Christmas Carol AU for Jedi Apprentice here we come!

Please read and review :)

….

Xanatos was dead….to begin with. Dead as a door-nail. After a tense fight on Telos, Qui-Gon's second padawan had chosen to end his life rather than face a trial, one that would bring up every act of the Dark side that he committed and highlight every lie he had ever made.

But now it was over…and yet, Qui-Gon could feel no relief, nor grief in the passing of his ex-student. Instead he was filled with an empty loneliness that seemed to fill every void within his soul. He had loved Xanatos like a son and look what that compassion brought him….nothing but pain.

"M-master?"

Silently, Qui-Gon turned to face the young boy beside him. Obi-Wan Kenobi was his current apprentice (although after the Melida/Daan incident, Qui-Gon had been thinking over this) and had been heavily involved in taking down Xanatos and his accomplice, Bruck Chun.

Obi-Wan took a cautious step back and bowed, "Master Yoda and Master Windu require your presence in Coruscant. It seemed urgent."

"Oh? I forget that, even at such a young age, you are so in tune with the Force that you are one with the Jedi Council? Please do not assume such things and even if you do, kindly do not assume that you can command me such as they can."

Taken aback by the scolding of his Master, Obi-Wan flushed in embarrassment and bowed again. "M-my apologies Master…."

Qui-Gon inwardly sighed, "Nevermind, I'm sure we can work on your attitude issues. Come Obi-Wan. We have work to do."

…..Seven Months later….

"Again!" commanded Qui-Gon as Obi-Wan drew the kata to a halt, "And watch your footing! A mistake like that could get you or your partner in serious trouble!"

"Yes Master…." Whispered the child as he moved his aching muscles into the correct starting position. However, before he could begin again, the doors to the training dojo practically slammed open and Mace Windu strode through.

"Training?" he began, raising an eyebrow at Qui-Gon, "It's the evening before Yule Qui-Gon, surely you can give the poor boy a break? Nobody else is training after all and it'll be nice for him to spend some time with his friends."

Obi-Wan glanced eagerly at his Master before turning away as Qui-Gon narrowed his eyes at him. Qui-Gon shook his head and sighed at his friend, "I'm getting in all the training I can, especially as Master Yoda has insisted upon everyone having a free day tomorrow. Obi-Wan needs all the help he can get, and Yule is not helping him!"

Mace frowned, "Can't you at least try to feel a bit of Yule spirit Qui-Gon? Think of all the initiates and padawans running around tomorrow, big beaming grins as they look forward to the Temple meal in the canteen and-"

"Yes, running around and getting under my feet…" interrupted Qui-Gon, "…and what right do you have to be so happy? It's not as if you'll be getting anything this Yule?"

"What right do you have to be so miserable….when you have everything you ever need?" Mace glanced at Obi-Wan meaningfully before spinning around and heading back out of the door. Before he left however, he span back around "Happy Yuletide Master Jinn….Happy Yuletide Padawan Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan smiled gratefully at the man as Qui-Gon turned away from his friend, "Good afternoon Master Windu…."

Mace simply shook his head and left. Qui-Gon turned to his padawan and sighed, "I suppose you'll be wanting tomorrow off as well?"

Obi-Wan nodded slowly, "If it's not too much of an inconvenience Master?"

Qui-Gon shook his head, "Of course it's an inconvenience, but it's not as if I can keep you from having some free time without the little troll deciding to give me a lecture on working my students too hard. But the morning after, I want you to be up an hour earlier and start working on this kata. Do you understand me?"

Obi-Wan nodded frantically, "Yes Master!"

Qui-Gon gestured towards the door, "Go on then! And try not to come our rooms too late tonight!"

Obi-Wan owed in understanding before sheathing his lightsaber, clipping it to his belt and practically running out of the training room. Qui-Gon stared after him, before shaking his head and heading out of the door, making his way back to his rooms. As he strode through the corridor, he couldn't help but notice how initiates and other members of the Temple moved out of his way and stopped their Yule activities, as if not wanting to anger him.

"Master Qui-Gon!" called out a familiar voice. Before he could get away, Qui-Gon found himself face-to-face with Master Kit Fisto. "My friend! I hope to see you at this years annual trip to the crèche! We're planning to take them out into the snow and-"

"I'm sorry …." Interrupted Qui-Gon, "…but I won't be joining you."

Kit seemed shocked at this and frowned, "B-but you haven't had a Temple Yule for many years, and the children-"

"-should not be given special attention. They are not our sons and daughters, they are our students and the sooner they realize this the better!"

Without even waiting for an answer, Qui-Gon pushed past the other Master and decided to head to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, to meditate for a few hours.

….

These hours flew by and before long, Qui-Gon found himself heading back towards his rooms. The Temple was dark and practically deserted, with only the occasional Jedi creeping through the corridors. As he approached the doors to his rooms, Qui-Gon stopped in his tracks as there stood a ghostly figure.

"Xanatos?!" he whispered.

The figure smirked, before rushing at him, an ominous red glow filling Qui-Gon's vision as he rolled out of the way of the oncoming attack. Qui-Gon leapt to his feet and drew his lightsaber, the green glow illuminating the corridor…nothing. There was nothing there. Twisting around, Qui-Gon desperately searched the area…still nothing.

Sheathing his blade, he quickly typed the code in for his room and strode in. Quickly scanning the area with the Force, he was able to sense his padawan in his own room and a quick scan of room revealed a lukewarm dinner on the table. Shaking his head, Qui-Gon took the plate into his room and sat down at his desk for the remainder of the evening.

As he read through another mission data pad, the lights began to flicker as a thud echoed throughout his room. "Obi-Wan…if you are not in bed in the next two minutes, then you can forget about that free day tomorrow! Master Yoda be damned!" he ordered, however he was only met with silence…until the next thud, which was quickly followed by the rattling of a chain.

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon twisted around, only to leap up as the ghostly figure strode through his door, a long chain still attached to his neck and a sneer on its relatively handsome face, if slightly scarred face.

Qui-Gon frowned at the spectre "Who are you?!"

The figure smirked, "Why don't you ask me who I was?"

"Who were you then?!"

"You know exactly who I was…I am the padawan you betrayed! The one you let die!"

"Do not blame me for your sins, Xanatos!" yelled Qui-Gon, glancing at the room besides his own.

Xanatos followed his eyes and shook his head, "I wouldn't expect your newest project to help. It's just you and me…Master." The ghost frowned, "You don't believe in me…."

"…No"

"Why do you doubt your senses Master?"

"Because even the slightest thing can fool them…a crumb of bread, a piece of cheese or a bit of uncooked potatoes…there is more of gravy than grave about you!"

Xanatos laughed at this, not even bothering to dignify his ex-Master's statement with a response.

Qui-Gon frowned, "What do you want…apart from trying to make my life harder?"

"The Force has given me a task…"

"And that is?"

"…to warn you of your fate, should you re-join the Force at any time soon."

"My fate?!"

Xanatos shook his head mock-sadly, "She's not happy with how you've been treating everyone…especially my replacement."

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "And how exactly is my treatment of Obi-Wan upsetting the Force?"

"Isn't it obvious? The boy isn't happy with you….in fact, you can argue that he's depressed. Along with your clear hostility towards your friends, the Force has come to the end of her patience….however, she has decided to give you another chance. A chance that I never got…"

"Another chance?"

Xanatos grabbed the chain that was still trailing behind him and practically thrusted it in his ex-Master's face, "You see this chain? The weight of this chain reflects all of my sins, all of my Dark Side acts! And a similar chain is developing for you because of everything that you have been doing…every cruel thing you say to your friends and padawan."

Qui-Gon shook his head, "None of my acts are influenced by the Dark side Xanatos. All I do, I do to help Obi-Wan!"

"You treat him like a whipping boy…you even used to treat me better than that!"

"Yes….and that was my mistake! I treated you like a son and you turned on me! I won't make the same mistake with Obi-Wan!"

"And yet he still isn't the perfect padawan! He still isn't good enough in your eyes!"

Qui-Gon shook his head in disgust, "No…but he will be. No matter what!"

Xanatos smirked, "And therein lies your problem…the Force doesn't like how you are trying to achieve this goal…." He shrugged, "…but, like I said…she is giving you another chance. You will be haunted by three more spirits of the Force, one after the other, starting after the first hour of the day has passed."

Qui-Gon shook his head, "Can't I meet them all at once and get it over with? I've had quite enough of Force ghosts for one lifetime."

"I'm afraid it doesn't work like that …" Xanatos turned to leave, "…remember, at the first strike of one, the first ghost will appear."

Before he could pass through the door, Qui-Gon held out a hand, "Wait!" When the man…ghost did, Qui-Gon sighed, "What's going to happen to you?"

Xanatos smirked, "Is that concern I hear?"

"I just want to make sure you aren't getting off lightly…"

"Well…rest assured, I will be chained up like this for eternity. Forgotten and suffering for my crimes…." He turned around and for once in his life, Qui-Gon saw regret on his ex-padawan's face. "…take this chance Master, for your sake…and for Obi-Wan."

With this the spirit disappeared through the door, closely followed by Qui-Gon, who burst into the living room…to find nothing. There was no sign of Xanatos anywhere. Shaking his head, Qui-Gon made his way back into the main bedroom, changed into his bed clothes and crawled into bed, trying to push the strange incident to the back of his mind.

….

After a few hours of restless tossing and turning, Qui-Gon found himself sitting against his headboard in an attempt to meditate. As his bedside clock flickered and turned one, Qui-Gon desperately tried to focus on anything but the warning he was given.

The seconds passed and with each one, Qui-Gon relaxed….that is, until his room suddenly filled with light and another ghostly figure materialised in his room. However, Qui-Gon found himself edging away as the figure took on a familiar form.

"Master Dooku?!"