Finally, here's the next chapter.
Jade Queen of the Damned: Thank you! I'm glad you like it. Hope to see you here again. :o)
Hello: I try to update as regularly as possible. But between school and work, it's not always easy. But I won't abandon this story. Don't worry. Thanks for the review.
JKH: Thank you. I usually update sooner on And there is another fic about Xan. Hope you like it.
When Mace Windu returned to his quarters after a long and exhausting Council session, he found them empty and quiet. Not seeing Obi-Wan immediately, he walked over to the boy's temporary room and knocked softly. No answer. He knocked again, a bit more forcefully. Silence again. Then, when an uncertain voice said, "Yes?" Mace smiled and walked in.
Obi-Wan stood beside the window and stared at him. Mace had the distinct impression that he had disturbed the boy, while Obi-Wan looked as if he had just been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to do. Mace looked around the room. Nothing indicated that the young Padawan had done anything there.
"Did you have a good time with Xanatos, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes, Master."
Uncomfortable silence again. Mace hated not knowing what to say. "Would you like to have dinner with your friends?"
Obi-Wan looked up at him. "I would like that very much, Master."
Mace smiled again. "Go on, then. I expect you back by nine."
A small smile appeared on Obi-Wan's face. "Thank you, Master." Then he was gone.
Mace waited until the door had closed. Then he heaved a sigh and returned to the common room. What was he going to do? Yoda had not provided the answers he had hoped for, but he shouldn't really be surprised. Yoda never gave a straight forward answer. Sometimes the riddles really got on his nerves. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone, except Qui-Gon perhaps. But this time he really wished someone would give him some answers.
Qui-Gon was on his way to the dining hall and thinking about Xanatos. Well, truth be told, he was thinking about Xanatos while pretending to be on his way to the dining hall. He wasn't even watching where he was going. He had taken several detours to have more time to think. His Padawan hadn't spoken to him about the whole incident and Qui-Gon wasn't sure whether he should start the topic. After all, what had he really sensed? Maybe the darkness he had felt had entirely emanated from Calan. Maybe by being attacked by someone tainted by darkness, Xanatos had just tried to channel it somewhere because he couldn't take it and that's why he had projected it into their bond. That must be it. Qui-Gon had just overreacted due to the stress of the disappearance of the Kenobi boy.
Qui-Gon had reached the dining hall and just before he entered, someone said from behind him, "Good evening, Master Jinn."
Qui-Gon turned around, smiling when he saw Obi-Wan. "Good evening, Padawan Kenobi. I hope you had a good day with Xanatos."
The boy seemed completely flustered by the simple question and stared at the tall Master a while before finally replying very timidly, "Yes, I did."
"That's good to hear. You're probably hungry, so I do not want to keep you. Have a good evening."
Obi-Wan blushed. "And you, Master Jinn." Then he hastened into the hall.
Qui-Gon observed him for a moment as the boy collected his meal and sat down with his friends. He started making his way over to the Masters' table, but was stopped once again. "Evening, Qui-Gon." It was Mace this time.
Qui-Gon sighed. "At this rate I will never get my food tonight."
Mace grinned at him a bit mischievously. "Oh, I'm sure you wouldn't starve to death immediately. You've got enough reserves on you."
The other Master stared at him. "What is that supposed to mean? I'm not the one spending all of my time, sitting around, doing nothing and pretending to be a wise and almighty Jedi."
Mace laughed at him and pulled him over to a table that was a bit apart from the others. "I've got to talk to you."
Qui-Gon became serious immediately as he realised what it was, Mace probably wanted to talk to him about. "Any news on Calan?"
The other shook his head. "Nothing. Coruscanti police is controlling every spaceport. They have his picture and description. Either he left before we could get word out or he somehow weaselled past security."
"Or he's still here."
"That's the third possibility, but I don't really believe it." Mace frowned. "He's a madman, Qui. But he's not stupid. He won't just sit around and wait for us to catch him."
Qui-Gon nodded thoughtfully. "So, any new developments with Obi-Wan?"
"Not directly. I've arranged a meeting with a soul healer Lenga Migaja. Do you know her?"
Qui-Gon thought for a moment. "Her name sounds familiar, but I do not know her personally."
Mace nodded slowly. "She treated Calan after Nall died. I hope it will give her some insight."
When Qui-Gon returned to his quarters, he found Xanatos standing on the balcony, staring out over the city. He stood in the darkness for a moment, observing his Padawan silently. Maybe he should talk to him after all about what had happened on the mission. What if the young man was just waiting for him to broach the subject? But no. Qui-Gon had made his decision. His Padawan was an adult and he needed room to deal with his own problems.
Without making much noise, but knowing that his Padawan could sense him, Qui-Gon walked out onto the balcony. The roar from the city surrounded him immediately and he wondered once more why Xanatos always found his peace here of all places. He stood beside the young man for some minutes without speaking, but when the Padawan didn't seem to want to start a conversation, he asked what was foremost on his mind.
"How was your day with Obi-Wan?"
"It was okay." Xanatos hesitated. There was more. "Master, if..." He hesitated again, trying to phrase this right. "If a Master and a Padawan do not have a relationship that is based on trust, like in Obi-Wan's case, is it possible for them to form a bond?"
Qui-Gon looked him in the eyes, thinking about it. "Well, it depends on what the motive of the Master is. He can force a bond on his Padawan, of course, but it would never be the same. It would be more a bond of control than anything else."
Xanatos thought about it for a moment. "Would it generally work the same way as ours?"
Qui-Gon stared over the city before taking Xanatos by the arm and guiding him inside. "Let's sit down for this, Padawan. It's a serious topic."
They sat down on the couch in the common room and waited in comfortable silence for a couple of minutes. Then Qui-Gon spoke again. "It wouldn't work like yours."
Xanatos looked at him inquisitively, not understanding what his Master was getting at.
Seeing the look, Qui-Gon continued. "From the Master's side, it would technically work the same way. He would be able to sense his Padawan, to feel his feelings if not properly shielded. But on the Padawan's side, there would be no positive effects. He would be able to feel that his Master is controlling him, but he wouldn't be able to feel his Master."
The older man looked up at his student, who was sitting with his head in his hands. "Is that what Obi-Wan told you?"
The Padawan snorted. "He would never tell you something like this. He always thinks everything is his fault. He doesn't understand the bond, because he has never had one. He doesn't know real affection through the Force, because everything he's ever experienced through it is control."
Qui-Gon closed his eyes. How could this ever happen within the Temple? He didn't understand it. He suddenly realised that he was in desperate need of meditation. "I talked to Master Windu today. He will take Obi-Wan to a soul- healer. I will tell him about what you have found out."
"Will they be able to help him?"
Qui-Gon wanted to say yes. He wanted so badly to reassure his Padawan. But as he looked Xanatos into the eyes, he knew that it wouldn't be possible. Things like 'everything will be alright' had been enough for the child he had known, but not for the young man who now sat before him.
"I don't know, Xani."
As he now sat at his open bedroom window, Xanatos briefly thought about telling his Master tomorrow about the other talk he had had with Obi-Wan, the one about disobedience. But somehow, he had a feeling that a Master couldn't possibly understand it.
Obi-Wan wasn't in his quarters when Mace returned from dinner. He looked at his chrono and saw that it was only half past seven. Sighing, Mace took his datapad and looked through the notes of the last meeting of the Council with the Supreme Chancellor. It had gone about as well as expected The Chancellor had talked about the difficulties of funding for the Temple, the Councillors had protested and Yoda had sat there, staring at them all with his large eyes and only saying two words right at the end of the meeting. Why did that troll always have to be so mysterious? Why couldn't he for once act like a normal being? His train of thought was interrupted by the door-buzzer. Only too glad to be distracted from the boring notes, Mace put his datapad aside and opened the door.
Obi-Wan was standing outside. Being a bit irritated, as he had given the code to the Padawan this morning, Mace said nothing. The boy blushed and bowed his head. "I'm sorry, Master Windu. I know, I'm too early. It wasn't my intention to disturb your evening. "
Mace shook himself from his stupor. "No, it's alright, Obi-Wan. You live here for the time being. You can come and go whenever you want. But why didn't you just come in? Did you forget the code?"
Obi-Wan blushed again. "No, Master. But I did not want to disturb you."
Mace took a steadying breath. What had Calan done to this boy? He let the Padawan walk inside and closed the door, motioning for him to sit on the couch. "Obi-Wan, you're not disturbing me. You can do whatever you feel like here, as long as you are in these quarters by nine every evening, okay?"
Obi-Wan nodded and then looked around the room shyly.
Mace smiled at him. "So, what would you like to do, now that you're back so early?"
"I...I don't know. I could meditate." The boy looked at him, as if awaiting further instructions.
Mace was incredulous. Meditate? He had just told a 13-year-old that he could do whatever he wanted with the evening and the boy told him that he could meditate? He would never even have had the idea as a Padawan!
He sighed. "How about you read something. There's a datapad over there on the table with lots of books saved on it. Just pick something you like."
"Yes, Master."
Mace closed his eyes. "That was not an order, Padawan, just a suggestion. As I said, you can do whatever you like."
Obi-Wan seemed totally insecure. Hesitantly, he stood up, got the datapad from the table and sat down in one of the armchairs. Mace looked at him for a while and when he was convinced that the boy had found something he liked, he went back to his notes.
Obi-Wan once again sat on the windowsill in his temporary room. He still pondered why Master Windu always was so nice to him, why he never yelled at him or punished him. This evening, for example. He had been home much too early and he had disturbed the Master, but the man hadn't shown any signs that he was bothered.
There had been a reason why Obi-Wan had been back early. Normally, he enjoyed spending time with Bant, Garen and Reeft. But tonight, they had been different somehow. They hadn't openly asked him questions about his mission and about Master Calan, but they had kept glancing at him almost uneasily, as if they thought he might attack them any moment. He hadn't been able to take it, so he had returned. But Master Windu hadn't thrown him out or even sent him to his room. He had actually told him that he could do whatever he liked. But wasn't that unbecoming of a Jedi? It was, after all, indulgence. And it had nothing at all to do with learning. Of course, he had had free time before, but usually it was when his Master didn't want to be disturbed and sent him to his room to be quiet.
And Master Windu had told him that he could just leave the quarters whenever he wanted. He understood when Master Jinn didn't punish him and give him lessons. It wasn't really his place to do it. But Master Windu was now his teacher, if only temporarily. So why didn't he behave like one? Obi- Wan wondered when the man would get angry with him the first time. He wondered what his punishments would be. Because he knew, that sooner or later he would do something that warranted punishment. He always did.
Obi-Wan looked at his chrono. Midnight. And he still wasn't asleep. He had to get up tomorrow to prepare breakfast. He wondered whether Xanatos ever had problems controlling his thoughts and emotions. The Masters surely hadn't. Obi-Wan climbed into his bed but didn't draw the curtains. He loved to watch the traffic. It was the one thing of which you could be sure that it wouldn't vanish.