Own I do not. Own Lucas etc does. Money I do not make.
NOTE: This is AU. Don't read if you're not into that. I really don't know what made me do it to poor Obi. I think my muse was under the influence of Sith mind tricks. Either that or Yoda's stew. I can't figure out which.
Qui-Gon Jinn sighed deeply as he walked through the vaunted halls of the Jedi Temple. His return had plunged him into a very cranky mood. Not only had his last mission gone poorly, but the initiate trials were being held for the next ten days. He snorted. Initiate trials? Initiate tortures was more like it. When he was younger he thought the practice unfair, especially to those not chosen. Not only was your lightsaber skill scrutinized, but everything else. Your physical presentation, diplomacy skills, meditation skills, housekeeping, survival skills, your personal taste in music, EVERYTHING was examined by a few select masters.
Now that he was a master, he found it to be cruel to both ends. It was too much of a weight to callously sort through hundreds of hopeful faces, crushing their hopes because one might not be able to tell the difference between a mooja fruit and poisonous Ickthorn berries. It was very painful to feel the reverberations of despair and pressure emanating through the Living Force from the trials. Personally, he felt that the Force should bring a Master and Apprentice together, but then that wasn't the only thing he disagreed with the council about.
With a mental shake he focused on the here and now as he strode into the council chamber for his debriefing. What he saw were twelve solemn Jedi faces. What he felt was doomed. They weren't happy about his mission. Before he could offer any apology or explaination, Yoda glanced up and spoke.
"Unable to settle the dispute you were. Your fault it was not."
"Thank you Master," Qui-Gon's voice showed his relief.
"Not finished am I. Your fault it was not because be two places you could not be at once, determined the council has that an apprentice you should take."
Qui-Gon fought down the sudden stab of anger, they had taken a hopeless mission and used it as leverage against him! "Surely you cannot force me to take on an apprentice? It would affect him terribly if he was not chosen of a free will."
"You center on your fears Qui-Gon. The Force tells us it is time to overcome them. It tells the same to you if you listen." Mace's voice was smooth as he deflected Jinn's argument.
"Nevertheless," Qui-Gon began.
"Decided the council has. A choice you have not." The rebuke came from Yaddle, surprisingly loud from her normally quiet demeanor.
"But…."
"Go you will. Other business the council has. See you tomorrow at the trials we will."
Qui-Gon did his best impersonation of a fish before turning on his heel and storming out of the chamber.
Jinn smiled as he woke up the next morning. It was nice to be in his own bed, in his own room, in his own section of the temple… His cheery thoughts immediately came crashing down as thoughts of the council meeting came flooding into his head. Glancing over at his comm station, he could see a message had been left. It was most likely from the council. Growling something vile in Huttese with a smattering of Wookie for good measure, he rose to download the message. It did not improve his mood. Not only had the council demanded he choose a padawan, but they had also given him a list of hopeful candidates! Couldn't he even make his own choices on that?
Releasing several negative thoughts about what Yoda could do with his cane, Qui-Gon looked at the list again. Next to each name was the time the initiate was to have their lightsaber duel that day. It was highly suggested that he attend.
Growling, Qui-Gon threw the pad on his sleep couch and stormed off to shower and meditate on how to get out of this mess.
Half an hour later, he had formulated a plan. He would play along with the council until the ten days were done. Then, he would simply announce that he could not choose any of the initiates. Carefully examining each apprentice would make the council think he had at least taken their order seriously. He figured that by playing along for most of the way, they would just send him to scummy outer world planets for 6 months or so. Not too bad compared to ruining his and someone else's lives. Smug in his plan, he headed down to the fight arena.
Four tedious fights later, he was already starting to regret his plan. The fighters were focusing on being perfect for the masters, not fighting creatively as they would in normal practice. With a frown, he acknowledged that the fights were not the only tedious thing annoying him. Several of his friends had shown up just to point out their favorite students to him. Apparently everyone had an idea of who the perfect apprentice would be for old master Jinn.
At the moment, he was seriously considering moving Windu off of his friends list and on to his enemies. Not only was Mace on the council, but he had also not shut up about his favorite pick for Qui-Gon's next apprentice. Bruck Chun might be very talented with a saber, but Qui-Gon found him too cocky. Mace argued that Qui-Gon liked a challenge. It would be "good" for him.
Desperate to drown out Mace's inane babbling, Qui-Gon focused his attention on the current fight. Mercifully, neither of the participants were on his "watch" list. He let his body relax when he noticed they were both humanoid girls. It was an unwritten rule that you did not take an apprentice of an opposite gender if you were a closely related species. Jedi didn't care, but the Republic could make your life living hell. There was always a government agent checking up on you to make sure nothing improper was going on. If that wasn't enough, there were always at least two tabloids following you around looking for a scoop.
He watched fascinated, the combatants were actually showing talent. The blonde was doing well, but the girl with the reddish hair was gaining an advantage that the other hadn't even realized yet. Where the blonde was making step by step progress, the other girl was already three steps ahead of her. Having watched many initiate battles, Qui-Gon already knew how was going to win.
It was a great surprise to him when the ginger haired girl was dealt the "killing" blow. The misstep that had caused her failure was basic, too basic for her to have made by mistake.
Before he could pursue the thought any further, he saw Adi Gallia approaching. Unbidden troves of curses found their way into his thoughts. Not another "friend" coming to lend advise! Pasting on an extremely artificial smile, he turned to speak with Adi.
"It was a good fight." Adi started. Her voice lowered to a whisper "I am thinking of taking Siri to be my apprentice. I was unsure at first, but she won very graciously."
Qui-Gon's smile became more genuine as he responded, "She appears to be very gifted in her saber skills. Have you spoken with her yet?"
Adi shook her head in the negative and was about to respond when Mace came bounding up with an enthusiastic jaunt.
"Come on, Qui. The saber duels are going on break for lunch. If we get down there fast enough, we can observe the students."
Grateful that Mace hadn't put in yet another good word for Chun, Qui-Gon reminded himself of his plan and agreed to follow Mace.
"May the Force be with you Adi. You seem well suited to each other."