Before - Legends By Days and Pieces - Qui-Gon/Obi-Wan

Title: By Days and Pieces
Author: VaderLVR64
Characters: Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon
Timeframe: About 8 years before TPM
Summary: Sometimes the gift is something other than what we expect.


By Days and Pieces


Day #9, Piece #5

The secret was killing him. Or at least, keeping the secret was proving more troublesome than he had anticipated.

Obi-Wan sighed as he turned his attention to the task at hand. Qui-Gon was sleeping, as were most of the Temple denizens. It was after all, the middle of the night, several hours until dawn. The young man blinked and tried to focus his eyes on the small bit of kalawhyte wood in his hand. He had many weeks of work ahead of him, especially since he could only work on the project in bits and pieces, sneaking in time when Qui-Gon would not discover him.

The lack of sleep was beginning to show, however, and he had seen concern in his Master?s eyes more than once over the past few days. He gave a sigh that turned into a yawn and he blinked to clear his vision once more. It was clear that although he had many talents, carving was not among them.

Given enough time and patience, he knew he could do a credible job, but he was running out of both those things. This bit of wood was special to him, for he had found it while they were on a particularly dangerous mission. It reminded him of the stone Qui-Gon had given him years ago, though it did not resonate with the Force. But it had called to him, and he had known it would be there, buried beneath the layers of decaying leaves. He had tucked it into the pouch that hung at his belt and then put it in a drawer when the got back to the Temple and had forgotten it for months.

Until he had decided that he wanted to give Qui-Gon something special for his Naming Day. If he had only had this one piece to carve, he would have been close to being done. But this particular bit of wood was merely going to be the centerpiece of a much larger gift ? a jesmin set. Jesmin was a game of strategy that Qui-Gon particularly enjoyed and Obi-Wan was determined to hand-carve every single of the twenty-eight pieces required to play jesmin.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, however, he was wondering if he had been temporarily insane when he made the decision.

He heard a snort come from Qui-Gon?s room and his hands stilled in his panic. Then he realized it was only a snore and had to stifle a laugh. His Master must be very tired indeed, for only when he was exhausted did he snore so loudly.

Obi-Wan yawned once more and realized that he could no longer work tonight. His own fatigue was making him clumsier than usual and it was time to set aside his task for the time being. Carefully, he wrapped the bit of kalawhyte in a soft cloth and carried it back to his room, where he tucked it tenderly under his clean tunics.

He fell asleep, dreaming of his Master?s pride and pleasure when he opened his gift.


~~~~~~~~


Day #17, Piece #12



He still had sixteen pieces to go when this one was finished.

Frowning as he studied it, he noticed that the base was slightly off balance. He placed it on the table and watched unhappily as it leaned to the left. ?Shavit,? he muttered. Again.

Qui-Gon was in the Archives searching for something to read. Obi-Wan would have to listen closely for his Master?s return. It would not do to be discovered now. He was almost halfway done and he wanted to keep the secret.

It was winter now, and his Master liked to sit down with a good story when the winds outside blew cold. Obi-Wan would make him a cup of hot tea and sit quietly, studying or preparing an assignment while Qui-Gon read, jizz music playing softly in the background.

For Obi-Wan, the memory of those evenings was a cornerstone of their life together. Even more than the missions they went on together, those hours spent in mundane activities warmed him and strengthened him as nothing else could. He smiled at the thought.

Then a sharp pain lanced through his thumb as the carving knife slippe

 

That was adorable. I've done that myself, hidden something away for a present and working on it at odd hours so that I wouldn't be discovered. I'm glad that Qui-Gon understood about the lying. It was really sweet that Obi-Wan was so upset that the present wasn't worth the lying and then to be forgiven. Lovely.

Great job. When do you sleep - so many stories and so good!

 

Awwwwwwwww That was so wonderfully sweet of Obi-wan to do for Qui-Gon and I'm so very glad Qui-Gon was so understanding about it. That was just a sweet bit of mush and after this week, I needed it. Thank you!

 

That was sweet. great job.

 

awwww, loved it!

The ending was perfect. A lovely read.

Beautifully done

 

Aww this was sweet

Glad to see Qui Gon apreciated Obi's effords and the present itself.. hey at least Obi came clean

 

beautifully done.

Loved it.

 

Oh, that was so cute. Obi-Wan working so hard to make the pieces, then feeling guilty for his little deception. And of course Qui-Gon was his lovely understanding self. I loved it.

 

Awww...that was so sweet.

I'm impressed Obi-Wan confessed faking not feeling well, though it seems Qui knew and wasn't that concerned.

How wonderful he was able to enjoy giving the gift he worked so hard on to Qui-Gon.

Beautiful job on this.

 

Aw! This was really a sweet story.
I loved your progression through the different days and pieces--that was nifty organizational strategy.

Great work with the characterization (as always).
This was great, After all, he had felt rather unwell, at least from a certain point of view. That his distress was caused by the possibility he would not finish the gift in time and not by illness was perhaps skirting the edge of truthfulness a bit, but he had had no choice really.

 

I really enjoyed how you presented Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's relationship. It's nice to see their father/son bond, and it is shown quite expertly here.

 

dianethx Any crafter has learned to be sneaky! I'm glad you liked this. Sleep? I get about 5 hours a night.

Layren Sorry you had a rough week! But I'm glad you enjoyed this!

Gkilkenny Thank YOU!

Kestrel_Kenobi I'm glad you liked it!

Veloz Obi seems the type to confess!

hyperspace_police Thank you!

LuvEwan Thank you so much for reading!

KELIA Qui-Gon was understanding, and that's a good thing.

oqidaun It just seemed to fit, though I've never written anything with that type of organization before.

slow_dawn I like writing those two.

 

That was so cute!! I love that Obi-Wan spent so much time and effort making the present, and that he was brave enough to tell the truth.

Wonderful job

 

Hi VaderLVR! I'm not sure if you remember me as it's been quite the span of time since I was on here! A lot of things have happened (such as, oh, a marriage!!) but it's great to be back on the forums, and I have missed my Obi/Qui fics dearly. Anyways, loved this story! I could definately sympathize with not only the procrastination, but with the last minute "illness" used to complete the procrastinated project. What a lovely story, I like the idea of their downtime together during the windy winter hours.

 

Very nice story, beautifully characterised. The line about Obi-Wan's distraction at the thought of Siri was a nice touch. Well done.

 

Aaaaah, I like how Qui-Gon knew about the trick with the heating pad. And that he had less selfless motives when he did it. That helped Obi-Wan get over his guilt about fibbing so he could finish the present. And, oooooh, I've had projects like that, too. Very nice.

 

Aww, that was so sweet! Love how Obi-Wan was rushing to finish, and ended up lying to Qui, only to confess in the end. And of course, Qui is completely understanding. I bet he did something similar when he was a padawan. Perfect characterization!

 

NYCitygurl He's always been honest to his core!

The_Hutt Glad to see you back!

Knight_Aragorn Thank you!

ardavenport Crafters can relate, I think.

Jedi_Tigris I think he did something like that MORE than once!

 

OMG I remember reading this when I first happened onto the boards.

I never commented???? Bad, BAD reader!!!

I LOVED it then. And am so glad to see it up on page 1 again today.

Lovely little piece, to start this day.

 

I just found it and it is beautiful and so good describing their relation

 

?It is a gift any Master would be proud to receive.?

Obi is irresistible! *huggles him and doesn't let go*

That was beautiful, as always, VaderLVR64!

 

AW that was a great fic really put a smile on my face! Obi-Wan was just so darn cute that GAH I just wanna hug him.

Loved it~!

 

ratna Thank you so much!

earlybird-obi-wan I'm so glad you liked it.

Lauren_Solo Thank you!

Ganki I want to hug him too!

 

Wow, how did I miss this gem? It is absolutely beautiful. Qui-gon and Obi-wan are such a sweet master padawan match.

 

I missed this before? It's a great story. I loved the relationship between the two.