Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and Jedi Apprentice belongs to Jude Watson.

Never Ends

It always felt strange to shower at Xanatos's home. Foreign, almost, though he knew it just as well as his own quarters at the temple. Steam filled the glass box he was in, but the water cascading around him was relaxing. The biggest difference had to be that when he showered at the temple he felt completely clean; when he showered in Xanatos's washroom he felt like he only smelled clean.

He flipped the hot water off and slid open the door, the cool air assaulting him immediately. He shivered and grabbed a towel off the shelf. He knew it would be there, Xanatos kept everything immaculate. It almost made Obi-Wan want to spill his tea on the Alderaan rug and forget where his toothbrush goes. By accident, of course.

Rubbing the water droplets off his body he stepped out of the shower, unaware of the blunga dancing around his ankles. Another step sent him tripping towards the sink, his palm flying up and hitting the mirror, hard.

The glass splintering under his hand, and he could feel the chunks sliding under his skin. He glared at the creature by his feet.

Honestly, he had no clue why Xanatos had that thing; let alone where it came from. The Blunga was cute in a way, its pointed ears were larger then it's head, and two bright green eyes occupied the majority of its face. The four-legged creatures fur was a deep shade of purple, fur that, to Obi-Wan's shock, the creature never shed. It sat down and looked up at Obi-Wan curiously, tilting it's head to the side.

"I blame you for this," he said crossly, though he wasn't truly mad at the thing. It couldn't help but be annoying.

The blunga yapped at him in that high-pitched bark and sauntered into the shower, immediately licking the condensation off the walls.

Obi-Wan tentatively peeled his hand off the broken glass and grimaced. On his palm was a web of cuts, glass jutting out of random areas. He yanked off his towel and wrapped his hand up tightly.

How the sith am I going to explain that to Qui-Gon?

"I'm sorry master, you see I was getting out of Xanatos's shower – by the way, I've been with him every time I went missing – and I tripped over his pet blunga and crashed into his mirror. But I'm sure it will heal soon."

Like that would go smoothly.

Glancing up at the mirror, he grimaced again. It was completely broken; his blood was in the center of the break, tracing a small, cracked circle. Not only that, but his blood had dripped off his hand into the perfectly white sink.

I wonder which Xanatos is going to be angrier about: the broken mirror, the blood in the sink, or the blood now bleeding through one of his white towels.

Obi-Wan sighed, deciding that he needed to clean up his hand before he tried to clean up anything else. He opened the door to the first cabinet he saw. Empty. He opened up the second. Empty. The third, however, held a roll of bandages and a bottle of bacta. He pulled them both out, and something small and metallic clattered to the floor. He laid the supplies on the counter and picked up the small object.

His heart stopped beating for a moment. The metallic thing was a half-melted ring, completely broken on one end. He stood, still staring at the ring with morbid fascination and horror.

"My father's ring, I'm sure you've heard of it."

Obi-Wan jumped in shock, dropping the ring onto the countertop.

"The ring that you used…"

"To burn myself?" Xanatos touched the broken circle scar on his cheek. "Yes."

Light glinted off of the metal ring, and Obi-Wan couldn't help but stare at it. "Why keep it?"

"A reminder."

"Of hate? Wasn't the scar enough?"

Anger flashed across Xanatos's features. "I wouldn't expect you to understand."

"No," Obi-Wan said, angry as well. "No one could possibly understand you."

"That's right, wrap yourself up in Jedi delusions. If it makes you feel better to think I'm crazy, then go for it."

"When did I ever call you crazy?" Obi-Wan demanded.

"You're right, you didn't. That would be too honest for a Jedi."

Obi-Wan breathed in deeply through his nose, attempting to calm himself. Getting angry won't help…

Xanatos walked around Obi-Wan and lifted the blunga out of the shower, closing the door and placing the now annoyed creature on the floor.

"Let me see your hand," He ordered.

Obi-Wan immediately proffered his hand, unwrapping the towel.

"That was foolish," Xanatos commented, discarding the ruined towel. "That, I'm sure, only pushed the glass in deeper.

"Wonderful," Obi-Wan said sarcastically.

Pulling a pair of tweezers out of the cabinet Xanatos began the painstaking task of pulled glass chunks out of Obi-Wan's hand. Obi-Wan tried not to look.

"What are you going to tell him?"

Obi-Wan feigned innocence. "Tell who?"

"You know who."

"…I'm not sure yet. What can I tell him that will make it believable?"

"That you fell."

"He wouldn't believe that."

"I would."

Obi-Wan glared at him. "It's because of that stupid thing."

"Don't blame the blunga, he didn't do it on purpose."

"You don't know that," Obi-Wan turned to stare vehemently at the creature. It started to lick its paws.

Xanatos laid the tweezers on the sink, next to the mangled ring. He barely looked at it before he started applying bacta to Obi-Wan's hand. After a moment he started bandaging it.

"Doesn't having it here ever bother you?" Obi-Wan stared at the ring, which, in a way, was responsible for the turn Xanatos's life had taken.

"No."

"Your father died with it on. It would bring me pain every time I look at it."

"Funny, it only makes me angry," Xanatos finished bandaging the Jedi hand, but he didn't let go of it. "Does it bother you that I have it?"

Obi-Wan stared into Xanatos's cobalt blue eyes, trying to decide whether or not to answer. There was mockery there; Xanatos was baiting him.

Pulling his hand out of the older man's grasp, Obi-Wan waved it dismissively. "Do what you want."

Even after he said the words, he couldn't help but stare at the ring when he left the bathroom and started to dress. Obi-Wan also noticed the disappointment that flickered in those blue eyes with his words.

He loves to make me angry.

Obi-Wan latched his belt on and turned to say goodbye to Xanatos. When he did, something cold was pressed into his palm. He stared at it curiously.

"Take it," Xanatos said simply.

"What for?" Obi-Wan run his thumb along the edges of the ring.

"Because I'm asking you to."

He looked up suspiciously. "What if Qui-Gon finds it?"

Xanatos raised a mocking eyebrow. "He goes through your things often?"

Obi-Wan glared in response, then looked at the ring again, unsure of whether he should take it. It was a representation of Xanatos's hate, and that was most certainly something that he did not want.

The circle that never ends; Qui-Gon has nightmares about this symbol.

But on the other hand, it was also a part of Xanatos. Is that why Xanatos had given it to him? As some sort of claim? He didn't want Xanatos to think that he had any loyalty to him, but it might be nice to have something of Xanatos's with him all the time.

He closed his fist around it tightly. What was once hate could be love, whether that hate came in the form of a mutilated ring…

Or a connection between two people who were never meant to be, but were anyway.

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A/N: I totally made the blunga up, just so everyone knows. Also, I just realized that during the entire argument Obi-Wan had been standing there naked. Huh. Hope you enjoyed it, please review!