The Winding Path

Rating: T+
Summary: Healing from any condition never takes a straight path.
Disclaimer: All cannon characters are owned by the Great Flanneled One, and now Disney. All others are mine. I make no money off this.
Note: This is a sequel to Consequences

Timeline: 39BBY

Speech: " "
Training Bond communications: /
Internal thoughts: italics

Chapter Four

The call that came was actually expected. Qui-Gon held out his holo and tried not to frown at the image of Mace Windu standing there with his arms folded. "I would remind you that you need to give your report to the Council."

"Might I also remind you that I'm in the Healer's Ward, and you know the reason why. I also seem to remember you doing something similar when Depa was injured." Qui-Gon knew it a low blow, but he didn't wish to leave Obi-Wan's side until he knew for certain that his Padawan would wake up. It was now in its third day and Obi-Wan had shown no signs yet.

Mace rolled his eyes. "I know, but you still need to give your report."

Qui-Gon gracefully capitulated. "Is there a certain time I need to come?"

Mace looked to the side. Apparently there was a chrono just out of camera range. "The council will be assembling in about thirty minutes. That will give you more than enough time to come and give your report."

"I'll be there." He switched the holo off and put it into one of the containers on his belt. Most of his friction with the council was more on principle than anything else. Qui-Gon was smart enough to know that most, if not all the Masters also knew his reasonings for holding out on his report. There were just some things he would not budge on. It was enough so that he never had a spot with the august body even though he had the wisdom and knowledge that went with any and all of those particular masters.

Placing his hand on Obi-Wan's arm, he traveled down the training bond to see if Obi-Wan was even close to waking. Personally he'd rather be here when he finally came back, but at the same time he knew his Padawan would understand his reasonings for not being at his bedside all day and night. With a gentle nudge he checked Obi-Wan's reactions. There wasn't any. That meant he was probably still trying to come to terms with using his whole brain once again.

"I'll be back, Padawan. I need to make our report to the Council concerning the events on Vasda, and then what happened to make us disappear for a month instead of less than a week." Qui-Gon patted the warm arm then stood up and left the room. Turning a corner, he found Nela coming towards him. "Healer," he stopped.

"Yes, Qui-Gon?"

"I need to make my report with the council. Let me know if he wakes before I get back."

"Of course." She smiled and nodded, then continued on her rounds.

Compared to when they were on that strange transport, Qui-Gon felt much better leaving Obi-Wan in the Healer's Ward. Maybe it's because this was home for both of them. Mentally shrugging, he left via the entrance into the Temple itself and worked his way over to the lifts, especially the one that would eventually take him to the top of the Tranquility Spire and to the High Council chamber. He suspected that his arrival will be before the rest of the councilors, which would be extremely amusing considering the facts, but not at the same time. If anything it proved to the council that he wanted to get this over with and go back to the Healer's Ward.

When the doors opened it revealed an empty anti-chamber. There weren't even Temple Guards present. That was a good sign letting him know that no one had arrived yet. So, instead of waiting there, he went out onto the balcony and looked out over the cityscape below him. The ever flow of vehicles never stopped, he suspected it never would stop.

"Why am I not surprised," Mace's voice came from behind him.

Qui-Gon paused before turning to look at the younger master. "And you know my reason."

"True." Mace turned and moved back inside. For a time Qui-Gon remained outside until he turned and also went back inside. Instead of the anti-chamber being empty, there were now two Temple Guards standing on either side of the entrance. Approaching it, both used their lightsaber staffs to bar the way.

Glancing from one to the other, Qui-Gon finally spoke, "I am here to give my report to the Council."

It was obvious that thoughts went between the two guards. Eventually one nodded and, then the other joined in. The staffs were pulled back and the doors opened revealing the chamber beyond.

For a moment Qui-Gon hesitated before striding purposefully into the chamber and stood in its center. The same Masters that were there the last time he had come before the group had not changed. "Masters, I believe you will understand why Padawan Kenobi is not present."

Yoda's ears drooped for a moment before they perked back up. "Understand, we do. Report to us, you should."

"Yes, Master." Qui-Gon bowed his head. Straightening back up, he paused once again to gather his thoughts on what happened. "Vasda has two areas that vie for control over the habitable areas of the planet. From what I observed Marlote attempts to remain stable. Their neighbors, Berland ended up being the antagonists. They attempted to destabilize Marlote, and apparently it wasn't the first time it was attempted, and I suspect it will not be the last." Qui-Gon paused, giving the group before him a small smile.

"Berland had attempted to assassinate Marlote's viceroy, or so that's what they wanted everyone to assume. Padawan Kenobi and the Viceroy's daughter were taken captive in the ensuing chaos. Kenobi managed to escape with the Princess, but was poisoned at the same time. They were rescued, and the antidote was retrieved before it was too late. I was going to contact the Temple, but wasn't able to during this time."

Syfo Dyas leaned forward, resting his chin on the palm of his hand. "Do you know what the poison was?"

"Solomide."

The human Jedi present sat up straighter. Even though there was no words spoke, Qui-Gon could feel the discussion going on between the masters before him.

"How would Berland have access to something of that magnitude?"

Qui-Gon turned his attention to the lone Cosian on the council; Tera Senube.

"It was never revealed, though one mentioned that their leader read up on the ancient times and began experimenting with different poisons in a laboratory." He shrugged. Maybe no one would ever know what had happened. "We remained until I felt that Padawan Kenobi had recovered enough to return to Coruscant, for by the time the antidote was procured he was very close to death."

"And then both of you disappeared."

"Yes, although I have no idea how it happened. We were pulled out of hyperspace. I understand and realize that we crashed on a planet, but I have no memory of it, for I had been knocked unconscious. Padawan Kenobi managed to crash land the transport onto a planet." Qui-Gon paused, shaking his head mentally. "I still have no idea what or where we were."

"You were rescued, yes?"

"Yes, and it was by ironically enough humans. The interesting part was that they were just reaching out into space. And before you ask, I don't believe that humanity's homeworld in that place was not Coruscant. One of the main reasons is that they didn't have hyperspace, but they could warp real space to achieve faster than light travel."

Mace leaned forward. "Padawan Kenobi was injured. Healer Doel mentioned that it was electrocution."

"Yes, it was more than apparent that it was from the electricity that powers the transport." He looked down, "We were there for close to a week, for it took that long for their engineer to repair the ship's drive."

"Working on an engine he or she has never seen?"

"Yes. He managed to get the internal generator working on his own. It turned out that the drive was offline. Once it was reset we were able to make it back so Padawan Kenobi could be healed."

Tomas sat down in their temporary apartments. For a moment he looked around the rooms and their generic designs. Even though the place was sumptuously decorated, it was nothing compared to the artists on Vasda. At least Eira would survive. It made him think about the previous viceroys. It was as if every two or three generations a new leader would need to be elected because no heirs had survived from either sickness or accidents. That was the problem with such low birthrates, and the how the planet was slowly dying. It would probably be at less than a millennia before the planet becomes a complete wasteland. The problem is that if both Berland and Marlote pooled all their resources there would still not be enough to stop the poisoned areas from growing. All that would do would exhaust both lands and make everyone worse off.

If only they could join the Republic, but at this point it was impossible. Though maybe, he mused, he could get help from the scientists to stop the desertification from growing. Well, the worst that could happen was that his request would be turned down. "Danal?"

Danal appeared from one of the doors that led into the kitchen area. "Yes, my lord?"

"I'd want you to send a message to Chancellor Valorum asking to have an audience with him."

Wiping his hands dry with a towel he went back into the kitchen, then reappeared sans towel. "Is there anything in particular you wish to discuss with the Chancellor?"

"No," Tomas shook his head. "It's just a simple courtesy call between leaders."

Danal nodded then left the rooms to make the required calls.

With there nothing really to do, Tomas pulled out his datafile reader and began skimming through the information that Hathus had sent him since he first arrived on Coruscant. It was always good to keep updated on what was happening back home, even if he wasn't in any place to do anything about it. Berland was still in chaos, which wasn't all that surprising. The far eastern edges of Marlote were turning into more of a desert, which wasn't good at all, and that forced the residents to move into the more habitable regions to the west. This all mean that the wasteland was increasing its grip on the land. It wouldn't be in his generation, but probably when his grandchildren were alive, if Eira was able to have any children, that close to a third of Marlote would become uninhabitable. It really wouldn't be all that long before the planet would become a complete wasteland, and not the millenia he assumed earlier.

"My Lord?"

Tomas looked up. Glad that there was something to keep him from his morbid thoughts. "Yes?"

"Chancellor Valorum's schedule is full for today," Tomas frowned. "But," Dalan continued, "But his assistant thought he thought he could make some time to meet with you tomorrow in the midafternoon."

That's better than nothing.

"I also went ahead and made the appointment."

Eventually Tomas nodded. "Thank you Danal. If I am not here when it's time to leave, I will be in the Healer's Ward making sure that my daughter makes a full recovery."

"Of course. I never revealed the true reason why you traveled here to the Chancellor. I assumed that you would wish to pass along that information yourself seeing it is your daughter, and heir."

Not yet heir, but soon enough.

Which is where Tomas found himself the next day. It wasn't all that surprising considering Eira was still recuperating. He sat beside her in the civilian area of the ward. Most of the rooms were surprisingly enough single occupancy. The whole place also felt completely different from a regular medical center. Most of those places had droids as doctors, while here there were actual Jedi. There were also younger Jedi present who were obviously in training to become future healers. Those made the rounds to make sure that all that were injured were taken well care of.

"Child, how are you doing?" he placed his hand on her arm.

Apparently she had just finally woken up, for she looked around in confusion. "Tired. Where am I?"

"Coruscant."

"How…how…?" Eira shook her head. Her eyes widened. "Papa, it's…it's gone."

"What's gone?"

"The headache."

Tomas leaned forward and took her hand. "You're in the Healer's ward of the Jedi Temple. Davido couldn't figure out what was wrong, so he had you brought here."

Releasing her hand allowed Eira to push herself up into a sitting position. "Have they found out?" It was obvious that she really didn't want to know the answer.

Even though Tomas nodded, he attempted to evade the question, "Have no fear, child. You were diagnosed within an hour of your arrival here."

"Which is?"

"Padawan Kenobi is alive," Tomas evaded the question once again.

Eira's eyes widened as she paid no attention that he evaded the question once again. "Do you mean he was dead?"

"The Jedi have no answer for that. I spoke with Master Jinn about it. He believes that they were only gone for a week." Tomas reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder to keep her from moving too much. "I wouldn't try that if I were you. Like I mentioned earlier, Padawan Kenobi was gravely injured and was in the process of being healed when we arrived."

"So he's still here?" Eira's eyes moved over to the door.

"Yes—"

"He's sleeping." Tomas jumped as Qui-Gon spoke from behind him.

Eira's eyes swung to the door. "Papa said he was hurt."

Qui-Gon stepped into the room. "His injuries were bad enough that he wasn't suppose to survive. I believe it was the will of the Force that made sure that he did." He looked around the room before turning his attention back to Eira. Eventually he nodded then turned and left the small room.

Eira turned back to her father, "When will I be able to see him?"

"I suspect it'll be before we leave for Vasda, and it will most likely be here in the ward."

TBC...