Master Apprentice Archive Lifebond Quick search:

Rating: PG

Categories: Q/O, POV, romance

Archive: M_A only

Feedback: Yes, please!

Warnings: none

Disclaimer: Mr. Lucas owns Star Wars. I own debt since I make no money writing this.

Summary: A reunion.

Notes: This piece would have never seen the light of the list without The Rose and Padawan Ula. I can't thank either of them enough for their encouragement, comments and beta work. Thanks also to Lagniappette for her beta work and continued friendship.

Part I

I have watched him.

I have watched over him.

I have watched as the bright boy that had stood at my side grew into a self-confident youth. I have watched as that youth formed himself into a strong, self-contained man. And now, I watch as that man stands confronting another once wide-eyed boy, who himself has grown. But not into strength of character and heart, but into something twisted, something responsible for the destruction of everything we held dear. If only I could have stood at his side, but now the time has come for him, instead, to join me and allow me to soothe his sorrow and rid him of his guilt.

Guilt that is in reality mine. I found the boy and with my dying breath passed the burden to Obi-Wan. If only I had known the consequences… but even now I still feel he will bring balance. It was my love for Obi-Wan that had me ask him to train Anakin and his love for me that made him agree. He needed the reason to continue on without me. Lifebonded or not, Obi-Wan's time was not to be over that day on Naboo.

Even now, Obi-Wan fights for others. He is fighting the machine that was once a trusted friend to gain time for the son to escape. I am very proud of him and allow myself to be seen, finally letting him know that his part is done. I can only hope he will join me in the healing we both deserve…

I have felt him.

I have felt him watching over me.

At times it is the only thing that has allowed me to keep going. The years since his death have not been easy. I had to learn to live without our lifebond. I wanted him here to share the joys and help carry the terrible burden of sorrow during the years that should have been ours. As I learned how to exist without him, I also came to understand that Qui-Gon was not supposed to witness the changes time has wrought.

I have learned, thanks to dedicated masters, how to finally live in the moment. As I stand here facing my former student, I am content to wait. Wait until Luke and his friends can escape; wait for a sign that my part is finally finished. It has been a long time since I felt such peace within the Force; there is a sense of completeness, of it being time for me to simply accept what is to happen…

I look up and past Vader's shoulder and there is what I have been waiting all these years to see...he is smiling and the joy on Qui- Gon's face is all I need to stand straight. Looking back into Vader's red eyes, I smile slightly feeling the Force swell. I am ready so I lower my saber and allow him to send me to my lifebonded and to the embrace I have so long missed…

Part II

Water.

I find myself surrounded by water in every direction.

The tiny patch of land that I stand on has only three trees and a scrawny patch of vegetation. After twenty-some odd years of extreme drought, the water takes on a mythical value and the sky with its clouds tinted with pinks and oranges is as beautiful to me as any I have ever seen. I could stand here for hours and never get bored looking at the majesty of this spot the Force has chosen for me.

I could. But the sky is not what I really long to see. I wonder if it was my imagination or wishful thinking that had me believing I saw Qui-Gon there at the end. In the years of my isolation I had many fantasies of our reunion. I should be able to turn around and there he would be, leaning against one of the trees, with a slight grin on his beloved face. But after so long, I find I am afraid.

Afraid I will wake up from another dream to face another lonely day. So I won't turn around; I will just sit down, put my arms around knees that don't ache, clasping myself into a tight ball with hands unlined with age and watch the water. It is safer and the need to guard my rather foolish heart is greater than waking from another broken dream.

Sand.

I find it rather ironic that I find him on a sandy beach.

No, not the tropical paradise of a planet like Alderaan for my love. He dreams us onto what amounts to nothing more than a sandbar with trees. Well, it stands to reason he would long for water after living on Tatooine, but sand? With the waves gently lapping the toes of his boots, he is staring out into the darkening sky with the clouds tinted blue and purple at the horizon. I can image the look on his face, his brow slightly drawn and creased in concentration. I want him to turn and smile at me as only he can - open and carefree now that we are together.

In the years of his isolation, I have visited Obi-Wan in his dreams. It was the only time he let his shields down enough for me to slip in, but it was always heartbreaking to watch the next morning when he realized it was only a dream. I should walk up to him but I find myself afraid.

The ever-calm Jedi master is afraid. Obi-Wan went through so much, when I couldn't be with him. How can I approach him now that he has become everything I saw in him and so much more? So I will lean against this tree, with my arms folded and watch the fading light reflect off his auburn hair, waiting until the moment is right and I feel I can reach out to him so we can begin living our dreams.

Part III

Gently.

Gently the waves creep up to the beach.

After years of deprivation, I have decided to allow myself the luxury of sitting here relaxing in the water until it is up to my waist. It is a simple pleasure I have long gone without.

*

Tickling.

It started with a tickling in my head.

Who ever said the brain couldn't tickle has never been in my head. The intensity of the tickling matched the swell of water. The higher the waves got, the more my head tickled until the point when the water reaches my waist, the intensity causes me to surge out and up onto my feet. Once on my feet I realize the tickle is blossoming.

Oh force. As Yoda once said, how embarrassing; it had been so long since I last felt it, that I didn't recognize it until now. Our lifebond.

I spin around, and there leaning against the tree with a grin on his face is my most loved. Qui-Gon.

Beloved…

Softly.

Softly the water rises up his legs.

Why he sits there getting wet with all his clothes on is a mystery to me. I have waited to see him without them and long to see what is hidden underneath all those layers. To see if my memories hold true for the young man I remember, not the old man of Tatooine.

The moment has finally arrived, and the Force is urging me to act.

*

Caressing.

It starts with a caress in his mind.

A caress as gentle as the one I long to give his once-again smooth skin. As I go deeper, I realize our long quiet bond is growing strong again.

I watch him surge out of the waves with all the youth and vitality of the days before my passing. Oh the joy I find in watching him; he is everything that is beautiful to me.

He spins around and everything I hold most dear is facing me. My forever-long love. Obi-Wan.

Beloved…

We meet.

We touch.

On this sand bar, surrounded by water, we finally live together in the moment. This moment.

As our lips meet and our bodies touch, we finally realize there is no try; there is only do. We do have each other for the rest of eternity and with the full potential of our lifebond realized, we will truly be one with The Force.