Archive of Our Own ^beta

'An old friend,' replied Master Jinn softly. 'One I haven't seen in a very long time.' There was an indecipherable look of reminiscence on his face that Anakin had never seen before.

He turned around at the sound of footfalls as a man entered unaccompanied through an unseen side door. 

'Well, you are looking remarkably well, I must say, Master. And in possession of more grey hairs than ever it would seem,' he remarked in a posh, bordering on pretentious, Coruscanti accent, looking directly at Qui-Gon. Master? What the kri-

'You haven't changed one bit.' Anakin threw a quizzical glance at his Master when he smiled broadly at the stranger. 'I thought Satine might have fixed your broken sense of humour by now, but clearly I was mistaken.'

There was was a pause, where Anakin worried that the man had taken offense at his Masters familiarity. Abruptly though, both men started laughing, crossing the distance between them in a few seconds to clasp each other by the shoulders. He could feel affection and pleased delight radiate off his Master in the Force and wondered who this stranger could be to make Qui-Gon feel so strongly. And I've never even heard of him.

They were now conversing in low, intimate voices, interjected with the occasional chuckle and grip of the arm. Anakin shuffled his feet, feeling slightly awkward to be intruding on this reunion - why hadn't his Master mentioned he was close friends with someone who worked in the Mandalorian government? It would certainly make their task here easier. He looked up when he heard Qui-Gon say his name.

'My former Master's new Padawan?' The man was saying, raising a sculpted eyebrow at Qui-Gon. It was a look Anakin himself had never been able to perfect. 'This should be interesting.'

Anakin stepped forward as Qui-Gon gestured between the two of them.

'Obi-Wan Kenobi, meet Anakin Skywalker.' This is Kenobi?

Anakin looked more closely at the man, intensely intrigued now. He had heard much about Obi-Wan Kenobi from Qui-Gon, his predecessor who had supposedly left the Jedi Order for love, though he had never named the woman nor explained the circumstances. He realised that the woman in question had to be none other than the Duchess Satine herself, which meant that the ex-Jedi must be the mysterious Duke. From being a Jedi to royalty? A strange change of vocation.

The man - no, Obi-Wan Kenobi - was of average height, shorter than both of them, and had a compact yet muscular physique. A lock of ginger hair hung over intelligent eyes (the colour of which was not immediately apparent) that were clearly also in the process of assessing Anakin - but his face, lower half concealed by a short beard, gave no indication of whether his judgement was favourable.

Kenobi held out his hand.

'It's an honour to finally meet you, Anakin Skywalker.'

Anakin had secretly been anticipating meeting this man ever since he had first heard of him. It was not only due to his having once been his own Master's apprentice, although that was interesting enough, but the fact that he was a former Jedi who was now married made him doubly more so. He took the proffered hand eagerly, about to respond in kind - when a jolt went through him at the contact.

Kenobi's eyes widened fractionally and stared at him in surprise; Anakin knew that he had felt that same slight bodily shock. The Force suddenly seemed to slam into him, singing to him as Kenobi's Force- signature rushed into his senses. He gasped - It was washing over him, consuming him; so much so that he was unaware that he remained clutching at the others hand. It hardly seemed to matter that his Master was looking on curiously at their strange behaviour - the Force was too loud. Dimly, he heard Kenobi groan. His nails dug into Kenobi's palm as sounds and images and feelings, flashes of visions - of the past? The future? - flit into his mind, one after the other cascading into each other like a holofilm on fast forward. 

'Obi-Wan Kenobi, meet Anakin Skywalker.' Twin suns lit up as they smiled at each other. 

'You will be a Jedi, Anakin, I promise you.'

'Why do I get the feeling you're going to be the death of me? 

'Don't say that Master... You're the closest thing I have to a father.'

'This time we will do it together.'

'I was about to say that.'

'Your friendship means everything to me.

'You are a wise and powerful Jedi, Anakin, and I am very proud of you.'

'Obi-Wan, may the Force be with you.'

'Goodbye, old friend. May the Force be with you.'

'Don’t make me kill you, Obi-Wan. If you are not with me, you are against me.'

'I have failed you, Anakin. I have failed you.'

'I hate you!'

'You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you.'

He opened his eyes as his sight cleared, the red, smoky haze of the final image fading away. He was trembling violently; slowly, he raised a hand to his cheek and found it to be wet. Kenobi's expression mirrored his - his eyes were glittering with unshed tears and he wore a shell-shocked expression. He pulled his hand away from Anakin's as though it burned. 

Anakin staggered forward at the loss of the support it had been been giving him, and felt his knees give out. He fell heavily onto Kenobi's chest as the man reached out to catch him, bracing him by the forearms. Their faces were impossibly close; he found himself caught in the others gaze, unable to look away. Anakin was seeing him through the filter of the visions, with Kenobi so close bringing the images up into sharp focus - this face that dominated them all, this face that now seemed so very unbearably dear. 

It was only when Qui-Gon cleared his throat that Anakin jerked out of it, embarrassed, and hurriedly removed himself from the stranger's half-embrace. Kenobi, for his part, was still looking rather dazed.

'Would someone please tell me what in seven kriffing hells just happened?' Qui-Gon demanded. 'Why is my Padawan looking at you like he just found his long lost brother?'

Kenobi seemed to recover with rather remarkable alacrity at the question, as though answering Qui-Gon's demands was second nature.

'I..uh..I don't know anymore than you do, Master Qui-Gon. The moment we touched, it was as though the Force it - I don't know how else to say it - it sang. And I saw...things.' He paused, hand coming up to stroke his beard. Anakin noticed he did not mention that he was the starring featurette in every single one of them, just as Kenobi was in his. 

'Visions?' His Master asked, frowning. 

'Not visions,' said Anakin in shocked awe. 'Memories.' He did not know why or how it was possible, but he felt the truth of the statement in his bones.

'I don't understand. Are you saying you - you know each other?' He looked disbelievingly at his Padawan.

'No, Master,' he replied, daring a glance at Kenobi, who was frowning in thought, hand still on his beard. 'I've never met him before.' But it felt like a lie somehow. Qui-Gon opened his mouth to question them further but Kenobi interrupted him rather hastily.

'I doubt standing here discussing it will do much good, or shed more light on the matter. Whatever it may have been, we know the Force will reveal itself in time. It always does.' 

Qui-Gon looked as though he were about to argue but something in Kenobi's face must have made him change his mind, for he nodded instead. 'The Force indeed works in mysterious ways, my old apprentice. But it always has a plan, and whatever it intends for the two of you, we must allow to unfold. In the meantime, you both ought to meditate on these visions - or whatever they are.'

'Yes, Master,' they both said in unison, which made Qui-Gon look bemused, and then chuckle. Kenobi did not appear to share the sentiment, looking concerned.

'Perhaps we should consult Master Yoda regarding these visions,' he mused.

'We're here for the mission,' Anakin said firmly. He found himself strangely reluctant to share his visions of Kenobi with anyone else - they felt too personal, somehow. He also feared that if the Council knew of this, they might decide this connection of his to Kenobi made him unsuitable for the mission and assign other Jedi to replace them. And he had absolutely no intention of leaving Mandalore until he had figured out whatever the hell it was that existed between them. 'We need to focus on it. And its the middle of the night right now on Coruscant - I doubt Master Yoda would appreciate the friendly call.'

'I suppose you're right,' agreed Qui-Gon predictably, for he too did not appreciate the Council's interference. 'Both of you seem to be fine now, so it's probably not urgent enough to bring to the Council's immediate attention. But we will speak more on this later, Obi-Wan.' He gave Kenobi a look that brooked no argument, to which he responded by merely bowing his head in acquiescence.

'Of course, Qui-Gon. Now, if you'll follow me, I shall take you to the Duchess. There is much you must know pertaining to your mission.'

With that, he strode out, not sparing Anakin another glance. They quickly followed after him.