All disclaimers still apply.
This is the last chapter of "Never Begun, Already Finished". I have had it written for a while, though time has not allowed me to post it. I now present to you the final chapter. Enjoy!
*********************************************
Qui-Gon stared blankly at Yoda, anger becoming evident on his features. "Kill him. Master, he is still of the light!"
Yoda turned to him, shaking his head. "Of the lightside he is not, Qui-Gon. Turned he has. Blown up the temple he has. Of light, this is not!"
"He can be brought back. Something blocks his memories, is goodness."
"Seen inside his mind, I have. What I saw, of light it wasn't. Black his mind is, dark. A glimmer of hope, I once had, but left it has."
"And once he is brought before the council, what then?" Mace interjected into the conversation.
"Once he is brought before the council he will be…" Mace paused, before glancing down at Yoda. The Master nodded, and turned a solemn gaze towards Qui-Gon.
"Die he will have to. Too tainted he is. Too far he has gone, too far it would be to come back."
Qui-Gon stumbled backwards, as a cry as denial ripped from his throat. "You lie!"
"Lie we do not, Qui-Gon. Gone Obi-Wan is."
"That is impossible, Master Yoda. You said that he was pure. How can purity be changed to dark?" Yoda hobbled over to where the Master stood.
"Tainted, even purity can become. Sorry I am to do this, Master Qui-Gon. Better for you it would be." A puzzled expression crossed Qui-Gon's features, before realization stuck.
"Master…" The large man fell backwards, limp and unconscious. Mace Windu stepped forward, catching the Jedi Master with ease.
"Are you sure that was wise, Yoda?" The diminutive Master sighed.
"Sure of little, I am, Master Windu."
****
"Bant." Bant watched Obi-Wan approach her, fear evident in her eyes. "Bant, I wouldn't hurt you." Obi-Wan rested a hand tenderly on her cheek, causing the Mon Calamari's large silver eyes to tear up.
"Obi… where are you?" The young man blinked back a sudden onslaught of tears.
"I'm so confused, Bant." Obi-Wan trembled, vulnerability evident in his features.
"We can help, Obi. Please… come with me?" Carefully, Bant probed at the shields of her friend, finding them incredibly weak. With a sudden push, she shattered them, and was immediately attacked with images of pain, suffering. Death.
"Oh, Obi… you were changed." Obi-Wan cried out, trembling hands coming up to grasp his head.
"You… shouldn't have done that, Bant."
"Obi, what do you..?" The former Jedi's head snapped up, eyes resting on his friends figure.
"You shouldn't… have done that!" Bant backed away from her friend, a cry escaping her. Obi-Wan's eyes, which moments ago had been achingly gentle, and kind, were now cold. Their ice blue depths showed no emotion. Blindingly quick, Obi-Wan grasped his lightsaber blade, and ignited it. "I wouldn't… have killed you." Bant gasped, watching the blade enter her chest.
A shaking salmon colored hand reached up towards the young man. "Obi… love…" She slid off the blade, and collapsed- dead- onto the floor.
Obi-Wan glanced impassively at the dead body of his former friend. With a ferial scream, he threw the saber across the room, watching the hilt shatter against the wall. For the first time he completely and totally gave himself to the Force.
The results were dramatic- and terrifying.
Emotions, memories, visions returned to him, unaltered. All showed him as the image of purity. Obi-Wan cried out again, hands gripping his longish hair. He collapsed to the ground, sobbing bitterly- as the memories continued to assault him.
A group of ten Knights and Masters found him minutes later. The Force, which had reverberated with the anguish and pain felt by Obi-Wan, had seemingly pulled them there. With a disgusted snarl, the highest ranking Master, Ki Adi Mundi, motioned for Obi-Wan to be taken into custody.
He went willingly.
And a Knight, just another nameless figure in an order of many, bent and with infinite gentleness picked Bant's dead body up, tucking her head against his chest. And so the processional lead on, Obi-Wan, held securely between two Masters, with the Knight carrying Bant's body, and the rest followed.
They more or less dragged Obi-Wan, who was now too weak to walk, through the temple halls, before coming to the central tower of the temple- the council chambers. He was lead inside, and thrown roughly on the floor.
Obi-Wan lifted his tired head, his face infinitely wary, haggard, and painfully vulnerable. He glanced around the room once, before resting his head on the cold floor, allowing his hair, now grown out of the Padwan's cut, to hide his face- and his tears.
He wasn't allowed the briefest period of rest. At a motion from Mace Windu, two Knight's came forward, pulling Obi-Wan to his feet.
The young man braced his knees, and lifted his tear streaked face, though he didn't meet the gaze of anyone in the room.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi." The booming voice of Mace Windu broke the heavy silence of the chamber. "You have committed crimes against this order, and this republic. How do you plead?"
The choked voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi answered. "Guilty, Masters."
"So it is noted. This hearing commences." Obi-Wan lifted his gaze to meet that of Master Windu's.
"A single request, Master. Though you need not answer it, I beg of you, please."
"Speak."
"I request that Senator Palpatine be present. He guided me… after I was released- and I fear I may have hurt him. Please, Masters. Consider this a way of pleading for forgiveness… though it may never be answered."
An aide walked into the council chambers, and knelt before Mace Windu. Words were quietly exchanged, before the aide hurriedly left. The Master turned a steely gaze on the trembling figure standing in the middle of the room. "Your request has been acknowledged. The Senator hurries here in the greatest of speeds."
Obi-Wan nodded, holding back a grim smile. "Yes, Masters."
"And so we wait." An unsettled tension fell over the room, all Jedi in the room focusing on the sole figure standing in the middle of the room. The boy, though in the form of Obi-Wan Kenobi, was not the young man they had come to know. The person standing before them was cold-hearted. He was fallen.
The tension in the room escalated as the great archaic doors swung open- to admit Qui-Gon Jinn. A gasp escaped the man as focused on Obi-Wan. The blue eyes narrowed, as he unsteadily approached his former apprentice.
"Obi-Wan?"
"Master Jinn. Don't come closer." Qui-Gon paused in his path, shock forcing him to stop.
"Obi-Wan, what happened?" Qui-Gon's gaze traveled across the room to the limp dead body of Bant. "You killed her."
"I did. She was… a nuisance." The young man spun to face his former Master. "Do I shame you Master? Am I merely another apprentice- fallen to the darkside. Am I just another bitter memory?" The Jedi Master tensed, looking quickly around the chamber. Each Jedi appeared in a state of shock- unable to accept the radiance that Obi-Wan Kenobi once was had diminished to complete and utter evil.
"You…"
"A suggestion, Master Jinn. Forget about me- and move on. All of you. I am nothing more than one mistake. The order was always better without me."
"A mistake? Surely you don't-" The thought was never completed; for in that moment, the doors open, allowing entrance of Senator Palpatine.
The Council rose, bowing as one towards the official, who, in return, gave a semblance of a half bow. His eyes never left Obi-Wan.
"We are sorry for interrupting you, Senator." Palpatine waved a hand, interrupting the Jedi Master.
"Nonsense. It was nothing, Master Jedi." Mace Windu once again sat in his council chair, the rest of the council quickly following.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi." Obi-Wan turned back towards the Master. "Kneel." The young man obliged, his head bowed, but intense sea colored eyes focused on Palpatine. He pulled his gaze away from the man, choosing to focus on the intricately tiled floor.
"You understand the charges placed before you?"
"I do, Master Windu."
"Very well. Your punishment- in ordinance with the Jedi Code- is confinement." Nary a flinch was seen from the young man who knelt. Windu leaned forward, his gaze intent upon the young man. "You accept this?"
"I do, Master."
"Do you wish to speak- to apologize to those you hurt?"
"Yes, Master." The Jedi Master sat back in his chair.
"Then stand- and speak." Obi-Wan stood, yet didn't turn towards the group of Jedi gathered at the door. Instead he faced Palpatine.
"My actions- though treacherous, were not my own. I do not wish for reprisal. Nor do I wish for forgiveness- for some things simply can not be forgiven. Instead- I wish for retribution."
Obi-Wan smiled sadly, coldly, as he lifted a hand. And in his palm, a ball of energy- formed from the purity of the Force- appeared. He flicked his wrist, and the energy sailed towards Senator Palpatine's body.
As the energy passed through Palpatine's body, the man stiffened, his eyes widening in horror. Tendrils of darkness shot from him, as he fell to the ground, crumpled. Two Jedi had rushed towards him, but the man was dead before he hit the ground.
At the same moment that Palpatine had been struck, an emerald blade of a saber flashed through the air. It found it's target with complete clarity.
Obi-Wan Kenobi closed his eyes, feeling the blade pass through him. He opened them, only to meet the gaze of Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Master." Qui-Gon, frozen in shock- the hilt of his saber still pressed firmly to Obi-Wan's chest, let go of the hilt, his hand falling off the activation button.
Silence reigned over the chamber- the gazes darting between the dead body of the Senator, and the dying form of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Obi-Wan smiled, his eyes already dulling. "Master- I'm sorry." He fell forward, but was caught by the arms of Qui-Gon Jinn. The Master supported the young man to the floor before bending over him, and resting his forehead on Obi-Wan's.
"Why, Obi-Wan." Rapidly dulling eyes focused once more on the Master, as a trembling hand came up to rest on his cheek.
"Couldn't… stand the thought…" Obi-Wan's hand fell back onto his chest, his eyes closing for the last time.
A cry of anguish and denial escaped the Jedi Master, as he held the limp body of his Padawan- his son, close.
The Force cried out, in a way that all Jedi- no matter the distance from the temple- felt it.
The one of the light had died.
Master Yoda hobbled forward- his eyes somber. He rest a gentle hand on Qui-Gon's shoulder.
"Save us, he did."
Qui-Gon didn't acknowledge the Master, too great was his grief.
"A sacrifice, made it had to be. In return- life was given. And darkness- fall it will not."
Qui-Gon stood, Obi-Wan gathered in his arms. "How is he to be remembered Master? For his purity- or his darkness?"
Yoda turned, looking at the body Qui-Gon clasped in his arms. "The purest he was. Died in the light he did." A pause.
"Died to save all."
-Finis-
And so it ends... I'd like to thank you all of you for reviewing, even if you never read the last part. Your reviews are the highlight of my day, and I can't thank you enough for how fantastic they continuet to be.
May the Force be with you!
-sheleigh
any comments, questions, or generally want to talk, please check my contact info in my profile.
This is the last chapter of "Never Begun, Already Finished". I have had it written for a while, though time has not allowed me to post it. I now present to you the final chapter. Enjoy!
*********************************************
Qui-Gon stared blankly at Yoda, anger becoming evident on his features. "Kill him. Master, he is still of the light!"
Yoda turned to him, shaking his head. "Of the lightside he is not, Qui-Gon. Turned he has. Blown up the temple he has. Of light, this is not!"
"He can be brought back. Something blocks his memories, is goodness."
"Seen inside his mind, I have. What I saw, of light it wasn't. Black his mind is, dark. A glimmer of hope, I once had, but left it has."
"And once he is brought before the council, what then?" Mace interjected into the conversation.
"Once he is brought before the council he will be…" Mace paused, before glancing down at Yoda. The Master nodded, and turned a solemn gaze towards Qui-Gon.
"Die he will have to. Too tainted he is. Too far he has gone, too far it would be to come back."
Qui-Gon stumbled backwards, as a cry as denial ripped from his throat. "You lie!"
"Lie we do not, Qui-Gon. Gone Obi-Wan is."
"That is impossible, Master Yoda. You said that he was pure. How can purity be changed to dark?" Yoda hobbled over to where the Master stood.
"Tainted, even purity can become. Sorry I am to do this, Master Qui-Gon. Better for you it would be." A puzzled expression crossed Qui-Gon's features, before realization stuck.
"Master…" The large man fell backwards, limp and unconscious. Mace Windu stepped forward, catching the Jedi Master with ease.
"Are you sure that was wise, Yoda?" The diminutive Master sighed.
"Sure of little, I am, Master Windu."
****
"Bant." Bant watched Obi-Wan approach her, fear evident in her eyes. "Bant, I wouldn't hurt you." Obi-Wan rested a hand tenderly on her cheek, causing the Mon Calamari's large silver eyes to tear up.
"Obi… where are you?" The young man blinked back a sudden onslaught of tears.
"I'm so confused, Bant." Obi-Wan trembled, vulnerability evident in his features.
"We can help, Obi. Please… come with me?" Carefully, Bant probed at the shields of her friend, finding them incredibly weak. With a sudden push, she shattered them, and was immediately attacked with images of pain, suffering. Death.
"Oh, Obi… you were changed." Obi-Wan cried out, trembling hands coming up to grasp his head.
"You… shouldn't have done that, Bant."
"Obi, what do you..?" The former Jedi's head snapped up, eyes resting on his friends figure.
"You shouldn't… have done that!" Bant backed away from her friend, a cry escaping her. Obi-Wan's eyes, which moments ago had been achingly gentle, and kind, were now cold. Their ice blue depths showed no emotion. Blindingly quick, Obi-Wan grasped his lightsaber blade, and ignited it. "I wouldn't… have killed you." Bant gasped, watching the blade enter her chest.
A shaking salmon colored hand reached up towards the young man. "Obi… love…" She slid off the blade, and collapsed- dead- onto the floor.
Obi-Wan glanced impassively at the dead body of his former friend. With a ferial scream, he threw the saber across the room, watching the hilt shatter against the wall. For the first time he completely and totally gave himself to the Force.
The results were dramatic- and terrifying.
Emotions, memories, visions returned to him, unaltered. All showed him as the image of purity. Obi-Wan cried out again, hands gripping his longish hair. He collapsed to the ground, sobbing bitterly- as the memories continued to assault him.
A group of ten Knights and Masters found him minutes later. The Force, which had reverberated with the anguish and pain felt by Obi-Wan, had seemingly pulled them there. With a disgusted snarl, the highest ranking Master, Ki Adi Mundi, motioned for Obi-Wan to be taken into custody.
He went willingly.
And a Knight, just another nameless figure in an order of many, bent and with infinite gentleness picked Bant's dead body up, tucking her head against his chest. And so the processional lead on, Obi-Wan, held securely between two Masters, with the Knight carrying Bant's body, and the rest followed.
They more or less dragged Obi-Wan, who was now too weak to walk, through the temple halls, before coming to the central tower of the temple- the council chambers. He was lead inside, and thrown roughly on the floor.
Obi-Wan lifted his tired head, his face infinitely wary, haggard, and painfully vulnerable. He glanced around the room once, before resting his head on the cold floor, allowing his hair, now grown out of the Padwan's cut, to hide his face- and his tears.
He wasn't allowed the briefest period of rest. At a motion from Mace Windu, two Knight's came forward, pulling Obi-Wan to his feet.
The young man braced his knees, and lifted his tear streaked face, though he didn't meet the gaze of anyone in the room.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi." The booming voice of Mace Windu broke the heavy silence of the chamber. "You have committed crimes against this order, and this republic. How do you plead?"
The choked voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi answered. "Guilty, Masters."
"So it is noted. This hearing commences." Obi-Wan lifted his gaze to meet that of Master Windu's.
"A single request, Master. Though you need not answer it, I beg of you, please."
"Speak."
"I request that Senator Palpatine be present. He guided me… after I was released- and I fear I may have hurt him. Please, Masters. Consider this a way of pleading for forgiveness… though it may never be answered."
An aide walked into the council chambers, and knelt before Mace Windu. Words were quietly exchanged, before the aide hurriedly left. The Master turned a steely gaze on the trembling figure standing in the middle of the room. "Your request has been acknowledged. The Senator hurries here in the greatest of speeds."
Obi-Wan nodded, holding back a grim smile. "Yes, Masters."
"And so we wait." An unsettled tension fell over the room, all Jedi in the room focusing on the sole figure standing in the middle of the room. The boy, though in the form of Obi-Wan Kenobi, was not the young man they had come to know. The person standing before them was cold-hearted. He was fallen.
The tension in the room escalated as the great archaic doors swung open- to admit Qui-Gon Jinn. A gasp escaped the man as focused on Obi-Wan. The blue eyes narrowed, as he unsteadily approached his former apprentice.
"Obi-Wan?"
"Master Jinn. Don't come closer." Qui-Gon paused in his path, shock forcing him to stop.
"Obi-Wan, what happened?" Qui-Gon's gaze traveled across the room to the limp dead body of Bant. "You killed her."
"I did. She was… a nuisance." The young man spun to face his former Master. "Do I shame you Master? Am I merely another apprentice- fallen to the darkside. Am I just another bitter memory?" The Jedi Master tensed, looking quickly around the chamber. Each Jedi appeared in a state of shock- unable to accept the radiance that Obi-Wan Kenobi once was had diminished to complete and utter evil.
"You…"
"A suggestion, Master Jinn. Forget about me- and move on. All of you. I am nothing more than one mistake. The order was always better without me."
"A mistake? Surely you don't-" The thought was never completed; for in that moment, the doors open, allowing entrance of Senator Palpatine.
The Council rose, bowing as one towards the official, who, in return, gave a semblance of a half bow. His eyes never left Obi-Wan.
"We are sorry for interrupting you, Senator." Palpatine waved a hand, interrupting the Jedi Master.
"Nonsense. It was nothing, Master Jedi." Mace Windu once again sat in his council chair, the rest of the council quickly following.
"Obi-Wan Kenobi." Obi-Wan turned back towards the Master. "Kneel." The young man obliged, his head bowed, but intense sea colored eyes focused on Palpatine. He pulled his gaze away from the man, choosing to focus on the intricately tiled floor.
"You understand the charges placed before you?"
"I do, Master Windu."
"Very well. Your punishment- in ordinance with the Jedi Code- is confinement." Nary a flinch was seen from the young man who knelt. Windu leaned forward, his gaze intent upon the young man. "You accept this?"
"I do, Master."
"Do you wish to speak- to apologize to those you hurt?"
"Yes, Master." The Jedi Master sat back in his chair.
"Then stand- and speak." Obi-Wan stood, yet didn't turn towards the group of Jedi gathered at the door. Instead he faced Palpatine.
"My actions- though treacherous, were not my own. I do not wish for reprisal. Nor do I wish for forgiveness- for some things simply can not be forgiven. Instead- I wish for retribution."
Obi-Wan smiled sadly, coldly, as he lifted a hand. And in his palm, a ball of energy- formed from the purity of the Force- appeared. He flicked his wrist, and the energy sailed towards Senator Palpatine's body.
As the energy passed through Palpatine's body, the man stiffened, his eyes widening in horror. Tendrils of darkness shot from him, as he fell to the ground, crumpled. Two Jedi had rushed towards him, but the man was dead before he hit the ground.
At the same moment that Palpatine had been struck, an emerald blade of a saber flashed through the air. It found it's target with complete clarity.
Obi-Wan Kenobi closed his eyes, feeling the blade pass through him. He opened them, only to meet the gaze of Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Master." Qui-Gon, frozen in shock- the hilt of his saber still pressed firmly to Obi-Wan's chest, let go of the hilt, his hand falling off the activation button.
Silence reigned over the chamber- the gazes darting between the dead body of the Senator, and the dying form of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Obi-Wan smiled, his eyes already dulling. "Master- I'm sorry." He fell forward, but was caught by the arms of Qui-Gon Jinn. The Master supported the young man to the floor before bending over him, and resting his forehead on Obi-Wan's.
"Why, Obi-Wan." Rapidly dulling eyes focused once more on the Master, as a trembling hand came up to rest on his cheek.
"Couldn't… stand the thought…" Obi-Wan's hand fell back onto his chest, his eyes closing for the last time.
A cry of anguish and denial escaped the Jedi Master, as he held the limp body of his Padawan- his son, close.
The Force cried out, in a way that all Jedi- no matter the distance from the temple- felt it.
The one of the light had died.
Master Yoda hobbled forward- his eyes somber. He rest a gentle hand on Qui-Gon's shoulder.
"Save us, he did."
Qui-Gon didn't acknowledge the Master, too great was his grief.
"A sacrifice, made it had to be. In return- life was given. And darkness- fall it will not."
Qui-Gon stood, Obi-Wan gathered in his arms. "How is he to be remembered Master? For his purity- or his darkness?"
Yoda turned, looking at the body Qui-Gon clasped in his arms. "The purest he was. Died in the light he did." A pause.
"Died to save all."
-Finis-
And so it ends... I'd like to thank you all of you for reviewing, even if you never read the last part. Your reviews are the highlight of my day, and I can't thank you enough for how fantastic they continuet to be.
May the Force be with you!
-sheleigh
any comments, questions, or generally want to talk, please check my contact info in my profile.