Chapter 25

Author's note: There's a Star Trek reference in there, and since I am really no expert (not even an amateur, I just needed some kind of well-known and Jedi-free universe) on the topic, please don't hate me if I got it wrong somehow!

Disclaimer: I really have no idea what you're talking about. Me, using George Lucas' creation without asking for permission first? I would never do that;-)

oOo

Yoda was less than thrilled that Mace had brought up the subject of Obi-Wan. It was not one he felt comfortable discussing.

"Necessary, it was," he once again emphasized. "See an acceptable alternative, we did not."

Mace sighed. "I have to admit that I can't think of any other options, either," he conceded. "Still, I cannot condone what you have done, not telling him something like that."

This worried Yoda greatly. He had to make Mace understand the reasons behind his actions, or else, he feared, the imposing Master who hid his gentle heart behind a hard exterior would do irreparable damage to Obi-Wan's trust in the Council and thus to the whole Jedi Order.

The diminutive green Master heaved a deep sigh.

"Tell you the whole story, we will. Go back much further than you think, this does. Very, very much further. Start some fourteen years ago, this did."

Mace sat back in his chair and listened intently to what Yoda revealed to him. It was a story of deceit, of truths left unspoken, of interference and prevented destinies. It was the story of Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Mace was shocked to hear Yoda tell him about a Council session almost sixteen years ago.

That day, the topic of discussion had been Qui-Gon Jinn, a most extraordinary Jedi, a skilful warrior and negotiator and a severe pain in the Council's backside. Just the week before, the peace talks between the Klingons and the Romulans had gone completely haywire. The only reasonable hope to bring continued peace to these two people had been a wedding between the heirs to both their governments, which was why they had already done just that.

As a crisis in form of a marital disagreement between the couple threatened, they called for the help of the Jedi, not because the disagreement was exceptionally severe but because there was so much at stake. The peace talks between wife and husband should have been easy; it was just a tiny argument, after all, but Qui-Gon had completely bungled up because he had abducted the couple's only child and the only existing hybrid between Klingons and Romulans, claiming that she was the Chosen One and that she had to be trained as a Jedi, thus not only enraging the heirs to the thrones of two planets but all their alliances, as well, so that all Jedi were banished from this particular part of the universe forever.

After this catastrophe brought onto them by Qui-Gon, the Jedi High Council decided that the unconventional and sometimes outright insane Jedi Master could not be allowed to continue to roam the galaxies (the ones he was still allowed to visit, anyway) unchecked.

They had a long and heated discussion about what to do with the maverick Jedi, and in the end, it had been Master Yoda who had proposed to team Qui-Gon up with a Padawan. At first, the Council had been undecided, even disinclined. They had already tried that tactic before, and to disastrous results. Xanatos had braved Qui-Gon's eccentricities for years, his sanity slowly deteriorating under Qui-Gon's constant reminder of the presence of bigger fish, but the Padawan had finally cracked when Qui-Gon, having just killed his father, answered Xanatos' inquiry about how to deal with this calamity with the words of one of his favourite and, therefore, useless and random sayings. These sayings seemed like the ultimate wisdom to Qui-Gon, and he considered them applicable to any situation imaginable. That the words: "Whatever. Do a barrel roll, that usually helps" would not offer the desperately needed comfort and solace to the grieving mind of a suddenly fatherless apprentice never even occurred to the admittedly weird Master.

At that, the Padawan had lost it and turned to the Dark Side for good… or maybe for bad, depending on your point of view.

So it was understandable that the Council was reluctant to lose another promising young student that way. Yoda had finally managed to convince them by making a suggestion they could not reject.

The person to become Qui-Gon's Padawan would have to meet the numerous terms the Council set as a condition to allow Yoda to implement his plan.

They would need a young Initiate with the ability to withstand Qui-Gon. That meant the child would need not only the steadfast will and courage to oppose the Jedi Master's crazy ideas, but should at the same time be obedient and respectful – otherwise, the two would quarrel constantly. Furthermore, they needed someone who also respected the Code and the Council (they really didn't want Qui-Gon to raise a carbon copy of himself), someone with a caring and kind soul and enough patience to accept Qui-Gon with all his oddities but not so compliant to give up trying to make the Master see reason. Master Jinn's new Padawan would have to be both every ounce as stubborn as his future Master and yet also willing to follow his Master's lead. Someone who had enough skill to turn out a decent Jedi despite Qui-Gon's training yet someone who would stay humble and listen to Qui-Gon's teachings without posing too many difficulties to either the Jedi Master or the Council. They wanted someone so full of light that he would never turn to the Dark Side, someone to temper Qui-Gon's impulsive Living Force with a bit of level-headed Unifying Force.

They needed a bundle of contradictions all summed up in one person.

And Yoda had found the perfect candidate for that: a promising young initiate by the name of Obi-Wan Kenobi, who satisfactorily fulfilled all of the Council's conditions.

But although Obi-Wan was eager to become a Padawan, Qui-Gon absolutely refused to even consider taking on an apprentice. So they had to keep everyone else from asking Obi-Wan to become their apprentice.

Yoda paused in his narrative.

"So that was the reason why you wouldn't let me speak for him when I was looking for a Padawan," Mace interjected. "I always wondered why you kept everyone away from the boy and would rather send him off to the agricorps then let anyone who was not Qui-Gon train him."

"Coerce Qui-Gon, we had to. Easy, it was not, but with the Force as our ally, succeed, we did. Stubborn, Master Jinn is, but more stubborn, the Force can be," Yoda stated, a smug smirk on his withered face.

"But why did you do that? It sounds incredibly unfair towards Padawan Kenobi," Mace asked.

"As Master Yoda said, it was a necessary immolation of Padawan Kenobi's chances of finding a Master of his choice on the pyre of the greater good. Besides, he seemed content, even glad to be Master Jinn's Padawan," Master Mundi explained. "We are not that cruel that we would have let him stay with Qui-Gon if he had been unhappy. Also, there simply was no one else willing or even capable of taking on this task, and I have to admit that Obi-Wan did an admirable job. So much so, in fact, that we were quite reluctant to split up this particular Master-Padawan team when the time came to knight him."

At this point, Yoda resumed his tale, because Obi-Wan's story was far from over. The Council had been relieved to have finally found someone capable of handling Qui-Gon, someone who could keep the rampant Master in check without turning to the Dark Side in the process, that they were completely unwilling to let Obi-Wan take the trials, no matter how many Masters came to comment on the Padawan's exceptional skills and no matter how often Qui-Gon told them that his Padawan was ready.

At some point, they could no longer ignore the situation at hand, and so they had finally knighted Obi-Wan when he was but nineteen years old.

They had also conveniently 'forgotten' to inform both the Master and the Padawan about it.

His friends had even thrown Obi-Wan a knighting party after he passed his trials. Obi-Wan still dimly remembered them as some kind of demanding but not exactly insurmountable tests, probably as the required preliminary assessments for the transition to senior Padawanhood. The young man was still puzzled as to the exact reason why all of his friends suddenly appeared in their living room to have a surprise party, even after he unmistakably informed them that it was most definitely not his birthday, and all of them were suspiciously silent on the explanation for this party. It had been quite enjoyable, nevertheless.

Yoda had calmed the Councillor's bad conscience by telling them that it was not exactly a lie as such that the Council had told Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. It was merely a slight omission of the truth on their part.

By the time, Mace wore a nostalgic smile on his face. "Yeah, I still remember that party. It was one of the best parties in the last ten years. Shame we couldn't tell Obi-Wan it was for his knighting."

"See now, that necessary this course of action was?" Yoda asked.

"Well, yes. I can see that there was no other viable option. And I certainly wouldn't want to do Obi-Wan's job myself. I don't know anyone more suitable to babysit Qui-Gon than Obi-Wan. Splitting up the team and sending Qui-Gon out on his own is unthinkable. And to team him up with someone else now – I wouldn't wish that on anyone, and neither do we have someone suited to that particular task. No, I suppose there was no other way, and although I still don't agree with how all this turned out, I accept that there was no other possibility," Mace finally acquiesced.

The Council heaved a relieved sigh.

It seemed that finally the risk of Mace spilling the beans was banned. There was no knowing how Obi-Wan would react to that, but one thing was sure: although the young man was known to forgive just about anything up to and including secret marriages with politicians entailing children, they didn't want to alienate him. They needed him firmly on their side, especially since he was still needed to mediate between his Master and the Council, and if Qui-Gon got his will (which, unfortunately, he frequently did due to his enormous stubbornness) also between his Master, the Council and Anakin Skywalker.

In the end, Mace pushed away his qualms, silenced his bad conscience and gave a short nod. The secret would remain undisclosed. There was too much at stake.

oOo

Back on the landing platform where Queen Amidala's ship was waiting for her arrival, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan never suspected that the Council was still talking about them. The atmosphere on the landing pad was tense, filled with electricity. Obi-Wan had dared to object to Qui-Gon's intention of taking Anakin along with them. They were going to a planet that was at war, for Force's sake, and that really was no place for a young child. Besides, he still didn't quite know how he should react to Qui-Gon's casual and painful dismissal in front of the Council.

Obi-Wan was confused and hurt, though he tried his best to hide his turbulent feelings behind a mask of Jedi calmness. He didn't wish for Qui-Gon's opinion of him to become even lower than it apparently already was. Since he was still unsure how to approach his Master about the topic of his current apprentice, namely himself, he chose to talk about Qui-Gon's future apprentice.

Qui-Gon had been disgruntled and only snapped a terse order at his Padawan, effectively telling him to shut up about it. But for once, Obi-Wan didn't want to leave it alone, not this time.

"Master, Naboo is under the control of the Trade Federation. There are droids everywhere. Master, people will die there. Don't you think that it would be very dangerous for a child to be dragged into the middle of a battle? He wouldn't be able to protect himself. How will you make sure that nothing happens to him? He might get hurt or even killed."

Qui-Gon frowned at the worry in his Padawan's eyes.

"Padawan, you will stop your complaints immediately. Just admit that you're jealous. You fear that Anakin will do better on Naboo than you, like blow up a whole droid control station while you only win against one single Sith, who is just an apprentice at that. Anakin will handle himself well, I assure you. Oh no, now I know what this is about. You are jealous because I said I wanted Anakin as my apprentice, aren't you? Do you doubt my judgement of Anakin… of you? Do you really think I would recommend you for trials if I didn't think you weren't ready? In my opinion, you should have been knighted years ago, the last few years of your apprenticeship were as needless as they were ridiculous."

Obi-Wan didn't know what to make of that. Had it been a sort of twisted accolade, bluntly delivered in Qui-Gon's unique style? To Obi-Wan, who felt downtrodden and rejected at the moment, it rather sounded like Qui-Gon had wanted to get rid of him years ago.

"With all due respect, Master-" the Padawan addressed Qui-Gon once again.

Qui-Gon interrupted him before he could make his point.

"Just cut it out, Obi-Wan. I've had enough of your disrespect."

"It's not disrespect, Master. It's the truth," Obi-Wan persisted. "A war is a dangerous place for a child, no matter if it's your 'Chosen One' or not. And please, Master, please don't ignore my bad feeling about the boy. I'm sure there's a way we could bring his mother to Coruscant, too, and help them find a new home. That would be the best solution, I think."

"From your point of view," Qui-Gon brushed off his apprentice's protest without so much as a thought about it.

Obi-Wan's usually subtle comments had become increasingly blunt with the need to make his Master see what the Force was showing him by means of an increasingly troubling bad feeling gnawing at him. The Council's reaction had shown that he was not the only one to think that Anakin was better off anywhere but with the Jedi. "The boy is dangerous. They all sense it. Why can't you?" Why did Qui-Gon always ignore things he didn't want to see?

"His fate is uncertain. He's not dangerous," Qui-Gon insisted, throwing his apprentice a reproachful look. "The Council will decide Anakin's future. That should be enough for you. Now get on board."

Obi-Wan had to clench his hands into white-knuckled fists and bite on his tongue to keep from screaming in frustration. Disbelieve and outrage sparkled in his eyes as he studied his Master's face for traces of – he didn't really know what he was looking for. Whatever it was, though, he didn't find it and so turned around and stalked off towards the ship. He didn't believe that Qui-Gon, the constant rebel, had just told him, the ever obedient Padawan he usually criticized for sticking to the Code and being too conformist, to listen to the Council.

If it wouldn't be so inappropriate for a Jedi, Obi-Wan would have liked to kick something - or someone - very hard.

oOo

Anakin was fiddling with R2-D2 while Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had their discussion. Anakin didn't know what they were talking about, but by the looks on both man's faces, he decided it must be something very serious. Qui-Gon looked annoyed and snapped at Obi-Wan, and the Padawan looked peeved and worried and also a bit sad.

Anakin didn't know what to think of all this. On the one hand, he really wanted to be a Jedi and stay near Qui-Gon whom he hero-worshiped unabashedly, on the other hand Anakin missed his mom terribly, and he was unsure whether he truly wanted to go to Naboo if there was an invasion going on there.

When Qui-Gon finally ended the discussion by ordering Obi-Wan aboard, Anakin cautiously approached him. He didn't want to draw the imposing man's ire on his poor self, so he apologized just to be on the safe side.

"Qui-Gon, sir, I don't want to be a problem," he said, putting all of his considerable patheticness into his voice and posture.

It seemed to work, because Qui-Gon kneeled down next to him and put a large warm hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "You won't be, Ani," he promised in a soothing voice. "I'm not allowed to train you so I want you to watch me and be mindful. Always remember: There is always a bigger fish. Stay close to me and you'll be safe, because I'm the biggest fish in the whole aquarium. And if you also remember to occasionally do a barrel roll, you should be fine," Qui-Gon added his second-most favourite saying just for good measure.

Anakin pondered Qui-Gon's words for a moment before he came to the conclusion that they were probably meant to be comforting.

"Master, sir," Anakin shyly asked, "I heard Yoda talking about midi-chlorians. I've been wondering – what are midi-chlorians?"

Qui-Gon smiled at the curious look in Anakin's face. What was it that Obi-Wan had told him earlier about cells and all that stuff? He had to admit he hadn't paid proper attention.

"Midi-chlorians are, erm… a microscopic life-form that resides within all living cells."

Yes, that sounded scientific enough, so it might actually have come from Obi-Wan.

Anakin stared disbelievingly at him. "They live inside me," he stated, sounding thoroughly convinced that Qui-Gon must have lost it to suggest something like that.

To his horror, the Jedi Master answered with a tiny chuckle: "Inside your cells, yes. And we are symbols… no, that wasn't the word… sycophants… not that was also wrong… symbionts – that's it! We are symbionts with them," he added, glad that he had actually remembered the word Obi-Wan had used with the Gungan boss.

"Symbionts?" Anakin inquired, obviously unfamiliar with the term.

Relieved that he had looked the meaning of the complicated word up earlier, Qui-Gon answered in his best schoolmasterly voice: "Life-forms living together for mutual advantage. Without the midi-chlorians, life could not exist and we would have no knowledge of the Force. They continually speak to us, telling us the will of the Force. When you learn to quiet your mind, you'll hear them speaking to you."

Anakin frowned worriedly. So Qui-Gon was hearing voices inside his head? That… was bad, wasn't it? But Qui-Gon sounded so positive about the whole topic. And he wanted to teach Anakin to listen to the voices inside his head? His mom had always told him that he should never obey them unquestioningly. Now Anakin was thoroughly confused.

"I don't understand."

"With time and training, Ani, you will. You will," Qui-Gon promised him, his morsel of advice becoming the cause for many a headache for Obi-Wan in the years to come, because Anakin vowed then and there to heed Qui-Gon's counsel. In the years that Anakin was his Padawan, Obi-Wan simply couldn't understand why his Padawan would unfailingly act first and think later, if ever.

Qui-Gon and Anakin were distracted by the arrival of the Queen. The young monarch and her entourage came marching towards the sleek silver spaceship, stopping in front of the Jedi Master.

"Your Majesty," Qui-Gon addressed the Queen with a bow," it is our pleasure to continue to serve and protect you against blaster bolts both ricocheting off walls or objects and aimed at you, knife attacks, bombs, verbal attacks from rowdies and dark warriors with scary tattoos and horns looking like they belonged to something escaped from a bestiary. I'm sorry to inform you that by contract, we are forbidden to do anything against power-hungry, deceiving Senators or Chancellors, though. Oh, and the law of the Republic compels me to inform you that we are powerless against Gungan slobber, the Corellian Killer Virus and cannot be held liable for unexpected weight gain resulting from either unexpected pregnancies (though that is highly unlikely, considering that I'm old enough to be your bigger brother) or eating orgies brought on by the lovesick and broken-hearted sadness my Padawan usually leaves behind when he makes unmistakably clear that he simply is not interested, so don't get your hopes up because I didn't mention him in the pregnancy part of the sentence."

Gertrudé, who had once again stepped in for Padmé as the Queen, gulped heavily. Beneath the white make-up, her face had taken on a rosy pink flush when Qui-Gon had mentioned pregnancies, which was quickly replaced by an embarrassed ruby red as the Jedi seemed to read her thoughts and quickly but effectively squashed her budding desire. The other handmaidens also looked quite downcast at the Master's warning, and they each decided to grab a huge bucket of ice-cream once they got back to Naboo.

"I welcome your help," the Queen finally managed to thank Qui-Gon. "Senator Palpatine fears that the Federation means to destroy me."

"I assure you I will not allow that to happen," Qui-Gon comforted her.

Initially, Qui-Gon had planned to leave Jar Jar behind on Coruscant. He had long ago replaced this particular pathetic life-form with another one, one he liked much better than the Gungan. Unfortunately, though, the Gungan had somehow been informed of their departure (Senator Palpatine had notified the Gungan, he hoped to at least annoy the Jedi if he couldn't use Jar Jar as a tool to turn them to the Dark Side) and so, after screaming an ear-splitting "Wesa gion' home!" accompanied by a jubilant somersault, he hurried on board before anyone could close the hatch to keep him out, because they were still waiting for Anakin to come aboard.

"Come on, R2," Anakin waved to the little astromech droid. Then he followed Qui-Gon and the Queen and, most important, Padmé into the ship.

oOo

Edited on 13th February, 2011