Obi Wan vaulted over the fallen guards, climbed onto the rail and jumped toward the rope. He slid down and landed in the boat.
Qui Gon turned. He grabbed Leila and tossed her over the rail. Then he followed her.
Leila floated delicately threw the air.
Obi Wan grinned and caught her right in his arms.
She smiled at him.
Qui Gon gunned the motor. With blaster fire raining over their heads, they made for the open sea.
Obi Wan and Leila moved up close to Qui Gon.
"You said you hoped I would come," Qui Gon remarked quietly. "Not knew, but hoped. And yet…you said to Leila you knew she would come."
"Of course I knew she would come," said Obi Wan. "Just as I would always go for her."
Qui Gon said nothing but turned that thought over and over in his mind. The two of them trusted each other without fear of betrayal.
Obi Wan was quiet for a moment. "I need to know about Xanatos," he said finally.
"What has Leila already told you?"
"I need to hear it from you."
"What did he say?" asked Qui Gon, keeping his eyes on the sea before them.
Leila said nothing. There was nothing she could say here and she wasn't even about to try.
"He told me you betrayed him. That he was your apprentice and he trusted you."
"Did you believe him?" Qui Gon asked.
Obi Wan paused for a moment. The wind blew his hair back from his face. "I don't think you would ever betray a Padawan," he said at last.
"Why do you think this?"
"For many reasons," said Obi Wan. "Reasons of my own. But what I do not understand is why he hates you so much. Does he have cause, Qui Gon? Did Xanatos arrange to have me imprisoned on the mining platform just to get back at you?" Obi Wan's eyes went to Leila. "Did he try and hurt Leila…just to get at you?"
The Jedi Master nodded grimly. "Yes, I believe so. Yes, it is time I told you about him. And I should have told you before." He was quiet for a moment, then he began. "Each Jedi apprentice brings something unique to the Temple. Even at a young age, Xanatos stood out. His intelligence was fierce and quick and agile. He was a leader. I thought he was the most promising boy to come to the Temple in many years. So did Yoda. Yet Yoda had questions. As Xanatos grew and I took him as my apprentice, I resented Yoda's hesitations. I thought Yoda was questioning my judgement. Of course, he was questioning the boy. He saw something that I did not. When Yoda suggested one last mission, I was glad. At last I thought I could prove to Yoda that I was right. Xanatos will prove himself, prove what I had seen all along." Qui Gon turned to Obi Wan. "You see my failing here." It wasn't a question.
Obi Wan nodded. "I believe so. What you could prove. What you wanted."
"So it was a test for me too," said Qui Gon. "Yoda sent us to Telos, Xanatos' home planet. He had not seen his Father, Crion, in many years. And Crion had grown very powerful and wealthy. And Xanatos saw all of this. He saw what he had missed. And a hunger began to grow in him. An anger. He saw that in taking him away, we had deprived him of a different kind of power. I had deprived him. He hated the Jedi for that." Qui Gon stared out over the water,. "We give up many things when we chose this life, Obi Wan. We are destined to have no home, no power. Xanatos had these things in his grasp. Croin saw his son weaken. He had come to regret his decision to let Xanatos go. So Croin urged Xanatos to stay with him. I saw that Yoda had sensed this would happen, that this was the last, great test." He sighed. "I did not doubt Yoda's wisdom. I did what I knew I should. I stepped back and I did not attempt to guide Xanatos. He was ready to make his own choice."
"He made the wrong one," Obi Wan said softly.
"I was to monitor a negotiation between two worlds that Croin had called. But Xanatos deliberately sabotaged the meeting, according to his Father's instructions. Civil war broke out. Suddenly, all around me, people where dying. The situation was out of my control. And it was all because I did not see clearly what Xanatos was capable of." Qui Gon's hands tightened on the controls. "Xanatos led the army. The last battle was fought at the governor's quarters. And Croin was killed." He paused, his expression grim. "I killed him," he said softly. "Right in front of Xanatos, I dealt the death blow. And my lightsaber sliced through the ring on Crion's finger. Xanatos picked it up from the fire where it had fallen. He pressed the hot metal to his cheek. I can still hear the sound of the burn." He looked at Obi Wan. "You can still see the scar."
"A broken circle."
Qui Gon turned and faced Obi Wan. His face was bleak, harsh with memories. "He said the scar would serve to remind him always of what I had taken from him. How I had betrayed him. The fact that thousands had died because of his Father's greed meant nothing to him. The weight of those deaths meant everything to me."
"What happened next?" asked Obi Wan.
Leila was clenching and unclenching her hands as she felt her Father's dull pain from the talking of the memories. But she did not interrupt.
"He drew his lightsaber against me," said Qui Gon, his gaze shifting to the water again. "We battled to the point of exhaustion. At last I knocked the lightsaber from his hand and stood over him. But I couldn't deliver that last blow," he said softly. "Xanatos laughed at me. He ran out. I searched Telos for him but he had stolen a transport and the treasury and had escaped into deep space. He disappeared without a trace…until now."