Disclaimer: Features some evil, and two males sleeping together, and not in a platonic way. If you can’t deal, don’t keep reading.
I can’t even pretend to own the characters or concepts behind Star Wars in any of its various incarnations. And they aren’t yet in the public domain, although they should be, dammit! So, all hail to George Lucas and LucasArts and Skywalker Studios and you all know who you are. And just in case anyone's confused, here's where real Star Wars stuff can be found.
Qui-Gon lay still, surrounded by a haze of pain so thick he felt that if he reached out, he could touch it. He struggled to reach within himself, to find the key to closing the pain away so that he could concentrate.
Farther beyond, he could hear the distinctive hum of lightsabers as his beloved Padawan continued to fight the Sith lord. Qui-Gon could feel his Padawan’s hatred and anger, giving him strength. “Oh, my student. Do not do this,” he whispered, and prayed that Obi-Wan would hear him and understand. “He will kill you.”
Suddenly, both Jedi could feel the Sith lord. He had opened himself, to reveal his thoughts after catching the tail end of Qui-Gon’s fear. “Kill him? The thought never crossed my mind.” The malevolent tide of Darth Maul’s intent swept over Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, forcing them to see a probable future: the beast violently taking the defeated Obi-Wan, destroying all the love that he had held for the Master who had failed him.
Fear ripped through Obi-Wan, but instead of attacking blindly, he reached out to his Master. Qui-Gon’s love swept over Obi-Wan like a blaze, burning away all his negative emotions. “Never,” he said to the Sith lord in his mind, and then he simply opened himself to the Force. Not just his Master’s presence, but every living thing on Naboo and as far beyond as he could reach. “This is the true power of the Force; life, not death. Love, not hatred. You will never understand it as I do.”
Stunned, Darth Maul could do nothing as the young Jedi brought home his final attack.
His death brought no joy to Obi-Wan, who now knew it’s true cost. “Master!” he screamed, and rushed to Qui-Gon’s side.
Anakin closed his eyes and lay down on his pallet to rest. But he couldn’t sleep. He reached out with the senses that he could not name and barely controlled to feel his Master’s terrible emotional turmoil.
Obi-Wan had been strong when there were others to see him; outwardly accepting the passing of his Master with placid composure. But when Anakin had left to sleep, the new Jedi Master had crumbled, falling to his knees in anguished sobbing. Anakin hadn’t seen it; he had felt it, as sharply as he had felt Padme’s distress at the beginning of the Pod Race. His Master didn’t seem to notice Anakin’s perception.
Anakin got up and walked to the door. He couldn’t decide whether he should try to comfort his Master, or whether he should leave him to deal with his grief alone. He was on the verge of reaching for the door handle, when he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. Anakin turned, and saw the phantom form of Qui-Gon. No surprise showed on the young Padawan’s face.
“You came to comfort him.”
“I came to see both of you,” Qui-Gon corrected him. “Come.” Anakin followed him back to bed, where they sat down next to each other. “Ani, forgive me. I wanted to be here for you - to train you, to teach you.”
“It’s all right. I understand. Obi-Wan is a good teacher.”
“Yes, but he is not the right teacher for you. This is the result of evil, my child. Lives are disrupted, and things change in ways that harm the innocent.”
“I’m sorry you had to die. But we’ll be all right. I’ll watch out for him,” Anakin offered.
“Thank you.” Qui-Gon gently stroked Anakin’s hair. “There is a place in his heart that will never heal, and I do not know if you can fill it.”
“But I don’t want to,” protested Anakin. “You belong there. You should go to him.”
“Thank you,” Qui-Gon smiled sadly. “If he cannot come to give you everything you need, please forgive him - and me.”
Anakin nodded. “He needs you.” He could still feel Obi-Wan’s sorrow, reverberating inside his Master, threatening to tear him apart.
Qui-Gon rose and bowed in gratitude. “I could not do this without you.” He faded away, leaving Anakin alone. The room was somehow colder now that he was gone. Anakin shivered, and dove beneath the covers to get some sleep.
Obi-Wan had lost the strength to sob. He was huddled on the floor in the center of his room, in a caricature of the meditation pose that his Master has used most often. The thought brought him no comfort. Tears spilled down his face, pooling in his cupped hands.
“To think that I could cause you such misery,” whispered Qui-Gon at the sight.
Obi-Wan’s head snapped up. A rich array of emotions flew across his face; first, shock, then sorrow, then, at last, the look of love and devotion that had always given Qui-Gon strength and hope. Obi-Wan rose clumsily to his feet, and half-fell into his Master’s arms.
“Master,” he sobbed. “My Master.” Obi-Wan started crying again. “I - I felt you die, Master.”
Qui-Gon held his young beloved as tightly as he could. “I know. I felt you with me.” He moved to cradle Obi-Wan’s head closer to his chest. As always, his spirit longed to become one with Obi-Wan. “You lessened my pain.”
Obi-Wan choked back his tears to look up again at his Master. “I would have kept you alive if I could have. I - I wasn’t strong enough....” his tears drowned the end of his sentence, but Qui-Gon knew what his student was thinking.
“No, Obi-Wan. It was my time. It was always meant to be.” He let his fingers caress the side of the young man’s face, damp with tears and pale with sorrow. “You have not lost me,” he whispered reassuringly. “I will never leave you.”
Obi-Wan raised his hands to his Master’s face, pulling him down for a wild kiss, filled with desperation and hunger. “Please, Master. Please.”
Qui-Gon was only too happy to return his lover’s passion, and let Obi-Wan lead him to the cold bed. This time wasn’t going to be about sensuality; Obi-Wan’s need to be with his Master again was too great. This was a short sprint down the paths of desire. Clothes were torn away, rather than carefully removed. Kisses were hard and fierce, but no less loving for all that.
Next door, Anakin lay quietly in his room. In his mind, he was building a wall, brick by brick. It was high and strong - it had to be, to stem the tide of emotions that was washing over him from Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s lovemaking. He didn’t know how else to keep them out.
But neither of the Jedi Masters noticed, wrapped up as they were in each other’s need.
Qui-Gon stepped away when he finished removing all of Obi-Wan’s clothes, and took a good look at his lover.
Obi-Wan stood before him, completely revealed and utterly unashamed of his rampant need. His eyes were wide, dark pools made soft by the dim light and his love for his Master. His young lean body showed no signs of the ravages of the previous days. Qui-Gon could not resist, and trailed his hand through the soft curls at the base of Obi-Wan’s neck, then over the taut sinews of the young man’s midriff.
Obi-Wan whimpered in growing need at his Master’s touch.
Qui-Gon moved closer, pulling Obi-Wan to him with a strong arm about his lover’s waist. “Beloved one,” he whispered into Obi-Wan’s ear. Qui-Gon tilted Obi-Wan’s face up and away, exposing the length of his neck for Qui-Gon’s delectation. He ran his tongue along the curves of Obi-Wan’s neck, over the ridges of his throat, and up to Obi-Wan’s slightly parted lips for a kiss.
Qui-Gon pushed back, guiding Obi-Wan to the bed. Obi-Wan lay down and spread his legs wide, welcoming the familiar weight of his Master’s body over him. Qui-Gon’s stiffness nudged against the opening to Obi-Wan’s body, and the young man reached out for the sweet oil that they always used together. It came readily to his hand, and without breaking the breathtaking kiss, Obi-Wan poured a generous amount of the oil on his hand and used it coat first his Master, then himself.
“Are you ready?” whispered Qui-Gon.
“Yes, Master. I’m always ready for you,” Obi-Wan moaned.
Qui-Gon laughed. “I had noticed that.” Then he kissed Obi-Wan again, parting the young man’s lips with his tongue as he thrust into his body, guided gently by Obi-Wan’s eager hand. Obi-Wan screamed in ecstasy, and Qui-Gon kept pushing until he was buried inside his lover’s body.
Obi-Wan arched, taking his Master deeper inside him. He needed this, he needed to be filled by his Master’s thickness, merging with Qui-Gon in body and spirit. Qui-Gon pulled out, and started driving into him. Obi-Wan gasped at his Master’s strength, and would have sagged back onto the bed had not Qui-Gon been holding him. Instead, he relaxed into the cradle of his Master’s arms, and Qui-Gon kept on thrusting into him. Obi-Wan’s penis was trapped between their bodies, and every movement of Qui-Gon’s body sent a fresh thrill of pleasure through Obi-Wan.
Qui-Gon licked Obi-Wan’s ear before murmuring to his lover, “I’m so close, beloved. Help me get there.”
Obi-Wan smiled to himself. His Master’s weakness was a pleasing one. Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around Qui-Gon’s neck, settling himself firmly on his Master’s rampant sex, and looked straight into his Master’s warm brown eyes. “I love you, Qui-Gon.”
No words, no sight, no sound could have been more beautiful. Qui-Gon shuddered, and held on tightly to his lover as his body shook and spilled inside Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan cried out as he, too, came, and he collapsed against Qui-Gon’s larger body, burying his head in his Master’s chest.
Both Anakin and Obi-Wan were very quiet the next day. Obi-Wan took Anakin on a tour of the Jedi Temple and the central parts of Coruscant.
“We’ll stay here for a few days, and then we’ll start your real training.”
“Where are we going now, Master?”
Obi-Wan winced at the familiar title on unfamiliar lips. In the back of his mind, he could hear Qui-Gon laughing at him. Obi-Wan squared his shoulders. “You have to start building a lightsaber. Every Jedi must learn how to craft his own weapon with his own hands.”
Joy lit Anakin’s face. “My own lightsaber? Really?”
Obi-Wan smiled down at his student. “Yes. Come, let’s go.” They walked through the streets of Coruscant’s Greater Market. Everything was new and unusual to young Anakin, and Obi-Wan decided that he would enjoy teaching him. Ani learned quickly, and his questions were intelligent and direct.
Ani turned and stared as a familiar form walked by. Noticing the boy, Senator Palpatine stopped to greet the Jedi and his new apprentice.
“Chancellor,” said Obi-Wan, and nodded in greeting.
Anakin just stared at him, and Obi-Wan tried to nudge the boy into some sort of action.
Palpatine just smiled. “Hello, young Skywalker. Are you enjoying your stay in the capitol?”
Ani nodded, still unable to speak through his awe.
“I’m glad to hear that. Coruscant is a beautiful city, but not as wonderful to me as Theed. Sometimes we can never let go of where we truly come from,” he said gently. “If you should ever wish to visit me, young hero, you are welcome to. If your Master will allow it, of course.” The Senator bowed politely to Obi-Wan, who smiled in return.
“Of course you may visit the Senator, Anakin.”
“May I truly?” pleaded the boy, looking up at Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan nodded. Anakin almost jumped for joy, but remembered in time that he was a Jedi in training. “Thank you, Master,” he said gratefully.
“I shall be at my apartments this evening. Perhaps you two would care to join me for the evening meal?”
“I have to meet with the Jedi Council this evening. But, Ani, you may go if you like. Is that all right with you?” Obi-Wan asked Palpatine.
“Of course,” the Senator smiled. “I’ll be pleased to have him.”
Later that day, Anakin entered the tower where the Senator made his home while on Coruscant. The taksi had taken the scenic route for the ride, and Ani had seen more of the beautiful city-planet of Coruscant.
The servodroids led him upstairs, to a large waiting room. Ani didn’t have to wait long before Senator Palpatine walked in.
“Ani! I’m so glad you could make it!”
For a moment, Anakin could not speak. He forced down his fear and his anger. “Show me how you do that,” he demanded.
“Do what?” said the Senator blandly. “Would you like a drink?”
“Don’t lie to me!” Anakin screamed in frustration. “I’m not a child! I want to know how you do that! I have to know, or they’re not going to let me be a Jedi,” he pleaded. “Please, show me. Show me how to hide it, the way you do. Please.”
The Senator’s lips curved slowly into a smile, showing just a glint of his perfect, even, ivory white teeth. “Shouldn’t you be asking your teacher about such things?”
“If he knew, he wouldn’t teach me!”
“You want to be a Jedi so badly, you’re willing to break the rules?” smiled the Senator. “Ani, I can’t teach you. I’m not even supposed to use the Force, let alone use it the way I do.”
“I won’t tell,” Anakin promised. “Ever.”
“All right,” said Palpatine with a great show of reluctance. “I’ll teach you what I know. Come here.” He led Anakin to his bedroom, and gestured for the boy to sit down on a couch. Anakin obeyed eagerly.
Palpatine pulled a chair over, and sat down so that he and Anakin were face to face. “Now, child. You must listen carefully.
“Once upon a time,” the older man began, “there was an old shepherd, who had such a large flock that he needed two dogs to help him guard it. But, he only had one dog, so he went out into the forest and captured another animal to help him guard his flock. The shepherd put a collar on the beast, and brought it home. He fed it, tamed it, and trained it just as he had trained his dog, to protect the sheep. And every day, the shepherd left the two to guard his flock while he worked elsewhere in the fields.
“One day, the shepherd returned to reclaim his flock, only to find them scattered and terrified. He looked and looked, and finally he found his dog, lying dead amongst a circle of slaughtered sheep. ‘What happened?’ demanded the shepherd. He turned to see the beast, hovering just inside the forest, ready to run despite the collar around its neck. ‘How could you betray me?’ wept the shepherd.
“The wolf defended itself. ‘What did you expect? You knew I was a wolf.’
“‘I raised you to protect these sheep, and look what you’ve done!’ cried the shepherd.
“‘Bah,’ said the wolf. ‘A wolf in chains is still a wolf. Your sheep were never safe.’ The wolf moved out of the darkness towards the shepherd. ‘And neither were you.’And with that, the wolf returned to the place where he belonged, and the creatures of the forest that truly understood him.”
The dark story left Ani quite shaken, but he understood the message well enough.
“Go now, Anakin. Your teacher is waiting.”
“Yes, Master,” said Anakin softly.
There are no Parables yet to follow this one.