Part 2

As Qui-Gon approached the Council Chamber, he pondered all that Obi-Wan had said. Anakin was well, but was not excelling in his Jedi training. Obi-Wan believed that it was his own fault, because he did not really feel like a Master Jedi. Qui-Gon admitted to his former padawan that he had been just as nervous when he had been given his first apprentice. "You will make a fine master, Obi-Wan. You must not worry about that," he had said, but now Qui-Gon's thoughts turned to young Anakin. There must have been a reason for Anakin's troubles...
something that went beyond anything Obi-Wan had voiced.

At the doors to the Council Chamber, Qui-Gon found himself ushered inside by a page. Yoda sat in his place. He watched Qui-Gon carefully as he entered the chamber. "Late you are," he said as Qui-Gon sat before him on the floor.

"I know, Master Yoda. Obi-Wan and I were... catching up. I have missed his company," he said. "Please forgive me the indiscretion."

"Hmmm..." Yoda nodded. "Forgiven you are. Understandable it is. Well are you now?" Yoda studied Qui-Gon closely. "Well you seem."

In truth, since Obi-Wan's visit, Qui-Gon had begun to feel like his old self again. It made him feel even better, in fact, when he looked at Yoda and said, "Yes, Master Yoda, I am well." But even as he said the words, his mind flashed on something Obi-Wan had said. "Obi-Wan asked me if the Force had left me," he told Yoda.

"This some have said. Not true it is," the ancient Jedi master studied the man before him, reaching out to find what the Force would show him. "Hmmmm..." he said. "Young he is; needs you he does."

"Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon was puzzled. Then his eyes met Yoda's and an understanding passed between them. "Anakin."

"Yes, the padawan I mean, not the teacher. Much fear in him there is. Know you do the cause."

Qui-Gon thought hard, his brows wrinkling enough to hide his deep blue eyes. In his mind he saw the woman from his recent dreams. "Anakin misses his mother, and he is worried about her life on Tatooine."

"Hmmmm..." Yoda nodded. "Worries about you also he does."

That was it, Qui-Gon realized. That was the reason Obi-Wan was struggling to train the boy. Both of them were too worried for his health to concentrate. "Then why have I not been allowed to see him? It would have eased his fears and... and my own."

"This I know, but one I am among many. Forbade it, the Council did, to protect you both," was Yoda's explanation.

It wasn't explanation enough. "Protect us from what? From each other?" Qui-Gon's voice rose, but then he calmed himself. "Forgive me, Master Yoda. I forget myself and my training. I am sorry."

Nodding in forgiveness, Yoda continued, "See him now you must. A mission you have been given. Go soon you shall."

"A mission? How soon?" Qui-Gon could not deny that he was now feeling better than he had in months. Whether it was Obi-Wan's visit or being outside his room for the first time in what seemed like ages he did not know, but he certainly felt stronger and more alive than he had since his fight with the Sith. But was he ready for travel so soon?

"In two weeks you shall go. Prepare you must. Say good-bye you should."

Master Yoda was right. He needed to see Anakin before he left. It would give them both peace of mind. "What is my assignment, Master Yoda?" he asked.

"Learn you shall in time," came the reply. It was not what Qui-Gon wanted to hear, but it would have to do.

After leaving the Jedi Council Chamber, Qui-Gon left the Jedi Temple and made his way through the streets of Coruscant to a local tavern. It was nearly empty when he entered, the owner wiping down the bar with a rag. She smiled at him when he entered, causing Qui-Gon to remember her as a young woman. Rhianne had been a ravishing beauty, and was still an attractive woman. He remembered
his surprise when Branon Dol told him that they were to wed. He knew that his friend cared for the young woman, but marriage for a Jedi.... well, it was a
difficult decision.

"Qui-Gon Jinn! Is that really you?" Rhianne asked. "I'd heard you were dead." In another corner of the room, Rhianne's daughter, Kalara paused from the table she was cleaning to stare at the Jedi in equal interest.

Qui-Gon chuckled. How did these rumors get started? "I was very ill," he told Rhianne. "But I am better now." He walked over to the bar. Leaning against the polished wooden counter, he looked around him and said, "You know, I never knew it to be so empty in here."

Rhianne shook her head, causing her long braids of silvering auburn hair to sway behind her back. "It's this younger generation, Qui-Gon. Long gone are the days where people come to a tavern like mine for a good meal. They'd rather go down the street to see girls Kalara's age dancing on tables." Then she smiled. "All
except your young Obi-Wan. He always comes here."

"Obi-Wan hasn't been in here in close to a year, Mother," Kalara spoke out. "I thought it because he was finishing his Jedi training."

"Obi-Wan is a master now," Qui-Gon told them. "He has his own padawan to train. It keeps him busy."

Rhianne tilted her head to one side. "I thought you said he wasn't ready for any of that?" she asked, recalling a conversation they'd had nearly two months prior to the assignment which had nearly cost Qui-Gon his life.

Chuckling, Qui-Gon admitted, "I didn't think he was, but now I know that he is."

They talked for a while longer while Qui-Gon ordered one of Rhianne's delicious home-cooked meals. He returned to the Jedi Temple just as it was nearing to dusk. There was much on his mind that night, and he felt that a night of contemplation would hold the answers he sought.

********

Sleep would not come. Qui-Gon had spent the remainder of the night in meditation, willing his mind focus upon all that was troubling him. He sought to look past these things and find peace within the Force. He thought he'd achieved that peace, but as soon as his head touched the pillow, the visions began again.

They weren't complete visions, but came as waking dreams--broken images and scenes of himself, Anakin and Shmi. These dreams were actually very pleasant in nature, but were confusing to him, as he knew not what was causing them. They came to him when he was alone, filling him with a sense of comfort that he had not needed since he was a young padawan. This confused him all the more. Qui-
Gon did not understand his sudden craving for the security blanket the visions had given to him.

And then there was Shmi...

The scenes in his head were so familiar to Qui-Gon by now, that he was hard-pressed to remember when they first began. Was it after his brush with death, or before that? What bothered him more, however, was not this lack of clarity, but the content of these scenes. He knew they were not real. He had only known Shmi Skywalker for a short time, and in that time, he had never once behaved towards her as he did in the visions. He recalled the few moments they had together with bittersweet fondness. Shmi was a wonderful woman, kind and caring--willing to give up her one and only joy to see her son have a better life. He remembered touching her shoulder compassionately, wishing he could do something to ease the
pain he knew she felt. But that's all it as--compassion. Qui-Gon was certain of it. The thrill he felt when he made that brief contact with her had nothing to do with desire, as these visions suggested. All he felt for her was compassion and sympathy... wasn't it? As another vision of Shmi arose in his mind, he found himself no longer sure of anything...