Author's Notes: Hugs to poor Obi, I seem to be out to torture him in this fic...
DISCLAIMER: Star Wars and all publicly recognisable characters, names and references, etc are the sole property of George Lucas, Lucasfilm Ltd, Lucasarts Inc and 20th Century Fox. This fan fiction was created solely for entertainment and no money was made from it. Also, no copyright or trademark infringement was intended. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. Any other characters (Shal-Nyx, K'yllyn, Annah, and Clira) are the creation and property of the author and Caeryn Myer. The storyline and the actual story are the property of the author .
Marcalai shrugged and passed the dish across the table. "So it's been four days, big deal."
Drumming her fingertips on the table, Annah Shelsi waited for the dish full of Corellian tubers to make its rounds past the other initiates. "My thirteenth birthday is in four months, if I don't get selected now they'll ship me off to some distant moon to collect rocks."
The table broke into discussion.
"They don't do that."
"Yes they do."
"Maybe they'll be pretty rocks, Annah."
"Eat Wookie fur and choke, Tivv."
"What does that mean for me? I'll be thirteen in seven months."
"That you worry too much, R'enna."
"Hey, there's Xan."
Annah grumbled and lowered her head as she piled food on her plate. "Yeah, Kiss Ass Xan, King of the Tall Tales."
Striding up with a confident grin, the initiate with blazing blue eyes and coal black hair pulled the empty chair out and turned it around, sitting down and leaning into the table. "Hey, guys. So what's going on?"
"Nothing, Xanatos, though I hear you picked another fight with Sheff-Il Maire."
The boy laughed haughtily. "More like he fell on me and got one of his extra arms tangled in my staff."
"Yeah, sure." Annah muttered.
"Sheesh, princess, don't get your robes in a tangle. Sheff-Il is a klutz."
"Don't call me that."
Leaning over, Mar gave Annah a look. "Don’t let him get to you."
Annah picked up a mashed root laden spoon. "Oh yeah? Hey, Xan, do you think tubers go well with midnight blue irises?"
"Don't throw that."
"Why? Is Yoda around?"
"Don't throw that."
"Aaaw, poor Xan, he's afraid of getting his pretty robes dirty."
"Annah, stop it, it's not worth it."
"Hush, Mar. So, what do you say? Hmm, Xan?"
A silence descended over the table as the uninvolved teenagers conveniently backed out of throwing range. Mar hesitated, still nursing the bruise he had gotten in the sparring match; he really didn't need to get caught in the middle of this.
And, oblivious to the rest of the room were Annah and Xanatos, currently having a stare off, her spoonful of gooey tubers still being brandished at him.
"You're afraid to do it, princess."
"I am not, and Don’t. Call. Me. Princess."
Mar gave a glance to the other dark haired boy. "She'll do it."
Xanatos gave a confident shrug. "No, she won't."
"You're a snobbish little prick, Xan."
"And you're a little princess that can't even anticipate your opponent."
"Oh, that does it!" Leaping up, snapping her wrist, sending the food glob flying, Annah's face lit up triumphantly as Xanatos' right cheek was suddenly dripping with white, lumpy tubers.
A few of the other initiates covered their mouths as to not give away their laughter.
Xanatos' gaze darkened. Without further warning, he lept forward, tackling Annah, knocking both of them to the floor in a heap.
"Ack!! Hey!"
Pinning her to the floor, grabbing her hands in one if his own and wiping the tubers from his cheek with the other, the boy glowered and slowly smeared the food on her cheek, watching her wince. "This'll teach you to not do that, princess."
"If you ever touch me like this again, Xanatos, I'll rip your testicles off and feed them to a TonTon."
There was fire behind the dark blue eyes. "Don't make a promise you can't keep, princess."
"Get off of her now, Xanatos!"
Rearing up, hearing the voice of a Jedi Master, the boy backed off quickly from his looming position over Annah, brushing off his robes.
Rushing to her side, extending hands to help her up, Marcalai moved his face close to Annah's to whisper. "Are you okay?"
She nodded, stunned.
The Master rushed up to Annah, sensing the waves of shock and revolt washing over the girl. Setting strong Iktotchi hands on her growing teenage shoulders, he looked into her eyes. "Are you okay, Annah?"
"I'm fine."
The Master turned his duel-horned head to Xanatos, noting the dripping tubers on his face. "And you?"
He shrugged, crossing his arms. "No harm done."
Looking warily between the initiates, still sensing a tension, the Iktotchi master shook his head. Whatever had transpired between the two teenagers, they didn't seem to be forthcoming about the details. ~Maybe when they're separated.~ "Alright. Xanatos, go take a shower and then I want to see the both of you later."
"Yes, Master."
"Yes, Master."
Walking towards the door, pausing to be in earshot of the raven-haired girl, Xanatos gave her a small, smug smile. "Another time, princess."
Annah Shelsi balled her hands into fists, fighting the urge to scream.
"Luv… luv, come on… snap out of it."
Having fallen asleep with her head in his lap, Qui-Gon himself having dozed off not too much later, he had been sharply awakened as she writhed in her sleep, one of her elbows connecting sharply with one of his kidneys. Brushing a hand across her cheek, the other hand catching the offending arm, he waited as she slowly began to lift from the grasp of the dream.
"Come on, Shala, come on… "
Gasping audibly, Shal-Nyx Cael jerked upright, held in place only by Qui-Gon's grip. Her eyes were wide with shock, sweat beaded on her brow. "Oh, sweet Maker, I--"
"Sssh, it's alright, you're here with me. Where were you?"
Leaning back slowly, her breath ragged, she blinked. "A tree. There was this tree… in a swamp… it was horrible, Qui-Gon… I was trapped, injured… couldn't get out… dark… so dark… something was there… wasn't real, but was… oh, it hurts… I can't break free… no, no, make it stop…"
"Come on, break free of it, come back to here and now." Pulling her to his chest, trying to get her attention, he wrapped arms around her, trying his best to soothe her and keep either of them from getting injured by her jerky motions. This was the worst he had ever seen her in this state, still channeling the delusion in a waking state, no more able to control it now than in her sleep. "You're here on Coruscant, you're here with me, you're safe. Come on, Shala, break free."
She could hear him, she could hear the words and understand, but it was taking every iota of strength to not be pulled so completely into the delusion that she couldn't discern real from not. Using every bit of remaining control to pull the Force into helping her to break free, she clung to reality only by Qui-Gon's voice. Forcing a deep breath, she shook her head, trying to see the dimly lit room she was actually in. Shivering, seeing the familiar lines of Temple architecture, she let herself fall against Qui-Gon's chest, hearing his steady, strong heartbeat through the layers of fabric.
~There you are, my love.~
Shal-Nyx shivered again. ~Am I?~
"Yes, you are." They could easily hold a conversation on the waves of the Force; but now, as Shal-Nyx found herself unsure of which world was reality, it was the physical manifestation of sound that would only soothe her, the velvet brush of his spirit presence inappropriate to the situation. "Are you alright now?"
The curl of her accent was a bit heavier, raspy. "I think so."
"They're getting worse, aren't they?"
She nodded, still a little shaken. "This was the worst so far."
"And it stops here. This one wasn't your death, was it?"
Trying to focus her grey eyes on anything in the room, Shal-Nyx shook her head. "I don't know. It could have been, but I've never seen that place before. It could have been someone else's death, I just, I just don't know, it was so strange…"
"No, no, don't fall back into it again. This is getting serious, too serious."
"You're telling me?"
"I'm sorry," he sighed, adjusting the both of them so that her hipbone was no longer digging into his waist. "I'm going to contact Raend and check on his progress. I hate to see you suffer like this."
"As do I, luv, as do I."
"Raend, how are you progressing?"
On the other end, he could hear some thumps and a strange scraping. "I'm not sure, but I think I have the serum."
"You think?"
"It's not just like throwing to components together and then injecting them. This particular remedy is very complex, and if prepared wrong, it can be fatal."
With a grumble and a shrug to K'yllyn, Obi-Wan went back to his conversation. "Ah."
"The good news is that, despite the fact that I had lost my notes from the first time I did this, it's taking half the time to prepare the serum. I should have results very soon, Obi-Wan, I'll keep you posted."
"Thank you." Clicking off the comm, Obi-Wan gave a little smile to the auburn haired Knight sitting across from him. "So, what should I do in the interim?"
K'yllyn grinned. "Oh, I have a few ideas."
"I'm sure you do."
Sauntering over to sit on Obi-Wan's lap, running a hand through his dark blonde hair, she leaned in, her face centimetres away from his. "Want to hear them?"
He returned her grin, pleasantly surprised to find his body was not as tired as he thought it was. "You know I love it when you talk dirty."
"Of course…"
"Yes?"
"I'm dying to hear what Yoda has to say about your legacy."
Obi-Wan snorted. "As am I, but since you're this close already, why not get a little bit closer, hmm?" Sliding hands up around her waist, drawing K'yllyn against him, he adjusted her legs so she was straddling his lap, her hips crushed against his. "Now, isn't this more fun than talking to Yoda?"
"Mmm-hmm."
"Good, because I'm not letting you go." Slipping a hand up behind her neck, drawing her head closer, he moved to kiss her…
Only to be interrupted by the beep indicating someone was at his door.
"Oh, bollocks. Maybe they'll go away."
"You probably should answer that."
"I don’t want to."
"We can do this anytime, Obi-Wan."
"But I'd like it now."
"Yes, I can feel that. I'll answer the door for you, that better?"
He shook his head, keeping his grip tight. "No. You’re staying where you are, right here. Oh, wait, maybe you could move, but it'd have to be with me and only towards the shower."
~You read me like a book, you know that?~
"So glad you can admit it."
"You're feeling better, that's great, but let me go so you can answer your door and I can get back to my Padawan. She's probably wondering if you tied me up."
"Neat idea, we'll have to try it sometime."
"Oh, that does it." Placing both hands on his chest and pushing off of him, K'yllyn slid off his lap and headed for the door, suppressing a laugh as she watched the look of utter frustration cross his face. Keying the door open, her smile turned to surprise when she recognised the person before her. "Annah, what a surprise, can I help you with anything?"
Her hair bound in a thick braid that trailed down her back, her eyes warm and friendly, Annah Shelsi bowed her head slightly to the younger Knight before her. "I know these are Obi-Wan's quarters, but I suspected you would be here. I would like to talk to the both of you; I've heard some things and I have some questions."
K'yllyn blinked. Annah was the first apprentice to Shal-Nyx, the person that K'yllyn had to measure up against, the person she learned to envy and begrudge for having to follow in her footsteps, and now that person was asking K'yllyn for something. "Absolutely. Come on in, Anakin went to bed some time ago, so we'll have privacy."
Annah smiled and stepped beyond the door's threshold. Looking into the eyes of her younger counterpart, she saw the gleam of vibrant fire that was so emblematic of Shal-Nyx Cael. "Thank you, I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
K'yllyn laughed. "No, not really."
Obi-Wan, having watched the friendly exchange and checking his private thoughts for a later date, stood up, bowing his head in respect. "Annah. It's been a long time, hasn't it?"
"Yes, it has, and considering the rumours I've been hearing, I thought it was time to stop by."
"Rumours?"
Annah shrugged. "Yes. Some of them are more colourful than others, but from what I could pry from Master Windu, the one about you being sick, Obi-Wan, is true."
Seating herself on the couch, K'yllyn answered first. "You recall what Shal-Nyx went through after Qui-Gon's death?"
The elder woman nodded grimly. "Yes, and I still feel the need to apologise to you about it. I owe you my thanks for what you did. Now, what does this have to do with Obi-Wan being ill?"
Obi-Wan coughed, to which K'yllyn looked around, hesitating. Once more were they trampling on the secrecy that was the sealed records. "It matters," K'yllyn began, "because he's her son, and he has the same syndrome."
There was a severe silence, punctuated with Annah's eyes widening, then locking on Obi-Wan. "It explains a lot."
K'yllyn and Obi-Wan exchanged looks. "Why is that?"
"Well when I was a Padawan," Annah paused, self-consciously touching the lock of grey running through her hair, "I used to overhear conversations, you know, late at night when they thought I was asleep. Sometimes it'd be stories about past missions, the nature of the Jedi or sometimes it'd be things that, well, that teenagers should not hear about their masters. Windu used to come over, too; most of those nights I'd overhear laughter and tales about them at younger ages, and trying to picture Qui-Gon Jinn at 22 is a chore, let me tell you that. But there were times that a conversation would start, then die off, and I could never figure out what it was really about. I had an idea, but I could never confirm it… "
"Cas'hay." Obi-Wan said quietly.
"I heard that name just a few times, knew something major had happened there, but could never find out what. I knew they were together, which is obviously no big secret to either of you, but I always wondered if there was something more, which, apparently, was you, Obi-Wan."
"They never knew it was me, and we found out only recently, much to Yoda's chagrin."
Annah smiled sadly. "Damn. Is there anything else I should know?"
K'yllyn nodded. "Do you have to be anywhere for a while?"
"Are you actually going to talk to him, Yoda?"
The green face wrinkled up in displeasure. "Liked this situation, I have never, and now embrace it I must. Expect me you do to tell him everything?"
Mace Windu, sitting his chair in the Council chambers, kept his gaze lowered. ~Some things never change.~ "He deserves it."
There was a sound that resembled a grumble. "Heard I have about him gaining access to Master Cael's medical records, and discipline him I did not, nor will I. The healer will bring him the cure, this I have seen, and recover he will. Life will continue."
"But must he make this journey alone?" Mace sighed, "Shal-Nyx made it in part because she had so many people fighting for her cause both times. Obi-Wan doesn't have… he doesn't have Qui-Gon Jinn fighting on his side."
"If any indication parentage is, spirit Obi-Wan has enough to do his own battles."
Mace laughed a little. Yoda had a point. "But what about his answers?"
"Answers his questions I can, and will." There was a pause as the little Master realised something, "but for the moment, have something better than answers I have."
"After all these years… "
"Kept it I have, though a little outdated the datapad is."
"Thus is the nature of the technological world."
Yoda nodded quietly.
"A favour?"
The pointed ears arced back slightly. "Ask."
"May I deliver it to Obi-Wan? For the sake of old friends?"