Title: Miracle
Author: Cassia
Email: cassia_a@hotmail.com
Category: Story, Drama, Adventure, Angst, and um... other.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Minor ones for the JA books
Archive: Jedi Apprentice, Early Years & Qui-Gon Fic
Disclaimer: All recognizable Star Wars characters are the
exclusive property of George Lucas.
(I don't think you could say that any of the other charecters
in this story *belong* to anybody. :D)
I have no official permission to use these characters, but
I'm not being paid for it either, so that's okay.
Feedback: Yes Please!
Time Frame: 8 years before TMP. Obi-Wan is 17.
Summary: Lost and alone, Obi-Wan is dying of an incurable desease. Qui-Gon is desperate to find him, but time is running out. With death drawing near, the Padawan's only hope is... a miracle.
Note: I will apologize up front because sections of this story are quiet choppy, please try to look past that.
WARNING: This story has stronge religious themes in the Christian faith.
Obi-Wan Kenobi stumbled. His vision swam and he could
barely tell which way was up. Leaning against the wall of
a house, he felt the sun-warmed adobe heat his cold hands
and face.
A moment ago he had been so hot he thought he must be on fire, but now he felt colder than a Hoth night. He didn't have much longer now and he knew it. He pushed himself onward because his mind told him he must try to find Qui-Gon, but it was beginning to matter less and less. His illness was overcoming him at last and soon nothing would matter...
Qui-Gon hurried along at an urgent pace. He did not even bother telling himself he should relax, or try to be calm. His Padawan was lost somewhere on this extremely primitive, backwater planet, dying of an incurable disease. There was no way he could be calm or rational about that.
He had to find Obi-Wan before it was too late! Qui- Gon stopped himself, his heart wrenching. There was no too late, it was already too late. There was no cure for the unique strain of the deadly Yukuta virus that his apprentice had contracted.
The best medical minds in the Galaxy could only shake their heads apologetically as the disease ravaged Obi-Wan's young body, leaving the formerly strong seventeen-year-old frail and ailing.
Qui-Gon had felt his heart broken piece by painful piece as he watched the teenager's body fail him slowly, watched Obi-Wan slide gradually down the long, painful hill toward the death that waited for him.
Yet Obi-Wan's spirit had remained strong, even in the face of this cruel destiny. As his body failed him he turned more and more to the Force. Qui-Gon had marveled at how the boy had still been able to laugh, and joke with him; even about his own impending death.
When Obi-Wan's hands started trembling so badly he could no longer hold his lightsaber steady he had told Qui- Gon wryly, "Well, you always were trying to teach me about searching for the peaceful solution, now I guess I really need to learn that." Qui-Gon had laughed with him on the outside, but inside he cried.
Obi-Wan had had angry moments at first, but he had come to accept his destiny with far more grace than Qui-Gon was able to manage. Somewhere deep inside, Qui-Gon was still angry that this had happened. Obi-Wan was so bright, so strong, so wanting to do right! He deserved better than this.
Obi-Wan had grown far too weak to continue training, there was little point to that now anyway, but still Qui- Gon stayed by his side. He stayed by the apprentice as the illness devoured him, stayed with him through the long, sleepless nights of pain that neither drugs nor meditation could seem to alleviate. Stayed by him through the weeks of draining examination and testing, through the hopelessness of every doctor's diagnosis. He would stay by his Padawan until death did them part. Unfortunately, Qui- Gon knew that day was very close at hand.
Then this happened.
Obi-Wan had resigned himself to his fate some time ago, but Qui-Gon still refused to give up. He supposed it was his fault they had ended up here on this forsaken planet in the middle of an unknown galaxy. Qui-Gon had taken Obi-Wan to a well-known healer on the very fringe of the outer rim. She had done her very best for him, but in the end, she could do no more than all the others.
Obi-Wan was going to die.
On the way back, a hyperdrive malfunction had sent them billions of light-years in the wrong direction. Qui-Gon had no idea where exactly they were; it was far beyond the reach of any star maps that had ever been made. They needed to get back, but they also needed fresh supplies for the long journey. The ship had not been stocked for so far a side-trek. When they found this planet, the only one in its solar system that had life, they put down to re-stock the ship. That's when everything went wrong.
The people on this planet were very primitive. They knew nothing of space travel, worlds besides their own, or even of technology of any sort. Some herders saw their ship put down and ran away in terror.
Obi-Wan remained on board while Qui-Gon went for the supplies. However, when Qui-Gon got to the nearest town, he found that no one here spoke Basic, or any other language that he recognized. The Jedi was pretty astute at picking up new languages, but he barely got the chance to figure this one out before the herdsmen they had frighten showed up and the whole city turned against him in superstitious fear.
He escaped, but barely. He could not reason with people he could not speak with. When he got back to the ship, Obi-Wan was gone. There were no signs of a struggle, but he wasn't sure his Padawan could have put one up anyway.
He had almost nothing to guide him but trying to feel Obi-Wan's presence and touch him through their bond, which had become so much stronger over the course of this illness. Obi-Wan's pain made him easier to locate. Qui- Gon followed it as best he could. That was how he ended up here.
This city was much larger than the little village he had entered before and blending in was much easier. The place already seemed to be teeming with people from all over the region.
Pulling his dark brown robe closed tighter around him, the big Jedi strode quickly down the crooked, dusty streets. If he spoke to no one, they did not notice that he was a foreigner.
Many people were dressed much like he, in one fashion or another. Even his long hair and beard fit in quite well. Now if only he could find Obi-Wan! He knew the boy's time was running out. There was nothing he could do about it, but if Obi-Wan was going to die, he did not want it to be alone on this forsaken planet, surrounded by people that neither knew him, nor cared.
Qui-Gon sidestepped to move out of the path of two men who looked like soldiers, which rode on a kind of animal that Qui-Gon was unfamiliar with. They were wore red capes and their shiny uniforms glinted in the sun. Qui-Gon had seen a lot of soldiers in this city. *"Obi-Wan,"* he called. *"Obi-Wan..."*
Obi-Wan felt alone and lost in the midst of the teeming crowd. He was too weak to contact the Force, too far gone even to hear his Master's call. His mind was cloudy and he was unsure how he had even gotten here. The illness that had so far ravaged only his body had now gone into its last stage and attacked his mind.
Obi-Wan didn't know why he had left the ship. He had felt from a distance that Qui-Gon was in danger, but there was no logic in his leaving, there was little the weakened apprentice could have done to help. But Obi-Wan was not operating rationally anymore. Once out of the ship he had become lost and confused in the seemingly endless wilderness. He didn't know how long he had walked until he came to this city.
Everyone moved about busily, as if they were all preparing for something, but Obi-Wan neither knew, nor cared, what for.
A few people had noticed him, or at least that he was not looking well. They had tried to speak to him, but he could not understand them. Whether that was because he could not speak their language or because his illness had robbed his brain of the ability to understand speech the apprentice knew not.
He wanted to find his way back to Qui-Gon, but he realized now that he never would. He was still enough aware of his body to know that it was going fast. He sank to his knees on the edge of the street, unable to go farther. Darkness clouded his vision as people swirled about him like a river. The crowd seemed to grow thicker and more excited but he barely noticed. The time had come, and he was ready.
He heard someone speaking to him, but did not understand what they said. He couldn't see them. He couldn't see anything. His world had gone dark. The man bent over the boy in concern. This young man was obviously very ill. "He must have come to see the Master," the man said to his friend when he could get no response from the lad.
"He'll never make it through this crowd in his condition," the man's friend shook his head. "Let's help him."
Obi-Wan felt hands under his armpits, lifting him up, half dragging, half carrying him. They bore him for a while, shouldering through the crowd and then stopped. There was more talking that he did not understand, but it was sounding farther and farther away. He was so tired, so tired...
A warm hand touched his head. Obi-Wan felt instantly electrified by the power that came through that hand. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It was so strong, so fiercely bright, and so wonderful. He felt it enter his body in an instant, burning up his illness, making it evaporate like water on a hot day. He felt the power move through his every molecule, not only destroying and removing the virus, but also restoring and rebuilding all the damage it had done to him.
Obi-Wan opened his eyes. His vision was clear, his body was strong. He was completely healed. The apprentice could not understand how, or why, but it was wonderful. The first thing Obi-Wan saw when he opened his eyes was the man who had touched him. A man who must have been in his thirties, but something about him felt timeless to the young Jedi.
Obi-Wan met the man's eyes and found himself lost in their incredible depth. He knew in an instant that this was the most powerful man he had ever met, or would ever hope to meet, yet he saw no pride, no desire for worldly power. It was as if this man knew he possessed a stronger, higher power, one that had nothing to do with the things of the galaxy, one that was better.
Obi-Wan felt as if the man was looking inside him, straight at his heart, but it was not an intrusive, or unwelcome feeling.
The Force centered around this man like nothing the apprentice had ever seen before. Obi-Wan could not exactly say that the man was strong in the Force, he was beyond that. It was more like he controlled it, or originated it. At that moment Obi-Wan felt as if this man controlled everything. And as he looked at the Padawan it seemed that he knew everything as well. Obi-Wan felt as if this man knew all about him, who he was, where he was from, everything.
The man reached out his hand and Obi-Wan took it, rising slowly to his feet. For the first time in months, his body felt strong and sure again. "Thank you," he said in awe, although it seemed terribly inadequate. "Thank you!"
The man smiled. Just looking at his smile made Obi- Wan want to laugh with the joy that bubbled up inside him. The man moved on again, the crowd moving with him, but Obi-Wan could not take his eyes off that man. Falling in with the crowd, he followed him.
Qui-Gon stopped, stricken. He had felt Obi-Wan's pain rising steadily as he struggled to pinpoint him. Suddenly, the pain had stopped altogether and he got no reading from his Padawan whatsoever.
Qui-Gon leaned against a wall, his heart breaking. He was too late. Slowly, he pushed off the wall and forced himself onward. He would not leave Obi-Wan's body here. He would find it and bring him back to Coruscant for a proper Jedi funeral. It was the last thing he could do for his Padawan.
Obi-Wan spent the rest of that day, and the next
following the man who had healed him. He did not forget
his Master, but he could not bring himself to leave the
Healer. He knew Qui-Gon would be looking for him. When he
found him, then Qui-Gon could meet the Healer too! Obi-Wan
wanted that very much.
Sometimes crowds gathered around the Healer to listen to his wisdom, sometimes he was accompanied by only a small group that Obi-Wan came to regard as his apprentices from the way they interacted.
Obi-Wan loved to listen to the Healer teach. He had come to realize that no one here spoke any language that he knew, but when the Teacher spoke, he understood every word he said.
Everything the Healer taught rung so true, yet there was much that Obi-Wan did not understand. Obi-Wan realized that the Master's apprentices did not understand it all either, but Obi-Wan had learned long ago that some lessons did not make sense at first, or until the time to understand them had come.
The other apprentices loved their Master, but Obi-Wan could feel many conflicting emotions in the group and a hint of darkness in at least one of them. He wondered if the Master knew, but how could he not? He seemed to know everything, yet he seemed very close to the apprentice that Obi-Wan felt the darkness in, so Obi-Wan supposed that perhaps he was wrong.
As dusk fell over the city the Master and his followers made their way to a small, two story house on a quiet street.
Obi-Wan followed quietly, as he had been doing all day. He made himself unobtrusive and no one questioned him as he followed them in. Indeed, they hardly realized he was there. Obi-Wan had a feeling that the Healer knew, but the older man made no move to keep Obi-Wan away.
Obi-Wan trailed up the stairs behind them, beginning to wonder if he should be doing this. The Padawan knew he was probably intruding. He just wanted to be near the Teacher... but he respected him too deeply to want to make a nuisance of himself. Obi-Wan paused outside the door to the upstairs room and did not follow them in.
For a few moments he watched quietly from the doorway. The Master was trying to teach his pupils about having a humble heart, made to serve. Obi-Wan watched in fascination. This man was so powerful, yet he spoke of being the servants of all. Obi-Wan understood this concept well, it was the Jedi purpose; but it seemed even more real to him now, even more meaningful as the Master sought to make his students understand.
The apprentices in the room seemed to be having a much harder time grasping the concept, but Obi-Wan was sure that they would get it eventually. With such a teacher, how could they not?
Obi-Wan could feel that somehow, this was an important time for the Master and his pupils, one he did not wish to intrude upon. Reluctantly, he tore himself away from the door and slid quietly back down the stairs and out of the house. He would wait for them out here.
Night was falling and the stars were beginning to
twinkle. Qui-Gon looked up at the unfamiliar firmament and
sighed heavily.
Millions upon millions of stars dotted the sky in a way that one could see only in places like this where there were no streetlights, traffic, or glowing neon signs to overshadow and obscure the brightness of the heavens. High overhead, a shimmery band, like a translucent scarf made of stars snaked its way across the raven sky. One never had nights like this on a huge, city-planet like Coruscant.
It was a beautiful sight, but Qui-Gon's heart could feel no wonder at it. He could feel nothing but sorrow. Despite his best efforts, he had been unable to locate his Padawan's body. This city was huge and unfamiliar and the Jedi was unable to communicate with the people in it. If nothing came of his efforts tomorrow, he would have to accept defeat. *"I'm sorry Obi-Wan. I have failed you,"* Qui-Gon thought sadly.
He was weary, but sleep was not possible for him so he let his feet take him out of the crowded city. Passing out of the city gates, he wound his way aimlessly across the countryside.
Avoiding a small knot of sleeping people who must have been camping out, he slowly ascended a hill, overlooking the slumbering city below.
The night was dark, and it was more than the lack of physical light that made it feel so. Something about the night felt sad and heavy, just like his heart.
Qui-Gon leaned against one of the many trees that were scattered across the hill. In his mind he recalled everything he and Obi-Wan had been through together. The good times, the bad. Bandomeer, pirates, Xanatos, Phindar, Gala, Melida/Dann, the Reliant, Vu Kaa, Driosnia, the camps, Vtol Prime, the Voths, the spiders... and so much more. They had spent a lifetime in their mere four years together, and now Obi-Wan was gone.
Qui-Gon leaned his head back, the soft, warm breeze ruffling gently through his hair. He knew he should be stronger than this. He had told Obi-Wan more than once that death was part of life. But none of that helped him now. Alone on this backward planet, light years from anywhere and anyone he knew, his heart was breaking. Somewhere, not far away, he became aware of another heart that was also breaking. He could not see the person in the darkness, but he could feel them. Somewhere close by on this hill.
The emotion was incredibly strong, so strong it nearly knocked Qui-Gon off his feet. The pain, the struggle, the heartbreak, it was as if one heart was baring the weight of the whole world this night. Yet, under-riding it all was a strange sense of peace, an acceptance, and a goal.
Qui-Gon pressed his himself hard against the tree, making its bark dig into his back. In his current state the overwhelmingness of this other sorrow was too much for him to handle.
He turned and left the hill quickly. He wished there was something he could do for whoever was up there, but he had the strange feeling that whatever was going on was not something he could interfere with, or even understand.
As he headed back toward the city he passed a large group of people bearing torches, heading for the direction from which he had just come. The emotions in their group were disturbed, angry and fearful.
Qui-Gon quickened his step. This whole place was swamped in a tense soup of emotions that seemed about to bubble over at any time. It seemed this city, this country, and even this whole world was standing on the brink of something important, something that seemed to reach even beyond the confines of this planet. Everywhere he went he felt it, but he didn't understand what it meant.
All he could understand was that somewhere in this city, he had lost his apprentice, he had lost his friend.
Obi-Wan shook himself awake. It was dark and the moon and the stars shone down on him from above, seeming to scowl disapprovingly at him for having dozed off.
He sprang to his feet. He had not meant to fall asleep. He had only meant to sit down quietly in the shadow of the alley across from the house where the Healer was, but weariness had crept up on him and he guessed it must be nearly morning now.
He looked to the house, but there were no lights in the windows and the entire street was swamped in shadowy darkness. Everyone must be asleep. The Master and his followers as well.
The young Jedi scolded himself for dozing off without meaning to, but no real harm had been done, so he settled down once more with his back against the wall. He might as well go back to sleep now; there was nothing to do until morning.
Morning. The light woke Obi-Wan once more. He rubbed his eyes and got to his feet. It was still very early and the last shadows of night were just beginning to melt under the bright rays of the sun.
He made his way across the street to the house to see if anyone was up yet. However, when he checked it out, he found that no one was there. Not the Master, not his apprentices, not even the owners of the house. They must have all left earlier still, and Obi-Wan reprimanded himself once more for sleeping so much that he missed them.
He did not know why, but he felt uneasy. The air seemed to crackle with tension around him and when he reached out to the Force he found that it was disturbed and turbulent.
The street was nearly empty, so he made his way towards the center of town, hoping to find the Healer along the way.
The closer he got, the more crowded and noisy the streets became. Anger and fear mingled and clashed in the air, so strong that they seemed almost audible to his perceptive senses.
Something was going on, something very wrong. Anger pulsed in the air like the hum of a lightsaber, filling Obi-Wan's body with urgency. Without understanding why, Obi-Wan broke into a run.
Qui-Gon battled his way through the crowd. They were angry, upset about something, that much was clear, but he did not know what had caused this outbreak of hostility, or what it was about. They all seemed to be heading towards one of the gates, out of the city.
As he struggled to make a path for himself through the turbulent sea of people he glimpsed a procession making it's way slowly down the street.
Qui-Gon averted his eyes, overcome by a sorrow he could not explain. The sooner he left this place, the better.
"No! You can't do this! You can't!" Obi-Wan shouted, even though he knew they could not understand him.
The Padawan struggled fiercely with the soldiers who attempted to subdue him. Had he had his lightsaber with him he would have made a fairly easy escape, but he had left that back on the ship when he had wandered off in delirium the day before yesterday. As it was, he held his own just fine anyway.
Flipping away from his assailants, Obi-Wan landed by an archway and swung himself up. Leaping off the other side he landed on the ground twelve meters away from them. More soldiers were appearing, attempting to box him in.
He had to get out of this, he had to get by them and stop what was happening! He had to! Obi-Wan had almost never felt so desperate before. This was all so wrong! He didn't understand why it was happening, but he had to stop it! He dodged a blow from one of the soldiers' sharp weapons, twisting around to-
Sharp, horrible pain shot through him. Stabbing agony lanced through his hands and feet, but no one had touched him. The shock of it sent him to his knees, stunned. He knew the pain was not his.
He felt the soldiers' blades press sharply against his throat as they bound his hands tightly behind his back. His head spun and his heart ached fiercely. He couldn't believe this was happening.
"What have you done?" he whispered in shocked horror as the soldiers pulled him to his feet. "How could you do this? How could you be so blind! What have you done?" But the soldiers understood him no more than he understood them.
A soldier whom Obi-Wan guessed to be higher ranking than the others because of his more elaborate uniform came upon the scene.
"What do we have here?" he demanded of his men, looking Obi-Wan over from head to toe.
"An insurgent sir, tried to disturb the proceedings. When we attempted to arrest him he resisted capture," the soldier on Obi-Wan's left reported.
"Trouble maker hmm? What do you have to say for yourself boy?" the head officer said, tipping Obi-Wan's chin up on the point of his knife. He slapped Obi-Wan across the face when the young Jedi did not answer. "Insolent scum!" he scowled. "Give him a flogging to teach him better manners," he stared into Obi-Wan's icy blue eyes. He saw no trace of fear in them. "And do not be gentle about it," he added contemptuously.
Obi-Wan had not understood a word of the exchange. He knew the soldier was angry when he slapped him, and knew he was probably in trouble. Yet all that kept going through his head was the absolute shock and horror of what he had seen that morning. How could these people do this thing? What was it all about? He did not understand.
The soldiers dragged him away.
TBC
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