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: Obi-Wan stages a daring attempt to rescue
his Master from the Sith.
Rating
PG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
SILENT
STRENGTH
Obi-Wan had stolen Darth
Sidious' starship and borrowed his identity.
He practiced for weeks getting the accent right, and hiding his
feelings. It had not been easy, but his Master stood a better chance that
Obi-Wan barging in, neither of them would likely survive. Obi-Wan felt his Master growing weaker by
the day.
"I'm coming, Master," he said softly. Qui-Gon was too weak to hear him even with
the Force.
Obi-Wan was grateful the
journey had been uneventful as he docked Sidious' starship at the Sith
base. As he expected Maul had come to
greet him.
"Master, I trust you had a pleasant journey."
"Quite," Obi-Wan said in Darth Sidious' voice. The mask although it fit well, felt
uncomfortable.
He walked to the main control room, his black
cape trailing behind him.
"What of the Jedi prisoner?" he asked Maul.
"I'd be surprised if he was still alive."
"Bring him."
"Master?"
"I
do not like loose ends, Maul. You can
deal with him."
"Why couldn't I have dealt with him six months ago?"
"Insolent worm!" Obi-Wan hissed in Sidious voice. He was
surprised how easily acting came to him.
"And fetch his lightsabre."
Maul cringed.
Obi-Wan almost smiled.
"I
wanted him to suffer," 'Sidious' said, though Obi-Wan found those words
difficult to say he did not falter.
"He's hardly a match for me in his condition." Maul said
with a sneer.
"Do I have to ask you again?"
"N
… no, Master."
Sidious was the one person Maul was afraid of
and Obi-Wan was enjoying it immensely, though he was careful to hide his true
feelings. Hate poured off Maul. Obi-Wan
was repulsed by it like so much putrid rotting flesh.
Maul returned with Qui-Gon's lightsabre, which
Obi-Wan took.
He went down to the prison cell and was shocked
with what he saw when Maul illuminated the cell, but he kept his cool. His Master lay on the floor, in a terrible
shape, alive but very weak. The stench
of rotting flesh that Obi-Wan was relieved to see was leftovers from scraps of
food he had been thrown down the shaft.
Maul smiled.
"Get up, Jedi."
Qui-Gon sat up slowly, his eyes squinting in the
light. He stood shakily, using the wall
for support.
"Hurry up," Maul snapped.
Obi-Wan would have lightsabred him, but he kept
calm. His Master looked haggard, his
hair very long and tattered, his clothes filthy.
"You smell like a rotting bantha corpse," Maul hissed when
they walked along the corridor.
"That's kind of you," Qui-Gon said softly. "I would have said Ewok."
Maul hit him.
Qui-Gon fell to his knees. Maul was about to strike him again.
"Enough," 'Sidious' called.
"You can have your fun with our guest later. Go and train while he cleans himself up."
"Train?" Maul growled.
"I do not need to-"
A glare from 'his Master' had Maul scurrying off
to the training area. Obi-Wan glared
after him as he lead his Master to his stolen starship. Qui-Gon welcomed the change in scenery, but
it did not help thinking he was going to die.
Where was Obi-Wan he wondered.
He'd vaguely sensed his Padawan, but he was not sure.
"You will get yourself cleaned up," Obi-Wan said harshly. "Food will be provided for you to
recover some of your strength, after all, it will hardly be a challenge, will
it?"
"Thank you," was all Qui-Gon said.
It amazed Obi-Wan at how calm his Master was and
how polite in the face of his enemies.
Qui-Gon was vaguely aware that 'Darth Sidious'
was leading him to the docking bay.
"Why are we going this way?" he asked, curious.
"Do not ask questions."
Qui-Gon fell silent. Obi-Wan opened the hatch and led his Master inside, before he
closed it, breathing a sigh of relief.
Qui-Gon grew more puzzled.
"It's all right, Master," Obi-Wan spoke in his own voice,
taking off the mask.
Qui-Gon stared in disbelief, then relief washed
over him. "You came."
"Of course I did," Obi-Wan said with a smile. "I'm only sorry it took me so
long."
Qui-Gon placed his arms around his Padawan. "I should have sensed you…"
"I've been practicing the Sidious act for weeks and in your
condition, Master, do not feel hard on yourself for not sensing me."
Maul had discovered something fishy was going
on, and rushed to the docking bay to see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan inside the
hatch. Obi- Wan placed his arms around
his Master. From Maul's angle it looked
at though his Master was hugging a Jedi and he did the only thing he
could. Laugh. But he realised he would not be laughing once his real Master
returned. Maul realised the Jedi would
be long gone before he could man the laser cannons and spat bitterly on the
floor. Obi-Wan looked at him and
smiled.
When they had departed, the young Jedi activated
the cloaking device, he did not want to attract any unwanted attention. His Master sat at the table.
"I
can't thank you enough, Padawan … Despite the fact that what you did was very
dangerous."
"I
know, Master, but it was the only way to save you. I'd gladly risk my life for you as you have done many times for
me."
"Thank you again, Obi-Wan."
"My pleasure, now let us get you something to eat, I bet they
hardly fed you."
Qui-Gon shook his head. "A few scraps a month, and most of them
were rancid."
Obi-Wan glowered. "I've reconstituted two tabouleh salads for us." He set
down two largish bowls and a pitcher of crisp water.
"Thank you, but strangely enough I'm not hungry."
"Master, you've hardly eaten in six months. I bet there was no water either."
Qui-Gon shook his head.
"It's amazing that you survived."
"At least there was air," Qui-Gon said. "We must thank the Force for small
mercies, Padawan."
Obi-Wan nodded.
"Yes, Master, but they treated you like an animal. I've a good mind
to shove them in separate cells for six months without food or water and see
how they fare."
"We are not Sith, Obi-Wan."
"I
know, but they just make me so angry.
Yes I know anger leads to the Dark Side, Master, but after what they did
to you…"
"I
would feel the same had they done it to you," Qui-Gon confessed. "I am very tired, Padawan. I must rest. The hard floor in that cell was not comfortable at all. It was quite cold and near the engine room,
which was hardly ever silent."
"I'm so sorry, Master," Obi-Wan wanted to cry. "How could they do this to you?"
"I'm here now, Obi-Wan, that is the past."
But somehow Obi-Wan could sense his Master was
still haunted by the horrible experience.
"Let me check the auto pilot," he said. "I'll be back soon."
Qui-Gon nodded as his Padawan left. When Obi-Wan returned he found his Master
had eaten both bowls of salad and drank the entire pitcher of water.
"I
thought you said you weren't hungry," he said with a smile.
"I
didn't think I was, I was just going to have a nibble. It seems my stomach got used to not having
food. I'm sorry, I should have left one
for you, I …"
"It's all right, Master, you needed it a lot more than I did, and
besides there's more where that came from."
"If you don't mind I'd like a shower before I retire."
"I
can do better than that, Master, this ship has a bath. I'm sorry that it's Darth Sidious bath room
though."
Qui-Gon smiled.
"It will do for now and I need a scissors to cut my hair. It's grown far too long and I look like a
mangled bantha."
Obi-Wan smiled and led his Master to the
bathroom. He found a pair of scissors in the draw.
"Let me do that," he said.
Carefully he cut his Master's hair to its normal
length.
Slowly, he brushed his Master's hair after
thoroughly cleansing the brush.
"That feels better," Qui-Gon said. "Thank you."
Obi-Wan ran a bath for his Master as Qui-Gon
undressed, letting his soled clothing fall to the floor. He stepped into the warm water and sighed.
"Sometimes I would dream of a bath when I could sleep," he
said.
Obi-Wan embraced his Master and kissed his
cheek.
"You always told me not to take anything for granted." He bundled his Master's soiled clothes into
the wall unit to cleanse them and left his Master be.
Qui-Gon smiled as he lowered himself into the
welcoming water. He did not want to
think that Darth Sidious had also used this bathtub, for now it was a rare
gift. The water welcomed him as he
washed away dirt from his body and his hair.
AT first he was surprised at how dirty his hair and beard was, but not
having bathed or showered in six months he realised it must be normal for that
amount of time.
Obi-Wan reconstituted another salad and ate it
quickly. There were two starships in
the vicinity. Obi-Wan readied the
weapons juts in case. Fortunately they had paid the cloaked ship no heed. Obi-Wan was later relieved to note they were
civilian ships which would not have given him any trouble in any case.
Qui-Gon emerged from the bath and used the auto
dry. He donned his now spotless
clothes. He was disgusted with the
state of the water of the bath, but then it had been his first bath in over six
months, through no fault of his own.
He left the bathroom and found Obi-Wan in the
dining area of the ship.
"Master, you look wonderful."
"I
feel like a zillion credits."
Obi-Wan smiled.
"Amazing what a little food and a bath can do," Qui-Gon said,
"But now I must rest. For a year
or two at least."
Obi-Wan smiled, leading his Master to the
sleeping area. This ship was indeed
luxurious.
His master lay on the bed and sighed. "A bed …"
Obi-Wan smiled again. "I'm sorry for talking these things for grated while you
suffered, Master, I will never again."
He sat down on the bed next to his Master. Qui-Gon placed his arms around his
Padawan. Obi-Wan sensed his Master
needed rest now more than anything else, he could barely keep his eyes
open. Obi-Wan stood and turned off the
light. A wave of panic overtook Qui-Gon.
"Master?" Obi-Wan turned on the light.
"I'm sorry, Padawan, it was so dark in there …" Qui-Gon
sighed. "A Jedi Master who's
afraid of the dark …"
Once again Obi-Wan sat by his Master's
side. "Master, you had a horrid
ordeal. Do not be ashamed."
Qui-Gon sighed.
"Would you like me to leave the light on?"
Qui-Gon nodded.
"For now."
Obi-Wan increased the illumination a little
more. Qui-Gon winced.
"I'm sorry… too much, your eyes will need time to
adjust." He decreased the
illumination, lighting thr room in a dim light.
"That's fine," Qui-Gon said.
"Would you like me to stay with you?"
The Jedi Master nodded. "Just until I fall asleep."
"All right, Master," Obi-Wan said, holding his hand. "And when you wake, just call me."
Qui-Gon lowered himself into the bed and placed
his head on the pillow and sighed, grateful to have a bed to sleep in even if
it was not his own. Qui-Gon fell asleep
in an instant. Obi-Wan stayed with his
Master for an hour after he had fallen asleep, before returning to the
communications area.
Meanwhile, Darth Maul stood shakily after having
been electrocuted by his Master.
"He must have been good to have fooled you," Sidious said.
Maul glowered.
Obi-Wan opened a channel to the Sith.
Darth Sidious smiled. "So you're the one who stole my ship."
"Yes, and after I dock it will go to be analysed."
"To what do we owe this pleasure, young Jedi?"
The young Jedi glowered. "I think you know. Around four hours ago I rescued my Master
from what I could only describe as hideous conditions."
Sidious said nothing.
"He was trapped in a cell without food or water for six
months."
"It's a wonder he survived.
Very resilient your Master."
Obi-Wan realised that was as best a compliment
as he was ever going to get from this man.
"Yes, he is, but that doesn't change the fact that you treated him
like an animal. In fact worse. I wouldn't even treat a Rancour the way you
treated my Master. There wasn't even a
lavatory in the cell. I wonder how you
and your blasted apprentice would fare in those conditions. I doubt you'd survive. I doubt you care that it was cold and noisy
in the cell either."
"You should be happy that your Master was alive."
"He came to you seeking peace, and you threw him into a prison
cell."
"We
could have killed him."
"Let me guess, you wanted him to suffer."
"Yes."
"There's a code of conduct even between enemies that you two broke,
I doubt you care about that, but what goes around comes around."
And with that Obi-Wan cut communication.
Qui-Gon slept for four days solid before he
awoke and had another bath.
"Master, it's so good to see you up and about again."
Qui-Gon smiled.
"It's great to be up and about again without the confines of that
accursed prison cell."
"I
gave the Sith a piece of my mind."
Qui-Gon smiled.
"I sensed it while I slept. Good for you and thank you."
"My pleasure, Master. Now I
bet you're hungry."
Qui-Gon nodded as he sat down for another salad.
When they arrived, Qui-Gon was greeted by his
Jedi friends at the Temple, all quite surprised at how he had survived his
ordeal. After the hub-hub had died
down, Qui-Gon was becoming tired again and Obi-Wan lead his Master to their
quarters.
And this time Qui-Gon slept in the dark, without
incident.
When he awoke, Obi-Wan was kneeling by his
bedside. Qui-Gon placed his arms around
his Padawan. "Thank you … You gave
me strength, Obi-Wan thinking of you,
your youth, your resolve, it was more than the Force which kept me alive in
there."
Obi-Wan returned the embrace and gently kissed
his Master's forehead.
"It's wonderful to have you back, Master."
Qui-Gon kissed his Padawan's head. "It's wonderful to be back."
*