Chapter 17: Interlude

He could feel the Force surrounding him, warm and pure and gentle and without any of the corruption that came with the Dark Side. He sensed it within him, yes, but it was...dormant. Like the beast was asleep, tame and docile after gorging. He remembered the Tomb, remembered the pain, and after that...

He was one with the Force now. After all, there is no death, only the Force. The Jedi were right, and he was wrong to doubt them. But none of that mattered. He died in that tomb, and soon enough, his consciousness would be gone too. Except...

Kriffing hells, but he was in pain. He groaned, but that hurt too, and everything in his body tightened, sending shots of pain through him again. A warm, callused hand rested on his forehead and he felt the Force flowing through him, relaxing him instantly and easing the pain.

"Obi-Wan."

"No..."

"Come on, buddy, wake up, hang in there."

His eyes opened slowly, squinting against the light, and everything slid into focus. He was back in the ship, on the bed in his room, and Quinlan Vos kneeled next to him, those big brown eyes filled with concern. Obi-Wan gasped softly, tried to sit up, but everything in his body was rebelling and would not move.

"Hey now, easy, don't move." Kenobi lay still, looking up at the Kiffar Master, and Quinlan grinned like an idiot. "I thought you were going to die. Like, really die. I was worried I wouldn't even have a body to bring back to Coruscant!"

"You're such a romantic..." he groaned, his throat sore and his voice raw. "W-what happened?"

"I felt..." Quinlan sat back on his heels and breathed deeply. "I felt so cold, Obi-Wan. You said that's the Dark Side, but it was freezing. I could see my breath in the air, it was worse than I have ever felt. I ran to see if you were alright and you had collapsed. Something was in that tomb, Obi-Wan, and it overtook you."

Is that what happened? He couldn't remember. He felt the memories of that creature, saw the two Sith Lord, then...pain. Lots and lots of pain, and when he called to the Dark Side, it left him, called to a stronger Master, from what Quinlan was saying. "You might be right..."

"Yeah, well, with you out, those creatures became savage again. The only reason we got out was because there weren't too many in the chamber when you fell."

"...you saved me?"

Quinlan nodded. "Of course. I couldn't stand to lose you. They did sort of start eating you, though." Obi-Wan groaned, shifting around and grimacing as pain lanced through him. He pulled the covers off him, and his entire body had bacta patches slapped over him, hiding red, bloody and torn skin from bites and savage claw marks.

""H-how long..."

"Almost a week." Obi-Wan grabbed one of the patches and tore it off, crying sharply as the sharp pull tugged at the wound, four long, deep slashes that cut through the muscle of his abdomen. "No, no, don't do that!" Quinlan sighed, grabbing a cloth as the wound began to bleed. "Come on, Obi, those are healing!"

"You're a terrible doctor," Kenobi groaned, hissing sharply as he managed to sit up. Quinlan dashed from the room and ran back a moment later with a large medpack and a handful of thick bandages. Obi-Wan held his hand out, and Quinlan put a damp cloth in his hand. "Keep talking," Kenobi hissed as he wiped the wound with the medicated cloth.

"Yeah, well, I dragged you back here and did my best to patch you up." He handed Kenobi a bacta patch, and the Jedi took it from him with a shaky hand. "I couldn't do anything about the fever, though. Or the seizures..."

"What?" Kenobi hissed, ripping another patch off another wound and getting started on tending to that. "How-"

"I don't know, Obi! I thought you were going to die. Whatever attacked you in the tomb was strong. Your physical injuries were bad, yes, but you were mentally destroyed." He handed the Jedi more bacta patches when Kenobi held his hand out. "I took us off the planet when you were as stable as I could make you. I didn't think it was a good idea to stay there if that thing found you again."

"That was probably wise." He began treating a deep wound on his leg, hands shaking from the pain, but sitting up and moving was helping.

"It was five days before your fever broke, you were having seizures and convulsions for three of those..." He handed Kenobi a roll of bandages, watching carefully as the Jedi laid a bacta patch on the wound and deftly wrapped the bandage around his leg. "Force, I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go for help, since, you know, we're in Sith Space."

Obi-Wan chuckled softly, which devolved into labored coughing, and Quinlan handed him a glass of water. "Did you watch after me the entire time?" he asked softly, drinking from the glass and feeling much better for it.

"Most of the time, yeah. I spent some time looking at the orb you found and trying to match up what I was seeing to planets in the database."

The blue eyes shot open with panic. "We need to get rid of that thing. Now. The Sith can see us through that!"

"I know, hush." Quinlan grinned mischievously. "It's in the supply closet with a datapad that is playing a nonstop loop of a Gungan comedy troop."

Kenobi grinned. "You're worse than the Sith."

"I do try to be."

"I can't see my back. Can you help?" Quinlan nodded, and Obi-Wan laid down on his stomach, arms clutching his pillow and laying his head on them. "What did you come up with?"

"Nothing on the Sith temple I saw, unfortunately." He gently pulled the bacta patches off the man's back, the strong muscles flinching from the pain. He carefully wiped at them with a medicated cloth, trying to copy Kenobi's method. "There were a lot of other places, but I don't have a good feel of them. But!" He carefully laid on new patches. "The lava planet I saw?"

"Yes?" Kenobi hissed as he sat up, and the Kiffar handed him more rolls of bandages, and he carefully began to wrap up his torso, securing the healing bacta patches.

"I checked the database for volcanic planets, and I've narrowed down the list significantly. The planet I saw must be Aeten II, Eos, Lola Sayu, Serapin, or Mustafar. It can't be any others."

"Hand me my datapad."The Kiffar grabbed the pad off the desk and laid it next to his fellow Jedi, Kenobi's fingers running over the screen and pulling up the information on the five planets. "These are literally all across the galaxy..."

"Yeah..."

Kenobi groaned, wrapping up some smaller wounds on his arms and looking at the galactic map. "We won't be back home for a long time."

"I told the Council as much when I checked in."

"When did you have time for that."

"After your fever broke. I didn't exactly tell them everything, but it was close enough."

Kenobi smirked. "Oh, I could kiss you."

"When you're better, I'll take you up on that." He offered his hand to Obi-Wan and helped him to his feet, the Jedi's legs unsteady, his face wincing in pain, but he was otherwise alright. "I'm so glad to have you back."

"You save my life, Quinlan. I owe you." The Kiffar smirked slyly.

"You mean that?"

"Yes," the Jedi purred. "Within reason. Come on, let's go plan our course." They left the room, Obi-Wan leaning on Quinlan for support all the way to the cockpit, and he carefully eased his way into the pilot's chair. "So, agreed that we should explore Sith Space before we move on?"

"Yeah. We might find something else on the other worlds to give us a better direction."

"Yeah, I agree. Ziost is nearby, and after what happened, I'm very reluctant to try and explore Moraband." Quinlan nodded next to him, face very serious. The experience on Athiss had shaken him. It was best not to stress that further. "There should be a city on Ziost we can refuel at, and after that, we can go to Krayiss, there's supposed to be a Sith Temple there, and it might match up to the one from your vision."

"I'm so sick of the Sith already..."

"Me too." Kenobi tapped a few buttons and brought up the galactic map. "If we find anything on either of those worlds, it could change our plans, but we should make tentative plans to stop by Dathomir after that. I want to get that orb to Talzin and see what she thinks."

"You trust her?"

"No, but she wants that Sith Lord dead, and that's good enough for me."

"What about my lava planets?"

Kenobi looked carefully at the holographic map, fingers stroking the beard that he was slowly growing in. "Aeten II is pretty remote, so we should head there first. Lola Sayu is close to major hyperspace networks, so we can use that to get to the others quickly."

Quinlan smirked. "Hey, Obi, you getting the feeling that we're making all these plans for nothing?"

"I am, Quinlan. And I hate it."

Obi-Wan spent the next few days recovering, sitting in his room and meditating on what happened on Athiss. The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced that the Dark Lord of the Sith was watching him, had reached out and touched him through the Dark Side of the Force. It nearly destroyed him, but he wouldn't let it happen again. While he was at risk, the Dark Side had to stay safely locked away. It would be, admittedly, difficult to resist its call. He used to resist it, but it was becoming more and more difficult to deny the embrace of the Dark Side. But now, he would have to, at least if he suspected there was a danger of being touched by the Sith Lord. Obi-Wan could do it. He was a Jedi.

He looked in the corner where his discarded robe lay in a heap, the entire thing bloody and in tatters. He sighed heavily. Obi-Wan prided himself on being neat, orderly and meticulous, and the fact this his things were ruined deeply bothered him. He had extras on the ship, but he'd have to get others to replace the one he destroyed.

He closed his eyes and cleared his mind, quietly reciting the Jedi Code over and over. Despite his founding of the Sith Code, despite all his dealings with the Dark Side, at the end of it all, he believed in the Code, knew it strengthened him. Even if it was flawed, even if he knew some of it to not be true all the time, the way of the Jedi was a good one, a strong one that produced warriors that could fight darkness if they stayed true. It had yet to be seen if that same strength and fortitude could be used to control the darkness as well. Kenobi resolved himself to deepen his studies of the Force and the Jedi Code, strengthening his defenses and his willpower enough to master the Dark Side.

Quinlan barged into the room, and Kenobi rolled his eyes. "At least you're predictable."

"Were you reciting the Code?!"

"I was..."

"Why!"

Kenobi scoffed. "Unlike you, Quinlan, I at least try to be a good Jedi. I find comfort in the Code."

"Yeah, but you don't follow it." Quinlan smirked when the Jedi's blue eyes narrowed. "I saw the holovid of your fight with Maul, I saw you in the Temple on Athiss. Obi-Wan, my friend, you are walking a dangerous line." He smiled, almost gently, when Kenobi's handsome features hardened. "Maybe the other Jedi don't see it, but I walk that line too. I know what you struggle with."

"Do you."

"Yeah. I've never been one to follow rules, but you...Obi, you are steadfast, and selfless and modest, you're the very model of a Jedi. You make it hard to see your struggle, but it's there, it's real." He leaned in, smiling slyly. "You. Are. Angry. So angry. I sense it. Not always, not often, but there are glimpses here and there when your defenses crack."

"So what!" Kenobi snapped. He wasn't angry, not then, but he was very irritated, but the Master just smiled.

"I'm not judging you. I get angry too, I've used the Force in anger as well. Not the Dark Side, but I've been close many times."

"...do you think you could do it?" Kenobi asked softly. "Fall to the Dark Side, I mean."

"...yeah. Under the right circumstances, I think I could."

He was beginning to see the Kiffar in a different light. He always knew he was a rule breaker, but this was different. This gave the two Jedi a common ground that Obi-Wan didn't know existed. "...my Master abandoned me."

"I heard. I know. I thought that too. Qui-Gon always blazed his own trail, and you suffered for it often."

"Yeah, I..." Obi-Wan bit his lip. He was suddenly overcome with emotion, not the rage that he had felt before at his Master, but the deep pain of their separation that he didn't even know was there.

Quinlan smiled softly as he watch the Jedi tremble with emotion and look away, and the Master reached out and touched Kenobi's cheek, his thumb gently stroking the fine, fair hair of his beard. "It's alright, Obi-Wan, you're allowed to be upset. We might be Jedi, but we're still people."

That did it. With a tremble, Obi-Wan broke and he grabbed Quinlan's arms with strong hands, laid his head against his chest as tears dripped onto the Kiffar's leg. The Master's hand gently stroked the sandy hair, ran softly over the bandages that covered the pale man's back, and for once, Quinlan didn't have anything to say.

For the first time in a very, very long time, the Dark Side was silent.