Spoilers: I don't think so. There's none for TPM, but maybe
some for Anne Higgins' "Bonding Through the Years". I'll leave
it up to you, the rational, intelligent reader, to figure it
out. You can expect zilch outta me in that department. (grins)
Rating: Yugga. Umm . . . G, I think. It's a kind of
paternal-type thing between a young man and a toddler.
Archive: Master & Apprentice, yes; anywhere else, sure, no
problem. Leave the name attached.
Summary: This is where all that Jedi patience training
Qui-Gon ever learned comes in real handy. Forget the
Dark Side - What about an adamant three-year-old?
Disclaimer: "George! George! He's our man! If he can't do it -
that means the SW fandom gets first dibs on the hotties!
Qui-Gon! Obi-Wan! Here, boys! (whistles)" (sighs) Okay, okay.
Sorry for letting my control slip and subjecting you to that
short-term neuron fantasy - ahhhhhummm, failure. Here's
the correct version: George Lucas owns 'em, I don't, I only
borrowed them when the ol' meany (don't you make like you don't
know what I'm talking about, Mr.
I-had-to-kill-off-Qui-Gon-to-keep-the-continuity-going Lucas!)
wasn't looking. I'm making no money off of this.
Author's note: I fall down on my knees and bow down willingly
to give homage to Anne Higgins for allowing this take on the
scene from her "Bonding Through the Years" fic in which Obi-Wan
cons Qui-Gon into letting him stay the night while he's a
toddler. But, I have to admit it, I've been ranting for a while
now: "She had to leave a scene like that hanging right
where my half-baked gray clay decided to take over and drive me
bug-nuts! Did it on purpose, I just know it! Probe
droids ain't got nuthin' on that woman, no way!" Ag,
well. On with the show.
Feedback: Someone once told me that I write children really
well (you know who you are, lady!), so I guess that remains to
be seen. What's your verdict? SilvarBelle@msn.com
Qui-Gon sighed and stood where he was for the moment, which
happened to be in front of the door to his apartment in the
Jedi Academy.
His imp, three-year-old Obi-Wan Kenobi, had somehow conned his
way into Qui-Gon's rooms to sleep in his bed that evening.
Making his way toward the bedroom, Qui-Gon thought to himself,
'If I didn't know better, considering that Obi-Wan is only a
toddler, I'd almost swear the imp mind whammied me. It's
the only rational explanation for why I'm allowing this
tonight. "Master" Jinn, my lightsaber; I can't out-argue a
three-year-old!'
He paused long enough to pull on a pair of sleep pants to cover
his otherwise naked form, then made his way toward the bed in
the darkened room. "Move over, my imp," he commanded the small
boy.
A giggle sounded in the dark and he heard a rustling noise as
Obi-Wan shifted beneath the sheet and blanket. "Yes, Quigee."
"Imp," he muttered, climbing tiredly into the bed to settle
down on the comfortable mattress. He closed his eyes, assuming
that after so much excitement in a small child's day that the
child would be as sleepy as he was.
"Quigee!" Obi-Wan shouted happily as he landed heavily on
Qui-Gon's stomach.
"Whourln!" the young Jedi Master grunted, half-sitting
up in reaction to sharp little knees and elbows digging into
his sensitive sides.
Obi-Wan laughed down at his bondmate in the dark, pleased that
he had surprised his Quigee so thoroughly.
"Obi-Wan."
"Yes, Quigee?"
"It is time to go to sleep, my imp."
"Why?"
"Because you are a small boy who has had an exciting day, and
you need your rest."
"Why?"
Qui-Gon grit his teeth slightly as he recognized the beginning
of a round of "Twenty (thousand) Questions". "Because all
people need to rest."
"Why?"
"Because it's the natural order of things."
"Why?"
"Obi-Wan?"
"Yes, Quigee?"
"If I tell you that I would like to get some sleep
because I need it because it's the natural order of things,
would you let me get some sleep?" Qui-Gon asked quietly.
Obi-Wan thought for a long moment, then said, "I'm no tired!
I'm with Quigee!"
"You didn't answer my question, imp. And my name is Qui-Gon."
The little boy simply giggled at him.
Qui-Gon sighed, then grabbed hold of Obi-Wan gently and settled
him so that his head rested on the pillow beside Qui-Gon's.
Turning, Qui-Gon draped the blanket and top sheet over the
little boy, then snuggled him close, gently rubbing his back.
Maybe if he held the boy, soothed him with warmth and
gentleness, it'd tranquilize him enough so that a very tired
Jedi Master could finally get some -
"Quigee tell me story?"
The young man squinched his eyes shut tightly, took a deep,
steadying breath - and said a seriously bad word.
Several, in fact.
Obi-Wan waited with an unnatural patience for a three-year-old
to possess.
Finally, Qui-Gon opened his eyes to glare down at his bondmate
in the dark. "Obi-Wan, if you ever, ever repeat any of
those bad words I just said, I'm going to be very cranky. Do
you understand?"
"Yes, Quigee."
"Right. What is it you're not supposed to do?"
"Not say bad words, ever."
"Good, my imp, very good. Now, go to sleep."
"No tell me story?" The little voice sounded plainly unhappy
and disappointed. There was also the hint of tears in the tone,
as well as the emotions Qui-Gon could sense spilling across
their bond.
He sighed, smiling ruefully as he briefly wondered how he'd
gotten himself into this, then snuggled the little boy closer.
After a moment, he said, "Okay, once there was this beautiful
princess who lived in a castle in the sky. She -"
"Want good story," Obi-Wan said firmly.
Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly in the dark. "How
do you know it's not good?"
"No frogs or snakes, jus' some girl."
"You don't know that. You haven't heard the entire story yet,"
Qui-Gon said patiently.
Obi-Wan considered this for a moment, then sighed in a
surprisingly adult manner and said, "'Kay. Tell story."
Qui-Gon grinned to himself. 'I finally win a point
over the little imp!' Keeping his voice to low, even tones,
he continued. "Very well, then. This princess lived in a castle
in the sky. She was a very happy little girl, except she had no
one to play with -"
"Nobody?" Obi-Wan asked, amazed. He couldn't imagine not having
anyone with him.
"Nope, nobody," Qui-Gon replied.
"No brother? No Mommy, no Daddy?"
"No, no brother, Mommy, or Daddy."
"No Quigee?"
Qui-Gon hugged the little boy tighter. "No, she didn't have a
Quigee. But you have me, my imp."
Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around Qui-Gon's neck and simply hung
on, waiting for the rest of the story.
"Anyway, she didn't have anyone to play with, but she had lots
of toys. Her favorite toy was this shiny little . . ." Qui-Gon
searched for a word to describe the weird-shaped toy he was
picturing in his head.
Obi-Wan saw it in his mind along their bond, and giggled.
"Squitch?" he offered.
Qui-Gon smiled. "Yes, a squitch. Thank you, my imp."
"Welcome, Quigee."
"So, her favorite toy was a shiny little squitch. One day, the
princess was playing with it out in the garden when this big
snake slithered up behind her and -"
"An' he chomped her!" Obi-Wan cried with a mix of childish fear
and enthusiasm.
"No, that's not what happened," Qui-Gon admonished gently.
"Why not?" Obi-Wan demanded.
"Do you want to hear this or not?"
The little boy made a grumpy, grudging sound of assent and
nodded.
"Well, this big snake slithered up behind her and stole her
squitch! She yelled at him to give it back, but the snake just
laughed at her -"
"Snake laughed?"
"Yes, the snake laughed. It was a magic snake," Qui-Gon
explained, continuing to rub Obi-Wan's back, smiling to himself
as he felt fatigue begin to close in on the little boy's mind.
"So, the snake laughed at her and then slithered off into the
woods. The little princess was so upset she went after it! It
was her squitch, and no snake was going to take it from her,
not if she had anything to say about it. So the little princess
went running after the snake who had her squitch. Deeper and
deeper into the woods they went, and pretty soon, the princess
couldn't see her castle anymore. She started to get scared -"
"Wouldn't be scared if she had a Quigee," Obi-Wan interjected.
"Oh, so you've heard this story before?" Qui-Gon asked quietly,
grinning, still rubbing gently.
Obi-Wan's head popped up so that his face was directly in front
of Qui-Gon's. The young man could smell the dessert the little
boy had eaten earlier that evening, and wrinkled his nose
slightly.
"Quigee stomps snake an' saves squitch?" the little boy asked
excitedly.
"I'm not telling," Qui-Gon teased.
"Yes! Quigee gots to tell!" Obi-Wan yelled.
"Quiet, my imp. You don't want to wake anyone else up. They're
asleep, like we should be," Qui-Gon shushed.
"Quigee still gots to tell," the toddler grumbled sleepily.
"What'll you give me for the story?" Qui-Gon asked playfully,
still gently rubbing Obi-Wan's tiny back. His hand was starting
to go numb, but he knew - could sense - that the motion was
inexorably lulling the child towards sleep.
Obi-Wan leaned up and pressed a smacking kiss to Qui-Gon's
chin, smiling the whole while.
Qui-Gon grinned, then laughed and said, "I was hoping you'd let
me sleep."
"'Kay. Quigee tell story, then sleep."
"How nice of you, my imp," Qui-Gon teased, then resettled
Obi-Wan on the pillow, covering the boy up again. Then he
continued.
"So, the little princess was scared, but she still chased the
snake that had her squitch. Finally, the snake stopped and
coiled up in front of her, and she stood looking at the snake
as she demanded her squitch back. The snake laughed again and
said that he took it fair and square."
"Was not fair," Obi-Wan mumbled sleepily against Qui-Gon's
neck.
Qui-Gon smiled and then said, "Well, the little princess
thought so, too. She told the snake that he'd stolen it and it
wasn't his to keep. The snake laughed at her again and said
that she couldn't take it back because he was stronger than
her, and it was true. But the snake told her that if she could
answer a question correctly, then she could have her squitch
back. If not, then she'd have to leave it with the snake."
"What she do?" a very sleepy voice asked.
"Well, the snake asked her: 'What is the most precious, best
thing in the whole world?' The little girl almost said it was
her squitch, because that was all she had ever really had that
meant the most to her. But she had always had the squitch,
whereas she'd never had a brother, or a Mommy and Daddy, or a
Quigee. So she knew that the squitch, which could be found
anywhere else, wasn't nearly as precious as the other things.
So she told the snake that the most precious, best thing in the
whole world was family, someone she could love."
"She right," Obi-Wan declared on a sleepy whisper.
Qui-Gon smiled and eased the stroking on young Obi-Wan's back
lightly as he said, "The snake thought so, too, because the
next moment, he did the most strange, wonderful thing the
little princess had ever seen before. The snake glowed, and
then changed, until standing before her, holding the squitch
out to her, was a boy about her own age, maybe a little older,
smiling kindly at her."
"He her Quigee."
"Yes, my imp, he was her Quigee, come to her at last. He told
the little princess that she was right, and that she could have
her squitch back. But the little princess was sad and told the
boy that he could keep it, because she didn't have anyone to
share it with. And that was when the little boy stepped up to
her and took her hand and said, 'You can share it with me. I'll
stay with you and be your family.' And the little princess was
very, very happy. The end."
Qui-Gon was expecting an immediate demand for another story,
but when none was forthcoming, he assumed that perhaps he'd
finally lulled the boy to sleep. He was closing his eyes,
settling down, when he heard Obi-Wan say, "Know what bestest
thing is."
Gearing himself up to use the Force to drop the little tyke
into LaLa Land, Qui-Gon asked, "What is it?"
Obi-Wan snuggled close and, just as he fell asleep, murmured,
"Quigee."
Qui-Gon went still as for one moment, he feared his heart was
going to explode as it filled with all the love he felt for the
little boy he held in his arms. Pressing a soft kiss to the
tousled, downy hair on the little head, he whispered softly,
"As are you, my imp."
Then, smiling, Qui-Gon closed his eyes and dropped like a
lode-stone into sleep, knowing that morning and a battle of
wills with the determined toddler would arrive all too soon.
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