This afternoon, deep in the forest, we sparred as we have done
since the beginning. I surprised him, knocked his lightsaber
from his grip and held the beam of mine at his neck. Round One
to me.
As I handed him his lightsaber, plucked from the wet ground, he
looked at me with his particular brand of innocence. And I knew
I would not be able to tell him of the darkness that I have
seen. We've been together for so long, his presence is as
familiar to me as breathing, his voice more recognisable than
my own. I tell myself that he knows our path is a perilous one,
fraught with danger from threats seen and unseen. I tell myself
that he knows I will one day be gone from his side and he will
be alone, until he in his turn seeks a Padawan.
I wish I could read that knowledge in his gaze when he looks at
me. I don't, to my own undoing. I read respect, happiness, a
deep love for his master. And underlying everything was the
light that shone from his soul, his glowing spirit, the Force
was so strong with him it showed. It had always been.'
Qui-Gon paused in his writings, looking up just as a knock at
his door made him smile. "Come, Obi-Wan." He leaned back in his
chair to grant his Padawan his full attention.
"Master, the Council request your presence in chambers."
"Thank you." Qui-Gon rose, affording his young student a
radiant smile of promise as he passed by. He hesitated inside
the doorway. "Do you wish to join me later?"
For a moment, the mask of duty and rank slipped from Obi-Wan's
face, and his eyes glinted in the harsh corridor lights. "I
will wait for you in the gardens."
Of all the pairs - master and apprentice - of their generation,
none were closer than Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his would-be Jedi
Knight Obi-Wan Kanobe. They alone worked as one. They moved
together, each mirroring the other's moves, each knowing where
and when to be through the thoughts of the other. The dark
shadow around Qui-Gon's thoughts had not been lost to his
apprentice. Closing himself from the Force, Obi-Wan stepped
into his Master's room and took up the open journal from the
chair. Minutes later, he turned and ran from the room.
They all felt it, but none as keenly as Qui-Gon. Yoda raised
his head abruptly. His own apprentice was watching him from the
centre of the room, his whole being asking to be excused.
"He knows."
Yoda nodded. "Go to him, you must."
The gardens were large and private, part of the academy.
Apprentices and Masters alike used the tranquil calm they
offered as a background to meditation. Obi-Wan had his
favourite place in those gardens. An area of shade offered by
surrounding trees far into the woodland the surrounded the open
expanses of grass and flowers. Qui-Gon found his Padawan
easily. Not for one moment did he think that he was supposed
to.
Obi-Wan was ready. He had reached out, following his Master
from the chambers through the academy buildings to the garden.
He had gathered the Force around him, waiting for the moment
Qui-Gon would round the corner into this place, and he could
strike out.
Their eyes met, locked. And Obi-Wan saw what had remained
hidden from him.
Qui-Gon's anger at the intimate intrusion melted as he watched
his beloved Padawan collapse forward with a heart-wrenching
sob. The Master sank to his knees before his student, gathering
the trembling form into his arms, enfolding him in his cloak.
//I won't let you die.//
//We have no choice//
Obi-Wan's head lifted, his face close to his masters, his
tear-filled eyes glistening with determination and resolve. "We
do. We don't have to accept the hand that fate deals us, you
taught me that."
"We are not immortal, Padawan. I cannot be with you forever."
"I'm not asking for forever. I'm asking for now."
And so it was that by the time they faced Darth Maul on Naboo,
Obi-Wan's mind was made up. He fought with ease, and waited for
the moment that would spark his memories.
He stood before the energy fields, his eyes never leaving his
master's waiting form, nor the living nightmare that stood
impatiently with Qui-Gon. The instant the lasers turned to
open, Qui-Gon swept his lightsaber through the air, forcing his
opponent further into the open walkway beyond.
There simply wasn't enough time, Obi-Wan knew. He ran. For his
life and his heart depended on it. As the final barrier closed
to lock him from his Master, Obi-Wan jumped. For a single
instant, his back and the deadly beam occupied the same space.
His scream was of agony, rage, and a stark determination that
fate would not come between him and his teacher. He landed a
foot in front of his Master and swung his lightsaber through
the neck of the sith standing before him. As Darth Maul's head
flew off and down, his body collapsed. And Obi-Wan caught the
double-edge lightsaber that fell from his grasp.
Then he himself fell back into the dark of unconsciousness as
it claimed him.
"Changed history, he has."
Yoda stroked his backs of his small fingers over the forehead
of the sleeping Padawan. He was healing now, quickly. Qui-Gon
had not left his side, and would not for the summoning of the
Council or the tears of young Anakin.
"Uncertain now is the future." There was a smile in the knowing
voice. "Uncertain should it always be."
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