Chapter Text
The mission was, by all means, very successful. The Council had tasked Qui-Gon and his young apprentice to act as negotiators for a planet that had been considering joining the Republic. Sagool was a wealthy and traditional system with a king and queen who cared deeply for their humanoid-dominant people. Joining the Republic meant that the planet would receive better trading opportunities, and in return their struggling economy would vastly improve.
The negotiations had gone much quicker than expected, with Sagool agreeing to intertwine themselves with the Galactic Republic. It was refreshing to have a mission that was so simple for a change. Both Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had been through a lot in the recent past, from Bandomeer all the way to Telos. This had been a good opportunity for them to strengthen their bond as master and apprentice, and it was also an excellent learning opportunity for his young padawan.
As a Jedi, Obi-Wan would need to learn that not every mission required the use of a saber. Acting as a peacekeeper was an important role for a Jedi to learn. Their past missions had been unusually violent and complicated; in ordinary circumstances, a mission like their one on Sagool would often be chosen first for new padawans and their masters.
Obi-Wan had behaved impeccably through the negotiations themselves, keeping his focus intent through the long and rather tedious talks over the past few days. In between the negotiations, he’d displayed perfect manners and charm to their hosts. Qui-Gon was very proud of his padawan. He knew how hard Obi-Wan was pushing himself after the events of Melida/Daan. His hard work was certainly paying off, as demonstrated by how successful their mission had gone.
It was now their final night on Sagool. Tomorrow, a transport would take them back to Coruscant. A banquet was being held in honor of the planet’s upcoming prosperity, with Qui-Gon and his apprentice being the guests of honor.
For awhile Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan stayed close together. Qui-Gon mostly answered inquiries regarding the benefits of the Republic, with Obi-Wan listening intently and chiming in every now and then when his master or another prompted him to.
Eventually Qui-Gon sent his padawan to the refreshment table; it had been a long day and Obi-Wan deserved some desert as well as a break from all of the questions. A few moments passed before Qui-Gon noticed that the queen was now speaking to Obi-Wan by the refreshments. He smiled; she had taken quite a liking to his apprentice, and it was rather endearing.
Suddenly, a hand clasped his shoulder.
“Master Jedi! If you would permit it, I would like to speak with you about a rather urgent matter,” King Ulmood said in a low voice, obviously trying to appear inconspicuous among the crowd of cheerful celebrators.
“Of course,” said Qui-Gon, and followed the king through the crowd, toward an empty balcony where they would have privacy. “Has something come up regarding the negotiations?”
“Oh no, not at all. It seems as though we’ll have a very smooth transition into the Republic. This is a much more personal matter.”
“I see,” The Jedi master said, his curiosity peaking. “Then what is it that you wish to discuss?”
“Well, it concerns your apprentice,” the king confessed, though based on his outward appearance he didn’t seem distressed; his eyes were crinkled and his lips curved upward. Regardless, his statement caught the Jedi off guard.
“Obi-Wan?” Qui-Gon was surprised. Had his padawan done something to offend the king?
The Jedi master thought back throughout the ten days they had spent on Sagool. From everything that he had witnessed, his young padawan had displayed perfect behavior. He charmed the king, queen, and everyone else involved in the negotiations with his dimpled smile and polite behavior.
“Oh no, he’s been a delight!” The king readily assured him. “That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about. I think it goes without saying that Obi-Wan is an absolute treasure. That’s why I wanted to request that he stay here, to live in the palace. My wife absolutely adores him, as do I and the rest of our people. Now that we’re about to join the Republic, the adoption process would be much less complicated-”
Qui-Gon felt a mixture of alarm and amusement. “I’m afraid I don’t understand. Are you asking to adopt my apprentice?”
The king rubbed the back of his neck. “To put it plainly, yes. Teela and I have children of our own, but they are grown now with their own little ones. To have a child again, especially one as endearing as Obi-Wan, would be an absolute gift.”
For a moment Qui-Gon was unable to articulate a response, feeling quite baffled. Nonetheless, he had to make it clear that such a thing could never happen.
“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I cannot possibly permit such a thing. It is Obi-Wan’s ambition to become a Jedi Knight, and I have taken a vow to see this through. We share the bond of a master and apprentice.”
The king’s hopeful expression had still not faded. “But surely there are other apprentices that you can take? I swear to you from my honest tongue that Obi-Wan will receive the best of care in our custody. We would treat him as our blood-son. Furthermore, I am more than willing to compensate the Jedi Order too- as you know, my kingdom is rich in rare gemstone among other treasures.”
“I’m afraid not,” Qui-Gon repeated himself, his remaining amusement fading now that he realized how serious the king was. “I hope you can understand, but Obi-Wan will remain under my custody, and by proxy the custody of the Jedi Order.”
“I’d give you enough gemstone to live a life of luxury,” Ulmood just didn’t give up. “Please Master Jedi, you must at least consider my proposition! Think of the boy; I can give him anything he wants!”
“What he wants is to become a Jedi Knight,” Qui-Gon reminded the king. “I think our discussion is finished. If you’ll excuse me your excellency, we really must retire for the night…”
Without waiting to hear a response, Qui-Gon left the balcony and went back into the ballroom to find his apprentice. When he saw that Obi-Wan was still in a deep conversation with the queen, his initial endearment turned into wariness, and perhaps an undertone of an emotion that he refused to look deeper into.
“Come, Obi-wan,” he said, resisting the urge to snatch his apprentice away from under the queen’s hand. “It is getting late, and our transport leaves early tomorrow.”
“Yes Master,” the padawan said dutifully, and then ducked his head to the queen. “Please excuse me, madam. I wish you the best of nights.”
The queen’s eyes sparkled, and she rested a slender hand on his cheek. “You’re such a kind boy. We’ll do breakfast tomorrow, before you have to leave. There is still so much that I wish to discuss with you…”
The queen looked at Qui-Gon with a hopeful expression. It was obvious that she’d known her husband had planned on asking Qui-Gon about keeping Obi-Wan on Sagool. Qui-Gon kept his face stoic, though he reached a hand out to gently nudge his padawan away from the queen and toward the doors of the ballroom.
Obi-Wan sensed his master’s unease and frowned. “Master, is something wrong? Are the negotiations still successful?”
“Everything is fine,” Qui-Gon answered rather curtly. He considered telling Obi-Wan about what had just occurred between him and King Ulmood, but decided against it. “Get yourself ready for bed, we have an early morning ahead of us.”
Obi-Wan did as he was told, and Qui-Gon settled down to meditate once his padawan was asleep. He needed to confront the feelings that had come up regarding the king’s request for Obi-Wan’s adoption. It was natural to feel protective over his young apprentice, but his feelings had been borderline hostile, and any feeling that could lead to anger was best to be avoided.
He finally concluded that he had over-reacted to the situation. It would be best to let go of his feelings and not feel threatened by what had happened. Obi-Wan was obviously an appealing and easily likable child. Naturally people would continue be drawn to him, but it was unlikely that something like this would ever happen again. People didn’t just go around trying to adopt young Jedi.
But what Qui-Gon Jinn didn’t realize at the time was that this would be the first of many instances where he would have to deny someone’s request to adopt his padawan.