Disclaimers: George Lucas (Lucasfilm) owns the Star Wars
Universe.
No profit is being made from this
writing. It is written for the enjoyment
of those who wish to share it. :)
Summary: It's Qui-Gon's birthday. Darth Maul decides to give him one he will
never forget ... but things do not quite go as the Sith Lord planned ...
Author's note: Set before Qui-Gon trained Obi-Wan.
Rating M
Drama
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INNOCENCE
Qui-Gon had been invited out for his
birthday by two young Jedi knights whom he did not know very well. The Jedi Master was not one for a big
celebration, but he decided to take the opportunity to become better acquainted
with his colleagues.
The Jedi Master sat down for dinner
at a restaurant Universally famous for its food. He had never been here before, not being one
for fame, but he didn't want to disappoint his friends. Little did he know they
had something in store for him and it wasn't at all pleasant.
*
* *
Qui-Gon felt he could barely move
after a six course meal which he had to force down. The food was delicious, it's that there was
so much of it!
"Come on, eat up, Qui-Gon, it's your birthday after all," one
of the Jedi said, indicating the Jedi Master's half eaten desert.
Qui-Gon smiled and forced himself to eat the rest of the chocolate crepe. Delicious as it was he felt fuller than a tightly packed suitcase.
"Thank you," he managed to say.
"Enjoying your birthday, Master Qui-Gon?" asked the other.
"Yes," he lied.
"Very much." Secretly he'd rather be home at the
"Let us go back to the
"That's a splendid idea," Qui-Gon said. At last, he thought.
Though something wasn't quite right
here, though he could not quite put his finger on it as they stood to leave.
Outside, Qui-Gon saw a little girl,
grabbing and eating scraps from the footpath.
Immediately he felt guilty about all the food he'd eaten, when a child
starved. He walked toward her.
"Come on, Qui-Gon," one of his colleagues urged.
"I have to help her."
"She's always there," the other said.
"She needs help," Qui-Gon insisted.
"There are thousands of homeless children in the Universe,"
the other complained.
"I know," Qui-Goin said sadly, "but I can help her and
I'm going to."
The two Jedi sighed. They knew there was no deterring the Jedi
Master now.
Darth Maul laid in wait. This wasn't supposed to happen. At first he cursed the little girl, but
something about the Jedi Master's compassion intrigued him and he waited.
"You two head back to the
The young Knights were defeated and
left, hoping that their plan would still work.
Qui-Gon bent down to the little
girl.
"You're hungry aren't you?"
She nodded, nervous at this big
man.
He smiled warmly. "Let me help you."
She stood and he took her hand. Qui-Gon walked with the little girl into the
restaurant.
"She's not welcome here," the manager said, frowning
"She is my guest," Qui-Gon said, firmly, "and I wish to
purchase a meal for her."
The manager's tome brightened. "And one for yourself too?"
"No thank you," Qui-Gon said.
" I've sampled enough of your delicious food tonight," and he
smiled.
The girl ate like a horse.
"Slow down," Qui-Gon said.
"It's not going to fly away."
The little girl did as she was told.
Meanwhile the two young Jedi
Approached Darth Maul.
"Where's our money?" one of them demanded. "We delivered Jinn to you. That was our part of the bargain. Why didn't you attack as planned?"
"I have my reasons," Maul glowered. " As for your money,
it's right here."
He ignited his lightsabre, killing
them both with one expert strike.
"Jedi …" he said disdainfully, stepping over their
bodies. He had a bigger fish to fry now.
*
* *
Qui-Gon hired a room for them to
spend the night. The girl was in need of
a bath and medicated shampoo to get rid of her head lice.
The girl seemed very nervous as she
went with Qui-Gon. She hadn't said a
word.
The Jedi Master lead her into the
bathroom with the shampoo he had bought her.
"Do you need me to help you bathe?" he asked.
She shook her head. Qui-Gon began to run the water. When he had left the girl undressed and began
to wash herself, grateful for the warm water and anti-lice shampoo.
Qui-Gon couldn't believe that a
little girl could be treated this way in today's society and began to sense for
a home for her.
The girl washed her hair, delighted
to have a full stomach and to be lice free and clean. She washed her filthy clothes in the washer
in the bathroom. She shook the water
from her long blonde hair and began to dry it, but now she became nervous
again. She thought she knew what would
come next. Better get it over with, she
thought to herself as she emerged from the bathroom.
Qui-Gon sat on the bed, reading a
book he had brought with him. He smiled
when he saw the little girl, and assumed her clothes were still drying. She approached him timidly and Qui-Gon
realised with a shock what she thought he wanted. He dropped the book and shook his head.
"I would never … " he started to say in shock. "I would never harm you. I helped you because I wanted to, I …" He was too shocked for words when he realised
she had been violated by others who had 'helped' her.
The little girl ran to him and
hugged him. "Thank you …" she
said, barely audible.
Qui-Gon placed his arms around the
little girl. "Let's get your
clothes," he said.
To his relief they were dry and the
little girl joyously donned her clean clothes.
"You’re a nice man," he said.
"Thank you. You're a
beautiful little girl and I'm going to find a home for you."
She hugged him again. "How can I ever thank you enough? Are you an Angel?"
Qui-Gon smiled. "No, I'm a Jedi."
"I thought Jedi were just stories."
Qui-Gon smiled. "No, we're real, but if you like I can
tell you some stories."
He sat the little girl onto the
spare bed and told her a story when he'd rescued a baby rancour and returned it
to its mother. The Jedi Master became
aware of an eerie presence and realised someone else was in the room with him,
someone other than the little girl.
"How long have you been there?" he asked, not looking up.
"About twenty minutes," Darth Maul answered, stepping out of
the shadows at the end of the room.
Qui-Gon surmised he'd made his way
in through the open window. The little
girl clutched his leg. "He won't
hurt you," the Jedi master promised.
"You are aware that your two 'friends' betrayed you?" Maul
said.
'Yes," Qui-Gon said sadly, "when I felt them die at your
hand."
"They did it for money."
"I know."
"So much for Jedi values," Maul said.
Qui-Gon sighed.
"This upsets you," Maul said.
"Yes," the Jedi Master answered.
"You are aware that Jedi all over the Galaxy are not as altruistic
as they appear?"
Qui-Gon nodded.
"I have seen this girl violated by one."
Qui-Gon closed his eyes.
"You do not believe me?" Maul asked.
"You speak the truth," Qui-Gon said. "But you must understand that most Jedi
are true to our code and beliefs."
"That may be, Maul said, but many are not."
"I know."
"This is why they must die."
"Death is too harsh a punishment," Qui-Gon disagreed, “but
something must be done."
"Agreed, though you are not like the others. You actually do uphold your values. I find this surprising."
"I guess you don't know me very well."
"I guess not. I am well
aware that today is the day of your birth.
Qui-Gon. I hope you enjoy my
gift."
"Gift?"
"Not killing you when I had the chance."
"Thank you," Qui-Gon said, as the Sith Lord left the way he
had came in, in complete silence.
Qui-Gon sighed. There were some
unscrupulous Jedi in the galaxy, but the way Maul put it he thought they were
all like that when that clearly wasn't the case. Qui-Gon hoped to make peace with the Sith one
day. Perhaps this was the beginning. But
for now he had a child to take care of.
She snuggled up next to him, refusing to take the spare bed. He smiled as he fell asleep.
Maul wandered the streets of
Coruscant alone. After the death of his Master at his own hand, he had always
been alone and that's the way he liked it.
He thought about what the Jedi Master had said. Perhaps not all Jedi were hypocrites. Qui-Gon certainly wasn't. Maul sat down on an upturned metal box and
lost himself deep in thought.
Qui-Gon by now was fast asleep with
the little girl sleeping beside him.
Come morning, he had found a home for her, with an infertile couple, who
believed Qui-Gon to be an angel from the Heavens.
"No," said the little girl.
"He's a Jedi."
*