FOURTEEN

The Blue House. Obi-Wan found that the child's description covered much of the interior as well. Someone obviously had a color fetish, he decided as he wandered into unlit main chamber. Sunlight cascaded in through elongated windows high above, lending a cathedral-like appearance to the place. Indeed, incense of some sort was burning somewhere; he could see the faint smoke drifting about the room if not actually smell it.

It looked like something eerily out of the past, and if he could have shivered he would have, but what passed for it in this state was akin to blinking; he didn't see anything one moment, everything focused sharply the next.

His attention was drawn by a slight movement on the edge of his vision; turning he made his way into the center of the room. Kneeling on the floor with head pressed to the cold stone flagging in supplication was a dark blue robed figure.

Blue again. Made an odd sort of sense actually.

Obi-Wan glanced up to see the object of worship, and if he'd been bodily present he was sure his blood would have run cold. The icon affixed to the wall some meters above them was an image he remembered from his Code and Philosophy studies, the special meditation sessions that taught Jedi history, traditions and the Code by which all Jedi lived and served.

The image was of the cerubathain, a talisman said to channel the Dark Side of the Force; legend said that it was created by the original Sith lords and contained the essence of the evil one himself. There were only a handful of the objects left in existence; most of them had been destroyed in the great battle between Jedi and Sith that had resulted in the current state of Light that had existed for a thousand years.

"A Jedi knows no emotion, only the Force."

Obi-Wan's attention snapped from the object of his study to the speaker, the figure who was still facing away from him on its knees but had risen up from the floor, devotions at an end. "Isn't that the way you've been taught, Padawan Kenobi?" His name was spoken lightly, mockingly, and Obi-Wan instinctively backed up a bit. How did--?

"How do you know who I am?" He asked first, the question allowing a moment to gather his composure. What he really wanted to ask was just how did this person know he was here? He was supposed to be…well if not a ghost exactly, at least ghost-like…mostly invisible. The key word here apparently was 'mostly;' the young girl at the transport corner had seen him too. Although he'd just figured that had something to do with innocence and purity or some such thing.

The one before him was neither pure nor innocent; that much was certain.

"I know much." The being stood now and turned to face him, pulling back the robe's hood and revealing a pale face and a wealth of jet-black hair and the most beguiling pair of eyes he'd ever seen. But for all her beauty, this woman fairly emanated the Dark Side, and it was a familiar touch. It was the touch of the dark one who'd invaded the Inais House reception. A second shock, almost as strong, hit him a moment later as recognition dawned on him.

"Senator Nacena Berayl." His gaze immediately went to the talisman on the wall, then back to her deeply green eyes. "What are you doing here? Do you know what that thing is?"

"I came here for you, Padawan." She sniffed disdainfully, and suddenly her hand shot out and waved sharply to the right, and Obi-Wan found himself immobilized, as if she had somehow lassoed him. Again this seemed to be an impossible idea given his current state of existence, but whatever energies she had loosed were holding him rooted to the spot, incorporeal spirit or not. "And yes, I do indeed know what that is. Let's become acquainted, shall we?"

++++++

"Tell me about her."

Iya's voice was soft in the small room. Qui-Gon turned from the window where he'd been standing and favored her with a compassionate look. Her hands were cupped around a small ceramic of tea, the steam rising in fragrant tendrils. His own cup sat on the table opposite her, getting cold but he paid it no mind. They'd returned to the House Inais at Iya's insistence and the first thing Qui-Gon had done was to inquire about Obi- Wan's condition. There had been no change, but Healer Obuk was still in with him, and would see to Qui-Gon's questions "in due course."

So it was that they had retired to a small ante-room over graciously served tea to continue the awkward conversation they'd begun at Ina's graveside. Qui-Gon watched her a moment more as she sipped at her tea, not meeting his gaze but looking at a spot somewhere on the floor.

"Your mother was an amazing woman, Iya." He looked back out the window now, knowing that the past was written in his eyes as well as his voice as he spoke. "She was one of the most astute Jedi Knights I've ever known; very skilled in the Jedi arts and very…compassionate." Qui-Gon forced away the lump that suddenly formed in his throat and blinked a bit. "She saved my life more than once in the time we knew one another. I was fortunate enough to return the favor. Only…not fortunate enough to be there in her most desperate fight. I could only return to Bahreen and mourn her."

"I remember you taking her ashes." Iya's voice choked a little, and she hurried swallowed more tea in order to compose herself. Qui-Gon heard the tremor in her voice and stepped back toward her, placing his large, comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Your mother gave her life defending the very principles she swore her life to. And her death secured life for you…for you both, really."

"Both?" Iya echoed, looking up curiously at the Jedi Knight. "I was an only child, Master Jinn. Who else was she protecting?" Vague images of her home in flames flashed through Iya's mind; she closed her eyes tightly and tried to turn them away. The terror of a two-year old flashed through her for a brief moment and then faded away.

"The other was a small boy. He just turned twenty-two like you. Do you remember Obi-Wan, Iya? You've been in contact with my Padawan for some time now, and you protected him last night but do you remember him?"

Qui-Gon took his seat across from her again and sipped at vaguely warm tea, not caring that it had cooled off so much as it was the only thing available for his suddenly dry throat. He watched the young Bahreena's expression as she frowned slightly, casting back into her memory to try to answer that question.

"I'm…not sure that I do." She said finally, although she seemed to remember…ginger hair and a lightly accented voice and someone yanking a fistful of her hair.

"Your mother rescued him during an uprising on his home-world. His parents were killed because their Force-sensitive skills were feared among his people, and Amagi Ina was the negotiator the Council sent to settle the conflict. Obi-Wan was three months old when she brought him here for his own protection." Qui-Gon looked down at the tabletop now, lacing his fingers around his cup. "After her death, I kept a promise I made to her to take him to the Jedi Temple and make him my apprentice. She foresaw things for him, much like you have. You knew he was going to be in danger didn't you?"

"Yes." Iya's voice was small even in the confines of the anteroom. "I tried to communicate that to him but I didn't have the…finesse necessary."

"I should have taken you both to Coruscant, but you were already in the custody of your guardian and he wouldn't allow it."

As if she knew there was more to it than what Qui-Gon had allowed, Iya looked up at him with wise eyes. But before she could say anything, Qui-Gon jumped to his feet, called through the Force.

"What is it?" Iya rose quickly in response to his motion.

"Obi-Wan. The Healer is calling me."

The two of them hurried down the hallway into the chambers in which Obi-Wan laid. His body was convulsing, the seizure wracking his slender frame. Obuk was quickly preparing a medication, his efforts to calm the seizure via the Force having been unsuccessful. A moment later the drug had been administered and the young padawan's body relaxed limply back into the cushions.

"Force, that was close." Obuk murmured.

"What happened?" Qui-Gon demanded, drawing close to the other side of the bed and taking his apprentice's hand in his own. So cold…

"I've been trying to awaken him through the Force…accessing the parts of his brain that would react to external stimuli from his senses." Obuk explained. "This coma is not a natural one and it's been aggravated by the neurological damage he suffered earlier. I don't know how to explain it, Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan is alive and yet…he isn't. He's not in there." The healer motioned loosely toward the body lying on the bed. "His heart's beating, he's breathing, his internal functions are all intact but…it's just a shell, Qui-Gon."

Jinn shuddered a little bit, unable to quite suppress it.

"Master Healer." Iya stepped forward now, to the foot of the bed. "I believe I can provide that explanation." She proceeded to describe to the two Jedi Knights the visions she had received concerning Obi-Wan being captured by the Dark Side, how she had drawn him to herself and how she had followed him down the corridor in the House Inais and come upon him preparing to defend the children against the Black One. "He could not possibly defend himself or the others; he could barely hold his weapon."

"The neuro impairment." Obuk surmised, and Iya nodded.

"It was about to take him, and so I reached out to him and…I pulled him out of there. Only…" Her eyes filled a little. "…I pulled him but not his body…somehow. I was too strong and I separated him from…" She motioned to the bed. "…himself."

"So that's it…" Obuk stroked his chin with a forefinger and thumb, thinking. "Because it was a strong Force action to protect him, I'll wager that's why his body didn't die immediately when his spirit was taken from it. Somehow you managed to preserve both parts." He glanced down at the unconscious padawan. "Only I'm assuming that from what's just happened here that we're operating on a short timetable. We have to fuse him back together before his body succumbs to the strain of operating without…its owner."

Iya swallowed nervously now, and her hands clenched into tight fists. Qui-Gon looked at her questioningly, and she swallowed again.

"We have to find him first."

"Sith." Obuk muttered. "All right, I'll be back in a minute." With that he stumped off to go looking for Force knew what. With the door closing behind them, both Qui-Gon and Iya turned their attention to the fallen Jedi apprentice.

"This is the apprentice for whom my mother was killed?" Iya asked quietly, looking down at the pale features of youth who lay before her. Qui-Gon nodded, watching her face carefully.

"Yes." He said at length, his voice calm. "Yes, he is. Amagi Iya, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi. She believed that he was destined for great things as a Jedi: 'The rise and fall of worlds,' she said. That is why she gave her life to protect him, and that is why she charged me to take on his training."

"Yet you were not with her when she died?" Iya's eyes searched his own, and in them Qui-Gon could see the search for the love of a mother lost so long ago. He nodded silently; allowing her to take it in before he told her what must be said.

"Iya…I loved your mother." Qui-Gon said it as gently as he could. The words that so long had been silent in his heart tore at him as well, but his gaze remained steady on her face. Realization dawned gradually in Iya's expression, her eyes now telling him that she understood. "It is not permitted in the Code for a Jedi to love in that manner, and for a last time she saved my life by offering to leave the Order herself, but begged the Council to allow me to stay. After some deliberation they granted her request. She was returning here to her home, to a new future. The last time I saw your mother alive was just before she left Coruscant and after she made me promise to come to Bahreen for Obi-Wan. Eight months later you were born."

A moment of silence hung between them before Iya spoke again.

"Mother never told me about my father." She said slowly. "She would only say that I should never doubt that he was a good man." Iya hesitantly smiled. "And she was right. He is."

"Good men make mistakes, too." Qui-Gon replied softly. "I only hope that mine haven't cost Obi-Wan his life."

"The path of a Jedi is never easy. But it is honorable and I know that your Padawan will walk it."

The words, spoken so confidently, took Iya by surprise even as she said them. But somehow she just knew they were true. Qui-Gon too could sense the Force-truth behind them, and he nodded agreement, a smile coming to his lips.

"I think my daughter walks it as well, even though she does not wear the robe."

"We have to find him, Qui-Gon. And we have to find him now."