It always seemed to begin and end here, Qui-Gon thought as he paced outside the Council Chamber doors. He hadn't been waiting long, but he was determined to get some time in looking for Obi-Wan before they assigned him one of the typical missions. He'd had enough of the peaceful, diplomatic fare. This last one had been more to his taste, but it had also shown him how much he had come to rely on Obi-Wan at his side.
He turned his mind to his report. He'd already spoken with Chancellor Valorum, and had only to report to the Council and... He scowled, a little irritated, and forced himself to stop pacing. His thoughts were running in circles, and it was not something that had occurred recently. It had been happening more and more the last few months as he struggled with a blocked off training bond. :See what you've done to me?: he thought wistfully down the bond he shared with Obi-Wan. As usual, he got no response. The door opened as he rolled his eyes at his thoughts, and he entered the Council chamber.
Stopping in the center of the floor, he faced Yoda and Mace, eyes unfocused between them. "The situation on Isserstedt was as bad as the Chancellor believed it to be," he began. "The two children of rival families ran away together. They had become friends at school when they were younger, had remained friends, and did not wish to be separated because of the animosity between their families. When I arrived, the families had resorted to killing each other's retainers, each sure that the other had taken their child." He paused, sorting it out. "I found the two boys in the forest outside the main city, cheerfully ignorant of what was going on at home. When we returned, there were more repercussions." He paused.
"Those were from the boys themselves," he said calmly. "Both were in their late teens, both heirs to their fathers. They made it quite clear, in separate sessions to which I had been invited, that they would take no more of this rivalry. Before I left, they were working out reparations for the families of those killed."
Qui-Gon fell silent and turned his attention first to Yoda, then to Mace, who nodded slowly. "Thank you, Master Jinn," he said.
It had been a delicate mission, and Qui-Gon was glad that the Chancellor had asked for him. The boys had nearly had their fathers executed before he'd talked them down. That Finis Valorum trusted him was a good sign. That he had lost a possible clue to where his Padawan had gone was not. He pulled his thoughts together and gazed at the gathered Masters. "I believe I know where I might find a clue to Obi-Wan's location," he said carefully when no one said anything more. He had the feeling they were waiting for him to ask, anyway.
Mace nodded. "We sent someone to follow up on that lead," he said.
Qui-Gon clenched his teeth, willing his fury to back down. "Did they find anything?" he asked, but he knew his voice was too controlled.
Mace knew it too, and gave him a sharp look. "They were unable to gain entrance."
Qui-Gon took a deep breath, releasing his anger with his breath. "I wish to visit the Monastery myself," he said shortly.
The Council was silent, but he could feel the communications in the Force. After a few moments, Mace nodded. "Very well," he said.
"Be cautious you must," Yoda said. "Run will your Padawan, if too close too fast you approach."
Qui-Gon nodded his thanks for the warning and swept from the room.
Tahl was waiting at the door to his quarters. "You look better," she said approvingly, and he shot her a look he knew she couldn't see. "Off again?" He'd given up trying to figure out how she knew how he looked when he knew she was blind.
"I..." His door slid open and he stepped in, tugging her sleeve so she followed. "Yes." He could use a bit of friendly conversation.
"Do you know where?"
"Yes. Maitreva system."
She leaned against the doorway to his room as he traded things in his pack, adding distinctively non-Jedi clothing he'd change into while he was en route. "Why?"
"I was three hundred meters from the door at the monastery of Bel-Meridah when Mace called me for this last mission, and I would have sworn I felt Obi-Wan there."
She straightened. "Do you think he's still there?"
"If not, I'll see if I can get some kind of clue from someone there."
"They're very private."
"I'll be discrete."
She laughed. "You?"
He turned to her with a scowl. "Yes." He knew better than to add anything else; her wit was biting at best, and right now, it was something he was not willing to entertain. He heard her move and turned to watch where she went, following her to Obi-Wan's doorway after grabbing his refreshed bag.
She paused in the doorway, then stepped in and moved to the sleep couch, sitting in the center. "Your touch is all over this room," she said, surprise in her voice.
"I had to... wait," he said shortly, and continued when she looked to him in confusion. "Before the Healers said I could go after him. And so I had to do something."
"You cleaned his room?" she teased gently.
"I restored his lightsaber," he responded quietly, and was surprised when his voice remained steady. "He'd taken it apart, offered it up to be destroyed." He turned and was out into the hallway by the time she caught up with him.
"I didn't know."
"Only Mace and Yoda know," he responded. "I will not let him do that without a good reason. And I have to hear that reason."
She didn't respond during the long walk to his transport. Reaching out to grasp his sleeve before he could board, she turned him to face her. "Please tell Obi-Wan that my Padawan misses him when you find him," she said softly.
He took her hand and squeezed it. "I will. Tell her not to give up hope. I will find him." He turned to board the small two-man ship, and heard her say "may the Force be with you" as the door closed behind him. He settled into the pilot's seat, started up his ship, and sent it out into the traffic of Coruscant.
When he reached the door at the Monastery, the feeling was gone. Or rather, it was no longer there. He sighed in disappointment, but applied for entrance anyway. Someone would know if Obi-Wan had been here. And he was not surprised to find that the boy was gone. The Council had sent someone his Padawan probably didn't know to find him, and that would have been enough for him to run.
Getting in was relatively easy, and he had to wonder at why it had been so difficult for the other Jedi to get in. Perhaps he had said he was looking for someone? It was more than a matter of knowing the right words to say, however; and he'd been honest when he'd said he was searching for peace. He'd actually said he'd like to experience the Monastery before committing. Ad'lai had probably seen through his half-lie, but the man had allowed him to stay anyway.
There were conditions, of course. If he wished to see the Monastery, he had to have a guide. And he could not stay long, no more than two or three days. It should be enough. Luckily for him, the person who arrived to guide him after he'd requested a chance to look around did not mind where they went first. There was a lot to see, but Qui-Gon was less interested in the building and more in finding someone who might be able to tell him about his Padawan. Casting out with the Force, he paused a moment before going any farther, and he reached out to stop the woman who was accompanying him. "What's down there?" he asked, pointing down the passageway to his left, where the Force tugged on him to go.
She smiled. "There's the weapon's Saale, the cafeteria for those who stay for an extended time, and classrooms."
"May I see the weapon's Saale and the cafeteria?" he asked.
"Of course," she said.
"Thank you," he said, and tried not to stride off too fast and leave her behind.
He found himself at a doorway, watching ten beings work through one of the easier lightsaber katas, holding what looked like metal tubes. All of them moved gracefully, perfectly, following the man who stood in front of them. It was not Obi-Wan, but he did know him. He waited quietly for the group to be finished before stepping into the Saale. Not knowing how to address the man he knew as Kevlin Furst, he simply nodded at him when he was noticed.
Kevlin half raised his hand in greeting and opened his mouth to call to him, then he stopped and gestured for silence before approaching. "I'm Merrick," he said quietly, wariness in his tone.
"It is good to see you again, Merrick," Qui-Gon said.
"Funny that I should run into you," Merrick told him, relaxing a little. "I ran into one of your fellows a while ago."
Qui-Gon gestured at the group, which had paired off and was sparing lightly. "I guessed so," he said.
"I thought you might. How long are you staying?"
"I don't know. Maybe not long at all, if you're willing to tell me about this friend of mine who was here."
Merrick lifted an eyebrow. "What makes you think your friend isn't here?"
Qui-Gon considered. "That is a topic for a more private conversation, if you're willing."
Merrick hesitated, then nodded slowly. "I might be," he said. "Care for an... exhibition?"
Qui-Gon gave him an incredulous look. "What?"
"I've learned a lot since we last met," Merrick said, "and I think I can hold my own." He held up a hand as Qui-Gon started to decline. "If you'll spar with me, using my blade instead of yours, perhaps we could talk after dinner."
He hesitated only a moment. It was a small price to pay for possible information. "Let me see what you mean," he said.
Merrick was waiting for his reaction, he could tell, so he didn't guard it, taking the strange metal tube from him with some appreciation. He swung the blade, adjusted his grip and swung again, then nodded. "This was your idea," he told the weapons master. "You set the pace."
Merrick grinned widely and shouted for everyone to clear the mats. They did so with alacrity, and a couple even grabbed comm links off their belts and spoke quickly into them.
"You do this a lot?" the Jedi asked, shrugging a little to get comfortable in the clothes that were nothing like his normal tunics.
"Often enough," Merrick answered. "We'll start slow until you get a better handle on that thing."
Qui-Gon nodded. "Sounds good."
The battle quickly accelerated once it had begun. The blows were hard on both sides. Qui-Gon noticed that Merrick was watching him closely, almost analyzing his style, and grinned. With an almost casual blow, he knocked the man's blade to the side and stepped in, his own parallel with the floor at Merrick's throat, body tucked in close, eyes on his opponents.
"And I concede," Merrick said, and there was something in his smirk that Qui-Gon wasn't sure he liked. "I'd like to see you work against a double-bladed weapon."
Qui-Gon handed his weapon back. "I don't know that I'll be around for another match," he said. "A lot depends on what you have to tell me."
Merrick nodded. "Meet me for dinner tonight. If I can tell you anything, I'll do it then." He gestured to the beings still milling around after the match, and Qui-Gon nodded in understanding.
He told his guide that he wanted to return to his dorm, and once there he settled down on his sleep couch, a little disturbed. He couldn't understand what had happened; something had changed in Merrick's eyes just before he'd conceded the fight. Something he couldn't define. Taking a deep breath, he released the frustration into the Force. Worrying about it would do him no good at all.
Dinner was simple, and Qui-Gon enjoyed the food as much as the conversation around him. It reminded him, in a way, of the Temple, and he wondered if Obi-Wan had felt as comfortable here as he was. Once he'd finished with the soup he'd chosen, Merrick gestured for him to follow, and they walked out into the gardens.
After a long silence, Qui-Gon took a breath. "Where did you learn the forms I saw when I first walked into your Saale?"
Merrick chuckled. "I was wondering when you'd get to that." He stopped and turned to look at Qui-Gon. "I can't give you much information," he said.
"Just knowing he was here will give me a start," Qui-Gon said.
Merrick shook his head. "Who are you looking for?"
Qui-Gon turned and started walking again. "I won't give you his name; he'll have changed it, I presume, to keep as anonymous as possible." He glanced around and smiled slightly. "He is my Padawan, my apprentice."
Merrick's hand on his arm stopped him, and he turned. "He's your...." The man seemed confused. "Were you anywhere near here three weeks ago?"
"Yes. I was called away before I reached the front door. I'm sure he was here, but...." He shrugged the frustration off.
"Do you have a holo?"
Qui-Gon chuckled. "Well, no. Never thought of it."
"What does he look like?"
Qui-Gon thought a moment, calling up a vision of Obi-Wan in his mind, wondering how much the boy had changed. "Slender," he said. "Red-brown hair, cut short, with a thin braid on the right side." He paused, eyes unfocused. "His eyes are a blue grey, and he is quick to smile. He learns quickly, and adapts to any situation well...." He drifted off a moment, not sure if that was the kind of description Merrick meant. "His hands are slender, the fingers long. He stands tall, without slouching. He is not - was not, when he left - much taller than my shoulder."
Merrick regarded him for a moment. "If he was your apprentice, he didn't have a braid."
He felt the blood drain from his face. "That wouldn't surprise me," he said softly. "He... Something went wrong," he said, louder. "I'm not sure what he thinks, but he does not believe he belongs with us any more."
"Does he?"
Qui-Gon turned hard eyes on him. "I don't know myself. That is why I need to find him."
Merrick nodded slowly. "He was haunted when he left. Said he'd been found."
"Did he say by whom?"
Merrick chuckled slightly. "No. But Davie said he went white while they were watching the door just before he left."
Qui-Gon closed his eyes a moment. "Three weeks ago? I was called away just before I reached the door."
Merrick looked at him seriously. "He's a good kid. I don't know what he thinks he's done, but it wasn't in malice."
The Jedi nodded. "I will keep that in mind." I need to know, he thought. It was somewhat redundant. But it didn't make his need any less.
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