Recap: Obi-Wan shrugged. "You know me. The worst luck in the universe."

Although Qui-Gon didn't disagree with that statement, he wasn't sure that his apprentice was telling him everything. But he didn't say anything, just shrugged.

"I suppose so. Obi-Wan?"

The younger man looked up from where he had been fiddling with his fingers, avoiding his master's eye. "Yeah?"

"Do you know why Tiv… and you too… don't think I'm a Sith anymore?"

Obi-Wan shrugged, imitating his master. "I dunno why Tiv doesn't, she just came in here and said that she didn't think you were anymore. And, I dunno, I guess I was already having a hard time believing that you were, so it didn't take much convincing."

Qui-Gon grinned. "So you don't think I'm a Sith, correct?"

"What, are you trying to tell me I'm wrong?" teased Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon shook his head hurriedly.

"Not at all, actually, I was trying to figure out why you did in the first place without actually asking you."

His apprentice sighed. "Master, look at it from my point of view. You were dead, I was training Anakin, he disappeared, and I was… looking for him, when suddenly, I end up here. An alternate universe, where you never died, and trained Anakin, and somehow I ended up training another version of Anakin long after he was Knighted, with him training his son, who isn't really his real son, it's another version of him from another alternate universe, while you're training a random girl who doesn't even seem to exist in my universe!"

Qui-Gon looked up, surprised. "Tiv doesn't exist in your universe?" he demanded. "How do you know?"

Obi-Wan shrugged, which seemed to be as much his favorite gesture as the healer's. It was starting to bug Qui-Gon. "Well, she told me that she lived behind a bar, and told me where it was, and it didn't exist in my universe. Also, a few years back, I was doing a report on someone with the same surname as her, and made the mistake of searching the last name only. Neither Tiv, nor Colac showed up."

Qui-Gon frowned. "But what… how would that change from universe to universe?" he asked. "Unless, my death wasn't the only change…"

"Well, would Tiv already have been born when you didn't die?" asked Obi-Wan, and then frowned. "Wait…"

"No, I… didn't die, two years before she was born. I don't think there was anything I could have changed…"

"Unless you saved one of her parent's lives, or something," suggested Obi-Wan. But then he stopped. "No, there was no listing for Merlos for over a hundred years. I doubt your death, or lack of it, could have changed something that happened before you were born!"

"But maybe my death wasn't the only thing that was changed here!" exclaimed Qui-Gon. "I mean, it might just be an effect of something he did change, not the actual thing that was changed."

"So whatever it was might have happened centuries ago, and made it so you didn't die, but also made it so that Tiv, Colac, their parents, and a lot of other relatives of theirs, weren't even born," mused Obi-Wan.

"Or maybe they just had a different surname," offered Qui-Gon. His apprentice stared at him for a moment, and then burst out laughing. This time, it didn't seem to hurt him.

"What's so funny?" demanded Qui-Gon.

"Do you… realize… how hilarious that sounded!" giggled Obi-Wan.

Qui-Gon couldn't help but crack a smile. But that didn't mean he wasn't still worried about Tiv. If the conclusions he had drawn from his conversations with Obi-Wan and the healer were right, then they would be in very big trouble indeed.

Well, what'd you think? I'm planning the next few chapters already, and what Qui-Gon is thinking, whether he's right, what's wrong with Tiv, and how Obi-Wan got so badly injured, will all come clear soon. As you might be able to tell, I'm getting pretty close to the climax here. Okay, good news and bad news. Good News: Winter break is coming, which means not only much more time to write, but also a much happier writer. Almost as happy as when you review! (hint, hint) And Bad News: I'm going away for about four or five days during winter break, so you'll be that long without and update. I'm leaving on Friday, and its Monday now, so I'll try to cram as much writing into the next few days as possible. Anyway, have a happy today!