Note: Jahzea is mine; Siri is Jude Watson's, based of her Jedi Apprentice books.
Ch. 5: "You are the Steps You Take" - YES, Owner of a Lonely Heart
Obi-Wan made his way down to the dining hall, his thoughts on what his Master had said. Sad, Qui-Gon had said he was, but what Obi-Wan had understood was that the grief his Master had felt at Tahl's death was almost a match for when he'd been forced to return to the Temple without Xanatos. How he must have struggled with it. And if Obi-Wan's own experience - even if just through a dream - were anything like that, he hoped he'd never to have to face it. He worried the dream might be somehow prophetic, and he didn't want that.
He grimaced as he stepped into the dining hall, determined to put it behind him. He could do nothing about it now.
Off to one side of the serving area was a small kitchen, looking somewhat like the kitchenette in his quarters although much bigger. Filling two of the walls were pantries, stocked with food. A third wall held a cooler, also well stocked. The fourth wall, across from the doorway, had a wash unit and heating units, and cupboards that held dishes and flatware. The Jedi had decided long ago that it was better to let ever-hungry Padawan have access to food. The decision had been made after the head of the kitchen complained one too many times that he was short on something he needed for the next day. It was to this area, dubbed the Padawan Kitchen, that Obi-Wan directed his steps.
Before he reached the pantries, he heard footsteps. Obi-Wan turned and grinned. "Siri. It is good to see you again."
The Padawan at his side was a slender humanoid, with blond hair and a charming smile. Just seeing her brought back memories of their first mission together. "I hadn't heard you were back."
"It's probably because we got in really late last night - or really early, depending on how you count it - so we haven't been around much today."
"I hope you've been sleeping," she said, linking her arm through his. "Because if you looked worse than you do now, you really needed it."
"Oh, thanks," he muttered good-naturedly, and they went into the kitchen.
Someone was already inside, standing before one of the pantries, staring into it. She leaned heavily on a walking stick, and turned when she heard their footsteps. "Obi-Wan. I'd heard you we're back."
"Jahzea!" he responded, stepped forward, and gave her a hug. "I'm glad to see you." He stepped back again, and his brow furrowed. Something was different, and it took him a minute to figure it out. "Hey! When did you pass your trials?" That was the difference; her braid was gone.
"Just after you left on your last mission," she said, unable to quit smiling. Siri opened one of the cupboard doors in search of food.
"What are you doing here?"
"This is my newest mission, keeping the pantries stocked," she said wryly, and gestured to encompass the small kitchen area. "It's to keep me from going crazy until the Healers say I've recovered enough to suit them."
"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked.
"On my way back from my first mission, the transport was attacked by raiders. They left empty-handed, but I didn't escape unscathed. The healers just released me from their wing, but I'm not well enough to go out yet." She smiled. "You must be hungry. I just restocked that cupboard to your left."
"So, you are free of Master Windu," Obi-Wan grinned, reaching in for some dark nut bread sealed against spoiling. It must have been recently baked; it was still warm. "Or is he free of you?" He ducked as Jahzea swiped at him with her free hand.
"Both, probably," Jahzea admitted. "I looked for you at late meal."
"I missed it," Obi-Wan said, grabbing a jar of his favorite nut paste. "I had an appointment with Master Satoru. Then I stood right outside the doors of the dining hall talking to my friend Reeft until I had to go report on the mission we just completed."
"How did it go?"
"Uh..." Obi-Wan searched through the cooler, emerging with the logani berry jelly. "The mission or the report?" Adding a knife to his armful, he went to a table in the main dining hall. A few other tables held Padawans he didn't know, but they ate quietly. Behind him, Siri still searched through the pantries for what she wanted.
"Both," Jahzea said, following slowly, "but I was asking about the report."
"I think it went well." He smirked slightly, giving her a sideways look as he sat down, and she sat across from him. "I think you've mellowed Master Windu," he teased as he began spreading the nut paste on one piece of bread.
Jahzea laughed. "What makes you think that?"
"He seemed less inclined to snap at us," Obi-Wan said, and Jahzea laughed again.
Siri joined them at the table, and the conversation turned to Temple gossip. When he had a chance, Obi-Wan asked about Jahzea's trials.
By the time Obi-Wan had finished his sandwich, the gossip had wound down, and he excused himself to go back to his quarters. He wasn't tired, but he knew his Master wanted to get their rhythms matching the temple's as soon as possible. Chances were good Qui-Gon would want him up early the next morning to get that started.
Obi-Wan stepped from his bedroom into the common room and stopped.
To his knowledge, there were three basic floor plans for living quarters in the temple: the initiates room, and singles and doubles for Knights. These were not the quarters he shared with Master Jinn, although that was what he had been expecting. They were the mirror image of those, and he stood for moment, confused. "Master?" he called tentatively.
There was no answer. He stepped further into the unfamiliar common room, looking around. Some - most - of the items he recognized as his own, but a holo-still hung on the wall behind the couch that he didn't recognize. He moved closer to see it showed a boy, maybe seven or eight, with a tall, slender woman. Behind them was a non-descript dome house that could have been from anywhere in the galaxy.
"Master?"
He flinched and spun, staring at the small boy with a darkly-tanned face and sun-bleached hair, standing in the other doorway. It was the boy in the holo-still. He could not answer, but his hand drifted up to his shoulder, to touch his braid. Shock filled him when he could not find it.
"Master Obi-Wan?"
This shook him physically and he dropped to the couch, almost falling off because of the angle at which he'd been standing. The boy - a Padawan - his Padawan...
That was a greater shock. Instead of his Master's calming presence, he could feel curiosity and a budding worry through a bond in his mind.
But...
The Padawan climbed onto the couch next to him, leaning on his arm, and Obi-Wan reached almost frantically for the remains of his bond with Qui-Gon, searching for answers. The pain from touching it brought tears to his eyes.
The Padawan squeezed his hand gently. Obi-Wan didn't know when he'd taken it. "I miss him, too," he said softly.
Obi-Wan jerked awake and fumbled to turn on the light by his sleep couch, just aware enough to block off his bond to keep from waking his Master again. His eyes blurred with tears and grief that was not quite as strong as it had been the night before. It didn't make sense. Why did he keep dreaming about people leaving him? And did this Padawan - his, he recalled with a strange feeling - have anything to do with the Knight that had fallen? And what did he have to do with Xanatos - if anything at all? He recorded the dream and his questions with a decidedly shaky hand. He didn't get back to sleep for a long time.
Obi-Wan was right about his Master wanting him up with his alarm; he'd managed to set his alarm correctly the night before, and the day started as it usually did when they were at the Temple. The morning routine started with early morning meditations, then early meal, study time, and then his favorite - lightsaber practice. He'd learned to be careful, though, expecting a normal day, because every time he thought the day was going normally, something happened to make it change.
So it proved. They were well into their second sparring match when Obi-Wan, dodging his Master's blade, caught sight of a Padawan on messenger duty standing at the entrance to the salle. He didn't let it disturb him, pressing his attack when his Master became aware of the messenger. Qui-Gon defended, but then the Padawan felt a brief burning on his side and knew he'd been defeated.
"You're getting sloppy," Qui-Gon said, somewhat severely. "Run through the fourth kata while I attend to this. And do it slowly, Obi-Wan."
With a bow, Obi-Wan moved to where he could work without hitting his Master, closed his eyes, and began. The fourth kata was one he'd learned twice; both times under Master Zichri, but under gravely different circumstances. He set his feet, raised his lightsaber to a guard position, and after a deep inhalation, began. As an initiate, he used to put a face on his opponent, whether performing a kata or in a blindfolded bout. Ever since Bruck's death, however, he hadn't done that. Behind him, he could hear his Master speaking with the messenger, but didn't try to listen in, focusing on the kata. He made his movements precise, slow and even, the timing as exact as he could, but he didn't want them to be automatic - which was why, he was sure, his Master had said to perform the kata slowly. He pushed his thoughts away to the back of his mind and focused again on the kata - distraction from inside was no better than distraction from outside; both could get him killed. His lightsaber swept down to the right, a parry for an attack, then circled up to make his own attack.
"Padawan."
Obi-Wan stopped exactly where he was, balanced. "Yes, Master?"
"Master Windu would like to speak with me, as soon as I get cleaned up," Qui-Gon said, and led the way out of the room. Obi-Wan fell into step, just behind his right shoulder. "The kata looked good. Remember it when you want to capitalize on a possible distraction.
"Yes, master."
While Qui-Gon got ready for his meeting with Master Windu, Obi-Wan read some of the prophecies on the balance of the force. He'd read these so much he could almost quote them, their words comforting and alarming all at once. He wanted to see if he could find more that might explain further. When his Master left, Obi-Wan got in the fresher himself. He wondered what Master Windu could want, and if Qui-Gon would be able to tell him. He couldn't always.
He used to get worried that they discussed him, but he'd been Qui-Gon's apprentice for seven years now and hadn't caused any abnormal trouble for five (nothing like running away). He smiled wryly as he turned the water off and grabbed a towel. At least he'd made friends while he'd been gone. Merrick had probably saved his sanity. It had been a long time since he'd seen the weapon's master, not since... He paused, his tunic half over his head. There, again. He hadn't thought of the Monastery for some time, and this was the second time in two days. Not something he could dismiss easily. He pulled the tunic on completely, and recorded the thoughts on the dream datapad before wrapping the markers on his braid. He'd worry about it later - like after tonight. He needed to get some studying in before he met his friends later that evening. Speaking of that, he needed to comm Bant and let her know he was available to meet with them.
Halfway to the comm, he hesitated. Just because he wasn't called to talk to Master Windu with Qui-Gon didn't mean no new mission. He'd better wait until his Master returned to talk to Bant. Reluctantly, he retrieved his datapad and checked his assignments. He had remembered one that required research, an old mission his Master had filled before he'd taken Obi-Wan as an apprentice. Now was as good a time to go to the archives as any, so he left a message for him master and went. And besides, while he was there, he could check for any more prophesies, like he'd thought about earlier. After he finished his research.
The archives room was quiet, although he saw quite a few Jedi there, many of them with braids. A couple waved a greeting to him, but no one spoke and he didn't stop until he found a free terminal. He sat down, signed in, and began to work.
Obi-Wan had turned to the prophecies some time later, his report well started, when the Force nudged him. Checking the time, he realized how late it had gotten. In moments he'd downloaded the new things he'd found on the prophecies and logged out. He left the archives to go back to his quarters to meet his master and to find out if he could get together with his friends that night.
The halls were only a little busier now than they had been when he'd gone in. Most of the Jedi moved in the direction of the dining hall, but Obi-Wan turned the other direction for the lifts. Ahead of him walked a group of Jedi, obviously together. One of them looked so ominously familiar that it made Obi-Wan shudder, and he turned off toward another bank of lifts to avoid it. The feeling bugged him all the way to his quarters, a longer walk than usual, and he tried to figure out why he might have known that Jedi - the way he walked, the way he wore his robes - so well.
Obi-Wan stepped into the common room of his quarters and the first thing he saw was his Master, studying a datapad. Obi-Wan figured it had something to do with the Prophecy of the Chosen One; his Master seemed to be drawn even more to those lately. The sight, so familiar and calming, made him smile, and he relaxed. Before he could ask his Master what Master Windu had wanted, Qui-Gon spoke first, looking up.
"Is something wrong, Padawan? You look disturbed."
"No," Obi-Wan said, dismissing the odd feeling. "Just saw someone I thought looked familiar, but I couldn't place him." He sat down on the couch. "Can you tell me what Master Windu wanted? Are you going on a mission?"
Qui-Gon smiled at him. "We are, but there is no rush. Miro would like to take a look at one of the staves from Bel Meridah. We'll leave tomorrow, since you want to meet with your friends tonight, and you might want to talk to Master Satoru, as well."
Cheered by the good news, Obi-Wan got up to comm Master Satoru to change their appointment, and then to talk to Bant to schedule their get together.