Master Apprentice Archive Photographs & Memories: The Life and Times of Qui-Gon Jinn - 2001-06-21 Quick search:

Archive: MA, any others just ask, I probably won't say no

My Home Page: http://www.jediphiles.com/~mali

Rating: PG

Category: Drama

Summary: A series of "photographs" and "memories" that relate to Qui-Gon. Each segment is a stand-alone piece, and they are in no certain order.

Warnings: None

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.

With fangs bared and razor sharp claws unsheathed, the nurning let loose a bloodcurdling roar, its intentions clear as it lunged for Qui-Gon. Only the boy's lightning quick Jedi reflexes saved him from a horrible death as he twisted away from the massive beast. He brought his lightsaber up in a wide arc and slashed downwards, hoping a deep cut to its arm would incapacitate the angry monster, giving him a chance to escape. But the creature twisted with him, and instead of slicing open its arm, Qui-Gon's lightsaber neatly separated its head from its neck.

He watched in horror as the headless nurning toppled over backwards, its acrid blood spraying Qui-Gon as it went down. With a sickening crunch, it landed on its own severed head.

Qui-Gon stumbled backwards, his lightsaber slipping from his suddenly nerveless fingers. With a strangled sob, he turned and tried to run, but his legs failed him. Falling to his knees, he hugged himself as he began to retch, totally unaware of the tears streaming down his face.

Just last week he had celebrated his eleventh naming day, and today he had taken the life of another being. It was too much for the boy, and with a soft moan he slipped into blessed unconsciousness.

In the small star-hopper docked a short distance away, Yoda was yanked from his meditation when the bond he shared with his Padawan was suddenly flooded with a barrage of emotions. Reaching out with the Force, he sensed the surprise as Qui-Gon was attacked, followed quickly by fear, which the boy tried valiantly to release. Using Force-enhanced speed, the old Master was already out of the ship and hurrying towards his Padawan when he was nearly knocked over by a tremendous surge of horror and anguish coming from the boy. A moment later the bond went totally silent, and all Yoda could sense was a vast whiteness. It shook the old Jedi Master far more than he would care to admit. The fact that there still was a bond assured Yoda that his Padawan was alive, but he was too well versed in the type of psychic trauma the boy was experiencing to draw much comfort from that knowledge.

He found Qui-Gon lying in his own vomit, covered in the dark gray blood of the fallen nurning. Using the Force to augment his less-than-impressive physical strength, he gently lifted the unconscious boy and quickly made his way back to the little ship. Through their bond, Yoda sent waves of comfort and love to his Padawan, knowing it probably wasn't penetrating the wall of whiteness shrouding the lad's mind, but needing to do it anyway.

As soon as he was inside the ship, Yoda wearily sank to the floor. Cradling the boy to his chest, he began to rock him, much like a mother would rock an infant. With a slight twitch of one gnarled finger, he called a soft cloth to his hand, and a basin of warm water followed soon after. Murmuring softly, he began to wash the drying blood and vomit from Qui-Gon's face, as he mentally prepared himself for what was to come.

Very slowly and with infinite care, Yoda followed the bond back into the boy's mind, calling upon all of his mental strength not to recoil at the white silence that greeted him. Though he'd done this before, it had been many years, and he'd never attempted it on one so young. Yet he did not falter, knowing if he failed, the boy would suffer a fate far worse than physical death. Allowing the Force to guide him, he eventually found what he was seeking - a small fissure in the whiteness, so tiny that Yoda nearly missed it, but it was there, nonetheless, and hope flared in the old Master's heart. Concentrating deeply, he began to direct tendrils of affection and warmth into the minuscule crack, practically willing Qui-Gon to reach out to him. At long last it was finished. He could do no more. It was now all left up to the boy. As carefully as he'd entered Qui-Gon's mind, Yoda retreated.

Sighing heavily, Yoda opened his eyes and looked down at his Apprentice. "Such a good boy, you are," he whispered, as he continued rocking his young charge. "Come back to me now, you must. Much work yet have you to do. Hard for you, I know this is, my Padawan. But, alone you are not. Alone you will never be."

The planet's large sun slowly made its way across the horizon, though Yoda was only peripherally aware of the passage of time. Hour after hour, he held the boy close, crooning nonsensical words of love and encouragement, and when he finally felt the first stirrings of awareness through their bond, he knew they were past the worst of it. As Yoda watched, Qui-Gon's eyelashes fluttered, and suddenly the old Master was looking into deep blue eyes that stood out in stark relief against the boy's pale skin.

"Master?" Confused and disoriented, Qui-Gon's eyes got even wider, as he struggled to sit up on his own. And then with a rush, his memories returned. "Master!" he cried out in horror. "What have I done?"

"Hush, Padawan. Nothing wrong have you done!"

Large tears were leaking from the boy's eyes. "I killed it. Oh, Force, Master, I killed it."

"Padawan!" Yoda commanded. His voice had the desired effect, as Qui-Gon immediately calmed down a bit and turned to look at his Master.

"I felt it die," Qui-Gon whispered hoarsely.

"Listen to me now, you must." The Master's voice had softened considerably. "Afraid this would happen one day, I was. Too close to the Living Force, you are. Older you should have been before a life you had to take."

"I wasn't trying to kill it, Master." Qui-Gon's anguish was almost palpable, and Yoda's heart nearly broke for the boy. "I was testing the fauna, and suddenly it came out of nowhere. It was so big and moved so fast . . . I just wanted to wound it, so I could get away!"

"Know this, I do," Yoda said soothingly.

"I felt it die, Master!" Qui-Gon sobbed.

With the aid of the Force, Yoda once again pulled the young boy into his arms. "Fix this for you, I cannot, my Padawan," he said sadly. "Caused by your strong connection to the Living Force, this is. For all Jedi, important this connection will one day be. Know not how or why, but know this I do. Certain of it I am."

"Maybe I shouldn't be a Jedi," the boy whispered.

"Doubt the will of the Force you do?" When Qui-Gon didn't answer, Yoda continued. "Doubt the will of the Force I do not! Powerful Jedi you will be. See this I do. Heartache you will suffer, but great love you will also know. Hard life it will be for you. But never alone will you be, my Padawan. Promise you this, I do. Never alone will you be."

Through their bond, Yoda could feel Qui-Gon struggling to release his doubts into the Force, and the old Master could not have been prouder of the boy. The words he'd spoken were the truth, and it saddened him to know just how much heartache the lad would face. How he wished he could spare Qui-Gon the suffering that was in store for him. But he understood, all too well, how Qui-Gon's pain would also strengthen the boy's connection to the Living Force, and though he truly did not know why, he had no doubt how important his Padawan would one day be to all the Jedi.

In the meantime, the Jedi Master would draw comfort from the knowledge that one day his young Padawan would find so great a love, it would transcend all boundaries. Qui-Gon would one day be the recipient of the rarest and most precious of all gifts from the Force. A lifebond. The Force had not seen fit to show Yoda when it would happen, or with whom, but that it would happen, Yoda was positive.

It was the will of the Force.

end