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He felt the presence before he heard the voice, but shoved it aside as nerves.
And then he heard it.
“Obi Wan, have you done as I asked?”
He was a grown man now, but he felt like a Padawan again as he looked up. He almost felt the braid in his hair when his eyes landed on a mist-like figure a few feet away.
Qui Gon Jinn stood before his very eyes, robes and all.
“Have you trained the boy?” he was asking.
Obi Wan barely heard it, stumbling to his feet and drawing his lightsaber. Despite the fact that his master was very clearly there, he didn’t believe. His master was long dead and though there were tales of old Jedi lingering behind, Obi Wan didn’t believe in them. Whoever this was could not be Qui Gon. It had to be a trick.
And yet, his resolve slipped. He spoke as if this was his master, as if what he was seeing was real.
“Master Qui Gon, how are you here?”
He smiled just slightly, in a way that was so familiar that Obi Wan felt sick to his stomach.
“I am here because you are here.”
“No, I—I don’t understand,” he stammered, shaking his head. “What is this place?
Qui Gon was pacing and came to face away from his former apprentice, who lowered his lightsaber just slightly. He was unable to keep himself from staring.
“This place is unlike any other, a conduit through which the entire Force of the universe flows.”
Of course he would be here, then. Qui Gon always understood the Force better than any Jedi Obi Wan had ever met.
“Are we in danger?” Obi Wan asked him, despite wanting to point out such a fact.
Even after death, Qui Gon Jinn was narrowly avoiding being sassed.
“This planet is both an amplifier and a magnet. Three are here who seek Skywalker. They, like me, believe him to be the Chosen One.”
Obi Wan glanced downward and deactivated his lightsaber, a sudden guilt encompassing him. He hadn’t believed his Master at first. In fact, it had taken him a long time to believe that Anakin was destined to be anything other than a constant disappointment.
“You were right,” he admitted, his guard finally down.
This couldn’t be anyone other than Qui Gon Jinn. He knew that now.
“The Force within him is stronger than any known Jedi. I’ve trained him as well as I could, but…” Obi Wan trailed off. “He is still willful and balance eludes him.”
He was briefly reminded of every time he’d ever disappointed Qui Gon. This felt like all of those times combined. It hurt more than anything. Even after all these years, his Master’s silence haunted him.
“If he is the Chosen One,” Qui Gon finally said, “he will discover it here.”
“And if not?”
Qui Gon turned to face him and suddenly the weight on his shoulders grew heavier. “Then you must realise that with his power, this is a very dangerous place for him to be.”
Wind whipped at Obi Wan’s hair and whistled through cracks in the cave he and Ahsoka had taken shelter in. For a moment, the briefest moment, he was afraid Qui Gon would disappear and that he would lose this chance to speak with him forever.
“Master—” he began, his voice a little weaker than he intended.
“Yes, Obi Wan?”
When Qui Gon turned to look at him, he found himself at a loss for words. He opened his mouth to speak, but shut it. His master looked on in amusement.
“Well? I believe I taught you not to—”
“I couldn’t save you,” he said before he could even finish. His voice was a whisper. “I couldn’t save you, Master. I’m sorry.”
Qui Gon was almost lost for words.
A small laugh left his lips, making Obi Wan’s eyes widen. His ghostly hands sat on his apprentice’s shoulders as he shook his head.
“Oh, Obi Wan Kenobi. Always the weight of the world on your shoulders, even now,” he sighed.
“Master—”
“Obi Wan, what happened was not your fault,” he said firmly, his tone mimicking that which he’d used to teach his apprentice all those years ago. “My death was the will of the Force, as was your training of the boy. You could not have changed things.”
His face fell and his shoulders drooped. “But if I had been faster—”
“I told the Council that you had much to learn of the living Force. I had hoped you would have learned by now,” he said, a teasing tone to his voice.
Obi Wan sighed. “I know it wasn’t my fault. But I wish you were here. I wasn’t ready for this, not as ready as I thought I was. You would have done better.”
“What I would have done does not matter,” he chided. “What you have does.”
“But I wonder if I’ve done enough,” his apprentice sighed.
He sat down on the cold cave floor, his fingers toying with the hilt of his lightsaber as he avoided Qui Gon’s gaze. His heart was heavy. Obi Wan had always feared he was inadequate, unprepared, when it came to teaching Anakin. The way the Council watched their every move had him unnerved. He knew he could never be to Anakin what Qui Gon was to him—or so he thought.
Little did Obi Wan know, he was more than that. He was Anakin’s brother, his best friend.
“Obi Wan,” Qui Gon said again, kneeling to his level to meet his eyes, “you’ve done more than enough.”
He raised his gaze, meeting that of his master. His heart yearned for Qui Gon to be there, truly there to help him, to help Anakin. This place was gnawing at him, Anakin’s power was gnawing at him—and he didn’t know what to do.
Qui Gon’s eyes were suddenly soft with fondness. “You’ve grown into a fine man. A good man. You always were one, but I can see it plainly now.”
“I try,” he muttered, glancing away as a smile crept onto his face.
“You’ve done well,” his master chuckled. “You have always had a greater weight on your heart than anyone I’ve ever known, but you never let it stop you. I admire that, my apprentice.”
Obi Wan finally met his gaze again, his expression one of awe.
Qui Gon admired him—and he’d said it out loud. To his face.
“This life, your life, it will never get easier,” Qui Gon warned him gently. “Days will come where you won’t want to wake up. But I believe in you. I believe in your strength, your connection with the Force. I believe, my apprentice, that you are strong enough to face the trials ahead.”
“How do you know?” Obi Wan asked suddenly. “What makes you think I’m ready for anything?”
He shook his head. “I never said ready. You’ll be strong enough to handle the trials, but you will never be ready. No one ever is.”
“I wasn’t ready when I met Anakin,” he admitted. “When I lost you.”
“I wasn’t ready when I met you, little one,” Qui Gon teased, the nickname drawing Obi Wan back in time.
Obi Wan was aghast at the idea of Qui Gon never being prepared. Sure, he was reckless and threw himself at every opportunity to defy the code and the Council for the greater good, but he was always prepared to do it.
“You weren’t ready? But you handled it so well.”
“From your point of view, yes,” he laughed. “But you were not there for the countless times I ran to Master Yoda for help.”
Obi Wan’s smile was heartfelt and quite possibly the most genuine one he’d experienced in a while. This—getting to see his master again, if only for a brief moment—was good for him. It was good for his soul.
He chuckled. “How did you ever put up with me?”
“The same way you put up with Anakin,” Qui Gon admitted. “I made it up as I went. Luckily, you weren’t as much trouble as he is.”
“Oh, yes, I do think you got lucky with me, Master,” he joked, snorting.
An expression of reminiscence overtook the ghost’s face as he nodded. “Yes, Obi Wan, I quite think I did.”
His apprentice could hardly bear to look at him, but he managed it just once more as the wind coming through the cracks in the cave began to whistle louder. Qui Gon’s ghostly glow was beginning to fade and with a sick feeling growing in his stomach, Obi Wan knew he was going to have to say goodbye.
“I couldn’t have had a better Master,” he told him somewhat sheepishly. “You’ll never know how important you were to me.”
“Likewise, Padawan,” Qui Gon nodded. “The Force put us together for a reason and, though I may never know it, I believe it was worth every moment.”
With that, a breeze blew past them and Qui Gon disappeared. Obi Wan’s heart wrenched and he ducked his head to wipe at unshed tears. But then a whispered sentence echoed across the cave and stopped him in his tracks.
“Be strong, Obi Wan. I will be with you — always.”
Despite himself, he smiled.
He wouldn’t have it any other way.