Dying Fire: The Three Fathers of Obi-Wan Kenobi . Completed 25 February

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I am going to second DP here: oooohhhhhhh

 

Thank you, CrystalKenobi. Obi talking to birds seemed nice.

*Listens to the duo with a pleased smile.*

 

Am so sorry! How could I have missed this?

The beautiful azure sky of earlier was now gone, and he knew ? somewhere in the depth of his soul ? that it was not just the brilliance of that sky lost, it was something more important, something more scaled. And that something not only affected him but the whole galaxy. The changes were close?

WOW! That was amazing. Once again your descriptions leap off the screen!

Will Obi-Wan find out the significance of his dream and most importantly, where is he?

 

Thank you, Sabe You make me blush. How could I have missed this? - I suppose you didn't expect me to pop up with the new post so soon.

 

No I misread the update date! I check this every other day!

 

Sabe: I misread the update date! - Ah, that happens to me too from time to time. On these boards you never know which way to read the date.

 

up

 

Happy New Year to everyone who happens to wander in here.

New post is going to come soon.

 

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

More

 

Happy New Year!

 

Thanks everyone for appearing here ? made me write faster. Here it is ? promised and long awaited.


*********** ***********


Somewhere in the same building another dimply lit room was located. Round, with pale blue bare walls; as the room?s only decoration served a large vid-screen stretched on the wall. The room was occupied by a deep armchair with tall back, padded with midnight-blue velvet, and a single person sitting in it. The armchair was designed for rest yet the woman?s figure in it was anything but relaxed. Body leaned forward, hands pressed in a tight lock, sable eyes watching the vid-screen where a young man sat on a bed.

The man looked confused, disoriented, and she knew exactly why. She had witnessed him being carried into the room and placed into bed. She had sat vigil through hours of his sleep. And she was now trying to fathom what he would do next for she found her ability to predict the Jedi?s moves lacking.

However, before the Jedi could do anything more than stand up the events started to unfold. Something appeared in the room. Nais leaned forward even more, her back rigid. What materialized in that bedroom wasn?t a hologram but it wasn?t a solid form either. A figure draped in flowing folds of voluminous black cloak was barely visible against the dark background of the wall behind it.

Obi-Wan stared, his face showing a mixture of emotions, until a mask of calmness thrown over his face out of habit concealed them.

?Who are you and what do you want?? asked the Jedi with some strain in his voice.

The figure shifted a bit but didn?t approach. Then it spoke.

?I am called Lord Sidious.?

Kenobi visibly winced. Silence followed, giving Nais time to make some conclusions. What interested her most was the way Sidious chose to visit the captive knight. Why hadn?t he come himself?

She examined his figure searching for answers. His face was barely visible under the heavy hood, but what Nais could see showed her a trace of emotion ? concealed yet still present to her expert eye ? a surprising emotion ? fear.

The Dark Lord being afraid?!

She took a moment to double-check her inference, but everything ? her eyes, her intuition ? confirmed it. Darth Sidious was afraid of Obi-Wan Kenobi. And that was the reason why he hadn?t come himself, choosing instead a weird, and probably very trying, sort of mental projection. She leaned back in surprise.

?What are you afraid of?? she asked softly. Nais knew he couldn?t hear her, and it gave her a sort of confidence. Just as her sudden knowledge, knowledge he would most likely prefer to be left not revealed, gave her a feeling of power ? power over him.

He shifted a bit more ? a shade among shadows ? and she leaned forward again eagerly, seeking to uncover the source of his fear.

?What do you want of me?? Kenobi demanded. He now stood facing Sidious in a posture both relaxed and alert.

?To open your eyes and make you see few things??

??And get me onto your side.?

?That would be a desired ultimate goal.?

?Never.?

Sidious moved to a chair and lowered himself onto it, steepling his fingers. Obi-Wan observed him with wary gaze.

?Please, sit down,? Sidious said in a sweet voice which, however, held a command.

Obi-Wan obeyed, sitting down onto the bed. But it wasn?t he who Nais watched, unlike Sidious. She held her eyes fixed on the only part of the Sith?s face visible to her ? his lips. And she saw those lips mouth silently a word ? a name.

The syllables merged into ?Alionna?.

The Jedi took a moment to straighten some creases on the bed covers, apparently feeling less than comfortable under the Sith?s scrutinizing gaze.

?You are so much like her,? Sidious said almost too softly for the hidden dynamics in the room to pick the sound. And there was a trace of fear again ? almost superstitious fear. He feared his dead wife, and the mixture of them both in their son, Nais realized. Kenobi appeared not to hear.

?So what is it you wish to tell me?? A note of wariness slipped into the Jedi?s voice through

 

WOW! Father and son finally meet.

Even though Sidious has threatened her, Nais still has some power over him. Will she choose to tell Obi-Wan about Sidious's weakness?

I'm worried that Sidious has succeeded in sowing seeds of doubt in his son's mind. Although he doesn't have a leg to stand on, being a Sith, he was speaking the truth 'from a certain point of view.'

 

Well, he did say the truth, didn't he? And Nais... she's wants to bring about Sidious' downfall. But will she succeed?...

 

DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

you are the queen of evil

 

DP, thanks

PK, would you rather I were the queen of mush? *shudders*

 

up

 

Thanks for upping, Sabe. I am trying to write... unsuccesfully so far.

 

Don't worry I am sure inspiration will strike soon!

 

Thank you for the encouragement, Sabe.

Well, here it is at last. As good as it was going to get anyway. With these pauses in writing I thought I would soon forget how to write English at all.


*********** ***********


Evening was slowly draping its soft cover over this part of the giant city-planet. It brightened the scene, however paradoxical it might sound, throwing here and there spackled clusters of artificial lights with a lavish hand. One of Coruscant?s moons was rising over the horizon, casting a ghostly radiance over the spiky structures below. But its glow ? magnificent and enticing as it could have been were it watched from the spacious lakes of Alderaan or deep unrefined jungles of Yavin ? here was easily drowned out by the unnaturally bright luminescence of sentient-made illumination. The moon?s pale disk was barely visible against the sallow, feeble, seemingly low sky.

From an open window somewhere in the mass of the buildings Brimar watched the moon?s slow rise with mixed emotions. His hands resting on the windowsill, his head in the halo of dirty-blond ruffled hair leant against the frame of the window, he appeared deep in thought. The room was starting to drown in darkness, but he made no move to bring on the lights. The murkiness of the room was too much in tune with the faraway quality of his reflections to attempt breaking it.

Dooku entered the study quietly and stopped in the middle, staring absently into space, frowning. With a considerable effort Brimar tore himself from deep musings and turned to regard the newcomer. The Count?s face was calm, yet it wasn?t that serene, relaxed calmness his aristocratic face usually wore. Everything in Dooku countenance led to believe he was about to clench his fists and attack anyone unfortunate enough to be present in his near vicinity.

?What?s wrong?? asked Brimar worriedly, forgetting his own less than happy thoughts at this sight.

Dark eyes turned to fix him with an almost insane stare.

?They killed Urait.? Dooku?s voice was hard, words spoken as if through gritted teeth.

For a moment Brimar stayed in confusion until a face ? and facts ? came up to match the name. ?It is that Twi?lek, your friend?? Dooku nodded curtly, as though even this tiny movement hurt him. ?I thought he was a Jedi??

?He was, and a very skilled one too.? Dooku walked to his table and sat ? or rather fell ? into the large armchair next to it. ?He was one of the greatest Jedi Masters the Order has.?

In the growing dusk Brimar could make out the other man?s eyes ? they glinted with fire ? and he could not decide whether it was the fire of rage or grief, or both.

?As far as I know, it takes much to kill a Jedi Master??

?An understatement, really.?

??Do you have any idea who could have done it?? he ventured.

Dooku shook his head vehemently. ?They. The Sith Lord and his disciples.? Suddenly it seemed as if the former Jedi couldn?t hold the words in any longer, letting them tumble out of his mouth in a hurried irrepressible gush. But however tormented the words might have been they still came out in a cultured, unfaltering row. ?I asked Urait to check the Archives for this Camino system. He?? Doku paused for the briefest of moments, closing his eyes. ?He contacted me today saying he had found some disturbing facts. From what he was able to tell me I gathered the information about this system has been wiped away from the Archives. And it could only have been done by someone with a status of a Council member.? The last words fell heavy into silence.

The declaration was too much to immediately come to terms with. And Brimar found himself tempted to just throw it aside as something completely out of possibility. Surely he knew the Jedi Order was drowning in political squabbles of the Republic, serving not the peoples of the galaxy and not even the greater good as they claimed they were, but petty whimsies of corrupted politicians. All that was out of question for him ? as he had spent not one year in and about that web of intrigues ? ye

 

It seems it has been long enough since the last update that it warrants an up from me...

 

OK, I'm here.

 

PK, then you shouldn't leave.


*********** **********


Stuffed air was heavy and oppressive in the darkened bedroom, pregnant with troubling dreams and lurking insatiable nightmares watching for an innocent dream to intrude into, stirring emotions, waking fear, clouding senses. And no matter that this was the Jedi Temple ? the stronghold of peace and serenity ? no matter that the Code frowned upon emotion and disapproved of fear. Nightmares didn?t care a bit about the Code as well as whose dreams they were haunting.

And this time writhing and whimpering in the fierce grip of a nightmare was a small ten-year-old boy, lying in his bed in the depth of the Temple. Sand coloured short spiky hair was damp with sweat; tanned cheeks burned with fevered heat; full puffy lips slightly parted as though struggling for air. A thin braid, lovingly adorned with coloured beads, laid on a pillow forlornly, forgotten.

A long shuddered sigh escaped the boy?s mouth, and he tried to pull the covers around himself tighter as if to hide from the terrors of the dream under them. But the covers were no protection from the unknown horror that grabbed him. Suddenly, with a start, two midnight blue eyes opened, staring at the ceiling unseeingly, still captured in the misty land of a nightmare.

?Master?? A tiny voice, thin and quivering, called into darkness.

Holding his breath the child waited for the answer.

Nothing. Shadows didn?t move to reveal that strong figure and bright presence that was his Master. Trembling, Anakin drew the covers up to his chest.

?Master Obi-Wan?? he called again into silence.

Not a single sound.

~Maybe he?s just sleeping and doesn?t hear me?~

Slowly edging out of the bed Anakin got up and padded, barefooted, out of the bedroom. At the door to Obi-Wan?s room he paused, gathering his courage where he felt none. What if?

~No, he?s here! He?s returned when I was asleep, and he ? he just didn?t want to wake me. He IS here!~

With shaking hands Anakin pushed the door open just a crack. Not daring to open more he peered inside, breath caught in his throat. But his eyes met only darkness and a corner of the somewhat lighter rectangle of a window. Carefully he opened the door just a bit more, then suddenly flung it full open.

The room was empty. The bed at the far wall stood neatly made, abandoned.

The boy sank to the floor.

?M-master, where are you??

He was expecting, hoping with all his heart that a hand would lower onto his shoulder then ? that large warm and so familiar hand ? and the cultured voice would tell him it was all right, that there was nothing to fear.

But the night was cold ? just like back then on the Naboo royal ship when he first left Tatooine? and his mother. It had been just as cold then.

But there had been someone then?

There had been Padme to understand him and offer a warm jacket accompanied with a yet warmer smile. His beautiful and dear Padme. His angel? But she had turned into queen and was so far away, unreachable.

Then there had been Master Qui-Gon ? so tall, so confident, so powerful and warm too. He had been better than anyone Anakin had ever met before, almost as good as Mommy. But he had died? And although Qui-Gon still talked to the Padawan at times he wasn?t here to offer solace on this incredibly cold night.

And Master Obi-Wan? So reserved sometimes, then suddenly all glowing with that boyish grin of his. The puffed up and sulking apprentice to Master Qui-Gon when Anakin had first met him had managed to somehow turn into the closest person in the galaxy? well, after Mom and Padme. The person who had been always with him. The one to lean upon.

And now he was gone too.

A question sprung up unbidden: was he to lose all his family? Was he to lose everyone he was close to? Maybe the reason they were all gone was he, Anakin?

The thought stung, more than he could have imagined. Was it all his fault?

Having no idea what he was doing Anakin scrambled to his feet and shuffled to the door that was leading out int