A\N: Just Qui-Gon's thoughts after Tahl dies, by the last chap in book 16, when Qui-Gon goes into the room where Tahl lies, dead, to say his last goodbye…Oneshot, slightly weird….
I approach the large steel door, and it slides open at my touch. I enter, lowering my head slightly as I see the slim body of Tahl, lying in an open coffin. I drink in the sight of her. Her beauty. Her courage. The wry smile still on her face.
"I pledge myself to you, Qui-Gon…"
I look up. I slide into the seat beside her body. I touch her hand. The coolness of it sends a shock through me.
"It's too late for me, dear friend…"
The frail way her hands curled around my neck. The gentle touch of her hands on mine. How? How do I continue? She was my life, my breath, my soul.
"Don't leave me, Qui- Gon. Don't let me die!"
I leap up. I must go back. How could I let him live? Balog doesn't deserve life.
"You killed her, Qui-Gon! Live with that, if you live at all!"
"NO!" The sound of my voice shakes the room. I feel it spinning. My mouth opens involuntarily, and vomit pours out. I sputter, and suddenly her lightsaber is in my hand, on.
"Don't do it, Qui-Gon. Don't let that happen!"
I bring up the saber and bring it down onto her neck. I pause, the saber hovering just above her collarbone. I can't do it, I realize. I slowly remove the lightsaber from above her, and then I am suddenly slashing it through her neck. Her lifeless head rolls to the end of the coffin, letting a soft clanging sound fill the room.
"It's over…"
I stare at the now scarred body. Head, and body. And I can't bear it. The shame. The pain. What have I done!
"I'm here, Qui-Gon. Whatever you need, Master, I'm here…"
Obi- Wan comes in, and he sees me with the saber to my neck. He sees her body, and his face is a mask. Unreadable.
"Qui- Gon. What have you done?" He asks. And now I must go. I must be with her. That's my destiny.
And the saber cuts through my neck…