Author's Note: I do not own Star Wars. That all belongs to George Lucas, and last I checked, I am not he. There are several lines of dialogue directly quotes from the films. They are also not mine. Also, there are plenty of other storylines out there considered canon between Episodes III and IV, almost all of which I am completely ignoring. For the purposes of this oneshot, the only things I consider canon are the Jedi Apprentice book series by David Wolverton and Jude Watson (which I also do not own), and the six films themselves – ignoring the major inconsistencies as much as I possibly can. If that is acceptable to you readers, enjoy the following! Thanks.

A Hopeful Breeze

His storm-grey eyes observed the twin suns of Tatooine as they sank underneath the horizon line. Another day had passed without his whereabouts or identity being discovered for what he truly was – one of the last Jedi alive. A fugitive. An exile.

Alone.

He lowered his head, the uncooperative bangs of his bronze hair falling over his eyes like a torn hood. He released a breath. Another day that he remained safe. Another day he had to prepare for the possibility of discovery.

The forty-four year old man turned away from the window of his homestead and began preparations for his nightly meditation. He lowered himself to the floor in a kneeling position. He rested his weight onto his legs folded under him. His weathered hands came to his folded knees softly, not gripping at all, but they were simply there. He closed his eyes and began to regulate his breathing into a slow and steady rhythm. As he achieved this, his head lowered as though he were respectfully bowing to someone. His bangs fell over his eyes again, hiding him.

"Keep your concentration here and now, where it belongs."

His eyes sprang open. Why did he have to hear his voice again? He looked around the humble room in which he knelt, hoping that he would see the once familiar figure. The only thing that greeted him was the softly burning fire-stove nearby. A mournful sigh escaped his throat as he gazed at the flames of his stove.

It was the only source of light in his dwelling. How primitive fire was. He had grown so accustomed to light fixtures that swelled into brightness as soon as he crossed the threshold of his home. No longer. He had now grown accustomed to returning to this homestead and crossing the threshold into darkness. He was now accustomed to finding his way in blackness until he succeeded in lighting his stove.

He had been raised in an environment in which water was readily available. This was no longer true. What little precious water he could use, he would fetch it from the single moisture vaporator he owned, just outside of the dwelling. Water was not a thing to be wasted on Tatooine.

He was forced to adjust to many things. Living a life of humility was one of the lower prices he had endured.

Yoda walked beside him through the burned, and body-strewn majestic halls of the Jedi Temple. He saw the corpses of initiates and Padawans all spread out on the floor. Some of them were reaching for their fallen lightsabers, others still held their deactivated weapons in their cold hands. They all had one feature in common – every single youth had a vicious burn in their robes or tunics. The burns that revealed at a glance how the child met death.

Then he saw the boy. The young boy whom he had planned to take as his next apprentice after things in the Republic settled a little so that he could devote his time to teaching the boy. 'Liam, that was his name.' He knelt down next to the boy's body and gently urged the lids over the fearful blue eyes. He would at least look peaceful in death.

"Killed not by clones, this…padawan…By a lightsaber he was."

He looked down at Liam. The boy bore a wound in a hauntingly familiar place to the Jedi Master that made him gasp in horror. He had been run through the center of his body. He reached out and laid his hand over the gruesome wound. He had only seen a wound like this once before. "Master…"

Then, he turned a devastated gaze to Yoda. "Who? Who could have done this?" Even before he'd viewed the security recordings, he already knew the answer…and as he watched his apprentice cut down the younglings, initiates, padawans, knights, and masters of the Jedi Order he understood the devastation of his former master…

"I failed you, Master," he sighed at the chaotically dancing flames of his stove. "Forgive me."

Then, there was a breeze that came through his window which was different than the others in the last six years of his exile. Usually, the winds on Tatooine were as warm as the sands, and clearly audible as it pelted against the stone of his homestead. This one…it was cool…and silent. After another moment, he thought he heard a gentle sigh.

"If anyone should beg forgiveness, it is I."

He continued to stare at the flames. He was hearing things again. Being alone in the Jundland Wastes was finally beginning to take its toll on him.

"Obi-Wan," the breeze sighed again.

"Just as the other times, this is not real. I cannot commune with my old master." He hung his head. "Another failure on my part."

When the breeze was voiced again, it was closer to him. "Look away from those flames and you will see that you have not failed, Obi-Wan." There was another sigh. "Obi-Wan," the breeze called soothingly. He did not respond, and continued looking at the fire. "Padawan…"

He gasped at that title and slowly, as though he were expecting to be disappointed, turned his head towards the voice. The reaction was instantaneous. In a moment, he took in the unchanged handsome face of his long-dead master, whose spectral form was shining in a faint blue glow. His long hair flowed softly around his shoulders. The beard was trimmed and clean. But most importantly, there was a hesitant smile on his lips and a sparkle in his eyes. "Master!" he emotionally croaked out the title.

"Yes."

Obi-Wan released a single sob before he managed to silence himself. However, he could not prevent the shine of tears in his eyes. His former master, Qui-Gon Jinn, came closer to him.

"Do not bear so much guilt on yourself. None of this was your fault."

"I trained him. I shaped him into what he—"

"It was my fault."

Obi-Wan's voice stopped at the statement. He stared at the blue form of Qui-Gon for a long while. His expression openly conveyed his confusion. "I don't understand."

"Everything that happened…Everything, Obi-Wan. It was never your fault. For so long your life was not yours. Forgive me for doing that to you."

Obi-Wan shook his head, blinking his tears away as he tried to understand what Qui-Gon was saying. "What did you do to me, then? How was all of this – the deaths of every Jedi…How was that not my fault? I was Anakin's master. I trained him. I should have seen what he was becoming."

"You couldn't possibly see what he would become, Obi-Wan, just as I could not see what my first apprentice was going to become." Obi-Wan looked at his former master and realized how their history was similar. Both of their first apprentices were seduced by the Dark Side of the Force. "You trained him as best you knew how. You could not control his choices anymore than I was able to control the choices made by Xanatos."

"I had hoped that I could instruct Anakin as well as Yoda. I even sent him to Yoda for additional guidance, but…" Obi-Wan waved a hand dismissively. "It's done now. I shouldn't dwell on the past. It is unchangeable."

"The future was unchangeable even when I was alive."

Obi-Wan suddenly remembered something from earlier in the conversation. "You said you needed to beg forgiveness. For what?"

Qui-Gon looked down. "For not warning you of the future."

Obi-Wan stood from his kneeling position and gazed at Qui-Gon. "What do you mean?"

Qui-Gon met Obi-Wan's gaze. "I knew what the Prophecy meant."

"When? How long did you know?"

"I had a vision on Tatooine the night before the podrace. I heard the words of the Prophecy in my mind. And then I thought of Anakin." Qui-Gon noticed Obi-Wan flinch at the name. "Then, everything was clear. Everything fell into place. I knew what would happen. And I did nothing to stop it." Qui-Gon turned away from Obi-Wan and began to pace in the room. "And so I freed him, hoping that if he were living under the care of the Jedi Order that he would not be found by the Sith. No matter what course I had taken Anakin would have been found and he would have been turned."

Obi-Wan came forward and walked around the ghost of his master to stare at the older man in the eyes. "Then why bother to demand that I train him as you were dying?"

Qui-Gon's face crumbled. "Because I understood the Prophecy." His aged face pleaded with Obi-Wan to understand.

"Bring balance to the Force."

Qui-Gon nodded. "To bring balance to the Force." Qui-Gon looked paternally on his former apprentice. "If the Sith always had only two, then balance in the Force would mean that all of the Jedi would have to die. All except for two."

Obi-Wan's drew in a breath of comprehension. "Yet, you asked me to train him. Why?"

"I hoped…I prayed to the Force in the last moments of my life as I lay dying in your arms that you may live through everything. Despite the pain that it would cause you, I prayed that you lived. I thought that if you were to train Anakin…that once he turned that he would spare you, even if for the simple reason that he would want you to suffer and see all that you knew destroyed. I hoped that he would react in a similar way to Xanatos. He wanted me to see what he became, to see what damage he would do, and for me to know that it was him…my apprentice…that had become so…consumed by hatred."

Obi-Wan's eyes began to fill with tears, though this time he was unsure as to why they were pooling in his eyes. "Why didn't you tell me any of this?"

Qui-Gon smiled sadly at Obi-Wan. "Because all I had was the hope you would live. I didn't know for sure. I couldn't give you the knowledge of what was to come, because I did not know if you would live despite all of my hopes that you would. I couldn't let you go through years of your life waiting for the day to come when everything would fall apart. I couldn't let you wait for death, expect death."

"Why?"

"Have you forgotten one of my favorite lessons to you, padawan?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Not to be mindful of the future at the expense of the moment." Qui-Gon nodded. "I would not have been focused on Anakin's training had I known of the future."

There was a long silence between them broken only by the sound of the fire. Finally, Qui-Gon spoke again. "Obi-Wan, I'm so sorry…for everything."

Obi-Wan took several minutes to respond, and when he did, his eyes shone with wisdom beyond his forty-four years. "You did what you felt was right. I cannot fault you for that."

Qui-Gon nodded slowly, and accepted Obi-Wan's words. He began to walk towards the doorway of the homestead. He heard Obi-Wan turn to him. "Wait, Master." Qui-Gon tucked his hands into the sleeves of his robe as he turned to face Obi-Wan again.

"Do you remember Padme?"

"Of course."

Obi-Wan shifted his weight to one side where he stood. "I was with her as she died." He sighed. "She believed that there is still some good left in him. Is it possible?"

Qui-Gon smiled kindly at his former pupil. "Search your feelings, padawan."

Obi-Wan paused and reached out with the Force, journeying inwards. "I want it to be true."

Qui-Gon tilted his head as he looked at Obi-Wan. "You've been without something all these years alone. It is the one thing you cannot survive without."

Obi-Wan dropped his gaze to the ground and shook his head sadly. "What must I do?"

Suddenly, Obi-Wan knew that Qui-Gon's spectral image had disappeared. He looked around the room for his former master but he was gone. Just as Obi-Wan began to think that his master had left him alone again he heard his voice on the same cool breeze as he first heard him.

"You must find a new hope."

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you all think about it with a review, if you would be so kind. They make me happy!