Title: The Quandary
Author: BaBaKaNuSh13
Category: Action (an adequate amount, anyway), Angst, AU (Age 13) (If only '13' started with 'A', too!)
Summary: AU to the ending of Jedi Apprentice: The Dark Rival. Qui-Gon didn't take Obi-Wan as his apprentice after the incident in the mine, and the young Jedi is faced with the task of trying to stay alive as another prospective master takes an interest in him.
Rating: PG/K+
Spoilers: Minor ones for the JA books
Archive: Yes, of course! That is, if anyone would want it. Just please email me first.
Disclaimer: The Star Wars universe belongs to George Lucas. I'm not making any money out of this, so please don't sue.

A/N: Sorry for all of you who had read this when I first posted it – I was in a hurry and didn't get to check my post, so consequently didn't get to see that I'd lost vital information and all the breaks in the transition between my documents and the website. Anyway, please review, even if you think it's really bad or if you have suggestions … or anything, really, just please remember that this is my first JA fanfic, and I don't have a beta for it, so don't be too hard on me, my nerves are frazzled enough already :). Think constructive criticism. Anyway, I hope you like.

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Chapter 1

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Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan returned to their chamber to gather their belongings. There was a transport ship leaving in a few hours.

"Yoda has another mission for me," Qui-Gon explained to Obi-Wan.

Me. Obi-Wan felt only dread at the word.

Qui-Gon stood unmoving, staring down at his sleep-couch. A piece of paper had been stabbed to the cushion with a vibro-shiv. Obi-Wan crossed the room to read over Qui-Gon's broad shoulder:

If you are reading this, I suppose I underestimated you. I won't next time. I enjoyed our adventure together, Master. I am certain you will have the pleasure of meeting me again.

Obi-Wan couldn't read Qui-Gon's features. He tested the Force, searching for the waves of the Jedi's anger. He felt nothing. Was Qui-Gon containing his anger, shielding from Obi-Wan, once again, from his emotions?

"I'm not angry, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said. "Xanatos is gone from me. He is just another enemy now. The hate is all on his side. I am prepared to fight the evil he does. He may kill me one day, but he will never wound me again."

Qui-Gon turned. "You showed me this. In the mine, when you reached out with the Force and showed me how light can always battle dark. My anger left me. In the end, you taught me something about myself."

Obi-Wan stared at the older Jedi's boots for several moments, confused. When he finally spoke up, Qui-Gon was taken aback, the boy's voice uncertain and small, so unlike the bright, outgoing boy he'd come to know over the past few weeks. "What am I to do now? Where am I to go?"

Qui-Gon hesitated. 'Back to the Agri-Corps. They are in need of farmers more than ever, now."

Obi-Wan swallowed and bowed his head, hiding his disappointment, before looking up resolutely and nodding in acceptance. He grabbed hold of the small travel bag full of his few possessions and walked out of the room, his head held determinately high, though Qui-Gon could see the dejection in his eyes. He turned back around before leaving.

"Goodbye, Master Jinn. May the Force be with you."

And with that, he was gone, the door swishing calmly shut behind him.

Qui-Gon couldn't help but feeling that he'd just made one of the biggest mistakes in his life. He picked up his own belongings and made his way to the transport that would take him to Riskala, where he would oversee the yearly coronation of a new King.

As his luxurious ship lifted off from the ground, seeming odd in the dusty, weather-beaten surroundings, Qui-Gon sat at the window to peer out. He watched the small planet of Bandomeer grow even smaller beneath him, and ignored the Force's warnings telling him to turn the ship around.

It was too late, now. Qui-Gon's mind was made up. He would never take another Padawan, and not even the Force's influence could make him change his mind.

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"Master Xanatos, sir," the exceptionally short, stout human captain bowed stiffly, looking rather uncomfortable in the small, yet state-of-the-art star cruiser: Xanatos' pride and joy. It was common knowledge that the last man to even spill a single drop of Corellian wine on the lavish carpet had been abandoned in the middle of space, left with only a litre of air in his breathing tank to live on. The entire crew had been forced to watch as the man had slowly suffocated, silently mouthing cries for help which eventually culminated into his begs for death.

Neither mercy was given to him.

"Report, Captain."

The Captain shuddered but lifted his head and held his chin high, sweaty hands clutched behind his back. "Bandomeer is still in tact, sir."

A wry smile spread across Xanatos' pale face, and he merely nodded his head. He had known that already, since he had not felt the customary void in the Force that signified the death of an entire planet. "And Qui-Gon Jinn?"

"He departed from Bandomeer a few hours ago, sir. Alone."

Xanatos' eyes lit up at that, and he leant forward in his chair interestedly. Alone. He was sure he'd have taken the Kenobi boy with him. Apparently not. "Where was he headed?"

"Riskala."

Xanatos stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Turn the ship around. We're going back to Bandomeer," he said abruptly, making the Captain jump to attention.

"But sir–"

"I want that boy!" Xanatos yelled, cutting the Captain off. "And by the Force I will get him. Now turn the ship around, or you'll regret the day you were ever born. Do you understand me, Captain?"

"Yes sir. Very well, sir." The stout captain bowed deeply, visibly shaking, and hurried out of the room.

Xanatos smiled in satisfaction. He could see Obi-Wan's potential. It surrounded him like a thick shroud, remaining virtually untapped as of yet, even if Jinn was stupid enough to ignore it himself. Kenobi would be his in no time. With Jinn around, it was almost impossible to get to the boy, but alone the young Jedi would practically play into Xanatos' hands.

And his revenge against his former Master would be all the more sweeter with Kenobi by his side.

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Qui-Gon sat back in his chair with a sigh. He was on the ship to Riskala, and although the trip wasn't a particularly long one, with only around six hours' worth of travel, it seemed as if it was taking forever, each tick of his old-fashioned chrono seeming to take at least five times as long.

And all he could think about was the dejected face of the boy whose spirit he'd broken.

Qui-Gon sighed again.

It was strange. As many times as he'd had to tell young Jedi that their future lay on a different path to that of a Knight, none had ever been so distraught … so hurt, as he'd seen Kenobi. It wasn't pride that had made Obi-Wan react so, Qui-Gon thought, nor weakness, but none had felt the disappointment as keenly because they all had known, deep down, that their futures lay elsewhere.

But Obi-Wan didn't know that, because he could tell, and as Qui-Gon would reluctantly admit, that the boy was never destined for a farmer's life.

As much as he absolutely knew Obi-Wan would make an exceptionally strong farmer, with his Force capabilities, commitment and absolute determination, Qui-Gon could safely say that it would only be a waste of the boy's talents.

He was born to be a Jedi Knight.

The boy was a Jedi through and through. Even as Qui-Gon ruthlessly smashed all this dreams into a million tiny pieces, he'd held his head high and parted from Jinn with dignity and honour befitting a Jedi, never begging him or making a scene.

Yet Qui-Gon had still pushed Obi-Wan away, refusing to take him as his Padawan, even though the Force screamed at him to do so. He rarely ignored the Force's inclinations, but this time Qui-Gon felt justified in turning his back on it as it whispered seductively in his ear.

He wouldn't – no, couldn't – believe it when it nudged him with images of he and Kenobi as a team, working together to bring peace to the Universe, fighting side by side, fearless in the face of their enemies, because it could never happen. If Qui-Gon ever took Obi-Wan as his Apprentice … well, to say the least, the boy's fate would be far better off with a farmer's life.

Qui-Gon picked up a muja fruit and rolled it around in his large hands.

And the way Kenobi had fought … his skill, – and even more impressive, his bravery – was outstanding. He didn't know why there hadn't been any Knights to make it their business to take the boy as an Apprentice yet. He was sure that he'd have been taken by the age of nine or ten, and had promised himself that it would happen the first time he'd observed the boy, when he was merely eight years old. He had been surprised when he'd returned to the Temple only weeks ago to find the boy still Masterless.

It was plain to see that all Obi-Wan needed was the more personal training of a Master – Padawan relationship to truly thrive and come into the potential that lay dormant inside him, simply waiting to be accessed. He had been so tempted to teach the promising young Jedi himself, but he feared for the outcome.

For both he and Obi-Wan.

The boy had so many traits similar to those Xanatos possessed in his youth; anger, determination, intelligence, a headstrong tendency, impulsiveness … they had so much in common, yet Qui-Gon couldn't help but realising how different the two were.

But no, Qui-Gon would not take Obi-Wan Kenobi as his Padawan Learner. The pairing could only ever lead to disaster.

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So, please, tell me what you think.

BaBaKaNuSh13