Title: Separate We Come, And Separate We Go

Notes: Title is from Conrad Aiken. Contains very, verymild slash. Blink and you'll miss it, I swear.

Separate We Come, And Separate We Go

Obi-Wan passed the long hours of the vigil before his Knighting in quiet solitude. In Jedi custom, his Master would have shared them with him, but Qui-Gon was dead, and Obi-Wan stayed alone.

Meditation would not come; his grief would not yet admit it. It was a physical thing, an aching for the steady presence of his Master. Without that anchor, he felt as though he was hanging free and helpless in a void. There was no longer a side to stand at, no step to which he matched his own.

Into the Force he pleaded, Master.

There was no reply. Through the long darkness of that night, the Force was blank and mute around him.

In the first rose-gold flush of morning, Qui-Gon would have led him to the Knighting chamber. Obi-Wan went alone. The halls were empty and his footsteps echoed too quiet; one step where there should have been two.

Master Yoda was waiting. Obi-Wan knelt before him in silence, bowed his head.

"Much pain I sense in you."

Obi-Wan said nothing.

"Much fear of the future, I sense."

Obi-Wan was still.

"Unsure of the wisdom of this step I am. Yet passed the Trials you have. A Knight you will be, and Master to Anakin Skywalker."

And Obi-Wan wanted with all his heart for the rough, horned fingers that took hold of his Padawan braid to be long and deft, strong and gentle. He held his breath for the cut.

When it came he did not even feel it, and that was wrong. He ought to have felt the cut that severed him from his past, his youth - his Master. The numbness was like a betrayal. When Yoda pressed the braided length into his palm, Obi-Wan could only stare at it.

"I congratulate you, Knight Kenobi. A great Jedi you will become."

Kneeling there, feeling the weight of his past in his hand and the future in his heart, Obi-Wan did not think he had ever felt so alone.

A/N: First SW story! Hope you enjoyed! Please leave feedback, if only to tell me how much you hated it.