"With you the Force is strong, young Obi-Wan. To see you again and well brings warm feelings to my heart," Yoda said and Obi-Wan could feel a smile spread on his face. He had always had a soft spot for the diminutive master when he was a boy—and he still had it.
"Not so young anymore, Master," he answered, as he knelt in front of Yoda.
Yoda harrumphed. "Still younger than me, you are."
Obi-Wan laughed softly and stood up. Then reached out with his senses, to have a clear view of the room he was in.
It was small and the only furniture was composed of round, low meditation seats. Three were already taken by Yoda, Mace Windu and Qui-Gon Jinn and he was about to sit on a free one, when he noticed Asajj was still standing by the door, one hand on the hilt of her sabre, the other on her vibroblade. He sent her an invitation to sit at his side, but she shook her head, preferring to stay standing.
Obi-Wan felt like smiling, but it was a bitter-sweet smile. With his senses fully stretched, he felt the serenity of the Jedi Temple wash over him, but his bond-mate was not serene at all. Asajj was as tense as a bowstring, like a felinoid ready to pounce.
During the years they had been together, Obi-Wan had taught her the Jedi were not the enemies or bad people she believed them to be, but no matter how hard had tried, he had not been able to change her mind. At least she no longer wanted to be a Sith as she had wished for when they first met, he mused, as he sent his love and reassurance to Asajj.
Obi-Wan heard someone shift weight on the chair to his right. Master Windu was about to speak, so he turned his head toward him.
"Obi-Wan," the Jedi began, "we are really pleased to see you so well. While Qui-Gon came to find you, we had time to study the files of your accomplishments and we have been impressed by your dedication as healer."
Obi-Wan bowed his head, "Thank you, Master Windu."
"However, we were also surprised. You never showed any aptitude toward healing when you were here at the Temple; otherwise you would never have been sent to the Agricorps. May we know what happened?"
Obi-Wan nodded. "As you may remember, I had problems with sensing the Living Force when I was younger, and in fact I was not much of a farmer on Bandomeer. However things changed after I lost my eyesight."
"When happened it did?" asked Yoda.
"When I was eighteen. I was on a ship directed to Roon; it was damaged by an asteroid field and it crashed on Langara. I was the only survivor and I was in coma for almost six months. When I woke up I discovered I was blind. At the beginning I raged against it, but then I discovered my connection to the Living Force had dramatically improved—perhaps because I started trusting the Force with all myself. Anyway, I made some attempts to grow plants in the hospital garden and obtained great results. I thought I could now make a good farmer once I returned to Bandomeer, but I soon learned I could not leave Langara. While I was in a coma an epidemic of Xenon Plague had exploded on the planet and it had been quarantined. Nobody could arrive or leave. So, since I could not go anywhere, I decided to help the people who had cared for me while I was in a coma. It was while I was nursing victims of the plague that I discovered I could heal people, that I could command their midi-chlorians to do things. So I worked, studied medicine, learned how anatomy worked…and never left Langara."
Obi-Wan smiled experiencing again that deep sense of satisfaction he often felt when he thought back to his past. On Bandomeer he had been an unhappy, sullen, angry teenager. Being cast away from the Temple had been a blow from which he could not and would not recover. He had even stopped listening to the Force. Then he had lost his eyesight and everything had changed. His blindness and dealing with the plague victims had brought back his desire to help, to do good for others. He had matured and returned to follow the Force's will—and the Force had rewarded him.
It had given him a fulfilling life. A life spent helping people as he had dreamed as child, and it had also given him Asajj, his hot-headed, temperamental, beloved bond-mate. What more could a man ask for?
"Why did you change your name to Ben? Were you afraid the Agricorps would find you and take you away?" Qui-Gon Jinn asked.
"Yes and no. Ben is the name I was given by the hospital crew when I was in a coma and it somehow stuck after I awoke. People referred to me as Ben Kenobi and I didn't correct them. Also as you know, according to Bandomeer and Coruscant laws I was still a minor when the ship crashed and adopting a different name helped me to avoid me being found."
Obi-Wan felt a warning along the bond before Asajj snapped, "Are you quite finished with these questions? Ben has come here to tell something important, not to be interrogated as if he were a criminal."
/Asajj/ he sent along the bond, /they mean well./
/They are putting their nose where it doesn't belong./
"Tell us young Obi-Wan, who your companion is?" Yoda asked and Obi-Wan perceived the master's acute interest.
"I'm his lover, helper and guard-canid," Asajj belligerently answered, surely enjoying the shocked gasped she tore from Qui-Gon and Mace Windu.
"Asajj," Obi-Wan murmured, reaching out with his hand. "Please?"
His bond-mate left her place by the door and squeezed his hand, slowly sitting by his side.
"This is Asajj Ventress, my bond-mate."
"You're bonded you say? Very unusual it is. How happened it did?"
Obi-Wan rubbed his beard and turned to face Asajj as he answered. "Eight years ago, Asajj was brought to me more dead than alive after a ship crash. I sent her into a healing trance, but when I tried to leave her mind, a tendril of her Force signature wrapped around mine. I did not know back then Asajj had received some Jedi training nor that the bond with her master had been abruptly severed, otherwise I would have taken some precautions. As it was, our Force signatures bonded and it was immediately clear it was not a training bond that we had created."
"What happened afterward? Did you try to break the bond?" Mace Windu asked, curious.
Obi-Wan smiled, and raised his hand to caress Asajj's cheek. "Sort of. She tried to kill me."
"What?!"
"You heard right. I tried to kill him. I didn't want him in my mind. I didn't trust Jedi, even those formerly so. Luckily, Ben managed to escape my murdering attempts and to make me listen, really listen to him." Obi-Wan could feel her love flow through his mind. "I thus learned I could trust him and after a while trust turned to be love." Then all sweetness disappeared from her voice as she added, "You have to thank him and his teachings that I am not out there fighting at Count Dooku's side."
"Count Dooku is dead," Mace Windu interjected coldly.
"But his master, a Sith Lord called Darth Sidious is still out there—and this is why we need your help, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon completed.
"My help? How can I help you against the Sith? I am just a healer."
"Visions you have, Qui-Gon tells of," Yoda said.
"Yes."
"Tell us about them."
Obi-Wan obeyed and told the three Jedi about the images haunting him…
"-and so Masters, I thought to come here," he concluded. "I hope you may help me find this woman. I need to help her, for I know that if she dies her husband will be devastated and his devastation will have terrible consequences for the galaxy."
There was a long moment of silence, during which Obi-Wan wondered if the Jedi thought he was too arrogant because he reputed to be so important for the destiny of the galaxy, then Qui-Gon spoke again.
"Have you ever heard about the Chosen One prophecy, Obi-Wan?"
He shook his head.
"The Chosen One is a man born from the Force who it is said will bring balance to the Force and destroy the Sith. For many centuries this was reputed to be only a legend. Then, thirteen years ago I discovered a boy on Tatooine—a boy with no father and the highest midi-chlorian count ever recorded. I brought the boy here for testing, and the Council agreed with me: he was the Chosen One."
Obi-Wan nodded, very interested then something snapped in his mind and his mouth opened in realization. "He is the woman's husband! The man I see in my vision. And his name…his name is…" the Force whispered the answer to him, as all the pieces of the puzzle fell in place. "He is Anakin Skywalker, The Hero With No Fear."
"Yes, you are right. But the press was wrong in giving my former Padawan that nickname. Anakin fears for those he loves." Qui-Gon sighed. "Anakin was already nine when he arrived at the Temple and was set in his ways. He loved his mother and had problems in controlling and releasing his emotions. I tried to teach him he could not get attached, but it was difficult to make him understand why he should not."
"I can understand; it was the same for me—but in the opposite way." Obi-Wan turned to face Asajj. "I needed time to get in my head I was free to love." He sobered and added, "I guess Anakin never learned those lessons since he married."
"Yes…" Mace Windu muttered, disgusted.
"But it seems this fact was foretold by the prophecy…as was your involvement in this matter," Qui-Gon explained.
"What?"
"Listen to this, Obi-Wan, and you will understand." Qui-Gon cleared his throat, then recited:
"A time will come when the Darkness will tempt the Chosen One,
When fear he will feel for someone he loves.
But a man will come to help him.
Lost in darkness, filled with Light,
The knight that should have been will save the Chosen One's love.
And Darkness will not prevail."
Obi-Wan was stunned, and so was Asajj. "I- I …do you think it is referring to me?"
"Yes. Qui-Gon has a vision similar to yours but in his you save Senator Amidala – Padme—from death. That's why he came in search of you, because he was the only one that knew your face. We also are aware that Anakin is having a similar vision, but we are not sure what, exactly, he sees. We are just concerned the Sith Lord might use his fears to turn him to the dark side. I don't think I have to tell you that if this happened…"
Obi-Wan shook his head, before closing his eyes and falling into a light meditation.
He should be shocked or upset to be involved in a scheme so much grander than him—but he was not. The Force was whispering to him that it was all right, that he really was the only one to save the Chosen One's wife and thus avoid the chance that the galaxy might be enveloped by the dark side.
There was no doubt in him and his quiet certainness flowed through the bond, reaching Asajj, calming her and showing her what was meant to be.
Obi-Wan took a deep breath and opening his eyes asked, "What do we do now?"