Fortune in Misfortune
„Master! Master?" Where could he be?, Obi-Wan thought as he searched the chambers and other places of Queen Amidala's spaceship. "Qui-Gon? Where the hell are you?"
They were finally on their way back to Coruscant after a detour on a dust pit named Tatooine. They'd spent only two days on the planet but Obi-Wan already decided that he hated the place with all of his heart. It was hot, sandy and above all, boring like hell. If it were up to him, he'd forget even the existence of this planet.
Finally, Obi-Wan heard some muffled noise from one of the small bathrooms on the ship. He didn't really think it was his master, but better safe than sorry, so he checked. First he knocked on the door, and to his surprise it was his master's distinctive groan that answered, however, he wasn't sure it was a permission to enter or a heartfelt 'go-to-hell' message. So Obi-Wan entered anyway.
The sight of his master was so uncharacteristic that he stopped dead on his track. Qui-Gon was sitting on the floor, hugging his knees, his head hung so his hair fell into his face, concealing it from Obi-Wan's gaze. He looked suspiciously miserable; or ill.
"Are you alright, master?" Obi-Wan asked as he crouched down before Qui-Gon, trying to get a look on his face.
"Do I look like I'm alright to you...?" Qui-Gon asked back and raised his head a little, casting a painful glance in Obi-Wan's general direction.
Obi-Wan instinctively wanted to hug him, but because he didn't know exactly how bad his master felt, he restrained himself.
"No, not at all" he replied worriedly. "What's wrong? What are you feeling?"
"That I wanna die..." Qui-Gon whimpered and dropped his head on his knees again.
Now Obi-Wan couldn't help himself and hugged his master gently, so he felt him shivering with fever. His whole body was hot, his clothes soaked in sweat, and he was miserable in general. Great. Just what we need right now, Obi-Wan thought as he helped Qui-Gon to stand up and supported him back to their shared sleeping chamber.
As soon as Qui-Gon lay down, he curled up into a ball and hid his face into the pillow. Obi-Wan grabbed his robe and tucked him in carefully, but he still shivered, so he gave him his own robe as well.
"We'll be home soon, and you can sleep through this crap" Obi-Wan said, trying to sound as supportive and comforting as he could.
Qui-Gon just murmured something incomprehensible in his half-asleep state then soon fell into a restless, nightmare-raided dream. Obi-Wan knew that when Qui-Gon was feverish he always had bad dreams, so he didn't even think about sleeping until they reached Coruscant.
In the Jedi Temple the healers assured Obi-Wan that his master just caught a virus, most probably on Tatooine, and he'd be fine in a week or so. When he closed the door of their apartment behind them, Obi-Wan was quite relieved that they got a little break.
At least there was some good in this otherwise pretty unpleasant situation.
The End
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