Obi-Wan Kenobi was much different from anything Anakin had expected. The tall, slim man was unbelievably calm and collected, waiting for the young boy to speak. Anakin had been awaiting a dishelved, delirious individual in the deep forests of Dagobah.
Instead he had found an eerily calm young man, whom Anakin could sense had great power. When Obi-Wan had taken the lightsabre from him, he felt Obi-Wan's touch in his mind, and Anakin saw a glimpse into this ex-Jedi's head.
What he found was incredible. The raw power contained inside there was enough to frighten Anakin away. He knew at that moment, if Obi-Wan had wished it, he would have been dead before his feet had landed on the planet's soil.
The two of them stood in silence, both studying each other, until Obi-Wan spoke.
"Why have you come here?"
Anakin grew confused. Didn't he know? "To bring you back to the Temple! We know that you are innocent!"
Obi-Wan cocked his head to one side, like an overgrown bird. "What if I do not wish to return?"
At this, Anakin was even more puzzled. "You don't want to come back? Even though we know you're innocent?"
"Why would I return to place from which I was banished from? They obviously do not want me there." Obi-Wan replied, still the picture of calm.
The young Padawan was becoming unnerved. What sort of mind games was Obi-Wan playing? "But we've found you innocent!" Anakin exclaimed, "You don't have to stay here anymore!"
The older man began to walk towards where Anakin had come from. "And why would I want to go where I would be ridiculed and whispered about? I am quite content to stay here and become a myth."
Obi-Wan continued to walk, and Anakin followed behind. This man was very intriguing, thought Anakin to himself.
"Won't you at least speak to my Master?" Anakin asked softly.
Obi-Wan stopped abruptly, and the young apprentice felt waves of discomfort streaming from him in the Force. There were still unresolved issues there.
"Very well." Obi-Wan said after a small pause.
They walked off into the fog in silence, heading for the ship, and Qui-Gon.
*_______________________*
Qui-Gon had started to return to the ship after a small period of time, opting to contact Anakin from there.
From still a small distance away, he felt a wave of surprise come over his Padawan through their training bond. He waited a moment for Anakin to contact him, but nothing came.
Alarm overcame Qui-Gon. His Padawan could be in trouble. Quickly, he started to jog back to the ship, hoping that his apprentice would meet him there.
After what seemed an eternity, he could see the ship's outline in the fog ahead. He breathed a sigh of relief, and slowed down as he approached.
He saw his Padawan waiting by the entrance to the ship, but someone else was with him... someone familiar.
A gasp escaped his lips: it was Obi-Wan. He had changed, of course, in the nine years since he had last seen him. He had grown taller, and his hair was quite a bit longer. His facial features had matured, but they still held the boyish good looks that he had been so envied for.
But there also was a new hardness there, and something in those grey-blue eyes. Almost a decade of living on a swamp planet had surely changed this once Jedi, for better or for worse.
"Obi-Wan?!" he exclaimed softly, moving closer to the young man.
A sad smile crawled onto Obi-Wan's lips, and he nodded. "Yes, it is me."
Anakin stood uncomfortably to one side, not wanting to interfere in what was obviously an emotional meeting between the ex-Padawan and Master.
Long moments passed between them, in what Anakin assumed was a telepathic exchange. It wasn't until Qui-Gon spoke that Anakin was aware of the time passed.
"Why won't you come back to the Temple?"
Obi-Wan sighed, and looked his old Master in the eye. "What would I return there for? To be trained again? To become a worker? No, I would rather stay here and not have to face the stigma of a crime I did not commit."
"We would help you Obi-Wan, we could reunite you path with the Jedi. It is not too late!"
Anger sprang to Obi-Wan's voice, something that would have not happened to a Jedi Knight. "It was too late the moment you believed the Council and let me be banished to this planet! It was too late in the moment they found me guilty of violating Meldara! I thought that you knew me better than that! I would have never hurt Meldara! Ever!" Obi-Wan's rage-fuelled rant was then finished, and the aura of calm returned around him.
Qui-Gon took this all in, having expected this from the moment he had set foot on Dagobah. But the words still stung, awakening the dormant feelings of guilt in his heart.
"I am sorry, Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan did not meet Qui-Gon's eyes. "Sorry will not bring back my life. And what I do not understand if is that I was accused of raping Meldara, why did you not just test her child, if he was supposed to be my son?"
"King Renon would not permit us to see him." Qui-Gon answered softly, knowing that it would not change anything.
"Then wouldn't that have sparked interest within the council? Or was I not worth the trouble?" With these words Obi-Wan started to walk back to where he had come from, back into the forest.
"Obi-Wan... wait. Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon called after the young man in vain.
A heavy feeling settled over him once again, and he pondered what he would do next.
*Next chapter should be up in a few days.*
