Back to the previous part...

"It is no more, really, than you had with your padawan, or with your library postings," Obi-Wan countered. "Each decision we make affects others, as collectively we affect worlds. The Force and the Code bind us, not the Council. They are simply there to properly allocate the Order's resources." He moved further into the room, and didn't protest when Qui-Gon rose and helped him over to the co-pilot's seat when he faltered upon giving an automatic look out the view port. The streaking lights of hyperspace were not at all good for his headache.

"Would you mind if I blanked the view ports?" he asked, only just managing not to close his eyes and give Qui-Gon yet one more reason to worry. Or doubt his fitness, a tiny voice in the back of his brain jabbered in insecurity.

"Of course," Qui-Gon said immediately, and then did the deed before Obi-Wan could. "Anakin mentioned something of your difficulty."

Obi-Wan's smile wasn't exactly filled with humor. But he supposed he should be grateful to his padawan once again. He certainly hadn't been up to telling Qui-Gon what was happening, even when the master had not only the right, but also the need to know.

"Thank you for helping him," Obi-Wan offered in all sincerity even if he did use the words and feelings to put off further explanations for just a little while longer. "And for helping me." He wanted it to sound like flirting, but it had been too many years and, frankly, his head hurt just a little too much for him to try and add wittiness to simply staying awake. Oh, but how he needed to meditate!

"It was my pleasure."

Qui-Gon's smile was the warmth and openness that had first attracted Obi-Wan. When he lifted his hand to cup the side of Obi-Wan's face, Obi-Wan wasn't sure if he was happy or frustrated to feel a tendril of healing energy focused in those fingertips instead of the caress he expected. No matter the motivation, he couldn't help but lean into the touch a little. And this time he did let his eyes close.

"Is it always like this for you in hyperspace?" came Qui-Gon's question, his voice as soft as his touch.

Obi-Wan bit his lip to keep from moaning from the other's gentleness. "It's only this bad because of the choppy translation."

"But there is always pain?"

Pulling away a little, Obi-Wan tilted his head right and left to at least work out the resumed tension in his neck. "There is always some discomfort. But not generally pain. It's ..." He paused and looked around, trying to come up with a way to explain his rather unique connection with the Unifying field of the Force. No doubt Master Yoda felt some of the same type of dislocation when he traveled, just as that was no doubt a good part of the reason the ancient rarely left Coruscant even though the city-wide planet jangled against his strong connection to the Living Force. At least he had had over seven hundred years to get used to both feelings.

"The problem stems from not always being able to control my prescience," he tried again. "My ability is apparently uncommonly strong, and combined with my affinity more for the Unifying Force ..." He shrugged. "Well, as an example, take the thermos," and he picked up the red ceramic container off of its holder next to the control board.

"Now, I can sense Ani used it, and in normal space that's it, unless I direct a Force probe. In hyperspace, however, I can't help but see it - all of it. Unless I am actively blocking, I can see all the things that can happen to this thermos from my action of picking it up: setting it down again, taking it away, handing it to you, dropping it and it breaks, dropping it and it doesn't break and so on. And as in using a Force probe, my mind wants to calculate the likelihood of each possibility. But in hyperspace, all possibilities are equal and every option branches out into multiple paths - an infinite number of paths. Sometimes it is all I can do to keep my awareness of the real moment."

The fingers against his face exerted a bit of pressure, but not uncomfortably. A moment worthy to focus on, although even consciously he was tempted to let the potentials in this closeness spread out before him. One or two would no doubt be worth exploring --

"And you can't turn this off?"

Giving up any pretense that he didn't want the other's solicitude and comfort to continue, Obi-Wan leaned further into Qui-Gon's touch. And into his sheer presence. The Jedi Master was a deep, still pool of calm, which Obi-Wan needed badly right now.

"Meditation helps, as does any narrowing of my focus like piloting. All I need to do is narrow the patterns from something infinite to finite." Obi-Wan felt a deprecating smile coming on at how easy he made it sound. The smile then spread when Qui-Gon - unconsciously, Obi-Wan decided - traced the curve of his lips.

"I imagine it isn't easy at all," Qui-Gon echoed his thoughts.

Obi-Wan nodded. "Not only are all possible futures open to me, but in hyperspace, all of time's boundaries also fall. So I can see not only what might happen to the thermos, but also what would have happened to it if it had been glazed blue instead of red. Or made of glass." He sighed and set the container back down. "Having this awareness is great when fighting, when defending against some aggressor -"

"Anakin says you are a very good fighter, perhaps the order's best."

Obi-Wan felt the heat rise in his face, becoming more embarrassed that Qui-Gon would also feel his flush through his gentle fingertips in addition to seeing it. "Anakin is still very young and inexperienced in the field. Yes, I seem to have a talent for fighting but I've also been lucky to be able to do what duty demands and survive, that's all. And yes, because of my ability to read patterns," he continued immediately when Qui-Gon would have protested or said something more. "I can predict what my opponent is most likely to do and be reacting even before they complete the action, so I also appear better able to handle myself than most."

"To be able to control and use such an ability is astounding, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon praised. "And you would be invaluable on archeological digs - in being able to find things in general."

Obi-Wan gave a little laugh. "It wasn't always that way, I assure you. No doubt I hold the record for any padawan on how often I misplaced my master's things. Actually, it wasn't really until his death on Naboo," he continued soberly, "that I could exert any control outside of training sessions with Master Yoda. I used it in the battle with the Sith, trying to find anything to help overcome my fear of facing the creature that had bested my master." The short laugh he gave this time held no humor what so ever.

"There are times I feel using this ability in a battle is almost cheating, but not then. I would have done anything short of calling on the Dark to make sure that Sith would never be able to hurt someone again."

"A padawan, like a child, should always outlive his parent, Obi-Wan. I am sure your master is much more content to have been the one to fall instead of it being your life cut short." And Qui-Gon's hand moved around to cup the back of Obi-Wan's neck, much as Mace used to do to offer comfort.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I know. I completely agree with that kind of thinking when it comes to Anakin. I don't think I could survive outliving him."

"He is a good lad and an outstanding pilot. A fine testament to his master." And with that Qui-Gon seemed to finally realize that he had been touching Obi-Wan almost the entire conversation. He dropped his hand abruptly, but Obi-Wan didn't let him pull completely back.

"Are you interested in seeing what the patterns are like?" Obi-Wan offered, taking up his own grip around Qui-Gon's fingers.

Qui-Gon nodded.

Obi-Wan took another deep breath, this time holding it to just past the start of discomfort before letting it slowly out. He didn't do this type of sharing often, not even with Anakin, and was used to doing it only with Master Yoda. But he could feel the inquisitiveness of Qui-Gon's mind, the compulsion to learn about everything, even if the other couldn't fully understand or ever master the knowledge. No doubt this thirst for learning was what had led Qui-Gon to his chosen field of study, led to him being asked to head his own temple at such a young age, and had him now jumping at the chance to get back into the field when the opportunity presented itself.

Realizing he had centered a little more on his companion than in his own self, Obi-Wan drew in yet another breath, then began to lower his shields while reaching for the thermos again. They actually wouldn't need the tactile contact between their hands if Qui-Gon was at all adept at interfacing himself, but it would help the focus, and allow the contact to be broken when the hold ended. He would just have to -

In the instant Qui-Gon began lowering his own shields, their two minds rushed together as if they had been doing this with each other all their lives. Obi-Wan hadn't even reached the container yet, hadn't tried to direct the sensing before it engulfed them both. With images of themselves. Together in a multitude of futures. Together in a past that never happened -

You were angry with the other boy. I sensed anger in both of you --

It is better not to train a boy to become a knight if he has so much anger. There is the risk he will turn to the Dark Side --

No, I'm sorry, Obi-Wan, but I will not take you as my padawan --

No Padawan. I will not make your betrayal easy for you. If you try to take this step, know what a hard one this is --

Know that if you stay, you are no longer a Jedi --

A dark coldness in his bones, in his mind that even the bright spark of his former padawan couldn't counter. But there was another, a steady, solid comfort that promised to banish the darkness and the cold that had been wrapped around his heart long before the specter reached for his body --

A face, too close to make out features but those welcoming lips known just the same. Light and love, but also lust and desire. Nothing placid, no calm, no control. He wanted to devour and be devoured, to ground and grind himself within the strength and endless power of the other, to let his own passion flow like quicksilver through them and melt their selves into something new, something together as one --




The chaos of his master's thoughts had Anakin up out of his bed and running through the passageway toward the bridge before the teen had even registered he was awake. He scrambled over one of his remote diagnostic units and threw himself through the hatchway, barely noting Master Jinn turning at his approach, not at all noticing the other master's shock and consternation as he raced forward.

Some part of Anakin's brain registered that Master Jinn wasn't doing anything to his master, that Obi-Wan was making no effort to pull away from the other man. In fact it was his master holding onto Master Jinn and not the other way around. His master's hands were bloodless from his grip on Master Jinn, though, and Anakin could see that although his master's eyes were open they were unseeing or seeing something that wasn't there. He reached out with his own hands to break their connection, hoping to snap his master out of the vision.

And found himself caught up within the maelstrom, his very presence strengthening it. Changing it ...

Anakin Skywalker, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi -

An Apprentice you already have Qui-Gon -

Noooooooooooo --

You are my angel -

You knew she was mine, that she loved me! How could you --

What is thy bidding, my Master --

How feel you now, Masters? Which of us has too much fear now -

The circle is now complete --




Even with both padawan and master unconscious, Qui-Gon couldn't separate their hands until he applied the Force. Of course, his own hands were shaking so much in reaction that it wasn't surprising that he couldn't seem to make them work.

He looked to Anakin first, as it had been the teen that had screamed from the visions flitting too quickly through Qui-Gon's inner eye for him to have really made out what was seen. He had felt the hopelessness though, the despair.

The Darkness.

Anakin's aura still flared with little pockets of distress, but already his breathing and heart rate were beginning to slow down to more normal speeds. And he had not injured himself in his collapse; Obi-Wan had somehow managed to come far enough out of his seat before his own loss of consciousness to insure his padawan fell onto him instead of the metal deck plates.

Which meant Qui-Gon could turn his attention now to Obi-Wan - his Obi-Wan according to so many of those first visions between just the two of them. Qui-Gon wasn't sure if he was angry about the seeming inevitability of a relationship between them, or pleased and flattered that the Force - and Obi-Wan - saw it as a foregone conclusion.

Undeniably they had both felt a pull, an attraction toward one another from their first meeting. Were they anyone but Jedi, no doubt this first full day in each other's company would have led to beds and a closeness of another kind instead of medical examinations and treatment. And just as likely, were they not Jedi, it would be over within a few more days. But as a Jedi's commitment was forever to the Force, so, too, quite often were their commitments to each other. Whether as master and padawan, partners, or lovers. The attraction wouldn't have really happened in the first place if there wasn't a better than average chance it would last.

Qui-Gon gathered Obi-Wan up into his arms and lap, setting them back into the pilot's chair while he used the Force to lift Anakin up into the co-pilot's. He wasn't sure taking either of the pair back to Medical or even their cabins would particularly help them come out of their psychic overload, nor was he comfortable with the thought of leaving either of them alone for even a few minutes. His own awareness of potentialities through the Force didn't have him believing either would experience further distress - at least not lasting -- but he didn't want to take such a conviction for granted. Not when the consequences of being wrong could be catastrophic.

And not when he felt such an overwhelming streak of protectiveness for them both.

Not unexpectedly, Obi-Wan began to stir first. Qui-Gon tightened his hold around the smaller man so that any sudden movement wouldn't end up with Obi-Wan dumped on the floor, but quickly loosened it when he sensed Obi-Wan regain total awareness.

"Ani -"

"He's right here," Qui-Gon whispered quickly into the soft hair that rested against his shoulder, and pulled a little with the Force to bring Anakin's hand to where Obi-Wan could feel it. He didn't fear the two touching again; were what had happened a common problem, Obi-Wan would never have been allowed to take a padawan no matter whose last wish it had been. Indeed, Obi-Wan would never have passed his knighthood trials or even likely been chosen as a padawan should something like this have occurred when he was still being trained himself.

Qui-Gon could feel Obi-Wan relax upon connecting with his padawan, then felt him relax even further into Qui-Gon's chest when the master would have expected the knight to pull away upon realizing he was being held.

"Thank you," Obi-Wan breathed into Qui-Gon's chest, not even lifting his head.

And not just thanking him for looking out again for Anakin.

Qui-Gon felt a swell of warmth to be so trusted in seeing another's vulnerability. Especially someone he hardly knew yet.

"I think we know enough," and he could feel Obi-Wan's lopsided smile to go along with the answer to his unspoken thoughts. "Our minds recognized each other enough to meld seamlessly, despite standard shielding. And while my imagination and fantasy life is pretty good, it's not that good," came with a ghosting of shared images again. Of flesh and frantic coupling, of passion and desire and satiation. Of love.

"Well, there is knowing someone, and then knowing someone," Qui-Gon stammered back. Yet he didn't turn away when Obi-Wan lifted his head. His lips. Qui-Gon leaned down but let the other direct the kiss, happy in feeling the desire along with the softness and warmth. And another one of those maddening grins beginning to break out beneath his own lips.

"Hi, I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi Knight and sometimes reckless fool," the gilt satyr breathed into Qui-Gon's parting lips before darting a tongue forward for just the briefest of tastes.

Qui-Gon let his own laughter rumble through his chest, then deepened the kiss and took more than a taste himself. "I'm Qui-Gon Jinn," he finally managed between deep breaths taken to regain control of his emotions. And body. "Jedi researcher, librarian and apparently, a hopeless romantic." Then his control fled when Obi-Wan shifted, moving to straddle Qui-Gon's lap so that they might better be able to see one another. And feel one another.

"Do you ever resent the knowing?" Qui-Gon then asked, in part to get his mind off of what a lapful of Jedi knight was doing to his own body even as he was hyper aware that Obi-Wan was using their connection and the knight's own arousal to distance himself from what they'd seen.

"When there is someone like you at the end of it, how could I?" came the answer before words dissolved into another kiss. Obi-Wan shifted a little once more, bringing their chests and hips closer. He suddenly smiled, and Qui-Gon could no longer breathe, could no longer worry that they were both avoiding what had happened. Or even that Anakin was unconscious next to them.

This time after they parted, Obi-Wan's eyes stayed shining even as his smile faded. "It's not like I have that many spontaneous visions of some foregone future," he finally responded to what had really been asked. "And I've never felt locked into any particular fate." Another heart-stopping smile. "Well, any fate I didn't want to embrace."

"Good word choice," Qui-Gon breathed against Obi-Wan's neck as he leaned forward to taste other parts of Obi-Wan's soft and warm skin. He was willing to put off the glimpse of Darkness too, to indulge in a much more pleasurable exchange of emotions and sensations for a bit longer.

"For the most part, I s-simply have an idea of t-the consequences of any action I take - or knowledge of the r-re-rewards."

Rewards indeed. Suckling on the flesh beneath Obi-Wan's ear was producing a delightful number of reactions in them both. But then Obi-Wan pushed him away and Qui-Gon didn't protest. They separated a little, putting a few inches between them though Obi-Wan still stayed on his lap. And within his arms.

"I certainly didn't know ahead of time that my master was going to be killed by a Sith," at that Obi-Wan dropped his gaze to their laps and tucked his hands one in the other. "Or that my padawan would nearly be killed on our last mission. Not even that I was going to meet you on this one." Here Obi-Wan looked up with an all too quickly fleeting smile that Qui-Gon echoed.

"I'd be a gibbering idiot if I knew the Future. Nor would I be able to get out of bed if Ani's and my future lay as I saw when he touched me."

Qui-Gon had barely made out the final words, but had no trouble hearing the residual horror underlying them. He leaned forward until his forehead touched Obi-Wan's, and kneaded his hands against the rising tension in the knight's shoulders. "I didn't really see most of the final vision myself," he prompted.

"That was because you were dead in that timeline," Obi-Wan laughed harshly. "We basically were all dead, the entire Order. It was a vision of what could have happened had you been my master instead of Mace Windu." His voice dropped to a hoarse whisper.

"You had rejected me for Ani, then forced me to take on the responsibility of training him when you died at the hands of the Sith," came the stark explanation. "We never worked out our differences, never truly admitted what we meant to one another and so I failed in my duty as Anakin's master, training not a Jedi, but my own executioner. Because he couldn't reach me, Ani reached for another - a Sith - and together we three destroyed the Jedi and all things light save for one tiny spark of hope."

Obi-Wan was shaking as he finished. Qui-Gon slid his hands from Obi-Wan's shoulders to down his back, pulling the younger man completely within his arms to surround him with warmth and light. But Obi-Wan resisted, or Qui-Gon wasn't reaching him.

"How can I help Ani through this when all I can see is his lightsaber raised against me?"

This time Qui-Gon ghosted his lips across the crown of Obi-Wan's head as he placed one hand under the ginger hair to cradle Obi-Wan's neck. He placed his other hand under Obi-Wan's tunic, touching the skin that pulsed with the knight's heartbeat. "By living in this moment. And each one as it comes, instead of a future that will not be. By knowing that Ani loves you as you do him, that I could easily grow to love you and will never ask more of you than you can or will give."

"That wasn't us," Obi-Wan breathed into Qui-Gon's chest. "That didn't - won't -- happen ...

"Not that, not like that," Qui-Gon agreed. "You are Anakin's master and his friend, and have already helped him past the first of the vision. But you cannot make his future choices for him, nor protect him from ever having to choose. Neither can the Force, visions or not. You can only help him find the peace to make his choices. That is all any of us can do for one another, whether father, master, friend or lover."

Obi-Wan nodded. "We choose our own futures."

"Our focus becomes our reality. The Force shows us potentials, but it is up to each of us to accept or reject them." Qui-Gon lifted the hand he held against Obi-Wan's chest and brought up under Obi-Wan's chin until they met each other's eyes. "I was not your master, but very much hope that I am becoming your friend. And I would not be adverse to becoming something more. But on our own terms. And at our own time. And not because somewhere, some when, we could have been something different."

Another nod. "I was attracted to you before the Force showed us what could be or could have been."

Qui-Gon felt a warmth blossoming in his own chest at those words. "As was I. And as, I fear, your padawan is well aware of."

"Which means he is going to be insufferably pleased once he figures out you and I have ... talked. But he and I must also talk. " And Obi-Wan began to extricate himself from Qui-Gon's embrace and lap.

Though he would have been content for them to stay as they were, Qui-Gon let Obi-Wan go. If the vision, the Force, and Qui-Gon's own intuition meant anything, Obi-Wan would be back.


PART TWO

1.

Erinne was everything Master Obi-Wan had promised - and worse. Ground clearance to land had taken hours, even though Jedi had been expected, even though they had damn near ruined their ship insuring they arrived in system on time. Once they had gotten clearance, it was only after being diverted to a spaceport almost a hundred miles away from the government officials who had requested them. At least they weren't going to have to walk the distance, as his master often insisted `to get a candid feel for the people they were here to help'; not even he would make Anakin walk in the awful mixture of snow and rain that the teen stood huddled against his master and within his robe trying to avoid.

This was the first time Anakin found reason to be unhappy with the growth spurt that had shot him up taller than his master. Instead of being able to shelter himself from the elements behind his master's body, he was doing more of the sheltering. Which in its own way was kind of nice, since he so rarely could offer his master any comfort but that which was expected from a padawan.

But it was too wet, despite his robe and drawn hood. And cold!

"Cast your thoughts on how it felt on Tatooine, Anakin," came the suggestion from his master in response to Anakin's shivering and chattering teeth. "Remember the feel of the sun against your skin, the light against your closed eyelids and the warmth that sank down into your bones. Your body remembers, remembers its own responses to the heat and can feel them again if you let it."

Anakin kept any groan he might have wanted to voice silent. Normally so quick to pick up almost everything his master showed or taught him, control of his body at the molecular level - like trying to learn to speak Kashhyk'ka -- was one of the exceptions. Pure cold he could manage better. But rain or humidity was about so much more than temperature. They offered substance instead of just energy, a ... wetness that he feared would always make him uncomfortable, even if the rest of his environment was near perfect. Like baths. He had never understood his master finding comfort in submerging his body in water, when sonics worked more quickly and efficiently.

"That's because you are not a hedonist, my padawan. Which is not a bad thing for a Jedi, as long as you don't grow to feel you are being deprived."

The transparentness of his thoughts didn't surprise Anakin; he was much more concerned with conserving energy than expending it in tight shielding. Since their unexpected merging had given them a glimpse of a dark alternate future, however, master and padawan hadn't done more than keep light tabs across the link to each other's emotional state, so he was a still a little uncomfortable and concerned with what else his master might be picking up. On the other hand, while he appreciated the mental distance he was being given, he was also glad this wasn't completely stopping his master from anticipating his thoughts as well as moods.

"How long do they expect us to wait this time?" Already most of an hour had passed since their landing. If Anakin had any idea they would be expected to wait so long out in the rain for their transport, he would have found more things to do in locking down the ship.

"You know the storm over the Capitol has grounded all air traffic, Padawan."

Well, yeah. That was why they were here instead of where they were supposed to be. But that didn't excuse the fact that there were no facilities set up here for their or anyone else's arrival. If he didn't know any better, Anakin would have guessed they had simply been sent to a surface area big enough to accommodate their ship instead of a true landing port.

"No doubt that is also slowing the arrival of our escort," his master was continuing. "Erinne gets few off-worlders visiting and so has few facilities or accommodations."

Well, no wonder, with all the bloody rain! "Even Mos Espa has ground cars or speeders at their space ports to be rented," Anakin found himself muttering.

"Which are at a premium prior to the sand storms, assuming you can find a driver for them in the first place," he was reminded with remarkable patience.

Anakin didn't want patience. He wanted to be warm.

"I could drive anything they'd have to offer," he snapped back even though he knew his master hadn't meant anything by the driver remark.

"Driving in such a storm is akin to pod racing, Anakin," came the level response, still without any censure. "Although the speeds aren't the same, because of the limited visibility you still have to react almost without thought. And yes, I know you can and have handled simulations with ground-based vehicles over a variety of terrains and conditions, but you do not have the experience maneuvering over ice. I'm not sure even I have enough experience to take us into a storm already this bad."

Any insult Anakin might have taken had been defused; his master was a more than fair pilot yet had practically given up the practice to allow Anakin the duty when they weren't having to rely on a third party to get them where they needed to be. Now Anakin had guilt as well as cold to make him cranky.

And to try and dispel within the Force.

He couldn't help but scowl under his hood.

Dark, wet, cold and windy already, how much worse could it get? Anakin was beginning to think Hoth would have been better. Yes, it got colder and snow got into everything, but the planet's sun did deign to shine on Hoth anyway. And despite the snow, it seemed a dryer environment overall, except in the midst of a blizzard.

"If you wish, Anakin, we can trade places," Master Jinn offered.

Tempting, quite tempting.

True, Master Jinn stood out even more in the rain than Anakin did himself; the awning they stood under was barely big enough for one, much less the three of them. He'd be trading some rain for a steady downpour. But he would also be more out of the wind that didn't get blocked very well by his master's shorter stature. And his cloak was supposed to be fully waterproof, so long as he didn't move and allow it to seep in through the openings --

But that would also put Master Jinn between Anakin and his master. Which wouldn't really be a problem, just ... wrong. Except Master Obi-Wan might appreciate it. A definite friendship had developed between the two over the last few of days.

Not that his master and Master Jinn had much of an opportunity to work on that friendship that he had seen. All throughout the four full days it had taken them to finally reach Erinne, Anakin could think of only a handful of hours his master hadn't been near him, save for time spent sleeping and in meditation. And even in meditation, they had done so together more than apart.

It should have been stifling to have so much of his master's attention. At home on Coruscant, Anakin had his classes, labs and free time to keep the two of them close, but apart. On missions he was often set to run errands or stay with the ship as pilot, depending on the circumstances. Even when at his master's side during a negotiation or ceremony, they weren't often alone. Not just the two of them, not as they had been on the Udan Orr over the last four days as Master Jinn had purposely stayed out of their way.

Yet instead of stifling, Anakin had found comfort in this unexpected closeness. Were he insecure, he might have suspected his master trying to make up in advance for some future slighting - perhaps because his master had also recognized that Master Jinn was going to become part of their lives. But Anakin hadn't doubted his place in his master's life since their first moment of bonding nor any time since. Including now. Master Obi-Wan was his best friend as well as his master.

And regardless, Anakin had learned quite early in his life how to be independent and entertain himself, so he didn't expect or want his master to live his life solely for his padawan in the first place. It was their differences as well as their similarities that made their friendship so strong, and kept their lives from falling into some form of dull routine.

So why had he clung to his master's attention these last four days, even more than he had ever clung to his mother when he had been no more than a boy?

As if summoned, the image rose up in Anakin's mind again, the monster that was more machine than flesh, soulless and all Dark. The monster that was still him despite the name change. And change in masters. In faith, philosophy --

"No, Ani!"

Anakin suddenly found himself wrapped up against his master's body, two gloved hands gripping his head gently despite the fierceness of the other's expression and ringing tones. In desperation Anakin melted both physically and mentally into the warmth his master represented. Smaller though his master might now be, he still had the strength to hold them both up -- physically, mentally and emotionally.

"That is not you, Ani. That will never become you," his master's words whispered in his ears and in his mind.

"H-how can you be sure?"

"Because you are my padawan, and because I love you."

Anakin didn't struggle when his head was pulled down, then he didn't pull away from the vibrant green of belief, truth, trust and confidence in his master's eyes.

"That Obi-Wan had no capacity to love and so could not inspire his padawan's," came more whispered conviction. "He was broken, flawed, and simply passed on his own faults to that Anakin right alongside any lessons. He trained his Anakin only out of demand and duty, not faith or affection."

Unspoken between them lay the others in the visions. A Master Yoda who had disapproved instead of encouraged and supported the pairing, a Council and Order who feared that Anakin but, unlike the real ones, made no effort to get past the fear or even acknowledge its existence. There had also been a woman, an angel who bore a passing resemblance to the Princess Obi-Wan and his former master had been protecting when Anakin had first met the two. She had somehow come between that master and that padawan despite the one who had been reason that Obi-Wan had been broken and unable to show even his padawan any love. The one who had been that Qui-Gon Jinn. A very dead Qui-Gon Jinn.

Who in reality was not only very much alive, but was quietly using his own strength to support this Obi-Wan and Anakin, even if he didn't completely understand why the two needed it. Anakin latched onto Master Jinn's generous gift, drawing more of the man's deep and tranquil spirit into his soul so that he was no longer draining his master's.

Unseen depths indeed, his master's thoughts echoed across their bond, picking up on Anakin's earlier impression of Master Jinn, and picking up on Anakin's need to hold such a calming influence close to heart. His master's own spirit was just as shaken from Anakin's reaction, was yet one more thing Anakin felt guilty about even as he reveled in the resumption of speaking mind to mind.

Nonsense, Ani. You cannot be at fault for a vision I've had, and even less for what that vision showed. The next words were spoken instead of just shared, as if his master wanted more than just Anakin to hear them. "You are not and will never become him."

"I have never seen two Jedi better paired or closer to the light, Anakin," Master Jinn offered his own reassurances. "You have no need to fear such a future will come to pass by your hands." And he put his own hands on Anakin's shoulders, though the look on his face had to be solely for Anakin's master.

Emotionally and physically Anakin hadn't felt this warm since their arrival. And he was finally beginning to believe both masters could be correct.

"Okay, assuming I stop dwelling on my actions in the vision, why were we shown it in the first place?" Anakin then asked the other question that had been bothering him since he had awakened from the initial shock.

His master stiffened and Anakin cringed. It had sounded like he accused his master of agitating him on purpose, but that hadn't been his intention. He knew his master had rarely ever been able to specifically call forth a vision. Nor stop spontaneous ones from happening. Indeed, Anakin had found it difficult over the years to accept his master's dubious gift as a manifestation of the Will of the Force because of its unpredictability. He certainly was not looking forward to being plagued by it himself.

Unfortunately both Obi-Wan and Master Yoda figured he would prove prescient once he matured.

"No, Ani, I am not thinking you meant anything personal by it," his master contradicted his unvoiced - but obviously not unheard -- thoughts. "Actually, you've asked a good question. I'm just not sure I have a good answer."

"Could it have happened just by chance and circumstance?" Master Jinn asked, not yet moving back from where he stood protectively shielding both of them. "We were talking about your abilities in this, after all, Obi-Wan. Certainly my impression of the images we shared before Anakin's arrival had been intriguing, but also, I had assumed, hypothetical."

The rising color on his master's face visible because of the nearby, feeble lighted pole intended to dispel the gloom of the storm, gave Anakin reason to wish he had been able to share those first images instead of the ones he had. He was reminded of the confusion he had sensed through their link, which had led him to rush to the bridge in the first place. Confusion and embarrassment? Or had it been confusion and lust?

" - perhaps adding Anakin to the mix simply overloaded a teaching lesson?"

"It could be nothing more than that." But his master was shaking his head unconsciously. And not doing anything to step away from the huddled nearness they had adopted either, Anakin noted with interest.

"You think it was a Force Warning," Anakin stated. Then without waiting for an answer, "But why now? And why something of that nature if it wasn't warning you that I'm going to turn?" He couldn't stop his shudder that had nothing to do with rain starting to turn into snow.

"At the risk of sounding pedantic, perhaps we should break apart the incident and look at what exactly the vision did show," Master Jinn suggested. "There was more to it than just Anakin's turning."

Anakin gave a little start. Master Jinn was right. He had been dwelling on the sight of himself shrouded in the Dark, killing his master. Yet there had been many more images before that stark ending. He and his master fighting an army; him marrying; him thinking his master had been with his wife even though he knew his master's heart had died with Qui-Gon Jinn -

"A good idea, but not here, not now," his master cautioned abruptly. "Our ride is approaching and it is not a discussion for others to overhear."

Anakin stepped far enough to look around his master and Master Jinn. Sure enough a small ground car was approaching them, coming to a stop with a spray of water that probably wasn't intentional, but drenched them nonetheless. Fortunately their cloaks repelled most of it. And allowed Anakin to keep his sudden pique hidden while he sought to release the emotion.

"Esteemed Jedi, forgive this one for his lateness," the heavily wrapped driver was apologizing even as he got out of the car. "The severity of this storm has caught us unprepared and several of our roads have become impassable."

"We appreciate the difficulty our arrival has -"

Anakin watched nonplussed as his master was simply tugged toward the vehicle.

"No time, no time. We must get back underway before all roads are washed out." And the driver opened the rear doors into the passenger seating, before pulling the light carryalls holding their spare clothing and equipment out of their hands. By depressing some sort of button, the top of the back end rose up and the driver shoved their belongings into some sort of small-scale cargo hold.

Although having explained his desire to get them moving, Anakin had a moment's doubt that the storm was all that worried their driver, since by his research into the planet, even bad storms weren't particularly uncommon. They'd been met with diffidence while in orbit, but now were being treated to an almost brusque shooing and continued non-verbal commands to get them inside the vehicle.

The driver, with his furtive glances all around the area, seemed awfully eager to get underway. Could he be afraid of being out with the ghost hunters as full dark approached?

The sand people of his home planet had tales of malevolent spirits who wandered the Jundland Wastes and the Dune Sea. He had never seen one, had only half believed, but there had been so many stories of people whose minds had become locked in a rictus of terror, or bodies with no visible wounds.

Anakin gave himself a shake. There was no reason to suspect their driver knew the specifics of their purpose here.

"Ani?" he was asked by his master as the three Jedi arranged themselves within the car. His master had taken the seat next to Anakin, while Qui-Gon folded his larger body into the one across from them.

Anakin blushed under his master's look of concern. He was much too old to be frightened by tales of ghosts, whether they were real or not. "I'm fine, Master. Just glad to get out from under the rain. And wondering how long until we arrive somewhere where we can get dry."

"Even under the best conditions, our trip would take a little more than an hour," the driver called back over his shoulder as he started the vehicle. "If it is really a problem, my home is about halfway there, and we could stop and let you change --"

"Thank you for the offer, but we should be fine."

The driver simply nodded and pressed another button, which triggered a transparent sheet to rise up between their seats and his. Whether for their own privacy or his, Anakin guessed their driver didn't want to be distracted, as further evidenced by how incredibly slow he nosed them out onto a wide and completely empty thoroughfare. At this rate it would be several hours before they reached the end of their journey and could start looking for their ghost.




Given little to see outside other than the freezing sleet, Qui-Gon found himself instead looking at Obi-Wan's profile as the knight turned enough to look over the map overlay the driver was inputting into the vehicle's auto piloting system.

Anakin turned away from his own study of it and met Qui-Gon's gaze with a wink before twisting forward again. Qui-Gon wasn't sure whether to be embarrassed at being caught or not, but didn't redirect his gaze.

For such an active knight in field duty - one of the Order's Sith hunters, by the Force! - Obi-Wan's face was remarkably untouched; no scars and few wrinkles save for those around his ever changing eyes, and around his lips. While Qui-Gon figured that no doubt the furrow between Obi-Wan's brow came from too many responsibilities and stress, some surely were laugh lines. Certainly Obi-Wan didn't look as worn as many of the Jedi Qui-Gon had worked with before, and that, he thought, could be at least partially attributed to Anakin. It was hard to imagine anyone not getting caught up and inspired by the youth's guileless exuberance.

During the few days travel to Erinne, the knight had foregone shaving up until scant hours before their arrival, and Qui-Gon wasn't sure if he was happy to see the reddish whiskers gone. They had lent the knight's face a bit more gravity and character that, no doubt, would seem reassuring to their hosts. On the other hand, a beard hid the dimple in Obi-Wan's chin that Qui-Gon had found quite captivating.

Obi-Wan had also trimmed Anakin's traditional padawan buzz cut just before landing, and helped his padawan tightly braid the tail that told so eloquently of the years of service between them for those who had the eye to see it. Four beads glowed amidst Anakin's straw colored plait tied off with a simple piece of leather. Jedi didn't count coup or wear badges to celebrate accomplishments, except for the beads in a padawan's braid.

The two outer beads meant Anakin was on his second five years of apprenticeship and Qui-Gon supposed that they were sapphire in honor of his master, as their color so nearly matched that of Obi-Wan's lightsaber blade. The third bead of pale red represented a dedication to diplomatic duties, and the one of dark indigo told of Senate recognition in those duties.

Were he a healer, Anakin would wear a white bead instead of the red. Qui-Gon, like his own padawan, had worn all of his beads in golden yellow to signify their research discipline, but through fieldwork instead if the clearer topaz of the theoretical studies in libraries or laboratories. Those in the Air-corps as Anakin had originally been pegged for would have been the black and silver of space, while those dedicated to the Agri-corp tenets wore the green of the Living Force.

"So, can we talk about the vision now?" Anakin asked after he and Obi-Wan relaxed back in their seats.

Qui-Gon thought the discussion to be a good idea despite regret in seeing Obi-Wan immediately tense up again. It would be a reasonable way to pass the time, given they were in a kind of limbo until they could meet with those who had requested their presence. But he said nothing, even as he hoped his outside viewpoint as someone unfamiliar with Force visions might offer a unique perspective.

The look of resignation passed almost before Qui-Gon registered seeing it. "I think we can skip details of the visions from before your arrival," was all Obi-Wan said, however. And he then disregarded the exaggerated pout that followed from Anakin, offering not even a hint of a smile.

This caused Qui-Gon a pang of ... something, but Obi-Wan was continuing and Qui-Gon let his feelings of those visions -- and over what followed in each other's arms -- go.

For now.

"What Qui-Gon and I saw was of a personal nature, not particularly informational, Padawan. Simply pasts that never happened and several potential futures."

Anakin visibly reigned in his amusement and matched his master's sober mien. "So we should start from when I added myself into the mix then?" he asked, then proceeding before getting an acknowledgement, or at least one that Qui-Gon was privy to. "The first thing I saw was initially meeting you, Master. But Master Mace wasn't the Jedi you were with, and it wasn't on Tatooine."

"Actually, it was on Tatooine," Obi-Wan corrected, his tone mild. Neutral. As teacher to student and quite unlike his normal interactions with Anakin.

Because of the possibility of being overheard by an outsider who might not understand or accept the familiarity given the usual Jedi reputation?

Or because even the thought of the vision were still too emotional, and full detachment was the only way to deal with it?

"From what I noted, we were on a ship departing from Tatooine. And you are right, it wasn't Mace who introduced us, but Qui-Gon."

Qui-Gon noted the tightening of Obi-Wan's jaw, and wished he could reach out to sooth the rising tension away. So this mode was for protection, not from anger or paranoia.

"Which wasn't at all how it really happened."

Obi-Wan nodded at Anakin's statement. "But not all that far off." The glance he sent Qui-Gon's way was filled with something that looked a lot like speculation. Too bad it was overlaid with pain from what else those visions had shown.

"I was also there in the vision of the three of us standing before the Council," Qui-Gon contributed, now remembering more himself. Especially the emotions, few of which he could recognize himself particularly feeling before. Or wanting too. That version of himself had been so frantic in trying to prove himself correct before a High Council he had actually felt more contempt for than respect. So arrogant.

"And it was just the two of us later before them, then during the battle against the Sith," he said more softly. "But our balance was ... off, my focus badly disrupted. Although I was a warrior in that alternity, I fought without true harmony."

"Maybe that's the purpose of them?" Anakin proposed tentatively, but with a sort of desperation to make the visions something innocuous. "A warning for us to keep our focus where it belongs? That maybe we need to work together, all three of us?"

"And that we don't let Master Jinn ever fight a Sith," Obi-Wan forced out in a lighter tone though his eyes still held the pain of just how out of harmony that Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon had been. And for the why.

"S-so what about the rest?"

As before, Anakin's face paled, no doubt from thinking about the Darkness that had followed. A Darkness that Anakin had embraced and then helped spread throughout the entire Republic -- Empire.

"We fought an army, then I got married, to that Princess on Naboo I think, but she was a Queen. Then she was with you, Master, and I had another master, who was the Emperor and the last remaining Sith, and I killed every -"

"Anakin!" As he had done outside in the storm, Obi-Wan put both of his hands on the sides of Anakin's face as if to physically drag his padawan's attention away from the memories. At the same time Qui-Gon clasped the teen's shoulder and together they grounded Anakin to the moment. This moment.

"Ani, you know that we all have potential for great evil within us," Obi-Wan was saying quickly and with a frantic quality all his own. "There are things that could happen to make us want to turn, any one of us, for without holding the potential to hate, we would also not be able to feel love." His expression was only slightly less stricken than Anakin's, but now Obi-Wan's also held the conviction of faith in his own words.

"Think it through, Ani. Hold onto those differences. You and I barely know Amidala of Naboo, much less either of us being in love with her. The Order hasn't fought in a war in more than a millennia and cannot operate as an army -- even for the safety of the Republic. Nor do we have an Emperor." He took a deep breath then let his features soften even more. "The vision of your turning happened only after a long sequence of events that have not happened, that cannot happen. You are not going to kill the Council, the Order, or me --"

"Then why would the Force warn us about something that won't happen?" Anakin's eyes were still wide in fear and guilt, his body shaking in reaction to his emotions and his pain.

"It wouldn't," Qui-Gon answered firmly. He tightened his hold, shifting it to Anakin's closer hand and sending a pulse of energy to warm and comfort. "It has to have been a different kind of warning." And he paused, his eyes going back out to the tangible darkness of the storm surrounding them in the physical world. "What if we interpret it to be a warning about this mission instead of something in the future? What might it be telling us then?"

"That you and my master become lovers," Anakin said promptly, again eagerly reaching for something positive in what they'd been shown.

Qui-Gon blushed at the padawan's frankness.

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan managed to get out in only slightly strangled tones. "But was it warning us not to? The seeds of all of that Darkness could be laid to that pair's inability to deal with being Jedi and lovers."

As if that pair were not Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. Perhaps not a bad way to think about it, after all.

"If it is, I should think it a warning to be honest about our feelings," Qui-Gon offered gamely, no more happy than Obi-Wan to think that the Force might actually concern itself with their relationship, whatever it might turn out to be. "That we admit if we develop feelings for one another, instead of hiding them and letting them become obsessive."

As if they already hadn't taken those first steps anyway.

"There is no passion, there is serenity?" Anakin quoted one of the fundamental tenets archly.

Obi-Wan managed a weary smile. "If that is the reason, then we must also accept the warning about not acknowledging your place in any relationship between Master Jinn and myself, Padawan."

"I know I already have kept you from finding someone," the teen began in a voice barely above a whisper. "I am trying not to -"

"Ani, that's not what I meant," Obi-Wan interrupted sharply. "That is exactly the opposite of what the warning would mean. And you haven't kept me from anything."

Silence followed for a few beats, leaving Qui-Gon no doubt that the two were exchanging some form of mental communication. From this he could only surmise that Obi-Wan had had fewer liaisons than Anakin had first teased when the misunderstanding about the current nature of the Starlight and Crystal Garden had arisen. For which Anakin blamed himself.

From personal experience, Qui-Gon knew finding time for the various duties, responsibilities and activities a Jedi should involve himself with in addition to a master/padawan relationship was hard enough without also trying to juggle some form of outside, personal relationship. Obi-Wan would not have been the first master to keep his priorities centered on his padawan instead of himself.

"From what little I saw, the Qui-Gon in the vision saw that Anakin as a demand of the Force, a demand which he passed on to that Obi-Wan as a duty to his master," Qui-Gon offered when he judged enough time had passed by the relaxing of Anakin's posture to resume the real point of the discussion. "But master and padawan pairings are made out of feelings no less valid than those made between two who become lovers, otherwise bonding does not occur and, we can assume, did not occur there. In reality, you two have a very strong bond, and are both more than capable of forming additional ones. That part of the vision, like that of the ... involved relationships with the Queen of Naboo, may be only a reminder from the Force to reach for enjoyment as well as duty."

"And the Sith?" Anakin asked through a tight throat. "Me becoming a Sith and killing all the Jedi and my master?"

Perhaps not so ready or relaxed as he had hoped.

"We already have word that the ghost we are here to find is looking for something once belonging to the Sith. If the vision is entirely metaphorical, it could mean that we are at risk more from what is being searched for then from the ghost itself. "

"You mean you might be at risk because of something I might end up doing during this mission," Anakin frowned.

"You still have much to learn about life and the Force, but you are firmly of the Light, even without your master's teachings, Anakin," Qui-Gon quickly offered his own reassurances. Unfortunate that the visions were playing perfectly into the teen's confusion and difficulties over how the other Jedi treated or thought of him.

Maybe that was what the warning truly was for; that Anakin's insecurities could in turn lead him to become the very thing he feared the others expected from him. That he was in danger of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. And by his own presence, Qui-Gon might be the one best able to help him realize that Obi-Wan was not the only Jedi who could trust or love him.

"Any dealings with the Sith are dangerous, Ani," Obi-Wan soothed. "That is our danger, and one to the people of Erinne. Because we are better equipped to deal with it is why we are here."

"I know, but ..." Anakin was only partially convinced that somehow everything wasn't his fault.

Just as Qui-Gon found it easy to see how all that they'd been shown in the visions could be interpreted as his fault and, no doubt, Obi-Wan's interpretation would put the blame on himself. Such was often the way of visions and prophecies. But he had spent too much of his life debunking or exposing those who used such things for their own ends, to worry now about one potentially directed his way.

A Jedi's life was often about risk and personal danger, whether they received any Force warnings or not. Part of their training, was to look beyond the danger to the greater good of what they could accomplish by performing their task. Certainly he would do everything he could to insure Anakin stayed safe enough to receive that training and gain experience from his master.

Watching as Obi-Wan lifted his hand to smooth away the furrow between Anakin's brows, Qui-Gon couldn't help but feel a bit nostalgic for his own former padawan. Once Xan had reached Anakin's age, any such gestures of closeness had been long consigned to Xan's childhood, but Qui-Gon could still remember the ease he had derived from giving his padawan comfort.

While he was pretty sure he wasn't ready to take another padawan, he was more than ready to not be alone anymore.

"Perhaps we've analyzed the vision enough for now." Qui-Gon hoped his quiet suggestion wasn't stepping on Obi-Wan's toes as either Anakin's master or the mission leader. "Another night's rest and further meditation may help to put what we were shown in better perspective."

"A subtle suggestion that maybe we should put our minds to the task at hand?" Obi-Wan asked with a raised brow. A lightness in his eyes reassured Qui-Gon, as well as demanding a similar response.

"Should I have just told you that you were being too mindful of the future? That you both should stop centering on your anxieties and focus on the moment?" he offered with a slow grin.

"Being subtle was much more polite," Obi-Wan laughed. "But the advice is well spoken if harsh to hear. And for us both," he offered with a gentle thump to Anakin's forehead. "No more fretting over something beyond our control. If you need distraction, we could always start going over your Kashhyk'ka tense drills."

Once again they were treated to an overly theatrical groan. "I'm sure Master Jinn would be very bored to listen to us blather in Kashhyk'ka, Master. Or any of my lessons," he continued quickly. "I know, we should tell him more about the interesting people at the Temple he hasn't had a chance to get to know yet."

"You mean gossip about the Council," Obi-Wan said in dismay as he gave a small shake of his head. "You are worse than --

"Master, there is something -"

`Something' turned out to be a crackle and blue sparks racing up the steering column, along with a puff of smoke and the sudden odor of burning flesh. The vehicle lurched forward as their driver jerked within his restraint then fell limp.

Even as Qui-Gon cast his mind outward, sifting the Force currents to read whether the danger came from the storm, or the road or an outside agency. Obi-Wan had either found something on their own side of the partition to bring it down, or was using the Force to override the controls. The knight thrust out an arm to keep Anakin from grabbing hold of the driver.

"Let me break his hold and pull him back," Qui-Gon suggested, putting action to deed and using the Force. While he then attempted resuscitate the driver, Obi-Wan and Anakin both rolled over into the front seat, Obi-Wan taking a position behind the wheel, but carefully still not touching the steering column. The vehicle was continuing to accelerate beyond safe speeds and soon the inertial dampeners and speed governors would be hard pressed to keep up.

"Try to shut down the propulsion system," he instructed his padawan when his attempt to override the autopilot failed.

Such a catastrophic failure in propulsion should trigger the safety systems and either slow them, or at least engage further restraints to cushion them.

Anakin used a particularly vulgar curse when that didn't work either, but Obi-Wan had little time to chastise his padawan. Especially since he'd murmured much the same words.

Feeling like a third wheel as he finally stopped his ministrations on the driver, Qui-Gon closed the poor fellow's eyes. He didn't need to inform the other two of the man's death, the Force softly resonated with his passing before clamoring once again of their own danger.

"Master --" Anakin was now bending over and twisting under the car's front panel. "I think I can bypass the electrical short so you can keep us steady and away from the security and communication posts along the roadside."

Qui-Gon dug through his belt and pulled out a metal probe that was covered in rubber on one end. He used it as a muffled hammer to cause as little damage as possible to the artifacts he sometimes needed to almost bludgeon out of an unyielding ground. But it also had a narrowed edge along the rubber tip, and might be able to be wedged between the casing that protected the various drive, propulsion and power systems.

"There, that's got it," came as Anakin shifted even further underneath the console with only his hips and thighs left near the seat.

Obi-Wan could now take hold of the steering wheel, but still had no control over their path or acceleration. Which meant Anakin would need to trace over several clusters of wires. He would need to identify each conduit, through Force and physical touch without triggering the same kind of short that had already killed one of them.

Qui-Gon could feel a frission of worry coming from Obi-Wan on his padawan's behalf, the worry and the feel of danger growing more intense. Anakin suddenly jerked, no doubt pulling on back and neck muscles already strained by his contorted position, though he managed to keep his precarious hold and didn't stop what he was doing. Although certainly no mechanic, Qui-Gon knew enough to recognize what Anakin was attempting, and how dangerous such doing was under these conditions.

In the next instant a flash whited out the interior, whited out even the storm's darkness beyond. But it hadn't been from one of the power conduits, nor did a near deafening roar of thunder immediately follow to accompany what at first thought had been a point blank impact of lightening.

"Master?"

"We're under attack," Obi-Wan offered grimly. "Some form of highly concentrated laser."

"Erinne has no defense satellites," Qui-Gon protested. "They've only got communications and weather satellites in orbit, nothing that should be able to produce a burst that strong."

"Well they've got something," the knight grunted as the vehicle flew around an even tighter turn. From outside another laser barrage followed almost immediately, hitting close enough to the back of their vehicle that all three Jedi could smell the bubbling pitch of the melting roadway.

And whatever it was could also track them. Which meant they would need to vacate the car instead of just stopping it.

"We're going to need to jump clear once you've slowed us down enough."

Obi-Wan nodded and spared a glance back toward Qui-Gon. "Will you be able to grab Anakin?"

"But Master -"

"Ani, I'm going to need to handle the steering right to the last possible instant," Obi-Wan didn't let his padawan finish voicing his concern or complaint. "Which means you are going to have to let Qui-Gon pull you free when it's time, and follow his lead once you're out."

Qui-Gon nodded. Thank the Force that the vehicle doors raised upward instead out sideways. They should be able to slide out with no worry of any obstruction other than something that might be at the side of the road. And hope that the car wouldn't slew around once Obi-Wan also propelled himself out to clip one of them as they left it.

A new burst from a laser made any argument or delay pointless - dangerous - as this one cut through the back of the vehicle itself, disintegrating their luggage and adding impetus to the jerking deceleration as Anakin was able to weaken the connection between the propulsion control system and the power source. It was time, in more ways than one and Qui-Gon directed the Force to blow all four of the doors simultaneously. That slowed the ground car even more, along with Anakin's manipulation of the power conduits, and Obi-Wan's skillful weaving back and forth across the road.

Not slowed enough, however, not quite yet, but the Force was screaming at them to abandon the vehicle now and even the most placid of Jedi might have trouble ignoring such a compulsion -




Obi-Wan had time to realize it was a localized defense system and not an orbital satellite firing on them as he pushed himself away from the others and into the storm. A mobile droid hovered nearby, one able to track and maintain its acceleration and deceleration with theirs, but it hadn't been able to fully compensate for the timing of the variations. Or perhaps it was having some trouble tracking by infrared for all the water sleeting around them. At least this allowed Obi-Wan opportunity to reach for his lightsaber and deflect the next blast as he twisted in mid-air.

It was all he could do to block the shot and keep the ricochet from hitting the car or one of his companions; he had no chance to angle the blast back to take out the hovering droid. All he could do to keep his mind on even that, when a bright bleat of pain came from Anakin, both in his mind and through his ears. But it was not the cry of a mortal wound, and then Obi-Wan needed hold back his own cry as he discovered the hard way that he'd not been able to see clearly enough as he dropped further down beyond what was the side of a low bridge instead onto the side of the road he'd expected.

Prepared to bleed off his momentum in a roll, Obi-Wan found himself instead plunging through thin, brittle ice into a waterway at least ten or more feet deep. Instantly his hands cramped as they and the rest of his exposed skin began to numb in the freezing liquid.

At another time Obi-Wan would have worried about or been bothered by the mouthful of mud and mineral silted water he involuntarily swallowed and splashed into his eyes before he managed to close them. But the more immediate threat lay in his body's reaction to the cold, not the water -- not even the depth of the water as he managed to keep his direction and discard his cloak before its sodden weight could pull him further downward.

He tried to wrap the Force around his shaking body as he stroked back up and broke the surface, although with the raging storm overhead, he was still swallowing almost as much water. True night had fallen along with the storm's full fury, reducing visibility to next to nothing except for the occasional flash of real lightning. But by that he could see that he hadn't been drawn very far downstream. Nor was he too far from the bank and the hillside that would lead him back up to the others, whom he could hear still engaged in deflecting the attack.

Not that he'd be able to do much good; his unexpected dunking had shorted out his saber and it would take more time than he had to spare to recalibrate it, leaving the others to have to protect him as he couldn't even call upon Force enhanced speed for needing to direct the energy to counteract the cold that wanted to send him back under. But staying away would only add to Anakin's worry and distraction, and so after pulling himself out of the icy water, Obi-Wan floundered up the viscous, muddy embankment.

While Obi-Wan could change out any part of his lightsaber by feel instead of sight, he hesitated popping open the casing to check on his crystals. Were he to lose one now it would sink into the mud or roll back down in to the water, where even with the Force he'd have trouble finding it again.

"Master, over here!"

Obi-Wan lifted his face to the storm in a effort to see Anakin, then had to rely on Force sight when eyesight gave him little more to see than the fingers in front of his face.

"Obi-Wan, the trees!"

A good idea, though he would have to cross the open roadway to reach trees and companions. At least the trees might slow the droid and reduce its maneuverability. They would still need to find a way to disable it, of course, but -

Obi-Wan cursed as he had to dive over and roll away from the smoking ruin of the ground car when another blast struck the pavement as he started to cross. Too slow and too distracted. Too vulnerable. Suddenly he wasn't alone, however, and recognized the step of his padawan's boots and hum of the teen's lightsaber even as it had to be Qui-Gon actually helping him rise.

He held on and let himself be steadied before breaking out into a run alongside the Master Jedi. Furious at himself and worried for Anakin, he stumbled at the transition between permacrete and ground, would have fallen but for Qui-Gon's quick hand.

"Will you use another's saber?"

And even before Obi-Wan could answer, he felt his own being taken from his grasp and another slapped against his palm. Jedi didn't commonly exchange weapons, and indeed, couldn't always use another's, depending on how the weapon was crafted and which crystals used. Each type of crystal had its own resonance, and the choosing of them was not unlike choosing a path to follow; not all options made good fits. If he and Qui-Gon were too different -

But the saber lit for him, with only a little feedback that buzzed more as a distraction than pain in the back of his mind. And Obi-Wan would have gladly endured more for his padawan's sake. Even as he turned back toward Anakin's confrontation with the droid, he caught the barest warning from the Force and was leaping, flipping in the air to give himself momentum and distance away from the bolt that had not come from the droid.

They'd been traveling on a thoroughfare with automated controls that interfaced with all properly equipped ground vehicles. It was also lined with communications and diagnostics posts in case of damage or overloads. These posts contained low level security measures to be used against vandals or the occasionally too curious animal out in unpopulated regions such as this. Usually these measures engaged only when the housing was breached, but, like everything else electronic, could be overridden with the right opportunity and skill.

Obi-Wan could sense Anakin's attention focus solely on the droid, his padawan's surprise at being attacked in the first place along with concern for his companions all but overwhelming his normal and Force awareness along with his intent to disable their attacker. Anakin was also shielding his side of the link, causing Obi-Wan to fear his padawan had taken more injury than he wanted to let on, but perhaps it had been reflexive to shut out Obi-Wan's own troubles. Unfortunately to now force the muted link open to give warning would just as likely disrupt Anakin's concentration as would a shout and he was so directly engaged ...

But if Obi-Wan didn't, and couldn't reach position in time -

Anakin tumbled over the edge of the bridge only marginally more gracefully than Obi-Wan had, his surprise total not only in feeling Obi-Wan use the Force to push him over, but also fighting against the Force holding him from immersing himself, if only for an instant. Yet Anakin had always been a quick study, and never more so in fighting at Obi-Wan's side. Even as Obi-Wan used Qui-Gon's blade to deflect the new laser bolt from the nearest comm post and channeled even more of the Force through his body to also give the droid enough of a push to alter the trajectory of its next blast, he could sense Anakin grabbing for a handhold along the bridge's mortared wall, allowing Obi-Wan to look after himself instead of also his padawan.

Obi-Wan dove over two more subsequent shots, rolling back to his feet just beyond a saber's length away from the metal communications tower that was also trying to mete out death. With Qui-Gon's blade being several inches longer than his own, he could actually breach the outside casing from this position, but would still need to close in order to plunge the blade inward far enough to disrupt the controls. The closer he approached, however, the more security systems he would trigger.

"Master, look out!" and it was Anakin's turn to push Obi-Wan out of harm's way as yet a third source of attack came to life.

Anakin had used his hands instead of the Force, and Obi-Wan took advantage of his padawan's close proximity to pull him along in the controlled tumble, both of them automatically shutting off their sabers lest they damage one another or themselves. Retreat was never Obi-Wan's first choice, yet they had little option now but to again try to escape into the trees as the other comm posts within visual range began targeting them. At least away from the road, they would need to fight only the droid.

Such escape became suddenly easier. While he had no idea of what Qui-Gon was planning, Obi-Wan was nearly overwhelmed by the level of Force energy the older Jedi Master began gathering, and had to tighten his mental and physical hold on Anakin to keep his padawan from allowing some of his own extensive reserve to be drawn up in the taking. A wordless exchange of wonder with Anakin, a blink, then a cacophony of light, sound and waves of energy rolled through the night as the ground car's fuel system heated and exploded. Shrapnel, burning liquid, not even the concussive force of the explosion reached Obi-Wan and Anakin, however, as Qui-Gon also erected a protective screen around them.

Unfortunately the fallout didn't reach the droid either. Their only hope was that the droid's self-diagnostics would go slowly, then that its programming wasn't sophisticated enough to realize its prey had escaped with the execution of what had probably been its primary goal in the explosion of the car. But Obi-Wan wasn't going to count on that anymore than he expected the security systems of the comm posts wouldn't be automated against them again.

The three of them slid past the first of the trees at a speed fast but not Force enhanced, and didn't stop for ten minutes. They needed to rely on the Force to avoid obstructions and mundane dangers underfoot as the heavy growth not only hid the light of the burning car, but blocked out even the meager and intermittent light from the storm's lightening. But eventually the growth lessened, not enough to offer dubious visibility or to break as cover, but at least to make the passing less treacherous. And to give them opportunity in a few minutes more to find a place to stop.

This was their first opportunity to assess the level of injury each other had sustained; although Anakin was doing a good job of shielding any pain, Obi-Wan still couldn't get the sound of his padawan's initial distress from his mind.

"Anakin, are you alright?" he forced out between chattering teeth as the three of them hunched over to catch their breath. Not that Anakin would lie outright, but Obi-Wan reached up to put a hand to his padawan's shoulder so that he could sense anything the teen might have been shading along with the full truth.

Tendrils of disquiet and distress flowed about Anakin's hairline and Obi-Wan raised his fingers. Even had there been enough light to see, no doubt the rain would be washing away most of the blood from the scalp wound he now felt. Nor did he need evidence of blood or the ability to see to be able to feel heat radiating from the otherwise too cool skin. An even greater heat came from one of Anakin's hands -- a burn then, probably from the conduit and no doubt extremely painful, especially under constant lashing from the rain which had lessened but not ended as they moved further into the forest. At least a great deal of the wind's fury had been cut, but Anakin was still so cold to the touch.

Or maybe that was just his own skin. No matter how much Force energy he pulled around him, he no longer had his cloak as protection from the wind and rain, and his dunking had forced water through the under layers of his cold-gear tunics to reach his skin. Movement was his only source of warmth, and even that was barely enough.

"We need to get moving again," Qui-Gon suggested as if reading his thoughts, and with an apologetic tone, but whether for the interruption of the moment between master and padawan, or the fact that none of the three of them was really ready to keep going, Obi-Wan wasn't sure.

Just as he wasn't sure if the waves of exhaustion coming from the older man were more from being chased, or from the massive exertion of Force Qui-Gon had used to set the car on fire and disable the nearest two security posts. Though no doubt able to look after himself under even the abnormal circumstances the researcher occasionally found himself in, Qui-Gon was not an active field agent, and had probably used the Force more in the last ten minutes than he normally did in ten days.

"The bot?" Anakin asked between deep breaths.

"I'm not sure it's picked up our trail yet, but it isn't going away."

Obi-Wan clutched Qui-Gon's lightsaber tighter. They could keep up a run, for hours more if necessary. But without an idea of where to go, they could just as easily run in circles save for a Force enhanced sense of direction. And until they got rid of their pursuer, circles or straight lines would make little difference. The droid would be relentless, not tiring or growing frustrated with the time it might take it to find them. And this was all assuming there would not be additional measures taken against them.

There was also the concern that if they did find a town, or some place that they might be able to communicate with those expecting them, the droid wouldn't be forestalled from completing its programming just because others might be around. Obi-Wan did not want to put others at risk.

Including Qui-Gon or Anakin.

"I'll go back and draw it off until I can find a place to turn its attack back on itself." He could feel Anakin's protest building, could hear his padawan draw in a breath before speaking just as his body tensed beneath Obi-Wan's grip. "Anakin, you need to stay with and defend Master Qui-Gon in case there are others, or something else concerned with stopping us. And this way, if you do find some place to hold up, I'll be able to find the two of you."

"I - but - yes, Master," came Anakin's eventual acquiescence. He might not have realized why Obi-Wan was carrying Qui-Gon's lightsaber, but he'd had the opportunity to note its different color, to figure out where the green blade had come from and to conclude that meant Qui-Gon was now without a weapon himself. Nor should he have much call to dispute his master's ability to handle the droid, since Anakin was too frequently extolling his master's skill with a blade to his friends and peers to now doubt it.

Which didn't mean Obi-Wan also didn't understand Anakin's reluctance to be away from his master's side. Obi-Wan felt a reluctance of his own in having to separate, although he was not getting a sense of added danger for either of them.

"Take care of each other," he admonished, finally removing his hand from Anakin's cheek to then brush his fingers across the back of Qui-Gon's hand. In truth he wasn't sure who he was more concerned for, only knowing he didn't want to part from either. It was a curious feeling, something more than just simply looking out for a fellow Jedi or an involved third party, and he was very glad that this hadn't come up when Anakin had been younger. Even now it would be difficult not to feel he was slighting his feelings for one over the other, but at least Anakin was old enough to recognize his master's interest in another. And Anakin was old enough, skilled enough that Obi-Wan could trust him to do his duty without his master's presence.

Now he needed do his own.


2.

Had either of them been the one tracking it, no doubt Qui-Gon or Anakin would have sensed the droid through its disruption to the normal inhabitants of the forest, their preternatural quiet or fear of being invaded disrupting the local ecosystem. Obi-Wan found it not so much from those feelings of disquiet, however. To him the foreignness of a something created jangled across the pattern spun from all of the living things. The Unifying Force versus the Living Force, twining aspects of the same energy, and maybe all just a matter of perspective.

Others argued that even the difference of Light and Dark within the Force was all a matter of perspective, that such thinking simply personified a force of nature like entropy or gravity, although if they were of the Jedi Order, they didn't voice such radical thinking very loudly. Obi-Wan on the other hand didn't care whether his ability to use the Force came from atomic size entities with a sentience and purpose all their own within his bloodstream that some defined as midichlorians, or whether he'd been born with a set of genetic predispositions that allowed him to more fully refine and use non-species dependent skills and abilities. To him the Force was an ally, not a taskmaster, and Light and Dark were choices to use his abilities to protect someone instead of victimizing them.

Midichlorians or not, the Will of the Force or not, all of Obi-Wan's choices were his own, and any destiny or pre-determination couldn't stand up to free will. Even his visions of the future were little more than image-like dreams, random bits of data that his brain collated into a visual playback his conscious mind might not always understand. He thought of it as having a better set of defined variables to process, and more skill in interpreting them. The more data available, the better a decision that could be made.

A Jedi seeks knowledge over ignorance.

So in that way, his own mindset and decisions were not unlike that of the droid he now trailed; using logic instead of intuition, relying on facts instead of emotions. Such similarity made it easier for Obi-Wan to anticipate the droid's programming. Yet it was his ability to be intuitive or emotional that let him exceed the mere logic of the situation and outthink the droid's artificial or directed intelligence.

The droid's visual sensors were next to useless in the midst of the trees and hindered by the rain that penetrated the leafy overhang. Proximity detectors would keep it from running into any of the trees, but it couldn't see the broken branches or disrupted ground and ground cover that had marked their passageway, just as the infrared sensors had been confounded by the speed of their passage. And its audio sensors wouldn't perform beyond a certain radius.

Obi-Wan was almost tempted to just let it wander, knowing that although it would relentlessly search the entire grove of trees, there wasn't much likelihood of it tracing them to actually threaten them again. Then again, not even formidable Jedi will would dissuade a droid's dedication to programming and purpose. And he had no desire to be hunted for the rest of his days here on Erinne.

So he should find it and put it out of commission.

Because the droid flew and hovered some fifteen feet above the ground, he would not be able to simply thrust Qui-Gon's saber into its casing and disrupt its functioning as he had the first comm and security post. Nor could he use the Force to do more than move it; even pushing it into a tree might not be enough to do more than temporarily disrupt its balancing gyros or inertia stabilizers. He didn't have a blaster to turn focused energy on the sphere, or even a makeshift net to throw to try to counter its mobility. Turning its own power against itself seemed not only the smartest avenue, but also his only one.

Which meant he would have to give up his advantage of surprise in order to be shot at.

And which meant that if he didn't get the angle correct within the first couple of volleys, the chances of him getting hit by one of the bursts increased exponentially as the droid would be just as able to anticipate his likely avenues of movement and actions.

Patterns. His life was a series of patterns for which a few random happenstances interrupted.

Like having another's lightsaber in hand when beginning to execute a pattern of attack.

Being at least six inches taller than Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon's lightsaber was set to the other Jedi's height and reach. This had already caused him once to miscalculate his position and to disrupt his timing. That time he'd had Anakin to cover his back as he dealt with his misstep.

This time Obi-Wan didn't so much miscalculate as simply have no other choice. Although trees hemmed in his aerial maneuvers just as much as they did the droid's, Obi-Wan still needed to twist into a flip from a standing position in order to avoid a more rapid burst than the droid had previously employed. And although the weight of a lightsaber depended only on its casing and not at all from the blade, the length of the blade was still paramount as it could cut through anything other than another saber. Cutting through flesh and bone -- his own -- would pose it no trouble at all.

Landing awkwardly to avoid taking off his own ankle, Obi-Wan muttered a curse he would never had spoken in his padawan's presence as said ankle slipped and twisted on the rain-slicked detritus. His fall put him under the next round of shots, but also made him take time to catch himself, which kept his weapon out of alignment.

Splinters of smoking rock and tree bark further peppered the back of his hand as he was rolling back into an upright, crouching position and bringing the slash of green angled in reverse across his back to deflect the next shot. But he'd moved true to his need, returning the laser fire to its source with a sckreel and whumph of impact and catastrophic failure. And let his momentum carry him into another forward roll and enough distance to avoid the exploding shrapnel.

With the droid finally destroyed, Obi-Wan used the nearest tree to bring himself upright and test his ankle before putting much weight upon it. Twisted, not broken, it would only slow him down, not preventing his return to his padawan and Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon wasn't sure if he'd ever been as uncomfortable on a mission before. It didn't help that he had no weapon other than his wits and the Force, yet better him without than Obi-Wan. He at least had Anakin if using the Force wasn't enough; surely Obi-Wan wouldn't have split them up if the knight hadn't had confidence in his padawan's abilities to protect.

Of course, being left with Anakin accounted for as much of Qui-Gon's disquiet as being without his lightsaber. Although Anakin was nominally his protector, in truth Obi-Wan had also entrusted Anakin's care to him for more than just the mission should the worst happen. It had been too many years, however, since Qui-Gon needed to care for a padawan. He didn't want any such responsibility, but especially not because of harm to Obi-Wan.

But being Jedi meant taking responsibility for things out of his control and, instead of worrying about what might never happen, he should turn his attention toward the task of finding safety. And paying more attention to his young charge.

Although he tried to control it, Anakin's chattering teeth served counterpoint to the rain splattering against the branches overhead, and their footfalls on the debris strewn ground. Qui-Gon knew Obi-Wan had to be even colder, though no doubt the knight wouldn't say or show any distress upon his return, until his condition became dangerous to one of the others. They all had need to get out of their wet clothes -- out of the icy rain completely -- in order to do just that. So they needed a cave, or even better, a crofter or hunter's cabin -

Hadn't their driver mentioned his own home was about halfway from the landing field to the capitol? If he'd been paying proper attention, the distance was about right, and surely it wouldn't have been too far away from the road? So all they needed to hope for was they had gone the right direction in their escape, and that they might quickly find some sort of side road.

They found the house before they did the road leading toward it. Qui-Gon couldn't be sure it belonged to their driver; it was late enough in the evening that finding a single light shining might only mean the inhabitants had gone to bed.

Qui-Gon took a harder look at the homestead opening up in the valley below. They had come through a sparser set trees -- evidenced by the amount of rain that was reaching them again -- but it was only now that Qui-Gon could see regularity in the shadows; forest becoming an orchard. The sole light gave them a bare glimpse of a gabled edifice, while the length of the shadows surrounding it bespoke of it being quite large.

"Do you think it's safe?"

Qui-Gon turned toward Anakin despite being unable to see what expression underneath the teen's restored hood might match the flatness of his tone.

"Until we know why we were attacked and if we are still being pursued, nothing is safe, Padawan. But the house represents a danger only assuming its inhabitants work against us directly, or should they refuse us entrance. And the danger in remaining outside is already greater than that."

Anakin nodded, the movement just a deeper blur of shadow. "So do we wait here for my master, go forward to secure room and board before his arrival, or head back to help him?"

It didn't take a Jedi to know which of the choices Anakin hoped Qui-Gon would decide upon. And the Master Jedi was just as worried about their companion, though he had agreed fully with Obi-Wan's decision to be the one to stay behind. The droid needed to be taken out of operation lest the mission be compromised before it had truly begun, and the knight was the one best qualified to defeat it in combat.

"What do you feel we should do, Anakin?"

Which put the padawan on the spot, Qui-Gon knew, but he asked not solely as an offhand or training question. Even if the teen had little of the extraordinary Force intuition of his master, he did still have a link with Obi-Wan. Anakin's answer, therefore, would be taking that into consideration, even if Anakin wasn't consciously aware of incorporating it into his response. They both had a more personal involvement than was perhaps prudent from strictly a mission perspective, but he could hope that in response to another master asking, Anakin could put aside most of his own emotions. As would Qui-Gon, in evaluating how Anakin reached his conclusion.

"I want to go back," Anakin answered instantly, turning his face back toward where his master should be, though not his body.

"So do I." Qui-Gon rewarded Anakin's honesty with his own, and with the same amount of questioning in his tone as Anakin had put into his own. Yet Qui-Gon offered nothing more. And didn't move.

"I want to go back, but if my master still hasn't managed to put the droid out of commission and it follows us after we rejoin him, we could be putting more people in danger should it attack us upon reaching this residence."

Qui-Gon was pleased Anakin was thinking of others before himself - before even his master.

"That's assuming the folks here didn't send the droid after us in the first place," Anakin added a bit crossly. "I can't believe it followed us from the space port only to attack when our driver was mysteriously electrocuted to death." The teen then twisted back toward the direction of the cheerless house.

"Except thinking it came from here doesn't feel right either. While I sense something ... off about the house, it's nothing like in the ground car. I sense a potential for danger, like maybe they don't like off-worlders in general, not that they won't like us."

Qui-Gon wouldn't be surprised if Anakin's last supposition was correct. Even without the threat of a ghost haunting the countryside, the Erinne populace was slow to embrace strangers. Few cultures were ever truly comfortable having Jedi present, no matter how enlightened or cosmopolitan they portrayed themselves. With so few Jedi and so many peoples needing their help, there were more worlds to which Jedi were just as mythic as were ghosts. Or Sith.

And, to some, just as dangerous.

Qui-Gon let the moment stretch out a bit longer to see if Anakin was willing to support any side of the equation any longer, and turned expectantly when he felt the teen stiffen next to him.

"He's destroyed the droid. Now he's using our training link to find us."

"Can you do the same?"

This time Anakin turned enough in Qui-Gon's direction that he could just make out the teen's smile.

"Yes, sir!"

His relief and undisguised surprise that another Jedi Master would even consider doing something more personally oriented instead of mission driven dovetailed into an excitement Qui-Gon normally saw only in the younger Jedi initiates who had no need to worry about things such as self pride or controlled emotions. Qui-Gon wondered if this was a common occurrence, or whether it showed a measure of personal trust from Anakin he wasn't sure he yet rated.

"Ani, can you sense if he was injured in the encounter?"

Qui-Gon rather hoped no for a number of reasons. While they had all gotten a bit jarred and bruised from their unexpected exit from the ground car during the attack, that very attack had destroyed all of their personal belongings save for what they each carried, including the first aid kit that Qui-Gon had so carefully restocked before their departure. He still had a few things in his belt and assumed the other two Jedi did also, but they were still many miles from the nearest city and things such as bone regenerators and bacta. While he could hope that the type of people who lived so far away from amenities like doctors and hospitals would be well stocked for emergencies, it wasn't something Qui-Gon wanted to bet anyone's life on.

Much of Anakin's enthusiasm faded with Qui-Gon's question and the specter of trouble the Jedi Master had raised, for which Qui-Gon couldn't help but feel a measure of guilt. But at least Anakin didn't become morose or agitated, which should mean he had been able to make more extensive contact with his master, and had received good news. There was a frisson of concern in Anakin's bearing, just not a strong one.

"He aches, but not badly," came the distracted response as Anakin tried to sort out differences from what he had no doubt been told as opposed to what he was actually sensing.

Or maybe he was having trouble with his own injuries to be able to sort out that which was his own pain. Qui-Gon still had enough Force sense left to discover Anakin was covering up some sort of serious injury. Just apparently not one serious enough to have slowed them down.

Again Qui-Gon had managed to escape any sort of difficulty such as had plagued the other two in this second unexpected encounter. Which led him to wonder whether it was luck or something more.

"He's moving fairly slowly, but that could be because he's fighting off exhaustion and hypothermia." The last Anakin bit off in exasperation while shaking his head.

"I'm sorry, Master Jinnn, but until a few days ago, I've never been this closely linked with my master," he then apologized. "I'm not sure which is real and what just might be my own projections out of fear."

"You're doing fine, Anakin." Qui-Gon dropped his hand on the other's shoulder in reassurance. "You've done very well all throughout the start of this mission and I'm sure your master will be proud. Let's go find him so he can tell you himself."


3.

The three of them found the house uninhabited. Whether that meant it had belonged to their driver, or just that its owners were elsewhere wasn't clear. Anakin hadn't even waited for the end of the debate between the two masters before he had overridden the locking codes and pushed open the door. His Force sense, along with Master Jinn's, had verified it was empty, while his master's had found no particularly harmful security system in place. Which meant they could break in and apologize later.

Finding all but a few rooms filled with dust and cobwebs seemed to mollify Master Jinn that they weren't exactly invading someone's privacy; except for the fact that they had found food stores in their initial explorations -- some of it perishable and not yet spoiled -- it became obvious that most of the house was abandoned, and had been for quite some time.

Anakin had been all for bedding down in one of the front rooms downstairs, feeling much more tired and cold than he was hungry or curious. But he found himself immediately chivied upstairs and co-opted into searching through some of the furniture draped rooms. As his master had pointed out, they had already broken in and it would be just as easy to offer compensation for their further invasion of privacy by using some of their furnishings and linens. Maybe even some clothing, assuming they could find any, as all of their own possession were either completely destroyed or wet enough to fill a bathtub should they try to wring them out.

They found not only clothing, wrapped and stored as if no one planned to wear them for at least a season, but also a bathtub not even Master Jinn would find confining. All within two bedrooms that had doors in common to the bathing area and would work well to keep them nearby one another. Both also contained two beds, one of which would be big enough for the three of them to share. But he and his master took one room and left Master Jinn to his own privacy.

His master began to arrange the wood that lay near a stone hearth after they decided not to spend the time poking around to try to find whatever other source of heating installed within the house (especially since it might not even be usable without significant repair or study). Anakin gave only a cursory glance at the splendor of the room that was maybe twice as large as his and his master's entire suite back home. The same with the garish-colored clothes stored within the two wardrobes set against the wall.

His attention was drawn to the bathroom that seemed more like one of the hydrotherapy spas in the Temple. Given how so much of the house seemed abandoned, he half expected to find the water pipes disconnected, but that was not the case and he began to fill the swimming pool size sunken tub, even as he also moved toward a shower stall. He knew his master would prefer to first wash off all of the mud he'd become covered with in his exodus from the river.

"Let me help, Ani."

Anakin turned in surprise, not having heard his master's approach over the running jets of water, and not having sensed him in his own growing exhaustion. He had managed to shrug out of his robe and outer tunic, but was having trouble gripping his singlet to pull it up over his head. He had the shakes, both from muscle fatigue and still from the cold. Plus he was having trouble closing his hand --

His master took hold of his hand, was lifting it gently, cradling it in his own. To Anakin's surprise, severe burns reddened and blistered the palm and all along his fingertips down to his second knuckles. In more than one place the damaged skin had been further cut, no doubt from his grip on the stone bridge when he'd been the one needing to escape the river and regain the road.

"Once we get it cleaned, I'm going to need to seal it somehow," was said as his master maneuvered Anakin over to take a seat on the commode. "Can you move your fingers?"

"If I have to."

A nod and Anakin's arm was raised across the counter surrounding the sink. His master started going through his belt pouches, but obviously some of the things he'd planned on using were soaked, and so he turned to the variety of cabinets and drawers.

"T-this can wait, Master," Anakin protested. "We -- you need to get warm."

To which his master responded not by stopping, or even disagreeing, but in using the Force to begin unfastening the buckles of Anakin's boots and belt without disrupting his search for first aid supplies. With a shake of his head, Anakin toed the boots off and began to wriggle out of his leggings. Steam from the bath had begun to fill the room; although it would be long minutes yet before the tub was filled, the sheer volume was beginning to offset the chill in both the air and Anakin's skin nevertheless.

Apparently the abandoned house was not so long empty as to not have synthskin and bactacreme on hand; weary but triumphant, his master trudged back toward him, the limp the teen had hoped he'd only imagined when his master had rejoined them upon destroying the droid now definitely present.

"The full spectrum shots before our departure from Coruscant should have rendered us immune to any native contaminants, but I want you to keep me apprised of any pain or trouble," his master began as he cleaned and then sprayed the cuts. "I don't think any of the abrasions are deep enough to worry about muscle or nerve damage, but you must also tell me about any numbness or tingling. And we'll need to keep a careful eye on the extent of the burn."

Anakin nodded in full earnest. Ever since the time he'd discovered his master had not only been on a mission he'd not been told about, but had been seriously injured and even that knowledge had been kept from Anakin by the Council and the healers, they'd made a promise to never again keep silent about such a thing, despite what the others might have preferred. Any serious injury -- to either of them -- would adversely affect Anakin's training.

And that one had come very close to adversely affecting Anakin's ability to trust.

"How bad is your ankle?" Anakin asked when his master finished bandaging his damaged hand.

His master's smile was just as weary as Anakin's tone, but was also genuine and disarming. "Nothing that won't be gone come morning," came the reassurance.

Anakin was then assisted from the commode and down into the sunken bath.

"Now just let me shower off the mud and I'll join you in a soak -"

A knock from Master Jinn's side of the room had Anakin quickly reaching through the Force for a towel before realizing how childish that might appear, given how both were on the other side of where he was, and the towel would really only work if he planned to get out of the bath. Nor was his master worrying about covering up, although he'd now finished shrugging out of his own clothes.

"Come on in, Qui-Gon," his master called out before stepping under the shower's spray.

"You two ready for a little company?" the older Jedi asked, wearing a friendly expression and little else save for a robe of some undoubtedly local weave.

"Ah, s-sure, Master Jinn," Anakin stuttered and bobbed his head in a type of greeting. Knowing his master hadn't really been abandoning him to deal so drastically with his embarrassment and discomfort, that he should have no reason to even be embarrassed -- nor should he have expected anything else as this is where both his and his master had quickly retreated to find warmth and comfort after the attack -- still Anakin blushed and sought to hold his hands in his lap. Not having grown up at any of the Order's temples or in a dormitory, he simply did not have the typical Jedi aplomb in being nude before someone he didn't really know, not even in locker room or medical.

It didn't exactly help to discover as Master Jinn disrobed that he was so ... impressive. That Jedi robes and tunics had been hiding more than a fair amount of muscle. Or that the man was simply big all over. For an instant Anakin's mind froze, caught between jealousy and arousal, though he had always figured his master to be more of his type and even that was assuming he didn't really prefer women as potential sexual partners.

A while back he'd decided some of his current protectiveness and attention to his padawan duties actually stemmed more from being attracted to his master's body type and size than perhaps his master, that he was expecting to eventually end up with someone he could take care of instead of always being cared for. Even those times where the two of them were involved on a mission and he watched men and women, human or alien alike, throw themselves at his master in an attempt to bed him, had been something more to laugh about than get jealous over. It hadn't stopped him from getting aroused, but that was little more than teenage hormones and lust.

Surely so was his sudden desire for Master Jinn.

Yet sure enough, despite how old the other master was, Anakin found himself suppressing yet another pang of jealousy, this one of his master instead of for his master. There was no way he could compete with either man for the attention of the other. He was too young, too inexperienced, and too underdeveloped.

Too needy.

Anakin's thoughts began going around in a circle, then, suddenly, so was his vision and he slid sideways in the bath. Even now the rising water wasn't really deep enough for his head to go under but in the next instant both his master and Master Jinn were at either side of him. Then his master was kneeling in the water before him and didn't that bring up interesting wishes, and --

"Anakin!"

For some reason his master's expression and focus wasn't what Anakin was expecting, and he tried to raise his hand to smooth away the frown, which involved touching those lips and that dimple, and his fingers weren't doing the job so maybe his own lips would work better --

Anakin found himself unable to move, not his body, not even his head, and he began to thrash. But then recognized and knew not to fear the grip that was holding him in place. When the grip didn't lessen however, Anakin began to pout as a distraction to disguise gathering the Force. When all he managed was to splash his master instead of wrestle free, however, the pout became important, but he couldn't hold it when suddenly overcome by the giggles before blacking out.




Shit.

Obi-Wan kept Anakin propped up against the tiles and shook away the water streaming from his hair and face. "He's alright," he said quickly, not having to look to know Qui-Gon would be concerned, then had to fight a bit of the giggles himself as he put together what the other master would have seen. "I think if you check the bactacreme I used on him, you'll find it combined with a particular medicinal narcotic sedative. Which works on Anakin, quite well as you may have noted, but also inhibits his judgment."

"And his shielding," came the acknowledgement, to which Obi-Wan turned bright red.

On to the next part...