Qui-Gon paced the common room of his quarters, his mind in an uproar. The short meeting with Regina's body guard disturbed him, and he wasn't sure why. The feeling would not go away, and he finally left his quarters. There was too much pain in the rooms, Obi-Wan's presence held there by the lightsaber on his bedside table. It was almost completely assembled, just waiting for it's wielder to return and replace the crystal.
He walked through the gardens but found no peace there, ignoring the looks from the other Jedi as he passed them. He knew he was disturbing them, so he made his way to the map room. Even in the dark and silence there he could not meditate, so he sat quietly, eyes closed, just breathing, hoping that he would be able to calm himself enough to meditate. The peace still would not come.
"Complaints I am getting, from many Jedi," Yoda said from the doorway behind him. "Troubled you are."
"Yes, Master," Qui-Gon said without turning to face the small being.
"No luck in your search?"
He took a deep breath, then let it out. "No. And I do not understand." He stared sightlessly at the stars, releasing the frustration into the Force - or at least as much as would go. He never seemed to be free of it. "The Ambassador's family is safe," he said finally. "I would search again."
Yoda was silent as he moved forward to stand next to Qui-Gon. After a long time, the diminutive Master sighed. "Spare you we can, for a while only. Conduct your search you should."
Relief filled him, and he was able to at least banish the frustration to a dark corner of his mind. "Thank you. I will go prepare."
"Be mindful you should, Qui-Gon," Yoda responded before he could move. "Worry for another you have. Neglect him not."
Qui-Gon stood, bowed, and left the room.
He knew exactly what Yoda had meant. He didn't know if Regina's body guard were still alive or even if he were at the cabin, but he would find out. Once he were assured of... something, he would again begin to search.
Now that he was in action, the general restlessness resolved into an urgency to find out what he could about the boy he'd met so briefly. He arrived on the planet about a day and a half after he'd left. The cabin looked much worse on his approach to the front, although there didn't seem to be any of the slavers hanging about. The door had been destroyed and hung on one hinge, swinging in the slightest breeze. The big picture window was shattered, sharp shards around the edge like the teeth of some strange animal. He stepped in, pushing past the door, wary when it squeaked in protest. No one appeared from a hidden corner. The furniture was in pieces, blaster burns all around the room, but the door to Regina's room was intact and closed. He glanced up to the balcony, from where her bodyguard leaped down to face him.
His breath caught. The boy hung by his wrists, tied on either end of his staff. The staff was bound to the balcony railing. The boy's breathing was labored. His head fell forward, hair concealing what Qui-Gon guessed was a very bruised face, if his torso were any indication, at least from what he could see through the ripped tunic. His lightsaber ignited almost without thought and he used the Force to lift him and ease the pressure on his chest. He jumped up to the balcony and cut the ropes there, and then used the Force and his own strength to bring him over the railing and onto the floor. It was quick work to release him from the staff, and almost immediately he stirred weakly.
"The staff," he mumbled. "Mine."
Lightsaber and staff - collapsed - on his own belt, Qui-Gon picked up the wounded boy and carried him down the stairs and gently to his ship. "Coming back," the boy whispered. "Two days."
That didn't give him much time. He strapped the boy in as carefully as he could, turning a deaf ear to his moans, and fired up the engines. Their ship had barely cleared the trees when another familiar ship broke through the clouds and descended on them, firing salvo after salvo. "Hold on," Qui-Gon muttered to his injured companion, and raised the transport with a jerk, dodging right to miss the first blast. It shot past them and he dove down, into a small ravine covered with trees. Reaching out with the Force, he judged where the other ship would be, slowed, and burst out of the cover behind them, engines straining as he raced for the stars beyond the fluffy white clouds. The ship rocked lightly and he swerved right, leveled out, and aimed up again. The slaver ship was below, coming up on him fast, but they didn't catch up before he entered the clouds. He ducked sideways, and the aftershock of the passing slaver ship knocked him to the side a little further. He waited, then ducked back under the clouds, flying as fast as the ship would go to where he needed to be to hit hyperspace just right for a short jump to Coruscant.
The slavers spotted him when he broke through the tops of the clouds, but their shots went wild as he dodged and wove, and finally made it past them and far enough from the planet to make the jump into hyperspace. With a sigh, he leaned back, releasing the controls with a bit of an effort. The Force swirled around him, calm and without warning. He had escaped.
When he turned to the boy, he was relieved to find he was unconscious but alive. Carefully, Qui-Gon unstrapped the boy and carried him to the sleeping quarters. Laying him on the sleep couch, he grabbed the Med-Kit from the wall compartment and began to clean the boy's wounds, taking care of the small cuts on his face and torso. His face was swollen so badly that if he hadn't know the boy was human, he wouldn't have known it. There was something familiar about him, but Qui-Gon could only guess that it came from their short interaction when he'd come for Regina. Once most of the wounds were taken care of, he strapped the boy in again and returned to the cockpit. He started to put a call in to the Coruscant Med-Center nearest the Temple, but something stopped him, a feeling. Taking his hand from the com link, he sank into a light meditation. The Temple? he thought after a moment. Why take this boy to the Temple? But he was used to going by instinct - or the Force - and reached to activate the com. He called into the Temple and requested Healers meet him; from what he could tell, the boy had some broken ribs and his shoulders were both out of joint. At least he was breathing better.
When Theela asked him why he was bringing a stranger there, he sighed. "I don't know. It's the will of the Force. Just make sure there's a bacta tank waiting for him. He's pretty beat up."
"There is one available, Master Jinn, and there will be Healers to meet your ship. Are you coming in with him?"
"No. I have other things to attend to."
"Very well, Master Jinn. Theela out."
Theela was waiting on the landing pad with a grav-sled and another Healer, and she carefully took the boy from Qui-Gon, laying him gently down. "Are sure you won't come in?" she asked, turning back to Qui-Gon.
He shook his head, amused that she was checking him for injuries. "Ask the Ambassador's youngest daughter for his name," he told her quietly, and boarded his ship. At the top of the ramp he paused, watching the grav sled disappear into the Temple. Something about that boy... He shook his head and settled back into the cockpit. As soon as the platform was clear, he took off to find his missing Padawan.
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