Undone

Hide and Seek

Day – 15

"If hear him you can on Coruscant your padawan must be," Master Yoda said as he rested a tiny claw on the long-haired master's shoulders. Qui-Gon had not risen from his position on the floor of the Council chambers, the event that sent him to his knees still fresh in his mind.

Everything was so far out of hand, so unreal... He had just begun to let the shadow of his former padawan go so he could truly accept into his heart the sweet boy now in his charge. The old man knew he had wasted those first few moments with his apprentice. He had shunned him, rejected him not once, but over and over. Each time the child had reached for him and each time the old fool had refused. Even when he finally took the boy's hand and agreed to guide him, the master had kept his distance; the fear left by the former child proved too great to overcome. More time wasted. Precious time. Only recently had he let the boy in. Only now was he getting to know the incredible young Jedi the Force itself had brought into his life and now... Now, the child had been taken from him, snatched nearly from his very arms. Perhaps this too was the will of the Force. As punishment for his earlier neglect, the Force would withhold from him the boy that had healed him, the light that had promised him redemption because the master had proven himself no longer worthy.

"Being punished you are not, tested though you may be," Yoda offered seeming to know the younger master's thoughts. Qui-Gon stared into the calm, golden eyes of the tiny Grand Master, his own eyes weighted with unshed tears, stony with unexpressed anger.

"If it is a test it should be mine, not his. He should not suffer for my failures," Qui-Gon replied his usually mellifluous baritone now gruff and jagged.

"A test of the bond it may be," Yoda nodded calmly. "Doubt you that the Force's will it was to pair master and apprentice, hmmm?"

"Never."

"Then trust in the pairing now you must. Trust in your apprentice. Trust in yourself and trust in the Force."

With a deep sigh and a centering breath, Qui-Gon finally nodded, his thoughts and emotions a little calmer as he considered the ancient master's words. After a few quite minutes he was able to rise to his feet, his clarity returned, his determination adding strength to his focus.

"It would make sense that Xanatos would keep him on Coruscant. He always liked to hide in plain sight to better see the devastation he had..." Qui-Gon's voice trailed off as a long-buried memory rushed to the surface. Mace studied his friend for a moment, his usual frown deepening.

"What is it?"

"A strategy from a tyrant on the outer rim. A strategy that Xanatos would know far too well," Qui-Gon muttered. He then looked both Jedi in the eye. "Disruption. Demoralization. Distraction. He will use these three to reap devastation. The disruption is clear. He kidnapped Obi-Wan from, what should have been the safest place on Coruscant, the Temple."

"If you are correct, then demoralization will follow," Mace added. Qui-Gon nodded slowly, a pained expression flickering through his calm exterior.

"I feel that is the current stage. He will continue to torment me by tormenting Obi-Wan, but he will eventually seek to distract us from his ultimate goal."

"Yes, but what is his ultimate goal? Obi-Wan? You? Or something else?" Mace asked.

"That I do not know," Qui-Gon answered gravely. Suddenly, the loud thud of Yoda's gimer stick striking the floor echoed throughout the chamber.