Disclaimer- I still do not own Qui-Gon or Obi-Wan, and it makes me sad.
A/N- Again, my apologies for the long wait between the prologue and chapter one. Chapter two takes place not long after the end of chapter one. Enjoy!
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Purity: Chapter Two
Starring: VISION-RECEIVING! Obi-Wan and STILL-FATHERLY! Qui-Gon
Costarring- STILL-PETULANT! young Anakin
Appearances by: HAPPY-FOR-THE-JEDI! Padme
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"talking"
'private thoughts'
/communicating through bond/
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"...Now take my hand and rise, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Knight of the Jedi Order."
Obi-Wan reached out and grasped Qui-Gon's proffered hand, allowing his former Master to carefully help him to his feet. Aches and soreness were all that remained of his close brush with death.
The proud Jedi Master hugged his-- Knight, he immediately corrected the thought. Right then the worried heartache of only a week before seemed very far away. Though their training bond had been severed, the pair had formed a much stronger link which would endure through the ages. It was through this connection that Qui-Gon felt the brief spike of anguish.
/Obi-Wan?./
/I'll— I'll tell you later, Master./
He tightened his embrace. /Whenever you are ready, Little One./
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Sitting with Padme at the end of the table, Anakin silently fumed. Everyone was paying attention to Obi-Wan again. 'So what if he just got Knighted? I'm the one who saved everybody. It's not fair!'
He glanced at Padme, wondering if she was also put out by the lack of attention they were getting, but his angel was smiling and happy. Down the table, next to Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon looked more proud than Anakin had ever seen him. The nine-year-old's jealousy intensified; his hero had not been as pleased when Anakin won the Podrace.
'Someday, I'll make him sorry,' he silently vowed. 'Obi-Wan will pay.'
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The Jedi's room in the Theed Palace was in actuality a small apartment. It was very late by the time Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan escaped from the Knighting celebration and made it back. The young Knight flopped into a chair. "Give me Sith Lords any day over socializing with so many people."
"You're only Knighted once."
"And thank the Force for that." He smiled, before a weary sigh escaped him and he rested his head in his hands. /Master, if it's alright with you, I'll show you what I saw earlier, unless of course you'd rather not see—/
/I had hoped your continual feelings of being a burden on me would cease sometime within the dozen-odd years we've known each other./ Though he meant every word of it, his mind-voice was tinged with amusement. /Clearly, I was mistaken./
His former Padawan let half of a laugh escape him. /You know what they say about wishing for the impossible./
/I still believe that someday it will happen. Now show me what you wanted me to see./
In his mind's eye, Qui-Gon could see a body-- his-- in repose on an unlit funeral pyre. He could feel the pressure of tears which he would not let fall, the coldness of the stone floor beneath his knees, and the unbearable ache in his heart. With trembling fingers, he reached out and wrapped a long, red braid around the still fingers of the body in front of him. He felt the ragged, choked whisper leave his throat. "I will train Anakin, I promise you, Master."
Time skipped ahead a little ways, and he watched in utter desolation as flames consumed the body of the only father he had ever known.
"What's going to happen to me now?" came a forlorn, tear-filled voice from off to his right.
He turned to face Anakin, fighting back the misery from his face. "The Council has given me permission to train you," he said softly, knowing that if he spoke any louder, he would lose his hard-won composure. "You will be a Jedi, I promise."
Turning back to the flames, he felt only emptiness.
The vision fading, Qui-Gon looked at his Knighted Padawan and saw the tears he was trying so desperately to hide. His heart ached for the pain Obi-Wan had had to go through, even if it was in a different reality. Moving to sit next to him, he wrapped his arms around the closest thing to a son he would ever have. /Little One, what have I always told you?./
/To live in the moment./
/True. But what have I told you about your emotions?./
/Not to hide from them./
/And not to hide them from me. You have no need to impress me, Obi-Wan. I will never think less of you./ The twenty-five-year-old finally let the tears trickle down his face, no longer afraid of shaming his mentor. /Live in the moment, Little One, that reality is nothing but a dream./
Obi-Wan tried desperately to believe, but a dark feeling warned him that this was not the case.
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A/N- As of March 31, 2006, I have reformatted this chapter because we just got a new computer that has Word on it. Once again, I apologize for the brevity of this chapter. The next chapter spans Attack of the Clones. Comments and constructive criticism welcome.
