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Soulmates were often discovered on coincidence. When the only way to know was if one happened to find out they were singing the exact song that got stuck in one's head at that exact time, it could be difficult to recognize what was going on unless deliberately trying to find a soulmate by playing a guessing game.
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Quinlan was relieved to find Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan had been reported as captured by the Separatists and captured by Dooku. Now, he just had to figure out how to get Obi-Wan out without blowing his cover... or if blowing his cover was worth it.
It was Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan wasn't just his soulmate. Obi-Wan was one of the most important people in the Jedi Order while Quinlan was just a shadow. Expendable.
Quinlan resolve to do what it took to get Obi-Wan out. First though, he did an information dump to his usual drop so that all his current information could be passed on. Once his identity was compromised, there was a good chance that it would become out dated, but those who handled such information knew how to deal with that. It wasn't Quinlan's concern anymore.
He checked on Dooku's location. Not there. Good. As he started making his preparations, trying to make sure there was a secure escape route, Quinlan thought about Obi-Wan, thought about his soulmate. The first memory that sprung to mind was how they met.
Quinlan had not handled his parents' death well, even once he was brought out of his mind and started training to better handle his psychometry to avoid such an overload in the future. He was actually staying in a long term ward of the healing halls for sick initiates.
Then Obi-Wan was brought in. He had been at the Temple since he was about six months old, having been rescued from being drowned by his parents. And ever since there had been something off. He didn't make a noise, he just watched people. Hardly played. He was in and out of the long term ward as the near drowning had affected his lungs and given him pneumonia before he got to the Temple. Which then compromised his immune system a bit, especially when it came to respiratory illnesses.
This was another instance of pneumonia. Obi-Wan was two and Quinlan was four. But Obi-Wan was the closest kid to Quinlan's age. Quinlan was still dealing, barely interacting with anyone around him, preferring to sit and stare at the wall or out the window.
Obi-Wan joined him in staring out the window when he was out of bed. It was unnerving seeing a two year old so still, even to Quinlan. They sat like that for days in silence.
As Obi-Wan got better, he started playing with toys a little more, still sitting with Quinlan, but always offering his toys. Quinlan didn't know what to make of it, though he kept glancing at Obi-Wan as if he could figure the little toddler out.
Then came the day when Obi-Wan was almost back to normal, just staying for an extra few days for observation to be absolutely sure the pneumonia was cleared out.
That night he had a nightmare. Quinlan woke up to his screams.
He had learned that sometimes the night shift didn't care about nightmares, or they waited to see if it would continue and only come in if it lasted at least five or ten minutes depending on the person.
So Quinlan slipped out of bed and quietly moved to Obi-Wan's bed and comforted him, cuddling in Obi-Wan's bed. Cuddling with a little person who needed help, who had been a better companion than the times he met with other initiates his age.
He decided that he couldn't let Obi-Wan leave the ward without him. He was going to make sure Obi-Wan was okay.
He made the morning shift panic when he wasn't in his bed, but they found him just a few seconds later, cuddling Obi-Wan protectively, and himself sleeping better than he had since he arrived.
They were best friends after that, with a deep connection they couldn't explain to anyone. But they never considered themselves siblings, not the way they felt the rest of their clan was family.
Quinlan shook the memory from his head as he finalized his plans. This would have to work. He had contingencies in place, though he hoped he didn't have to use them. But he was desperate. And desperate times called for desperate measures. Even one that was awful, but would certainly result in his death.
So he marched down the hall to Obi-Wan's cell, singing "Tell everybody I'm on my way..." under his breath.
.
Obi-Wan lifted his head in surprise as a song he had not heard in a long time popped into his head and got stuck there, unable to be removed. Quinlan was singing it, then. He was on his way...? Oh. Oh no. Obi-Wan scrambled to think of a song to warn him.
"Be prepared for the murkiest scam." He wasn't as good at coming up with songs on the fly as Quinlan but he had to try to warn his friend that it was a trap. Dooku knew Quinlan was here, undercover. Had been toying with him the entire time, though he hadn't planted any information because he didn't think Quinlan had been getting any.
He tried to calm down, and once he had sung what he needed to, his mind flashed to how they discovered they were soulmates. And the puppy love that resulted.
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The creche, and even padawans and young knights had a tradition of groups of friends having one person leaving the room and seeing if anyone could guess the song they were singing. To have any idea if any of them were soulmates or not.
It was just a fun game. No one expected to find their soulmates that way. And if they did, well, it didn't matter much. They were Jedi. They told their crechemaster or masters, depending on where they were at in life, and arrangements were made to help them learn to handle their feelings without it becoming attachment. Arrangements were made for them to work as closely together as possible because in most cases, it was just better to have soulmates work together, as they worked so seamlessly and knew each other so well they could pull it off well.
They weren't thinking of that though. Quinlan was the oldest of their clan at nine, and Obi-Wan was somewhere in the middle at seven. They were just looking to have fun. They had played around with the singing before, and Obi-Wan always got it right because he knew Quinlan's favorite songs, and knew when Quinlan was trying to catch him off guard. Quinlan was easy to read.
When it was Quinlan's turn to go sing, he took it seriously.
Obi-Wan meanwhile was just confused when "I just made something unexpected... something sharp, something new," popped into his head and the rest of the song just would not stop playing.
Quinlan came in, grinning. Everyone gave their guesses, all way off base. Then Quinlan turned to Obi-Wan who was just frowning.
"Obes?"
"Oh. Right. Uh..." Unable to think of anything but the dang song stuck in his head, Obi-Wan went with that. "What else can I do?"
Quinlan gaped at him then shook his head. He just thought Obi-Wan was being good at predicting his moves, as usual.
After one of the others went, Obi-Wan took his turn singing. He considered his options and went with a simple one. He wasn't really good at singing.
Quinlan started humming "I'll make a man out of you". What a classic, though why did he have it stuck in his head now?
When Obi-Wan returned, he guessed it without thinking and Obi-Wan stared at him and nodded.
"Y-yeah, that's it, Quin."
Quinlan sat up. They were playing the soulmates game. What if they weren't just that good at knowing what the others would choose, what if they were getting the song stuck in their head because they were soulmates.
"Obes... you think?"
"Maybe? I dunno..." Quinlan insisted on testing it out.
Soon, they were pretty certain that they were soulmates. There was no way they should be able to guess the songs even when others were suggesting the songs to sing.
So they told their crechemaster and got put in the classes for soulmates, happy to be soulmates and get to stick together for more classes.
They held hands, and occasionally tried kissing to see if they liked it yet, and they did even more together than before, which had not seemed possible. All the adults cooed over how adorable they were, though the less emotional ones glared at anyone who called them out for it.
At the time, neither of them thought anything could ever go wrong.
Obi-Wan hung his head when the song shifted to "What else can I do?" That was generally their code for they don't have any other ideas. Especially since it turned out that just singing a section of a song over and over did only get that section stuck in soulmate's heads.
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Quinlan found Obi-Wan a few minutes later, pleased to see his soulmate. He hugged Obi-Wan tightly, then led his soulmate out, cautiously. No need to take unnecessary risks. They were going to get out. Or, Obi-Wan was.
As he led Obi-Wan through the halls, Quinlan's mind drifted to how everything changed when Obi-Wan became a padawan. He was supposed to be allowed to stay in the Temple since they were soulmates, but something went wrong and he got sent away to the AgriCorps.
Quinlan hardly ever stopped singing at that point, trying to stay connected to his soulmate, to keep Obi-Wan company, especially as Obi-Wan's choices in songs grew sadder and lonelier.
And then Obi-Wan came back a padawan and everything changed. Suddenly Obi-Wan was now expected to be a diplomat, with no room for the half investigative training he'd been undergoing, with no room to train Quinlan for negotiations too, as had been the plan.
Qui-Gon apparently barely was comfortable with a padawan but felt he owed Obi-Wan. He drew the line at soulmates.
And Quinlan was forced to the side, watching his soulmate become famous without him, watching his soulmate struggle instead of being able to support him through more than song.
It only took a few years for the song Obi-Wan used to describe his mental state to become "Under the surface, under the surface, I feel berserk as a tightrope walker in a three ring surface..." Even to this day he still used that song occasionally when things were too tough.
At least these days it was because people were depending on him to get it right, because they couldn't afford the losses, not because his master was pressuring him to do more than he actually could.
Quinlan shook the memory out of his head as he turned the corner, still tugging Obi-Wan along with him. They were almost to the hangar.
Obi-Wan was paranoid about Dooku capturing them, knowing that Dooku knew about Quinlan. But they further they got, the more confused he was. Where was Dooku? Why wasn't he here?
Oh. There he was. Right at the ship. They were promptly surrounded and captured once more. Escape plan was a failure. Of course.
Obi-Wan smiled reassuringly at Quinlan. But Quinlan was far away, face set in a determined look. It was one that was hauntingly familiar and Obi-Wan had never wanted to see it ever again.
With them both training padawans, they were able to go on more missions together than ever before. And they certainly proved this should have been the arrangement the entire time.
They were thirty and twenty eight. Anakin was twelve and Aayla was fourteen.
The mission should have been simple enough. But it wasn't, and they could have died. Almost did die.
Then Quinlan had gotten that determined look that said he hated this plan but it was the best he had.
And Obi-Wan's world shattered when Quinlan threw himself into the line of fire to allow Obi-Wan to get the padawans to safety.
He did what he had to do, got the padawans safely back to the ships, completed the mission. And then he went back for Quinlan. Who was dying, unconscious, but there was a chance.
So Obi-Wan got him to safety too, and eventually he made a full recovery.
Obi-Wan had never wanted to see that look again, but here it was. And worst of all... he knew that Quinlan was right. It was far more important that he get out than Quinlan.
Dooku brought them to an interrogation room.
Quinlan tuned out his words, busy trying to figure out if there was any other way. But there was none. And he hated that he had to do this to Obi-Wan. But it was for the best.
He just had to wait for the best time. And that was when Dooku was about to start actually torturing him.
Quinlan let out a breath, looked at Obi-Wan and whispered, "I'm sorry."
Then he grabbed onto his fear and let it in, invited the Dark in. He Fell. It was almost a relief. He had been fighting it for a long time, and now he knew that Dooku had been trying to get past his shields, had been trying to get him to Fall the entire time.
It was a relief not to fight anymore. He freed Obi-Wan from the restraints, and then he lunged at Dooku.
His Fall and subsequent attack took Dooku by surprise. Quinlan was desperate to keep his soulmate alive. To ensure Obi-Wan made it out, and Dooku was a source of anger and hatred these past few weeks.
Dooku recovered from the shock and chuckled. "Now you Fall, Vos. Too bad there is no room for you in my plans anymore. You would have made a wonderful apprentice." He calmly fought Quinlan's wild, out of control swings.
Quinlan was just doing what was necessary. Obi-Wan would live. He had to. Quinlan couldn't bear to live without him. Couldn't think of it. Obi-Wan could live without him, but Quinlan was increasingly certain over the years he would never be able to let go of Obi-Wan enough. That he would Fall before he saw Obi-Wan die.
That feeling had come true. But he was going to make the most of it even as he hated Dooku, hated himself for it. He clung to those feelings, letting the Dark coldly burn through him.
He felt Obi-Wan leave the room. A song popped into his head.
Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here
Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo
Here comes the sun, and I say
It's alright
Quinlan felt tears pour down his face. Obi-Wan had always been too understanding... too forgiving.
...what was he doing?
Quinlan let go of the feelings he had been holding onto. He reached for the Light. The warmth chased any lingering chill away.
Obi-Wan was almost to the hangar. He would make it out.
A sharp pain in his stomach broke him out of his thoughts. He gasped and stumbled.
Dooku stared down at him coldly. "Pity. You went crawling back to the Light and that is what gave me the best opening to kill you."
Quinlan glared, breathing through the pain. He summoned his lightsaber back from where it fell and swung, letting the Force guide his swing.
He closed his eyes and took a breath and fell into meditation, becoming one with the Force. He didn't need to see to be able to block and attack, not when the Force was guiding him like this. Not so in tune with it.
The only distracting thing was Obi-Wan frantically jumping through songs, letting him know he was getting off planet, asking him if he was okay.
Quinlan started singing under his breath in response, reassurances and love, but did not stop his movements, no matter how much he hurt. He was going to die regardless, so he was going to do his best to take Dooku with him.
He swung and took out a hand, though he only noticed because of Dooku's yell of anguish and rage.
The next thing he knew was agony, of lightning coursing through him without letting up, growing more and more intense as Dooku's hatred of him increased.
By then, Obi-Wan was far away from him. He could rest, he could let go.
Dooku dropped him.
Quinlan lunged with his lightsaber one last time, managing to slice half way through Dooku's torso and take off half of his other arm.
Dooku screamed and kicked him. Then he used one of his stumps to start choking Quinlan, lifting him in the air, straining to make the Force work.
Quinlan spluttered and fought. He did not want to die like this. There was only way he had ever wanted to die.
Dooku got a knife and used the force to stab him in the chest, then again.
Quinlan fell to the ground. He was dying, he could feel it. Bleeding out, slowly.
Dooku glared at him, then stalked away, swaying, only hatred and vengeance keeping him alive.
Quinlan closed his eyes and welcomed the Force's embrace, singing as he died. He could feel Obi-Wan's sadness, could hear Obi-Wan's response.
One more day, one more time
One more sunset, maybe I'd be satisfied
But then again, I know what it would do
Leave me wishing still for one more day with you
One more day
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Obi-Wan was grateful for the autopilot as he sobbed at the song that Quinlan chose. He chose his response carefully, and started singing it.
Before you leave
You must know you are beloved
And before you leave
Remember I was with you
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Quinlan smiled despite his own tears. His voice trailed off as the Force took him.
One more day...
Silence. Obi-Wan fell off the chair and curled up and sobbed. His soulmate was gone. His head was entirely silent, no remnants of songs. He couldn't sense Quinlan anymore. Quinlan was gone.