The "What If Obi-Wan was Struck Down by Maul" Thread, Possibility Four

Your requests have been heard. Not this post or the next one but the one after that will have Obi-Wan Kenobi in it. I promise. In the meantime, here's more. It's kind of controversial so I'm kind of wondering what you'll think. Also, the method to Jay-Von's madness is explained. Partially. I always did have a thing for suspense.... MTFBWUA!

Jay-Von had already packed her bags. The small duffel that containe all her material possessions in the
galaxy was sitting on her bed, securely closed and ready to roll. Jay-Von paused upon entering her suite to
look around. How long had she lived in these rooms? Two weeks? Three? She turned around slowly, taking
in the fact that the barren rooms had absolutely no feel of herself in them. She hadn't lived in them long
enough for the place to become hers, and now it never would.

In and out of these rooms, in and out of the Order. She thought gloomily. If I fail in fulfilling my
oath, will they remember me?

Probably not. The Order had never loved her. She was too different, too much of a maverick, simply too
alien for them to be comfortable with her in their midst. She'd always known, since she'd been a girl of two
in the Temple, that she would have to fight for her place. And even though she'd won eventually, it had been
a long, hard struggle.

But no mattter what happened to Jay-Von Valar, there was one person who would remember her with love.
One person who would not let her memory fade. On the note of that rather grim thought, she picked up the
sword and swordbelt sitting on the bed and buckled it around her waist.

Jay-Von took one more look around her rooms, but they had no real meaning to her and so, picking the
duffel up off the bed and swinging it over her shoulder, she left her suite in the Jedi Temple for the last time.


Akira Valor's suite of rooms was rather large for their being occupied by only one person, even a Jedi
Master. This was explained by the fact that the Temple Sensechal hadn't yet transferred her out of the rooms
she had occupied with her now-graduated Padawan Jay-Von Valar.

Jay-Von walked her route quicker than she had the route to the gardens-she was now inordinately pressed
for time. Her passenger liner left at 2300 hours, and it was now 2055. From prior bitter experience, she
knew that the free shuttle to the Imperial City outgoing platform took twenty minutes. If worse came to
worse, she'd have to take an air taxi.

These halls were very familiar to her. The happiest years of her life had been spent with the person who lived
in the rooms she was going to, and many of her fondest memories had taken place in them. When all was
said and done, Akira Valor had been the only one who'd stuck with her through thick and thin, and their
bond was a strong one. Jay-Von could still feel it in the back of her mind, and she doubted that it would ever
completely disappear.

By this time, she'd reached her destination, and so she took a deep breath, shifted her duffel to her left hand,
and pressed the admittance chime.

A series of clear notes rang out-the chorus from one of the most popular show tunes of the decade. It had
been a birthday present from Jay-Von to Akira, the reprogramming of the chimes. The Jedi Master had an
almost unseemly love for the theater, and the production which the notes were from was her favorite.

As these thoughts finished winding their way through her brain, a clear alto voice answered the chime,
"Come in." The door hissed open on pneumatic hinges, and Jay-Von stepped inside.

The quarters looked the same as they had not a month ago when she'd still lived in them, and she didn't
know whether to be surprised or not. Leaving aside that question, she stepped further into the main room of
the suite to greet Akira Valor, who was sitting on the couch in the lotus position. Her schizandra harp was
held in her lap, and Jay-Von wondered if she'd interrupted a performance. She'd been so absorbed in her
thoughts that she wouldn't've have heard the apocalypse.

Before Jay-Von could say anything, Akira looked up, and her triangular face broke into

 

Timelines? Twisted... so is Jay-Von going to go throw herself into a black hole or what?

 

That was so beautiful. *crying silenly*

 

Thanks for the comic relief, Hiroko. Throwing Jay-Von into a black hole is one possibility I hadn't considered. But seriously, the ending might be a little vague as to the mechanics of it. But I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.

Like I said, this isn't the post where we catch up with Obi-Wan. That's the next one. I might try to make it a tear-jerker, or I might not. BTW, I didn't know that last post was so sad.... Oh well, whatever you get out of it is fine by me. (As long as you post.... )

Do the random encounters with Councillors give you the feeling that Big Brother is watching you? In retrospect that's the feeling I was shooting for. But it was an effect of having read the 411's on the Councillors over on teh official site.

On with the show.

[q]Leavin'
On a jet plane
Don't know when
I'll be back again....[/q]

Jay-Von walked hurriedly through the warren of halls in the Jedi Temple, on her way to the landing platform attached to one side of the mighty pyramid. She'd already used her commlink to call an air taxi, as it was now too late for her to be able to take the free shuttle to the departure platform. For the nth time, she checked her internal clock, and grimaced. 2134 and counting. Apparently, her conversation with her master had taken a lot longer than she'd thought.

Jay-Von was within two corridors of the landing platform when she nearly ran smack into Ki-Adi-Mundi.

The Cerean Jedi Knight and Councilor looked at her with great wounded dignity. "Jedi Valar." He said, giving her a regal nod. "Might I inquire as to where you are going in such an unseemly hurry?"

Jay-Von didn't particularly like Mundi. He had always struck her as being a bit too perfect to be realistic, and this impression had only been confirmed when he'd been given a seat on the Council with less than ten years of Knighthood under his belt. Being the only Knight on the Council was a great honor, but Mundi's insistence to referring to his fellow Knights as "Jedi This" or "Jedi That"-rather than first names as was common-got on her nerves. Well, two could play that game. "Jedi Mundi." She said, returning the nod. "If you'll excuse me, I really must be goin-"

Too late. Mundi had noticed her duffel. "Why, Jedi Valar! You're not leaving us, are you?"

Jay-Von gritted her teeth. "Actually, Jedi Mundi, I am." Mundi had been taught by Yoda, and it showed very much in his attitudes. Over the past few weeks, she'd worked very closely with the Cerean Knight, who had gone to Tatooine just before the beginning of the saga of the Battle of Naboo and found signs of the Trade Federation's covert war preparations. Of course, it wasn't until after the blockade and invasion of Naboo that he'd realized the implications of what he'd seen, and by then it was too late for the evidence to do much good except in the trial. Jay-Von, a Jedi with a vested interest in seeing the Sith brought to justice, had researched all this and then gone to ask him questions herself. It was then she'd realized how much he sounded like Master Yoda.

"To where are you going so soon after your Knighting?"

She took a deep breath. "I will be representing the Order at an occasion on Naboo, Jedi Mundi. I'm not precisely sure, but I believe they will be dedicating or consecrating the monument they were discussing when...when the Council was on Naboo." Oooh, it hurt, remembering the reason the Council had gone to that little backwater planet.

"Ah." Mundi nodded again, this time in comprehension. "I see. Well, you are obviously pressed for time, so I will bid you farewell and allow you to be on your way, Jedi Valar. May the Force be with you."

Jay-Von sighed, and smiled back. "Thank you, Jedi Mundi. And may the Force be with you."

She made her exit as quickly as she possibly could, and ignored Mundi's cries of, "Jedi Valar, are you feeling well? You look...sick. Jedi Valar...!"

2143.


She'd gotten within thirty meters of the landing platform entrance when Oppo Rancisis stopped her.

The Thispian Jedi Master, with his white fur and white fangs, had perpetually reminde

 

<sighs> Very nice. BTW, I am sure that there are many other lurkers here, such as myself, who read but do not often post. Less interruption to the story, you see....

 

To Gentle Bant and all other lurkers:

FEEL FREE TO POST. ANY TIME AT ALL.



I'm sorry about all these transition posts. Like I said, you have to go from Point P to Point R through Point Q. I was going to post the chapter where Obi-Wan is back, but I want to tweak it some more to make it better. I don't really like it as it is now. So this is just to prevent me from having to search a lot for my thread the next time.

Well, I'm being besieged by IM's so I'll be going now. MTFBWY!

 

I like it. You are doing so well. Though i think Jay-von has the same lose concept of the truth as Obi-wan did.

 

Well, I'm back, everyone. This is the post where we finally see what happened to Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Paging Hiroko....) I would have posted it sooner, but my uncle died, and I had to jet out to Milwaukee....But here it is at last. I hope you enjoy it. I like this much better than the rough draft. I hope you do, too.

* * * * *

Jay-Von, having left the Jedi Temple behind after climbing into the summoned air taxi, felt oddly tired. Tired enough that the adrenaline rush from the cabbie's dangerous driving never kicked in, something which had never happened to the Jedi Knight before. She leaned her head back against teh seat and wished dimly that she hadn't agreed to go to Naboo. It would have made everything so much easier.

Well, perhaps not easier. Less exhausting, maybe.

But she had agreed to go to Naboo, and that was that. The cabbie pulled up alongside the outbound transport platform ten minutes later. Paying him, she got out. Ignoring the scream of turbines behind her as he sped away, she searched her brain for her platform number and found it after a second. 666. WIth a sigh born more of fatigue than anything else, she made her way down the platform through the hurrying crowds.

She reached the ship -the Redemption - twenty-five minutes later. The droid agent manning the entrance gave
her a monologue about shipboard regulations and other viital information which she laregly ignored, letting it seep into her subconscious for later reviewal as needed. Fumbling with the room key he'd given her, she boarded with twenty-two minutes to spare, not even bothering to turn around to take one last look at the planet that had been her home.


The room was small, but she didn't care. It was only five days to Naboo, and she planned to spend most of them sleeping. Jay-Von had watched her stamina erode over the past few weeks with an air of detachment. It had gone because she was continuing to act like her body was twenty-six, not thirty-eight, but now she intended to get it back.

There was no point in staying awake if her conscious mind wasn't working, and sleeping sounded good just then anyway. Without further ado she dropped her duffel into a drawer and collapsed onto the bed after taking her boots off. Her last thought before she drifted away was, I wonder what the monument looks
like....i]


[q]And living
Is so very close to dying.
You struggle all along
To find where you belong.
Where do you belong?[/q]

Jay-Von found herself standing in a hall composed solely of some cold, colored stone that she knew immediately - marble. Marble floors, marble statues, marble columns, marble ceilings, marble staircases and railings....Turning slowly around, she saw it all, and it only took her a few seconds more to recognize the place she now stood in.

The Theed Royal Palace.

Jay-Von sighed, wondering why her dreams had conveyed her to this place. Was it foreshadowing? Or reliving the past? The last time she had stood in these halls had been three days after Obi-Wan Kenobi's funeral. Then they had been busy yet subdued, whereas now they were completely empty and just as silent. The only sound was her own footfalls echoing loudly in the stillness.

She sighed again. Clearly she had not yet arrived at the place where her subconscious-or the Force-intended her to be in the Palace, and so she set out in an arbitrary direction that she knew was nevertheless guided by the hand of the Force. As had been everything in her life....

She had walked for perhaps five minutes, growing steadily more unnerved by the silence, before she turned a corner and went through an entryway into the room she knew she had been meant to be in.

The throne room looked much the same as it had in both the newsholos and real life, save for the fact that the chairs where the Grand Council members and handmaidens had sat were nowhere to be seen. The Queen's desk was still there, as was her throne behind it, but it took less than a second for her to see that which had altered their appearance.

Candles. A hundred million softly glowing candles were scattered over

 

*thoughtful grunt noise*

 

Well i wasn't expecting that explanation. Very good and very twisted. One question what's a fulcrum? Are you going to post again soon?

 

Whither art thou, dear readers?...

I'm reminded of that line in Billy Joel's song "The Entertainer":

[q]I won't be here in a year
You'll forget me (something)
Cause I won't stay on the charts[/q]

Look for more posting tonight. I'm suddenly filled with a desire to end this. It's been pointed out to me taht I've got no action and that I've lost the feel of Star Wars, and I'm tending to agree with my critic. At any rate, my "Die Hard" inspired piece has been taking up more of my time.

Padawan3, you're question shouldn't be: "What's a fulcrum?" but "Who's the fulcrum?"

 

Sorry. Who's the fulcum. Better? But i still want a post.

 

Well, like I said, the end is near. Until then, here's more, including the much-needed action scenes. Later. (I hear my "Die Hard"-inspired piece calling....)


Jay-Von's transport arrived on Naboo two days after she woke up from the sleep in which she'd spoken to Obi-Wan. She wasn't really surprised that it had taken nearly three days. And she felt rested, too, which was
something of a miracle.

She watched Naboo grow larger in the viewports from the ship's lounge, a room she'd never been in before and knew she wouldn't be in again. Tasteful couches that could fit creatures of every conceivable shape and size were scattered around, and Jay-Von was perched in the one closest to the largest window. She'd always
loved space travel.

Disembarkation, while dull, was mercifully routine, and she was walking through the corridors of the spaceport when a youngish man in the uniform of the Naboo Palace Guard walked up to her. "Jedi Valar?" He asked, in a heavy Naboo accent.

Jay-Von turned around to look him in the eye and nodded. "That's me."

He nodded back. "An honor to meet you, Jedi Valar. Her Highness wishes to speak with you personally. Transport has been arranged. If you'll follow me...?"

He turned around and walked briskly towards the exit. Jay-Von, somewhat bemused and feeling a horrible sense of deja vu, followed.


Jay-Von hadn't been expecting the huge welcome committee that awaited her on the steps of the Theed Royal Palace. Well, huge was a bit of an exaggeration. But the Queen, her handmaidens, the Princess Lili, Captain Panaka, the entire Grand Council and a phalanx of members of Naboo's armed services plus a selection of high-ranking Gungans, including Boss Nass, Captain Tarpals, Rep Teers, and (of course), Jar Jar Binks, were certainly nothing to sneeze at. And she couldn't forget the crowd of onlookers who had no such important designations, Gungan and Naboo alike.

Looking out the window of the aircar as they neared the steps, Jay-Von was unable to repress a sigh as she remembered the last time she'd been here. But the memories were rapidly losing their power, especially since she knew the truth. By the time the aircar rolled to a stop, her face was clear and set in the "pleasant impassivity" expression most Jedi had the habit of falling into at times like this.

The Guardsman jumped out of the driver's seat and went around to Jay-Von's door, which he opened with a deep bow as the Jedi Knight got out, calling up that fluid grace that looked best on such occasions. As she did so, a soft patter of applause rang through the gathered crowd. Jay-Von, who'd reached the foot of the steps by that time, bowed her head a little to acknowledge it, rather than stop and wave. Though her face didn't show it, she was deeply embarrassed. She'd done nothing whatsoever to help these people, and yet at her very arrival they were praising her.

Jay-Von began to climb the steps, and as she did so she was suddenly assailed by the feeling that something was wrong. Horribly wrong. Long practice kept this knowledge off her face, but she concentrated internally, reaching out to the Force that surrounded her-

The wrongness refused to solidify- Jay-Von reached the platform where the Queen and her retinue were standing feeling like she had a target painted on her back.

"Jedi Valar." The Queen said as Jay-Von bowed deeply, even though the hairs on the back of her neck were rising in knowledge of impending doom. Amidala was wearing the dress that she'd worn in Palpatine's apartments that Jay-Von so admired: The purple one with the shiraya fan headdress and the veda pearl beads. No doubt she wished to hearken back to that time of decisive action and quick thinking. It was also a subtle reassurance: Only the Queen could or would wear that headdress. And so Jay-Von, who knew about the Padme-double scheme, was told that this was in fact Amidala, and not her handmaiden Sabe. "I thank you for your prompt response to our invitation. The people of Naboo are honored by your presence."

Jay-Von smiled meaninglessly. "It is I and the Jedi Order

 

Now that was cool.

 

WOW! That ruled!

 

Oh...wow.....whattastory.....two posts to read....wow...
(And <aside>Thank you for your faithfulness to the decoy protocol...as a member of the RHS, I applaud your authenticity!</aside> )


I'm sorry to hear about your loss, Star Lady. MTFBWY.

 

Come on, finish already! Then you can move on to the other fic full-time.

 

Wow, look at the pretty colors on the reply screen! Wooo!

Life is just too ironic sometimes. The minute I decide I want to finish this darn thing, I get hit with strep throat. Five days in bed, too sick to write. So after a delay, we have resumed our pell-mell course. This particular post would be even shorter than it is, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to give Jar Jar a bit of soul.

Gentle Bant, the decoy protocol is just a beautiful plot mechanism, don't you think? It's great. And your sympathy is appreciated.

Hiroko, as always, your post has made me laugh. Muchas gracias.


"The gunmen were of mixed species and age, Your Highness. They didn't even have the same planet of origin, not that we can determine how they got to Naboo. But the important thing is that they were all wearing the same clothes, using the same kind of blaster, and sporting the same tattoo on their left hands. The same tattoo -"

"- That I have on my hand. Don't look so surprised, Captain, I recognized them the moment they started firing."

"Then perhaps you could tell us just who they were and why they wanted to assassinate the Queen!"

"Calm yourself, Captain. They did not succeed."

"Not for lack of trying, Your Highness!"

"They weren't trying to assassinate the Queen, Captain. They were just making it look like that was their goal."

"Then who was their real target, Jedi Valar?"

"Me."


* * * * * *


Jay-Von kept her face properly impassive as she listened to the Queen read her address to dedicate the monument to the veterans and fallen of the Battle of Naboo. The monument, which would at its completion be carved from the same stone as Theed and the Royal Palace, was today present only in holographic form. But it was a very beautiful hologram, allowing those assembled to see its every detail perfectly.

Every branch of Naboo service - Palace Guard, Security Guard, Security Officers and Space Fighter Corps - was represented with a figure, and from the Naboo there was also a handmaiden, dressed in the battle costumes Amidala and her servants had worn in the last struggle. There were also a Gungan, an astromech droid, a short boyish figure that could only be one person, and a Jedi. The statues surrounded a pillar that would one day house at its crown the Orb of Peace. All the figures were kept impressionistic, their faces undefined while their clothes were perfect in every detail. Jay-Von had to admit that it certainly seemed fitting.

The Queen finished, and Jay-Von and the other listeners duly applauded. Not that it had been a bad speech. No, Amidala was actually quite good at public speaking. Jay-Von just didn't really like listening to such speeches.

She groaned inwardly as Sio Bibble stepped up to the podium. Well, it's not like I was planning to do anything else today, she thought.

Beside her, Jar Jar Binks shifted and moaned a little. "Something wrong, Jar Jar?" She asked, keeping her eyes on Bibble and her face blank.

"No." The Gungan said. "We-ell...okie-tay. It's no a longo tello."

Oh brother, Jay-Von thought.

"Mesa called a bombad hero by de Gungans," Jar Jar said, "and by de Naboo. But mesa no think mesa is a bombad hero!"

"Keep your voice down, Jar Jar," Jay-Von said. "We're supposed to be listening." Listening to this boring old codger.... "But you are a hero. Because yousa - you - were exiled from Gunga City, you were able to lead Queen Amidala -" And Obi-Wan, "- to the Gungan Sacred Place. And you fought in the
battle."

"Mesa was no hero dere!"

"Often those who make blunders are those who are idolized by a shell-shocked populace." Jay-Von said, her thoughts on a blue-eyed Jedi who hadn't returned from this planet. "Just...go with the flow, okay?"

The Gungan considered that. "Okie-tay," he said after a while. "But wheresa Quiggon? He was a bombad hero too."

Jay-Von sighed, and her eyes were drawn to the hologram of the statue of the Jedi. "He couldn't come."


* * * * * *

[q]The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before

 

More?

 

Come on, Jay-Von, do your Master proud and kick some booty!

 

Sorry, Hiroko, the train just jumped the tracks.

Though I'll take your suggestion under advisement. (Did I spell that right?)

Anakin Skywalker was woken by the bright sunlight beaming into his eyes, and for one disconcerting moment he couldn't remember where he was or what he was doing there. But blessed memory returned quickly, saving the boy from panic.

Anakin sat up, fighting the five blankets off of himself impatiently. Though it had been nearly two months since he'd left Tatooine, his body still hadn't adjusted to the comparatively frigid temperatures of the throneworld. Consequently, he had the most blankets of all the human Temple residents. Or at least, that was what the Temple Seneschal had told him when he'd gone to requisition the fourth.

The young Jedi apprentice shoved his feet into his boots and ran a comb through his spiky hair before shrugging into his tan overtunic. Looking at himself in the mirror, Anakin had to concede that if someone had told him that this was where he would be standing three months ago, he would have asked them gently how many drinks they'd had.

But then, that's probably true of Qui-Gon as well.

Crossing into the main room, Anakin looked over at the other chamber of the suite, its door still intimidatingly shut. Checking the chrono on one wall, the boy determined that his Master would still be meditating this early in the morning, and went down to the mess hall to grab himself some breakfast.

The food was nothing like his mother's cooking, and the Temple was nothing like home in that here Anakin had no friends and had no idea how to go about making them. Every time he tried to make eye contact with any of the people his age in the room, they would invariably freeze, and then hurriedly turn back to their friends, with whom they would begin a whispered conversation while every so often glancing over at Anakin, as if making sure that he was still there. The awe he sensed from them was unnerving. "Chosen One" and "Son of the Suns" were whispered phrases that always followed in the wake of his passing, like dolphins to a sailing ship. The boy, who'd heard "Son of the Suns" shouted at him on Naboo, had decided to just ignore all of it. He'd tried to ask Qui-Gon what the "Chosen One" thing was about, but his Master hadn't deigned to answer.

Upon return to their rooms, Anakin found that Qui-Gon was still meditating in his room. The boy was just about to follow his example (even though he found it boring, it was what he had been told to do), when the door chime rang. Unfolding his legs from the lotus position as quickly as he could, Anakin went to the door, wondering, Who could this be?

The young Jedi opened the door, and found himself confronted with another Jedi, this one wearing some sort of livery that was a cross between a Knight's robes and a mail courier's uniform. Anakin's eyes were drawn to the lightsaber at the Shivastanen wolfman's belt.

[Is this the room of Master Qui-Ghon Jinn and Padawan Anakin Skywalker?] he asked. Anakin saw that in one clawed hand-paw he held a datacard.

"Yes, it is," Anakin answered.

[There is a messaghe for you,] the wolfman Jedi said, and handed it to him with a slight bow. Taking it, Anakin bowed back absently.

"Who is it from?" he asked.

The wolfman Knight shrugged. [There is no return address stamp,] he answered. [May the Force be with you.]

"And with you," Anakin replied, shutting the door.

After a brief search, Anakin found his datapad lying in a drawer. Sitting down on one of the couches, he slipped the card into the pad and found that the first line of writing was very simple: An invitation for the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Padawan learner Anakin Skywalker. At the bottom of the screen was a router to the next line of data. Intrigued, Anakin tapped it.

The door slid open, and Qui-Gon Jinn entered the main room fully dressed and alert. Seeing his apprentice seated on one of the couches, he said, "Good morning, Anakin."

A few moments later, after a pause that could have been construed as rude, the boy replied, "Good morning

 

That was just awsome. You really need to post again soon.

 

You know, I've wondered that myself.

 

<intrigued> Hmmmm....what next?

 

For Hiroko and all the others expecting a 411 on the Aing-Tii, sorry! You won't get it now. But the story will keep moving, never fear. This post is a bit of a filler, but needed filler.


"I must speak with the Jedi Council immediately," Qui-Gon Jinn said, just a tad bit impatiently, feeling echoes of deja vu wash over him as he did so. He'd spoken those words two months ago, and Obi-Wan had been alive....

And the boy now standing at his side clothed in a Padawan's uniform had been merely his latest cause celebre.

"On what matter, Qui-Gon Jinn?" Depa Billaba asked calmly.

Qui-Gon took a deep breath, running his fingers over the fateful datacard as he did so. "I have received an invitation," he replied as impassively as he could, "from the Aing-Tii monks."

As a member of the Council, he would have said that Billaba was impossible to surprise. But apparently, even Councilors were not immune to shock. The Jedi Master stared at him in silence for a long minute, and he sensed that the only thing keeping her jaw from falling open was her pride.

After a moment, Billaba seemed to remember that he was there and shook herself. "Very well, Master Jinn," she said, looking and sounding just a little bit flustered. "The Council will hear your words on this matter at
1030 hours."

"I thank you for your prompt response, Master Billaba," Qui-Gon said, inclining his head a fraction.

Billaba shrugged. "It was nothing, Master Jinn."

"Then until we meet again," the Jedi Master said, "may the Force be with you."

"And also with you, Master Jinn." Billaba's hand touched the cutoff switch, and the screen went dark.


* * * * *


Anakin and Qui-Gon, dressed in their finest robes, finished presenting their stories to the Council and waited. It would not be long before the Councilors voiced their opinions, and Qui-Gon made a mental bet with himself: two minutes.

It was one minute and forty-five seconds, by his internal clock, before Adi Gallia spoke up: "Master Jinn, I don't see any earthly reason for you and your apprentice not to accept the Aing-Tii's invitation."

"But I do not believe there is any reason you should go, either," Mace Windu said, and Qui-Gon was once again reminded of another audience with the Council, not so very long ago. But so very far away....

Yoda added his two cents to the discussion: "See what they want, you could. A long time, it has been, since spoke with the Aing-Tii monks, we did."

"Should you not speak with the only other Jedi living who has encountered them before you make a decision?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked.

"Who would that be, Councilor?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Jay-Von Valar," Mundi replied gravely.

"Impossible," Yarael Poof cut in.

"Why?" Mundi asked.

"Jay-Von Valar," Eeth Koth answered, "disappeared from the planet of Naboo two days ago."

Qui-Gon sighed softly. He had hoped to be able to speak to an expert on the monks, so that he would have some idea of what to expect. But it seemed that that avenue was to be denied him.

"We have recordings of Jay-Von's interview with the Council concerning the Aing-Tii," Saesee Tiin said. "Could not Master Qui-Gon view those?"

"A poor substitute," Oppo Rancisis commented, "but certainly better than nothing."

"Leaving us with the question of whether Master Qui-Gon should go at all," Mace Windu said.

"Master Qui-Gon," Yaddle asked quietly, "what think you?"

Qui-Gon shrugged. "Like Adi Gallia, Master, I see no reason for me not to go. And I must admit -" he hesitated, "- that I have the feeling that it is important that I do accept the invitation."

"And there you have it," Gallia said softly.

Windu and Yoda exchanged glances, and after a moment the human Master bowed his head infinitesimally, conceding the point. Yoda turned back to the two Jedi standing before them. "If wish you to go, Qui-Gon Jinn," he said, "stand behind you, the Council will."