A BIG thank you to everyone who reviewed and added this story to alerts and favorites! It's always so ridiculously exciting to see new posts and whatnot. It definitely makes you want to write more!
There's a flashback in this one and it will be denoted by italics, just a head's up.
As always, please read and review! : )
"Obi-Wan, why are you all wet?" Bant asked.
"I took a shower after Saber Arts."
"So did Amber, but it doesn't look like she took a flying leap into the lake."
Amber snorted, unfortunately in mid-drink from the canteen she carried for lightsaber practice. Obi-Wan just blinked at Bant as the trio moved a few steps in the dinner line. Of their group of five, the three initiates were the only ones left living full-time at the Temple. Garen and Reeft were both off on missions with their respective masters. It took a few moments before Amber recovered enough to speak.
"I don't think he knows how to operate a towel. Actually, come to think of it, none of the boys do."
Bant nodded in consensus. Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at them, a mischievous grin slowly spreading across his face. Amber did not realize what his intentions were until it was too late. He raked his hand through his sopping, shaggy auburn hair, pelting them with tiny water droplets. The friends dissolved into laughter, continuing to joke and giggle until they found a table semi-removed from the rest of the dining Jedi. They fell into easy conversation, Bant telling them about her progress in her training as a healer.
"I was able to identify all the different diseases we have been studying on my test today. And, I even managed to completely heal a youngling's cut!"
"That's great Bant," Amber said smiling.
"Yes it is. Now you'll be able to fix us up when we get hurt," Obi-Wan added, after swallowing a rather large bite of food.
Bant sighed dramatically, "I don't think I've had enough training to take on such a big job."
"Ha, ha. We've been hurt a lot," Amber replied, dryly, "But, I would just like to point out that, of the five of us, Garen has graced the Halls of Healing with his presence the most. I've lost track of how many bones he's broken."
"Fifteen at last count," Obi-Wan said, "Six of which occurred on his first mission as a padawan."
"You lot are a sorry, sorry bunch," Bant said, shaking her head, "So, how was your new class?"
Amber shared a glance with Obi-Wan before answering, "Um, it was good. Master Jinn is teaching it."
"Qui-Gon Jinn?"
Obi-Wan nodded, his eyes contemplating the food on his plate. Bant looked between the two of them, practically beaming.
"That's wonderful! Maybe he is looking for a new apprentice. Both of you have a history with him, perhaps he will choose one of you."
"That is very doubtful," Amber mumbled, pushing her denta beans around with her fork.
"Why? Surely he was happy to see-"
Obi-Wan shook his head, "He barely acknowledged us. In fact, he went out of his way to avoid us."
Their Mon Calamari friend looked as puzzled as they felt by the Jedi Master's odd behavior. Amber told her how different he had seemed: burned-out and despondent.
"I just don't understand. The Qui-Gon you've always spoke of was nothing like that. I wonder what could have caused such a change in him..." Bant said, trailing off in thought.
Amber took another bite of food, eyes drifting to the city outside the massive windows. Indeed, that was the million credit question: what had happened to Qui-Gon Jinn?
"Xanatos...what have you done?" he asked weakly, his voice barely recognizable even to him.
The master and apprentice team had been sent to Xanatos' homeplanet to mediate the negotiations between Telos and one of its' neighbors. They had been called by Xanatos' father and current governor of Telos, Crion, who had become very wealthy and powerful in the years since giving his son to the care of the Jedi Order. It was to be the padawan's final mission before becoming a knight.
But, something had happened. Something had went horribly, incomprehensibly wrong. Qui-Gon held in his hands flimsy upon flimsy page detailing the sabotage of that first, disasterous meeting between the two worlds. A plan that had been masterminded by both Crion and Xanatos. A scheme designed to enrage the population of Telos. It had been successful.
A condescending smile lit his apprentice's face, ice blue eyes glinting with an intensity Qui-Gon had never seen before, "I have started a chain of events that will bring peace to Telos. It will ensure prosperity on this world. Is that not why we were brought here Master?"
"We are here to guarantee a fair and equal negotiation process. All you have done is endanger that mission."
"The Council wants to cripple Telos' government. To take power away from a man who has done nothing but sacrifice for his world. My father can secure a plentiful future for all those in the Telos system...as it should be."
The world seemed to spin around Qui-Gon, tilting terribly. This was not his padawan. The young man that stood before him looked like Xanatos, but it could not possibly be him. This could not be the boy he had trained and had come to care for like a son over their many years together.
"Xanatos..."
"Imagine the power and the wealth to be gained Qui-Gon. You could join us. No one would be able to stand in our way," the young man's eyes were wild with promise of future glory, transforming his face into a twisted, depraved shadow of the handsome Jedi he knew.
Then, in a flash, it changed again. Xanatos' eyes and face softened, looking so much like the thirteen year old boy Qui-Gon remembered so well. He held out his hand, "Come with me Master."
"I cannot do that Xanatos," he answered quietly, his heart constricting painfully, "I am a Jedi. Think of what you are doing. Of what you are throwing away. Please..."
"I prefer to think of what I stand to gain," the softness once again hardening, the former apprentice's voice lowering to a deadly whisper, "And if you will not join us..." A green lightsaber ignited.
The Jedi Master stood for a moment, dumbfounded. Xanatos moved against him. At the last possible second, Qui-Gon spun away from the fierce blow. He could not bring himself to attack his former padawan. Instead he ran, the bond between them breaking in that hellish moment. He ran, carrying the evidence with him.
Qui-Gon would use that proof to alert the inhabitants of Telos to the devious manipulations of its' government. A civil war broke out and the Master had stood with the people, against Xanatos and his father.
"I cannot believe Yoda is allowing the Council to do this! Did he not tell me that the bond between Amber and Obi-Wan meant something? That it was important and needed to be protected? That's why he started training them to control it," Qui-Gon raged.
He had ended the conversation with Master Yoda as quickly as possible, not wishing to begin berating the elder Jedi. He had found himself at Tahl's door and was currently wearing a path in her carpet due to his relentless pacing.
Mace and Tahl were the only other Jedi, besides Yoda, who knew of his relationship with the two younglings. He usually found solace and understanding among the only people he could speak with about these matters. Today, however, he was having no such luck. Qui-Gon glanced at his friend, who was sitting in a wooden chair, feet propped up on the matching desk. A datareader was in her hands, her eyes never leaving the screen.
"You can't tell me you think this is right."
An irritated sigh escaped Tahl's lips, "You are determined to make me do it aren't you?"
"What?" he asked, perplexed.
"Agree with Yoda."
Qui-Gon could not believe what he was hearing. "How...?" was all he could manage.
Tahl put the reader down on the desk with more force than was necessary and glared up at him, "He's right. It is not your problem. Every youngling has until they are thirteen years of age and, if they are not chosen, they move on. You have no claim to either initiate. For almost two years you have declared to anyone who would listen that you will never take another padawan. It is your choice to allow Xanatos to control you, so excuse the rest of us if life moves on with or without your permission."
Qui-Gon just stared at her, unsure of what to say. Tahl and Mace had both been their when his former apprentice fell. In many ways, they had picked up the pieces and managed pull him back together. At least partially. Never, in all that time, had her words been so harsh.
"Xanatos does not control me," he whispered, no longer able to meet Tahl's penetrating gaze.
"Doesn't he? I remember when you chose him and left Obi-Wan and Amber. You would have taken one of them as your apprentice then had you been allowed. And now, when you have that chance, you refuse. I have never seen you as happy as you were those two short weeks Qui-Gon, and I fear that I never will again."
"I will not condemn another to a dark future. Especially not those two. I can't..."
He heard the chair creak as Tahl stood. He felt a curled finger under his chin as she gently lifted, bidding him to look at her.
Tahl offered him a sad smile, "Only Xanatos can be held responsible for his actions and choices. His greed and his pride led to his downfall. That is true whether you accept it or not. But, if only for a moment, could you please entertain the notion that your influence would not damn these younglings? That, perhaps, you are the only one who can keep them from it."