Chapter Text
Qui-Gon smiled when his padawan's exuberant presence drifted past him. Obi-Wan was never one for calm and patience, though that was something they were working on. Whereas the master could go for hours into deep meditation, his eager padawan was more for active, physical training. As was the case right now.
As Qui-Gon sat peacefully among the plantlife of the Jedi Temple's Garden, Obi-Wan was practicing a difficult kata around his master ,the extra challenge of trying not to disturb his master to help him focus. Qui-Gon could ignore the most obnoxious of people if he so desired ,but there was something about Obi-Wan that always drew his attention. Thus even now he found himself focussing more on Obi-Wan's energy as the young boy tried to perform the kata to perfection, rather than meditating as he had originally intended to do.
A quiet huff passed Qui-Gon's ears before a soft thud alerted him to Obi-Wan sitting down. The emotional energy surrounding his padawan was filled with frustration and disappointment. What Obi-Wan lacked in patience and control, he made up with determination and a sense of rightfullness not often seen in one so young. However, even Obi-Wan had his limits and right now he was beating himself up for failing, again.
"Failure is not always a bad thing, Obi-Wan."
His padawan turned to him, Qui-Gon could sense it. Finally deciding to give up the allusion of reaching a meditative state when his mind was clearly focussed on his padawan, the seasoned master opened his eyes and watched his padawans' stormy grey one's staring right back at him.
"I'm sorry, master. If did not mean to disturb your meditation." Those frustrated grey eyes turned down and tugged Qui-Gon's heart with it. He hated seeing Obi-Wan unhappy, this child who had come to mean so much to him. Who'd shown him so much. Who'd saved him from himself.
"You have nothing to apologize for, padawan. You are still learning and sometimes,- " The Jedi master lifted the boy's chin so he could make sure his message came across. " -sometimes, we need to fail in order to succeed. Steady your mind, close your eyes and observe your own actions as if you were standing beside yourself. Find where you went wrong."
Obi-Wan did as he was told and Qui-Gon waited patiently for Obi-Wan to find where he'd gone wrong. When he did, his eyes shot open wide and a smile lit his face when he realized he knew how to do it now. Qui-Gon smiled back at his eager padawan as he jumped up and began anew, this time finishing the kata with minimal difficulty. And his ever mysterious eyes shining in a mixture of green and blue once more.
Qui-Gon awoke with a gasp that immediately sent him into a coughing fit. The air was filled with smoke and heat surrounding him, almost to the point of suffocatingly hot. As he sruggled for a proper breath, Qui-Gon squeezed open his eyes ignoring the sharp pain that sent through his head. His vision was blurry and filled with a red flickering. He tried to move but his arms felt heavy and his head hurt too much to turn. So the Jedi Master lay still for a little while as he tried to get his bearings.
It wasn't long before his could properly open his eyes despite the pain and took note of what the red flickering was at the same time that sound returned to his ears again. Alarms were going off all around him and from the damage around him it wasn't hard to figure out why. Systems were offline or badly damaged, wires crawled out of nearly every panel as was a good deal of smoke. In the corner one panel was actually still burning.
Qui-Gon forced himself up and reached over for the pilot who lay slummed over his consoles. As his body fell back into his chair, the pilot's head lolled to the side and Qui-Gon saw the faded, dull eyes. He was dead.
Qui-Gon closed the pilot's eyes then quickly scanned the rest of the cockpit. No one else was in here. Obi-Wan wasn't in here! Trying not to panic, he opened his end of their training bond and called out to his padawan.
//Obi-Wan!? Padawan?! Answer me, Obi-Wan!//
Only silence followed. He could still detect an almost quiet buzz in his mind indicating that his padawan was very much alive. As for why he wasn't answering, it was a likely possibility that he was unconscious. Qui-Gon tried to remember what had happened, where his padawan had been before their transport sustained damage, but his memory was uncooperative.
"Alright then. Let's see what we've got to work with here." Gently moving past the pilot's chair, Qui-Gon accessed what little of the transport's systems still worked. They still had life support, though not everywhere. The chockpit was still supported as were the bunks and a few hallways connecting the two. Communications were fried as was navigation.
They could breath but there was no getting out of here nor calling for help.
//Obi-Wan, please respond.//
It was futile and yet Qui-Gon couldn't help calling out for his padawan. Worry was gnawing at his very soul and not knowing where his padawan was, would not alleviate that feeling. For all he knew, Obi-Wan could have been blown out of the ship through a hull breach before the emergency system kicked in with force fields.
The very real possibility nearly made him sick. He quickly checked the barely functioning system once more to see where most of the damage was. His heart nearly stopped when he did detect several hull breaches, currently sealed of by the emergency system.
Think you must. Alive he is, sensed it you did! Alive in space he cannot be!
Master Yoda's voice in his head snapped him out of his panic. Of course! He'd sensed Obi-Wan through their bond. That very bond wouldn't even exist had Obi-Wan truly been sucked out of the ship. Qui-Gon quietly berated himself for losing his head in a crisis before concentrating all he had on his connection to Obi-Wan.
Where are you?