The Negotiator's Prologue:
Once upon a time, there was a Jedi youngling called Obi-Wan Kenobi who had a dream to become the most powerful and respected Jedi of all time.
But at the age of five, his dream became slightly more realistic when he learned about midi-chlorians in class and how you needed many of them to be powerful in the Force. Obi-Wan had eagerly volunteered to be the first to have their blood tested for class comparisons, and had to fight not to cry when it was proven that he had the second lowest count in the class. The other child with the lower M-count, a female Mon Calamari called Bant Eerin, became his best friend after that day when they were subtly ostracized by the rest of their age group for their 'weak' Jedi blood.
So Obi-Wan and Bant decided that if they couldn't be the most 'powerful' Jedi, then by the Force, they were going to be the best and most perfect Jedi the Order had ever seen.
For the next eight years, They studied their arses almost literally right off and received the best grades possible in all of their theoretical courses. They were praised by all of their teachers for their dedication to improving their skills. They could meditate for hours, unlike most of their peers. And they practiced their lightsabre forms until their muscles shook with fatigue.
And yet, when it came time to be chosen by a Master during their thirteenth year to continue their more advanced training towards becoming one of the elite warrior/peacekeepers known as Jedi Knights, neither were.
Bant didn't let that get her down, simply saying that the right Master wasn't available yet. Obi-Wan went through a brief period of depression before his friend's indomitable spirit rubbed off on him and he grew to believe the same.
They waited three more years for the right Masters to come along.
Now sixteen, Obi-Wan and Bant had recently been informed that if they weren't chosen this year, they would have to pick other careers within the Jedi community. Bant, with her caring nature would most likely go into the Medical Corps and help the sick and injured across the galaxy wherever she could. Obi-Wan was undecided between the Agricultural Corps or the Exploration Corps. He loved the idea of exploring the unknown parts of the galaxy but at the same time, he didn't want to get so far away from Bant that their visits were years apart, and working with plants couldn't be that bad; he loved the gardens and the little fern that Bant had given him as a joke three Life Days ago was still thriving. The only thing he knew for sure was that sick people weren't his thing, nor was teaching, so the Educational Corps was also a no.
Months later, Obi-Wan was actually packing for his new life in the AgriCorps when he felt a subtle nudge from the Force. He almost ignored it, since he had a shuttle to catch in an hour, but Master Yoda had taught him to trust his feelings and the warnings of the Force, so, with a somewhat panicked look at the things scattered over his bed, Obi-Wan left his room.
He followed the nudge from the Force all the way to the Room of a Thousand Fountains – a ten minute trek that had his internal alarm clock squeaking in protest. Wandering amongst the peaceful greenery and the many pools of sparkling water that did nothing to calm his anxiety today, Obi-Wan somehow wasn't surprised to discover that the Force had led him to his own favoured meditation spot. He'd always thought it was perfect, being hidden from any of the main pathways and beside one of the waterfalls that flowed down the stone perimeter wall in joyful leaps and spurts.
He was surprised to find a Human man already parked on the carpet of verdant grass, though.
The interloper was dressed in typical beige tunics and tabard with a dark brown outer robe, had long brown hair just starting to glisten with silver tied back from his face and left to fall down his back in gentle waves, and appeared to be quite tall, even kneeling. And the Force was all but pointing an arrow at the man and saying, 'This one! This one!'
Obi-Wan had no idea what to make of that. But since I'm here anyway…
He climbed up onto the raised garden bed and settled down into a cross-legged position as quietly as possible across from the older Jedi and closed his eyes.
The first thing Obi-Wan noticed was the incredible sense of serenity the older man radiated into the Force around him. Not even Master Yoda had ever felt quite that at peace and he was like, eight hundred years old or something. The second thing Obi-Wan noticed about the man was that his Force signature also looked slightly different from any others he'd seen. He just couldn't figure out what the difference was.
It wasn't bad or anything. Not like that of the Devaronian youngling who was brought to the Temple a couple years later than normal and spilled resentment into the Force for weeks until he realized he was actually in a place where he fit with those around him. Nor was the man's signature more powerful feeling than any of the other Masters Obi-Wan had worked with. He felt about the same as Master Windu, to be honest. But there was still something different about him.
I think… I think it's brighter maybe. More defined? Interesting, whatever it means.
Obi-Wan opened his eyes to find the man looking at him with crystal blue eyes that conveyed both curiosity and a sense of self-satisfied knowing, like he'd been expecting Obi-Wan to show up. Despite this, the teenager flushed with embarrassment. "Ummm, Hi. Sorry to intrude on your meditation, but, would you believe me if I said the Force told me to come here?" Obi-Wan was happy he only stammered once during his tentative explanation.
The man smiled, transforming his face from 'all wise and knowing Jedi' to just a normal Human that looked like he'd be a great friend. "Would you believe me if I said the same?" Obi-Wan smiled back in relief as the man continued. "Granted, this was always my favourite hideaway as a youngling, but still, it was not my intention to spend my morning meditating here."
"I'm not supposed to be here either," Obi-Wan admitted. "I have a shuttle to catch in half an hour."
"Going on a mission with your Master?"
Obi-Wan was almost successful at hiding the automatic flinch, but not quite. "No. I have no Master. I'm being shipped off to the AgriCorp facility on Bandomeer."
The man tilted his head slightly, conveying surprise. His eyes flicked to Obi-Wan's right shoulder as if trying to discern if there was a braid hiding under the loose hood of his brown travelling robe. "Really? Because that feels like a mistake to me. I sense no fault in you that would inspire other Masters to pass you by."
Obi-Wan sighed and picked dejectedly at the hem of his tabard. "Tell that to them. I've waited almost four years for a Master to pick me or even for Master Yoda to outright assign me to someone, but it hasn't happened. My friend has the same story and she's now working with the Medical Corps here at the Temple even though she'd much rather be a Knight."
The man stroked his neatly trimmed beard thoughtfully. "I see. How were your grades?"
Obi-Wan blinked once before answering truthfully. "Top of my class."
"Favoured form?"
"Soresu."
"Visions?"
"Never."
The man narrowed his eyes slightly. "Hmmmm. But you trust your feelings from the Force."
It wasn't exactly a question, but Obi-Wan answered as such. "Yes. Always."
"Good. Other standard powers like jumping and telekinesis?"
"Adequate, as Master Mundi so nicely put it at my Initiate Trials," Obi-Wan admitted. "But I'm stronger than I was at the Trials. Much stronger! I've been practicing!"
The man smiled slightly, his blue eyes twinkling. "I'm sure you have been. At first glance, your signature is relatively weak with the Force, and yet the more I look at you, the stronger it seems. I think there are hidden talents in you that you have yet to tap into."
"My M-count is on the lower end for a Jedi," Obi-Wan explained, doing his best not to feel ashamed for a fact he had no control over, as Bant had so wisely said many times. "But I've refused to let that hold me back. I feel like I've developed a good connection to the Force through meditation, and more time will only allow me to hone it further. I just know that I can be a great Knight someday!"
The man's eyebrows rose at Obi-Wan's vehemence and he chuckled. "I see." He rose smoothly to his feet. "Very well. Come with me, future Great Knight."
Obi-Wan all but bounded after the tall man as he strode with purpose through the fountains and gardens. He caught up to him and tried to walk with a dignity his sudden sense of excitement was making difficult to accomplish. "Where are we going?"
The man glanced down at him as if the answer should have been obvious. "To see Master Yoda, of course. It seems that despite my reluctance to take on another Padawan, the Force has given me one."
Obi-Wan nearly tripped over his own feet as he goggled at the man like a landed fish for too many seconds. "Really? You mean it?" he eventually managed to squeak out. And wasn't that embarrassing.
The man stopped and turned to grasp Obi-Wan's shoulders in a gentle but firm hold. "Yes. I mean it. I would not toy with you. I can see that you would be wasted in the AgriCorps. I also sense the Force has great plans for you…"
"Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan Kenobi," the boy supplied quickly, the biggest grin ever attempting to take over his face.
"Obi-Wan." The man smiled and squeezed his shoulders before letting go so they could continue moving. "And it will be my pleasure to help you reach your full potential so that you can accomplish whatever it is the Force has in mind for you."
Obi-Wan bounded after the man again, this time actually bouncing like a youngling on Treat Day as he looked up at him. "Thank you, Master. Thank you very much!"
The man chuckled softly again. "You're welcome, Obi-Wan. But I must warn you, before we make this official, that I will not be the most conventional of Masters. I have… ideas… that do not necessarily align with the popular opinion of the High Council."
This made the boy pause for half a step, but he shrugged it off. "Better an unconventional Master than none."
The man gave him a warm sideways glance. "Wise words, my Padawan."
"Thank you, Master." Obi-Wan walked beside the man in blissfully happy silence for a minute before the question that had been burning at the back of his mind finally burst forth. "Not to be rude or anything, but can I ask who I just became apprenticed to?"
The man looked down at him again with laughter in his eyes. "You can. And never lose that spirit that allows you to ask the hard questions. It will serve you well."
"Yes, Master."
"As for my name, I am called Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon Jinn."
This time, Obi-Wan actually did come to a stop. Holy Force! My new Master is the 'Rogue Jedi' everyone whispers about! He gawked at the man's proud back for a couple seconds and then rushed to catch up again. He can't be that bad, right?
It turned out that Qui-Gon really wasn't bad at all. In fact, over the next few years of exciting adventures and utter boredom (for example, rescuing people = fun, trade negotiations = blah) Obi-Wan grew to love his Master like the father he'd never had, despite the fact that attachments were supposed to be forbidden. His new Master had some intriguing ideas about the Force and spent much of their spare time trying to prove them; like their trip to that interesting but very damp and swampy planet that practically pulsed with the Force. He also taught Obi-Wan to think beyond the Code and to listen to his connection to the Force first. And... he played fast and loose with the 'no attachment' rule in an almost blatantly obvious love affair with another Jedi Master named Tahl.
Tahl was a Noorian with the coolest green and gold striped eyes, was breathtakingly beautiful, and was wickedly deadly with her lightsabre. Watching her and Qui-Gon spar was always a highlight to Obi-Wan's day. Especially since sparring sessions also included Tahl's Padawan as a fellow watcher, who just happened to be Bant.
It turned out that Bant and Tahl had met in the Temple on the same day that Obi-Wan met Qui-Gon when Tahl went to the Halls of Healing for her yearly mandatory check up. (Qui-Gon had already been when the Force sent him to meet Obi-Wan.) When the four of them had met up for lunch, the two teenagers had been shocked to find the other also apprenticed and that their new Masters were very good friends and often embarked on missions together. (The two Masters had a good laugh over the Will of the Force.)
It hadn't taken long for the teenagers to clue into the fact that their Masters loved each other and engaged in physical relations unbefitting a proper Jedi. While being appalled at first, Obi-Wan soon decided that true love could work within the teachings of the code as long as one was willing to put the Force's directions first and let go of their love if they had to. He even allowed himself to experiment in the realm of love with the Padawan of Adi Gallia when they went on a joint mission that lasted for nearly a month.
Siri Tachi was a very pretty blond girl a couple years younger than Obi-Wan when he met her at the age of seventeen. She had a sunny personality to match her hair and a determined, independent spirit that drew him like a moth to flame. She was also decidedly stronger in her connection to the Force than he was and a dedicated student of the Jedi Code, but that didn't stop him from making a solid attempt at winning her over with his charming personality.
Turns out his charming personality was actually a thing and Siri was willing to bend the code as well for some side experimentation. It started as just daring brushes of their hands under the table at dinner time and progressed all the way to his first kiss by the end of the month.
Qui-Gon was quietly amused when he caught them and only told Obi-Wan to be more careful at picking locations for trysts.
Obi-Wan and Siri 'dated' casually for the next year whenever they happened to be at the Temple at the same time (which was rarely), never going beyond some heated snogging, but that was exciting enough as far as he was concerned. For, despite having an unconventional Master - who the Force gave every indication of adoring unconditionally - as an example, Obi-Wan still had a little voice in the back of his mind telling him that he was breaking a code that had been ingrained in him since he was three years old and that the code must have been put in place for a reason.
The little voice was proven right when Tahl died and Qui-Gon came within a hair's breadth of turning to the Dark side, with only the strong Force bond the Master and Padawan had formed allowing Obi-Wan to bring Qui-Gon back to the Light.
Master Tahl had embarked on a secret mission she didn't even take Bant on and when the three of them eventually found her weeks later - when Qui-Gon couldn't shake the feeling that something was terribly wrong, waking in a cold sweat from the nightmares – Tahl had already been mortally wounded and Qui-Gon only arrived in time to hold her in his arms as they declared their love for each other and she took her last breath.
The murderous rage Qui-Gon then embarked upon to take revenge on her killers as his eyes flickered with a sickly yellow inspired Obi-Wan to vow never to touch another female again with desire in his heart.
But that's not what Fate had in store for our future Great Knight, because a year or so later, when Obi-Wan was in the later half of his nineteenth year, he and his Master were sent on a new mission to save a teenage Mandalorian Duchess. A feisty and stunningly beautiful Mandalorian Duchess who would turn the young Jedi's world upside down.