A/N: Well, this was finally written. Yes, it is short, but that's why it's an interlude. The next chapter should come a bit faster since it's already half written.

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Interlude - Otherwise known as, "What Obi-wan Saw."

            Qui-gon settled into his seat on the transport with an exhausted sigh. The negotiations had gone well, and a good deal faster than Master Yoda had predicted. The wizened master had estimated a two year mission, but Qui-gon had chosen to be optimistic and tell Obi-wan only one year. He would have gotten another Jedi to take over if the negotiations had lasted longer, no matter what the council said. Obi-wan came first, and Qui-gon was anxious to see how he was doing. Qui-gon's dreams had been troubling him, but no amount of calm meditation had revealed their source.

            Unfortunately for him, the inhabitants of Earth had the technology to detect interstellar communications, despite their inability to comprehend them. This meant that all communications to and from Earth had to travel the old method of a written communiqué passed from ship to ship.

            His requests for a recent report on Obi-wan had been met with an awkward silence by all involved. Apparently a few ships had been lost and no one had had a true report from Earth for at least half a year, maybe more. Some polite questioning of a low level clerk had revealed the fact that Mr. Lucas, their contact on Earth, had a tendency to write his reports in advance, dating them for the months ahead so he wouldn't have to worry about them. Qui-gon was still mentally shaking his head at that one.

            No matter. He would know what was happening soon, and worry did not suit a Jedi. He took a deep breath and arranged himself in a position for meditation. His breathing slowed, his chest rising only slightly as he sank deeper within himself and by extension, the universe.

            There it was. The ship he was in. The captain at his desk, one scaly hand tapping absently as he read a ship report. But this was not what Qui-gon had come to see. He pulled back. The ship rushed away, becoming a pinpoint in an ever growing sea. He took it all in, letting it flow through him as he sensed the space for lightyears around him.

            Obi-wan. Everyone was in the Force, no less his far away apprentice. They had been so close. They were so close…So why was his signature hidden? There. Right there.

            So close. A blue and green planet like so many others. Still too far away. Obi-wan.

            Abruptly he was there. Closer than he had been in the past year. He mentally 'knocked' at Obi-wan's mind but received no answer. No not true. Obi-wan was shielding, shielding with a strength Qui-gon hadn't thought him capable of. Qui-gon was hurt by the refusal and felt his focus start to slip, but sternly pushed the emotion away. Obi-wan must have a good reason for shielding, and at least Qui-gon knew he was alive and well now. He decided to try a little trick he had learned from Master Yoda all those years ago.

            He ignored the shield around Obi-wan's mind and slipped instead into his lower brain. The part that controlled such involuntary things as breathing, walking, hearing and seeing. While the lower brain could be shielded, he doubted Obi-wan would have thought of it. He would have to teach the boy later, but for now he was grateful.

            Qui-gon thought of how he had looked in the mirror that morning, visualizing himself with as much detail as possible. He took that image and inserted it straight into Obi-wan's visual centre. The boy should be seeing a life size image of him. He pictured himself smiling and began to talk. It was very difficult, since you had to keep a clear picture of yourself in your mind at all times. As it was, Obi-wan was probably seeing a pale imitation of his true self. He began with a simple greeting and intended to go on by asking Obi-wan to let him into his mind, or at least tell him what was wrong somehow.

            He did not expect the out right rejection he encountered. Fear. Anger. The emotions rippled outward and he was forced out. His eyes snapped open and he blinked in surprise. The last sense he had gotten from Obi-wan had been pure terror. A hand holding a severed braid. What was happening there? Why had Obi-wan rejected him so fiercely? He closed his eyes and asked his questions of the universe at large. They echoed along the Force, but in two hours time he was no closer to his answers.

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Next Time: Qui-gon (finally!) arrives on Earth. Mr. Lucas puts in a personal appearance.

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Disclaimer: Although this may be our two credits worth. We are not earning a daktari and all credit goes to the Master of all Jedi, the Great Flanneled one whom we can but call by the name – Lucas. Nor do we obtain a pence from Shallow Grave.