Part 2



"Get the cart!" shouted Arcro. A nurse pulled it over. Qui-Gon grabbed his apprentice's limp hand.



"DON"T YOU DIE ON ME!!!" he cried. Four other nurses grabbed the Jedi Master and held him down.



"Charging 350" called Arcro over the rising racket. "Clear," he added as the body on the bed jerked.



"OBI-WAN!!" shrieked Qui-Gon.



"Give a sedative and get him the hell out of here." Qui-Gon tried to pull away but the room spun around him and the darkness took him.



* * * * * * *



A few hours later, Qui-Gon woke up with Arcro sitting next to him. "Sorry we had to sedate you but you were getting out of hand." Qui-Gon's eyes begged the question even though, deep in his heart, he knew the answer.



Arcro sighed, " Master Jinn I am terribly sorry but Padawan Kenobi died shortly after you were removed from the room." Qui-Gon buried his face in his hands to hide his emotions from Arcro. He had just lost the most important person in his life, and Arcro had no idea what to say to him. "We can't send you and Obi-Wan's body to Coruscant because he still has the germs in his system, and other than waiting until transport to Coruscant is allowed, you only have one other option." Qui-Gon raised his red, tear-stained eyes to Arcro,



"And that would be?"





"Bury him here, in the lake over there." Said Arcro as he pointed out the window to a very beautiful lake. Qui-Gon knew that because of lack of land space they had to use lakes for cemeteries. Even cremation was forbidden, because they needed all their vegetation. "I'll let you think about it." Arcro stood and walked out of the room. Now, with no one to see him. Qui-Gon broke down.



* * * * * *



"Jinn, I understand you're devastated but why won't you come back to the Temple? You're clear of the virus but why won't you come home?" The troubled holo-gram of Mace Windu stood in front of Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon wished the counsel would leave him alone.



"Mace, Coruscant is the last place I want to be right now. I need to get away."



"But why are you letting Obi-Wan be buried on Komar?!" Qui-Gon ran his fingers through his hair and sighed deeply.



"Because I can't take him off planet, and I don't want to wait until the planet is officially clear." Qui-Gon then made it perfectly clear that he wanted to be alone during this funeral, none of his or Obi-Wan's friends. Mace agreed. Before the transmission was cut Mace asked one more question.



"You said you needed to get away, where are you going to go? When will you be back?" Qui-Gon didn't really have someplace in mind he wanted to go. Then it hit him.



"I'll let you know when I'm on my way back. As to where I'm going: I'm visiting and old friend on Sanderai.



* * * * * * *



The next day, Qui-Gon found himself alone on a boat, except for the glass coffin that held his apprentice. All traces of pain and suffering had left Obi-Wan's face. Qui-Gon felt a jerk as the boat stopped at the set coordinates where Obi-Wan was to be 'buried.' Before Qui-Gon committed himself to that he took a long, last look at his Padawan. He was still wearing his Jedi robes and Padawan braid. Qui-Gon had decided to let Obi-Wan be buried with his lightsaber and the force-sensitive river stone Qui-Gon had given him for his 13th birthday.



Qui-Gon had no idea what to say that he hadn't said at some point over the two years they had been together, also considering the fact that the boy was beyond hearing. So he opened the casket, kissed Obi-Wan on the forehead and whispered in his ear: "Good-bye my son, I love you."



Qui-Gon closed the casket and set the computer to drop it. Soon enough two cranes rose the casket in the air and slowly lowered it down into the water, Qui-Gon watched it disappear from sight. He thought, as he had kissed Obi-Wan's forehead, that he could have sworn he felt breathing. No Jinn, it had to be the wind. Obi-Wan is dead, dead, DEAD! Nothing is going to change that, he thought. Qui-Gon gave a final, longing look at the lake then rowed away.