Master Apprentice 
Archive
Unexpected Paths
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Pairing: none
Archive: Master_Apprentice and anyone else, just ask
Category: AU, Pre-Slash, Angst
Rating: G
Spoilers: some slanted ones for the JA novels. sort of.
Summary: Things don't quite turn out as Jedi Initiate Obi-Wan had hoped.
Feedback: Very welcome.
Notes: This has been sitting on my hard drive for awhile but it was written in response to RavenD's first line challenge from awhile back on the list. Thanks for the beta, Maig!
Warnings: none
Disclaimer: The Boyz aren't mine. This story is for the pleasure of the readers only. I don't make a thing.
"You're leaving me here?"
The words were whispered as if the betrayal had taken all his strength.
"You are not meant to be a Jedi," came the toneless reply along with a flicker of cold blue eyes. "This is your destiny, Obi-Wan. Accept it."
"But Master-"
"I am no one's Master," interrupted the Jedi as he turned away. "Least of all yours."
The tall man stood silently, staring at the transport warming up on the pad across the compound.
"But you said...you called me your Padawan!" the boy grated.
The Jedi glanced back at the boy. Obi-Wan's green eyes were wide and gleaming and he was biting his lower lip, trying not to let the tears in his eyes fall.
"You were going to blow yourself up," the Jedi replied in a bland voice. "I could hardly let you die. Yoda would never forgive me."
The boy's hands fisted at his sides as anger pushed the tears from his eyes. "I wish you had, you liar!" he hissed as he dashed away the moisture from his cheeks. "And this place is not my destiny. I'm not supposed to be a farmer! I know it!"
The cloaked figure turned away again as he pulled up his hood. "The Agri-Corps representatives are waiting for you, Obi-Wan." Then, without another glance, the Jedi walked towards the ship alone, leaving a devastated ex-Jedi Initiate behind him.
Obi-Wan watched, despairing, as the man he had hoped to call Master walked up the ramp and disappeared into the transport which waited to return him to the Temple. The boy forced himself to watch as the ship rose gracefully into the air, taking all his hopes and dreams with it.
"I will learn to use the Force," he swore to himself as he finally dropped his eyes from the bright afternoon skies. "I will be a Jedi!"
"One doesn't always result in the other, you know," a voice pointed out from behind him. Obi-Wan whirled to meet another set of ice blue eyes.
"Master Jinn!" he cried out as he quickly backed away. His progress was immediately cut short as he tripped over a stray set of tools left behind by some careless mechanic. He continued crawling backwards as the man followed, a slight smile flickering on his face.
"What do you want!" Obi-Wan growled as he ran into a wall headfirst. "OUCH!"
"I wanted to kill your master," Qui-Gon Jinn began but Obi-Wan cut him off as he rubbed the back of his head gingerly.
"He's not my master!"
"Obviously not." The man crouched in front of him, balanced gracefully on the balls of his feet as he studied the boy. "Xanatos made that abundantly clear."
"Yes he did!" Obi-Wan snarled as he glared. "So what? Since HE'S gone, what do you want now?"
"I suppose I could kill you," Jinn began casually as his eyes flickered over the boy. "I do so hate to leave loose ends behind."
Obi-Wan felt the stirrings of panic overcoming the despair that the departure of Knight Xanatos had left.
"I suppose it doesn't really matter at this point," the boy finally said as he glanced away, wondering for the first time if Yaltha's theories on reincarnation had any merit.
Qui-Gon watched carefully as Obi-Wan strove to maintain a calm front even as he clearly felt the boy's rising panic. Considering all that Obi-Wan had been through in the past weeks, the rouge Jedi had to admit the boy achieved a remarkable semblance of calm. Qui-Gon's piercing blue eyes measured the boy for a long moment
"Why do you want to be a Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi?" he asked in a low voice.
"What?" the boy looked at him in confusion. Qui-Gon Jinn didn't repeat his question but waited for the boy's reply. "Why do you care?"
"Call it a matter of academic interest."
Obi-Wan chewed on his lip again as he studied the man. Then he dropped his eyes. This whole situation was completely unreal. Qui-Gon Jinn, the man who had chased himself and his mast...and Knight Xanatos all over the planet with the intent to kill them, now was asking him polite questions.
Finally, the youth shrugged. Never let it be said that Obi-Wan couldn't go with the moment.
"Its all I ever wanted-" he began.
"Its all you were ever told you could be," came the flat reply. "But by this point, most failed initiates-"
"I didn't fail!" Obi-Wan yelled.
"-Most failed initiates accept their fate with Agri-Corps," the man continued. "What makes you different?"
The boy's mouth opened and closed for a moment before he slumped against the wall behind him. His hand moved to his chest and rubbed gently.
"I just - I just feel like I'm supposed to be a Jedi. Its like - a need to know and understand the Force. Sometimes its like I almost hear it singing...." Obi-Wan's voice faded as he glanced up at Qui-Gon Jinn, expecting to be ridiculed. The ex-Jedi merely watched, his blue eyes intent. "Besides, I want to help people," Obi-Wan finished lamely.
"You can help people in Agri-Corps," the rogue pointed out reasonably.
"I want to help people," he responded scathingly with all the offended dignity of a thirteen-year-old boy. "I don't want to feed them."
Qui-Gon's lips twitched. "I see."
"No you don't see!" Obi-Wan snapped, angry at the man's seeming condescension. "You left the Jedi!"
The amused expression on Qui-Gon's face melted away leaving only the steady blue gaze. "You do not know what has come between me and the Jedi, boy," he said in a perfectly serene voice that sent shivers down Obi-Wan's back. "I suggest you not judge anyone's guilt or innocence until you do."
The ex-initiate glared at him stubbornly and Qui-Gon relaxed again. "But, of course, you will let your opinions be dictated by the Jedi. Why bother to make your own?" he asked casually as he stood and looked down at the boy. Obi-Wan's eyes widened for a moment, a denial on his lips. But Qui-Gon continued. "And surely you should believe everything the Jedi have told you. After all, they would never lie would they? Especially not to one of their own."
The boy flushed hotly as he turned away and glared at the ground, willing away the tears that threatened again. It would be a long time before he forgot Knight Xanatos' final words to him.
Qui-Gon watched the boy with hooded eyes. That he could feel the lad's anguish without even trying was something of a puzzle. Unbelievable as it might seem, there was a link between himself and the boy but to what purpose?
The rogue Jedi thoughtfully rubbed the thin beard on his chin as he continued to study Obi-Wan Kenobi. The boy certainly shone brightly in the Force. The lad was correct in saying he wasn't destined to be a farmer. Qui-Gon knew the masters of the Temple would not have overlooked anyone with the amount of Force sensitivity that this boy showed no matter how stubborn he might seem to be. Frankly, the ex-Jedi was amazed that Yoda had let Obi-Wan out of the Temple at all.
Unless the old master had other plans for the boy.
Qui-Gon shook his head slowly, almost sadly. Even after all these years, the Head of the Council had overestimated Xanatos again, no doubt thinking that the Knight would see reason by being thrown into Obi-Wan's presence over a period of time. Yoda had gambled this boy's future on Xanatos choosing to become Obi-Wan's master.
But Xanatos, as usual, had followed his own wishes rather than those of the Force. Not only had his former apprentice denied what was obviously the Will of the Force by not taking Obi-Wan as his padawan but the so-called Jedi Knight had put Obi-Wan in danger countless times over the last few weeks. If Qui-Gon hadn't been as careful of the boy's safety as Xanatos was careless of it, Obi-Wan would now know far more about the Force than he might want.
The ex-Jedi continued to ponder the boy before him, deliberately avoiding the conclusion he knew was coming at the end of his thoughts. He finally sighed and opened himself to the Force around him, finding immediately the path he needed to take.
Qui-Gon rubbed his forehead and groaned to himself. One of these days he really would kill Xanatos for leaving him in this mess. He'd make a point of it. Right after he finished training Obi-Wan.
"Obi-Wan," he said, his tone even. The boy didn't look up.
"Just kill me already," he growled in a heavy voice. "Its not like I can get away from you."
"Obi-Wan, I don't want to kill you. I want to train you and it's difficult to accomplish that with a corpse."
The boy's head snapped up, his green eyes wide and stunned. "Train me?" he repeated faintly. At Qui-Gon's nod, Obi-Wan's eyes narrowed. "But what about loose ends? And trying to blow me up in the mine? And trying to kill Xanatos?"
Qui-Gon shrugged philosophically. "Killing Xanatos was always the point, Obi-Wan. You just kept getting in the way."
"So you think you can keep me out of the way while you go off and kill Xanatos?" the boy snapped as he jumped to his feet. "No!"
Qui-Gon just looked at the boy. "Still loyal to him even after his treatment of you," he said as he touched the boy's cheek. Obi-Wan flinched away. "Xanatos is hardly a shining example of the Jedi for you to model yourself after."
"And you are?" came the boy's caustic question.
Qui-Gon's narrowed but he didn't reply. After all, the boy had grown up with tales of the Rogue Jedi and the resulting morals on How Not To Fall Like Qui-Gon Jinn.
"Xanatos is a good Jedi!" the ex-initiate insisted as he turned away. "He just didn't want a padawan, that's all!" The boy looked down at his toes. "He just didn't want me as a padawan," he finished faintly.
It was a good thing Xanatos wasn't on the planet Qui-Gon thought grimly. Because if he was, Qui-Gon would make sure he died. A slow painful death. No one makes my apprentice feel anything less than completely worthy.
"Obi-Wan," the rouge began again in a gentler tone. "You say the Force sings to you." Obi-Wan looked up, surprised. Qui-Gon waited for his response so he gave a reluctant nod. "What is it singing to you now?"
"Well...I...." the boy looked a little perplexed. "I usually have to meditate to really hear it."
Qui-Gon shook his head. "The Force is here all the time, around us, within us. Nothing special is needed to hear it if you are able to hear it. Just open yourself to it." The boy still looked wary and Qui-Gon stepped away. "Close your eyes if you need to. I will do nothing. Just listen to the Force and tell me how it is guiding you."
Obi-Wan regarded the older man warily and then closed his eyes. He figured that if Qui-Gon wanted to kill him, the man wouldn't have waited until he closed his eyes anyway. So Obi-Wan closed his eyes and concentrated on hearing the Force. And concentrated. And concentrated some more. He concentrated so hard he very quickly got a headache.
"Obi-Wan," came Qui-Gon's amused voice. "You're trying too hard."
"Now I have a headache," the boy grumbled.
"I know. Here." There was a gentle touch on the side of his face and suddenly the mind-knots Obi-Wan had wound himself up in loosened and a soothing feeling of well-being washed over him. Obi-Wan's eyes popped open.
"Master!" he said and then slapped his hand over his mouth. His expression was stunned.
"Yes, now you know how I feel," Qui-Gon noted wryly.
"But - but you tried to kill me!" the boy stammered.
"I think we went over this before."
"But-"
"If I had truly wanted you dead, you would be dead, Obi-Wan," the Master stated.
"You wanted to kill Xanatos and he's still alive," the boy pointed out.
"Everyone has an off day," Qui-Gon replied.
"Or an off decade," Obi-Wan smirked. "How long have you been trying to kill him?"
Qui-Gon Jinn folded his arms across his chest and leveled a stunning glare at the boy. "Do you want me to train you or not?"
"Yes!" the boy squeaked.
"Then come along. I don't have all day to stand here arguing with you."
Qui-Gon Jinn turned and walked away as Obi-Wan stared after him, his mouth hanging open. After a moment, the rouge Jedi glanced back at him.
"Are you coming?"
"Yes sir!" Obi-Wan swiftly replied as he ran over to pick up the pack he'd dropped when Xanatos had so blithely announced that Obi-Wan would be going precisely no where with him. The boy tossed the bag over his shoulder and moved to stand beside Qui-Gon. He looked up to meet the big man's blue eyes and in that moment, Obi-Wan knew without a doubt this was the path he was supposed to take. "Thank you, Master."
Qui-Gon's eyebrow quirked. "See if you want to thank me in a decade or so," the man replied as he turned to walk away. Obi-Wan increased his stride to keep up.
"Where are we going?" the boy finally asked somewhat breathlessly.
"You'll see, Padawan," came the amused reply. "Come along."
THE BEGINNING