Sorry for the delayed updates if anyone is actually reading this :) But I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Chapter Thirteen
Qui-Gon felt a light distressed tug in his mind and instinctively responded with waves of reassurance. The person on the other end of the bond latched on tighter, strengthening their bond before Qui-Gon had even realized what he'd done. Obi-Wan.
Master.
The word was a whisper in his mind, a sigh, if anything. It wasn't meant for him, he knew, yet, he was perturbed to find that he could not deny that it felt so right at the same time. What did that mean? Qui-Gon wondered.
He swallowed and walked over to Xanatos who was meditating in a corner of the hovel as they waited for Shmi's slave chip to be removed.
He knelt across from Xanatos, shut his eyes, and reached along their bond. It was not yet strong enough to communicate telepathically, but he was able to tap on it to stir Xanatos from his meditation.
Xanatos opened his eyes, revealing haunted deep blue irises. The meditation had done little to soothe his anguish. "Qui-Gon," he cleared his throat.
"Sorry to disturb you, but I thought you should know that Obi-Wan is no longer being...tortured...if you wanted to reach him. I think he's resting right now, though."
Xanatos nodded, "Thank you."
Qui-Gon waited as Xanatos reached towards Obi-Wan. He was surprised to find that the younger man only sent soothing waves of reassurance to his padawan, but did not initiate a telepathic conversation. Qui-Gon raised a questioning brow and Xanatos shrugged. "I didn't want to disturb him. He was just tortured. He needs rest."
They both waited a beat before Qui-Gon asked, "What do you plan to do?"
"Well, once Shmi gets her slave chip out, you should take the others and get off planet so that Padme is safe. She should be your priority."
"And you?"
"I'm not leaving until I get him back, Qui-Gon."
"Well, I'm not sure you're in the right state of mind to be searching for your padawan alone, especially with a sith present."
Xanatos's face darkened. "I won't join the sith if that is what you're concerned about."
Qui-Gon reached out and placed a reassuring hand on Xanatos's shoulder. He squeezed it tightly and let some of his feelings of regret leak through their bond. "That is not what I am concerned about, Xan. I apologize for making you feel like I doubt you in that way. I know I did before, but I don't anymore. Not one single bit, Padawan," Qui-Gon said firmly.
He held Xanatos's gaze to ensure that the younger man understood that he was coming from an earnest place. "I am concerned that you, distraught and emotional as you are at the moment, will not be able to hold your own against a Sith. None of us have ever faced one before, and the last thing I'd want to happen is have them capture you as well. And please don't take this as me doubting your ability because I know that you are a very capable Jedi master. There are simply too many unknowns here and I believe that there is strength in numbers."
Xanatos pursed his lips and nodded, his eyes shiny. "I understand, but it isn't safe for Padme here."
"It isn't."
"Then what do we do?" Xanatos whispered, running his hands through his hair. "I can track him through our bond. I can find him and Satine..."
"Have you considered that that's exactly what this sith wants you to do?"
"Does it matter? I need to get to him..." Xanatos released a breath and ran his hands through his raven hair. The force around him roiled with emotion. "Kriff, I just need..."
"You need to center yourself," Qui-Gon frowned. "Anakin does, too. Perhaps we should meditate together and Anakin could also, if he is comfortable, share his recollection of the events. That way we can know exactly what we are going up against."
"...I think that would be wise, Master," Xanatos murmured.
Anakin appeared behind Qui-Gon before Xanatos finished saying those words. "Meditation?" Anakin groaned.
"We need to be centered and balanced for whatever comes next, Padawan," Qui-Gon chided.
Xanatos wasn't sure if he felt frustrated or grateful for Qui-Gon's presence. Without his former master and their charges, Xanatos probably would have gone rushing after the sith and gotten himself killed. He was sure of that now that he'd sunken deep into the force with Qui-Gon's steady presence as his guide.
Qui-Gon's force signature pulsed with light and security, keeping both Anakin and Xanatos grounded. He bound the three of them together as they all released the fears into the force.
/Ready?/ Qui-Gon asked.
/Show me/ Xanatos whispered.
Anakin drew them back to when they'd been ambushed. The four teenagers had been loping along. Obi-Wan and Satine had been trailing behind Anakin and Padme as Anakin regaled his podracing tale for all of them to hear. A hint of embarrassment trickled down the bond from Anakin.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Obi-Wan glanced over his shoulder.
"You always have bad feelings," Anakin laughed. "Relax. We can see for miles in front and behind us. No way anything can sneak up on us. Besides, I don't have any bad feelings."
"You're just high off the podrace, that's why," Obi-Wan teased.
"Yeah, yeah, but maybe I'm just focused on the living force and am more grounded in the moment," Anakin shrugged. "Remember to focus on the here and now, Obi-Wan. At least, that's what my master would say to you if he were here."
Obi-Wan huffed and muttered, "Mine would, too. You're probably right, but remember when I had a bad feeling last time? When we thought we were just going on some boring negotiations?"
"Was it bad though? It did lead us to these two ladies." Anakin shot a teasing grin at Obi-Wan. Padme and Satine rolled their eyes.
"You know what I mean, Ani." Obi-Wan groaned and glanced over his shoulder.
The force shifted in warning. Anakin grabbed Padme's arm and yanked her to the ground as a speeder bike roared over their heads. How in the sith's kriffing hells did it sneak up on them like this!? He was never going to ignore Obi-Wan's bad feelings again, he decided.
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin shouted, hauling Padme back onto her feet.
He heard the sound of lightsabers clashing. What in the world? He spun around and saw a red faced zabrak with a blood red lightsaber striking at Obi-Wan. The zabrak stood between Obi-Wan and an unconscious Satine, who was much too far for Anakin to reach. Fear spiked through Anakin. He reached for his lightsaber to join Obi-Wan in the fight. "No! Anakin! Run!" Obi-Wan shouted, meeting the sith's blows.
"No!"
"Take Padme!" Obi-Wan grunted and narrowly dodged a strike that would have taken off his arm. "Get to safety...and get our masters!"
Anakin hesitated for a split second. He couldn't keep arguing with Obi-Wan and he knew that they were all in over their heads. He clenched his jaw and grabbed Padme's hand. "Wait, Ani! We can't leave them!" Padme cried.
"There's nothing we can do for them." Anakin said. "We need to get to safety and contact our masters. Come on!"
He just hoped that Obi-Wan and Satine would be alive for them to find. They sprinted for several minutes and skidded to a stop when they heard the terrible bloodcurdling screams. Padme gasped, "Obi-Wan."
Anakin squeezed his eyes shut, guilt and shame filling his chest. He'd left him, and the pain that he felt echoing through the force was staggering. He squashed his fear and swallowed the bile rushing up his throat. Even his shields weren't enough to keep out the pain and panic he felt from Obi-Wan through his bond with Qui-Gon.
Xanatos snapped his eyes open and leaned against the wall. That zabrak. He remembered that thing...Maul. It had been disturbing to see how Maul had been so focused on Obi-Wan.
And the bond between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan seemed stronger than he'd originally thought if Anakin could feel Obi-Wan's pain through his bond with Qui-Gon. What did that mean? Xanatos felt dread filling the pit of his stomach. The force had never felt so muddled and foreboding.
"Xanatos? I understand if you're upset with me—if you never forgive me." Anakin said, his voice wavering. "I'm so sorry I left him."
Xanatos rubbed his forehead and swallowed the lump in his throat. He looked up to see Qui-Gon's hand on Anakin's back, and seeing the two of them together made him miss his padawan even more. "There's nothing to forgive," Xanatos said. "The two of you would not have been able to defeat the sith. You did the right thing getting Padme to safety. At least we now have something to work with."
Anakin pursed his lips and nodded even though his shame and guilt were palpable in the force. "Besides," Xanatos added. "The thing seemed to be quite focused on my padawan. There was nothing you could do."
Qui-Gon frowned, "He did seem very focused on Obi-Wan. Why do you think that is?"
Xanatos clenched his fists in his lap. It was his fault...all his damn fault that his padawan had been taken. This stupid darkness. Would it ever stop chasing him? "Xanatos?" Qui-Gon frowned. "What is it?"
"That thing that we saw fighting Obi-Wan...well, one could say that I happen to know him," Xanatos swallowed and smirked weakly at Qui-Gon and Anakin.
The two jedi stared at him in confusion, but thankfully, he didn't feel any suspicion rising in Qui-Gon. That was relieving. "That dark presence. Don't you recognize it?" Xanatos asked Qui-Gon. "It was there...on Telos..."
Qui-Gon's frown deepened. "The sith were on Telos all those years ago, Qui-Gon. We were both too angry then to notice it, but they were there, playing puppeteer. I was their blind puppet," Xanatos murmured. "They manipulated my emotions and all the situations so that in my arrogance, I would fall. And when you left me on Telos, they sent that thing that you just saw. His name is Maul. He was younger then, not as well trained, but just as dark and ruthless."
Xanatos dug his fingernails into his palms and murmured, "The torture that they put me through to break me—to make me fall and become something like them...it was unbelievable."
"Are you telling me that the Sith have been around all this time and the council knew?" Qui-Gon demanded in a dangerously calm voice. Some guilt and anger bled through Qui-Gon's shields. "And I left you as prey to the Sith?"
"What's done is done, Qui-Gon. You probably wouldn't have been able to help me see reason. I was blind with rage. And they helped fuel my emotions at the time." Xanatos shook his head with shame, feeling himself reeled back into the nightmare.
Xanatos awakened in a dark cell somewhere underground. Maul's young face sneered down at him. The darkness surrounding the creature was suffocating. "Your master betrayed you..." Maul hissed in his ears, reaching with his dark tendrils for Xanatos's mind.
Fury burst in his chest. "Yes, embrace the rage..." Maul grasped Xanatos's shoulders with both hands, digging his fingers into them. "You trusted him and he betrayed you. He did not love you. He hates you!"
The darkness from Maul snaked around Xanatos, making him shiver. Was the dark always so cold? "How could he murder your father like that!? Do you not seek to avenge your father!?" Maul shouted, shoving Xanatos against the wall.
Xanatos felt anger flare within him the moment his head connected with the wall, and he tackled Maul. They wrestled on the ground. "Don't touch me!" Xanatos shouted. He wished, then, that Maul had been Qui-Gon, that he could beat the older man into a bloody pulp for his betrayal.
/Yes./ Something whispered in the back of Xanatos's mind. Someone was here—in this cell with him and Maul. Someone was in his mind. That slight distraction gave Maul the upper hand. A fist connected with Xanatos's jaw. A foot to his abdomen. He fell onto his back. "Who are you!? Why the hell am I here?" Xanatos growled. "And who else is here?"
/You'll see soon enough, little one/
/Get out of my head!/
/Yes, reach for that darkness. So much anger. It is beautiful. Let that rage and hatred for your master...for me, even, fuel you./
Xanatos shivered and squeezed his eyes shut. /Screw you./
Agony. His nerves and muscles seared with pain. He screamed.
"Xanatos!" Qui-Gon shook Xanatos's shoulder. "Are you all right?"
The midnight blue eyes stared at him with such concern. Xanatos wondered why he'd ever hated the man and how he'd ever allowed himself to be so pitifully manipulated. "I'm fine. I'm sorry. They were not my best moments..." Xanatos sighed. "Did you see any of that?"
"No...just echoes of your anger and pain down the bond," Qui-Gon swallowed. "I am so sorry for leaving you on Telos, Padawan. So sorry. I should've-"
"Like I said. There was nothing you or I could've done. Maybe if I'd been stronger..." Xanatos shook his head. "It wasn't until I'd fallen and you'd left and the torture came that I realized how I was being manipulated. I reached for the light. It was the only thing that kept me sane. It was Maul's inexperience that allowed me to escape with my life."
If there was anything that Xanatos hated, it was being manipulated. Knowing that this sith master had manipulated him against his own master made him push against the darkness. The more Maul and the sith pressured him into reaching for the dark side, the more Xanatos resisted and reached for the light for strength.
The force lightning...the mental breaches...the physical torture...Xanatos was sometimes unsure how he'd ever survived two weeks in that hellhole, much less escaped. And now Obi-Wan was in that same situation, subjected to all that darkness. Because of him. And if anything happened to Obi-Wan, Xanatos wasn't sure he'd be strong enough to resist the pull of the dark—to not give into his anger—to not destroy everything that had hurt his padawan. Even now he wanted to make Maul suffer for everything that was being done to his padawan.
"Your anger, Xan," Qui-Gon murmured. "Release it to the force. And then we will devise a plan for what will happen next."
Xanatos wanted to lash out and remind the older jedi that he was no longer a padawan, but knew that that would be petty. He was not behaving like a jedi knight. Master Yoda, ironically his greatest champion, would be disappointed in all of the anger Xanatos currently harbored in his chest.
"We should contact the council," Xanatos muttered. "We should let them know what has happened. We lost the Duchess of Mandalore in addition my padawan. They will need to inform the contact on Mandalore of these new developments as well."
"I don't think it'd be wise for us to split up and head back to the ship until we are ready to leave the planet," Qui-Gon said. He fortified his shielding. "That sith could be looking for us. We need to keep our shields tight to make it more difficult for him to find us through our force signature."
"I rewired my comlink," Anakin piped in. "Not sure if it has a far enough range to reach the temple, but it might?"
"And what made you do that, Padawan?" Qui-Gon asked.
"I just had a feeling that we'd need it, so I did my best with what I had. My...mother, well, she doesn't need as many of her things anymore now that she will be leaving with us. She let me take apart anything I needed to work on the comlink." Anakin shrugged and held his device out to Xanatos. "Wanna be the first to test it out?"
Xanatos nodded and took the comlink. He commed the council's direct line. "This is Initiate Kolo."
"This is Knight Xanatos DuCrion and Qui-Gon Jinn. We need to speak with the council immediately."
"The council is currently in session."
"Tell them that it is an emergency. Now." Xanatos growled.
"Okay."
Mace Windu's voice crackled through the comlink, and it was clear that he was annoyed at being interrupted. "What is it Knight DuCrion? Didn't we just speak?"
"Yes, Master Windu. My apologies for interrupting a council meeting." Xanatos dipped his head in apology even though he couldn't see him. "It's just that I thought you'd like to know that there's a sith here on Tatooine and it took Obi-Wan and the Duchess of Mandalore."
"What? When did this happen?"
"Several hours ago," Xanatos swallowed. "I believe that it is the same one that...that took me back in the day."
"Disturbing, this is," Yoda's voice came through. "Get them back, you must."
"I can track them through my bond with Obi-Wan, but Qui-Gon believes that it's a trap. And there's also the matter of keeping the queen safe as well."
"Face the sith alone, you cannot."
"I know, Master."
"Another jedi, on Tatooine, he is. Give him your coordinates, I will. Help you, he can."
"Master Yoda?" Mace questioned. "Is this a good idea?"
"In mysterious ways, the force works. No better time for him, this is. Need him, they do. Help protect the queen, he can."
"Who is this jedi? Do I know him?" Xanatos asked.
"It's Feemor, Xanatos," Qui-Gon sighed. "I thought I felt another familiar presence on planet."
"Feemor?" Xanatos spluttered. He was sure that his jedi brother hated him and Qui-Gon.
"Yes, looks like our lineage is having a reunion."
"Be with you soon, he will be."
"May the force be with all of you," Mace said.
"And with you," Qui-Gon and Xanatos said.
Note: A family reunion is on its way. I love jedi family lineages and so I'm really excited for what will happen next. Anakin meeting his eldest padawan brother will surely be interesting. But they're also all so hurt by each other (minus Anakin), so it'll be interesting to see how it all pans out.