it." The boy was still looking down at the floor, nervous. "It's your birthday this time and I want to give you something nice too. Something that you'd like."

"That's okay, Obi-Wan. You don't have to get me anything. As a padawan you don't have the time or money to spend. I understand."

Finally, the fourteen-year-old lifted his gaze from the carpet. "But I did get you something."

Qui-Gon hadn't received a birthday present for over thirty years. He was both surprised and curious. "What did you get me?"

"I'll go get it!" He ran into his room and returned with a potted houseplant. He then presented it to his master with a hopeful gaze. "Do you like it?"

"It's very nice," Qui-Gon said, accepting his gift. "I like plants."

Obi-Wan's shyness disappeared at the compliment. "It's a herb."

What kind was it? It looked familiar. Qui-Gon took a closer look at the plant's leaves. He blinked in surprise. It couldn't be. He looked again. It was.

The plant had many names. In the outer rim it was known as cheep-trip or silly-weed. Here in the core worlds it was often called poor man's spice. They were all different names for the same plant. Its leaves contained widely used and relatively mild drug that was illegal on most worlds, including Courscant.

Where had his padawan gotten such a contraband item? Just a hand-full of leaves was enough to get him several weeks of community service. An entire plant would get him fined and thrown in jail for a few weeks. "Where did you get it?"

"On Rylass-Six, during the camping trip. I saw you and Master Windu picking the leaves and eating them. You seemed to like them. You both ate a whole bunch. I don't know why. I thought they tasted nasty."

Qui-Gon's face reddened in embarrassment. The boy wasn't supposed to see that.

"So I took a bunch of seed-pods," Obi-Wan said. "I put them in my backpack and brought them home."

His padawan was now a drug smuggler. Great. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. He felt a headache coming.

Obi-Wan continued his tale. "You're always saying that I should make an effort to connect with the living force. So I planted them in the gardens. There--"

"--You planted them in the gardens?" Qui-Gon interrupted. "Here, at the temple?"

"Yep!" the boy was obviously proud to contribute to the bio-diversity of the temple gardens. "I planted a bunch in the herb gardens by the kitchens. I put more in the meditation gardens."

Qui-Gon felt the color drain from his once red face. "How many gardens?"

The boy shrugged. "Originally five. Maybe six."

Qui-Gon blinked. "Originally?"

"Yeah, they're in other gardens now too. I think the birds are spreading the seeds around. I even saw a few in the fountain gardens. I don't know how they got in there. I've never seen any birds in there. Anyway, I dug one up and potted it for you."

"Thank-you for your thoughtfulness, Padawan." Qui-Gon couldn't quite keep the sarcasm from his voice. "I shall treasure this gift."

Obi-Wan grinned; the sarcasm lost on him. "Happy birthday!"

The End