CATEGORY: Is there one for "Just Plain Weird"? + Angst/AU --
Picks up immediatley post the last battle with Darth Maul in
TPM.
WARNINGS: NO sweetness and light here. This is a Strange plot
bunny that bit me last night during the clone discussion on
list.
SPOILERS: If anyone on the planet hasn't seen TPM yet, yes.
Otherwise, no.
SUMMARY: Obi-Wan is offered a choice that would let Qui-Gon
survive the battle with Darth Maul. But all such choices come
with price tags. . .
FEEDBACK: All comments, neg or pos, gratefully accepted.
"You have a choice, you know."
It was cold in the Theed Generator core. For a long time, the
only sounds were the hum of the machinery and Obi-Wan's tears.
And then, echoing a bit, had come the words "You have a choice,
you know," spoken in a light, neutral tone that was neither
male nor female.
Reluctantly, Obi-Wan looked up, still holding his Master's body
protectively, though any need for protection had long since
evaporated. The words had come from a slender, blue-clad figure
sitting negligently on the edge of the generator shaft, legs
swinging as though this were a picnic. It had golden, narrow
eyes, pale skin and black hair, masses of it, falling down and
reaching the cold tiles it sat on. If Obi-Wan had been feeling,
he would have experienced surprise.
"What?"
"Oh, dear boy, do focus. You have a choice."
Staring down at the beloved body cradled in his arms, Obi-Wan
said, "I would gladly trade places..."
"Come, you have far more imagination than that. Why would
simply trading places be at all interesting? You are much too
useful to be one with that Force of yours so early, Obi-Wan.
No, that wasn't the choice I was referring to. Do concentrate a
bit harder."
Obi-Wan said the next thing that came into his head. "Cloning
is forbidden by the Republic."
At this, the blue-clad figure laughed, head thrown back. "By
all the gods that don't exist, what made you think of something
so silly? Do think harder, little one, or else I will know I
have truly lost my abilities to judge character. Cloning... how
terribly...clumsy."
Obi-Wan went back to ignoring the blue-clad figure. The whole
conversation was surreal; nothing mattered except the man who
wasn't breathing in his arms...nothing mattered except for
Qui-Gon, nothing mattered except for...
"Exactly my point." Robes swishing, footsteps echoing in the
Theed Generator Core and then an icy finger, long and elegant,
pushed at Obi-Wan's chin until he looked up again. "You have a
choice."
Confused, he blinked away tears and shrugged away from the
invading hand. "About what? Why do you keep saying that?"
"Because its true. I always tell the truth, you know. That is,
I suppose, why most of your kind fears me. Truth is terribly
inconvenient. The last thing most people want to hear is the
absolute truth."
Obi-Wan glanced at the figure, this time with some interest.
"My Master always told the truth."
Amusement danced in the blue-clad being's narrow golden eyes.
"Did he now? How very interesting. And - are you certain he
did?"
"Of course I'm certain! Oh, go away, whoever, whatever you
are...probably a figment of my imagination."
"Never a figment, dear child. A nightmare, perhaps...though I
prefer to think of myself as being quite solid and real." The
blue-clad figure's expression turned musing. "If all things are
real, then no thing is unreal; therefore, all possibilities are
possible. Failure of apprehension does not preclude existence."
"Spouting koans by Master M'Pel and offering me vague choices,
what are you? Let us be."
Laughter, just contained, dancing at the edges of the elegant,
light voice. "Anger, Obi-Wan - very bad of you. Anger leads to
all sorts of nasty things. I don't recommend it at all.
Extremely inconvenient emotion."
Obi-Wan ignored It, concentrating on Qui-Gon's face, rocking
the rapidly cooling body in his arms. The floor struck cold
through Obi-Wan's leggings and his legs were beginning to
cramp; of these minor discomforts he took no particular notice.
"That Jedi stoicism - how lovely to know it still exists. You
have a choice, young one."
"What choice?" And what choice, Obi-Wan thought, had he ever
had, but to follow wherever his master led?
"Precisely. What do you want most in the world, Obi-Wan?"
That was easy; he answered without thinking: "Qui-Gon alive."
"You see? That wasn't so difficult, was it? You have a choice."
"What choice?"
"Look at me, Obi-Wan." The light, elegant voice turned
commanding, and instinctively, Obi-Wan obeyed. The golden eyes
were very bright. "Nothing comes without a price tag. Remember
that. Forget the Code, forget honor, forget the Right. They
matter little in this equation. Reality is simply this: I can
give you what you want most."
"I ask the obvious, there is a price attached, and it would
be?"
"Delightful! I knew you could focus yourself, dear boy.
Correct. The price is yourself. There now, you look surprised?
Did you think it would be a difficult task?"
"I...see." What had he thought It would say?
"Think, child -- the easiest thing in the world is to give
oneself away. The most difficult thing in the world is to
retrieve oneself afterwards."
Obi-Wan refused to consider the implications of the statement.
Instead, he concentrated on that which was most important to
him at that moment. "You can bring him back?"
"Indeed. You have that choice, but..." The other hand raised in
a gesture at once fluid and brusque, "listen well - make that
choice, and you will not see him for quite some time. Perhaps
you will not see him ever again. You have a choice, but
understand that aspect well."
"You will take me with you...where?" Obi-Wan asked, calm now
that he decision had been made. Some part of him was amused
that he had even thought there was a decision to be made.
"Beyond boundaries, Obi-Wan. Are you ready?"
He looked down at Qui-Gon once again. "And he will live,
truly?"
"Truly. I have not lied to you Obi-Wan. I never lie. About
anything." The golden eyes darkened to nearly bronze, the
blue-clad figure regarding him silently for long moments. Then
it repeated one last time. "You have a choice."
Obi-Wan did not speak. He gently moved away from Qui-Gon, rose
to his feet and extended one hand.
The blue-clad figure took it.
Unnoticed by either of them, the still figure on the tiles
began to breathe.
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