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The Whirligig of Path

by A Horse Called Hwin ( nuuannofsyann@yahoo.com )

Title - The Whirligig of Path

Author - A Horse Called Hwin (nuuannofsyann@yahoo.com)

Archive - Anywhere -- if you could endure its stupidity.

Rating - PG-13 (for violent scenes and harsh language)

Genres - Qui/Obi, Action/Adventure, Romance, Alternate Universe, Kids/Family, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Warnings - Uh...perhaps none?

Spoilers - Nope, at least to my knowledge.

Disclaimer - I hereby swear that I am only torturing the characters with my twisted mind, and there is no profit made.

Feedback - I could sense the peace and kindness in you, and the Force tells me that you are such a generous person that you won't begrudge me the feedback.

Summary - Once in the movie Return to Oz, the Nome King offered Dorothy a path that she could choose to forget all the things about Oz and return to home, and Dorothy refused.  What if Qui-Gon had been in the similar situation during a mission and he chose that path?  A long time has passed after the mission, and the danger finally emerges.  Will Qui-Gon be able to correct the mistake he made twenty years ago?

Author's Note - Well...this is just a piece of trash, so please don't take it too seriously.  And this is an answer to the challenge offered by Aayla Security.

To Boss Aayla, a generous mistress to serve.

And also to The Piggy Jedi, who has given me light in the dark to complete this story.

Knight Qui-Gon Jinn used his lightsaber to deflect another laser bolt from the Zephyrenes.  He was quite confident of himself, like he always did, until he had been noticed by the guard who then immediately roared to alarm the entire fortress.  After a few minutes' effort to escape, there he was now -- surrounded by at least one thousand fully armed Zephyrenes.

Even the most powerful Jedi Master wouldn't have the slightest chance to flee from a situation like this, and Qui-Gon was merely a new Knight.  

He wasn't able to deflect all the bolts coming towards him, and in the end he was caught by the guards and presented to the Ruler of the planet Zephyrann.  

The Ruler sent him to an underground chamber, and a hooded man was waiting there.  Qui-Gon was not afraid of the Ruler or what he might do to him, but when he was taken down to the dark chamber lit only by the luminescence of some red stones and left alone with the man in dark cloak, for the first time in his life, he felt fear.  

"Don't be afraid, my young friend..." The hooded man spoke slowly as he unchained Qui-Gon with a gesture of the Force.

Qui-Gon was surprised with the man's releasing him, but he still remained silent for he had been taught to better be quiet when the enemy called you friend.  And he could also sense the Dark Side in this man -- the man was a Sith.

"I could sense your dismay and pain to have been seized like this." The man continued with a cold yet gentle voice, "However, even the Force cannot guarantee what would happen. What we should do is to use our most strength to seek a way out by ourselves."

Qui-Gon bit his lip -- he had been trying really hard to seek a way out, but the Force just seemed to have abandoned him on this distant planet.  He was now wounded and exhausted, and he didn't know what his fate would be though he still wasn't afraid of death.  

It was something worse than death that suddenly frightened him when he first entered the chamber even though he didn't have the slightest idea of what that fear was.  The Sith himself was sending fear and despair towards the young man in pain.

"Do you know what will possibly happen after we kill you?" The Sith spoke as if he knew what Qui-Gon was thinking at the moment, "The Council wouldn't be able to find your body, so no one would know what exactly has happened to you.  They may think you are dead or you have just abandoned the mission and fled.  And when they send other Jedi to investigate, we would be prepared enough to disguise ourselves in order not to alarm them by our scheme.  They would regard us as a peaceful planet as others.

"Then what would happen to your honor?  Apparently, Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn has given up his mission and left the Order.  Then there your glory goes...devoured by the gossips and rumors..."

Qui-Gon shivered slightly at the thought of that, yet didn't understand the reason he was so concerned of his fame since he would be sure to leave it behind once he had joined the Force.

"I know you are a brave young man, and are not afraid of death.  Yet, your death would lead you to a more frightening consequence.  And we all don't wish that to happen..." The man shook his head with pity, "But we will still have to kill you, because you have known far too much..."

Qui-Gon felt unnecessary despair began to grow inside of him and was deeply disappointed with his own self for being afraid so intensely for no essential reasons.  And now he was even beginning to lose hope.  His self-belief started to dim and turn into doubts about himself.

"So young...so helpless..." The man continued ruefully, "Just think what bright future you could have had if you were not involved in this plan...If you had not heard that secret..." his eyes suddenly lit, "If you could just forget what you have discovered...Besides, it is not a plan that important to the course of the Galaxy, is it?"

Qui-Gon shook his head blankly -- he himself had not yet found out what the entire scheme was.

"I will now offer you one path other than that death with tragic ending," The Sith smiled, "You could choose to lose your memory of all this and return to your Temple like nothing has happened.  And please do not feel guilty of it; after all, it is not your fault to be captured by us.  Also, your memory loss won't cause anything serious in the entire universe and you can still live a glorious life without remorse, since you will not remember it ever again..."

Qui-Gon collapsed eventually in front of the Sith with drowning doubts of his own truly being a Jedi and whispered, "I choose that path."

Twenty years later...

Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi waked as the first dawn light shone through the windows.  He jumped off the bed and quickly went into the refresher to get himself ready for this new day.  As he walked out of his room, he kept his steps quiet enough not to wake his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn.

When he passed by the door to his still resting Master's bedroom, he stopped to ensure that he hadn't disturbed his Master's slumber.  He smiled lightly after he had heard the steady breathes from Qui-Gon's sleep.

Obi-Wan carefully prepared the first meal and couldn't help imagining the smile that would be on Qui-Gon's face when he found the meal, as it was in every other morning, already waiting for him on the table.  

Will Master consider having me for a Padawan as one of his glorious honors?  With anticipation, Obi-Wan left the quarters and headed for the Gardens to practice the 18th level kata, in order to make sure that he would perform perfectly when he was in front of Qui-Gon later that morning, so that he could be rewarded with the satisfied praise and smile from his beloved Master.  

Obi-Wan always cherished the praises from Qui-Gon; and for those precious smiles from his Master that were only for him, no service was ever too hard for the apprentice.

The Temple was still at rest, and Obi-Wan thought running would be a good way to save more time for his practice since he wasn't likely to bump into anyone in the corridors in this early morn.

So he did begin to run towards the Gardens through the quiet corridors, but he also did bump into someone.

Obi-Wan accidentally knocked down a youngling on his way with himself being tripped off as well.

"Hey!  Watch where you're going, Mister!"  The angry youngling complained as she rubbed her forehead on the floor.

"I'm really sorry, little girl.  I didn't mean to hit you."  Obi-Wan said, massaging his sore knees, also still sitting on the floor.

"Of course you didn't mean to, but don't you know better than to run in the corridors?  You might hurt someone, and mind you, you HAVE hurt someone NOW."  The angry youngling started scolding him in a tone as if she was an aged Master, "You should reflect upon your flawed behavior, not just apologize -- though you DO need to apologize for what you have done to an innocent child only because of your lack of concern for other people --"

"Listen, kid!  I said I was sorry, okay?  So why don't you just shut up and get lost!"  Obi-Wan shouted and waved his hand impatiently.  He knew it was his fault, but he had already apologized and why did that little girl think she could reprimand him like that?  After all, he was a Senior Padawan, and that youngling was only a dumb little...youngling.

"My name is not kid, Mister, I have a much better name than that impolite creation of yours.  I am Mira from the House of Virgille."

"Whatever."  Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at that grandma-like tone and accent.  He got to his feet and again headed for the Gardens, but this time by walking.

"I see you have progressed in your behavior though you were being very mean and harsh to a future Jedi Master with promising prospect."  The angry youngling announced as she started following him.

"Keep dreaming, kid."  Obi-Wan snorted at the angry youngling's thought of herself being a Jedi Master someday.

The angry youngling ran up to his side and glared at him, "I've told you before!  My name is Mira.  Say with me, Mi...ra..."  Her tone sounded like she was patiently teaching an infant how to talk.

"You sure your parents didn't ditch you and you were adopted by the Order, Mi...ra...?"

"Why, how rude!"  The angry youngling became angry again. "But I would be satisfied if you call me by my family name, Virgille, so you won't denigrate my esteemed given name."

"Whatever you say, Virgule."  Esteemed given name?  Ha! Obi-Wan couldn't help rolling his eyes again.

"It's Virgille!"  She somehow managed to keep herself beside Obi-Wan even Obi-Wan had begun running again so as to lose her.

"Whatever."  Obi-Wan was surprised and despaired by Virgille's ability to constantly catch up.

"How rude!"  Virgille's brow furrowed deeply.  

When Obi-Wan began to wonder if he could ever be able to get rid of this talking-like-grandma grumpy youngling, he finally saw someone approaching to give him a hand and so he halted.

"Is there something wrong, Padawan Kenobi?"  Master Lal'mar, one of the members of the Council, stopped before him with a concerned look on her kind face.  She was a fair woman, though aged, but still possessed the beauty of her prime.

"Um, nothing really important..." Obi-Wan hesitated, "only that I've got myself stuck with an angry youngling."

"I see..." Master Lal'mar smiled as she turned her soft gaze to Virgille, "Mira often has...constructive points of view to indicate..."

Virgille smiled brightly at Master Lal'mar's words, and ran to her to give her a happy hug.

Well, THAT'S more like a child...Obi-Wan thought dryly as the Council member hugged her back and coaxed her to return to the Bear Clan.

"By the way, what are you doing out here at a time this early?"  Master Lal'mar asked Virgille softly after she had finally agreed to go back.

"I have heard someone running in the corridor, thus I went here to discover who that irresponsible person was." Virgille said solemnly as she cast Obi-Wan another disapproved glare.

That grandma-talk again... Obi-Wan's heart sank abruptly as he finally realized he was just the one who had caused himself so much trouble.   Better not to run in the corridors near the Bear Clan in the future.  He noted himself to fully learn from this lesson so he wouldn't have to suffer this angry youngling ever again.

After Virgille left them to go back to the Bear Clan, or, to fulfill her oath as she so-called it, Obi-Wan thanked Master Lal'mar for her significant help and continued on his way to the Gardens, regretting the time he had wasted on that angry youngling.

Obi-Wan completed the 18th level kata with a graceful salute, and waited for his Master's reaction.  Qui-Gon was deeply pleased with his Padawan's progress and skills, and he smiled warmly at Obi-Wan.

"Well done, Padawan.  Very much impressive."  He praised as he put his hand on his apprentice's shoulder, and the Padawan shivered a little under that touch.

"Thank you, Master."  Obi-Wan was content, as always, to hear Qui-Gon's praise and see his smile for him.  He had loved Qui-Gon for as long as he could remember, and that love was far beyond the one that a Padawan would have for his Master.

And Qui-Gon's hand was on his shoulder to again show the intimacy between them, so he dared to hug Qui-Gon tentatively and was relieved to feel his Master embracing him back.  I wish he had the same feeling for me as I have for him.  Obi-Wan buried his face in Qui-Gon's tunics and was suddenly reminded by this posture of the angry youngling and generous Master Lal'mar.  I do hope I could never see that disastrous youngling again.

In the Council chamber, Master Ki-Adi-Mundi's voice was filled with worry, "But what could that disturbance be?"

"We are still not certain of this," Master Mace Windu rubbed his chin slightly, "it could come from the Dark Side of the Force."

"Do you think it is the Sith?" Master Lal'mar asked as she looked at Master Windu.

"The possibilities still remain..." Master Windu furrowed his brow.

There had been a short silence before the ancient Master spoke.

"Emerged, the shadow has." Master Yoda concluded, "Find out who and what it is, we must.  Involved with the past missions, the shadow could be."

A young Knight was surrounded by the armed Zephyrenes and could not escape...   "You can still live a glorious life without remorse, since you will not remember it ever again..."

"I choose that path..."  

Qui-Gon waked with a start as he heard his own voice from his youth answered in the dark.

He didn't know what that dream meant, but somehow he was sure it wasn't only a nightmare.  The image of that trapped young Knight and those words from the cold voice and his own were so familiar, as if they were parts of the past.  Was the dream revealing something that had happened before?

Qui-Gon went into the living room to meditate upon that strange dream, trying to seek answers from his meditation.  He had sensed a disturbance in the Force.

Obi-Wan got up early the next morning as he always did.  When he crossed the living room, he found Qui-Gon sitting cross-legged beside the windows, still meditating.

"Ma --" He stopped himself before he disturbed his Master's meditation.   He stood quietly at the same position, waiting for Qui-Gon to finish the meditation.

There must be something wrong.  Obi-Wan thought worriedly as Qui-Gon woke from the meditation state.

"Anything wrong, Master?"  Obi-Wan asked when he watched Qui-Gon stand up exhaustedly.

"No, everything is fine."  Qui-Gon's brow furrowed for he had finally figured out the vague meaning of that dream -- and it wasn't a cheerful thing to be known.

"Yeah, sure!"  Obi-Wan said with much doubts in his voice.

"Why don't you go back to sleep, Obi-Wan?"  Qui-Gon suggested lamely.

"Master, it's morning now, and I am already completely awake."   Obi-Wan crossed his arms in front of him, "You never got up this early to meditate before."

"Why can't I change my habit?"

"Because you won't wake earlier than usual unless something has scared you in your dreams."

"Is that so?"  Qui-Gon arched an eyebrow.

"Unfortunately."

Qui-Gon snorted and turned to walk away, "I thought you'd know better than to be so nosey to your Master."

"So you were scared by something?  What is it?" He rushed in front of his Master to face him, "It's got to be something important, or you wouldn't meditate on it."

"Is that the way to talk to your Master?" Qui-Gon narrowed his eyes.

"No...but yes." Obi-Wan always felt braver when he just got up, maybe it was because his brain hadn't come to full conscious yet, "It is a Padawan's job to care for his Master when his Master is disturbed by some nightmares."

"Why do you think it was a nightmare?"

"Or that dream wouldn't be scary."

"I haven't even said it was something frightening in my dream that waked me."

"Then you wouldn't wake in the first place."

Qui-Gon rubbed his forehead.  He had known Obi-Wan was a pragmatist, but he didn't know he could be so...unbelievable.

"Padawan, in order to make you quiet, I admit it was a nightmare."

"So what was it about?"

"Don't push your luck, my young Padawan.  You shall learn that everything has a limit, even should your stubbornness." Qui-Gon walked around his speechless stubborn apprentice and went into the kitchen.

Stubbornness?  I am worrying about you! Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and followed his Master into the kitchen.

After their first meal, Qui-Gon decided to meditate more upon that bizarre dream, but he'd have to deal with his curious Padawan first.

"Obi-Wan, it is not your place to interfere with your Master's personal matters." Qui-Gon said serenely.

"I'm not interfering, Master.  I'm asking." Obi-Wan gave him an innocent look.

"Asking is the first step of interfering."

"Okay...then I am interfering."  Obi-Wan shrugged, "But if you just tell me what it was, I swear I will keep silent."

"I do NOT have deals with Padawans." Qui-Gon said arrogantly, "Besides, you don't have my trust on that.  You would find yourself even more questions to disturb my peace after I tell you about it."

"Whoa...Was it something that full of mysteries, Master?"  

"That's it!  I've had enough of you, Padawan!"  Qui-Gon stood up abruptly and felt his patience was fast flowing away.

"So have I, Master!" Obi-Wan stood as well, "Why not just tell me?  I have a feeling that you'll keep being bothered by the same nightmare if you don't share it with someone and do something about it."

"Is that a threat, my Padawan?" Qui-Gon intimidated as his eyes narrowed threateningly.

"Well...no..." Obi-Wan swallowed and winced a little, "It's a...concern..." He bowed his head weakly.   Qui-Gon sighed; he understood his Padawan had been worrying about him, but he wanted to meditate some more upon it before he told anyone since he had sensed the dream was showing something...dishonorable.  Perhaps he should discuss it with Obi-Wan?  After all, Obi-Wan was his closest friend and wouldn't despise him.

Having made up his mind, Qui-Gon sat down back to his chair.  "All right, Obi-Wan."  He gestured Obi-Wan to sit down, "I'm afraid the dream was revealing something I have done in the past."

"Really?" Obi-Wan asked with concern, "And why is that...startling to you?  I mean, since you were the one who did it, unless the thing you've done was truly horrible, or you shouldn't be frightened by reviewing it..."

"Because I don't remember anything about it." Qui-Gon sighed with frustration, "Therefore, when I saw it again last night, I was astonished.   And, seems like it was something horrible."

"You mean..." Obi-Wan's eyes widened, "your memory of doing that has been wiped?"

"At least it seems so." Qui-Gon nodded and told Obi-Wan about the dream.

After he finished, he waited quietly to see Obi-Wan stare at him with scorn.  However, when his Padawan came back from shock, he didn't even stare at him.  He simply stood up and walked around the table to kneel beside Qui-Gon and placed his hands on the Master's laps.

He whispered soothingly: "It wasn't that horrible, Master.  You were young and alone, I think I would have done the same if I were in your place, or even worse." He smiled at Qui-Gon understandingly.

Qui-Gon felt his heart warmed by Obi-Wan's smile.  When he finally nodded with a slight smile of himself, his Padawan was relieved and stood up.

"So...what are you going to do, Master?" Obi-Wan asked as he still remained at Qui-Gon's side.

"I suppose I will talk about it with the Council." Qui-Gon rubbed his forehead heavily, "It is something that I must do."

Sensing his Master's dim fear of facing the Council on that matter, Obi-Wan put one hand on Qui-Gon's shoulder, "Don't worry, Master, they will understand.  Besides, we could do it together if you allowed me to."

Covered Obi-Wan's hand with his, Qui-Gon smiled, "It is a blessing to have you at my side, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan blushed lightly and was glad Qui-Gon didn't see the redness on his face. "Then it would be my honor to assist you, Master."

In the Council chamber, Master Yoda's brows furrowed after Qui-Gon finished the report of his concerns.

"So this disturbance in the Force is caused by your past mission on Zephyrann, you think?" Master Yoda asked with apprehension.

"I'm afraid so, Master Yoda." Qui-Gon bowed his head guiltily.

"But you don't remember the mission correctly anymore." Master Windu said, more of a question than a statement.

"Yes." Qui-Gon sighed deeply.

Obi-Wan looked worriedly at his Master, wishing he could help even for a bit.  But, then again, he was just as confused as the Council itself.

"You will return to the planet Zephyrann immediately and investigate." Master Windu said after his deep sigh, "With your Padawan, of course." He added after he saw the worried look on Obi-Wan's face.

"Also try to recover your lost memory, you must.  Or know the entire conspiracy, we won't." Master Yoda remarked heavily.  Qui-Gon frowned at his remark -- this was the hardest part of the mission, which was of the shameful memories he didn't really want to remember again.

"But why didn't the Zephyrenes kill him instead if they don't want him to reveal their attempt?" Master Lal'mar turned to look at Master Windu.

"Obviously," Master Windu sighed again, "they only wiped Qui-Gon's memory because they didn't want his death to stir the Order. And a Jedi Knight with some memory lost could also be a fine tool to assure the Council that there wasn't anything insidious on that planet."

Master Lal'mar nodded and remained silent, as other Council members did.

"We know it would be hard for you to recover that unpleasant memory, but it is vital for us to know what is behind the danger." Master Ki-Adi-Mundi's voice was colored with understandings.

Qui-Gon looked up, determined, "It is because of my own fault that the situation has become like this, I will do all the things within my strength to correct the mistake."

"Then your ship will be ready in thirty minutes," Master Windu said, "and report to us any information you have acquired at once."

"And may the Force be with you." Master Yoda ended the conversation.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan bowed formally and left the Council chamber.

"Master?" Obi-Wan asked as they were on their way back to their shared quarters.

Qui-Gon turned to look at his Padawan.

"Um..." Obi-Wan swallowed a little, "Will you be able to remember...you know...that part of the memory in time?"

Qui-Gon gazed at the young man for a while, then smiled, "I don't think so, Padawan, unfortunately.  But I'll try." He added quickly as he saw Obi-Wan opened his mouth, "And I know perfectly that there is no try, but this is not something I could control, so don't try to pour me with Master Yoda's subjective lecture."

"Well, he's still one of the wisest men in the Order." Obi-Wan smiled, "And since the situation now is not really positive, maybe we should work a little harder on your memory recovery?"

"Perhaps." Qui-Gon said dryly, "Though I doubt there is anything you could do to improve the recovering pace."

"Maybe what you need is some stimulations," Obi-Wan mused, "something that could remind you of the forgotten part of the mission."

"But stimulations are not that easy to find, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon sighed, "And we don't even know what kind of stimulations we need."

"That could be solved." Obi-Wan rubbed his chin, "It'll take us about..." He contemplated.

"Five days." Qui-Gon said.

"Right, five days to reach Zephyrann, so we'll have plenty of time to think of the stimulations."

"I hope you're right." Qui-Gon said with despair.

Half an hour later, Qui-Gon and his apprentice had boarded the ship they were assigned to and were in the cockpit, ready to take off.  Qui-Gon was navigating the ship, while Obi-Wan suddenly sensed a disturbance in the Force.  Strange enough, his Master didn't seem to have noticed anything, so Obi-Wan excused himself from the cockpit and went to check on it.

Obi-Wan knew he couldn't suspend the ship's movement just because of something only he had sensed, so he decided that he'd find that disturbance before the ship take off.

He sensed the disturbance was near the ramp and he used his force-enhanced speed to rush to the position only to bump into Virgille again.

"Hey!" Came the familiar yelp, and the two of them were sitting on the floor once more.

Obi-Wan gasped: "The angry youngling!"

Before he could do anything, the ship was already beginning to move.   Swiftly, it left the docking bay, and was out of the atmosphere of Coruscant.

"Oh Force!" Obi-Wan jumped up and dragged Virgille abruptly to the cockpit.

Qui-Gon was surprised when he heard a loud "How rude!" and Obi-Wan reappeared in the cockpit with a struggling youngling in his arms.

"What's this all about, Padawan?" Qui-Gon frowned.

"Master," Obi-Wan scowled, "I am despaired to inform you that we've got a little stowaway here."

"I am NOT a stowaway!" Virgille yelled, "You are in big trouble now, Mister!"

"Oh, I'm scared!" Obi-Wan mocked, "You're the one who's in big trouble now, Missy --" Before Obi-Wan could finish, Virgille suddenly bit his hand furiously.  Obi-Wan yelped and Virgille extricated herself from his capture immediately.

"Why, you little!" Obi-Wan gritted his teeth and looked at his swollen hand with anger and self-pity.

"You deserve it, I have warned you before." Virgille glared at him fiercely.

As Obi-Wan was about to have his revenge, Qui-Gon's voice burst sternly: "Enough, you two."

They both froze and turned to face the impatient Master.

"Obi-Wan, may I know what is going on here?" Qui-Gon furrowed his brows.

"Ask her!" Obi-Wan clenched his fists.

Virgille winced under Qui-Gon's intense stare, "I do not lie.  I was in the hall, and then Master Lal'mar stopped me and asked me to help her find her datapad."

"But why were you on this ship?" Qui-Gon asked gently as he sensed the nervousness and fear in the child's voice.

"Because Master Lal'mar finally remembered that she'd left the datapad on this ship.  Of course she told me to forget about it since you were going to leave the Temple in this ship soon, but I thought I could be fast enough to fetch the datapad before you took off." She swallowed, "I'm sorry, Master...uh, what's your name?" She asked awkwardly.

Qui-Gon smiled as he put his hand on the little girl's head, "Qui-Gon Jinn."

She swallowed again, "I'm sorry, Master Qui-Gon, really."

Qui-Gon's smile grew warmer as he rubbed Virgille's red hair, "That's all right, little one.  And what is your name?"

Virgille instantly straightened herself, "I am Mira from the House of Virgille.  And I prefer you to call me by my family name."  Obi-Wan recognized it was her famous grandma-talk again, but it seemed the angry youngling could be not annoying sometimes.

"As you wish, Virgille." Qui-Gon shook hands with Virgille and Virgille grinned brightly with pure happiness of being forgiven.

Obi-Wan was considering if he should remain silent for a while until his Master and Virgille have talked enough, but Virgille didn't forget his existence.

"Now you believe me?" She frowned at Obi-Wan.

"Kind of." Obi-Wan answered in mock coldness, "But why do you want my Master to call you your surname, too?  He won't -- what's that word again -- denigrate your esteemed given name."

"But I found out that I like hearing people calling me Virgille after meeting you that dawn." Virgille gasped, "You still remember what I said yesterday?"

Obi-Wan nodded smugly and thought: Children are only children -- they're always so easy to get excited.

"Oh...that's impressing..." Virgille contemplated with a grandma-look on her six-year-old face, "Not even Master Lal'mar could remember what I said."

Obi-Wan suppressed his impulse to roll his eyes, "That's because they don't need to, Virgule."

"It's Virgille!" She yelled angrily.

"Whatever." Obi-Wan waved his hand dismissively.

"How rude!" Virgille cast him an enraged glare.

"All right, you two." Qui-Gon interrupted their potential battle, "Obi-Wan, we need to jump into hyperspace now, so maybe you'd like to put off your little conversation for a moment?"

"Obi-Wan?  Is that your name?" Virgille asked.

"Yeah..." Obi-Wan answered cautiously.

"I like that name!" She beamed, "It sounds friendly and caring!"

"Huh?" Obi-Wan widened his eyes confusedly.

"Well, that's exactly how Obi-Wan treats most of the people." Qui-Gon smiled affectionately at Obi-Wan which made the younger man blush slightly.

"What are you trying to do here?" Obi-Wan frowned at her.

"Nothing!" She grinned brightly, "It's good to know the only person who remembers what I said has a good name. Erm..." Her expression instantly turned into a serious look, "Will I have the permission to call you that?"

"Sure..." Obi-Wan was surprised at Virgille's fast changing mood, "Virgule."

"Virgille!" She barked.

"Whatever."

"How rude!"

Qui-Gon smiled slightly while he shook his head with no choice: there seemed to be a certain pattern of arguing between those two.  Then he decided that it was time for them to jump into hyperspace.

The five days in hyperspace couldn't be boring with a talkative six-year-old around, and they were even somewhat interesting and pleasant.

Qui-Gon had reported to the Council concerning Virgille's being on-board, and the Council approved his opinion to keep Virgille at their side instead of taking the time to send her back to Coruscant.

Virgille finally found the datapad, which belonged to Master Lal'mar, that she had been looking for and showed it to Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan proudly.  Even though she was a babbling child with a very short temper, Obi-Wan began to like her unique grandma-talk and grandma-look -- he even found himself think the kid unique and cute; she was just a child, after all.  And Qui-Gon had liked her since she apologized to him sincerely about her boarding on the ship without permission.

Virgille was a little nervous and frightened when she found herself on the way to a remote planet at the beginning for this was her first time to leave the Temple, but she soon overtook her tension and fear with the help of Obi-Wan.  Although Obi-Wan still pronounced her last name wrong, they became friends at last, despite their still frequent conflicts.

They had projected the hologram of Zephyrenes to get a brief idea of what a Zephyrene is.  Zephyrenes are blue-skinned humanoids, with thin leather wings on their backs and glass-like, convex eyes.  Their sizes are various, from short to tall.  Yet they are mostly very thin for their military-loving nature makes them all warriors, ever prepared to fight.   The Zephyrenes shown on the hologram wore uniforms and boots, and their main weapons were blasters and electrostaffs.

However, Qui-Gon was not having an easy time -- he was always trying to remember the wiped memory through hard meditations, but all he could get was the frightened feeling that he'd had during that mission.

Obi-Wan tried very hard to analyze his Master's dream in order to find the stimulations of Qui-Gon's memory, but he didn't succeed, either.

In Virgille's opinion, maybe Qui-Gon would find his memory when he was at the same place while his memory got wiped.  But Obi-Wan then reminded her that they wouldn't have much hope to escape if they did get to that place.

Qui-Gon was frustrated and disappointed with himself, but Obi-Wan encouraged and comforted him with the thought that things might get better once they arrived on Zephyrann.

"Padawan," Qui-Gon said hesitantly as Obi-Wan helped him up onto his feet again after another meditation, "do you think..." he hesitated, "I've humiliated your apprenticeship?" He knew this question sounded stupid, but it had troubled him since he first realized what the dream meant.

Obi-Wan stared at him in disbelief, "Of course not. Why would I?"

Qui-Gon cleared his throat, "Well, since your Master has clearly done something shameful in the past and that mistake is now having a dangerous influence on the present..."

Obi-Wan smiled tenderly at his worried Master, "Master, how could I ever feel that way?  It has always been my honor to be your Padawan and at your side." He patted Qui-Gon's hand soothingly.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan.  It is my honor as well to train you." Qui-Gon returned the younger man's smile gratefully.

Zephyrann was a planet covered with tropical rain forests.  After the ship finally jumped out of hyperspace, it went through the atmosphere that surrounded the planet.

"I sensed a disturbance in the Force." Obi-Wan remarked as he looked down at the tropical rain forests below from the cockpit.

"I sensed it, too." Qui-Gon narrowed his eyes, "Seems the mission won't be easy."

"Don't worry, Master Qui-Gon," Virgille said confidently, "Like the ancients said: 'Things could always get worse.'" She shut her mouth abruptly when she noticed she hadn't improved the anxious air in the cockpit a bit after Obi-Wan nudged her with his elbow.

Qui-Gon sighed, "We'd better not stir the locals, there might be traps around."

Obi-Wan and Virgille nodded in unison.

Twenty minutes later, the ship landed on a cleared ground in the forest and the three walked down the ramp quietly.

"Are we supposed to whisper?" Virgille whispered to Obi-Wan.

"I guess so." He whispered back, "But you'd better be quiet since you can't control your volume very well."

Virgille glared at him, obviously offended, "How rude!" She whispered.

Obi-Wan snorted quietly, "I'm only telling the truth." Then he walked up to his Master, who had been silent since they left the ship.

"Master?" He whispered hesitantly, "Why don't we just leave Virgule on the ship?"

"Because we're not sure if the ship is safe for her." Qui-Gon answered in the same low voice.

"Oh...right. Then...do you have any memory here, Master?" Obi-Wan looked up at Qui-Gon with concern.

"That's for sure.  They only wiped part of my memory of that mission, and they left the rest to myself because they needed me to regard the mission as a completed one, so I could report the false investigation result to the Council." Qui-Gon sighed, "So I suppose I could lead the way, if they haven't moved their fortress."

"Then we'll follow your lead, Master." Obi-Wan smiled encouragingly and they both looked back to check if Virgille was still with them.   Virgille seemed to be a little uncomfortable with the unfamiliar environment, so Qui-Gon took her little hand to send her reassurance, and held it to also make sure that she wouldn't get lost during their journey.

Then he motioned Obi-Wan to move closer so he could keep an eye on his Padawan as well.

On another end of the forest, a Zephyrene put down his electrobinoculars and spread his wings to fly into a magnificent fortress on the ground.

He knelt before a throne and hissed, "Your Majesty, he has returned to Zephyrann."

"Good.  Make sure he won't be able to approach here." The Ruler said in a deep yet powerful voice. "And also take care of his little friends."

The Zephyrene nodded slowly before his Ruler.

"Are we there yet?" Virgille asked Qui-Gon carefully.

"No, not yet." Qui-Gon looked around warily, "I'm afraid we'll have company soon."

"You mean they have noticed us?" Obi-Wan asked nervously, stepping closer to his Master.

"Probably." Qui-Gon used his free hand to take Obi-Wan's and pulled him even closer than before, "We'd better be careful."

All of a sudden, ten Zephyrenes with blasters emerged from behind the trees around them, all blasters aiming at the three Jedi.  Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Virgille stood back to back, with their lightsabers humming in hands.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan whispered to himself.

"Obi-Wan," Virgille glared at him with her grandma-look, "If you cannot improve the situation, it's best for you to shut up -- ALL of us have a very, VERY bad feeling about this."

"Oh, suppose you're not being a noisy, dumb little moron!" Obi-Wan roared back.

"I have always heard that Jedi are optimists," A Zephyrene hissed coldly as he approached them with steady strides until he was standing in front of them, but he left a few meters between himself and the Jedi. "But not that optimistic -- you seem to even have time for quarrels."

Obi-Wan and Virgille fell silent and stood back closer to Qui-Gon whose eyes were now narrowed with contemplation.  Obi-Wan felt a small ripple in the Force, and he noticed his Master was directing the dirt from the ground surreptitiously into his right hand which was holding the lightsaber hilt with the other hand, without being noticed by the enemies.

The Zephyrene narrowed his glassy eyes, "If I were you, I would put down my weapons and surrender -- for there is no need for you to use them anymore, since no matter how valiantly you fight, you will not escape the fate of dea --"

Qui-Gon abruptly threw the dirt collected in his right hand straightly into the Zephyrene's convex, glassy eyes with Force-enhanced power.   The Zephyrene screamed with a high-pitched screech and dropped his weapon to put his hands over his wounded eyes.  Just before the other stunned Zephyrenes came back to awareness and could fire at them, Qui-Gon slashed his lightsaber towards them immediately.  With two other sharp screams, two other Zephyrenes died instantly.

Obi-Wan and Virgille deflected the laser bolts aiming at them from the remaining seven soldiers.  Qui-Gon joined them and directed a bolt right back to its shooter, and the soldier screamed piercingly and fell to the ground.

"This is intolerable!" Virgille yelled frightenedly with a tone often used by grandma.

"Shut up and fight, Virgule!" Obi-Wan shouted.

"Virgille!"

"Whatever!"

"How rude!"

After four more Zephyrenes died under their own laser bolts, Qui-Gon Force-pushed the last two enemies onto the ground.  As they were trying to jump back to their feet, Obi-Wan leaped before them and beheaded both of them with a swing of his lightsaber.

Panting fiercely, Obi-Wan walked back to his Master and Virgille who were as exhausted as he was.

"Well fought, Padawan." Qui-Gon put a hand on his shoulder, still breathing heavily. "And you too, little one." Then he rubbed Virgille's sweaty hair lightly.

The Zephyrene whose eyes were injured finally came back to his vision painfully and found that all his soldiers were dead.  He glared at the three Jedi severely and inhaled deeply of air.  Then he opened his mouth and gave a penetrating roar into the sky.

Hearing the furious roar, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Virgille turned to look at the Zephyrene, who had already spread out his wings and left in a flash.

"What was he doing?" Obi-Wan gazed at the small figure that was flying further.

Qui-Gon's eyes widened with horror as memory rushed back to him, "He'd just sent a signal to his fortress!"

"What?" Obi-Wan gasped, understanding his Master's concern.

A loud noise reached their ears, and they all looked at the direction the noise came from.  It sounded like thousands of pairs of wings were flapping and it was approaching quickly.

Virgille was trembling with increasing fear of the terrifying noise and she snuggled up to Obi-Wan's leg out of instinct.  Obi-Wan laid a hand on her head in comfort though he was no less frightened as she was, then he decided to hold the frightened youngling up to carry her in one of his arms out of instinct.

"Master, what shall we do now?" Obi-Wan asked with a trace of fluster in his voice while he looked at his silent Master whose eyes were shut with his thought deep in muse.  

Qui-Gon suddenly looked up and grabbed Obi-Wan's free hand abruptly, starting to run as he answered, "Run!"

Obi-Wan continued to carry Virgille in his arm with his other hand gripped tightly in his Master's as he was led by Qui-Gon to run away from the gathering Zephyrenes.  Obviously, Qui-Gon was leading them in a certain direction, which Obi-Wan hoped was towards a refuge.

"Duck!" Virgille suddenly yelled into his ears, and he immediately ducked his head, narrowly evading a laser bolt.  He glanced back and saw a Zephyrene flying after them with a blaster in his hands.

Qui-Gon noticed him as well and he suddenly let go of his Padawan's hand to turn back to the follower and cut off his head rapidly.  As the Zephyrene's dead body landed on the ground, he said tiredly, "We can't afford any company now."

Obi-Wan and Virgille was surprised by Qui-Gon's swiftness before Qui-Gon took the younger man's hand again and led them back to their way.

"Master?" Obi-Wan asked as they rushed, "Where are we going?"

"To a place I finally remembered from the remnant memory." Qui-Gon said with weariness, "I hope it's still safe and I didn't remember it wrong."

Sensing his Master's depression of his amended memory of this place, Obi-Wan tightened his grip on his Master's hand said soothingly, "Don't worry, Master.  Your memory must be right."

Qui-Gon smiled back at him slightly and returned his focus to the surroundings.

Ten minutes later, they reached an aged old tree which bore no difference from the others.  Qui-Gon reached out his sense and quickly flipped over a stone slate hidden perfectly in the grass grew around the old tree and a hole revealed.

"Good heavens!" Virgille grandma-gasped.

"Get in there!" Qui-Gon commanded and Obi-Wan obeyed instantly with Virgille still in his arm.  He jumped into the hole and landed on a damp ground.  Then he stepped away and watched as Qui-Gon did the same.

As soon as his feet touched the damp ground below, Qui-Gon used the Force to move the slate above to cover the hole completely as it did before.

For a moment, none of them spoke as the only sound in the dark and silence was their panting.

"Well...that was close." Virgille commented as Obi-Wan put her down to the ground for he was too exhausted to still hold her up.

"And what should you say to me, young lady?" Obi-Wan arched an eyebrow, rubbing his sore arm.

"Thank you, Obi-Wan." She said with a solemn face, "And what should YOU say also?"

"What?" Obi-Wan crouched down to sit on the damp ground, "You're expecting me to thank you?"

"Of course." She said in a matter-of-fact tone, "If it wasn't because of me, your head would have exploded like a bomb back there."

Obi-Wan snorted, "If it wasn't because of you, I would have had some spare sense to detect the bolt earlier."

"Yeah, right, like THAT could have happened." Virgille grandma-sneered while she sat down on the ground as well.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and decided that he was too tired to argue with the dumb youngling.

Qui-Gon sighed with a smile: there seemed to never be a moment that the two young ones could ever stop quarreling, even though they were all worn out by now.  Gathering his thoughts, he turned to them and said coaxingly: "I'm afraid we can't rest at the moment, because here is too close to the hole that leads to the ground.  We'd better go further into the tunnel." He gestured towards the dim tunnel behind him.

Obi-Wan nodded quietly and tried to stand up with the help of the wall while Virgille just jumped up back to her feet quickly.  It was easier for Virgille to get back to her feet since almost all of their way here, she was just staying in Obi-Wan's arm.

Qui-Gon offered his hand with an understanding smile, and Obi-Wan took it hesitantly while he was inwardly glad that the place was dark enough to hide the redness on his face.

The Ruler of Zephyrann narrowed his convex eyes as he watched the wounded-eyes general come into the hall and knelt before him once again.

"I would be pleased if you could give me a satisfying explanation concerning the wound of your eyes, Roga."

 "Your Majesty," Roga hissed painfully, "Qui-Gon Jinn had used the dirt from the ground to attack my eyes."

The Ruler nodded with compassion, "And the other nine soldiers?"

"They were all defeated." Roga sadly bowed his head, "The Jedi are far more dangerous than we assumed -- especially Qui-Gon Jinn."

"Perhaps it is because of the experience he has gained over the years." The Ruler mused, "But," his mouth twisted into a cold smile, "capturing them is only a matter of time, since we have never lost track of them.   Am I right, my ally?" he turned to the hooded man standing beside him.

"Undoubtedly." The man laughed, "I see that you aren't so eager to kill them anymore."

"Death is only an escape." The Ruler smiled, "I would rather have the pleasure to know them suffering to be destroyed slowly and smoothly," he emphasized each word, his glassy eyes were narrowed again, "after they have done something so unforgivable to my soldiers."

Qui-Gon took Virgille's small hand as he'd sensed the little girl's growing fear of the darkness ahead of them.

He and Obi-Wan both reached out into the Force to sense the surroundings, but there seemed to be a constant danger around them: not near enough to specify, yet not far, either.

"Do you think they know our position, Master?" Obi-Wan looked around nervously.

"I'm not certain, Padawan." Qui-Gon sighed heavily, "There are too many of them -- I don't know if that danger is their following us or just their existence above the ground."

"That would be a problem." Obi-Wan said to himself, "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Could you ever stop saying those ridiculous words?" Virgille scolded, "Of course ALL of us have a very, VERY bad feeling about this!"

Obi-Wan sneered coldly, "And you're not keeping saying the same words?   You keep doing that even with the same stupid grandma-tone!"

"Why, how rude!" Virgille grandma-glared at him angrily.

"All right, you two." Qui-Gon interrupted the war, "We don't need any fight here."

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan ducked his head.

"Sorry, Master Qui-Gon." Virgille apologized in a whisper, like a grandma.

Qui-Gon couldn't suppress a smile as the young ones ended their war so fast.

"Well," he finally stopped his footsteps, "the good news is we may have a rest now."

"Finally." Obi-Wan collapsed onto the ground in relief, his back against the damp wall.

"I almost began to think that we'd never stop." Virgille grandma-sighed happily and sat down beside Obi-Wan.

"We'll rest for some hours." Qui-Gon stated as he sat cross-legged at the other side of the yawning youngling.

Virgille yawned again and soon drifted off to sleep with her chin rested on her chest.

"Erm, Master?" Obi-Wan asked tentatively as he noticed the older man's eyes closed again.

"Yes, Obi-Wan?" came the gentle reply.

"How did you know to attack their eyes?"

Qui-Gon answered serenely with his eyes still shut, "If you had studied beforehand, Padawan, you would have known that Zephyrenes could see in the dark as clearly as they could in the light, with the help of their special eyes."

"You mean those glass-like eyeballs?"

"Yes.  Their eyes are glass-like and convex, which also make the eyes more vulnerable than other beings."

"Okay..." Obi-Wan contemplated, "But why don't they put something in front of their big eyes to protect them?"

"Because that would make their eyes lose contact with the environment, for their eyes are also the detectors of their surroundings -- they use their eyes to feel the changes around them."

"Like a snake's tongue?"

"Exactly." Qui-Gon nodded briefly, "Unfortunately, that general didn't feel the sands gathering in my hand, maybe he was too confident at that moment that he loosed guard."

"But what about the other Zephyrenes?  Why didn't they warn him?"

"They were too far from us, so they couldn't feel it."

"Lucky for us." Obi-Wan smiled to himself.

"But we'll need more luck than we thought soon." Qui-Gon opened his eyes, "Things are getting nastier around here."

"I think so, too." Obi-Wan hesitated a moment when he was ready to ask an unpleasant question. "How...did you know that roar was a signal, Master?" He winced a little as Qui-Gon arched an eyebrow at him, "Well, see...it can't be from your remained memory since your report showed Zephyrann wasn't a hostile planet, so they couldn't have let you remember that they'd once gathered to attack you." He swallowed hardly, "Th-Then I guess it must be from your wiped memory."

Qui-Gon gazed at him for a moment, and eventually spoke, "Your guess is correct, Obi-Wan.  Yes, I did have a flash of wiped memory in my mind back there.  But it's only a flash." He sighed with depression, "I can't remember anything more."

Obi-Wan couldn't hold the impulse to take his Master's hand, "Don't worry, Master.  You've pushed yourself too much, things have already become much better than before now."

"They have?"

"Of course!" Obi-Wan said excitedly, "That's the stimulation we need, Master -- the Zephyrene warriors.  They can remind you of your lost memory, especially that general, he seems to know you already."

"I have the same feeling." Qui-Gon smiled, absently stroking the back of his Padawan's hand, which was holding his, with his free hand.

Obi-Wan shivered slightly at the caress, glad to know that Qui-Gon didn't pay much attention to that small shiver.

"But the problem is, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said, still smiling, "even though they're the stimulation we've been looking for, all they could stimulated from me was nothing more than that roar."

Obi-Wan's face fell instantly, "I almost forget.  Then they're only the stimulation of that roar." He sighed in frustration, "We need something to stimulate the scheme you've overheard." He let go of Qui-Gon's hand and retrieved his own.  "I'm sorry, Master.  I though I'd found the answer, but then I realize, I've just pointed out the obvious."

Qui-Gon shook his head and smiled, patting the younger man's shoulder gently, "No need to apologize, Padawan.  It was my fault, not yours.  If only I could have chosen the path of death that time, then things would be a lot easier now."

Obi-Wan looked up at his Master with horror, "Please don't say that, Master.  If you'd died, the situation wouldn't be improved much, and..." he trailed off and breathed, "I wouldn't have the chance to be your Padawan." He bowed his head slowly, feeling selfish and foolish.

Qui-Gon studied him silently for a while, then tilted up his chin gently to make the younger man look at his Master in the eyes.  "I am blessed to be your Master, Obi-Wan."  He whispered softly with a heart-warming smile.

Obi-Wan looked away to hide his reddened face, "So...Master, would you like to tell me what was the mission like, as you recall?  That might give us some clue."

Qui-Gon nodded and began: "There were rumors about the mysterious energy on Zephyrann, so the Council sent me to investigate it.  After I landed in the forest, I sensed there was a hidden hole nearby."

"This one?"

"Precisely.  Then I found the hole and went through the tunnel beneath it," he gestured the tunnel they were now in, "then I found the way was blocked by collapsed rocks.  I reached out to sense those barriers.   Along with the help of the Force, I managed to find a way through them.

"After I passed through, there was a rusty metal gate before me.  The lock had been broken long ago, so I pushed it open."

"Don't tell me it was their fortress behind that gate." Obi-Wan grinned brightly.

"It was." Qui-Gon smiled back, but his expression turned solemn again as he continued, "Then I sneaked around to investigate and look for the source of that energy mentioned in the rumors -- I could feel the power of it was strong the moment I got into the fortress."

"Did you find it?"

"Fortunately.  But it was merely a small crystal."

"Typical."

"That's right.  It was a Reine Crystal, which is a kind of purplish transparent stones only found on Zephyrann.  And the Zephyrenes were using its energy to..." Qui-Gon frowned, "heat up the engines of their constructing machines faster."

"Were they building something?"

"An unarmed star cruiser."

"Hmm..." Obi-Wan folded his arms as he mused, "Sounds like that crystal was used only as a heater."

"That's what I thought.  But still, I checked the entire place, and came to the conclusion that there was no hostility in their using the energy.  In the end, I left the planet, being unnoticed." Qui-Gon sighed, "And that was the end of the mission.  The noticeable part was that I've once lost conscious for a while in the investigation because the accidental explosion in the manufacturing chamber."

"So..." Obi-Wan looked at his Master, "you must've been caught somewhere during the investigation, after the explosion.  And they've wiped all your memory about the things after the explosion and placed you back to the spot where you once lied unconscious.  And when you awaked, you thought you were just lying there all the time before you regained your awareness."

"Apparently." Qui-Gon nodded.

"There's still one thing I don't understand, Master.  Aren't they afraid that we might report to the Council about their attacking us if we get back to our ship?"

"I'm afraid no.  They first made sure that our ship was destroyed, then attacked."

"Oh..." Obi-Wan mused, "W-What?  What do you mean by our ship was destroyed?!" he asked in terror.

"Well, what can I say?" Qui-Gon was obviously amused by Obi-Wan's reaction, "That means our ship were exploded into tiny pieces; it won't be able to fly anymore and --"

"Of course I know what does 'destroy' mean!  But our ship was destroyed!" he gasped horrifiedly, "Then how are we going to ever leave here, Master?"

"Well..." Qui-Gon smiled with composure, "There's always another ship."

"Yeah, right." Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes skeptically, "I doubt they'd let us borrow theirs."

"You never know, Padawan." Qui-Gon was even more amused.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at his Master's confidence.  "But do you think they'd wipe our memory again if we were captured?"

"No, I'm afraid." Qui-Gon said quietly, "From their action of blowing up our ship, I suppose they don't expect us to leave.  And it seems they don't mind if our deaths stir the Order -- they 're quite confident this time."

"You mean their plan is going to be completed soon, so they don't care if others discover their intentions?"

"It appears so." Qui-Gon stood up, "We'd better be going now -- I have a feeling that we don't have much time left."

"So do I." Obi-Wan nodded and got up.

"Me too." A sleepy voice responded.

"And I have a bad feeling about this." Obi-Wan replied absently.

"Stop saying those insane words, Mister!" The sleepy voice suddenly became sober, "Of course we ALL have a very, VERY --"

"Hold it," Obi-Wan snapped, finally realized who he'd been talking to, "why are you awake, Virgule?"

"It's Virgille!"

"Whatever."

"How rude!" she scolded, "And what can you expect from an always easy-to-wake tired child after you have spoken so loudly and been so noisy and not concerned with other people's rest and slumber!"

Obi-Wan moaned helplessly, "Oh, Force, why me...why ME?"

Although Qui-Gon thought the two young ones' quarrel was really a pleasure to watch, he knew they must leave as soon as possible -- the tunnel wasn't as safe as it used to be anymore.  Instincts told him the Zephyrene who'd attacked them while they were on the way here didn't find them in coincidence.

"We must go, now." He urged, and suddenly, he sensed the fast approaching danger.  "They're here." He gasped at the familiar feeling from the forgotten past.

Obi-Wan and Virgille watched the Master in confusion.  Before they could ask anything, Qui-Gon rapidly grabbed their hands and started to dash.

"What's the matter, Master?" Obi-Wan asked hurriedly.

"He has sensed a disturbance in the Force, idiot!" Virgille grandma-yelled impatiently.

"Of course I KNOW he has sensed a disturbance in the Force, moron!" Obi-Wan shouted back, "But what did he sense?  I didn't sense anything.   The danger's always been there, even from the moment we got in here --"

He cut off himself abruptly as the sound reached his ear -- the sound of thousands of pairs of wings flapping.

The sound was far, but was getting closer in high speed.

They ran with Force-enhanced speed for some time, then they reached the blocked point Qui-Gon had mentioned in his telling.

Qui-Gon reached out his sense and found the rift that once allowed him to pass through the obstacles.

He picked Virgille up and pushed her into the rift, then prompted Obi-Wan to crawl in as well.

When they all crawled through the collapsed rocks, the rusty metal gate appeared right in front of them.  Qui-Gon pushed the gate immediately, and though the metal protested with a sharp squeal, it opened reluctantly.

But at the moment Qui-Gon opened the gate, a laser bolt was shot directly into his right thigh.  

The sudden pain forced him to kneel down instantly.

"Master!" Obi-Wan rushed to his side with Virgille.

"Qui-Gon Jinn, what a pleasant...reunion." A cold voice spoke up, and when they looked up, thousands of blasters were pointed at them.

Roga emerged from the soldiers, with a triumphant smile on his face, his wounded glassy eyes sparkled dangerously with coldness.  "We've been expecting you for a while now, but you Jedi seem to be...not very punctual."

Qui-Gon gritted his teeth yet remained silent, and put a comforting hand on the now trembling youngling's back.

Obi-Wan gave up the idea of turning back when the collapsed rocks behind them exploded all of a sudden, revealing the arrived pursuing enemies.

"Please forgive our impolite way of making you a little faster to arrive," Roga bowed sarcastically, "but we felt it might be necessary since we have other schedules ahead.  And I believe you have enjoyed your journey in the deserted emergency passage built by our ancestors."

His convex eyes narrowed, "There seems to be an old friend of yours waiting in the throne hall.  Let's not keep him await, shall we?"

The Jedi's wrists were all locked within Force-proof handcuffs, which were a kind of handcuffs that wouldn't be affected by Force power, as they entered the throne hall with guards surrounding them.

The Ruler smiled at them with amusement, "I welcome your re-visit, Master Jinn, and your young friends."

Roga walked up to him and presented him the Jedi's three lightsabers.

"Do not worry," the Ruler said politely with irony as he saw Virgille's anxious look when Roga carried the weapons away, "I can assure you that Roga has no interests in lightsabers.  We will take good care of them..."

Virgille winced and snuggled back to Qui-Gon a bit.  Obi-Wan noticed a hooded man in black cloak standing behind the throne, and it was obvious that his Master had noticed, too.

He felt a shiver through his spine when the man stepped forward out of the shadow.  The Ruler's smile deepened as he nodded his agreement at the man.

"I must confess that I didn't expect you to return when we parted twenty years ago, my friend." His cold voice echoed in the hall, and Obi-Wan and Virgille both stepped closer to Qui-Gon frightenedly.

"That voice..." Qui-Gon gasped as he looked up immediately.  As he set eyes on the man, waves of memory rushed back to his mind irresistibly.   He remembered that capture, that dark chamber, the conversation, his fear and his self-doubt and disappointment with himself.

"Good, you have remembered that conversation now.  Therefore, I don't need to remind you of your..." his mouth twisted into a cruel smile, "weakness..."

Qui-Gon didn't answer but looked down, for ashamedness began to drown him once more.

"You should have realized that what I had told you concerning the consequences after your death was merely a lie -- I think the Council has already explained the true purpose of only wiping your memory before you set off," he sneered, "but you still believed the lie in the end because of your pure stupidity and fear."

"Don't listen to him, Master!" Obi-Wan said desperately as he sensed the hope in his Master's heart was quickly draining away with despair, "He's just trying to make you lose hope again!"

"I agree," Virgille grandma-glared at the man sternly, "who won't get scared if she's facing a creepy bad person like you!"  Her swallow revealed her nervousness, "You must be a evil Sith mutant or something..." she trailed off as her courage had been all consumed.

He's radiating fear and despair. Obi-Wan thought, No wonder Master was feared and despaired when he first encountered him, and Master had regarded them as his own cowardice, so he started to have self-doubts.   And that explains why he'd given in at that moment.

The man laughed at Virgille's remark almost hysterically, "Children's wisdom is always unpredictable," Virgille decided to hide herself behind Qui-Gon's legs, shivering, "your guess has been correct -- Master Jinn should not be blamed for his fear in the past, for it was the Lord of the Sith he'd been talking to." He lowered his dark hood slowly, revealing a white, wrinkled face.

"Darth Sidious." Obi-Wan gasped in recognition of the face -- he'd occasionally seen the hologram of the disappeared Sith and heard Master Yoda comment on it.

"We're in big trouble now." Virgille whispered from behind Qui-Gon's legs, and Obi-Wan nodded slightly in quiet approval.

Darth Sidious smiled satisfiedly as he watched the two young ones wince under his gaze, "Although you are not to be accused for your needless self-disappointment and doubts of your being Jedi, since the fear and hopelessness you had felt ashamed for were poured by me." he turned to Qui-Gon again, "But look around you," he turned around his hideous head to emphasize the armed Zephyrene warriors filled the hall smilingly, "this is still the path you have chosen for yourself twenty years ago, except there will be two more victims this time.  Their innocent, young lives will soon have a tragic end under your lead."

"That's not true!" Obi-Wan yelled and plucked Qui-Gon's arm as he saw his Master's eyes closed with remorse.

The Sith continued, clearly ignoring Obi-Wan's interruption, "There seems to be a whirligig on your path -- you had escaped death and had the opportunity to savor the taste of honor, but soon, after all these years of glory, you will be back into the arms of death once again." He smiled, stepping back into the shadow behind the throne.

The Ruler glanced at him briefly and began, "You have lost the chance of instant death after you had slaughtered my soldiers mercilessly.   Therefore, I hope you would enjoy your stay with the starving Rancor..." he narrowed his convex, glassy eyes, "Soon our scheme will succeed -- before the Order or the Republic could even notice it.  Pity, you won't be able to witness the fall of the Republic and your own Order, because you will die before that." He turned to the guards and commanded, "Take them away."

"Okay, this is so great." Virgille stated calmly though she was trembling violently from head to toes.

They were in a large chamber with an enormous and angry-for-no-reason Rancor.

Qui-Gon still didn't speak a word, but he looked up now and was clearly analyzing the situation.  Obi-Wan was trying very hard to extricate his wrists from the Force-proof handcuffs yet made no progress.

They all stepped backwards to the wall until their backs were against it while the Rancor was approaching them with heavy strides -- each of it shook the entire chamber fiercely.

"What do we do?" Virgille asked panickedly.  The beast was now roaring penetratingly with hunger at his preys.

"No time to panic, don't panic!" Obi-Wan shouted hastily even though he was pretty sure that he was panicking as well.

Qui-Gon narrowed his eyes as he'd focused on something above.

The Rancor roared again and raised its paw this time.

"Start panicking!" Obi-Wan screamed absently as the three of them all running with fluster in all directions to avoid the beast's capturing paw.

Qui-Gon swiftly swept Virgille into his arms, just before she would get smashed under the Rancor's step.  

The Rancor was becoming angrier than before when none of its food was obedient enough to let it catch.  It swung its paws furiously, accidentally cut off Obi-Wan's handcuffs.

"Huh?" Obi-Wan looked at his freed hands in surprise and delight, "Thank you, Force!"

He managed to get back to his Master's side, and asked hurriedly, "What do you have in mind, Master?"

"Those cables." Qui-Gon pointed to the electric cables spread across the dark ceiling.

"But how are we going to get up there?" Obi-Wan asked as he jumped aside to evade the Rancor's another attack.

"Use the Force, idiot!" Virgille barked impatiently while Qui-Gon carried her run from the beast.

"Of course I KNOW we should use the Force, you moron!  The problem is, the ceiling is too high for a Force-jump!" Obi-Wan yelled back.

"No, you two, we're not going to get to the ceiling!" Qui-Gon interrupted their argument, "We will cut them from the ground, or we'll get electric shock, too!"

"With what?" Obi-Wan shouted, narrowly getting away from the huge paw.

Qui-Gon threw Virgille over to Obi-Wan abruptly, who caught her with shock, "Just take care of Virgille and try to distract its attention!"

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan answered confusedly and started to use mind-trick on the mad Rancor.  But that action only made the Rancor even more indignant, now it decided to focus its attention only on Obi-Wan and Virgille.

"Well, at least you've reached your purpose." Virgille said sardonically, "But we don't want it to focus on US, Mister!"

"Shut up, Grandma Virgule!" Obi-Wan roared as he carried the youngling in his arm to run for their lives.

"Virgille!"

"Whatever!"

"How rude!"

Qui-Gon used this opportunity to get to the back of the chamber and found the remaining bones of the beast's past prey.  Luckily, those foods used to be big animals like the Rancor itself.  He gathered the Force to levitate one of the largest and sharpest bones, and directed it spinning straight towards the cables above the Rancor, who had now cornered the panting Padawan and youngling.

The bone's sharp edge cut off the cables instantly, and the cables' severed ends fell from the ceiling onto the Rancor, just before it could kill the two people in front of it.

The high-power electricity flowed into the beast from the severed ends the moment they touched its thick skin.

Blue electric sparks with lightning and electricity were all over the painfully screaming Rancor, and its sharp and terrifying roar echoed among the chamber stone walls, causing the chamber shaking slightly.

Obi-Wan and Virgille froze and watched the electricity-wrapped Rancor in front of them with fright and the strong sparks made their eyes hurt.   Qui-Gon rushed to the stunned young ones who were sitting on the ground and crouched down to hold them safely in his arms.  He pressed both of their heads close to his chest and told them to close their eyes.

A moment later, the electricity faded gradually and with a last weak moan, the beast fell to the ground heavily, along with a shake of the ground.  Then all went into silence.

Qui-Gon slowly loosed his hold of the young ones, and looked up at the dead Rancor with a sigh of relief.  Obi-Wan tilted his head from his Master's chest hesitantly, dared to open his eyes and patted the still tense youngling's head who was still gripping Qui-Gon's tunics tightly and had her eyes shut firmly.

"It's all right now, Virgule."

"It's Virgille!" She roared, popping up her head abruptly and glared at him.

"Whatever." Obi-Wan laughed at her fast-changing mood.

"How rude!" she didn't think there was anything funny about his... "Public humiliation!" she barked, "This is public humiliation, Mister!"

Obi-Wan waved his hand dismissively and decided to ignore her.  He helped to take off Virgille and Qui-Gon's handcuffs, and Virgille sighed happily.

"Master," he looked at Qui-Gon worriedly, "what about your wound?"

"I've healed it already." Qui-Gon smiled with a little pride, "I'm still a Master after all..." he trailed off and sneered at his own statement, "As if." He sighed deeply and stood up.

"What's wrong, Master?" Obi-Wan stood up as well and looked up at his Master with much concern, "Of course you're still a Master."

Qui-Gon shook his head sadly, "It's all my fault that you and Virgille are in such a fatal danger, Padawan.  I don't think I deserve that title anymore."

Obi-Wan suddenly had a bad feeling and frowned, "You don't believe what Darth Sidious said, right, Master?"

"Please don't call me that, Obi-Wan, I am not worth it." Said Qui-Gon gently, "Though the Rancor is dead, we still cannot stop their plan since we don't even know what the plan is.  And it's also almost impossible for us to escape from here."

"But you've still killed the Rancor!" Virgille protested, "That's considered to be brave and responsible!" she nodded to herself grandmaly.

Qui-Gon shook his head again and smiled ruefully, "It is obvious that I don't have much courage inside of me, for I was frightened so badly when I first encountered the Sith Lord years ago."

"But we were frightened, too!" Virgille said hastily, "He's so ugly and crazy and freaky!"

Obi-Wan said urgently, "Master, we --"

"Stop calling me 'Master', Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon suddenly burst out, his voice filled with anger and despair.

"Why not?"

"Because I'm the one that causes your future deaths!" Qui-Gon roared, "You and Virgille's young lives will soon end because of my own short-sightedness, and that makes the title unbearable!"

"You're not giving up, are you?" Obi-Wan asked cautiously.

"I don't have much choice," Qui-Gon closed his eyes bitterly, "I've tried so hard to do what I though was right, but all I'd done was within their expectations.  I'm merely a fool, as always."

"You're not a fool, Master, and you never were." Said Obi-Wan, "Who knows how they've tracked us so completely?  It's not your fault.  And we can still destroy their scheme if you can see the hope again."

"There is no hope left, Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon yelled, "Don't you see it, I've failed, even from the very beginning!  I can't recall a thing of the scheme that I should know.  All we have now is death!"

"We don't have to die if you could at least try one more time --"

"I've already tried enough." Qui-Gon sighed.

"Then try again!" Obi-Wan said determinedly, "Think of the honor you've had, the glory, the respect from others, the friendship you've gained, the love --"

"These don't concern me any longer!" Qui-Gon cut off him in rage, "And you should know that no one really cares about that ridiculous thing called love!"

"But I do!" Obi-Wan cried out after his heart sank instantly when he heard Qui-Gon's description about what he'd held for his Master for so many years.

Qui-Gon fell silent with the revelation as he looked into his Padawan's eyes.

"Who do you think I'm doing all this for?" tears started to fill Obi-Wan's eyes, "To me, you are always the most respectable person in the universe, and you still are.  I really don't wish to see you fall, Master, not like this." He swallowed, "Please, Master, at least do it for yourself." He finished difficultly at last and walked away to the other side of the chamber.

Qui-Gon stared at the wall blankly when Virgille, who had kept quiet for some time, patted his knee carefully, "He did mean what he said, you know, Master Qui-Gon -- especially the part about love."

Qui-Gon looked at her in wonder, "How did you know?" he asked politely.

"Children's wisdom is always unpredictable." She smiled smugly, intentionally quoting the Sith Lord.

"Well, I must say I couldn't agree more." He ruffled her red hair -- Darth Sidious finally had one concept that was just.

Virgille offered him a warm and encouraging smile, and left his side to see to Obi-Wan. Watching the youngling walking away, Qui-Gon shifted his gaze to his Padawan.  For a long time, he watched Obi-Wan with a complicated look in his eyes.

Obi-Wan was sitting on the ground, sobbing bitterly and quietly -- he had tried to restrain his tears, but the untamable teardrops were just unwilling to abandon his true emotion at the moment.

Virgille proceeded to him tentatively and slowly, step by step, and asked with her voice colored with worries: "Are you well, Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan wiped his eyes with the back of his hand and sniffled tearfully, but he succeeded in forcing himself to smile somehow, "Yes...I'm fine, don't worry."

Virgille closed their distance and patted his back soothingly with tenderness, "There, there, Obi-Wan, things will be all right, you'll see."

Nodding gratefully for the comfort, Obi-Wan smiled a bit, "Thank you, Virgule."

Virgille's expression softened with compassion, "It is Virgille..."

As usual, Obi-Wan would roll his eyes at Virgille's facial expression -- because she obviously thought he couldn't say the word right because of his idiocy.  But he wasn't in the mood to roll his eyes at his comforter now, so he just nodded in agreement, for the first time.

A sudden noise startled them, and they both looked around, only to find Qui-Gon using another smaller sharp bone (which most likely to be some animal's rib) to stab into the interspace between two stones of the stone wall near the force shield filling the arch that was separating the prisoners from outside.

"Um, Master, what are you doing?" Obi-Wan asked out of curiosity, temporarily forgot his sadness.

"Wrecking the console from behind through the wall." Qui-Gon said calmly, still stabbing the interspace with the rib.

"What console?" Virgille asked, running to Qui-Gon's side and watched him working with interest.

"The console that controls our force field." he gestured the bluish transparent force shield near them, "You must have noticed that our dungeon has double gates. The outer one is a metal door guarded by Zephyrenes at outside, and the inner one is an arch filled with a force field, which can be controlled from the control panel on the other side of the wall." From their position, they could see the Zephyrene guards outside the outer gate through the transparent force field and the hole on the metal door, which was used for the guards to check on the prisoners.   But since they were staying behind the wall, so the guards wouldn't know what they were trying to do.

"As you see now, I'm stabbing the position where the control panel is on the other side." He put down the rib, "So if I could stab through the wall and break the console, there wouldn't a force field anymore.  And we could somehow wield the hole on the outer gate to get the keys and escape."

"You mean..." Obi-Wan trailed off, as he couldn't believe that thought.

"I am trying to correct the mistake I've made long before," Qui-Gon smiled resolutely, "and I will not let it happen again."

Obi-Wan widened his eyes with surprise and joy, "Master..."

Qui-Gon started striding towards him and when he reached Obi-Wan's front, he held out one hand and asked with formality: "Could you still help the old man before you to fulfill his mission, Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

Obi-Wan hesitated a moment, staring at his Master's hand in front of him, not sure if Qui-Gon could stand his revealed love for him.  But when he looked up and met Qui-Gon's eyes, he could see anticipation and affection shining in them. Taking the older man's warm hand softly, he smiled and said with equal formality, "It would be my honor, Master Qui-Gon Jinn."

Qui-Gon clasped Obi-Wan's hand and gazed at him with appreciation.   Obi-Wan blushed under his affectionate gaze, but this time, he didn't look away or bow his head to hide the redness on his face -- instead, he looked into his Master's eyes with the same affection.

"Then what about me?" Virgille waited for a while and made up her mind that they'd had enough time for their locked eye contact.

Qui-Gon lowered his body to face Virgille, stated smilingly, "Of course I will also need this remarkable young lady's assistance."

Virgille held up her head with pride, "I am not a young lady; I am a future Jedi Master with promising prospect."

"All right, Master Virgille." Qui-Gon ruffled her hair lightly, and his face turned solemn again, "But as I've told you before, I still can't recall the plan."

"That's all right, Master." Obi-Wan smiled soothingly, relieved to know that Qui-Gon didn't roar at this title anymore, "The real failure is when you stop trying."

Virgille nodded seriously, "As the ancients said: 'One is most powerful when she is within the united.' You are not alone this time, Master Qui-Gon."

A voice came from his mind startled the Master all of a sudden:  

"It is most powerful when it is within the united..."

Thousands of small Reine Crystals were united as one massive crystal, they were beaming with white light together, in contrary to their purple nature --

Qui-Gon returned to awareness abruptly and found Obi-Wan and Virgille staring at him with anxiety.

"Are you all right, Master?" Obi-Wan supported him with his hands as he saw Qui-Gon shaking faintly.  He led the older man to sit down on the damp ground and sat next to him.

"I saw many Reine Crystals, they were all combined together..." Qui-Gon closed his eyes wearily, "It's like an image from the past."

Obi-Wan and Virgille listened patiently, not wanting to push the Master.

Qui-Gon continued slowly, "And there was a voice, saying something about the crystals were most powerful when they were united."

"Can you recognize that voice?" Obi-Wan asked gently.

"I suppose so..." Qui-Gon opened his eyes, "It was the Ruler of Zephyrann."

Virgille gasped at full volume, "You were seeing a scene from the lost memory, Master Qui-Gon!"

"That's wonderful, Master!" Obi-Wan grinned sincerely, "You're beginning to see things now!"

"Perhaps," Qui-Gon nodded, didn't appeared to be cheered up as much as the young ones, "The united Reine Crystals could generate a kind of great energy, and I think they're using the energy as a weapon to wield against the Republic and the Order, according to their recent conversation with us." Qui-Gon bowed his head in depression, "But I don't know how they will use it..."

Virgille decided to keep her mouth shut and waited to see what might happen.

Obi-Wan reached to hold Qui-Gon's cold hands reassuringly in his and broke the silence that was ready to settle amongst them with a gentle voice: "Let me tell you something, Master.  The first time Virgule and I saw that Sith come out from the shadow back in the throne hall, we were all terribly frightened and felt despair filling our minds.  We almost couldn't even stand before him." He squeezed his Master's hands, "Nevertheless, we were still able to hold ourselves straight, because you were with us -- we know that no matter what happens, you will always be there for us; and as long as you are with us, there will always be hope."

Qui-Gon shifted to look at him and the seriously nodding youngling in amazement, and Obi-Wan closed his eyes and held their joint hands to his heart, "We carry this belief deep inside our hearts, and we have never doubted it." As he finished, he slowly let go of Qui-Gon's hands.

Qui-Gon was deeply moved by the declaration of the young ones, and for the first time during this disastrous mission, he smiled with all his soul.

He closed his eyes and tried once more to remember.  As his brows furrowed in misery, Obi-Wan hesitantly took his hands again and gently kissed his cheek.

Qui-Gon's eyes flew open and he looked up, "They're going to aim the energy at Coruscant."

Virgille cheered with glee, "That's the information we need, Master Qui-Gon!  We can leave this horrible beastly place now!"

Obi-Wan's face lit as well, "Though we still have no idea what the energy may cause...But that's already enough for us to stop their plan!"

"That's for sure!" Virgille said joyfully, "Thanks to your kiss!"

Obi-Wan blushed and glanced at Qui-Gon, who was nodding at him with an affectionate smile.

Then Qui-Gon's smile was replaced with a worried frown. But somehow I feel...there is still another danger lying beneath.  However, he decided to think of the latent danger later.

Soon, with the help of Obi-Wan and Virgille, Qui-Gon finally stabbed the bone through the wall, straight into the back of the console.  The console malfunctioned with electric sparks and the force field vanished.

"Phew, finally." Virgille sighed, wiping the sweat on her forehead.

"But how come we could stab the rib though the wall?" Obi-Wan stared at the bone stuck in the interspace, "I mean, after all, it's still a wall."

"And it's a stone wall." Qui-Gon reminded him, "From Roga's introduction of the tunnel, if the tunnel was built by their ancestors, then this dungeon was possibly built by them, too.  And stones can't maintain their hardness completely in such a damp underground place after hundreds of, or maybe even thousands of years.  And the interspace of the stones is also more fragile than it used to be for the same reasons, not mentioning the destruction caused by the Rancor..."

"Oh..." Obi-Wan was once more surprised by his Master's intelligence, "You are really incredible, Master, as always." he lauded heartily, "But how are we going to get pass that metal door?" He pointed to the door quite distant from them with a questioning look.

"Well..." Qui-Gon focused on the door, narrowing his eyes, "Since the guards don't seem to have noticed the destroy of their Rancor and the force field console, perhaps we could find a way to get to that door without attracting their attentions."

"We will have to be VERY careful." Virgille remarked seriously, frowning at the metal door.

The Zephyrene guard was cursing under his breath for his partner had fled to warn Roga after he'd heard the final roar of the Rancor.  Yes, the guard knew the Rancor was dead under the hands of the Jedi as his cowardly partner did, but so what?  That hideous beast had been noisy ever since it arrived, so actually, he was a little glad that it'd been killed once and for all.  And about those Jedi...well, they wouldn't be able to get through that force field, no matter how gallant they'd been with the Rancor.  Now he wondered where that coward of a partner was -- he had left for a while until now, but the way from the dungeon to the ground level of the fortress where he could find Roga was rather long.

Therefore, when an arm suddenly strangled his neck from the scrutinizing hole on the metal door behind him, he had no foreboding since he'd loosed his guard benefited from the eyes.  He lost conscious instantly and fell to the ground.

Qui-Gon heaved a sigh of relief and levitated the key card from the unconscious guard's belt to the lock beside him on the wall.  He Force-inserted the card into the split on the lock.  With a click, the outer gate was unlocked.

Virgille hailed quietly, Obi-Wan sighed in relief.  Finally, the three Jedi escaped from the jail successfully.

Qui-Gon checked the passed out guard quickly to make sure he was still unconscious.  Then he gave the blaster on the guard's belt to Obi-Wan and picked up the electrostaff lying near the guard, who was originally holding it.

"Obi-Wan, you and Virgille go look for our lightsabers, and I will try to suspend their scheme as long as possible, before you two arrive." Qui-Gon said, and Obi-Wan and Virgille all nodded immediately.

"Yes, Master."

"Yes, Master Qui-Gon."

As Qui-Gon was beginning to leave, Obi-Wan called, "Um, Master?"

Qui-Gon turned to look at him questioningly, Obi-Wan swallowed, "Do be careful."

Qui-Gon smiled gratefully, then nodded, "I will." He squeezed his Padawan's hand reassuringly.

"And may the Force be with you." Obi-Wan whispered as he looked at their held hands, he felt as if there was flame in his cheeks.

Qui-Gon corrected him, "May the Force be with all of us."

Virgille looked up at him and nodded in solemn approval, "Take care of yourself, Master Qui-Gon, or Obi-Wan would cry his EYES out."

Qui-Gon rubbed her hair understandingly while Obi-Wan barked to her, "Silence, Virgule!"

"Virgille!"

"Whatever."

"How rude!"

After that, they departed to accomplish their tasks.

Obi-Wan held the blaster in one hand and took Virgille's in the other one.  They ran along the metal-walled corridor carefully, trying very hard not to stir any other Zephyrene soldiers.  But as they went, they discovered the corridor was almost cleared of Zephyrenes.  They did encounter a few Zephyrenes, but they all managed to avoid them before the guards could feel them with their eyes.  Obi-Wan had tried to use mind-tricks on them, but soon he was dismayed to admit that Zephyrenes were resistant to mind-tricks.

"Maybe they're all busy working up there." Virgille gestured to the ceiling wonderingly.

"Maybe, but that will only do us a favor." Obi-Wan answered, never stopping his footsteps.

Ten minutes late, Obi-Wan sensed the lightsabers were right behind a locked metal door.  He used the Force to press open the lock inside the room and got into it without any difficulties.

Their lightsabers were placed in a small steel box on the metal floor not far from the entrance.

"Idiots..." Obi-Wan murmured arrogantly with satisfaction as he walked up to the box.  But the moment his fingers touched the box, the alarm began to scream.

"Now you can see who the REAL idiot is." Virgille snorted sarcastically with the alarm being her background.

Obi-Wan didn't bother to reply as he opened the box to grab the lightsabers inside.  He tossed Virgille's lightsaber to its owner, and clipped Qui-Gon's to his utility belt immediately.  He then scooped Virgille into his left arm to ready to run for their lives again.

Calm down, Obi-Wan, calm down.  He tried to steady his heartbeats, though the piercing sound produced by the alarm was only worsening the situation.

He stepped outside the room with his lightsaber in one hand, and Virgille in another.  Hearing the approaching sound of the gathering Zephyrene warriors from one side of the corridor, he started to run in the opposite direction.

Virgille was practically watching Obi-Wan's back over his shoulder from her position in his arm.

"We've got company now!" she shouted as the pursuing Zephyrenes came into sight behind them, laser bolts began to be shot towards them.

Obi-Wan reached out into the Force to sense, and narrowly evaded some shots.

"To the left, TO THE LEFT!" Virgille screamed into his ears, and Obi-Wan followed her warning but was almost blasted by the warned laser bolt.

"No, YOUR left!" Virgille reprimanded him with chagrin.

"Stop warning me!" Obi-Wan chided, "You'll get us all killed!"

Virgille snorted, "Oh yeah?  Duck!"

Obi-Wan reflexively obeyed, just in time to avoid another laser bolt.

"And you're saying?" Virgille arched an eyebrow.

"All right, you're still allowed to warn me to duck."

"Allowed?" Virgille grandma-snorted, "You arrogant fool, I won't waste my strength on you anymore -- I will just deflect them."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes: surely the youngling's deflecting skill was impressive and unquestionable, but it was obvious that deflecting cost more strength than just yelling and making his ears hurt.  Maybe she's too stupid to understand, Obi-Wan thought.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan sensed more of the Zephyrenes were coming, and they were coming from their escaping route.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

"Oh, shut up and run!" Virgille was clearly annoyed by him, busy deflecting the laser bolts, "And exterminate those babbling words, of course we ALL have a very, VERY --"

"Shut up yourself, Virgule!" Obi-Wan scolded as his lightsaber blade encountered the first laser bolt from their front.

"It's Virgille!"

"Whatever!"

"How rude!"

Obi-Wan could see the Zephyrene soldiers before them now, but he didn't intend to stop -- instead, he leaped to the metal ceiling abruptly and cut through the grate on it to let them both get into the air duct, with Virgille deflecting the bolts coming from both sides below them.

After they were both in the air duct, Obi-Wan grabbed Virgille's hand and led her to crawl through.  As a matter of fact, he didn't have the slightest idea of where they were going, but he knew they must get away from those deadly soldiers as far as possible, before those Zephyrenes chose their comrades of the right size to fly into the air duct to pursue.

Suddenly a laser bolt hit the metal wall beside his ear, and he turned back his head, finding the enemies had returned.  Virgille took out a thermal detonator from the pouch on her utility belt instantly and threw it right into the following enemies.

The thermal detonator exploded and Obi-Wan didn't spend the time in checking the result, but dragged Virgille to crawl forward.

"Where did you get that?"

"Remember that prison guard?  I found it on his belt," Virgille answered smugly, "while you were bidding Master Qui-Gon farewell."

"Well, at least you've finally done something useful --"

Obi-Wan was stunned to find that there was no air duct before him anymore -- he was now facing a huge shaft.  And they were in an opening at the middle of the metal wall.

"It looks like an elevator shaft." He murmured.

"What do we do?" Virgille whined plaintively, panickedly looking back because the Zephyrenes were after them again.

Obi-Wan thought quickly and made up his mind, "Virgule, we'll have to jump."

"You mean 'jump'?" she gasped, "Okay...better to be killed by the gravity than by those Zephyrenes." She deftly deflected another laser bolt.

That was absolutely not Obi-Wan had in mind, but what he thought was merely trying to get hold of something after their seemingly suicidal jump.  "So..." he took Virgille's small hand, "Jump!"

They jumped into the shaft together.

The Zephyrenes rushed to the edge of the opening and looked down, seeing the Jedi falling into the darkness below.

They narrowed their eyes skeptically, and spread their wings to fly down into the lift shaft a bit to use their eyes to feel the environment around them -- they didn't feel any Jedi's presence nearby, apparently, the Jedi did fall off.

But they still suspected if they were truly dead.  Then again, it was a lift shaft -- if they were hiding somewhere below, the lift would take care of them.

Therefore, they left the air duct and went to report the incidence to Roga.

Down beneath the darkness, Obi-Wan was hanging against the metal wall with Virgille clinging to his back.  His hands were holding a small ledge on the wall.

"So..." Virgille tightened her hold around his neck, "what's the plan?"

"Uh..."

"You don't have a plan?!"

"Hey, I'm working on it, okay?" Obi-Wan said impatiently, then his eyes lit, "This is a lift shaft, right?"

"Right..." Virgille answered suspiciously.

"Then there must be a lift." Obi-Wan said excitedly, "Then we can step onto the top of the lift coming from below to let it carry us to the ground level, and before it stops, we'll cut a hole on the lift's top, and get inside the lift."

"Okay, sounds challenging." Virgille sneered a bit, "But what if the lift is coming from above?"

"Well..." Obi-Wan instantly realized the danger they were now in, "We can't be that unlucky...can we?" he swallowed.

"You never know..." she shrugged.

A sudden thunderous noise came from their top startled them both and got their attentions.

"Oh dear..." Virgille gasped as she looked up.

"Clearly, we CAN be THAT unlucky." Obi-Wan said blankly as they watched the humongous lift coming down from above.  Finally, he'd got an idea, "Hold on, Virgule."

As the lift got near enough, Obi-Wan jumped from the original position to grab the wires under the lift.  Those wires made an unpleasant squeak, but managed to endure the weight of Obi-Wan and Virgille.

Obi-Wan activated his blade and, in contrary to his plan, he cut through the bottom of the lift.  As soon as the hole was complete, the two passengers in the lift began to shoot them with the blasters through the newly cut hole.

Virgille deflected the laser bolts immediately with her lightsaber in one hand, her other hand was still holding Obi-Wan's neck from behind.  

A bolt was deflected back to its shooter and he died instantly with a high-pitched scream.

Obi-Wan took this chance to throw his lightsaber spinning towards the other Zephyrene, whose chest was cut through by the blue blade, then he screeched and fell to the lift floor as well.

Panting, Obi-Wan climbed into the lift eventually and let Virgille get down from his back and release his pathetic sore neck.

"Phew, that was close." Obi-Wan commented and picked up his lightsaber.

Virgille scowled at him, "I told you it could come downwards from the top, but you never listened."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, "Shut up, Virgule, I was the one who'd saved us both." He pressed the control button to make the lift go upwards to the ground level.

"First of all, it's Virgille, not Virgule.  And you wouldn't be able to save us both without MY help."

"Whatever you say, Virgule." Obi-Wan paid no attention to Virgille's speech.

"Virgille!"

"Whatever."

"How rude!"

The lift slowed down gradually and stopped at the ground level.  When the gate opened, one Zephyrene was waiting outside to take the lift.  As the Zephyrene saw there were two Jedi in the lift, he was shocked, and before he could inform the others or take out his blaster, Obi-Wan punched him on the head to unconsciousness.

"You are really a cold dude."  Virgille remarked grandmaly as she looked at the unconscious soldier on the floor.

"Am I?  Then why don't you stay here to look after this poor fellow?"   Obi-Wan sneered.

Frightened, Virgille shook her head desperately and followed Obi-Wan's lead to search for Qui-Gon.

After a long time of avoiding stepping into the detecting range of the Zephyrene's eyes, Qui-Gon finally got into the hidden laboratory behind the throne hall without being noticed by the guards.  He knew the location of the lab because he had eavesdropped a brief conversation between two soldiers with Force-enhanced hearing.

He hid himself on a large piping hanging over the entire lab.  From there, he could see a huge complex machine below, the united Reine Crystals he saw in he dungeon were placed in a large pit on the machine.

So they were building this machine all these twenty years, he thought inwardly.

Many Zephyrenes were working beside the complicated mechanism, others were walking around to exchange or report data and information.

The Rulers of Zephyrann was standing on a higher ground, watching the process carefully.  Darth Sidious stood next to him, a satisfied smile crossed his wrinkled face.

Qui-Gon contemplated the situation for a moment, and decided to use the electrostaff he'd acquired from the dungeon to shatter the crystals from the piping since they were obviously the heart of the whole mechanism.

He held up the electrostaff, pointing the tip of it at the now faintly glowing Reine Crystals on the machine.  The crystals were glowing with white light as they were in his memory.

Qui-Gon gathered the Force in his right hand, his eyes narrowed when his mind focused on the electrostaff and its target --

The staff was yanked out of his grasp abruptly from above.  Before he could turn to see who it was, Roga had kicked him down onto the piping and stepped once booted foot on his chest.

Roga pointed the tip of the electrostaff which was supposed to be in Qui-Gon's hand to Qui-Gon's bare neck, and said smilingly, "Well, well, well, what do we have here?  A sneaking Jedi prisoner.  Have your life with the Rancor been enjoyable?"

"Why don't you get another one and lock yourself with it to find out?"   Qui-Gon said coldly.

The corners of Roga's mouth twisted into a smile, "Thank you for the kindness, but I'm afraid I am quite busy at the moment." His smile deepened as he looked at Qui-Gon with amusement.

Qui-Gon sneered, "You really think Darth Sidious will let your Ruler dominate the galaxy after your plan succeeds?"

"No, of course not." Roga said calmly, "As a matter of fact, we are using each other.  He needs our technologies while we need his influence in the Senate to ensure the plan won't be discovered before it is carried out." His voice shifted a bit, and Qui-Gon saw there was sadness in his glassy eyes, "Though we don't really need it to come true."

"So he is Senator Palpatine." Qui-Gon stated -- his suspect was right.

"Precisely." Roga nodded, "He has come to us and expressed his thoughts, and those thoughts happened to fascinate our Majesty..." his convex eyes narrowed with a faint regret, "Then we made his thoughts into this magnificent scheme." He gestured the whole laboratory, and continued vacantly, "Although that Sith promised that all he wants is the purge of the Jedi Order and we can have the Republic, we suspect he has much desire in taking over the Republic himself as well, such as changing it into an empire and make himself the emperor.  We will terminate him if he dares to not keep his words -- he is powerful, indeed, but he won't be a match for the entire Zephyrene army.  However, we must not let him wield the mind-control ray to create an army of his own."

Qui-Gon's eyes widened slightly, "The mind-control ray?  You use the united Reine Crystals to generate something that can control other's mind?"

"A fascinating weapon, isn't it?" Roga's sneered, "We've spent twenty years to build the ray generator, and now..."

"You're going to aim the ray at Coruscant." Qui-Gon finished his sentence.

Roga was slightly surprised, "I see you have remembered most of the plan you've overheard now."

"Except I didn't know the weapon will be the mind-control ray."

"You can't blame yourself," Roga mock-comforted, "you've never reached that point after all -- you were captured by me earlier than you could finish eavesdropping the whole scheme."

"Then what do you mean by 'most of the plan'?" Qui-Gon frowned.

"Let's see..." Roga spoke as if he was explaining something extremely easy, "By now, you recall the talk with the Sith, the united Reine Crystals, the target: Coruscant.  Well...I'm afraid you still miss one thing --"

Roga leaped aside quickly, just in time to avoid the falling pipe from above, which was directed by Qui-Gon with the Force suddenly.

Roga's Zephyrene eyes had detected the pipe falling but Qui-Gon was fast enough to jump to kick him down as he jumped from the falling pipe, before he had time to react to Qui-Gon's attack.

Qui-Gon swiftly took the electrostaff back from Roga's hands as the Zephyrene's back hit the piping.  Roga leaped back to his feet and pulled out his own electrostaff which had been carried on his back, and started to fight Qui-Gon with electrostaffs.

Roga was a skillful electrostaff user and his speed and attacks were unpredictable.

Mostly, Qui-Gon was only parrying, and with a fierce kick, Roga knocked him off the piping.  The Zephyrene leaped down as well, ready to use the staff to stab through the Jedi on the metal floor.

Qui-Gon rolled over immediately, narrowly evading the stab and the tip of Roga's staff thrust into the metal floor, produced a hole.

Qui-Gon jumped back to his feet and continued the duel with his opponent.

The Ruler had noticed the fight, even since Roga took away the Jedi's electrostaff from above on the piping.  But he decided they would not suspend the plan because of the escaped Jedi.  And he also stopped the other soldiers to reinforce Roga -- he knew Roga never liked other's interference with his own battle.

Darth Sidious watched their duel closely: it was apparent that the Jedi wouldn't win through the electrostaff.

Soon Qui-Gon's staff flew from his grasp and Roga caught it with agility.  Now the Zephyrene general had two electrostaffs in his hands and he twirled them momentarily to get the best holds of the staffs.  He cornered Qui-Gon to the wall but didn't show the triumphant smile as he did last time, when he seized the three Jedi. His wounded glassy eyes were flashing with wariness dangerously.

"Master, catch!"

They both looked back and saw Obi-Wan, along with Virgille, standing before the ventilation vent with severed pieces of grate on the floor.   Obi-Wan threw Qui-Gon's lightsaber to its owner and Qui-Gon caught it swiftly.

"Seems the true duel begins." Roga sneered coldly and started to attack more severely than earlier with dual electrostaffs.

Obi-Wan and Virgille didn't have spare time to help Qui-Gon for guards also with electrostaffs were attempting to kill them.

"This is intolerable!" Virgille yelled angrily as they found out that elctrostaffs are resistant to lightsabers.

"Shut up and fight, Grandma!"

"That's what I'm doing, Grandson!"

"You're NOT fighting enemies!" Obi-Wan beheaded on soldier as he found out Virgille was only parrying and avoiding.

"Of course I'm not -- I haven't learned yet." Virgille replied boldly.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and pierced his blade through one enemy's chest, "Fine!  Just don't get yourself killed!"

The Ruler glanced at the battle in the lab briefly, eyes narrowed with anger when he saw Obi-Wan cut off one soldier's hands and kicked him to the floor.  However, he returned his focus to the ray generator -- despite the ruckus, their scheme would soon be carried out.

Another painful scream reached his ears, he closed his eyes, not wanting the watch his soldiers suffering.

The thought of ruling the entire galaxy was tempting, but not at the cost of his soldiers' lives needlessly.

Darth Sidious observed the Ruler's determination began to shake ambiguously, and said to the Ruler, "No need to mourn for the loss, your Majesty, no war wins without sacrifice."

The Ruler's eyes narrowed coldly, "Why, I am afraid there seems to be some differences between our notions, my ally -- we Zephyrenes grieve for every loss of life amongst us.  We, too, know that each war brings deaths, but it depends on the worthiness."  He looked around, "At the moment, their blood are spilling for my personal desire."

Darth Sidious' soothing voice suddenly turned intimidating, "You cannot abandon the plan now, or the Republic and the Jedi would know our attempt and destroy us all.  You said you don't want your people to suffer worthlessly -- if you give up, only more Zephyrenes will be killed; those Jedi might even take over your power to rule your own planet.  We've been working for this plan for twenty years, it's already too late to turn back."

The Ruler's facial expression didn't change a slightest bit under his words, instead, he arched an eyebrow, "Are you threatening me, my ally?   I always doubt the Jedi would be affected by the mind-control ray."

Darth Sidious' voice grew wilder, "Then control the soldiers on Coruscant to attack them -- the number of the Jedi is not competitive to all those soldiers we will control.  And after we took hold of the Senate, the Republic will be ours."

"Regardless of my own fantasy, the conquest of the Republic does no good to the Zephyrenes -- Zephyrann is already enough for our needs.  And there will also be numerous rebellions if we succeed, does that mean the Zephyrenes will never have rests?"

Darth Sidious was preparing to give him an inspiring lecture, though it seemed hard to change the Ruler's opinion -- the Ruler didn't realize the enormity of loss their scheme might cause in the past twenty years because other than Qui-Gon, there was no other investigators.  And now he had witnessed the unneeded pains and deaths his soldiers was already tolerating even before their success, and those soldiers' further suffering in the future would be too fearsome to imagine.  His desire of ruling dimmed instantly -- this was not to say he hadn't assumed the consequence before, but he thought he might be able to accept their deaths or injuries for him.  But while he was facing the real scene, he found those losses nearly unbearable.

The united Reine Crystals suddenly beamed with strong white light, and the Zephyrenes working around the generator began to whisper with excitement.

"The generator will soon be ready."  Darth Sidious smiled with satisfaction.

The Ruler nodded briefly and turned his gaze to the battling Jedi and Zephyrenes.

Qui-Gon finally knocked off one of Roga's electrostaffs, but Roga didn't seem to mind at all.

"Obi-Wan, destroy the crystals!" he shouted as the generator's engine was slowly beginning to run.

Obi-Wan looked at the united beaming crystals quickly after he heard his Master's shout, and hurriedly use his lightsaber hilt to hit another enemy to the metal floor.  He knew he didn't have the chance to get to the crystals in time, so he decided to use the only-avoiding youngling to fulfill the task.

"Virgule, you'll have to destroy the crystals!" he said as he picked Virgille up without getting her approval.

"What do you mean by I'll have to destroy them?" Virgille asked with fluster when Obi-Wan already made a clear posture to toss her.

"Just smash them!" said Obi-Wan hastily, tossing Virgille over the soldiers to the ray generator, along with Virgille's "Whooooa --".

"Ouch!" Virgille landed on the hard floor beside the crystals.  She looked up at the gigantic beaming crystals in awe: "Oh my goodness..." she gasped grandmaly.

She hadn't been noticed by the Zephyrenes around the machine yet, so she took the chance to get up and held her lightsaber high over her head.   As she stabbed down to the crystals, before her blade could touch their surface, bolts of lightning struck her and cast her off her feet to hit the cold surface of the generator hard.

Virgille fell to the metal floor on her stomach, panting violently.   She opened her aching eyes, expected to see the Sith Lord standing before her -- but all she saw was only a new arriver, whose head hidden under the brown hood.

The youngling gasped harshly as she recognized the robe the person in front of her wore: It was a Jedi robe.

"You thought a little youngling like you could spoil our well-designed plan?" the voice coming from under the hood was cold but feminine, and that reminds Virgille of --

"Ma-Master Lal'mar?!" she gasped in disbelief.

"Nice guess, Mira." The newly arrived person lowered her hood with a slender hand, and grinned joyfully at Virgille, "Thanks to your assistance, or we wouldn't be able to track you three before you were captured."

Virgille winced, "I don't have the slightest idea of what you're talking about."

"Really?" Lal'mar's beautiful smile remained, but somehow that made Virgille shudder, "Then let's try again.  Do you remember I've once asked you to find the datapad I lost?"

Virgille swallowed: "I guess so..." she glanced around, tried to find help.  But Qui-Gon was focused on his duel with Roga, and Obi-Wan was still surrounded by the Zephyrene soldiers -- neither of them seemed to notice Lal'mar's arrival.

"Then I recalled I had left it on the ship Master Jinn and Padawan Kenobi were going to leave with, and you rushed to the ship to fetch it.   Accidentally, you weren't fast enough to get off the ship before it took off." Lal'mar continued with her attractive smile, "Well, that wasn't an accident at all, you know, Mira.  I intentionally left the datapad on that ship and pretended to finally recall it when it's been already too late to fetch.  In other words," her bright blue eyes sparkled, "I wanted you to stay onboard and join the mission."

"No!  It's not true!" Virgille yelled desperately, "You've told me to forget about that datapad because it was too late!"

Lal'mar chuckled merrily, "Because I knew your personality too well, Mira -- I was very sure that you would rush to the ship and try to fetch the datapad for me, no matter how late it had been."

"Why did you want me onboard?" Virgille frowned.

"Because I needed you to carry the micro signal transmitter for us."

Virgille's face went pale instantly, "There's a signal transmitter on me?"

"Sadly yes...I put it in your tunics when I patted your shoulder that morning" Lal'mar mock-sighed, "Or you should say 'was', because you lost that transmitter when you were being chased by the Rancor."

"So you were using me all along!" Virgille shouted, feeling beguiled, "You've used me as a tool to catch Master Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan!"

"Well..." Lal'mar inclined her beautiful head with amusement, "that's what you were treated most kindly by me for: to be handy when needed.   You are honestly not a talented youngling, and there isn't anything special in you except your easy-to-trust-others personality -- which was the reason I chose you to reach my purpose."    "But I trusted you!" Virgille barked angrily, "You are a liar, and you've made me a liar, too!  I thought I knew you, but now I see I was wrong!  You don't deserve to be a Council member!  You are only a filthy Dark Side scum!"

Lal'mar smiled, "There, there, Mira.  No need to get so grumpy -- calm yourself down a little bit and we could finish this mess as soon as possible."

Virgille's grip of her lightsaber tightened, and she thanked the Force for not letting it fly away when she was struck by the lightning.

"Good...good...my Apprentice." Darth Sidious stepped down from his position and walked to Virgille and Lal'mar.

Lal'mar bowed her head with respect, "Please forgive my delay, Master."

"Forgiveness given." Darth Sidious grinned, "You have done quite a satisfying job, my Apprentice, and this youngling could have ruined our efforts, had you not stopped her."

"Thank you, my Master." Lal'mar bowed her head again, "I believe this youngling should be destroyed as soon as possible."

Virgille gasped, and reminded herself of Master Yoda's lessons, hoping to postpone her death.

"Very well then, you may kill her now." Darth Sidious grinned wickedly.

Bolts of lightning shot from her fingertips towards Virgille, and Virgille jumped back to her feet to avoid the blow.  Then she kept moving around to make Lal'mar hard to aim correctly.

"We are not playing 'hide and seek', Mira." Lal'mar said coldly, "Stand straight and fight me."

"Speak for yourself!" Virgille scolded, "You're the one who's always cheating!"

"Is that so, my dear Mira?" she laughed, "But that's why cheaters always win."

"Not completely!" Virgille retorted and evaded a new blow, "Some cheaters lose tragically!"

The continuous lightning caught Obi-Wan's attention, and his eyes widened as he saw who the attacker was.

"Master Lal'mar?" Obi-Wan murmured as he gave a soldier a high kick, "I can't believe it, she's in the Council, for Force's sake!"  He held his breath when Virgille narrowly avoided another attack from Lal'mar, "I'd better help Virgule!"

He extricated himself from the beset difficultly and ran to the exhausted youngling.  

Obi-Wan was stopped by Virgille's roar abruptly: "Turn back, TURN BACK!" she yelled as her escaping direction was clearly towards the rescuer.   The Zephyrenes after Obi-Wan all whispered and flew away -- their Ruler had gestured to them not to interfere with the Sith's matter.

"Leave that Jedi coward for now," The Sith Lord commanded to Lal'mar as Virgille ran away from her attack range, "The Reine Crystals are safe under my protection, the young Jedi won't be able to approach.  After Qui-Gon Jinn dies, killing those two will only be a matter of time spent.   You will let us be rid of Qui-Gon Jinn at once -- that Zephyrene general will only waste our precious time."

"Yes, Master." Lal'mar nodded briefly and strode to the battling pair.

Qui-Gon parried another blow from Roga, and stepped back a bit, panting fiercely.  The duel seemed to be never-ending, but Roga didn't even gasp.

Roga suddenly spread his wings wide and flew up into the air and adjusted his electrostaff.  Then he swooped down with high speed, directly on Qui-Gon.  Qui-Gon held up his lightsaber, ready to parry the strong strike.

Roga was struck by waves of blue lightning all of a sudden, and he fell to the metal floor with a yelp.  His electrostaff laid beside him, and he braced up himself a bit with his elbows and stared at Lal'mar in confusion and anger.

"What are you doing?" he gritted his teeth hard and hissed in pain.

"Your part is finished, General.  My Master needs someone to end Qui-Gon Jinn's life more...efficiently." Said Lal'mar impassively.

The Ruler's glass-like eyes narrowed with enragement and he glared at Darth Sidious briefly, who was paying attention on the two young ones.   Roga had always been one of his most faithful servants, and now he was injured by the Sith themselves, his so-called ally.

Qui-Gon gaped at the Council member, "You are with them?"

"Oh, of course, Master Jinn." Lal'mar smiled charmingly, "Quite appalling, isn't it?  Does my appearance here stimulate something from your...what did Master Yoda call it...lost memory?" She tittered a little.

"Yes." Qui-Gon ground his teeth; he gave Roga a short glance with the corner of his eyes and sensed the bones of Roga's wings were broken by the lightning.  Roga tried to get up, but failed completely for the pain on his wings.

Qui-Gon returned his focus to the Council member -- now he knew what the missing part of his recovered memory mentioned by Roga was, and that was also the hidden danger he'd felt in the dungeon.  His wiped memory had recovered completely the moment Lal'mar offered her smile -- he had seen that scandalous smile in the same laboratory before: After he woke from the coma caused by the accidental explosion, he had witnessed the usage of the Reine Crystals to Zephyrenes which was as a heater, and decided it was time to take his leave.  Then when he was heading out to leave the fortress, he sensed a disturbance in the Force all at once.   He followed the Force's guidance and reached this hidden lab, he the observed the lab from a piping as he did moments ago.  What he saw had stunned him -- hundreds of Reine Crystals were combined to one another on a colossal mechanism, and they were beaming with white light.  The Zephyrenes around the mechanism seemed to be doing some experiments with the purplish crystals, then he heard voices talking.  He shifted his position and saw the Ruler of Zephyrann and the Council member Master Lal'mar were discussing something with a low voice.  With the Force-enhanced hearing, Qui-Gon listened to their conversation quietly.  He heard they were saying something about the crystals could generate a kind of ray.

"It is most powerful when it is within the united, we believe their beam would be able to form the ray." The Ruler stated seriously.

And then the odious smile appeared on Lal'mar's fair face, "My Master would be pleased to hear that."

Qui-Gon knew there was something wrong with the Council member, and then he caught the attention of a guard.  The Zephyrene guard immediately let out a high-pitched roar and the entire fortress was stirred.

Before his memory was wiped, the Zephyrenes had carefully healed his wounds utterly.  And then they wiped all his memory concerning the things happened after the manufacturing chamber's accident and laid him back to the position where he had once lied unconscious for some time because of the accidental explosion.

Minutes later, he waked from the coma again -- but the coma this time was caused by the memory-wiping process.  All he could recall was that he was struck to unconsciousness by the sudden explosion.  Then he got up and left the fortress to return to Coruscant and reported to the Council that there was no malice in Zephyrenes' special energy.

"If I were you, I wouldn't hurt the Ruler's underling like that." Qui-Gon commented contemptuously, "You are supposed to be on the same side."

"Well..." she inclined her head leisurely, "we are on the same side -- except he's been a bit too absorbed in dueling because of his soldier's nature, and that will only delay our plan. Besides, he isn't of much use to us since he never really agrees with the plan, nor can he do the experiments.  So...as you see, he is merely a general -- the Ruler won't be needing him anymore if we find him a new and better substitute."

Qui-Gon sneered, "I'm afraid you have underestimated the Ruler -- it seems he doesn't abandon his underlings lightly."

"That doesn't matter at the moment." Lal'mar's patience was wearing thin, "A little too far from the main point, are we, Master Jinn?"

She abruptly started the attack with her yellow bladed lightsaber, and Qui-Gon parried it just in time.

After Virgille got away from Lal'mar, she joined Obi-Wan the so-called rescuer to run further.  But they noticed instantly that all the other soldiers had flown away, and Lal'mar wasn't after them, either.  They confusedly turned around and saw Darth Sdious standing in front of the united Reine Crystals, gazing at them evilly.

They glimpsed aside and found Lal'mar ready to shoot down Roga.  After flash of lightning, the Zephyrene general fell down and crashed to the metal floor.  His eyes did detect the lightning bolts, but it was too late for him to avoid since the shooter herself was out of the detecting range.

They gasped at the sight and watched Qui-Gon and Lal'mar converse briefly and begin a new duel.  Obi-Wan held his breath as he knew perfectly how fatal a lightsaber can be more than an electrostaff, not mentioning it was now in the hands of a Council member.

"We must help him!" Obi-Wan said with fluster, "He's too exhausted to fight Lal'mar!"

"But how?" Virgille asked, equally hasty, "She's a big cheeky cheater!   And we must get passed that evil old monster first!"

The roar of the engine told it was running faster.

Obi-Wan's eyes widened in horror, "And what about those crystals?  We must smash them."

Virgille rubbed her chin grandmaly, "Hmm...maybe we should first save Master Qui-Gon, then smash the crystals.  Look, Master Cheater is much faster than the generator.  Now the problem is: How are we going to pass that old guy?"

"Uh..." Obi-Wan contemplated, "Maybe we can distract him, and take the opening to get through.  Now we need a bait."

"You are truly a brave young man, Obi-Wan," Virgille bade him her respect with a salute, "I'll make sure your statue will be located at the Temple front gate, in memory of your sacrifice." She promised solemnly.

"Wait a second!" Obi-Wan interrupted, "Who says I will be the bait?"

"Um..." Virgille patted her temple, "You?"

"No!" Obi-Wan barked, "I mean something NON-LIVING!"

"Oh..." Virgille was a bit surprised, "Then...where are you going to find that bait?  Borrow those soldiers' thermal detonators again?"

Obi-Wan's eyes lit and he clipped his lightsaber to his utility belt, "You're a genius, Virgule!"

"I always am." Virgille waved her hand smugly, though she didn't have the slightest idea of what Obi-Wan was talking about, "And it should be Virgille.  Oh, by the way, I don't think that old guy will let himself be blasted by the detonator."

Obi-Wan was busy checking the dead Zephyrene soldiers' belts, not listening to Virgille.

"Hey!  I'm talking to you, Mister!" she frowned like a grandma and talked like a grandma, still holding her lightsaber hilt in her right hand.

"Whatever." Obi-Wan responded absently.

"How rude!"

"Got one!" Obi-Wan held up a thermal detonator, "Let's move on, Virgule."

"Virgille!"

They proceeded to Darth Sidious cautiously, and the Sith smiled, "Trying to shatter the crystals again, young Jedi?  Or you're trying to save your Master?"

"Both!" Obi-Wan threw the activated thermal detonator hard to the floor before himself and grabbed the shocked youngling's hand immediately to avoid the explosion.

The detonator exploded instantly, causing the metal floor shaking violently.

"Are you crazy?" Virgille whispered frightenedly, "You're supposed to throw it at him, not US!"

"Then he would direct it back to us before it explodes, moron." Obi-Wan whispered back impatiently.

"That's exactly what I was trying to tell you when you were looking for the thermal detonator, idiot!"  Virgille chided, "But you're even crazier than I thought!  This is suicidal!"

Before the detonator's explosion, Obi-Wan had already taken Virgille away from the affected range, so when it explodes, they took advantages of the widely spread fire sparks caused by the explosion to conceal their leaping onto the piping over their original position.

Now they were crawling along the piping noiselessly, trying to pass Darth Sidious from above.

"I think he's gonna sense us." Virgille swallowed nervously, as they were getting nearer to the Sith Lord's overhead.

"I hope not." Obi-Wan held his breath unconsciously and kept moving quietly.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan sensed the danger and took Virgille's hand at no time, yelling: "Jump!"

At the same time they left the piping, the piping itself blasted instantly -- Darth Sidious had used the Force to detonate it.

As their boots touched the metal floor, Obi-Wan was struck by bolts of blue lightning abruptly.  He stumbled and fell down on his stomach -- the Sith Lord's lightning was far more powerful than Lal'mar's.

"I honestly admire your prowess, young Jedi." The Sith grinned broadly at the panting Padawan, "But you're still too young to compete with the Lord of the Sith.  Now, you will be destroyed." He held out his arms and his fingertips pointing to Obi-Wan.

Virgille gasped at the sight before her -- though her body was sore after that abrupt jump and she had no idea where her lightsaber went, she knew she must do something, anything.

Darth Sidious' grin widened, his eyes focused on Obi-Wan, blue sparks began to emerge from his fingers --

Virgille stormed to his side and bit his wrist hard with her teeth without hesitation.  The Sith cried in pain and glared severely at the youngling clinging to his left wrist.  With a surge of the Force, he shoved Virgille off him fiercely with anger.

Virgille crashed to the floor in front of the Sith's feet with a yelp, and when she looked up, Darth Sidious was smiling ruthlessly down at her.

"You little fool, you thought you could defeat me, Darth Sidious, with those barbaric weapons of yours?" his hysterical laughter sent a chill through Obi-Wan's spine as he watched Virgille gasping helplessly before the Sith Lord, he tried to reach his lightsaber on his belt, but he found it had already been charred by the lightning. A wild grin split the Sith's face, "So long, little Jedi, you will now die before your friends..."

"Don't!" Obi-Wan implored desperately.

Qui-Gon heard Obi-Wan's despaired plea as he knocked Lal'mar to the metal wall, he turned his head at once and saw the young ones groveling on the floor before Darth Sidious, who was now shooting his lightning at the screaming youngling.

He turned back in time and parried Lal'mar's blow.  Their blades locked and the Council member lifted one hand a bit and shot bolts of lightning to Qui-Gon.  Qui-Gon jumped aside, avoiding the shot.

Lal'mar shot lightning towards him again, and Qui-Gon deflected the bolts with his lightsaber.  He used this opening to Force-shoved her to the floor and called the electrostaff beside Roga to his right hand and cast the staff straight to the Sith with the gathered Force.

The tip of the electrostaff which was sparkling with purple electricity hit the Sith Lord's chest off guard severely, who gasped at the sudden pain and shock, and it knocked him off his feet to hit the beaming crystals behind him.

The united Reine Crystals shattered all at once under the strong strike, and they exploded with shards of crystals sputtering and waves of energy erupting.

The working Zephyrenes around the mechanism stepped back quickly as the vast ray generator started to explode part following part, after the blow of the Reine Crystals.

Virgille stared at the exploding generator in awe when Obi-Wan finally got back to his feet and dragged her away from the mechanism hurriedly.   On his way, he met Virgille's lightsaber and clipped it to his utility belt, next to his burnt saber hilt, since Virgille clearly wouldn't spare any mind to her lightsaber, as she still couldn't tear her stare from the generator.

The next moment, the whole laboratory began to shudder tempestuously.

The Ruler commanded with a high voice: "The erupted energy of the united crystals has destroyed the main pillars of the ground level -- it is going to collapse.  Abandon the ground level!"  He then let out an august roar to warn the entire fortress.

All the Zephyrenes spread their wings and rushed to the gate, and the wounded soldiers were carried by their comrades.

The Ruler himself flew down to his faithful General Roga and folded him up immediately, and then the Ruler carried Roga in his arms and flew towards the gate as well.

Qui-Gon watched the Zephyrene Ruler's back as he left the laboratory with Roga, thinking perhaps the Ruler would change his mind after all this was over.

Suddenly, he sensed a disturbance and turned around instantly to parry Lal'mar's saber blade.

Lal'mar's fair face twisted in madness, "YOU TOOK AWAY MY TRIUMPH!" she screamed as she continued her battle with Qui-Gon.

Her attacks had become fierce and wild, her eyes looked as if they were going to pop out.  Qui-Gon was already too tired to fight the skilled Council member, and his pace could no longer match hers.

Soon Qui-Gon was kicked to the metal floor and Lal'mar pointed her blade to his chest.  She panted, a satisfied smile occupied her face.

"Master!" Obi-Wan shouted as he was looking for his Master through the escaping Zephyrenes with Virgille, who had finally come back to awareness again from the generator's explosion fright.

After all the Zephyrenes were out of the laboratory and the lab went back to silence, Obi-Wan heard the humming sound of a lightsaber.  He was terrified to find that Lal'mar was prepared to ram her lightsaber through Qui-Gon's chest.

"May the Force be with you, Master Jinn." Her sardonic smile faded as she pulled back her lightsaber slowly to gain enough space to run the yellow blade through --

Lal'mar halted and gasped sharply all of a sudden with a blue blade exposed itself through her chest.  She sank down to her knees feebly and collapsed to the cold metal floor of the shaking laboratory, revealing the pale and frightened Padawan not far behind her.  His right hand held out, the clear posture of just having thrown a lightsaber.

"Master!" Obi-Wan cried as he rushed to his Master's side and dropped down to his knees to hug Qui-Gon tightly, "I was so worried, I thought I was gonna lose you."

Qui-Gon embraced him back gently and whispered soothingly into the Padawan's ears, "It's all right now, Obi-Wan, everything's going to be all right..."

Obi-Wan pulled back and apologized from the bottom of his heart, "I'm truly sorry I was arrogant enough to lead Virgule into danger and let Darth Sidious catch us.  I didn't mean to cause you any troubles, I was only trying to help --"

Qui-Gon held up one hand to stop him, "Obi-Wan, you didn't cause me any troubles.  To tell the truth is, Lal'mar couldn't have been defeated without you." he rested his forehead against Obi-Wan's, "You've saved my life.  Thank you, my Padawan." Qui-Gon's warm smile made the younger man's cheeks burn.

"Ahem," Virgille cleared her throat loudly, "I don't want to intrude, but the whole place is falling down, and we are probably the last three people on this ground level." Her eyes fell on the dead Council member, she gasped and picked up her lightsaber from Lal'mar's body, complaining: "You used MY lightsaber to KILL people?  That's unbearable!  How could you ever borrow other's lightsaber to create terror without its OWNER'S permission?"

With a blare, a large piece of metal crashed onto the floor beside them.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan looked around with Virgille immediately and found the metal blocks of the ceiling were beginning to fall off around them from the top.

"We must get out of here at once!" Qui-Gon said to the young ones and led them to escape from the trembling laboratory through the falling metals and pipings.

The Ruler placed Roga on the ground carefully and went to check if all the Zephyrenes on the ground level had got out safely.  To his relief, no Zephyrene was left behind in that collapsing fortress' ground level.   Other Zephyrenes who were on the other levels had left the fortress from other passages after they'd heard the Ruler's warning.

He looked up at the still falling fortress, gazing through the flying dust and spilling fragments of metal in search of the three Jedi -- he was certain that the Jedi wouldn't be killed so easily.

The top of the ground level eventually fell off completely and three figures emerged from the thick dust, running like hell.

Qui-Gon dragged Obi-Wan and Virgille sprinted out of the fortress a moment before the ground level's top collapsed entirely with a thunderous roar.  The tremendous ground level of the fortress fell down behind them, spilling fragments of metals and rocks around.

The Zephyrenes gasped at the ruin that was once the highest level of their fortress before them and looked at the panting Jedi.

Virgille bent down to brace herself with her knees, "This is the most...unimaginable adventure...I've ever had...in my entire life...Phew..." she popped up her head and saw the Zephyrene crowd in front of them.

"Uh-oh..." she winced back to Qui-Gon's legs.

Qui-Gon put a hand on her red head and looked up at the Ruler, who walked out from the crowd and stood in front of them.

Obi-Wan swallowed tensely and felt his hand being clasped by Qui-Gon's.   Qui-Gon didn't turn to look at him but his squeeze showed his support.

The Ruler gazed at them solemnly, it seemed he was making his decision in his mind.  He turned his noble head slightly to glimpse at the wounded soldiers behind him and Roga finally got up arduously to stay by his side with silence.

The Ruler's expression finally softened, and he closed his glassy eyes.   He sighed heavily, "There is already enough loss because of my self-serving and sordid scheme; I owe my people peace."

The Zephyrenes behind him all hailed in bliss with the Ruler opened his eyes and smiled at them.  Qui-Gon exhaled in relief and saw Obi-Wan and Virgille's anxiety had been eased.  Virgille stepped out from behind Qui-Gon's legs and cheered with the Zephyrenes.  Obi-Wan loosed the breath he'd held for some time and looked at his Master with a smile.   Qui-Gon let go of Obi-Wan's hand slowly and returned the smile tenderly.

He then turned to look questioningly at the Ruler, who nodded his approval, "You shall leave now, Qui-Gon Jinn, with your young friends.  In order to compensate for your ship, we will grant you a new one."

Qui-Gon bowed formally with gratefulness, "We are most grateful to hear that, your Majesty."

Roga had recovered from his injuries on the eyes and wings, and was contented to see their planet be in peace again.  He thanked the Jedi for destroying the ray generator and the Sith.  

After that, the three Jedi took the new ship given by the Ruler and bade their farewell to the Zephyrenes.  The Ruler had told them that Zephyrann would always welcome their visit.

On their way back to Coruscant, Obi-Wan finally decided that he should thank Virgille for the first time ever since they met.

He cleared his throat and began in the cockpit with Qui-Gon beside them, "Youngling Virgule, I have something to say." He tried to make himself look serious and elegant, then he crouched down to let his head be on the same height as Virgille's.

"Youngling Virgule?  That sounds stupid." Virgille snorted indignantly as she heard her surname was spoken wrong again.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes in irritation and forced himself to continue: "What I wanna say is: you might be an idiot, but you do deserve my gratitude."

Qui-Gon suppressed himself to not snigger at his Padawan's unique way of thankfulness.

Virgille stared at him suspiciously, "Is this another filthy way of yours to public humiliate me again?"

"Ugh!" Obi-Wan snapped impatiently, "Of course not!  Can't you see that I'm trying to thank you?  Even such a dumb youngling like you should be able to figure out something THAT obvious!"

"Oh..." Virgille's offended expression changed into a proud one in a flash, "So...the arrogant and ill-mannered and impolite Padawan finally built up his determination to thank the future Jedi Master with promising prospect."  She grandma-nodded to herself, "Well, that's satisfying.   You may speak your gratefulness now."  She motioned Obi-Wan to start.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes again at Virgille's conceit, but nevertheless opened his mouth to speak: "Thank you, Vir..." he exhaled hard, trying to at least pronounce her last name right for once, "gule."

Virgille's eyebrow tilted a bit, but she smiled patiently while shaking her head slightly: "You're welcome, Obi-Wan."

Obi-Wan sighed with relief, "Even though I've thanked you, it didn't mean I think you really are a -- what's that title again, Virgule?"

"It's Virgille, Mister!" Virgille shook her right index finger in front of him rigorously, scowling.

"Whatever." Obi-Wan waved his hand dismissively.

"Why, how rude!" Virgille barked.

Knowing the young ones' combat had begun again, Qui-Gon smilingly rose from the pilot seat and walked out of the cockpit.  He stood in front of a window and watched the star trails in hyperspace.

"It's all over now.  Right, Master?" Obi-Wan appeared beside him, also looked at the star trails.

Qui-Gon smiled fondly at him, "I suppose so, Padawan.  Lal'mar was dead as we have witnessed, and I've sensed Darth Sidious' instant death after his body hit the Reine Crystals and was exploded with them.  So I presume the Sith have been destroyed."

"And has your memory recovered yet?" Asked Obi-Wan.

"Completely." Qui-Gon grinned contentedly, "And the nightmares I've had these days will finally have an end." He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Did I correct the mistake I've made long ago, Obi-Wan?"

"Of course, Master." Obi-Wan smiled brightly at his Master, "I guess this mission will also become one of your glorious honors."

Qui-Gon fell silent, slowly putting his hands on both sides of his Padawan's shoulders and said gently: "The most glorious honor...is having you for a Padawan." He pulled Obi-Wan into his arms and placed his chin on the top of Padawan's head. "You are the greatest gift that the Force has ever granted me, Obi-Wan." He hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I love you."

Obi-Wan's eyes widened considerably and the bottom of his heart was lit -- the anticipation and wish he had that morning on which he first met Virgille had all come true.  With content, he rested his head on Qui-Gon's chest and murmured with all his heart, "I love you, too, Master."

Qui-Gon smiled and pulled back a little to tilt up Obi-Wan's head gently.  He gazed at his Padawan with affection, caressing his cheek, and then, he slowly lowered his head to kiss Obi-Wan's lips with tenderness.

Qui-Gon held Obi-Wan tightly in his embrace and Obi-Wan put his hands on his Master's chest to lean into the kiss.  The trails of the stars stayed in harmony with the comfortable silence of hyperspace.

On the other hand, Virgille was watching the Master and Padawan closely from the cockpit.  Obi-Wan had shooed her away after he told her he needed to see to Qui-Gon, hence, she remained herself in the cockpit without making any noise.  When she saw them kissing, her jaw dropped instantly.

"Eww, GROSS!" She whispered to herself in a low voice and frowned with a grandma look, "They're kissing on the lips.  I mean, Master Yoda's just told me we've entered the domain of the High Council scrutiny system not long ago.  Are they willing to let the always-bored and have-nothing-to-do Council watch their show -- or I shall call it performance -- for entertainment?"

"Disgusting, this is.  Watch, you should not." Master Yoda reprimanded the rest of the Council members sternly, "Stop sniggering, all of you.   Do something, Mace!"

Master Windu rubbed his forehead wearily and sighed, "They're always so keen on watching other people doing...that kind of things.  Their greed to watch is almost unstoppable."

The End