Dooku's First Padawan

by LongLoreLover

"I had watched him die to Maul, but somehow, he stood before me. His eyes were dark, his body cloaked in a black robe, green lightsaber still shone. He looked at me with no remorse, just the desire to have my head like so many other Jedi he had been killing. Anakin knew, but was still." "Who was it, Obi-Wan?" Master Windu asks. "Qui-Gon Jinn. He was the apprentice. Dooku's..."

1. Tears in Vain

Qui-Gon shouldn't have died. I apologize for any discrepancies that may arise, please notify if I mess up any character's backstory. Thx, and enjoy.- LLL

Obi Wan Kenobi's Point of View:

The flames licked both my master's body, and turned my tears into steam. To some, I'd appear stoic, but inside, I was crumbling. Maul, that red and black tatooed filth, had killed him. My master, Yoda's apprentice. It was too sudden, his death. All I could do was watch. If only I hadn't fallen, that was the first rule as a Padawan that I had learned. Never fall. To leave one is to abandon one. My master had been abandoned. He died. He had fallen, and would never rise again.

Not that the flames would even let him go. They grew now, turning from yellow into orange. His features began to distort, his skin color fade. The force was leaving him, just as he was leaving us. Across the blaze, I sensed Masters Yoda and Windu. Both were sad, but they were in conversation. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but the two were not ones to engage in idle chit-chat. Beside me, Anakin looked at the spectacle. He was crying. The boy, the one who has been told to spell-out all our doom. It is hard to believe that, he is just a boy. However, he single-handedly took out a Separatist Cruiser, saving the Gungans. He shouldn't have to see this. Shouldn't have to leave his mother, be a slave if he stayed, watch death on this scale.

Was master right, bringing him into all of this? Should I ignore all his wishes? Anakin's life is not to be an easy one after this, and I myself don't feel ready. I always had Qui-Gon to refer with. Yoda wants no part of Anakin, and Mace Windu is as imposing to talk to as he is formidable in combat. If I train Anakin, I will be ostracized. Not that I was ever an integral part of the order, but I had dreamed of such.

No, the boy was Qui-Gon's wish. To not honor that would spit on his memory.

"What happens now?" Anakin asks me. I muster up as much confidence I can, but I still am worried my voice will break.

"I will train you Anakin." I stood by that statement. Anakin bowed his head, and we watched the flames together. Qui-Gon was nearly gone from us, but somewhere, I felt a pulse. Like he was around me, out there somewhere in the infinite cosmos. But then, the fire fully takes my best friend's body from us, and I let the tears fall.

They were all for naught...