Archive: Master and Apprentice, and anywhere else. Just let me
know where, and keep my name attached. Thanks.
Spoilers: TPM, the original Star Wars trilogy
Summary: This is the sequel, sorta, to "The Chest". Where that
one was set 10 years after ROTJ, this one is set about 10 years
before Sarai goes to Tivoli, her homeworld, for the last time.
And, well...you'll see. Whoever thought Qui-Gon died without
family was quite wrong. Family, through, might be a
misnomer....
Ladies and Gentlemen...George Lucas owns the characters shown
in TPM, ANH, ESB, and ROTJ. Not that he treats them well. When
was the last time you saw Leia with a suntan? Never, that's
right. Everything else is mine. No, Lucas, you may not borrow
Sarai, Tivoli, Aunt Kisci or the Queens Eliana and Sisana. I've
seen what you do to YOUR characters. Well, maybe Queen Sisana.
The woman could be Palpatine's sister...
Anyway, a plot bunny finally buried it's teeth deep in my
ankle. And won't let go.Help!
Sarai Firedancer sat watching the river that ran through the
jungles of Massassi, on Yavin 4. She was thinking. Some people
would have said, had they been there, that it was dangerous
when Sarai thought.
She winced when the pain shot through her leg, regular as
clockwork. "Right on time, boyo. Right on fucking Sith time.
Better than that clock, or the bells, I'll admit."
As if Sarai had summoned them forth, the bass sound of bells
ringing sang out. "One of those days, Luke, I'm gonna stick
your head under one of those and make you take them back to the
generous donor that gave them...ha!"
"Is there something wrong?" The masculine voice floated through
the wind, and Sarai turned.
When she did so, she blinked. The man standing there was
dressed in the style of the Old Jedi. Sarai was dressed much
the same, except she used much more dark and mottled colors.
Forest green and brown were her colors, or so the students at
the Academy thought.
The second thing she noted was that he was glowing blue. Which
meant he was dead. ::Hali. What does he want?::
"My name is Qui-Gon Jinn. And yours, I believe is, Sarai
Firedancer from Tivoli."
Sarai looked around for the cane she'd put besides the rock,
then found it. Grinding it into the rocky dirt to give herself
leverage for the journey upwards, she looked again at him.
"Lovely to meet you. Any reason you showed up?"
"I-" He broke off as he noted the cane. "May I be of aid?"
"I doubt it very much. You're dead, I'm alive. And the last
time Iasked, Luke didn't say anything about dead Jedi Masters
being able to affect physical matter. So, that leaves me
with...me." So saying, she shoved herself up.
"You do..have a way with words." Sarai glanced at him again. He
looked a little astonished, almost like he had expected a much
better behaved Jedi Master. She grinned inwardly. Oh, she had
known who he was the minute he appeared. You couldn't miss that
beard. Or that broken nose. Or that face...and that
body. Especially not when his portrait had hung in the private
drawing room of her grandmother, Queen Eilana. Odd, considering
what she had done to Jinn.
"You do know she's dead, don't you, Jinn?"
That got his attention. Head shooting up, he glared at her.
"You knew who I was." She shrugged. "I look like you. Of course
I knew. Your portrait hung in her private drawing room for
years, until my mother...and Palpatine, of course, had her
killed." Sarai looked him straight in the face. Qui-Jon, face
gray, looked away. "She may have had many faults, one of them
being impetuousness, bitchiness, and arrogance all wrapped up
in one neat ball...but she loved you in her own way. I think
you were the only person that ever stood up to her..until Aunt
Kisci, and me, of course. "
"You. You..." Qui-Gon turned away from her. Sarai glanced up,
twilight was falling. Soon it would be time for nightmeal.
Nevermind. She'd grab something cold from the kitchens later.
Right now, she had to deal with a thread long since left
untied. "Love is a funny thing, Qui-Gon Jinn. It really is,
don't you think? My grandmother raped you...out of love for her
throne. Later she came to love you, the only way she could,
through her daughter most like you and her Bastard
granddaughter. But you never knew. You wouldn't have accepted
it if you had, I think. Pride is...was one of your sins.
And it's also your biggest."
He whirled around at that, ready to rage at his granddaughter.
HIS. He still found the thought...amazing. But that
didn't matter. She'd stung his pride. And as he did so, the
sorrow in her eyes stopped him.
"You didn't forgive him, did you? For his actions, for
Anakin..when it was you who started this whole sorry sequence
of events off." She walked, slowly and carefully, to a small
lawn chair, wrestled it around and sat down. "Sorry. Can't
stand for long, those days. Leg, you understand."
"Yes. Penalty for being a Jedi Knight." Robes swirling, he
walked to her. "But I did. I said as much."
"In that fool letter, you mean? Han always was too eager for
happy endings. Very serious fault in a smuggler, as he and I
was." Sarai sighed and leaned back. A small night breeze blew,
cooling her face. In a distance, terpays sang. "But luck, or
the Force, was with him."
"Indeed. But...I did forgive him."
"Then why didn't you say it in the letter, you stupid
hyan?" Her voice was calm, waiting for the answer.
"There was no need."
"There was every need. Obi-Wan had been your Padayah for a long
time.."
"Padawan," Qui-Gon corrected. He had a suspicion she'd
mispronounced it on purpose. She glanced at him, then looked
back toward the river. "I stand corrected, then. As I said, for
a long time, and I suspect that you always made a point of
...spelling things out. Like I do now, for my students. No
confusion that way, you see. But you didn't say you had
forgiven him. See now?"
"No, I don't. Care to spell it out, Master Firedancer?" She
inhaled quickly, gave him a glare. Jinn knew that if she hadn't
been a Jedi she would have come over and whacked him with her
cane. A memory of Yoda rose up then, and he sighed at it.
"Obi-Wan knows YOU, Master Jinn. You with your moods, your
behavior...and mode of speech. You never say anything you don't
want to say. With me so far?"
"Yes. Go on." Sarai blew out a breath. Why had she thought this
was such a good idea? Maybe she should tell Obi-Wan to go get
his rest...and forget his Master. Not bloody likely. It was
hard for anyone to forget the man. Queen Eilana was a good
example. She'd try a different tack, see if that worked.
"You love Obi-Wan?"
"With all my heart." Qui-Gon couldn't see where his
granddaughter was going with this, but he'd follow.
"Then why in Kashryyak's seven pits haven't you seen him? I
know. I've asked. You haven't seen him. That's not the actions
of a lover. That's the actions of a coward."
"I am not a coward."
"Idle boast, Grandfather. Prove it. Go see him. Work it out.
Say you forgive him. Or not. Either way, give me some closure.
Or a way to tie up the last of the threads you left hanging
when you got killed by Darth Maul."
"You are persistent. I didn't give that to you." Sarai turned
and looked at him. "Think so? You did." The night air shimmered
and the blue figure of Obi-Wan was there. Not the young man he
had once been, but the older, sadder Obi-Wan.
"Sarai, you shouldn't be out here. Go inside. They're looking
for you." Obi-Wan tilted his head. "I think Jakat is trying to
stop Kelan from diving in the waterworks." He smiled down at
the gray and honey colored head of Sarai. "Five Padawans,
Sarai. Five. And none turned. That's quite a achievement."
"Don't celebrate too early, Kenobi. The final bell hasn't rung
for that particular game of sabacc. When they've died without
turning, you can congratulate me then. Until then..I'll turn
in. I'm tired. Today was a hard day...does it ever get easier,
comforting crying children who've been tossed out by their
families?" Sarai shook her head, hair falling free from her
braid.
Obi-Wan looked troubled. "We didn't encounter that situation a
great deal at the temple. But now....I can see why. It's not
easy to raise a Jedi. Especially without help. Your aunt can
attest to that, I'm sure."
Sarai grinned suddenly. "Yeah, most vigorously. The happiest
day of her life came when I told her that I wanted to sign on
as a smuggler's apprentice. She was sorry to see me go, but..."
Her face grew thoughtful. "But she knew it was time to let me
go. And she did."
"A most wise woman." Qui-Gon's voice startled his former
apprentice. Sarai smiled inwardly. Now maybe things would
finally get said.
"Qui-Gon?" the other man asked timidly.
"Yes, my apprentice?"
"It's good to see you. I didn't think....I ever would. After
that letter...you didn't forgive me. I had hoped you had, I
tried to make things right by hiding Luke from Vader...but you
didn't forgive me. " Obi-Wan's tired eyes met that of Qui-Gon.
"I'm sorry. But I did the best I could. You should have
trained Anakin, not I. I wasn't ready...for a lot of things.
Once it mattered, that you forgive me. Now it doesn't. Not
anymore. I did the best I could with what I was given, at the
time. Just like they" Obi-Wan waved his hand toward the
Jedi temple, "do now. There was a great deal of information
lost during the purge. Until her injury, Sarai searched for
such information in jointure with her regular duties.
Now..Jakat's doing a good job, Sarai. You trained him well..."
"Yeah, both Jedi and smuggler's methods.." Sarai sighed. "Only
time will tell if they keep what I taught them. It's always
good to know how to get out of jail, to have a weapon concealed
other than on your belt..and of course, to trust your
instincts."
"All very Jedi-like. I wish they had had someone like you back
in the old days, " Obi-Wan smiled. "I could have gotten out of
jail earlier. In fact..." he looked bemused. "I think I can
now, if I wasn't dead."
"Well...the old days are dead and gone, Kenobi. Talk to him, "
Sara gestured toward Qui-Gon, "then let me know how it went in
the morning. I'm dead on my feet,by Hali." With that, she
started the climb back to the Jedi academy.
Left alone, the two Old Jedi looked at each other. "Remarkable
woman, your Sarai." Qui-Gon said quietly.
"She's not my Sarai. Jakat would like it so, but...she
thinks it's just infatuation, much like you once thought. She
hasn't noticed that this so called infatuation has lasted...in
her own way, she's just as blind as you are. Were. Must run in
the family." He didn't notice the look of shock and knowledge
in the other man's face.
"Yes. I have forgiven you, you know. But..you were
right. There is nothing to forgive, except an arrogant sense of
pride. I was wrong," Qui-Gon turned away, "wrong to ask you to
take on Anakin. But you were the only person I trusted with the
boy, the only person I hoped would have a prayer of...you
understand.?"
"Then why the letter? Why..."
"I was foolish. And..still too arrogant. I hurt the man I
loved, to salve my sense of pride. I couldn't accept,
wouldn't accept that I was the catalyst to everything that
happened. Odd, isn't it. If I hadn't died, you would've never
been left alone with your anger and grief. And you were right
to have them... Anakin would've never turned. So many what
if's."
Qui-Gon expelled a sad sign. "I didn't realize it until just
now, when you talked about what was happening now, to the Jedi
of now. And I realized. It's not just anger that lead to the
Dark, it's also pride that blinds you to what's happening
around you...I'm sorry." Qui-Gon reached up and touched
Obi-Wan's face.
"Don't. Please...don't." Obi-Wan pulled away, still in the
guise of the old man Luke had first met on Tatooine all those
years ago.
"Why?"
"Yes, why. You think with an apology, you can make everything
right? Sarai was right. We do need to talk." He looked deep in
Qui-Gon's eyes. "Sarai told me about Queen Eilana. What she did
to you. You pushed me away, even before. I never understood
why. Now I do."
Qui-Gon looked at the man he loved. "I didn't love you enough.
I didn't love you enough..then. And I'm sorry. Let me try
again. Let us try again. Please." He closed his eyes, trying to
stop the tears that were threatening to come spilling down his
cheeks.
A sigh. Then fingers touched his face, stroked his beard. He
opened his eyes, and saw Obi-Wan as he had been the last time
the mortal Qui-Gon had closed his eyes. Twenty-six. His eyes
were still sad.
"Why not? One more time. Sarai'd be pleased. And I think that
if anything went wrong this time, she'd find one of those
statutes Leia bought for her and hurl it at us. She's Jedi, but
patience only goes so far."
Carefully, Qui-Gon pulled his apprentice to him. Carefully, he
kissed the clean-shaven cheek. "I do love you. I just
don't....know how to separate you from her. I do love you."
Obi-Wan sighed again. "This isn't going to be easy. But
dealing with the Jinn family has never been easy." He smiled, a
tired smile. "I love you, too." The two blue shapes shimmered
and vanished.
Sarai nodded with satisfaction and turned to yet another blue
tinged figure. "It worked, Grandmother. They're together, and
they'll talk. Good, long, talks. In between bouts of hide the
TIE fighter."
"Thank you, Granddaughter. You are like him. Except the
language." Queen Eilana stood up and brushed off her gown.
"He's never going to forgive me. But I can live with that, as
long as he has Kenobi and treats him with love. I hurt him
greatly back then...but from that hurt I got two people I
loved. It's only fair he has someone to love him as much as I
do you. I'd like to think I've learned better, Sarai. I think I
have. Rest well, granddaughter." Queen Eilana leaned over and
kissed Sarai on the cheek.
"And don't overdo it, girl. I don't want to see your hip swell
up like it did last time." She began to vanish, smiling all the
while.
"I won't. Goodbye...I love you too." Sarai walked to the
window, where the three moons hung in the sky, looking simply
splendid. "Damnit, you two, get it right this time. Or I'm
gonna get a statute Han hates so much and use it. "
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