A/N: It's finally here! The end to all your anxious waiting! The answer to some of your questions! The missing piece of the cliffie! In short, the next CHAPTER!

SoloKenobi: Thank you for your continued support! This one's for you! I know that was an evil cliffie, but I suppose that's just my dark side coming out! You will probably see some more before this story is finished!

jedi keliam kenobi: I know, I'm evil! Glad you like my style of writing. Some people find it hard to read. glares meaningfully at Master Anyway, I regret to announce that I can't give you the answers to any of your questions. Maybe this chapter will give you some answers!

Padawan Sydney Bristow: Wow... someone actually LIKED the cliffie! Glad you all like my story. It started out as a pretty bad idea in my opinion. I guess I'm not alone in my tastes in this world!

Éowyn Skywalker: I'm glad it was PG... I was afraid I was getting too graphic... aaaaaaannd... thanks for warning me. I might just stay away! Just kidding. But, in all seriousness... growl I KNOW I'm improving on my style. It might have a bit to do with all the beta reading you've been doing for me. Sorry about not sending this one to you, but I wanted to get it up as soon as I finished it! And, yes, I am my RP mother's daughter... and maybe my RP father's, as well, in a sense. We shall see where RotS goes...

passon: Thank you. Glad you liked it. I'm sorry to have to break this to you, but I don't work on a 20 day update schedule. I update when I have the next chapter, so you may wait a minimum of two days, or a minimum of two months. Whenever I find time on the computer. I have school and whatnot during the day, and I don't have my own computer, so please bear with me. Hopefully you will enjoy this next chapter!

A/N: Enough of my talk! You all want to know what happened to our poor, rejected Jedi, don't you? Unfortunately, we once again ran into a long conversation, so there won't be much action for a while. Sorry! I promise, the part of the story with which you first fell in love will return in due time! And now, on with the story!

Chapter 7: Realizations

Darkness. It was all around him. It swirled about and beyond him, catching him up in its cold arms. Nothing but darkness, no sounds, no sight, no feeling. Nothing. And yet something came through to him, something far away. A memory, perhaps, but it felt like reality. A voice, male, yet not recognizable in his unconscious state. "How could you, Obi-Wan?"it said. "Why did you do it?" His mind raced. Qui-Gon! It must have been his Master. His Master must be upset with him, but why? The mind probing! His heart sank as it all came back to him. That must be it. His Master had found out his secret, and now his worst fears were coming true.

The darkness was beginning to clear. He could almost hear other voices speaking worriedly just beyond his reach. His left shoulder was suddenly throbbing with pain. Why? Why was his shoulder hurting so much? The wall. He remembered blacking out and hitting a wall. Had he hit it that hard? No, there must have been some other reason.

The voices were becoming clearer now. A female voice, young and distressed, and a male voice, strong and concerned. He could hear the man speaking now, and was able to identify it as the voice that he had first heard. "I just don't understand why he had to do that," he said. Garen!

He remembered now. The mission, the trip to Kashyyyk, the sand panther attack. It was all coming back in a rush, like water in a river that's been blocked up and then is suddenly released. He slowly opened his eyes, taking in the surroundings gradually to prevent potential shock. He was fully awake now, the throbbing pain in his shoulder becoming more intense, his breath coming in short rasps.

Garen had been bending anxiously over him, but now he straightened, a relieved smile forming on his face. "Well, he's alive," he said, trying to sound cheerful. "That's better than nothing, right?" Obi-Wan tried to piece together what Garen might mean.

Adi smiled weakly at him. "How are you feeling?" she asked quietly. She had tears shining in her eyes.

Obi-Wan couldn't figure out what was wrong. Obviously, something else had happened, either during the panther fight or while he was unconscious. He turned to Adi and tried to answer her question. Unfortunately, he could not yet assess the damage the panther had caused when the claws had come in contact with his shoulder. "I don't know," he answered truthfully. "What happened?" he asked after a moment. Everything was a bit vague to him after the monster had fallen on top of him. As a matter of fact, he didn't remember anything after that point.

Tears threatened to spill over Adi's deep, dark blue eyes as she gazed at him. He had given her so much, and yet he didn't even know what he had done. She went slowly, not wanting to shock him, but not knowing how else to tell him. "We pulled you out after you killed the sand panther. You were unconscious. Otherwise, we would have asked you the same question. Garen and Anakin arrived shortly afterwards. They helped us get you back to the campsite." She stopped, her voice faltering. She couldn't do this to him. She mustn't! The smaller voice had won. She realized the one thing she had always known and never wanted to admit. She loved him. And now it very well may be too late.

Obi-Wan glanced at Garen, then back at Adi. He didn't understand it. Why were they acting like this? He tried to sit up so he could think clearer, supporting himself on his hands. He stretched out his right arm to push himself up, and moved to do the same with his left arm. Suddenly, he fell unexpectedly to his side, his left arm giving out. At least, that's what it seemed like. He glanced to his left to see why that had happened. Where was it? There was no left arm there. All that was left was a ragged wound where the monster's claw had come in contact with his arm, just below the shoulder.

Laying carefully back down, he lifted his eyes slowly until they came to rest on Adi's distressed face. Her eyes held something he almost couldn't read. But he knew what it was, half hidden there, wanting so desperately to come out. "Why did you do it?" she asked, her voice choked with tears.

Obi-Wan lay there a moment, grasping everything. This could get in the way of their mission. They didn't have medical supplies to treat something like this. How would that affect their assignment? In between it all, Adi's question came through to him. He gazed at her, his eyes mirroring the hidden feeling in hers, mirroring the answer she half hoped would be there, but half hoped would not. "You know, don't you?" he asked in return. She nodded, dropping her gaze, the tears finally spilling over and streaming down her face.

Obi-Wan reached for her hand, clasping it reassuringly with the only hand he had left. She raised her gaze back to his face, seeing there the pain he was enduring for her, seeing how he was trying to hide it for her sake. She didn't pull away this time. She squeezed his hand back, sharing with him the one moment they had been avoiding for nine years. There was no more avoiding it anymore. All they had left was to hide it, but who knew how long that would last? It was all so inescapable, so inevitable.

Garen watched them for a moment, sensing the feeling that passed between them, the same knowingness that there was nowhere to hide from their feelings. He knew then that Obi-Wan had finally told her. He had to admit, he felt better about it all, now that Adi knew. But it was still a secret that he had to try to keep. If the Council found out, Obi-Wan could still be expelled from the order.

Adi heard a sound behind her and turned to see Bant looking out from the small shelter they had been able to hastily construct. Garen turned also, smiling grimly at Bant, who was searching his face for some sign as to what was happening. She advanced tentatively, dreading what she might find. "It's all right," Garen said quietly. "He's alive." Bant breathed a sigh of relief and hurried forward.

She rushed up, dropping to her knees near Obi-Wan's head. "What are we going to do?" she asked worriedly. "We can't just leave him here!" Adi glanced away, afraid she might agree verbally. She still didn't want to admit the truth to anyone else.

Garen shook his head. "Of course we can't leave him, and we won't," he said determinedly. These two are falling apart on me, he thought sadly. I have to be strong for them. I've got to take control of this! In truth, though, Garen was as much at a loss as any of them.

Obi-Wan glanced at each face in turn, summing up their options. For a brief moment, he wondered if leaving him behind had at any point been in the back of their minds, but he quickly dismissed the idea. His friends would never abandon him. Trying to slow his quick breaths, he glanced back at Garen, the only seeming strong point in the center of the crisis. But he could still see the uncertainty and turmoil in his friend's mind.

"What do you propose we do, then?" he asked pointedly. He could find no other way out of it. He was endangering the mission. He would have to remain here, alone in the clearing, hoping that his friends would be able to return for him when they were finished with their important mission.

Garen shook his head again. "I don't know," he said at last. Adi turned away again. She was just barely able to keep the tears from spilling over again.

Bant suddenly stood and gazed determinedly at the despairing group. "We'll just have to take him with us," she said strongly, taking control of the situation. "We must keep going!"

"How?" Adi asked desperately, whirling around. "How do we know something else isn't wrong? How do we even know he can stand?" Bant glanced at her compassionately.

"We won't know until we try," Obi-Wan commented grimly. Garen nodded in agreement.

A/N: sigh I know, another evil cliffie! But the talk was getting long, and I wanted to stop in a good spot... Anyway, hope you enjoyed this! Oh, and for those of you who read Jedi Apprentice, I have heard some rather strange rumors that Adi's Padawan Siri was supposed to be Obi's girl... Oh well! I can do what I want, can't I? I mean, it is a fanfic after all! Await the next chapter in anticipation! I have a few special twists planned! Things are going to happen that you least expected! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!