Author: TemporaryUniverse
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Beru Whitesun
Summary: Kai Jinn, formerly Qui-Gon Jinn, has spent the last seven years since the Jedi Purge living as a hermit in the dunes of Tatooine. It's a lonely life, but he has a purpose: to guard Luke Skywalker and keep the last hope against the Galactic Empire alive. He doesn't expect to stumble across another child in need of his protection. Hunted by the Empire for the crime of being Force-Sensitive, 13-year-old Ben finds himself stuck on Tatooine where his paths cross with Kai. The Force has brought them together, but Kai has sworn to never take another Padawan, not after his last two fell to the Dark Side. Ben knows he was meant to be a Jedi, he just has to convince his savior to become his teacher, and maybe they can heal each other along the way.
Word Count: 3,118

A.N. My plan is to make this a series, exploring this AU from after Order 66 to the end of ROTJ. It's not all plotted out yet, so updates will probably be few and far between. I am very nervous about posting this when I've only written one chapter but here we are.
All you have to know for this fic is that Obi-Wan was born about three years before the Clone Wars started and never joined the Jedi, and Qui-Gon didn't die on Naboo and trained Anakin. Those are pretty much the only two changes in this universe.


The suns were high in the sky as Kai moved through the streets of Mos Eisley. He was running low on supplies and needed replacement parts for his vaporator. The blasted machine had broken down the morning before, leaving him without a source of water, a dangerous prospect for a Tatooine dweller. So, he had made the trek across the wastelands to brave the death trap that was the city. Despite the heat, he kept the hood of his cloak up to both protect himself from the suns' rays and to hide his face. The Empire had a presence here, however small.

He stepped into a junk shop, bartered for the parts from an ill-tempered Rodian, and moved on, carefully avoiding a trio of patrolling Stormtroopers. Even now, seven years after the end of the war, he couldn't help but guiltily wonder if he had known them, if he had served alongside them. The thought sent a familiar pang of loss echoing through his heart and he pushed it away, forcing himself to focus on his task. The soles of his boots were wearing thin, and though he was loathe to get rid of them, a new pair would be nice. By the time he got out of the shop, second noon was well past, and the day was at its hottest.

He ducked into a cantina to wait out the desert's brutal weather and replenish some of his funds with a game of sabacc. Swindling the natives wasn't easy, the harshness of the desert bred suspicion and deceit. The criminals he played with knew when they were being cheated because they were used to being the cheaters. Fortunately, Kai was an excellent sabacc player, and he was careful to only win enough to fund his earlier purchases and cover him financially for the next month. Low stakes kept everyone relatively calm. His reputation as the crazy, old hermit of the Wastes helped keep him under the radar as well. In the end, Kai walked away a little richer, and without any new blaster holes.

Upon exiting the cantina, Kai jerked back just in time to avoid being bowled over by the small stranger that sprinted past him. Next came the two Stormtroopers, Kai tensed, preparing for a fight, but they were not chasing him. Their quarry was the boy, and it was a human boy, Kai could see him now, that had nearly run him over. He was several meters down the street, skidding to a halt as a third trooper cut off his route. The occupants of the street skittered out of the way to avoid being shot and the boy did too, dashing into an alleyway as the troopers opened fire. They missed and the chase began again. The bustle of the street resumed as well, now that the danger was passed.

Kai turned to leave, it was a long way home and he needed to reach the safety of the hut before dusk. He'd barely taken a single step in that direction when the Force began to howl at him. The power of it made him stumble, he hadn't felt the Force's call with such strength since… the War. He wanted to ignore it, it would most likely lead him into trouble, but even though he was no longer a Jedi, his duty was engraved upon his soul. He would follow the will of the Force until the day he joined it.

The Force guided him toward the same alley into which the boy had fled. Halfway down, he was brought to a halt. He glanced around in confusion.

"There's nothing here," he said aloud, but the Force insisted. He scanned the area again, but nothing noteworthy miraculously appeared. It was just the dingy sand walls of the buildings, a stack of weathered crates, and a pile of old fabric. The typical Mos Eisley back alley. Annoyed now, Kai tried to leave but the Force became agitated, swirling in a way that set his teeth on edge. He closed his eyes and reached out with his other senses and found… a lifeform. The signature was weak and fuzzy around the fringes, as if it was being cloaked behind a stealth shield, but it was there where he had seen nothing. He opened his eyes, peering more intently, and the impression of "nothing here" increased to a near overwhelming degree. A Force suggestion, he realized. One so potent that it had convinced even him.

"Hello there."

A small gasp reached his ears. The pile of rags shifted in a way that piles of rags did not normally shift. Now that he knew what he was looking for, he could see it clearly. The curve of a bony shoulder, the tip of a boot toe peeking out.

"It's alright, young one, I will not harm you." He crouched down. Bright blue-grey eyes peeked up at him under the shadow of the cloak.

"You're not going to turn me in?" It was no wonder the boy had been chased by troopers. The Empire had led a ruthless campaign to eradicate Force-sensitives from the galaxy, and this boy was certainly powerful enough to be noticed.

"Not unless I wanted to turn myself in as well."

The boy's eyes widened. "You're a Je—" he wisely cut himself off. To speak the word Jedi where the Empire could hear was a death sentence.

Kai was already shaking his head. "The Order no longer exists."

"But you were." The boy's voice was full of awe.

"A long time ago." This was not a conversation he wanted to have, even after all this time, those scars had not yet healed. He had delayed long enough, he needed to get home. Kai stood. The boy tried to as well, but he quickly hissed and sank back down, his complexion turning several shades paler. "Are you injured?" His damned compassion took charge.

"Got shot," the boy mumbled.

"You got shot?!" Kai asked incredulously, "Why didn't you say so?"

"Didn't think it was your problem, sir." And he was right, it really wasn't. Except, now that he knew, he couldn't exactly leave the boy behind.

"How bad?" The boy pulled his bloody hand away from his side to show him. It was a wonder that Kai hadn't noticed or that the boy hadn't passed out yet. The wound was deep, just beneath his right lung. It was charred around the edges from the cauterizing heat of the blaster bolt, but still seeping blood. Kai had seen worse. On dead men. "Stars above, kid."

The boy was starting to shiver, shock setting in quickly. He would not survive without a bacta tank, but to go to a medcenter would bring the Empire down on his head, and here in the Outer Rim, there was no guarantee that there even was a bacta tank worth the risk. The only other option was for Kai to use the Force to heal him. He cursed under his breath and made his decision.

"Will you let me help you?" He asked. The boy nodded hesitantly. "Brace yourself."

"What—ah!" The boy cried out in surprise and pain as Kai scooped him up into his arms. He was light enough with the help of the Force, barely more than skin and bone in a way that said he hadn't gotten enough to eat for a long time.

"I need you to be very quiet," Kai said, once the boy was settled and clutching at the hem of his tunics. They were a silent shadow sliding through the Mos Eisley streets, Kai employing a more sophisticated version of the trick the boy had been using earlier, a subtle influence of 'nothing to see' that let them travel unnoticed. The boy in his arms was hushed, only the tiniest of pained gasps escaping him. They made good progress to the edge of the city, but they would never make it back to Kai's home on foot at this rate, the first sun was already dangerously close to the horizon. Not to mention the rapid worsening of the boy's condition. He would have to steal a speeder. He groaned inwardly. It wasn't a skill he was particularly good at.

After a short search, he found a suitable hovercraft in decent enough condition to get them across the Wastes. He laid the boy in one of the seats where he curled up, hand pressed firmly to his side, and watched Kai pull open a panel on the side of the hull. Staring at the tangle of wires, Kai tried desperately to remember which ones he needed to pull to override the starter.

"Green and yellow."

"Pardon?" He looked up in surprise. The boy's blue eyes blinked innocently at him.

"To hotwire it. For this model you can bypass the security system by disconnecting the green and yellow wires," the boy said, his voice getting progressively weaker and raspier. "And then reconnect the yellow output to the green input."

Rather than asking any of the questions rattling around in his head, Kai set to his task, cursing his large, blunt fingers that made the delicate work more difficult. He was not nearly as adept as Anak— He shut down the thought and refocused. With the boy's instructions, he at least didn't have to figure it out on his own, which meant he was done in record time. He leapt into the driver seat, thankful that no one had come across them, and started the engine. For a moment, he thought he had made a mistake, the motors sputtered and fizzed in protest before coming alive with a roar.

As they skimmed away from the city, Kai glanced over at his new companion. The boy's already fair skin was nearly white, and his breathing was getting shallower by the minute.

"Xahx," Kai muttered. He spun the landspeeder in a new direction and gunned the throttle until they were racing across the sand at dangerous speeds. The Lars farm was closer. They reached the homestead as the first sun sank beneath the horizon. Jumping out of the speeder, he scooped up the now unresponsive boy and ran for the building. Owen met him at the door, having heard the rumble of the engine.

"What are you doing here? I told you to leave us alone!"

"Do you have bacta?" Kai demanded, lacking the patience to argue with the man.

"We do," Beru answered, coming up behind her husband. "What happened?"

"He was shot. I need a room and whatever medical supplies you can spare."

"Of course. This way, I'll grab the bacta and bandages."

He pushed past Owen, ignoring the man's indignant, "Hey, hold on."

Beru led him to a small room with a rickety cot and boxes stacked against the walls. Kai laid the boy down on his side, as gently as he could, but he still moaned weakly, sweat beading his brow.

He set about removing the boy's shirt and assessed the injury, grimacing when it was fully revealed. The boy was extremely lucky, in that the bolt had only destroyed a large chunk of his liver and damaged his ribs, missing his lung by a slim margin. If it had hit any further up, his breathing would have been compromised and he would have been one with the Force before they'd even reached the speeder. For some reason, the thought of the still nameless boy dying mere minutes after meeting him sent a sharp pang of grief through Kai's heart.

"How bad is it?" Beru asked, returning with a handful of clean rags, a small basin of water, and an even smaller jar of bacta gel.

Kai shook his head. "Bad," he said simply. "I am going to try and heal him through the Force. Will you be able to clean the wound and apply bacta?"

"Yes, but he really should be at the medcenter." Despite this, she was already wetting the cloth and beginning to dab at the blood.

"Too dangerous." He placed his hands on each side of the wound and closed his eyes, spreading his awareness into the Force with the ease of practice. Kai was no healer, but the War had made him experienced in field medicine, often the skills of a jedi were the only saving grace for a critically injured trooper. The Light surged in and around him, responding to his call eagerly and he focused it on the boy. He siphoned away as much of the pain as he could and released it into the Force, the small body beneath his hands relaxing, and he felt the boy's breathing ease. He could sense the damaged tissue, charred and severed nerves, and blood pumping sluggishly out of torn vessels. First things first, stop the bleeding, the boy could not afford to lose anymore. It was a delicate matter of encouraging the natural healing process to speed up, but as Kai worked the bleeding slowly sealed off. He could sense Beru applying the bacta, and he poured energy into that as well, willing it to work faster. Without a full immersion there would be a nasty scar, but it was a small price to pay for the boy's life.

Satisfied in his efforts, Kai released his hold on the Force with a heavy sigh and opened his eyes. The boy was still pale and sickly looking, but his heart beat stronger and more evenly now that the worst had passed, a reassuring thump that proved his survival, and he was breathing easier. He helped Beru bandage the wound and when they were done, he leaned back, utterly exhausted, and still wondering what in the galaxy he was doing.

"Will he live?" Beru asked.

"Yes, I believe so."

"You never said what happened."

Kai laid a gentle hand on the boy's head and stroked the tangled, ginger hair, unable to tear his gaze away from the peaceful face. Even now, he felt drawn to the child, the Force ringing in his ears, telling him that this one. This one is important. "He's Force-sensitive." Like Luke. Beru was smart enough to know what that meant.

"Will he be searched for?"

"Not out here."

"I'll get you some food." She stood to leave.

"Beru," he called. She turned in the doorway and looked back. "Thank you." For more than just the food.

She smiled and nodded graciously.

The meal she brought back was simple but filling, a warm porridge of desert grain and bantha milk. Once the last spoonful had been consumed, Kai set the bowl aside and settled down into a more comfortable position to begin his vigil.

He closed his eyes and relaxed into the currents of the Force. It welcomed him, enveloped his mind in warmth and light, and with every measured breath he let his awareness expand outwards into the wilderness of the desert. It had taken Kai a long time to acclimate to meditation on Tatooine. He'd always felt far more at home in the verdant green of a jungle, where the overflowing of life was all-encompassing. Here, there was life, but it was hidden. Mysterious. He had to search it out. The Force did not sing through the rustle of leaves, the humming of insects, or the singing of birds. He had learned to hear it in the swirl of sand, the howl of the wind, and the call of a distant krayt dragon. The desert held an untamed power, a vast inevitability, and an unfathomable loneliness. Each creature here, from the tiny beetles skittering in the shadows to the larger animals burrowed in the crevices, was a survivor, molded and hardened by the harshness of their home. Kai was no different. Not anymore.

He felt a spike of distress from nearby and instinctively went to soothe it. He hadn't paid much attention to the boy yet, had only been aware of him on the periphery, but now he caught a glimpse of the child's signature in the force and was stunned by its sheer brilliance. The boy shone in a way that reminded Kai of another boy he'd met on Tatooine, so many years ago. The comparison stole his breath away, but it faded when Kai looked more closely. Anakin had been a supernova, wild and explosive, brimming with radiant power. His son, Luke, was powerful as well, bright as Tatooine's suns and growing brighter every day. This boy was different, his light gentler, in a way, but no less beautiful for it. Reminiscent of the moons of Vanamoor III so huge and luminous that they turned night into day when he'd been there once on a mission.

He hadn't seen another Force-sensitive, other than Luke, of course, in many years, and he'd forgotten what it was like to sense the turn of the galaxy in another's heart. It was overwhelming and he quickly drew back, fighting against the tears in his eyes. He'd become skilled at releasing his grief over the years, and it only took a moment to identify the feeling and offer it up to the Force.

Kai opened his eyes with a sigh, no more centered than he had been before his meditation. It took him longer than it should have to realize he was being watched.

"I didn't expect you to be awake for a few hours yet. How do you feel?"

The boy regarded him warily. "What happened?" He rasped.

"You passed out in the speeder, so I brought us here. The Larses have graciously allowed us to stay while you recover. I've managed to heal the worst of the damage, but you'll need to take it easy for a while, I'm afraid the bacta supply is rather limited."

The boy clumsily prodded at his presence in the Force, although it was a more practiced attempt than one would expect from someone untrained. Kai returned the nudge with a pulse of warm reassurance, smiling when the child's eyes widened.

"You… Why'd you help me?"

"It was the Will of the Force."

"But you could get in trouble!"

"We're far enough from Mos Eisley that no one should come looking. And Beru and Owen won't say anything. You're safe here." He kept his expression as open and trustworthy as he could.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Kai Jinn, but most people simply call me Jinn. What's your name?"

"…Ben," the boy said, and if it weren't for the way the lie curled in the Force, Kai would have believed him. But trust was hard to come by in the age of the Empire, and Kai was lying as well, so he smiled and replied:

"It's nice to meet you, Ben."


Thank you for reading!