by Lyta Alexander, a.k.a., the Pink Padawan
(pinkpadawan@yahoo.com)
Rating: PG
Summary: A response to Amy Fortuna's "I'll never kiss him again
" challenge. Obi-Wan enters another reality in a moment of
extremity. Set after the Anakin's turn and the Jedi Purge.
About 16 years before ANH.
Archive: M/A
Disclaimers: Don't look at me, George! The Force did it!
The blow that hit Obi-Wan was hard enough to ensure a ringing
headache as he now awoke on a dusty stone floor--no light,
nothing to orient him. The last thing he remembered was
laughter emanating from everywhere, his spinning vision and a
"fist of God" in the back of the head.
"Master? We must get off this planet! These creatures are
horrible! What planet are we on anyway? Master?" Obi-Wan's mind
tilted as he struggled to gain a hold on his most recent
memories. Another fist of God hit him.
His Master was dead--long dead. He was now the Master, and a
failed one at that. He was on Tatooine, a refugee from the
carnage and destruction caused by his own Padawan. Anakin, the
boy who was the shining star, Obi-Wan's hope for the future,
the Chosen One.
Obi-Wan now felt the waves of nausea that this sudden stark
reality instilled in him. For a split second, he felt himself
slipping into the Force...giving up. Then he remembered his
imperative. "Luke...a new hope, he must be, I have nothing
else..." Tears started to well in his dust-smeared eyes, but
there wasn't enough water left in him. Dry sobs shook him as he
stared into the blackness...
His eyes closed. He tried not to remember...fellow Jedi ripped
limb from limb by the Force alone, his former Padawan's
agonizing twisted smile as he wreaked his revenge on those he
blamed for his mother's death...the subtle, wrenching look of
utter emptiness in Amidala's eyes...
...the light in the eyes of her son Luke, who he had taken with
him to this awful desert. At least Luke was safe now. But
Obi-Wan could not give up...he centered himself, finding the
calm sea of the Force; nothing that happened in this galaxy
could touch him there.
He felt a touch. It was not physical, but it was real. It
emanated from the Force. The river coalesced slowly, and
Obi-Wan felt a warm glow surround him. He opened his eyes.
Green light was everywhere. There were no windows in this awful
dungeon, yet it was as bright as the day in the Jundland
Wastes.
The mass of light became a form; the form encompassed him and
revealed itself to him. Qui-Gon's voice resonated through him;
despite his calm centeredness, Obi-Wan sighed raggedly, feeling
all the pain disappear, suddenly replaced with joy.
His Master stood before him, solid as the rock walls, shining
like a star. This time the tears did come. Obi-Wan stood up to
embrace his long-dead Master. His battered legs gave way, and
he fell into the arms of Qui-Gon Jinn. This was no mere
projection. Qui- Gon was holding him up, gazing so deeply into
him that he thought he might be swallowed into the Force if he
looked too long. Not a bad way to go...
Obi-Wan pressed himself into his Master's warmth. He felt
Qui-Gon's lips on his. Everything was as it should be. Every
sensation was there. Obi-Wan breathed harder as he devoured the
sweet mouth of his Master...there is always hope...the Force
surged into him through his Master's engulfing kiss....
The light sparked and turned white. The Gamorrean guards rushed
in through the gap in the universe; Qui-Gon was gone. Obi-Wan
was on his feet, aiming a perfect trachea- crushing blow to the
first guard to reach him. He leapt to the side and aimed a
stomp kick to the next assailant's leg; the third he froze with
an amazing surge of Force-energy.
He remembered where he was now, as he heard the bellowing of
the Hutt around the next corner. The shadows engulfed him; he
pulled the Force in around him, disappearing. A lone Tusken
raider slipped out the mysteriously open gate to Jabba's
palace...
The Jundland Wastes lay directly ahead --Obi-Wan's home. He dug
up another Thrysean succulent from the rock crevice nearest
him, and stopped in the bare shadows to drink.
"There is hope now..." Obi-Wan thought, his face brightening a
little. "But..."
"I'll never kiss him again." He was more certain of that now
that it had happened. "Strength, Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon gave me
strength. I must maintain it now..."
No more tears would be shed for his Master. He knew for a
certainty that Qui-Gon was part of the Force, a state he had
striven for all his life. All that remained for Obi-Wan was
hard work...musn't lose hope.
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