Title: Legends
Timeframe: All over the place
Characters: Dooku (narrator), Yoda, Jinn, Kenobi, Skywalker
Genre: Um, ruminations?
Summary: In the afterlife, Dooku reflects on the line of legendary Masters and Padawans, and their ultimate downfall.
Legends
We were the greatest Jedi of our time. No one would ever deny that. We helped to shape the galaxy, or perhaps we destroyed it. That is perhaps a fairer assessment. Not all of us fell to darkness, but the darkness spoke to every one of us, and at some point in our lives, we stood at that point—in precarious balance between our best and our worst—and then the scale tipped, one way or the other. A few of us fell to our worst: I did, and so did the last of our line.
My Master was the Grand Master of the Jedi Order, and his wisdom was valued by the entire galaxy. He could prevent an entire war with a few careful words, and despite his diminutive stature, his skills with the lightsaber were legendary. He was wisest of the Jedi, yet he was blind to so much.
I never fancied myself a teacher, but when I saw him in the training salle, dancing with a lightsaber like it was an extension of his body and embracing the Living Force with such dexterity, I knew that he must be my student. He was going to be my legacy. His greatness called to me that day, even though he was only a youngling.
As sure as I was that he would be my Padawan, he was just as doubtful that Obi-Wan Kenobi would be his. In the beginning, he pushed Kenobi away, who was at the time no more than a foolish boy with tremendous power in the Force and an uncontrollable temper. His previous apprentice had fallen, the spoiled and incompetent fool that was Xanatos. He was sure that Obi-Wan, with his brashness and volatile emotions, would be no different.
Kenobi's apprentice would be the last of our line of tragic heroes. He was the strongest of us, the greatest and the most terrible. He was the Chosen One, prophesized to bring balance to the Force. We did not underestimate him: from the moment he was brought to the Temple, we knew he was dangerous. We were all aware of it, but we still taught him the Jedi way, foolishly believing that he would embrace our teachings. I was not there to see his beginning days as a Jedi, but I know that he must have struggled. He was not raised in the Temple; he knew how it felt to be loved by a mother, and she had been taken from him. He did not make friends very easily. I think Obi-Wan was everything to him … his mentor, his father, his brother, and his best friend.
Many of us were close and shared bonds. At one time, I had strong bonds with my Master, and later, my apprentice. But the connection that Kenobi and Skywalker shared was far beyond the rest of us. The galaxy will never again be witness to a Jedi team quite like them. Their stories will be told over and over again; their legend will never fade. Some go as far as to call them gods.
And yet despite all of that, when Kenobi's life ended, it was by Skywalker's hands. They loved one another, and ultimately destroyed each other. If love wasn't enough for them, what could have been done?
We were not always monsters. We once loved fiercely. Sometimes other people, sometimes each other. But inside every one of us, there was a hidden darkness, and sometimes it prevailed. We never thought we would fall. Even as we descended into the abyss, we did not know it was happening. Not until it was too late.
We loved each other, but love does not translate to faith. We didn't always believe in the ones we loved. How could we be open with one another if we did not trust each other?
-----
A successful mission. But I was unhappy.
"Great conflict I sense in you, my Padawan." His gimer stick tapped me lightly on the shin. "Center yourself. Find peace, you must."
I tried to obey his words, but I felt the Force too strongly. It did not calm me. I did not possess the mastery over it that I wanted.
-----
He was a rarity of our time, to be so strong in the Living Force. He was going to be a great Jedi. I smiled at the thought of his future. He was almost ready for knighthood.
"Master? You are distracted."
"I am only wondering how you will change the galaxy."
"Did you have a vision?" he asks me.
Yes, a clouded one.
-----
He was not Xanatos. His presence in the Force was more bright and pure than anything Xanatos ever possessed.
"Can you try to be a little gentle?" hissed Kenobi, jerking his arm away from his Master's touch.
Qui-Gon smiled in amusement. "I am trying to check for infection, for your own good. You would not have been hit if you did not lose your lightsaber, Padawan."
"Technically, you're partly to blame. It was between keeping you from falling and keeping my lightsaber from falling. I can construct a new lightsaber, but I can't quite construct a new Master. Besides, I was worried that Master Windu would end up taking over my training, and that would drive me to the Dark Side."
Kenobi should have been rebuked for that little quip. Any other apprentice would have been. However, with Kenobi, dry comments here and there were too often his only objectionable actions. He was truly the model Jedi among us.
Qui-Gon was proud of him. They had come so far from the tentative days in the beginning. Images of their years spent together flashed through his mind as he recalled their greatest moments. Then came images of the near future: a longer Padawan braid … Obi-Wan, older, almost ready for the trials... What would Obi-Wan be like as a Jedi Knight? But with that thought, no images came.
-----
I sensed his protectiveness at Geonosis. I saw his eyes as I prepared to kill his Master. A flicker of red. He was telling me that I would pay. He leaped at me with fury, stopping me from giving Kenobi the final blow.
Twelve years old. Anakin Skywalker was just a boy, an outcast among age mates. Class was over, and he was returning to his quarters. A classmate had just lost her Master. He barely knew her. He didn't know her Master at all. Still, the death affected him … he had always felt strongly about death, too strongly. But why did this one feel worse than the others?
He walked into the living area. Obi-Wan was sitting on the couch, studying a datapad intently, no doubt preparing for the upcoming mission. He sat down on the couch beside his Master.
Kenobi gave him a brief glance. "How was class?"
Anakin tried to answer, but a lump had suddenly formed in his throat and prevented him from speaking. He swallowed hard, and finally buried his face in his hands.
Obi-Wan set the datapad down and studied the boy in concern. "What is it, Anakin?" With one arm, he pulled his shaking apprentice into a half embrace.
Anakin let go of the little control he had left and sobbed unrestrainedly into his Master's shoulder. Obi-Wan tried soothe him through their bond, and rubbed his back with a gentle hand. Normally, Anakin would be elated at the show of affection, but today, it only made his tears fall faster.
"This is about Master Araksan, isn't it?"
Anakin nodded weakly. He wiped away a few tears. He didn't always get along with Obi-Wan, but he couldn't imagine a life without him. At least my Master is alive, he thought. He will always be there.
"Don't ever die."
He winced the moment those words tumbled out. He waited for the impending lecture, the one that came too often. Obi-Wan was no doubt going to remind him of the Jedi Code. Again.
Not this time, though.
"I'll try my best, Anakin," he said, smiling faintly. "But you need to help me."
That was Kenobi's weakness as a teacher. He loved Skywalker and cared about comforting him far too much. In moments like these, he became more of a parent than a responsible mentor. As Masters, we could not afford to be so personally involved.
"I won't let you die," promised the Chosen One.
We locked blades. He stared at me fiercely. In that moment, I had an inkling of just how dangerous his possessive love for others would turn out to be.
-----
"Tell your sister… You were right…"
Luke Skywalker was not one of us.
He loved the man beneath Vader's mask, but that did not set him apart from us. The difference is he never stopped believing. He never lost faith, like we did. No one could purge it out of him.
Somewhere along the way, Master Yoda stopped believing in me. He thought I was lost forever.
He wasn't alone. I had lost my trust in him, too.
And Qui-Gon. We never stopped caring, but we had stopped speaking.
Kenobi and Skywalker were brothers. But in their darkest moment, they abandoned each other.
We were heroes of the galaxy. We were cunning warriors and negotiators without peer. In the end, it was a naïve farm boy from Tatooine who was the wisest.
Now, we stand together—all of us—and wait. Wait to welcome the last of us into the Force.