CHAPTER 16: THREE'S A CHARM
Qui-Gon led the way down the hall to the room that contained the cave. Obi-Wan seemed to drag his feet. His conversation with Bruck was on his mind. He replayed it in his mind dozens of times and each time he thought of something he should have said differently. He chided himself, he must put it out of his mind and focus on the task at hand.
"Hey, are you all right?" Qui-Gon asked, noticing his friend's uneasy feeling.
"Yes, quite. Just nervous, is all." Obi-Wan answered.
Qui-Gon nodded and the two continued to walk. They turned a corner and saw a large group of Jedi gathered around the door of the room containing the cave. Siri was emerging from the room with a melancholy look on her face. Yoda followed her out and shut the door behind her. Mace gave Yoda an inquisitive glance. Yoda nodded, signifying she passed, she was strong enough in the force to face her demons.
Each of the Jedi standing around offered their congratulations. Siri didn't crack a smile, she still seemed startled by what she had seen. The Jedi masters gave her sympathetic looks as if they knew what she had been through.
"Well, Obi-Wan, are you ready?" Mace asked and the sea of Jedi seemed to part to make way for him.
"Sure." Obi-Wan said putting on a fake mask of courage.
He made his way to the door, which Mace opened for him. He stepped inside and Yoda followed. The door shut behind them and Obi-Wan saw nothing in the room but a large, hollow duracrete slab with a hole in front in the corner of the room.
Obi-Wan shot Yoda a "that's it?" glance.
"Know you better than any one that matter appearances do not." Yoda said, as if reading his mind. "In you must go."
"Alright." Obi-Wan said. The fear he felt before was now all but gone, he now felt a surge of confidence as he headed toward the completely unintimidating "cave." His lack of fear for the cave would diminish once inside.
**
Siri Tachi sat alone in the room of a thousand fountains by herself. She sat near the lake and the rock wall, located in the back corner of the room, for this was her spot. She was reflecting on the task she just completed. She had passed the trials and in a matter of hours she would officially be named a Jedi Knight. By tomorrow, her padawan braid would be cut off by her master Adi Gallia. She should be proud.
She was proud, but she didn't feel like celebrating. Her vision in the cave had shaken her so deeply, she wasn't sure how to feel. She knew it wasn't real, she knew it was nothing more than an overwhelming vision, but it seemed real. What frightened her the most was not that it felt like it was happening but rather the fear that it could happen.
From what she had been told, while the visions projected in the cave are often startling in their own right they are not meant to leave the beholder with fear, but rather to startle them into understanding something about themselves.
Her vision was eerie, she remembered it vividly, Xanatos was in pain, and no matter what she did she could not ease his suffering. But what did it mean? Did it mean that her feelings for Xanatos would eventually bring him pain? Did it mean their relationship would lead him to the darkside? The vision was supposed to make her understand, instead it just confused her more.
"Hello, Siri." A familiar voice said, breaking her thought. Siri turned with a start to see Bruck Chun standing over her. "What's the matter?" The intruder inquired. "Didn't you notice me in here?"
"No, I suppose I didn't." Siri said in an apologetic manner as she stood to face him.
"Well, I always notice you." Bruck said, now stepping uncomfortably close to her. "No matter where you are, I've always got my eye on you."
"What did you say?" Siri said taking a large step back.
"What is it your hiding Siri Tachi? What is it you think about as you cry yourself to sleep at night? Why are you so ashamed?" Bruck asked softly and once again closed the gap between them.
"I have no idea what your talking about." Siri, declared and took another step back into water. Bruck had cornered her between the rock-wall and the lake.
"Of course you do. Your dreams have been dark lately." Bruck said, taking another step toward her.
"What would you know of my dreams?" Siri said now trying to stick up to him in her emotional state.
"Like I said, I've always got my eye on you." He said with a smile that made her shudder. "It's hard to keep up a mental block while your sleeping isn't it." At that comment Siri felt like she was going to vomit, he had actually watched her sleep.
"I know your nightmares and I know your dreams, and I know that Xanatos could never make your dreams come true. But I could." Bruck continued as he leaned in to kiss Siri, only to be slapped across the face. "There is much fire in you Siri-I like that in a woman."
Bruck reached out to grab her by the arms, Siri was ready to fight him off when they heard a familiar voice.
"Siri?" Xanatos was calling. "Are you in here?" At the sound of Xanatos' voice, Bruck immediately backed away from Siri.
"Over here." Siri called, relived he had come to her aid.
"Oh, there you are." Xanatos said finally getting into the corner of the room they were in. "I've been looking all over for you. - - Bruck? What are you doing here?"
"Xanatos!" Bruck declared with fake enthusiasm but genuine surprise. "Why Siri and I were just talking about you."
"Were you?" Xanatos gave Siri an inquisitive glance.
"Among other things." She said giving Bruck an icy stare.
"Well I'd better leave you two alone." Bruck declared and then practically ran from the room.
"What was that about?" Xanatos wondered.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Siri said in an authoritative tone.
"You know I like that your independent and all but you could let me be the tough-guy every now and then. After all I am the guy and while I know that women can be equally tough I'm afraid I am coming off as a bit of a priss." Xanatos said in his usual joking manner.
"You're not a priss." Siri said, smiling for the first time in hours. Xanatos could always cheer her up.
"Well, I know I'm not, and you know I'm not, but beings are starting to talk." Xanatos said, moving closer to her.
"Let them talk." Siri said, embracing him in a deep kiss.
**
Anakin and Qui-Gon stood outside the cave room, along with several other Jedi, awaiting Obi-Wan's completion. Obi-Wan was the last one to take the trial and ordinarily the crowd would have dispersed a great deal but this year the crowd was as large as it was for the first padawan.
All were anxious to see if Obi-Wan would pass. Qui-Gon was the most anxious, but as a veteran Jedi Master he had learned a great deal of patience. Time neither went fast nor slow for him, it just was. For Anakin Skywalker on the other hand, time went slower than a bantha after feeding.
"How much longer?" Anakin whispered to Qui-Gon.
"Patience, padawan. No one knows how long it will take. The experience is different for each being." Qui-Gon explained.
"Well I hope Obi-Wan's is on the short side." Anakin said after a long sigh.
The crowd was talking quietly amongst itself. Qui-Gon wanted to speak to Anakin and he figured now was as good a time as any. He crouched down until he was eye to eye with the boy.
"Anakin, you like Obi-Wan, right?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Yeah." The boy said with no hesitation. "Even though he's taking a long time. Still, I won't hold that against him."
Qui-Gon chuckled at that last remark. "No, Ani. I mean you get along with him, right? During this last week when he gave you some saber pointers, did you enjoy your time together?"
"Sure, Obi-Wan's a lot of fun. At first I thought he was creepy, but now he's alright. He's kind of like a big brother or a close neighbor or something." Anakin said, not quite sure how to describe him.
"How would you like it if he were your master?" Qui-Gon inquired, getting right to the point.
"You don't want me anymore?!" The boy asked, appalled.
"No, of course I do." Qui-Gon reassured. "What I meant was: do you think Obi-Wan would make a good master?" It's not what he had meant, but he hadn't expected the boy to take it so harshly.
"Oh. Well, I guess so." The boy said obviously buying the cover-up.
"Me too." Qui-Gon said.
Before another word was spoken between them, Obi-Wan emerged from the room followed by Yoda. The crowd went silent and watched Master Yoda in anticipation of his answer. Mace once again looked at Yoda inquisitively, and once again Yoda nodded.
It was a rare sight to see an outburst from Jedi Knights, yet in this instance, many let out a small gasp, which for a Jedi was quite an outburst. Nearly all of the beings crowded in the hallway, began to congratulate him. Finally, Qui-Gon and Anakin made their way to the front of the crowd and offered their congratulations.
"What did you see?" A curious Anakin asked.
"I have not the heart to tell you young one." Obi-Wan said with a somber look on his face.
"Oh, please?" Anakin begged.
"I'll tell you what I saw, after you take the trials and tell me what you saw." Obi-Wan offered.
"Alright." Anakin said with disappointment in his voice. Sometimes it was hard being young.
The crowd dispersed and went their separate ways Obi-Wan and Anakin decided to go get something to eat and Mace and Yoda headed off to take care of arrangements for the knighting ceremony this evening. Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan and Anakin he'd meet them in the dining hall later and hurried to catch up to Mace and Yoda.
The two Jedi masters noticed Qui-Gon trying to catch up so they turned and waited for him to do so. The three then headed down the hall together at a slow pace so Yoda could keep up.
"You need to speak with us Qui-Gon?" Mace asked getting right to the point.
"I have a favor to ask of you." Qui-Gon explained.
"Skywalker is your apprentice and Kenobi is about to be knighted. I believe you've used up your allotment of favors for the next millennia." Mace said in his usual dry tone.
"Not a favor but rather a question." Qui-Gon corrected.
"Two very different things those are, Qui-Gon. Make sure asking the right one you are." Yoda said.
"What is to become of Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon said, getting right to the point.
Yoda sighed deeply, he knew Qui-Gon too well. "Have something in mind you do. A favor it is after all."
"Lately I've had these strange feelings around him and Anakin." Qui-Gon got right to the point.
"Like they're meant to be a team. We too, have had similar feelings." Mace confessed.
"Then you know what I would ask?" Qui-Gon wondered.
"Wiling to give up your padawan are you?" Yoda asked.
"If it's what's best for him." Qui-Gon said, boldly.
"Two ways does an apprenticeship go. If master is willing to break the tie, apprentice too must also be willing. A promise to him you made. Willing to break this bond is your apprentice?" Yoda asked although he knew the answer.
"I don't know." Qui-Gon confessed.
"I'll be honest with you Qui-Gon, while I'm grateful to Obi-Wan for saving my life I still don't know if we can trust him with an apprentice. This is an odd situation there's no precedence for it." Mace added.
"What shall we do then? Ignore the urgings of the force?" Qui-Gon wondered.
"Thought about this for a while we did. When scheduled to take the trials, Kenobi was, plans did we begin to form in case pass he did." Yoda admitted.
"What did you decide?" Qui-Gon wondered eagerly.
"We had been thinking for many years of switching to a system where our Jedi teams would be threes instead of twos. A master, a knight and a padawan. We thought this would be a very efficient system, the padawan would be able to learn from two sources and if needed the knight could split from the group to investigate an aspect of a mission further." Mace explained.
"Turn down this idea we did. Limited our numbers are. Less missions it would mean." Yoda chimed in.
"So when we thought of what to do with Obi-Wan we thought of this system. He wouldn't be alone, so a master could keep him in check, and he'd have the benefits of being part of a team, it seemed ideal." Mace continued.
"So the council decided to place Obi-Wan with a master/padawan team in order to form an experimental team of three?" Qui-Gon wondered.
"Yes. A team Master Windu and I were to decide on." Yoda said.
"With these feelings we are having we think perhaps Obi-Wan should team with you and Anakin if you'll accept him." Mace said.
"Well I'll have to check with him and Anakin but I think it's a great idea." Qui-Gon confessed.
"Thought you would did we." Yoda said with a slight grin
"Thank you, Masters." Qui-Gon said and then headed down the hallway down toward the dining hall to talk with Anakin and Obi-Wan. Mace looked toward Yoda as their companion walked away.
"Are you sure about this?" Mace asked with doubt in his voice.
"A good feeling about this I have." Yoda said with a smile.
***
Qui-Gon walked into the dining hall to see Obi-Wan and Anakin sitting among a large group of beings. They were talking and laughing and having a good time. Qui-Gon walked over to their table.
"Hey, there you are. We got you a cup of muja tea, just in case they ran out before you got back." Obi-Wan said, handing Qui-Gon a cup.
"Thank you." Qui-Gon said, taking the cup. "Can I talk to you and Anakin?"
"Sure." Obi-Wan said. "Could you guys give us a minute?" At his request everyone else at the table moved to another table, and Qui-Gon took a seat.
"What's wrong?" Anakin asked.
"Nothing. I was just wondering what you guys would say to the three of us being a team." Qui-Gon said with a smile.
"Well, I'm pretty good but last I checked, you need six people for a blachha-ball team." Obi-Wan said jokingly.
"No, not a blachha-ball team." Qui-Gon said with a chuckle.
"Would you mind explaining or is this one of those things we'll be wondering about for a while." Obi-Wan asked.
Qui-Gon explained the situation and Anakin and Obi-Wan enthusiastically agreed. The three made a pact to be a team. Why not? The rest of the order was watching them anyway.
Qui-Gon led the way down the hall to the room that contained the cave. Obi-Wan seemed to drag his feet. His conversation with Bruck was on his mind. He replayed it in his mind dozens of times and each time he thought of something he should have said differently. He chided himself, he must put it out of his mind and focus on the task at hand.
"Hey, are you all right?" Qui-Gon asked, noticing his friend's uneasy feeling.
"Yes, quite. Just nervous, is all." Obi-Wan answered.
Qui-Gon nodded and the two continued to walk. They turned a corner and saw a large group of Jedi gathered around the door of the room containing the cave. Siri was emerging from the room with a melancholy look on her face. Yoda followed her out and shut the door behind her. Mace gave Yoda an inquisitive glance. Yoda nodded, signifying she passed, she was strong enough in the force to face her demons.
Each of the Jedi standing around offered their congratulations. Siri didn't crack a smile, she still seemed startled by what she had seen. The Jedi masters gave her sympathetic looks as if they knew what she had been through.
"Well, Obi-Wan, are you ready?" Mace asked and the sea of Jedi seemed to part to make way for him.
"Sure." Obi-Wan said putting on a fake mask of courage.
He made his way to the door, which Mace opened for him. He stepped inside and Yoda followed. The door shut behind them and Obi-Wan saw nothing in the room but a large, hollow duracrete slab with a hole in front in the corner of the room.
Obi-Wan shot Yoda a "that's it?" glance.
"Know you better than any one that matter appearances do not." Yoda said, as if reading his mind. "In you must go."
"Alright." Obi-Wan said. The fear he felt before was now all but gone, he now felt a surge of confidence as he headed toward the completely unintimidating "cave." His lack of fear for the cave would diminish once inside.
**
Siri Tachi sat alone in the room of a thousand fountains by herself. She sat near the lake and the rock wall, located in the back corner of the room, for this was her spot. She was reflecting on the task she just completed. She had passed the trials and in a matter of hours she would officially be named a Jedi Knight. By tomorrow, her padawan braid would be cut off by her master Adi Gallia. She should be proud.
She was proud, but she didn't feel like celebrating. Her vision in the cave had shaken her so deeply, she wasn't sure how to feel. She knew it wasn't real, she knew it was nothing more than an overwhelming vision, but it seemed real. What frightened her the most was not that it felt like it was happening but rather the fear that it could happen.
From what she had been told, while the visions projected in the cave are often startling in their own right they are not meant to leave the beholder with fear, but rather to startle them into understanding something about themselves.
Her vision was eerie, she remembered it vividly, Xanatos was in pain, and no matter what she did she could not ease his suffering. But what did it mean? Did it mean that her feelings for Xanatos would eventually bring him pain? Did it mean their relationship would lead him to the darkside? The vision was supposed to make her understand, instead it just confused her more.
"Hello, Siri." A familiar voice said, breaking her thought. Siri turned with a start to see Bruck Chun standing over her. "What's the matter?" The intruder inquired. "Didn't you notice me in here?"
"No, I suppose I didn't." Siri said in an apologetic manner as she stood to face him.
"Well, I always notice you." Bruck said, now stepping uncomfortably close to her. "No matter where you are, I've always got my eye on you."
"What did you say?" Siri said taking a large step back.
"What is it your hiding Siri Tachi? What is it you think about as you cry yourself to sleep at night? Why are you so ashamed?" Bruck asked softly and once again closed the gap between them.
"I have no idea what your talking about." Siri, declared and took another step back into water. Bruck had cornered her between the rock-wall and the lake.
"Of course you do. Your dreams have been dark lately." Bruck said, taking another step toward her.
"What would you know of my dreams?" Siri said now trying to stick up to him in her emotional state.
"Like I said, I've always got my eye on you." He said with a smile that made her shudder. "It's hard to keep up a mental block while your sleeping isn't it." At that comment Siri felt like she was going to vomit, he had actually watched her sleep.
"I know your nightmares and I know your dreams, and I know that Xanatos could never make your dreams come true. But I could." Bruck continued as he leaned in to kiss Siri, only to be slapped across the face. "There is much fire in you Siri-I like that in a woman."
Bruck reached out to grab her by the arms, Siri was ready to fight him off when they heard a familiar voice.
"Siri?" Xanatos was calling. "Are you in here?" At the sound of Xanatos' voice, Bruck immediately backed away from Siri.
"Over here." Siri called, relived he had come to her aid.
"Oh, there you are." Xanatos said finally getting into the corner of the room they were in. "I've been looking all over for you. - - Bruck? What are you doing here?"
"Xanatos!" Bruck declared with fake enthusiasm but genuine surprise. "Why Siri and I were just talking about you."
"Were you?" Xanatos gave Siri an inquisitive glance.
"Among other things." She said giving Bruck an icy stare.
"Well I'd better leave you two alone." Bruck declared and then practically ran from the room.
"What was that about?" Xanatos wondered.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Siri said in an authoritative tone.
"You know I like that your independent and all but you could let me be the tough-guy every now and then. After all I am the guy and while I know that women can be equally tough I'm afraid I am coming off as a bit of a priss." Xanatos said in his usual joking manner.
"You're not a priss." Siri said, smiling for the first time in hours. Xanatos could always cheer her up.
"Well, I know I'm not, and you know I'm not, but beings are starting to talk." Xanatos said, moving closer to her.
"Let them talk." Siri said, embracing him in a deep kiss.
**
Anakin and Qui-Gon stood outside the cave room, along with several other Jedi, awaiting Obi-Wan's completion. Obi-Wan was the last one to take the trial and ordinarily the crowd would have dispersed a great deal but this year the crowd was as large as it was for the first padawan.
All were anxious to see if Obi-Wan would pass. Qui-Gon was the most anxious, but as a veteran Jedi Master he had learned a great deal of patience. Time neither went fast nor slow for him, it just was. For Anakin Skywalker on the other hand, time went slower than a bantha after feeding.
"How much longer?" Anakin whispered to Qui-Gon.
"Patience, padawan. No one knows how long it will take. The experience is different for each being." Qui-Gon explained.
"Well I hope Obi-Wan's is on the short side." Anakin said after a long sigh.
The crowd was talking quietly amongst itself. Qui-Gon wanted to speak to Anakin and he figured now was as good a time as any. He crouched down until he was eye to eye with the boy.
"Anakin, you like Obi-Wan, right?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Yeah." The boy said with no hesitation. "Even though he's taking a long time. Still, I won't hold that against him."
Qui-Gon chuckled at that last remark. "No, Ani. I mean you get along with him, right? During this last week when he gave you some saber pointers, did you enjoy your time together?"
"Sure, Obi-Wan's a lot of fun. At first I thought he was creepy, but now he's alright. He's kind of like a big brother or a close neighbor or something." Anakin said, not quite sure how to describe him.
"How would you like it if he were your master?" Qui-Gon inquired, getting right to the point.
"You don't want me anymore?!" The boy asked, appalled.
"No, of course I do." Qui-Gon reassured. "What I meant was: do you think Obi-Wan would make a good master?" It's not what he had meant, but he hadn't expected the boy to take it so harshly.
"Oh. Well, I guess so." The boy said obviously buying the cover-up.
"Me too." Qui-Gon said.
Before another word was spoken between them, Obi-Wan emerged from the room followed by Yoda. The crowd went silent and watched Master Yoda in anticipation of his answer. Mace once again looked at Yoda inquisitively, and once again Yoda nodded.
It was a rare sight to see an outburst from Jedi Knights, yet in this instance, many let out a small gasp, which for a Jedi was quite an outburst. Nearly all of the beings crowded in the hallway, began to congratulate him. Finally, Qui-Gon and Anakin made their way to the front of the crowd and offered their congratulations.
"What did you see?" A curious Anakin asked.
"I have not the heart to tell you young one." Obi-Wan said with a somber look on his face.
"Oh, please?" Anakin begged.
"I'll tell you what I saw, after you take the trials and tell me what you saw." Obi-Wan offered.
"Alright." Anakin said with disappointment in his voice. Sometimes it was hard being young.
The crowd dispersed and went their separate ways Obi-Wan and Anakin decided to go get something to eat and Mace and Yoda headed off to take care of arrangements for the knighting ceremony this evening. Qui-Gon told Obi-Wan and Anakin he'd meet them in the dining hall later and hurried to catch up to Mace and Yoda.
The two Jedi masters noticed Qui-Gon trying to catch up so they turned and waited for him to do so. The three then headed down the hall together at a slow pace so Yoda could keep up.
"You need to speak with us Qui-Gon?" Mace asked getting right to the point.
"I have a favor to ask of you." Qui-Gon explained.
"Skywalker is your apprentice and Kenobi is about to be knighted. I believe you've used up your allotment of favors for the next millennia." Mace said in his usual dry tone.
"Not a favor but rather a question." Qui-Gon corrected.
"Two very different things those are, Qui-Gon. Make sure asking the right one you are." Yoda said.
"What is to become of Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon said, getting right to the point.
Yoda sighed deeply, he knew Qui-Gon too well. "Have something in mind you do. A favor it is after all."
"Lately I've had these strange feelings around him and Anakin." Qui-Gon got right to the point.
"Like they're meant to be a team. We too, have had similar feelings." Mace confessed.
"Then you know what I would ask?" Qui-Gon wondered.
"Wiling to give up your padawan are you?" Yoda asked.
"If it's what's best for him." Qui-Gon said, boldly.
"Two ways does an apprenticeship go. If master is willing to break the tie, apprentice too must also be willing. A promise to him you made. Willing to break this bond is your apprentice?" Yoda asked although he knew the answer.
"I don't know." Qui-Gon confessed.
"I'll be honest with you Qui-Gon, while I'm grateful to Obi-Wan for saving my life I still don't know if we can trust him with an apprentice. This is an odd situation there's no precedence for it." Mace added.
"What shall we do then? Ignore the urgings of the force?" Qui-Gon wondered.
"Thought about this for a while we did. When scheduled to take the trials, Kenobi was, plans did we begin to form in case pass he did." Yoda admitted.
"What did you decide?" Qui-Gon wondered eagerly.
"We had been thinking for many years of switching to a system where our Jedi teams would be threes instead of twos. A master, a knight and a padawan. We thought this would be a very efficient system, the padawan would be able to learn from two sources and if needed the knight could split from the group to investigate an aspect of a mission further." Mace explained.
"Turn down this idea we did. Limited our numbers are. Less missions it would mean." Yoda chimed in.
"So when we thought of what to do with Obi-Wan we thought of this system. He wouldn't be alone, so a master could keep him in check, and he'd have the benefits of being part of a team, it seemed ideal." Mace continued.
"So the council decided to place Obi-Wan with a master/padawan team in order to form an experimental team of three?" Qui-Gon wondered.
"Yes. A team Master Windu and I were to decide on." Yoda said.
"With these feelings we are having we think perhaps Obi-Wan should team with you and Anakin if you'll accept him." Mace said.
"Well I'll have to check with him and Anakin but I think it's a great idea." Qui-Gon confessed.
"Thought you would did we." Yoda said with a slight grin
"Thank you, Masters." Qui-Gon said and then headed down the hallway down toward the dining hall to talk with Anakin and Obi-Wan. Mace looked toward Yoda as their companion walked away.
"Are you sure about this?" Mace asked with doubt in his voice.
"A good feeling about this I have." Yoda said with a smile.
***
Qui-Gon walked into the dining hall to see Obi-Wan and Anakin sitting among a large group of beings. They were talking and laughing and having a good time. Qui-Gon walked over to their table.
"Hey, there you are. We got you a cup of muja tea, just in case they ran out before you got back." Obi-Wan said, handing Qui-Gon a cup.
"Thank you." Qui-Gon said, taking the cup. "Can I talk to you and Anakin?"
"Sure." Obi-Wan said. "Could you guys give us a minute?" At his request everyone else at the table moved to another table, and Qui-Gon took a seat.
"What's wrong?" Anakin asked.
"Nothing. I was just wondering what you guys would say to the three of us being a team." Qui-Gon said with a smile.
"Well, I'm pretty good but last I checked, you need six people for a blachha-ball team." Obi-Wan said jokingly.
"No, not a blachha-ball team." Qui-Gon said with a chuckle.
"Would you mind explaining or is this one of those things we'll be wondering about for a while." Obi-Wan asked.
Qui-Gon explained the situation and Anakin and Obi-Wan enthusiastically agreed. The three made a pact to be a team. Why not? The rest of the order was watching them anyway.