Disclaimer: Jahzea, Manighan, and Delios are mine. The rest are Mr. Lucas' except for Bant, Bruck and the bounty hunter, who belong to Jude Watson.
Authors Note: It started with an idea of another Padawan who lost her master, and escalated from there. I'm not entirely sure when Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stuck their noses in, but it was long before I wrote this down. It's not as complete as it could be, but it works for now. This is my first Star Wars fan fiction; my first fic was aproximately nineteen years ago.
The pilot had never liked this planet. The people were subtly hostile to outsiders, but they relied on his shipments for now, simply because they didn't have the resources to do otherwise. He was well aware of how much they tolerated; he was barely tolerated, and he'd had better experiences dealing with the Hutts. Still, they paid well, and he just kept his contact with them to a minimum.
This trip his stay was longer than usual, thanks to the pirates he'd barely escaped. There was damage to his ship, and he had asked for some time to repair it. The reply had been surly but in the affirmative, and he'd spent the last five hours putting his ship back together. When he finished, one of the more friendly beings suggested that he eat before he leave, and he decided it would be a good idea. On his way out of the hangar, someone grabbed his arm.
The human girl was far too thin, her hair ragged about her face. Her clothes were in tatters, and so dirty that it was impossible to tell what their original color and shape might have been. "Please," she said softly, her dark eyes fixed on his. "Please. I need to get to Coruscant." Her voice was scratchy, either with disuse or over use, he couldn't tell. There was desperation and an overwhelming sorrow in her eyes.
"Can you pay?"
Her eyes fell, and the despair that became clear jerked at his heart. "No… No, I can't," she said. "I am... I am Padawan. Jedi."
It was then that he noticed the light saber hanging from her belt, and a second gripped in her left hand. A braid hung over her shoulder, thin, wrapped in threads that might have once been the proud marks of a Padawan's learning. "Please," she whispered.
He would not want to be trapped on that planet either, even if he had been a Jedi. Besides, if he didn't take her, he'd have two people haunting him, and Mera was enough. He'd have to go back to her soon. "I'll be leaving as soon as I get something to eat," he told her. "You look like you could eat. Would you like to come?"
"No. No, thank you," she said. "May I board?" There was hope in her face.
"Of course." He opened his ship to let her on, and locked it behind her.
When he returned, he found her huddled in a corner of the hold, the light saber gripped tightly by both hands to her heart. He could not get her to wake up to eat what he'd brought, so he carried her to one of the seats, strapped her in, and got ready to take off.
He contacted the proper authorities, explaining his passenger as well as he could, and suddenly found himself talking to a calm man who identified himself as Mace Windu, and would he kindly explain again? The pilot was unable to make himself any clearer, but he was directed to a private landing pad. When he landed, he was greeted by a small contingent of Jedi, one of whom paid the girl's passage before vanishing after the girl and the beings who carried her so gingerly. He decided it was time he saw Mera, and went back on board to set the coordinates for home.
"Do we know her?" Mace asked the attending physician quietly.
"She is Jahzea Mahl," the tall being said just as softly, turning to look at the girl in the bed. "She is Padawan to Delios Ohn."
Mace lifted his eyebrows. "Do we have news of Delios?" he asked.
"Not from Jahzea," the Healer said. "She is unconscious and responds to little. She reacted quite violently when we attempted to remove the light saber from her grip. She responded more positively when Master Yoda was here."
Mace nodded solemnly. "I will speak with him."
He left the infirmary, pacing quickly to where he thought Yoda would be. He noticed only peripherally the arrival of Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan, making a mental note to speak to them of their mission when this latest puzzle was solved.
Yoda was waiting for him, standing in one of the gardens of the temple. "A question you have."
"The injured Padawan responded to you?"
"Yes."
"How?"
Yoda blinked slowly. "Convinced she was, a dream I was," he said gravely.
Mace nodded. "She knows you too well," he said quietly.
Yoda looked at him almost sharply. "What mean you?"
Mace sank down next to the small, green being who was many times older than himself. He collected his thoughts, thinking the idea through. "You are one of the most well known beings here in the temple. It would not be unusual for a Jedi in a delirium to hear you speaking to them."
Yoda nodded sagely, but did not answer. Mace went on. "If she believed you were a dream, it's possible that I would also be construed as a dream. It would be wise to find someone she knows, but perhaps not that well, to help her return to us."
Yoda blinked at him almost sleepily. "Someone in mind, have you?"
Mace shook his head. "Not a specific someone," he said. "Someone near her age, who is either in the Temple or would be able to return quickly."
Yoda nodded and closed his eyes. Mace felt him sink into a trance. He followed quickly, not entirely sure what Yoda was doing, and wanting to learn from this being who had once trained him. He found himself following Yoda in investigating the different Knights and Padawan who were in the temple.
"Obi-Wan only a few years younger is. Know him she did. Friends they were not." Yoda's voice was clear.
"Enemies?" Mace asked, slowly returning to consciousness.
"No," Yoda said.
There was another long silence before Yoda looked at Mace with something that might have been fondness. "Obi-Wan is our best choice, then?" Mace asked.
"Speak with his Master, you must," Yoda said.
Mace smiled. "Of course. Excuse me." He inclined his head, then got to his feet and left the garden.
He found Qui-Gon Jinn in his quarters, alone. The Jedi master looked up, smiling to greet his friend. "Yes?"
"I would speak to you about your Padawan," Mace said, and was almost amused at the wary look that flashed across the other man's face.
"Sit down." His voice was neutral.
"Delios Ohn's Padawan returned without her. They have been missing for almost a year. The girl is unconscious and does not respond to the Healers or to Yoda."
Qui-Gon straightened. "You believe Obi-Wan can help?"
"We hope so," Mace acknowledged.
Qui-Gon stood. "We will meet you in the infirmary." He followed Mace out the door, where the two men went in different directions.
Obi-Wan sat with his friends in the cafeteria, glad to be back and just as glad that they were there. The four of them were trading stories of their missions, relaxing in the calm of the temple and enjoying being together again. He was explaining quietly about the bounty hunter he and Qui-Gon had run across when he stopped mid-sentence, then stammered an excuse and started for the door. He knew it must have been weird for them, although they had surely had that kind of experience too, but the urgency he was feeling from Qui-Gon did not allow time for him to explain. His Master appeared at the door just before he reached it.
"The council have requested your help," Qui-Gon told him as they strode through the halls of the temple.
Obi-Wan couldn't hide his surprise. "Me?" he asked, and flushed as his voice cracked.
"A Padawan a few years older than you has returned, delirious, without her master. They believe you may be able to help her."
"But if Council can't help her..." He let the words hang in the air. Qui-Gon said nothing.
The rest of the walk was silent, and Obi-Wan tried to think of what he could possibly have to offer that the Council didn't. He hadn't come up with any ideas by the time they arrived at the infirmary.
Mace Windu waited for them inside the reception area. He had little more to say than Qui-Gon had. In spite of his doubt, Obi-Wan nodded. "I will do what I can," he said, and was shown into the room.
It took him a minute to recognize her. She was darker than he remembered and far too thin, almost gaunt. In her left hand she clutched a light saber; another sat on the table next to the bed. "Jahzea," he said. She groaned softly.
Glancing around, he found a chair and dragged it over so he could sit by her. Although Mace had explained why they'd chosen him, he wasn't sure he would be able to help. Well, like he'd told Master Windu, he'd do what he could. Sitting down in the chair, he leaned forward, touched his fingertips to her arm and called her name again. She didn't respond. Taking a deep breath, Obi-Wan dug into his memories, trying to find something they'd shared that he could talk to her about.
"Do you remember," he started slowly, "do you remember the first time you met Yoda?"
Not that he'd been there, however. She'd been brought to the temple before he'd even been born. But everyone he'd talked to had had the same experience as he had. He spoke about his own experience, asking her if she'd had the same. She didn't answer.
He continued to talk of teachers they'd had in common when a memory surfaced and caused him to smile. "You were helping when we first got to work with the training sabers," he said. "I was in such awe of you, did you know that? And it was your idea to work me against two opponents later because, you said, if one was so boring, I needed a challenge." He paused a little. "If I remember correctly, you beat me pretty badly. Not that I didn't deserve it," he added. "But you found me later, by the waterfall...." His voice trailed off, uncomfortable images of Bant caught at the bottom, Bruck falling to his death filling his mind, and he shook them off. "...by the waterfall," he continued, "and apologized."
He went on, searching through his memories, including one memorable fight with her master. He'd fallen silent for a moment when someone laid a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, his eyes focused unwillingly on his Master. "You need not harm yourself to bring her out of this, Padawan," Qui-Gon said gently. "You need to rest. Go back to your room, and I will bring you something to eat."
Obi-Wan nodded. Turning back to the bed, he touched her arm again. "Call me if you need me," he said gently, then got to his feet. His first step was more of a stagger, but he quickly caught his balance and followed his Master from the room. His exhaustion hit him when he'd nearly reached his room, and he put a hand to the wall to steady himself. Qui-Gon had gone to get him food, leaving him to return alone, and right now, Obi-Wan wished he hadn't. Taking a deep breath, focusing on what he was doing, Obi-Wan pushed away from the wall and continued on.
Qui-Gon met him in the hall, taking his arm as he staggered again. "You are worse than I thought," his master said gently, and guided him into his quarters. He ate automatically and fell into his bed, asleep before he touched the pillow.
Jahzea decided she was going crazy. She understood Yoda's appearance in this dream; he was a prominent figure at the Temple, and he had appeared often in her dreams the last year. The two shadowy presences that seemed always to be there had also mentioned Mace Windu, and that was not a surprise either. But this nameless, faceless - maybe not so faceless, she could almost see what he looked like - this Padawan, she didn't know where he came from. He was younger than she; obviously, from one of the two classes she'd assisted as part of her training, and that because she had been nearly hopeless with a light saber. That had improved with practice. He was just… someone she knew or who knew her, but barely. And surely, that had been his Master, cautioning him to rest. The Master's voice was unfamiliar as well.
It took her a while to realize that she wasn't insane. She'd finally made it back.
Her eyes were slow to open, requiring a great effort. The ceiling was familiar, shaded in soothing tones to help concentration and facilitate healing. Languidly, she turned her head to the door and met half-familiar blue eyes. The boy stopped as if struck, but then turned. "She's awake!" He stepped through the door and out of the way as two familiar presences entered.
She bore with their questions, none of them really intruding, most to determine how she felt. She answered quietly, wishing the boy hadn't left. Finally, they had all the answers they wanted, and left her alone.
"Hi."
Not so alone as all that, after all. The boy she'd seen earlier sat by her bed and smiled. "I'd ask how you felt, only I just heard what you told them."
Her eyes narrowed, focusing on his face. The voice was the same, so it was the same Padawan as yesterday. Or whenever. With a frustrated sigh, she sat up. He jumped to help her, steadying her with hands on her arms. "Are you supposed to be sitting up?"
"Obi-Wan?" she asked as his name leapt to mind, suddenly able to see the eight year old she'd known in the teen before her.
He nodded. "Are you okay?" His worry was palpable, as was his care, and almost against her will, tears filled her eyes.
"She's gone," Jahzea whispered.
Obi-Wan's eyes widened. "She... Your Master?"
Jahzea nodded, not even noticing the tears that streamed down her cheeks to drip off her chin. "They were so angry. We couldn't..."
"Sh," he said gently, and took her right hand.
"She... she hid me," she went on brokenly, wanting to get it all out. "I couldn't look away." A sob broke her composure, and she threw herself at him, burying her eyes in his shoulder. There was no hesitation in him; his arms closed around her and held her securely. She'd have to remember to thank him for that.
Qui-Gon looked in on his apprentice, watching as he gently laid the girl comfortably on the bed. Obi-Wan looked exhausted, leaning on the bed like an old man for a moment before straightening slowly. "She watched them kill her Master," he said in a dull voice, and turned. "She could do nothing." He stepped away from the bed, moving toward Qui-Gon with agonizing slowness. It worried the Jedi; his apprentice was full of life, and this change was frightening. "She hasn't had time to grieve."
Qui-Gon placed a hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "She'll have time now."
"She's tired." He sounded exhausted.
"She's going to be," Qui-Gon said, and gently steered his Padawan out.
He could see what was coming. The Force showed him glimpses as he walked Obi-Wan back to their quarters. With a slight, regretful lowering of his head, he accepted it. Three missions at least, without his Padawan at his side. It was going to be hard. He relied on the boy more than he would have guessed.
Getting the council to understand was easier than he'd expected.
"Agree with you the council does," Yoda said when he'd explained that the assignment he'd been given, he'd be going on alone. "Stay here, Obi-Wan should." After a brief discussion of the mission he would be leaving on, he was dismissed.
Obi-Wan looked only faintly disappointed. "I had thought to ask you if I could stay," he admitted wearily.
Qui-Gon smiled gently, laying his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Get some sleep," he said, and the teen didn't argue. That in itself was an indication of how exhausted he was.
Obi-Wan went with him to see him off. "You must tell me of her progress," Qui-Gon told him. "I would know how you are doing."
"Yes, Master." He was still tired, Qui-Gon could see, but he had hopes that it wouldn't be quite so strenuous from now on.
The mission went well, strangely enough, and that was rare. He got daily transmissions from his Padawan, and one included his news that Jahzea had finally released her Master's light saber. "The healers are not sure they'll be able to do anything to help her hand," Obi-Wan said. "She hasn't let it go since she recovered it off her Master's body. She's in therapy now, to try to recondition the muscles." He sighed. "She thinks it's a just repercussion of letting her Master die alone. I don't know how to help her, Master."
There was a pleading in his tone. "You are helping her," Qui-Gon told the hologram gently. "She will work it out." He looked at the hologram critically. Obi-Wan was looking tired, still, but definitely less worn out. He hoped that was a good sign.
He didn't return to the temple before his next assignment, or the third, and by the end of it, Obi-Wan looked almost normal. With a grateful sigh, he turned off the transmission and began to get ready to go home.
His transport was met by Obi-Wan, who looked calm enough to have waited for hours for him. He smiled, remembering the impatient young one he'd been, bouncing lightly on his toes when he had to wait for more than thirty seconds. "Welcome back, Master. I have one last report on Jahzea." He took Qui-Gon's bag and fell into step beside him. "Mace Windu has taken her as his Padawan to finish her training."
"Good," Qui-Gon said. "He needs a Padawan to remind him what it's like to have one." Yes, it was good to have Obi-Wan at his side again.