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Risorgimento--Past Imperfect Future Unknown
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Title: Risorgimento--Past Imperfect Future Unknown
Authors: obi-ki and padawanewan
Pairing: Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan
Rating: PG13
Time Period: About 20 years ABY
Archive: MA and the story LJ, anyone else please ask
Disclaimer: Everything Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and Lucasfilms. We're just playing in his world, borrowing the boyz and their accomplices and will return them all when I'm through. No money is being made from this, it is all done for entertainment only.
Author's notes: This is the tenth segment in the Risorgimento series. Parts of it were written jointly by padawanewan myself and the rest I wrote alone. Thanks to Merry Amelie for the thorough beta and thoughtful suggestions. The story would be much less without her valuable input. Sorry again that it's taken so long to get this part posted, hopefully the parts will be coming more regularly in the future.
Summary: Qui-Gon awakens in an unfamiliar environment, disoriented and thinking that the time is immediately following the Battle of Naboo. Obi-Wan awakens in the same environment, confused and thinking that it is immediately following the Battle on Mustafar. They separately meet with their host, Var-Son Meirr, and eventually find that they are in a remote medical facility, that Var-Son cloned them and that it's currently fifty-five years post Naboo. After spending some time getting acclimated and learning about the events of the last fifty-five years, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are finally brought together by their creator.
When the shock wears off, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan spend time with the healer and eventually alone together. They learn more about the events that have occurred and about each other. Especially in Obi-Wan's case, the events that occurred during the years after Naboo changed him and he is far from the inexperienced padawan that walked for so many years at his master's side. As they reconnect, they find something is off about them and they struggle to figure out how to deal with it. They speak to the healer about their concerns and Obi-Wan hears vague directions and odd comments from an internal voice. They decide that joint meditation may prove helpful and Var-Son directs them to the facility's garden.
During their joint meditation, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan reach out to one another and create the beginnings of a new bond between them. Although not as strong as their previous connection, they both feel it's a good beginning and will strengthen in time. Unbeknownst to them, they have company during their meditations - their ethereal counterparts are watching them and contemplating what if anything they can do to aid the clones along their path. When the meditation is over and both men return to their individual quarters, they spend some time in thought trying to get a handle on their situation.
Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan contemplate the events of the past few days and of their joint meditation. They use the datapads they find in their quarters to put their thoughts down and try to come to terms with their unique situation.
Putting their thoughts into words gives both men some clarity. Qui-Gon uses the ritual of dressing to add the final level of serenity while Obi-Wan resorts to a more physical activity to release the last of his pent up tension. Obi-Wan shocks Qui-Gon with a bit of overt flirting but is glad to find it is more than welcome.
They join Var-Son for first-meal and answers to more of their questions but get one that they don't expect. The healer is dying and will not be coming with them when they leave the medical facility. With that knowledge heavy on their hearts, they head to the mechanics lab to construct new lightsabers.
The construction of their lightsabers offers surprises as well, the Force leading them to select 2 different gems to power their dual phase sabers. Although time consuming, the process is completed without issues and they leave the lab feeling more complete, lightsabers now hanging from their belts.
Arriving at the dining area, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan find their creator missing and are told that his condition has deteriorated. They argue, not so much about what they should do but how they should do it.
They go to visit Var-Son and stay with him during his final hours, providing emotional support.
The following day they meet with FX-7 and are given the information Var-Son left for them and prepare to depart for their new lives.
As they left XF-7, Qui-Gon turned to Obi-Wan. "Would you mind taking a slight detour before we head to the ship?"
Obi-Wan nodded, pushing his hood back a little. "We cannot afford to delay too long, Qui-Gon. There is a timer."
"I know but I would like to take a few minutes to stop by the meditation garden," Qui-Gon explained. "Something very special occurred during our joint meditation there. I was hoping to bring one or two plants or smaller trees with
us as living mementos of our experiences on the station."
"I felt more connected, more myself," Obi-Wan added as he gestured to the walkway for Qui-Gon to proceed. "I know that for you the Living Force would be augmented by all the plants and sea-life and I'm certain spending a short time there would help me to center in the Unifying."
Continuing toward the garden, Qui-Gon was quick to agree. "With so little life on the asteroid, the garden is the one place that succors the Living Force." Reaching the entryway, he palmed open the door and motioned Obi-Wan to precede him. "But it's more. It was as if a doorway opened and my entire being was enlivened, invigorated. I was connected to the Force and to you more fully than I have been since awakening here."
After walking into the room, Obi-Wan looked around and sighed. "I do hate to rush you, Qui-Gon, and I agree there was something, or rather is something, very important about us meditating together here, but we cannot tarry." He smiled and gestured to the room. "It would be such a waste to have our arses blown up so soon after being re-introduced."
"Rest assured, Padawan, I have no intention of staying long enough to be vaporized," Qui-Gon retorted as he moved further into the garden. The aquariums and ponds were all empty and all the ripe produce had been picked off the trees and plants.
Off in the corner of the garden, spectral forms watched the newcomers with interest. The translucent form of Qui-Gon glanced from the mortal men to his ethereal companion. "It appears that our counterparts were aware of our presence during their meditation, although they did not recognize the interaction for what it truly was."
The ghostly version of Obi-Wan shrugged and winked. "I knew mine would, strength in the Unifying Force and all that. It's what I do best, love." He grinned wickedly, "Besides you; of course."
Not bothering to acknowledge the comment, the spectral Qui-Gon focused on his mortal counterpart. The man was walking among the assortment of plants, gaze vacant as if looking around with everything but his eyes. Finally he stopped in front of two clay containers, one holding a dwarf avedame tree and the other a cluster of mattberry bushes.
Qui-Gon picked up the pot containing the tree and then turned back to Obi-Wan. "I would like to take this and the mattberry bushes unless you have some other preference. Maybe we can transplant them when we settle down somewhere. They can form the foundation of our own private meditation garden and serve as a reminder of our creator."
After glancing around, Obi-Wan shook his head and replied softly, "I need nothing to remind me, but you.” He could feel the time closing in on them. “Qui-Gon, let's go."
As the men headed towards the door with greenery in hand, a smile blossomed on spectral Qui-Gon's face. "Shall we tag along, beloved? I suspect that they will have some interesting times ahead."
The ghostly Obi-Wan smiled at Qui-Gon and took his hand. "Right, love. Those two are going to be fun, I wager. I also have a very strong feeling you and I are about to be brought into the equation."
Something brushed against Qui-Gon's awareness as they moved towards the door but when he tried to grasp hold, the feeling faded. Another mystery that would need to be unraveled but it would need to wait until later. With one last look at the garden, he exited the room and headed down the hallway behind his former padawan.
Obi-Wan made sure Qui-Gon was following as they made their way to the ship. She was lovely, in all the ways that mattered. He stowed the things he had brought with them, while instructing the ship to begin the pre-flight sequence.
Qui-Gon chuckled softly as he watched Obi-Wan settle into the pilot's chair. It was good to know that some things hadn't changed. Even as a young padawan, Obi-Wan had been enthralled with flying, and by the time he was seventeen, he was rated to pilot every class of ship that the Temple owned. With his analytical mind and his connection to the Unifying Force, piloting a ship had come as naturally to him as breathing and Qui-Gon had gladly handed over the reins. Machinery was not his strong suit and, although proficient, Qui-Gon had never enjoyed the task, so giving it up had not been a hardship.
"I'll leave you to it, then," Qui-Gon said, an absentminded nod his only reply.
After Qui-Gon left the cockpit, Obi-Wan centered himself in the Unifying Force without a thought. It had been a habit of a lifetime for a Jedi strong in that path of the Force.
So many futures, but one voice whispered to him the loudest. Oddly enough, it sounded very much like his own. "Get off your arse and move the bloody ship, wanker. You're a Jedi, but blowing you both to hell and back cannot be fixed a third time."
Obi-Wan blinked and grinned as his fingers moved rapidly over the controls, navigating the ship out of the hangar and away from the space station. He did not question the thoughts, finding them surprisingly reassuring.
Still holding the plants, Qui-Gon headed back into the sleeping quarters of the ship. It consisted of a single cabin with four pull-down bunks, but this wouldn't be the first or even the hundredth time that he and Obi-Wan had slept in the same room. They had even shared beds, cots or bunks on more than one occasion, though that had been another lifetime and, if he was honest with himself, another Obi-Wan. In those days, their oaths as master and padawan had kept anything further from occurring between them, even though stronger and more intimate feelings had been growing for years. Now, with those restrictions no longer a factor, what had only been dreams, might actually become reality.
Settling the plants into a corner of the room, Qui-Gon grabbed his duffle and pulled out the datapad he been using since awakening. Maybe recording the events of the last few days would help him organize his thoughts and get his mind and his heart on the same page.