Torli:Thank you. I try not to overuse cliffhangers, but sometimes the situation just screams for one. :-P

bluedragon1836:My plan is to post once a week, so I will never leave you hanging too long, I promise!

LadySaxophone: I love to see guesses about what might come next. It really helps me see whether I'm leading readers where I want them to be led. :)

Valairy Scot:Yes, I firmly believe Obi-Wan deserves some answers after all he's been through.

Hurricane Jackson:Thanks, I will try to deliver!

AndrossKenobi:You are wise to wait for the follow-up!

Catlover friendly-but-xplosive:Wow, that is quite the creative username! I think writing a Dark!Obi would be challenging, but veeeeeery interesting!

Jedi Kay-Kenobi: Some would argue Obi-Wan is remarkably lucky, even for a Jedi. You'll see. :)

Thank you everyone for the reviews, I really appreciate every one of them!

Chapter 3

Drifting.

Sinking down.

Floating up.

Unending movement.

Obi-Wan was carried as if on a gentle breeze. He was weightless, untethered, insubstantial.

He was also hearing a strange noise.

It was rhythmic, repetitive. Whoosh, hiss. Whoosh, hiss. Whoosh, hiss. It sounded a lot like his own breathing had sounded as he swam underwater to Otoh Gunga with a rebreather in his mouth.

Obi-Wan held his breath. The sound stopped. Then he heard a muffled beep-beep-beep sound.

Odd, Obi-Wan thought. This wasn't at all what he'd imagined the netherworld of the Force would be like, and suddenly he wondered: If I'm dead, how am I holding my breath?

Suddenly he was jerked upwards, something cutting painfully into his flesh under his arms. Obi-Wan felt the shock of cold air against his bare, dripping wet skin, and then a cold and hard surface against his back as he was laid down.

"What's wrong?" a voice asked, the sound distorted through the fluid clogging Obi-Wan's ears.

"He stopped breathing, sir," a metallic voice said.

A heavy weight was lifted off Obi-Wan's face. Blearily he opened his eyes in time to see a medical droid set down a bulky breath mask, and then a metallic hand pried his mouth open.

Obi-Wan coughed, and then he couldn't stop coughing. He became aware of a roiling in his stomach, and suddenly he gagged and started to vomit. Droid hands rolled him to his side, but the hands holding his head were human - warm and calloused and familiar. Qui-Gon.

After the fit passed, they laid him gently down on his back again. Obi-Wan began to understand what was happening to him. Over Qui-Gon's shoulder he could see the bacta tank he had just been pulled out of, the liquid still lapping in small waves against the glass.

Another medical droid bustled over and pushed Qui-Gon away from the table, then pulled a curtain around Obi-Wan. The droids efficiently rinsed the pungent bacta out of his hair and off his skin, patting him dry and dressing him in a white undergarment. They helped raise him to a sitting position, and a droid pulled the curtain open again. Qui-Gon stepped back to his side, concern in his eyes.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Obi-Wan thought about that. He felt a dull ache in his back, and he felt a bit light-headed, but was otherwise fine. He started to tell Qui-Gon that - when he remembered. With a start, Obi-Wan looked down at his chest, then rubbed his hand over it in disbelief.

"What's wrong?" Qui-Gon asked, getting ready to summon the medical droid back.

"I jumped on his blade," Obi-Wan said, stunned. There was not a mark on his body.

"I ... can't imagine why you would have done that," Qui-Gon said. "But you must have missed."

"So... you finished him, then?" Obi-Wan said.

"No, you did that," Qui-Gon said. "We found him in two pieces on the catwalk, with your lightsaber nearby, still ignited. I didn't see you anywhere; I thought..."

Qui-Gon broke off and swallowed.

"We found you on the bottom level. Your back was broken."

"I couldn't possibly have missed," Obi-Wan said, returning to his original line of thought. "I ran straight at him."

"Captain Panaka is recovering the security holograms from the area," Qui-Gon said. "You can come and see for yourself, when you're up to it."

Qui-Gon tried to be patient as the medical droids checked over Obi-Wan before releasing him, but he felt strangely agitated. The Sith was dead, the Viceroy of the Trade Federation was captured and the droid army destroyed, against all odds Anakin had survived his first space battle, the Queen was safe and Obi-Wan was healed... yet something was missing. Something was wrong.

The droids finished helping Obi-Wan dress, and Qui-Gon pushed his thoughts aside and led his Padawan from the medical facility toward the throne room, walking slowly since Obi-Wan was still weak from the ordeal.

"Senator Palpatine - or, rather, Chancellor Palpatine - has just arrived," he told his Padawan. "He wanted to verify with his own eyes that the Trade Federation had in fact ended the siege. The entire Jedi Council came with him. They're hoping to find some clues about who this Sith was and where he came from, and why he was working with the Trade Federation."

Obi-Wan nodded, keeping his eyes on the floor. Qui-Gon was having a difficult time reading him. He wanted to know why Obi-Wan would throw himself on his enemy's weapon. He wanted to know why Obi-Wan was showing no pride in his rather remarkable feat. He wanted to know if Obi-Wan had forgiven him for the way he had left the duel to rescue Anakin.

Qui-Gon gently probed Obi-Wan through their Master-Padawan bond, and was met with silence.

Because there was no bond. It was gone.

There were only two ways to sever such a bond. Qui-Gon could end it ... or Obi-Wan could. Qui-Gon knew he hadn't.

They walked to the throne room in silence.

Within a few minutes, the Jedi Council, newly-elected Chancellor Palpatine, and Queen Amidala with her handmaidens and advisors gathered to watch the security hologram of the duel. Qui-Gon sent Anakin from the room. Mace Windu had warned the Chancellor that the hologram would contain disturbing images, but he wanted to watch.

"You'll be sure to tell me when to close my eyes," Palpatine said to Master Windu with a smile.

Obi-Wan found the recording difficult to watch. When Qui-Gon bowed out the duel and disappeared from the recording, he saw himself freeze for an agonizingly long moment before he was able to collect himself and fight back. And when he saw the anger flashing on his own face, he turned his head.

But he turned back in time to see the final face-off between himself and the Sith. He saw himself, a wavering blue holographic figure, running at full speed toward his enemy - he heard Eeth Koth suck in a breath with a hiss - the lightsaber left his hand - and then Obi-Wan saw himself flying backward as the Sith unleashed a powerful Force push. An instant later, the Sith fell in two pieces as Obi-Wan's airborne lightsaber sliced through him.

The holographic Obi-Wan tumbled over the edge of the catwalk, seeming to disappear through the throne room floor.

It was Mace Windu who broke the long silence that followed.

"You are a credit to your training, Obi-Wan Kenobi," he said.

"No, Master," Obi-Wan said quickly. "I am ashamed." Stars and galaxies, did I really just contradict Mace Windu? In front of the Chancellor, no less!

In a calmer voice, he managed to add, "I confess I'm not sure why I'm still alive. He shouldn't have pushed me - he should have stabbed me."

"I don't pretend to know anything about swordplay," the Chancellor broke in, "but I would say you are a very lucky young man."

"A myth, luck is," Yoda said. "Only the will of the Force, there is."

Palpatine raised his eyebrows, but politely declined to argue the point.

"It seems to me," Mace Windu said," that you had him on the defensive only moments before. When you faced him for the last time, he foresaw his danger, but he misjudged where it would come from. He was reluctant to engage in close-quarter fighting again, so he pushed you away, hoping to end the duel quickly. And it would have ended - he would have easily dispatched you after that fall. The saber throw was the only move that could have saved you."

Queen Amidala, still dressed as a handmaiden and free of ceremonial makeup, rose to face Obi-Wan.

"You would have given your life for mine," she said simply. "Somehow, 'thank you,' seems a little inadequate."

And rising up on her toes, she softly kissed his cheek. Obi-Wan was startled to see over her shoulder that Anakin stood in the corridor outside the throne room, his face pressed against the glass door so he could watch everything that was happening.

"We are indebted to you for your bravery, Obi-Wan Kenobi," the Chancellor said, shaking his hand. "And young Skywalker, too; we shall watch his career with great interest."

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's note: Oprah Winfrey once said, "I've talked to 30,000 people on this show and all they wanted was validation." We all know Oprah is a wise woman, so with that in mind... maybe you would consider clicking on the "Review" button? ;-)