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(Lucasfilm) crated the Star Wars Universe. Lucasfilm owned by Disney.
George Lucas created the Star Wars Universe. Movies by 20th Century Fox/Disney.
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Peggats, Truguts, Wupiupi, etc from my fanfic/fanart/fanfunnies. Story
written purely for enjoyment and the only profit I make is the happiness my
writing brings. The Force is With You Always :)
Summary: Obi-Wan stages a daring attempt to rescue his
Master from the Sith.
Rating PG
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SILENT
STRENGTH
Obi-Wan had stolen Darth Sidious' starship and
borrowed his identity. He practiced for
weeks getting the accent right, and hiding his feelings. It had not been easy,
but his Master stood a better chance that Obi-Wan barging in, neither of them
would likely survive. Obi-Wan felt his
Master growing weaker by the day.
"I'm coming, Master," he said softly. Qui-Gon was too weak to hear him even with
the Force.
Obi-Wan was grateful the journey had been
uneventful as he docked Sidious' starship at the Sith base. As he expected Maul had come to greet him.
"Master, I trust you had a pleasant journey."
"Quite," Obi-Wan said in Darth Sidious' voice. The mask although it fit well, felt
uncomfortable.
He
walked to the main control room, his black cape trailing behind him.
"What of the Jedi prisoner?" he
asked Maul.
"I'd be surprised if he was still
alive."
"Bring him."
"Master?"
"I do not like loose ends, Maul. You can deal with him."
"Why couldn't I have dealt with him six
months ago?"
"Insolent worm!" Obi-Wan hissed in Sidious
voice. He was surprised how easily acting came to him. "And fetch his lightsabre."
Maul
cringed. Obi-Wan almost smiled.
"I wanted him to suffer," 'Sidious'
said, though Obi-Wan found those words difficult to say he did not falter.
"He's hardly a match for me in his
condition." Maul said with a sneer.
"Do I have to ask you again?"
"N … no, Master."
Sidious
was the one person Maul was afraid of and Obi-Wan was enjoying it immensely,
though he was careful to hide his true feelings. Hate poured off Maul. Obi-Wan was repulsed by
it like so much putrid rotting flesh.
Maul
returned with Qui-Gon's lightsabre, which Obi-Wan took.
He
went down to the prison cell and was shocked with what he saw when Maul
illuminated the cell, but he kept his cool.
His Master lay on the floor, in a terrible shape, alive but very
weak. The stench of rotting flesh that
Obi-Wan was relieved to see was leftovers from scraps of food he had been
thrown down the shaft.
Maul
smiled. "Get up, Jedi."
Qui-Gon
sat up slowly, his eyes squinting in the light.
He stood shakily, using the wall for support.
"Hurry up," Maul snapped.
Obi-Wan
would have lightsabred him, but he kept calm.
His Master looked haggard, his hair very long and tattered, his clothes
filthy.
"You smell like a rotting bantha
corpse," Maul hissed when they walked along the corridor.
"That's kind of you," Qui-Gon said
softly. "I would have said
Ewok."
Maul
hit him. Qui-Gon fell to his knees. Maul
was about to strike him again.
"Enough," 'Sidious' called. "You can have your fun with our guest
later. Go and train while he cleans
himself up."
"Train?" Maul growled. "I do not need to-"
A
glare from 'his Master' had Maul scurrying off to the training area. Obi-Wan glared after him as he lead his Master
to his stolen starship. Qui-Gon welcomed
the change in scenery, but it did not help thinking he was going to die. Where was Obi-Wan he wondered. He'd vaguely sensed his Padawan, but he was
not sure.
"You will get yourself cleaned up,"
Obi-Wan said harshly. "Food will be
provided for you to recover some of your strength, after all, it will hardly be
a challenge, will it?"
"Thank you," was all Qui-Gon said.
It
amazed Obi-Wan at how calm his Master was and how polite in the face of his
enemies.
Qui-Gon
was vaguely aware that 'Darth Sidious' was leading him to the docking bay.
"Why are we going this way?" he
asked, curious.
"Do not ask questions."
Qui-Gon
fell silent. Obi-Wan opened the hatch and
led his Master inside, before he closed it, breathing a sigh of relief. Qui-Gon grew more puzzled.
"It's all right, Master," Obi-Wan
spoke in his own voice, taking off the mask.
Qui-Gon
stared in disbelief, then relief washed over him. "You came."
"Of course I did," Obi-Wan said
with a smile. "I'm only sorry it
took me so long."
Qui-Gon
placed his arms around his Padawan.
"I should have sensed you…"
"I've been practicing the Sidious act
for weeks and in your condition, Master, do not feel hard on yourself for not
sensing me."
Maul
had discovered something fishy was going on, and rushed to the docking bay to
see Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan inside the hatch.
Obi- Wan placed his arms around his Master. From Maul's angle it looked at though his
Master was hugging a Jedi and he did the only thing he could. Laugh.
But he realised he would not be laughing once his real Master
returned. Maul realised the Jedi would
be long gone before he could man the laser cannons and spat bitterly on the
floor. Obi-Wan looked at him and smiled.
When
they had departed, the young Jedi activated the cloaking device, he did not
want to attract any unwanted attention.
His Master sat at the table.
"I can't thank you enough, Padawan …
Despite the fact that what you did was very dangerous."
"I know, Master, but it was the only way
to save you. I'd gladly risk my life for
you as you have done many times for me."
"Thank you again, Obi-Wan."
"My pleasure, now let us get you
something to eat, I bet they hardly fed you."
Qui-Gon
shook his head. "A few scraps a
month, and most of them were rancid."
Obi-Wan
glowered. "I've reconstituted two
tabouleh salads for us." He set down two largish bowls and a pitcher of
crisp water.
"Thank you, but strangely enough I'm not
hungry."
"Master, you've hardly eaten in six
months. I bet there was no water
either."
Qui-Gon
shook his head.
"It's amazing that you survived."
"At least there was air," Qui-Gon
said. "We must thank the Force for
small mercies, Padawan."
Obi-Wan
nodded. "Yes, Master, but they
treated you like an animal. I've a good mind to shove them in separate cells
for six months without food or water and see how they fare."
"We are not Sith, Obi-Wan."
"I know, but they just make me so
angry. Yes I know anger leads to the
Dark Side, Master, but after what they did to you…"
"I would feel the same had they done it
to you," Qui-Gon confessed. "I
am very tired, Padawan. I must rest. The hard floor in that cell was not
comfortable at all. It was quite cold
and near the engine room, which was hardly ever silent."
"I'm so sorry, Master," Obi-Wan
wanted to cry. "How could they do
this to you?"
"I'm here now, Obi-Wan, that is the
past."
But
somehow Obi-Wan could sense his Master was still haunted by the horrible
experience.
"Let me check the auto pilot," he
said. "I'll be back soon."
Qui-Gon
nodded as his Padawan left. When Obi-Wan
returned he found his Master had eaten both bowls of salad and drank the entire
pitcher of water.
"I thought you said you weren't
hungry," he said with a smile.
"I didn't think I was, I was just going
to have a nibble. It seems my stomach
got used to not having food. I'm sorry,
I should have left one for you, I …"
"It's all right, Master, you needed it a
lot more than I did, and besides there's more where that came from."
"If you don't mind I'd like a shower
before I retire."
"I can do better than that, Master, this
ship has a bath. I'm sorry that it's
Darth Sidious bath room though."
Qui-Gon
smiled. "It will do for now and I
need a scissors to cut my hair. It's
grown far too long and I look like a mangled bantha."
Obi-Wan
smiled and led his Master to the bathroom. He found a pair of scissors in the
draw.
"Let me do that," he said.
Carefully
he cut his Master's hair to its normal length.
Slowly,
he brushed his Master's hair after thoroughly cleansing the brush.
"That feels better," Qui-Gon said.
"Thank you."
Obi-Wan
ran a bath for his Master as Qui-Gon undressed, letting his soled clothing fall
to the floor. He stepped into the warm
water and sighed.
"Sometimes I would dream of a bath when
I could sleep," he said.
Obi-Wan
embraced his Master and kissed his cheek.
"You always told me not to take anything
for granted." He bundled his
Master's soiled clothes into the wall unit to cleanse them and left his Master
be.
Qui-Gon
smiled as he lowered himself into the welcoming water. He did not want to think that Darth Sidious
had also used this bathtub, for now it was a rare gift. The water welcomed him as he washed away dirt
from his body and his hair. AT first he
was surprised at how dirty his hair and beard was, but not having bathed or showered
in six months he realised it must be normal for that amount of time.
Obi-Wan
reconstituted another salad and ate it quickly.
There were two starships in the vicinity. Obi-Wan readied the weapons juts in case.
Fortunately they had paid the cloaked ship no heed. Obi-Wan was later relieved to note they were
civilian ships which would not have given him any trouble in any case.
Qui-Gon
emerged from the bath and used the auto dry.
He donned his now spotless clothes.
He was disgusted with the state of the water of the bath, but then it
had been his first bath in over six months, through no fault of his own.
He
left the bathroom and found Obi-Wan in the dining area of the ship.
"Master, you look wonderful."
"I feel like a zillion credits."
Obi-Wan
smiled.
"Amazing what a little food and a bath
can do," Qui-Gon said, "But now I must rest. For a year or two at least."
Obi-Wan
smiled, leading his Master to the sleeping area. This ship was indeed luxurious.
His
master lay on the bed and sighed.
"A bed …"
Obi-Wan
smiled again. "I'm sorry for
talking these things for grated while you suffered, Master, I will never
again."
He
sat down on the bed next to his Master.
Qui-Gon placed his arms around his Padawan. Obi-Wan sensed his Master needed rest now
more than anything else, he could barely keep his eyes open. Obi-Wan stood and turned off the light. A wave of panic overtook Qui-Gon.
"Master?" Obi-Wan turned on the
light.
"I'm sorry, Padawan, it was so dark in
there …" Qui-Gon sighed. "A
Jedi Master who's afraid of the dark …"
Once
again Obi-Wan sat by his Master's side.
"Master, you had a horrid ordeal.
Do not be ashamed."
Qui-Gon
sighed.
"Would you like me to leave the light
on?"
Qui-Gon
nodded. "For now."
Obi-Wan
increased the illumination a little more.
Qui-Gon winced.
"I'm sorry… too much, your eyes will
need time to adjust." He decreased
the illumination, lighting thr room in a dim light.
"That's fine," Qui-Gon said.
"Would you like me to stay with
you?"
The
Jedi Master nodded. "Just until I
fall asleep."
"All right, Master," Obi-Wan said,
holding his hand. "And when you
wake, just call me."
Qui-Gon
lowered himself into the bed and placed his head on the pillow and sighed,
grateful to have a bed to sleep in even if it was not his own. Qui-Gon fell asleep in an instant. Obi-Wan stayed with his Master for an hour
after he had fallen asleep, before returning to the communications area.
Meanwhile,
Darth Maul stood shakily after having been electrocuted by his Master.
"He must have been good to have fooled
you," Sidious said.
Maul
glowered.
Obi-Wan
opened a channel to the Sith.
Darth
Sidious smiled. "So you're the one
who stole my ship."
"Yes, and after I dock it will go to be
analysed."
"To what do we owe this pleasure, young
Jedi?"
The
young Jedi glowered. "I think you
know. Around four hours ago I rescued my
Master from what I could only describe as hideous conditions."
Sidious
said nothing.
"He was trapped in a cell without food
or water for six months."
"It's a wonder he survived. Very resilient your Master."
Obi-Wan
realised that was as best a compliment as he was ever going to get from this
man.
"Yes, he is, but that doesn't change the
fact that you treated him like an animal.
In fact worse. I wouldn't even
treat a Rancour the way you treated my Master.
There wasn't even a lavatory in the cell. I wonder how you and your blasted apprentice
would fare in those conditions. I doubt
you'd survive. I doubt you care that it
was cold and noisy in the cell either."
"You should be happy that your Master
was alive."
"He came to you seeking peace, and you
threw him into a prison cell."
"We could have killed him."
"Let me guess, you wanted him to
suffer."
"Yes."
"There's a code of conduct even between
enemies that you two broke, I doubt you care about that, but what goes around
comes around."
And
with that Obi-Wan cut communication.
Qui-Gon
slept for four days solid before he awoke and had another bath.
"Master, it's so good to see you up and
about again."
Qui-Gon
smiled. "It's great to be up and
about again without the confines of that accursed prison cell."
"I gave the Sith a piece of my
mind."
Qui-Gon
smiled. "I sensed it while I slept.
Good for you and thank you."
"My pleasure, Master. Now I bet you're hungry."
Qui-Gon
nodded as he sat down for another salad.
When
they arrived, Qui-Gon was greeted by his Jedi friends at the Temple, all quite
surprised at how he had survived his ordeal.
After the hub-hub had died down, Qui-Gon was becoming tired again and
Obi-Wan lead his Master to their quarters.
And
this time Qui-Gon slept in the dark, without incident.
When
he awoke, Obi-Wan was kneeling by his bedside.
Qui-Gon placed his arms around his Padawan. "Thank you … You gave me strength,
Obi-Wan thinking of you, your youth,
your resolve, it was more than the Force which kept me alive in there."
Obi-Wan
returned the embrace and gently kissed his Master's forehead.
"It's wonderful to have you back,
Master."
Qui-Gon
kissed his Padawan's head. "It's
wonderful to be back."
*
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