Prompt from fireicewriter42: oh my word, please tell me you're doing a sequel, it's too painfully amazing (referring to chapter 62)

….

When the light faded away, the group all found themselves back in the Council room…. Nobody said a word.

Nobody could believe what had just happened.

Before anyone could say anything, Obi-Wan suddenly crumpled in on himself, falling to his knees like his strings had been cut.

"Obi-Wan!"

Almost instantly, Qui-Gon fell to his own knees, gently encouraging his padawan to look him in the eye. "Obi-Wan, are you okay?"

Silently, Obi-Wan shook his head, his breaths coming in quick and shallow.

"Calm your thoughts, you should Obi-Wan." Yoda gently reprimanded, "Safe, you are."

The words only had a minimal effect.

"Obi-Wan…" Qui-Gon whispered, pulling his padawan a little but closer, "… Obi-Wan, what did the Sith Lord say to you? Did he tell you anything?"

Whilst they'd all heard the ranting and raving of the creature who had held them captive for a little over an hour, they knew they didn't hear everything. They'd all seen the Sith Lord lean in close to his hostage, hissing something in his ear occasionally.

"Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan's face was still pale, but he'd finally managed to gather up his composure… only to shake his head. "Nothing… he was just… telling me how he was going to kill me."

An obvious lie.

"Obi-Wan." This time, the tone was a little tenser, almost as though Qui-Gon was warning his padawan not to tell another lie.

"Please…" Obi-Wan begged, "… please don't make me say anything more."

Whilst he was unwilling to let the matter drop so easily, Qui-Gon could see the concern of the other council members, with Master Yoda even going so far as to shake his head, in a silent indication for Qui-Gon to let the matter drop.

"Alright little one…" he whispered, slowly pushing himself to his feet as he helped Obi-Wan do the same, "… I think we need a good cup of tea and a meditation session."

Silence.

As they went to leave the room, Qui-Gon felt a gentle tugging on the back of his robes and with a guilty wince, he remembered his other responsibility.

"Anakin, I need to make sure Obi-Wan is okay…" he tried to explain to the child gently, not wanting to make him feel rejected, but needing him to understand that Obi-Wan did take precedence, "… One of the Masters' will take you to the initiate rooms."

"But- "Anakin stopped, frowning at the sight of Obi-Wan's pale face. Yes, what they'd just been through was terrifying for him, but Obi-Wan had been held hostage. He almost died, "Okay…" he nodded and took a step back, "… I hope you feel better soon Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan gave him a small, but thankful smile as he was led away.

When the doors slid shut behind them, Anakin turned to Master Yoda and frowned, "Is he going to be alright?"

Silence.

"Master Yoda?"

Eventually, the Jedi master sighed wearily and turned to the child, "Know not, I do young one. Help, Qui-Gon will."

…..

Having finally convinced Obi-Wan to take a soothing shower, Qui-Gon made a quick call to Dex, practically begging for the Besalisk to bring some of his famous soup to the Temple, hoping that that would bring Obi-Wan back to his senses.

"I'm on it." Dex said seriously. He was just as fond of Obi-Wan as Qui-Gon was, "You need any deserts? I just made a killer chocolate cake."

He always knew what Obi-Wan would need.

"Thank you Dex…" Qui-Gon thanked him wearily, "… I do appreciate this, you know."

"I know, I know!"

The communication was cut off and the rooms fell silent once again. However, when Qui-Gon listened in, he could hear another sound over the fresher.

He recognised it from the early days of his and Obi-Wan's padawan/master relationship.

Obi-Wan trying to muffle his crying.

It was just as heart-breaking as it had been all those years ago.

"Oh Obi-Wan…" Qui-Gon muttered, "… I just want you to talk to me."

…..

In the fresher, Obi-Wan huddled against the wall, both hands covering his mouth as his reddish/brown hair hung limply on his head.

The Sith Lord's voice still rang in his ears.

'I still remember your screams when I killed your precious Master.'

'I still remember your screams when I killed your precious Master.'

'I still remember your screams when I killed your precious Master.'

It didn't bear worth thinking about… the fact that that creature, would someday soon, kill his Master.

He wasn't going to let that happen.

Never.

With a new-found determination in his bones, Obi-Wan pushed himself to his feet.

He had hope.