KEYnote: Am I going to make Rey a dyad in the Force with either Obi-Wan or Maul? No. I'm going with the new-canon's logic of it being a Sith thing. Am I going to abuse the Padawan and Master bonds? Probably. But none of this cosmic soulmate shit, just the Force being cheeky.
P.s. Jedi librarians are canonically insane.
Chapter 20 - Obi-Wan Kenobi
"What do you mean she tried to stop?" Dooku asked, "It's healing, not telekinesis. You stop when you choose to stop. As soon as your concentration wavers, your ability to heal stops."
"She was nearly unconscious when I pulled her back, Master," Qui-Gon said, pacing back and forth.
"What was the feel in the room?"
"Dark, but I couldn't place it."
"Healing is Light, Qui-Gon, purely Light, there shouldn't have been Darkness."
"She almost killed herself."
"Light is not synonymous with good, you know that. But I don't understand why she couldn't stop. When you pulled her away, did it break their connection?"
Qui-Gon shuddered, "A connection…" he thought back to it, the energy passing from one being to the other. Father and daughter, but more than that… "Yes, it broke when I pulled her back, but…"
Sifo-Dyas who was sitting in the seat across from Dooku asked, "Were you breaking her concentration or were you breaking his?"
Qui-Gon turned a worried gaze to him, "You think he is Force sensitive?"
"We've had our susptions in the past," Dooku said, tapping his fingers on the table. They were in his rooms now, and Qui-Gon knew he was wishing for Serreno as he frowned at the view outside his window.
"Rey re-enforced the restraining order."
"That's good at least," Dooku said, closing his eyes.
"Has Rey ever healed anyone before?" Sifo-Dyas asked.
"No," Qui-Gon said, "I didn't even teach her how, just explained the principle of it. It was foolish of me, I should have known she would try it. But I didn't think she would use it on this mission, certainly not on someone whose injuries were mostly internal."
"Internal?" Dooku asked, "I thought he was tortured, not beaten."
"His bones were fractured, his nerves sliced, it was significant damage. They found odd drugs in his system as well. Whoever had him was some type of scientist. The nurse said the damage was meant to hurt not kill, but he's not a young man and there was so much of it… had it not been for Rey he would have died. The nurse thinks it's a miracle he didn't die of shock, he theorized some of the drugs in his system must have helped with that." Qui-Gon wished he had died before they had found him, the bastard didn't even have the decency to tell them who had kidnapped him to begin with.
Though perhaps his torture was past remembering.
"How close to death was he?" Sifo-Dyas asked.
"He was dying."
"And Rey saved him on the brink of death?" Dooku asked, sharing a worried glance with Sifo-Dyas.
"Yes, the machines keeping him alive failed in an explosion. But he was fine, almost well, when Obi-Wan and I took them to the surface. Rey was worse off than him. What are you two thinking?"
Dooku shook his head, "She should have been able to stop healing the moment she wanted to pull back."
"Then why couldn't she?" Qui-Gon asked.
The two Council members shared another look.
"What?" Qui-Gon demanded, losing his patience.
"You know the Shadows have begun to be recalled to the Temple," Dooku stated.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
Sifo-Dyas let out a sharp breath, "My Master, Master Lene Kostana, and I have been reviewing texts as the Shadows having been sacking her archives."
"And?"
"My Master is of the opinion that we should be preparing for a Sith uprising."
Qui-Gon felt the blood drain from his face, "No. I mean, we are not even certain Sheev is a Force sensitive much less a Sith. And our dear librarian, Master Kostana has been saying that as far back as I can remember. Why heed her now?"
"Dark Siders are not so uncommon as we would like to believe," Dooku said, "That most of them occupy our prison is no small thing, but aside from some outliers, such as Nightsisters of Dathomir, Dark Siders are either fallen Jedi or of little consequence."
"I know this," Qui-Gon stated, "How does it relate to Sheev?"
"You have suggested two worrying things to us, my old Padawan. One is a simple fact, Rey should have been able to stop healing, trained or untrained, which means either she lied and wanted him to live even at the price of her own life, or he took from her."
"What do you mean took from her?"
"The ability to take the Force, the life force of another Force sensitive is an ability associated with the Sith," Dooku said. "It goes beyond what most Dark Siders are capable of, it isn't something a fallen Jedi could manage to do even if they thought of it. I have heard rumours that Mother Talzin has an akin ability, but to take life, not energy from life, but to take that which is given during healing, that is Sith."
Qui-Gon stood frozen, had they saved a Sith Lord? Is that what they had done? Had a Sith Lord almost killed his Padawan?
Sifo-Dyas went on, "Since Rey's encounter with the Sith shades on Ilum, the Council believes it is possible the Sith have survived. We think they have existed across the last thousand years in hiding. A part of the Shadows being called home is not to just search the Temple for negative influences but to reexamine our own defences."
"Do you really believe that Sheev Palpatine is a Sith Lord?" he asked.
Dooku smiled at him sadly, "It is possible, Qui-Gon. But if he is, perhaps it would explain Rey's previously inexplicable relation to the Dark Side of the Force. There is nothing in her personality or history that makes her connection to the Dark and the Sith shades attraction to her make much sense. But if her father was a Sith lord, well, we know our abilities can be hereditary."
"How do we prove it?"
"We can't," Sifo-Dyas said, "unfortunately, being a Sith Lord isn't actually illegal. And perhaps it is for the best, Sheev Palpatine is in our sights now. Queen Amidala has already approved our requests for surveillance on his ships and droids. If we try to take matters into our own hands outside the laws, he would both be alerted to our fears and would alert the other Sith to our attentions."
It might also lose them support in the Republic that could be used against them later.
Sifo-Dyas went on, "There are always two Sith, or at least two. Perhaps he will lead us to more troubling foes."
Qui-Gon wasn't sure he could be troubled by anyone more than he was troubled by Sheev Palpatine. And then he asked, "What was the second worrisome thing you inferred about Rey?"
Sifo-Dyas rubbed his eyes, "This may seem far fetched, and we might not even have thought of it had we not been researching so much but-"
"Spit it out," Qui-Gon demanded, again his patience slipping. He wanted to pace, instead he held his ground, hands on his belt at his hips.
They had just told him their theory was that his Padawan's father was a Sith Lord they had recently risked all their lives to save.
"Rey shouldn't have been able to heal him if he was on the brink of death. She neither has the experience, nor should her energy have been enough and so easily transferable."
"She almost died."
"But she didn't, and he shouldn't have been well enough to talk, unless their powers were comparable. Unless they had some connection within the Force itself. It brings to mind the Sith lore on such things. The Rule of Two came out of the Sith pursuit of finding a dyad in the Force."
Qui-Gon blinked at the other long haired Jedi Master, "I'm sorry, a what in the Force?"
"A bond between two equals in the Force. Two individuals who form a bond and become one. The records are scant on it. But apparently when Darth Bane slaughtered his own people, leaving only one apprentice behind was in aims of finding an equal to gain unimaginable power in the Force with. The Rule of Two was an imperfect settlement for creating a dyad."
"Equals?" Qui-Gon asked, "Rey is so powerful that she might be the Chosen One, the one to bring balance to the Force. She has brought balance to the Force!" His voice was rising, "When she exercised the Sith shades, she healed the Force, she brought the Dark and Light closer together. No one else could have done that, no one else would have known to try or have had the capacity of both heart and power to do that! And now you're telling me that Sheev Palpatine might be her equal!? We don't even know if he is a Force sensitive much less a Sith Lord!"
"Perhaps Master Yoda was right to send you three on that mission," Master Dooku mused.
"What?" Qui-Gon snapped at him.
Dooku shook his head, "Padawan, your emotions betray you, your attachments. Do not let your love for your Padawans drive you to distraction. Do not fail them by holding on too tightly."
"Coming from you?" Qui-Gon seethed, "You who over the last twenty years has amassed your own personal collection of Sith artefacts?"
Dooku flinched.
"Didn't you think Mor would tell me? The Shadows kept an eye on you, against Yoda's orders, I might add. And perhaps it is well that they did. Rey's connection to the Dark Side might be unexplainable, but yours is not, Master. Your excuse is not physics."
Dooku stood, and Qui-Gon did not back down. Dooku was taller, but not by much.
"Breathe, Padawan mine, do not think with your feelings. You cannot help her with your fear and anger."
Qui-Gon took a breath, then another, letting his anger go to the Force, but his reasoning stayed the same, "You left the Order because you believed Yoda was wrong. That he had grown complacent with corruption. But you are not above corruption."
"No, my dear Qui-Gon, I am not, and neither are you. Perhaps I did dive too deep into the abyss, but where the Jedi grew complacent, the Sith were innovating until the bitter end.
"Every day, we are finding trails that maybe they never did end. Perhaps Sheev isn't a Sith Lord, perhaps Rey's connection to the Dark is merely a result of a Force sensitive being that powerful with no training. But if we do not ask these questions, if we do not explore the inexplicable simply because it offends our idea of the way the galaxy should be then we should admit defeat. We will destroy ourselves before our enemies have even lifted a hand against us."
Qui-Gon fought to control his breathing, finally he asked, "What do we do now? What do we do with this theorizing?"
Dooku smiled, "We play the game."
Qui-Gon couldn't smile back, "No, Master, we are not going to play his game, we are going to rig it."
Sifo-Dyas sighed, "Sometimes Dooku, I regret becoming friends with you."
Dooku turned back to his old friend, "Ah, but my dear Sifo-Dyas, your life would be so drab without me."
Sifo-Dyas scowled, "When we were Padawans, we used to explore the archives and read up on Sith prophecies with the encouragement of my Master while purposely ignoring every instruction your Master ever gave us."
Dooku nodded, "Yoda always was a fool."
Qui-Gon snorted.
Dooku turned back to him with a raised brow.
Qui-Gon shook his head, "Did you ever think that maybe Master Yoda told you not to do a thing because he knew you would do it anyway?"
Dooku scowled at him, but Sifo-Dyas laughed, "Sounds like our grandmaster."
Rey couldn't stand watching Obi-Wan pack. He had brought in two boxes before dinner and she had excused herself.
"I'll meet you down at the dining hall," he said as she went for the door.
"I'm going out into the city," she said on impulse.
"Above ground?"
She rolled her eyes, "Yes, above ground."
"Alright," he said, the door closing between them before he could say anything more.
Masters Plo Koon and Kit Fisto were returning from their own missions, so Obi-Wan's knighting ceremony had been postponed until tomorrow evening.
She was happy for him, she really was, but she dreaded having a room to herself as he would be moving out of the Padawan quarters.
He had even managed to get the room next to Master Jinn's which made her jealous.
She didn't think she would ever feel that way here, but in all the Temple, Master Jinn's room was her favourite, and while she would never see the Temple as her home, Obi-Wan was. Now she would be alone with the other Padawans who tolerated her at best.
Asajj and Aayla liked her well enough, but Aayla was almost never around and Asajj had been given her old Master's room in the Knight's quarters.
Rey shook her head, it would be fine, she could grow used to it. She pulled her comlink from her belt.
She heard it click over even if no one responded, "Maul?"
"Apprentice," his voice came across full of emotion, she couldn't tell if he was pleased or annoyed by her calling him.
"I'm back on Coruscant, I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with me?"
"Where?"
Ah, a Zabrak of many words, she mused before saying, "Anywhere that isn't in the underworld, apparently Padawans aren't allowed."
"You were punished."
"No, I wasn't."
"Interesting," he drawled, before telling her where to meet him.
She needed to take a cab to get there, but it was worth getting away from the Temple.
Maul was pleased that Rey had contacted him, especially as it meant he didn't have to make up an excuse for following her around.
He was annoyed that she had been on the mission to 'save' his Master, his Master who had yet to contact him.
He feared this meant Sidious might contact him in person, and Maul knew that he had made enough changes to his own training that his Master would not fail to notice.
Of course, he had grown stronger in the Force, so perhaps Sidious would not be completely displeased with him.
Rey, as it turned out, noticed the changes right away.
He stiffened when she reached out to place a hand on his cheek. "Your eyes…"
Anyone else he would have wanted to fling away from himself, but as was the oddity between them, the Force passed between them like sunlight through glass. His eyes had changed from Sith yellow rimmed with red to his natural amber.
"Is something wrong with them?" he asked, dismissing the obvious change.
She pulled back, "No, I- they're clearer is all."
He said nothing, strangely pleased that she cared.
She broke the silence first, "Where are we eating?"
He turned and she followed. This was the first time he had seen her in person since Plagueis had gotten to him. His injuries had healed completely, and he now understood why she liked to channel the Light Side of the Force.
And how she could be so powerful without relying on the Dark.
He did not, however, understand why she chose to serve the Jedi.
The restaurant he had chosen was another preliminary non-human destination. As it was further from the Senate buildings and Temple, they were further removed from the watchful eyes of the news or media of any sort looking for gossip.
It was, however, more upscale. Their waiter didn't make them bargain for their meal at any rate.
"Where's your lightsaber?" he asked, he had brought his with him tonight.
She smirked, tapping at the metal staff she had placed beside her.
He had thought it just a replacement for her other one but…
"I still have it, but the Mandos made a Beskar staff out of it for me. The lightsaber beams extend from the vents."
He knew his face showed his surprise, "Mandalorians. The Mandalorians made a weapon for a Jedi Padawan?"
She grinned, "Yes, the weapons master was Master Maas."
He shook his head, he had heard a rumour that there were Mandalorians on Kashyyyk at the same time she had been there, but he hadn't realized that he should have investigated the Mandalorians more thoroughly when he was tracking a Jedi.
Putting this issue aside, he asked, "How was your latest mission? It made headlines here, the Padawan who saved her Senator father."
She sighed, "It was horrid, actually." She looked away from him, reaching for a napkin to twist in her fingers.
"Oh?"
"I healed him and nearly killed myself in the process."
Maul froze.
She healed...
She had healed him?
Not rescued him on his own imposed kidnapping but had saved his life.
He could have strangled her.
Maybe he should have when they first met, maybe then Sidious would be dead now.
"Maul?"
He tried to breathe evenly, "Why?"
She narrowed hazel eyes at him, "What do you mean why? What do you care if I saved him or not?"
He fought not to snarl at her, "Why would you risk your life for one politician?" The words came out rough, because he had every right to be angry. She was messing with his life. But he also knew that Jedi hated politicians, it was one thing his Master had delighted in even as he sometimes wooed them.
She shrugged, "He's my father."
"I didn't think family mattered to the Jedi."
"He doesn't."
"Then why save him?" he hissed.
She laughed.
He growled at her, full throated, the sound coming from deep within him. He did not like being laughed at.
She waved her hand, "I'm sorry, you just sounded like my friend, Asajj."
"Asajj?"
"Asajj Ventress. She is the Padawan of one of my Master's graduated Padawans. She's a Dathomirian Zabrak too."
He didn't know why that made him jealous. Was it because she spoke of another Dathomirian so warmly, or because she had called this Asajj her friend?
He shook himself, with Sidious's training he would have simply hated her on principle, with the Force's guidance, he was finding the breadth of his own emotions more complex. When his life was no longer in easy black and white boxes it seemed that everything was coloured in different hues.
He didn't like it.
The Force whispered to him, and he took a breath and then another before asking, "You and Asajj are close?"
"Not really," Rey said lightly, her gaze distant, "It's just, in some ways, our pasts are almost disturbingly similar. She's also the only other Jedi I know who wasn't raised at the Temple." Then she grinned, her gaze focusing back on him. Her face full of mischief, "She told me that female Dathomirian Zabraks were superior to the males."
He bared his teeth at her. He knew that is what the data files said on it, even Sidious had taunted him with that. "Only because the Nightsisters horde their knowledge about the Force."
"Sure it is, that's why they have a matriarchal society, right?" she taunted.
Again he growled, but he wasn't as furious as he thought he should be. He realized it was because she was joking with him. She wasn't trying to be mean or hurt him, she was just trying to poke fun at him.
It was different.
It was different because she had said they as opposed to he, because she knew that despite them being his people, their culture was not his.
Their food came, giving him time to ponder this as Rey didn't speak while devouring her food.
There was nothing refined about the way she ate.
He liked that.
When they had finished, they walked along a bridge that was separated from the traffic. It was like walking between worlds, between the sky and its clouds, the traffic and its chaos, the buildings and their lights.
Rey was the oddest person he knew, and certainly the oddest Jedi he knew of.
She carried a Mandalorian weapon and had saved a Sith Lord.
She also enjoyed hanging out in the underworld and having dinner with Sith apprentices.
Darth Maul realized that she was either going to be the most fearsome being in the galaxy, or die because her Master was woefully unqualified to keep her safe.
Of course, if she became his apprentice then maybe he could ensure her fate turned out for the better.
Maul didn't know how he was going to take care of Plagueis, maybe once he was able to pull Rey fully into his confidence, he could pit the entire Jedi Order against the Muun.
Many Jedi would die; eventually, Darth Plagueis would fall. As long as he could keep himself and Rey out of it, the cards could fall wherever they liked.
As for Sidious...
Maul had faith that between him, Rey, and the Force, they could take him.
He was still infuriated though that all she had to do was let him die.
Not kill him.
Just let him die.
The Jedi were stupid.
"So," she asked, "any interesting bounties?"
"No, they all died too easily," he answered with real disappointment.
She laughed, "Alright, so have you done anything interesting since we last met?"
"I mastered Ataru."
She froze, halting in her steps, and he waited for her.
"Just like that?" she asked, "A few months-"
"It's been almost a year, apprentice," he corrected.
"A full year isn't long enough to Master a Form."
"Why? Is your Asajj not so gifted despite her superior gender?"
She frowned at him.
His lips curled, "I am a Master in Niman, apprentice, Niman draws from all of the first five Forms. Learning Ataru was not so difficult. You were right, about Form VI not suiting me. With a double sided blade, Ataru is a good match for my capabilities."
"I was thinking about your fighting style earlier today as it happens," she said, walking forward.
Satisfaction filled him
He was leading her toward a condemned building he had found. One of his bounties had been some serial killer and the buildings he had been keeping the bodies had been leaked to the press. No one wanted to buy the building. Not until the hysteria passed into legend.
"You wield a double sided lightsaber, don't you?"
"Are you asking to train with me?" he asked in turn, herding her toward his goals.
She hesitated, again, proving that she was not quite as naive as she acted.
Her Jedi Master should have fostered that thread of paranoia. But of course, it was to Maul's benefit that he hadn't.
"Alright," she decided, "I want to see if you've really mastered Atura since we last met."
He wasn't sure who was more pleased, him or the Force.
"Right this way, Apprentice."
Another few minutes of walking and he took her inside the empty building. When they got to the upper floor the sun had set, but the room was still bright from the traffic lights.
She put her hands on her hips at her belt, "Well, let's see it, Dathomirian."
He bared his teeth at her, his saber coming easily to his hand.
This was his final risk, if they had taught her anything about the Sith, this and his eyes, changed or not, should have been enough for her to confirm to her precious Order of what he was and what danger he posed her.
His bent his knees, the saber ignited in his grasp.
She didn't run, instead she cocked her head and asked, "If blue means guardian and green means consular, and yellow is something in between. What does red mean?"
"Many Force sensitives who wield lightsabers outside of the Jedi Order choose red. There is even a Darksaber, essentially a black blade with a white outline," he said boldly.
"Neat," she said.
Maul in that moment channelled more of the Light than he had since that first true exposure to it, hope for winning her, hope that with her by his side they could be freed of those who kept them in bondage, those who lied to them.
He would teach her the ways of the Force, and they would be unstoppable.
His motions in Ataru were perfect, his every movement flowing into the next. When he finished, Rey was staring at him open mouthed.
He beckoned her forward, and she pulled her staff from her back, the clips woven into a sash she wore as opposed to the strap being attached to her staff like the old one.
She ignited it.
It was the same length as his saber. The blade was thicker as it wasn't a single beam on either side but several coalescing blades that emerged from the vents she had pointed out to him earlier. The centre handhold was tad longer than his and bit thinner, just as her original saber had been. But as they were the same height he could train her with very few adjustments, unlike the dozens of changes Darth Sidious had had to implement for him.
He began the steps again, and she mirrored him.
Something in the Force connected between them, and they moved as one.
Obi-Wan was beginning to grow nervous when Rey didn't return by the time they usually were in bed.
By midnight he was ready to wake Qui-Gon and go searching.
He was half way to pulling his boots on when she walked in.
"Rey," he said with a sigh of relief.
She quirked a brow at him, she looked like she had been training and he tried to remember if she had looked like before or after she went out.
He knew she had been training with Mor and Asajj today because Master Ali-Alann had stopped by to tell Qui-Gon of his prodigies 'training exercise.'
Qui-Gon had offered the man tea and Obi-Wan got to catch up with the initiate care-giver that he had shared a few adventures with.
Namely that one time Xanatos had infiltrated the Temple and almost killed a lift of younglings under Ali-Alann's care.
"Where were you?" Obi-Wan asked.
She frowned at him, something like hurt in her eyes. Her words were clipped as she said, "I have friends too, you know," before going to the refresher and closing the door between them.
He heard the shower turn on. He sat back down trying to think of what had upset her.
And she was definitely upset, and through their bond, he could tell she was upset with him.
Was it because she hadn't been included in the mission debriefing? It had been a short debriefing as the Council already knew everything, and Yoda wanted to speak with him privately tomorrow morning, even as Qui-Gon had gone into greater depths with Masters Dooku and Sifo-Dyas.
She hadn't missed anything, not really.
Had she been mad at him before she left for dinner?
He waited for her, he would get to the bottom of this even if he was beyond ready to get some sleep in his own bed.
He looked at her bed, the box he set out for her remained empty.
Was she that mad at him?
Why?
Eventually, after the longest shower he could ever remember her taking, she emerged in one of his extra robes that was now hers, a towel over her head.
She didn't look at him.
"Rey?"
"What, Obi-Wan?" she asked without looking at him as she folded her clothes away.
"Did something happen tonight?"
"No."
"Really?"
"I stayed out of the underworld, as you told me."
He leaned back, she was that mad at him it would seem. He joked, "You sure? No giant space monsters or disgruntled politicians? Any Sith encounters?"
"No, I just had dinner with Maul. We went for a walk after, we saw more of the city. We're friends."
Obi-Wan sat forward, setting the jokes aside, "Alright, I give, what did I do?"
She finally turned to look at him, "What do you mean, do?"
"You're mad at me."
She flushed, "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. I'm being-" she shook her head, "I'm sorry, it isn't your fault."
"What isn't my fault?"
"I'm happy for you."
Now he was confused, "Would you mind being a bit more specific?"
She sat down on her bed heavily. "I'm upset because you are moving out and I'm jealous that you will be closer to Master Jinn."
He grinned, "Well, if that's all-"
"I'm sorry," she covered her face, "I know I should let-"
He crossed the room, pulling her hands from her face, "Rey, I'm not moving without you. I brought a second box for your things too. I got the room next to Qui-Gon's because I know it's your favourite place to meditate. We want you to feel at home at the Temple, we know you well enough that I wasn't going to leave you in the Padawan halls by yourself."
She stood and wrapped him in a near bone crushing hug.
He hugged her back, "Have a little more faith in me than that."
She hugged him tighter, "Thank you."
He would have been pleased to make her this happy, but he knew this was just another sign of how much she feared being alone in the Temple.
He couldn't even tell her it was in her head.
The Jedi Shadows had been returning to Coruscant, and each and every one of them had confirmed that all was not well with the home of the Jedi.
oOo
Obi-Wan left Rey early in the morning, so he could meet with Master Yoda in his meditation room.
"Sit, Padawan, much to discuss have we."
Obi-Wan sat across from the grandmaster, he couldn't help but smile.
Yoda tilted his long eared head at him, "Happy you are."
"I just, well, you were the only one to believe in me in the beginning. You knew Qui-Gon would choose me before even Qui-Gon. Now I feel as if we have come full circle."
"Hmm, long has your journey, longer still will your journey be. Certain I was, always that you would be a Jedi Knight, not so certain were even you."
Obi-Wan nodded, the times he had wavered from the path lay between them, unspoken but acknowledged.
Yoda nodded, perhaps reading his thoughts, perhaps simply knowing what Obi-Wan would be reflecting on today. "Yet to the Dark never strayed have you. Rare this is. Anger and fear, have you overcome, fear and sorrow will you overcome again. Yet immune to the Dark you are not. Tell me of Bandomeer now, shall you. How died your Padawan nearly did?"
His heart constricted at that, the image of Rey listless in Qui-Gon's arms coming to his mind. He didn't fight the image, he let his feelings go to the Force.
He was safe here, Rey was safe, and sitting before Yoda as he was, no emotion hidden or felt went unnoticed.
"Yes, fear, sorrow, hatred. Feel you do that Sheev Palpatine should have died, that wrong your Padawan was to save him."
"Our job was to rescue him, not heal him."
"Hmm… but rescue him she did."
"It wasn't worth the cost. His life wasn't worth hers."
"Oh? Know you, the worth of each life?"
"In this case, yes. After what he did to her."
"Know a man's history, you will not always know. Value will you, the lives of the people we protect over the lives of your future Padawan?"
Obi-Wan frowned, "The Jedi are not martyrs. We do the best we can to the best of our abilities, sometimes at the cost of our own lives, but not directly in those terms. Each situation is unique. Our jobs necessitate that we risk our lives, that we do what we must, accepting that death is a possibility, but we only have one life to give. And Padawans are their Masters responsibilities, a Padawan should never give up their lives when other options are available. If a sacrifice is absolutely necessary, then it is the Master's life that should be on the line."
Master Yoda nodded, "Not always possible, is this, but yes, the Master's responsibility, it is. Heal her father, she should not have. Fail Padawan Palpatine, did your Master Jinn?"
He shook his head, "Perhaps we did fail her, we should have been more clear about healing."
"Much does Padawan Palpatine have to learn and also do the Masters. One sided the Master and Padawan bond, is not."
Obi-Wan bowed his head, "Yes, Master Yoda."
"At thirteen, certain on Bandomeer you were. Certain now are you?"
Obi-Wan smiled, knowing exactly what Yoda was getting at, "I spoke with Duchess Satine when we were still on Naboo."
"Love, strayed you from your goals, not out of hate or fear, but because of your heart, did you almost leave us."
"Things are different now, I wouldn't have to choose."
Yoda shook his head, "Lie you know this is. A choice will there always be, harder is this path to walk with a family."
Obi-Wan bowed his head again, "I told her as much. Maybe one day my heart will lead me astray again, but I am a Jedi. I will always be a Jedi, and I know now that I could never be true to myself with a family who doesn't understand that. I serve the Force."
"Proud of you, Obi-Wan Kenobi, I am."
Obi-Wan felt his heart fill, direct praise from Master Yoda was rare, and meant more for its rarity.
"A time of great change is this, but great also will you become. Easy it will not be. Change is never easy, great change is never peaceful, but the great deeds of a great many may lead to peace. Meditate on this you shall."
"Thank you, Master Yoda, thank you for it all."
Master Yoda stood and Obi-Wan sat down on the floor beside the small Master as he had done when he had been even smaller.
Yoda touched his knee, the Force at peace between them.
"Proud I am, Obi-Wan, proud I am."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and let out a long breath, connecting with the Force.
He didn't notice when Master Yoda had left because, in his mind, Yoda hadn't left him. They were both one with the Force, and the Force was with them.
oOo
The day passed and Mor broke him from his meditation.
Mor smiled at him, his eyes haunted but free of remorse, "Funny, isn't it? That once he is no longer your Master, all Qui-Gon's teachings feel like lifelines. This meditation was hard for me to leave as well."
Obi-Wan stood, his joints stretching out gratefully as they walked. "I've wanted my whole life to be a knight, now a part of me wants things never to change from this moment."
Mor nodded, "Don't linger too long in the past, do not look too far into the future, you have only this moment to live, Padawan."
They laughed. Whatever the faults or missteps of their maverick Master, they knew they were blessed to have him.
Mor bowed to him at the door to the Hall of Knighthood, and Obi-Wan bowed back before entering the darkened room.
He stood in the centre of the circle of Masters, their presences shining in the Force so, despite the blackness that met his eyes, he did not feel as if they were truly in the Dark.
The lightsabers of twelve Council members and that of his Master's green lighted saber ignited, chasing back the darkness. All were hooded, except for Qui-Gon, Qui-Gon who stood in the central point, six Council members to either side of him. It was Grand Master Yoda's rightful position, but Obi-Wan was not surprised that they had altered the ceremony as he went to his knees before Qui-Gon.
His Master smiled at him, "By the right of the Jedi Order, by the will of the Force, I dub thee Jedi, Knight of the Living Force. May you serve ever with compassion and honour, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
Obi-Wan grinned even as several of the other Masters let out heavy sighs or soft groans, he was pretty sure he heard Master Dooku chuckle at Qui-Gon's impromptu alterations on the millennia's worth of sacred traditions.
Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, forever the maverick.
Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi could not have been happier.
AN: Thank you reviewers! I am feeling the love, hope these posted chapters prove how grateful I am to you. Every bit of feedback helps motivate me and informs my betterment as a writer. Stay safe everyone!