EAD: Untitled Star Wars fic

Title: ???
Fandom: Star Wars
Pairing: Eventual Obi-Wan/Qui-Gon and Anakin/Padme
Words: 2,104

Prologue:

Obi-Wan was eleven, and another year had passed without him being Chosen.

He tried not to be angry, tried to trust in the Force, but it was becoming more difficult than ever. Creche Master Van seemed to have lost all hope that one of the Masters would take an interest in Obi-Wan, and had begun to encourage him to spend time in the Corp barracks on Coruscant. Obi-Wan wasn’t the only one that was being guided away from the Jedi and into the Corp, but he resented the hell out of it all the same.

He knew that the Gathering was his best chance for catching a Master’s attention. It was the only time that the Order came together, Masters from different Temples traveling to Coruscant and those on missions being recalled. Padawans, Knights, and Masters gathered together to visit with the Younglings and welcome those new to the Creche into the fold.

Obi-Wan could not remember his own Finding, or his first Gathering. He’d been given to the Order as an infant; his mother’s people so rarely produced force-sensitive children and having a Jedi for a son would be a boon for her. If Obi-Wan became a Jedi, which was looking to be less and less likely.

He left the Creche with Geran and Quinlan. They were the only ones of his creche group that, like him, had not yet been Chosen. Geran didn’t much care. His dreams of becoming a pilot were just as easily served in the Corp, if not more so. Quinlan, however, was like Obi-Wan. He’d dedicated himself to being a Jedi and had no desire to be sent to the Corp instead.

They joined the large mass of Jedi that were making their way down the stone steps that lead down beneath the Temple, to the Force wellspring below. It was slow going, but eventually everyone was settled into the amphitheater that had been built around the well-spring and the crowd grew quiet as the Jedi Council walked out. Obi-Wan and his friends had managed decent seats, which was better than the year before when they’d been stuck behind a row of four Wookies and only Geran had been able to see.

It was Master Windu that spoke, his force-enhanced voice ringing clearly through the stone amphitheater for all to hear. “Welcome, Jedi of the Order, to the Gathering of the Force!”

The room cheered, and Obi-Wan grinned as the Force swelled with everyone’s good mood. It was rare that the Jedi were given cause to celebrate, rare that they were encouraged to let loose their serenity and calm in favor of exuberance and jubilation. He always enjoyed the Gatherings, for this if nothing else.

“We’ve had thirty-six successful Searches since our last Gathering.” Master Windu continued. “As per tradition, we will begin this Gathering with an introduction of our Younglings that are new to the Creche. Grand Master Yoda, overseers of the Creche, will call them by name and recount the Search that brought them to us.”

Obi-Wan’s Searcher had been an elder Jedi that had died four years before. Master Tanith had not been from the same clan as Obi-Wan’s mother, but he had been from one that was a close ally. He’d been kind enough to share their people’s traditions with Obi-Wan and had visited him often in the Creche, as was often the case with Searchers. Obi-Wan had watched Master Tanith’s former padawan light his pyre and had been overcome with grief like he’d never known; a part of him had hoped to have become Master Tanith’s padawan, but the master had been extremely old by their people’s standards when he’d found Obi-Wan and had passed peacefully in his sleep.

Yoda began with the infants. Their Searcher brought them forward and laid them in the warm waters of the wellspring, and the Force amplified their presence throughout the room. The older children, when it came time for them, walked into the wellspring on their own. Often, a few masters would respond to one of the Younglings’ presence, either by standing to get a better look at the child or writing their name down. Each child held the entire focus of the Order for the time it took Yoda to recant the tale of their Search, and then they were lead away and another child came forth.

Obi-Wan wondered how many Masters had been intrigued by him, when he’d been laid into the wellspring. He could vaguely remember there being several masters that would come and spend time with him when he was younger, under the direct care of Yoda, but that attention had faded as he grew older and moved into the care of Master Van instead. Yoda had kept him for a full three years, longer than he’d kept any other youngling to date, but Yoda had not taken a padawan in nearly fifty years and Obi-Wan held no hope for being an exception to that.

Obi-Wan’s attention is caught by a presence in the Force, and his eyes snap to the wellspring. The young girl that is standing within the waters has her eyes closed, and the water laps gently around her ankles. Her presence is so bright and joyful and pure that Obi-Wan’s breath catches, and there’s a swell of sound as Masters begin to mutter to one another.

Yoda was speaking; Obi-Wan had missed the beginning of it, but he followed what he could. “Found her, Master Tahl did, in Naboo. A great destiny, we did sense in Padme when brought before the Council she was.”

Padme.

She was very small, but that said little about her. Geran was nearly a full year younger than Obi-Wan, for all that he was over a foot taller. She was probably four, and couldn’t be older than five to have been accepted so readily by the Council. Her delight in the Force was very innocent and reminded Obi-Wan of the joy he’d once found in the Force, before worries of being Chosen and considered worthy enough to be a Jedi had clouded his mind. It had been very simple, when he was her age. There was the Force, and it was everywhere, and Obi-Wan had known his place within the Force and knew that he was to be a Jedi when he grew older.

Now, he had none of that certainty and he envied her.

“I heard that Master Jinn visits her often.” Quinlan whispered to Obi-Wan.

Everyone knew who Master Jinn was. The story of his former padawan’s Fall into the Dark Side was a cautionary tale that every youngling heard from Master Windu. Obi-Wan had met Jinn before, when he was very small and Xanatos had still been with them. He could remember Xanatos’ Choosing, and how pleased the other boy had been, how light in the Force he had felt. Obi-Wan had been terrified by the prospect that anyone could Fall to the Dark Side. Jinn had been kind to Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan’s closest kept secret was his intense interest and fascination in the older Jedi.

Obi-Wan feels another spike of jealousy, and quietly seethes at the prospect that this new Youngling, not even a full year into the Creche, already had more prospects than Obi-Wan did after spending his entire life with the Jedi. She, he knew, would be Chosen. She’d become a padawan, perhaps even Master Jinn’s padawan, and for one intense moment, he hated her.

He sat on his anger, and took several breaths. He released it -his anger, and pain, the confusion and fear and hatred- into the Force, and was again at peace.

Chapter One:

Obi-Wan has barely a warning from the Force before Anakin’s dashing away from him, the small boy disappearing quickly into the thickly crowded streets of Mos Espa. Obi-Wan curses under his breath, and then grits his teeth and runs after his step-brother.

“Anakin! Anakin, stop.” Obi-Wan dashes around one of the market booths and manages to snap Anakin by the shoulder. Anakin’s small round face is clearly distressed, his eyes squinting against both suns as he looks up into the sky.

“Don’t you feel that?” Anakin asked. Obi-Wan frowned. He had thought the Force had been warning him about Anakin’s gift for getting himself into trouble, but there was something still nagging at him rather insistently. Reaching out tentatively, he quickly found the presence of two new force-users several miles out from the city.

“Are you shielding, Anakin?” Obi-Wan asked, his hand on Anakin’s shoulder tightening. “Like I showed you?”

Anakin nodded. “Yes.”

“Good.”

When Obi-Wan had first come to Tatooine to live with his father after leaving the Corps, he had been able to sense Anakin from the moment he’d stepped onto the planet. He’d been concerned by the prospect of such a strong force-user living in the Outer Rim and had investigated, only to find a slave boy barely older than a toddler. He’d spoken with the boy’s mother, and hesitantly began training him. If only to keep him from being a danger to himself or others. If Anakin hadn’t been a slave, then Obi-Wan would have taken him before the Council personally, but Anakin had been a slave and Obi-Wan was the only one around capable of helping him. Obi-Wan’s father Cleigg had met Anakin’s mother Shmi and the rest was history.

“I don’t think they’re bad, whoever they are.” Anakin says. He cocks his head, a puzzled little frown on his face. Obi-Wan can feel him prodding at the Force. “I think… I think we’re supposed to meet them.”

There’s something familiar about the two presences. Obi-Wan assumes they’re from the Jedi Order, though what they’re doing on this side of the Outer Rim, he has no idea. He doesn’t like the idea of exposing Anakin to the Order. He’s very powerful, and Obi-Wan fears what the Order would do if they labeled him a potential threat.

“I want you to stay here. I’ll go speak with them.”

Anakin makes a face, “I’m not a child.”

“Anakin, you’re ten. You are a child, and Mom would kill me if anything happened to you. Until I know if we can trust them, I want you to stay here. Get Mom and Dad if anything goes wrong.”

“I don’t like it.”

“I don’t care. Stay safe, Anakin.”

Anakin sighs, and nods. “Okay. May the Force be with you, Obi.”

“And with you, Ani.”

Obi-Wan set off towards the presences; they were quickly approaching town. Obi-Wan ducked into a trading stand, and crouched to hide himself behind a large vase, as the two approached. One was a young girl, perhaps an adolescent. The other was an older man, and Obi-Wan recognized him instantly. He stepped out from his hiding spot.

“Master Jinn.”

The Jedi Master didn’t outwardly startle, though the girl did. They both turned to face Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon Jinn’s eyes sweeping over him quickly.

“You… you were once an initiative for the Order. Kenobi.”

Obi-Wan flushed slightly at being remembered. He’d once tried desperately to catch Jinn’s attention, and had wanted desperately to be his padawan. At the time, Jinn had adamantly declared he’d never take another padawan again, and yet the girl beside him wore the traditional braid.

“Yes, Master Jinn. I was released into the Corp, and my father bought out my contract. What are a Jedi Master and Padawan doing on Tatooine?”

“We were headed to Courscant, but our ship was damaged.” The girl tells him. There is something familiar about her, but she would have been very young when Obi-Wan left the Temple. “We need parts, and someone to install them.”

“I can take you to the more respectable junk yards, but I can help you with the installation myself.”

“Thank you, that would be beneficial. This is my padawan, Padme Naberrie.”

Padme. Obi-Wan exhaled. He’d once witnessed her introduction to the Order and had been amazed at the pureness of her Force presence. It had lost some of the innocence that had once radiated, but he could recognize the feeling of her now. This was the Initiative that Qui-Gon Jinn had chosen as his padawan, when Obi-Wan wasn’t enough to turn his head.

If he was still a Jedi, Obi-Wan would have been expected to release his jealousy into the Force. But, he wasn’t a Jedi anymore, so he let the jealousy burn.

Somehow, Qui-Gon Jinn had only become more attractive in the ten years since Obi-Wan had last seen him. Force damn him.