The winds were howling outside his window. The room was encased in bleak darkness that seemed impenetrable.
Obi-Wan Kenobi tossed and turned on his bed. His mind was everywhere and yet nowhere, wandering through the galaxy, searching and exploring.
It had been 10 minutes since Kenobi’s eyes left the same spot he regularly stared at. The space on the wall where the concrete swooped up and lifted itself in what was like a peaking island among the waves.
As the minutes began to progress into hours, the young Jedi began to drift off into a demoralized sleep.
Obi-Wan found himself sitting across from his Master in meditation. The image of his master immediately gave Kenobi a sense of calm and created a feeling of perfect serenity.
Qui-Gon Jinn opened his eyes and stared piercingly into Obi-Wan’s.
“He is the chosen one Obi-Wan, you must do what I cannot.” Qui-Gonn said firmly.
Kenobi knew his Master was referring to the freed slave boy that Qui-Gon raved and proclaimed was a savior to the force.
Confused and distraught, Kenobi’s voice felt like it was chained and suppressed, unable to respond.
Finally, mustering up his strength, Kenobi hesitantly replied, “But, Master…you are here. Will you not train the boy?”
All at once, Qui-Gon’s chest arced forward, a grimace of pain on his face as a crimson blade perforated the Jedi Master.
As the blade remained in his midsection, Qui-Gon’s expression of fear disappeared. In its stead, a solemn smile as his eyes met his apprentice’s.
Out of nowhere, a horned monster came into view behind Qui-Gon’s head. A smile of smug content crossed his face.
The last thing Obi-Wan remembered was his own voice shrieking in a mix of astonishment and agony.
Flying up from his bed, Kenobi almost smacked head-first into a young boy leaning over him.
“Master Obi-Wan sir, I heard you yelling from outside. Are you alright?” the youthful Anakin Skywalker timidly said.
Catching his bearings, Obi-Wan scolded his new apprentice for barging in unannounced.
Anakin originally tried to reason with the older Jedi but thought better of it and bashfully apologized.
It had been two weeks since Obi-Wan’s Master was killed. He promised Qui-Gon he would train the boy but he repeatedly questioned his ability as well as the youth’s readiness.
Later that afternoon, Obi-Wan wandered the Jedi temple looking for Master Yoda. He needed some guidance on his dreams.
The loss of Qui-Gon haunted him.
More and more Kenobi found himself calling on the force to help him get through his days as he had little to no sleep since his master’s death.
Kenobi was walking towards Yoda’s usual meditation quarters when he sensed a presence around him that was seeking his own counsel.
All in one motion Kenobi flung himself around to find little Anakin standing behind him, looking up at Obi-Wan with a puzzled look on his face.
“Master Obi-Wan sir, what should I do? I meditated like you asked. Can I walk around with you?”
Feeling more and more annoyed at the boy, Kenobi took a deep breath and steadied himself in the force.
“You really must listen to me more carefully Anakin. I told you to remain in the chamber until I joined you. How are you supposed to learn the ways of the force without centering your mind?” said Obi-Wan with his voice rising.
He could see the boy’s shoulders physically slant and could feel his acknowledgment of his actions.
As much as Obi-Wan disliked his orders to be disobeyed, he knew the boy was just a curious youth.
“Anakin, please do as I say. I only want what is best for you now please, go back to your meditation chamber.”
The boy then responded with a comment that caught Obi-Wan off guard.
“But why? I keep seeing the same images. I keep seeing Master Qui-Gon too.”
At that moment, the boy paused, then looked up at him and said, “Master Obi-Wan, why did Master Qui-Gon die?”
Unsure what to say, Obi-Wan shifted his stance on responding and scolded the boy instead.
After, Anakin reluctantly went on his way to return to his studies.
As Anakin was walking away, a thought came to Kenobi…
What if Anakin was suffering too? After all, Anakin was promised by Qui-Gon to be trained…by him.
Obi-Wan knew he had to provide some kind of comfort, but he just couldn’t.
Kenobi had never been a soothing presence and since he too was suffering from the loss of Qui-Gon, he might be little help to Anakin.
Obi-Wan continued his search for Yoda when it was Yoda who found him.
A inquisitive look was on the aged master’s face.
Yoda told Obi-Wan that he and Master Windu desired his presence.
But for the first time, Yoda told Obi-Wan something he’d never heard before…the conclave between him and the Jedi masters was to be off record.
Obi-Wan walked calmly with Yoda in his usual slow-paced fashion.
As they arrived to the meditation chamber, Master Windu was already waiting.
The Korun master, standing at 6’4, gazed at Obi-Wan with a stoic look. He knew Kenobi was the only Jedi alive to best a Sith.
Not even Master Yoda had encountered a Sith in battle in his long extensive past.
As the three of them ventured inside the chamber, Master Yoda stopped short and paused.
Studying him closely, Master Windu could feel his next move.
“The boy, you feel him too?” Windu said to Yoda.
“Yes, his thoughts, his presence, near they are,” proclaimed Yoda.
Obi-Wan butted in and said, “Well, Masters, I instructed Anakin to meditate. I’m sure he is in his chamber .”
As Obi-Wan finished his sentence, he immediately began to worry and hope that Anakin had obeyed him and would be in deep mediation.
“Obi-Wan, your padawan, bring him here,” Yoda announced.
Kenobi lifted himself from his meditation cushion and made his way to the door. As he activated the door, he was taken back by Anakin’s shocking presence.
Skywalker was standing behind the door, with his head pressed up against the metal, listenting.
The two masters watched him as well as Obi-Wan’s look with great interrest. Seeing how Kenobi would react to his padawan’s actions would be a curious scene.
As Obi-Wan looked down on Anakin, he felt his own face warming and his embarrassment growing.
Obi-Wan knew this was most certainly a test from the Masters as well as an important learning experience for Anakin.
Kenobi began to scold Anakin as he told him exactly what he did wrong and precisely what he should have done when Yoda abruptly interrupted him.
“Anakin, sit with us, you may,” said Yoda in his usual wise manner.
Anakin, without saying a word, apprehensively walked over to the seat beside Yoda.
Now that everything was seemingly settled, Yoda carried on with why he summoned Obi-Wan.
Yoda explained to Kenobi that he had felt his mind through his own meditations. The old master understood what Kenobi was feeling.
“It is understandable that you’re upset, Obi-Wan. But tell me, have you had further observations on your fallen Masters assailant?” Mace Windu said clearly looking for more of an answer than his words let on.
As Obi-Wan took in the question, his thoughts shifted to the dreams he had earlier in the day….
His original thought was to hide that information from Anakin’s ears but thought better of it when he felt Yoda and Mace’s contemplating eyes on him.
As Kenobi retold the tale in great detail, leaving nothing out, Yoda continued to stare at him with no reaction.
When Obi-Wan finished his description of the ordeal, it was Anakin who broke the silence…
“I saw that evil man too, in my dreams, that is,” Anakin shyly stated.
With great anticipation, Master Yoda altered his gaze from Obi-Wan to Anakin. A grim look on his face, Yoda made his intentions clear.
“Young Anakin, know of this, I did. Forseen it, I have. Your reaction is what Master Windu and I required,” Yoda stated prophetically. “The Sith, they have returned, wary we must all be.”
To that comment Mace responded, “A cloud has formed over us all, we must proceed with caution.
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