Disclaimer: Characters portrayed within belong to George Lucas
and
LucasFilm. And he didn't treat them any better than I am.
Categories: AU
WARNING: Character death! Run while you can!
Rating: G (sorry smut-bunnies, but there wasn't time for that)
Summary: It could so easily have gone the other way - and maybe
it should have. Who can tell?
"Here is a test to find whether your mission on earth is
finished: If you're
alive, it isn't." (Richard Bach, Illusions)
Kneeling, Obi-Wan steadied himself, controlling his breath,
meditating on the task at hand. He must stay balanced,
centered, hold on to his inner calm, or the consequences would
be catastrophic. Not just to himself - but to the entire
Republic.
The Sith Lord prowled back and forth in front of him, wasting
energy in display and intimidation. Good - let the Dark
creature posture and scowl - it would make things easier, even
if only minimally. Soon the force fields would cycle, and he
would be faced with the final confrontation of this running
battle. The only way out of the melting pit was past him or
Qui-Gon - or straight down.
Behind him he could sense his Master, frustrated by the force
field separating him from his Padawan. Obi-Wan understood his
frustration all too well, having lived it himself over and over
again in his dreams. Dreams that had scared him so badly he had
taken them to the healers, afraid that he had contracted some
strange brain illness. After examination and meditation, they
had sent him to Master Yoda, to confer about the new talent
that was manifesting itself as a part of his development as a
Jedi - the ability to dream truly.
Not all Jedi could read the future - and it really wasn't one
future revealed. Some Jedi had dreams and visions of possible
futures, things that might happen if certain measures were not
taken, or of something that could happen if this and such could
be done. Obi-Wan, it appeared, was one of these who could.
Master Yoda had gently shown him what to do, how to work with
the ability as much as possible, and had cautioned him about
sharing what he saw.
"Great your gift might be, yes, but so great a gift it is not
for those whose future you see. Ignorant, most wish to be.
Think you that thank you they will, when you warning give them
of the future?"
"But Master Yoda, if I can prevent such dangers and deaths,
shouldn't I tell them? Shouldn't I tell him?"
"Great responsibility, this talent is. You must mindful of the
future be, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Force, guide you in this it
will. Meditate upon this you should - then do as you feel you
must."
And so he had meditated long and hard, and used the lessons
Yoda had taught him to work with the dreams, trying to work out
a conclusion more satisfactory than the original which had
disturbed him so badly. After many months of disturbed sleep
and even more disturbed meditations, he had finally seen a path
which he felt he could follow.
A path which he purposefully hid from his Master.
At first, the alternate path seemed as troublesome as the first
dream - a dream which began with pain and sorrow, and ended in
a disaster so huge that it was almost beyond his comprehension.
But as he thought upon it and worried in the teeth of his mind,
it took shape and form as the only way to avert the potential
tragedy he saw approaching. The other way also began in pain
and sorrow, and there was certainly enough death and
destruction along the way - but it alone of all his visions
ended with the forces of Light unfallen. Bloody, bowed, and
battered, yes - but unfallen.
And so here he was - fighting a Dark Lord of the Sith, his
Master separated from him in the course of the battle and thus
to late to get to the malignant being before Obi-Wan did. A
delay which Obi-Wan had deliberately arranged, maneuvering the
fight so that Qui-Gon would be thrown down a few levels and
need time to rejoin the battle.
That maneuvering would make all the difference in what was to
come.
He felt it before he heard it - the hum which told him the
fields were about to cycle. Rising to his feet, he spared one
glance behind him for his beloved Master, who was also coming
to his feet, ready to charge in to aid him. But the distance
was such that Obi-Wan knew his Master would not get all the way
down the corridor before the cycle closed off the pit area -
and sealed him in with the Sith, alone.
The walls shifted, moved - and Obi-Wan charged into the room,
lightsaber ignited and ready. Advancing on the dark-robed
demon, he saw the field reform and Qui-Gon nearly throw himself
into it in a heroic effort to come to his aid. Grimly, he
fought with the Sith, using every trick he knew, every move he
had been taught, every strategy he could devise. He had to tire
the creature out, make him vulnerable and sloppy.
And he had to loose.
The actual strike came as something of a surprise, really. Even
knowing how it would end did not spare him the horrifying
feeling of a lightsaber running through his chest - searing,
brilliant pain so intense he could not even scream, the breath
chased from his body in shock. He felt himself fall to the
floor, heard his Master's voice raised in a scream of outrage,
and heard the force walls begin the cycle once more.
Doggedly he held on to his body, determined not to leave until
he saw his plan fall out as it should. He lay on the floor
watching the battle as best he could, praying to whatever gods
might be listening that his Master would slay the Sith
apprentice and turn aside the coming darkness. The two
combatants passed from his field of vision, trading thrust and
parry in their dance with fate. And suddenly, there was quiet,
and Obi-Wan heard the distinctive noise of a lightsaber
deactivating.
A sound of running feet, and he felt himself being gathered
into Qui-Gon's arms. Relief flooded through him like cool water
on a Tatooine day. It was done. He could say farewell and leave
now, to await the day when his Master would join him and he
could explain it all to him.
"Obi-Wan, love - hang on, let me get you out of here to the
healers..."
"No, Master - Qui-Gon." His voice was weak, breathless. "There
is no time - Master, I beg of you, listen to me. You must train
the boy - and get help from Master Windu. Promise me, you will
do this." He reached out and touched the wet face above him,
and with his last strength, shared both visions of the future.
He showed him the original one - where Anakin Skywalker turned
to the Dark Side and aided and abetted the destruction of the
Jedi order, allowing the rise of a vast evil empire with a Sith
Master at it's head. Then he shared the path he could see now -
a path where Qui-Gon's training combined with Master Windu's
boyhood living on an outer rim planet which also tolerated
slavery, to help Anakin Skywalker to learn to deal with his
fears and become the most powerful Jedi Knight in the history
of the order. Become the one man in the galaxy able to stop the
madness by striking down the Sith Master and his new apprentice
before they could finish their plans.
Feeling himself loose his grip on his dying body, Obi-Wan tried
to smile at the man who had saved him from the Agri-Corps, from
a bloody death in the mines of Bandomeer, from too many perils
and scrapes to count. The man who had taught him the ways of
the Jedi, that he was a Jedi first, and to follow the ways of
the Force and the Light. The man who now held him tightly,
crying unashamedly.
"I love you, Master. Remember, there is no death..."
Qui-Gon choked out, "There is the Force. I know, Padawan - I
know. I will see you when I am done. Wait for me?"
"I will wait, my Master." And he closed his eyes to wait.
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