Before - Legends Origin (Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon)

Author: CaraJinn
Era: Before saga, but somewhat AU
Genre: Family/Drama
Characters: Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon
Summary: As every young jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi came to the Jedi Temple at a young age. Unlike his friends he doesn't know anything about his background.


........


Chapter 1: Where Do I Come From?

"Master?"

"Yes."

"Where do I come from?"

The latter question was uttered by the thirteen-and-a-half year old Obi-Wan Kenobi. It was a quiet day in the Jedi Temple of Coruscant and Obi-Wan had spent the morning with his friends Garen, Bant and Reeft in The Room of a Thousand Fountains, their usual place to hang out on the relative sparse leisure time a padawan learner of the Jedi Order could expect, -at least when the dojos were all occupied and not available for a good sparring exercise. This was the week's only day free from regular classes, and thus the four friends had spent some hours together while Obi-Wan fervently hoped that his Master Qui-Gon Jinn would take him for a spar some time during the afternoon.

Qui-Gon opened his eyes from a well deserved slumber in his favorite armchair, the room's only armchair actually. He usually found the company of his young padawan refreshing and invigorating, but sometimes it was good to have some peace and quiet. However, half drowsily his brain concluded that something felt slightly amiss. A boy of almost fourteen should know the answer to that, else the fundamental biology class must have failed spectacularly. Maybe the boy had been on one of his far too frequent visits to the healer's ward during that lecture? Surely he wouldn't have to speak to the boy about 'the birds and the bees' and all that stuff?

"What do you mean?" a slight blush was forming on the jedi master's high cheekbones. The boy was still standing in front of the door, seeming almost reluctant to enter the room.

"I…I'm just curious, Master. We were talking about it and then I realized that I don't actually know anything about it, and since both Garen, Reeft and Bant seems to know about it I would like to know too."

Qui-Gon's blush changed it's shade to a deep crimson: "Uh, well, I thought you already knew, Padawan, but since you don't….ehrm… It happens when a man and a women meet and, well, it shouldn't happen to us Jedi since attachments are forbidden among us, but to everyone else, well , if so they…"

His voice trailed off. Kriff, why should this be so difficult? He was a grown up man for stars' sake and he wasn't totally without experience but still. He'd never have to had this conversation with Xanatos. Actually he'd sometimes silently suspected that Xanatos had known more about the matter than himself.

Before he could find a way to continue his explanation, Obi-Wan interjected: "Oh, no, Master, not that. I know that from our..uh…biology lessons. It's not that I'm asking about."

The boy's face had turned an even more deep crimson color than the Master's and the lack of beard in the young face made it even more emphasized. Even his earlobes had turned glowing red.

Qui-Gon sighed in silent relief. Thank all the stars. For a moment I was really afraid that I had to do 'The Speech' to him. For sure, when we start going on missions I can foresee that the girls will fall head over heels in love with him, and that I can see even without a very good connection to the Unifying Force. So he should…learn to protect himself, but I hope I can postpone that speech to another day.

"I see," the Jedi Master shot in, not quite truthfully as he didn't understand anything of what was going on "obviously we have misunderstood each other, or rather I misunderstood you. What is it you're actually asking?"

So far Obi-Wan had been standing in the small hall that lead into their common apartment, but now he entered the almost as small living room and settled carefully down on the couch. The crimson color was slowly fading into a just as lovely pink, giving an interesting contrast to his auburn hair.

"Well, Master, you see I met my friends this morning after we'd had first meal and after a while they began to talk about the origins. Bant is a Mon Calamari and she knows that she was born at Dac and given away to the Jedi when she was a bit more than one standard year old. She even knows that she has a bigger sister who is not force sensitive."

Qui-Gon nodded silently. Now he was getting a grip on the subject.

"Garen," Obi-Wan continued, "says he was born on Pamarthen and given to the Temple when he was just a baby. His mother had died shortly after he was born and his father gave him willingly to the Jedi when he discovered that the child was force sensitive. He didn't know how he could combine his work and take properly care of the baby at the same time. And when it comes to Reeft he came to the Temple when he was almost two years old. He was the middle one of three siblings, but the only one who was force sensitive. His parents didn't really want to give him away, but when they saw how he responded to the knight who came to talk to them, they changed their minds."

"And you?" Qui-Gon asked softly.

"That's why I'm asking," Obi-Wan sighed exasperatedly, "I don't know. I don't have the faintest idea who my parents are or where I come from. Nobody has ever told me, and I haven't really thought much about it before. I believed that nobody was told about their homeworld or their birth parents, but now it seems like everyone knows that except me. Even you know where you come from. You've actually told me that you've met your birth mother once on your home planet."

"I saw her," Qui-Gon corrected, "I chose not to speak to her. It would only have led to pain for both of us."

"Yes, well, that's what I mean," Obi-Wan continued, "everyone seems to know something about their origin, but I don't. I guess I've always taken it for granted that I come from Coruscant, but maybe I don't. So I became curious and I thought that maybe you know something about it since you're my Master, Master?"

The boy had a point, actually. It was slightly weird. As far as Qui-Gon could remember he'd not met any jedi until now who didn't even know the name of their home planet. Obviously Obi-Wan didn't.

"No, actually I don't," Qui-Gon answered calmly, "when I became your Master everything happened under such chaotic circumstances so nobody has really told me anything about your background either. When I finally gave up on my own stubborn concerns and asked you to be my Padawan, I really didn't give it much thought. I was too happy that you said yes, and I didn't focus on the past."

"Thank you, Master," Obi-Wan said quietly. Even though he had begun to actually believe that his Master wanted him as his Padawan, such assurances felt good to hear every once in a while. Those thoughts made him feel rather foolish, but the uncertainty the repeated rejections of him as a padawan had somewhat glued itself to his mind and soul. It was hard to get rid of.

"Could we go to the archives and make a search?" Obi-Wan prayed. "Please, Master? I know that I most likely doesn't have access to those files that concerns the jedi in the Temple, we're only allowed to find stuff that is needed for our studies or missions and I believe that the information related to padawans is stored in a protected area of the archives, but surely you have access? It's not that I need to know, I'm happy where I am, but still…I'd like to know at least which planet I come from."

"I guess I do," Qui-Gon confirmed, "I have actually never looked up the files on any of my padawans before, but I could give it a try. I can understand that you'd like to know a little bit more about your origin, especially since all of your friends seem to know about theirs. Should we go there right away?"

"Oh, yes, Master. Thank you, Master. It suddenly means a lot to me," Obi-Wan sprang up from the couch and bolted towards the door. Qui-Gon followed suit in a more dignified speed.

 

Loved the initial misunderstanding, quite understandable. And even more so that Obi would want to know about his origins since his friends know a bit about theirs.

 

Poor Obi-Wan. I hope that he will ever find out more about his roots.

 

Poor Obi-Wan. Totally believable that he would want to know something of his past. Had to at Qui-Gon's misunderstanding what his padawan was really asking about. Good work.

 

Chapter 2: Searching for Answers

The large archives were buzzing with calm activity when Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan entered the main archive room. Obviously many padawans and knights were in search for information on class assignments or actual upcoming missions.

The outer walls were covered with shelves and with some spacing between other shelves were pointing in towards the center of the room. The light was slightly dimmed to help create the calm atmosphere that could always be found in this part of the Temple. A couple of students were balancing dangerously high up on ladders, trying to get hold on datapads which were stored on the higher shelves.

Lined up along the central axis of the rectangular room a row of work stations could be seen. The archive had various access levels to the information stored there. General information related to history, galactic news and all kinds of open information (even cookbooks, as Obi-Wan in one optimistic moment had discovered) could easily be accessed from work stations and datapads in the Jedi's quarters. When it came to information related to persons or even most missions one had to use the work stations in the main archive hall. There were also more private boxes located towards one of the walls, where one could search in somewhat more privacy. And, of course, quite some of the information gathered throughout the Jedi's millennium long history could only be achieved by searching in single datapads. Those were the one's occupation the shelves. Rumors said it that there even was a separate archive with real paper books, but to be granted access there one needed clearance from both Madame Nu and one councillor.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon headed for one of the more private boxes, and Qui-Gon sat down. Obi-Wan stood behind him and peeked curiously over his shoulder as Qui-Gon began the log on procedure

Username: JInnQG
Password: **********
Access level:
1: General knowledge
2: Missions/Mission reports
3: Council Reports (not restricted)
4: Jedi Order Affiliates

Qui-Gon chose 4, and immediately got a new choice.

1: Living
2: Deceased

He punched 1.

Enter name of Jedi: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Enter rank: Padawan

The screen flickered and a few lines came up:

Birthdate: 30.03.943
Homeworld:
Mother:
Father:
Siblings:
Member of Jedi Order (Coruscant): 01.04.943
Present rank: Padawan
Master: Qui-Gon Jinn

The rest of the screen was blank.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon stared incredulously at each other: "What???"

"What is this?" Qui-Gon added, rather dumbfounded."There's nothing? Nothing at all? How can that be?"

Obi-Wan had become exceptionally still behind his back. Through the Force Qui-Gon could feel his bewilderment. The boy said nothing.

"This must be wrong,"Qui-Gon continued. "At least your home planet and one of your parents should be mentioned. Somebody had to sign the documents when you were given to the Jedi Order."

Obi-Wan nodded silently. He didn't trust his voice to answer. He hadn't really expected much when he asked Qui-Gon to check his record, he would just like to have a name of his homeworld and maybe also know a little bit of his parents so he could add something to the discussion with his friends if the topic came up again, but right now he didn't feel good. Looking at the rather empty screen he felt…non-existing, as if he were a void somehow. A person that was, but should not have been. It was…disturbing.

"There must be a system error," Qui-Gon concluded and shut down the work station, just to begin the process of logging in again.

The result was the same.

Birthdate: 30.03.943
Homeworld:
Mother:
Father:
Siblings:
Member of Jedi Order (Coruscant): 01.04.943
Present rank: Padawan
Master: Qui-Gon Jinn

No more, no less.

"It's okay, Master, I don't really have to know." Obi-Wan's voice was on the verge of shuddering, and Qui-Gon could feel the boy's mental shields were slamming up. A quick glance onto his padawan revealed that 'okay' was far from the truth right now. His usually so sparkling blue/green eyes had somehow turned into grey, as if all life and joy had left him in this very moment. It was disturbing to see.

"Don't worry, Obi-Wan, we will figure this out somehow. I'm sure there's a system error. We'll ask Madame Nu about it. I'm sure she will get it cleared out in a moment."

Qui-Gon rose and strode purposefully towards the slightly secluded box where Master Archivist Jocasta Nu was residing.

"Good afternoon, Master Jinn, is there something I can help you with?" Madame Nu's opening remark was friendly enough.

"Actually there is, Madame Nu. My Padawan and I wanted to take a look into his personal records in the member's archive but no information is coming up, except his birth date. There must be a technical error somewhere." Qui-Gon explained.

"I'm sorry Master Jinn. It cannot be so. The archive program is in perfectly fine condition," was Madame Nu's matter of fact answer.

"But, really, Madame Nu, nothing was coming up. Absolutely nothing. At least his homeworld and one of his parents' name should have been there. One of them has to have signed the documents leaving him in the Jedi Order's custody. It is mandatory," Qui-Gon objected.

"There is nothing wrong with the archive system," the Master of Archives repeated. Her demeanor still polite but slightly more chilly now.

"But…" at least Qui-Gon was nothing but persistent. Amidst his own confusion Obi-Wan admired his Master's courage, standing up towards the impressive Master of Archives.

"Master Jinn, for the third and last time, there's nothing wrong with the archives," Master Nu stated, "but if it can help silencing you and stop you from nagging I can always try to log on myself. Wait a minute. Your padawan's name is Kenobi, right?"

Qui-Gon nodded silently, and Obi-Wan let out a silent breath of relief. He really, really, didn't want to see the two titans clash in a battle in the archive. Admittedly, it would have been interesting to see who would have come out as a winner. For the moment Qui-Gon seemed to have the high ground.

Madame Nu's fingers flew over the keyboard in front of her, and drilled down the menus until she came to Obi-Wan's record.

Birthdate: 30.03.943
Homeworld:
Mother:
Father:
Siblings:
Member of Jedi Order (Coruscant): 01.04.943, finally granted by Coruscanti Court 04.07.943.
Present rank: Padawan
Master: Qui-Gon Jinn

Qui-Gon's eyes widened in astonishment. Granted by the court? It seemed like Obi-Wan had been picked up somewhere and none of his parents could be found to sign the documents leaving him to the Jedi Order. Surely, he had heard of similar stories before but they were rare and still the homeworld of the child and some other relatives usually were known when such things happened.

Obi-Wan peeked up on the screen: "What does it say?"

"Basically the same as we saw on the other screen, but with the additional information that The Jedi Order was granted custody of you by the Coruscanti Court," Qui-Gon explained.

"You mean, I came from nowhere, and they needed somewhere to dispose of me?" Obi-Wan's expressive eyes seemed to become increasingly more grey by the moment.

"Absolutely not! Don't forget, you are a force sensitive and as such you are fully entitled to be a member of this Order, no matter who your parents were or where they came from. Let's return to our quarters and discuss it more thoroughly there. We're drawing some attention here."

The pair returned to their apartment in silence. Qui-Gon noticed that there was an obvious lack of spring to his padawan's steps. Actually he was on the brink of dragging his feet behind him. They were approaching the corridor where their apartment was when a tall, slim figure came towards them.

"Hello there," Tahl Uvain greeted them, "how are my two favorite jedi doing?"

Then, after a second look at Obi-Wan she added: "What's the matter? You seem like you've tried to sell a wampa hide and haven't got paid for it?"

"Come with us and have a mug of tea, and we'll explain the matter," Qui-Gon urged, then he came to think of it, and turned towards Obi-Wan, "unless you don't want Master Uvain to know. After all it's your files we were to discuss."

"My non-files, more like it," Obi-Wan muttered, "but I have no problems with letting Master Uvain know what we have discovered, especially since there actually wasn't something to discover."

Actually Obi-Wan looked forward to including Master Tahl in the little mystery that had occurred. Some months earlier in his apprenticeship she had successfully intervened in his and Master Qui-Gon's relationship and managed to clear off a bunch of misunderstandings between them, and thus improving their quite strained relationship a lot."

Some minutes later the trio sat with a similar number of steaming mugs in front of them and Qui-Gon explained the situation. Tahl nodded silently.

"Hm, you're right. This sounds a bit weird. No relatives at all?" she asked.

"None, and that's what puzzles me the most," Qui-Gon said. "At least the one who gave him away should know his parent's names, or at least one of them. And even if he or she didn't, his homeworld should be known. But there's nothing there."

Obi-Wan bit his lip, and looked more unhappy than ever.

Tahl laid a comforting hand onto his shoulder and asked: "What is it Obi-Wan? I can see that this is bothering you, but you're the same person as you were two hours ago, and you still have Qui-Gon, me and all your friends here."

"I know, and I know I shouldn't feel this way because of this, because until today I haven't even thought about my birth family. It's just that…right now I feel like someone just dumped me here…"

Tahl shook her head vigorously: "No, they didn't, whoever 'they' might be."

Then she paused for a moment and continued: "Wait a minute, maybe that's exactly what they did? You're thirteen, almost fourteen standard years old right?"

Obi-Wan nodded. At least that was something he knew. Celebrating lifedays was not a big deal in the Temple but when he was in the creche there had been some extra greetings when one of the children had their life-day and usually the crechemaster had a small treat in the form of an extra good night story or a cake or some extra minutes in the swimming pool on a day like that. Besides, his date of birth had been the only substantial information to be found in the records.

"At that time I was fully preoccupied with missions in the outer rim," Tahl continued, "and so were you, Qui-Gon, but what if Obi-Wan actually was an orphan and the one who delivered him to the Temple didn't know the name of his birth parents? That would explain the empty records."

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon looked at each other. Qui-Gon noticed to his satisfaction that the apprentice's eyes had lightened considerably and were now closer to their original blue/green color again.

"It may very well be that way," he agreed.

Tahl continued: "If this is important to you, Obi-Wan, I suggest you ask Master Yoda. That little green troll seems to have a soft spot for you and most likely he was in the Temple when you arrived, one way or the other. He must know what happened."

Obi-Wan swallowed hard. Master Yoda always behaved friendly towards him, but still the thought of asking such…personal questions to the Grand Master was slightly disturbing. Surely the Grand Master had more important things to do than answering such questions from a mere padawan.

"I…I don't think…" his voice trailed off. If this was his only chance to know, it would be foolish not to take it, but still the thought was a bit scary.

He could see the two masters exchanging glances over the table. Master Tahl's narrowed slightly but nothing was said verbally between the two of them.

Qui-Gon cleared his voice: "Tahl is right. If you want to, we can go see Master Yoda tomorrow. I will comm him this evening and get an appointment for us."

Tahl's face expression transformed into a sparkling smile.

 

Tahl soothes the emotions and suggests a very viable solution to the mystery and a source of more clues. I can well believe it would be disconcerting to have a blank record.

 

It is just logical that a child wants to know about its roots, but Obi Wan really can manage his emotions well. His Jedi training pays off here. I would have made some serious havoc in the library.

Oh, I should mention that I can be only seldom online these days.

Right now I am, because I was informed from hospital that one of my husband´s operation wounds was leaking. Even though the informant was nobody but himself with his mobile phone and a photo was send to me, I am too excited to go back to sleep so easily.

This is why the Obi-Wan story did me good. The cool Jedi method of doing stuff, thinking on matters...

Thank you!

 

He became quite astonished, yes. And so did Qui-Gon.

I'm glad that my Obi-story did you good. I'm sure he would have liked that thought too.

 

Chapter 3: A New Member of the Jedi Order

The following afternoon Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon approached the door to Master Yoda's quarters, Obi-Wan feeling a bit shaky. It wasn't that he was afraid of the Grand Master (fear would lead to the dark side anyway), but still - disturbing the Grand Master with such a trivial question didn't feel…right.

"Are you certain we're doing the right thing, Master?" he asked for about the third time in equally many hours.

"Do you, or do you not want to know about your origin?" Qui-Gon answered calmly, "How bad can it be? It's not like you had escaped to the Temple to get away from security guards or something like that. You were likely one day old."

"I want to know, I guess…" Obi-Wan whispered. All of a sudden it didn't seem so necessary knowing where he came from. What was wrong with Coruscant anyways? He lived here, he studied here. It was home for all practical purposes. In some ways he had his friends and family here too, even though they were not tied together by blood. On the other hand, Master Jinn had been kind and understanding and backing out now would make him seem even more like a fool. He straightened his back and confirmed with some more conviction : "I do want to know, Master. If there is something to know."

Qui-Gon pressed the door bell to Master Yoda's quarters. The door opened instantaneously and both jedi entered.

The room was a standard Temple apartment, though situated in the higher levels of the west wing. Instead of the usual blindings in front of the windows, Yoda had chosen heavy, admittedly quite dusty, curtains and the room within was resting in a half light. A stripe of sunlight bathed the middle of the room in a golden glow. The two visitors bowed politely in unison.

"Welcome, welcome. Come sit. See me not very often you do."

"No, Master. We know you are busy," Qui-Gon answered politely, while he lowered himself onto a huge cushion on the floor. Yoda had, maybe of respect to potential visitors, chosen to avoid a chair and couch in his living room, knowing fully well that few other jedi would fit into furniture of his size. Obi-Wan managed to restrain himself from snickering when he saw his rather tall Master bend almost double when crouching down on the chosen cushion.

"Drink tea we will, and tell me about your troubles you do."

Yoda left for the kitchenette and soon three mugs of tea stood in front of them on the low table. Obi-Wan looked suspiciously on the contents. If this tea was somewhat close to Master Yoda's infamous stew in taste he would soon be in big trouble. Not even his diplomacy classes could save him from a diplomatic disaster, if so. Tentatively he sipped the tea and discovered that it was actually quite tasty, with a floral note and some sweetness in it. Qui-Gon, who fancied a stronger tea, seemed slightly less happy.

The little green master looked expectantly at his visitors. An almost invisible twinkle in his eyes indicated that he already knew what the question would be.

"Obi-Wan, something to ask me you have?"

"Yes, Master. With all due respect, I am happy here in the Temple and I wouldn't be anywhere else, but yesterday I learned that other padawans and initiates know where their homeworld is, and some even know their birth parents. I became curious and wanted to know who mine were, but Master Jinn couldn't find anything in my records in the Temple Archive."

The old master nodded slowly, his eyes half closed and his ears twitching slightly.

"Understandable that is. Like a tree knowing it's roots, roots important are for other living beings too."

The room silenced. Obi-Wan waited patiently, knowing fully well that Master Yoda would tell in his own time.

"Empty your records are, young one," he finally confirmed. "Knowing the approximate date of your birth we do, but nothing more."

"How? Why?"

"Newborn you were when you came to the Temple. Not more than a week, likely less. Found you in the front of the main entrance Master Telsa did, when the morning came. Someone had laid you before the Temple during night," Yoda explained.

Obi-Wan swallowed hard. Somehow he had expected something like this, but on the other hand - it was too incredible, like something from a bad holovid. Things like that didn't happen in real life. Or did they?

"Who laid me there?" He tried desperately to sound calm and collected, while his thoughts were racing.

Why didn't my mother want me? Was I that disgusting? Couldn't she care for me or was she ill? Maybe she died when I was born and someone else brought me there?

"Know that, we do not. The unknown person had wrapped you in a soft blanket and laid you down on the spot where the rays of the morning sun would come first. Keep you warm she wanted."

Obi-Wan felt tears sting in his eyes. His unknown parent, or friend, or …something had at least cared for him so much that he, she, it didn't want him to freeze.

"But didn't anyone see her, or him? What about the guards?"

Yoda shook his head slowly.

"No. Seen her they should have. See her they did not. Difficult to understand why that is. Asked them later on I did, but denied seeing something they both did. Searched for your parents we did. For weeks. Nobody we could find. Force sensitive the tests showed us you were, so in the Temple's care you were placed."

"What about the court?"

"Law that is. When a child have no parents, the court must grant transfer to the Jedi Order. When no parent we could find, we pleaded the court to give custody to us. Granted it was a couple of months later, when no parents were found."

With that the old master became quiet again.

"What about the blanket?" Qui-Gon asked calmly. "Didn't that give any traces of his origin? And what about his name?"

"Ah, the blanket.Yes. A regular, green blanket it was. Nothing special it was, though warm and soft it was. A note was attached to it. Only two words it said: Obi-Wan. That was the name we gave you in honor of your birth parent. Kenobi we chose for you. A usual name among humans in the galaxy it is, and serve you well it may if invisible you need to be."

Why would I want to be invisible? I don't want attention, that's right, but how can I avoid that with a first name like the one I have? Why should I ever want to disappear?

Obi-Wan was called back to the here and now by Qui-Gon's voice: "Do you know if the blanket is kept somewhere? It would be nice for Obi-Wan to see it, I think."

"Given to Master Ali-Alann it was, with the baby in it. Likely he is to have kept it."

Qui-Gon drained his mug and rose from the cushion, somewhat more elegant than when he had sat down.


"We thank you for your time and information, Master Yoda. With your approval we will ask Master Ali-Alann if he still has the blanket, or know where it is."

"Welcome you are, and welcome back you are also. There is always tea to be drunk with friends."

With another polite bow the two jedi exited the Grand Masters quarters, and returned to their own quarters.

They didn't even reach their own door before a slim figure caught up with them.

"Hello, you two. How did your visit go?"

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon turned as if they were one when Tahl appeared in the corridor just behind them.

"Tahl? Do come in. Obi-Wan, do you mind telling Tahl about our findings or would you like not to share for the moment?"

"It's OK," Obi-Wan answered, slightly blushing. On one hand he was reluctant to discuss private matters, but on the other hand Tahl had been most helpful. She deserved to know. They entered the slightly cramped hallway inside the door and Qui-Gon ushered Tahl further into their living room.

"You were right," he explained, "Master Yoda told us that Obi-Wan had been delivered to the Temple as a newborn, assumedly one day old. They searched, but never found his birth parents."

"Why do I sense there's more to it?" Tahl inquired.

"Well, there is, or was one little detail. Obi-Wan was wrapped in a blanket when he was found and Master Yoda believes that Master Ali-Alann might have kept it."

"Can you get it?"

"We don't know. We don't even know if it's still there. After all it's been 14 standard years since that day, but we will ask Master Ali-Alann tomorrow."

"If it is to be found, please let me know," Tahl suggested."If I can take a small sample of it, we can have it scanned in the material's lab in the Temple. Maybe an analysis can give us some clues of where it comes from."

…..

In Master Yoda's quarters the old Grand Master of the Temple was sitting in deep thoughts.

Know about Obi-Wan's origin they want, and lie to them I cannot, but I wonder if suspect the same as us they will. Better hidden is that part of the story, if true is what we believe. Too heavy a burden knowing that would be.

 

I knew it. They keep some things back still. And this is a mistake.

 

Nice to have additional clues, confirming what was already half suspected. Whoever the mysterious person was, she did care but wanted to be anonymous.
Love Tahl's continued interest & suggestion about lab analysis.
Yoda was compassionate and welcoming but this piqued my curiosity:

Know about Obi-Wan's origin they want, and lie to them I cannot, but I wonder if suspect the same as us they will. Better hidden is that part of the story, if true is what we believe. Too heavy a burden knowing that would be.

And why would Obi-Wan need to be invisible? Definitely a foreshadowing!

 

interesting story about Obi-Wan's origins

 

Chapter 4: Tracking

Immediately after Obi-Wan's classes were finished the following day, he and Qui-Gon headed for the creche. Untimely curiosity was not becoming a Jedi, but even Qui-Gon was somewhat puzzled about his padawan's origin. He'd never before encountered someone who knew so little about his own origin as Obi-Wan, and he would very much like to know the solution of this mystery himself. Not that he was ever going to admit it, of course.

Creche Master Ali-Alann was busy tidying up after a rather lively game with foam balls in the creche. The original intention of the game was to keep a light foam ball floating in the air for a period of time, but - as usual- everything that was related to foam balls tended to end up in chaos as soon as the first ball fell to the ground. Throwing the multicolored spheres among them was just too much fun for the active initiates.

"Master Jinn, Obi-Wan, this is an unexpected pleasure, indeed. What can I do for you?"

The two jedi looked at each other, and then Qui-Gon answered on their behalf.

"Padawan Kenobi's friends were discussing their origins the other day and he became curious about his own homeworld and birth parents, so we checked in the archives. But nothing was to be found there. Yesterday we asked Master Yoda if he could remember the circumstances about Obi-Wan's arrival to the Temple. He remembered well enough, but couldn't contribute much. However, he told us that you may have kept the blanket that Obi-Wan was wrapped in when he arrived. Do you still have it, and if so, would it be possible for us to see it and maybe take a small sample of it?"

Ali-Alann nodded in acceptance.

"The blanket, yes, I kept it. I had a feeling that some day young Obi-Wan here might ask for it so I tucked it away in a closet in my own quarters," then with a sudden change of demeanor he raised his voice, "no, Shania, no. Do not squeeze those colors onto Bh'arka's face. It's meant for flimsiplast, not for faces."

The minor accident was avoided and peace regained by the drawing table where 5 small initiates were working on their pieces of art.

"Where were we? Oh yes, the blanket. Please wait here, I will go see if I can find it right away." The Creche Master disappeared in through the door to his private quarters.

All creche masters had their own apartments in close vicinity to the creche they were responsible for. Through the open door Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan could hear the man rummaging through something that probably was the aforementioned closet. They could hear him muttering something that suspiciously sounded as mild swearing while he was working. The two jedi exchanged amused glances.

"There! I knew I had kept it somewhere!" A triumphant exclamation came from behind the door.

Obi-Wan realized that he'd been holding his breath for far too many seconds already, and let it out with a low 'pheeeeeewwww'. Shortly after Ali-Alann exited the door with a small green bundle in his hand and handed it to Obi-Wan who almost reverently grabbed it.

"It's so soft…"

Qui-Gon smiled down at his charge: "There you can see. Your parent really cared for you and wanted the best for you even though he or she couldn't keep you."

Obi-Wan felt a lump in his throat, and just nodded. The blanket was really soft and plush, indicating that his birth parents might have come from a well situated family. Not that that was of any importance though, but maybe they had really cared even though they gave him away. Suddenly he felt a sting of gratitude towards his birth parents. Somehow they had known that the Jedi Temple would be the right place for him to grow up.

Qui-Gon watched him gently.

"What do you say? Shall we cut of a little piece of it so we can have it analyzed, or do you want to keep it intact? And do you want to bring it with you?"

"I…I…no, Master," Obi-Wan croaked, "if Master Ali-Alann could possibly keep it here for some time I think it would be for the best. Personal belongings are not befitting a jedi, so I…I…can't take it. It wouldn't be proper. But maybe we can take this small sliver here and see what the lab can do with it?"

Qui-Gon nodded, he never ceased to admire his new padawan's ability of letting go. He fully well understood the boy's almost palpable wish to keep the blanket and still he refused to do so.

"Very well then, we'll cut off that little piece and see what Master Uvain can do with it."

…

Aforementioned Master Uvain was waiting in her own apartment when Qui-Gon rang the doorbell. She opened the door with a flicker of her hand. Her standards when it came to 'frivolous use of the Force', was definitely not up to Qui-Gon's own.

"Come in and have a seat," she urged, and the two visitors accepted the invitation. Obi-Wan looked around. The small apartment was identical to the one he and Qui-Gon shared, but instead of earth and nature colors, Tahl Uvain had added some cushions in clear blue, green and deep pink tones. A blue carpet was covering most of the floor in the living room. It seemed cheerful but still elegant.

"Did you have any success?" she asked.

Instead of answering right away, Qui-Gon handed her the small piece of Obi-Wan's blanket.

She took it immediately and put it in a flimsiplast envelope from her desk.

"So, we'd better not contaminate it, before it's analyzed," she explained. "Feel free to put on a kettle of tea, while I take the turbolift down to the lab with it."

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan exchanged a glance, Obi-Wan's expression was slightly pleading.

"But of course," Qui-Gon answered, "maybe Obi-Wan could join you? I believe he has never seen the lab before."

"Sure," Tahl answered lightly, "come on, Obi-Wan, your Master is the winner of the teapot tonight."

The lab was a sterile looking area with white tiles covering both walls and floor. The light was nearly overwhelming. Several benches in the middle of the room were covered by instruments and obviously doors were leading to adjacent rooms where even more instruments could be seen through the transparisteel fields in the doors.

"Hi," Tahl greeted the Master of Laboratory Services, "I have a little riddle for you tonight."

"Always a pleasure to see you, Master Uvain," the Lab Master greeted her friendly, "a riddle, huh? Let's see if we can solve it right away. We have a quiet evening tonight."

Tahl handed him the envelope.

"This is a sample taken from a blanket. If possible we would like to know where the blanket was made and in general all you can dig up about it's origin and whereabouts."

The master opened the envelope and pulled out the small sample with a tweezer and looked at it.

"Hmm, beautiful color, and the fabric seems to be of good quality. Let's have a look at it in the ultra scan. There we should be able to see the finest of details and if there are some trees of seed or dust to be found in it we may even find out in more detail where it comes from. I guess the boy here would like to see the analyzer but we try to keep the area as free from contamination as possible to get the best results. I'm sorry," he said apologetically. "If we find something of interest I will comm you tonight, Master Uvain, else you may pick up the lab report here tomorrow at noon."

"Thank you, Master," Tahl said sincerely, and bowed. Obi-Wan followed her example.

The tea was ready when they entered her quarters again. For good measure Qui-Gon had lit a candle and put on the table as well. When they entered he raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"It's delivered, we may have results tonight already," Tahl explained.

Once again Obi-Wan witnessed the lighthearted bantering that took place between the two Masters. Every now and then they addressed him but he was content sitting there sipping to his tea. Master Tahl was such a good friend to have. She seemed to always know the solution to every question that turned up, and besides when she was around Master Qui-Gon was in exceptionally good humor. Not that he was grumpy under normal conditions either, but when Tahl was present he laughed more and seemed in general to be happy.

Obi-Wan's musings were disturbed by the insistent beeping of Tahl's comm link. She answered it quickly.

"Yes? Already. Yes. Really? I see…"

Obviously the lab had some answers, and equally obviously Obi-Wan had to wait to get the answer. It was impossible to understand from Tahl's part of the conversation what was going on. Finally she switched off the comm link and turned to them with a triumphant look in her eyes.

"I knew it! That ultra scanner is a fantastic piece of equipment," she beamed, "Obi-Wan, I have the pleasure of informing you that you are with 99,18% certainty from the planet Stewjon in the Stewjon system."

Obi-Wan looked dumfounded for a moment, and slightly ashamed: "Wherefrom?"

"Stewjon," she repeated."It's one of two planets in the Stewjon star system. The other planet is Colstev, but Stewjon is where most of the population lives. The lab identified some of the fibers in the blanket to be from the Stewjon Alpacca, a creature which is mostly living in the mountains of Stewjon. The identification is strengthened by the findings of some seeds from a plant that only grows on the south side of the mountains in the southern region of the planet. There were of course other fibres and seeds too, but those seemed to be more superficial and not a part of the original blanket. "

"Stewjon," Obi-Wan repeated, almost as in a daze, "I am from Stewjon?"

"So it seems," Tahl confirmed." Of course they couldn't say anything more about your origin, but at least you know the name of your homeplanet."

 

Excellent progress! Having a name is definitely a great and valuable piece of the mystery solved.

 

now he knows his home planet great mystery

 

I'ts a start. But more mysteries will come.

He knows, and he's happy about knowing that much.

 

Chapter 5: Mission

Obi-Wan had just finished his classes for the day and was on his way back to his quarters when the comm link beeped. He answered at once.

"Yes, Master?"

"Please return to our quarters immediately. I have news for you. We will meet with the council in half an hour," Qui-Gon informed, his voice calm and steady as always.

"I'm on my way," Obi-Wan confirmed and increased his pacing. He wanted to break into a jog but realized that that wouldn't do. After all a Padawan was assumed to have a certain amount of dignity.

5 minutes later he entered their apartment. Qui-Gon was waiting in their living room, and seemed every bit like nothing special was going on.

"What is it, Master?"

Qui-Gon's face changed into a broad smile, knowing fully well the effect his next words would have on his padawan: "We are going on a mission, Padawan. We will meet the Council at 16 hours and get more instructions then."

"A mission?" Obi-Wan gaped. "You mean, like in a real mission? To another planet?"

"Yes, yes and yes," his Master confirmed.

"And, it's certain that we are going? I'm allowed to come with you? It will not be a solo mission as the one you had some months ago?"

"We will both be going on this one, Padawan. As far as I've understood it will be quite an uneventful mission, with two fractions of the government of Ahakista which have asked for our help to mediate in a dispute related to water rights on the planet," Oui-Gon informed, "but as they have asked for our help, we will go and do our best to help them settle the dispute. It will nonetheless be a valuable experience for you."

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan said. His enthusiasm had diminished slightly by the prospects revealed by his master, but - a mission was still a mission and since it would be his first one he intended to go to it with as much enthusiasm as he could muster even though parts of it might be on the 'boring' side of the scale.

"Now, come, we must get to the Council Chamber in time," his master urged and stood up from his favorite armchair.

They reached the antechamber outside the Council Chamber almost 10 minutes before their appointment and sat down to wait. Finally he padawan on duty announced: "You may go in now, Master Jinn."

Qui-Gon rose and strode calmly towards the huge doors leading in to the chamber. Obi-Wan followed suit, the prescribed one step to the side and one behind his Master. He'd better make a good impression from the beginning. After all this moment had been a part of his dreams ever since he became old enough to wish for being a Jedi Knight.

The two stopped in the middle of the circle created by the council member's seats, faced the seats of Master Yoda and Master Windu and bowed in unison. For once all the council members were present in person and not just as holograms.

"Master Jinn, a mission we have for you and your Padawan," Master Yoda intoned.

"Very well, Masters," Qui-Gon answered politely, "we are ready to leave whenever the Council wishes."

"Tomorrow morning you will go to Ahakista. There has been a dispute in their senate about water rights for three years now and both of the two fractions are tired of arguing. Seemingly they cannot come to any agreement by themselves. There is no real danger of violence breaking out, but they have officially asked for our help and the Council found that it might be a good training in diplomatic negotiations for Padawan Kenobi."

"We accept the mission," Qui-Gon said calmly, "my Padawan and I will do our best to solve the dispute in a peaceful manner and in such a way that both parties are reasonably content with the solution."

"Good, information of the background for the mission has been sent to your datapads so you can prepare yourself during the journey. You will find a ship ready in hangar three tomorrow at sunrise. May the Force be with you."

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon bowed again.

"And with you, Masters"

Then they turned and exited the Council Chamber.
….

Hangar three was a desolate place in the early morning hours when Qui-Gon and an admittedly rather sleepy padawan entered the place, each with a small satchel slung over their shoulder.

"We're here to pick up a ship for a journey to Ahakista, mission no. 956-216," Qui-Gon said to the maintenance droid.

"Ship 0264 is cleared for your departure," the droid answered and a map over the hangar appeared in his front panel. The actual ship was shining in a clear green color on the black background.

"Can you see it, Padawan?"

Obi-Wan scanned the area quickly and saw the small ship in a corner of the hangar, close to the hangar doors. "Yes, Master, it's over there."

The two of them quickly entered the ship and Qui-Gon sat down by the control panel, ignoring his Padawan's pleading eyes.

"No, Obi-Wan, you will not take the ship out from the hangar, but when we're out of the most trafficked area you may take over the controls and get us into hyperspace," Qui-Gon said sternly. "I assume that will be the most exciting part of the entire journey for you."

One week later Obi-Wan agreed heartily to his Master's premonitions.

As Ahakista was located in the outer rim the journey itself had taken more than two days and after getting the ship out of orbit and making the jump to hyperspace there really wasn't much more to do. So Obi-Wan had read the mission information on his data pad three times during the first day of their travel and in-between he had explored the ship, -a very easy task to perform as they had been granted one of the smallest ships that still could be used for hyperspace travels.

The following days had been equally, well, extremely quiet and it was with a sigh of relief they saw Ahakista appear on the monitor the third day. Obi-Wan was granted the task of taking the ship out of hyperspace and thanks to Garen's exercises some months before he managed to do the calculations right and get out of hyperspace ten minutes before they entered the planet's orbit. He sent a grateful thought to Garen when he was rewarded with a "Well done, Obi-Wan" from his Master.

As it appeared the mission was just as little eventful as Qui-Gon had foreseen. The first day they spent in the senate building, listening to the discussions between the two parties. Both insisted on owning the water rights and none of them would give in as much as an inch to that point of view. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan kept listening incredulously. At one point in the heated discussion the chairman of the "green wing" actually poured a carafe of water over his counterpart, the chairman of the "brown wing".

"Master, are they totally crazy?" Obi-Wan whispered to his Master.

"A valid point, Padawan, but no - they are just so set in their ways of keeping up this quarrel that they have forgotten to look for reasonable solutions. They both want the income that comes with supplying water to the communities."

The second day Qui-Gon intervened.

"Honored Delegates, we spent yesterday listening to your debates and we have begun to understand the reason for the dispute. Both parties wants to serve the communities by giving them access to the water, so in principle you agree in the main topic of the discussions. It's more a matter of how, than whom."

The "honored delegates" calmed down a bit after this input. Being described as willing to serve their communities didn't sound too bad. That was something which after all might lead to votes in the next election.

"But Master Jedi," the Chairman of the brown wing asked, "how do you suggest that we solve this issue? You are right that we both want to serve our people."

Qui-Gon bowed deeply.

"It is not up to the Jedi to decide how your people's interests will be served in the best matter. That is fully up to this senate to decide. However, it seems like both parties want to serve the community after their best abilities, so if we may suggest a solution it would be something like this: Let the water belong to all the people of Ahakista, but since infrastructure costs - let all households pay a minor water tax for the distribution system, and the same tax will be used for paying for maintenance of the existing water routes and for establishing new when needed."

A whispering from many voices rose in the senate building.

"The Jedi is right."

"The water belongs to the people."

"This will mean working places without impacting the existing budgets…"

The "green" and "brown" chairman looked at each other and then both of them turned towards the Jedi Master.

"Your suggestion is reasonable, Master Jinn, and if the delegates of the senate approve, this is the solution we will choose."

The proposal was approved by 2997 of the 3003 delegates. (The latter 6 had fallen asleep during Qui-Gon's interjection and thus chose not to vote in case they had missed something of the explanation.)

The third day Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan boarded their ship to go back to Coruscant again.

Obi-Wan was still mildly shocked.

"Master, I still don't understand. The suggestion you made was fully understandable and reasonable. How come they didn't manage to figure out that for themselves?"

Qui-Gon chuckled: "Are you telling me that your old Master came up with a less than original

solution? Well, if so, you're absolutely right, Padawan. I am stunned too, but I assume the answer is that this discussion has been going on for many many years and they have become set in their ways of debating. They simply had forgotten how to look for reasonable solutions."

"Does this happen often?"

"More often than you would like to think, but no - I would not say it happens often. I have seen similar things some times throughout the years, but usually there are more important things on stake when someone call for Jedi intervention. Padawan, if you promise not to crash us into the nearest mountain, you can prepare for take off. The traffic here is considerably less tight than on Coruscant."

Obi-Wan brightened considerably: "Thank you, Master. I promise not to crash."

He kept his promise and the small ship took off up into the blue sky with steady course for Coruscant.

Obi-Wan had expected the trip back to be just as little eventful as the trip to Ahakista had been. He was wrong. Almost two days after departure a sudden alarm made them startle and Qui-Gon quickly grabbed the controls.

"What is going on?" Obi-Wan asked, trying to keep up a calm attitude. Alarms that appeared all of a sudden gave him a really bad feeling.

"I'm not sure," was his Master's calm answer, "please check the readings of the hyperdrive. I get a warning that we will drop out of hyperspace in 5 minutes."

Obi-Wan quickly sat down in the co-pilot's seat and began searching the error codes. It didn't take him long to find the code he was looking for.

"Uh-oh…, not good."

"What is it, Obi-Wan?"

"It's the hyperdrive, Master. That is, the hyperdrive itself is all good, but the power converter delivering power to the hyperdrive's control unit is gone, and so is the backup solution. We will have to drop out of hyperspace and go to the nearest inhabited planet to have it repaired. It shouldn't be too difficult to find parts, but I believe there's no way we can fix it while we're en route."

"I see, check the map and see if you can find an inhabited planet we can aim for."

Obi-Wan's fingers flew over the screen and a blue holomap, hot unlike the map room in the Temple, only smaller appeared in front of him. Obi-Wan quickly zoomed into the right quadrant of the map. A small green spot showed the ships present coordinates.

"Did you find anything suitable?" Qui-Gon's voice was as calm and steady as ever.

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan's voice was almost a whisper, "if we drop out of hyperspace in three minutes we will be quite close to the nearest planet. We can reach it in about 6 hours of sub lightspeed."

"Which planet will it be?"

"Master, it is Stewjon."

 

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan's voice was almost a whisper, "if we drop out of hyperspace in three minutes we will be quite close to the nearest planet. We can reach it in about 6 hours of sub lightspeed."

"Which planet will it be?"

"Master, it is Stewjon."

This is what I call a coincidence...

No wait, this is the will of the Force!

And one can really see that this is a SF fic, because in RL politicians are neither so honest or reasonable:

The proposal was approved by 2897 of the 3003 delegates. (The latter 6 had fallen asleep during Qui-Gon's interjection and thus chose not to vote in case they had missed something of the explanation.)

 

It is very good that their first shared mission was so easy to resolve. It is often the case that the longer factions stay stuck in debates the more difficult and unlikely that they'll find a reasonable solution on their own.
Wow, the hyperdrive needs fixing and what a coincidence that the place that's closest is Stewjon.

 

Hyperdrives are a nuisance, aren't they? Messes up travels all the time. As for the mission, nobody in his right mind (that is Master Yoda or Master Windu) would have sent Obi-Wan to Stewjon. Remember the code of attachments? On the other hand - poor Obi really should get a chance to see his homeplanet somehow.

 

Chapter 6: Stewjon

Qui-Gon gaped. He had expected almost every answer to his question except this. Stewjon? His Padawan's home planet? And they were close to it? Actually they had to land there. Going back to Coruscant with their ship in sub light speed would literally take forever. For a split second he wondered if his padawan actually had planned this, and just as quickly he abandoned that thought. Obi-Wan had a pretty high moral codex and would never have done such a thing and besides, he wouldn't have had a chance of sabotaging the power converter.

"Stewjon?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes," his Padawan confirmed, "I cannot believe it."

But still it was true, so they set their course for Stewjon."

They arrived almost exactly six hours later. From orbit they had seen that Stewjon was a pleasant green planet with a mountain range stretching out over the southern part of the continent. "The land of the Stewjon Alpacca," Obi-Wan thought as they were slowly descending towards the capital's main spaceport.

The immigration officers were kind enough and when they heard about the reason for arrival they suggested a couple of electromarkets in the city centre of the capital.

"They have basically everything when it comes to electronics and if needed I'm sure they can send someone to replace the power unit too," one of the officers suggested, "but you will have to wait until tomorrow. By the time you get to the city centre the markets will be closed."

"We appreciate your concern and will take advantage of your advice," Qui-Gon answered with a light bow, "is there an easy way to get from the spaceport to Stewjon City?"

"Certainly, the shuttle leaves every half standard hour from outside the terminal building. Once you're in the city terminal you can see where the return line departs. If you want to go to the City today, one shuttle will leave in 10 minutes from now."

Qui-Gon looked down at his apprentice: "What do you say, Obi-Wan? Should we go into the city and find accommodation there for tonight or should we stay in the ship?"

He was rewarded with a bright smile and knew that the temptation to see the capital of his homeworld had to be almost overwhelming to his padawan. What he didn't recognize was the glance the two men behind the counter exchanged.

"I..Master, if it's not too much to ask I would very much like to see the capital," Obi-Wan answered, "but do we have credits enough for an overnight stay?"

"I believe our fundings will be enough to give us a decent place to stay," his Master confirmed. "Why don't you get our satchels inside our ship and then we can take the shuttle."

…

Stewjon City was a beautiful city. The shuttle took them to the main city terminal and on their way in they had seen wide boulevards and open plazas throughout the city. Smaller streets were leading from and between the boulevards and seemed to criss-cross the cityscape. Small parks could be seen here and there, inbetween the streets. The buildings were relatively low for a capital, most of them not more than five stories high. When they arrived in the city centre the sun was spreading the last rays of the day over the brick walls and bathed the city in a golden glow.

When they disembarked the shuttle and stepped out to the walkway Qui-Gon laid his hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder.

"Your birth planet is really a beautiful place, Padawan."

Obi-Wan nodded. "Can we go for a little walk, Master?"

"Of course, we have to find a place to stay for the night anyway."

One of the boy's brilliant smiles flashed over his face. "Thank you, Master."

In one of the streets crossing the main boulevard they found a small guesthouse.

"Shall we try this one? It seems cozy enough and probably it will not exceed our fundings."

Obi-Wan nodded eagerly and they went in. The lady in the reception looked up when they entered.

"Good evening, how can I help you?"

"Do you have a room for one night? We have just arrived to Stewjon so we have no reservation."

"Yes, of course. We have a room one floor up. I assume you and your son are going to share it?"

"Yes, that will do fine, thanks," Qui-Gon confirmed, without commenting on the 'son' term.

The room was quite small, but clean and neat. The two single beds were placed each towards a wall, and a small rug was laid on the wooden floor between them. In one end of the room a door was leading to a private 'fresher.

"Let's go for a walk and find something to eat before we turn in for the night," Qui-Gon suggested.

Obi-Wan followed him out and soon they were strolling down the walkway of the boulevard. Neither of them noticed the slightly astonished looks some people gave them.

…

The following day they got up early. They had been informed that the guesthouse served breakfast for their guest and that it was actually included in the price so they decided to take advantage of that offer. While eating Qui-Gon was planning the day.

"I will go to the market right after breakfast," he began, "and you're of course very welcome to join me, but if you want to have a walk and explore a bit more of the capital of your homeworld by yourself it's fine with me. This may be the only chance you will ever get for doing that."

"Thank you, Master. If you're certain I will do just that."

The two rose from the table and went outside. The sun was shining brightly and there was a mild breeze. People were walking briskly along the streets, clearly a lot of them were going to work at this time of day.

"You're sure you will be good on your own, Padawan?"

"Yes Master, I will do just fine."

"Then we'll meet here at, let's say three hours from now. Is that all right with you? I would have liked to give you some more time here, but we need to get the ship repaired and return to the Temple."

"I understand, Master. I will be back in the reception three hours from now," Obi-Wan confirmed, then he left to see more of the city.

He had spent almost two hours strolling up and down the boulevards and exploring the narrow streets and even had a small lunch break savoring a bread roll in one of the numerous small parks that could be found throughout the city when a large building suddenly caught his interest.

"Stewjon Museum," he read, "now that may be a good idea to visit for the last hour before I am to meet Master Qui-Gon."

He aimed for the huge entrance doors and peeked in. A woman was sitting behind a counter, and she looked up when he entered.

"Is there any entrance fee to pay?" he asked politely.

A slightly shocked expression flew over the woman's face before she regained her composure.

"No, the museum is free for all visitors younger than 20 standard years," she answered. "I assume that you have not still reached that age."

Obi-Wan blushed slightly. "No, ma'am. I'm only fourteen."

He went up the low stairs to the first exhibition hall in the museum and entered the area. The room was huge and bright and he could se numerous stone pillars, vases and other artifacts that presumably came from the planet's early history. A few people were walking quietly through the room while some of them discussed the various artifacts between them.

He proceeded to the next hall. This room was obviously representing a newer era as there were several statues exhibited. Clearly this era had been less peaceful because some of the statues were portrayed with weapons in their hands. In one corner of the hall a statue of a standing man caught Obi-Wan's interest. If the statue was in full size the man couldn't have been overly tall, but there was a quiet dignity over him that somewhat overshadowed the more impressive warrior statues around him. A sword was hanging from the man's belt.

Obi-Wan went closer and then he startled.

The state had a striking resemblance to himself. It was of an older person, of course, but he could see his own features in the statue and even the hair had a certain resemblance. Carefully he went closer. Could this be one of his long gone relatives? But before he came to the statue an opening in the wall caught his interest. A door stood open and in an adjacent room he saw a painting which seemed to be of the same man as the one portrayed by the statue.

Silently he slid in and stopped in front of the painting. It was clearly an old painting but the colors were vivid and sparkled with life. It seemed like the man portrayed looked right at him - with his own blue-green eyes, and to make the resemblance even more striking the man on the portrait had copper colored hair, very similar to Obi-Wan's own hair color.

"What is this?" he whispered, "who is he?"

"He is, or rather was, King Ker-Wan of Stewjon," a voice cackled right behind the painting. "And I can see why you're asking. The resemblance between you is really striking."

An elderly, friendly looking woman came into view from behind the painting. She had a mop in her hand and was obviously busy cleaning the floor.

Obi-Wan turned towards her. "But how can that be? I thought Stewjon was a republic?"

"It is, now," the woman confirmed, "but for hundreds of years back in time it was governed by the Royal family. King Ker-Wan Kh'enbi whom you can see on the picture was our last King and he is said to have had a striking resemblance to the first King of the Kh'enbi bloodline."

Obi-Wan swallowed hard, he somehow felt slightly dizzy. Not only was there a striking resemblance in appearance but there was also a similarity in the names that could not easily be overlooked. But Master Yoda had said that the Masters had chosen his last name so the resemblance had to be pure coincidence, but then again there was a similarity in the first name… But he refused, simply refused to believe that he was a descendant of some old King. It simply wasn't possible.

"When did he rule?" he managed to ask.

"Oh, we became a republic almost 300 standard years ago," the woman explained. "It was decided by a peaceful referendum and the King abandoned his throne after that. He and his family were allowed to keep one of their properties and he and the Queen moved there. It was somewhere near the mountains in the south."

"Oh, 300 years," Obi-Wan thought, "at least he isn't my birth father, then. At least I hope it's not so… But can he be a distant relative?"

His head was spinning faster and faster. What if he really was a descendant from the Royal Family of Stewjon?

He straightened himself. If so, then what? He was a Jedi and that was all he ever wanted to be. A certain resemblance with some ancient King didn't change that.

"The Kh'enbi line ruled the planet for hundreds of years," the woman continued, " and those were good years for the planet too."

"Would you like to tell me about it?" he asked politely. The Kh'enbis had definitely caught his interest and the woman seemed willing to talk. "I'm not from this planet but it seems to be an interesting history. One seldom hear about Kingdoms being abandoned in such a peaceful manner."

 

What a lovely place and interesting history! Of Stewjon in general and Obi-Wan's heritage specifically.

 

To get to Stewjon and discover all of this must be exciting

 

Well, the heritage may be even more so interesting, and maybe not in a way one should think.

Definitely. Stewjon is a beutiful place, and Obi-Wan enjoys his meeting with his home planet. But there are more discoveries awaiting.

 

Chapter 7: History Lesson

The woman chuckled. "With an appearance as yours, boy, I believe you're entitled to know. You look very much alike. Well, anyways, as I said the Kh'enbi's ruled this planet for hundreds of years. They were good rulers too. People were happy. There were no wars fought in that period. Of course small skirmishes would occur every now and then and the ruling King or Queen would be asked to mediate the disputes. The Kh'enbis were said to be great negotiators and they could calm down the most heated of discussions, just by maintaining their calm and being rational. Sometimes it was said that they had supernatural powers but no-one really believed in that.

"Supernatural powers," Obi-Wan asked incredulously, "you must be joking?"

"No, I'm not. Rumors said so. Whether they were true or not, nobody knows. Or knew. But the King was said to be able to see the future before it happened. They said he was a reasonably good healer which could heal wounds by laying his hand upon them and he could move things without touching them. All of these characteristics were not equally strong in each of the Kh'enbi Kings but they all had one or several of them. The last one, King Ker-Wan was said to be very good when it came to foresee the future. "

"The Force," Obi-Wan thought, "they must have been force sensitive."

"Where did they come from?" he asked, "The Royal Family, I mean."

"We don't know for sure. It was believed that they were off-worlders but it was never proven. At least not that I know about."

"If they were such good rulers, why did Stewjon change to a republic?" Obi-Wan asked.

"The people decided it," the woman answered. "If you ask my opinion I believe it was one of those things that 'just happened'. At that time communication with the planets surrounding us in this corner of the galaxy had improved and we learned about the phenomenon 'republic'. Letting the people govern their own, our own, planet must have seemed like a good idea at the time. What we didn't think of was that the people already were represented in the planet's government, and the King was mainly a ruler in name, and a symbol for us to gather around. But as I said, there was a referendum and the Kingdom of Stewjon was replaced by the Republic of Stewjon. The King respected the referendum and resigned. Then he left with his wife and their little son to the mountains in the south."

"Are there any living members of the ex-Royal Family living today?" Obi-Wan knew this was a question he shouldn't have asked, but curiosity got the better of him. Just - what if…?

"I don't know. It's not very likely. The Royal Family was never blessed with many children. Usually they got only one. Their kids were healthy and strong, but always only one, either a boy or a girl. If there are anyone left of that bloodline, there will not be many, that's for sure."

Obi-Wan nodded. Somehow it seemed…sad.

"I thank you for your information, madam," he said politely, "I shall not keep up more of your time."

The woman waved him off: "It has been a pleasure, young man. Not many people ask about the Royal Family nowadays. We tend to forget our history."

The woman disappeared behind the wall that contained the painting and continued her work. Obi-Wan was about to turn and leave the place too. In 30 minutes he had to be back at the guest house to reunite with Qui-Gon so he'd better get out of the museum. He would hate being too late to meet his Master in time.

He had almost reached the door leading to the main exhibition hall, when the woman peeked out from behind the painting again.

"One moment, young man?"

"What?" Obi-Wan turned quizzically towards her.

"One more thing," she said, " I knew I forgot something."

"Oh?"

"I remembered just when I saw you leave and when I saw the King's diary in the glass case back here. We believed the first King was an offworlder and the reason why can be seen there. There is a legend or a prophecy related to the Royal Family and it's descendants. Nobody has really been able to understand what it means, but we have always believed that the first lines of the prophecy was related to the King coming from another planet or maybe even star system. The diary has this text written on it's first page. It was something that seemed to follow the generations. The same text was said to be found carved into a stone plate in the Royal Palace. Somehow it must have meant something for the family. "

Obi-Wan peeked around the corner of the stand where the huge painting was placed and saw a smaller glass casing with an old fashioned book and a real ink pen beside it. The handwriting in the book was difficult to see, but fortunately the text had been transferred to a regular aurebesh printing and could easily be read from a transparisteel plate.


From the land of the suns he came
Born of the light, bore light within.
For peace he did fight,
his weapon the word.
Balance he kept, blazing the sword.

When darkness has fallen, again he will rise.
Bearer of light, the darkness will fight.
Brothers two, one bright and one dark
Against darkness his presence again lits the spark
Restore the balance of day and of night.

"What does it mean?" Obi-Wan read the text once more, moving his lips as he read. He felt a small chill along his spine as he read the words for the second time. It was something about the 'darkness to come' part he didn't like. When truth was said he got a really bad feeling about it.

"It' was considered a prophecy of the King's role on Stewjon. It has warned us of darker times to come, and as we read it the King will stand up and defeat the darkness. That was one protection we lost when we gave up the Kingdom," she smiled, "however, so far there haven't been any signs of the aforementioned darkness on Stewjon so likely it doesn't mean anything."

"I thank you once more," Obi-Wan said politely, and bowed slightly for the woman, "it has been really interesting speaking with you, but I have to say goodbye now."

A flash of warning hit him and in one fluid movement he turned to defend himself towards whatever it was that gave him the threatening chill, but too late. His world went black in a moment, and he fell limply to the floor.

"Arrhan, what did you do that for?" the woman exclaimed, when he saw the man responsible for hitting Obi-Wan with one of the heavy vases from the outer exhibition room.

"I had to stop him from asking more. It is not wise to talk about the Royal Family after what happened so many years ago, and you know it."

"But he's only a boy, and an offworlder," he has nothing to do with the Royalist's case. He was about to leave. Now you have killed him. How are you going to explain that?" she protested.

"He's not dead, he's only unconscious. I will carry him out the back door and leave him in an alley a couple of blocks from here. Everyone will believe he was mugged," Arrhan explained impatiently. Meanwhile you can make yourself useful and wipe the blood off the tiles here. And do change the water afterwards."

The short and sturdy man lifted Obi-Wan up in his arms as if he were a rag doll and moved easily towards a backdoor hidden behind a drapery.

The woman shook her head. It would have been wiser to let the boy leave. In a day or two he would most likely forget about the entire story. Youth weren't that good at remembering history lessons anyway. Then she bent over and began to wipe the blood stains off the floor with determined movements.

…

Qui-Gon Jinn was worried. Finding the spare parts for their ship had been easy so he had returned to the guesthouse after only one hour and enjoyed a nice cup of tea while waiting for his padawan. Now the meeting time had been exceeded by 20 minutes and still no Obi-Wan in sight. It was disturbing, to say the least. After their initial misunderstandings at an early phase of their Master-Padawan relationship, Obi-Wan had let go of some of his 'perfect padawan' ideas. Still - he was nothing but punctual when it came to appointments with his Master. (Admittedly a relief after having to deal with Xanatos' not so punctual behavior for years.) 20 minutes was far beyond the usual Obi-timeframe. And worse still, their training bond was totally blank. It was still there, of course, but it felt like nobody was 'at home' in the other end of the bond.

Qui-Gon's worry notched up a bit. This was certainly not right.

"My apprentice is late," he said to the woman in the reception, "I will go see if I can find him. If he turns up here, please ask him to wait for me. He's about this tall and has copper colored hair, and beige tunics similar to mine."

"I will," the woman confirmed. "Probably he's just lost track of time. Stewjon City is a peaceful city."

"Let's hope so," Qui-Gon sighed, and left.

As soon as he entered the main street he turned right and continue in the direction he had seen Obi-Wan leave three hours earlier. At least he drew advantage of his own considerable height. The people of Stewjon were normally of medium height so he got a good overview over the crowd. No auburn colored head was to be seen, though.

Once again he stretched out along their bond just to find that it was totally still. What were the last emotions he had sensed along the bond? In the beginning he had felt the boy's excitement and happiness over being able to explore his homeworld. Then he had felt contentment (maybe the boy had bought something to eat, he thought with a small smile) and then…surprise. As if Obi-Wan had seen something he didn't really knew what was.

Yes, that's it. That must have been when 'something' - whatever it was- had happened. In deep thoughts Qui-Gon turned and began to walk back towards the guesthouse again. This was really weird. Stewjon was a rather peaceful planet, and despite his young age Obi-Wan should be able to get himself out of most potential skirmishes either by talking, fleeing or fighting.

This simply shouldn't happen.

A small crowd of people had gathered in the beginning of a narrow alley, and the little group caught Qui-Gon's attention. Something was definitely going on. He cautiously went closer and fragments of the conversation reached him.

"What's going on?"

"Is he hurt?"

"Has he been mugged?"

"Where are his parents? Who are they? I have not seen him before."

As the distance between Qui-Gon and the crowd diminished he tried to look over the crowd to see what was going on. From a distance the sirens of a healer's vehicle could be heard. Qui-Gon went even closer and entered the alley.

Three men were crouched over a brown robed bundle midway down the alley. The color being suspiciously similar to a standard jedi robe. In three long strides Qui-Gon reached them and looked down.

"Obi-Wan! What has happened?"

One of the men looked up. "Do you know the boy?"

"Yes, yes I do. He's my apprentice. We were supposed to meet half an hour ago, but he didn't turn up in time so I got worried. What has happened to him?" he repeated.

"We don't know. Seems like he's been mugged. He has a gash in his head. Seems like someone has hit him or something had fallen onto him. He's unconscious, but he's breathing. We have called for the healers since the wound in his head is still bleeding. "

Qui-Gon knelt down by his padawan's side. "Obi-Wan, please wake up. The healers are on their way."

The boy laid still and pale.

Qui-Gon stretched out an arm and laid the palm on the boy's forehead. He was not gifted with the abilities of a healer but all jedi were taught basic healing so he let the Force float through him and into the injured boy. Gradually the trickling of blood from the open wound stilled.

"Move to the side, please Sir," a voice interrupted. The healers had arrived.

Qui-Gon reluctantly stepped aside and the healers set to work. A bacta patch was immediately put over the open wound and fastened. A stretcher came into view and Obi-Wan was carefully moved upon it.

"Are you his father?" one of the healers asked.

"I'm Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and he's my apprentice," Qui-Gon explained, "and as such he's in my custody. Where are you taking him?"

"We will take him to Stewjon Central Healer's Ward. We need to check him for more injuries and see if anything is fractured. The blow to his head must have been quite hard. Will you please follow us, Sir?"

Qui-Gon quietly followed the stretcher out from the alley and into the speeder, and they set off for the healer's ward.

Two hours later Qui-Gon was fed up with medical procedures. Obi-Wan had been examined thoroughly and was now resting peacefully in a bed in the healers ward. The healers' conclusion was "no skull fracture, severe concussion and some blood loss".

"Can he be moved? We're on our way to Coruscant and I believe it would be good to get him home so he can recover there if there's not any danger related to moving him."

The healers reluctantly agreed. "Just keep him calm. He needs to stay in bed until the concussion has healed itself. After that he can start to move around a little bit. But keep it on a low level for the first two weeks. I know that the Jedi Temple has excellent healers so if you promise to bring him there immediately after landing we will approve."

Qui-Gon nodded. "Maybe you want to contact the healers in the Temple directly and inform them so they can wait with a hooverstretch when we arrive? If you believe my apprentice will be unconscious for a couple of hours more, I will replace the spare parts needed in our ship and we will be on our way home. I'd very much like to be present when he wakes up."

"He may be out cold for several hours still," the healer explained. "Actually it would be good if he didn't wake up until you're home. The lesser he moves, the better it is."

In the afternoon they left for Coruscant. Obi-Wan was still unconscious and strapped to the bunk he was laying in, just in case there would be some turbulence when they entered Coruscant's orbit.