*plays fanfare* We give you...Chapter Four!

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Sidious had been rushed.

And he hated being rushed. It had been the Jedi's fault, of course. The Sith lord had not anticipated the little apprentice to avenge himself so quickly. And it had been revenge. The Jedi were fools to deny it. But he knew that already. It was confirmed in his mind with every decision made by their little green troll.

Revenge was only natural, and he had expected it, just not yet. He hated it when he was wrong. No...no. He was never wrong, per say, only sometimes he...miscalculated, yes, that was the right word. Because he was a Sith lord: there was no one in the galaxy more powerful than him.

And all powerful beings were never wrong.

So the Jedi must pay for his mistake. Because it had been the Jedi's mistake. When it came to Jedi and Sith, Jedi were always wrong. And the incompetence of his servants must be punished. For the Jedi was his servant now.

Weakling.

The Sith snorted to himself. He would have to fix that. Never mind. It would come in time. Patience, he reminded himself. There was none of the hurry that he hated. He had all the time that the galaxy laid at his feet.

This Jedi would become his little experiment. He had never tried this kind of thing, taking apart a mind and reconstructing the way he wanted it to be. It made him feel powerful. Only the Force could decide the fate of men in such a way. And he had done it. Therefore, he, Darth Sidious, was the will of the Force. He need wait on it no longer. He was the Force, he was power. And what else could he want?

An hour later, The Sith lord's mood of cheer was gone.

That foolish little Jedi had ruined his plans. He had killed Sidious's apprentice, leaving the Sith with no replacement. No replacement save the boy himself, and the Jedi was weak. The dark lord of the Sith would not be able to fully train him in the Dark Side for several years, at least. But, the Dark lord stewed, perhaps he would be more open to the Dark Side with no memory of the Light in which he was raised. With a little hatred, a little anger, he would embrace the darkness. And Sidious would teach him how to hate, if the Jedi would learn nothing else. The boy was strong in the Force for his age, though nothing compared with Maul. But he must have been resourceful in order to obtain Maul's saber.

More resourceful than Maul.

But, the Sith reflected darkly, that would not have been much of a feat. Maul had been Sidious's nightmare, a scare tactic, but he had not been good at adapting, at pulling himself out of the situations that his own stupidity had gotten himself into. And his Master had always had to come along and cover up the conspicuous trail that the hulking Zabrak left behind. That was servant's work, but he had no servants skilled enough for the job, so he had done it himself. It would be refreshing to have someone who was not such a dimwit, and would not be in danger of spoiling Sidious's plans by merely leaving his strong hold on Coruscant. Someone who would learn from Sidious more than that which gave one only raw strength. Someone who would leave no traces to obliterate. He would train this one to be silent and careful, to lurk in the shadows, instead of crushing all in his path and moving on. The Dark lord could learn from his...miscalculations.

Sidious would give the Jedi a chance.


There was pain. There was darkness. But that was only natural, for he had been...asleep? He opened his eyes.

Grey.

Everything was grey. Walls, floor, and ceiling. The room was small, he decided. Although, he didn't remember anything to compare it to. But why would he do that? He had never compared anything else. Or, at least, he didn't remember...something about that was strange...but what? He was confused.

So confused. He pulled himself to his feet, a dizzy feeling overtaking him. Ughhh...What happened?

Footsteps rang, somewhere beyond his sight...a hallway? He froze, wondering what was going on. But nothing happened- the seconds drained away in a world where time seemed unimportant. Filled with a strange sense of foreboding, he returned to the bed, and waited.


Anakin was in shock.

He stared numbly at the flames writhing before him. In all the things he had imagined, nothing had even come close to this.

Death.

Anakin had seen people die, but somehow, this was different. This was someone who never should have died. Someone who couldn't die. Someone who he loved. Someone who held his future. But there he was. Burning. And the boy knew that mister Qui-Gon was dead.

There were court people all around him, but he felt alone. Also, there was the tall, brown Jedi who had been on the Council. The one who had asked him all the questions, he remembered. but Anakin had sensed the man's dislike of him. He was alone now. No, Pamde was there, but she was the Queen now, and he couldn't get to her.

He was alone.

Sudden anger overtook him. How could Mister Qui-Gon die on him? He was a Jedi, and they never died, and they never broke their promises either.

But this Jedi had done both.

What would Anakin do now? He had sensed how the other Jedi disliked him. He fervently hoped the Jedi wouldn't send him back to Tattooine. But he was free now, they couldn't do that! Would Padme take care of him? That would be wizard! But she was the Queen. She probably didn't have time for him. Anakin slumped at the thought. He had thought she was different. That she actually was a handmaiden. But she did care about him...and that was everything.

The young boy's attention was drawn back to the flames. He stared at them, seeking a last glimpse of the man who was to have trained him. A tear ran down his cheek. Qui-Gon...

He wondered why the Jedi burned their dead. It scared him to look into the fire and see someone he knew, burning...dead. And he had to keep looking at Master Jinn...he had to watch until everything about the Jedi that he recognized was burned to ashes, and all that was left was a smoking pyre. Because he wouldn't ever see Mister Qui-Gon again.

Never again.

Another tear.

Where was Padme? Anakin suddenly wished very badly to be standing beside her. She was the only one left. Mister Qui-Gon's...padawan was dead too. They hadn't found his body, so they burned his lightsaber instead, on a pyre, next to his Master. The cool night air washed over him, and he shivered. Then he noticed another Jedi standing behind him, the dignity of tradition making the Twi'lek stand tall. Anakin almost did a double take. This person was green! The greenest thing he had seen...ever, he decided. The green Twi'lek offered him a small bittersweet smile. Anakin guessed that was all he could do.


The cool Naboo dusk was beautiful. But it was twilight... The end of this day, even as it was the end for Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan. Poetic, Sho'tan mused.

He entered the courtyard quietly, for the service was already begun. The two flaming pyres made a striking contrast with the darkening sky behind them, but this was lost on the newly arrived Jedi. There was nothing beautiful about death.

The Twi'lekki knight came to stand behind Skywalker, his new charge. The boy was staring into the fire, and didn't appear to notice him. But that was just as well, he supposed. This was a time for remembering the fallen, not introducing those left behind.

Sho'tan took deep breath, and wondered if this was what attachment felt like. A flitting thought turned to certainty in his mind. He had most assuredly been attached to Qui-Gon Jinn. The Twi' lek inwardly berated himself, but then stopped wondering again. ...Was it truly wrong to care about someone, to miss them when they were gone? For no rational being, he mused, could rejoice at the passing of one he named friend'...

He shook his lekkued head free of such thoughts. Qui-Gon would have told him to focus on the present. And truly, there was much to focus on. Like keeping Sky-Anakin from being shipped off to Bandomeer.

Then a small voice inquired, "Master Jedi?"

Sho'tan looked down. It was Anakin, of course. "What is it, young one?" the Jedi answered, trying to smile warmly. The boy gazed up at him, fear hidden in his tear-stained azure eyes.

"What's gonna happen to me?"


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Just to clear things up, that little paragraph that seemingly made no sense is Obi POV, if you are confused. Remember, he has amnesia. That should get cleared up in the next chapter. RandomCelt sincerely hopes that Sho'tan is making sense here. He isn't as ...rouge as Qui-Gon, but he sometimes questions the Code/Council. We REALLY need some feedback about him. And in general, we are getting very few reviews for our hits. It's very depressing. So please, if you are reading this, and you like our fic, hate it, whatever - please, PLEASE click the wee little button and tell us what you think.

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