DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters, the storyline and the actual story are the property of the author.
"Master Qui-Gon is dead."
Anakin Skywalker did not react to the deep voice of Captain Panaka, at first. The pilots around him gasped and whispered, their praise of the young pilot forgotten.
Master Qui-Gon is dead.
The words resounded in Anakin's mind, echoing through him and growing louder and louder. He slowly pulled away from the pilots, staring intently at Panaka. The security officer was stern and sad-looking.
"No!" Anakin's voice cracked, half-sob. He ran out of the hangar, through the high ceilinged, elaborate Naboo hallways. He passed dozens of deactivated battle droids, tangled and twisted, burned by blaster fire.
WHUMP! Anakin fell onto his back as he impacted with a pair of sturdy legs clad in Jedi brown. He looked up and uttered a little whimper. Obi-Wan Kenobi stared down at him, a mixture of sternness and amazement in his eyes. "Anakin?" he asked, putting a hand on his hip.
Ani shook his head, partially to clear the tears. Then he clambered quickly to his feet and sprinted down the corridor, away from Obi-Wan. The last person he wanted to be near was the man who had argued strongly against him, against him being there in the first place.
Heavier footsteps clattering against the marble tile. "Anakin, wait!" Obi-Wan's voice came from behind him. Anakin shook his head and kept running, throwing himself into it.
Turning a corner, he nearly slammed into Padme and her... Amidala and her handmaidens. Amidala's brown eyes widened with surprise. "Ani?" she asked uncertainly. Anakin simply shoved a path between Rabe and Sache. The handmaidens were surprised but let him pass.
Finally, Anakin found a place of refuge: a large marble balcony overlooking the beautiful city of Theed. He climbed out on the railing, the onto the nearly-flat roof above him. No one would find him there.
Minutes stretched out, seeming like an eternity.
Tears streamed down Anakin's cheeks as he remembered what Panaka had said. He had felt a dark shadow coming from Naboo, then a flash of light that had nothing to do with the laser fire raining around his fighter. Then all had been as it should have been, and he had dismissed it as an illusion.
Now he knew that he had sensed Qui-Gon's death.
First his mother, then Qui-Gon. Every kind glance, every word in his defense, every promise took on the quality of a jewel. Qui-Gon had done so much... and Anakin didn't want to do anything now that he was dead. He never wanted to laugh, to race, even to become a Jedi.
There was a faint clattering of tile, and Anakin sensed Obi-Wan coming up onto the roof with him. The Jedi came slowly, more carefully, not looking down at the fall below. Then he settled himself next to Anakin. "Anakin?" he asked softly.
"Yeah," Anakin said quietly, trying to choke back sobs that threatened to overwhelm him. A fold of Obi-Wan's Jedi robe had fallen over his knee, reminding him of the awe that had overwhelmed him the first time he had seen Qui-Gon in his own robe, rather than a farmer's poncho.
"I'm sorry."
That floored him. Anakin twisted and looked at Obi-Wan. "Sorry for what?"
Obi-Wan shrugged, tilting his head away from Anakin. "For a lot of things. For doubting you. For challenging Master Qui-Gon... for not being able to save him."
Anakin felt the tears beginning to rise up again. "What happened to him?"
Obi-Wan said nothing. But for a moment, he looked away, his face working and spasming. When he looked back to Anakin, there was a crystalline tear caught in the corner of his eye. Anakin stared at Obi-Wan, crying softly. This was someone different, not the hard-eyed Jedi apprentice who had treated him like a problem Qui-Gon wouldn't drop. Someone with real feelings... who was hurting.
On impulse, Anakin threw his arms around Obi-Wan's rib cage, hugging him around the chest. Obi-Wan looked surprised, but awkwardly hugged the boy back. "I miss him," Anakin said, his voice a little muffled against Obi-Wan's shirt.
"I do too," Obi-Wan said softly, patting Anakin on the back. "I do too."
That night, Obi-Wan and Anakin sat side by side, watching Qui-Gon's funeral pyre ignite. Anakin felt a hollow ache in his chest as he watched the flames envelop the Jedi Master. He could see Qui-Gon's profile, dark against the flames that burned brighter and hotter than any he had ever seen.
Jar Jar, Boss Nass, and Amidala in full Queenly costume were standing there as well. And dozens of Jedi, including the Council. Master Eeth Koth, a dark-haired man with small horns protruding from his forehead, smiled a little at Anakin. He wasn't certain why, but he was grateful for the support, from anyone.
Obi-Wan, promise me you'll train the boy.
All right, Master, all right, Obi-Wan thought. I will.
Next to Anakin, Obi-Wan kept his hood drawn over his face, as a sign of mourning. But his heart was warmed some, by the conversation he had had with Anakin earlier that day. Slowly, he looked at the boy.
"What's going to happen to me now?" Anakin asked, almost fearfully.
"The Council has granted me permission to train you. You will become a Jedi," Obi-Wan said, hoping he sounded confident. Anakin blinked for a moment, then stared into the flames, straightening ever so slightly.
There was a brief interlude of murmuring from Yoda and Mace Windu. Obi-Wan glanced back at them, then slowly drew his hood back. Anakin stared: the braid had been clipped off.
"You're my apprentice now, if you want to be," Obi-Wan confirmed, sensing the boy's gradual understanding of what was happening. His keen eyes stared straight into Anakin's.
Anakin glanced at the pyre, where only a few dying embers remained. "Yes," he whispered. Qui-Gon would have wanted it. He had fought for it, and now Anakin would do it.
"Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked, sticking his head into Anakin's bedroom. Anakin rolled over under the covers, staring up at his new master. "Lights out. Queen Amidala has asked us to be with her at the parade tomorrow."
Anakin shook his head. "Do we have to go?" His round face twitched a little in uneasiness at having asked Obi-Wan this.
For a moment, the Jedi just stared at him, then sat down on the edge of the boy's bed, smiling down at him. Anakin's doubtful blue eyes and newly shorn hair reminded Obi-Wan of his first days as an apprentice. "Anakin, I'll tell you something: I don't want to go either. But I'm going because the Queen has asked us to, and because I know that Qui-Gon would not want me to sit behind and be miserable all by myself. You should come too."
Anakin slowly nodded, as if perplexed by Obi-Wan's reasoning but understanding it just the same.
Obi-Wan reached up and adjusted the ornate Naboo lamp over Anakin's bed. "Lights out. And they STAY out, all right?"
Anakin was already curled up in a cocoon of blankets. As Obi-Wan left the darkened bedroom, a faint voice called out, "Master?"
Obi-Wan stopped. "Yes, Anakin?"
"Could you please call me Ani? Qui-Gon and Padme did, and my mom."
Obi-Wan closed his eyes and smiled. "Good night, Ani," he replied deliberately, closing the door part of the way and gliding down the hallway.
Obi-Wan felt very odd as he stood with Anakin the next morning. Queen Amidala and Chancellor Palpatine were absorbed in Boss Nass and the public declaration of peace between the Naboo and the Gungans. He had been at receptions such as these for the past decade...
Then he realized two differences. He was here as a master, not an apprentice. And Qui-Gon at his side was replaced by a small boy from Tatooine.
Obi-Wan glanced down at Anakin, who looked back at him. The boy's small face was stern and observing, taking in the details of the parade. Obi-Wan couldn't repress a smile. He looks like me! Same expression, same attention. Does that mean I'm turning into Qui-Gon? Well, I suppose it could be worse...
Obi-Wan stared out across the crowds of cheering Naboo, as Jar Jar and several other Gungans made their way down the huge streetway, mounted on kaadu. Only Jar Jar and a few of the Naboo stood out as people he recognized; the rest had blurred together into a multicolored throng that was giving him a headache.
Obi-Wan felt a large hand pat him affectionately on the shoulder. For a moment, he thought that it was Mace Windu, or Eeth Koth, a Jedi Councillor who had taken a liking to Anakin. But as he looked back, he saw no one there.
Confused, he glanced down at Anakin. The boy was looking behind him and touching his shoulder, looking just as confused as his master. Then slowly, confusion made way for a delighted grin. Obi-Wan felt the same delighted grin slowly spreading from ear to ear. The cheering and music was too loud for either to actually say anything, but they both knew who had been there.
The rest of the day was a whirl of brief meetings with Jedi Councillors, congratulations and effusive thanks from Chancellor Palpatine, and thanks from too many senators and Naboo officials for Obi-Wan to remember.
At the end of the day, Obi-Wan returned to the suite that he and Anakin were sharing. He peeled off his robe, tossing it into the closet, and pulled off his boots, wriggling his bare toes in the long carpet. "Ow," he mumbled, as an injured muscle in his side twanged.
It was then he noticed the small, sandy-colored bundle curled up on the spacious, brocaded couch by the door. "Ani?" he asked, feeling slightly guilty. It was past midnight, past time for small Jedi apprentices to be going to bed, victory celebration or not.
"Hrm?" Anakin mumbled from the couch.
"It's time for bed." Obi-Wan wandered over and sat down, jostling Anakin's shoulder a little. "Come on, let's go."
"Too tired," Anakin moaned. "Can't I just sleep here?"
"No."
"Why not?"
Obi-Wan tried very hard to repress a sigh. What worried him was, around ten years before, he had asked Qui-Gon a similar question after a very hard mission. He hadn't understood the slightly haunted look in his master's eyes then. He did now. "Because if you do, you're going to ache in the morning. Believe me, I know."
There was a pause, then Anakin sprang to his feet on the couch, small fists held out. "Make me!" he laughed, suddenly wide awake.
For a brief moment, Obi-Wan considered what to do. Then he grinned and lunged across the couch. "Come here! You're going to bed!"
Anakin wriggled away from him, giggling madly. He ducked under Obi-Wan's shoulder and tackled him around the rib cage. For a few minutes, the two wrestled, grinning madly.
Then Obi-Wan shoved his apprentice back and sighed. "Now I hurt more than ever. Go on, go to bed," he grinned, giving Anakin a little poke in the shoulder. The boy slid off the couch and pattered on bare feet into his room, next door.
Obi-Wan slumped back flat on his bed, letting his legs dangle off the edge. Slowly, he turned over and crept under the covers, his muscles still aching from the shattering battle of the day before, and his heart warmed both by Anakin and the reassurance from Qui-Gon. He wasn't really gone, Obi-Wan thought as he tapped the lank to complete darkness.
"Good night, Master!" chirped a voice from the next room.
"Good night, Ani," he replied sleepily.
Good night, Obi-Wan, whispered a voice in his mind.