Chapter 31: You Don't Know Me
It came as a surprise when Qui-Gon led Obi-Wan straight to a training salle. Like everything else in the palace, the salle matched the refined taste of Dooku's sophistication. Emerald walls and sleeked floorboards that were not too hard on the feet surrounded Obi-Wan. The room itself was bare. Only Qui-Gon and he occupied the room, standing in the center. Obi-Wan couldn't suppress the shivers that crawled up his body. Not because he was in a training salle unarmed, but because of the blank and detached look on Qui-Gon. There was nothing simmering beneath the surface, meaning Qui-Gon's motive was a mystery.
Obi-Wan reached through the Force. Despite their broken bond, Obi-Wan still sensed his old master's presence and sometimes even feelings if strong enough. As Obi-Wan slid up against the walls of Qui-Gon's Force signature, Qui-Gon waved at the door, effectively locking the two of them in the salle.
Obi-Wan stepped back, uncertain as Qui-Gon discarded his robe. He unclipped his lightsaber. Again, Obi-Wan realized he was unarmed. Qui-Gon lit the lightsaber and the red blade shot out from the hilt, casting a red hue over Qui-Gon's face. Obi-Wan observed Qui-Gon's eyes flame under the light, pale blue eyes contorted to a rush of lava.
Too immersed at the sudden change of eye color, Obi-Wan barely caught the whisperings of warning through the Force. He pulled back on Force's command and the red blade swiped down at the exact spot Obi-Wan once stood. Obi-Wan scurried backwards, standing on the balls of his feet as he gallingly gawked at Qui-Gon.
"Are you mad?!" Obi-Wan shouted.
Qui-Gon lunged the blade again, forcing Obi-Wan to flip over the strike. Qui-Gon was mad! And utterly confusing. One minute, Qui-Gon brokered for peace and the next he lashed out at Obi-Wan, wanting to cut him down. Obi-Wan tried to consider the meaning of this sudden change, but he didn't get beyond that mere thought. He narrowly evaded the red blade's slash near his hand.
Breathing hard, Obi-Wan refocused from why to survive. He had training like this before. Years ago, Dooku often dragged him to the training salle with no weapon to defend himself against Dooku's lethal lightsaber. It was a lesson Dooku believed to be more beneficial to his training if his weapon was ever confiscated. Obi-Wan, however, believed Dooku liked to make his life miserable.
But, he begrudgingly admitted, it did come in handy during his time on the run with Anakin. And now, he was going to have to use his training here. Another swipe for his chest and Obi-Wan dodged it on reflex and knowledge on Qui-Gon's fighting style. Qui-Gon adored Atura, which gave Obi-Wan an advantage. Knowing the opponent's fighting style was half the battle. The other half was to not slip up.
Sensing another strike, Obi-Wan somersaulted, moving at quick speeds to confuse Qui-Gon. The Sith Lord was older. Grey filtered through the brown hair and the crowfeet by his eyes showed his age. If Obi-Wan kept with the pace, he could overtake Qui-Gon once the Sith became fatigued. The remaining question was: how long?
Qui-Gon hadn't shown any signs of exhaustion and kept his momentum steady. No change and that worried Obi-Wan. Without a weapon, he was certain that he would either lose a limb or his life. Unless he stole the weapon from Qui-Gon's hands. It was possible. Most likely not to work, but still possible.
Obi-Wan quickly drew up a plan in his head. If he slid to the right, bending his back over and somersaulting below, Qui-Gon would expect him to come up on the other side. Instead of popping up, Obi-Wan planned to kick him off his feet.
Predictable, Qui-Gon struck his lightsaber down near Obi-Wan's side. Obi-Wan missed the blade by bending down, falling into a perfect somersault. Qui-Gon turned to follow, his blade twirling in the air to strike again when he popped up. Obi-Wan smirked. Instead of popping up, he used the Force and gave a hard kick to Qui-Gon's shins.
The decievement caught Qui-Gon off guard. The Sith Lord stumbled, his lightsaber pointed away, giving Obi-Wan the necessary time to leap back to his feet and charge after Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan snatched for the lightsaber, a hand on each wrist as he attempted to deactivate the lightsaber from Qui-Gon's grasp.
They struggled. Both attempted to throw the other one off, but neither let go. Obi-Wan pushed the wielded weapon down, hoping it would force Qui-Gon to power it off unless he wanted Dooku's wrath for destroying the floorboards. Qui-Gon tried to overpower him, twisting his wrists to force Obi-Wan to become vulnerable.
Neither budged.
At least until Obi-Wan saw a genuine smile curl up on Qui-Gon's face. Then Qui-Gon flicked his fingers and Obi-Wan felt a coalesced mass collide into his stomach, knocking him off his feet about a yard away.
The Force push kicked all the air out of Obi-Wan's lung. He gasped for air, inflating his lungs again as he hurried to his feet. He brought his hands up, readying to react when he saw Qui-Gon power down the lightsaber and clipped it back to his belt. It appeared the spontaneous duel was over.
Obi-Wan stayed in his position, forcing Qui-Gon to approach him. "What was that all about?" Obi-Wan demanded, his breaths louder than his words as he slowly dropped his hands.
"It was the proof I needed," Qui-Gon clarified.
"Proof?"
"You don't want to die."
Obi-Wan ceased all breathing. He stared, dumbfounded. It was a test. He should have known. Should have predicted… it didn't matter now. Qui-Gon got the information he wanted. He proved Obi-Wan wrong.
That didn't mean Obi-Wan was going to give him complete victory. "No one wants to die," he contended, "but one does acknowledge that there are worse things than death."
"I'm aware," Qui-Gon stated, "but I needed proof that you weren't suicidal. Cannot have that." A flash of pride glittered those eyes. "You did well. I half expected you to give up in the first thirty seconds."
Obi-Wan disregarded the compliment. Too angry to even humor Qui-Gon any longer. "Then you never knew me at all."
He marched passed Qui-Gon, side-stepping the formidable Sith to head straight to the doors. He got no farther than a few steps before he was tugged back by a pinch in his tunics. He staggered backwards until Qui-Gon was by his side once again. He rested his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder, immobilizing him.
"I know you better than you think," Qui-Gon claimed in an arrogance that irked the young man. "I raised you, Obi-Wan. Since you were thirteen, I took care of you and trained you in the ways of the Force. I know your strengths and weaknesses. Your dreams and fears. I know them all.
"And while I appreciate your defiance," Qui-Gon proceeded and Obi-Wan noted the genuineness of that appreciation, "save it for another time. Accept that the Force led you here again. Back home."
Obi-Wan raised a single brow, a skeptical glare answered back to Qui-Gon. The Sith Lord knew nothing and his assertion that he raised him was wrong. "Seven years."
"What's that?"
"Seven years ago I was a padawan," Obi-Wan said through clenched teeth. "You knew the padawan. You don't know me."
Obi-Wan shrugged Qui-Gon's hand off. "Are we done here?" he asked, moving out of reach. "Or will there be another lesson?"
Qui-Gon let his hand fall to his side, running his other hand along his beard. Almost like he remembered those old days through filtered sorrow. "No," he quietly answered. "We're done. We'll talk more in the morning."
A nod. "Looking forward to it," Obi-Wan grumbled.
They left the training salle, returning to the labyrinth of corridors as Qui-Gon led the way back to Obi-Wan's current prison cell. He looked out the windows they passed to the dark sky, praying to the Force that the sun never rise. He hoped for some peace from the Sith Lords while Satine recuperated, but it seemed unlikely to happen. Obi-Wan only wished that the morning meeting wouldn't be as lethal as the interaction they had.
Qui-Gon stopped outside the door and keyed in the passcode. The door zipped open and Obi-Wan charged ahead, not wanting to give Qui-Gon's the chance to stop him. He marched into his prison cell only to come to a complete halt.
Satine wasn't on the bed.
Obi-Wan scanned the room, searching for signs of Satin's existence. He found none and that made his heart sink to the deep pit of his soul. He spun around and faced a collected Qui-Gon. "Where is she? What did you do to her?"
Qui-Gon raised his brows once more. "The Duchess is fine," he assured. "She's exactly where you left her."
Obi-Wan looked back to the empty bed. "No, she's not."
A small smile played on Qui-Gon's lips. "This isn't your old room," he explained. "The Duchess needed sleep and so do you. I thought it would be appropriate if you had your own bed."
Appropriate or not, Obi-Wan had no intentions in staying in the room. "I would feel better if I was with Satine," he countered. "Be there when she wakes."
"Admirable as it is," Qui-Gon diplomatically agreed, "She won't wake during the night."
"She could—"
Qui-Gon shook his head. "The drug will keep her in an induced healing coma until the morning," he affirmed his previous statement. "The Duchess will survive a night without your watch. She has medical droids attending to her."
He shepherded Obi-Wan away from the door to the center of the room. "Take care of yourself first," he instructed. "I promise you'll see her tomorrow. After our talk."
Obi-Wan recognized the futility of arguing further on the subject. No demands of his were going to be met. "Very well," he surrendered. "I expect I'll receive the wake-up call around dawn?"
Qui-Gon's eyes glittered in amusement. "I'll be merciful," he said. "It won't be too early nor obnoxiously late. Enough for a good slumber."
"How kind," Obi-Wan muttered as he moved to the refresher.
"Good-night," Qui-Gon called, retreating to the door.
Obi-Wan paused in his walk to the refresher, hesitant. "Erm… good-night."
And they both went their separate ways.
Anakin sat on a mat, legs folded as he let his mind wander through the Force. The instructor led the class of padawans in a meditation circle. They were being trained to control their reactions upon entering the Force. It seemed nearly child's play for Anakin, but he followed the teacher's orders and sat between a human girl and an Anx boy. Both of them curiously eyed him, questions popping in his head.
Ever since the Jedi accepted the truth, Anakin received the oddest looks from everyone. Jedi Masters peered at him interest and pity and padawans gaped. It was unnerving and he wished to be away from all of it. He was always relieved when Bant showed up to take him away from the other younglings or padawans. He preferred her company than his clan-mates.
But, Bant wasn't available in the morning and now, Anakin sat in on a lesson on meditation. He disliked meditating. It was a struggle in his household. Obi-Wan swore meditation wasn't for punishment purposes, but Anakin thought differently. Why sit still for hours when one could be doing something? They bickered about it and one time Obi-Wan wrestled Anakin onto a mat to meditate. Eventually, a compromise was made that Anakin only had to meditate for one hour on the mat and the other times he can do it while fixing machine parts.
There was no compromise in the Jedi Temple. Anakin asked if he could work on droids instead of meditating and was immediately denied. He didn't want to sit on the mat for hours and argued that it was a waste, but the Jedi Master did not want to hear it and did not much appreciate his backtalk.
Bored out of his mind, he ignored the Jedi Master's instructions and used the time to reach for Obi-Wan. The bond was still closed off. Not dead or cut, meaning Obi-Wan was still alive.
Anakin gently prodded against the blockade between his and Obi-Wan's bond. The wall didn't budge. It denied him access. Anakin frowned. He's never gone this long without access to Obi-Wan. He brushed up against the wall again. Nothing. He pushed harder to break it down. It still stood. Nothing he did moved the wall. Obi-Wan made it too powerful. All in the hopes of keeping Anakin safe from the Sith Lords.
Anakin sighed. He thought back to last night. How he nearly fell right into the Sith's palms by attempting escape from the Temple. It was luck that Master Yoda arrived. Or else he and Obi-Wan would be in grave situation. Obi-Wan told him enough about Sith Lords when he was growing up. About the dangers, deaths and wickedness they brought to the galaxy. Obi-Wan would know since he lived with them for years. Anakin had seen the scars, despite Obi-Wan's best attempt to hide them. The worst was the one that went down his side. It should have killed him. Yet, Obi-Wan cheated death and lived with only a scar to carry.
Anakin didn't want a scar. Not for himself or Obi-Wan. Especially not Obi-Wan. He was burdened with too many scars already.
His heart fainted. He missed Obi-Wan's Force signature. It was always so warm and comforting, banishing any troubles or looming darkness away. Without Obi-Wan, Anakin shivered against the cold and trembled in front of the darkness treading closer to him. He clutched the wall again, scaling it and begging Obi-Wan to let him through. He pleaded through the Force for Obi-Wan to hear him.
Come back! Please Obi-Wan, come back!
Anakin used all his power against the wall, adding more and more pressure to knock it down. He felt the wall shift. A promising turn. Anakin release his power again, gathering up all his strength to knock the wall down…
"Anakin?"
He was whisked out of the Force, returning back to the classroom. He blinked up and saw Master Krav standing over him. Her round blue eyes studied him, concern haunting her. She squatted down next to him. "Anakin? Are you all right?"
He found it an odd question for her to ask. "Yeah… why?"
"I sensed you were in great distress," Master Krav answered, perturbed by his nonchalant response. "We all did."
Anakin looked passed Master Krav and noticed all the other perturbed padawans staring right at him. A few were whispering to one another, shifting their gazes to him. The sudden attention caused Anakin to pull himself up into a ball.
"I'm fine," he said, hotly.
Master Krav frowned at the petulant dismissal. "Clearly you are not," Master Krav fretted. "You're letting your emotions get the best of you. The exercise is to learn to confront what you see in the Force. Not let it control you." She shook her head. "I was told Obi-Wan taught you the ways of the Force, but I see that he didn't get very far."
Anakin dropped his eyes to slits. The cold thawed underneath the blazing the fire that stirred in his chest. Cheeks crimson and chest puffing out as he inhaled and exhaled deeply, Anakin fixed her with righteous glare. "Obi-Wan taught me enough," he declared, rising up to his feet. "He's the best teacher anyone can ask for! He taught me everything I know and I know twice as much as these kids!"
Master Krav was taken aback by Anakin's pert response. She rose to her full height, dropping her tone to sound more kind. "I didn't mean to offend Obi-Wan," she appeased to Anakin. "I only meant—"
"Yes you did! You never liked him," Anakin accused, fingers balling into fists. He remembered her disgust and distrust of Obi-Wan when he came to pick him up from class that day long ago. "Don't act like you give a shab about him when a few days ago you were hoping to lock him down in those dungeons forever!"
Anakin didn't wait for a response or a scolding. He turned promptly on his heel and stormed out of the room. Huffing, he marched down the corridors, hurrying to get away from the classroom. Fearing Master Krav might give chase, he quickened his pace to a full-out run.
He sprinted down the corridor, pumping his arms as Obi-Wan's lightsaber patted against his thigh. He spun around corridors, shocking many Jedi as he passed them. A few have called out to him to stop, but Anakin kept his feet kicking up behind him. He didn't have a clue where he was going. He stayed on the path, making turns upon instinct.
It was one of these abrupt turns that a pair of strong arms wrapped around him and lifted him right off the floor. Arms pinned to his side, Anakin thrashed in the hold, kicking backwards to hit whoever caught him.
He heard his capturer wince. "I got him, Master!" came a recognizable voice.
Anakin twisted his head and saw it was Quinlan. His dark tousles of hair spiked chaotically and an easy smile greeted Anakin. "You run pretty fast," he complimented Anakin. "What? Did you steal something?"
Anakin glowered up at Quinlan and restarted his kicks. "Let me go!"
"Not happening,"
Another Jedi approached, taller than Quinlan, but just as impressive. A human male with dark hair, peppered with white, slowed his jog to a walk as he made his way to Quinlan's side. Anakin stopped his struggle as he assessed the Master Jedi. Anakin immediately noticed the scar over the artificial eye, causing Anakin to cringe at sight. The artificial eye roamed over Anakin as it considered his appearance.
After a few seconds of evaluation, the Master Jedi smiled. "You run quick, young one," he said and then he turned to Quinlan. "You may let him go, padawan. I dare say he won't try to make a run now."
Quinlan obeyed and released his arms. Anakin dropped on his two feet, wanting to prove the Master Jedi that he was wrong. He leaned against the balls of his feet to make a dash, but the Master Jedi distracted him.
"I'm Master Tholme," he introduced himself, stretching his long arm down for Anakin to shake his hand. The Jedi was imposingly tall and his rough face gave no indication of his thoughts. Anakin decided not to shake his hand. Nonetheless, the Tholme didn't indicate any hurt feelings by the rejection. "I've been told you already met my apprentice."
Quinlan gave a wink to Anakin.
"I guess it was bound that we meet," Master Tholme said and his artificial eye bore into Anakin. "I heard a lot about you."
Anakin flashed a look to Quinlan, but the Jedi padawan said nothing. He turned back to Master Tholme. "I cannot say the same."
Master Tholme's smile only widened. "You were certainly raised by young Kenobi," he commented. "You almost sound like him."
That struck another discord with Anakin. "Obi-Wan—"
Master Tholme waved his hand as almost flicking away Anakin's words from his mouth. "You don't need to defend him against me, boy," he brushed aside. "I have always found young Kenobi to be… a good influence." Master Tholme's gaze shifted from Anakin to Quinlan. "He had a knack to keeping Quinlan's trouble to a minimum. A challenge not every Jedi can accomplish."
Quinlan rolled his eyes, a small shake of his head in Obi-Wan's direction. "He says that, but I can be a responsible."
Master Tholme twitched a brow up, his scar stretching longer. "And a responsible adult would pass on a dangerous weapon to a youngling?"
They were talking about Obi-Wan's lightsaber. Anakin sheltered it with his hand, an action witnessed by Master Tholme.
"Have no fear boy," Master Tholme told him. "I have no intentions of taking that lightsaber away. By all means, keep it. I dare say young Kenobi would rather you have it than the Council."
Sensing sincerity in his words, Anakin let his hand slide back to his side. He glanced between the two of them, wondering what was to come next. "Are you taking me back to Master Krav?"
Master Tholme lifted his eyebrow again. He glanced to his padawan, who merely shrugged. It was clear to Anakin they were having a silent conversation. Anakin wanted to know what they were debating until Master Tholme looked back to him.
"I have no orders to return you to Master Krav," he said. "In fact, I have no orders in regards to you."
"Then why did you stop me?"
"Because you running like a mad man around the Temple," Master Tholme answered, moving his hands behind his back. "Odd behavior for a Jedi. Had to figure out what happened to make a youngling run like that."
Anakin shrunk back, eyes casted down as to look away from Master Tholme's intrusive stare. "Nothing happened. I just wanted to… um… get fresh air."
Quinlan snorted, earning a quick reprimanded look from Master Tholme to which Quinlan tried to cough to cover up his slip. Master Tholme's mouth thinned in response to Quinlan, but relaxed as he returned his attention to Anakin. "Is that so?" he inquired. "I was about to have my padawan do some acrobatic lessons outside on the plaza. Join us! I'm sure you'll find it as fun as my padawan finds it."
Anakin pushed himself into that trap. He should have told Master Tholme he was running to Master Yoda, but he got an inkling that Master Tholme was quite aware of the lie. Any lie. Anakin even doubted that they were heading to the plaza based on the surprise expression on Quinlan's face. It was a rope Master Tholme used to tie Anakin up, giving him no choice but to follow.
And so he did and all he could think about was how right Master Tholme was at the beginning.
He didn't dare run.