Walk Across the Stars
An AU Star Wars Fan Fiction
by Jedi Daystar (jedi_daystar@graffiti.net)
Rating: PG-13 for implied sex and situations
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. The characters, places, etc belong to Lucas and his empire. I don't make money, I just spend what little I have renting Ewan films and drooling. I promise I'll put the toys back in the box when I'm done!
Pour mon bien-aimé: J'adore tu, mon cher. M'attendre toujours.
~*~
Qui-Gon Jinn wiped sweat from his forehead, gasping for breath even as he kept his eyes trained on the Sith warrior at the end of the corridor. Between him and the Sith was a determined Obi-Wan, his body kneeling in a meditative posture. In a few moments, the red energy walls would cycle open and Obi would be the first to reach the Sith. Qui-Gon knew that if that happened, he would lose Obi-Wan forever to the Sith's blade.
The red walls dissipated and Qui-Gon threw all his energy into catching up with the pair, but it was too late. The energy walls stopped him, just short of the pit where his apprentice and the Sith were fighting ferociously. Suddenly, Obi missed a parry and in horror, Qui-Gon watched as the Sith skewered the Jedi Padawan like a piece of fruit on a fork.
"NO!" he screamed, watching his Padawan shudder and fall backwards to the floor.
Half a galaxy away, a young girl woke with a mental and verbal scream that woke the entire Jedi Temple.
~*~
Brook couldn't think, couldn't breath. There were voices, too soft to understand, but the voices kept her from panicking. If she heard voices, she wasn't dead. But she hurt so badly...her abdomen ached like someone had punched her with a durasteel fist. And her mind was shockingly empty...she could no longer hear or feel the warm silver light that was Obi-Wan.
Grimly, she forced herself to open her eyes and blinked at the brightness. Someone yelled loudly, making her head ache, and the lights were dimmed. Taking a moment to adjust, she let her eyes naturally focus on the closest face, which happened to belong to Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Quiggy?" she rasped, her voice coming out as a strangled croak. Someone pressed a glass of water to her lips and she drank greedily, the water a blissful salve for her throat.
"Shush, Brook, it's alright." the Jedi Master soothed, trying to put her at ease. But dark circles under his eyes and the haunted look on his face told Brook that it was everything but all right. And that's when she saw the figure on the bed next to hers.
It was Obi-Wan, pale and still. He was breathing, albeit shallowly and erratically, but he was still alive. However, a poke at him mentally received no answer, and she looked up at Qui-Gon in terror.
"What...what happened?"
Qui-Gon gathered the girl up into his arms, raising protests from the medics in the room, and carried her over to sit on Obi- Wan's bed. He was naked from the waist up, and there was a bandage running from his abs to right below his nipples, wrapped all the way around his torso. He looked almost perfectly normal except for the bandages and the unnatural paleness to his skin.
"Obi-Wan was hurt very badly in a fight. A Sith ran it's lightsaber through his stomach. He transmitted the pain through the bond to you and you screamed, then passed out. We managed to revive Obi-Wan, but he's been comatose since the fight. We weren't sure if either one of you would wake up."
"Quiggy..." Brook sniffled and clung to the older man's torso. "Is he gonna wake up too? Now that I'm up?"
Qui-Gon looked down at the girl, then at the still figure of the Padawan. "I hope so," he said, but his words sounded fake, even to his own ears.
~*~
Brook felt herself awaken with a start in her bed. It was nearly midnight, according to the chrono on the wall, and she was still in the med clinic on Naboo. Qui-Gon was dozing in a chair nearby; the first rest he'd gotten in days. Obi-Wan looked very much the same as he had when she awakened: still and all but dead. But something had awakened her, something like a mental tickle.
"Obi?" she queried, slipping out of bed and over to his body. There was no response, but Brook let herself slip into a light meditation trance, as her teachers had taught her, and reached for her bondmate's mind.
Instead of the normal quickness and light that was usually there, Obi-Wan's mind was quiet and dim. She got the impression of a large empty room with shadowed corners. There was a figure huddled in one corner: her bondmate.
Ignoring everything she'd ever been taught about approaching someone with caution, Brook ran towards him and was suddenly flying backwards, hitting one of the walls in the "room" face first. She tasted blood, spit the liquid out, and struggled painfully to her feet. She couldn't see out of one eye and her arm was bent at an odd angle. Against her better judgement, she decided to try again. This time, she approached with caution, until she reached the point where something kept her from going closer.
A mental shield, then. That was where Obi-Wan was hiding. Softly, Brook tried to ease herself through the now opaque shield and found herself stopped, no matter how much strength and power she put into her movements.
Frustrated, she banged on the shield. "Obi-Wan Kenobi, you stubborn little tauntaun butt, stop hiding and face me!"
The opaque shield faded a bit, though the shield itself was still there, and Obi-Wan was looking at her, dazed. Then he looked horrified and the shielding crashed down. Before she knew it, her bondmate had grabbed her and was holding her face in his hands, looking down at her with a worried frown, tracing a finger lightly around her left eye.
"Brook, what happened to you?"
Gingerly, she felt the area he touched and found it swollen and painful. Her mouth still tasted of blood and the numbness in her arm was wearing off, replaced by a throbbing pain. She glared at him out of her one good eye. "I bounced off your shield, that's what happened to me."
Looking embarrassed, Obi-Wan scooped her up into his arms and hugged her close, careful to not put pressure on her arm. "Where are we...all I remember is fighting that Sith."
"You got stabbed." she winced at the cold, casual sound of her voice. "You almost died and wouldn't wake up when they did bring you back. So I went after you." She suddenly realized that when she and Obi-Wan returned, she was bound to get the scolding of her life from several different people.
Obi-Wan seemed to have realized this to and had the grace to look embarrassed. "We should probably get back then," he said, setting her down gently. Nodding, Brook closed her eyes and found the Force was waiting for them, its soothing comfort a balm to her injuries. It wrapped around them both as Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around Brook and they drifted back into their physical bodies once again.
Obi opened one eye and chuckled, motioning for Brook to scoot up on the bed next to him. She did so, tucking herself carefully against her bondmate and resting her head on his chest.
"Sleep, Brook. We'll talk in the morning...and get that arm looked at."
Brook was only vaguely aware of the pain in her arm and eye now, already half asleep. Her last conscious thought was of how right it seemed to be, sleeping in her bondmate's arms.
~*~
Voices woke her up once again. However, these were not the same soft-spoken voices as before; these were loud and angry.
"You could have both been killed!"
There was an angry rumbling in Obi-Wan's chest, heard clearly by Brook who was still wrapped around him. It was Qui-Gon who was yelling, but Obi was yelling right back at him.
"She saved us both, Qui-Gon! It was my fault she got injured! At least I didn't send her back into psychic shock!"
"It doesn't matter! You could have killed her and in turn, killed yourself! And then you stay up all night healing her?"
"I'm alive and awake now, aren't I? And perfectly fine, thank you for asking!"
"Shut up!" she yelled suddenly, finally sick of the argument. "Both of you!"
Both men looked at her, stunned. Obi was the first to recover.
[Brook, go back to sleep. This isn't your argument.] he absently tightened his grip on her.
[It's about you, and me therefore, it is my argument. And you're hurting me.]
[Sorry.] Obi-Wan released her and she climbed awkwardly out of the bed, standing with her hands on her hips.
"Both of you, cut it out. I'm fine, Obi-Wan's fine, the Sith is dead, lets just go home, okay?" she was close to tears now and wasn't quite sure why. Obi responded immediately, pulling her back into his arms with the Force.
"I'm willing to drop the issue if Qui-Gon is." he shot a challenging look at his master.
Qui-Gon nodded, reluctantly. "Consider it dropped. And our transport leaves in two hours, so I suggest you both get ready." Turning, he walked out of the room, still agitated.
Obi-Wan shrugged, letting go of Brook to get up. "He's still miffed because the Council wants to knight me and he doesn't think I'm quite ready."
Brook sighed and also got up. "Well, he should stop being such a stuffy Jedi Master then. You're more than capable of becoming a Knight."
Obi-Wan laughed and pulled the younger girl into a hug. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, o bondmate of mine."
~*~
As soon as the healers deemed Obi-Wan in perfect health, the Jedi Council arrived on Naboo to witness Obi's Knighting. As Brook, the Council, Anakin and Queen Amidala looked on; Qui-Gon spoke the ritual words of Knighthood as he cut Obi's Padawan braid. The long cord of auburn hair was coiled and wrapped in silk, then tucked to Qui-Gon's belt pouch as Yoda stepped forward to speak.
"Confer on you, the Council does, the level of Jedi Knight. May you serve the Force in light and love."
Obi bowed his head as Yoda touched his wrinkled claw to the new knight's forehead in blessing. This acted as a signal to the group, who converged on the knight with their congratulations.
Brook, however, turning away from the group and stepped out onto a balcony that overlooked the twinkling lights of Theed. It's darkness suited her disappointed mood, a disappointment that sprang to life when Anakin had arrived sporting a new Padawan haircut and grinning at Obi-Wan like they shared some huge secret. It didn't take a hyperspace scientist to figure out that Ani was now Obi's apprentice, a position that should have been hers.
"Not up to celebrating, little one?"
Qui-Gon stepped out onto the balcony, putting a hand on her shoulder, silently offering a sympathetic ear as she turned to face him.
"Obi's taking Anakin as his Padawan, isn't he?"
"Yes." Qui-Gon looked at her, thoughtful. "You're jealous."
"He's my Obi! My bondmate!" she glared sullenly through the windows at Anakin, wishing that she'd never met him.
"You didn't mind sharing Obi-Wan with me."
"You're different. You like me. He doesn't."
"How do you know?" qui-Gon asked, sitting down on a stone bench. Without even having to be asked, Brook crawled up into his arms and sighed.
"Because if he liked me, he wouldn't have accepted Obi-Wan's offer!" she was stiff, a stone in his arms. "He should know that I belong with Obi!"
"Do you think anyone's had time to tell him? All he knows is that the Council is wary of him, he's different from everyone else, and no one else wants to train him. Don't blame him for things he can't control."
Brook was silent for a moment, but Qui-Gon could feel the fight go out of her. Then, very quietly, she spoke.
"Who's going to train me then?"
Qui-Gon picked up a lock of hair and began braiding it softly, pausing in his ministrations only to comment.
"I was hoping you'd accept me as your master."
Brook stared up at him for a moment, then smiled, relieved. "I'd be honored to be your Padawan, Master Jinn," she said, using the ritual words for the moment.
"And I would be honored to be your master." he said, drawing her into a hug. "Now, lets go back to the party, shall we?"
Brook smiled and stood up, letting Qui-Gon lead her back to the party.
~*~
The next few weeks passed in a blur of lessons and fun. Anakin was told about the bond, which he thought was "wizard" and had no problem sharing Obi-Wan with Brook some of the time. Brook's thirteenth birthday came in went in a flurry of fun and presents. Obi-Wan found it hilarious for some reason that Qui-Gon gave Brook a river stone, though neither him nor Qui-Gon would tell her why. His own present to her was a beautiful blown-glass statue of water nymphs, something he'd had custom made on Naboo for her. Anakin gave her a small holo-recorder, which she took great joy in using to get a group picture of the four of them to put in her room.
The first big step in Brook's training was the construction of her lightsaber. She took several days in between missions to craft the hilt, and chose two crystals for the blade, a blue one and a green one. Qui-Gon didn't know this until she was reading to test her lightsaber. The blue-green blade shimmered to life in her hands. Oblivious to her master's shock, Brook stared at the blade until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Why the color?" he asked, obviously stunned.
Brook blinked, startled. "Is it wrong to mix crystals?"
"No, no." Qui-Gon smiled. "It's just unusual. But you're an unusual Padawan, and a wonderful one as well."
She blushed. "I...I wanted one that blended both you and Obi...this was the best way I could think of."
Qui-Gon gave her a quick hug. "And I'm honored you would do so. Shall we go show Obi-Wan then and see what he thinks?"
~*~
It was past Brook's sixteenth birthday before she and Qui-Gon had their first big argument. Brook had made several friends in her age mates, including Anakin, and spent most of her free time with them when Obi-Wan was unavailable. Qui-Gon had no real problems with this, as he believed in a healthy social life, but when Brook began breaking curfew and drinking, he drew the line.
On one such evening, both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were waiting for her when she returned.
"Where have you been?" Qui-Gon demanded as she walked in.
"Out." Without looking at either of them, Brook took a step towards her room.
[Brookari R'tarn, stop right there.]
Brook froze, turning around to stare at her bondmate in disbelief. He'd never used that tone of voice with her before.
"What?" she demanded, beginning to get annoyed. "I was out with friends!"
"It's past curfew." Qui-Gon said severely. "You know better than that."
"So? I never question you when you come home late!"
"Brook, cut it out!" Obi snapped, irritated now at her attitude. "You broke the rules, now pay the price."
"Why?" she countered, glaring at him. "You never did."
"Brookari!" Qui-Gon thundered his face a mask of stone. "You're hear-by placed under restriction until further notice. Unless you are in class or sleeping in your room, either Obi-Wan or I must be with you. Defy this, and I'll take you before Master Yoda myself!"
Brook stood there, a stunned look crossing her features. Then, she stared both of them down, hurt etched on her face. Very quietly, she spoke. "I hate you. I hate you both!" Then she turned and ran into her room, slamming the door behind her.
Stricken, Obi-Wan turned to his former master and grimaced. "What have we done?"
~*~
Obi stayed the night in Qui-Gon's spare room, unable to sleep. The normal quickness that was Brook to him had been silent and cold, her mind rebuffing all attempts to speak with her.
He understood that she was upset, but the fact that she was refusing to talk to him at all was unnerving. He had expected ranting, tears, or feelings of betrayal, but not the silent, unemotional lump his bondmate had become.
Finally, he gave up trying to reach her and let exhaustion take him into an uneasy sleep.
~*~
The punishment was harsh, even for one of Qui-Gon's, and Brook let it be known immediately that she disliked them for it. She spoke only when need demanded, and then it was never more than a "Yes, Master" or "No, Master." Other than that, she was totally silent. Her classwork had improved despite the punishment and her instructors were thrilled to see her living up to her potential. However, he physical training suffered because of the strain on her relationship with Qui-Gon. She was attentive and dutiful in lessons, but their coordination lacked the grace that their mental rapport had always brought them.
Finally, getting desperate to make amends, Qui-Gon sought out Master Yoda in one of the gardens. Yoda listened to Qui-Gon's story, then sighed.
"Attention she wants, Qui-Gon. Attention from you and Obi-Wan. Crave it she does."
"We're paying attention to her!" he grumbled, frowning.
"Not the attention she wants." Yoda countered, frowning. "Hormonal she is. Natural for females of your species. Time and care you must give her. Release her form her punishment and improve she will. Explain to her why you punished her and understand she will."
Qui-Gon nodded; it just might work. "Thank you, Master."
~*~
Brook looked up from the book she had been reading as Qui-Gon entered their quarters. Before she could get up and escape to her room, Qui-Gon sat down beside her and took her hand.
"We need to talk, Padawan."
"Yes, Master?"
"I have an explanation to make and an apology as well.'
She blinked, startled. "Apology?"
"Yes, apology." he smiled, releasing her hand. "I was worried about you, Padawan, and let my temper get the better of me. "
"I lost my temper too," she admitted, blushing. "I didn't want you and Obi hovering over me all the time. I should have been back before curfew."
"Shall we try to forgive and forget?" he asked, hopeful that this was the end of that particular argument.
"Only if you'll let me win at holochess for once." she countered, grinning.
Qui-Gon grinned back. "We'll see, Padawan. We'll see."
~*~
With her relationship to Qui-Gon repaired, Brook set out to apologize to Obi-Wan. She found him in a classroom, demonstrating proper sparring etiquette to a group of initiates. Anakin was with him, being used as both an example and a co-instructor.
Obi-Wan spotted her and quickly leaned over to whisper to Anakin. The Padawan saw her and nodded, then started taking over the class, talking about technique. Obi-Wan joined her in the doorway.
"Yes Padawan R'tarn?" he asked coolly.
Brook flinched, hurt by his tone. [Obi-Mine, I came to apologize.]
[Oh...sorry.] Obi sighed, gesturing for her to step into an empty classroom. He took a seat on a desk and shrugged. "Okay, you first."
Undaunted by his attitude, Brook started. "I acted like an ass. I resented the fact that you wanted to protect and watch over me." she smiled dryly. "I sort of forgot that you're my bondmate and that's what you do." Timidly, she sat down next to him. "Forgive me?"
Obi-Wan smiled at her. "Of course." He paused, putting an arm around her shoulders. "I was worried about you and then I got angry because you were being a snot."
"I was, wasn't I?" she smiled, enjoying the warmth and closeness of her bondmate. Without really thinking, she leaned over and kissed him gently.
Obi froze, surprised, but quickly responded, kissing her in return. When he realized that those were his fingers fumbling with the ties on her tunic, he pulled away hastily, shocked. Brook was looking at him, her eyes wide, face flushed.
"Obi?"
"I'm sorry...I got carried away." he sighed, tweaking her nose gently with his fingers. "I keep forgetting you're only sixteen."
"So?" she asked, smiling wickedly. "I noticed that age never kept you from doing anything."
"Not with people almost twice my age!"
"So?" she demanded yet again, frowning at him. "I'm not stupid, Obi, I know what sex is."
"You're...you're too young!" Obi-Wan muttered, mentally arguing with himself. Brook was all but a woman, fully grown in almost every way except mentally. But she was still very innocent, despite her protestations, and as much as he wanted to give in to temptation, he knew Qui-Gon would murder him if he made his move now.
"Ask me again in two years, okay?" he asked, offering a compromise. Not now, but later for sure.
"Alright." she agreed reluctantly. "But no more than two years."
"Agreed." he smiled, kissing her forehead chastely. "Now, come help me finish the lesson you so kindly interrupted."
-
End Part Two
