THE CHOSEN ONE?
Timeline: TPM (AU)
Genre: Humor
~*~
Obi-Wan didn't give a second glance to the Sith's body as it tumbled down into the black abyss, but rather rushed over to his fallen Master's side.
"It's too late, Obi-Wan." The aging Master whispered painfully as his Padawan gently held his head.
"No," the apprentice attempted to disagree. "No."
Qui-Gon shook his head. There was so much to say, so much he needed Obi-Wan to know, but as he lay dying only one thought seemed to take precedence in his mind.
"You must...you must..."
Obi-Wan nodded his head urging his Master to go on. What was this final message that Qui-Gon wanted to get to him?
"You must...must not train the boy."
The young Jedi blinked once. Then twice. And a third time. Train the boy?
"Um Master..."
"No." Qui-Gon interrupted. "He is too dangerous. You must not train him."
Obi-Wan hated to be rude, especially since this appeared to be a fairly important message the older Jedi was attempting to get across and was probably one of the last Qui-Gon would ever utter, but...
"Um...Master...I really..."
"Do not train him, promise me. Promise me that."
Obi-Wan was quiet unsure of what he should say at this point, and so he tried his same approach again. "Really, Master, I didn't..."
"Promise me!"
For someone who appeared to be dying, Qui-Gon could sure still yelled well enough.
"Okay. I won't train the boy, but I think you should know that I never had any intentions of taking him in the first place as my Padawan Learner."
Qui-Gon's death seemed to pause for a moment. "What?" He asked with the clarity of someone...well of someone not about to die.
"Really, I didn't see that working into my future. To be honest I can't stand the brat." Obi-Wan sighed dramatically. "There's no way I could live with him for, Force!, a dozen years!"
Qui-Gon didn't exactly know what to say to all this. He had thought his dying words would be profound, would guide his Padawan some, but apparently that wasn't the case. So, he attempted a different route. "What if I had asked you to train him?"
Obi-Wan looked down at his Master and then fell silent as if thinking over his answer with as much deliberation as possible.
"Hmmm," the Padawan tapped a finger to his chin, "I suppose I would have done it." Obi-Wan's eye looked back down at his Master. "Yes, I would have."
Qui-Gon nodded. "Good, good."
A heavy silence fell into the generator room.
"Ummm..." Qui-Gon muttered.
"Yeah..." Obi-Wan muttered.
And the silence was back, neither really sure what to do next.
"So, how do you feel?" Obi-Wan asked.
Qui-Gon shrugged. "Better I suppose."
"Do you think you're going to die anymore?"
The older Jedi pondered the question for a moment, "I don't think I will, actually."
"Oh, good. Glad to hear it."
"Yes, me too."
Obi-Wan looked around for a moment. "Well, I'm just going to go get some medics. You know to be safe."
Qui-Gon nodded. "Probably would be best."
The young Jedi stood and slowly walked out of the generator room as Qui-Gon laid and stared at the ceiling. For some reason, he couldn't help but feel that this was not how things were suppose to end, but...
The End.