The Way Things Are Now: Loud
By: Alyssa
Disclaimer: I don't own Obi-Wan or any of the Star Wars characters
Summary: Obi-Wan angst. He is trying to escape the fighting ring, and at the same time Qui-Gon has come in to save him.
Comes after Book 16 of the Jedi Apprentice series, A Call to Vengeance


Qui-Gon pushed the speeder to its maximum speed. He raced down the streets and it took all his attention not to hit anything. Mace decided it wasn't the time to chide his friend and kept silent. Both simultaneously thought the same thought: I hope Obi-Wan doesn't try anything stupid.

~~~

Obi-Wan instinctly backed up a little. He chanced a glance at Mirko and caught sight of his evil smirk. Newly determined, Obi-Wan turned back towards the children. He had to disable them without hurting them. The first to attack was one of the older boys. He lunged straight for Obi-Wan´s legs with no apparent fear of the lightsaber he held. Obi-Wan kicked him strongly aside and tried to remain calm. His reflexes were already noticeably slower without the force, and he knew that he wouldn't have time to strategize when things escalated.
¨You don't have to fight me! ¨ He yelled at the children. ¨I want to free you! ¨
Either the children didn't understand him, or they didn't care, because they continued to advance on him.

Next to attack was a boy of no more than six years old. He ran at Obi-Wan with his fists poised in the air. Obi-Wan timed the boy, sidestepped, and swooped him up with his unoccupied arm. He gently tossed the boy on top of the first attacker.

With more strategy, the children mutually decided to attack all at once. They started at a run from less than 15 feet away. Obi-Wan deactivated his lightsaber and started to kick and punch.

~~~

There it was. The building the girl had described was right in front of him. Qui-Gon jumped out of the speeder without properly turning it off and ran towards the door. He could feel that something was happening. Mace was behind him, having had to turn off the speeder himself and then catch up. Qui-Gon plowed through the door with no caution and raced through the room almost before perceiving it was empty.

He raced through the next: empty. And then the next: which was most decidedly not empty.

~~~

Obi-Wan did not see him enter; neither did he have the chance to catch his master's expression. Obi-Wan was too focused on the little obstacles in front of him. The children that he hurt were becoming angrier, and while he had tried to calm them with more words, they continued to attack him. It wasn't until Qui-Gon and Mace advanced to fight Mirko and some of his henchmen that had just arrived that Obi-Wan noticed his master was there at all.

A great relief and happiness flowed through him. He lost concentration and one of the children landed a punch straight at his gut. He fell involuntarily and for a brief moment he saw the ceiling before the mass of children closed in on him.

Now defending himself on the ground, he was more vulnerable than before. He could only kick and punch straight upward as the children kicked him and pulled on his hair. He managed to down some by grabbing their legs and pulling them down, but with this came consequence. Every time he focused on one child the rest were free to attack him as they liked, and the children he knocked down soon got up and rejoined the fight anyway. He had never felt more mortal.

~~~

Qui-Gon was fighting Mirko. The blond man didn't have a weapon, so Qui-Gon didn't attack him with one either. It had been a long time since he had gone into hand to hand combat, and he reveled in the strange exhilaration it could bring. Even if Mirko wasn't properly trained in the force, he was still an exceptional fighter. Mirko landed a powerful punch to Qui-Gon´s chest, and Qui-Gon was slightly put back. He soon recovered and struck at Mirko with force enhanced blows.

Mirko soon realized that he was no match for the Jedi. He waited until an opening, then turned and retreated to a back door. Qui-Gon collected himself before deciding what to do. He turned towards Mace who was in control of his fight against three of Mirko´s men. Then Qui-Gon turned to assess how Obi-Wan was doing against the children. Only Qui-Gon couldn't see Obi-Wan. He could only see the children fighting in a tight circle. It wasn't even a choice for Qui-Gon, whether to pursue Mirko or help Obi-Wan. He immediately ran towards where the children were fighting.

As he ran, he used the force. He raised his hands and soon the children were flying through the air. He was gentler with this than he usually was, but he was aware that was only mildly sympathetic towards them. Now that all the children were tossed aside, he had a clear view of Obi-Wan. He was lying on the ground not moving. Qui-Gon refused to think of what this might implicate, and continued towards him. He reached Obi-Wan and barely stopped in time and almost ran over him. Obi-Wan´s eyes were closed and he was curled up in the fetal position with his hands protecting his head. Qui-Gon crouched down and gently lifted Obi-Wan toward him. Qui-Gon almost smiled when Obi-Wan cringed; at least he was alive.

¨Qui-Gon! ¨ Mace called loudly. Qui-Gon turned to see that Mirko´s three men were firing with two blasters each. It was easily comprehended that the children and Obi-Wan were in danger of being hit by stray bullets. Reluctantly, Qui-Gon settled Obi-Wan back down, and throwing a warning glare at the children who were just picking themselves up, he continued to the aid of Mace. Though superbly trained, Mirko´s henchmen were no match against two Jedi Masters. Mace deflected a bullet into the arm of one, and was able to clip another henchman's leg with his lightsaber. Qui-Gon disarmed the remaining man by splitting his blasters in half with his lightsaber. Knowing they were defeated, the men surrendered. Mace nodded at Qui-Gon, and Qui-Gon knew that Mace was giving him leave to go back to Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon turned and prepared to run back to Obi-Wan´s side, but Obi-Wan was already standing up. Obi-Wan was saying something quietly to the children, and didn't notice that Qui-Gon had turned. Qui-Gon proceeded slowly towards Obi-Wan, and soon Obi-Wan was walking towards him as well. They met each other in the middle. Qui-Gon smiled broadly, but spoke in a casual tone, ¨Hello Obi-Wan.¨
¨Hello Master.¨

~~~

Obi-Wan was now standing in front of the Jedi Council. A Jedi technician was working at releasing the force-controlling bracelet from Obi-Wan´s wrist. He had spent a couple days in the med center recuperating. Qui-Gon had insisted on it and rarely let Obi-Wan´s friends visit him. Safiya had stayed in the Med Center with him, but had left with her mother the day before, promising to visit him regularly.

Obi-Wan had debriefed Qui-Gon and the council in spurts during his recovery, and for some reason Yoda had wanted him in the council chamber while he got his bracelet off.

There was a scrape, a crunch, and a click, and an hour's work at removing the bracelet finally ended with the opened device resting in the technician's hand. Obi-Wan was stunned as the force came back to him. He unwillingly took a step back as the force overwhelmed him. It seemed more powerful than ever before, and he was reluctant to turn his attention back on Yoda when the small Master began to speak.
¨How is the force, now that it has returned? ¨ Yoda asked. Obi-Wan only had to think for a moment before concluding.
¨Loud… Its very loud.¨

Yoda laughed haughtily. ¨A great experience have you had. Valuable to any Jedi.¨

¨Yes Master Yoda.¨ Obi-Wan answered, turning to smile at the council.

The End


Author's Note:
Well, there you have it. I'm sorry this took so long. I was going to post before I left for Europe but the website was down. Then my computer completely died and I lost what I had started for this chapter. Then I couldn't type more because I didn't have the rest of my story before me, and I couldn't get my story off the sight because my stupid internet is stupid. Enough excuses. I hope this ending wasn't too much of a let down. Was it too anticlimactic? If I ever write again, I may just wait until I have a lot of the story done so I can post it in increments with out have to make you guys wait. I don't know though, because next year is going to be really hectic for me in school, what with AP Calculus, AP US history, UW extension Spanish, and yearbook; but I just may!

Anyway, thanks for being such great readers!

Alyssa