"Time to show you how to visit the past in order to change the future, padawan."
"What are you talking about Qui-Gon?" Obi-Wan asked with a partial smirk that he quickly erased upon noticing the sternness of his Master's countenance.
"An opportunity the Force has granted you."
Obi-Wan moved hastily from his seat to follow the tall, bluish form that had quickly moved through the doorway. He stole up to Qui-Gon's side, who had taken his recently vacated stance on the cliff edge.
"Those lights you've been seeing at sunset." The Force image began, ignoring the nearby bellow of a bantha. Obi-Wan immediately alerted himself to the exact location of his lightsaber, which he had laid on the chair by the cookstove inside. A call of a bantha meant that the ruthless, nomadic sandpeople were near. Qui-Gon however, continued without faltering.
"They are a sign for you, padawan."
"For me? I don't understand." Obi-Wan admitted.
"Tell me. What colors have you seen in the sky?" Qui-Gon questioned, still peering out onto the moonlit desert plains.
"Blue, green, red mostly. Sometimes purple."
"And do these colors remind you of anything?"
Obi-Wan sighed softly in frustration, quickly reminding himself that he was no longer a teenage padawan, even though sometimes, in his Master's presence, that was exactly the way he felt.
"Well," He replied slowly as he reached for his center in order to control his emotions. "They just so happen to be the colors of the crystals that power lightsabers."
Qui-Gon remained silent as he usually did when an answer was supposedly obvious enough for Obi-Wan to see. As usual, however, the younger Jedi failed to make the connection.
"It's your doorway, padawan." The apparition explained with his typical patient demeanor. "The Force is providing you a way to change the past, but only for a short time. As long as those colors fill the sky, the door will remain open."
"How long will that be?"
"I cannot say. It has not been revealed to me."
Obi-Wan turned to gaze at the flickering image of his previous Master, attempting to gauge the seriousness of his words. Qui-Gon had never been one known to pull pranks, but maybe becoming one with the Force had changed him…
"I am most serious, Obi-Wan."
The words silenced his thoughts and Obi-Wan cursed under his breath, turning his attention back to the rising double moons. "Then what do you know? How do I find this door you speak of, and when I do – how am I supposed to go through it? And once I do, how do I get back?"
Still staring at the night sky, Obi-Wan missed the small smile that turned up Qui-Gon's mouth.
"During the time when the nightsky is filled with colors, you must enter a deep trance. Focus on what you want to change and the Force will deliver you to that point in time."
Obi-Wan did turn his head then, the impossibility and outrageousness of the suggestion widening his eyes. "And how do I return?"
"When an alteration has been achieved, the Force will bring you back to this moment in time. I will be waiting for you here and will explain exactly what changes have occurred due to your actions."
Obi-Wan mulled silently over the words that Qui-Gon had spoken, wanting to believe that it would be as easy as that. That with just a simple trance, he could visit the past and change the outcome of the future – for the better. But the whole thing sounded completely crazy.
"You must trust me, Obi-Wan. I would not misinform you or lead you astray."
A hand came up to his shoulder and although Obi-Wan missed the comforting warmth the gesture had once brought, he was satisfied to feel a slight tingle in its place.
Qui-Gon was right of course, and although he doubted the possibility of time travel, the prospect of it was intriguing. And besides that, he trusted Qui-Gon implicitly. He always had.
With that realization, Obi-Wan nodded his head and Qui-Gon smiled.
"I will return tomorrow evening at dusk."
The blue haze of his former Master faded into the blackness of the cold desert evening surrounding him, but it was several hours before Obi-Wan returned to the warmth of his home.
