*** I will be posting two chapters today. I know everyone is anxious to see how the story progresses. Hopefully I am not moving too slowly, but it takes time to build this universe and I don't want to leave holes.
Katerinaki – I agree that even though Obi-Wan doesn't trust politicians, he would have a gift for it. We are still about a year off of the TPM timeframe in the events of the novel, Cloak of Deception. You don't need to have read the novel to understand what's going, though. Since the Ruusan Reformation occurred about a 1000 BBY, Yoda was not alive during the old Jedi Order. However, he has a closer association to those who might have heard what it was like. The Ruusan Reformation occurred at the end of the New Sith Wars and restructured the Galactic Senate. It demilitarized the Jedi, who had been fighting the war. My AU spin on this was that it disbanded the Jedi instead of reorganizing them.
Trakrat - Yes, TPM events are on the horizon. We are going full steam ahead into them, but the nature of the Jedi and this universe will make for some very notable changes. It should all seem familiar but be quite different.
Jocasta Silver – Thanks for reading. I promise that Siri and Anakin will show up. Anakin will be quite pivotal in the story. As for Siri's role, I will have to keep you guessing.
Chapter 8
Yoda stared across the table at the boy who was poking at the bowl of pale mush with his spoon, acting as though something living were going to emerge and attack him. The small master watched with amusement as he hesitantly picked up a tiny bit with the spoon and brought it to his lips, dabbing at it with his tongue. The boy grimaced momentarily before seeming to gain enough resolve to swallow the contents. He quickly drank heavily from the glass of water sitting beside him and placed the spoon back down on the table.
"A problem you have?" Master Yoda inquired.
"I'm just not very hungry," the boy replied politely as he looked up with clear blue eyes.
"Always hungry growing boys are. I sense that favor my cooking you do not."
The boy bowed his head, heat rising in reddening cheeks. "I'm sorry, Master Yoda. It just tastes funny."
"At least honest you are. Most others eat and complain later of my food amongst themselves. Know this I do." He heard a small chuckle from the boy. "No matter. Not here to eat are you."
The boy was a conundrum. Though rescued from an orphanage as a toddler and brought to Dantooine, no Jedi families had felt the Force's call to adopt him. He had become a permanent resident, growing up and training with others who for whatever reason also lived at the training center. There was no resentment from the boy, only a calm acceptance that he had been chosen to be a "permanent" Jedi, though Yoda sensed his destiny lie far beyond Dantooine. Perhaps that was why he had felt the Force's guidance to invite the boy for a meeting. The ancient master reached out sensing how the Force spun around the youngling – so different than other Jedi – a conundrum indeed.
"Close your eyes, reach out with your senses – what see you?"
He sensed the boy's powerful mind easily delve into the Force, taking it in and losing himself within its warmth and brilliance. "The Force, Master Yoda," he replied as a bright, peaceful radiance settled over him.
"Yes, there is the Force. Look further, beyond."
Small eyes squinted in concentration before relaxing. "No, I only see the Force." He opened his eyes. There was no uncertainty, no hesitancy – only a self-assured thirteen year old Qui-Gon Jinn.
Master Yoda inclined his head, bringing clawed hands together. "Be mindful of the future – look further you must." Surely the boy sensed his destiny.
"Buy why?" Qui-Gon quickly protested. The boy's jaw was set and his hands clenched tightly. The boy was indeed stubborn, set in his beliefs at such a young age. "Master Yoda, you are the oldest and wisest of the Jedi, but do you trust the Force?"
The small master's eyes widened, his ears perking up as he considered the question as much as the boy's boldness in asking it. "Trust it I do. Hope that all Jedi trust the Force."
"Then why is foresight important. You say the future is always in motion, so wouldn't it be correct to say that if we follow the Force in each moment we shouldn't need to worry about the future."
Master Yoda grew quiet before responding. "Great faith you have in the Force, Young Qui-Gon. Glad I am for that. Serve you well your faith will. But, shows us possible futures the Force does. Foresight …visions it gives. Why show us this if pay attention we should not. If the Force speaks, even of the future, should we not listen?"
Silence, even if just for a moment. The ancient master was glad he had at least made the boy pause to think. The other elders were right. Qui-Gon would definitely need training beyond what the center could offer. Without parents, he needed a master. As a boy took a deep breath and fired off yet another question, Yoda let a smile slip across his face. Training the boy would be an adjustment to his life, but looking ahead, the Force promised him many more years of such conversation across the small table. Apparently, he was going to need to learn to cook.
Qui-Gon sat at the same table in Master Yoda's quarters where he had sat as a thirteen year old boy, and many times since then. He was older, he hoped wiser, though he sometimes found there was much that was a mystery to him – that was the beauty of the Force. Of course, he hadn't lost an ounce of his stubbornness and conviction, but had gained the grace to listen and at least consider what the aging master said. He shifted long legs that were folded and crammed under the small table.
Master Yoda was older as well, evidenced by the lines and creases on his face that seemed to grow deeper and more numerous every visit. Today he seemed troubled and more pensive than usual. Qui-Gon hoped his master would confide in him.
Qui-Gon had grown from padawan to knight and knight to master, somewhere in that time he had left Dantooine, the Force urging him to forge a life outside the confines of the Jedi and training center that had been his home. Brenan Kenobi's family had taken him in so that he could attend university. Although they treated him as family and Brenan became the brother he never had, he had missed his master and the evening conversations that had stretched later and later the older he grew. He and Yoda had never found resolution to their differing viewpoints, conceding over the years that their giftings represented different ends of a spectrum. While they were different, both were necessary. Master Yoda in many ways was the Jedi Order. He carried their past through wisdom and experience and through his strength in the Unifying Force saw much in the possible future. Qui-Gon had the very pulse of the Force itself. The Living Force was his air; and just as without air living things died, without the Living Force, Qui-Gon would cease to exist.
"Where did Obi-Wan go, Master Yoda?" Qui-Gon grabbed a sandwich from the plate in front of him.
"To contact Senator Kitab I am certain. An attempt on the life of the Chancellor was made."
"An assassination attempt?" Qui-Gon leaned forward in his seat. "Do you know more?"
"Uncertain was our information. Tell us more Obi-Wan will when he comes … if he can. Believe also he saw it in a vision I do."
"I am worried about him. He has been having many dreams lately; some he is hiding from me." Qui-Gon dropped his gaze. "I feel I am trying to guide him in something I understand little about. If I had to make the decision again, I would not hesitate to raise him. I love him as though he was my own son, but I sometimes wonder if he would have benefited more under your tutelage as I did."
Amusement flickered across Master Yoda's face. "Complement each other you do, as did you and Brenan Kenobi. At the same time, best of friends and fiercest of opponents you were. Narrow Obi-Wan's views would be if trained him I had. Talk to him I will and see what additional guidance I can give."
"What do you see Master Yoda, when you look into the future?" Qui-Gon looked intently at the aging master, waiting for the answer.
"Hmpf." A stern gaze settled over the master's features. "Relevant the future is to you now?"
"Only because the Force wills me to pay attention," Qui-Gon replied, trying to hide a confident smirk.
"Something is coming. Important it will be, with lasting consequences for the galaxy and the Jedi. For such a time as this is Obi-Wan where he is; the same for you is true. Linked closely your destinies are. Believe he is ready for this do you?"
"I believe he is ready." Qui-Gon paused. "But, if the elders ask him to do this we must also be ready to acknowledge him as a knight."
"Agree I do." Master Yoda's posture curved and he seemed tired, more tired than Qui-Gon had remembered seeing him before.
"You are troubled Master."
"The darkness grows and as it grows, it clouds the Light. Already in the future I see shadows, obscurities in the Force. Fear the others do that our ability to see the future will diminish and the Order will become blind. Troubles me greatly it does."
"Take comfort in the fact that the Force does not change Master. We may become unable to see our destination, but we will still have its guidance."
Both had sensed Obi-Wan come to the door before it even chimed and with a wave of a clawed hand, Master Yoda opened the door.
"Come in. Sit and rest you must. Hungry you must be after your trip."
Obi-Wan took a place at the table between Yoda and Qui-Gon. His master picked up the plate from the middle of the table and offered Obi-Wan a sandwich. He didn't argue and began to nibble on it in silence, very much aware of the two sets of eyes boring into him with anticipation. He stopped and looked between the two masters.
"The Chancellor was wounded, but he will make a full recovery," he said answering the unspoken question. "Senator Gallia of Corellia was there and managed to pull the Chancellor to safety."
"Is this the senator you told me of on the transport," Qui-Gon asked. "The one who is Force sensitive."
"Yes, Master. She's strongly Force sensitive. I haven't had much opportunity to interact with her, but if my position does change she could be a good ally."
"Yet one more thing to bring before the elders. Do they know who is responsible for the attack?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Not yet. Senator Kitab will send me more information on the investigation as he gets it."
Obi-Wan watched as a sad look crossed Qui-Gon's face. "You will be returning to Coruscant, I assume."
"No, not now. If the Republic manages to fall apart anymore I may have to return. But the senator places high value on me having time to make the right decision. I have been told my security clearance will be revoked if I attempt to return to the offices."
Master Yoda smiled at Qui-Gon. "Knows how to persuade Obi-Wan, Senator Kitab does. Allowed him to grow too stubborn you have," he said teasingly. He turned to Obi-Wan.
"Tell me of your visions now. Later perhaps meditate together on them we will, but for now tell me what see you in the Force."
Obi-Wan swallowed a bite and took a drink before pausing.
"It's simple. I see visions of darkness and it always appears to be closing around me. I did see the attack on the Chancellor from the crowd. The description Senator Kitab gave me matched what I saw in the vision."
"The most troubling visions these are not. Sense more you do."
Obi-Wan looked first at Qui-Gon before speaking. "Most frequently, I see a Sith, and I see Qui-Gon and I fighting it. I still have yet to see the outcome of this battle."
"See more you do, but choose not to remember, I sense." Master Yoda's gaze grew distant as he probed the currents of the Force. "Yes. Woven together are you and Qui-Gon's futures – diverge your paths will not even when a knight you are."
Surprise lit up Obi-Wan's features. "A knight."
"Yes, Master Yoda and I believe you are ready. And you will need greater autonomy if you proceed into the Senate."
