Stroke for stroke, Qui-Gon and Darth Maul battled about the rim of the melting pit, locked in a combat that seemed endless and forever and could be won by neither.
Then the Sith Lord parried a downstroke, whirled swiftly to the right, and with his back to the Jedi Master, made a blind, reverse lunge. But Qui-Gon recognized the danger.
Clever, he mused. Desperate, but clever. Spinning sideways at the last possible moment, Qui-Gon winced as the red length of fire slashed through his tunic, dangerously close to his chest.
Obi-Wan gasped as he saw his master barely avoiding the killing blow. He knew that Qui-Gon would not last much longer without his help, and was angry that the energy doors had not yet opened. He was so close, yet so far...
And finally, the energy door hissed open. Obi-Wan charged to the aid of his master, a flurry of lightsaber slashes and chops. Renewed by the aid of his apprentice, Qui-Gon grimly swung low at the Sith Lord as Obi-Wan went high.
Too late, he realized his error. Qui-Gon made no sound as the red blade of energy sliced through his wrist, yet he heard the scream nonetheless. His right hand, still clutching the lightsaber, flew into the wall, and bounced once, landing on the floor. The green energy blade was still humming. Obi-Wan roared in anger at the sight of his maimed master, and aggressively chopped at the Sith Lord. Darth Maul easily deflected each chop as he made his way back toward the energy doors. He took a swipe at Obi-Wan's neck that the padawan barely avoided. In response, Obi-Wan came with an upward slash that went straight through the middle of Darth Maul's lightsaber handle, splitting the weapon into two separate lightsabers.
No, Qui-Gon protested silently as the Force revealed to him the next second into the future. Reaching out with his remaining hand, he pulled his lightsaber to him with the Force and struggled to his feet. He leapt forward to aid his apprentice--
--but he was too late.
Darth Maul blocked Obi-Wan's attack with one lightsaber, and in the very same motion ran him through with the other. Obi-Wan's eye widened in shock as the lightsaber burned into his heart. As Darth Maul pulled away, Obi-Wan stared ahead blankly, and then sank to his knees, ever so slowly. But he did not collapse completely. Defiantly, he struggled not to fall over, until finally his strength failed him.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Qui-Gon screamed.
The energy door opened for a split second, allowing Darth Maul to step to safety, and then closed. Qui-Gon slashed at the wall of energy, roaring with impotent rage, able to do nothing else but watch as the Sith Lord made his retreat.
He spun around and rushed to his apprentice. All the anger melted into fatherly concern, as he caught Obi-Wan in his embrace.
"Master..." Obi-Wan wheezed. "Master..."
"Don't speak," Qui-Gon gasped, fighting back tears. "Save your strength, Obi-Wan. I'll heal you..."
Obi-Wan shook his head slowly. With a sad smile, he whispered, "It's too late."
"No!" A choked sob escaped Qui-Gon's lips as he cradled his dying Padawan's face. "It isn't..."
Obi-Wan wasn't looking at him now, rather he was looking at a place noone else could see. "It... is the will... of... the Force..." He smiled. "I'm... not... scared..."
"Obi-Wan!"
"Master," Obi-Wan said softly, "protect the Queen..."
And then Obi-Wan Kenobi became one with the Force.