FIVE
"The three strands of the Padawan braid represent the relationship between a Master, a Padawan, and the Force," the soft voice of Master Obi-Wan murmured. His fingers deftly lifted Anakin's braid, feeling its deceptive strength under his touch, and the beads at intervals signifying his apprentice's lessons and triumphs.
Every Initiate and Padawan in the Temple knew those words, and hoped that their Master would one day speak them. They were treasured close to the heart, the one unwavering goal of every young Jedi. To hear them meant they had succeeded in the first step of their life-long quest: to become fully functional servants of the Force.
"The braid is only a symbol, for a Jedi never ceases to learn about the ways of the Force. The three are bound for all eternity, symbiotes forever entwined: the Master, the Padawan, the Force." With a swift slice, Obi-Wan snipped the familiar length of hair from its roots. It lay, clutched in his hand, like the last rope tying a ship to shore suddenly loosed. Gracefully, Obi-Wan stood, looking down at the kneeling man before him, the man whom had been his apprentice for twelve long years.
Today was the day that Anakin Skywalker, former slave of Tatooine, became fully initiated as a Knight of the Jedi Order.
It was the day Obi-Wan fulfilled his promise.
Sometimes, in the dead of night, he allowed himself to think back on that fateful moment when his beloved Master had asked one last duty of his Padawan. It had been an arduous, often painful challenge to train Anakin and Obi-Wan had occasionally been resentful of Qui-Gon who, by extracting Obi-Wan's bonding word, had effectively stolen his Knighthood. But there had been good times also, when the boy had achieved the next goal faster than any other Padawan his age, and for every happy memory, he thanked his Master for the opportunity.
Obi-Wan was not deaf; he heard the fleeting whispers around the Temple. Anakin was threatening to some, and inspiring to others. His powers were constantly growing, and the outbreak of war had finally brought some maturity to the young man that allowed this momentous occasion to happen. Knighted, they murmured, six years younger than his own Master had been. It was almost unheard of. The only one to better such an achievement was Obi-Wan himself, a Master mere days after he graduated to Knighthood; Obi-Wan was not inclined to view this as a great achievement.
"Rise, Knight Skywalker," Obi-Wan intoned formally, and his former apprentice did so. They stood, eye to eye for a moment, before Anakin threw his arms around his mentor. Clutching tightly, Obi-Wan could feel Anakin's joy radiating through their bond. The Master reflexively sought out that raw part at the back of his mind, where his own bond had previously been, as if searching out the man no longer at the other end. Why, he did not know, though an unconscious part of him perhaps hoped that Qui-Gon would be there to reassure him that he had done well. Of course, there was nothing there but a phantom flash of pain, and the sting of it made him mentally recoil.
"Thank you, Master," Anakin said solemnly when they parted, unaware of his Master's thoughts. Obi-Wan smiled, letting his pleasure transmit through their training bond while it could. Already, the Mind Healer was moving away from the small collection of Padawans and Masters that had gathered for the ceremony; normally, the granting of Knighthood would have drawn many, but the Clone War had emptied the Temple of far too many Jedi. Soon, Anakin and Obi-Wan would rejoin the field, but they had made time for this.
The Healer reached them, hands outstretched. "If you are ready," she said quietly. The two men bowed to her. Obi-Wan felt a last fleeting touch through the bond, Anakin's final goodbye, before they began building the shields around themselves. Though the Mind Healer would take the time and care to slowly shut the bond down, a little discomfort was natural. For Obi-Wan, it would be nothing compared to the absolute agony of feeling his Master's life-force slip away from him.
/ The pain that spiked through their bond was unbelievable, a wave of undiluted agony before Obi-Wan slammed his shields into place. Already he could feel the presence in his mind weakening, pouring away like sand in an hourglass. His Master was going to die, at the hand of evil, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. But suddenly, Obi-Wan was filled with absolute certainty that he would beat the Sith Lord; he had to, because his Master required it of him.
The red-tinted force field fell, and in a whirr their two blades connected, snapping as they struck over and over, red against blue. There was no room for doubt in Obi-Wan's mind; his body hummed with the surety of the Force that he could beat this opponent, he would beat this opponent, he had to beat this opponent, and he would be at his Master's side in just a moment. Technically, he knew he was outmatched, but he had watched the Sith fight, and was sure he could find a weakness in time. The only problem was, he didn't have time.
Risking a brief probe along the bond, he was distraught to find that his Master's presence was quickly slipping away. He couldn't let him die! Not alone, on a cold floor on some distant planet. It was more than duty that leant a certain desperation to his attacks, and he would not fail.
The distraction cost him dearly. Before he could quite follow what had happened, Obi-Wan was tumbling into a bottomless hole, his lightsaber clattering away uselessly. Well, he thought distantly, that was going to be a problem. The rest of him was more concerned by the shower of hot sparks the Sith was raining down on him. But the fall had only strengthened his resolve to finish the Sith and return to his rightful place at his Master's side.
He could see quite clearly now, what the creature's weakness was: arrogance. A Jedi should be confident in his abilities, which Obi-Wan was. The Sith were overconfident – it had led to their downfall in the past – and Obi-Wan, a simple Padawan learner, was considered easy prey. That was to his advantage.
Stretching out with the Force, Obi-Wan brushed over all the objects in the room, looking for a suitable weapon, and came across his Master's lightsaber. He was all too aware that his Master was rapidly fading, so Obi-Wan wasted no time on thought, instead allowing the Living Force to flow through him, guiding his immediate actions as his Master had taught him. In the blink of an eye, he had vaulted high over his enemy and slashed him in two. A fitting parallel, though he spared no time to admire it.
Obi-Wan dashed to his Master's side, cradling Qui-Gon's head in his lap. He could feel their bond stretching as his Master slipped further away, but there was enough of his life force for Qui-Gon to open his eyes. While his mouth spoke one thing – about Anakin, and his need to be trained – his eyes said something quite different – you have done well I am proud of you I love you. Their bond stretched painfully taut, pulling at both connecting minds, until with a sigh, Master Qui-Gon Jinn let go to join the Force.
Obi-Wan only just managed to shield himself against the psychic backlash that assaulted his mind, his body curling against his Master's as if that would help to block the pain. Despite the excellent emergency shields, which Qui-Gon had taught him how to implement long ago, Obi-Wan could feel the devastating damage inflicted. Where once the bond had been, there was now a hole, agonisingly raw and bleeding. Obi-Wan had never felt such pain.
He had no strength left, physically or mentally. The pain of the severed bond emptied all thoughts from his mind, a cacophony of silence where only two determined but heart-broken words rang out: "Yes Master".
Tears rolling down his face, Obi-Wan knelt, alone in the middle of Theed, and wept. /
In the years since Anakin had been bound to him as his Padawan, Obi-Wan had occasionally found himself pondering what it was meant to feel like when the bond was officially severed. His friends, as they graduated to Knighthood, had used words like 'irritating' and 'nostalgic'. Obi-Wan never could imagine what it was like.
Laying a hand on each of their foreheads, the Mind Healer gently felt along the bond, intricate and luminescent. Obi-Wan could feel her light and gentle presence, a welcome intruder into the two-way link. Using considerable skill, she carefully tapered it off, like an umbilical cord tied with string. There was a brief uncomfortable sensation, like someone had run sandpaper over his shields, and then Obi-Wan was alone in his mind for the first time since that fateful day. He thought, perhaps, he should have felt some sadness at this.
All he felt was relief.
Anakin had an odd look on his face, which only increased when he could not immediately divine why Obi-Wan was smiling so serenely when he, himself, felt adrift. For twenty-four years, Obi-Wan had shared his thoughts with either Qui-Gon or Anakin, and he relished in the opportunity to keep his shields up tight and withhold a little secret for himself.
Master, he thought wearily, my pledge is now fulfilled. I tried my very hardest, and I hope I have done well by you.
FIN
A/N: I feel I need to explain myself. When I was hit by this idea, my only goal was to explain why Obi-Wan acted so aloof and critical in AotC. Whether I've succeeded or not, is in the eye of the beholder, but never doubt that I really love the character of Obi-Wan. He's my favourite in the entire galaxy - I'm bashing him out of love! Anyway, that is all. Thank you for the reviews!
