Master Apprentice
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This fic was inspired by Terri Hamill's The Jinn Identity. I read it and was amazed by the layers in it, and by the fact that I couldn't figure out what was really going on between the two characters who were so obviously Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. The ending of that fic blew me away, and I remember writing Terri afterwards and telling her she'd inspired me to try to write more complicated stories.
I began writing "The Bodyguard" within a week. The bunny for it was a little scene that had popped into my head, partly inspired by the famous scene in Return of the Jedi in Jabba's throne room. The scene I had in mind was that Qui had been captured by a crime baron of some sort, but Obi had already infiltrated the group. Ironically, Obi was chosen to be the one to torture/rape/seduce Qui-Gon. That scene needed a backstory, and then it needed a resolution. It eventually grew into this fic.
I picked it up and put it down many times over the next twenty months. Were it not for the hard work and encouragement of my betas, Rita, Emila, and Helens, I'm not certain this story would ever have been finished. Each of them encouraged me to keep developing it, and praised and critiqued every new draft. I owe them a tremendous debt!
One of my goals in writing "The Bodyguard" was to create a fic that fits into Star Wars canon as much as possible. For example, Qui-Gon's reaction to Alissi's sacrifice foreshadows his own death years later, as does Obi-Wan's fretting over how padawans come to terms with the death of their masters. The dark Jedi is a friend of Dooku's and is working for Palpatine. Palpatine's interest in Force-sensitive twins is a warning of the danger Luke and Leia might have faced had they been found by the emperor. In fact, one of the side plots of this story is the development of Obi-Wan's belief that twins should *not* be trained together because of the risks involved. This is intended to serve as an explanation for why he later separates Luke and Leia.
I chose to tell the first half of the story from the point of view of a non-Jedi character for several reasons. Part of this was an homage to Terri's fic mentioned above; her innovative use of Qui-Gon's POV was what made the story work for me. Another reason, however, was that I had challenged myself to create a complex, three-dimensional female character who couldn't be accused of being a Mary Sue. I wanted the readers to respect and sympathize with her, despite the fact that she's a slaver! I decided to tell the first half of the story from her point of view because I wasn't certain I could pull it off otherwise. It was also handy to conceal Obi's identity, of course. I liked the potential for erotic tension between Qui and Obi in a situation in which they can't acknowledge each other, and I didn't think that would work so well from one of their points of view. Another side benefit was that I was able to play with the perception of the Jedi a bit, and present an outsider's perspective on the Order in the Old Republic. Erat/Obi subtly manipulated C'Lon throughout the first half of the fic, and it was fun to write those little mind tricks from the perspective of the person being influenced.
By the way, I'm genuinely curious to know what people thought of Erat for the first half of the fic. Was it obvious he was Obi undercover, or did you buy his tale to C'Lon? When did you know he was Obi in some incarnation?
I wanted to write C'Lon as a complex character, and not a two-dimensional cardboard cut-out of a villian. (There are enough of those in GL's universe as it is!) Despite what our government leaders would like us to believe, human beings are not easily classified into "good" and "evil". People make choices that affect their lives, but they almost always believe they are making the best choice at the time. People who become drug mules, or who rob banks, or shoplift, or cheat on their taxes -- they all make choices that make sense to them at the time they made them. It seemed the best way to go, for whatever reason. One of the themes of "The Bodyguard" was that it's never too late to redeem yourself for making an unfortunate choice. C'Lon, Qui, and Obi all learn this lesson by the end of the story. The theme of sacrifice for love was also important, as people may have noticed, and the characters don't agree on whether sacrifice for love is worth the cost or not. This is because I, as the writer, don't think there is an absolute answer to that question. It depends on the person and the situation. Since I wanted this fic to fit into canon, I wanted to show the Jedi as people who understand the complexities of the universe, and don't just view it in terms of black-and-white, or good-vs-evil. C'Lon wasn't so clearly a good person or a bad person. She was simply a human being, who had made choices in her life, many of which she later regretted. And she redeemed herself at the end of the story by trying to make amends for what she realized were bad choices. She also taught Qui-Gon a valuable lesson, one that enabled him to open himself to Obi-Wan at last.
In general, I wanted to write a complex adventure story, one with enough layers that people would see new things in it on a second read -- once they know how it ends. I sincerely hope I've managed to accomplish that to some degree! Thank you for reading it, and please feel free to let me know what you think.
Emma
PS: This picture of Ewan was "inspirational" as well, and I stared at it a lot when I had writer's block! ;-).
