Before - Legends The Green Leaves of Summer. Young Obi/Qui. Mush.

Title: The Green Leaves of Summer
Author(s): Valairy_Scot
Timeframe: Obi's 13 or so
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn
Genre: Mush
Keywords: Obi-Wan, Qui-Gon, Mush
Summary: Qui-Gon has to decide between his padawan and something he treasures.
Notes: So I plot-bunnied myself again. I wrote To Spare His Heart then I wrote a backstory for that
Silent Raindrops which created this back story.



The Green Leaves of Summer



Slash, parry. Sweep. The delicate dance of the fight was on, two lithe figures sidestepping, advancing, twirling aside and the lethal weapons in their hands always in motion.

The movement of one became awkward and the graceful turn became a sideways jerking motion.

A lightsaber came sweeping up, and the emerald blade barely missed singeing a hand as the young man flinched and his fingers rose to rub the side of his neck. His rhythm was off, and he barely ducked away from the blade. Automatically, his right hand came sweeping around and blocked another stroke, and again, the young man?s fingers crept to his neck and he scratched again.

Nothing concerning his padawan escaped the vigilant eyes of Qui-Gon Jinn. He couldn?t recall ever seeing Obi-Wan so, well, fidgety before. Especially not when sparring. Qui-Gon Jinn let his lightsaber hang loosely in one hand as he stared quizzically at his young apprentice.

?Obi-Wan. Stop that. Stop that scratching before you scrape your skin raw,? he scolded. ?What has gotten into you? You have no focus.?

Obi-Wan merely shrugged, but his hands obediently dropped to his side and he resumed a defensive stance, but the next minute his finger was back under his collar, rubbing absently.

?Padawan, come here,? Qui-Gon said sternly. He peered at Obi-Wan?s neck; it was raw and red, covered with shredded welts. His eyes narrowed. He loosened Obi-Wan?s tunic and looked at his chest, his upper back. ?Obi-Wan, you?re tearing your skin to pieces, you need to stop that scratching.?

?Yes, Master,? the boy said, and promptly lifted his hand ? and froze with it in place, eyes shocked at his disobedience. Qui-Gon wanted to laugh at the comical expression on his padawan?s face; then Qui-Gon saw that his hand was shaking as he fought to keep his hand away from his neck. This was no ordinary itch he realized.

Come, we?ll have the healers take a look at that,? he advised, more brusquely than he meant, but he was suddenly worried, for Obi-Wan seemed almost compelled to scratch. He powered down his lightsaber and clipped it to his belt, as did Obi-Wan. He put a hand on his padawan?s shoulder and studied him, and noticed that Obi-Wan seemed to be perspiring more than the sparring warranted.

The hand lifted again, and Qui-Gon caught it in his own. ?No, Obi-Wan,? he said more gently. ?Try to resist. I know you?re not disobeying me, don?t worry about that, but I?m concerned about what you?re doing to your skin. Come.?

**

Obi-Wan sat on an examination table, his tunic off. Red welts covered his skin. Where his nails had been able to reach, the welts showed deep scoring and were twice as inflamed as the more protected areas in the center of his chest and back. Where clothing seams and his belt had rubbed, the skin was almost raw. Qui-Gon caught his breath at the sight.

?Why didn?t you tell me before this got so bad?? he demanded, and Obi-Wan grimaced and looked at the healer and rolled his eyes.

Obi-Wan would go to almost any lengths to avoid a trip to the healers ward.

?It wouldn?t be so bad if he kept his hands away from his skin,? Healer Harold said disapprovingly.

Indeed, Obi-Wan was again industriously scratching away, half oblivious to the conversation around him. He looked up and scowled piteously.

?Self-discipline, Padawan,? Qui-Gon said, trying to hide a pained smile. Obi-Wan just stared

 

Oh, how sweet! Is this the time you mentioned in your other fanfic? With the stuffed toy incident?

-DS

 

Awwwwww that was so cute, Valairy! Really enjoying all of these stories! Keep them coming

 

This was adorable. I loved that Qui-Gon was really teasing Obi-Wan about the plant but that he didn't want Obi-Wan to know how much he cared. I think Obi-Wan knew anyway.

Great job.

 

thank you!
That was such a lovely little piece! adorable, and the banter and poor qui-gon! There was so much that I liked in there, it's hard to separate them, so I'll stop gushing and just say it was a wonderful piece- all your stuff are!- but i love the way you handle obi and qui's relationship in these few fics! i'm so glad these back stories are popping up!

Do you think you'll do the stuffed toy one?

 

That was great!
And you described the scratching so good, I could almost feel it on my own! Poor Obi-Wan!

 

Darksaber: No, I actually wrote Silent Raindrops to address the backstory of the toy. This is the backstory to the plant.

Layren: Glad you're liking the mush, and they're fairly easy to write.

Dianethx: Of course, Obi knew. That's why his lips were twitching so badly, and why he smiled as he went to sleep.

Stella_Ripple: Thank you! The toy story is in Silent Raindrops, that story was crafted around that incident.

Fifilla: When I was younger I had bad reactions to mosquito bites. Spent a whole afternoon in a cold shower in Glacier Nat'l Park when I was about 10 or so and my younger brother even felt sorry for me! I'd come home with 40 itchy red welts from camping that drove me crazy and my parents/brother might have had 1 or 2 bites that didn't bother them. Good thing I outgrew that, since I'm an avid hiker.

 

Ah. I'm so dumb...

Not many fics get two reviews from me...

This is just lovely.

-DS

 

Qui-Gon's "great dilemma" of choosing between his Padawan and his plant cracked me up. Only Qui-Gon would feel that reluctant about being separated from a plant. And poor Obi-Wan . . . just his luck to end up accepting the Worst Plant Ever as a gift.

Very cute . . . thanks for sharing it with us.

 

?I wouldn?t trust any other Jedi to properly guide you, my padawan,? Qui-Gon finally broke the silence. He sighed. ?I suppose I will have to keep you rather than the plant.?

Oh dear, poor, poor Obi-Wan! Such suffering. He does it well. I wonder if they weren't joking with each other about whether or not to keep the plant just out of relief to find out what the problem was, and that it could be fixed. But I like to image that the plant has a long and happy life in a Jedi garden somewhere. It did bring them together, after a fashion.

 

Very lovely and sweet - especially where Qui-Gon says he has to choose between the padawan and the plant.

 

Aw, that was so lovely. Qui-Gon was so funny and sweet in that. Great job!

 

Aw, I loved that! I could picture it very clearly--good job on the description. Poor Obi-Wan. I could just see him, straight-forwardly scratching himself, thinking that he was controlling it all right. And Qui-Gon was very sweet there at the end. I liked the dilemma with the plant.

 

Aww, what a cute little story! I positively loved it, great job!

 

?First we?ll give you a bath to wash off any toxins that we can,? Healer Harold declared.

Obi-Wan blanched. ?Can?t I bathe myself?? he practically begged.

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes. His padawan needed to get over this un-Jedi-like modesty. What would he do if he ever found himself sent to mediate some dispute or other where partial disrobement, or worse, was a cultural custom?

Funny you should mention that, because I have that custom myself. At least where certain Jedi are concerned!

A wonderful vignette!