Here you go guys, the second chapter. Thanks a million for all your reviews, I mean I really didn't expect this to get so much attention, but it did and I'm so happy. So here you go and I hope you enjoy =]
"Who are you?" Obi-Wan growled at the man before him.
"Judging by the tone of your voice, Qui-Gon's not home" the man said thoughtfully.
"Who are you?!" this time Obi-Wan screamed, taking a step forward.
"Alright, alright, relax. I know this must be confusing for you but believe me I mean you absolutely no harm. You can lower your saber" the man said slowly.
Obi-Wan eye the man carefully. He had an incredibly strong force signature. And it wasn't a bit tainted with darkness so wasn't a sith. But then how could he have attained a signature so high....
Obi-Wan's eyes flickered to the man's belt, and widened a bit when he saw a lightsaber.
"Yes, I am a Jedi, you can trust me" the man said looking down at his waist before returning his gaze to the younger.
Obi-Wan hesitantly lowered her saber "You still haven't told me who you are..."
The man took a deep breath "I am...you..."
"What?!" Obi-Wan scowled "Quit messing around and tell me who you really are" he took his comm link into his hand and brought it up for the man to see "Or I'll have the entire Jedi Council up here in a seconds time." Obi-Wan did realize that he was threatening a possible Jedi Knight...Jedi Master, or even a Sith with fantastic shields. But it was worth a shot.
The man chuckled before continuing "My name is Obi-Wan Kenobi. I am you, 28 years from the future"
"Let me see your lightsaber.......throw it over" Obi-Wan added a second thought.
"What, going to check the color?" the man smirked. Obi-Wan looked away. He wished the man hadn't just seen right through him,but it was true. A pretty much stupid plan if you through about it but it could tell him something. If the force was strong enough in the saber, he could tell who it belonged to...
"What would it matter? My saber would tell you who belongs to, but you don't even know who I am. I tell you I am Obi-Wan Kenobi, but you believe I am lying" the man looked down for a moment before returning his gaze to the young man before him "How do you know I didn't kill a Jedi and take it from him?"
"If you killed a Jedi and took it from him then I can't trust you" Obi-Wan said almost immediately.
"Times are rough where I come from" the man muttered running a hand through his hair.
"Where do you come from anyway?" Obi-Wan raised a brow.
"28 years in the future, that's all I can tell you for now..." the man trailed off.
Obi-Wan gave a frustrated sigh. He was getting no where, and this man was much better at avoiding revealing information than he thought.
"Tell you what, I'll prove that I'm you from the future. Throw a couple of questions at me" the man suggested.
"Alright, let's do that" Obi-Wan said straightening his posture. He thought for a moment before continuing "How did I meet my friend Bruck?"
"Bruck's not your friend....as a matter of fact...what are you 14?" the man raised a brow. Obi-Wan just nodded. "Then Bruck's dead, he died last year."
"Ok then, how was I chosen to be a padawan?" Obi-Wan asked.
"I, well you- well let's just say we didn't become padawan by exactly being chosen. It was more of an almost get shipped to agri-corps and end up saving Qui-Gon Jinn's life and then have him ask 'would you like to be trained by me?' and then a force sensitive stone" the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a small smooth river stone and held it up for Obi-Wan to see before returning it to his pocket "and then bam! We where padawan" he smiled.
Obi-Wan thought for a moment....he had the river stone from Qui-Gon's home planet.....But what if he had taken it from the actual Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan shook his head and went for one final question.
"How did I meet my friend Garen?"
A smile crept onto the man's face and he shook his head slowly "Ah, Garen. Let's just say it had something to do with a laundry room explosion" the man laughed "They never did find out who did that."
Obi-Wan was a little brought back by the fact that the man had actually answered it "Ok, how long have I known him?"
"Well, you've probably known him for about 10 years...me," the man paused and looked down again, and when he looked back up, his eyes bore a very familiar gaze. The gaze Obi-Wan wore when something upset him but he was trying his hardest not to show it "I knew him for 34."
"Knew?" Obi-Wan muttered, catching the small detail.
"Garen's dead in my time...: the man closed his eyes briefly.
"Oh..." Obi-Wan cast his eyes downward. He didn't really know what to think of his best friend's apparent death. Or even if it was true...but something about the man's tone of voice, and the rapid changing of his eyes color from aqua to grey....told Obi-Wan, he was telling the truth.
"It was my fault. As usual...it was my fault...he died trying to save me..." the man muttered. He turned away from Obi-Wan for a second, running both hands through his hair in a rather frustrated manner "It happened just a few days ago...I mean his memory is still so raw...so fresh..and...I could still here his voice loud and clear in my mind...saying something stupid like 'Obi-Wan, put down that lightsaber right now-"
"I absolutely need someone to play this new-" Obi-Wan continued the man's sentence.
"This new holo-game with me right now" the man added turning back to face Obi-Wan, with a smile on his face.
"Before..."
"Before the force decides to take me and play with me...." the man finished his best friend's often said line.
Both Jedi sobered and allowed a calm silence to come between them. Obi-Wan collapsed onto the bed behind him and returned his lightsaber to his belt.
"I think I believe you now" Obi-Wan sighed "Well you-I mean me..I mean..."
"Just call me Ben, that's what everyone I my time calls me" Ben said walking over to his younger self. He eyed the suitcase on the bed and then looked over at Obi-Wan "Judging by the way this place looks, I take it I came right on time?"
Obi-Wan just raised a brow.
"Let me tell you something, Obi-Wan..." Ben began, seating himself next to his younger self "I was your age too once. And I felt rejected by Qui-Gon's cold indifference once as well. So you wanna know what I did?" Ben said gazing deeply into Obi-Wan's eyes "I ran away" he whispered.
Obi-Wan's eyes widened a bit. Ben continued "I ran away from Qui-Gon, the temple, from everything. I traveled a few planets with the limited money I had, searching for a job and a temporary home. But on one of the planets, a Jedi from the Ziggurat Temple saw me. He immediately recognized me and brought me back to the Coroscant Temple. Master Yoda....being as merciful as he was, allowed me to remain in the order and put me back under Qui-Gon's tutelage. And I'm sure you can imagine how Qui-Gon treated me after what I did. Ever so the oblivious one, he treated me worse than before I had left. The fact that I ran away reinforced his idea that there was some kind of darkness in me. Nevertheless he trained me. We spoke as little as we possibly could for the next few years, and made no attempts to seal the rift between us. All the rejection, hurt and anger that developed in me changed me from the shy timid boy you are now, to this attitude filled renegade I am today" Ben shrugged "Qui-Gon decided he would knight me as soon as he could. When I was 18 he requested the council for it, but they said we would have to go on one last mission before I can be knighted. It was a mission I thought would be simple and easy but hey, I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, the kriffing mischief magnet I am, we wound up going on a wild bantha chase, finding the sith again after a hundred years, and finding the chosen one..."
"The chosen one...from the prophecy?" Obi-Wan asked raising a brow.
"Yup, the very same" Ben answered "But he was a stunning 9 years old. There was no way the council was going to let him into the order. But Qui-Gon wouldn't have any of it. He made sure young..Anakin Skywalker was allowed into the order. And as soon as the council finally gave into him and allowed Anakin to be trained...Qui-Gon took him as an apprentice..."
"And what about you?" Obi-Wan dared to ask.
"Pushed aside....knighted the very same day" Ben sighed "Qui-Gon didn't show up to my knighting cause he was too busy with Anakin's braiding ceremony.."
Obi-Wan looked down and noticed Ben's clenched fists. But looked back to his eyes as he began to speak again.
"Despite the fact that I had saved him from the sith that had attacked us on Naboo, Qui-Gon and I didn't bother with one another for the next year or so, until the council placed us on another mission together. The same sith was spotted again on Naboo and we where to go out and this time we where to bring him back to the temple for questioning. And it really didn't occur to me how much I cared for Qui-Gon, how much of a father to me he was until I saw that sith strike him down...and kill him..." Ben closed his eyes again.
"You...you saw Qui-Gon die?" Obi-Wan whispered.
Ben let out a dry laugh "Saw him? I held him while he was dying."
Obi-Wan's eyes widened a bit.
"His dying wish was that I complete Anakin's training. I was 19, in panic and pain, and I immediately accepted. Not really realizing the magnitude of my decision till I faced the very same ten year old that had stolen everything from me. And I was supposed to train and care for him like he was my own. At first I neglected and barely spoke to him. But then one day....it occurred to me...that I was acting just like Qui-Gon...And I took a moment to think that maybe....just maybe Anakin felt the same way I did when I was around his age...." Ben glanced over at his younger self before continuing "So I began to take better care of him, I learned to love and care for him like my own son.. Thing where good for us. We developed a strong bond that lasted for years."
"Then what happened?" Obi-Wan muttered?
"I never understood why Qui-Gon always acted like such a bastard after Xanatos turned" Ben noticed his younger self stiffen at the sound of the rogue Jedi's name "That is until my own apprentice turned..."
Obi-Wan's eyes widened a great deal "Anakin turned to the dark side?"
"It was my fault really...I should have been more of a master to him than a friend...In the beginning when I mistreated him....he gained this insecurity that I hated him and didn't want him. Afterwards however once I became close to him his insecurity became the need to satisfy me. He craved my attention and acceptance. More than a Jedi should. I should have noticed all that. I should have never babied him as much as I did. That was probably one of the key points of his downfall..." Ben looked away for a moment "But that's not important now" he took a deep breath "Anyway Anakin became the sith apprentice to the dark lord, Darth Sidious. And together they turned the Republic into and Empire, all under their rule. And then they declared all Jedi as enemies of the Empire. Hunted them down and killed them all. Of course most of them where gone because Anakin had invaded the Coroscant Temple, killing everyone there."
Shock and horror filled Obi-Wan's face.
"Garen and I survived because we where both offworld. He and I where the only ones we where familiar with that had survived..."
"But what about-"
"Dead. They where all dead. Anakin made sure of it" Ben said slowly shaking his head "But it didn't matter that we didn't know anyone. We rounded up all the Jedi we could find and started a Rebel Alliance. War against the Empire. And I...I was the leader of it all. The Rebel Alliance fought several battles against the empire over the years. Winning some, loosing. All while we where on the run. It would be a disgusting mistake to get caught by the Empire" Ben finished.
"Whoa..." Obi-Wan muttered breathlessly "I'm gonna live a crazy life..."
"No you're not Obi-Wan, that's why I'm here. I don't want you to experience the poor excuse for a life I have. That's why I'm here to tell you...don't run away. Believe me,. It's what ruined my life. It's what made me what I am today" Ben warned.
"But you're such a cool guy!" Obi-Wan smiled a bit.
"Yeah to some" Ben turned away and run a hand through his hair "tell that to Luke and he'll say, 'what? The old man? Cool? No way."
"Whose Luke?" Obi-Wan raised a brow.
"Luke's-Nevermind, he's like a son to me...that's all you need to know for now" Ben answered.
"Ok..."
"But anyway, listen to me Obi-Wan, I know it's hard now, but believe me things will look up. And let me tell you a little secret of mine, something I didn't learn for a long time after Qui-Gon's death" Ben leaned in towards his younger self. Obi-Wan leaned in towards him as well, curious as to what Ben wanted to tell him "He does care about you."
"What?" Obi-Wan looked at Ben as though he was crazy "Qui-Gon doesn't give a crap about me. Faaaar from loving me."
"He loves you with his life. He loves you like his own son...it's just that he didn't know how to tell you now...you know Xanatos's wound is still fresh. Give him a little time and I'm sure he'll open up to you. It's something I forgot to do before I jumped ahead" Ben said with a truthful expression "Jumped into the real world, into pain, war and the ugliness of battle."
"Battle huh?" Obi-Wan smirked "Is that why you have the body of a bounty hunter?"
Ben laughed "Yes that's why I've got the body of a bounty hunter."
"How the hell did you even get so....tight??" Obi-Wan said staring at Ben's packed muscular chest. His lightly tanned skin was brought out all the more by the sleeveless netted shirt x=clad to his body.
"Oh you know, just duke it out with a sith apprentice 4 or 5 times...you'll get there, trust me" Ben poked at his chest, suppressing a grin.
Obi-Wan laughed.
Their laughter eventually died out into a comfortable silence.
"But seriously Obi-Wan. Please, for your own sake, deal with Qui-Gon for a bit. And we can change the future for the better. I know we can" Ben said breaking the silence. He looked sincerely at his younger self "And please if and when you meet Anakin, because I'm not even sure if you will anymore now that I've hopefully stopped you from running aeway. But seriously if and when you do meet Anakin, please, please don't let him develop the insecurity that will cause him to succumb to the darkness. Please..."
"I won't, I promise" Obi-Wan smiled.
"Good..." Ben whispered and looked down.
Suddenly the sound of the front door opening, sounded.
"Crap, Qui-Gon's home" Obi-Wan muttered.
"Ah...sith" Ben cursed, trying to hide the panic that filled him at the thought of seeing Qui-Gon again.
"Obi-Wan?" The strong deep voice that both the Obi-Wans where more than familiar with, came from the living room. Heavy footsteps drew closer to the room.
"You want me to leave?" Ben asked hurriedly.
"No! Then I'd be fucked for trying to run away!" Obi-Wan let out in a hushed scream.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi, when did you start using that word?!" Ben gasped.
"Please, you probably use it all the time..." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes.
"You see that attitude? That's what's gonna turn you into me!" Ben pointed an accusing finger at Obi-Wan, then at himself.
"I am you!" Obi-Wan countered,
"Not yet you're not!"
"Yes I am!"
"No you're-" but Ben was cut off as the door to Obi-Wan's room fell open. Both the Kenobi's eyes went to the door...
And there stood the tall, ever so confident form of......Qui-Gon Jinn.
Dun Dun DUUUN!!! lol Qui-Gon's home! XD lol so, what's ya think? Good bad? Please let me know. And if there are any questions, feel free to ask =]
Oh and how many of you picked up Qui-Gon's line that Ben said? It was this: "How do you know I didn't kill a Jedi and take it from him?" Qui-Gon said it to Anakin when they met in Phantom Menace =] Ring a bell? I just thought it would be nice to have Ben recite something his old master said.
Review!!
