Master Apprentice  Archive The Master's Musings - 2002-09-11 - In
Memory of 9/11 |
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Archive: MA, any others just ask, I probably won't say no
My Home Page: http://www.jediphiles.com/~mali
Category: Drama
Rating: PG13?
Pairing: Q/O
Summary: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan experience their own version of 9/11, and then participate in a Memorial Service a year later.
Disclaimer: These beautiful boys aren't mine, they belong to George. I'm just playing with them for a bit. I promise to put them back when I'm done. Don't sue - I've got no money. I've spent it all on seeing TPM way too many times and buying SW toys and feeding my Liam obsession.
Feedback: Oh yes, please. Good, bad or indifferent.
Author's Notes: I do not wish to cause anyone any more pain, hence the warnings. I wanted to express my own feelings about the events of 9/11, and tried to do it in this fic. And I wanted to write about the healing process. I dedicate this story to those who died, and those who lived. I dedicate this story to you.
No one should have to bear such pain.
While attending a conference on Rivana last year, Obi-Wan and I witnessed a horrible attack on the people of that world. An attack made so much worse because it came in the form of the Jedi, though everyone now knows who really was behind it.
The Tolgans.
Located at the far end of the Outer Rim, the two planets, hundreds of parsecs from their nearest neighbors, have been at war for a millennium. The reason? The Tolgans despise the Rivanas way of life. Rivana offers freedoms unheard of by most of the Tolgans, a situation the leaders of Tolgan would like unchanged. What better way to control a population than to control every single thing in their lives? The people of Tolgan are forced to eat only government sanctioned foods, wear only government sanctioned clothing, read only government sanctioned datapads and worship only government sanctioned deities.
The situation is not helped any by the fact that all beings are welcome on Rivana, even Tolgans, should they find a way to escape the madness of their own world.
When the Tolgans learned that Rivana had invited the Jedi to oversee a planet-wide conference on making and keeping peace between the two planets, they began to plan their attack. In the year since the horrific events took place, we have learned much about how it was carried out. The Tolgans are nothing if not thorough. They modified four of their spacecraft to resemble Republic Cruisers and then filled the four ships with deadly explosives. Four Tolgan extremists, believing they were obeying their god and would be forever immortalized for their actions, flew the ships on suicide missions. Two of the ships hit the twin towers housing the conference attendees, and one ship hit a major military building. The final ship was brought down by a group of Rivanas who selflessly flew their own craft on a collision course, straight at the Republic Cruiser bearing down on their planet's presidential compound, thereby saving countless lives at the expense of their own.
Believing the Cruisers to be that of other Jedi, no warnings were raised when the ships first entered Rivana airspace.
So many lives were lost that day.
Obi-Wan and I were on a break from the Conference, and knowing our stay would soon be over, decided to spend some time outdoors, enjoying the beauty of the small planet. Finding a park not far from the Conference Towers, we were in the middle of noon meal when the first ship hit the tower. Neither of us actually saw the first craft hit, but we certainly heard the deafening explosion. We were instantly on our feet and running towards the towers even before we registered the huge fireball that engulfed the upper floors of the tower. The second ship hit just as we reached the base of the first tower, and I'll never forget the images of death and destruction that day. Not knowing what happened, only knowing we had to help, we immediately headed for the entrance to the first tower, our only thought to get as many people out as possible. Without needing to speak, we separated, each of us heading in different directions, and I quickly lost sight of Obi-Wan.
Some time later as I led a group of terrified people from the tower, I caught a glimpse of Obi-Wan carrying an injured man out. And then the impossible happened - the towers collapsed around us. I don't know how it came to be that both of us escaped death when so many other rescuers lost their lives. The Rivanas lost over two thousand of their brothers and sisters that day.
We worked side by side with the people of Rivana, desperately sifting through the carnage, hoping for one more life to be saved. Hour after hour we searched, unmindful of the day fading into darkness or of the dawn breaking across the nighttime sky.
When it was over, I found Obi-Wan sitting on a large broken piece of metal, his dirty face streaked with sweat and tears. Exhausted beyond anything I'd ever experienced, I sat down beside him, and for a long time there was only silence between us as we looked out over the broken landscape. I'd been aware of his feelings and emotions through our bond during the long hours of the previous two days, but knowing I needed to keep my mental distance from him, for both of our sakes, I'd been blocking most of it out. There was too much pain and suffering going on around us, and I hadn't wanted to add mine to it.
Sitting next to him in the dusty twilight, I lowered my shields. The enormity of his grief washed over me, and without a word, I reached over and pulled him into my arms. Together we cried for the horrible losses these gentle people suffered.
We were asked to return to Rivana today, to take part in a ceremony honoring the dead. It was incredibly moving, and I was truly honored to be invited to witness such a beautiful memorial. The pain was still very evident, but I could feel much healing flowing in and around the thousands of people who came to pay homage to their fallen friends and loved-ones.
I felt it in Obi-Wan as well, and with great relief, I silently gave thanks to the Force. It has been a long year for him, and I know he's spent many hours in deep meditation trying to deal with his own anger and grief over the events on Rivana. It is not over, and I understand that. Not for him and certainly not for the people most affected by the horrors of that day one planetary cycle ago.
But it is a start, and for that I am truly grateful.
Fini