A/N: Oh my, sorry this took a while, I got a nasty case of writer's block right in the middle. It was finally solved by a late weekend and waking up at 4:00 AM ready to write! At least, that got me over the hump and I was able to carry on in my regular manner. Any way, I may not be 100% satisfied with this chapter, but I hope it delivers!

OHOHOHOHOHOH

Chapter 5: The Rising Tide

Obi-Wan woke the next morning with a painful crick in his neck. He blearily looked over at the person who was tapping his shoulder insistently, blinking a few times before groaning and stretching his neck with a crack. It was none other than Nurse Misshi who had been prodding him with her long, boney fingers. As soon as he was awake enough, she excitedly pressed a large bundle into his arms and launched into a detailed explanation, almost none of which Obi-Wan understood. His sleep fogged mind sluggishly mulled over what she was doing here, as he had been under the impression this last shift was her night off because there had been a different nurse on all. Eventually she finished her monologue with a proud grin and a pat on his shoulder. Indulging in a pinch of his chin, Misshi left with a little flourish and a goodbye.

Taking a look at the bundle in his arms, he was surprised to find it was Qui-Gon's cloak. Wrapped inside were various pieces of their Jedi clothes, though neither had a complete outfit. There was a pair of trousers, probably Qui-Gon's and Obi-Wan's belt, sash and overlay*, though the basic robe and under-robe were missing. Qui-Gon's spare robe was included, though it was a rather travel-worn piece of clothing. Fortunately Qui-Gon's boots were included along with their belts, though they were stripped of any gear. Obi-Wan sighed in relief, no clothing item was more essential than a good pair of well fitted footwear considering the active life of a Jedi Knight.

As he sorted through the items, Obi-Wan remembered Misshi had been wearing street clothes, rather than her nurse's uniform, and bits of the conversation filtered back to him. She had made mention to the building their suite had been in, and many references to "medical" this or that, and people's names, doctors and nurses. She had repeated the words "difficult" and "lucky" many times. Obi-Wan smiled a private little smile when he realized she must have gone in search of their clothes herself, and his heart warmed to the little old lady.

Besides Misshi's visit, Obi-Wan's morning was hardly different than every other morning he'd had since being held in the sick ward, as he'd started to think of the room. For all the banality of the day, he could not shake the uneasy feeling that had lodged its self in his mind since the night before. Worst of all he could find no reason for his apprehension. That was, until Dr. Shehlal's visit a little before midday.

When the Doctor came in, she seemed unusually distant and distracted. The nurses were tiptoeing around her even more than usual She even dropped one of her instruments, which a male nurse quickly snatched up and returned it to her hand before she even bent over.

Having finished her examination of Qui-Gon, she turned as if about to leave and Obi-Wan quickly cleared his throat and called, "Dr. Shehlal!"

She spun around, surprise reaching her eyes alone, and said, "What is it, Apprentice Kenobi? Your cold?"

"No," said Obi-Wan, "Last night, I think Master Jinn woke up."

"You think?" the disdain in her voice was hardly disguised.

"I… woke up from a… bad dream, and he spoke to me, reached out and touched me," Obi-Wan carefully chose his words this time; Dr. Shehlal was obviously in a sour mood.

"Could you see anything? Did you observe his eyes?" she asked with probing bluntness.

"No, it was too dark, everything was in shadow."

"And you are absolutely certain he was speaking? That he was not just moving or mumbling incoherently?"

"I am certain," Obi-Wan said with a self-assured nod.

Dr. Shehlal narrowed her eyes and ran one hand thoughtfully down the length the necklace she wore, "Is it not possible that you could have been merely half-awake, and dreamed this incident?"

"No, I was awake," replied Obi-Wan with conviction, but he could see she doubted him.

"Well, in either case, I am sorry to say this morning I have noted no significant change in Master Jinn's condition. Unfortunately I am very busy and must continue my rounds, but if his state does change do not hesitate to alert the staff, as you should have done last night."

With that imperious statement she spun around and left the room with conspicuous haste. Obi-Wan was shocked by her unusually brusque manner; while she could hardly be described as warm and sympathetic, this harsh disregard was something the padawan had never witnessed before. What could possibly cause such an extreme reaction?

Obi-Wan suddenly felt a growing sense of guilt. She was right, he should have told someone immediately last night, and instead he had allowed himself to be lulled back to sleep. Walking over to his master's bedside and taking his hand, Obi-Wan looked closely for any change in Qui-Gon's expression or sign of wakefulness. Disappointingly, he looked exactly as he had the day before. The padawan was even beginning to wonder if the doctor had been right, maybe he had imagined it all.

Obi-Wan shook his head to clear it of such thoughts. No, it had happened, he was as sure of that as he was of his own name. He felt Qui-Gon's presence through the Force that night in a way no dream could replicate. Briefly Obi-Wan considered the possibility that his Master was merely asleep, but he quickly dismissed the idea. Though Dr. Shehlal was cold and arrogant, she was an expert and clamed there was no change. Obi-Wan was forced to admit even he could tell this sleep was unnatural. With a sigh he released his master's hand and went to open the window and watch the courtyard, as he had done every day since they first arrived. That's when he spotted the pad on the table and smiled, remembering Dr. Lemleshor's gift. Perhaps he would be more willing to listen.

Contenting himself for the moment with little device, Obi-Wan managed to while away the time before lunch. After his meal he gave up on the vid feature, as most channels contained over-wrought melodramas or news, one of which was a particularly disturbing live broadcast of the trials and scaffold. He'd just settled down to read a short novel after tackling the rather cumbersome browsing system when he heard a soft keening sound.

Slowly lowering the pad to the table, Obi-Wan looked over to where Qui-Gon lay. Though it was an eerie, almost inhuman sound, it was definitely coming from the older man. The padawan was on his feet and at his master's side in a matter of seconds, just in time to hear the keening change into an incoherent mumbling, which was hardly any more reassuring. This time he made sure to press the call button before leaning over and speaking to Qui-Gon, "Master? … Master can you hear me?"

There was no change to indicate he'd heard.

In moments a nurse arrived, and Obi-Wan was rather disappointed to note it was the nervous young woman who usually had barely enough courage to slide the tray in the door. This time she showed more professional spirit and rushed to the side of the bed, reading the monitors, but hesitating to reach out and touch the patient. She looked helplessly at Obi-Wan and asked him something he did not understand.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you said. I think he's waking up."

Before Obi-Wan could finish his sentence, Qui-Gon's mumblings suddenly increased in volume, then began to slowly die away. The two spectators had instinctually leaned in closer so they could hear what the patient said, even though he was speaking little more than gibberish. Qui-Gon gave a sudden jolt, his arm twitching close to the nurse. She let out an ear piercing scream and fled the room.

"Wait!" Obi-Wan called after, but she was already out the door with it closing automatically behind her.

Left alone once more, Obi-Wan could only glance worriedly at his master's restless form and attempt to interpret the monitors. After he had just decided which reading was the heart rate and was attempting to decipher the others, the nurse returned followed by a disheveled and groggy Dr. Lemleshor.

"Dr. Lemmy!" said Obi-Wan, surprised to see the man this early. He usually stopped by later in the afternoon.

Dr. Lemleshor did not speak, but immediately began observing the patient, checking Qui-Gon's vitals, eyes, reaction to pain, and other signs. Once he was finished, the doctor turned to Obi-Wan and asked, "How long has he been like this?"

"Maybe a minute."

Dr. Lemleshor nodded and put the instrument he'd been using back in his pocket, "Is this the first time he has been in this state?"

Obi-Wan hesitated, Dr. Shehlal's disdain surfacing in his mind, but he pushed the doubts she fostered aside and said, "There was last night."

"Was it similar?"

Qui-Gon had quieted a little and Dr. Lemleshor's no non-sense questions calmed the hectic atmosphere. Obi-Wan hadn't even realized his heart was racing until it began to slow.

"I… no."

"Please describe what happened as precisely as you can," said the doctor, his dark eyes gazing penetratingly at the young jedi.

Obi-Wan carefully recounted the events of the night before, though he left out the details of his dream, as they seemed irrelevant.

"Could you see his face at all?" asked the doctor.

"No, it was too dark."

Dr. Lemleshor looked off to the side, deep in thought. Eventually he quietly murmured, almost to low to hear, "That is unusual indeed."

He turned back to Obi-Wan with his usual confident manner, and said "We won't know the level of damage until he reaches a higher level of consciousness, but this is a sign of improvement. It is possible he will become more physically agitated, in which case you must call the staff immediately so that we may retrain him to prevent damage to his other injuries. He may also fall back into a more sleep-like state. Otherwise, you need only call if he becomes coherent or appears to be aware of his surroundings."

Obi-Wan simply nodded.

Dr. Lemleshor reached out and put a hand on the young man's shoulder, and asked, "How are you doing?"

Clearing his throat a little self consciously, Obi-Wan replied, "My cold's better, just a little phlegm."

"That is not what I meant."

"I'm fine," said Obi-Wan with a forced smile, "However, I've been meaning to ask, don't you have a rotating schedule?"

The doctor seemed caught off guard by the question but answered willingly enough, "In a usual hospital setting, yes. But I have a room here and have been assigned permanent duty. It's a little bit like out on the field. I suppose the Party believes I am equal to the challenge because of my experience as a medical officer."

Obi-Wan was surprised, "So you live here?"

"I suppose I do, now. I have an apartment in the city, but… even if I wanted to… let us just say that it is much safer here than in the streets," he admitted ruefully.

"What exactly is going on? No one will tell me."

A troubled expression swiftly crossed Lemleshor's face, but he replied in his usual tone, "If I'm to answer that, I must first ask how much you know about the late government's electoral system?"

"To be honest, we focused more on customs and the particular situation when studying Varsis."

Lemleshor nodded, "Before the War, Lenoia had gone through a period of upheaval and established a new form of government. The other nations still have some form of monarchy, but ours became a 'democracy.' However, this change was most beneficial to the nobles and wealthy middle class, and the new constitution reflected that. Only those with a certain amount of property or wealth were allowed the vote. They became known popularly as the varyars, roughly translated as the 'elite' or 'first citizens.' The rest of the citizens had to struggle on as before, but this time with out the perceived 'protection' of a monarch from their land lords. The influx of foreign peoples and space age industrialization also heightened tensions, especially in Koshol where there is a considerable working class population.

"The recent coup intends to install a true popular government. However, there are many tensions within the party. They could set aside there differences for the Revolution, but now… they are beginning to re-emerge. Such as between more moderate leaders and those who believe in universal suffrage; those who wish for only Lenoian's to have to vote, or to include permanent alien residents. There is also a great debate on what to do with the varyars. So far only those in political and government positions have been executed, but…"

The doctor trailed off, but Obi-Wan was perfectly capable of filling in the gap, "Dr. Lemmy," he asked hesitantly, "How do you know all this?"

"Ob—kid, you may be in more d—"

But Lemleshor was interrupted by the boom of an explosion which rocked the building's foundation, quickly followed by blaster fire and the sound of shouts as well as screams. Both the padawan and the doctor ran to the window, as if they could somehow see outside the courtyard and discover what had happened.

"From the sound and after shock, it must have been close, "said Dr. Lemleshor as they peered through the window, they could just see smoke rising from over the side of the building.

"What's over in that direction?" asked Obi-Wan.

"It could have been the city square, or even the building they have been using for meetings…" Lemleshor turned to the young man with a grim expression, "I am sorry, kid, but I must leave you and discover what happened."

Obi-Wan looked back with much the same solemnity, "I understand."

OHOHOHOHOHOHOH

A/N: How many people would be mad if I got in the habit of writing cliff-hangers? I won't do it on purpose, but it seems to have happened again! Sorry 'bout that. I try not to leave them too hang-y...