Darsant Avat

Currents of Time

"Apparently someone overclocked the R2 unit," Mace told Qui-Gon after the debriefing, and his glare made it pretty clear whom he thought was the culprit.

"I did nothing of the sort," Qui-Gon exclaimed in indignation, "Why would I overclock a droid? Those things are temperamental. Besides, overclocking is not my style. If anything, I underclock to extend my power."

Mace only scowled. "Well, in any case, parts of it were damaged because of the heat, so the engineers are going to give it a whole workup. I suppose it is only due to the Force that this thing did not die on us earlier. Good thing I chose to pilot my way home instead of handing it the controls. The sky traffic was abominable, though. Is it just me, or is there sky traffic every time we don't have an R unit to pilot for us, but then no traffic when we do?"

Qui-Gon shrugged. He was already thinking ahead to Authsola and Obi-Wan. The young woman had gone to the Healing wing and the boy had gone with her. He was eager to join them.

"We sent a team of Jedi Shadows," Mace continued, "To look into the matter of Xanatos Du Crion. Hopefully they unearth the Sith Master soon, before the two of them hatch some nefarious plot to take over the galaxy. As of now, this is no longer your case."

"Great," Qui-Gon was all too glad to hear that.

"You have no more missions at the moment," Mace continued with exasperation, "So make the most of it."

"I always do," Qui-Gon waved at him before heading to his quarters.

OoO

The next weeks that followed were fairly uneventful in terms of missions. Qui-Gon taught lightsaber classes while Obi-Wan attended his own. Authsola was sent on her own mission after she recovered fully, while Feemor and his padawan returned to planet for some well-deserved rest. The only thing that really happened was that after nearly a year of struggle, the rogue twi'lek, Servathi, finally lost her hold on life and passed away into the Force, and Yoda decided to allow Obi-Wan to be ring-bearer for Bail Organa, something that had both Bail and Obi-Wan as excited as teenage girls.

"You'd think that picking a child to take a ring down the aisle would be pretty straightforward," The lad told Qui-Gon with an expression that indicated just how much he had suffered over everything wedding-related, despite the fact that the bride's family technically had more responsibilities, "But the Antilles finds everything we do offensive and vice-versa. Now at least, with a Jedi padawan bringing the ring, both sides can leave me alone…at least for that part. I still have to try on several hundred different wedding regalia. I'll talk to you later. If I'm still alive."

Obi-Wan snickered at this and transmitted a holophoto of himself wearing the Naboo Queen's wig as a "suggestion" to Bail, which led Qui-Gon to wonder if the little rascal had taken the holophoto specifically for this purpose.

Meanwhile, Tahl and Kit were both fighting over Bant Eerin.

"It really is not fair," Kit complained to Qui-Gon, "That youngling and I are a better match and everyone knows it, but she pulls that Master card every time, and the fact that they are both female—what does that have to do with anything? It is not like humans and Mon Calamari have the same issues. Your human females have that disgusting thing every month—"

"I'm not listening to this," Qui-Gon declared, running away.

OoO

The wedding on Alderaan occurred with much more tension than Qui-Gon had anticipated, probably due to all the stress of planning things that the Jedi had not witnessed. The princess, Breha, wore a wedding gown of lavender encrusted with jewels while Bail Organa looked smart in his robes of the same shade, but both center characters of the ceremony looked like they were in danger of being outright sick.

Obi-Wan, in a rare display of complete oblivious ignorance, chirped around the attendees asking why the lavender color, which was just as well because he was really the only character who could dispel the frankly dismal atmosphere.

"It is a clean color," Prince Antilles explained, "And yet it is not empty, like white. Purple is the color of royalty, and they are to inherit the rule of Alderaan. It is to represent a new era, one that is…pure, unmarred by previous conflicts." His face twisted slightly at this.

"I like it," Said Obi-Wan, "Good thing Princess Breha didn't have to wear a wig, like Naboo. I don't think she would have made it down the aisle."

This sparked some good humor as everyone laughed for once—apparently Bail had forwarded the holophoto to everyone.

"No, I don't think Breha would have appreciated that," The Prince chuckled.

The ceremony took five hours, which tried even Qui-Gon's patience. Obi-Wan enjoyed himself far more than his master did, but towards the end the little one's stamina gave out. He gulped down the food during the reception that followed at a speed that resembled a nerf, while the bride and groom both stared kind of despondently at their own plates, neither really willing to eat.

Arranged marriages were clearly quite awkward.

The newlyweds stayed for the duration of the reception which took a corresponding eight hours due to the many performances and dances in celebration of the event. At this point they looked sick for a different reason, but they both made an effort to brighten a little in order to personally thank the Jedi for coming.

"You two had a long day!" Obi-Wan exclaimed when he saw their faces, "You should go to bed!"

Qui-Gon covered his face in order to hide his mirth at the dumbfounded looks on both Bail and Breha. Obi-Wan had no idea the night was actually longer for the two, even if going to bed was precisely what they were about to do. It was slightly discomfiting to bid them farewell after that, but Bail clasped Obi-Wan's hand and Breha bent down so the child could give her a kiss on the cheek, and then the Jedi were released so they could go to bed. To rest.

"The families were so awful," Obi-Wan remarked once they were in their rooms, "They should have gotten rid of the relatives and just had the wedding with the couple and their friends. I thought Bail was going to faint." He then plopped down on Qui-Gon's bed and fell asleep instantly.

OoO

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were eventually sent on a few missions of little note. The Jedi Master heard few updates about the Telosian governor, other than that he disappeared and stole the bulk of Telos IV's wealth, leaving its government destitute. It was really no longer his business, though, and he did not want to get involved because that could mean getting Obi-Wan involved, and the little one was enough of a target as it was.

Garen Muln was eventually chosen by a Jedi Master named Clee Rhara, an event that pleased Obi-Wan greatly but also made him a little jealous.

"She's going to teach him to fly!" The boy whined, "Why can't I fly? Just an easy ship. I won't crash it!"

"Really?" Qui-Gon asked Clee, "You're letting that boy touch the controls?"

"After I fly him where he wouldn't crash. I'm not stupid, Qui-Gon," The redhead remarked indignantly.

"You realize that once you give him a taste of such freedom, he is going to be a terror," Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows. Unlike Qui-Gon and Tahl, Clee Rhara became a master without training any students. "I, for one, am not letting Obi-Wan near a hyperspace switch until he is fifteen."

"You exaggerate," She insisted.

"He's your padawan," Qui-Gon relented. "When accidents happen, it's on your head."

Meanwhile, though Obi-Wan did not exactly throw tantrums, he did bring up the subject a lot, looking so plaintive that it was almost enough for Qui-Gon to give in.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Obi-Wan," He told the child, and there was truth in that statement—Obi-Wan was careful for a boy his age, and in all ways he was a stellar student and a responsible youngling, "It's that I don't trust the other numbskulls in this galaxy not to crash into you."

"How is that going to change when I'm older?" The brat pointed out, "It's not like there aren't drunk pilots and dumb people once I turn fifteen."

"You will have five extra years of life experience, for one," Qui-Gon told him, "I don't expect you to understand this now, my young padawan, but accept that there are certain things you can't possibly know, that you simply need time for. Trust your master. You know I always do what is best for you—I wouldn't forbid this without a good reason."

Obi-Wan pouted under this manipulation. "But how come Master Rhara is letting Garen fly?" He asked, not quite willing to let this go yet, "It's not like she's not looking out for his best interests."

It was a fair question that should be addressed carefully.

"Every Master-padawan pair is different," He told Obi-Wan, "You might have noticed that I only require you to walk two steps behind me to the left when we are in public. Other masters require this of their padawans all the time—in the halls of this temple, heading to their quarters," He had actually been given some grief about this from other masters, but he had ignored it because it just felt so unnatural in his relationship with his child, "I don't claim that Master Rhara does not care about Garen, but her style and her expectations of him are different from mine for you. She spent most of her career in Starfighter Corps. She wants Garen to love flying as much as she does. I already know you love flying. I don't need to introduce you to it."

Obi-Wan tilted his head at this, but accepted his explanation, even if he was a bit disappointed. Feeling a little bad, because Qui-Gon understood how frustrating it was to be denied something without really understanding the reasons, he opted to cook their meals that day so Obi-Wan had time to play with Garen.

OoO

Obi-Wan's birthday approached, but with it came an entirely new development.

"There's this name that keeps repeating itself in my head," He told his master.

"What name?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Ilum."

Ilum was an ice planet in the Unknown Regions, known only among Jedi because it had crystal caves containing the rare and valuable Adegan crystals, which were used to build lightsabers. The name was carefully kept from the younglings because not all of them were destined to be Jedi, and Qui-Gon had never mentioned the planet to his padawan, partially because the boy was so young.

"Do you know why?" He asked, a little dismayed that his little one was already about to make his first lightsaber. It felt like no time had passed at all between now and when the child was just turning ten and handing out his new sweets to everyone in the halls.

"No," Obi-Wan scratched the back of his head, "But I feel like…I'm supposed to go to wherever this 'Ilum' is."

"It's in the Unknown Regions."

"Oh."

Realizing that his own dismay was distressing the boy, Qui-Gon gave himself a mental shake. "It's not bad, Obi-Wan. I can take you to Ilum."

"You know what it is?"

Qui-Gon nodded. "We need to get some thick cloaks and boots."

OoO

"It's supposed to be a good thing, you crazy old man," Tahl exclaimed as she delighted in obtaining Bant Eerin, "Now Obi-Wan is really on his way to becoming true Jedi. He can defend himself."

"It feels like yesterday when he was blowing bubbles in the healing wing," Qui-Gon moped.

"Stay in the present, Qui."

"I know. I just didn't think the present would come so quickly."

Tahl rolled her eyes.

"Come on, he's building his first lightsaber! It's a milestone! You can't expect the child to remain so forever, he has to grow, and this is healthy, perhaps even precocious. He has not even turned eleven yet, and he'll likely be spending his birthday in the most sacred part of the galaxy."

"In a cold, frozen planet with no food or heating," Qui-Gon wrinkled his nose, "I should probably ask the kitchens to make something, actually."

Tahl tugged on his beard. "You'll miss him, we know," She grinned, "You're absolutely adorable. You two really are a good match. I'm going to collect my little one, this is going to be fantastic!"

"This is unfair, I tell you," Kit complained to Qui-Gon later, "I call discrimination!"

"There's that other one, Reeft."

"I know." Kit's large black eyes blinked rapidly in annoyance.

"You were complaining about males and females," Qui-Gon then said in a much lower voice, "You do realize that your pheromone-detecting tentacles make it awkward for even male students to be around you as they go through puberty and begin rutting, let alone females. Never mind that Eerin and Tahl won't share too many similarities, but as soon as that girl is of age and starts her heat cycle— Kit, you are a new knight. You might be old enough to be Eerin's father, but only just. She's ten years old and you're twenty-four. You're more like her brother than anything."

Kit sputtered. "It's not like I'm going to—that's disgusting, Qui!"

"I'm not saying you will. I'm saying it will be discomfiting, and while you might have the control of a proper Jedi Knight, Bant Eerin would be a padawan at that time. She'll still be learning, which means there will be things she has yet to master."

"She's not going to—"

"I'm not saying she will. I'm saying it will be discomfiting. A girl needs her mother during that time, but she does not have one. Whatever Tahl's differences, she has more to offer in that respect than you."

"Well you trained Authsola! You two were both the same species, even!"

"And you have no idea how careful I was," Qui-Gon said seriously. "By that time I had known what happened with my own master's first padawan, and I had trained Feemor and watched other masters with their own padawans as I went through my own growth. You have no idea the kinds of precautions we have to take when we accept a child from the opposite gender. I was nowhere as close to Authsola as I am to Obi-Wan. You see me messing up Obi's hair, picking him up, sometimes even whacking him on the behind when he was naughty—I never did that with Authsola, no matter how aggravating she might have been. I was always careful to never touch her, not even casually. When she got sick, if there was anything that required some level of intimacy, I always called for Tahl. When she reached puberty, I was even more careful, because that is when they are confused and they can get us confused and everyone just gets confused about who they are, who they want to become, and it is so important not to make a misstep because the consequences can be irreversible. The true trouble is, Kit, we're not actually their parents, but however poor the substitution, we are the only ones these poor children could turn to in order to fulfill that role. There are single fathers outside the order who take care of their daughters, and single mothers who take care of their sons, but these people watched these children from when they were infants and have that parental instinct towards their offspring. We do not, and correspondingly these padawans we take do not have a matching instinct towards us. We have to be very wise."

Kit blinked in surprise. "Do you regret anything?" He asked, "That you were not as close to Authsola as you are to Obi-Wan? Or Feemor, for that matter?"

"Feemor and I had a similar issue, in that we were close in age. I was simply not old enough to look out for him the way I am looking out for Obi-Wan, and he never expected that of me. He knew I was there for him, he knows I am still there for him, and that is the best I can offer. I can do no more than that. As for Authsola, it was never my intention to form a close relationship with her. As with Feemor, I will always be her ally, but I do not want her to feel too close to me. Such a relationship would be bad for her. Perhaps she would have benefited more if another master had chosen her, but in terms of talents I was the best instructor. All I can say is, I do not think she felt deprived. I am fairly certain she knows I care for her, but there are just boundaries neither of us can cross, and that is the way life works. For certain people, there are boundaries you cannot cross, and as you get older you gradually learn them and this can help shape what you do and how you react and ultimately prevent suffering. Having the correct boundaries should not interfere with your affection; sometimes you place them because of your affection, and Authsola knows enough about Vosa and Dooku and what I have seen over the years to understand that what I did was in her best interests. You have not been a knight for very long, Kit. Your abilities make you unique, even among Jedi. You have a different perception of the galaxy than the rest of us. You need a little more time to understand how other people react, because the reactions of other people shape the relationship as much as your own."

The Nautolan was introspective for a while.

"What did you do with Authsola?" He asked. "What about when she had to do those missions like the one Master Billaba just came back from?"

Qui-Gon groaned. "You know those fits I am apparently famous for? Guess how many of them were about that. It could be hard, sometimes. If it hadn't been for Tahl, I don't know how successful I would have been. You can ask Mace, too, how he worked with Depa. Whenever you have a padawan of the opposite gender, you usually need another master around to help on occasion. There were things I encouraged her not to confide in me, to find someone else instead, so long as I know the gist of it. Female problems, the like, sometimes they are real issues that I should know, but I was very cautious about it. If Authsola gets too comfortable, so many problems could start. They might not, but they could, and I did not want to take any chances. You might notice, actually, not all masters are as strict about this—it could be that I was too neurotic, but much of this also had to do with the Force. If the Force willed, many mistakes can be overlooked. I think many are, even as we speak. However, that doesn't mean you should drop all caution."

"So things like that monthly thing…? She wasn't allowed to come to you about that?"

"I did not encourage it," Qui-Gon said honestly, "And it wasn't because I found it abhorrent or anything like that. Tahl occasionally mentions it, it's a natural part of being a female human and it causes genuine problems, but it is a gateway. There are a lot of gateways, you know. Feel comfortable enough to talk about those, feel comfortable enough to talk about things that are more serious than those, and then more and more and more—what's the limit? Best fence off the beginning of the runway. She usually went to Tahl, or the healers, and I hear about it second-hand. That age when males and females get confused about each other, I sent Authsola to Tahl."

"But doesn't that close a lot of doors to other things?"

"Yes and no. There's a reason I chose Tahl. Whatever she couldn't tell me, she could tell her. Sometimes I do wonder if there were issues that we could have addressed but never did because she felt too insecure to speak out, but overall," He shook his head, "You watch and you see signs. Everything has signs. There is the Force to guide you if something really is amiss. Authsola should have had a mother," He shook his head, "But she's a Jedi. We work with what we have and we prevent what calamities might result."

"What about Obi-Wan?" Kit asked, "Aren't you afraid he might grow too close to you, too attached?"

"Obi-Wan is different," Qui-Gon said dismissively, "He needs someone to be attached to. For some reason he draws a lot of attention."

"That's true!" Kit exclaimed, "That twi'lek knew his name! Creepy, if you ask me. The governor of Telos—he was a Sith Lord! And there's no risk of him being confused about you, since you look like a homeless person."

"Mace told you to say that, didn't he," Qui-Gon scowled, "I'll have you know that I am actually a very handsome human."

"Well you can't tell with all that hair on your face. At least Mace is smooth. I don't understand you humans, especially the paler lot of you, you have this ineffectual layer of fur that doesn't actually do anything to keep you warm, and then you males have hair on your faces so that anything you eat has to first go through that barrier of—"

Qui-Gon whacked him. "My beard looks distinguished and at least I don't have head tentacles that I can accidentally chop off with my lightsaber!"

"At least my 'head tentacles' have a useful purpose!" Kit struck back with a grin.

"Well you look strange."

"You're strange!"

"Bah!"

OoO

"I'm nervous, Master," Obi-Wan said as they boarded the ship that would take them to Metellos.

"Why?"

"…I'm not sure," Obi-Wan scratched his head, "I guess I'm just…I don't know."

Qui-Gon turned the engines on and checked the controls and parameters. "I will be right there with you, Obi-Wan."

"I know. It's just…" Obi-Wan sighed, "I'm afraid I'm not actually ready to make a lightsaber…or use one. I mean, I've never used a lightsaber in real combat…obviously, so…like…"

"You've been training hard," Qui-Gon looked at him, "I'm not worried."

"What if we're going to Ilum for something else?" Obi-Wan asked, and in a burst of articulation, "Would you be disappointed in me if I didn't make a lightsaber this time?"

"Of course not," Qui-Gon ruffled his hair, "You will make a lightsaber. It doesn't really matter when, so long as you do. And there is no reason at all for you to believe that you can't. You're a perfectly normal Jedi youngling, you are a good student, and Obi-Wan, sometimes bad things aren't actually bad. Let me tell you a story I heard once when I was a knight," He entered the coordinates, "There was a farmer once, who had a steed. One day, the steed ran away. He was a poor farmer, and steeds cost a lot of credits, so all the neighbors took pity on him and remarked on what bad luck he had. These people, of course, were not Force-sensitive, and neither was the farmer, but he was a wise man, and said that this was not bad luck at all. Sometime later, the steed returned—it was a female, and it went out to breed and came back with its offspring. So now the farmer had two steeds, one mature and one young, so the neighbors all congratulated him on his good fortune. The farmer, however, shook his head and said that this was an ill turn of events, which made everyone surprised, but later on, while his son was breaking in the steed, it reared up, threw his son off and broke his leg, crippling him for life. The neighbors were aghast, and came to give their sympathies, but the farmer laughed and exclaimed, no, this was a great fortune!"

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows. "He was happy that his son got crippled?"

"The neighbors thought the same thing, but years later, the planet went to war, and the King ordered a draft. All able-bodied men were sent to the armies, leaving behind their parents, their wives, their children. The farmer's son, however, was not fit to be in the army, and was allowed to stay at home to take care of his family. The war was brutal, and many of the fine youths who went never came home again, while their families starved in poverty and destitution. The farmer's son naturally escaped this fate, and it was all because he was crippled. We know of the Force, these people did not, but even they knew that some bad turns can lead to good things, and the same goes for good turns. It is all the will of the Force, my padawan." He reached out to stroke the boy's cheek. "Don't worry so much, alright?"

Reassured, the boy nodded.

"Now get yourself strapped in. We have about five minutes to get through the atmosphere." Qui-Gon picked up the comm as he ruffled the boy's hair again. Obi-Wan was growing a bit taller. He's about to make his first lightsaber.

How time flies.