Before - Legends Friends and Strangers~ Second Proverbs Challenge, Qui-Gon, Feemor

Title: Friends and Strangers
Genre: Hurt/Comfort/Friendship
Characters: Qui-Gon Jinn, Feemor, mentions of Yoda and Xanatos
Timeframe: 44 BBY
Summary: An encounter with his first Padawan causes Qui-Gon Jinn a pause on the day of the Exhibiton Tournament Day nine years after the fall of his second Padawan.

The absent get farther away every day. Japanese proverb Additional prompt: Qui-Gon Jinn

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It had been many years since he had seen the man who stood before him today. This man was his first Padawan learner- the one whose training brought him to the mastery and earned the man his knighthood. They had been student and teacher, like father and son, even friends to some extent. But as was the way of things in the Jedi Order, they parted ways once the Padawan?s training was complete and went on to other assignments.

As time passed, the Master trained others and saw less of his old Padawan. At a fateful duel with his Padawan Xanatos, he could even say to the humble born man that his skills had improved since he had trained him. It was good to see the young man again and in spite of the need to rebuke Xanatos for his arrogance in dismissing the skills and potential of his predecessor as Qui-Gon?s Padawan, he could honestly say that he was proud of both of them.

But soon, things changed. A Padawan fell from grace and fled. And Qui-Gon no longer saw himself as worthy of training anymore students. With the failure of the second Padawan, he saw himself as a failure even in the case of the first.

And so he sought to avoid the presence of the first as he mourned the second. This man, the Jedi Knight Feemor, became absent from his life. Friends became strangers more so than they had been before. An easy thing to happen within the ranks of the Order, which almost always guaranteed some level of anonymity between former students and their instructors, happened through a combination of intention and circumstance.

It was not until nine years after the fall of Xanatos that they would encounter one another again. They met at the annual Exhibition Day Tournament, where prospective students would compete for the right to become the Padawan of an available Knight or Master.

They would meet not some much as friends but as strangers.
***
?I?ve heard that you refuse to take another Padawan.? A voice behind him spoke- a voice that sounded rather familiar and yet was the voice of a stranger at the same time.

The noted Jedi Master turned around, finding himself looking at a similarly tall man with neatly trimmed blond hair and blue eyes. There was something about the man that he knew he should remember. The man seemed friendly, open and honest to a fault- all things that the Jedi Master realised that somehow, he knew were associated with the man.

It was then that he knew. It was then that he remembered who this man was. This was his first Padawan, Feemor. Now a Jedi Knight, he had to be finishing the training of his first Padawan by now. Feemor was on the verge of gaining his Mastery, one of the highest points of distinction that any in the Order would ever achieve. And as his former Master, Qui-Gon Jinn should be feeling a sense of pride at seeing his first Padawan achieving this point.

But in his continuing shame, Qui-Gon found that he just couldn?t. For all he knew that he had successfully trained Feemor, making the younger man more confident in his abilities and helping him to become a confident Jedi Knight, it didn?t help to staunch that little voice in his head.

?Yes, I don?t think that there is any point. I am a failure when it comes to teaching the ways of the Force.? He remarked to no one in particular.

?I see. So, aside from Xanatos, am I to be considered a failure as well?? Feemor remarked, signalling to his Padawan to continue on to wherever they were going before they had encountered the elder Jedi.

?No, you aren?t a failure. You did well with me but your training was almost complete by the time the Council appointed you to me. Master Vesul was responsible for much of your success as a Knight.? Jinn re

 

Great use of the proverb. Love that Yoda was able to prove what we all knew anyway: Qui-Gon is the stubbornest Jedi & man in the Order.

 

Great use of the proverb & also superb characterization.

 

Good proverbs challenge, still as stubborn as ever Master Jinn.

 

Good challenge and great story. Jinn is stubborn

 

Thank you for reading. Glad that I managed to make this work as I have written very little of Yoda- mostly just implied background and small bits- and absolutely no Qui-Gon before I wrote this.

 

Thank you and glad that I managed to get it to work.

 

Thanks and yes, he definitely is, isn't he?

 

Thanks for the great comment and for reading. Maybe I should right Jinn more often.