Archive: m_a, okeb, qgeb (the last two if you want it)
Classification: short story, angst
Warnings: angst, sorta AU/sorta missing scene
Spoilers: big time for TPM
Summary: What if there had been more time during one scene
toward the end of the movie? Adds a bit to existing scene.
Feedback: Please feed the starving plot bunnies. It only takes
an email - and you too can help keep them away from me g
Seriously, I love knowing if you enjoyed my stories.
Notes: I'm going by memory on the little bit of actual dialogue
I'm trying to use - so I'm probably way off, but I couldn't
bring myself to use the novelization (I didn't like it that
much)
Disclaimer: If they were mine this story wouldn't be necessary.
So, I guess that means they belong to George Lucas. I know I'm
sneaking playtime with someone else's toys, but I'm putting
them back in the condition I found them. Why sue? I'm a college
student.
thank you: to holly for the ego kick g even if everyone
thinks my ego didn't need it ;-) ack, i'm running out of cutsey
thank you's.... g
The defeated Sith tumbled downward, the separated halves of his
body falling to whatever lay at the heart of the chasm.
However, as Obi-Wan Kenobi turned off the lightsaber that he
held tightly in his hand, it was not the falling Sith that held
his attention.
Not sparing a second glance to the pit, he moved without
thought. During the fight he had warred with his own anger and
hate as much as the dark warrior. It was only by some miracle
of the Force that he had succeeded in both battles.
Now it was a different emotion that lapped at his heart. The
anger was gone, and in its place grew an immeasurable fear of
what still might be lost.
Dropping to his knees beside Qui-Gon, he gently pulled the Jedi
Master to him, hesitantly touching the still features.
"Master." The word tore from his throat, harsh in the silent
room.
When Qui-Gon's eyes slowly opened, Obi-Wan's breath hitched in
his chest. He was caught between the urge to cry, again staring
into familiar blue depths, and the need to stay in control of
his emotions.
"It's too late, my Padawan."
Obi-Wan fought the words, shaking his head defiantly. Through
clenched teeth, he replied, "No."
"Obi-Wan . . ."
The young Jedi flinched at the airy weakness that permeated his
Master's words. "No," he repeated. Closing his eyes against the
tears that sought to gather within them, he added in a whisper,
"I won't lose you."
Qui-Gon smiled faintly. Drawing in a ragged breath, he raised
his arm to wipe away the moisture that had trailed unnoticed
down Obi-Wan's cheeks. Obi-Wan leaned into the touch, feeling
the warmth against his skin. "Obi-Wan."
With another shake of his head, Obi-Wan tightened his grip on
Qui-Gon. Pulling the Force to him, Obi-Wan focused its energies
on Qui-Gon's wound, hoping to change the inevitable.
"Padawan," Qui-Gon said, his voice weakening.
The eyes that turned to meet Qui-Gon's gaze, swirling mists of
blue and green, gave the stoic Master pause. "I won't lose
you," Obi-Wan repeated, strength borne of desperation in his
voice.
//There's too much to say, and not enough time, Obi-Wan,//
Qui-Gon said silently.
Still struggling to focus a healing energy on Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan
gasped when the energy seemed to leap out of his grasp and spin
in the air around them of its own volition. "Master?" he asked
in an uncertain voice as a sudden breeze moved around them,
ruffling his hair.
Tearing disbelieving eyes from Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan looked up to
see the laser walls that had trapped him only moments earlier,
paused and silent in mid-rotation.
Turning his eyes back to his Master, he spoke in a rough
whisper. "I think we've just been given time."
Qui-Gon's eyes widened as he sought to understand what was
happening. Taking a breath, he was surprised to find the aching
pain in his chest lessened. "Obi-Wan, what have you managed to
do?" A mixture of surprise and pride filled his voice.
"I've done nothing, Master." As Obi-Wan spoke, he reached out
with a tentative hand to brush the loose strands of hair from
his Master's face.
"It feels as if we are suspended in time itself," Qui-Gon
observed.
Obi-Wan reached out through the Force and found the answer he
sought. He nodded. "I think we may be. A second, a lifetime.
Neither exists in this very moment."
Qui-Gon closed his eyes for the briefest moment, and replied,
"Somehow, you are right. "Still," he paused before pressing
onward. "You cannot save me, Obi-Wan. My fate has been
decided."
Obi-Wan blinked rapidly, forcing the moisture away from his
eyes once more. He marveled at the acceptance that seemed to
fill Qui-Gon in that moment, even as his own heart raged
against it. "If that is so," he said a second later, "then even
a moment is precious."
"Do not cry, my Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said in a hushed voice,
seeing the moisture on Obi-Wan's face that the Padawan himself
did not even realize was there.
Shaking his head, Obi-Wan pulled his Master's hand into his
own. "Fate or not," Obi-Wan said, "I cannot accept this."
"You must, Padawan," Qui-Gon replied around shallow breaths.
"It is done."
"It should have been me," Obi-Wan said in a quiet voice,
staring at their hands for a moment.
"Never," Qui-Gon replied in a voice lined with steel. He tugged
softly on Obi-Wan's braid. "You have a great destiny to
fulfill."
Obi-Wan searched Qui-Gon's gaze through a sheen of tears. "How
is it my destiny is more important than yours?"
"Nothing happens by chance, Obi-Wan. You know this."
Obi-Wan sniffed quietly, his eyes never leaving Qui-Gon's. "How
is my destiny to unfold without you in it?"
"I will always be with you, Obi-Wan. As the Force is with you.
You've only to think of me."
"Always the teacher," Obi-Wan said. Tears slipped unbidden down
Obi-Wan face, landing softly on Qui-Gon's tunic. "I'm sorry,"
he breathed a moment later.
"No sorrier than I, that I should leave you now." Qui-Gon
paused, before continuing, "Never doubt how much you've meant
to me, Obi-Wan. You are always my greatest joy."
He squeezed Obi-Wan's hand as tightly as his weakened body
would allow. //Never forget.//
Obi-Wan shook his head, responding to the plea only he could
hear. //Never, Master.//
Obi-Wan took a deep breath, seeking to balance himself.
"Master, I . . ." he began aloud, but was cut off when the
energies that swirled around them began to slow and fade.
"Master?" he asked a second later, searching Qui-Gon's gaze for
answers.
Qui-Gon blinked slowly, and looked again into Obi-Wan's pain
filled eyes. "Time is slipping away, Padawan."
Denial flared in Obi-Wan's eyes. "No," the plea tore through
clenched teeth as he again tried to focus the swirling energy
into a healing blanket around Qui-Gon.
A shuddering gasp ripped from Qui-Gon's chest as time righted
itself completely. "Promise me you'll train the boy."
Obi-Wan could hear the finality in his Master's voice, and held
him tighter, the Force slipping beyond his grasp. "Master . .
."
"Promise me, Obi-Wan."
Through his clashing emotions, Obi-Wan could read the trust
that shone in Qui-Gon's eyes, eyes that suddenly seemed to burn
with the joy of uncounted mysteries solved. "Yes, Master," he
managed to whisper.
Qui-Gon's eyes drifted closed, only to open again. "He is the
Chosen One. Train him."
Sobs wracked Obi-Wan's chest as he listened to his Master's
words. He nodded, even as pain anew tore at him as he listened
to him speak of the boy, but he pushed it aside. In the scant
moments Obi-Wan knew remained, petty jealousies weren't what
mattered.
"Master?" he asked in an uncertain whisper when Qui-Gon lay
still.
The Jedi Master's eyes opened half-way, glazed over with pain
as a shudder pulsed through him. "Obi-Wan?" he asked in a voice
not even quite a whisper.
Obi-Wan's fist clenched in the fabric of Qui-Gon's tunic. "I've
got you, Master," he said around shallow, gasping breaths.
"I've got you," he repeated.
//I love you, Master.//
//And I you, Obi-Wan,// he projected to the trembling
Apprentice. His eyes slid closed as he lost the fight with the
pain that filled his body.
As his struggling breaths slowed and finally ceased, Obi-Wan's
hold did not loosen. He could feel Qui-Gon's presence slipping
away even as his physical hold on the Jedi remained firm.
"Master?" he asked, disbelief making the word rasp unevenly.
Kneeling forward, Obi-Wan pressed his forehead to Qui-Gon's.
Moments passed, with Obi-Wan's stifled sobbing the only sound
in the room.
"Master," he breathed mournfully, his shoulders shaking. The
strangled word was spoken to no one and anyone. For the only
one Obi-Wan wished to hear, he knew could hear him no longer.
End
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