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"What is it this time?" Qui-Gon had asked his ghost tiredly. Of all the peculiar things the girl could do, sucking him into one of these alternate worlds was the one and only to leave a bone-deep weariness in its wake.
"It took a while for me to find this one" Rey said, without turning to see if he still followed her. She kept going down the hall, as if she knew this ship's layout inside and out. Maybe, thought Qui-Gon, she did. How far into the future or the past were they? It seemed Qui-Gon would not get an answer, so he obediently trailed behind, he would not admit it outright, but he was curious nevertheless.
"There are many different variations of your reality.The possibilities are infinite, each and every time something is to change, it branches out and births two, or three, seven new variations. Significant events however rarely, if ever change. Even when time deceives you and reality slips through your fingers you can trace your way back to one of them.They will be your guide."
Rey had once explained to him, and now, he wondered how far had she trailed the branches this time. From Qui-Gon's left, giant viewing screens showed the space, filled with numerous stars. Was it just Qui-Gon's imagination or did they all seemed somehow...dimmer? He could've sworn they did not shine as bright as the Jedi remembered them to. Was it a side effect of not belonging to this timeline or was it something from inside this reality? Qui-Gon shuddered, and sped to catch up with his ghostly guide. The Force felt restles; Rey, suddenly shifted her appearance from her teenage form to an older variation of herself.
She also felt it, Qui-Gon was certain.
Three more empty halls and Qui-Gon's uneasiness grew. A ship as big as the one, they had ended up on, should be fitted with just as numerous of a crew and yet, they had met no one. A hollow ship floating in open space, like a gutted animal, left for scavengers. Qui-Gon had seen ships ravaged by space pirates before, but they all had trails of the violence soaking in their walls. Here, there were none. In fact, as far as he could see, everything was in perfect order. There were trails of the ship's passengers, but it seemed like they all were - hiding? Avoiding being seen? Too afraid to disturb the stillness. As if there was a giant beast, sleeping in the belly of the ship, that the crew tiptoed around.
Qui-Gon was just about to ask his companion about the ship's crew, when he heard the voices coming from one of the smaller rooms, attached to the main corridor.
It was nothing more than a storage unit, its lamps unlit, the door slightly open to allow for some light inside. A woman - thin and willowy, her face - all angles and shadows, hidden by tightly stretched, pale, almost transparent skin. Her eyes though, they were aware, sharp and fidgety - scanning constantly the room for motion. In fact, her whole presence radiated a tightly coiled energy, like a reptile stalking its prey, ready to spring at any moment. She was leaning on one of the supply boxes with her arms crossed together, glaring disapprovingly at the second occupier of the cramped space.
"I don't understand why any of this should bother you," she said coolly, her voice as pleasant as her visage.
"Don't you see," her companion hissed, "it is bizarre, even for him!"
The woman shushed the young man, closing in on him in a second. "Quiet! Do you want to get thrown in a cell for treason?" She leaned back and the young man breathed easier once again. "You know better - even the simplest computer system has ears around here."
"Not this one," the man smirked, "I asked artoo to check."
"Nevertheless, you should be more careful, your tincan might be wrong and I am not risking my neck for you, Skywalker!"
Here, the man, she referred to as Skywalker, turned his back to the three of them and his voice carried softer now. "Two days ago, we caught a rebel cell near E'rima's moon, a whole base; there were even some Force sensitives - weak and barely trained, but nevertheless…,” the man trailed off. “He should have been angered by their audacity - they destroyed our ships and attacked our post, stationed there, yet, He did nothing of a sort. Have you, after all these years, ever seen him lose control, Ventress? Have you seen him torture? Have you seen him kill for pleasure? Have you seen any emotion pass through?” Skywalker paused. “Even the Count, with all of his refined taste and hate for needless chaos, enjoyed killing. He felt satisfaction. Sith's receive their power through emotions we crave that power to the very marrow of our bedamned bones, we are addicted to it and we never want to stop, yet our Emperor never shows any. Not even a flicker, not even a glimpse. It scares the kriffin hells out of me sometimes. If he was prone to hysterics or cruelty it would make me feel better - to know that he, like us feels, and yet, not even once... it's like he never wants to make more than the bare minimum, it's like he ... can't feel at all."
Qui-Gon turned to Rey to ask her, but she sadly shook her head at him, her thought clear - listen for now, observe, ask me questions later.
"Enough blithering,"Ventress hissed at Skywalker "It's irrelevant, even if sometimes I think he is not like us, all we need to do is obey and be patient, sooner or later our time will come and we'll kill our Master, in the true honor of our traditions."
"You sound so certain that we'll be successful, my dear Ventress" her companion calmly stated.
"That is what I would like to believe and now, if there is nothing more than silly superstitions...," she answered and made her way out of the room.
Skywalker observed her retreating figure for a while. ”Ask yourself for a moment, my dear, if Master truly does not feel anything, nothing at all...how come he is the most powerful of all the Siths?” he whispered in the empty room then hurried to catch up with his companion.
Qui-Gon and Rey exchanged glances and, unnoticed, followed their newly found guides through the maze of corridors, down to the bridge of the ship.
The closer they came, the more people they encountered, even though the stillness and quiet of the atmosphere never broke. Everyone seemed efficient and focused on their respective tasks, yet distant and closed off, barely communicating even among themselves.
"Have you ever asked yourself what happens with the Initiates that were refused at the Temple, Master Jinn?" Rey suddenly asked him. Her voice seemed to echo in the stillness.
"We all do Rey, it's hardly a question, but they serve the Light in different ways than we do."
"Force-sensitives are far too precious, where I come from, they all are offered training." She seemed saddened by his answer, Qui-Gon was startled to realize.
"Surely you must acknowledge the risks, not all children are suited for this life," Qui-Gon sounded defensive even in his own ears.
"Children, Master Jedi, are never a risk. I first began my training at the age of eighteen, Rey declares - her back turned towards Qui-Gon. "My Master held a lightsaber for the first time, when he was nineteen.We proved you wrong" she said vehemently.
There was nothing Qui-Gon could say to this.
"It's about Obi-Wan isn't it?" He asked after they've walked in silence for some time.
"It is more about yourself, Master Jinn."
"Go ahead then, show me what you must, but know that whatever it is, it would hardly change my decision." Qui-Gon said frostily.
Rey didn't answer him and they continued on, as the silence of the ship engulfed them both.
The Command center of the ship was nothing but sparse, plain as only those of military-issued ships tended to be. The room itself was empty, but for one figure standing rigidly in front of one of the visors.
To Qui-Gon’s surprise it was none other but Obi-Wan, though this version barely resembled the hopeful thirteen years old Initiate he and Rey had left back at their Temple. Standing straight as an arrow, hands behind his back, dark shadows beneath grey eyes. His face did not allude to any emotion, his pale skin a stark contrast to his standard military issued uniform - all in black. Obi-Wan could've passed for a mere soldier on the ship if not for the saber, attached to his belt. And the feeling of terrible wrongness that seemed to radiate from the man.
"There you are, I was looking for both of you." He said his voice barely high enough to be heard.
"We are sorry, Master" Ventress kneeled, Skywalker quickly following her example, both keeping their eyes averted to the floor.
Qui-Gon quickly turned to Rey, his anger radiating in waves and saturating the Force. "So this is it? I refuse to train the child and he turns?!? Even more of a reason to keep away! Thank you for opening my eyes!I will not be led astray a second time! "
"Watch! It took me a long time," Rey interrupted him before he could continue on with his tirade. "I almost could not find this one," she remarked quietly almost as if speaking to herself. A few more moments of contemplation and Rey lifted her eyes pinning him in place. "Calm yourself, Master Jedi, all your questions will be answered soon enough!
And that was it, wasn't it? This game they played - Rey would offer him a glimpse of these alternate worlds, yet would never intervene, speak her mind or answer any damn question he had outright.
The main doors opened once again and two soldiers entered the room, dragging a third person in-between.
"Ah, excellent, you come just in time!" Obi-Wan said in the same calm manner.
Qui-Gon could only watch in horror as the soldiers dragged in a figure in Jedi robes. Once it came nearer he recognized the Jedi as no other than Mace Windu, or a very haggard and worn down version of the Jedi Master. Deep scars marred his face, he looked ill and malnourished, yet Qui-Gon could read defiance in his stare.
"Master Windu," Obi-Wan greeted as if he would at any moment offer him tea, instead of currently holding the other man captive.
"Kenobi," Mace returned just as evenly, but was quickly forced to kneel, ruining the effect.
Ventress circled around the Jedi, her triumphant laugh echoing in the large space. The soldiers, that had brought the prisoner, shivered, casting nervous glances towards the door. "You caught him!" She sounded exhilarated. "Master, allow me the honor of breaking the fool, he will tell us all he knows."
"All I know is that you used to have better manners as a padawan, Asaji." Mace calmly replied to the threat.
"Be careful old man, you are already stretching my patience thin."
"I have no desire to be here either," Mace raised sardonically one eyebrow, completely at calm as if the whole situation was just a misunderstanding and nothing more.
But before Ventress could do more than sneer, Obi-Wan waved the guards away, Qui-Gon could almost feel the relief pouring off from the two, as they disappeared through the doors.
"Now then,"Obi-Wan sighed and turned once again towards the giant visor, staring blankly at the vast space. "Tell me, Master Windu, is there anyone left?"
Mace Windu, to his credit, did not even try to pretend he doesn't understand, what Kenobi meant. He straightened, lifted his chin up and as if bracing for impact, answered: "No, I am the last, you destroyed the Temple and killed every last Jedi that remained."
Obi-Wan stared at Mace's reflection, as Skywalker moved unconsciously away from his Master. "You lie."
Silence fell.
For a few moments nobody even dared move a muscle. Qui-Gon could feel the terror rising. Both Ventress and Skywalker shifted nervously, eyeing their Master warily.
"Make no mistake, Master Windu, I will find the boy you are hiding. I had some hopes you might make this easier for all involved. It seems I was mistaken."
"You are a fool, Kenobi," Mace sounded calm, utterly in control of his emotions, but Qui-Gon had known the korelian Master for a long time and could tell, that his control could shatter at any given moment and he was just putting on a face. That is what Jedi excelled at - pretending to be in control at all time. Qui-Gon shook his head, baffled at his own thoughts. Since when did he doubt the Order and its principles? For a long time now, a small voice in his head gave the answer he was dreading.
"And so are you," Mace nodded towards Ventress and Skywalker. "If you really think he would let you succeed him. That he would let you kill him!"
The words rang loudly, but soon enough were drowned in the thick silence. To everyone's surprise - it was Obi-Wan that spoke first. "They better do it," Obi-Wan responded calmly, no hesitation in his voice. "I have invested so much time and energy in their training, it would be a pity if they were to fail!"
For a few moments, it seemed like everyone forgot how to breathe. Even Ventress and Skywalker seemed horrified by how calmly their Master spoke of his own demise.
"Now, dear Ventress, you can take Master Windu to his cell, if you so desire, you may torture him, however, I do not think he will tell you anything valuable - a Jedi to the very end. Obi-Wan did not even turn, he kept observing the ship's path through the vast space. Neither bored nor gloating, his face remained completely impassive, what was worse - Qui-Gon could tell it was not just a facade.
Ventress was the first to gather her wits, she led the handcuffed Jedi out of the room and down to the ship's lowest levels, where those who opposed the new Emperor met their end. Skywalker did not leave, but before anything else could happen the two figures began to fade and Qui-Gon awoke with a start.
His breathing heavy,his pulse furiously beating in his ears, he lay still waiting for the dark spots before his eyes to slowly disappear. "You overestimate your influence over young Obi-Wan's life, Master Jedi." Rey calmly stated, seated at the very edge of Qui-Gon's bed.
"If asked, Obi-Wan would confirm that it was you, who taught him everything he needed, everything that made him a Jedi. And while I am not trying to deny that, you must understand, that it would've taken a lot more than your simple refusal to train him to turn Obi-Wan Kenobi to the Dark side. If you choose him, you will soon realize that."
"You should not meddle in this, my ghost." Qui-Gon said to the ceiling, refusing to meet Rey's eyes, of fear what she may read in his.
"I am not telling you, you should take the child." Rey stood up and moved across the small room to the window. "In fact, I am offering you a way out. As I said, it took me a long time to find a reality, in which Obi-Wan turns. For so many things to align at the exact way..." Rey trailed off, following with her eyes the traffic of Coruscant. "Your decision might deal a great blow to Obi-Wan's life from now on, but that alone would hardly be enough to lead him astray."
"He has so much anger in himself, it would be so easy to for him to slip."
"Ah, but you are judging him by the merits of someone else's virtues and flaws, Master Jinn. You've hardly known the boy for less than a few hours. Obi-Wan’s tragedy always seems to be that he is never the hero of the story” Rey added in a bare whisper.
For a while, silence fell over them both. From time to time, the light of the traffic outside would invade the small space, slide across the bare walls and slip away.
"The Republic falls earlier in that reality than it ever did in ours. The Emperor was already rallying his forces against the free worlds, at the time Obi-Wan was thirteen and left to fend for himself on Bandomeer. Unlike the Temple, the AgriCorps were left without defense, no one really gave the Force Sensitive in there much thought, after all, there was a war to win. No one, but the Emperor that is. For him, they all posed threat-free ammunition for his foes to use."
Qui-Gon closed his eyes, dreading Rey's next words.
"Three years later all bases of the AgriCorps were destroyed, all of its members - killed. And the Jedi did nothing to prevent it. They couldn't have - it was too late. Obi-Wan survived the initial attack on Bandomeer. He and a couple of other Farmers tried to board a ship, escaping to the Outer Rim. They were found soon after and taken into slavery. None of Obi-Wan's companions made it out alive. Several years later, he was found by Sidious, who took and trained the half-dead human boy he found on a washed away colony at the very edge of the Galaxy. Obi-Wan exceeded his Master's expectations and in the end, killed him. It was not a triumph born out of a desire for power, and he was not one to gloat over the fallen. For him it was just means to an end. The rest you saw for yourself, Master Jinn."
“Why show me this, Rey? What did you see that I did not?"
“Again, I am not here to sway your judgment, Master Jinn, you know what you saw, think!”
He tried, getting up from the bed, turning his back at Rey and her quiet expectations. What had he seen truly? Despite what he had said to her, Rey would not lead him down a false road, however, she also refused to show him the right way. Qui-Gon tried to relax, muscles still tense from what his body perceived as just a bad dream, rather than a glimpse into a possible future. It was a bad dream really, he thought, a nightmare. One he desperately hoped it would not come to pass - Obi-Wan so twisted.
Even now, without really knowing the boy, Qui-Gon wished him no ill. He would not wish to anyone the fate of those that fell, those that forsake the Light - in pursuit of their own desires. Those that would betray their kin.
Like Xanatos had done.
Was that it! Was he supposed to compare what Xanatos had become to the Monster from the ship? But Obi-Wan had been so different! Different from what a fallen Jedi should be. Qui-Gon didn’t know how, but he could tell and it was just as much his intuition as those scarce words the two - Skywalker and Ventress - had exchanged. He was not like Xanatos, that much was certain. But then why had Rey showed him exactly that future? She, herself had admitted that it had been hard to see this particular outcome. So why? Why not show him the one where Obi-Wan is trained and proves him and all that ever doubted the boy wrong? Why didn’t she choose to humble him before a vision of a great and wise Jedi Master, that the boy could become?
Different.
Qui-Gon walked away - out of his rooms, down the narrow corridor of the sleeping quarters, out of the West wing, through the empty training rooms and spacious halls. He did not stop until he breathed in the heavy smell of the Rakkovin blooms at the Rooms of a Thousand Fountains. There, underneath the thick branches, he finally settled, taking a meditative stance and closing his eyes.
Different.
Sometime later, Qui-Gon couldn’t tell exactly, he opened his eyes and Rey appeared before him, without the Jedi Master having to call for her. She had been waiting then.
“Well?” Rey sat opposite of him, mirroring his pose. She was around twenty standard years now. Her skin unmarred by time, her eyes - ancient.
“No Light,” he answered her. “There was no Light.”
“Light cannot exist without the Dark, and the Dark - without the Light.” Rey answered in riddles, but Qui-Gon understood.
“He was not a Dark Jedi then?”
“No, Master Jinn, he was, but he was more,” Rey cocked her head sideways, considering,“ and he was less,” she finished. The words hung in the space between them. “Obi-Wan is a child of Light,” Rey began gently, “never the Dark, always the Light. When the Light seizes to exist, his existence becomes meaningless, what you saw back on the ship, was a shell of a man. Even Sith Lords strive towards the Light, it calls to them - the way the Dark tempts the Jedi - but they seek it out only to extinguish it. Obi-Wan could never do that - when the Light fades, my Grandmaster does too. He pursued the Jedi because they had tarnished the Light, it is my belief that he destroyed the Siths as well, before he died...maybe even the whole Galaxy.”
Qui-Gon wanted to argue - all Jedi served the Light, but that was different, wasn’t it? So the words were stuck in his throat and instead, he asked, “And that makes me what then?
“You, Master Jinn,” Rey smiled at him, “are a child of your own convictions. You filter the Light through your own understandings.
Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow: “Is that so bad?” he asked, knowing the answer.
“Sometimes,” Rey said quietly.
The wind picked up Qui-Gon’s hair and the leaves all rustled, laughing at the two below them.
“Is that why you spoke to me, that first time?
” “What I said back then stands true - I cannot influence Obi-Wan’s actions as much as I can convince those around him to help change the future.He needs those like you, Master Jinn.”
Dawn was almost breaking, somewhere in the Temple, a bell rang twice.
“You are like him, are you not?”
“ Me, my Master, it is only fitting that his Master would be as well.”
Somebody passed nearby Qui-Gon’s hideout, the steps echoing loudly over the buzz of the irrigation system.
“Children of the Light.” Qui-Gon said, testing the words out loud.
“You can teach Obi-Wan to ask questions instead of trusting others to do it for him.” Rey changed the topic suddenly, bringing his attention back to the problem at hand. She got up. “And who knows,” Qui-Gon could’ve sworn she smirked. “Maybe Obi-Wan would teach you to obey the rules a bit.”
He followed her example, raising to his feet. “I will not make promises I cannot keep.” Qui-Gon declared but, when he turned to her, Rey was gone. Qui-Gon shrugged and went on to start his morning.
“Please, Master Jinn, this time - let’s protect the child.” Rey said to his disappearing figure. “This time I will make sure Obi-Wan learns to value himself, but I will need you to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Not this time!