Hey guys, thanks for reading/reviewing! I know that this story has been very slow moving up to this point, so I'm doing my best to move it along (thanks for the very honest/helpful review, Blueberry).
The rest of the afternoon passed without incident. Bant had dropped by after he lessons to see Obi-Wan, but when she arrived, he was asleep. She had sat next to his bedside for a while, hoping that he would wake up, but after half an hour, she had left reluctantly to go to a guided meditation session.
A sense of unease and restlessness had descended over Qui-Gon as the afternoon dragged into evening. He alternated between walking through the Temple halls, meditating, and watching over his padawan, but he could not seem to do any one thing for very long.
When it reached the late evening, the young female Jedi who was in charge of the reception desk of the infirmary told Qui-Gon that normal visiting hours were over, and that though he could stay overnight in Obi-Wan's ward if he really wished to, she strongly encouraged him to go back to his quarters and get a good night's rest. Qui-Gon complied, heading back to his and Obi-Wan's shared quarters, which felt eerily empty.
Neither Qui-Gon nor Obi-Wan slept well that night. Qui-Gon found that he was unable to sleep, so he opted for a long shower and then meditated instead. Obi-Wan, who had slept for the greater part of the day, woke in the middle of the night and found that he was no longer tired; he spent the rest of the night staring off into the darkness of the room.
When morning came, Healer Omas gave Obi-Wan one more quick physical to make sure that he was indeed well enough to be discharged into his master's care.
When he was done examining Obi-Wan, he summoned Qui-Gon, who arrived just in time to sign the discharge forms that Healer Omas had filled out for him.
During his meditation the night before, Qui-Gon had faced his anxiety head on and released it into the force, but this did not keep him from being acutely aware of the fluctuations in Obi-Wan's aura; he did not want to upset the boy because of a careless action or comment (like the day before, when he had touched Obi-Wan's bandaged arm).
Qui-Gon was pleased that Obi-Wan seemed to be doing slightly better than he had been the day before; he looked less pale, more well rested, and most importantly of all, he was much more responsive to those around him.
When the healer had spoken to him, he had turned his head towards him as a gesture of attention, and when Qui-Gon bid him good morning when he arrived, he had responded, with "Good morning, Master." Though it was not a particularly enthusiastic greeting, it was by far preferable to how removed and distant he had been the day before.
They had left the ward, and were now in the reception area where Qui-Gon had spent his time the day before, waiting, not knowing whether or not his padawan's life could be saved. They had finalized Obi-Wan's discharge with the Jedi stationed at the desk, but before they could leave, Healer Omas asked Qui-Gon if he could speak to him for a moment, pulling him outside of the room, to an office—presumably his—just around a bend in the hall.
"Qui-Gon, after Yoda left you and your padawan yesterday afternoon, we were discussing what would be the most wise course of action, and we came to the agreement that Obi-Wan should not only see a mind healer, but go through a series of meditation exercises with another Jedi Master as well."
"What do you mean, 'with another master?'" Qui-Gon asked under his breath, shocked at the implications of this statement, "When was it decided that that Obi-Wan's apprenticeship under my care would be dissolved, and without my knowledge or consent?"
Qui-Gon had not been expecting this, nor would he have expected himself to have such an adverse reaction to the news. While his outward appearance remained calm, he was fighting to keep the shock, and—even he was surprised to find—fear from leaking past his shields.
"No, you misunderstand," said Healer Omas calmly, who seemed to have caught on to Qui-Gon's indignation, "You are to remain Obi-Wan's master, it is simply that Yoda has consulted with other council members and with myself, and we think that perhaps a different approach at meditation and controlling one's emotions would be healthy for your padawan."
"Who was it that the council had in mind?" asked Qui-Gon with a sigh; despite his defiance of the council in the past, he knew that now was not the time for a quarrel.
"There was no general consensus in regard to that, but Master Windu has stepped forward. He recently returned from a mission and will be onworld for the next few months at least. He asked me to tell you to contact him when you next have the chance."
Qui-Gon released a breath that he didn't know he had been holding; at least the master who would be teaching Obi-Wan was someone whom he knew and trusted. Mace had long been a friend of his, and though they had their disagreements, there had never been any hard feelings between the two.
After giving Qui-Gon the information for Obi-Wan's scheduled visits with one of the Temple's mind healers, they returned to the reception area. Qui-Gon had been shaken by the conversation; he had not realized that the council might choose to strip him of his padawan, which was a threatening, and shameful possibility that now seemed more real, despite the fact that an old friend of his would be assuming the responsibility of assisting his padawan.
As they approached, Obi-Wan dutifully rose from the chair in which he had been seated. When they reached the door of the infirmary, Qui-Gon turned to face the Twi'lek healer, and bowed deeply.
"I can truly not thank you enough for your treatment and care of my padawan, your actions will not soon be forgotten."
Qui-Gon looked to his left, to see that Obi-Wan had also bowed to the healer, though his eyes remained fixed on the ground and he said nothing, even when Healer Omas parted, saying "May the force be with you both," and heading back into the infirmary.
Walking back to their quarters, Qui-Gon took a much slower pace than he would have ordinarily walked so as not to exert Obi-Wan. He found that this made the silence between them even more uncomfortable. When they reached their quarters, Obi-Wan seemed to hesitate at the entrance, though after a moment, he followed Qui-Gon inside.
Qui-Gon immediately went to their small kitchen to boil some water for tea, getting out two mugs and setting them on the counter. He called out to Obi-Wan, asking him what he would like though he was normally content with whatever Qui-Gon was having. When he didn't receive a response, he looked out into their living space to see if the boy was there, then, seeing that he was not, he headed towards Obi-Wan's room.
After rounding the corner, he found that Obi-Wan was not in his room. Rather, he was standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe, staring into the chamber. It immediately dawned on Qui-Gon that he should have expected Obi-Wan to react to returning to the place where he had tried to end his life just days before.
Qui-Gon reached out to Obi-Wan through the force, sending reassurance and tranquility in waves. He was pleasantly surprised to find that Obi-Wan did not put up any shields against him, nor did he shy away when Qui-Gon proceeded to place his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.
"Are you alright?" Qui-Gon asked, almost in a whisper, as though afraid that any loud noise would shatter his young padawan.
"Yes…" Obi-Wan said after a moment's pause, "I suppose I didn't ever think that I would be back here. It looks as though nothing had ever happened."
Obi-Wan spoke slowly and deliberately, and Qui-Gon could almost see the thoughts churning through Obi-Wan's head as he spoke. Obi-Wan's eyes passed over the room; it was impeccably clean though the dresser, his bed, and his desk—including the holos of spacecrafts he had arranged on it—were exactly as they had been before, nothing had been moved. His eyes rested on the carpet, searching for some sort of evidence of what had transpired; he had expected some traces of blood (which he knew from experience was quite hard to get out of fabrics) to remain, perhaps a tactfully hidden from view with a rug, or rearranged furniture, but he found that the carpet was pristinely beige and entirely uniform in it's color. He wondered whether they had replaced it, or if a crew of cleaning droids had simply attacked it with chemical cleaners until the last traces were gone.
It reminded him of when he had first moved into the room, so excited and hopeful as he was. It seemed so long ago. Obi-Wan wondered if some other newly minted padawan would have been moving into the room now if he had succeeded.
"I'm making tea, if you would like some, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said, successfully puling Obi-Wan out of his trance-like scrutiny of the room.
"That sounds good," Obi-Wan said, still slightly absent-minded as they headed back to the living area.
"What would you like?" Qui-Gon asked, once again in the kitchen.
"Whatever you're having is fine," Obi-Wan responded automatically.
Qui-Gon was now truly curious; he realized that he in fact had no idea what Obi-Wan even liked, as he had always let Qui-Gon decide.
"I haven't decided yet," Qui-Gon responded, though it wasn't entirely truthful, as he had always preferred black teas, "We have chamomile, topi, tareen, masala chai..."
He read off all of the labels on the various boxes stashed in the cupboard. He had amassed quite a selection over the years; he rarely bought anything other than black tea, but he had often received different varieties of tea as gifts, which lay at the back of the cupboard unopened.
"Chai would be nice," Obi-Wan responded once Qui-Gon had finished speaking.
"Milk and sugar?"
"Just milk."
Qui-Gon stood at the counter fixing their two mugs of tea. He wouldn't have guessed that Obi-Wan was a fan of spiced tea. At this thought he smiled to himself, though it was a very small step to forming a better relationship with his padawan, he supposed that it was a good place to start.
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