Master
Apprentice  Archive
Nothing That I Wouldn't Do
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'He will lose! My Master will lose!' Obi-Wan stood helpless behind the red-tinted energy field that kept him from battling at his Master's side. His gift of foresight had placed before his eyes the image of Qui-Gon missing a beat in his opponent's attack. One stupid mistake of no more than a nanosecond and then Obi himself was cradling his Master in his arms as he died.
Panic began to rise up in Obi-Wan. He mentally ticked down the seconds until the barrier would cycle off and allow him to pass. Too late. As in his vision, the dark warrior took advantage of a small slip in Qui-Gon's defensive maneuver. The Sith butted Qui in the face, throwing him off just enough to draw back for the fatal blow.
Obi-Wan felt the air in his lungs ready to burst. Without hesitation, Obi covered his head with his arms and threw himself against the crimson energy field.
Even disoriented, Qui-Gon's body acted of its own accord as the flood of screaming pain came charging along the training bond he shared with his apprentice. His knees buckled beneath him. It dropped him just out of reach of the Sith Lord's deathblow. The red beam of the enemy's lightsaber singed at the hair near his temple, but missed his body all-together.
Through instinct and training, Qui-Gon put up his shields against the pulsing lance of pain and brought himself back into the moment at hand. Taking advantage of his opponents' confusion, Qui-Gon swept one of his long legs into the Sith warrior's, taking him off his balance and onto the floor.
Using the Force's assistance, Qui lept to his feet and brought his lightsaber down as the dark one was trying to right himself. The head of his opponent wore a very irritated expression as the green light blade of Qui's weapon severed it from his body. It rolled across the ground and disappeared down the utility chute in the floor nearby.
Qui stood panting over the body for a moment, retracting his lightsaber blade into the hilt. Then he felt the strong throb of the training bond battering at his mental shields. "Obi!"
He ran to the energy-barred corridor, looking on in horror as his Padawan's body lay contorted in pain, just out of his reach. As soon as the energy field cycled, Qui-Gon grabbed hold of the younger man's tunic and pulled him away from the fields and into the main chamber.
The sleeves of his tunic were charred and bloody. Qui-Gon gently took hold of Obi's comparably undamaged hand and carefully pulled the arm away from his face. He was unconscious; his face pale and sweaty, lips almost blue, and he trembled uncontrollably. The boy was in shock.
Qui-Gon pushed down the lurch of worry in the pit of his stomach, sat on the floor and moved Obi's head to rest in his lap. As he ran his hand over his apprentice's too cool skin to try to stimulate healing, he fished inside of his robes for his comlink.
"Panaka?"
"Qui-Gon? We did it! We have the Viceroy in custody."
"I need healers sent quickly."
"Are you hurt?"
"Not me. My Padawan."
"We're on the way. Keep the comlink on and we'll trace your position."
"Stay with me Obi," Qui-Gon whispered against his apprentice's hair.
Qui-Gon was wearing a groove in the tile outside his Padawan's room. Obi-Wan had spent a day and a half in a bacta tank, Qui-Gon sleeping on a cot within sight of him at all times. He had finally healed enough to be removed from the tank and was being settled in a room and examined. His master had been ordered to wait outside. Reluctantly, he had done so.
Qui-Gon could hear footsteps approaching, accompanied by a light tapping noise. A slight smile graced his lips as his former master rounded the corner. Even after all these years, he would know the sound of Yoda's walking cane in the dark.
As the elder Jedi Master came to rest by his apprentice's side, one of the Healer's exited Obi-Wan's room.
"How is he?"
"He's still drifting a little Master Qui-Gon, though that is likely due to the pain medication. You can go in and see him any time you like."
"Thank you." The healer nodded and made her way down the hall.
A demanding tug on his robe stopped him before he reached the door. "Qui-Gon, speak to you first I must."
Qui sighed, stood to face his Master and tried to center himself. He sensed what was about to come and was not sure he was ready to hear it.
"Wronged your apprentice in the Council Chamber, you did."
"Yes Master."
"Unthinking your outburst was."
"I know."
"Hurt your apprentice it did," Yoda said gravely.
"I know that too," he admitted sadly.
"Wanted to hit you with my stick I did."
He couldn't help a small smile at that. "Glad you decided not to, I am," he fondly mimicked Yoda's way of speaking.
"A part of you Obi-Wan is. Dismiss that so easily you should not. Do this to my Padawan, I never did."
"No. No you never did. And I never should have."
"Make this up to Obi-Wan you must or hit you with my stick I still may. Too old for that you are not."
Qui-Gon nodded with a smile and opened the door to Obi-Wan's room, leaving Yoda looking after him. When the door closed, The Jedi Master smiled. "Got it, I still do."
Qui-Gon stood over his student's bed. Obi's eyes were closed but his breathing was steady. He ran a gentle hand over his spiky hair.
Obi-Wan's eyes blinked open and attempted to focus on his Master's face.
"How are you Padawan?"
"I don't know Master. How am I?"
"Your injuries will not be permanent. With therapy, you will completely recover. However, this will likely push your taking the Trials back a good while as you re-train."
Obi-Wan inhaled deeply. "May I know the name of the Master who will keep me until I am ready?"
Qui-Gon seemed confused. "Is your own Master insufficient?"
"An apprentice you have Qui-Gon. Impossible to take on a second," Obi repeated Yoda's earlier reprimand.
The tall man took a deep breath and clasped hold of Obi-Wan's hand. "An apprentice I have. Obi-Wan Kenobi is my apprentice. My Padawan. The brightest and most gifted to come out of the Temple thus far."
"But Anakin?"
"Is to be trained as Jedi. But not by me."
"How did you convince the Council?"
"By using your insight. You sensed the Council's fear of the boy. I told them that the boy was obviously powerful. And that if they sensed danger in him, might that not be from their refusal to allow him to use that power as a Jedi? After all, how much more likely for him to be a danger if untrained... or worse, trained by a Sith Lord; one currently seeking a replacement apprentice."
"And they agreed?"
"Not right away of course, but eventually. He is to be Mace's Padawan."
Obi blinked slowly and licked at his dry lips. Qui-Gon held a glass of water to his mouth and allowed him to drink until he motioned he'd had enough. "That will be good for him. Master Windu has always seemed to have a particular rapport with the younger students."
"Obi," Qui rested his other hand on the boy's shoulder. "I need you to know something. When I claimed Anakin as my Padawan..."
"Master, it's all right."
"No. If it hurt you, it was not all right. And I know that it did. Obi-Wan, I know in my heart that we were meant to find Anakin and that he was meant to be a Jedi. With the Counsel's refusal, I simply didn't know what else to do. It had everything to do with that and nothing to do with you. You did not fail me. You have never failed me. It is the only thing I believe that you couldn't do even if you put your stubborn mind to it."
For the first time since he woke up, Obi-Wan smiled.
"And now I need to ask you a question."
"All right," his eyes fluttered sleepily and Qui-Gon knew that some more of the medication must have begun to kick in.
"What I wish to know Obi-Wan is simple. Why?"
"Why?"
Qui-Gon's eyes drifted up and down his apprentice's bandaged arms and over the machinery that monitored his vital signs before meeting Obi's eyes again. "Why?"
"I saw. I foresaw your death at the hands of the Sith."
"And so you risked your own life over a vision? To save me? Why?"
He smiled wanly, eyes sparkling with emotion. "I love you. For that, there is nothing that I wouldn't do." His eyes drifted shut as unconsciousness claimed him again.
Qui-Gon swallowed around the tight lump in his throat. Blinking back tears and tightening his hold of Obi-Wan's hand, he bent over his apprentice and kissed his lips.
The End