#yawowh chapter 6

[animemangasoul]

You Are Wanted Obi-Wan Kenobi

Summery: Qui-Gon lives and Mace gets a new Padawan.

[In which Qui-Gon repudiates Obi-Wan and Mace isn't about to let the kid leave the order without a fight.]

Chapter: 6/10?

"Qui-Gon, what did you do?!"

 Qui-Gon's mouth opened and closed. Taking a stumbling step back, he couldn't help but stare. Stare at Obi-Wan who's distress was practically choking the force around him.

 How had it come to this?

 He'd been so excited to share the good news with his boy. He'd run through the scenario thousand times over in his head. Planned for how he'd approach their conversation, planned for Obi-Wan's inevitable questions; every single one he could think of, he'd even tried to tap into the unifying force; clouded as it was to him, and yet he hadn't foreseen this. Hadn't concluded that his elation and solution would bring his boy nothing but horror.

 Qui-Gon didn't understand. No matter how hard he tried to connect the dots; reasons failed him. It was obvious his idea had distressed Obi-Wan greatly, but try as he might, Qui-Gon couldn't understand why.

 What was so wrong with Yan taking Obi-Wan under his wing? He was his Grandmaster and Qui-Gon was sure his old Master would care for him. Distant as he was, the older Jedi truly had a good heart, Qui-Gon was sure of it. And Obi-Wan didn't do well with fussing and overt concern anyways, so the partnership at face value should have been acceptable to him, so why wasn't it?

 'Maybe,' he thought, his own aguish shrouding his mind. 'Maybe Obi-Wan didn't hear it when I told him that he wouldn't have to leave me?'

 Maybe his boy had assumed immediately that if he became Yan's Padawan, he would have to move out and never see Qui-Gon again? He was already so distressed after hearing his Master's name, maybe he didn't hear anything after that?

 That could be it, right?

 Because why else----

 "Qui-Gon! For force's sake, snap out of it!"

 Reeling backwards, Qui-Gon blinked furiously against the darkness that had enveloped his vision and Mace's furious face finally came into view. The man was no longer holding Obi-Wan tightly to his chest. Instead he'd put the younger man back on the floor, hand resting atop of his heart and the other providing support for his head.

 Qui-Gon had never seen Mace so scared.

 "What happened? What did you do? What's wrong with him?"

 Mace's emotions were like whiplashes, crashing against his shields with ferocity rarely exhibited by him before, and it was all Qui-Gon could do not to shatter against the onslaught of confusion, fury, pain, worry.

 "It's---" he stuttered, eyes finally sinking to the shuddering body of Obi-Wan. The boy was curled towards Mace, face distraught and breath coming in wheezing gasps that hurt Qui-Gon with it's familiarity. "He's having a panic attack." The last words were nothing but a whisper past his lips and as he said them it truly hit Qui-Gon how dire the situation really was.

 After all, Obi-Wan's panic attacks were both painful and terrifying experience for his poor boy, and was only through trial and error Qui-Gon finally figured out how to help him. And so instinctively Qui-Gon once again tries to pull up the usual shields to protect Obi-Wan from the onslaught of force presences drowning him. But the minute he tries; reaching out through the force to meld his mind against his Padawan. Trying to pull up the protective walls as swiftly as possible, he knowns. He is met with absolute nothingness, and he knows.

 Maybe he had always known, all these weeks. The truth hoovering at the horizon, but no. He hadn't let himself know, not really, not until he tried to pull at that familiar thread. That oh so familiar bond and came up empty.

 Obi-Wan Kenobi was no longer his Padawan.

 He couldn't help him. He couldn't build his own shields around his boy anymore. He couldn't ward against the terrors that haunted him anymore. Because…. Obi-Wan was no longer his Padawan.

 Qui-Gon couldn't protect Obi-Wan because he was no longer his to protect.

 And it was, with that revelation, that the ground fell from under him and his knees collapsed to the ground.

 It was….. Things were different now. His Obi-Wan, his Obi-Wan, wasn't his anymore.

 For the first time for Qui-Gon, it was as if he'd been left stranded on an island. Alone, empty, forgotten.

 That gentle pulsing presence in the back of his mind was gone. Replaced now by the blazing sun that was Anakin Skywalker, a sun that was now practically trying to drown him in order to reach through to him in overwhelming worry.

 'Mas…ter----Qui-Gon?' It shouted, filling him with echoes of panic. 'Okay?--- You? Mr.--Obi---an? --Wan. Obi---Wan? Oka--?'

 Their bond was still fragile, but whenever Ani was scared or worried, his voice grew loud and clear, no matter how broken up it was, Ani always managed to bulldoze his way into mentally communicating with him, and it was that concern, that fear for him, for Obi-Wan that finally managed to pull Qui-Gon out of his own spiralling anguish.

 'Snap out of it,' he told himself, shaking away the absolute sadness consuming him. 'Your boys need you.'

 Center yourself, acknowledge your emotions and then, release it.

 He breathed in, out. And let it all go.

 So with that final resolution in mind, he sent a soothing wave of calm towards Anakin 'don't worry about us, we're fine,' before gently closing his side of the bond and taking a deep breath.

 Obi-Wan needed him right now. His boy needed him.

 "Mace," he forced out, crawling towards the two bodies on the floor; legs not quite managing to carry him, shaking as they were. "You need to help shield him."

 "What?" Mace had in the meantime found away to at least calm Obi-Wan a little bit despite being unfamiliar with the kid's condition. It wasn't much, the auburn haired youth still gasping for air, fingers clutching at the Korun man's outer robes. But it was something.

 Taking a deep breath, forcing all his worries, all his grief to the very back of his mind where it could trouble him no longer, Qui-Gon rested a gentle hand on his friend's shoulder and lowered his voice to a comforting tone. "Obi-Wan becomes hyper aware of the force signatures around him when he's having a panic attack," he told him softly. "You need to use your bond with him to slowly block them out for him, not fully but so that they are muted and won't bother him as much."

 "Of course," Mace said, understanding flashing through his eyes, sending a brief nod of gratitude in his direction he diverted his attention back to the young man in his arms.

 The Master of the Order ran a gentle hand through Obi-Wan's wispy locks as he muttered something in a language Qui-Gon didn't quite understand but sounded almost familiar 'Stewjoni?' and slowly, ever so slowly, Obi-Wan's breathing evened out and with a last shuddering breath, the young man fell into a restless sleep. Cheeks flushed red, eyes red rimmed and body still shaking fiercely despite being past the worst of it.

 It tugged at Qui-Gon's heart, the sheer vulnerability of his boy; laying there, unconscious, face wet from tears only now drying up. He wanted to reach out and touch him, hold him, banish away the hurt and the pain and make it all better, but he couldn't.

 He knew he couldn't.

 So instead he watched as Mace gathered his former Padawan into his arms and stood up, the ragged breathing of Obi-Wan the only sound echoing through the walls of the apartment.

 "I should get him back to the Halls," he muttered, his eyes only meant for the sleeping young man in his arms. "He was already suffering from force exhaustion, this might set him back for days if not weeks."

 There isn't really a shift in tone or even harshness behind Mace's words. In fact the words are spoken with a frank observation, his fellow Master too focused on his Padawan to care much about Qui-Gon who's standing only an armlength away from him and yet, it feels as if Mace is accusing him. Pointing his finger at his chest and digging out all of his failings.

 'Wasn't it enough that you had him heal you,' it feels like Mace is saying. 'Now you drain him of his remaining energy? What's wrong with you?'

 Mace of course, says nothing of the sort, but it's all Qui-Gon can hear.

 "Yes," Qui-Gon finally managed to force out, trying to keep his face an neutral and serene as possible. "I think that's for the best."

 A brisk nod in his direction and Mace turned to the door and prepared to walk out.

 'No,' Qui-Gon suddenly thought, unconsciously taking a step forward. 'It can't end like this.'

 It felt like it was all ending. Right at this very moment. It felt like something big was coming to an end.

 It felt like a chapter in his life was closing, and….. Qui-Gon wasn't ready, he wasn't prepared.

 'No,' he thought desperately. 'Please no.'

 They had spent ten years together, it couldn't end like this.

 "Mace," he called out and the other man paused half way out the door. "Mace I--"

 But before he could continue, something shifted within the Korun man. Suddenly the calmness that was Mace Windu's force presence flared outward in one uncontrollable burst and through it Qui-Gon could sense rage.

 Hot, burning, bone shaking rage. Before whatever emotions that had accidently been let lose got buried just as quickly. And Mace tightly woven defense came back to shroud his true feelings.

 "Not now Qui-Gon," the man snapped, tone harsher then the sharp edges of Rimi'ula. "We can talk another time. Now if you will excuse me," Folding Obi-Wan closer to his chest, he disappeared out the door without a backward glance, leaving a forlorn Qui-Gon behind.

 'Perhaps,' Qui-Gon thought ruefully, watching his friend vanish. 'That is for the best.'

 Maybe a time away from each other to process the happenings of today would allow all of them a momentary respite?

 Yeah maybe it would all work itself out somehow.

 Taking a deep breath, Qui-Gon released his pain into the force before he too left the apartment; in search for his own Padawan this time.

 Anakin's bright presence might be just what he needed to ease the throbbing ache in his heart, and Ani was probably worrying himself sick about Obi-Wan and him, so Qui-Gon could assuage his concern as well. This is something he could do.

 And for now, that had to be enough.

 --------

  Several hours later and it's all Mace can do not to storm out of the Halls, find Qui-Gon and strangle the blasted man with his own two hands. He'd kept his emotions under lock and key when Obi-Wan, in the softest tone imaginable, had told him about what had transpired between his former Master and him, but as soon as his new Padawan slipped into a fitful sleep; the result of reoccurring nightmares and overwhelming stress, Mace couldn't hold himself together anymore.

 Fingers clenching tightly around the bedframe, he tried to breathe through his anger like he'd been taught so many years ago, but it was impossible. Every time he came to a semblance of balance, he'd remember Qui-Gon's face and it would all come toppling down again.

 "He said…. He said he wanted me? But----" Obi-Wan had looked so tired, so heartbroken. So, alone.  It was as if Mace was thrown back in time to the day the kid woke up to the news that he'd been repudiated. "He wanted…. Master Dooku to take---me-- in name---- in name only of course and," and there it was, the blank stare Mace had fought so hard to erase. "He said…. he woul--- would train me together, with Anakin." a hitch in his breath. "He said--- I would just have a different Master?" Smiling bleakly, Obi-Wan shrugged. "Master Yan Dooku."

 Mace had hugged him then. Pulled the poor shivering kid against his chest and just held on tight. Told him there was nothing in this world and the force could do, to make Mace give him up and it was only with his sincerity ringing through the force, loud and clear that Obi-Wan finally took his words to heart and managed to release his pain into the force. Exhaustion finally winning over and dragging him back under; even as he clung to Mace for dare life until the very last inch of consciousness left him.

 Mace stood watch. His own feelings of anger and horror closely buried in his chest, refusing to leave him despite how hard he tried to release them into the force.

 Qui-Gon had repudiated Obi-Wan. He'd willingly giving up on his Padawan right before his Knighting Trials. He'd removed his braid without his consent and he hadn't once, been apologetic about it.

 And now, now that Mace had stood up and claimed the shattered soul of Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon was waltzing back in to ruin what was left of the boy's confidence?

 How heartless, how cruel could one Jedi be?

 Fury licked at Mace's heart. Anger coursed through his veins, and try as he might, Mace couldn't seem to release it at all into the force. And with each fleck of burning rage he let go off, a bucket full would take it's place.

 Sighing, he pressed his face into the railing, hanging on for dare life.

 He needed a round of meditation. Maybe he could invite Depa over later tonight. His little Spitfire was good at pulling his emotions apart to find the center of his inner conflict. Perhaps with her help, he could sift through to the core of his anger and with the knowledge finally be able to let go of his less than Jedi like emotions.

 Perhaps.

 Taking a deep breath, he allowed himself to bask in the golden presence of his new Padawan. Obi-Wan had been sleeping for the past couple of hours; his fitful sleep soon turning into a restful one after Mace wrapped the poor kid in his own force presence once more; noticing how the kid's shields were too weak to keep anything out.

 Now Obi-Wan looked more restful than he'd looked when Mace had raced over from the council room to find him slumped over; screaming his lungs out and unable to breathe.

 That pleading call still haunted him. He hadn't expected the wail through the force when he'd left the apartment that morning, thinking he'd be back long before Obi-Wan required anything of him. He'd even planned on getting through unpacking his new Padawan's things quickly while the kid was getting his check up with Master Che so they could spend the rest of the day together watching those holodramas Obi-Wan's friends had recommended. So to suddenly be disturbed in the middle of his last meeting by a terrified call through the force, it had been…… he still felt shaken by the thought of it.

 He should have been more careful. He should have known Qui-Gon would seek Obi-Wan out again now that he was out of the Halls. He should have known. His old friend was nothing if not persistent and Mace should have known.

 But he hadn't and now----

 Squeezing his eyes shut, he banished the thoughts. 'For another day,' he told himself.

Right now he needed to focus on Obi-Wan's well being and sinking into his own distress and failings wouldn't do his Padawan any good. Especially since the kid seemed to be sensitive to his moods now with his shields practically gone.

 Reaching out, Mace carefully brushed his finger between the kid's brows until his worry line disappeared. He smiled to himself.

 But then, when Obi-Wan let out a soft sigh, leaning into his featherlight touch, something within his heart crumbled.

 Mace continued to stroke his Padawan's forehead until his own stress faded away and all he was left with was absolute and utter fondness for the sleeping young man in his care.

 And then….

 His eyes snapped back open; where he most have closed them sometime during his brief calming moment with his Padawan. His lips pulling back into a snare.

 And he was out of his chair faster than a humanoid could blink, storming past Master Che who's presence near Obi-Wan's room was all too evident on who'd just arrived to pay a visit.

 "Mace," she called out after him, voice high in warning. "Don't."

 But he was done listening. He'd given the other man plenty of chances. Had tried to understand where he was coming from. Had tried to avoid him when that hadn't worked, and had buried himself in his own guilt and ignorance when that hadn't been enough either. But now----

 Qui-Gon had gone behind his back and tried to force his Padawan on Master Yan Dooku.

 Mace was done being understanding. He was done being kind. Old friend or not, Qui-Gon had no right to be here. No right at all.

 "Mace!"

 He shrugged the head healer off, force shoved the double doors open with a bang and with ten long strides had Qui-Gon by the front of his robes and up against the wall. "What are you doing here?" he snarled.

 "Hello Mace," Qui-Gon smiled pleasantly, face serene as ever, voice nothing but gentle understanding and eyes crinkling at the corners with friendliness.

  It grinded on Mace's nerve, that false serenity. He'd known the man long enough to detect his real feelings and right now it was anything but peaceful. "I came to check on Obi-Wan. How is he doing?"

 "That is," Mace glared. "Frankly non of your business." Fingers still tightly gripping the man's outer robes, in no hurry to let him go.

 Something unreadable flashed through Qui-Gon's eyes, his whole frame stiffening, but then it eased away and his old friend sent him a reassuring smile. "You most know I worry about him."

 Mace scoffed. "You repudiated him."

 Qui-Gon flinched and the Korun man shoved down any sense of vindication that burst through him at that reaction.

 "I had to," his fellow Master said, voice no louder than a whisper; both Masters  vaguely aware of the gathering crowds Master Che was trying to shoo away from the Halls. "The prophesy---"

 "Kriff the prophesy," Mace snarled, slamming him against the wall, eyes blazing with bottomless fury. "Kriff your prophesy Qui-Gon! You abandoned him!"

 "I didn't, I had a plan!"

 "A plan?"

 'Don't hit him,' he begged of himself. 'Please don't hit him. You're the Master of the Order, anger does not become you. Do.not.hit.him.'

 Oh, how much he wanted to hit him.

 "Yes a plan. Yan would take him as his Padawan officially and--"

 "You would do the actual training," the acid dripping from his words would make even Mace wince any other day. "Yes, I heard it all from your traumatized former Padawan who you," he said, shaking the man. "Have not only thrown away, but now made him believe that you most saddle him on someone else because he's no one's first choice."

 Qui-Gon's eyes widened. "That's not what I intended to do!"

 "It doesn't matter what you intended to do," Mace said, shoving him even harder, face only inches away from him. "It only matters what you actions show and so far, all you've done is kriff over the kid, Qui-Gon." Unclenching his fist he took a step back. "Since day one in fact."

 "That's not fair." The sadness in Qui-Gon's voice could be tasted through the force. "I wasn't ready for a Padawan back then and you all knew it. Yoda forced me to take him despite knowing I wasn't ready. The council did that," he said, eyes swimming with sadness and years of bitterness. "Not me. You did that."

 Guilt washed over Mace at those words and he took another step back. "You're right. Obi-Wan should have never been forced on you."

 "That's not--"

 "No," he said, shaking his head. "Let me finish. He shouldn't have been forced on you. Yoda was wrong--" He swallowed thickly he continued. "I disagreed with him, but I still went along with it so I was wrong too. We have all failed that kid and by extension, you. But Qui-Gon, you were an adult." Clenching his fists Mace tried to release his emotions into the force.  "You failed him as well. Several times over. If only I'd known how much you didn't want him. If only I had seen how less than ready you were. But we trusted you to act like a Jedi, to know that if you saw yourself truly unfit to handle a Padawan you would take the appropriate steps to fix it. But you didn't and each time you didn't, you managed to ship away at his self esteem, his confidence---" swallowing again, Mace gritted his teeth and looked down. "Why didn't you just let him go?"

 "What?"

 "Clearly you weren't ready for a new Padawan, and I looked through your files last week Qui-Gon. You never attended your mandatory mind healing sessions, so if you didn't think you were ready for Obi-Wan, why did you hold on to him? Why didn't you just let him go? Someone else would have taken him, you most have known that, so why?

 Qui-Gon froze, not moving a muscle as his face went through several expressions. From anger to grief, to confusion and finally to aching desperation. "He needed me," he said, almost pulling into himself. "No one else--- Xanatos he….. But Obi-Wan needed me and I just, he made me better Mace," he whispered, hands shaking slightly at his side. "He made me better and I made him stronger and…. We needed each other. Assigning him to me was the right choice. It was. Just now, the prophesy---"

 Mace shook his head slowly, heart breaking all over again, eyes stinging because…. How had Master Yoda missed all this? Qui-Gon was his Grandpadawan, this was his call and that meant both Master and Padawan fell under his jurisdiction. How had he missed such a mismatched pair? How had he never sounded the alarm?

 This was terrifying to watch. Qui-Gon's desperation, his inability to see how wrong it was of him to lean on a child for mental support.

 How had so many people missed it?

 He'd missed it himself. Sure he'd only been a newly appointed Council Member at that time, not having much say in the choices and the decisions made by the older members, but he could have kept a closer eye, could have listened and paid better attention. But he hadn't and now----

 "Obi-Wan is no replacement for Xanatos," he said, firmly. "Just because Xanatos didn't need you anymore and fell to the darkside does not mean you can replace his sudden void with Obi-Wan. That's not fair to him or you."

 The flash of anger that lashed out at him through the force almost made him stagger. "How dare you," Qui-Gon roared. "I wasn't trying to replace Obi-Wan with Xanatos, I would never! Obi-Wan was never like him. He would never betray me!"

 "So you betrayed him instead?"

 Mace had said the words calmly, or as calm as he could manage, but the pettiness behind them, was obvious to him, and by the way Qui-Gon reeled back as if slapped they had the intended effect too. Mace should feel guilty for causing a fellow Jedi pain, but knowing what he knew now. Knowing how twisted this Jedi pairing had been from the start, how Xanatos shadow hoovered over Obi-Wan before the kid even had a chance to prove himself, it made any guilt Mace might have felt any other time, non-existent. Later he would have to examine his feelings and meditate on them, but right now---

 "I didn't betray him." Qui-Gon snapped back. "I'm following the will of the force. Anakin needs training."

"And you know that how!"

Throwing his hands in the air, Qui-Gon was practically fuming at the mouth; the familiar argument grating on both their nerves. "I told you! The force is guiding me!"

Mace snorted. "And you think you're the only one who understands the force? The only one the force speaks to? How do you know your own bias isn't clouding your judgement?"

"How do you know it isn't clouding yours?!"

It was like being slapped in the face. Mace stared. "What?"

"I said," Qui-Gon huffed, a tiny edge of bitterness bleeding through his voice. "How do you know you aren't being biased as well? You're so deeply connected with the Unifying force, you cannot see what's right in front of you. So how would you know Anakin shouldn't be trained?"

"I'm not the only one, Qui-Gon," Mace said. "Anakin's future is clouded, filled with darkness and he's too old. How can you stand there and say your interpretation of the force is more correct than the entire council? Can you see something no one else in the council can see? Can you see past the darkness clouding all our visions?" Mace couldn't have sounded more skeptical if he tried, but by the resolute stiffness to Qui-Gon's frame, the man truly believed this to be the case.

"Yes my friend," he said, eyebrows heaving upward. "I'm guided by the will of the force. After all," he smiled; it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm more connected to the Living force than any other Jedi."

This level of certainty, this unshakable assurance that you can never be wrong was truly terrifying, and the fact that, wrong as he had been many times over; Xanatos the most obvious example, Qui-Gon had yet admit to any of it, yet to accept any failings, made Mace worry for the future of his old friend.

So taking a deep breath, he squared his jaw, crossed his arms and said without any regret, "If the will of the force was guiding you. Has been guiding you this entire time, shouldn't it have warned you about Xanatos?"

Qui-Gon lurched back, eyes widening in disbelief before bared his teeth in anger. Any semblance of friendliness and serenity gone with the wind. "How dare you," he hissed.

Mace glared. "When you elect you play games with my Padawan's life, I dare, every time."

"Obi-Wan is not your Padawan--"

"Yes," Mace snapped. "Yes he is."

"No," Qui-Gon growled back. "He isn't. Not yet. And Obi-Wan is a Senior Padawan, you're a council member Mace, you won't have time train him."

"I will make time," Mace gritted out. "And I will see him to Knighthood Qui-Gon Jinn, so don't get in my way."

"I have trained him for ten years Mace, don't you think I know what's best for him!"

Staring in disbelief at his old friend, Mace briefly wondered how it was possible to be that delusional. Hadn't their catastrophic conversation so far taught this man anything?

"You haven't gotten over Xanatos----" he said, keeping his voice low even though; thank the force for Vokara Che, the hallways were now blissfully empty. "And that's why you should have let obi-wan go. You're a Jedi Master, an adult, Qui-Gon. It was your responsibility to put the needs of Obi-Wan ahead of your own. It didn't matter how much he might have needed you," raising his voice to stop the other from interrupting him, he carried on forcefully. "If you knew you weren't equipped to provide for him the way you were supposed to, the way a Master was supposed to, you should have come to the council and let us assign another Master to him. The Jedi council failed him," he continued, painful as it was to admit. "But you failed him as well old friend, and the only one unwilling to admit to any fault here, is you."

It should have been obvious.

It should have been clear.

Mace could see it. Weeks in the other's shoes and he could see it.

The mistakes of the Jedi council, the mistakes of Master Yoda, his own by not noticing the walking trauma that was his best friend. So many mistakes, so so many.

But it wasn't too late to right wrongs, and Mace was willing to. It looked like Master Yoda was willing as well, surprising, seeing how stubborn the old troll could be about his own views. So to see Qui-Gon standing right in front of him, talking about these alarming issues as if they were trivial. Speaking as though with a wave of a hand he could fix it all, it……

Mace didn't understand.

"Obi-Wan needs me Mace."

"No," Mace said, turning away from him. "He doesn't. Not anymore."

He would have left it at that, but when a strong hand came to descend on his shoulder; gripping him hard, he swung back around, eyes blazing, the final threads of his meticulously crafted composure fraying at the edges and------

"Enough!"

They froze, simultaneously turning to lock eyes with the Grandmaster of the Order.

"Jedi, you are," he said, slamming his gimer stick on the ground. "Act like it, you will."

Making his tense shoulders relax slowly, Mace dropped his balled fist; forcing himself not to think about the immature action he was just about to take. "My apologize Grandmaster," he said, inclining his head ever so slightly in his direction as an apology. "I let my emotions get the best of me."

He refused to look at Qui-Gon and by the way the other Jedi had also turned away from him the feeling was most certainly mutual.

'Good,' he thought. 'If I ever see him anywhere near Obi-Wan ever again no Jedi Code is going to stop me from hitting him.'

'Breathe,' he then told himself, releasing his frustration and the embarrassment at being caught into the force. 'You're the Master of the Order, act like it. Your years of recklessness are behind you.'

After observing for an agonizing long minute, the Grandmaster nodded to himself.

"Come with me you will, Qui-Gon. And you," Master Yoda said, pointing his stick at Mace. "Tend to your Padawan you shall. Need you he does."

Qui-Gon stiffened. "Master Yoda I---"

"Come," the old Grandmaster said, already walking away. "Much to talk about we have. Embarrassed yourself in front of many Jedi you both did, bring it up with the council I will."

Mace flushed but he refused to feel bad about it, not when Qui-Gon still refused to accept how detrimental he was to himself and others, especially to Obi-Wan.

"Leave Mace to his duties you most. Come Qui-Gon."

Realizing how futile it was to argue with the green troll, Qui-Gon seemed to deflate in on himself, shoulders sagging in annoyed resignation before he clasped his hands under his sleeves; eerily similar to Obi-Wan and trudged after his Grandmaster.

Mace watched them walk away but just as it was almost too late to say any lasting words, he spoke up.

"Qui-Gon," He called out just as both Master's were about to disappear down the west wing. "Unless Obi-Wan asks for you personally, don't come back." And with that he turned on his heels and stepped back into the Halls not caring for whatever answer Master Jinn might have had for him in return.

The End

Chapter: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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