Disclaimer: Star wars and everything in it belongs to George Lucas. I don't make any money out of it. None at all.
Acknowledgements: Jesus, Padawan Nik-ka, Redtailhawk (sing the mouse song, hehe). Ginger Ninja, Chewbacca, Moonwing Lobo (shadowfox) and Metabee, Heartfire, Orin, Luna,
Archiving: email me at wild_horse1987@yahoo.com.sg
a/n: this IS the last chapter, which I'm hoping could round up everything nicely. But I hate last chapters (they're always the hardest to write). =) anyway, thanks for all the reviews. :) really liked them.
Chapter 8:
"They're alive!" Obi-wan Kenobi shouted suddenly as he saw the two figures run towards the ship. He opened the hatch in the side of the spacecraft, then, when he was sure that both his Master and the bounty hunter were safely aboard, he closed the hatch. The ship took off in a few minutes.
Keyn got to his feet, stumbled to a locker, and removed the First Aid kit. He passed it to Qui-gon, who sat, leaning against one side of the cargo hold. The bounty hunter sat down beside the Jedi Master, closing his eyes against the waves of pain that hit him.
He heard the ship enter Hyperspace, and guessed that the Jedi were headed for the Jedi Temple, on Coruscant. Well, it was a trip long overdue for him. Keyn knew the Council would demand a full explanation about what he'd done to the Senator, and maybe, they would ask about why he had left, although the Council didn't usually probe into matters like this. Keyn knew a Jedi could leave when he wanted to, and that no explanation was required.
"Hey thanks, Master Qui-gon," Keyn sounded tired. "For coming back. I would have died in there."
Qui-gon looked at the bounty hunter critically, "I should thank you too. Or I would've died also."
Keyn opened his eyes and grinned, "We're even then."
"Yeah," Qui-gon could detect no hint of coldness in the hunter's voice.
"Master! Are you okay?" Obi-wan rushed into the cargo hold.
"I think so," Qui-gon answered slowly. The bleeding from his injury had slowed to a trickle, but the pain was intensifying, as was his mental and physical fatigue.
"We're returning to the Temple," Obi-wan told his Master. The Apprentice glanced at Keyn.
"I'll go along too," the Bounty Hunter said quietly. He knew Obi-wan didn't trust him. Keyn got to his feet slowly, then unhooked his lightsabre and handed it to Obi-wan. The Hunter moved to a control panel and keyed in a password, then he turned to Obi-wan once again, "I've given you full control of the ship now," Keyn's dark brown eyes shifted uneasily, then he extended a hand, "About what I did to you, I'm sorry. I don't hate you, Obi-wan."
Obi-wan turned away from the Hunter's troubled eyes. He knew Keyn was apologising, and he knew it took the Bounty Hunter courage to do this, "Okay," Obi-wan answered. He grasped Keyn's hand and they shook.
Keyn sat down on one of the benches in the empty training room. Memories rushed back to him, - competitions, duels, friendly fights – but he pushed them away.
It was almost a week after he, Qui-gon, Obi-wan and Shen had returned to the Temple. Keyn had spent five days in the healers' ward, recovering from a concussion and the injuries he had sustained in the fights. Then he'd been assigned temporary quarters. He had given up his lightsabre – he was no longer a Jedi.
No-one at the Temple asked him any questions, but Keyn knew they were all curious about who he was. Only a few people still remembered him as Thyren's Apprentice. He turned at the sound of the door being opened.
"Master Yoda."
"Keyn," Master Yoda walked into the training room, closing the door behind him and sitting next to the Hunter. The Jedi Master was silent for a long while, then he spoke:
"Come back, you did."
"Yeah, my path crossed with Jedi, as the Force would have it," Keyn avoided looking at Master Yoda.
"Why?"
Keyn took a deep breath, "I've been running, all these years. Running from reality and truth, blaming myself, and the Rebels, and Qui-gon for all that happened. It's time I came back and faced it."
"Master Yoda nodded, "A good Jedi, you would have been."
"Maybe," Keyn's voice betrayed nothing of what he felt.
"A good Jedi, you still can be," Master Yoda probed gently.
"A Jedi who's scared of the Force?" Keyn shook his head.
"Taught you well, Thyren did."
"Yes, he did."
"Use his teaching, you still can."
Keyn didn't reply. He knew it was true. He had run too long. "Will the Council see me?"
"Yes. See you this afternoon, the Council will," Master Yoda walked slowly out of the training room, leaving Keyn behind with his thoughts.
Keyn knew the Council had been waiting for him. They knew he would see them when he felt he was ready. The hunter wasn't exactly ready, but if he waited until then, the time would never come. It was now that mattered, Keyn realised, not the past, not the future, but now. He had to conquer his fear, face it down now. For Thyren, and for himself. He owed at least that much to his late Master.
Closing his eyes slowly, he focused on the Force, reaching out to it for peace and calm. He knew he could find them there, he had found them before. He couldn't have any fear.
"Master?" Obi-wan Kenobi knocked gently on his Master's door.
Qui-gon opened it and let his Apprentice in, and motioned for Obi-wan to sit down. Obi-wan could see that his Master was troubled, but he didn't probe, knowing that Qui-gon would tell him, if he felt it was necessary.
Finally, the Qui-gon began, "I know Keyn told you some things, when he captured you, about me. What I've done in the past."
"Master, you would never abandon anybody!" Obi-wan answered earnestly.
Qui-gon shook his head slowly, "What Keyn told you, it was true. From a certain point of view. I went on a mission with Keyn and his Master, Thyren…" Qui-gon related the story to his Apprentice, his eyes troubled and restless.
"Keyn doesn't blame you anymore," Obi-wan offered gently, when Qui-gon had finished.
"I know," the Jedi Master nodded. "But you had to know."
Keyn entered the Council room. The last time he had been here, it had been for the mission debrief after Tharen had died. Keyn bowed to the Council.
"Keyn," Mace Windu began immediately, "The Jedi Council requests an explanation for your actions involving Senator Jy'are and Obi-wan Kenobi."
The ex-Jedi nodded. He had expected this question. "I work as a Bounty Hunter. Someone approached me with a job to threaten and then kidnap the Senator, so I took the job," Keyn shrugged, "I didn't bother about why they wanted her.
"I was supposed to threaten the Senator once, then kidnap her if my employer required it. I wasn't able to kidnap the Senator because of the Jedi, so I took Obi-wan Kenobi hostage."
"This has nothing to do with your hostility towards Qui-gon Jinn?" Mace Windu asked quietly.
Keyn shook his head, "No. Later, I was informed that I was supposed to leave the Senator alone. I didn't have any need for Kenobi, so I sold him off."
The Council members conferred with each other for some time, then they asked Keyn to relate the rest of the story to them. When the Bounty Hunter had finished, Master Windu nodded in approval, "Thank you. Is there anything else you wish to discuss?"
"With all due respect," Keyn answered quietly, "I would like to re-join the Jedi Order."
Mace Windu exchanged a quick glance with Yoda, although Keyn was sure that they weren't surprised by what he had just said.
"Discuss this further, the Council will. You may go now," Master Yoda gargled softly in his weird voice.
"May the Force be with you," Ki-adi-mundi said softly.
Keyn bowed, then left the round, transparisteel room.
Shen sat in his quarters, staring at the wall opposite him. He wouldn't be here in a few weeks' time, the initiate knew. Qui-gon had taken full responsibility for bringing Shen with him on a dangerous assignment, so the Temple Initiate had managed to escape much punishment. Not that it really mattered, Shen thought bitterly, one way or the other, he would be leaving soon.
Master Yoda found him again. Keyn mused as to how the short, but wise, Jedi Master always knew where someone was. Keyn had gone to a training room to think, and to touch the Force, feeling, once again, its raw and yet easily-accessible power.
"Discussed the matter, the Council has," Master Yoda said without preamble. "Conferred on you the level of Jedi Knight, we have."
"Thank you," Keyn said softly. He knew Thyren would have wanted it.
Master Yoda changed the subject, "The Bothan, Shen Ly'an, is almost thirteen. A Master, he will need to be chosen by. Talent, he has. A waste, it will be."
Keyn shook his head slowly, "I don't think I'm ready to take a Padawan. Maybe I never will be."
"Know that, only the Force does," Master Yoda admonished the Jedi Knight gently, "A mission, the Council will send you and Shen Ly'an on…"
"The Council seldom lets Initiates out of the Temple," Keyn observed politely.
Yoda nodded. "Right, you are. But, has its reasons, the Council does. And impossible to avert, is the will of the Force."
Keyn knew Yoda was right. And there was a special bond between Shen and him, but somehow, Keyn didn't think it was a master-padawan bond. Still, he knew that only time would tell.
a\n: finally, I'm done. Thanks for all the helpful and encouraging reviews you gave. Don't think I did a very good job of clearing up stuff though, but there's always time for a sequel, if you want one (Keyn still has some secrets to hide, like his fear of the Force)? :)
-wild horse
