Thank you, everyone, for the reviews. Here's some more.
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Bright and stinging awareness abruptly invaded his mind, and he jerked his head upward. Thunderous pounding that immediately spread through his brain, pulsing in the temples, made his head fall back onto the pillow limply as he closed his eyes against the harshness of light.
"Hello, sweet sunny. You're awake – finally!" A female voice chirped somewhere to the side.
Cautiously Obi-Wan opened left eye and peered at the woman – no, the girl, he quickly corrected himself as he saw vaguely her thin form clad in red and yellow. Her face, framed with chocolate-colored tresses, swam in foggy haze, too unclear to recognize.
"Who are you?" He marveled at the grogginess and harshness of his own voice.
"Sabe. Remember, Handmaiden to Her Royal Highness and all." Her voice was clear and strong, and slightly cutting in its intensity for his over-sensitive hearing.
"Ah, Sabe!" He remembered her now. And recognized her presence – the light sweet presence, much like fragrance of flower-scented perfume. "Where am I?" He swept the room with his eyes expressively. He had a fair idea of where he might be – an idea he didn't like much. White walls, characteristic smells…
"At the Palace Medical Center. Where else did you think you were?"
"Oh, I don't know. Morgue, maybe." He pictured a small smile on his face.
"Yeah, right. Nice sense of humor. How do you live with it?" Her voice dripped irony that would be enough for the whole population of Naboo.
He shrugged and slowly sat up, trying hard to not let the sheet covering him slip away. For he was suddenly painfully aware that there was nothing between his still sorely heated skin and the thin sheet covering him.
"How did I get here?" he asked, trying to divert her attention from his somewhat clumsy efforts of keeping himself covered.
"I found you lying in the hall screaming and kicking, as though you were fighting something terrible."
He frowned in confusion, unable to remember any such thing. What could he possibly fight? And lying on the floor…
Then it came to him. The ceiling, he had thought the ceiling had been falling on him. Very nice, he thought grimly. I was outright delusional. Tarius and his 'price'? No, it would've been too simple.
"I couldn't leave you there like that so I called the medics."
Sabe's voice became serious edging close to the regal voice she used when posing as queen.
"And I thought you've brought me in," Obi-Wan joked, trying to alleviate the mood.
He looked around searching for some water, and Sabe immediately handed him a glass – fine glass with cool clear water. He gave her a thankful look and drank it in one gulp. Sabe smiled.
"Do I look that strong as to drag you all the way down here?" she asked, letting slight teasing tints color her tone.
He gave her an exaggeratedly evaluating look. "Appearances can be deceptive."
It had been a long time since he had last been so at ease with anyone outside the Temple – since the last time he had been so at ease at all. The vastness of desert came unbidden before his eyes, but he pushed it into the back of his mind firmly. He would NOT let it spoil this lightness.
"Oh, I'm not much stronger than I look."
No, you are, Sabe. You don't know it yet but you are much stronger than many. He thought, suddenly grateful she could not read his mind.
He remembered the much older woman looking gravely at him from under the black with flaming red and white edges hood symbolizing grief. He remembered her eyes, full of sorrow and despair and pain. She had been grieving for her husband and two children lost to the terror of war. She had been grieving for her lost future. The third child – a small girl, frail and terse – had stood next to her mother, grasping her hand nervously, dressed in the same long black with red and white edges hooded cloak. It had seemed almost a blasphemy that this cloak had been worn by such a young child. Her frightened eyes looked out at the world from under the heavy hood not with curiosity but with caution and fear settled deep in her heart.
Those eyes haunted him all the years in the desert, as did many other sights he would never be able to smooth away from his soul. If Force allowed he would not let it happen again. He felt his throat tightening. He shouldn't let it haunt him, not now.
"How long was I out?" Obi-Wan managed to keep his gloomy thoughts from tingeing his voice – barely.
"Oh," Sabe sighed, "you were out cold for a month. Deep coma, you know. And while you were in the dreamland separatists overthrew the Republic, Jedi left for good, and the galaxy is on the verge of collapsing now."
Her voice was serious, her words so close to the truth… He closed his eyes at the raging onslaught of baleful images: Temple burning and crushing, Jedi dying, Empire rising. Anakin…
"Hey, are you alright?" Sabe's voice cut into the agonized memories like strong chilling wind. "I'm just kidding. It was a joke, okay?"
She sounded frightened. Obi-Wan forced his eyes open and looked at the girl at his bedside. She stared back at him with concern and worry etched in smooth features. He turned his gaze onto his own hands. They were shaking.
"Look, I'm sorry," she was now speaking softly, though her voice had already retained its calmness. "I didn't know you would react like this. Like… like you saw a ghost."
Ghost! This word was seemingly bound to raise odd feelings in him ever since his… transition.
"It's all right. I guess I just overreacted." He gave her a reassuring smile. "So let's start anew: how long was I out?"
"Just the night and a bit of the morning. It's almost afternoon now. So you can say you simply slept in… a bit."
"Uh-huh, slept in… Wait a minute, just one night?!"
"Right. I wanted to ask… Do all Jedi heal this quickly?"
"No, we do not. Usually." What's going on? He surveyed his body through the Force for any hint of indisposition – and found none. He was absolutely healthy. What in the stars?..
"Well, since you seem to be fine I'll be going now."
She got up gracefully and went to the door, her dress rustling quietly over the floor.
"Thank you, Sabe," Obi-Wan called as she paused at the door. "For everything."
She turned, and he was struck by how young she really was.
"You are welcome, Jedi Kenobi." And she disappeared behind the door, leaving him to himself.
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A few hours later found Obi-Wan Kenobi wandering the Palace Gardens in peaceful solitude. Lush foliage, untouched by the Trade Federation's occupation, was a feast to the eye with shades varying from deep malachite to rich emerald to tender light-green. Numerous cascades and fountains filled the Gardens with soft murmurs of rushing water confined in close borders of marble bowls. Meandering paths sliced the Gardens in every direction, leading either to small groves or to little neat pergolas, all twined with bright blossoms. The inverted cup of clear azure sky covered the paradise-like place with its brilliant depth. Gentle wind ruffled Obi-Wan's short cut hair and played spryly with the long braid.
This braid was one of the sharpest reminders for him of his past failures and of his new position. The braid he had laid onto the pyre of his dead Master. The braid he now wished – and hoped with all his heart – to hand to his Master after it would be severed. He imagined how it could happen, how he would put it into the large strong hands, and they would take it, holding tight.
The old dream resurfaced, so strong Obi-Wan barely managed to hold in a cry as the restored hope tore him from the inside. He fingered the braid tentatively as though afraid it would disappear, then grasped it tightly.
Fates were turning, and dreams were about to come true.
He was positive he would be knighted soon. The acidic voice in the back of his mind tried to interject that it would happen only because Qui-Gon didn't want him any more, but Obi-Wan firmly shut that voice out. Here was no place for such thoughts. He would deal with them later.
He had done a good job of avoiding Qui-Gon so far because he had no idea how to answer the uncomfortable questions the older Jedi surely had in mind. Obi-Wan wasn't certain at all how Qui-Gon would react to the real story. And the more he thought about it the less assured he felt. And so he tried to find escape in the peaceful serenity of the Gardens.
His thoughts kept jumping from past to the future, then back to the present until they came to the question of his miraculous healing. Obi-Wan rolled up the sleeve of his tunic and gazed thoughtfully at the place where Maul's lightsaber had burned it yesterday. One would expect to find a glaring charred wound there, not the thin scar. It was plain impossible to heal this much in just one night. No Jedi Master could do that, not even Yoda. And no Jedi healer was known to be capable of such miracles.
"I just thought it would be nice to speed things up a bit," a voice said from behind Obi-Wan.
The Jedi span around to find no other than Tarius sitting lazily on the marble balustrade.
"You did this?" Obi-Wan motioned at his still bare arm. "How?"
"Don't ask stupid questions, my dear Jedi. If I could bring you back in time…" Tarius let the end of the phrase hang in the air as he reached for a flower growing at his feet.
"So why did you come now?" Obi-Wan crossed his arms over his chest. He couldn't get the Force-reading of Tarius but he was certain of one thing: he didn't like the man and would never trust him.
"My, my, you are so unwelcoming. I gave you the new life, and you talk to me like I'm a criminal."
Soft breeze didn't shift raven-black hair of Tarius. His incredibly light bluish-gray eyes reflected the cascading water of the fountain behind Obi-Wan. The reflection of moving water turned the eerie eyes into two captivating pools of swirling magic. Slim pale fingers picked the frail flower with merciless strength, and as soon as Tarius brought the tender petals to his lips color drained from the flower, and it withered.
Obi-Wan watched this display of power and cruelty in stunned silence.
"So, my dear Jedi, I see you're doing quite well… so far. Not talking to anyone about your… experience, but that's up to you, of course. I'm here to take a look at the doing of my hands and to remind you that you still have the price to pay." The idle tone of voice was agonizingly irritating.
"What is the price? What exactly is it?" Obi-Wan knew he would get no answer – at least not the answer he wanted to hear.
"All in due time, all in due time. You will find out…" Tarius looked at his fingers as if counting something. "Yes, tomorrow. In the morning you will start paying what you owe."
Heavy chill crawled down Obi-Wan's spine, and he closed his eyes for a moment to fight it off. When he opened them again Tarius was nowhere to be seen.
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