Chapter 5 - Coruscant - Divergence
There was something in the room that was hard to define. Like a Force imprint on negative emotions, lasting like smoke after a fire. Qui Gon had sensed it immediately after stepping into the High Council´s chamber where an almost complete assembly of masters was awaiting him, most of them trying to keep their faces and Force presences impassive and neutral and hard to read, not all of them successfully so. He could tell Mace Windu had a hard time hiding the trickles of emotion underlying his stoic demeanour. However, even Master Yoda seemed a little out of place, not quite centred in the Force and that was unusual. Well, Qui Gon thought as he heard the door quietly hiss close behind him, he wasn´t here because their emotional state of mind concerned him. He was here because a matter needed settling. A matter close to the will of the Force itself.
It was growing late. The sun was about to lower itself behind the rim of the higher levels, leaving a glowing red line of light in the distance just above the roof of the buildings, soon to slip away as well. The shadows in the room were growing longer, six of them, cast by the masters that were present. None cast by the other five whose hazy holograms hovered in place at their seats. One seat remained empty.
"Proceeded well on your way of recovery you have, Master Qui Gon." Yoda´s voice sounded friendly enough, a little tense maybe but that didn´t seem directed against him personally. Qui Gon bowed his head in greeting. "I am, Master Yoda," he replied. "The medical droids have done a good job putting me back together."
"Word has it that it was your ... former padawan who saved your life." Master Mundi interjected. "We were told that had it not been for his Bond with you and his insistence on keeping you alive, you might not have made it." Qui Gon allowed himself a little smile. "I do not doubt that for a moment." he said, keeping back the added remark that he had once more proven the Council wrong when claiming mere days ago that Obi-Wan was ready for the Trials. Quite the place for it. Not the time. And all of this seemed quite like small talk to him anyways. The words that were spoken next confirmed that impression. "Has he settled into his new quarters, yet?" asked Saesee Tiin keeping his eyes on him, his hands steepled. "He was doing just that earlier." he replied, feeling reminded of that look the younger man had given him. It wasn´t all easy for Obi-Wan, he needed to remember that. Growing into knighthood came with its own difficulties and challenges and he wished to remain a good friend for his former pupil. He only hoped he would be able to do so.
There was a brief moment that almost turned into an awkward silence. One thing that was almost impossible in this chamber was pretence. With everyone here being strong in the ways of the Force deception even of the simplest kind seemed trivial to even attempt. But maybe, Qui Gon had thought so often before, that was part of what made the Council so sure of itself, so allegedly righteous in its ways. So convinced that its commands and orders were to be taken at face value and so rigid in its reluctance to be open to more unconventional ways.
It was Mace Windu who eventually broke the silence. "It is good that you decided to talk to us on your own accord, Qui Gon." he began. "We do not keep secrets amongst our own in this temple after all. We know that the Skywalker boy is no longer with the Youngling quarters." The words came with a slight rising of the man´s eyebrows, a subtle command for an explanation that would have intimidated most even without Windu actively encouraging such a reaction. Qui Gon, however, braved the man´s gaze.
"Honourable masters, we have talked about the issue before." he said. "I pleaded for you to allow me to take on Anakin as my padawan learner. Now, with Obi-Wan knighted there is no more reason to deny my request."
He could sense that his words were confirming what the masters thought had brought him here. He saw both relaxing of features and tensing of them. "Talk about this indeed we did." Master Yoda said, his words now sounding a bit less conversational, but more firm. "Denied your bid the Council has. Know that you do, Master Qui Gon."
"This boy has stood before you and proved he is strong in the Force." He could now feel his own temper rising, but kept his voice steady. "Both his aptitude for the Force and his mere biological requirements have been proven beyond doubt. His very presence has been foretold. You cannot deny him. And neither will I."
"We have talked about this." Now it was Mace´s time to talk. "Something about the boy is not right. We sensed it and I am sure so do you. Training him would be dangerous."
"More dangerous than leaving him alone with his skills?" He crossed his arms in front of his chest and once more locked eyes with the other master. None of them broke eye contact first. "He is not the first that is being denied training. You know full well that not every Force sensitive youngling goes on to become a padawan."
Qui Gon shook his head, supressing an ironic chuckle. "You won´t tell me to relegate him to the Agrocorps, surely." he said. "His skills are extraordinary and he has proven that yet again on Naboo. He disabled the troop support ship on his own."
"A reckless decision to take the boy to a war zone." Master Tiin spoke up.
"I was not given a choice, master." he snapped.
"Leave him here, you could have." Master Yoda narrowed his eyes slightly. "But go against our decision even then you did. Not your padawan he was, yet treat him like one you did."
"And I will continue to do so."
"I beg your pardon?" This was the very tone in Mace Windu´s voice that nobody dared oppose. A low growl almost, a clear warning not to step any further. It was an open secret that the man was Yoda´s right hand, well on his way to becoming Grandmaster himself one day, if only he were less emotional, less reckless. At least on that level, Qui Gon could relate to him. He took a deep breath, centred himself in the Force, worded what he had thought about saying before, weighed each word, fully aware of their possible consequence.
"I will continue to do so. Finding him was the will of the Force. My training him is so as well. And I will do so. With or without permission of this High Council. With our without the Jedi Order."
His words dropped like stones, the echo of their reaction thrumming in the Force. He could see Master Yoda straightening slightly, while Windu´s face only hardened. "What are you implying, Master Jinn?"
"Oh, I am more than implying." Now that it was out, finding his centre in the Force again was easy. He sounded completely calm. "I live to serve the will of the Force. Not to bend it this Council´s judgement."
"This is outrageous." Master Tiin had gotten to his feet. It prompted low murmer from both present and holo-cast masters the latter of which not palpable in the Force and feeling oddly dejeceted to Qui Gon´s perception of the scene as a result. He let the murmurs breech against his senses. He had forseen this, their reaction was no surprise to him. One did not suggest breaking ties with the Order to the Council itself and not get a reaction for it. Not as a master. Not as one that had defied them before. And not, he suspected, as the one that had found this extraordinarily gifted Youngling, even though Yoda, Windu and the others would so readily dismiss the Force´s foresight on the boy. Either way, Qui Gon believed, the Council would want to keep their eyes on the boy. Whether or not they believed in the prophecy, Anakin´s M-count alone was enough to make them nervous. Especially now, in the light of what had happened. With Sith reemerging after a milennium. He kept silent as around him discussions broke out, voices were raised, not few of them at him. And on top of that, the sense that the Force was unnaturally unbalanced in this room, and not just after he had come in and set these masters off, persisted.
"Enough!" Master Yoda´s voice was uncharacteristically harsh, one word snapped that would usually bring an entire room to silence but that almost had to cut through the noise, a few trickles remaining before the masters fell silent. Then the small man´s gaze, untypically hardened as well, fell on him. Qui Gon knew Yoda did not need anything to compensate for his height, not even in front of someone as towerlingly tall as Qui Gon himself, but the master did remain seated as if to not increase the difference. "Enough." he once more stated into the silence and he could feel how the Grandmaster reached into the Force around him, centring himself. When he raised his eyes again to look at Qui Gon, he spoke calmly. "Your apprentice the boy is. Dismissed you are."
It was...almost too easy. For a moment Qui Gon just stood there. Something. Something had happened before he had arrived. He could not tell what it was, but it had thrown the High Council into such disarray that the Grandmaster would quell any discussion that would only further deepen dissent among them on any matter. What...he wondered. What had happened? He looked around the assembled masters. Eleven out of their full dozen. With the jedi being spread across the galaxy on a number of missions at any time, this almost complete assembly was a rarity usually only reserved for the most unusual, pressing matters. And was the boy that? To them? His senses were tingling, his instincts alerting him that there was something he was not yet seeing. He would need too meditate on it.
He gave a small bow as he returned his gaze to Master Yoda. "Thank you, masters." he said curtly. And then he turned and left, and even though the room was still silent, there was a buzz in the Force that was more deafening than anything. An almost full assembly ... He had fully been ready to accept the consequences of his demand. Anakin was no bargaining chip. Had the Council denied him ... Well, he would not have known how to break it to his freshly knighted former padawan, but the will of the Force mattered more than personal sentiments. Still, Qui Gon was glad it had not come to it. And yet, he was still puzzling over what was off when he left the room. And just when he left, it occured to him that the reason might be found with the one seat in the round of masters that had been left vacant.
Qui Gon Jinn sighed under his breath as he made his way to the lifts, his steps still a little slower than usual. He still had some time until he was set to meet with Obi-Wan. Before that, he would have to speak to an old friend.