Obi-Wan stared at Siri for a long moment. His mind was still having trouble making sense of everything that had brought him to this point thus far but now he was completely dumbfounded. Had he heard her correctly? His Master was dead? How had it happened? How could Siri just sit there and tell him this devastating news like it was common knowledge and that he should have been completely aware of it? He closed his eyes and reached out to the bond that he shared with Qui-Gon. Relief flowed through him as he felt the strong presence, so familiar and comforting. Qui-Gon was alive and well. What was Siri talking about?
A small smile formed on Obi-Wan's lips as a thought came to his mind. This had to be some kind of joke. Siri must have wanted to get back at him for earlier. Though telling him that his Master was dead was a bit on the extreme side. He chuckled slightly, "You have a very morbid sense of humor, Siri. Now where is Master Qui-Gon?"
He had expected annoyance or even slight anger at the most but her expression didn't deter from that of confusion. "Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon is dead. He's been dead for nearly three years now. You know this."
"Three years?" He said the words mostly to himself. "That's not possible…"
"It's very possible, Obi-Wan." Siri interjected, still giving him a look like he was the one here who was speaking nonsense. "I thought you had gotten past the denial stage by now."
Obi-Wan didn't respond. What could he say to all this? Ignoring the protest from his body, he gritted his teeth and forced himself to sit up. He raised his hand at Siri when she looked like she was about to tell him to lay back down. When she conceded to his request and leaned back in the chair she was seated at, he took his hand and placed it on the back of his neck, trying to rub out some of the soreness. Qui-Gon is dead. He tried the sound of the phrase in his head. It sounded wrong. Like it should have been impossible to use those words in that order in a sentence. If Qui-Gon was truly dead then why could he still feel his Master's signature through the force? He admitted that it felt slightly distorted but he contributed that to the fact that he wasn't in his top form at the moment.
He looked over at Siri. She meet his gaze, the look in her eyes reflecting her deep concern and even slight wariness. She seemed different then how he remembered her being just the other day when she arrived at the Foundation Day Celebration. She was somewhat hostile towards him, defensive, they always seemed to be in some kind of unspoken competition. The Siri that sat before him now didn't fit that profile. She looked older. Not in the terms of age and years but in demeanor. Her eyes reflected experiences that she was better off not seeing yet. He wondered what had happened and why he had never noticed that before. Maybe she was just really good at hiding it under her usual bravado. Her concern for his well being was giving her away.
His gaze broke with hers as two new figures entered the room in the Infirmary. The first one he recognized as Master Healer Terah Galen, a healer he had become acquainted with on his many visits to the Infirmary. She was a good healer, dedicated to her work and patients but at the same time her dedication seemed a little too much. There was a joke among the Padawans that said being in Healer Terah's care was about the same as being held captive by the forces that had caused you to end up in the Infirmary in the first place. She smiled at him now as she entered the room. He was sometimes surprised at how she could still see the brighter side of things given all the atrocities that sometimes would come through this place. When he had questioned her on it, Healer Terah laughed saying that she had learned a long time ago that to keep her sanity in this kind of work she had to learn to separate herself from it. If she bleed for one of them then she would bleed for them all and just end up losing herself. Her logic was sound. He supposed he should have learned to do the same.
"It's good to see you back among the living, Padawan Kenobi." She came around the bed to the opposite side of where Siri sat. Taking out a small light, she shown it in one of his eyes then the other. "How do you feel?"
Obi-Wan blinked as she took the light away from his eyes, "Like I fell from one of the skyscrapers in the city."
Terah chuckled slightly, not realizing how true the statement was. "Well, besides a few bumps and bruises you are lucky I think. You would have been lying in the streets for who knows how long unless that man hadn't sent word to the temple that he found you."
"What man?" Obi-Wan asked, stirrings of hope entered his chest at the thought that maybe someone had seen what had happened and could set him straight on the matter.
"He was hesitant to give us a name. Just told us where you were and that a group of hooligans had jumped you." Terah stated as she preformed a few more check ups on him.
Once she was satisfied by what she saw, she straightened and looked at the figure who had arrived with her that still stood in the doorway. "He looks good, Master Crion."
Obi-Wan gave a start at that name. Crion? No…it couldn't be who he thought it was. Slowly his gaze moved over to the door way and sure enough saw Xanatos standing there. He took the man in with one glance. The neatly trimmed goatee and shoulder length ebony hair, the ice blue eyes, Jedi robes. He didn't give off the same feel that Obi-Wan remembered but it was undoubtedly the same man. The memories of Xanatos that he had from the few encounters the two had flashed in his mind. The final one being of Xanatos jumping into the acid pit on Telos, ending his own life. There was no way that he could have survived that acid pool, not without serious injuries and permanent scaring. Of course all things considered Obi-Wan himself shouldn't have been alive.
Xanatos stepped away from the doorway and walked further into the room, toward Obi-Wan. His look was serene but the relief in his eyes was clear. "You gave us quite a scare, Padawan. Took several years off my life I'm sure."
Obi-Wan began to unintentionally slide himself over to one side of the bed trying to keep as much distance between himself and this man that had tried to kill Qui-Gon and himself on several occasions. "I'm not your padawan…Master Qui-Gon Jinn is my master." Siri looked over to Xanatos, she wasn't too surprised by his reaction. Xanatos gave him a look of confusion and Obi-Wan could have sworn that he saw a small amount of pity too. Obi-Wan didn't think about it too much though. His breath began to come out of him more raggedly as panic began to seize him. He had no idea what was happening in it was really starting to freak him out. He continued to move over the bed. Unfortunately the beds in the infirmary weren't the biggest and before long he found himself going over the edge of it head first. The last thing he remembered before the world went black again was Healer Terah kneeling down beside him and Xanatos coming around the bed to his other side.
***
Master Qui-Gon Jinn paced the length of the common rooms in his quarters, anxiously awaiting news on his padawan. In the apartment with him were Master Adi and her Padawan Siri. The two female Jedi had changed back into their more familiar Jedi robes, much to Siri's pleasure. She had started getting a headache from tight buns that had covered her head. It had taken her master and another knight an hour to put it up like that. It had taken her 5 minutes to take it down. Qui-Gon supposed that to the two Jedi observing him, he was acting in a very un-Jedi like way but he was unconcerned about that at the moment. Right now the only thoughts that dominated his mind was that of his own Padawan. The early morning sunshine was already starting to filter into the room of the apartment and they had yet to locate Obi-Wan.
Qui-Gon stopped and closed his eyes briefly as the memory of Obi-Wan going over the edge of the railing with the man they had been pursuing replayed itself in his mind. The memory brought back the feelings of shock, grief and anger that he had felt when he watched his padawan fall to his certain death. He cursed himself for not moving quick enough to get a hold of Obi-Wan before he went over.
When he went down to look for the body, there no sign of his padawan or the man he had fallen with. Qui-Gon had reached out with the force to see if he could still feel the boy's life force. It was a long shot that he had survived the fall but until Qui-Gon had solid proof of his Padawan's untimely demise he would not accept it as the truth. He feel the boy's life force but it was a little weak and hard to read. He wouldn't be able to follow it to the boy's signature to his location and with no leads what so ever he had no choice but to wait.
"He could have been caught by one of the cloud cars on the way down." Qui-Gon said, unable to take the silence anymore.
"We would have heard something by now if that were the case." Adi replied. He had his back to them, looking out the window at the scene of Coruscant and the rising sun. He didn't want to see the pity in their eyes she guessed. She knew he didn't want their pity but she couldn't help it. He had already lost Tahl, the woman who meant so much to him that he nearly turned to the dark side because of her death. Loosing Obi-Wan would not help things any. Qui-Gon was a good man. Better then most. He dedicated his life to helping complete strangers, sometimes risking his life for them. He believed undoubtedly in a higher power and deserved better then what fate had dealt him thus far.
The Master Jed was about to speak again, to try and give her friend some comfort but she was cut off as the front door open. All three of them turned their attention to the door as a new person entered the room. He let the door close behind him with a hushed whoosh sound and stood there as the three Jedi in the room stared at him stunned.
Qui-Gon stared at the young man standing by the door. He could barely believe it. "Obi-Wan…"