Before - Legends Should As Strangers We Meet- JA repost Epilogue

Only two more posts to go... everyone reading and replying has been so wonderful...

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Upon entering the cave, Danni could make out a faint light from far ahead but as the large Jedi led her into the tunnel all light was blocked by his massive form and she was plunged into complete darkness. A fleeting question had form in her mind as she groped sightlessly in the blackness. Why didn?t the Jedi use his lightsaber to illuminate their way...but before her mind fully closed on that thought the answer stilled her tongue.

If they were to be noticed...

At that, she hurried her step, hand outstretched in front of her. As soon as her fingers made contact with something other than rock, she latched onto it.

Qui-Gon felt as Danni clasped onto the back of his shirt and knew instantly the girl was relying on her eyes instead of the Force. A rueful smile played on his lips.

Tahl could certainly teach her a thing or two, he thought affectionately of his sightless Jedi friend. Adjusting his stride to accommodate the much shorter woman, Qui-Gon continued, keeping a keen ear to the large chamber he knew lay ahead. He paused nearing the end of the tunnel and peered intently into the much wider expanse. The capsule standing at the far end bathed the chamber in its dim glow.

Staring at the structure it felt as though it had been weeks, not days since his misfortunate dislocation. No, he chastised himself for that errant thought. This was no accident...it was the will of the Force.

There had been a sense of some purpose in his arrival in this dimension...something thrummed in the Force, a voice, however unclear. At first, he believed it to have some connection with Mace, who had for ten years felt at least in part, responsible for the death of this universe?s Qui-Gon. But after Danni related the vision she experienced, he knew unerringly the mission the Force had chosen for him.

Not strong himself with the prescience of the Unifying Force, he still had no doubts whatsoever that Danni had truly been granted a view of the future. A view of the possible future, one that was always in motion and one that he had to make sure never became fact. These thoughts passed through his mind in a nano-second, his attention pulled to the murmuring voices inside the capsule.

Deciding to move with expedience as there was advantage to Xanatos being inside the Force-resistant structure, he pulled out his lightsaber.

*Remain here* he sent to Danni, casting a perma-steel glare over his shoulder, pausing only long enough to see the nod of her head.

Turning away, saber hilt in hand, he stepped from the darkened tunnel and silently made his way to the capsule.

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Stepping through the doorway, Obi-Wan felt a wave of unreality wash over him as though stumbling into some outlandish dream and Xanatos? unsurprised demeanor of his surroundings only added to the unsettling sense of dreaming. What he saw around him was theoretically impossible. The interior of...whatever this device was, was at least four times larger then the exterior.

A quick shake of his head did nothing to change this and inhaling deeply, he could detect no trace of chemical that would account for hallucinations.

The black-clad lord, his attention now otherwise engaged, paid him no mind as he moved uncertainly about the capsule. Turning, stepping back to the door, meaning to take another look at the exterior, Obi-Wan was shocked motionless at the unbelievable sight of the Jedi Master in the chamber outside.

Treading cautiously, angling his approach so not to be in front of the open entranceway, Qui-Gon was unsurprised as a figure stepped into the doorway. At seeing Obi-Wan, he immediately sent out waves of calming, non-threatening energies through the Force as they stared at each other for a decisive second.

Obi-Wan gazed at the man, astonished that he?d not only escaped from the medlab, but that he managed to make it here to the planet. Examining his feelings, he found he carried no animosity towa

 

In essence, this is the last post, though a short epilogue is still to come. I've have great fun reposting this, seeing old friends re-visit it and new ones discover it. You guys are simply the best!!

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Danni was about to squeeze the trigger when to her horror, Xanatos seized Obi and pulled him in front of him. She stared in frozen terror, not hearing the words exchanged by the two men. Then as her mate was thrown to the ground , she found herself petrified with fright in place. Move, she commanded her body and suddenly she stepped out into the light.

?No!? she screamed loudly, hoping to gain the needed second of Xanatos? attention to be able to shoot him dead. Only now as the second played out, she stood transfixed, her finger unable to move.

Xanatos looked toward the voice, hatred etched deeply into his face.
* * *
Everything happened fast and the Jedi Master had little time to react.

Hearing Danni?s strangled cry as Xanatos was about to cut down her life-mate and knowing the strategy Xanatos would use in dealing with the woman, he did the only thing he could from this distance...the only thing the Force instructed. He stayed her finger from the trigger, not allowing her to fire the lethal shot that he foresaw deflected back at her.

Then with an almost imperceptible flick of his wrist, detected only by Qui-Gon from the varying hum of the lightsaber he held, Xanatos sent a blast of Force energy at the young woman. Her body was violently rocked back, her hand still holding the blaster, clenched in reflexive response, triggering the firing mechanism as she was flung back into the dark tunnel.

?Danni!? Obi-Wan roared on seeing her, forgetting the man who had thrown him down, now standing over him preparing to kill. The sudden explosion and whiny ?zing? he heard was enough warning to reel back as a ruby fire ball flashed by striking Xanatos in the chest just as he was about to cleave him in two.

Thrown against the capsule, an astonished expression on his face, the lightsaber dropped from his functional hand, it?s red blade winking out before clattering harmlessly to the floor. His hand shakily rose, pressing to the burnt, gaping wound over his heart and he bonelessly slid down the capsule in a heap.

Instantly Obi-Wan scrambled away, barely getting to his feet as he made his way to Danni.

?Get away from her!? he shouted to the Jedi who was already bending over her.

Qui-Gon straightened, giving the young man room as he rushed to her side. Obi-Wan reached for her tenderly, pulling her into his lap.

?Danni?? his voice trembled with distress, his fingers lightly stroking her cheek.

The woman moaned softly, her head rolling on his arm. ?Shsssh, don?t move.? He pressed a kiss to her forehead thanking the gods for her life.

Through the Force, Qui-Gon could feel that Danni, though injured would be fine and turned his attention to a more serious matter.

He strode cautiously, lightsaber ready, to where Xanatos lay sprawled by the capsule?s entrance. Standing over him, lips pressed into a grim mask, he kicked the lightsaber hilt away from the fallen man.

At the sudden movement Xanatos struggled to raise his head from its slumped over position. Straining, he forced it up and back, letting it rest on the warm shell of the capsule, his eyes immediately meeting those of the Jedi?s.

?Ma..Mass ter ... I?m d..dying? Xanatos stared at the looming Jedi master, eyes wide and shiny like a frightened child. With tremendous effort, he held up a bloodied hand.

Delving into the Force, Qui-Gon searched out the man?s real intentions. He was far too familiar with Xanatos theatrics to be fooled by such simple a tactic.

There was no need to assess the injury as one look at the openly flowing wound was enough to ascertain it was mortal, though even the inevitability of death wouldn?t preclude a final effort on his part to inflict harm.

Once reaching the Telosian?s ebbing signature, Qui-Gon found a surprising lack of Force energies. There