A Long Road Home (Qui/Obi angst) [#17 - 02-11-03] (Fourth Update!) COMPLETED

Well, I rarely read stories any more and it's even rarer to post a comment when I do. But I will say I am going to keep a close eye on this one!!!!

Don't worry about the mush. As you well know, I love the building of angst!!!!

That's the dark side in me, or so I have been told.

UP!!!!!

PEACE ewen

 

I liked the last post.

Qui drowning in guilt isn't unusual.

Nice post, Aunecah

 

I think you did fine with the kiss at the end. It was believable that Qui-Gon wouldn't feel like enjoying it.

I like that Qui-Gon is wanting to train Obi-Wan and is feeling the guilt for letting him go in the first place.

Great job, Aunecah!

 

ewen : Thanks. I feel privileged. And do drop by occasionally or frequently or whenever you can to tell me you?re reading.

Suzuran : Thanks. And no about the rest of it. On the other hand, it is very unusual to find Obi-Wan NOT drowning in guilt, now isn?t it?

Cascadia : Thanks!

Aunecah

 

Well, I have a post ready for you ? and for once it?s short. [face_shocked] Only two pages long. On my other stories, I used to be impressed if I can write three pages before I stop to post ? now I?m impressed with myself that I can actually write something that?s less than three pages in length.

Anyway, this in itself doesn?t do anything ? but it at least moves the plot along nicely.

~*~*~*~

Obi-Wan let the water run over his hands, feeling the welcome chill rush into his veins in a fast but not nearly fast enough approach. Cupping his palms and letting the chilly water cascade down into his hands like a waterfall, he splashed it over onto his face, reveling in the comfort and escape from the pain that it bought.

Taking a towel and wiping his face clean, Obi-Wan turned around and stared at the door, almost as if in fascination. He then tore his gaze away, looking for something though he didn't know what. Then he saw the rectangular array of keys beside the door ? a keypad. Relaxing slightly as he realized that this was what he had been looking for, Obi-Wan moved toward it, and pressed the top button.

Sparks flew at him ? his hand jerked back almost as if it had a will of its own ? but otherwise nothing happened. Obi-Wan looked up at the door and saw it remaining stubbornly closed. He looked down at the keypad again and pressed the next button on the keypad. The button met his fingertip without any resistance, going in as easily as if it were in space. The door, however, remained resolutely in place.

Obi-Wan looked down at the keypad again and swallowed a knot that formed in his throat. He pressed the third and last button in ? but the button met his fingertip without any resistance, going in as easily as if it were in space. The door, however, didn't even budge.

He folded his arms and gazed at the door unblinkingly, his breathing coming in and going out shallowly. The dull gray of the door seemed ominous and threatening as something welled up inside him ? something that was hot enough to be boiling, something that was extremely fluidic and able to explode everywhere at once.

"Open this door ? "

Slowly, almost unwillingly, he took a couple of steps forward, and, making a fist, pounded on the door. He wasn't sure whether anybody outside could hear it or not, but there didn't seem to be anything else he could do. The refresher was locked, with him inside it.

Obi-Wan flinched as if somebody had lashed him out with a whip.

"S-somebody open this door."

The air remained forebodingly quiet except for his timid voice and fearful poundings. He didn't want to die out here, like this.

A sob tore through his mouth as he banged on the door again ? the bass-like rhythm of the thumps as his fist pounded on the door making his head ache until he nearly forgot who he was.

Pools of liquefied crystal trickled down his eyes as he slid down onto his knees, raising his hand in a maddening urge to pound one more time, just once more ? maybe somebody would hear him, maybe somebody was going to realize that he was here, maybe somebody was going to open the door.

Maybe.

Another sob racked out of his mouth as he pounded on the door again, resting his head against the door for support, for he suddenly felt as if it weighed a ton.

Tears blended in with the cool water that he had previously splashed over his face, and the sweat that was starting to reform in haste, sprawling down his cheeks, dropping onto the knuckles of his hands ? one by one at first, then continually the next.

They slid down through his fingers.

Obi-Wan stared at his hands, hearing the sobs breaking through his mouth.

He was crying.

Why was he crying?

Confused at finding himself doing something he couldn't explain, Obi-Wan slowly pushed himself onto his feet. It must be his fever ? or the pain that was even now washing over any coherent thought in his mind, showing its ugly face everywhere.

The door was gray, a strange, eerie gray. He stared at the door for a long moment, and

 

oh my, angst galore!

qui better come rescue obi

I will admit that the idea of tossing the equivalent of 7th or 8th grade school children out on their own after telling them all their lives that there is only one goal worthy of trying for has always left me very uncomfortable.

great story!

 

PaddyJuan : As ewen was saying up there somewhere in the post about herself, I love angst. Now we'll just have to see about whether or not Qui-Gon will come and rescue Obi-Wan. He should have listened when the Force told him to go to Obi-Wan instead of Tahl, shouldn't he?

Aunecah

 

Poor Obi-Wan. I hope Qui-Gon, or someone, finds him soon.

 

Cas : Oh, somebody will obviously find him - you can be sure of that because I'm not about to make him die in there - but ... soon or late? You'll never know until the next post.

Aunecah

 

Just a random little up.

Aunecah

 

oh angst!!! Someone had better find him!!

beautifully done, More!!

 

Kawaii sou ni Obi!

Figure it out.

 

I should have a post up pretty soon - like three hours or so later. And we'll find out what happens to our poor Obi-Wan

Aunecah

 

The poundings continued with a wail of impatience, somehow managing to make through two closed doors and over the grumbles of thunder and the rain splattering on the windows to their ears.

Siri Tachi sighed, tucking a lock of short, rebellious hair behind her ear. She and Luminara were sitting in the common room from which branched out the twelve E-4 rooms of the Healers' ward. Partly because of the lack of people willing to do the job, and mostly because Siri and Luminara hadn't had a mission for months, they had been assigned the night shift to watch over and take care of the patients.

"Maybe we should go rescue whoever is in there," suggested Luminara softly.

They had no doubts about what was causing the poundings. Announcements and warnings had been going off in the Temple everyday about the malfunctioning refreshers. It wasn't anything new, because there always seemed to be something or other not working as it should in the Temple. And so, knowing that nobody was likely to pay any attention to what was intoned by a droid over the comm. Unit, all the healers and their apprentices and any others who worked here were instructed to give anybody coming in the warnings about all the malfunctions in the ward.

But, apparently, some people never took a clue.

"No, let us leave him in there," said Siri, her eyes narrowing as she looked at the door to the E-4(1) room, behind from which the poundings were coming. "Maybe it will teach him something about paying some attention from now on to what we say."

"He might be panicking," Luminara pointed out.

Siri nodded indifferently.

"Well, he could always use the Force to open the door," Luminara said, rubbing her diamond-patterned chin thoughtfully. "I suppose he'll think of it once he stops pounding and starts thinking."

Siri nodded again, and then turned her attention to a late dinner ? a very, very, very late dinner. The shriveled pieces of brullaki spiced with some kind of a strange, reddish liquid that looked repulsively like blood threw what appetite she had down the chute. She did wonder at the dish ? she didn't think it had ever been made in the Temple before. That, or she had accidentally wandered into the Wookiee section of the mess hall.

Sighing, she regarded Luminara and found her friend reading the newspad. Except that it wasn't today's version.

"Catching up on something interesting?" she asked, surprised.

Luminara rolled her eyes. "Nothing interesting really. There apparently has been something about the Jedi in the newspad ? "

"Which isn't really anything new," Siri interrupted, raising an almost supercilious eyebrow.

" ? an article by Kat Guldon," Luminara finished.

"Which isn't anything new either," Siri said firmly.

Guldon had been making accusatory, even inflammatory, statements about the Jedi for a good couple of years now. In the beginnings, when she had first come across his news articles, Siri had been incredibly frustrated about the lies in there and rather maddened that she ? or anybody else ? could retaliate in anyway. Over the years, though, those feelings had faded away.

"No, but I always look at his articles anyway," said Luminara shrugging. "I think it's good to see ourselves from somebody who completely dislikes us."

"I think 'irrationally' dislikes us is what would be more appropriate to describe him," Siri said slowly. "All he does is exaggerate what few mistakes we did ? if we should even call them mistakes ? and, in the absence of those, create lies to fill the screen."

"It doesn't matter what he does," said Luminara with a sigh. "The better part of the galaxy listens to him and thinks he is right."

"That's because the better part of the galaxy is uneducated," said Siri crossly. "Of course, that's not the main point either, I guess. You know, sometimes I wonder what they ever teach in the academies and universities over there." She waved her hand around, as if to encompass the entire galaxy. "No grounding in military, little in politics ? it's almost as if the only people who kn

 

So what did Siri and Luminara see in the paper? Was it something about Obi-Wan and they now know he doesn't know how to get out?

Great post, Aunecah! I love the angst in the story.

Sorry about the internet problems.

 

Cas : Well, it's the article by Guldon that Qui-Gon read yesterday morning or so. Yeah, internet's being a pain in the neck afterall.

Aunecah

 

Up!

 

Cas took my question.

You gotta love Qui rolling over and going back to sleep after feeling Obi's emotions (if it is Obi)

 

Suzuran : You bet that's Obi.

Aunecah

 

Whoa, that last bit was intense. Now I must know what happens...

MORE!

 

Thanks Arwen . Well, I'm afraid I can't post today. I had "one of my midterm" (in my teacher's words) computer science tests today, and my brain's fried. I can't read or write anything today, but I'll try to get something up tomorrow.

Aunecah

 

Well, here is the next post.

~*~*~*~

"Urgh!" Siri exclaimed when the poundings from the room resumed their course once again.

Ignoring them with difficulty, she looked down at the newspad again and continued reading the disturbing article. When she finished, she looked up to find Luminara staring at her expectantly with an arrested look on her face.

"I can't believe it," Siri said slowly, trying to get her mind to function properly again. "That Guldon has some nerve to make such blatantly untruthful and disgusting statements."

Luminara didn't answer, but continued to look at her as if she expected more from Siri.

Siri sighed. "And according to the article," she said in a low tone, almost as if she were afraid she were saying something confidential that she shouldn't know in the first place, "Obi-Wan is at the Temple."

"Well, Master Qui-Gon could have brought him here for treatment and then sent him away," Luminara pointed out half-heartedly. "You know the Council's position on who can and cannot visit the Temple."

"Yeah, but this is Obi-Wan we're talking about," said Siri fiercely. "They wouldn't throw him out like any commoner."

"They did once," Luminara said sadly.

"Well ... that - that's different," Siri said, almost desperately. But Luminara was right. The Council has sent him away to AgriCorps five years ago. Why would the Masters think twice about sending him away now? Would the Council even have let him in the first place? Maybe when Master Qui-Gon brought him to the Temple, they told him to put him in the Bluestar medical wing.

"S-somebody help me!" A distant voice came through the door, accompanied by poundings.

Siri sighed. "I guess we were wrong to assume that he'll start to think logically once he stopped panicking. I better go 'rescue' him, I think."

Luminara laughed half-heartedly before turning back to the newspad that Siri had dropped onto the tabletop.

Siri waved her hand as she neared the door, almost casually.

The door slid open with a dull metallic hiss.

As she stepped into the room, she was suddenly struck by a wave of despair rolling off from the refresher. It nearly made her stop and gasp. While she would have - while she did - expect whoever was in there to be afraid, she hadn't expected him to be this scared. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought the person in the refresher was scared of dying in there.

Disconcerted and puzzled by what she was feeling, Siri quickened her pace toward the refresher unit, turning the lights on with another wave of her hand.

She looked toward the bed, which was, as it was supposed to be, empty. But ...

Siri shook her head, trying to clear it. There was something about the feeling that lingered there that was making her ... what? Something definitely, but what exactly? Afraid? Guilty? Happy? Confused?

(It was probably the last.)

"S-somebody help me!" The voice was on the verge of a breakdown, sounding as if it was squeezed out during huge sobs.

Even more confused and starting to feel stabs of guilt against her stomach, Siri trotted down the last meter toward the door and punched in the top button. Yellow and golden sparks lit the air around the button momentarily, and then subsided.

The door opened.

Siri blinked.

She stared at the figure crouching on the floor before her, crying a river. He raised his hand, making it a fist, to pound again, but then he seemed to realize that the door opened. His sobs subsiding into sniffles, he quickly pushed himself up onto his knees and then, holding onto the sink for support, onto his feet.

He was looking at her curiously, as if he couldn't recognize her. But Siri recognized him immediately - five years passed, but she recognized him as if she had last seen him only today morning.

But this couldn't be true ... this couldn't, could it? The Force wasn't this ... cruel. It couldn't be.

"Obi-Wan?"

"Why did you open the door?"

"What?" Siri asked blankly.

"Nobody ever opened the door before," O

 

[face_shocked]

 

Ditto what Kitara said. WOW!!

More soon!!!

 

Wow! That was great! Really exciting and angsty at the same time. And what a cliffie. You'd better post more soon!