###TEN LONG MONTHS LATER####
"Quin, do you think I look alright?"
Quin Vos had his back turned to the boy who spoke to him, Obi-Wan Kenobi, his ward for the last ten months. Most would have thought for Vos that it had been long painful months in the company of a fourteen year old, but it wasn't. Quin shut his eyes as if to shut out the real possibility that Qui-Gon just might take Obi-Wan from him now.
He tried not to let his shortness show in his words. He wasn't upset with Obi-Wan, but with the situation they were all in.
"Don't ask me again Kenobi, or I will hang you from the ceiling for your disobedience, and that is where Master Jinn will find you."
Obi only smiled. He was never afraid of Knight Vos. Where others cringed at the sight of him, even those Jedi master and apprentice pairs that came to the outer rim, Obi knew a Knight Quinlan Vos that no one else knew.
"Yes sir, Knight Vos, sir. Now, do I look alright or not?"
"Fine, fine, aside from your hair being too long, and you are totally out of Jedi apprentice clothing, anyone would recognize you as the old Obi-Wan Kenobi; the one that should be back at the temple studying to be a Jedi."
Even as he said it, he didn't want to believe it. His companion of almost a year might possibly be going back to the temple. It had not been decided if it would be with Master Jinn, but some master would take and train Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"Well the council has decided it is time to go back and you seem think it is a wise idea. I guess there is no one else to ask."
"Obi felt along the force, felt a nudge of pain and he knew where and why it was there. He felt it too at times. Obi would miss Quin and Quin would no doubt miss him, No, not //that the supposedly self-reliant codger would admit to it, but I know he likes me, likes my company.//
"What about you Vos? Don't you think you should have a say in this?"
"Why? The council wrangled me into taking you. It's not as if I wanted you with me. It was a duty placed on me by the council and that's all. I have kept you alive, fed, and a roof over your head, nothing more. I am nothing to you Kenobi, as you are nothing to me."
"I don't believe you Quin."
Quin Vos whirled around and angrily stomped over to where Obi stood.
He grabbed Obi-Wan roughly by the arm.
"You are wrong Kid. You are nothing to me and never have been. Now get yourself all prettied up for your master then clean our cabin. You want your master to think we live like the Tabord people around us."
His actions were not like those Obi-Wan had grown accustomed too.. However he overlooked them for Obi knew what caused Vos to act so totally unlike himself..
//I think Quin hates to see me go, at least a little. I may not. Maybe now that Master Jinn knows I was the one to block the bond, he won't want me back. I know that Master Yoda told Qui-Gon that even when I knew the truth as to what happened with the doctored tape, I still refused to open our bond. //
Obi shook his head over his stupidity, but never really believed his master would refuse to take him back. He had such high hopes for his and Master Jinn's reuniting this afternoon.
###Later That Day###
Knight Vos and his ward, Obi-Wan Kenobi watched the little ship that carried Master Jinn, land. He stepped off the ship first. Quinlan didn't really expect another person to step from it. He assumed the droid pilot would park the ship at the landing port and wait for Master Jinn and if he decided to go, Obi-Wan, to go back to Coruscant.
Nothing surprised Quinlan more than the sight of Xanatos Crion and unbelievable to his eyes, Anakin Skywalker, the reason for Obi's lack of confidence.
If he was surprised, then you might describe Obi as being floored. He did not expect his master to bring with him the one person who caused their split in the first place..
//Alright, I caused the problem. I broke the bond. I was under too much pressure competing with the *Chosen One*. Now that I have confessed to that, I never presumed Master would bring the *brat* with him.//
Quin saw the distraught m look on Obi's face and immediately and compassionately gave his shoulder a squeeze. The knight leaned over and whispered in Obi's ear.
"It is alright Obi, I am sure there is a reason "they" had to come."
Jinn noticed Obi's distress over Anakin Skywalker's presence and the crudeness of Vos to whisper in his presence. He shot Vos a, knowing glare because of his rudeness.
"You may wonder why Ani is with me Obi-Wan. Since I have learned it was at your edict that our bond was fettered, and the reason for it, I felt I should bring that *reason* with me. I know and understand in the beginning you feared what was shown to you, a tape forfeiting your life for Anakin's but we are pass that. You have admitted to the soul healers and the council that you understood that tape was doctored to deceive you.. What you also admitted was that you knew before you were sent with Knight Vos that the tape was not real. Your reason for the continued shielding from me was jealousy of Ani. You refused to open our bond because of your uncertainty of your abilities as an apprentice. You were not sure you could compete against the *Chosen One*. With such selfish and childish reason behind your deviousness in stifling our bond, I am not at all sure that I will allow it to be reinstated. That is why I informed the council to instruct you not to open it. I have shut my side down. To reopen and close the bond should I decide we can not be master and apprentice would be painful for me but unbearable for you."
There was no kindness in Master Jinn's face, no sign that he was the least bit pleased to see his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi again. His words were drawn out, accented with a curt tone. A tone that anyone would recognize as having a condemnation to them and that condemnation could only be directed at one person, Obi-Wan.
There….. what needed to be said by the Jedi master had been said. Jinn had long been apprehensive about the idea of stating how he felt but he said it, first thing right off the ship.
Quin balanced Obi with a grip right at his elbow. He knew Jinn's words devastated the boy and they had certainly taken Quin by surprise. Master Jinn might actually refuse to take Obi-Wan back as his apprentice. Quin could not fathom the reasoning behind Jinn's harsh declaration.
Xanatos remained silent, almost as if detached from the entire situation. However, Knight Vos and Obi, both could not help but notice the self-satisfied smirk on Padawan Skywalker's face. That look on Ani's face told a very sad tale for *FORMER* apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi.Obi-Wan pushed the food around on his plate. Normally it would be at this point that his guardian and new found friend, Quinlan Vos would interrupt Obi's amusement with his food and tell him in no uncertain terms to eat. This however was not a normal day. Obi-Wan's master was there. Obi thought he had come to retrieve him and take him back to the temple to train, but it appeared Master Jinn had questions he needed answered by Kenobi before he accepted the boy back.
Master Jinn had managed to temporarily quell his seething attitude toward Obi-Wan. He had gone so far as to change the subject over last meal. He intentionally kept it off his apprentice and their waning bond.
"The Tabords are not a friendly sect of beings are they? They gained control of this planet by a hostile takeover over twenty years ago. Their methods of controlling it and their attempt to control everything around them is based on the same barbaric tactic and aggression toward anyone who attempts to resist, as they used for that takeover."
Vos was not sure if Jinn wanted an answer to his statement or was making an observation. An observation Vos didn't care for. He had worked most intensely the last couple years to bring some semblance of civility to the Tabords and had accomplished a great deal. Had…. until the new Emperor was been installed by a very crooked election.
The young knight brushed his long flowing hair back to better see the reaction to his words by his former Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
"No living sentient on the outer rim is saintly Master Jinn. You are more than familiar with that. During my senior apprenticeship we spent a great deal of time out here. However, until Emperor Tolan was installed as ruler here, things had gone relatively smooth. Smooth in that the Tobards had been satisfied to colonize only this planet.. Now it would seem Tolan has other ideas, a growth spurt for his people in the line of the tiny planet, Ceris as only their first target. If I can not stop the take over, I am afraid Ceris is only the first planet on his list as potential planets out here to take over."
Anakin interjected his thoughts. As usual his thoughts created a combative attitude. He had such a knack of saying something that caused controversy for someone.
"I suppose Master Jinn was the only Jedi who could really manage things here until you were knighted. You seem to have stepped into some big shoes when you took *his* job *from* him."
Quin and Jinn both cringed visibly. Ani had hit a delicate subject that Vos knew Qui-Gon didn't like having brought up. Before Vos was knighted, Master Jinn had always been the deterrent factor for the Jedi in this highly hostile and potentially volatile guardant of the planetary system within the Republics edicts.
Master Jinn became even more engrossed in his eating, though very little of the food was actually going into his mouth. It was a convenient way, an obvious prop used to divert his attention to something other than the conversation they were in. He did not raise his head but replied to Anakin's rather inopportune and annoyingly correct evaluation of what happened to cause Master Jinn to lose his position as top diplomat for the outer rim.
"Now the Jedi has Knight Vos to do their dirty work. They have no need of me in that department."
Quin heard a bit of regret in Jinn's words. Could his former master actually be envious of him because the council gave him the job which had been so much a part of Master Qui-Gon.
"Well I think Master Crion and I could make a formable pair out here."
Xani forked up a large chunk of barely cooked meat and turned it around and around as he stared at it questionably. Then he did something quite out of the norm for him, he *snorted*. Yes if Quin heard right the other knight at the table, Kight Xanatos Crion let out a long snorting sound as an objection to Ani's words.
"Nonsense, no one of right mind would want to spend their life out here. It has become more treacherous than when Master Jinn and I or even Qui coupled with Vos worked it. You must have someone out here almost all the time. You become proverbial nomads around these five planets in this sector. I am surprised we found Knight Vos and Kenobi. At any given time to they can be on any of the five planets and have to call there their home."
"Well that is not exactly how I work out here Knight Crion. I try to have one stable home and this is it. With the potential for a hostile take over by the people on this planet, it pays to keep a close observation on what they do."
"Quite accommodating but small. Is this the best the Tobards' government could do for the principle reason they hasn't blown themselves up in some multi-planet civil war?"
Xani was in a bad mood thought Quin.
"My needs are meager. I am a Jedi and thus have learned to live with less, a lot less in my case. I was taught by our master, Qui-Gon to be humble and living in this shack is quite humbling enough. After all it isn't necessary for my host to even provide shelter for me had they chosen not too."
Qui-Gon was restless with the conversation he himself started. He pushed his chair away from the table and the half eaten plate of food. The clang of his fork on his plate made an eerie sound as everyone at the table looked over to him. The crux of the conversation was clearly starting to wear on the normally calm controlled master .
Vos knew precious little Anakin had opened and entirely new avenue of problems between he and Jinn. Now, Vos thought his former master was about to launch into some litany of how things use to be, how he handled what the council master clearly thought could not be handled by him now. What came from Master Jinn's mouth was not of the past but of the present and it was a shock for Knight Vos.
"Maybe *now* would good time to explain another reason I am here. Maybe I should have told you when I first arrived but with the other problem at hand, my pad...Obi-Wan, I just didn't. My arrival did not go as well as I would have liked it too. My mission here is two-fold. The council sent me here to look into the *situatio* between the Tobards and the Zarmacks. I am sure you both wondered why I brought Xanatos and *Ani* with me."
Vos was a little surprised. It had felt good to speak with his old master about things Jedi. Not about who got the custody of a little boy. Now Qui-Gon decided it was time to lay the mother load on him. The council had never found him derelict in his duties enough to send and overseer and was leery that Jinn even spoke the truth. Though deep down he knew the Jedi master before him would never out and out lie.
The rogue Quinlan Vos didn't like problems and Obi-Wan had suddenly, after ten months of calm and almost normalcy turned into a big problem and with it extra baggage. The three Jedi visitors might end up staying longer. Especially if as Jinn said, the council wanted him to review what Vos had done in the line of impeding and eventually halting the aggression of the Tobards.
"Two-Fold, you mean the council has sent you to oversee my work. I find that hard to believe. They have never sent a watch dog for me before."
Obi-Wan sat with his fork in his mashed beets. He had already made two faces, scratched them out, and was about to draw a house in his food when he heard Master mention another reason for his trek here. He almost missed that important tidbit of news because he had been thinking to himself if he heard Qui-Gon use the cutesy nickname *Ani* one more time he might just puke.
Obi-Wan didn't have time to draw the picture of the house in his food. The rippled muscled tattooed arm of his guardian reached out from beside him and grabbed his hand, the one with the fork in it.
Jinn watched with intense scrutiny as to how Vos handled *his* apprentice.
Obi-Wan had never felt such a strong grip and while it didn't hurt him, much, he knew it could easily. Vos used everything in his power to control the squeeze to Obi's wrist but he didn't quit succeed. It hurt Obi's feelings more than his wrist, to be treated so in front of his master and Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan shoveled a large spoonful of beets in his mouth as soon as Vos released his grip. It wasn't that he liked the beets or because he rushed to do what Vos wanted. He hoped if his guardian saw his mouth full of food he would not engage in some verbal reprimand which would really embarrasses him..
Quin allowed his serious stare to slowly sweep the table to everyone there until his gaze settled on Master Jinn. He preceded with his conversation with Qui-Gon as if the incidence with Obi hadn't even happened.
"Well they have never found reason too before. The threat by the Tabords to overtake the tiny planet of Ceris was reason enough. It was the Zarmakc that asked for another Jedi. Seems they feel they will get the short end of everything with your primary home here. The council tried to explain to them that you would be fair and keep both factions in mind when negotiating a deal . But… as you see they didn't listen so I was sent. not as a watch dog but as an encouragement for both rulers of each planet to feel represented."
"Yes, well I admit my negotiations with them have stalled but not entirely broken down. I have managed to reach some understanding with the new emperor. . It is enough to hold out some hope."
Master Jinn's hidden anger for Vos' suddenly surfaced all the way and he couldn't resist being a bit assertive with this rogue know-it-all knight.
"Humph… stalled is that what your total lack of ability to even reason some kind of compromise between the two, a stalled process? I think the Zarmack people would call your inability to find a solution to their problems a bit more troublesome than a stalling process. They need to have something done now. Even as we speak the Tabords could be planning a proverbial annihilation of the little planet. That, Knight Vos is the reason *I* am here; to see it doesn't go any further."
Vos' face redden to the color of the beets on his plate.
His former master might attack his style his clothing, his hair, even his way of life, but never before had he heard him attack what Vos considered was his best asset; his ability to negotiate and settle almost any problem.
Knight Vos had never been one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. He realized immediately that he had let those around see a part of him never normally seen. With the help of the force he regained his normal coloring, attempted to slow his breathing and stop the despicable thoughts he had for his former master. After all, it was he and not Jinn that broke their connection after his knighting.
Quinlan got up from the table and started to clear the plates that were not needed. Obi made an attempt to get up to help but a very firm hand on his shoulder let the apprentice know his help was not appreciated right now.
Obi now had two things to worry about. First there was his master who already stated he was a more than hesitant to take him back and now that very said master had angered Obi-Wan's guardian. Obi saw something in Vos he had never seen before, a shade of darkness, possibly. Not as blatant as an evil one who served the dark force but something was there and it scared Obi maybe more than the idea that his master didn't want him any longer. Loyalties for one or the other Vos or Jinn for Obi was causing turmoil. He however felt a certain connection to Vos and felt maybe his master was overly stating his reason for being here; not that Obi would go so far as to say Jinn lied, but what was really more important to his master the mission or the forging of their bond.
Kenobi hadn't wanted to delve right back into his and Master Jinn's conflict but neither did he want to listen them rehash every little minor eruption on Ceris or any other outer rim planet. He wanted to know his future. A future that might not be revealed to him until the mess with the new Tobard emperor. He wished Master Yoda had told them Qui-Gon and his little entourage came for another reason than just him. From the dark looks that passed over Vos' face as he listened to Jinn downgrade his abilities to keep peace Obi thought Knight Quinlan wished he'd been given notice as well.
Anakin sat silently and fumed. He did not like his grandmaster Jinn, the only one there who valued his "chosen one" stasis involved so deeply in a possible mission with Vos. He liked the attention he received from Jinn. His master Xanatos Crion had grown tired of his childish ways and his pompous attitude. He managed to wrap Jinn around his finger. Xani was as conniving as his padawan so it was harder to con another con.
Vos talked with Jinn but thought of why Master Yoda and the rest of the council would think the Tobards would trust and outsider to maneuvered a peaceful settlement.
//Odd, unless the little troll has managed to convince the council to send Jinn as some kind of parley between me, him, and Obi-Wan. It might be to Obi-Wan's advantage if Qui-Gon stayed longer. It would give him more time to assess his padawan for what his potential truly is. Good for him, bad for me. I don't need my former master and his "tag-alongs" looking over my shoulders. They might compromise what I have so far been able to accomplish, though I do admit it isn't much.//
"If it is as you say, the council wants you here then they must have a good reason. I will see if I can schedule meeting with Emperor Tolan first thing in the morning. As for keeping Anakin in the excellent shape you allude too, I will show you where Obi-Wan and I practice our katas and saber techniques. It isn't as fancy as the temple arena but it serves its purpose well.
"Good." Jinn got up and stretched. "The trip has made us all stiff. I myself could use some exercise tomorrow. AS for now I think I might take a walk around the city, if you feel it is safe to do so?"
"Yes the emperor's guards know you have arrived and who you have come to visit. Obi-Wan, I will do your clean up chores for you. Why don't you go with your master? Maybe a little privacy is just what you two need right now."
The silence in the room was obvious. Jinn walked to the door as if he hadn't even heard Knight Quinlan's suggestion. Obi-Wan stared at his uneaten food and said nothing until he felt a sharp nudge and knew it was his guardian. A stern look and a nod toward Jinn was Vos' way of silently instructing the boy to follow his master.
Jinn stood at the door and regretfully heard the sound of the chair Obi sat in being slid out from under the table.
"Yes, Knight Vos I am sure you are right. Privacy is what we need."
Jinn couldn't put off what he had to say any longer. He turned and flashed Vos a look of contempt before he faced off with his apprentice. His glare, no easier to look upon for Obi than it was for Quinlan.
"NO!!!!, that is alright. Since I will be here a while, I have plenty of time to speak with the boy, I mean Obi-Wan."
With that Jinn made a hurried exist out the door into the cold darkness, but no darker or colder feeling than what he left his apprentice feeling.. Qui-Gon had yet to call him his apprentice.. The word refused to come from him and Obi-Wan knew Jinn was hesitant to call him that.
//Maybe if he thinks if I hear padawan I will assume he plans to take me back and I don't think that will be the case. He just wants to finish the mission before he drops the bomb on me; tells me he has no plans to reinstate me as his apprentice.//
Vos had much the same thoughts but now was not the time to confront Jinn. He did however have every intention of confronting his former master about the treatment of his little ward.
//Maybe my former master can dissuade Obi-Wan with rude remarks and a threatening stare but he can't me. Master Jinn is not going to get out of this without hearing exactly what I think of the abominable treatment of Obi today. I plan to get Master Jinn's assurance tonight that tomorrow he will treat his apprentice in a more respectful way whether he intends to continue training him or not. If I don't some reaction from the old goat and he repeats today, he will answer to me. It won't be a quiet discussion amongst friends. It will be more like a locked in battle between two sworn enemies………………..master and apprentice. //
#####out in the city##########
Qui-Gon had not been on his evening stroll long when he heard someone behind him. Heard was not really the accurate way for describing how he knew Vos was there. He felt his former padawan's force signature; a signature indelibly imprinted in Jinn's mind. Once a master and apprentice have formed a bond, that bond is forever recorded in their minds, recognized as a fingerprint would be. It is there always in some capacity. With Xanatos, his force signature was barely readable just as soon as their training bond was dissolved. With Quinlan, his signature was a like a neon sign, lit up in Jinn's mind, if he allowed it to be. Qui-Gon had to admit, next to Kenobi he and Vos once had the strongest bond of all his apprentices. He decided to teach the young knight a lesson for his feeble attempt at stalking him.
Before Quinlan had time to react, Jinn had his saber drawn, ignited, whirled it around, and pressed it against the younger Jedi's neck.
"Should learn to be a little quieter."
Qui-Gon let the knight go and as Vos rubbed the slight singe on his neck, he spoke.
"I don't think you heard me at all. You cheated and pulled from the force. You felt my force signature."
"Cheated, I used all means possible to find out who was stalking me. That is not cheating, that is using force given talents."
"I was not stalking."
Quin allowed a rare sheepish grin to be directed to his master.
"If you *cheated" and knew it was me, why did you draw your saber and actually use it on me?"
Vos knew it was some kind of lesson, he just wanted to hassle his former master.
"Oh and how did you know where to find me? You did the same thing as I, you followed my force signature. And as you can guess, I drew my saber to teach you a lesson."
Jinn raised an eyebrow and waited to see if Vos would deny the truth.
Vos bent one leg up and propped it against the lamp post, then leaned into it for support.
"Yes, well I suppose old lessons die hard, but in this case it was not necessary to follow through with it and make it a painful injurious lesson."
Vos rubbed the singe on his neck again just to let the master know he had made his point..
"Yes, I found you through our old bond but I *WAS* *NOT* stalking you. However, I did come to find you."
"Oh......... one of those privacy moments you thought Kenobi and I needed, you decided would work with you and I as well?"
"Padawan Kenobi, Have you forgotten that or do you just not call him your apprentice by his title as some punishment? You know that is what it is when you have yet to acknowledge him as your apprentice. If not punishment, it is tortuous for Obi-Wan to hear and see you avoid calling him by his rightful title; that reiterates verbally his rightful place by your side."
"He knows he is my apprentice, as everyone at that table is aware that Obi-Wan is my apprentice. Why should I have to say it every five minutes?"
"Once would have been nice. Just once had you called Obi-Wan, Padawan Kenobi, it would have helped break the ice."
"You mean the *ice* he created when he denied us our bond. The break in our bond was directly because of Obi-Wan and not for a good reason. He felt threatened by the 'Chosen One', lame and un-Jedi. I am not sure I can accept it as an excuse for what he has done to us the last ten months."
"Even if I admit that all you say about your apprentice is correct, the way you treated him today was just plain rude."
"You let me worry about my apprentice. You have had him for ten months now. He has wasted time that he could have used to better himself and not had to worry about the 'Chosen One' being better than him. Pettiness that is what it is."
I don't think that's all he's worried about. He feared he would fail you. I know from experience you expect your apprentices to be the best. Maybe he feared that the 'Chosen One' had more to offer you than he did. If the boy is really concerned about it Master Jinn, can it be all that *petty*?"
"Well he was wrong. Now though I am not sure I can keep giving him a way out every time he makes a mistake. Has he told you of Melida/Daan?"
"No, *he* hasn't. I heard about it through the grapevine. Not quite as accurate as the truth, but I know the jest of it."
"Oh the infamous padawan gossip. Well, they might have exaggerated the truth but not by much. Obi-Wan had just gotten off probation and this had to happen. I won't have another apprentice defy my every word, shirk from his responsibility. He is a child but we all know Jedi children aren't really children. No Vos, I am not sure I want to call him my padawan again. It seems I don't have a very good track record when it comes to readying apprentices for knighthood. I am not sure I want to go through the same hurt with him over and over as I had too with Xanatos and y??.…."
Jinn stopped, but Quinlan knew what he meant or rather *who* he meant.
"Like me. There I finished your last word for you. I was that rebellious padawan, the *other* one. You have the blatantly raw audacity to compare Obi to me, possibly even worse, to Xanatos?" Don't Jinn, you don't do the boy justice. He has more compassion, trust and loyalty for you than I ever did. And you must admit Xanatos had a lot less of that Padawan loyalty to you than even me."
Now it was Jinn's turn to rest. He leaned against the adjacent post, much like Vos was doing.
"You had loyalty Quinz, you just put other loyalties before the Jedi; way before what should have been first and foremost."
It was soothing to hear his old master use his nickname, the one Jinn himself gave him. Only for a moment though, before he remembered that not long after Master Jinn christened him with his new nickname, their problems began.
"You mean I put loyalties before you, not the Jedi. That is what it was about, you Master Jinn. Just as it is now. You aren't concerned that Obi has in some way betrayed his apprenticeship to the Jedi, just to you."
Jinn could see they were about to get into a heated argument that didn't need to be.
"Look, I don't plan to argue with you about your apprenticeship or Obi's. I am going back and go to bed."
Vos watched the master leave.
"You are right you know."
Jinn turned around and was barely visible under the dimmed light.
"We don't' need to rehash our past and my failings as you perceive them, Qui-Gon. You need to deal with Obi-Wan. If today was any indication of how you plan to handle him then you are a very incompetent master. Not only that you are heartless maybe more than you were when you were my master"
Jinn drew in a deep breath, had every intention of blasting back with a hateful retort, but found he couldn't. Not with those deep dark set of eyes that pierced the night. Vos seemed to want the same thing Obi-Wan wanted, his unconditional acceptance. Quin didn't say that, Qui just felt it. It was acceptance he couldn't at the moment give to either of them……….
########################
Xanatos watched the two padawans in the kitchen. He sat in the common room and tried to relax. However, he knew he couldn't nod off to sleep, not with Anakin and Obi-Wan in the same room. He wasn't worried about Obi-Wan. Nevertheless, he knew if the opportunity arose for Anakin to argue with the other apprentice, he would. It wasn't that he cared a bit for Kenobi, but he knew Anakin hoped to sabotage Jinn and Kenobi's rejoining. Anakin wanted Xani's former master to stay with them for longer than Xanatos wanted. Crion would be glad now if Jinn had Kenobi to focus his concerns on.
So as Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker worked that evening congenially together, Xanatos sat, waited, watched, and wondered when the inevitable would come. However, it was not to be tonight. Ani held his tongue and what thoughts Obi had of Anakin, good or bad, stayed that way, locked in his mind. The inevitability of their confrontation that Xanatos longed to see would not be this night…
[b]####The next morning with the new emperor ####[/b]
"So these are the Jedi sent here to negotiate for the Zarmacks? I can't imagine why you insisted Master Jinn hold conference with me. Shouldn't you send him to Ceris and let him begin there?"
Vos could tell the Emperor had taken a dislike to Jinn and the other two Jedi with him. He had misconstrued why Qui-Gon was there and haughtily without reservation let them know that.
"No, no Emperor Tolan. While the Zarmack did ask to be represented, Master Jinn does not take sides just as I don't. He is here in the same capacity as I."
Knight Vos had allowed Master Jinn to step up front of him to speak with the emperor but the way the emperor misunderstood Master Jinn's presence, Quinlan practically pushed the master out of the way. He didn't look at Jinn for fear his former master would start in one of his irate rants about Quinlan overstepping his boundaries. [b]T.H.A.T.[/b] was something Emperor Tolan did not need to witness or he might lose what faith he had in Vos.
"Oh and does the Jedi council not trust you to do their diplomatic negotiations anymore, Jedi Vos? Master Jinn, take word back to Chancellor Valorum and your Jedi council that I trust no one but Knight Vos. The level of that trust, at times is questionable. You will find I am not the trusting sort of person at all. Either I deal with Vos and Vos alone, or no one."
Knight Quin started to speak before Jinn held up his hand and Vos from past memory as his apprentice just stopped at a mere hint of a command from his former master. Old habits died hard and as was once habit, Quinlan Vos did everything his master commanded.
"Look, Emperor Tolan I mean no disrespect, but I am afraid you have no choice. I was sent here to assist Knight Vos and as senior Jedi on this mission I plan to do just that. It benefits me to side with neither you or the Zarmack people of Ceris. I hold no stake in your feud over land. If you choose not to work with me, I can send your message of refusal back to the Republic council and I am sure that Chancellor Valorum will cease all support the republic gives to your world and its people."
Jinn never moved a muscle. His hands were as usual stuck inside the sleeves of his robe where he nervously fiddled with a string raveling loose. He did not want to show the emperor or the others around him to see how nervous he was. He predicted this man could have a volatile and violent temper and was easily provoked, if his demands were not met..
Tolan did not like to be threatened and Master Jinn's words sounded like a threat.
"Oh, so the peaceful Jedi are authorized to issue threats. Well two can play that game. You have twenty-four hours to get off my planet. Off, peacefully within that time period or I will have my men put you off. Go to Ceris and hunker down for a fight because that is what they are in for. While you are at it, send word to your precious council and Valorum that I don't need the Republic' financial or military aid. I have another who is willing to help me achieve what I desire. One who in many ways sees things my way."
Obi-Wan watched and noted how very similar, yet dissimilar Vos and his master were. Vos would have been sly and cunning in his agreement of the emperor though he might not agree at all. Master Jinn refused to stand down against the emperor. He was right and that would be what the emperor would *have* to understand. [i] My master is always right or so he thinks.[/i] Obi-Wan noticed how reserved and calm both were when faced with a very difficult situation.
"Very well, I will leave first thing in the morning. All of us will leave. You must give Vos time to pack his things."
The emperor frowned as he looked directly at Master Jinn. It was evident he didn't like what the Jedi master said.
"Oh you misunderstand. I said you and your little troupe were to leave. I said nothing of Knight Vos and his apprentice."
It was then Knight Vos drew his little ward closer to him Jinn however seemed to not be at all interested in the child's well being and totally oblivious to the possible threat the Emperor leveled toward them. Vos knew they were in for trouble. That is why he nestled Obi-Wan even closer to him. The boy was very nearly buried, hidden in the folds of Quin's robe.
By now Master Jinn had grown quite weary of the nerve of the emperor to interject himself in Jedi business, his business. He didn't know if the emperor referred to Obi-Wan as Vos' apprentice to anger Jinn or if Vos had allowed those on this planet to believe Obi-Wan was "his".
"I beg to differ, Obi-Wan is my apprentice and if you have been informed otherwise, you were given the wrong information."
Knight Quinlan started to object but knew it wasn't the time. They were headed for problems, big ones. Jinn was burying them and their chance to negotiate, [i] or possibly get off this planet.[/] Tolan was a man to reckon with and Jinn handled him all wrong at least in Vos' opinion.
"Oh that is right. The boy is here until you decide what to do with him."
Jinn shot a glare to Vos. He took a moment to wipe the fast forming perspiration from his forehead. He wished now he hadn't put his Jedi robe on before he came to meet with Tolan.
"Well as everyone evidently knows the Jedi business, private business, yes, Obi-Wan was here until I decided what should be done. But now he will go with me, as will Knight Vos."
"Oh you plan to take the boy back?"
This emperor knew too much and when he had time, Qui-Gon would confront Vos about it. He just wanted to convince this insane emperor that he could not allow any Jedi to stay here. It wasn't safe.
"It is none of your business what I have decided to do. It is Jedi business you should not have been privy too in the first place. As I said, we will be gone in the morning, [b] A.L.L.[/b] of us."
Tolan got up right in Master Jinn's face. Qui-Gon had to grit his teeth to keep from saying something absolutely unlike him in a diplomatic impasse. Knight Vos kept his hand on his saber hilt… just in case trouble erupted. Emperor Tolan would then realize where Knight Quinlan Vos' true loyalty lay.. With the Jedi and more importantly his master…….
"I will see to it that you leave with the two you came with and no one more. Maybe you should have been more concerned for you apprentice than you were. Now it would seem that he will be held hostage just as Knight Vos. [b] The detainment of Knight Vos and your apprentice should insure my planet is not attacked by an over zealous republic hell-bent on protecting Ceris."………………….[/b]
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My hardest critic, "Kyer" [thanx] has turned into my only reader willing to respond!!! Maybe I should send you a copy of the story if no one else is enjoying it here on FFN!!!!
PEACE [b]ewen[/b]
"Quin, do you think I look alright?"
Quin Vos had his back turned to the boy who spoke to him, Obi-Wan Kenobi, his ward for the last ten months. Most would have thought for Vos that it had been long painful months in the company of a fourteen year old, but it wasn't. Quin shut his eyes as if to shut out the real possibility that Qui-Gon just might take Obi-Wan from him now.
He tried not to let his shortness show in his words. He wasn't upset with Obi-Wan, but with the situation they were all in.
"Don't ask me again Kenobi, or I will hang you from the ceiling for your disobedience, and that is where Master Jinn will find you."
Obi only smiled. He was never afraid of Knight Vos. Where others cringed at the sight of him, even those Jedi master and apprentice pairs that came to the outer rim, Obi knew a Knight Quinlan Vos that no one else knew.
"Yes sir, Knight Vos, sir. Now, do I look alright or not?"
"Fine, fine, aside from your hair being too long, and you are totally out of Jedi apprentice clothing, anyone would recognize you as the old Obi-Wan Kenobi; the one that should be back at the temple studying to be a Jedi."
Even as he said it, he didn't want to believe it. His companion of almost a year might possibly be going back to the temple. It had not been decided if it would be with Master Jinn, but some master would take and train Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"Well the council has decided it is time to go back and you seem think it is a wise idea. I guess there is no one else to ask."
"Obi felt along the force, felt a nudge of pain and he knew where and why it was there. He felt it too at times. Obi would miss Quin and Quin would no doubt miss him, No, not //that the supposedly self-reliant codger would admit to it, but I know he likes me, likes my company.//
"What about you Vos? Don't you think you should have a say in this?"
"Why? The council wrangled me into taking you. It's not as if I wanted you with me. It was a duty placed on me by the council and that's all. I have kept you alive, fed, and a roof over your head, nothing more. I am nothing to you Kenobi, as you are nothing to me."
"I don't believe you Quin."
Quin Vos whirled around and angrily stomped over to where Obi stood.
He grabbed Obi-Wan roughly by the arm.
"You are wrong Kid. You are nothing to me and never have been. Now get yourself all prettied up for your master then clean our cabin. You want your master to think we live like the Tabord people around us."
His actions were not like those Obi-Wan had grown accustomed too.. However he overlooked them for Obi knew what caused Vos to act so totally unlike himself..
//I think Quin hates to see me go, at least a little. I may not. Maybe now that Master Jinn knows I was the one to block the bond, he won't want me back. I know that Master Yoda told Qui-Gon that even when I knew the truth as to what happened with the doctored tape, I still refused to open our bond. //
Obi shook his head over his stupidity, but never really believed his master would refuse to take him back. He had such high hopes for his and Master Jinn's reuniting this afternoon.
###Later That Day###
Knight Vos and his ward, Obi-Wan Kenobi watched the little ship that carried Master Jinn, land. He stepped off the ship first. Quinlan didn't really expect another person to step from it. He assumed the droid pilot would park the ship at the landing port and wait for Master Jinn and if he decided to go, Obi-Wan, to go back to Coruscant.
Nothing surprised Quinlan more than the sight of Xanatos Crion and unbelievable to his eyes, Anakin Skywalker, the reason for Obi's lack of confidence.
If he was surprised, then you might describe Obi as being floored. He did not expect his master to bring with him the one person who caused their split in the first place..
//Alright, I caused the problem. I broke the bond. I was under too much pressure competing with the *Chosen One*. Now that I have confessed to that, I never presumed Master would bring the *brat* with him.//
Quin saw the distraught m look on Obi's face and immediately and compassionately gave his shoulder a squeeze. The knight leaned over and whispered in Obi's ear.
"It is alright Obi, I am sure there is a reason "they" had to come."
Jinn noticed Obi's distress over Anakin Skywalker's presence and the crudeness of Vos to whisper in his presence. He shot Vos a, knowing glare because of his rudeness.
"You may wonder why Ani is with me Obi-Wan. Since I have learned it was at your edict that our bond was fettered, and the reason for it, I felt I should bring that *reason* with me. I know and understand in the beginning you feared what was shown to you, a tape forfeiting your life for Anakin's but we are pass that. You have admitted to the soul healers and the council that you understood that tape was doctored to deceive you.. What you also admitted was that you knew before you were sent with Knight Vos that the tape was not real. Your reason for the continued shielding from me was jealousy of Ani. You refused to open our bond because of your uncertainty of your abilities as an apprentice. You were not sure you could compete against the *Chosen One*. With such selfish and childish reason behind your deviousness in stifling our bond, I am not at all sure that I will allow it to be reinstated. That is why I informed the council to instruct you not to open it. I have shut my side down. To reopen and close the bond should I decide we can not be master and apprentice would be painful for me but unbearable for you."
There was no kindness in Master Jinn's face, no sign that he was the least bit pleased to see his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi again. His words were drawn out, accented with a curt tone. A tone that anyone would recognize as having a condemnation to them and that condemnation could only be directed at one person, Obi-Wan.
There….. what needed to be said by the Jedi master had been said. Jinn had long been apprehensive about the idea of stating how he felt but he said it, first thing right off the ship.
Quin balanced Obi with a grip right at his elbow. He knew Jinn's words devastated the boy and they had certainly taken Quin by surprise. Master Jinn might actually refuse to take Obi-Wan back as his apprentice. Quin could not fathom the reasoning behind Jinn's harsh declaration.
Xanatos remained silent, almost as if detached from the entire situation. However, Knight Vos and Obi, both could not help but notice the self-satisfied smirk on Padawan Skywalker's face. That look on Ani's face told a very sad tale for *FORMER* apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi.Obi-Wan pushed the food around on his plate. Normally it would be at this point that his guardian and new found friend, Quinlan Vos would interrupt Obi's amusement with his food and tell him in no uncertain terms to eat. This however was not a normal day. Obi-Wan's master was there. Obi thought he had come to retrieve him and take him back to the temple to train, but it appeared Master Jinn had questions he needed answered by Kenobi before he accepted the boy back.
Master Jinn had managed to temporarily quell his seething attitude toward Obi-Wan. He had gone so far as to change the subject over last meal. He intentionally kept it off his apprentice and their waning bond.
"The Tabords are not a friendly sect of beings are they? They gained control of this planet by a hostile takeover over twenty years ago. Their methods of controlling it and their attempt to control everything around them is based on the same barbaric tactic and aggression toward anyone who attempts to resist, as they used for that takeover."
Vos was not sure if Jinn wanted an answer to his statement or was making an observation. An observation Vos didn't care for. He had worked most intensely the last couple years to bring some semblance of civility to the Tabords and had accomplished a great deal. Had…. until the new Emperor was been installed by a very crooked election.
The young knight brushed his long flowing hair back to better see the reaction to his words by his former Master Qui-Gon Jinn.
"No living sentient on the outer rim is saintly Master Jinn. You are more than familiar with that. During my senior apprenticeship we spent a great deal of time out here. However, until Emperor Tolan was installed as ruler here, things had gone relatively smooth. Smooth in that the Tobards had been satisfied to colonize only this planet.. Now it would seem Tolan has other ideas, a growth spurt for his people in the line of the tiny planet, Ceris as only their first target. If I can not stop the take over, I am afraid Ceris is only the first planet on his list as potential planets out here to take over."
Anakin interjected his thoughts. As usual his thoughts created a combative attitude. He had such a knack of saying something that caused controversy for someone.
"I suppose Master Jinn was the only Jedi who could really manage things here until you were knighted. You seem to have stepped into some big shoes when you took *his* job *from* him."
Quin and Jinn both cringed visibly. Ani had hit a delicate subject that Vos knew Qui-Gon didn't like having brought up. Before Vos was knighted, Master Jinn had always been the deterrent factor for the Jedi in this highly hostile and potentially volatile guardant of the planetary system within the Republics edicts.
Master Jinn became even more engrossed in his eating, though very little of the food was actually going into his mouth. It was a convenient way, an obvious prop used to divert his attention to something other than the conversation they were in. He did not raise his head but replied to Anakin's rather inopportune and annoyingly correct evaluation of what happened to cause Master Jinn to lose his position as top diplomat for the outer rim.
"Now the Jedi has Knight Vos to do their dirty work. They have no need of me in that department."
Quin heard a bit of regret in Jinn's words. Could his former master actually be envious of him because the council gave him the job which had been so much a part of Master Qui-Gon.
"Well I think Master Crion and I could make a formable pair out here."
Xani forked up a large chunk of barely cooked meat and turned it around and around as he stared at it questionably. Then he did something quite out of the norm for him, he *snorted*. Yes if Quin heard right the other knight at the table, Kight Xanatos Crion let out a long snorting sound as an objection to Ani's words.
"Nonsense, no one of right mind would want to spend their life out here. It has become more treacherous than when Master Jinn and I or even Qui coupled with Vos worked it. You must have someone out here almost all the time. You become proverbial nomads around these five planets in this sector. I am surprised we found Knight Vos and Kenobi. At any given time to they can be on any of the five planets and have to call there their home."
"Well that is not exactly how I work out here Knight Crion. I try to have one stable home and this is it. With the potential for a hostile take over by the people on this planet, it pays to keep a close observation on what they do."
"Quite accommodating but small. Is this the best the Tobards' government could do for the principle reason they hasn't blown themselves up in some multi-planet civil war?"
Xani was in a bad mood thought Quin.
"My needs are meager. I am a Jedi and thus have learned to live with less, a lot less in my case. I was taught by our master, Qui-Gon to be humble and living in this shack is quite humbling enough. After all it isn't necessary for my host to even provide shelter for me had they chosen not too."
Qui-Gon was restless with the conversation he himself started. He pushed his chair away from the table and the half eaten plate of food. The clang of his fork on his plate made an eerie sound as everyone at the table looked over to him. The crux of the conversation was clearly starting to wear on the normally calm controlled master .
Vos knew precious little Anakin had opened and entirely new avenue of problems between he and Jinn. Now, Vos thought his former master was about to launch into some litany of how things use to be, how he handled what the council master clearly thought could not be handled by him now. What came from Master Jinn's mouth was not of the past but of the present and it was a shock for Knight Vos.
"Maybe *now* would good time to explain another reason I am here. Maybe I should have told you when I first arrived but with the other problem at hand, my pad...Obi-Wan, I just didn't. My arrival did not go as well as I would have liked it too. My mission here is two-fold. The council sent me here to look into the *situatio* between the Tobards and the Zarmacks. I am sure you both wondered why I brought Xanatos and *Ani* with me."
Vos was a little surprised. It had felt good to speak with his old master about things Jedi. Not about who got the custody of a little boy. Now Qui-Gon decided it was time to lay the mother load on him. The council had never found him derelict in his duties enough to send and overseer and was leery that Jinn even spoke the truth. Though deep down he knew the Jedi master before him would never out and out lie.
The rogue Quinlan Vos didn't like problems and Obi-Wan had suddenly, after ten months of calm and almost normalcy turned into a big problem and with it extra baggage. The three Jedi visitors might end up staying longer. Especially if as Jinn said, the council wanted him to review what Vos had done in the line of impeding and eventually halting the aggression of the Tobards.
"Two-Fold, you mean the council has sent you to oversee my work. I find that hard to believe. They have never sent a watch dog for me before."
Obi-Wan sat with his fork in his mashed beets. He had already made two faces, scratched them out, and was about to draw a house in his food when he heard Master mention another reason for his trek here. He almost missed that important tidbit of news because he had been thinking to himself if he heard Qui-Gon use the cutesy nickname *Ani* one more time he might just puke.
Obi-Wan didn't have time to draw the picture of the house in his food. The rippled muscled tattooed arm of his guardian reached out from beside him and grabbed his hand, the one with the fork in it.
Jinn watched with intense scrutiny as to how Vos handled *his* apprentice.
Obi-Wan had never felt such a strong grip and while it didn't hurt him, much, he knew it could easily. Vos used everything in his power to control the squeeze to Obi's wrist but he didn't quit succeed. It hurt Obi's feelings more than his wrist, to be treated so in front of his master and Anakin Skywalker. Obi-Wan shoveled a large spoonful of beets in his mouth as soon as Vos released his grip. It wasn't that he liked the beets or because he rushed to do what Vos wanted. He hoped if his guardian saw his mouth full of food he would not engage in some verbal reprimand which would really embarrasses him..
Quin allowed his serious stare to slowly sweep the table to everyone there until his gaze settled on Master Jinn. He preceded with his conversation with Qui-Gon as if the incidence with Obi hadn't even happened.
"Well they have never found reason too before. The threat by the Tabords to overtake the tiny planet of Ceris was reason enough. It was the Zarmakc that asked for another Jedi. Seems they feel they will get the short end of everything with your primary home here. The council tried to explain to them that you would be fair and keep both factions in mind when negotiating a deal . But… as you see they didn't listen so I was sent. not as a watch dog but as an encouragement for both rulers of each planet to feel represented."
"Yes, well I admit my negotiations with them have stalled but not entirely broken down. I have managed to reach some understanding with the new emperor. . It is enough to hold out some hope."
Master Jinn's hidden anger for Vos' suddenly surfaced all the way and he couldn't resist being a bit assertive with this rogue know-it-all knight.
"Humph… stalled is that what your total lack of ability to even reason some kind of compromise between the two, a stalled process? I think the Zarmack people would call your inability to find a solution to their problems a bit more troublesome than a stalling process. They need to have something done now. Even as we speak the Tabords could be planning a proverbial annihilation of the little planet. That, Knight Vos is the reason *I* am here; to see it doesn't go any further."
Vos' face redden to the color of the beets on his plate.
His former master might attack his style his clothing, his hair, even his way of life, but never before had he heard him attack what Vos considered was his best asset; his ability to negotiate and settle almost any problem.
Knight Vos had never been one to wear his emotions on his sleeve. He realized immediately that he had let those around see a part of him never normally seen. With the help of the force he regained his normal coloring, attempted to slow his breathing and stop the despicable thoughts he had for his former master. After all, it was he and not Jinn that broke their connection after his knighting.
Quinlan got up from the table and started to clear the plates that were not needed. Obi made an attempt to get up to help but a very firm hand on his shoulder let the apprentice know his help was not appreciated right now.
Obi now had two things to worry about. First there was his master who already stated he was a more than hesitant to take him back and now that very said master had angered Obi-Wan's guardian. Obi saw something in Vos he had never seen before, a shade of darkness, possibly. Not as blatant as an evil one who served the dark force but something was there and it scared Obi maybe more than the idea that his master didn't want him any longer. Loyalties for one or the other Vos or Jinn for Obi was causing turmoil. He however felt a certain connection to Vos and felt maybe his master was overly stating his reason for being here; not that Obi would go so far as to say Jinn lied, but what was really more important to his master the mission or the forging of their bond.
Kenobi hadn't wanted to delve right back into his and Master Jinn's conflict but neither did he want to listen them rehash every little minor eruption on Ceris or any other outer rim planet. He wanted to know his future. A future that might not be revealed to him until the mess with the new Tobard emperor. He wished Master Yoda had told them Qui-Gon and his little entourage came for another reason than just him. From the dark looks that passed over Vos' face as he listened to Jinn downgrade his abilities to keep peace Obi thought Knight Quinlan wished he'd been given notice as well.
Anakin sat silently and fumed. He did not like his grandmaster Jinn, the only one there who valued his "chosen one" stasis involved so deeply in a possible mission with Vos. He liked the attention he received from Jinn. His master Xanatos Crion had grown tired of his childish ways and his pompous attitude. He managed to wrap Jinn around his finger. Xani was as conniving as his padawan so it was harder to con another con.
Vos talked with Jinn but thought of why Master Yoda and the rest of the council would think the Tobards would trust and outsider to maneuvered a peaceful settlement.
//Odd, unless the little troll has managed to convince the council to send Jinn as some kind of parley between me, him, and Obi-Wan. It might be to Obi-Wan's advantage if Qui-Gon stayed longer. It would give him more time to assess his padawan for what his potential truly is. Good for him, bad for me. I don't need my former master and his "tag-alongs" looking over my shoulders. They might compromise what I have so far been able to accomplish, though I do admit it isn't much.//
"If it is as you say, the council wants you here then they must have a good reason. I will see if I can schedule meeting with Emperor Tolan first thing in the morning. As for keeping Anakin in the excellent shape you allude too, I will show you where Obi-Wan and I practice our katas and saber techniques. It isn't as fancy as the temple arena but it serves its purpose well.
"Good." Jinn got up and stretched. "The trip has made us all stiff. I myself could use some exercise tomorrow. AS for now I think I might take a walk around the city, if you feel it is safe to do so?"
"Yes the emperor's guards know you have arrived and who you have come to visit. Obi-Wan, I will do your clean up chores for you. Why don't you go with your master? Maybe a little privacy is just what you two need right now."
The silence in the room was obvious. Jinn walked to the door as if he hadn't even heard Knight Quinlan's suggestion. Obi-Wan stared at his uneaten food and said nothing until he felt a sharp nudge and knew it was his guardian. A stern look and a nod toward Jinn was Vos' way of silently instructing the boy to follow his master.
Jinn stood at the door and regretfully heard the sound of the chair Obi sat in being slid out from under the table.
"Yes, Knight Vos I am sure you are right. Privacy is what we need."
Jinn couldn't put off what he had to say any longer. He turned and flashed Vos a look of contempt before he faced off with his apprentice. His glare, no easier to look upon for Obi than it was for Quinlan.
"NO!!!!, that is alright. Since I will be here a while, I have plenty of time to speak with the boy, I mean Obi-Wan."
With that Jinn made a hurried exist out the door into the cold darkness, but no darker or colder feeling than what he left his apprentice feeling.. Qui-Gon had yet to call him his apprentice.. The word refused to come from him and Obi-Wan knew Jinn was hesitant to call him that.
//Maybe if he thinks if I hear padawan I will assume he plans to take me back and I don't think that will be the case. He just wants to finish the mission before he drops the bomb on me; tells me he has no plans to reinstate me as his apprentice.//
Vos had much the same thoughts but now was not the time to confront Jinn. He did however have every intention of confronting his former master about the treatment of his little ward.
//Maybe my former master can dissuade Obi-Wan with rude remarks and a threatening stare but he can't me. Master Jinn is not going to get out of this without hearing exactly what I think of the abominable treatment of Obi today. I plan to get Master Jinn's assurance tonight that tomorrow he will treat his apprentice in a more respectful way whether he intends to continue training him or not. If I don't some reaction from the old goat and he repeats today, he will answer to me. It won't be a quiet discussion amongst friends. It will be more like a locked in battle between two sworn enemies………………..master and apprentice. //
#####out in the city##########
Qui-Gon had not been on his evening stroll long when he heard someone behind him. Heard was not really the accurate way for describing how he knew Vos was there. He felt his former padawan's force signature; a signature indelibly imprinted in Jinn's mind. Once a master and apprentice have formed a bond, that bond is forever recorded in their minds, recognized as a fingerprint would be. It is there always in some capacity. With Xanatos, his force signature was barely readable just as soon as their training bond was dissolved. With Quinlan, his signature was a like a neon sign, lit up in Jinn's mind, if he allowed it to be. Qui-Gon had to admit, next to Kenobi he and Vos once had the strongest bond of all his apprentices. He decided to teach the young knight a lesson for his feeble attempt at stalking him.
Before Quinlan had time to react, Jinn had his saber drawn, ignited, whirled it around, and pressed it against the younger Jedi's neck.
"Should learn to be a little quieter."
Qui-Gon let the knight go and as Vos rubbed the slight singe on his neck, he spoke.
"I don't think you heard me at all. You cheated and pulled from the force. You felt my force signature."
"Cheated, I used all means possible to find out who was stalking me. That is not cheating, that is using force given talents."
"I was not stalking."
Quin allowed a rare sheepish grin to be directed to his master.
"If you *cheated" and knew it was me, why did you draw your saber and actually use it on me?"
Vos knew it was some kind of lesson, he just wanted to hassle his former master.
"Oh and how did you know where to find me? You did the same thing as I, you followed my force signature. And as you can guess, I drew my saber to teach you a lesson."
Jinn raised an eyebrow and waited to see if Vos would deny the truth.
Vos bent one leg up and propped it against the lamp post, then leaned into it for support.
"Yes, well I suppose old lessons die hard, but in this case it was not necessary to follow through with it and make it a painful injurious lesson."
Vos rubbed the singe on his neck again just to let the master know he had made his point..
"Yes, I found you through our old bond but I *WAS* *NOT* stalking you. However, I did come to find you."
"Oh......... one of those privacy moments you thought Kenobi and I needed, you decided would work with you and I as well?"
"Padawan Kenobi, Have you forgotten that or do you just not call him your apprentice by his title as some punishment? You know that is what it is when you have yet to acknowledge him as your apprentice. If not punishment, it is tortuous for Obi-Wan to hear and see you avoid calling him by his rightful title; that reiterates verbally his rightful place by your side."
"He knows he is my apprentice, as everyone at that table is aware that Obi-Wan is my apprentice. Why should I have to say it every five minutes?"
"Once would have been nice. Just once had you called Obi-Wan, Padawan Kenobi, it would have helped break the ice."
"You mean the *ice* he created when he denied us our bond. The break in our bond was directly because of Obi-Wan and not for a good reason. He felt threatened by the 'Chosen One', lame and un-Jedi. I am not sure I can accept it as an excuse for what he has done to us the last ten months."
"Even if I admit that all you say about your apprentice is correct, the way you treated him today was just plain rude."
"You let me worry about my apprentice. You have had him for ten months now. He has wasted time that he could have used to better himself and not had to worry about the 'Chosen One' being better than him. Pettiness that is what it is."
I don't think that's all he's worried about. He feared he would fail you. I know from experience you expect your apprentices to be the best. Maybe he feared that the 'Chosen One' had more to offer you than he did. If the boy is really concerned about it Master Jinn, can it be all that *petty*?"
"Well he was wrong. Now though I am not sure I can keep giving him a way out every time he makes a mistake. Has he told you of Melida/Daan?"
"No, *he* hasn't. I heard about it through the grapevine. Not quite as accurate as the truth, but I know the jest of it."
"Oh the infamous padawan gossip. Well, they might have exaggerated the truth but not by much. Obi-Wan had just gotten off probation and this had to happen. I won't have another apprentice defy my every word, shirk from his responsibility. He is a child but we all know Jedi children aren't really children. No Vos, I am not sure I want to call him my padawan again. It seems I don't have a very good track record when it comes to readying apprentices for knighthood. I am not sure I want to go through the same hurt with him over and over as I had too with Xanatos and y??.…."
Jinn stopped, but Quinlan knew what he meant or rather *who* he meant.
"Like me. There I finished your last word for you. I was that rebellious padawan, the *other* one. You have the blatantly raw audacity to compare Obi to me, possibly even worse, to Xanatos?" Don't Jinn, you don't do the boy justice. He has more compassion, trust and loyalty for you than I ever did. And you must admit Xanatos had a lot less of that Padawan loyalty to you than even me."
Now it was Jinn's turn to rest. He leaned against the adjacent post, much like Vos was doing.
"You had loyalty Quinz, you just put other loyalties before the Jedi; way before what should have been first and foremost."
It was soothing to hear his old master use his nickname, the one Jinn himself gave him. Only for a moment though, before he remembered that not long after Master Jinn christened him with his new nickname, their problems began.
"You mean I put loyalties before you, not the Jedi. That is what it was about, you Master Jinn. Just as it is now. You aren't concerned that Obi has in some way betrayed his apprenticeship to the Jedi, just to you."
Jinn could see they were about to get into a heated argument that didn't need to be.
"Look, I don't plan to argue with you about your apprenticeship or Obi's. I am going back and go to bed."
Vos watched the master leave.
"You are right you know."
Jinn turned around and was barely visible under the dimmed light.
"We don't' need to rehash our past and my failings as you perceive them, Qui-Gon. You need to deal with Obi-Wan. If today was any indication of how you plan to handle him then you are a very incompetent master. Not only that you are heartless maybe more than you were when you were my master"
Jinn drew in a deep breath, had every intention of blasting back with a hateful retort, but found he couldn't. Not with those deep dark set of eyes that pierced the night. Vos seemed to want the same thing Obi-Wan wanted, his unconditional acceptance. Quin didn't say that, Qui just felt it. It was acceptance he couldn't at the moment give to either of them……….
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Xanatos watched the two padawans in the kitchen. He sat in the common room and tried to relax. However, he knew he couldn't nod off to sleep, not with Anakin and Obi-Wan in the same room. He wasn't worried about Obi-Wan. Nevertheless, he knew if the opportunity arose for Anakin to argue with the other apprentice, he would. It wasn't that he cared a bit for Kenobi, but he knew Anakin hoped to sabotage Jinn and Kenobi's rejoining. Anakin wanted Xani's former master to stay with them for longer than Xanatos wanted. Crion would be glad now if Jinn had Kenobi to focus his concerns on.
So as Obi-Wan and Anakin Skywalker worked that evening congenially together, Xanatos sat, waited, watched, and wondered when the inevitable would come. However, it was not to be tonight. Ani held his tongue and what thoughts Obi had of Anakin, good or bad, stayed that way, locked in his mind. The inevitability of their confrontation that Xanatos longed to see would not be this night…
[b]####The next morning with the new emperor ####[/b]
"So these are the Jedi sent here to negotiate for the Zarmacks? I can't imagine why you insisted Master Jinn hold conference with me. Shouldn't you send him to Ceris and let him begin there?"
Vos could tell the Emperor had taken a dislike to Jinn and the other two Jedi with him. He had misconstrued why Qui-Gon was there and haughtily without reservation let them know that.
"No, no Emperor Tolan. While the Zarmack did ask to be represented, Master Jinn does not take sides just as I don't. He is here in the same capacity as I."
Knight Vos had allowed Master Jinn to step up front of him to speak with the emperor but the way the emperor misunderstood Master Jinn's presence, Quinlan practically pushed the master out of the way. He didn't look at Jinn for fear his former master would start in one of his irate rants about Quinlan overstepping his boundaries. [b]T.H.A.T.[/b] was something Emperor Tolan did not need to witness or he might lose what faith he had in Vos.
"Oh and does the Jedi council not trust you to do their diplomatic negotiations anymore, Jedi Vos? Master Jinn, take word back to Chancellor Valorum and your Jedi council that I trust no one but Knight Vos. The level of that trust, at times is questionable. You will find I am not the trusting sort of person at all. Either I deal with Vos and Vos alone, or no one."
Knight Quin started to speak before Jinn held up his hand and Vos from past memory as his apprentice just stopped at a mere hint of a command from his former master. Old habits died hard and as was once habit, Quinlan Vos did everything his master commanded.
"Look, Emperor Tolan I mean no disrespect, but I am afraid you have no choice. I was sent here to assist Knight Vos and as senior Jedi on this mission I plan to do just that. It benefits me to side with neither you or the Zarmack people of Ceris. I hold no stake in your feud over land. If you choose not to work with me, I can send your message of refusal back to the Republic council and I am sure that Chancellor Valorum will cease all support the republic gives to your world and its people."
Jinn never moved a muscle. His hands were as usual stuck inside the sleeves of his robe where he nervously fiddled with a string raveling loose. He did not want to show the emperor or the others around him to see how nervous he was. He predicted this man could have a volatile and violent temper and was easily provoked, if his demands were not met..
Tolan did not like to be threatened and Master Jinn's words sounded like a threat.
"Oh, so the peaceful Jedi are authorized to issue threats. Well two can play that game. You have twenty-four hours to get off my planet. Off, peacefully within that time period or I will have my men put you off. Go to Ceris and hunker down for a fight because that is what they are in for. While you are at it, send word to your precious council and Valorum that I don't need the Republic' financial or military aid. I have another who is willing to help me achieve what I desire. One who in many ways sees things my way."
Obi-Wan watched and noted how very similar, yet dissimilar Vos and his master were. Vos would have been sly and cunning in his agreement of the emperor though he might not agree at all. Master Jinn refused to stand down against the emperor. He was right and that would be what the emperor would *have* to understand. [i] My master is always right or so he thinks.[/i] Obi-Wan noticed how reserved and calm both were when faced with a very difficult situation.
"Very well, I will leave first thing in the morning. All of us will leave. You must give Vos time to pack his things."
The emperor frowned as he looked directly at Master Jinn. It was evident he didn't like what the Jedi master said.
"Oh you misunderstand. I said you and your little troupe were to leave. I said nothing of Knight Vos and his apprentice."
It was then Knight Vos drew his little ward closer to him Jinn however seemed to not be at all interested in the child's well being and totally oblivious to the possible threat the Emperor leveled toward them. Vos knew they were in for trouble. That is why he nestled Obi-Wan even closer to him. The boy was very nearly buried, hidden in the folds of Quin's robe.
By now Master Jinn had grown quite weary of the nerve of the emperor to interject himself in Jedi business, his business. He didn't know if the emperor referred to Obi-Wan as Vos' apprentice to anger Jinn or if Vos had allowed those on this planet to believe Obi-Wan was "his".
"I beg to differ, Obi-Wan is my apprentice and if you have been informed otherwise, you were given the wrong information."
Knight Quinlan started to object but knew it wasn't the time. They were headed for problems, big ones. Jinn was burying them and their chance to negotiate, [i] or possibly get off this planet.[/] Tolan was a man to reckon with and Jinn handled him all wrong at least in Vos' opinion.
"Oh that is right. The boy is here until you decide what to do with him."
Jinn shot a glare to Vos. He took a moment to wipe the fast forming perspiration from his forehead. He wished now he hadn't put his Jedi robe on before he came to meet with Tolan.
"Well as everyone evidently knows the Jedi business, private business, yes, Obi-Wan was here until I decided what should be done. But now he will go with me, as will Knight Vos."
"Oh you plan to take the boy back?"
This emperor knew too much and when he had time, Qui-Gon would confront Vos about it. He just wanted to convince this insane emperor that he could not allow any Jedi to stay here. It wasn't safe.
"It is none of your business what I have decided to do. It is Jedi business you should not have been privy too in the first place. As I said, we will be gone in the morning, [b] A.L.L.[/b] of us."
Tolan got up right in Master Jinn's face. Qui-Gon had to grit his teeth to keep from saying something absolutely unlike him in a diplomatic impasse. Knight Vos kept his hand on his saber hilt… just in case trouble erupted. Emperor Tolan would then realize where Knight Quinlan Vos' true loyalty lay.. With the Jedi and more importantly his master…….
"I will see to it that you leave with the two you came with and no one more. Maybe you should have been more concerned for you apprentice than you were. Now it would seem that he will be held hostage just as Knight Vos. [b] The detainment of Knight Vos and your apprentice should insure my planet is not attacked by an over zealous republic hell-bent on protecting Ceris."………………….[/b]
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My hardest critic, "Kyer" [thanx] has turned into my only reader willing to respond!!! Maybe I should send you a copy of the story if no one else is enjoying it here on FFN!!!!
PEACE [b]ewen[/b]