"These mediations seem to be going very smooth, Master," Obi-Wan said from Qui-Gon's left. The two Jedi had just completed a long morning full of sitting at a head table and doing practically nothing except listen to two men talk. Tangoria seemed to seep peace into its inhabitants and the Jedi presence suppressed even more ruffled feathers to bring productive discussions and debates to fruitful closes. Qui-Gon estimated that their assistance would not be needed for too many more days longer, though he would request that they stay to try to piece together the strange occurrences of the Jedi they had found.
"I felt you drawing on the Force to keep yourself awake, Padawan," Qui-Gon rebuked with a smile. "Though I have to agree that it's nice to be able to be bored at a dispute."
Qui-Gon felt the mental sigh of his apprentice right before the eighteen-year-old answered, "I wish it were that way on Coruscant. I've never seen so many beings find so many things to argue about."
A corner of Qui-Gon's mouth lifted in a wry smile. "Politics." He was about to add something else when he felt Obi-Wan's emotions jerk and slide. It was the same feeling he had had through their bond the first time Obi-Wan had seen the stranger Jedi's face; a sliding of emotions that turned into a swirl of older, maturer thought patterns of an age that Obi-Wan had not reached yet. "Padawan?"
Obi-Wan looked up at him and for a moment Qui-Gon would have sworn to his grave that it was an older man with many years behind him that gazed at him just then. With a murmur, Obi-Wan said, "He's awake."
Qui-Gon's stomach sank into his knees. It was almost as if Obi-Wan and this stranger had a bond, but a bond of what? Time? Strong emotions? Burying his misgivings of allowing Obi-Wan near the other Jedi, Qui-Gon laid a hand on his apprentice's shoulder, breaking the intense look of deep thought on Obi-Wan's brow. "Focus your mind, Padawan. Keep your mind tightly blocked until we can know for certain why it is that this man has a disturbing effect on you."
Obi-Wan nodded, once again eighteen and under his guidance.
Side by side, Master and Padawan approached the medical facility.
As Obi-Wan had said, the stranger was indeed awake. Awake and fussing about when he could leave at the doctor.
"Ah!" Doctor Monta exclaimed in obvious relief as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan entered the doorway of the recovery room, arms flailing madly in all directions. "There they are! Master Jinn, I hope you can talk some sense into this boy's head. He wants to leave; says there are no other Jedi but him and his 'students'. Talking nonsense so it must be the head injury. Calm him, calm him!"
Soothing the doctor, Qui-Gon quickly ushered him out and closed the door behind him.
To turn around and find piercing ice-blue eyes boring into his. All doubts of whether or not this young man was indeed a Jedi flew from Qui-Gon's brain the instant their eyes locked. The diamond hardness of this boy's spirit was none other than a Jedi's, though the pure strength and power that he felt radiating from him while awake rivaled none other than Yoda's. When he spoke, Qui-Gon was taken by surprise by the softness of his tone and the weight of hardships that lay beneath it.
"Are you the Jedi the doctor spoke of?"
Qui-Gon walked around to the foot of the bed that the young man was sitting on. He was dressed in a loose medical robe and his body was lean and hard from physical activity; no idle boy was this.
Glancing back at where Obi-Wan had settled himself unobtrusively in a corner of the room, Qui-Gon crossed his arms and smiled. "I am. My name is Qui-Gon Jinn and I am a Jedi Master. This is my Padawan learner, Obi-Wan Kenobi." He gestured toward Obi-Wan, catching a sudden flicker of strong emotion run through the young man on the bed.
The sandy-brown haired young man, a bacta patch covering half of his forehead and his leg stretched out stiffly in front of him on the bed, still managed to tense and appear suddenly intimidating as his eyes found Obi-Wan in the corner. Very slowly, as if he couldn't trust the words that were coming out of his mouth, the boy asked, "Obi-Wan Kenobi? How old are you, Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan was staring back at the young man just as intensely, Qui-Gon noted. In the same tone of voice, he answered, "Eighteen."
The Jedi paled and slumped against the back of the bed. "Eighteen? An eighteen-year-old Ben? What is going on?" He muttered to himself.
Qui-Gon waited patiently and then asked, "What is your name?"
"I don't know if I should tell you," the Jedi said, still talking slowly, his emotions tight with uncertainty.
Frowning, Qui-Gon demanded, "Why not? It's considered polite to return a favor with something that has equal value. I believe you owe us at least your name for saving your life."
For several long, tense moments silence reigned in the room and Qui-Gon was beginning to believe that the Jedi was going to remain stubbornly silent. Finally, though, he released a cleansing breath and his emotions cleared as he came to some sort of decision. Very, very quietly, he said, "My name is…" and Obi-Wan joined him as he said, "Luke Skywalker".
Qui-Gon was surprised at Obi-Wan's sudden knowledge of the Jedi's name but Luke himself seemed not a bit surprised. With a kind of weary resignation, he seemed to give himself up to the moment.
"I'm the last Jedi Master," Luke continued. "At least, in my time."
"Your time?" But even as Qui-Gon asked, he heard Obi-Wan saying in the living area of the cottage last night, "It was like I was displaced in time."
Qui-Gon felt questions build inside of him as the implications of what Luke had said fully hit him. Before he could form even one, Luke made as if to stand and Qui-Gon could feel the young man's pain and exhaustion roll out from him in waves right before the slender Jedi fell back onto the bed.
As if on cue, Doctor Monta rushed back into the room. "Talk any sense into him yet, Master Jinn or Padawan Kenobi? Right now he needs more rest; another dip in the bacta tank. Hours of healing are needed here. Will you visit later, Jedi Master?"
Qui-Gon forced a smile on his face as he looked back at the displaced Jedi. "If he's up to it, we're supposed to dine with one of the delegates for the kingship tonight. We'll return an hour before sunset."
Luke nodded, his blue eyes dull from the amount of pain he was surpressing via the Force. "I'd like a chance to get out and stretch my legs," he answered, carefully not looking over at Obi-Wan.
The doctor clapped his hands. "Good, good! Healing is quick for Jedi; the stroll will be fine. An hour before sunset will see you together. Bring clothes for the Jedi, can you?"