No copyright infringement is intended. Thanks to George Lucas and all the actors and creators of this galaxy for all the fun. Just a Star Wars fanatics daydreams. Enjoy.
Set: somewhere in the galaxy, during the Clone Wars.
Anakin strode moodily through the heavy green foliage so fast Obi-Wan was hard pressed to keep up.
"Anakin, slow down. If there are anymore battle droids out here, they'll hear you coming. We should at least try and surprise them." Obi-Wan had sensed Anakin's agitation on this mission, but was hard pressed to narrow down the cause. It was just after the anniversary of Geonosis, just after yet another battle where clones en masse lost their lives. And to top it off, their transport had been shot down after they lifted off from a supposedly securely won battlefield.
Anakin paused, hand up and motioned, frowned. "We don't have any troops near here, do we?"
"You know we don't."
"Well, what do you make of that?" He pointed.
Obi-Wan paused, hands landed on hips. His robes were slick with mud and water. The armed booby traps were clearly of Republic army origin. "Odd. And there is something odd in the Force too...do you feel it?"
"Yeah. Maybe if we'll follow these traps to the source, we'll find whatever it is."
Anakin glanced back at Obi-Wan, started forward, frowned and look about again.
"Are you all right? You look awfully pale."
"That...oddness. I really don't like it."
"I don't either but I'm not looking as wobbly as you." Worry filtered into the light blue eyes. "You sure you're okay? You sure you didn't hit your head on landing?" The idea of losing Obi-Wan was a deep seated fear he usually managed to ignore. The advantage of being in battle was there was no time to think, or be scared. No time to think of what could happen. Afterward, now, then he was sometimes shaking with panic inside. Let the galaxy think he was the "Hero with No Fear" and the Jedi think he was calm and detached. Inside, he knew better.
"You call that a landing? That was a crash! I'm fine, just let's get on with it!" Obi-Wan insisted, sharper than usual.
Anakin started off slower. Obi-Wan felt the uncomfortable, violent buzzing in the Force but noted it didn't affect Anakin. "Isn't that bothering you?"
Anakin glanced back. "Yeah but it seems like...almost an echo. Your echo. And something else is familiar too" He was frowning, perturbed.
"My echo?"
"It reminds me of you somehow...mixed with something else."
Obi-Wan braced a hand on Anakin's shoulder, eyes rising to the building in the distance.
"Stang. What's that?"
"Looks vaguely Kaminoan." Anakin noted, concerned by his Master's reaction. Obi-Wan rarely swore.
Something leaped out at him. A figure not quite as tall as them. It swung a heavy bar at them and their lightsabers hummed to life. Anakin spun and kicked the figure. They registered it was human but it gave off the all the force sense of a wild animal. A storm of air blasted at them, air crashing so violently it smashed down branches and leaves, momentarily blinding them. Obi-Wan lashed out a hand, slamming the figure back into the woods. It charged them again.
Force help them it was a just a boy! It looked familiar too. Anakin yelled. "Stop, we aren't here to hurt you." He lifted his saber.
"Anakin wait!"
A vicious blow startled the younger man and he swung his saber, shifted aim for the wrist at the last moment. The wild boy ducked, but fell back into the trees.
A massive explosion flared fire, orange and yellow, blazing a torch of trees into the darkness of the forest. The boy was blasted out, bleeding from the head.
The two jedi gaped at the boy. Alert for more attacks, the two kneeled beside him on the moist grass, even as the pale blue eyes blinked almost shut slowly. He stopped breathing.
"Anakin..." Obi-Wan's voice shook with shock and disbelief. Waves of horror poured out of him.
Anakin, grieved at inadvertently killing a child, sat back with a groan. "He was...insane." Then he noticed the look on Obi-Wan's face. The man was white as snow.
"This boy...this boy...looks exactly like Qui-Gon Jinn. He is...Qui Gon..."