Chapter Two
Qui-Gon disconnected the transmission to the Jedi Temple and leaned forward onto the flat surface of the comm station, scrubbing his bearded face with his hand.
How? How could the Sith discover Obi-Wan when he had been unable to?
He had spent the better part of two years searching for his apprentice following the boy's disappearance during their last mission together, refusing to cease his search even after ordered to by the Jedi Council. But he had refused to give up. To lose another apprentice, although he had assumed this one was by death instead of to the Dark Side.
Or so he had hoped.
However, now it appeared as if he were wrong in that aspect as well, and although his first apprentice's fall and subsequent death were not entirely Qui-Gon's fault, he couldn't help but feel that this one was.
If only he had searched for Obi-Wan harder, a little longer. All of his efforts had been in vain and his search had gone cold, covered up by a slave runner who had claimed that the boy had been put to death after he had killed his last owner.
It was only then that Qui-Gon returned to the Temple, exhausted and defeated, vowing to never take on another apprentice.
But now, here he was having to face the ghost of his last. The same face that haunted him in his sleep, the distinctive moles, dimpled chin, and coppery hair falling into eyes that were once so honest and trusting, now filled with hatred and malevolence.
Master Yoda was right. Obi-Wan was lost to them. Lost to the Dark Side. There was no longer the hope that some day he would return to the Temple or show up on some remote planet Qui-Gon had been assigned to.
It had been a crazy thought of his ever since Obi-Wan's disappearance, but now the true insanity would begin, when once again Qui-Gon was forced to confront a former student of his and rid the Galaxy of the threat which they represented.
It made him sick to his stomach.
The Jedi Master rose to go to the ship's 'fresher to relieve his sudden irritable bowel when he found himself standing in front of a petite, young woman.
"You're seriously not going to kill your apprentice, are you?"
"He is no longer my apprentice, and I will do what I must. Excuse me."
The much taller man moved to the side in order to walk past Padmé, but she quickly backed into the narrow corridor, effectively blocking his path.
"I don't understand you Jedi at all. You're supposed to be the defenders of peace, examples of honesty and compassion. How can you be so cruel?"
The blue eyes far above her darkened for an instant and were then hidden by lowered lids as the Jedi obviously fought for composure.
Good. He did harbor emotions after all.
"You don't know what you're talking about." The older man's voice was lowered in tone and volume as his gaze fixed upon her face. "My advice to you would be to mind your own business and allow me to do my duty."
Mind her own business!
"Do you know who you're talking to?"
"Yes, your Highness. But in this situation, your station matters not. What really matters is that there is a dangerous Sith warrior out there trying to kill you."
"Which is what makes this my business." Padmé replied, stepping forward and glaring upward.
"I'm aware that the Sith have not made themselves known for nearly a thousand years." She argued, her hands firmly braced upon her hips. "So before you destroy what you cannot possibly understand and add murder to your latest and most recent list of offenses, I urge you to give compassion a chance. And instead of excusing your highly-questionable motives by claiming they are for the good of the Galaxy, perhaps you should focus upon the good of a single person. Whether he's a Sith or not."
The young woman spun on her heel and stormed away, leaving Qui-Gon alone in the corridor, momentarily forgetting why he had come this way in the first place, until his frustration warred with his insides, and he bolted into the nearby 'fresher.