Please enjoy yourselves, folks! In this chapter, Obi-Wan finally reveals his love for Qui-Gon...
Agi: Thank you so much, I'm glad you like that part!
Master Critics: Will do!
Chapter 8
The Jedi's wrists were all locked within Force-proof handcuffs, which were a kind of handcuffs that wouldn't be affected by Force power, as they entered the throne hall with guards surrounding them.
The Ruler smiled at them with amusement, "I welcome your re-visit, Master Jinn, and your young friends."
Roga walked up to him and presented him the Jedi's three lightsabers.
"Do not worry," the Ruler said politely with irony as he saw Virgille's anxious look when Roga carried the weapons away, "I can assure you that Roga has no interests in lightsabers. We will take good care of them..."
Virgille winced and snuggled back to Qui-Gon a bit. Obi-Wan noticed a hooded man in black cloak standing behind the throne, and it was obvious that his Master had noticed, too.
He felt a shiver through his spine when the man stepped forward out of the shadow. The Ruler's smile deepened as he nodded his agreement at the man.
"I must confess that I didn't expect you to return when we parted twenty years ago, my friend." His cold voice echoed in the hall, and Obi-Wan and Virgille both stepped closer to Qui-Gon frightenedly.
"That voice…" Qui-Gon gasped as he looked up immediately. As he set eyes on the man, waves of memory rushed back to his mind irresistibly. He remembered that capture, that dark chamber, the conversation, his fear and his self-doubt and disappointment with himself.
"Good, you have remembered that conversation now. Therefore, I don't need to remind you of your…" his mouth twisted into a cruel smile, "weakness…"
Qui-Gon didn't answer but looked down, for ashamedness began to drown him once more.
"You should have realized that what I had told you concerning the consequences after your death was merely a lie – I think the Council has already explained the true purpose of only wiping your memory before you set off," he sneered, "but you still believed the lie in the end because of your pure stupidity and fear."
"Don't listen to him, Master!" Obi-Wan said desperately as he sensed the hope in his Master's heart was quickly draining away with despair, "He's just trying to make you lose hope again!"
"I agree," Virgille grandma-glared at the man sternly, "who won't get scared if she's facing a creepy bad person like you!" Her swallow revealed her nervousness, "You must be a evil Sith mutant or something…" she trailed off as her courage had been all consumed.
He's radiating fear and despair. Obi-Wan thought, No wonder Master was feared and despaired when he first encountered him, and Master had regarded them as his own cowardice, so he started to have self-doubts. And that explains why he'd given in at that moment.
The man laughed at Virgille's remark almost hysterically, "Children's wisdom is always unpredictable," Virgille decided to hide herself behind Qui-Gon's legs, shivering, "your guess has been correct – Master Jinn should not be blamed for his fear in the past, for it was the Lord of the Sith he'd been talking to." He lowered his dark hood slowly, revealing a white, wrinkled face.
"Darth Sidious." Obi-Wan gasped in recognition of the face – he'd occasionally seen the hologram of the disappeared Sith and heard Master Yoda comment on it.
"We're in big trouble now." Virgille whispered from behind Qui-Gon's legs, and Obi-Wan nodded slightly in quiet approval.
Darth Sidious smiled satisfiedly as he watched the two young ones wince under his gaze, "Although you are not to be accused for your needless self-disappointment and doubts of your being Jedi, since the fear and hopelessness you had felt ashamed for were poured by me." he turned to Qui-Gon again, "But look around you," he turned around his hideous head to emphasize the armed Zephyrene warriors filled the hall smilingly, "this is still the path you have chosen for yourself twenty years ago, except there will be two more victims this time. Their innocent, young lives will soon have a tragic end under your lead."
"That's not true!" Obi-Wan yelled and plucked Qui-Gon's arm as he saw his Master's eyes closed with remorse.
The Sith continued, clearly ignoring Obi-Wan's interruption, "There seems to be a whirligig on your path – you had escaped death and had the opportunity to savor the taste of honor, but soon, after all these years of glory, you will be back into the arms of death once again." He smiled, stepping back into the shadow behind the throne.
The Ruler glanced at him briefly and began, "You have lost the chance of instant death after you had slaughtered my soldiers mercilessly. Therefore, I hope you would enjoy your stay with the starving Rancor…" he narrowed his convex, glassy eyes, "Soon our scheme will succeed – before the Order or the Republic could even notice it. Pity, you won't be able to witness the fall of the Republic and your own Order, because you will die before that." He turned to the guards and commanded, "Take them away."
"Okay, this is so great." Virgille stated calmly though she was trembling violently from head to toes.
They were in a large chamber with an enormous and angry-for-no-reason Rancor.
Qui-Gon still didn't speak a word, but he looked up now and was clearly analyzing the situation. Obi-Wan was trying very hard to extricate his wrists from the Force-proof handcuffs yet made no progress.
They all stepped backwards to the wall until their backs were against it while the Rancor was approaching them with heavy strides – each of it shook the entire chamber fiercely.
"What do we do?" Virgille asked panickedly. The beast was now roaring penetratingly with hunger at his preys.
"No time to panic, don't panic!" Obi-Wan shouted hastily even though he was pretty sure that he was panicking as well.
Qui-Gon narrowed his eyes as he'd focused on something above.
The Rancor roared again and raised its paw this time.
"Start panicking!" Obi-Wan screamed absently as the three of them all running with fluster in all directions to avoid the beast's capturing paw.
Qui-Gon swiftly swept Virgille into his arms, just before she would get smashed under the Rancor's step.
The Rancor was becoming angrier than before when none of its food was obedient enough to let it catch. It swung its paws furiously, accidentally cut off Obi-Wan's handcuffs.
"Huh?" Obi-Wan looked at his freed hands in surprise and delight, "Thank you, Force!"
He managed to get back to his Master's side, and asked hurriedly, "What do you have in mind, Master?"
"Those cables." Qui-Gon pointed to the electric cables spread across the dark ceiling.
"But how are we going to get up there?" Obi-Wan asked as he jumped aside to evade the Rancor's another attack.
"Use the Force, idiot!" Virgille barked impatiently while Qui-Gon carried her run from the beast.
"Of course I KNOW we should use the Force, you moron! The problem is, the ceiling is too high for a Force-jump!" Obi-Wan yelled back.
"No, you two, we're not going to get to the ceiling!" Qui-Gon interrupted their argument, "We will cut them from the ground, or we'll get electric shock, too!"
"With what?" Obi-Wan shouted, narrowly getting away from the huge paw.
Qui-Gon threw Virgille over to Obi-Wan abruptly, who caught her with shock, "Just take care of Virgille and try to distract its attention!"
"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan answered confusedly and started to use mind-trick on the mad Rancor. But that action only made the Rancor even more indignant, now it decided to focus its attention only on Obi-Wan and Virgille.
"Well, at least you've reached your purpose." Virgille said sardonically, "But we don't want it to focus on US, Mister!"
"Shut up, Grandma Virgule!" Obi-Wan roared as he carried the youngling in his arm to run for their lives.
"Virgille!"
"Whatever!"
"How rude!"
Qui-Gon used this opportunity to get to the back of the chamber and found the remaining bones of the beast's past prey. Luckily, those foods used to be big animals like the Rancor itself. He gathered the Force to levitate one of the largest and sharpest bones, and directed it spinning straight towards the cables above the Rancor, who had now cornered the panting Padawan and youngling.
The bone's sharp edge cut off the cables instantly, and the cables' severed ends fell from the ceiling onto the Rancor, just before it could kill the two people in front of it.
The high-power electricity flowed into the beast from the severed ends the moment they touched its thick skin.
Blue electric sparks with lightning and electricity were all over the painfully screaming Rancor, and its sharp and terrifying roar echoed among the chamber stone walls, causing the chamber shaking slightly.
Obi-Wan and Virgille froze and watched the electricity-wrapped Rancor in front of them with fright and the strong sparks made their eyes hurt. Qui-Gon rushed to the stunned young ones who were sitting on the ground and crouched down to hold them safely in his arms. He pressed both of their heads close to his chest and told them to close their eyes.
A moment later, the electricity faded gradually and with a last weak moan, the beast fell to the ground heavily, along with a shake of the ground. Then all went into silence.
Qui-Gon slowly loosed his hold of the young ones, and looked up at the dead Rancor with a sigh of relief. Obi-Wan tilted his head from his Master's chest hesitantly, dared to open his eyes and patted the still tense youngling's head who was still gripping Qui-Gon's tunics tightly and had her eyes shut firmly.
"It's all right now, Virgule."
"It's Virgille!" She roared, popping up her head abruptly and glared at him.
"Whatever." Obi-Wan laughed at her fast-changing mood.
"How rude!" she didn't think there was anything funny about his… "Public humiliation!" she barked, "This is public humiliation, Mister!"
Obi-Wan waved his hand dismissively and decided to ignore her. He helped to take off Virgille and Qui-Gon's handcuffs, and Virgille sighed happily.
"Master," he looked at Qui-Gon worriedly, "what about your wound?"
"I've healed it already." Qui-Gon smiled with a little pride, "I'm still a Master after all…" he trailed off and sneered at his own statement, "As if." He sighed deeply and stood up.
"What's wrong, Master?" Obi-Wan stood up as well and looked up at his Master with much concern, "Of course you're still a Master."
Qui-Gon shook his head sadly, "It's all my fault that you and Virgille are in such a fatal danger, Padawan. I don't think I deserve that title anymore."
Obi-Wan suddenly had a bad feeling and frowned, "You don't believe what Darth Sidious said, right, Master?"
"Please don't call me that, Obi-Wan, I am not worth it." Said Qui-Gon gently, "Though the Rancor is dead, we still cannot stop their plan since we don't even know what the plan is. And it's also almost impossible for us to escape from here."
"But you've still killed the Rancor!" Virgille protested, "That's considered to be brave and responsible!" she nodded to herself grandmaly.
Qui-Gon shook his head again and smiled ruefully, "It is obvious that I don't have much courage inside of me, for I was frightened so badly when I first encountered the Sith Lord years ago."
"But we were frightened, too!" Virgille said hastily, "He's so ugly and crazy and freaky!"
Obi-Wan said urgently, "Master, we –"
"Stop calling me 'Master', Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon suddenly burst out, his voice filled with anger and despair.
"Why not?"
"Because I'm the one that causes your future deaths!" Qui-Gon roared, "You and Virgille's young lives will soon end because of my own short-sightedness, and that makes the title unbearable!"
"You're not giving up, are you?" Obi-Wan asked cautiously.
"I don't have much choice," Qui-Gon closed his eyes bitterly, "I've tried so hard to do what I though was right, but all I'd done was within their expectations. I'm merely a fool, as always."
"You're not a fool, Master, and you never were." Said Obi-Wan, "Who knows how they've tracked us so completely? It's not your fault. And we can still destroy their scheme if you can see the hope again."
"There is no hope left, Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon yelled, "Don't you see it, I've failed, even from the very beginning! I can't recall a thing of the scheme that I should know. All we have now is death!"
"We don't have to die if you could at least try one more time –"
"I've already tried enough." Qui-Gon sighed.
"Then try again!" Obi-Wan said determinedly, "Think of the honor you've had, the glory, the respect from others, the friendship you've gained, the love –"
"These don't concern me any longer!" Qui-Gon cut off him in rage, "And you should know that no one really cares about that ridiculous thing called love!"
"But I do!" Obi-Wan cried out after his heart sank instantly when he heard Qui-Gon's description about what he'd held for his Master for so many years.
Qui-Gon fell silent with the revelation as he looked into his Padawan's eyes.
"Who do you think I'm doing all this for?" tears started to fill Obi-Wan's eyes, "To me, you are always the most respectable person in the universe, and you still are. I really don't wish to see you fall, Master, not like this." He swallowed, "Please, Master, at least do it for yourself." He finished difficultly at last and walked away to the other side of the chamber.
Qui-Gon stared at the wall blankly when Virgille, who had kept quiet for some time, patted his knee carefully, "He did mean what he said, you know, Master Qui-Gon – especially the part about love."
Qui-Gon looked at her in wonder, "How did you know?" he asked politely.
"Children's wisdom is always unpredictable." She smiled smugly, intentionally quoting the Sith Lord.
"Well, I must say I couldn't agree more." He ruffled her red hair – Darth Sidious finally had one concept that was just.
Virgille offered him a warm and encouraging smile, and left his side to see to Obi-Wan. Watching the youngling walking away, Qui-Gon shifted his gaze to his Padawan. For a long time, he watched Obi-Wan with a complicated look in his eyes.
Obi-Wan was sitting on the ground, sobbing bitterly and quietly – he had tried to restrain his tears, but the untamable teardrops were just unwilling to abandon his true emotion at the moment.
Virgille proceeded to him tentatively and slowly, step by step, and asked with her voice colored with worries: "Are you well, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and sniffled tearfully, but he succeeded in forcing himself to smile somehow, "Yes…I'm fine, don't worry."
Virgille closed their distance and patted his back soothingly with tenderness, "There, there, Obi-Wan, things will be all right, you'll see."
Nodding gratefully for the comfort, Obi-Wan smiled a bit, "Thank you, Virgule."
Virgille's expression softened with compassion, "It is Virgille…"
As usual, Obi-Wan would roll his eyes at Virgille's facial expression – because she obviously thought he couldn't say the word right because of his idiocy. But he wasn't in the mood to roll his eyes at his comforter now, so he just nodded in agreement, for the first time.
A sudden noise startled them, and they both looked around, only to find Qui-Gon using another smaller sharp bone (which most likely to be some animal's rib) to stab into the interspace between two stones of the stone wall near the force shield filling the arch that was separating the prisoners from outside.
"Um, Master, what are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked out of curiosity, temporarily forgot his sadness.
"Wrecking the console from behind through the wall." Qui-Gon said calmly, still stabbing the interspace with the rib.
"What console?" Virgille asked, running to Qui-Gon's side and watched him working with interest.
"The console that controls our force field." he gestured the bluish transparent force shield near them, "You must have noticed that our dungeon has double gates. The outer one is a metal door guarded by Zephyrenes at outside, and the inner one is an arch filled with a force field, which can be controlled from the control panel on the other side of the wall." From their position, they could see the Zephyrene guards outside the outer gate through the transparent force field and the hole on the metal door, which was used for the guards to check on the prisoners. But since they were staying behind the wall, so the guards wouldn't know what they were trying to do.
"As you see now, I'm stabbing the position where the control panel is on the other side." He put down the rib, "So if I could stab through the wall and break the console, there wouldn't a force field anymore. And we could somehow wield the hole on the outer gate to get the keys and escape."
"You mean…" Obi-Wan trailed off, as he couldn't believe that thought.
"I am trying to correct the mistake I've made long before," Qui-Gon smiled resolutely, "and I will not let it happen again."
Obi-Wan widened his eyes with surprise and joy, "Master…"
Qui-Gon started striding towards him and when he reached Obi-Wan's front, he held out one hand and asked with formality: "Could you still help the old man before you to fulfill his mission, Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan hesitated a moment, staring at his Master's hand in front of him, not sure if Qui-Gon could stand his revealed love for him. But when he looked up and met Qui-Gon's eyes, he could see anticipation and affection shining in them. Taking the older man's warm hand softly, he smiled and said with equal formality, "It would be my honor, Master Qui-Gon Jinn."
Qui-Gon clasped Obi-Wan's hand and gazed at him with appreciation. Obi-Wan blushed under his affectionate gaze, but this time, he didn't look away or bow his head to hide the redness on his face – instead, he looked into his Master's eyes with the same affection.
"Then what about me?" Virgille waited for a while and made up her mind that they'd had enough time for their locked eye contact.
Qui-Gon lowered his body to face Virgille, stated smilingly, "Of course I will also need this remarkable young lady's assistance."
Virgille held up her head with pride, "I am not a young lady; I am a future Jedi Master with promising prospect."
"All right, Master Virgille." Qui-Gon ruffled her hair lightly, and his face turned solemn again, "But as I've told you before, I still can't recall the plan."
"That's all right, Master." Obi-Wan smiled soothingly, relieved to know that Qui-Gon didn't roar at this title anymore, "The real failure is when you stop trying."
Virgille nodded seriously, "As the ancients said: 'One is most powerful when she is within the united.' You are not alone this time, Master Qui-Gon."
A voice came from his mind startled the Master all of a sudden:
"It is most powerful when it is within the united…"
Thousands of small Reine Crystals were united as one massive crystal, they were beaming with white light together, in contrary to their purple nature –
Qui-Gon returned to awareness abruptly and found Obi-Wan and Virgille staring at him with anxiety.
"Are you all right, Master?" Obi-Wan supported him with his hands as he saw Qui-Gon shaking faintly. He led the older man to sit down on the damp ground and sat next to him.
"I saw many Reine Crystals, they were all combined together…" Qui-Gon closed his eyes wearily, "It's like an image from the past."
Obi-Wan and Virgille listened patiently, not wanting to push the Master.
Qui-Gon continued slowly, "And there was a voice, saying something about the crystals were most powerful when they were united."
"Can you recognize that voice?" Obi-Wan asked gently.
"I suppose so…" Qui-Gon opened his eyes, "It was the Ruler of Zephyrann."
Virgille gasped at full volume, "You were seeing a scene from the lost memory, Master Qui-Gon!"
"That's wonderful, Master!" Obi-Wan grinned sincerely, "You're beginning to see things now!"
"Perhaps," Qui-Gon nodded, didn't appeared to be cheered up as much as the young ones, "The united Reine Crystals could generate a kind of great energy, and I think they're using the energy as a weapon to wield against the Republic and the Order, according to their recent conversation with us." Qui-Gon bowed his head in depression, "But I don't know how they will use it…"
Virgille decided to keep her mouth shut and waited to see what might happen.
Obi-Wan reached to hold Qui-Gon's cold hands reassuringly in his and broke the silence that was ready to settle amongst them with a gentle voice: "Let me tell you something, Master. The first time Virgule and I saw that Sith come out from the shadow back in the throne hall, we were all terribly frightened and felt despair filling our minds. We almost couldn't even stand before him." He squeezed his Master's hands, "Nevertheless, we were still able to hold ourselves straight, because you were with us – we know that no matter what happens, you will always be there for us; and as long as you are with us, there will always be hope."
Qui-Gon shifted to look at him and the seriously nodding youngling in amazement, and Obi-Wan closed his eyes and held their joint hands to his heart, "We carry this belief deep inside our hearts, and we have never doubted it." As he finished, he slowly let go of Qui-Gon's hands.
Qui-Gon was deeply moved by the declaration of the young ones, and for the first time during this disastrous mission, he smiled with all his soul.
He closed his eyes and tried once more to remember. As his brows furrowed in misery, Obi-Wan hesitantly took his hands again and gently kissed his cheek.
Qui-Gon's eyes flew open and he looked up, "They're going to aim the energy at Coruscant."
Virgille cheered with glee, "That's the information we need, Master Qui-Gon! We can leave this horrible beastly place now!"
Obi-Wan's face lit as well, "Though we still have no idea what the energy may cause…But that's already enough for us to stop their plan!"
"That's for sure!" Virgille said joyfully, "Thanks to your kiss!"
Obi-Wan blushed and glanced at Qui-Gon, who was nodding at him with an affectionate smile.
Then Qui-Gon's smile was replaced with a worried frown. But somehow I feel…there is still another danger lying beneath. However, he decided to think of the latent danger later.
Soon, with the help of Obi-Wan and Virgille, Qui-Gon finally stabbed the bone through the wall, straight into the back of the console. The console malfunctioned with electric sparks and the force field vanished.
"Phew, finally." Virgille sighed, wiping the sweat on her forehead.
"But how come we could stab the rib though the wall?" Obi-Wan stared at the bone stuck in the interspace, "I mean, after all, it's still a wall."
"And it's a stone wall." Qui-Gon reminded him, "From Roga's introduction of the tunnel, if the tunnel was built by their ancestors, then this dungeon was possibly built by them, too. And stones can't maintain their hardness completely in such a damp underground place after hundreds of, or maybe even thousands of years. And the interspace of the stones is also more fragile than it used to be for the same reasons, not mentioning the destruction caused by the Rancor…"
"Oh…" Obi-Wan was once more surprised by his Master's intelligence, "You are really incredible, Master, as always." he lauded heartily, "But how are we going to get pass that metal door?" He pointed to the door quite distant from them with a questioning look.
"Well…" Qui-Gon focused on the door, narrowing his eyes, "Since the guards don't seem to have noticed the destroy of their Rancor and the force field console, perhaps we could find a way to get to that door without attracting their attentions."
"We will have to be VERY careful." Virgille remarked seriously, frowning at the metal door.
To be continued…
So what do you think of this chapter? Interesting? Boring? Or even…stupid? Anything will do!