"Jedi do not think of something other than our mission when we are in the middle of it. A loss of focus during a mission can be deadly to a Jedi. It could cost you your life. Now get up and do your class work, I assigned. Hopefully we can meditate together after last-meal and time spent with the King. And Obi-Wan don't let me have to correct your behavior in front of the king again!!!!!!!"
Obi-Wan could here instantly the quick dismissal he got from his father. Jinn sat down with a data pad and until last meal that was all that was uttered between the two.
#######
At the table that evening Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan got to meet with the queen and the two sons. Mason and Emon.
Both boys were polite. The older one, Mason was twenty, very tall, brown eyes, with matching-colored wavy hair. His brother, Emon was only fifteen but by the looks of him he might end up taller than his brother. His short hair had hints of auburn streaked through it, similar to his mother. His eyes matched his father's blue-green-speckled colored ones.
Qui-Gon got the feeling that neither brother harbored any ill feeling toward the other. There was no outward signs of anger between the two, although King Rozel told Jinn that Mason was indeed upset by his father's desire to change the succession order. They both knew why the Jedi were there, but during last-meal in front of them nothing was discussed. After they ate, the sons of the king and queen were dismissed.
"Master Jinn, I take it my husband has told you of our problem. I don't agree with him that our son Mason should be denied his right as future king. I have a difficult time understanding this."
"I have told you, I think Emon will be better overseeing my people."
Qui-Gon could never condone lying but he could see what an impossible situation the king had gotten himself into, there was little else he could do. He had to at least give his wife a reason for choosing the second in line for the throne, over the rightful heir, Mason.
"Now Rozel I know you don't believe that and I know you love our sons equally. I am also worried that you will be killed for your actions."
"It should be my decision and I have decided. There will be no votes or Senate interference to overturn my decision either."
Obi-Wan hung his head. It sounded like an adult argument and he didn't feel right about listening to them discuss the sons. He certainly wouldn't want them privy to he and his fathers troubles.
"Master Jinn, I hope you don't think me a domineering bully to my family. I believe I am right. I will not ask you to take sides. You are here only to try to find out who is leading the Aronites in their attempt to have me killed."
"Yes that is all we are here for and we will not give any advice to your personal matters. They are yours to handle as you wish."
"Master Jinn it has been long since I saw you last. Rozel told me earlier of your new apprentice, Obi-Wan. I suppose that means Xanatos is now a young knight as you were when we first met."
"No, I am afraid he did not become a knight. He went on to his home world. Last I heard he was still there."
"Shame he seemed such a nice young man."
"Yes well I am sorry he is not with the Jedi. His calling was not the Jedi after all."
Obi-Wan did not know of this Xanatos so he didn't know what happened to him.
"Well this young one seems to be a new hope for you."
Master Jinn only nodded feigning a mouthful of food.
"How long has he been with the Jedi?"
"Obi-Wan is fairly new. It is unusual to take one so young as an apprentice. Because of the circumstances we took him older than normal in the Jedi but younger than is usual for an apprentice.
Obi-Wan angered by his father's remark spoke up without permission.
"I am his son too."
//There, explain that Master Jinn. I am your son and you have hidden it from them, your supposed friends, long enough.//
All his problems aside, the King let our a roar of laughter. He winked at his wife who joined in the laughter.
"Have you been keeping a secret of your own Master Jinn, a son. And your wife?"
"I have no wife. Obi-Wan's mother is dead."
Jinn did not fill in the blanks. He didn't want to go into his private affairs. He was more that upset over his son blurting out their personal matters.
"I am indeed sorry for your wife's death, but Master Jinn here is a toast to the birth of your son even though we are a few years late."
"Thank you.."
Jinn lifted his glass at least to appear to join in the toast. Obi-Wan just sat there. He knew he might be in as much trouble as he was when he father spanked him. Now he had felt regret what he just did.// Dad's goin' kill me.//
Three flights of steps and nothing was said between the two. Obi-Wan was determined he would not apologize for telling the king and queen that he was the son to Qui-Gon Jinn. If Master Jinn didn't want to claim him as his son he could have just said so then. Obi didn't realize that Master Jinn would not discuss his private matters with these people and he didn't appreciate Obi-Wan doing it for him.
Qui-Gon's anger over what Obi-Wan did had nothing to do with being ashamed of him in some way. Master Qui-Gon Jinn was a very private man. He liked his personal life separate from his public life as a Jedi. The door closed behind the father/son Jedi pair with a thud that cut through the silence between the two. The silence did not last long.
"Go take your bath and brush your teeth for bed."
"Master I'm sor…"
Jinn held his hand up in front of himself to stop Obi-Wan in mid-speech.
"I grow very tired of hearing "Master I am sorry," every time you make a mistake. I don't like apologies any more than I do the reasons behind them. Now I will discuss this later."
Obi-Wan thought it best he said nothing else. He wanted to say a lot. He wanted just to stand there and throw a proverbial temper tantrum to get his father's attention, but the memory of his last severe punishment from his dad stopped the little boy. He didn't want a reoccurrence similar to the trip to the barn.
Jinn was still going over a data pad plus a clip board with information the King had supplied him. He only glanced up to see his son come in, clad in his spaceship pajamas, his favorite pair.
"I am ready to meditate Master."
Obi thought maybe he should call him master since they were discussing Jedi things. Memories of what Damien and Bruck said about Master Jinn just leaving him there on the planet came back to haunt Obi-Wan as he stood there. //Have I angered him so much that he's thinking of doing just that? //
The older boys managed to plant falsehoods in Obi's mind that terrified the little boy.
"I don't think meditating will do you any good if you do not plan to utilize proper Jedi apprentice behavior. If you won't behave as a padawan you probably won't take meditating serious either. Here take this. It might be of more use to you, that is if you take the time to read it. I not sure you did the last time I instructed you to study it. I hoped you could go over some of the material concerning this mission for tomorrow but there again, I can't rely on you for that."
Jinn threw his son a little leather bound copy of apprentice rules. The padawan remembered the book and he had read it //well some of it//, thought Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan tried to get his dad in a better mood by kidding his way out of trouble.
"Gee, dad I'm a little kid have some patience."
"If you truly believe your own words, Obi-Wan Kenobi, I think maybe I should send you to Master Windu or Master Yoda to care for you until I can conclude my mission here. Yes, you are too young to do all the things an apprentice does, but a Jedi at the age of eight usually knows how to act respectfully in front of some one as important as King Rozell or Queen Bella. I could have taken a three year old from the crèche and they would have represented themselves and the Jedi order with more decorum than you exhibited today."
Besides not knowing what the word, decorum meant, Obi-Wan just had his budding Jedi apprentice ego deflated by the cruel words of his father. He had never been so humiliated before in his life. Qui-Gon's words were like a punch that knocked the breath of the child.
He took the book over to the big bed and hopped in it. There's was no pat on the head, no big bear hug, or a kiss good night.
All Obi-Wan had gotten from his father were harsh words accompanied with a harsher look. That look told the little Jedi apprentice that neither the father or the master in Qui-Gon Jinn was pleased with him right now..
Doom and gloom hung over little Obi-Wan's head as he positioned himself in the correct place to his left of his master. He tried to keep pace with his father, but just as before when they traveled by foot to the castle, he had a difficult time doing it.
Master Jinn didn't noticed. He was deep into conversation with the king's private bodyguard. The guard would travel with Master Jinn and oversee what the Jedi found out first hand about the Aronite group.
Once in the center of the city, the Jedi received stares of query from some of the towns people. They suspected what the Jedi were there for and some who did not belong to the Aronite was gave their loyalty to them, eye the group suspiciously. They would more than likely be the ones who would have no dealings in helping locate the group who continued their threat of the King.
The bodyguard told Master Jinn that they might be able to elicit information from some on the older people if they thought they weren't being watched by a Aronite loyalists.
Not long after arriving in the city they were confronted by a much older man. He seemed to be in his seventies but a hard life had taken its toll on his body. He was bent and crooked from work in the mines.
"I take it you Jedi are here to help the king?"
"Yes that is why were are here. Is there any knowledge of the Aornites that you would like to pass along?"
I know where some of their meetings are held."
If you would walk around that corner to the alley, I will meet you. I don't think it is wise for my well being to stand out here on an opened street and discuss this with you. I am old but yet I have a infinite liking to life.
Once the group were in the alley, they waited until the old man arrived.
Obi-Wan was interested in what was going on. But his mind he kept going over the anger his father showed the evening before because he and his master's relationship. Obi-Wan did not believe Jinn chewed him out for not being focused.
..How dangerous could it be to standing the middle of a castle surrounded by the king's guards? That was my master's excuse because he was angry that I told the king and Queen that I was his kid…
He did not understand that Qui-Gon wanted him to make it a habit, a constant facet of his training to remain focused so when the actual time came to do so he would be conditioned to do it.
The man had just begun conversing with Jinn about what he knew, when men clad in all black with a blacked-hooded cowl covering their faces entirely, but for slits for their eyes jumped out at them.
Qui-Gon had only enough time to draw his saber and begin battle. Obi-Wan should have had enough time to get out of the way but he didn't. His mind was not focused on what was going on around them at the instant the men attacked. His moment of confusion caused him to be right out in the middle of the melee.
Jinn downed two of the Aronite aggressors as he worked his way over to his son. His fear made him less effective in the battle. It was fear he had never felt even for one of his apprentice's. The fear of losing his son controlled his mind.
A battle that should have been over but because he was not as focused Jinn lingered in battle.
Once he finally reached his son. He used the force behind his left hand to shove the child toward some trash bins and scrape medal that lay in the alley's corner. It was a mighty shove from the powerful Jedi. In his haste to protect Obi-Wan he used too much power. The child sailed through mid-air like a feather and landed hard in the corner. Obi-Wan Kenobi's moan that went unheard as he sunk into semi consciousness.
With the thought that Obi-Wan was in a safer place, shoved there quite violently in is own frantic haste, Qui-Gon was able to quickly take care of two more men, while the king's bodyguard did away with the last one. Two had been spared their life. They would be taken into custody by the king's court and interrogated.
The body guard tied up the attackers that still breathed. Qui-Gon stepped hurriedly to the trash bins to get Obi-Wan up safely . He knew the child was in some kind of thought process and not focused. He intended to thoroughly reprimand the boy right there on the spot and choose some kind of punishment once back at the castle. When he reached his son, all angry thoughts abetted when he saw the child still slumped down, not making an attempt to rise after the battle was over.
Qui-Gon stooped down and began assessing Obi-Wan's injuries. Nothing seemed to be broken. There on his left cheek was bruising and swelling.
//He must have hit his cheek on something when I pushed him over here.//
Qui-Gon also noted the swelling of his right wrist. Sprained, not broken, was the final conclusion the master came up with for his hand. Obi had some "cob webs" floating in front of his eyes because of the inability to focus them. One good thing, Obi-Wan did not have a skull fracture or even a concussion.
Once the Jedi knew it was safe to pick Obi-Wan up without doing any bodily damage he did just that.
Obi-Wan was not thinking as clearly as was normal but he thought well enough to assume his master had pushed him out of anger and not out of the desire to make him safe.
//With a push like that he must be very mad at me for not staying in the here and now, as he calls it..//
Qui-Gon had thoughts of his own. This brush with death by his son made him realize how much more difficult it would be to train his son, not just a padawan.
//It really doesn't matter about the blood test. I am too attached to this child to train him as a Jedi. I let my worry for Obi-Wan throw me off balance. All my training as a Jedi master turned to jelly when I thought he was in danger. That is not good for a mission or a master.//
Obi-Wan set in the middle of the big bed, nestled comfortably under the bedding.. His father had not said much to him since the incidence, where he had gotten hurt. Nevertheless, Obi felt secure and loved just by the ever so gentle touches he received. Jinn held him in his lap while the king's healer was called. His hand was wrapped., the bruises and scrapes on his face were cleaned, bacta applied, and his master even used a light healing trance on him to take all the pain away. Well most of it. Obi-Wan thought all in all things went well. He didn't think his master had time before or during the attack to realize Obi-Wan's mind had been, in truth, occupied somewhere else.
Just as his master had warned, Obi-Wan had learned first hand, it was necessary to stay focused on the here and now. He only hoped he had kept his last episode with the roaming mind a secret from his father. After all, he now understood the lesson Qui-Gon taught him. He didn't need to be reprimanded further for it.
Once it became clear that Obi-Wan was alright, Qui-Gon left to interrogate the prisoner. He returned as quickly as possible.
##############
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes, master I am fine."
"I am sorry I pushed you so hard. I guess I never had to force shove someone so small."
Jinn sat on the edge of the bed and looked closely at his son for hints of pain that might surface on his face. Nothing there, so he thought it best to continue.
"I plan to contact Master Yoda. I wish to see if he or Master Windu will care for you until this mission is over."
"No dad I am truly alright now."
"I know. It is not because of your injuries. I thought you would be more comfortable with Yoda or Mace because of the relationship or lack of one with your grandmother."
"Master I told you I feel fine now. I will stay for the entirety of the mission."
"It is you who don't understand Obi-Wan. You are not leaving because of your minor injuries. You are leaving because you went right back out and did the very thing I lectured you about the night before. Your mind was on something other that what we where in the midst of. I know now you can't be trusted. If you are not willing to learn even from your mistakes then anything else I could teach you out in the field will go unlearned as well. You will go back to Coruscant and when I return I will ask that our training bond be permanently broken."
"No, please, Dad, I will do better I promise. I will listen next time."
"You have been given two times Obi-Wan and both the same mistakes were repeated. No you get no other chance. The Jedi are my life. I know that now more than ever, having spent time away from it at the farm. I don't plan to have two failed padawans in a row. Obi-Wan, I no longer want you as my apprentice."
Qui-Gon could see the hurt surface in his son's face.
//I can't really tell you how you rattle me and I lose focus solely because of my fear for you. I can't tolerate the fear like I felt today and be a Jedi master too.//
Through tear-flooded eyes, Obi looked at his father. He was almost inconsolable. He wanted nothing but to hurt his dad just as the words "I don't want you as my apprentice" had hurt Obi-Wan beyond an imaginable degree.
"Is that how you feel about me as your son as well? What Damien said is true, you don't want me as your son."
Obi-Wan's hand instantly flew over his mouth. He told on the boys after he was instructed not too. Now there was not telling what his father would do.
Obi-Wan tried to scurry from his bed. The stiffness from his fall kept him from moving very fast. Just as his little legs started to dangle off the bed to reach the floor, Qui-Gon caught him up and scooped him in his arms. He set down on the bed and physically held the child, who fought to get out of his arms.
"Now now little one. You aren't going anywhere, at least not right now. Just settle down and explain your last statement to me."
Obi-Wan knew he could not break away from his dad. His size against Qui-Gon's just didn't match up. He stopped the squirming and trying to get away. He just sat there on dad's lad not saying a word.
"Did you hear me Obi-Wan? Explain what you meant. What did Damien tell you?
Jinn was not concerned for he never thought about Damien knowing anything about his son's mother.
Obi-Wan just shook his head no and clamped his mouth shut. He would not tell what was said to him no matter what.
"Obi, I want to know what Damien said and I want to know now. To be a Jedi requires doing what your master says."
"You just told me you are sending me home. That I am not to be a Jedi."
"I said you are not to be my apprentice. I can not handle the worry I have for you on mission. Especially when you do not listen to me and because of it, get hurt."
"So it is better for another master to take me as their apprentice. I guess then you wouldn't have to worry about me at all."
"Obi you know that's not true. To be truthful with you I don't know what I want to do with you. However after you got hurt today, I am more than convinced you need to go back to the safety of the Jedi temple. I thought you would prefer being with Master Mace rather than my mom."
"I'm not going. If you put me on some dumb old public transport, I won't stay on it. Half of the species scare me. If I have travel alone, I will get off the first stop and run away if you send me alone. I'm staying here with you where I should be. If I can't be your apprentice, I don't want another master, I just won't be a Jedi."
Oh the stubbornness of a child, particularly a child with Jinn's blood in him.
//Master Yoda might just have a point, the child is as stubborn as I ever was. //
Still the master that to remain stern because of Obi-Wan's blatant threat if things weren't done his way.
"Listen to me young man you are not going to sit there and threaten me to keep you here. Do you understand? You will do as I say. Now get up in that bed . You have five minutes to tell me what Damien told you or you are in for it. Do you understand that Obi-Wan Kenboi?"
Three names at one time must mean he was in real trouble, thought the little boy.
Obi-Wan placed back on the bed, sat there with his legs crossed and his arms stubbornly crossed over his chest. He had no plans to give in to his father no matter what he did to him. Obi-Wan Kenobi was afraid to be sent back.
He was terrified that something would happen to his father just as it happened to his mom while she was doing her job, only his dad had a more dangerous job. Obi hated what his mother did to the Jedi and maybe to him, but he still couldn't hate her. She was the only one to ever really loved the little boy. Mistakes or not, she was still his beloved mom.
Qui-Gon walked to the other side of the room and stared lazily out the window. What he would do next was totally unknown to him. He never had to deal with an obstinate eight-year old. Xanatos was almost thirteen when he took him as his apprentice and all his life was spent at t the temple in training.
//He knew how to put on a persona of an apprentice even though the dark lay hidden in him. Come to think of it I wouldn't want Obi-Wan to be like Xani. He was good at hiding his emotions and even better at hiding the dark that lay under his calm pleasing exterior. I guess I would rather have this little stubborn one who can't hide his emotions like Xani. He carries his soul on his sleeve. There is no deception in my son, ever how cantankerous he is.//
Jinn swung around to his son. Obi-Wan was still on the bed, with that look of defiance that refused to budge from his little dimpled cheeks ever present.. Qui-Gon's heart at least the father's half of his heart could have melted and he would gladly given into to any whim of Obi-Wan's. However he knew that was no good to Obi-Wan. His life as a Jedi would be strictly structured and the sooner he learned that the better for both of them. He regretted saying he didn't want Obi as his apprentice. He truly did.. He would not trust any other master with his precious little one.
//If he is to be a Jedi, I will train him but only later. He is too young an immature to start training. Had he been raised in the temple he would have been different.//
"Master Jinn I am sorry to bother you. However the King would like your presence downstairs again . Well, that is if your apprentice is well enough to leave him again. There just about to hold an interrogation of the two Aronites you captured and King Rozel felt it would be helpful if you personally saw to the interrogation yourself.."
"Yes give a minute and I will be right down."
The servant left and Qui-Gon walked to the clothing rack to retrieve his robe.
"Listen Obi-Wan I have to go to this meeting. I will return later and I will still expect an answer. I want to know exactly what the boys told you."
The stubborn little likeness of Qui-Gon, still with arms crossed, refused to answer his father. He liked the idea of having more time to think things through, but he didn't like his father being taken away from their problem to deal with problems he dealt with for the Jedi.
"Did you hear me Obi-Wan?"
Obi rolled his eyes in a very disrespectful way.
" I heard you master but you should hear me. I don't wish to go into every thing Damien and Bruck told me and I am not doing it, no matter what you say or do."
"Have you come to your senses?"
"I don't think I ever lost them Master or should I say Dad which is it. Maybe it is neither, just Qui-Gon or Mr. Jinn?"
Qui-Gon picked the child up and put him on his feet upright.
"I will not tolerate that kind of disrespect from you whether you consider me your father or your master. What in sith's name has gotten into you. What did Damien tell you that would cause you to jeopardize your Jedi training with such unacceptable behavior? I want to know now Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan started to walk away from his master,but not fast enough.. Jinn caught him by the arm.
"DON'T child. Don't do this. Why have you turned on me?"
"I didn't turn on you It is you who doesn't want me. I know what the blood test is for Dad. You want to prove I am not your son. Bruck said you would even leave me here on this planet if you found out I knew. That's not true though, you want to send me away from you, probably forever. You'll never come for me at the temple Coruscant, once you have gotten me there."
It was out. Obi-Wan feared being abandoned by his father. What Jinn still did not know was why? He did however feel it had something to do the what Damien and Bruck told Obi-Wan. He couldn't seem to drag the truth out of Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan watched as the door closed behind his master.
//My Dad is so needed by the Jedi and by the people he helps on his missions. If only he was as willing to help with me and him as he is to help others solve their problems.//
######Down in the main room of the king's dwelling.######
"Ah, Master Jinn by your prompt presence, I can assume that your son is feeling better?"
"Yes much, however as soon as I am finished here, I would like to go back to him. I also would like to have our last-meal sent to our room. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I feel the child still needs more rest."
"No problem at all. We can see that food trays are sent upstairs. I do regret taking you from him. I can only guess how I would feel if one of my sons had been there and injured. We would like you we oversee to the interrogation of these captives. I think at least one might be ready to come clean. If only he would implicate my prime diplomatic senator as the ring leader, I think we could bust their group up. With their "mouthpiece" gone and knowledge that we can find out all their names, they just may all split up."
"I hope you are right. I may need to return to Coruscant sooner than I planned, but only for a for the time it takes to travel there and back. I have to escort my son back to the temple. I think he is far too young to be on a this mission. I may have made a mistake in bringing him along."
"I know you desire to have him by your side, especially if he is to be your apprentice, but I think he is a bit young and most certainly physically too small for a mission. His appearance is that of a six year old, maybe less."
"Don't let his smallness fool you. I imagine he has the fragile features of his mother for now, but the spitfire in that "little" son of mine can make him as stubborn as me, I am afraid. I need to escort him home. He really doesn't want to go."
//That is not a mistruth in its entirety. I just have no desire to go into our problems with anyone.//
"Well if you would not object and my problems necessitate your presence here longer, we could certainly send him back on my private transport with a couple of my personal guards. That should safely get the child there."
Jinn thought for a moment. That would indeed work and he would hate to leave this King, he liked, unprotected. He thought within a week he could apprehend the possible culprit with supplied information from one of their captives.
"Yes, thank you. I think that would work. Let me see if our friends, the captured Aronites, can supply some of the information we need. If so, I will take you up on your generous offer and send Obi-Wan home. I suspect I could wrap this up in a week or less with their compliance of my interrogation."
"Well my transport can take him back to your own temple, even though its distance is a day further, if you wish it. We don't have to go to Coruscant just because it is closer."
"No, I would rather he go where he can be taken care of by Master Windu or Master Yoda. There is no one at my temple who has the time to oversee him."
//He only has a grandmothe , my very own mother at his home but of course he can't go there. He might be safer here with Aronite henchmen than with my mother. //
The disrespectful, even cruel thought popped into the head of the Jedi master before he had time to even attempt to quell it.
How could I think such a thing about my own mother? I guess maybe because it is the absolute truth. Whether Obi-Wan is my son or not, it doesn't matter. He still shouldn't have to spend anytime with Mother without me there to make sure of his welfare.
Qui-Gon seemed to have calmed down about the blood test he had been so overly insistent on before that the child take. He still wanted a second test, but he seemed to believe more than ever that the little devil child upstairs was his. He could not feel so connected to him otherwise. Worry for Obi-Wan impeded the desire for another blood test. It just didn't impede it, it halted completely, at least the immediate urgency of it. Qui-Gon's first concern steadfastly remained the well-being of Obi-Wan Kenobi, his apprentice.
######
Qui-Gon was very persuasive in his interrogation of the two Aronite prisoners.
The King stood on the other side of the cell door, protected by the bars on them as he watched with curious interest how easy Master Jinn managed to elicit what he needed from the men. They did not totally implicate the Senator but they alluded to the fact that he was in it in a round about way. Their fear of being executed by the fellow Aronites kept them from telling everything.
They knew deep down the king would not have them murdered if they did not talk, where as the Aronites would kill them instantly if they did. The most important thing gotten from the prisoners by Master Jinn had been the location of their secret meeting hideout.
Qui-Gon and the king with the head bodyguard sat for over an hour and planned what they would do. They were going to watch… the senator until he came up missing in the next few evenings, then hopefully he would be caught along with the others at the assembled Aronites, at their appointed meeting place. That would be the best way to ensure the Senator was captured and enough evidence secured. He would be caught in the act of treason.
Qui-Gon went back to he and Obi-Wan's room with the promise from the king that their meals would immediately follow. King Rozel was in a very good mood over the information Master Jinn had been able to glean from his prisoners. No one would be told that their Aronite captives revealed anything but anger and silence to the Jedi master.
Another important decision was made while Qui-Gon Jinn spoke with the king. Obi-Wan, his apprentice would leave first thing in the morning on the king's own personal transport; A very sleek modern space craft, of such luxury Obi had never seen.
#### In Obi and Qui's room ####
Qui-Gon walked into the room only to find his little padawan still in the same spot where he left him.
Obi-Wan had made a head rest of four pillows by turning them into a little mountain behind him. He had the leather bound book Qui-Gon had given him earlier. The Jedi master could not really tell if the child was reading it or he it was only a prop to impress his father.
Qui-Gon didn't really care at the moment. He also was not concerned with what he and Obi-Wan discussed right before he left. He reasoned that Damien and Bruck was guilty of spewing unfounded truths to the child just to upset him and Obi-Wan fell for it.
The only thing that might concern the master in any way was the mention of the blood test. Of course one of the boys could have overheard Master Jinn discussing the blood test but he didn't know how that was possible.
//Maybe they just stumbled onto the truth in their jokes to Obi. Maybe they said something about me questioning Obi-Wan's birthright. Surely my mother wouldn't have told Damien about Kaylin and her one-time run-in with the authorities. //
It did confuse the master but he was determined he would wait until he went for the blood test and to retrieve his son from Coruscant before he discussed it with Obi-Wan again.
"Master are we going to eat?"
Obi-Wan seemed to be forever hungry. Even after his scrape with the Aronites, he still managed to keep his appetite intact.
"Yes, someone will bring us something very shortly. After you have eaten I want to get some sleep. You will be up very early tomorrow, before sunrise, I would say."
Obi-Wan wondered why they didn't continue the argument or disagreement they were in when his father got called away.
"Why Master do we have to go somewhere?"
No, Obi-Wan we don't, you do. I am sending you to Coruscant on the King's transport, first thing in the morning. The problems we have between us can wait. This mission has to come before my personal life, no matter what you think. Sending you to Master Yoda is the best way I know how to keep you safe. The rest we can discuss when I come to get you….."
Up off his mound of pillows Obi-Wan jumped. He sat right in the middle of his bed on his knees, with his legs tucked under him.
'But Dad…I…No you can't……."
"There is not telling your master or your father no Obi-Wan, and I don't intend to spend the entire evening arguing about it. We both had a busy day. I plan to eat and hit that bed once I have meditated. and you will do the same. No more ifs, ands, or buts; No more discussions at all.".
Obi-Wan knew to try to reason with his master/father would be futile. The child could see the determined look on Qui-Gon's face and hear it in the words that finalized, sealed, and molded his very fate. He would go to Coruscant with a promise from his dad he would be picked up once the mission was over. Obi-Wan could only hope that that it was not an empty promise and Qui-Gon would come to get him.
This was as lonely, desolate, and afraid Obi-Wan had ever been since his mother's death. He was once again alone and unsure of his place in life, with the Jedi or in his father's eyes. Now Obi-Wan Kenobi would be sent home as Qui-Gon said. He would be thrust into a temple with "almost" strangers to rely on for even his basic needs. A scary prospect for a newly orientated eight-year old Jedi and an even scarier one for an eight-year old little boy. Obi-Wan had more of that little boy in him than he did the newly acquired Jedi traits.
####The next morning#####
Master Qui-Gon Jinn was just starting to learn that his little son, Obi-Wan, brought an entirely new dimension to his life. Just in the short time Obi-Wan had been with his father gave Jinn's several firsts in his life.
The day before was the first time Master Jinn ever felt fear so strong that he could not control it. It was also the first time he had lost focus in a battle because of that fear. The fear had not been for himself, it had been for Obi-Wan. Today he would suffer separation anxiety for the first time. It would be anxiety brought on by the neccessary separation from his son and padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Qui-Gon plucked at the sleeves of his Jedi robe not unlike Obi-Wan would do when he was nervous. He stood on the landing dock far longer than was necessary as he watched the ship take off with Obi-Wan but without him. The little sleek ship sped out of view. However, the Jedi master still made no move to leave. His stare stayed fixed on the skies where the ship that carried his son, disappeared into the storm-thickened clouds.
From behind him Queen Bella spoke.
"It's hard isn't it Master Jinn? Even if they are only going away for a few days it's always hard to watch them go. I know it is for me. I know my sons must go away to school where they can properly be trained to take their rightful positions later in life, but still I get this knot right in the middle of chest almost in my stomach every time I have to ship them off to school for another semester."
Qui-Gon turned to face the Queen.
"I know exactly what you mean. It is in here right now as we speak."
The master took his fist, balled it up, and tapped his chest right about where his heart was.
"I am not sure if I have been gripped with some stomach flu or just a massive muscle spasm of my very heart. Even a serene Jedi master, schooled in the art of controlling his feelings has a hard time when he has to watch his own child leave. I don't think Jedi always control their fears or emotions as well as outsiders around us think. I suspect a great many of us have learned what feelings we can't control and there are some, must be hidden from others. I for one have become quite inept in the concealment of my private and very personal emotions, "normally". Only I find I don't wish to hide mine today. No matter how shameful some Jedi might think it is, my feelings are real; all too painfully real for me right now. I have no desire to hide my unhappiness of my son's departure any more than I want to hide my feelings of love I have for that "little imp" of mine.. I don't care how stubborn or bull-headed he is."
The queen laughed. She put her arm through Jinn's extended one as they started to make their way back to the main chambers, where the king's private guards waited for Master Jinn.
Just as Qui-Gon descended the first couple of steps of the tranport launch pad, a shock wave a raw shear force hit the Jedi master hard enough to offset his balance. Had he not had been still holding to the Queen's arm, that aided in some support for the Jedi, he would have crumbled to his knees.
The Queen noticed Master Jinn stagger and almost lose his balance.
"Master Jinn are you ill?"
"No I am fine, just lost my footing."
A mistruth stated because Jinn himself was unsure what happened just then.
//What in the name of sith was that? Has the child gotten me so confused that I can not even decipher a message sent by the force its self? There are no other force sensitives on this planet, yet I felt like one or several Jedi very close in distance or personally to me just met a terrible, possibly deadly fate. Was it a vision of the future for someone or an ominous premonition? It could be an warning of impending danger sent by the force? But why to me and who or what does the warning concern?………………………//
Obi-Wan could here instantly the quick dismissal he got from his father. Jinn sat down with a data pad and until last meal that was all that was uttered between the two.
#######
At the table that evening Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan got to meet with the queen and the two sons. Mason and Emon.
Both boys were polite. The older one, Mason was twenty, very tall, brown eyes, with matching-colored wavy hair. His brother, Emon was only fifteen but by the looks of him he might end up taller than his brother. His short hair had hints of auburn streaked through it, similar to his mother. His eyes matched his father's blue-green-speckled colored ones.
Qui-Gon got the feeling that neither brother harbored any ill feeling toward the other. There was no outward signs of anger between the two, although King Rozel told Jinn that Mason was indeed upset by his father's desire to change the succession order. They both knew why the Jedi were there, but during last-meal in front of them nothing was discussed. After they ate, the sons of the king and queen were dismissed.
"Master Jinn, I take it my husband has told you of our problem. I don't agree with him that our son Mason should be denied his right as future king. I have a difficult time understanding this."
"I have told you, I think Emon will be better overseeing my people."
Qui-Gon could never condone lying but he could see what an impossible situation the king had gotten himself into, there was little else he could do. He had to at least give his wife a reason for choosing the second in line for the throne, over the rightful heir, Mason.
"Now Rozel I know you don't believe that and I know you love our sons equally. I am also worried that you will be killed for your actions."
"It should be my decision and I have decided. There will be no votes or Senate interference to overturn my decision either."
Obi-Wan hung his head. It sounded like an adult argument and he didn't feel right about listening to them discuss the sons. He certainly wouldn't want them privy to he and his fathers troubles.
"Master Jinn, I hope you don't think me a domineering bully to my family. I believe I am right. I will not ask you to take sides. You are here only to try to find out who is leading the Aronites in their attempt to have me killed."
"Yes that is all we are here for and we will not give any advice to your personal matters. They are yours to handle as you wish."
"Master Jinn it has been long since I saw you last. Rozel told me earlier of your new apprentice, Obi-Wan. I suppose that means Xanatos is now a young knight as you were when we first met."
"No, I am afraid he did not become a knight. He went on to his home world. Last I heard he was still there."
"Shame he seemed such a nice young man."
"Yes well I am sorry he is not with the Jedi. His calling was not the Jedi after all."
Obi-Wan did not know of this Xanatos so he didn't know what happened to him.
"Well this young one seems to be a new hope for you."
Master Jinn only nodded feigning a mouthful of food.
"How long has he been with the Jedi?"
"Obi-Wan is fairly new. It is unusual to take one so young as an apprentice. Because of the circumstances we took him older than normal in the Jedi but younger than is usual for an apprentice.
Obi-Wan angered by his father's remark spoke up without permission.
"I am his son too."
//There, explain that Master Jinn. I am your son and you have hidden it from them, your supposed friends, long enough.//
All his problems aside, the King let our a roar of laughter. He winked at his wife who joined in the laughter.
"Have you been keeping a secret of your own Master Jinn, a son. And your wife?"
"I have no wife. Obi-Wan's mother is dead."
Jinn did not fill in the blanks. He didn't want to go into his private affairs. He was more that upset over his son blurting out their personal matters.
"I am indeed sorry for your wife's death, but Master Jinn here is a toast to the birth of your son even though we are a few years late."
"Thank you.."
Jinn lifted his glass at least to appear to join in the toast. Obi-Wan just sat there. He knew he might be in as much trouble as he was when he father spanked him. Now he had felt regret what he just did.// Dad's goin' kill me.//
Three flights of steps and nothing was said between the two. Obi-Wan was determined he would not apologize for telling the king and queen that he was the son to Qui-Gon Jinn. If Master Jinn didn't want to claim him as his son he could have just said so then. Obi didn't realize that Master Jinn would not discuss his private matters with these people and he didn't appreciate Obi-Wan doing it for him.
Qui-Gon's anger over what Obi-Wan did had nothing to do with being ashamed of him in some way. Master Qui-Gon Jinn was a very private man. He liked his personal life separate from his public life as a Jedi. The door closed behind the father/son Jedi pair with a thud that cut through the silence between the two. The silence did not last long.
"Go take your bath and brush your teeth for bed."
"Master I'm sor…"
Jinn held his hand up in front of himself to stop Obi-Wan in mid-speech.
"I grow very tired of hearing "Master I am sorry," every time you make a mistake. I don't like apologies any more than I do the reasons behind them. Now I will discuss this later."
Obi-Wan thought it best he said nothing else. He wanted to say a lot. He wanted just to stand there and throw a proverbial temper tantrum to get his father's attention, but the memory of his last severe punishment from his dad stopped the little boy. He didn't want a reoccurrence similar to the trip to the barn.
Jinn was still going over a data pad plus a clip board with information the King had supplied him. He only glanced up to see his son come in, clad in his spaceship pajamas, his favorite pair.
"I am ready to meditate Master."
Obi thought maybe he should call him master since they were discussing Jedi things. Memories of what Damien and Bruck said about Master Jinn just leaving him there on the planet came back to haunt Obi-Wan as he stood there. //Have I angered him so much that he's thinking of doing just that? //
The older boys managed to plant falsehoods in Obi's mind that terrified the little boy.
"I don't think meditating will do you any good if you do not plan to utilize proper Jedi apprentice behavior. If you won't behave as a padawan you probably won't take meditating serious either. Here take this. It might be of more use to you, that is if you take the time to read it. I not sure you did the last time I instructed you to study it. I hoped you could go over some of the material concerning this mission for tomorrow but there again, I can't rely on you for that."
Jinn threw his son a little leather bound copy of apprentice rules. The padawan remembered the book and he had read it //well some of it//, thought Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan tried to get his dad in a better mood by kidding his way out of trouble.
"Gee, dad I'm a little kid have some patience."
"If you truly believe your own words, Obi-Wan Kenobi, I think maybe I should send you to Master Windu or Master Yoda to care for you until I can conclude my mission here. Yes, you are too young to do all the things an apprentice does, but a Jedi at the age of eight usually knows how to act respectfully in front of some one as important as King Rozell or Queen Bella. I could have taken a three year old from the crèche and they would have represented themselves and the Jedi order with more decorum than you exhibited today."
Besides not knowing what the word, decorum meant, Obi-Wan just had his budding Jedi apprentice ego deflated by the cruel words of his father. He had never been so humiliated before in his life. Qui-Gon's words were like a punch that knocked the breath of the child.
He took the book over to the big bed and hopped in it. There's was no pat on the head, no big bear hug, or a kiss good night.
All Obi-Wan had gotten from his father were harsh words accompanied with a harsher look. That look told the little Jedi apprentice that neither the father or the master in Qui-Gon Jinn was pleased with him right now..
Doom and gloom hung over little Obi-Wan's head as he positioned himself in the correct place to his left of his master. He tried to keep pace with his father, but just as before when they traveled by foot to the castle, he had a difficult time doing it.
Master Jinn didn't noticed. He was deep into conversation with the king's private bodyguard. The guard would travel with Master Jinn and oversee what the Jedi found out first hand about the Aronite group.
Once in the center of the city, the Jedi received stares of query from some of the towns people. They suspected what the Jedi were there for and some who did not belong to the Aronite was gave their loyalty to them, eye the group suspiciously. They would more than likely be the ones who would have no dealings in helping locate the group who continued their threat of the King.
The bodyguard told Master Jinn that they might be able to elicit information from some on the older people if they thought they weren't being watched by a Aronite loyalists.
Not long after arriving in the city they were confronted by a much older man. He seemed to be in his seventies but a hard life had taken its toll on his body. He was bent and crooked from work in the mines.
"I take it you Jedi are here to help the king?"
"Yes that is why were are here. Is there any knowledge of the Aornites that you would like to pass along?"
I know where some of their meetings are held."
If you would walk around that corner to the alley, I will meet you. I don't think it is wise for my well being to stand out here on an opened street and discuss this with you. I am old but yet I have a infinite liking to life.
Once the group were in the alley, they waited until the old man arrived.
Obi-Wan was interested in what was going on. But his mind he kept going over the anger his father showed the evening before because he and his master's relationship. Obi-Wan did not believe Jinn chewed him out for not being focused.
..How dangerous could it be to standing the middle of a castle surrounded by the king's guards? That was my master's excuse because he was angry that I told the king and Queen that I was his kid…
He did not understand that Qui-Gon wanted him to make it a habit, a constant facet of his training to remain focused so when the actual time came to do so he would be conditioned to do it.
The man had just begun conversing with Jinn about what he knew, when men clad in all black with a blacked-hooded cowl covering their faces entirely, but for slits for their eyes jumped out at them.
Qui-Gon had only enough time to draw his saber and begin battle. Obi-Wan should have had enough time to get out of the way but he didn't. His mind was not focused on what was going on around them at the instant the men attacked. His moment of confusion caused him to be right out in the middle of the melee.
Jinn downed two of the Aronite aggressors as he worked his way over to his son. His fear made him less effective in the battle. It was fear he had never felt even for one of his apprentice's. The fear of losing his son controlled his mind.
A battle that should have been over but because he was not as focused Jinn lingered in battle.
Once he finally reached his son. He used the force behind his left hand to shove the child toward some trash bins and scrape medal that lay in the alley's corner. It was a mighty shove from the powerful Jedi. In his haste to protect Obi-Wan he used too much power. The child sailed through mid-air like a feather and landed hard in the corner. Obi-Wan Kenobi's moan that went unheard as he sunk into semi consciousness.
With the thought that Obi-Wan was in a safer place, shoved there quite violently in is own frantic haste, Qui-Gon was able to quickly take care of two more men, while the king's bodyguard did away with the last one. Two had been spared their life. They would be taken into custody by the king's court and interrogated.
The body guard tied up the attackers that still breathed. Qui-Gon stepped hurriedly to the trash bins to get Obi-Wan up safely . He knew the child was in some kind of thought process and not focused. He intended to thoroughly reprimand the boy right there on the spot and choose some kind of punishment once back at the castle. When he reached his son, all angry thoughts abetted when he saw the child still slumped down, not making an attempt to rise after the battle was over.
Qui-Gon stooped down and began assessing Obi-Wan's injuries. Nothing seemed to be broken. There on his left cheek was bruising and swelling.
//He must have hit his cheek on something when I pushed him over here.//
Qui-Gon also noted the swelling of his right wrist. Sprained, not broken, was the final conclusion the master came up with for his hand. Obi had some "cob webs" floating in front of his eyes because of the inability to focus them. One good thing, Obi-Wan did not have a skull fracture or even a concussion.
Once the Jedi knew it was safe to pick Obi-Wan up without doing any bodily damage he did just that.
Obi-Wan was not thinking as clearly as was normal but he thought well enough to assume his master had pushed him out of anger and not out of the desire to make him safe.
//With a push like that he must be very mad at me for not staying in the here and now, as he calls it..//
Qui-Gon had thoughts of his own. This brush with death by his son made him realize how much more difficult it would be to train his son, not just a padawan.
//It really doesn't matter about the blood test. I am too attached to this child to train him as a Jedi. I let my worry for Obi-Wan throw me off balance. All my training as a Jedi master turned to jelly when I thought he was in danger. That is not good for a mission or a master.//
Obi-Wan set in the middle of the big bed, nestled comfortably under the bedding.. His father had not said much to him since the incidence, where he had gotten hurt. Nevertheless, Obi felt secure and loved just by the ever so gentle touches he received. Jinn held him in his lap while the king's healer was called. His hand was wrapped., the bruises and scrapes on his face were cleaned, bacta applied, and his master even used a light healing trance on him to take all the pain away. Well most of it. Obi-Wan thought all in all things went well. He didn't think his master had time before or during the attack to realize Obi-Wan's mind had been, in truth, occupied somewhere else.
Just as his master had warned, Obi-Wan had learned first hand, it was necessary to stay focused on the here and now. He only hoped he had kept his last episode with the roaming mind a secret from his father. After all, he now understood the lesson Qui-Gon taught him. He didn't need to be reprimanded further for it.
Once it became clear that Obi-Wan was alright, Qui-Gon left to interrogate the prisoner. He returned as quickly as possible.
##############
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes, master I am fine."
"I am sorry I pushed you so hard. I guess I never had to force shove someone so small."
Jinn sat on the edge of the bed and looked closely at his son for hints of pain that might surface on his face. Nothing there, so he thought it best to continue.
"I plan to contact Master Yoda. I wish to see if he or Master Windu will care for you until this mission is over."
"No dad I am truly alright now."
"I know. It is not because of your injuries. I thought you would be more comfortable with Yoda or Mace because of the relationship or lack of one with your grandmother."
"Master I told you I feel fine now. I will stay for the entirety of the mission."
"It is you who don't understand Obi-Wan. You are not leaving because of your minor injuries. You are leaving because you went right back out and did the very thing I lectured you about the night before. Your mind was on something other that what we where in the midst of. I know now you can't be trusted. If you are not willing to learn even from your mistakes then anything else I could teach you out in the field will go unlearned as well. You will go back to Coruscant and when I return I will ask that our training bond be permanently broken."
"No, please, Dad, I will do better I promise. I will listen next time."
"You have been given two times Obi-Wan and both the same mistakes were repeated. No you get no other chance. The Jedi are my life. I know that now more than ever, having spent time away from it at the farm. I don't plan to have two failed padawans in a row. Obi-Wan, I no longer want you as my apprentice."
Qui-Gon could see the hurt surface in his son's face.
//I can't really tell you how you rattle me and I lose focus solely because of my fear for you. I can't tolerate the fear like I felt today and be a Jedi master too.//
Through tear-flooded eyes, Obi looked at his father. He was almost inconsolable. He wanted nothing but to hurt his dad just as the words "I don't want you as my apprentice" had hurt Obi-Wan beyond an imaginable degree.
"Is that how you feel about me as your son as well? What Damien said is true, you don't want me as your son."
Obi-Wan's hand instantly flew over his mouth. He told on the boys after he was instructed not too. Now there was not telling what his father would do.
Obi-Wan tried to scurry from his bed. The stiffness from his fall kept him from moving very fast. Just as his little legs started to dangle off the bed to reach the floor, Qui-Gon caught him up and scooped him in his arms. He set down on the bed and physically held the child, who fought to get out of his arms.
"Now now little one. You aren't going anywhere, at least not right now. Just settle down and explain your last statement to me."
Obi-Wan knew he could not break away from his dad. His size against Qui-Gon's just didn't match up. He stopped the squirming and trying to get away. He just sat there on dad's lad not saying a word.
"Did you hear me Obi-Wan? Explain what you meant. What did Damien tell you?
Jinn was not concerned for he never thought about Damien knowing anything about his son's mother.
Obi-Wan just shook his head no and clamped his mouth shut. He would not tell what was said to him no matter what.
"Obi, I want to know what Damien said and I want to know now. To be a Jedi requires doing what your master says."
"You just told me you are sending me home. That I am not to be a Jedi."
"I said you are not to be my apprentice. I can not handle the worry I have for you on mission. Especially when you do not listen to me and because of it, get hurt."
"So it is better for another master to take me as their apprentice. I guess then you wouldn't have to worry about me at all."
"Obi you know that's not true. To be truthful with you I don't know what I want to do with you. However after you got hurt today, I am more than convinced you need to go back to the safety of the Jedi temple. I thought you would prefer being with Master Mace rather than my mom."
"I'm not going. If you put me on some dumb old public transport, I won't stay on it. Half of the species scare me. If I have travel alone, I will get off the first stop and run away if you send me alone. I'm staying here with you where I should be. If I can't be your apprentice, I don't want another master, I just won't be a Jedi."
Oh the stubbornness of a child, particularly a child with Jinn's blood in him.
//Master Yoda might just have a point, the child is as stubborn as I ever was. //
Still the master that to remain stern because of Obi-Wan's blatant threat if things weren't done his way.
"Listen to me young man you are not going to sit there and threaten me to keep you here. Do you understand? You will do as I say. Now get up in that bed . You have five minutes to tell me what Damien told you or you are in for it. Do you understand that Obi-Wan Kenboi?"
Three names at one time must mean he was in real trouble, thought the little boy.
Obi-Wan placed back on the bed, sat there with his legs crossed and his arms stubbornly crossed over his chest. He had no plans to give in to his father no matter what he did to him. Obi-Wan Kenobi was afraid to be sent back.
He was terrified that something would happen to his father just as it happened to his mom while she was doing her job, only his dad had a more dangerous job. Obi hated what his mother did to the Jedi and maybe to him, but he still couldn't hate her. She was the only one to ever really loved the little boy. Mistakes or not, she was still his beloved mom.
Qui-Gon walked to the other side of the room and stared lazily out the window. What he would do next was totally unknown to him. He never had to deal with an obstinate eight-year old. Xanatos was almost thirteen when he took him as his apprentice and all his life was spent at t the temple in training.
//He knew how to put on a persona of an apprentice even though the dark lay hidden in him. Come to think of it I wouldn't want Obi-Wan to be like Xani. He was good at hiding his emotions and even better at hiding the dark that lay under his calm pleasing exterior. I guess I would rather have this little stubborn one who can't hide his emotions like Xani. He carries his soul on his sleeve. There is no deception in my son, ever how cantankerous he is.//
Jinn swung around to his son. Obi-Wan was still on the bed, with that look of defiance that refused to budge from his little dimpled cheeks ever present.. Qui-Gon's heart at least the father's half of his heart could have melted and he would gladly given into to any whim of Obi-Wan's. However he knew that was no good to Obi-Wan. His life as a Jedi would be strictly structured and the sooner he learned that the better for both of them. He regretted saying he didn't want Obi as his apprentice. He truly did.. He would not trust any other master with his precious little one.
//If he is to be a Jedi, I will train him but only later. He is too young an immature to start training. Had he been raised in the temple he would have been different.//
"Master Jinn I am sorry to bother you. However the King would like your presence downstairs again . Well, that is if your apprentice is well enough to leave him again. There just about to hold an interrogation of the two Aronites you captured and King Rozel felt it would be helpful if you personally saw to the interrogation yourself.."
"Yes give a minute and I will be right down."
The servant left and Qui-Gon walked to the clothing rack to retrieve his robe.
"Listen Obi-Wan I have to go to this meeting. I will return later and I will still expect an answer. I want to know exactly what the boys told you."
The stubborn little likeness of Qui-Gon, still with arms crossed, refused to answer his father. He liked the idea of having more time to think things through, but he didn't like his father being taken away from their problem to deal with problems he dealt with for the Jedi.
"Did you hear me Obi-Wan?"
Obi rolled his eyes in a very disrespectful way.
" I heard you master but you should hear me. I don't wish to go into every thing Damien and Bruck told me and I am not doing it, no matter what you say or do."
"Have you come to your senses?"
"I don't think I ever lost them Master or should I say Dad which is it. Maybe it is neither, just Qui-Gon or Mr. Jinn?"
Qui-Gon picked the child up and put him on his feet upright.
"I will not tolerate that kind of disrespect from you whether you consider me your father or your master. What in sith's name has gotten into you. What did Damien tell you that would cause you to jeopardize your Jedi training with such unacceptable behavior? I want to know now Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan started to walk away from his master,but not fast enough.. Jinn caught him by the arm.
"DON'T child. Don't do this. Why have you turned on me?"
"I didn't turn on you It is you who doesn't want me. I know what the blood test is for Dad. You want to prove I am not your son. Bruck said you would even leave me here on this planet if you found out I knew. That's not true though, you want to send me away from you, probably forever. You'll never come for me at the temple Coruscant, once you have gotten me there."
It was out. Obi-Wan feared being abandoned by his father. What Jinn still did not know was why? He did however feel it had something to do the what Damien and Bruck told Obi-Wan. He couldn't seem to drag the truth out of Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan watched as the door closed behind his master.
//My Dad is so needed by the Jedi and by the people he helps on his missions. If only he was as willing to help with me and him as he is to help others solve their problems.//
######Down in the main room of the king's dwelling.######
"Ah, Master Jinn by your prompt presence, I can assume that your son is feeling better?"
"Yes much, however as soon as I am finished here, I would like to go back to him. I also would like to have our last-meal sent to our room. I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I feel the child still needs more rest."
"No problem at all. We can see that food trays are sent upstairs. I do regret taking you from him. I can only guess how I would feel if one of my sons had been there and injured. We would like you we oversee to the interrogation of these captives. I think at least one might be ready to come clean. If only he would implicate my prime diplomatic senator as the ring leader, I think we could bust their group up. With their "mouthpiece" gone and knowledge that we can find out all their names, they just may all split up."
"I hope you are right. I may need to return to Coruscant sooner than I planned, but only for a for the time it takes to travel there and back. I have to escort my son back to the temple. I think he is far too young to be on a this mission. I may have made a mistake in bringing him along."
"I know you desire to have him by your side, especially if he is to be your apprentice, but I think he is a bit young and most certainly physically too small for a mission. His appearance is that of a six year old, maybe less."
"Don't let his smallness fool you. I imagine he has the fragile features of his mother for now, but the spitfire in that "little" son of mine can make him as stubborn as me, I am afraid. I need to escort him home. He really doesn't want to go."
//That is not a mistruth in its entirety. I just have no desire to go into our problems with anyone.//
"Well if you would not object and my problems necessitate your presence here longer, we could certainly send him back on my private transport with a couple of my personal guards. That should safely get the child there."
Jinn thought for a moment. That would indeed work and he would hate to leave this King, he liked, unprotected. He thought within a week he could apprehend the possible culprit with supplied information from one of their captives.
"Yes, thank you. I think that would work. Let me see if our friends, the captured Aronites, can supply some of the information we need. If so, I will take you up on your generous offer and send Obi-Wan home. I suspect I could wrap this up in a week or less with their compliance of my interrogation."
"Well my transport can take him back to your own temple, even though its distance is a day further, if you wish it. We don't have to go to Coruscant just because it is closer."
"No, I would rather he go where he can be taken care of by Master Windu or Master Yoda. There is no one at my temple who has the time to oversee him."
//He only has a grandmothe , my very own mother at his home but of course he can't go there. He might be safer here with Aronite henchmen than with my mother. //
The disrespectful, even cruel thought popped into the head of the Jedi master before he had time to even attempt to quell it.
How could I think such a thing about my own mother? I guess maybe because it is the absolute truth. Whether Obi-Wan is my son or not, it doesn't matter. He still shouldn't have to spend anytime with Mother without me there to make sure of his welfare.
Qui-Gon seemed to have calmed down about the blood test he had been so overly insistent on before that the child take. He still wanted a second test, but he seemed to believe more than ever that the little devil child upstairs was his. He could not feel so connected to him otherwise. Worry for Obi-Wan impeded the desire for another blood test. It just didn't impede it, it halted completely, at least the immediate urgency of it. Qui-Gon's first concern steadfastly remained the well-being of Obi-Wan Kenobi, his apprentice.
######
Qui-Gon was very persuasive in his interrogation of the two Aronite prisoners.
The King stood on the other side of the cell door, protected by the bars on them as he watched with curious interest how easy Master Jinn managed to elicit what he needed from the men. They did not totally implicate the Senator but they alluded to the fact that he was in it in a round about way. Their fear of being executed by the fellow Aronites kept them from telling everything.
They knew deep down the king would not have them murdered if they did not talk, where as the Aronites would kill them instantly if they did. The most important thing gotten from the prisoners by Master Jinn had been the location of their secret meeting hideout.
Qui-Gon and the king with the head bodyguard sat for over an hour and planned what they would do. They were going to watch… the senator until he came up missing in the next few evenings, then hopefully he would be caught along with the others at the assembled Aronites, at their appointed meeting place. That would be the best way to ensure the Senator was captured and enough evidence secured. He would be caught in the act of treason.
Qui-Gon went back to he and Obi-Wan's room with the promise from the king that their meals would immediately follow. King Rozel was in a very good mood over the information Master Jinn had been able to glean from his prisoners. No one would be told that their Aronite captives revealed anything but anger and silence to the Jedi master.
Another important decision was made while Qui-Gon Jinn spoke with the king. Obi-Wan, his apprentice would leave first thing in the morning on the king's own personal transport; A very sleek modern space craft, of such luxury Obi had never seen.
#### In Obi and Qui's room ####
Qui-Gon walked into the room only to find his little padawan still in the same spot where he left him.
Obi-Wan had made a head rest of four pillows by turning them into a little mountain behind him. He had the leather bound book Qui-Gon had given him earlier. The Jedi master could not really tell if the child was reading it or he it was only a prop to impress his father.
Qui-Gon didn't really care at the moment. He also was not concerned with what he and Obi-Wan discussed right before he left. He reasoned that Damien and Bruck was guilty of spewing unfounded truths to the child just to upset him and Obi-Wan fell for it.
The only thing that might concern the master in any way was the mention of the blood test. Of course one of the boys could have overheard Master Jinn discussing the blood test but he didn't know how that was possible.
//Maybe they just stumbled onto the truth in their jokes to Obi. Maybe they said something about me questioning Obi-Wan's birthright. Surely my mother wouldn't have told Damien about Kaylin and her one-time run-in with the authorities. //
It did confuse the master but he was determined he would wait until he went for the blood test and to retrieve his son from Coruscant before he discussed it with Obi-Wan again.
"Master are we going to eat?"
Obi-Wan seemed to be forever hungry. Even after his scrape with the Aronites, he still managed to keep his appetite intact.
"Yes, someone will bring us something very shortly. After you have eaten I want to get some sleep. You will be up very early tomorrow, before sunrise, I would say."
Obi-Wan wondered why they didn't continue the argument or disagreement they were in when his father got called away.
"Why Master do we have to go somewhere?"
No, Obi-Wan we don't, you do. I am sending you to Coruscant on the King's transport, first thing in the morning. The problems we have between us can wait. This mission has to come before my personal life, no matter what you think. Sending you to Master Yoda is the best way I know how to keep you safe. The rest we can discuss when I come to get you….."
Up off his mound of pillows Obi-Wan jumped. He sat right in the middle of his bed on his knees, with his legs tucked under him.
'But Dad…I…No you can't……."
"There is not telling your master or your father no Obi-Wan, and I don't intend to spend the entire evening arguing about it. We both had a busy day. I plan to eat and hit that bed once I have meditated. and you will do the same. No more ifs, ands, or buts; No more discussions at all.".
Obi-Wan knew to try to reason with his master/father would be futile. The child could see the determined look on Qui-Gon's face and hear it in the words that finalized, sealed, and molded his very fate. He would go to Coruscant with a promise from his dad he would be picked up once the mission was over. Obi-Wan could only hope that that it was not an empty promise and Qui-Gon would come to get him.
This was as lonely, desolate, and afraid Obi-Wan had ever been since his mother's death. He was once again alone and unsure of his place in life, with the Jedi or in his father's eyes. Now Obi-Wan Kenobi would be sent home as Qui-Gon said. He would be thrust into a temple with "almost" strangers to rely on for even his basic needs. A scary prospect for a newly orientated eight-year old Jedi and an even scarier one for an eight-year old little boy. Obi-Wan had more of that little boy in him than he did the newly acquired Jedi traits.
####The next morning#####
Master Qui-Gon Jinn was just starting to learn that his little son, Obi-Wan, brought an entirely new dimension to his life. Just in the short time Obi-Wan had been with his father gave Jinn's several firsts in his life.
The day before was the first time Master Jinn ever felt fear so strong that he could not control it. It was also the first time he had lost focus in a battle because of that fear. The fear had not been for himself, it had been for Obi-Wan. Today he would suffer separation anxiety for the first time. It would be anxiety brought on by the neccessary separation from his son and padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Qui-Gon plucked at the sleeves of his Jedi robe not unlike Obi-Wan would do when he was nervous. He stood on the landing dock far longer than was necessary as he watched the ship take off with Obi-Wan but without him. The little sleek ship sped out of view. However, the Jedi master still made no move to leave. His stare stayed fixed on the skies where the ship that carried his son, disappeared into the storm-thickened clouds.
From behind him Queen Bella spoke.
"It's hard isn't it Master Jinn? Even if they are only going away for a few days it's always hard to watch them go. I know it is for me. I know my sons must go away to school where they can properly be trained to take their rightful positions later in life, but still I get this knot right in the middle of chest almost in my stomach every time I have to ship them off to school for another semester."
Qui-Gon turned to face the Queen.
"I know exactly what you mean. It is in here right now as we speak."
The master took his fist, balled it up, and tapped his chest right about where his heart was.
"I am not sure if I have been gripped with some stomach flu or just a massive muscle spasm of my very heart. Even a serene Jedi master, schooled in the art of controlling his feelings has a hard time when he has to watch his own child leave. I don't think Jedi always control their fears or emotions as well as outsiders around us think. I suspect a great many of us have learned what feelings we can't control and there are some, must be hidden from others. I for one have become quite inept in the concealment of my private and very personal emotions, "normally". Only I find I don't wish to hide mine today. No matter how shameful some Jedi might think it is, my feelings are real; all too painfully real for me right now. I have no desire to hide my unhappiness of my son's departure any more than I want to hide my feelings of love I have for that "little imp" of mine.. I don't care how stubborn or bull-headed he is."
The queen laughed. She put her arm through Jinn's extended one as they started to make their way back to the main chambers, where the king's private guards waited for Master Jinn.
Just as Qui-Gon descended the first couple of steps of the tranport launch pad, a shock wave a raw shear force hit the Jedi master hard enough to offset his balance. Had he not had been still holding to the Queen's arm, that aided in some support for the Jedi, he would have crumbled to his knees.
The Queen noticed Master Jinn stagger and almost lose his balance.
"Master Jinn are you ill?"
"No I am fine, just lost my footing."
A mistruth stated because Jinn himself was unsure what happened just then.
//What in the name of sith was that? Has the child gotten me so confused that I can not even decipher a message sent by the force its self? There are no other force sensitives on this planet, yet I felt like one or several Jedi very close in distance or personally to me just met a terrible, possibly deadly fate. Was it a vision of the future for someone or an ominous premonition? It could be an warning of impending danger sent by the force? But why to me and who or what does the warning concern?………………………//