Title: A Greater Devotion

Author: Ticklesivory

Summary: Obi-Wan awakes one fateful day to discover the Force has created a soul bond between him and someone, although he has no idea with who or what exactly that means.

Warnings: Lots of romance and drama with just a little humor here and there. Nothing to worry about. Oh, some passionate stuff later probably.

Genre: TPM mainly

Disclaimer: Are for those who have much. Alas, I'm not one of them!

Chapter 1

On my seventh naming day, one of my best friends became a Jedi Apprentice. He was older than me and promised my time would come. On my eighth naming day, another one of my crechemates was chosen, but I was patient and so I waited. My ninth naming day was the same. My tenth not only cast me as a Padawan to Master Qui-Gon Jinn, one of the most legendary Jedi Masters of the Coruscant Temple but put me on a path that very few Jedi had ever traveled.

I woke up at midnight on that fateful day with a pounding in my ears. I didn't feel ill and upon further inspection, realized the noise was more of a rhythmic, pulsing sound. It was an actual audible pitch I was hearing, not a symptom of some illness I'd picked up. Unlike my own heartbeat, it thumped at a quicker pace. If I concentrated hard enough, I could even detect the whoosh of blood rushing through arteries and veins, as well as the flow of oxygen filling up a small pair of lungs.

Frightened, I consulted my new Master, who only told me to send my anxieties into the Force and go back to sleep. That seemed to settle things and I never again brought the unusual event back up. Over the next fifteen years, I experienced similar episodes: I heard a baby's cry when no baby was near, a little girl's laugh when I was quite alone. I smelled moisture in the desert, tasted sweet when I ate sour, felt weak when I was strong, and even fear when I was brave.

I kept all this to myself, just in case I was labeled with psychosis and my apprenticeship was taken away. I had learned to ignore everything, to focus upon myself, as well as my present surroundings, and not these outside interferences.

That is, until Naboo.

Following my twenty-fifth naming day, the Jedi Council sent my Master and me on a mission to investigate the Trade Federation's attempt at blockading the routes of Naboo's space lanes. As usual, we worked diligently side by side to get to the truth, to avoid the droid armies posted about, in order to finally come face to face with the Queen.

Qui-Gon told her of his suspicions, but while he did so, I couldn't keep my eyes off the maiden who stood behind her. She was young. Possibly still in her early teens, but I knew her - as well as I knew myself. I knew what she liked to eat, her favorite color, the way she took her tea. I knew how she smelled, what her pulse rate was, and what her responsibilities were. She was the true Queen, not this decoy Master Qui-Gon was speaking with.

She was the reason we were here and she needed my protection. I was bound by duty to provide it. However, my Master had the final say. Although he usually listened to my advice, he tended to do what he thought was best. I couldn't deny the feeling I was being torn between my loyalty to my Master and my loyalty to this Queen.

This displacement of my concentration nearly cost my Master his life. My attention was split and I had been inadvertently knocked off a ramp during a battle with a Sith warrior. It shouldn't have happened, but I had been distracted by the attempt of the young Queen Amidala to use a cable on the outside walls of the palace to reach the next floor where more battle droids awaited. Her security team was with her, but I realized without a doubt that I belonged by her side. It was my job to protect her, not theirs.

Even when my Master was pierced with the dark one's saber, my thoughts were on her. I needed to end this fight now to make sure she was okay. With ferocity and agility, I bested the Sith and sent him plummeting to his death. Immediately, I ran to my Master's side. He was injured, but he would live. I shouted up to anyone who might be monitoring the security cameras to send help and then apologized to my Master. Qui-Gon would simply have to understand. Every ounce of my being was pulling me to the throne room. I must go to her. I didn't have a choice.

The decision to leave my mentor lying on that cold floor altered my future as a Jedi in more ways than I had counted on.