Qui-Gon paused. He turned to face Obi-Wan. Slowly, Obi-Wan pushed his chair back. Qui-Gon heard it scrape against the stone floor. Then he stood. He did not fidget or look away. He met Qui-Gon’s gaze.
“So it was you,” Qui-Gon said. “You took the starfighter. You took it knowing it was our only way off the planet. You took it knowing it was the only hope for Tahl.”
Obi-Wan nodded.
Cerasi and Nield glanced from one Jedi to the other. Cerasi began to speak, but thought better
of it. The tension between Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan was private.
“Please come with me, Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon said curtly.
He led the way to an adjacent tunnel where they could talk privately. He waited a few moments to compose himself. Bitterness had no place here. Yet he felt it surge within him. Obi-Wan had broken his trust.
He did not know what to say. His emotions swamped him. Qui-Gon recalled his Temple training with an effort. He would admonish his Padawan according to Jedi rules. First, he would describe the offense. It was the duty of the Master to do so without judgment.
Grateful for a guide, Qui-Gon took a deep breath. “You were instructed not to take sides.”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan responded calmly. It was the duty of a Padawan to agree to his fault without argument.
“You were instructed to be available to leave at any time,” he said.
“Yes,” Obi-Wan replied.
“You were instructed that Tahl’s health was your first concern. Yet you endangered that health by taking our only form of transport on a dangerous mission.”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan agreed.
Qui-Gon swallowed painfully. “By doing all this, you not only put Tahl at risk, but the peace process on Melida/Daan as well.”
Obi-Wan hesitated for the first time. “I aided the peace process -“
“That is your interpretation,” Qui-Gon interrupted. “It was not your instruction. Your Master and Jedi Master Yoda had decided that Jedi intervention at this stage could only prejudice either the Melida or Daan, thereby sabotaging the peace process. You were told this. Is that true, Obi-Wan?”
“Yes,” Obi-Wan admitted. “It is true.”
Qui-Gon paused. He gathered himself to deliver the Jedi wisdom of the Master and Padawan relationship. How the rules had evolved over thousands of years. How the Padawan’s pledge of obedience had nothing to do with power, but everything to do with the gaining of wisdom and the humility of service. How he was not here to punish Obi-Wan, or even to teach him, but to aid Obi-Wan’s own journey and enlightenment until the day he grew to become a Jedi Knight.
“I don’t care,” Obi-Wan said, breaking into his thoughts.
“You don’t care about what?” Qui-Gon asked, startled. Usually, a Padawan was silent after his
admission, waiting for the Master to decide on their next step.
“I don’t care that I broke the rules,” Obi-Wan said. “It was right to break them.”
Qui-Gon took a breath. “And was it right to break my trust?”
Obi-Wan nodded. “I’m sorry I had to. But yes.”
Qui-Gon felt Obi-Wan’s words enter him like a blade. He saw in a flash that since he had taken Obi-Wan as his apprentice, he had been waiting for this moment. Waiting for the betrayal. The strike. He had hardened his heart, preparing himself for it.
And yet he was not prepared at all.
“Qui-Gon, you must understand,” Obi-Wan said quietly. “I’ve found something here. All my life, I have been told what is right, what is best. The path has been pointed out to me. That was a great gift, and I’m grateful for all I’ve learned. But here on this world all those abstractions I’ve learned suddenly fit into something concrete. Something I can see. Something real.” Obi-Wan gestured back toward the headquarters of the Young. “These people feel like my people. This cause feels like my cause. It calls to me like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”
Qui-Gon’s astonishment turned to grief and anger at himself. Obi-Wan had been swept
away. He should have stepped in earlier. He should have remembered that Obi-Wan was just a boy.
He chose his words with care. “The situation here is heartbreaking, yes. It is a hard one to walk away from. That’s why I tried to resolve it before we left. But walk away we must, Padawan.”
Obi-Wan’s face turned stony.
“Obi-Wan,” Qui-Gon said gently. “Everything you think you found here you already have. You are a Jedi. What you need is distance and a little time for reflection.”
“I don’t need to reflect,” Obi-Wan said stiffly.
“That is your choice,” Qui-Gon said. “But still, you must accompany me back to the Temple. I need to gather some things for Tahl in the city. When I return, I expect to find you packed and ready to go.”