Chapter 2: Confrontations of Another Kind

Obi-Wan chose not to be obedient.

He sent out a warning to Anakin through their Force bond before he made his move to the door—to Anakin—but Qui-Gon was quick. His large hand snatched Obi-Wan's neck and pinned him against the wall, his back breaking the shelves behind him. The spare parts littered around his feet and the remaining ones jabbed into his spinal cord. Obi-Wan winced at the pressure, but Qui-Gon gave no lease on his hold. Obi-Wan struggled as the Force around him tightened to the point he was frozen.

Qui-Gon smiled in confidence at the sight of Obi-Wan being immobilized. "Now that I have your attention…"

Obi-Wan eyes followed Qui-Gon as he stepped back, taking in his captive. Qui-Gon looked the same as before with the exception of some new wrinkles near his eyes. His hair was grayer, but still long and held up in a half-ponytail. It seemed even Dooku failed to change that one aspect of Qui-Gon. The man did prefer his hair to be long and surly. The once warm eyes were now calculating and intrusive. Obi-Wan felt the pressure drilling into his mind, the invasion relentless, but Obi-Wan kept hold of his shields.

Finally, it weaned and Obi-Wan slipped out a soft sigh of relief.

A shuffle of feet introduced three armed men. Qui-Gon directed them to the yard. "Capture the youngling. Unharmed."

The three guards nodded and exited to the yard. They switched their blasters to stun. Obi-Wan sent an urgent cry through their bond, praying to the Force the young boy heard.

Qui-Gon watched the guards depart on their mission before he turned back to Obi-Wan. "You have no idea how long I've been waiting for this moment."

"I imagine seven years."

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. "I see your sarcasm hasn't receded in time," he said. "But, you're right I suppose. It's been seven years since you fled, kidnapping–"

"I did what I had to do."

"I have no doubt that is what you believe," Qui-Gon said. "Nonetheless, what you did was wrong. If you had such strong feelings, you should have come to me as any padawan would do."

"I did! But you didn't listen."

Qui-Gon's brow creased in thought before recognition skittered across his eyes. "Ah… still rambling on about that," he said in a dismissive manner. "There is so much you don't know, Obi-Wan. If you hadn't run off—"

"You would have only hurt me," Obi-Wan intercepted, testing his bonds with Anakin. He hoped Anakin escaped. At the moment, he only felt a slight touch on Anakin's side of the bond. "I don't agree with what you and Dooku planned to do. And I know what Siths do to those who don't follow."

Qui-Gon was perturbed by Obi-Wan's accusation. "When have I, young one, ever hurt you? I can recall disagreements which didn't lead to violence," he capitulated. "If anyone has done the hurting, it would be you, my old padawan."

"You're the one who fled in the middle of the night with the boy," Qui-Gon continued. "You're the one who broke my heart by running off with no note. No explanation. Did you even realized how worried I was? That something happened to you and the boy? I spent that whole week searching nonstop. I barely slept and hardly ate while I looked for you. And then, I find out that you weren't kidnapped, but rather you chose to leave. You took off with the one boy we needed to win this upcoming war."

"So, if anyone here caused pain, you would only have to look at yourself," Qui-Gon finished, aggravated.

Obi-Wan desperately wanted to scream. To throw himself at his old master and knock some of reason in the man's head. How could Qui-Gon not see what he's become? That he's a dark, twisted version of the man Obi-Wan once cared for like a son to father. Now, Obi-Wan only saw a dangerous, cruel man. Someone willing to use brutal force and manipulations to get what he wanted. In fact, Obi-Wan was certain that this day would end in his death.

The stomps of the guards distracted them and they turned to see the three guards empty handed. Anakin wasn't with them.

Obi-Wan was relieved. Qui-Gon was furious.

"Where's the boy?"

"Could not locate the boy," the guard answered. "We searched. Found nothing."

"Then expand your radius. He could not have gone far."

The guards hesitated for a moment. Qui-Gon frowned. "What is it?"

"We don't know what the boy looks like," answered one of the guards.

Obi-Wan saw a blood vessel bulge out from Qui-Gon's neck. "He's a boy! Go and bring back every boy you find!"

Obi-Wan watched the guards salute and then scrammed out of the junkyard ship for dear life. If Anakin did as instructed, the guards would never find him. Any time they landed on a new planet, they learned the routes needed to make quick escapes. So, Obi-Wan was quite confident that the guards were too late to capture Anakin.

Qui-Gon let out a loud huff, his knuckles protruding as he clenched his hands into tight fists. "It's hard to find good help nowadays," the Sith Lord muttered and he turned back to Obi-Wan. "Don't be smug, Obi-Wan. I'll find the boy soon enough."

It irked Obi-Wan how Qui-Gon called Anakin 'boy' as if he was nothing but property. "Anakin."

"What?"

"His name is Anakin," Obi-Wan repeated, fervently with his chin up in defiance. "Not 'boy'!"

Qui-Gon said nothing. He studied Obi-Wan with a sudden, peculiar interest. As if what Obi-Wan just proclaimed he knew the secret of immortality. He stared at Obi-Wan like that for a few more seconds before he waved his hand and the invisible binds that held Obi-Wan were cut. Obi-Wan tipped, but he struck out his hand to the wall and kept himself from falling over. But, his freedom was short-lived. Qui-Gon snatched his arm and dragged him back to the front entrance of the junkyard.

Obi-Wan fought back. He dragged his legs, digging his heels into the ground to slow the process. When that didn't work, he grabbed anything to hold but Qui-Gon would simply wave a finger and Obi-Wan found himself continuing on the path Qui-Gon led him.

"Stop fighting Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon warned. "I don't want to hurt you, but I will incapacitate you if necessary."

"Don't pretend that you're granting me mercy," Obi-Wan retorted. "I'm not that naïve padawan anymore."

Qui-Gon chuckled. "Maybe not, but you still are in many other ways."

When they got out of the junkyard shop, Obi-Wan recognized that the streets were now bare. He imagined Qui-Gon had something to do with the emptiness around them. There was a small ship not too far from the junkyard. It was parked at the end of the street and it appeared that was their main destination.

His body shivered at the chilliness that engulfed him. "Where are you taking me?"

"Somewhere safe and secure," Qui-Gon responded.

Obi-Wan doubted the safe part. Secured? That he could believe. He knew that if Qui-Gon or Dooku ever caught him or Anakin, it would not be an easy escape. Not like last time when they believed Obi-Wan to be the simple, obedient padawan. Realizing his time was running out, Obi-Wan concentrated on the Force around him. He felt the Force bend to his will, gathering in strength until he knew he could knock Qui-Gon down with a shove. After that, it only mattered how quick Obi-Wan could dodge the bullets and escape into the dense forest.

Ready, Obi-Wan released his Force power straight into Qui-Gon's back. He expected the man to fall. To at least stumble. But, he didn't do either. In fact, the only sign that Obi-Wan inflicted the Force against Qui-Gon was a mild grunt. His former master turned, yellow bleeding into blue in his eyes, and threw out his free hand. Obi-Wan felt a coalesced matter collide into his stomach. He was thrown off his feet, high up in the air, before he crashed down in the dusty street and the air knocked out of his lungs. Obi-Wan coughed, trying to regain life in his body once more when a darkening shadow fell over him.

"Did you honestly believe that your powers are strong enough to beat me, young one?" Qui-Gon questioned, his tone mocking. "You forget, Obi-Wan. You never finished your training. You are no match for me."

Obi-Wan curled up into a sitting position, his stomach aching from the punch. "I had to try."

Qui-Gon grabbed Obi-Wan's forearm again, pulling the young man to his feet. Obi-Wan noted that Qui-Gon was smiling. "It's what I admired the most about you," Qui-Gon said. "You were always persistent and resilient. Even when you never stood a chance."

A back-handed compliment. Obi-Wan scoffed. "I don't need your compliments."

"You once did."

Obi-Wan looked away. He never wanted this Qui-Gon's praise. He wanted his master's praise and compliments. He wanted to impress the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn. Not this corrupted version.

Qui-Gon took his silence as the finality of the conversation. He led Obi-Wan back to the shuttle, not noticing that his grip was too tight that Obi-Wan was sure that there were bruises forming underneath those large hands. They got to the ramp of the shuttle where two other guards stood at attention with blasters drawn. They saluted Qui-Gon and eyed Obi-Wan with a questionable arched of their brows. Obi-Wan returned with a glare of his own.

Qui-Gon cared little of their face-off. "Any news on Anakin?"

The guards stared, baffled. "Anakin, my Lord?"

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. "The boy."

The guards shook their heads. "Not yet," the guard on the left answered. "They are still searching."

"He'll come to us soon enough," Qui-Gon said, softly, and he glanced at Obi-Wan. "We have something he wants."

Obi-Wan didn't need clarification. He knew that he had turned from being a simple prisoner to bait. But, as long as Anakin did as instructed, Obi-Wan wasn't bait. In either case, he was still a prisoner. Qui-Gon led Obi-Wan up the ramp into the shuttle where he pushed Obi-Wan into a cell. Obi-Wan stumbled into the middle and a blue Force shield shot up, boxing him in the tiny cell.

Obi-Wan circled his newfound cell, eyeing for any weak points. He didn't find any. "Did you built this for me? I'm touched."

Qui-Gon half-shrugged. "Just a precaution. Would hate to lose you again."

"Oh Qui-Gon… you already did."

Qui-Gon stared at Obi-Wan, wounded yet determined. His hand reached out, almost as if it was going to go straight through the Force field and touch Obi-Wan's cheek. Instead, he stopped short. "I haven't lost you yet, Obi-Wan. I can still save you."

Obi-Wan could only gape at the man. Save him? Obi-Wan wasn't the one lost. He stepped back, distancing himself from his former master. "Save me? I'm not the one who needs saving."

"Yes you do," Qui-Gon countered, a slight edge in his tone as he spoke. "The Jedi Order is lost. The Republic corrupt. You are fighting a lost cause, Obi-Wan. And I fear it will be the death of you."

Horror tightened around his throat and squeezed his voice to a whisper. If anything was going to be the death of him, it would be Qui-Gon. "You cannot save me, Qui-Gon. All you can do is kill me."

A smirk tugged in the corner of Qui-Gon's mouth. "We shall find out soon enough," he said. "If you excuse me, I'm going to expedite this search of our missing member."

As Qui-Gon ducked to leave, Obi-Wan called out. "You won't find him!"

Qui-Gon stopped and looked over his shoulder at Obi-Wan. The Force field buzzed, drowning Obi-Wan's heavy breathing. "Anakin's long gone by now."

"He won't leave without you."

"Yes he will. I told him to leave me."

Qui-Gon leaned against the wall, arms folded. "And you believe he listened?"

"You don't know Anakin like I do."

Qui-Gon tilted his head in agreement. "Perhaps not as well, but I do know one thing," he said, confident. "I know that the two of you are strongly connected. Your Force bonds are the strongest I have ever seen in my life. In fact, I noticed it the moment I handed Anakin to you all those years ago. The Force simply… sung the moment you cradled the boy in your arms."

Obi-Wan remembered that day. Qui-Gon had passed three-year-old Anakin to him, ordering him to get back to the ship. Obi-Wan wanted to protest, but the hard look from Qui-Gon sent Obi-Wan running to the ship with Anakin in his arms. Anakin held tight, his tiny hands gripping his tunics for dear life. They ran to the front of the ship. Obi-Wan had Anakin on his lap as he piloted the ship to the area his master and grandmaster were battling opponents. When he rescued the duo and Qui-Gon wanted to hold Anakin, Obi-Wan went to pass the child off. However, Anakin refused. He started screaming and crying, arms stretched out to Obi-Wan as he dangled in Qui-Gon's arms. Qui-Gon returned Anakin to Obi-Wan and the boy went silent and snuggled close to Obi-Wan's chest, and Obi-Wan felt lighter and brighter. He looked down at the toddler and for a moment, he thought he heard a song through the Force.

Yes. He remembered that day all too well. It was the day Qui-Gon and Dooku declared him to be the prophesied Chosen One and began to make plans for him to become a weapon. And it was the following night that Obi-Wan decided to make a run with Anakin in his arms. As they made their escape, the Force still sung. But it was louder. Much louder.

"You cannot even deny it," Qui-Gon's voice pulled Obi-Wan out of his memory. He saw that smug grin that spread across Qui-Gon's face. "Then you do know that he'll come for you. And when he does, we can be done with all this madness and get back to our duties."

Qui-Gon turned his back to Obi-Wan and departed, leaving Obi-Wan to sit alone in his cell with silence as his only company. He dropped his head in his hands, distraught and desperate. He reached for the Force again, begging Anakin to forget him. But every time he tried to reach Anakin, he hit a wall. Like his powers were blocked. Obi-Wan imagined the Force field was blocking him.

Great. Obi-Wan sat down in the middle of the cell, contemplating on his next move. He would need to find another way to escape Qui-Gon. If he was correct in his thinking, Qui-Gon was going to take him to Serenno, Dooku's home planet. It was the only place Obi-Wan imagined they could keep him under control and yet a secret from the Jedi Order. Obi-Wan's been to Serenno more times than he wished. He remembered the extravagance of Dooku's wealth and found it ridiculous on how much lavish materials Dooku surrounded himself in. However, Obi-Wan doubted that he would be treated to such hospitality. He'll be lucky to even get a metal slab as a bed wherever he was going to be imprisoned.

Obi-Wan was too lost in thought and blinded in his connection to the Force, that he didn't noticed that the ship sputtered in movement. He only became distracted when the ship jolted, throwing Obi-Wan into the Force field that sent tiny electrical zaps into him. The ship jolted again and Obi-Wan tumbled to the other end of his cell.

What the bloody hell was going on?

Obi-Wan craned his neck the best he could to get a good look. He couldn't see anything nor did he hear anything but the sounds of engines running. He wondered if that meant Qui-Gon captured Anakin and ordered the ship to drop Obi-Wan off at the pre-destination spot. The ship jerked and swung. Obi-Wan flew backwards, ramming his back into the Force shield again and getting electrocuted.

This was bloody ridiculous! Who was piloting this ship?

"Can you ease up?" Obi-Wan yelled as he smoothed out his back from twitching. "Not everyone has seat belts!"

"Sorry Obi-Wan!" came a voice from the cockpit. "Still getting use to these thrusters."

Obi-Wan's heart plummeted and soared at the same time. "A-Anakin?"

"Yep… just hold on to something," Anakin's voice trailed through the ship. "This might be bumpy."

"What do you mean by bumpy—"

The ship spun and Obi-Wan found himself flying again. He wasn't quite sure what was happening. All he knew was that he kept being tossed into the Force shield like a plaything, getting electrocuted left and right. Obi-Wan steeled himself the best he could, but every jolt, twist and spin sent him colliding into the Force field. He didn't know how long he was tortured, but when the ship came to a steady ease, Obi-Wan picked himself off the floor.

He winced at the faint reminder of the electrocution, some of his muscles still spasming. When he heard light steps coming down the hall, he looked up in time to see a stupid, silly grin on Anakin's face. "Told you I was an excellent pilot."

Obi-Wan, his back muscles still twitching from being electrocuted three times begged the differ. "Mind getting me out of this?"

"Oh yeah," Anakin ran back. A few minutes later, the Force field collapsed and Obi-Wan was a free man again.

He stepped out, hands rubbing his calf muscles. He limped his way to Anakin, who was back in the cockpit. Obi-Wan looked out through the viewport and saw stars. The vast space awaited them.

He took a seat, tired and sore from his "ride". Anakin glanced at him. "Are you okay, Obi-Wan? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

Only emotionally, Obi-Wan thought. "No, I'm quite all right. Just give me an hour and I'll be good as new," he said. He looked back down their small shuttle ship. It was only the two of them. "I must ask, Anakin," he began and Anakin, still piloting the shuttle through space turned to look at him, "why are you here?"

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked, surprised. "I'm rescuing you."

"But that wasn't the plan! I told you to run."

"I did."

"And to leave me behind," Obi-Wan added. "What's the point in creating those escape routes if you're not going to use them?"

"They had you!"

"And they could have gotten you too!"

Anakin huffed and turned back to the viewport. Obi-Wan sighed, feeling the Force around them blackening in Anakin's obvious anger. "Look—Anakin, I'm sorry," Obi-Wan apologized. "But, there's a reason I told you to run. These are dangerous people. If they captured you, they would only hurt you."

"Like they would have done to you?" Anakin said, snarky.

Obi-Wan dropped his head. "It's not the same. You're too important. I can't… I don't want them to hurt you, Anakin."

"And I didn't want them to hurt you!" Anakin argued, his voice getting a little squeakier in his emotional state. "Why can't you just be happy that we escaped?"

"Because I don't want to be the reason they capture you!" Obi-Wan snapped, surprised by the anger in his tone when he spoke. Even Anakin jumped a little in his seat. Obi-Wan reeled himself, taking a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just… I can't live with myself if they got you through me. I just can't, Anakin. Don't you understand? I don't want you to get hurt. Not through me."

Anakin said nothing for a bit and Obi-Wan wondered if the boy understood or not. But, then Anakin slackened in his grip on the controls. "I-I understand, but that doesn't mean I can't try to help you," he said. "You taught me better than that. I wasn't going to let them take you without a fight."

"Anakin—"

"Obi-Wan, you would have done the same for me if the situation was the other way around," Anakin pointed out. "Unless you weren't planning to do the same thing if the situation was reverse, then don't criticize me."

Obi-Wan slouched in his seat. All the tension ran out and Obi-Wan could only think about Anakin sense of duty. Perhaps Qui-Gon was right after all. Anakin would never leave him behind because… because Obi-Wan would never leave him behind. What a terrible and ironic twist of fate. He had raised a good person to the point of abandonment recklessness.
"I'm sorry," Obi-Wan apologized again. "You're right. It's unfair of me to criticize you when I would have done the same."

"Thank you," Anakin said, sitting up properly in his seat. "But, hey, I'm sorry for not listening to you."

"No worries," Obi-Wan said. "We're both safe now."

"And we have a new ship," Anakin said, admiring all the gadgets that littered the control panel.

"Speaking of which," Obi-Wan started, his curiosity growing. "How did you sneak on board without anyone noticing?"

A sneaky, triumphant smirk broke Anakin's face. "Oh that? Well, you know how you told me to run?"

"Yes."

"Well, when I ran, I saw the ship parked at the end of the street. There weren't many guards. Just two," Anakin said. "And, I realized that the ship would be the best hiding spot because they wouldn't expect me to run right into the gundark's nest."

That's true, Obi-Wan thought. Qui-Gon certainly wouldn't have thought Anakin would be stowing away on his ship.

"I also figured that the bad guys would lock you up in the ship too, so I thought that this would be a great escape vehicle," Anakin continued. "I would hide on the ship, wait until everyone left to go find me and then pilot the two of us out of their grasps." Anakin was very pleased with his plan. "So, I snuck on board when the guards weren't looking and hid in one of the compartments."

"Clever," Obi-Wan said, "but dangerous. Too many variables that could have gone wrong and we could have both ended up as prisoners."

"Well, as you say Obi-Wan," Anakin said, sounding cheeky. "Keep your mind in the here and now. We got out. We escaped. We're free."

Anakin was right. They were free. They had barely escaped with their lives. Obi-Wan pictured Qui-Gon, angry at watching the ship holding his prized possessions be lost to him once more. He probably killed the two guards stationed at the ramps. He would have found their lack of performance disappointing. Qui-Gon was so close in capturing them. He already had Obi-Wan locked away and, well, he technically also had Anakin too, but the boy hid well. And now, they were galvanizing back into space, searching for a new place to call home.

That reminded Obi-Wan. "Anakin?"

"Yeah?"

"How did you remain undetected?" Obi-Wan asked. "I tried reaching you through the Force, but I couldn't locate you."

Anakin raised his brow. "Oh… that? I did as you told me to in those situations. I threw up my shields and held them up until I knew the coast was clear."
So, it wasn't the Force field that cut Obi-Wan off from Anakin. It was Anakin's own powers. His own Force shield. Obi-Wan smiled, grateful at Anakin's strong gift. It had kept him safe from Qui-Gon.

"Did I do something wrong?" Anakin asked, not liking the silence.

"No… no, not at all. You did well," Obi-Wan said. "It's just explained why I couldn't reach you in the Force earlier."

"Sorry about that."

"Don't be," Obi-Wan said. "I would prefer you to be safe. I'm happy to know that your shields are holding up."

Anakin's cheeks reddened. "Thanks," he reached over to the control panels and pulled up a star system map. "All right, it's my turn to pick a planet to crash."

"Land, Anakin," Obi-Wan automatically corrected. He hated the word 'crash'. It frightened him of the possibility that Anakin would crash-land a ship.

"You know what I mean," Anakin said, examining the map. He glanced about, studying each planet before he finally found one. "Got it! How about this one, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan looked up to the screen, reading the information. "Naboo?" he murmured. "That's Republic airspace. That might be too close for comfort."

"But it has lots of small villages up around the mountain ranges and country-sides. As long as we avoid the cities, we should be fine," Anakin said. "Besides, I'm tired of living in backwater worlds. Can't we stay somewhere nice?"

"Anakin it's too dangerous."

"They might not expect us to be there," Anakin argued. "They'll think we skipped off to another outer rim planet. Not a Republic planet. We'll have some safety in that."

Obi-Wan rubbed his jaw in thought. It was dangerous to live in a Republic planet, but Anakin did make an excellent point. Qui-Gon and Dooku wouldn't expect them to be residing in Republic airspace. Plus, Naboo was a peaceful planet. It would have no need to call for Jedi assistance. It was a relatively safe planet compared to others.

After investigating it further and listening to Anakin's pleas, Obi-Wan obliged. "Fine. We can stay in Naboo. I don't imagine too much trouble, but who knows," he said. "We do tend to gravitate to trouble."

Anakin set the coordinates to Naboo. "You gravitate toward trouble, Obi-Wan," he corrected. "I'm the one that needs to rescue you."

"You forget Anakin," Obi-Wan said. "I used to do the rescuing when you were younger."

"If you say so."

"I do," Obi-Wan said, rising up from his seat. "And I also say get up. I'm piloting."

Anakin whined. "Why can't I pilot? I just showed you that I could! I evaded all those blaster fires."

"I know, but rules are rules," Obi-Wan said, scooping Anakin from his seat by his armpits. "Ten year olds aren't allowed to pilot… unless under dire circumstances."

Anakin resented having his captain seat taken from him, but Obi-Wan did allow him to handle the coordinates and manage the control panel, giving him some sense of piloting without actually being behind the wheel. Once ready, Obi-Wan got the ship into position for hyperspeed.

"Whenever you're ready, Anakin."

Anakin's short arms reached for the handle. "Naboo, here we come!"

And, Anakin pulled the handle down and the stars zoomed up and passed them. They were engulfed by streaks of blue and white. The ship lunged and then it shot off, heading straight for Naboo.

Their new home.