Defying Destiny
4: Defining Legacies
Garen inched closer to Obi-Wan in the dining hall. "Did you hear? There's some veiled woman having an argument with the Council. They've been at it for an hour."
Obi-Wan, who had been picking at his food because his appetite was poor, looked up at this.
"What were they arguing about?"
"I don't know."
The initiate paused, before asking, "Who is she?"
"I don't know. She's some veiled woman. Arrived here several days ago, no one's really seen that much of her, or talked to her, for that matter."
"I have." He had confided in her, without even knowing who she was. Something about her drew him to her. Obi-Wan briefly wondered if being so open had been as wise as it seemed at the time.
"Really? What did you two talk about?"
"My upcoming match…and…" A ghost. It was only now that Obi-Wan felt the full incredulity of what happened at the fountains. He had been talking to a ghost, who had been dead for how long again? Funny how it all seemed like just another event at the Temple. Perhaps the veiled woman's easy manner had something to do with it.
Are you frightened?
No, he was not. He never met a ghost before, or a spirit of any kind, but he was not frightened, nor did he view the situation spectacular at the time.
"And what?"
"Not much, really." A ghost was just a ghost, right? He did not have to tell anyone, and Garen would just think the stress finally went to his head.
"You actually talked to her? Is she human? What species is she? And who is she? What's she doing here?"
"I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, and I don't know. We mostly talked about…" Ugh, Force, "Me."
"Typical Kenobi." Chun's voice suddenly cut into the conversation. "Always only thinks of himself."
Before Obi-Wan could retort, someone suddenly entered the cafeteria. It was a Twi'lek Knight. He looked around the room but did not seem to find what he was looking for.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi?" He called out.
Obi-Wan's stomach plummeted.
Oh Force! Were they arguing about me? What did he do? He had not broken any rules lately! What kind of trouble was he in? Did the veiled woman notice something and tell Yoda that he did not deserve to participate in the matches?
Bant, who was on his other side, blinked her large eyes at him worriedly.
"Is Initiate Kenobi here?"
Garen nudged him.
"I'm here," He raised his hand.
"Come with me, please," The knight ordered.
Garen gave his arm a squeeze. "Maybe she's a Jedi," He said, "And wants you as her padawan?"
Wouldn't she come in person then?
Swallowing the anxiety in his throat and trying to release it into the Force, Obi-Wan managed to retain a partial sense of calm as he moved to join the knight. He tried to determine if he was in trouble from the look on the knight's face, but the Twi'lek looked too impassive.
It took all of Obi-Wan's training, and then some, to stop himself from running away. A Jedi never runs away from problems, after all. He wished the knight would tell him what was going on. Some clue, at least, of what he was being called for.
Maybe it was safe to ask where they were going, at least.
"The Council chambers," Said the knight, "The Council wants to see you."
What? What did he do? The young boy frantically searched his memories for anything he could have done. He had trained, he had practiced, he had managed to avoid getting into any fight with Bruck Chun over the last few days since the announcement that Master Qui-Gon Jinn was going to be attending the matches, up till the dining hall—but Obi-Wan did not even retort before the knight arrived so that could not be it. Did he spill any Jedi secrets to the veil woman? Was he not supposed to tell anyone about earning a position as a padawan? Oh Force! She told on him! Or she told them, and now they were going to throw him out!
The knight turned to him suddenly, his lips quirked.
"Easy, young one," He stated, "You are not in trouble. I can feel you releasing into the Force like you are panicked."
Obi-Wan blinked. Oh. Then what is going on?
There was a padawan guarding the door. She bowed at the knight as he passed and opened the doors for them.
"This ought to be his choice, not yours."
"Able to decide wisely, Obi-Wan is not," Yoda sounded more irked than when the Jedi younglings first discovered they were taller than him. "Strong in the Force he is, but untrained and immature, his power is."
"The boy is here. Let us get this over with." A tall man with long hair and a beard strode over to where Obi-Wan stood. "Is this Initiate Kenobi?" He asked the knight.
"The boy knows how to speak," And Obi-Wan turned to the voice of the veiled woman. She stretched out her hand to him in the same invitation as earlier at the fountain. "Come here, Obi-Wan."
All of the Council was in the room, though not all of them seemed involved with whatever debate was occurring. Some of them stood near the windows, others watched from their chairs with slightly bemused expressions, and a few talked to each other as if commenting on the situation.
"Were you eating, young one?" She asked. Obi-Wan flushed. "Ah. Our apologies for interrupting."
"It's alright." He blinked, and waited.
The woman's gaze seemed to shift off him and land on the tall man. "He is here now, Master Jinn. Does seeing him in the flesh give you any insight that would change your mind?"
"Of course not," Said Master Jinn, and Obi-Wan allowed himself a moment of awe. This was the Jedi Master he was fighting for the approval of. He looked every inch the noble Jedi everyone said he was. "We have to question him."
What? About what?
"Very eloquently put, Master Jinn," The veiled woman drawled flatly, "I can see you make a fine negotiator."
"Against this plan, the Force is, as am I," Yoda struck his cane on the carpet for emphasis, "Meet him, you can. Speak with him, you can. Befriend him, you can. Your proposal, you cannot."
The veiled woman actually seemed as annoyed as Yoda was. "Master Jinn is not interested. Surely, someone other than Kenobi can fulfill your purposes. Besides, how long does a padawan stay with the master? Thirteen years? Must all masters be so picky, as if picking a spouse to wed?"
"Thirteen years," Yoda retorted, his ears up and alert in agitation, "Short for me, shorter for you, 'tis true. Short for them, not so. Long enough for wars to begin and end, it is. Long enough for you, to see the fall of two Sith Empires. Size matters not, length matters not. Timing matters yes, and the time now, the Force demands!"
"The Force does not command me," Said the veiled woman, "And on the point of Obi-Wan, leeway can be given. I happen to know exactly what purpose Obi-Wan serves. So long as the same purpose is served when the time comes, there is no need for him to follow that exact path."
"And what purpose does Initiate Kenobi serve?" Master Windu asked, his face as terrifyingly impassive as the knight's had been earlier. Somehow, Obi-Wan sensed the dark-skinned Jedi was not repressing any amusement whatsoever.
"Telling you would alter it," The woman replied, "But either way, it does not matter. The child is here. Master Jinn?"
When Obi-Wan looked back at him, he saw the man's face darken.
"There is much fear and anger in him," He said quietly.
"Excellent." The veiled woman placed her hands on Obi-Wan's shoulders, as the boy struggled to understand that he had just been rejected…before the matches even began. "I will take him off your hands then."
"Foolishness, this is!" Yoda exclaimed, "Fear, anger, such are but emotions; emotions Jedi are trained to control. That they exist, does not the Dark Side lead! Blinded, you are!"
"I think I have enough experience in such matters to make the call," Master Jinn retorted with cold tones, "He has traits just like Xanatos."
"He is nothing like Xanatos," The veiled woman said easily, "But I shall not persuade you further, for that is against my interests."
"We have spoken enough of the matter." Master Jinn turned to regard Obi-wan. "There must be a reason he has not been taken sooner. Even if he is now the epitome of a Jedi, I still am not interested in training a padawan. I made that vow years ago. I do not intend to break it. The discussion is closed on my part, and I'll appreciate if we never breach the matter again."
He bowed curtly, before leaving. Yoda shook his head furiously, then released a heavy sigh.
"The Council's decision, it is, but I support it not."
"And why is that?" The woman asked.
"Still time, there is." Yoda gestured a claw at Obi-Wan, "A few months remaining, the boy still has. Time to change his mind, Qui-Gon does."
"Ah yes, the match," said the woman, removing her hands to fold them in front of her. "And if Master Jinn still refuses? You cannot claim that my tutelage is worse than the AgriCorps."
"Refuse, he will not," Yoda declared vehemently. "Denied, the Force will not be. Follower of its will, Qui-Gon is, though blind, he is, to its intentions at present."
"He was always a bit blind, was he not?" The woman remarked, "And blind he remains, because he never stops to consider. Always the man of the moment, is Qui-Gon Jinn. At the moment, he loves the boy. At another, he loves another. He functions little more than a mindless drone, for the Force to use and discard as needed. Such is the life of Qui-Gon Jinn—the life of a fool, preserved and guarded for as long as he is useful."
"Very low, your opinion is, of Qui-Gon," Yoda observed, "Know you, the pain he suffered at the turning?"
"He suffered the betrayal of one individual. I had the entire Order turn against me," The woman replied calmly. "I did not exile myself the first time, Master Yoda."
A heavy silence fell.
"After my exile," The woman continued, the first hint of temper in her voice, "I trained six members of the Lost Jedi. One was a Jedi Padawan and another was Echani, kept away from the Force before I met her. The rest—a war technician who served with me and hated the Mandalorians as much as anyone did those days; a bounty hunter who lived part of her life as a slave, and part of her life as a bounty hunter on the slums of one of the most corrupted planets on the Outer Rim; and the other two were Sith. I trained them all, regardless of their backgrounds. They were the foundations of your current Order."
Obi-Wan stared at her, but she did not look at him. She trained Sith? Their current Order was founded on two Sith? What in the galaxy?
"We will wait for the match," She said at last, "If Master Jinn still does not want the boy, then we will offer Obi-Wan the choice."
"Not the match." Yoda waved his hand. "Too soon, it is. Until the boy is of age."
"That is too long," The woman replied, "And that extra time is inconsequential. I will extend until Master Jinn departs for Bandomeer."
"Too soon, still is. Until the boy is of age, then we shall discuss the matter again."
"For what purpose?"
"Question, you should not. Highly respected, you are, Jedi Exile, but one of us, you claim to be no longer. Part of us, young Kenobi is. Lightly let him go, we will not."
What? Obi-Wan blinked. Did Yoda just call her 'Jedi Exile'? There is another one?
"I hardly think this is considered light."
"Under our jurisdiction, he is. Our decision, it remains, and ours alone."
Master Windu finally interjected, "Surely a little longer would not hurt, Honored Exile."
She did not reply, abruptly heading for the exit to the hall without a backward glance.
Is she angry? Obi-Wan wondered. The masters in the room were silent for a while, all contemplating where she disappeared from view.
"Master Yoda," Master Fisto finally began, "Are you sure it is wise to turn down her offer so quickly? Qui-Gon is clearly adamant about this."
Before Yoda could answer, Master Windu turned to Obi-Wan.
"You are dismissed, Initiate," He said.
Obi-Wan barely remembered to bow to the masters before taking his leave as was proper.
What in the name of the Force just happened?
OoO
Ridiculous.
Qui-Gon locked the door controls and turned to face the living room. Some holobooks were on the table, along with a few datapads.
Ridiculous.
As if he had not already given in enough times already. At least he always had the option of refusing at the crucial moment. Yoda never protested before. It was always the same. When he was at the temple to see the matches, Yoda would force him to go, uttering something about how it was the 'will of the Force' Xanatos had turned and that it was also the 'will of the Force' that Qui-Gon find a new padawan, but whenever the younger Jedi declared that he liked none of the students, Yoda had accepted the answer.
The Exile wanted that Kenobi. She can have him. Why was Yoda making such a fuss?
Ridiculous.
Qui-Gon was pacing his nervous energy away, too disturbed to meditate, when the door comm rang. After checking with the Force to determine that the person standing outside was Mace, Qui-Gon pressed the controls to open the door.
"I swear," He muttered, stepping aside to allow the man to enter, "Master Yoda has gone easily as senile as he is old and as stubborn as he keeps claiming I am."
But Mace did not step through the door. "Two of the founders of this order were Sith. Did you know that?"
Qui-Gon froze. "What?"
"That is what the Exile told me," Mace finally stepped in.
Qui-Gon was floored. "But…no one returns when they fall to the Dark Side…"
"I only state what she told us."
After a moment, Qui-Gon sealed the door.
"Are you suggesting that Xanatos can redeem?" He asked in a low voice.
"We do not know the exact circumstances. Perhaps you can ask the Exile to help." Mace sat down on the couch. "I was thinking more along the lines of the initiate, actually."
"Ugh," Qui-Gon groaned in annoyance,
"Qui-Gon, think about this carefully," Mace leaned forward earnestly, "The Jedi Exile wants to claim him. Qui-Gon, do you understand me? The Jedi Exile. The woman we've read about in texts during class—the Jedi whose deeds can be felt in the galaxy to this day. You said so yourself; whatever she has become, she has existed for four thousand years. She is a great and powerful entity—and she sees something in this boy."
"Then she can have him. I'm not objecting."
" The question is, should you." Mace leaned back. "I don't know what her motives are, or if she even has motives that we can understand, but you are my friend, Qui-Gon, and I don't want this nameless Exile who I only know from history class to take away something that can be very important to you in the future."
Qui-Gon sighed. "How much can it hurt? That is in the future. I value the present. Besides, what difference does it make whether the Kenobi boy gets trained by me or some other Jedi?"
"The Exile is not going to train him as a Jedi. She made that abundantly clear."
…And that was why Yoda was so adamantly against it. Granted, once Obi-Wan is sent to AgriCorps, he would still no longer be part of the temple community, but the aged master seemed to believe with his whole heart that Qui-Gon would change his mind, and that would be enough for him to object to her proposal. In a way, the Exile was threatening to take Obi-Wan from the Jedi forever. Qui-Gon recalled the Exile's lack of presence in the Force and suppressed a shudder. Would the boy become like that? He had such a bright Force presence.
"The truth of the matter is, Qui-Gon, if you do not take Kenobi as your padawan, the Exile can snatch him away anytime. AgriCorps has no chance of withstanding her if they cannot even sense her Force presence." Mace sighed. "I've trained the boy myself, Qui-Gon. He is a good child, with a lot of potential. You do need to move on from Xanatos, and the longer you are without padawan the longer it will take for you to truly heal. It could very well be that Obi-Wan Kenobi ends up being the greatest pride and legacy you leave behind in this galaxy when you join the Force. I know I promised to stay out of it, but I do not want to watch as this stranger, whoever and whatever she is, takes away something that is rightfully yours."
Qui-Gon turned his face away. He did not know what to say.
"At least talk to the boy," Said Mace, "Talk to him. Don't just go to the match; talk to him. Get to know him. There is more to a Jedi than lightsaber skills, after all, and we all have a bit of darkness in us. If the Exile can train a couple of Sith into Jedi Masters who established this Order, surely you can help Obi-Wan overcome his own faults. It is not as if you and I did not share some of his traits when we were his age."
"I did so well with Xanatos," Qui-Gon drawled, "Perhaps the Exile possessed skills in her life that I do not share, but regardless, I am weary and tired and have no wish to go about correcting a padawan for things he should understand already."
"Xanatos was a mistake. That is true. But that doesn't mean you should run away from all padawans now. That doesn't say anything about your ability as a master. In the end we make our own choices, and we are allowed to grow as we get older. And you have. You now know what to look for and what to correct. We all said that Xanatos was going dark because you didn't see his flaws. Now you won't make the same mistakes."
Qui-Gon kept silent. Should I? He could not help but hear Mace's words. Was he being too hasty in rejecting a child he only saw for a few seconds?
"And besides, this Kenobi impressed the Exile by talking to her. Maybe he will impress you too."
Qui-Gon paused. "We'll see," He finally replied.
Mace smiled. "That's all I ask."
