Qui-Gon hesitates at the doubt he sees in Padmé's eyes, but as a step of faith in the brave young girl he had known on Naboo all those years ago, and in what he believes is the will of the Force, he lets go of her arm and steps back.
A look of resignation crosses Padmé's face as she abandons the siren's call issuing from the forest. The possessive hands upon her fall away like dead leaves. She steps back into the dark and eyes the older man with caution.
"Enough of the double talk. You explain everything to me right now or so help me, I'm turning around and you won't be able to stop me."
A nod of the Jedi Master's head concedes to her declaration, and Padmé takes another step forward.
"Tell me why you need my help. What's wrong with Obi-Wan?"
"He is the key to the future. I have forseen two possibilities. One in which your son destroys the Emperor and saves his father, and another where he joins the Emperor and kills Anakin. Either outcome depends upon Obi-Wan's ability to protect Luke now and guide him when he is older."
"But isn't Obi-Wan on Tatooine to protect Luke?"
"I'm afraid Obi-Wan has strayed from his true path." Qui-Gon explains, his face pained with the knowledge. "He has completely cut himself off from the Force."
"I don't understand." Padmé acknowledges with a shake of her head. "Why haven't you helped him? You are not one with the Force. You have retained your identity."
"I cannot help him."
"Why not?"
"Because he won't listen to me!" The Jedi Master reveals a level of frustration and disappointment that the young woman realizes very few have witnessed.
"He will not commune with me. I've tried. At first I believed it was because he was grieving and that may be part of it. But I don't believe it is me he grieves for."
"Is it Anakin?"
"I'm not sure. But he is not himself, and I need you to try and help him."
Padmé once again shakes her head and begins pacing around the void. "What makes you think he'll hear me? That first time may have just been a fluke. If he can't hear you, why would he hear me?"
"I have a theory." Qui-Gon admits with a grin and Padmé responds with a look of indignation and crosses her arms.
"Tell me." She insists.
"You and I may be in the same realm of existence, but we are not the same. Look at you. You have regained your solidity while I am merely an apparition, a Force spirit. I dwell here and beyond." The older man motions to the distant woods which are now eerily quiet. "You have regained your human form and although you are not part of the living, you are neither part of the dead."
The young woman's eyes squeeze shut at the Jedi words. "Then what exactly am I?"
"Something I've read about but doubted existed until now. It would explain a great deal. Your ability to impact the living world where I cannot. Your very presence here. Your appearance. It can only mean one thing."
Padmé grimaces at the thought of the anticipated explanation; the word she knows he is going to speak. The one word she associates with the person who brought so much grief into her life.
"You must be an angel."
