Chapter 1

The next morning Qui-Gon crossed the living room and made his way towards the kitchen. He had 2 hours before he would have to make his way to the council for his meeting. He arrived at the kitchen expecting to see Obi-Wan having breakfast as usual. But Obi-Wan wasn't there. Qui-Gon frowned and then sighed as he realised that his Padawan had most likely overslept.

Qui-Gon turned and walked back out of the kitchen towards Obi-Wan's room. Just before he reached it though the door swung open and Obi-Wan appeared. He ran straight into Qui-Gon and was knocked clean of his feet, landing hard on the floor. Qui-Gon looked down at the boy lying on the floor, he looked a bit dazed as if he couldn't quite understand where he was. Suddenly his expression changed and he looked at Qui-Gon with embarrassment and disbelief. He looked like he had just done something unforgivable, Qui-Gon thought to himself.

He watched as his Padawan scrambled to his feet, without once looking Qui-Gon in the eye. "I'm sorry Master, please forgive me" Qui-Gon looked at his Padawan. Had he hurt himself? Why had he overslept? Was something wrong? He was going to ask those questions but before he could he saw what time it was. "You're going to be late" he simply said, there would be time to ask him later.

Obi-Wan glanced at the clock. "I'm sorry Master I didn't mean to…" and then with a slight bow, he left.

Was it just him or did Obi-Wan seem upset? And he could have sworn that his voice had cracked at the end of that last sentence. Qui-Gon shook his head. "He's just tired" he thought to himself. He had more important things to worry about.

Qui-Gon's meeting with the council had gone well for once. Surprisingly the entire council had completely agreed with him. It was a strange feeling, Qui-Gon thought. Now that it was over he felt like he had worried about it more than was necessary.

He contently made his way down the hall. Knowing that Obi-Wan wouldn't be back from his classes for a while he decided he would go to the garden and meditate. He stopped though when he found a young girl about Obi-Wan's age blocking his path. She looked a bit nervous but spoke anyway. "Master Jinn?" She asked. Qui-Gon nodded and she started tugging at her sleeve nervously. "Is Obi-Wan alright?" she finally asked. Obi-Wan? Qui-Gon looked confused and frowned. "Why shouldn't he be?" The girl immediately stopped playing with her sleeve and looked stunned. "Didn't you get Master Shian's message?"

Qui-Gon thought for a moment and then realised that he had turned his commlink of, so he wouldn't be disturbed during the council meeting. And he hadn't been back to the apartment so he couldn't have seen any messages. Qui-Gon shook his head. "What happened?" His voice carried its usual calm tone, but in reality, his mind was going through every possible thing that could've happened to Obi-Wan, getting worse with each one.

The girl started tugging at her sleeve again, she clearly hadn't expected to have to tell Qui-Gon what had happened. She took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to, I swear" She blurted out before composing herself and starting at the beginning.

"We had 'saber practice with Master Shian. Obi-Wan and I were paired up to practice duelling. I thought he seemed a bit… I don't know, upset I suppose, he said he was fine though, so we started the duel." "Dammit I should've known something was wrong this morning" Qui-Gon thought, mentally kicking himself. "Obi-Wan is usually top of the class but today he seemed distracted. So, I took my chance to win for once…"

The girl's gaze dropped to the floor before continuing "I think I pushed him too hard Master Jinn, he flew back further than I expected him to and he landed on his back and…" again the girl paused and Qui-Gon started to get a bit irritated "and?" he asked. The girl's gaze snapped back up to meet Qui-Gon's. "I… He just started crying Master Jinn… I called Master Shian and he asked Obi-Wan what hurt but he wouldn't say."

"He calmed down a bit and we helped him to his feet. Master Shian then asked me to take Obi-Wan to the healers so I did. When we got there, I apologised again but he said it wasn't my fault and that he was OK. So, I went back to Master Shian's class and he said that you hadn't answered your commlink so he left you a message…"

Having finished her story, she just looked at Qui-Gon waiting for a reaction. Qui-Gon was very confused and worried now, however he still didn't show it. Qui-Gon just nodded in understanding. "So, he's at the healer's wing?" Qui-Gon asked. The girl seemed to think about it. "I'm not sure actually, he might have already gone back to your apartment" Qui-Gon nodded again. "Thank you for telling me" he finally said. The girl gave him a slight bow and turned to leave. "Wait. How long ago did this happen?" he asked her. She turned again to face him "about half an hour, I think" and then she started walking, leaving Qui-Gon where he stood.