Title: Loneliness of the Jedi
Author: Tally SLASH
Category: AU, Adventure, Drama
Rating: PGish
Summary: The third part in the Shadow of the Jedi series. The Republic is under threat, Senator Amidala is in danger and the Chosen One has become a reckless young man. The Shadows watches the future approach and must make a decision, but there is a price to be paid. Who will pay? And is the price too high?
Note: The Prologue is a little reminder of what has already happened. Part One will be along shortly.
Prologue – Shadows and Love
Ten years have past, but the galaxy has not been at rest. The Darkness grows. The Jedi diminish and somewhere, hidden among the billions of lives, a power stirs. A boy has become a man and soon he will learn the cost of the loss of his youth and innocence and soon he will know what it means to be a Jedi and the sacrifices that must be made...
"Obi-Wan is MIA," Mace told Qui-Gon as the master stood before the Council.
"I saw him."
"When?"
"He intervened in my fight with the Sith," Qui-Gon told them, remembering the brief battle in Tatooine with the dark, tattooed warrior and Obi-Wan's timely arrival.
"Understand then, you do, what he is?" Yoda asked carefully.
Qui-Gon nodded.
"Knew we did, long before his Knighting, but discover it for himself he had to."
"Not long after his Knighting," Mace continued. "He realised the truth. We arranged the rest and he has been a Shadow ever since; remaining hidden until he was needed."
"The time for Shadows is over, with the Sith among us again, needed the Jedi Warrior will be." Yoda looked carefully at his old apprentice. "Talk to Obi-Wan you should."
"I would, Master, if I could find him."
Yoda chuckled.
"Work like that it does not, finds you, the Jedi Warrior does."
"Go now, Qui-Gon, finish the Naboo mission," Mace said as a dismissal. "The rest can wait."
Qui-Gon bowed low and left.
"He's right," Obi-Wan said, stepping from shadows.
"I wish you wouldn't do that," Mace groused good-naturedly, relieved to see his friend safe.
Obi-Wan grinned unrepentant, but continued, "Anakin is the Chosen One."
"Be that as it may, he is still too old and full of anger."
"Don't talk such nonsense," none of the Council were surprised at Obi-Wan's bluntness, they had become accustomed to it, and being the Jedi Warrior granted him a certain amount of latitude. Although the Knight respected them, he did not answer to them except on missions they had assigned to him.
"Obi-Wan," Mace began. "Surely, you of all people understand the danger."
The Jedi Warrior seemed to sag under the weight of Mace's words. His eyes closed.
"I have seen an end. War and death besiege the galaxy, the Jedi are not enough to protect it and I am not enough to protect them."
"Seen this too, I have," Yoda confirmed.
"It was always a competition between the Dark and the Light to get the Force Warrior on its side whenever there was one present in the galaxy. For the Sith it was safety to destroy, for the Jedi to preserve the Light. The Force gave me this gift and another; it gave me Qui-Gon. My bond with him keeps me secure in the Light, even though I am standing on the very thin line between. Anakin has no such protection. How long do you think it will be before the Sith know of his existence? We finally know of theirs and they know of mine. They will discover him, and I fear for him then."
"What do you suggest?"
"Allow Qui-Gon to be his Master, he will show him the path of the Light. Allow another future."
Love still lives in the hearts of two men, destined to be united. Either together or apart they rejoice at their union because it is love, pure and radiant and blessed by the Force...
"Where are you going?" Yaddle asked.
"I'm going after Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan answered her truthfully.
"Is that a good idea?"
"When my head can't decide, perhaps it's better to listen to my heart," Obi-Wan answered. "I am going to be with my bondmate, there is no reason why I should not be."
"May the Force be with you, Knight Kenobi."
"And with you, also."
Obi-Wan left the Council chamber and headed straight for the landing platform where his ship sat ready to take him anywhere he desired to go. If he hurried, he could catch up to Qui-Gon and Anakin and meet up with them as they alighted from their transport.
'I'm coming,' the young Jedi whispered along the Soulbond, and although Qui-Gon was too far away to hear his words, the master felt Obi-Wan's intent and sent his own wave of love back to Obi-Wan. The bondmates had been given five years, no more time would be allowed them to adjust, but Obi-Wan was confident they could work through it as they went. They had been the best Jedi pairing when he had been an apprentice and Obi-Wan could see no reason why their pairing would not be just as successful the second time around. Doubts and dangers lingered in the Shadow's mind, but the inner part of the man, the part of him that was bondmate to Qui-Gon Jinn, knew that their love at least would survive the gathering Dark.
Obi-Wan Kenobi left Coruscant and went to be with his bondmate.
An evil watches, ready to pounce and in truth it has already began its task of corruption. It waits, patient for millenia, but soon it will be time for darkness to rise...
Obi-Wan tried to quiet all his worries in the cramped cockpit as he flew to be with his beloved, trying to meditate and find at least some semblance of calm. It was while he drifted on the soothing currents of the Force that he felt it, and just as Anakin was fascinated by it, Obi-Wan was horrified. The change was so small, so seemingly insignificant, but so important and so imbued with the Dark that the Shadow could not escape from it.
The Warrior remembered his words to the Council after Naboo, 'A Jedi will fall to his will first.' That time had come, it seemed. Deep within Obi-Wan's mind, hidden from all, even his beloved, Obi-Wan saw and felt the Darkness spread to another. He saw a hooded and cloaked figure reach out to a kneeling man.
Obi-Wan strained to see the face of either man, but his vision died and bled away back into the Force.
"If only I'd seen their faces," he told the Force angrily.
"Count Dukoo?" a gravelly voice asked, dark and threatening, charming and commanding.
Dukoo looked up into the eyes of his tormenter and said,
"Yes, Master?"
A crossroad is approaching, a choice must be made, all must find their path. The Force guides, not leaving them alone to their fate, but will they hear it, will they head it and will they follow it? It is a treacherous time, made more so by the stealth by which the enemy moves. The Darkness is coming, the Jedi are fighting, the Chosen One stands on the edge of an abyss and the Shadow watches, ready to do what he must for the good of the Jedi.
