I'm back again with a new chapter in tow (don't all look so surprised...). I really hope this lives up to the expectations - and doesn't sound too far fetched.

As always, reviews are love!

Chapter 29:

Obi-Wan was surrounded by mist. Glowing blue-white mist, to be specific. It was certainly no mist you could have found anywhere in the galaxy, it possessed some sort of ethereal sparkle...though it was a bit disconcerting to be standing on practically nothing...

'No, definitely no normal mist,' he decided.

Was this the Force then?

He didn't feel dead, though by all accounts he should be just that. In fact, he felt no different at all, aside from the fact that the pain and exhaustion had vanished. He certainly didn't feel one with the Force.

Speaking of pain...he looked down at his abdomen – and nearly gasped in surprise. Where the burned whole of his lightsaber wound should have been, there was nothing. Nothing. Not even a sign of the fatal injury.

A quick check revealed that all his other hurts and bruises had vanished as well.

He sat down hard, too preoccupied even to be surprised that he could sit down at all.

'Now that's interesting...'

Somehow, in typical Obi-Wan fashion, with the utter absence of what people called 'luck', he'd managed to slide from one predicament into the next.

At least as a prisoner of Sidious he had known where he stood.

He looked at the mist beneath him.

Well, floated. Hovered. Whatever.

Wonderful.

Anakin would probably laugh his head off at his situation.

Thinking of Anakin sent a painful pang though his heart. He still saw his little brother's tear-streaked face in his minds eye, the desperation in every line of his body.

Obi-Wan shook his head forcefully, as if to chase off the image.

Worrying about Anakin wouldn't make anything easier. He could nearly hear Qui-Gon reprimanding him to be mindful of the here and now.

Ah, well, but Qui-Gon would have plenty other things to say to him, considering how he'd messed up training the Chosen One entrusted to him, which led to the destruction of the Jedi Order itself.

'Keep your mind on the here and now,' he reminded himself again, before his mind could take him on another painful trip down memory line.

'Okay, start with getting up.'

He got up, trying valiantly to ignore the fact that he really wasn't getting up from anything.

'Now look around and check of there still is nobody in sight.'

There wasn't. Only sluggishly flowing mist. And he was quickly running out of ideas what to do.

"Well, is this the Force or not?!" he cried into the blue, for once letting his frustration get the better of him.

He winced. Not very creative and certainly a lack of control unfitting of a Jedi Master.

Then again, nobody had heard it anyway.

And then he heard it; a low, familiar chuckle behind him.

"Exercising your vocal chords, are you, Padawan?"

Obi-Wan felt as if someone had smashed him on the head – hard. Force, he knew that voice!

Very slowly he turned. "Master??"

There he stood, only two meters apart from him; Qui-Gon Jinn, clad in his usual dark brown and beige Jedi attire, a smile on his face and looking – Force take it all! - exactly like he had when Obi-Wan had seen him last over ten years ago.

Except for the bluish glow around him that was.

"Master," he whispered again, choking on this one special word, he hadn't used in its truest sense for so long, and before he'd really realized he'd moved, Qui-Gon had closed the distance between them, and he found himself in the embrace of the man he considered closest to a father.

Obi-Wan didn't care that he was leaking a tear or two, he didn't care that he was displaying a loss of emotional control.

This was Qui-Gon, his Master, whom he'd missed for all those years since he'd died, so he felt that this was entirely justified.

Obviously, Qui-Gon felt the same.

Finally Obi-Wan broke the embrace to look up at Qui-Gon's face – one again noting, a tad irritated, that everyone seemed to be taller than him...well except for Yoda anyway.

"So this is the Force then," he stated, after all he was pretty sure that Qui-Gon was really dead.
But his former Master surprised him.

"No, not exactly," he said carefully, his happy expression fading into a more serious one.

"Not exactly??" Obi-Wan repeated confused.

"You're in the netherworld of the Force. You might see it as a treshold between the Force and the world of the living for it is neither," Qui-Gon explained. "Here Force-ghosts like me can exist until they go on to what is beyond."

That only served to confuse him even more.

"Force-ghosts?"

Qui-Gon sighed. "Beings who retain their personality and physical shape in the Force for some time. I learned the technique from one of the Shamans of the Whills."

Obi-Wan had just opened his mouth to inquire what the heck that was, when Qui-Gon interrupted him a tad impatiently.

"But we can talk about that some other time. For now it is only important for you to know that you can choose where to go now. Either you go on and become one with the Force," he motioned to the right, where a brighter warm light appeared, which in some strange way he didn't understand, called to him, "or you return to the galaxy, to finish what you have begun."

He motioned to the left, where the mist suddenly cleared enough for Obi-Wan to make out Anakin, still hunched over his lifeless body. It was a bit disconcerting seeing one's own dead body, but then, what hadn't been disconcerting lately?

Tearinng his gaze away from his grieving former Padawan, he looked at Qui-Gon, puzzlement in his clear blue-gray eyes.

"But why? Why can I choose? Why am I even here? This doesn't seem...well normal. I am dead...or not?"

"Still so full of questions, I see," Qui-Gon chuckled fondly. "To answer them as best as I can: No, it's not normal. As far as I know you're the first being who has ever been given this choice. Yes, you're dead, in the strictest sense of the word, but you have the chance to live again."

At that point Obi-Wan coughed slightly. "Wouldn't that be a bit weird? I mean I have been dead for minutes already."

Qui-Gon's eyes twinkled. "You would probably scare poor Anakin to death. But no, time passes differently here – in both ways. Down there not more than a few seconds have passed."

Obi-Wan didn't look entirely convinced, but he accepted the explanation in order to ask something else. "And you just happened to be hanging around here when I came? How convenient."

"You could say I'm functioning as a messenger of the Force."

Obi-Wan's eyebrows shot up. "And why in the blazes should the Force care about me dying? Why do I get this chance?"

"Because you are someone special," Qui.-Gon answered simply.

Obi-Wan snorted.

Not in the least daunted by his skepticism, Qui-Gon just asked calmly, "Have you not felt a deeper connection to the Force lately?"

"Well, yes," Obi-Wan admitted. "But what does that have to do with anything?"

Qui-Gon sighed. Obi-Wan noticed that he tended to do that a lot while talking with him lately...wait! Where had that come from? He hadn't been talking to him fro over a decade!

Thankfully Qui-Gon's voice distracted him from that disturbing line of thought – a part of him wondered if he really had gone insane now, that would certainly explain all of this.

"You know about the Prophecy of the Chosen One, of course," Qui-Gon began slowly, obviously trying to figure out a way to break it to him gently. "But there was another prophecy – I only found out about it after I died, in fact I don't believe anyone knew about it, with the possible exception of Master Yoda. Anyway this prophecy heralds the coming of one, who was fated to look after the child of the prophecy and guard it with his life. The 'Guardian' as he was called would combine all the good traits of the Jedi in him – duty, serenity, compassion, love – and so rise above chaos to blossom anew."

Qui-Gon looked at him seriously. "And unlike the Chosen One, it was actually said he was a Jedi."

Obi-Wan stared at his old Master completely flummoxed, mouth agape, as the meaning of what Qui-Gon was telling him registered in his brain.

"You can't possibly be trying to tell me that I am supposed to be this 'Guardian'?!" he finally sputtered. "That's ridiculous!"

"And why not?" Qui-Gon asked calmly, crossing his arms in front of is chest.

The incredulous look Obi-Wan threw him, conveyed quite well that he questioned his sanity for even suggesting such a thing.

"Maybe because I am not important and there is no way I could be that 'perfect Jedi'? Besides you can hardly deny that I messed things up spectacularly! It's practically my fault that the Jedi Order doesn't exist anymore!"

Qui-Gon uncrossed his arms in shock.

"You can't still believe you are responsible for that? For the last time, Obi-Wan, it was not your fault! Besides you just sacrificed your life so that Sidious could be killed...he guards the child of the prophecy with his life, remember?" he retorted, willing him to believe his words.

Obi-Wan was not convinced, he still felt responsible, but he knew Qui-Gon well enough not to argue further, it wouldn't get them anywhere.

"Still, I just can't bee this 'Guardian',!" he insisted, stubbornly refusing to see his self-worth.

Releasing a huff of breath in exasperation, Qui-Gon pointed put, "And that's exactly why you are the one! You are too humble – or dense – to even acknowledge the possibility. Only because you don't think you are important, it doesn't mean that you really aren't."

"But it could be everyone! Why not someone better suited than me, like Yoda or Mace...anyone?" Obi-Wan protested, a hint of desperation in his voice. He didn't want this. He had seen with his own eyes how his so-called destiny had made Anakin's life difficult, how the weight of the prophecy had slowly broken him.

Qui-Gon smiled slightly. "You could call it the will of the Force, I guess – accept it."

"Helpful," Obi-Wan muttered under his breath.

Qui-Gon's eyes sparkled. "Is that insolence I hear, my dear former Padawan?"

"Oh no, not at all. I wouldn't dream of being snarky," Obi-Wan retorted deadpan.

"Brat," Qui-Gon groused good-naturedly.

Before Obi-Wan could reply, he felt a strange but strong prod through the Force.

Apparently Qui-Gon felt it as well for, his face grave once again, he stated, "It's time for you to choose, Obi-Wan."

"Is there really a choice for me?" Obi-Wan asked, more to himself than to his former Master, a lop-sided grin on his face.

He couldn't really leave Anakin alone, and things unfinished now, could he? And then there was Han, and Anakin's newborn child he hadn't even had the chance to meet yet. Not to mention the task of making sure that the Jedi way did not leave the galaxy completely – after all he couldn't leave all that to one senile old troll.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath, trying to dispel the lingering lure of the absolute peace of the Force from his mind, and asked, "What must I do?"

Qui-Gon didn't have to ask what he meant.

"Just walk towards Anakin, the Force will take care of the rest," he replied warmly, and Obi-Wan was surprised to hear pride in his voice. "May the Force be with you, Obi-Wan."

He smiled a little sadly. "Will I see you again?"

"When your time has come, yes. Or maybe sooner if you learn to listen," Qui-Gon responded cryptically – well, cryptically in Obi-Wan's opinion.

"Now go."

With a last long look at Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan bowed, then turned toward the spot where the mist cleared.

At first every step was difficult, but the nearer he got to the edge of the mist, the easier it became.

As reached the borderline, the Force began tingling around him, inside him, blue light engulfing him. And in a flash, he was gone.


Han was bored. It had been days since the Clones had attacked, and since then nothing at all remarkable had happened – well, except maybe for Luke somehow managing to push over the cooking pot with the Force – it had taken hours to clean that mess – and Leia constantly aggravating the green guy by pulling on his ears – well they were overlong, he supposed.

As if on cue, said green guy entered the kitchen, where he was currently sitting on the table – conveniently forgetting that Padme had forbidden him to do just that – but what made him perk up was the fact that the Jedi Master wasn't slowly hobbling as usual, but actually hurrying.

"Lady Skywalker, where she is?" he demanded urgently.

Han looked at him in puzzlement. "I will go fetch her."

A minute later he returned with Padme, who was carrying the twins in her arms, in tow.

Like him, she immediately noticed something was up. "What is going on Master Yoda?"

"Dead the Emperor is. Kill him Anakin and Obi-Wan did," Yoda informed them both, rather matter-of-factly.

For a moment Padme and Han just stared at him unbelievingly. Finally she voiced what both were thinking. "Are you sure, Master Yoda?"

The wizened Jedi Master nodded. "Felt his passing I did."

At last, as the information sank in Han felt joy rising in him. The most evil buddy in the universe dead? Sounded good. Then a thought dampened his joy.

"And Ben? Is he alright? Nobody else died, right?"

"Conquered death, Master Obi-Wan has," Yoda said cryptically. Then he turned to Padme as well. "Returning home they are."

Han breathed a sigh of relief, his face mirroring Padme's joyful expression, only slightly the fact that something about the gnome's wording seemed off...conquered death? That sounded strange, even for Yoda...

He decided not to worry about it. Ben was coming home, and that was all that mattered – though he still had to a have a word with him about recklessly turning himself in and leaving him in the process.