FEEDBACK: Yes, please on-list or off at bogart_and_lily@yahoo.com
NOTES: I seem to be on a roll. And I have been told on good authority
that *this topic* never came to mind when I first threw this bunny
out. Thanks again to Obi-Ki for her impromptu beta :=)

When you are a Jedi Master with a young Padawan of 11 years, life
could be taxing. More than taxing indeed - the one word floating
around Mace Windu's mind this morning would have been closer to
"impossible".

"And you know what she then hung right in front of my nose, Qui? Do
you have any idea?"

Spearing another bit of scrabbled egg from his plate, Jedi Master
Mace Windu let the events of this morning once again pass before his
mind's eye...

**********

The sun had been brilliant this very morning. He always slept well
when his mate of several years - Qui-Gon Jinn - had been over to
talk. Talk and "relax" as they liked to call it, given that Mace was
sharing his quarters with his 11 year old Padawan, Depa Billaba.

Yes, the sun was shining and Mace did not have a worry in the world,
laying on his back in the bed he had shared with Qui-Gon a few hours
ago. However, his delighted reminiscences were crudely interrupted
when all of a sudden the mattress started to dip and sway
precariously, bouncing him almost off the bed and onto the floor.

"Mastaah, Maaastaaaah, look here. LOOOOOOOK! Am I a woman now?"

Mace had barely opened his eyes when a piece of reddish cloth was
waving in front of his eyes, tickling his nose. In an instant, Mace
recognized the smell hitting his nose as it came off the offending
piece in front of his nose.

Blood!

With a jerk, the Jedi Master had been up and off his bed, grabbing
his small apprentice by her arms, holding her tightly and almost
shouting into her face. "Are you injured, Depa? Have you cut yourself
or fallen or..."

Before he could finish, the girl rolled her eyes and amusedly looked
on as her Master's face changed from incredulous to shocked then back
to simply aghast.

"But Master, you told me it would happen. We talked about it, right?
A year ago? That it was inevitable? Look, am I a woman now?"

Mace took the reddish cloth and on careful inspection recognized it
for what it really was - a pair of underpants with some obvious
darkish-red stains on them.

"Dee, this is...this...is...great." Mace was speechless, maybe more
because of his overtly frantic behavior from a mere second ago.

"Yes, YES! I have my period, Master! WOOOHOOO! I'm a woman, just like
you told me. Oh, I will tell Hedrin and Fran and G*Rekk and *all* the
others!"

Happily, Depa bounced out of Mace's bedroom again, babbling happily
to herself, leaving her Master behind with some very mixed emotions.
**********

"So she woke you up with her ..." Qui-Gon was stopped by a stern,
pleasing look and a hiss coming from his mate who sat opposite him at
a table in the dining hall of the Jedi temple.

"Yes, yes, for Force sake. No need to bellow it out to the whole
Temple, Qui. I told her it was the most natural thing, and that she
should be proud and ... You never had a female Padawan, did you?"

No.

No, from the look on Qui-Gon's face, Mace was sure his lover never
had to deal with the joys of being the Master of a now happily
pubescent, healthy female apprentice.

"You could have ask the healers for something to prevent all the
bloody mess. We *do* live in civilized times now, Mace!" Master
Jinn's chiding wasn't going over well with the dark-skinned man.

"Oh yes? Do you really think I have failed to notice, old chap! No, I
didn't want that for her. She should experience this new chapter in
her life, at least for the first few times. My people, on my home
world, they treasure women who now is ready to carry on the family
name." A small smile danced around the younger man's lips. "Means I
need to have an even closer eye on her?" The smile turned into a
stifled groan as bits and pieces of a conversation from the Padawan
tables floated over to Mace and Qui.

"You serious? Man, your Master is so kewl. So tell me, does it hurt
and...stuff?" Giggling droned out the rest of Depa's no doubt
detailed account of her transition into womanhood.

"Well, Mace, guess you'll have to stop telling her about the bees and
the birds, hm,?"

"I never *did* tell her that bogus tale, Qui! You know that, and I am
quite sure she knows what's going on when you come over to ...
"relax"? So please..."

Qui-Gon grinned broadly and then stood, bowing mockingly towards his
mate. "She will be perfectly fine, Mace, and you did a wonderful
thing for her there, Mace. Come, let me beat the Sith out of you in
the gym, *old man*."

And with laughter and a much lighter heart Mace Windu followed
Qui-Gon out the dining hall, cherishing the delighted laughs of his
Padawan.

The End