Title: Promise me you'll train the boy

Author: ewan's girl

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story so far. I make no money off my fun.

***********

Chapter 2: Therapy session

Siri left the arena and headed straight for the nearest turbo lift. Her head was swimming with all the news she had just been told by her friends, and she felt bad about her choice of weapon in the duel. She then chastised herself for feeling that way, she had no idea about the weapon or the effect it would have on her opponent.

She exited the lift on the sixth floor of the Temple, which was home to double apartments for master/padawan teams. Siri had lived with her master for years on this floor, but she hadn't stepped foot on this side of the Temple for 2 years now. She rounded a very familiar corner and came to a stop at one of the many steel doors. She took in a calming breath as she stared at the door plate which read 'Kenobi/Skywalker', she then remembered how just a year ago it had read 'Jinn/Kenobi'.

She softly knocked on the door.

She waited for an answer, but none came. She then rang the door chime, and still no answer. She huffed in frustration. "Come on Kenobi, open up!" She called through the thick door. "I know you're in there, I can sense your presence." She listened for a response and grew more frustrated when none came. "Stop acting like a child and open up!" She knocked louder on the door. She then closed her eyes and listened to the force to see if she could figure out what Obi Wan was doing. "Don't make me break in Obi Wan, I did live like a pirate for almost a year you know." She continued to speak through the door while she tried to sense her friend through the force.

He was blocking everyone from his thoughts she could tell, but she sensed a very deep rooted pain emulating from within the apartment. She then sensed very dark thoughts. Her eyes snapped open and she grew concerned. "No." She softly stated to herself. She then ripped the panel casing on the door mechanism and began to work on the wires. "Obi Wan!" She called through the door. "Don't do something stupid." She finally hotwired the door and it opened.

She rushed inside, very worried to what she would find but all she found was an empty living room and kitchen. She began to search the apartment, frantically. "Obi Wan?" She called out. She found no sign of him in his room or Anakin's. In her frantic state she didn't even notice the door to the freshener open. She turned and was startled when she saw the figure emerge out the door.

"Siri?" A dripping wet, dressed only in a towel around his waist Obi Wan asked, confused.

Siri found herself panting, and she calmed herself down. "Why didn't you answer your door?" She asked with a smack to his arm.

Obi Wan looked at her with great confusion. "I was in the shower." He simply answered.

Siri suddenly realized what the knight was wearing, or rather what he wasn't wearing. She raised an eyebrow and tried not to stare at his toned body and his slicked back hair, but found she couldn't resist. "I noticed. . . sorry." She lamely said after a moment.

He took a second towel and ran it through his hair, making it lay wildly about his face. "So to what honor do I hold for this visit master Tachi?" He asked finally.

She broke out of her trance and came back to the reason she was there. "Well you left so suddenly, I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

He pretended to smile. "I'm fine, you didn't hurt me if that's what you're wondering." He said, and began to walk towards his room.

"No, I um. . ." She suddenly realized that she wasn't very good at this kind of thing, and that Bant probably should've come instead. "We um. . ." He stopped in front of his bed room doorway and looked back at her. "We know what today is." She blurted out.

Obi Wan rolled his eyes and walked into his room. "No you don't." He called from inside his room. "Because today is nothing." He returned after a moment wearing leggings and a loose fitting tunic, he leaned on the doorway waiting for a response.

Siri gave him a hard stare. "Don't." She said and crossed her arms over her chest. "I am not your apprentice, don't patronize me." She then went to the couch and sat down in a comfortable position. "I'm not leaving until we talk."

Obi Wan shook his head, clearly annoyed. "Siri, I'm not in the mood." He looked at her, and she made no motion to move. "Gods you're stubborn."

"I learned from the best." She said with a wink.

"Fine, you want a drink?" He asked, heading to the kitchen.

Siri nodded and watched him go to the kitchen. She then looked around the room. She noticed how cramped it seemed to be with the excess of mechanical parts laying in various corners. "I love what you've done with the place." She said sarcastically.

"Oh yes well I'm going for that sort of junk yard theme." He said, in his dry wit. "I hear it's all the rage now."

Siri rolled her eyes and shook her head. She then noticed a tall shelf containing various books and holo pics. She got up to take a closer look. She noticed several of Obi Wan and his late mentor, some of him and his friends (none with her she noticed), and a couple of him and a sandy haired boy. She picked one up as he returned to the room. "So this is the famous Anakin?" She asked, pointing to the picture.

Obi Wan handed her a drink and took a sip of his own. He looked at the picture. "Oh yes the bane of my existence." He once again pretended to smile, then took the picture out of her hands and placed it back in it's place. "So what does the council think of your new look?" He asked, trying to change the subject off of him.

Siri sat back down on the couch with a shrug. "I don't know, I sorta tuned them out when they were asking me about it." She took a sip of her drink and made a face. "Wow, this is strong."

He winked and took another sip of his. "You tuned out the council?" He went back to the topic. She nodded. "Since when do you not listen to the council?"

Siri chuckled. "I guess it's just a part of my new charming personality." She said with a gleam in her eye. She took another sip of the drink and put it on the table, knowing she couldn't handle much more of the potent alcohol taste. "So, what's new with you?" She asked, trying to turn the conversation back to him.

He shrugged. "Nothing."

She pressed the matter. "No missions?"

He shook his head. "No. Anakin isn't ready for a mission."

"I wasn't talking about Anakin." She looked at him. "I was talking about you." He held his gaze to the ground. "Bant and Garren told me that you haven't left the Temple since it happened."

"That's ridiculous, I've left the Temple." He became defensive.

"Trips to the Senate don't count." She cut him off. They sat in silence for a moment. "They said and I'll quote Garren that you've become hermit-like." She finally said.

He looked at her, she noticed a brief wave of anger go through his eyes. "I have just been busy raising an apprentice." He rose off the couch and continued. "Something none of you know about yet. I mean Bant and Garren are still padawans themselves."

She rose to her feet too. "Yes and don't you see that is the point Obi Wan. You were still an apprentice when you took on a padawan of your own!" She tried to calm herself down before she continued. "You need time to figure out what's it's like to be on your own, time to be yourself. . . time to heal."

"Heal from what?" He acted innocent.

"You know from what." She sharply answered. "If everything is fine then why do you still carry his light saber?" She asked, pointing to the weapon on the table.

He walked over to the shelf, keeping his back turned towards her. "What do you know about it?" He said with a slight raise in his voice.

"I know that it can't be easy for you, I know he meant so much to you." She slowly walked over to him. "I know he was like a father to you." She placed a hand on his shoulder.

He stiffened under her touch. "You know nothing Siri." He turned and looked at her, for a moment letting her see the pain that longed to be unleashed. "Because there's nothing to know." He moved away from her.

Siri huffed. "Why are you so hard headed? Why won't you just talk about it?"

"Why should I talk about it? Would it really make things better Siri?" Obi Wan asked, taking a last swig of his drink. "Would it bring him back?" He said under his breath.

"No, but it could help you release your feelings into the force." She said in a neutral tone. She noticed him close his eyes, trying to block her from his thoughts. "You have to let people in sometimes Obi Wan. Not everyone you care about will leave you like he did."

Obi Wan looked at her with a look in his eyes that almost scared her. "You can't promise that." He walked to the kitchen to return his glass. "Besides, the code says to not let your personal feelings get in the way."

"That's for when you have to chose duty over your opinions and feelings." She placed her hands on her hips. "You're taking that too literally. Besides the code is more like guidelines then actual rules." She chuckled.

Obi Wan walked up to her. "You have lived with pirates too long." He then walked past her, back to the living room.

"So you are just going to go through life not caring about anything or anyone?" She asked, appalled. "So the Obi Wan I knew is gone then, the man who took it personally when he saw injustices in the galaxy?" He didn't respond. "And what about your apprentice? Are you going to let him go through his training knowing that his master doesn't really care about him? That he's just a promise?"

"No!" He sharply stated. "But I won't coddle him either, I don't want him to go through what I went through. I don't want him to go through this pain, this emptiness when I die."

"You are not Qui Gon Jinn, your fate will not be his."

"Yes I know I'm not Qui Gon, I am reminded of that fact everyday." He slumped down onto the couch. "Everyone knows it should've been me that was killed, that Qui Gon is Anakin's rightful master."

"What?" She sat down next to him. "Is that what you think?"

"Why shouldn't I think it? Everyone else does." He turned away from her, and picked up Qui Gon's light saber. "I see it in their eyes, I hear them speak behind my back." He continued to roll the light saber between his hands. "I know some are even afraid of me."

"They're not afraid, they just don't understand." She ran a hand through his hair. "It's a scary thing to know the Sith returned after a thousand years, and you were the only one that survived facing the dark lord." She tried to get him to look at her. "Then there is the prophecy of the chosen one, and it's also centered around you. . . I think they don't know what to make of you."

"I know you all think I am too young to train him."

Siri nodded. "Yes that's true, I don't think it's fair that Qui Gon placed this burden on you."

"You're just like them, you don't believe in me." He looked her square in the eyes.

"No, I believe in you." She looked down at the ground. "I just don't it's fair to ask this of you."

They stared at each other for a moment. Obi Wan then broke the silence. "You really want to know what happened?" She looked at him. "You want to understand?" She slowly nodded.

Obi Wan placed his hands on opposite sides of her head and closed his eyes. She in turn closed hers. Suddenly he let his mental shields down and sent the memories along their friendship bond.

/Siri found herself behind a wall of red light. She was very disoriented at first. She looked in front of her and saw a man in the center of the hall on his knees, meditating, then beyond him what she saw sent shivers down her spine. She saw a man dressed in black, his face tattooed red and black, with horns decorating his head. He looked like a creature straight out of a tale that was told to scare children. A monster that would haunt their dreams.

Siri noticed the laser walls begin to fade and the two opponents in front of her clashed their light sabers together. Finally her wall dropped and she ran as hard as she could. She could feel herself already tired as she ran, as if she had been fighting for a long time already. She pushed her body to the limit, but was stopped by a laser wall once again.

She watched the man fight the Sith lord, she suddenly realized who the man was. She prayed that Qui Gon would hang on until she could help him. She watched as the strong man defended himself, she took note how he seemed almost at peace while he was fighting.

Then to her horror she anticipated the killing blow moments before it happened, and she was powerless to stop it. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" She screamed through the hall, as the dark man turned to face her. She stared him down, then looked over at the man dying on the floor.

She felt pain erupt inside her, then also anger. She had never felt more angry in her entire life then she did at that moment. She felt anger towards the Sith, herself, and the dying Jedi master. Suddenly the laser wall dropped and she raced to meet the Sith./

Siri opened her eyes and noticed small tears trying to escape under Obi Wan's ginger lashes. She then closed her eyes again.

/ "It's too late. . .too late." Qui Gon choked out.

"No." Siri argued, holding his head in her lap. She could feel him try to block the pain from their bond so that she couldn't sense the agonizing physical pain the master was going through, but in his weakened state it wasn't working.

"Promise me you'll train the boy." He looked up at her with his pain filled eyes, but he also held pride and love in the depths of midnight blue.

Siri found herself involuntarily nodding her head. "Yes master." She would do anything to ease the pain.

He reached out and stroked her cheek. "He is the chosen one, he will bring balance. . . train him." Siri nodded faster with each word, and tried to hold back her tears. His body then went slack in her arms, and he passed into the force. She pressed her forehead to his and openly wept./

Siri found herself crying, she reached her hands out and put them over Obi Wan's as they held onto her head. The next images were a jumble, and made little sense to her, she knew Obi Wan was losing his concentration.

/Siri found herself staring at a fire. When suddenly she felt herself wipe away tears, not wanting anyone to see her weak. She noticed the still form of her former master being eaten by the flames. She felt her heart rise in her throat.

She looked down at the innocent face of a nine year old boy, who had tears in his crystal blue eyes. "What will happen to me now?" He asked, unsure of his future.

"The council have granted me permission to train you." She said with as much assurance as she could muster. "You will be a Jedi, I promise."

She then saw herself staring into a mirror at herself, she suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She could see beyond her physical appearance and saw fear, anger, sorrow and her image began to morph into the monster she had destroyed. She suddenly found herself vomiting. She then looked at herself again, and then she held a vibro blade in front of her. She grasped her long padawan braid and cut it swiftly, and let it drop to the floor./

Suddenly she felt nothing more, but her own thoughts and memories. She opened her eyes and looked at Obi Wan, who had his head in his hands. She didn't know exactly how to respond, the last image disturbed her greatly. She then felt her eyes water.

"Now you know." He softly whispered, Siri nodded. "It's not just a promise."

"Obi Wan?" She slowly moved towards him when the door chimed. The two looked over at the door and Bant, Garren and their other friend Reeft walked into the room. They stopped short when they saw Obi Wan and Siri sitting so close together, with the look of sorrow on their faces.

"Did we come at a bad time?" Garren asked, raising an eyebrow.

Siri both rose to her feet. "No, not at all." Obi Wan said, clearing his throat.

Bant came up behind Obi Wan and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. "We came to celebrate your knighting anniversary." She said in her sweet tone.

Obi Wan patted her arm, and returned his mental shields. "Ah, you remembered."

"Well, you are the first of us to make it a whole year as a knight." Garren said, putting what he was carrying down on the table.

"We brought holo vids and food from Dex's diner." Reeft said with a smile. "Dex says congratulations by the way."

"What would I do without you guys?" Obi Wan asked, then looked at Siri. Siri was still trying to get over what she had just seen.

"I've got to go." She suddenly said.

"Siri, don't go." Obi Wan said, moving towards her. Bant and Garren exchanged confused glances.

"No, I have to go." She looked at Obi Wan, then quickly walked out of the room.

"Did we miss something?" Reeft asked, with his mouth full.

TBC