Title: Crossing the Lines

Summary: Obi-wan Kenobi knows revenge is wrong, but after what his Master has done to him, it's worth it, isn't it?  Especially since Qui-gon betrayed him.  Pg-13 for violence.

Disclaimer: George Lucas owns Star Wars and the whole Universe of it.

Acknowledgments: Jesus, my brother and sister, Padawan Nik-ka, Galahan, Redtailhawk, Ginger Ninja, Ivy, Debbie (thanks for chasing me to do this)

Archiving/comments: email me at wild_horse1987@yahoo.com.sg

Author's note: I'm trying to tie up this fic right now, and I'll also be trying to update more regularly :) enjoy…

Chapter 9:

"Obi-wan!" Qui-gon scrambled to his feet hastily, just in time to see the bolt hit his Apprentice.

Another bolt hit Obi-wan in the leg, and he collapsed on the ground.

"Get him!" Kelyl yelled to Qui-gon, then opened fire with his blaster.

Qui-gon scooped up his Apprentice in his arms and half-ran, half-stumbled to Kelyl, who was hiding behind a ferrocrete wall.

"Sniper on the roof, and the guards are on the way," Kelyl told Qui-gon.

"Obi-wan is badly hurt," Qui-gon glanced down at his Apprentice.  "He needs medical aid."

Kelyl's eyes narrowed, "You will not find it here, your best bet would be to return to Coruscant."

"We don't have a ship."

Kelyl grinned recklessly.  "That's what you think."  The mercenary ran off down the alleyway.  Qui-gon followed, Obi-wan in his arms.

Kelyl could hear the faint footsteps of the guards behind him, but he wasn't unduly worried.  They were close, but not all that close.  Qui-gon was having some trouble keeping up, but Kelyl knew he couldn't slow down to wait.

"Come on, we're nearly there."

Qui-gon followed Kelyl around another corner and found himself looking at a battered cargo ship.

"How did you…" Qui-gon glanced at Kelyl.

"Never mind, get on board.  Quick!" Kelyl interrupted Qui-gon.  The footsteps were drawing closer.  Kelyl drew a blaster and watched anxiously as Qui-gon struggled up the boarding ramp with Obi-wan.  As soon as the Jedi Master was in the ship, Kelyl turned and sprinted up the ramp, running into the cockpit.

Kelyl knew he was no ace at flying, it was something he had never really picked up.  He directed power to the engines, then switched on the repulsorlifts.  The cargo ship rose above the ground just as the first few blaster bolts hit the ship's hull.

"Oh Sith," Kelyl muttered under his breath.  He couldn't direct power to the shields now since he needed all of it for the engines.  The mercenary yanked at the controls, aimed the ship skyward, and then fired off the thrusters.

Qui-gon staggered into the cockpit and shot an accusing glare at Kelyl, "Trying to kill us back there, mercenary?"

Kelyl didn't bother with any smart remarks, just got out of the pilot's chair and let Qui-gon take over.

Qui-gon brought the shields online, checking hull integrity, engine power and weapons systems with one quick glance.  Everything seemed normal.  He pointed the ship's nose towards space, then increased the throttle to a hundred percent.  He hoped he wouldn't encounter resistance from planetary security as he punched through the atmosphere.

Kelyl was sitting to one side, silently punching in hyperspace coordinates with his left hand.  "Inbound fighters at six o'clock, Planetary Defence," he told Qui-gon.

"Yeah, I see them.  Is the Navcomputer ready?"

"Almost.  Head for the point on the display."

A blinking dot appeared on the radar display in front of Qui-gon.  The Jedi turned the ship around to face it.

"Okay, hang on…" Kelyl was still checking readouts from the Navcomputer, "engage Hyperdrive now!"

Individual stars lengthened to long, white streaks of light as the cargo ship jumped into Hyperspace.

Qui-gon heaved a huge sigh of relief, then turned to Kelyl.  "We're going to Coruscant, right?"

Kelyl looked up from the displays he was checking, confused, "No, I thought we were going to Kessel."  The mercenary laughed at the shocked look on Qui-gon's face, before continuing, "I was just kidding."

"Good," Qui-gon got up and went to check on Obi-wan.

Obi-wan was lying on the cold metal floor, dazed.  His stomach and leg hurt, and he closed his eyes against the pain.  He could sense Qui-gon running in to check on him.

"Master?" he managed to say softly.

"I'm here Obi-wan."

"Master, I'm sorry for trying to kill you.  You saved my life." 

"It's okay, I'm sorry for what I did, too."  It took a lot from Qui-gon to say that, but he meant it.

Obi-wan wanted to say something else, but Qui-gon gently touched his Apprentice's mind with the Force, rest first, Obi-wan.  Nothing else needs to be said anymore.

A certain peace came over the Apprentice, he knew that the Bond was back again, between them, stronger than it had ever been.  And it would be strong enough to keep them together, forever.

"It's not all that bad," Kelyl sat across from Obi-wan, studying the Jedi with his cold, blue eyes.  "There's nothing else for me here, anyway."

"Don't you want to live anymore?  To see things you haven't seen?" Obi-wan searched Kelyl's eyes for any sign of emotion, but saw none.  Then again, Kelyl was one of the few who could face a death sentence without feeling anything – fear, anger, relief, or anything else.  Obi-wan had to keep himself from shuddering.

"I've seen too much.  Hatred, death, suffering.  I've seen too much to believe that there is enough good left," Kelyl said bluntly.

Obi-wan sighed.  "It was Takir, wasn't it?  She killed those you loved, and you killed her."

Kelyl looked away from Obi-wan, "I suppose so.  The day I killed her, something happened," the mercenary looked back at Obi-wan, "something changed.  I didn't see the world like I used to anymore."

"How did you use to see it?"

It was Kelyl's turn to sigh.  "The way you still do.  Full of hope, promise and goodness."

Obi-wan couldn't look into Kelyl's cold, hard eyes this time.  For he saw, sitting in front of him, the kind of person he would have become, had he believed he really hated his Master, had he killed Qui-gon.  Kelyl was too scarred, too hardened to care anymore.  A long, but not uncomfortable silence dragged on before the two of them before Obi-wan saw the guard signal to him that he only had a few minutes left.

"Kelyl?"

"Yeah," the mercenary turned to look at Obi-wan.

"Thanks for all you've done, and thanks for helping me realise it was wrong."

"You're welcome.  There's only one thing I would miss when I go," Obi-wan saw maybe a flicker of sadness in the mercenary's eyes, "Obi-wan's friendship."

Before Obi-wan could reply, the guard entered the room and escorted him out.  When he looked back, through the glass panel outside the room, he saw Kelyl give him a cocky, reckless grin, and then the young mercenary too, was taken away.

The executer watched his charge carefully, a young man with dark brown hair and startlingly blue eyes.  He had chosen to die by hanging, and it suddenly struck the executer that his young charge was not much older than his eldest son.

Death penalty for murdering a Jedi.

The executer shuddered.  He did not know what had driven this young man to kill at such a young age, and to kill with such ruthless efficiency.  He looked around him at the faces that belonged to the people outside the large, glass-panelled room.  Most of them were Jedi – a short green troll, a bald dark-skinned man, a tall Jedi with shoulder-length hair and his young apprentice, among others.

Obi-wan watched Kelyl step forward, put his head through the noose.  The mercenary's expression was unreadable.  For the first time, Obi-wan saw Kelyl for who he really was, a disillusioned, devastated young man who had been handed a bad lot in life, and who had fought back the only way he knew how.  He had made too many wrong decisions, and it hadn't been all his fault. 

Obi-wan turned around and left the building – he could not bear to see Kelyl die.

He heard footsteps behind him, and saw Qui-gon walk up to him.

"I don't understand," Obi-wan said quietly, "why he chose to come back, knowing that they would kill him."

Qui-gon put a hand on Obi-wan's shoulder, "It was his choice.  Although I don't think anybody really understands."

"I feel afraid, when I see what happened to him," Obi-wan turned to face Qui-gon, "It could have been me.  It could have been me running from the authorities, standing up there, staring death in the face."

"But it wasn't.  He did save you, maybe he saw something in you that used to be in him."

"And I saw that I could never have survived what he did."

a/n: sorry about all the long stuff, I needed to clear this up.  It's finished anyway, thanks for all the reviews.