I could have left this update for longer to really draw it out, but I think you, my readers, deserve it. You've stuck by me through all of this and are still reading.

i luv ewansmile, this one's for you.

Obi-Wan struck downwards again, but the green blade of Qui-Gon blocked his blow and so he sprang back, up and over Qui-Gon's head to land on the other side of him. Qui-Gon spun, meeting Obi-Wan's blade again. Obi-Wan knew, in a test of strength, he couldn't stand up to his ex-Master, so he slid his blade down Qui-Gon's, trying to flick off the hilt and injure his opponent. Qui-Gon knew the move exactly, though, and two-handily twisted his own lightsaber to cut the move short.

Stepping back from one another, and breathing hard, Obi-Wan glared at his former Master. Both were breathing harder than normal – the fight, short as it had been, had been terribly fierce; both combatants fighting with great strength and skill.

Obi-Wan smirked. "Getting tired, old man?"

"I will not let you fall," Qui-Gon replied, letting the Force flow through him. "So I will not tire here."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, feeling the Darkness around him fluctuate and lend him strength. "Again with the preaching…"

Tensing his muscles, Obi-Wan jumped, delivering a high, downward blow as he flipped over Qui-Gon's head once again. Qui-Gon blocked, but as Obi-Wan landed and raised his lightsaber to begin another attack, he stopped.

Something wasn't right.

Qui-Gon, standing before him, was swaying where he stood. He was still looking at Obi-Wan, but his eyes were unfocused. He slowly and almost lazily brought a hand up to his shoulder, reached over for a moment before drawing his hand back – along with the small, barbed dart that had been buried in his shoulder-blade.

He fell, then, collapsing to the ground, his lightsaber deactivating as it hit the stone. Obi-Wan, confused, watched him fall and then looked up in time to duck the second dart from the Iridonian mercenary. She was in the shadows by a statue, her wrist-launcher out in front of her.

In one swift movement, calling on the Force to help him, Obi-Wan leapt half the chamber, over Qui-Gon, and landed before her, using the Force to push her quickly into the wall. She was thrown into the stone hard, flying back and hitting her head. She fell, motionless, to the ground, knocked out.

The mercenary taken care of and now out of commission, Obi-Wan crossed back across the chamber to Qui-Gon. Kneeling down next to the fallen Jedi and casting aside his sabre, Obi-Wan placed one hand lightly on his Master's neck, assessing him with the help of the Force. There was poison in his bloodstream – a fast acting toxin; his body was rapidly shutting down.

"No…"

Something broke inside him, some barrier of a kind. He could feel the Light there with him, to help him, and he drew from it, drawing the healing strength he needed. He placed a hand on Qui-Gon's chest and calmed himself.

Pushing aside all feelings of anxiety, irritation, grief and guilt that threatened to cloud his focus, just as he had been taught, Obi-Wan opened himself to the Force and let it flow through him. He had to act fast. Qui-Gon was dying before him; Obi-Wan swore to himself he would not let that happen.

Warmth, light, flowed into him, helping him to push the healing energy into his Master, willing the toxin away, cleansing the bloodstream. It had to work, it just had to. Obi-Wan poured all his strength into him, trying to heal the damage that had been done and prevent anything further. He could feel it slowly working, but could also feel that Qui-Gon was failing faster than he was healing.

Pushing aside the new despair currently threatening to cloud his mind, Obi-Wan focused more and more on his Master, determined to give everything to save him. He would not fail him. He would save him. He had to.

But it wasn't enough. The Force could only do so much; he couldn't get it to help anymore than it was doing. So, knowing full well what it could mean, Obi-Wan turned his focus deeper, drawing on his own strength.

After what seemed like hours (but could only have been a few minutes) of deep healing concentration, coaxing the body of Qui-Gon to heal and live fully again, Obi-Wan could feel himself beginning to weaken. This had gone past his connection to the Force, he was now giving his own life-force to save his Master

He was blind and deaf to the world around him. Through the deep healing trance came images – memories. Of worlds, old missions long since passed, the things that had happened and the people that had been met. Bandomeer, the mines…being prepared to give his life for the Jedi that was not his Master, not yet. Melida/Daan, leaving the Order. Attacks on the Temple. Xanatos…

With that name, Obi-Wan felt anger, darkness, rising up in a wave within him. His connection to Qui-Gon, and the healing, slipped slightly, so Obi-Wan hurriedly pushed away the building emotions and brought himself back to a state of calm to continue healing.

His thoughts were beginning to run together; his focus was slipping. He was loosing himself, becoming weaker, pouring all the strength and Force he could into Qui-Gon. He would live. He would.

Obi-Wan realised that he, himself, was dying now. He had gone past the point of return, but he no longer cared. His heartbeat had slowed, his breaths all but stopped; his body was held in a trance-like state as he freely gave away his strength.

His physical strength was fading quicker than his mental strength and Force connection, and so he did not stop himself as he fell limply to his side, laying next to his Master on the floor. He managed to keep his hand on Qui-Gon's chest though, to keep the connection as strong as he could manage.

In this semi-conscious, half-real state, the universe seemed clearer. Had it really come to this? Had he really done and said those things? It hardly mattered now. Obi-Wan felt himself slipping deeper, into the Force.

He didn't care.

Qui-Gon would live.

Obi-Wan would give his strength to see it so. Gladly give his own life.

And so he slipped deeper and deeper into the trance, into the Force, still healing the man who lay beside him.

…give his own life…

Following the now silenced sounds of battle, Adi entered the chamber mere moments before Siri, who was a step behind her. The first thing the Master noticed was an Iridonian female against the wall, unconscious. Checking over the body, Adi realised she matched the description of the female mercenary they had been tracking, Jay…how strange a coincidence.

"Master!" Siri's urgent call made her turn, to see two fallen figures in the centre of the stone floor. Both were familiar, and Adi's heart dropped as she saw them.

"Are they…dead?" Siri asked Adi quietly as she approached.

"I'm not sure." Crossing to the prone figures quickly, Adi lightly placed a hand on Qui-Gon's forehead. "He's alive, but barely… I can sense traces of something, like a poison, in his system. He needs time and care to fully recover."

Siri had knelt down next to her friend. "Obi-Wan's life-force is very weak…he's fading slowly…by the Force; what happened to them?"

"Look…" Adi picked up what had been in Qui-Gon's limp hand. "A toxic dart of some kind…" She looked between the two still figures and the Iridonian mercenary, working out what had happened. "She must have fired on them, hit Qui-Gon…and…" Adi's eyes widened as she considered the possibilities. "Mercenaries wouldn't shoot to stun or sedate; they would shoot to kill. This should have killed him…" Looking back to the limp figures of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, she suddenly gasped. "I don't believe this…Obi-Wan must have healed him."

Siri's eyes widened too, in confusion and surprise. "What?"

Adi motioned to Obi-Wan's body. "Look at him – one hand on Qui-Gon's chest, and the position he is in dictates he was kneeling…Obi-Wan was healing him…he saved Qui-Gon…he was prepared to give his life for his Master…"

Siri looked back down at the still form of Obi-Wan. "He healed him? But…hadn't he turned?"

"Apparently not. We both know healing is a Light-Side act… Qui-Gon, and Yoda, were both right. He hadn't gone over completely." Adi folded her arms in thought. "We need to get them both back to the Temple – they need the healer's wing."

"What about her?" Siri asked, flicking a glance in the direction of the mercenary.

"We'll wake her, contact the authorities of Dreshdale. They can take care of them – her partner must also be here – until the Jedi can arrange a prisoner transport back to Coruscant. Strange how the Force works."

Siri nodded as she stood, getting out her comlink and putting a communication through to the authorities, moving away as she began to speak softly. Adi stood too, considering how to transport the two figures of their friends back to the Falcon.

'Ask them to bring two hover-stretchers, too.'

'Yes, Master.'

Siri ended the communication. "They're on their way…" She was about to continue, but was interrupted by a soft groan coming from the mercenary. The Iridonian's orange eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at the two Jedi who were now standing over her.

"Suppose I can't run anymore, right?" She said weakly, a defeated grin on her face.

"Where's your partner?" Adi asked, with a slight wave of her hand, letting the Force impact upon Jay and drawing out the truth.

She blinked once. "In an abandoned warehouse in the industrial sector. That kid did something to him – he's alive but won't wake up…" She sighed as Adi Force-suggested her into sleep.

An hour or so later, they were ready to leave. Jay had been handed over to the authorities, her information about the hideout given over to their chief. They were under heavy guard, and Adi felt that it was the best that could be done now. Xanatos' ship would be impounded and held by the Dreshdale authorities too, for the Jedi to collect.

Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were onboard the Falcon, having been moved there with the help of the stretchers. Neither had moved or showed any signs of regaining consciousness. Adi was afraid either might die at any moment, slip away into the Force woth no warning, as both were very weak.

They had to get back to Coruscant, to the Temple. She and Siri had to get help for them both, before something worse happened. Neither could survive long without Jedi treatment.

Adi hoped they could make it.

I hope that was at least half-way decent, as I know many were waiting for this chapter...hope it didn't dissapoint!