4/7/2011: Thanks for all the response so far! One thing I don't understand is how this was my shortest story and is now moving towards being one of the longest...I blame the Muse. Honestly I do. Just won't let this one rest!

Hope you are enjoying it!

Lost and Found

Chapter 13- All is not as it seems

*Flashback*

Carefully, but as quickly as he could, Qui-Gon lifted the unconscious, small bundle that was Ben up in his arms, mindful of his injuries and ran down the ramp into the Temple hanger. He knew that the injuries were extensive and moving the child like this would probably aggravate them but he had no choice- the boy needed surgery and he needed it now.

Thanking the Force that Drakon had thought ahead and called the Temple, alerting the Healers to meet them in the hanger, Qui-Gon spotted a familiar face approaching- the tattooed cheekbones immediately giving him away. It was the newly appointed Master Healer, Y'Chiryō Rentis, a Jedi Qui-Gon had grown up with as a padawan, who was striding towards him, an anti-grav stretcher beside him as three other healers accompanied him.

"By the Force…" Y'Chiryō looked serious as Qui-Gon laid the small boy gently on the stretcher, his trained healer's eye quickly picking out the injuries marring the initiate's body, a frown creeping over his face as he studied the damage. "We need to get him into surgery as quickly as possible, let's go!" the Mirilan ordered.

"I'm coming with you," Qui-Gon decided, noting the fright on seeing the unknown healer etched into Ben's pain filled face.

Y'Chiryō raised an eyebrow but only nodded briskly. He knew his friend well. "Come on then- we cannot afford to delay treatment!"

"Pulse is dropping," a healer warned as they flew into the healers' surgery. "Breathing irregular- Master Rentis- we need to operate now."

"Prepare him," Y'Chiryō ordered as he pulled on his overall. "Qui- you're going to have to leave- you've done all you can for the child now – let me do my job," the master insisted as he saw his friend open his mouth to argue. "Go Qui- he'll be fine. I'm not letting him go," he promised.

Qui-Gon drew back out of his reverie as the door to the surgery room slid shut with a soft hiss, hiding the occupants within. He sighed, rubbing a worn hand across his face as he moved to one of the seats. He crossed his legs and sank into a light meditative trance, hoping it would calm him as he released his pent up anger at the Jedi who had inflicted such wounds on a child to the Force.

Half an hour later, Masters Yoda, Depa and Mace all appeared in the waiting room, Qui-Gon rising to greet them as they entered together before moving towards the seats that were provided. The air was hushed and tense and for a while nobody spoke.

"What has happened with Sony-Da?" Qui-Gon asked at length. There was still a small, irrational part of him that wanted to rip the former master- for that was what he was in Qui-Gon's eyes – limb from limb for attacking a child in such a manner. And Obi-Wan of all children…

"He has been apprehended by the Temple authorities," Depa replied, her voice melodious and calm. "He is under constant surveillance and for his and our safety it was decided by the Council to repress his Force powers for the present. A trial will soon be drawn up."

Qui-Gon nodded curtly. It still would not be enough.

"How is Obi-Wan?" Depa asked, watching the long haired master's eyes flick towards the surgery door.

"Y'Chiryō says he will do all he can. We'll be updated as soon as they know anything," Qui-Gon informed the other three masters. "And I do not doubt Y'Chiryō's skill."

Mace tried to offer some encouragement. "Kenobi is strong Qui-Gon. He's just won the Initiate Sparring Tournament so he must be made of sterner stuff than you think."

"Patience we must have," Yoda spoke up, settling his stick over his crossed legs as his eyes dropped closed, a sure sign that the oldest master was preparing to mediate as they waited, setting a good example for the three younger masters. "In excellent care Kenobi is."

"Master…" Qui-Gon spoke slowly, trying to arrange his thoughts in a coherent manner. "In the gardens…I…felt Obi-Wan…in my mind." He paused as he waited to gauge the wizened master's reply. One green lidded eye slid open.

"What?" Mace demanded as Depa looked on curiously. "You've formed a bond with the boy? But he's…"

"Expected this was. Good progress you have already made. Surprised I am not," Yoda's ears twitched as he considered the baffled master before him.

"But Master," Qui-Gon protested. "How can this be? He is not mine to teach and we have this bond. Surely the Force has made some sort of mistake?" Qui-Gon was grasping at straws. He had not the faintest idea what was going on. It unsettled him more than he wanted to admit.

"Never wrong the Force is- only masters who do not wish to understand. Trust in the Force you should. Your ally the Force is, so listen you should and not be rash," Yoda reminded Qui-Gon sharply, as though he were the initiate here.

Mace and Depa exchanged bemused expressions as Qui-Gon nodded. The Force definitely had a lot of explaining to do in Qui-Gon's mind.

After another hour and a half of mediation masked as patient waiting, the surgery door slid open and a wearied but contented looking Y'Chiryō appeared in the door of Obi-Wan's surgery room. Qui-Gon had felt the movement in the Force a moment before the door had opened, sensing his friend's Force presence moving towards him and was on his feet before the Master Healer could even say a word of greeting.

"How is he?" Qui-Gon asked

Y'Chiryō held up his hands, smiling slightly. Qui-Gon had been like this as they were growing up and the healer did not think his friend would ever change, not that he minded at all. "Well- it looks like Obi-Wan has been through the wringer. He has four broken ribs, two hairline fractures to his ribs, a punctured left lung, a cracked skull, badly sprained ankle as well as a little internal bleeding from the puncture wound," Y'Chiryō checked his clipboard to make sure he had not missed anything off. "That's just about everything."

Qui-Gon could not help but pale and even Mace winced at the long list of injuries.

"But he is out of surgery now and I believe well on the mend. The miracles of modern medicine," Y'Chiryō teased lightly.

"Thank you my friend," Qui-Gon said, stepping forward to affectionately and gratefully clasp his friend on the shoulder, squeezing lightly. "Your own abilities are also to be commended," he praised his old friend's healing skills.

Y'Chiryō smiled. "He should be coming round after the anesthetic in the next half an hour. We're moving him to a new room if you would like to come too?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Qui-Gon nodded and the Master Healer led the other masters along the corridor to some of the private rooms for the recovering patients in the Temple. Y'Chiryō stopped outside one of the doors at the end of the corridor, typed in the key code before pushing against the door and holding it open for the others to walk in. Qui-Gon was the first to enter. Mace and Depa smiled at each other as Yoda thumped his stick quietly on the ground in satisfaction. Maybe Qui-Gon was changing.

Qui-Gon walked into the healers' room and inwardly smiled as another familiar sense of déjà vu washed over him as he stepped over to the bed, where the now comfortably sleeping Obi-Wan Kenobi lay, gently wrapped in blankets. He was not sure if Y'Chiryō was doing this on purpose or not- perhaps the healer was trying to give Qui-Gon a clue between eight years ago and the present. Had Qui-Gon really been the only one blind to the fact that Ben and Obi-Wan were the same person?

Obi-Wan was lying in the same room as he had eight years ago, when the four year old child and been desperate to look up at the stars, smiling innocently and trustingly up at a master who had forgotten him so quickly. How could he have forgotten?

Force…Qui-Gon quickly delved into his pocket and withdrew the blue stone that usually kept its place in his tunic. It was dark blue, with a dash of white in the centre of the small rock. He turned it over and over in his large palm, remembering the night when the little boy, barely four years old had generously given the master his own treasure.

The Force had linked them back then too…Qui-Gon remembered the rushing spark of Force, like a match being struck, connecting the two Jedi. He remembered meditating over the short snaps of vision the two had been subjected to but coming up with no answers. Soon more pressing matters had forced the visions from the forefront of his mind and he had forgotten them…until now.

"Obi-Wan…" he whispered quietly.

Obi-Wan's head was wrapped in a bacta bandage and carefully padded with plump pillows. An IV was attached to his left arm and at peeking over the top of the nightshirt he was wearing, the boy's chest was tightly swathed in bandages to keep his newly fixed ribs as still as possible. The various bruises on his arms were slowly fading and thankfully the blood had been removed. No longer was pain scrunching up the boy's face, it was now smooth and restful in sleep.

The bond emitted contentment and calm as Qui-Gon withdrew into his mind, delicately tracing the edges of this bond. It had been a while…a long while since he had felt such a thing in his mind. He shut his eyes slowly. It would have to be terminated. Obi-Wan was not his padawan- no matter how much he might wish it…

To his surprise, as he touched the bond, the boy's eyelids began to flicker and a low, hoarse groan left his cracked, parched lips. Qui-Gon leant forwards as Y'Chiryō appeared at his side immediately, checking the Padawan's vitals as he moved towards consciousness.

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon tried again, coaxing the confused boy towards the light of day and away from the darkness of unconsciousness. He just wanted to see those eyes open, open so he could know that everything was alright.

Confusion and a twinge of hunger echoed down the bond, nearly drawing a chuckle from the Qui-Gon, as the boy's dazed blue eyes flickered open, glancing cautiously around and blinking as the lights hurt the sensitive retains. The lights were immediately lowered.

Carefully, the Master Healer raised the bed a little, so Obi-Wan was at an angle and could see more of the room. "Here, you might want to drink this," Y'Chiryō said, between glancing at the monitors and readouts on the machines, knowing the Padawan's throat would be raw, as he passed the padawan a glass of water with a straw. "Careful now- sips only," he advised.

Gratefully, Obi-Wan reached out to take the drink but his hands were shaking as he tried to and his sore muscles protested against the movement. Quickly and easily, Qui-Gon took the glass for the boy, holding it within reach. He watched as an embarrassed blush immediately blossomed over Obi-Wan's cheeks as he averted his eyes from the master but drank anyway, greedily but obediently sipping at the water.

When he drew back, sinking against the pillows, Qui-Gon removed the glass, setting it on the bedside table.

"Obi-Wan?" Y'Chiryō roused the boy from his semi-doze, even the action of drinking tiring him out after the operation. "Can you tell me how you feel?" he asked.

"S-sore," Obi-Wan admitted with a croak. "Why-what?"

"You're in the Healers' wing," the Master Healer explained gently, satisfied with the readout responses. "You sustained some nasty injuries in the Meditation Gardens and you've just come out of surgery. So being sore is expected," he smiled.

The boy's face formed an 'o' of surprise as he blinked, as though taking in his surroundings properly for the first time. His eyes then flicked bashfully to Qui-Gon; they were full of curiosity the master noted and also apprehension. The Master could feel it tickling the bond, a large amount of nerves and interest. It was almost second nature and to no effort to send a soothing wave back along it. As soon as he sent it- he inwardly chastised himself. Here he was encouraging a bond that was not meant to even be in existence! He was giving the boy…and himself…false hope.

Obi-Wan's eyes widened further as he felt the calmness enter his mind, his whole attention focused on the man beside him. "Master…Jinn?" he said slowly, testing the words, his face shining with a sudden hope and innocence it made the older Jedi's heart ache a little.

However, Qui-Gon's face was passive, belying none of the inner emotional turmoil. "Yes Padawan Kenobi," he replied, a little stiffly, surprising himself and the other masters at his tone. Cursing himself that he could do nothing right, the Master softened his tone, "Is there something you need?"

Qui-Gon could almost hear the cogs turning in the Padawan's head. "What…I mean…why…?" the boy trailed off.

Now Qui-Gon was finding it difficult to come up with something to say. Really- a tongue-tied Jedi Master- one who had made his career being a diplomat. Qui-Gon could not chastise himself enough. Thankfully, his friend helped him out before it became awkward.

"Obi-Wan- do you remember what happened? You took a serious knock to the head and I want to see if that has affected your recall," Y'Chiryō said in his best medical tone.

Obi-Wan tilted his head to the side in puzzlement before realizing that was a bad idea as his head throbbed painfully at the movement. "I…I…do remember Master Rentis," he said in a quiet voice. "I was in the Masters' Mediation Garden. We're not usually allowed in there."

Y'Chiryō nodded, indicating for him to continue. "Yes Obi-Wan," he encouraged. "Anything else?"

"I had just won the Sparring Championship," a slight smile crossed the Padawan's face as he remembered. "And I saw…you Master Jinn," he voice was full of wonder and awe as he stared at Qui-Gon.

The Master could feel the bond tinkling, solidifying and growing more prominent in his mind as the padawan deliberately poked at it. Qui-Gon wanted to shake his head, reject it, ignore it…but he couldn't. On the other hand- how could he just accept it either? Clearly the boy felt something, knew something was happening….

"Anything else Obi-Wan? Do you…know why you are hurt?" Y'Chiryō prompted gently, trying to gauge his patient's reaction.

Any emotion in the boy's face that had been there a moment before slid off at the Healer's words, leaving behind a pale, vulnerable young boy. "…Master Sony-Da…" Obi-Wan whispered. "He…did this. Didn't he?" He looked nervously around, as though expecting the master to appear out of thin air and attack him again.

"Obi-Wan- your Master will not touch you again. I will make sure of it," Qui-Gon promised, surprising himself and the other masters present at the vehemence in his tone. Obi-Wan on the other hand looked stunned and touched at the same time and smiled at the master standing beside him promising to protect him.

Mace Windu cleared his throat, stepping forwards. "Padawan Kenobi- it may be hard for you to tell us, but why did Master Sony-Da attack you? In all the years as an Instructor at the Temple he has not once shown violent tendencies towards anyone."

Obi-Wan blinked, looking slightly confused at the Council member. "Master Windu…" he looked as though he was trying to gather his thoughts. He took a deep breath. "I think there's been…a mistake," he admitted.

Qui-Gon's brow drew together as Depa and Master Yoda also stepped forward. A mistake? What kind of mistake? Qui-Gon wondered. Surely they hadn't made a mistake- it was as clear as day what had happened in the gardens…

"I'm not a Padawan," Obi-Wan muttered, breaking the silence in his healer's room.

Obi-Wan has admitted it! What is Qui-Gon to do now? Tune in for the final chapter- and let's see if these two stubborn Jedi can actually somehow end up together...who knows?

Review = Love :D

AldabaranFox