Disclaimer: All characters, well actually the entire galaxy, belongs to George Lucas/Disney. I'm just having the fun of exploring it by my own.
...
Blue Man
High pitched screams tore Creche Master Ali-Alann out of his well earned sleep. He stumbled out of bed and set a less than steady course towards the source of the screams. He'd better get there before all the initiates woke up and the noise multiplied itself.
"Ow!" he muttered between clenched teeth. He really had to move the breakfast table in the common room. He'd stubbed his toe on a similar mission a couple of weeks back in time as well. The same toe, actually.
"Obi-Wan, wake up. You're dreaming again," he touched the little boy's shoulder softly.
A shudder ran through the little body and the child opened a couple of clear green-blue eyes towards him. Ali-Alann bent down and lifted the child up. The terrifying screams had ceased into small hiccups as reality sunk in. Whatever it was that had disturbed the little one was slowly disappearing and the flow of tears that had followed the screams slowly dried.
"What was it this time?" Ali-Alann asked gently. They had early realized that little Obi-Wan was strongly connected to the Unifying Force. Unfortunately this connection lead to a steady stream of nightmares or precognitions, with simultaneously bad nights for both the child and his creche master. In the first months after his arrival to the Jedi Order it had literally been a nightmare for both of them, but lately, as Obi-Wan had become more verbal it had been easier. At least he could now express to some extent what was scaring him.
A new hiccup came from the child: "I saw blue man!"
"A blue man? Who?" Ali-Alann silently ransacked his memory. They did have some blue twi-lek Masters in the order but he doubted the boy had ever met any of them.
"Dunno," the boy squeezed his face tightly towards the Master's shoulder.
"Where did you see the blue man?"
"Here. Home. And then it was sand. I was 'lone."
"You were alone with the blue man?" Ali-Alann was none the wiser after the child's explanation.
"Noooo," Obi-Wan was determined now.
"I was 'lone. And blue man come."
That didn't help much. Not at all. Ali-Alann sat down upon the small table in the common room and placed Obi-Wan on his lap. Had Obi-Wan been alone, or had the blue man? And what was all this about the sand? As far as he knew the only accessible sand on Coruscant was the one found in a corner of the Temple's Room of a Thousand Fountains, often used for silent working meditations for padawans who had done something that wasn't up to their Master's standards. A couple of hours smoothing the sand and creating intricate patterns in it gave time and room for contemplation for everyone.
"Can you try to describe the blue man for me, Obi-Wan?"
A couple of fine lines appeared in the child's brow as he focused on the task ahead, both needing to remember the appearance of the blue man and finding the words to tell Master.
"High!" Obi-Wan pointed triumphantly up into the air.
"What? Was the man up in the sky? "
"Noooo! Man high!"
"You mean a tall man? Someone bigger than you?" Ali-Alann tried to grasp the essence of the slightly diffuse explanation.
"Yes," Obi-Wan nodded vigorously and a bright smile spread over his small face. Finally he had managed to make himself understood. Master Ali-Alann was kind and the 'bestest' of Masters in his opinion, but sometimes he could be rather dense, not understanding Obi-Wan's crystal clear explanations. However, he had become wiser with time. Earlier he hadn't understood any of the explanations given.
"And the man was both here and some place with lots of sand?"
Obi-Wan seemed confused. "No..yes…"
Clarifying indeed. Ali-Alann tried again.
"Did you see him here first and then in the sand?"
"Yes," a new smile. Obi-Wan felt the triumph of actually being able to communicate what he meant.
Ali-Alann suppressed a sigh. Obviously the blue man had shown up for a past or future presence in the Temple. He tried again:
"Have you seen the blue man before, Obi-Wan?"
The little one shook his head.
"Have you dreamt about him before?"
Obi-Wan frowned while trying to remember, then he nodded.
"Not blue!"
This became more and more confusing.
"The man was not blue when you dreamt of him before, but now he is? "
A couple of nods again. It really was about time to settle this and try to get Obi-Wan to sleep again. He seemed to have calmed down and his eyelids were drooping a bit. Still there was one more thing to figure out, before either of them could get some more rest.
"Is the blue man also a bad man, Obi-Wan? Are you afraid of him?"
The blue-green eyes shot up -wide open.
"Noooo! I like man. I sad 'cause man is blue," Obi-Wan's voice was indignant now. Of course he wasn't afraid of the man, but he felt such a sadness when he saw the blue, almost transparent, image of the man in his dreams. Like something had been abruptly taken away from him.
Ali-Alann rubbed the little boy's back gently. "I'm sure the blue man won't come back tonight. Do you think you can manage to sleep some more now, Obi-Wan?"
A huge yawn was answer enough. Silently the Master carried the child back to his bed and pulled the blanket over him.
"Sleep well, little one. No more sad dreams for you tonight," he whispered.
…
Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn was tired. No, 'tired' wasn't the right word. 'Bone tired' was more describing. His first real mission together with his new Padawan, Xanatos DuCrion, had been a challenge for his patience. The boy was undoubtedly strong in the Force but his diplomatic skills were still undeveloped to say the least. On the other hand, his belief in his own skills were far too developed. The crisis they had been sent to solve had escalated almost to an armed conflict after Xanatos had tried to berate the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader on the third day of the negotiations they had been there to oversee. It had taken Qui-Gon several days and almost all his diplomatic abilities to calm the temper of the parties and finally negotiate a solution that hopefully would last.
He had felt so certain that Xanatos would become a powerful Jedi, and he might still be right but either the boy's diplomatic skills would need considerable honing or else he would have to be trained towards another path. Which was in itself a troublesome decision to make. After all the main purpose of the Jedi was to help negotiate peaceful solutions.
Oh Force, he must be more tired than he would admit. He had been so lost in his own musings that he had passed the turbolift that would take him to the part of the Temple where his and Xanatos' shared quarters were. Instead he found himself in the creche area. With a sigh he shook his head and turned on his heel to return in the same direction he had come from. And he almost stumbled.
Apparently from nowhere a small initiate, around 2 years old by the look of it, came running out from one of he common rooms and collided with his right leg, leaving the little one seated on the floor. With a determined expression in the little face, the youngling stood up again and looked up at Qui-Gon's face. Then the expression changed into bewilderment and he pointed up at Qui-Gon.
"Not blue?"
I must be more tired than I thought, Qui-Gon thought. Why should I be blue? Did he really say 'blue'?
"No, little one, I'm definitely not blue if that's what you're trying to point out," he tried. He had always felt awkward around the smallest initiates, but something urged him to answer the small boy.
"Not blue now," the boy repeated happily,"don't be!""
"No, I do not intend to change color soon," Qui-Gon assured him.
The boy's face cracked into a brilliant smile, his blue-green eyes shone with delight.
"Stay!" he ordered, "Not go, not blue."
Then he clutched small arms around Qui-Gon's leg with a firm grip. For a moment Qui-Gon felt rather touched by the boy's determined attempt of keeping him from whatever sithly fate that might make him change color, but before he could bend down to try to loosen the iron grip of the two small arms, Creche Master Ali-Alann appeared in the door.
"Obi-Wan, come back here at once. I'm sorry, Master Jinn, the door was open and suddenly he disappeared. He knows very well that he isn't allowed to leave the creche area on his own, and he's usually very good at following rules so I have no idea of what came over him."
"Me neither," Qui-Gon chuckled, "he came out like a little projectile and I almost stumbled. Somehow he seems to be…attached to my boot."
"I can see that," Ali-Alann sighed and bent down to release the initiate from the Master's boot clad leg. "Obi-Wan, you must let Master Jinn go. He needs to be elsewhere and you should come in again."
A slightly quivering lip was the sole answer as Ali-Alann lifted him away from the Jedi Master and upon his own arm. Then Obi-Wan drew a deep breath and declared: "Want man to stay."
"Master Jinn cannot stay with us. He has his own duties," Ali-Alann explained, "Good evening to you, Master Jinn."
As he saw the tall Master stride down the corridor, a sudden thought struck him.
Can the tall, blue man from Obi-Wan's dream really be Master Jinn? And if so, why does Obi see him as blue? A hologram? It must have been some kind of premonition, but what does it mean? Is there a link between those two, and if so why?
"Tall man not blue," Obi-Wan happily confirmed.