Cassia  (cassia_a@hotmail.com)

                Timeline: 12 years before TMP and directly after JA 7.  Obi-Wan is 13.

                Summary: Things go amuck on Telos, Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon have a blow-up, Xanatos
                gets a hold of Obi-Wan and traps him in a horrible place. In the end, the only way Qui-Gon
                can save Obi-Wan's life is to restore the broken trust between them.  (Author's version of
                JA#8.)

                Show me the meaning of being lonely,

                Is this a feeling I need to walk with?

                Tell me why I can't be there where you are?

                There's something missing in my heart.

                There's nowhere to run,

                I have no place to go.

                Surrender my heart, body and soul.

                How can it be you're asking me

                For things you never show?

                Obi-Wan shivered with intense cold.  His muscles spasmed in protest against the bitter
                chill and it was all he could do to keep his teeth from rattling like a set of loose converters.

                But it was more than mere physical cold which assailed him.  No, it was something far
                more treacherous, and far more deadly.

                Dark energy filled the deep pit he was trapped in, surrounding the young Jedi, screaming
                fear and hatred at him so loudly it was almost audible.

                "Feeling cold, little Jedi?" Xanatos' cool, taunting voice flowed like an icy waterfall from the
                darkness above.

                Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber, the bright blue blade casting only a dim light in the
                shadowy blackness. "Xanatos," he said quietly, through shivering lips.  His voice
                reverberated hollowly against the frozen walls of the narrow pit that threatened to become
                his tomb.

                Ignoring the Dark Jedi's voice for a moment, Obi-Wan sought a way out of this death trap. 
                The sides of the circular cavity were so narrow that he could stretch out his arms and the
                fingers of both hands brushed lightly against the frosty earth.

                Cutting a swath out of the side of the narrow well with his lightsaber, Obi-Wan attempted
                to make handholds, but the loose earth crumbled under his fingers, refusing to hold the
                slightest weight.  The pit was deep, far to deep to jump out of, even with Force help, and
                the dark void that Xanatos had created here seemed to dampen his abilities.

                Looking up, Obi-Wan could just see the small pinprick of sky that marked the opening to
                this hole, several hundred meters above his head.

                "Out of reach little Padawan," Xanatos' cold voice mocked him again, filling the air with
                hatred until it made Obi-Wan's head hurt.  "You won't get out that way.  In fact," the
                heartless voice continued.  "You won't get out at all."

                The apprentice could not see Xanatos and did not know how the older man could see him,
                but apparently he could.

                "D-don't count on it," Obi-Wan said stubbornly, trying in vain to keep the chilled stutter out
                of his voice.

                "Not waiting for your precious Master to save you I hope?" Xanatos' voice filled the small
                space like a dark cloud.  "Not after what happened back there in Thani."

                Deep, heart-wrenching pain stabbed Obi-Wan in the chest at the memory.  Somehow, he
                got the impression that his unseen captor was smirking.  Xanatos had studied Obi-Wan,
                he knew how to hurt him.

                It still seemed impossible.  Never in a thousand lifetimes would Obi-Wan ever have
                thought that Qui-Gon could abandon him like this, but the image of the tall Jedi Master
                turning his back on the dumbfounded boy and walking away was indelibly etched into
                Obi-Wan's minds' eye.  "It's your own fault," the accusing voices in Obi- Wan's head told
                him.  "He warned you all along, he told you there was no trust between you anymore. 
                Why should you be surprised that he acted on it?"

                Why indeed?  Because a part of Obi-Wan hadn't believed it, hadn't allowed himself to
                believe it.  He had been so sure that things would work out between he and Qui-Gon, so
                sure that he could regain the elder Jedi's trust.

                They had overcome the obstacles between them once when Qui-Gon had finally taken
                him as Padawan in the first place, before Melida/Daan, and Obi-Wan felt certain that they
                could again, until now.  Only this time, it was Qui- Gon, and not Obi-Wan who had done
                the walking out.

                "And why shouldn't he walk out on you?" the voices said contemptuously.  "You did it to
                him.  And you're not even his Padawan now, you're not even a Jedi, you're just on parole,
                he has no obligation to you."

                As if mirroring the accusations in Obi-Wan's tortured mind, Xanatos' voice drifted down to
                him, cold and cutting. "You see I was right in the end.  He is heartless after all.  Bringing
                you all this way, raising your hopes only to dump you at the first test.  Perhaps it's better
                for you to find it out now, up front, not like I did, not in the end, after I'd given heart and
                soul to him, only to find it trampled on and torn to pieces!  Face it Kenobi, he'll never trust
                you, he'll never like you, you'll never be good enough for him, no one is and no one ever
                will be, you'd have gone mad trying."

                Obi-Wan pressed his lips together in a tight line, his grip tightening savagely on the handle
                of his lightsaber. "Everything you've ever said has been a lie Xanatos!" he barked at his
                unseen tormenter.  "Qui-Gon did not betray you.  You betrayed him!  Just like I did," the
                young Jedi's voice dropped miserably, choked by the huge lump in his throat.

                His cheek throbbed with the memory of Qui-Gon's large hand making stinging contact with
                it.  Obi-Wan knew he had been an idiot to say what he did, but it was too late for regret
                now.  Too late.  Why did he always realize the consequences of his actions and choices
                too late?

                //"I'm sorry Obi-Wan.  I thought we could work together, I thought... but it seems I was
                wrong."  Qui- Gon's deep blue eyes were etched with pain, and defeat.

                Obi-Wan's lips tried to form words, tried to explain, to deny what Qui-Gon was thinking,
                what it looked like he had done, but his voice refused to work.

                "I have a job to do," Qui-Gon's voice became tense. "I don't know what you're going to
                do," Qui-Gon turned his back on the boy and walked away, leaving him alone in the
                middle of the huge, empty courtyard.  Qui-Gon did not say: "And I don't care," but as far
                as Obi-Wan was concerned he might as well have.

                It was after that that Xanatos came... Obi-Wan was good, but the emotionally disturbed
                thirteen-year-old Padawan was not up to facing a full grown man with a Knight's skill level. 
                Not alone.

                Obi-Wan had trusted Qui-Gon, and the elder Jedi left him alone to face a darkness that
                was greater than he was yet prepared to deal with.//

                Betrayal.  Broken trust.  Obi-Wan knew how that felt now, like a burning pain, ripping his
                insides out.  Is this what he had done to Qui-Gon on Melida/Daan?  No wonder the big
                Jedi would never trust him again.  No wonder he was so quick to judge...

                "Then you got what you deserved boy," Xanatos said harshly.

                Obi-Wan hated to agree with anything the Dark Jedi said, but in this case, he feared
                Xanatos was right.

                "Ironic isn't it?  That in the end, he betrayed you the same way you betrayed him?"
                Xanatos continued mercilessly.  "As you said, we're not that different you and I.  We did
                the same thing, and he hates us both for it. We are no different..." Xanatos' voice echoed
                chillingly.

                No different...

                No different...

                "No!" Obi-Wan cried, hoarse with cold and emotion.  "I am not like you and I never will be! 
                I let Master Qui-Gon down, I betrayed his trust, I made the wrong decisions, but I would
                never and will never yield to the darkness that grips your soul Xanatos!"

                "Then you are weak as well as foolish young one!" Xanatos flared.  "What is there in life
                for you now?!" he demanded, his voice as hard as permisteel and as cutting as a
                vibro-shiv.  "Qui-Gon has rejected you, betrayed you, left you completely at my mercy. 
                Left you to face his enemy, alone.  If he does not believe you, if he rejects you, what do
                you think the Jedi Council will do?  What do you think your actions in Thani are going to
                make them think?  You're only on probation as it is, this will finish you forever with the Jedi
                and you know it.  What do you think you're going to do with your life Obi-Wan Kenobi?
                You've got nothing and no one who believes in you and no way to survive on your own." 
                Xanatos laughed as if he found the situation amusing.

                Obi-Wan's throat was swelled so tight he could barely breathe and there was a terrible
                ache in his chest.  Tears he couldn't keep back slipped out of his eyes, only to freeze
                halfway down his cheeks. Xanatos' words cut him far deeper than he would like to have
                acknowledged.  What in the Force WAS he going to do?

                "You're w-wasting your breath Xanatos!" Obi-Wan shouted, this time glad that he could
                pass his trembling voice off as an effect of the cold.  "I know what you're trying to do and
                you'll never get me to turn!"

                "Don't flatter yourself," Xanatos sneered.  "I have no intention of trying to do anything with
                you.  You've been far too bothersome to me for that.  All I'm doing is letting you know why
                you should be thankful that you don't have a future to worry about anymore Kenobi,
                because if you did, it would end here.  I'm going to enjoy watching you die little Jedi, and
                so will Qui-Gon," Xanatos said the last in a grim, but satisfied whisper that Obi-Wan barely
                heard and didn't have time to try to understand.

                Suddenly a creeping sensation ran up Obi-Wan's chilled spine.  An instant later hundreds
                of glowing eyes regarded him from the numerous small holes in the pit's walls that he had
                barely noticed before.

                He scarcely had time to bring his lightsaber up before dozens of small beasts with glowing
                eyes and long, wicked fangs and claws sprang at him.

                Obi-Wan tried to repel their attack, tried to slash at them with his lightsaber, but there
                were dozens and dozens of them, possibly hundreds, and they just kept coming, driven by
                their own ferocious instincts and Xanatos' dark suggestion.

                Needle-like fangs dug into his leg, his arm, his neck and razor claws tore at him with a
                vengeance.

                Obi-Wan stumbled, his body numb with the cold, but burning from the many bites and
                slashes the creatures inflicted upon him.  The tiny space he was in did not allow him any
                room to maneuver, and now the crazed beasts were dropping down from the walls above
                him as well.

                Landing on the young Jedi's head, the creatures clawed his face and repeated sets of
                teeth sank into his neck like burning needles, making Obi-Wan yell in pain as he struggled
                frantically to shake the beasts off him.

                There must have been venom in the creatures' bites because Obi-Wan felt a terrible,
                burning fatigue take over his frozen muscles and a nauseous light-headedness made the
                darkened world spin around him.  He was slowly succumbing to the poison, the pain and
                the cold.  He had never imagined it ending this way, but as his senses started to leave him
                he had no time for regret, no time to feel anything but the burning pain and the freezing
                cold.

                Xanatos' cold laughter echoed icily around the torn, bleeding young Jedi as
                consciousness fled and darkness claimed him.

                ***

                Qui-Gon ran a hand through his hair, trying to force his swirling thoughts to come to some
                kind of order.

                He should have listened to Obi-Wan at least before walking away.  He knew that.  He was
                a Jedi Master and he had no business behaving like a wounded teenager.

                It was all just so painful...  Obi-Wan had disobeyed him, purposefully disobeyed a direct
                command and risked giving them both away to Xanatos.

                Qui-Gon was trying to rebuild his relationship with the boy; he had all but announced his
                intention to take him back as Padawan.  Then this happened and his tenuous trust was
                shattered all over again.

                The Master shook his head wearily.  He had responded badly, and he knew it, but it was
                like Melida/Daan all over again...

                A sigh escaped him.  It was no good.  He had thought they could rebuild, mend the tear
                between them, but saw now he was wrong.

                Obi-Wan was strong and bright, a good boy and an apt pupil, but Qui-Gon could
                understand the hesitancy the Council had over his impulsive nature now.  It was not a
                deadly flaw by any means, but Qui-Gon realized that he could not be the one to train the
                boy.  It was not all Obi- Wan's fault either.  Qui-Gon knew he bore just as much of the
                blame.

                Disobedience was a serious infraction, but there was hardly a Padawan alive who hadn't
                broken the rules at one time or another.  Before Melida/Daan, Qui-Gon would have been
                disappointed and upset, but now...

                There was still no trust between them, no cushion to pad the blow and Qui-Gon had
                shattered.  He let his emotions take control of him and had walked out on Obi-Wan.

                The Master knew there was no excuse for such behavior. There was nothing that a
                Padawan could do which should warrant abandonment like that.  Obi-Wan was not his
                Padawan anymore, but he was still a younger Jedi who had been under the Master's
                protection.

                No, as much for Obi-Wan's sake as for his, they could no longer be a pair.  Obi-Wan did
                not deserve a Master who could desert him so easily, who could let his feelings override
                his brain.  And Qui-Gon could not live with a Padawan he could not trust, no matter how
                much he loved Obi-Wan.

                Still, it had been wrong to leave him, and Qui-Gon intended to put that right.  Retracing his
                steps to the crumbling courtyard where he had left Obi-Wan nearly an hour before,
                Qui-Gon tried to figure out what he was going to say.  Giving up on that, he decided he
                would cross that bridge when he got there.

                Of course, Obi-Wan was no longer in the courtyard. Qui-Gon really hadn't expected him to
                be.  The boy would probably have made his way back to their quarters in the city.

                "You're stalling Jinn," he reprimanded himself. "You've failed the boy so far, get back there
                and do at least one thing right for a change."

                Yet Qui-Gon could not seem to get his legs to obey him, and stood still in the deserted
                ruins, his mind replaying, without permission, the last exchange between he and his
                former apprentice, which had taken place here.

                //"Did you learn nothing from Melida/Daan?" Qui-Gon demanded, his voice harsher than
                he intended it to be. "Don't you realize the jeopardy your actions have put us in?  When I
                tell you something I do not do it to hear myself talk!"

                Obi-Wan opened his mouth, but Qui-Gon cut him off with a wave of his hand.

                "No, I don't want to hear any excuses.  Wisdom, Obi- Wan, is in knowing when to listen to
                others who have more experience and knowledge than you, and obedience is part of
                that.  A part that you seem to have a great deal of trouble with."//

                It had been a cutting remark with no really beneficial purpose and Qui-Gon kicked himself
                for it.

                //There were unshed tears in Obi-Wan's eyes, but behind the shimmer, a fierce fire
                sprang to life.  Qui-Gon's words cut deep into the wounds the young Jedi was still carrying
                around with him.  The Master wasn't even letting him explain what really happened!  Did
                Qui-Gon think so little of him that he automatically assumed the worst?

                "Then why are we here?" Obi-Wan bit back, more out of pain than true anger.  "The
                Council told you not to go, not to search Xanatos out, but here we are!  Or are you only
                interested in obedience if it goes with whatever you think should be done?!" Obi-Wan was
                out of line and he knew it, but the words left him before he could stop them and once out,
                he refused to apologize for them.

                Qui-Gon's eyes narrowed.  The whole situation here had him tense, agitated and
                uncertain.  "You will not speak to me in that manor Obi-Wan, it is unbecoming a Jedi," he
                said with forced calm.

                "So?" Obi-Wan asked, despair making him impudent.  "Am I a Jedi anymore?  Everyone
                seems determined to remind me that I may not be.  Or am I only a Jedi when it suits your
                purpose, or the Council's?  When they want to say: "this is what a Jedi would or would not
                do"?"  The uncertainty and loss of identity that had been tearing the young man apart for
                these past weeks burst out of him in a heated rush.

                "I'm not enough of a Jedi for you to trust, just enough to order around, is that it?"  It was a
                stupid thing to say. A very stupid thing, but all Obi-Wan's frustration had just seemed to
                bubble up at once and it was out before the boy could call it back.

                Qui-Gon's eyes flashed and he slapped Obi-Wan with an open hand, not hard, but firmly.//

                It was, perhaps, no more than such a blatantly disrespectful statement warranted, but had
                he done it to discipline, or out of anger?

                Qui-Gon agonized over the question, reliving the moment.  He couldn't remember.

                What he could remember were Obi-Wan's blue-green eyes filling with tears that the
                thirteen-year-old only just kept from falling.

                //Hurt, anger and confusion mingled on the young Jedi's face as he held his smarting
                cheek, refusing to meet Qui-Gon's eyes.

                Qui-Gon backed off, what in the Sith was he doing?! "I'm sorry Obi-Wan," he said softly,
                meaning so much more than just the blow.  "I thought we could work together, I thought...
                but it seems I was wrong."  Qui-Gon's deep blue eyes were etched with pain, and defeat. 
                He was losing control of himself.  If he could react this way, then he had no business
                trying to train a Padawan.

                That was not the message that came through to Obi-Wan. To him it seemed that Qui-Gon
                was rejecting him because of his perceived misdeeds.

                The boy's lips tried to form words, tried to explain, to deny what Qui-Gon was thinking,
                what it looked like he had done, but his voice refused to work.  Would Qui-Gon really leave
                him?

                "I have a job to do," Qui-Gon's voice became tense. He had better leave now; he was only
                going to make things worse if he continued to lose control this way.  "I don't know what
                you're going to do," he turned his back on the boy and walked away, leaving Obi-Wan
                alone in the middle of the huge, empty courtyard.//

                Qui-Gon started as a flicker of dark, menacing evil interrupted his unhappy memories.  He
                knew whose it was, by now he recognized the dark trail that Xanatos left.

                The Jedi's senses pricked up, searching, probing... but no, Xanatos was not here, but he
                had been here, not too long ago, and for some reason, he wanted Qui-Gon to know he
                had.

                Qui-Gon's stomach froze.  Obi-Wan.  Had Xanatos come upon Obi-Wan, all alone here? 
                Had he left Obi-Wan in such danger and not realized it?

                Something resting on the ledge of one of the courtyard's crumbling walls caught his
                attention.  As he approached, Qui-Gon realized that it was meant to catch his attention
                and the Force signature was definitely Xanatos'.

                A sleek black cylinder, roughly the size and width of a shoebox, sat on the old wall as if
                daring him to pick it up.

                Qui-Gon regarded it cautiously before approaching.  He knew that Xanatos had a
                penchant for explosives and had no wish to be blown sky high by some kind of booby
                trap.  Yet somehow, he doubted that Xanatos would be so obvious.

                When he was about three paces away from the object, a holo image, activated by the
                motion of his approach, flicked on and Qui-Gon found himself confronted with a
                three-quarters-life-size image of his fallen former apprentice.

                "Greetings, Master Qui-Gon," Xanatos' voice turned the title into a mockery.  "You came
                here looking for that little brat you drag along with you, didn't you?  I'm sorry to say he
                can't join you, but then, you're probably not too sorry to hear it.  I've done you a favor
                really.  Dealing with him is obviously nothing but a headache for you.  Was any apprentice
                ever anything but a thing to you?  An object for you to use, and then discard if they got in
                your way?" Xanatos taunted him from the holo, obviously the fallen Jedi still liked to hear
                the sound of his own voice.

                "I grow weary of this continued pursuit of yours. Time and again you and that boy have
                gotten in my way. Well, no more.  I don't think you care, but would you like to know what
                happened to the boy?  Just for curiosities sake?" Xanatos carried on the conversation just
                as if Qui- Gon were really before him.

                "No?  My, my Qui-Gon, you are heartless.  Well, watch and see anyway.  See what you
                left him to face alone when you walked out on him and betrayed all the misguided trust he
                put in you.  Watch and see..."

                Xanatos' image wavered and disappeared, replaced by that of Obi-Wan.  The boy was
                obviously unaware that he was being recorded.  His neck was craned up as if in
                conversation with someone above whom Qui-Gon could not see.

                Qui-Gon saw Obi-Wan press his lips together in a tight line, his grip tightening savagely on
                the handle of his lightsaber.  "Everything you've ever said has been a lie Xanatos!" he
                heard the apprentice shout upward at his unseen tormenter.  "Qui-Gon did not betray
                you.  You betrayed him!  Just like I did," the young Jedi's voice dropped miserably, choked
                by the huge lump in his throat.

                Qui-Gon's heart wrenched.

                "Isn't that touching?" Xanatos' voice sneered, cutting in over the recording.  "After all you
                did to him, he was still so loyal to you.  Stupid maybe, but oh, so loyal, even after you
                dumped him.  You didn't deserve one like that Jinn, you'd have destroyed him like you
                destroyed me."  Xanatos' voice was dark and angry now.

                Qui-Gon did not like the way Xanatos kept using past tense; it made a creeping fear rise
                up inside him like a bubble.

                Qui-Gon saw the glowing eyes appear around Obi-Wan, saw the boy's desperate struggle
                to survive, saw, in the end, the hideous swarm overcome Obi-Wan. "No!" his heart cried
                desperately.  "No!" but there was nothing he could do but stand there and watch the
                horrible specter in tortured silence.

                Xanatos' spectral form floated down from above and the creatures scattered as if on cue,
                leaving Obi-Wan lying senseless on the ground, his blood pooling beneath him. Was he
                dead?  Qui-Gon couldn't tell.  It seemed to the Master as if his heart had stopped beating,
                as if his blood had turned to ice in his veins.

                "Did you enjoy this Master Jinn?" Xanatos mocked bitterly.  "What's the matter?  Too weak
                to cut him out of your life the same way you cut him out of your heart?  It is you that have
                killed him Qui-Gon; I merely serve as your executioner."  Xanatos ignited his crimson
                blade, raising it ominously above Obi-Wan's still form as he spoke.

                Abruptly he let it fall, arcing downward with deadly intent.

                The picture disappeared with a buzz of static and a small compartment in the side of the
                black case popped open.  A dull, cylindrical object rolled out and fell to the ground below. 
                Qui-Gon stooped to pick it up stiffly, his mind frozen in horrified grief, his body moving on
                autopilot.  He already knew what it was before his fingers closed around it.

                It was Obi-Wan's lightsaber.

                The handle was stained red and slippery with blood that had not yet dried.  Obi-Wan's
                blood.  Fear clung to it like a living essence.  Fear and pain.

                Qui-Gon's hands tightened around the stained hilt until his knuckles turned white. 
                "Xanatos," he breathed the word bitterly, as if it were the worst curse he could think of.

                Sheer, crushing guilt slammed down upon his shoulders. Yoda had been right.  He was
                going after Xanatos for personal reasons.  Not revenge, he didn't want revenge, he
                wanted him stopped, but how much had he been willing to sacrifice to achieve that goal? 
                Was it worth this?  Was Xanatos right?  Had his pride, his loss of control earlier and his
                lack of trust killed Obi-Wan?

                Qui-Gon stared numbly at the lightsaber in his hands, haunted by the ghost of the
                earnest, bright-eyed boy it had belonged to only a few short hours ago.

                ***

                Pain.  Terrible, burning pain.  Obi-Wan had expected death, but death could not hurt this
                much, unless he was in hell.  He moaned softly and opened his eyes.

                Wherever he was it was pitch black, and he could see nothing.  A rustling whisper, like
                wind, only it seemed alive, moved in the eerie silence.

                Obi-Wan tried to roll onto his side, tried to rise, but found himself utterly powerless to
                move.  He was not sure if he were bound down, or if his body simply refused to respond to
                his commands.  He hurt everywhere, yet somehow his mind told him that he was no
                longer suffering from the injuries he had received in the pit.  That didn't make sense, but
                nothing made sense yet.

                "Whe-Where am I?" he asked hoarsely, almost more with the Force than with his
                uncooperative voice.  An inexplicable chill of terror that he could not control ran up his
                spine.

                "Nowhere," a deep, raspy voice hissed from out of the darkness.  "We are neither here,
                nor there, but we exist."

                Obi-Wan started, not having expected a response, or at least, he would have started, had
                he been able to move, which he wasn't.  "X-Xanatos?" he asked, feeling that strange
                terror wash over him again.  That hadn't sounded like Xanatos.

                "Calling me little Jedi?" Xanatos stepped from the blackness, somehow illuminated by an
                eerie light that lit only himself.

                "Were am I?  I thought you were going to kill me," Obi-Wan asked, his voice slurred
                slightly with pain.  His mouth felt dry and his tongue too large.  He didn't bother
                demanding that the dark Jedi let him go, because he knew Xanatos would only laugh.  It
                would be a waste of breath, and Obi-Wan didn't have a lot to waste right now.

                "Well, I was considering it, but then it would be over too quickly," Xanatos said with an evil
                grin.  "Besides, my friends here have been of great help to me, I've been promising them
                a reward, a sacrifice, for some time. You're a perfect candidate.  You see, the Therdaks
                live on plain that's not quite the same as the one we understand. We're not exactly on
                Telos anymore, at least, not in the sense that we were, but we're not in their home-place
                of Dakia either, we're... in between, in limbo.  Therdaks feed only on Force-power.  Where
                they come from they can drink it out of the air, out of the ground, out of anything.  Here in
                our realm however, the Force is not so readily abundant, or at least, not so tappable.  The
                Therdaks are strong, and make powerful servants, but they're hungry Obi-Wan," Xanatos'
                eyes burned with sadistic fire.  "But they won't be for much longer.  You see my friends?"
                Xanatos turned to face the darkness.  "Do I not always give what I promise?"

                A rumble sounded from out of the darkness, but Obi-Wan could not exactly tell what it
                meant.

                Xanatos smiled down at the helpless boy on the floor. "Enjoy your stay, Obi-Wan Kenobi." 
                With that, he turned and left, once more leaving Obi-Wan in complete darkness,
                surrounded only by the thrumming breathing of the Therdaks. The young Jedi could not
                be sure, but it felt like there were three or four of them.

                Somehow, being lunch for hungry alien beings was not Obi-Wan's idea of a good time. 
                He tried desperately to rise, to fight, to do something, but he couldn't even twitch his
                fingers.  Dark terror engulfed him as he felt the Therdaks move towards him like giant
                beetles.

                Something cold and clammy touched his arm and a sharp jolt of pain made him gasp. 
                More touches, like tongues of fire, covered his body, absorbing his strength, sucking it out
                of him.  The young Jedi realized that it was not his flesh they wanted, but the power of the
                Force that flowed through him.

                The touch of their proboscises was excruciating, and Obi-Wan could feel his strength and
                life being sapped slowly out of him as he screamed in pain.

                He felt sure they would drain him dry, drinking in his Force and life essence until they
                killed him, but the Therdaks apparently had other plans.  Just when the young Jedi
                thought he could take no more, they relented.  Backing away, they left him totally drained
                and weaker than he had ever felt in his life.

                Time seemed to stand still here, he had no clue how long he lay there, it could have been
                hours, it could have been weeks.  Slowly, he felt his strength returning to him. When he
                began reaching near normal levels once more, he heard that same, ominous rustle in the
                darkness.

                "Oh, Sith!" his tortured body revolted as the Therdaks moved slowly towards him.  He
                couldn't even struggle as the whole, horrible process started all over again, all he could do
                was try to choke back the agonized cries that the pain of being fed upon by four hungry
                Therdaks inflicted on his young body.

                This was the fate that Xanatos had in mind for him then, to be a kind of living buffet, which
                the Therdaks could drain to their fill, and after he recovered, they could feast again.

                Obi-Wan could think of no more horrible fate.  How like Xanatos, he thought grimly.  Leave
                it to him to kill two birds with one stone.  Feed his helpers, and torture his enemy at the
                same time, efficient in an evil way.  Most efficient.

                ***

                Qui-Gon washed Obi-Wan's lightsaber gently and hung it up in his quarters.  The boy was
                gone now, and there was no way to set right all that was wrong between them.  No
                opportunity to straighten out the tangle that had knotted up their relationship.  No chance
                to ask forgiveness for the way they parted.

                How had things gone so wrong?  How had what should have been so simple become so
                hopelessly impossible?  Qui- Gon didn't know.  Somehow none of it made sense anymore.

                None of what used to seem so important, the issues of trust he had struggled with, the
                doubts he had had about both himself and the boy, none of that seemed to matter now, if
                only he could have Obi-Wan back...

                It was true that one never quite realized the value of what they had, or how desperately
                they needed it, until it was taken away from them.

                Qui-Gon palmed the door open.  Wallowing in his regret and despair would do no good.  It
                was time to stop all this cloak and dagger.  Xanatos already knew he was here.  It was
                time to confront the dark Jedi once and for all.  And if the determined clip in Qui-Gon's
                long strides were any indication, Xanatos was in for deep trouble when they did.

                ***
 
 

                Obi-Wan had no idea how long he had subsisted in this living nightmare.

                The Therdaks had literally been starving and wasting away, so they fed often, seeking
                to regain their impoverished strength.  Obi-Wan wasn't sure how long his body could
                stand playing buffet for them before it gave out.  He wished it would hurry up, he was in
                agony.

                Xanatos visited several times.  He taunted and tormented the Padawan verbally, but,
                strangely enough, bolstered and strengthened him physically.  Xanatos had big plans
                for the Therdaks, he wanted them kept happy and fed, so, oddly enough, he really
                couldn't afford to lose Obi-Wan yet.  The boy was much more useful to him as a food
                source for his helpers.

                Xanatos held the trembling boy dispassionately, keeling on the floor and holding
                Obi-Wan against him with his arms wrapped around the teenager's chest.

                Obi-Wan was propped limply against the older man in a semi-sitting position, his back
                leaning against Xanatos' breast.  The young Jedi was still powerless to move on his
                own.  If he could have, he probably would have shoved the other man away.

                Xanatos' body heat warmed the boy's chilled frame as the dark Jedi pumped strength
                back into the critically weakened Padawan.

                At first, Obi-Wan fought it with all his might; he didn't want any dark energy sustaining
                him!  But the truth was, after the Therdak were finished with him, he didn't have much of
                anything left to fight with.

                "Stop fighting me you little fool!" Xanatos snapped impatiently, one arm tightening
                around Obi-Wan's ribs, the other reaching up to deliver a stinging slap to the boy's face.

                In the state of suffering Obi-Wan was already in, the blow barely registered.

                The Padawan never gave up fighting, but he was completely drained and had nothing
                to fight with, so Xanatos forced his way in, overrunning the boy's weakened will and
                defenses.  He made Obi-Wan accept the strength he poured into his body, whether
                the apprentice liked it or not.

                Obi-Wan never succumbed, never chose to accept, yet in the end he could do nothing
                but lay still in Xanatos' arms and let the Dark Jedi do as he would.

                Strength welled up once more in his failing body, relieving some of the aching weakness
                and pain he was suffering from, but Obi-Wan refused to feel glad about it. He knew
                Xanatos was only keeping him alive this way because he needed the young Jedi to feed
                his horrible pets.

                Xanatos' long black hair brushed against the back of Obi-Wan's neck and the side of his
                face as the older man leaned forward to speak softly in the apprentice's ear.

                "Funny, isn't it little Jedi?" he mused, his hot breath brushing the side of Obi-Wan's face
                and warming his shoulder.

                If Obi-Wan could have moved, he would have shuddered. He had never had such close
                physical contact with the fallen Jedi before and the sheer evil in Xanatos made his flesh
                crawl.

                The strength that Xanatos channeled into him was, of course, the power of the Dark
                Side.  It was strong, but terrible and Obi-Wan writhed inside against the dark invasion. 
                He did not invite it into himself, so it could not become part of him, but it was still there,
                surrounding Obi-Wan with it's awful strength and tormenting him with it's sheer
                darkness.

                He'd never had anyone channel sheer, Dark Side energy straight into his body before
                and even though it was saving his life and restoring his strength, Obi-Wan hated it.  It
                was terrible.

                Xanatos enjoyed feeling Obi-Wan mentally squirm in his arms.  Enjoyed the fact that the
                boy was completely open to his whims.  "Funny," he repeated, brushing his cheek
                mockingly against Obi-Wan's, making the boy squirm harder. "That I am now your only
                friend here.  The only one who can comfort your pain and keep you alive.  Ironic, isn't
                it?"

                "You are not my friend," Obi-Wan denied hoarsely.  His voice seemed to be the only
                thing he retained control of. "And I do not wish to be kept alive if it is by the power of the
                Dark Side!"

                Xanatos smiled darkly.  "You don't have a choice young one.  You don't have a choice." 
                He held the young Jedi tightly and the power rush became suddenly painful. Obi-Wan
                cried out at the abrupt change, tears coming unbidden to his eyes.  For a few moments
                it hurt worse than he could have imagined, more even than when the Therdaks were
                draining him.

                Then Xanatos relented and the bite of his touch softened.

                Obi-Wan sobbed for breath.

                "You see," Xanatos purred in his ear.  "You see how painful this could be.  I can make
                you hurt as much as I want, but I'm not.  Toss that into the perfect, narrow, little
                equation that you view life through Jedi, and see what happens."

                "You don't fool me Xanatos," Obi-Wan rasped, his voice shaky.  "I may be young, but
                I'm not stupid."

                "Don't be so sure my impetuous friend," Xanatos smiled, mouthing Obi-Wan's neck just
                to be annoying. "Don't be so sure."  Xanatos' hands rubbed lightly back and forth across
                the thirteen-year-old's chest as he chewed softly on Obi-Wan's ear.  The twisted Jedi
                enjoyed the way his attentions made Obi-Wan flush and squirm uncomfortably.

                Xanatos laughed, a low, devilish sound and moved down Obi-Wan's neck to his
                shoulder.  He had completed what he needed to do to ensure that Obi-Wan would
                continue to survive as the Therdaks' meal plan, now he was just having fun.

                Obi-Wan was helpless to stop Xanatos' unwanted advances on him and a small thrill of
                panic shot through the boy.  Was Xanatos just teasing to torment him, or did the Dark
                Jedi have more sinister inclinations?

                Xanatos smiled, tasting Obi-Wan's fear.  "If I had the time, little Jedi," he breathed
                against Obi-Wan's throat. "If I had time.  Unfortunately," Xanatos pulled back, settling
                Obi-Wan on the floor once more as the Dark Jedi rocked back onto his heels.  "I must
                go right now.  I have a date with a mutual acquaintance of ours," he smirked. "When I'm
                done with him... well, I'll have more time on my hands," he said with a threatening,
                predatory smile, rising to his feet.  "When Qui-Gon is taken care of, I'll be back," he
                smirked, the look in his eyes leaving no doubt about what he meant.

                "Then you'll never be back Xanatos," Obi-Wan said with calm certainty.

                "Don't count on it," Xanatos replied, his face turning stormy.

                "You've faced Qui-Gon three times now, and every time you've had to run away to even
                survive," Obi-Wan taunted, wanting to make Xanatos angry and unfocused before he
                went up against the other Jedi.  "What makes you think this time will be any different?"

                If Obi-Wan wanted to make Xanatos angry, he succeeded. Xanatos lashed out, kicking
                Obi-Wan viciously in the side.

                "Don't forget boy, I always have a plan.  I will not fail this time, and you," his eyes
                narrowed, "Will regret your insolence.  When I come back, I'll make you suffer for that
                statement," he promised.  "You'll beg for death when I'm through with you!  But for
                now," the Dark Jedi regained some of his composure.  "I think the Therdaks are hungry
                again.  Until next time, Obi-Wan Kenobi, until next time." Xanatos turned on his heel
                with a cruel grin, his black cape swirling behind him, and strode away.

                "There won't be a next time!" Obi-Wan called after Xanatos' retreating form, battling
                back the terror and despair that clutched at him.

                "You'd better hope you're wrong boy," Xanatos' retreating voice echoed back. 
                "Because I am your only hope.  Without me, you'll die.  Think about that for a while."

                ***

                "Xanatos!" Qui-Gon shouted.  "Xanatos!  I've come! Show yourself, I know this is what
                you want!" the Jedi Master demanded, his lightsaber clutched loosely in one hand.  The
                Force had drawn him back to the same, deserted courtyard where he had parted from
                Obi-Wan what now seemed like ages ago.  Dusk was falling and long purple shadows
                clung to the place, making it look haunted.  "Xanatos!" Qui-Gon thundered again.

                "My, my, my, so impatient," Xanatos' voice mocked from above.

                Qui-Gon looked up and saw Xanatos standing on the top of one of the broken-down
                walls, leaning against another, higher wall.

                "Is it possible that the un-reproachable Master Jinn is actually human after all?"

                "I'm here, and there is nothing to distract us this time," Qui-Gon said coldly.  "No one
                who's in trouble, no time-bombs waiting to explode, just you and me.  Is that what you
                want Xanatos?  You have it."

                Xanatos smirked from his perch.  "What I really want, Jinn, is your head."  With that, he
                jumped down, somersaulting through the air to land behind Qui-Gon, his blade drawn.

                Qui-Gon reacted quickly, spinning in time to block the blow before it could fall.  Emerald
                and crimson clashed in the fading twilight as the two combatants battled back and forth.

                Qui-Gon pushed Xanatos back, moving with a grace and skill developed over his years
                of experience. Xanatos seemed stronger each time Qui-Gon fought him, and this time
                was no exception, and yet, Qui-Gon wondered. It was almost as if his former apprentice
                were giving back too easily...

                Then Qui-Gon remembered the last time he had let Xanatos chose their battleground,
                on Bandomeer.  Something in the Jedi's mind screamed a warning and he jumped
                back. Not a moment too soon either.

                Just as Qui-Gon jumped away, a deep, yawning pit opened right beneath where he had
                been standing. Xanatos never fought fair if he could come up with a better way to cheat.

                "Still no sense of sportsmanship Xanatos?" Qui-Gon shook his head, his outward
                expression showing no trace of how very close he had come to falling prey to the Dark
                Jedi's schemes.

                "It makes the game more interesting," Xanatos said, leaping over the pit to press his
                attack once more.  "I'll give you credit at least for being quicker on your toes than that
                little brat of yours.  He, how shall we say, "fell" for that one," Xanatos grinned wickedly
                at his own twisted joke, spinning around to strike at Qui-Gon from the side.

                Qui-Gon blocked and parried, he knew Xanatos was trying to egg him into losing control
                by bringing Obi-Wan up.  He was dangerously close to succeeding.

                Xanatos knew he was hitting home.  "Do you want to know something Jinn?" he asked,
                switching hands and taking a swipe at Qui-Gon's legs.

                Qui-Gon jumped and turned, thrusting at Xanatos' middle, causing the younger man to
                have to spin away quickly.

                "He was the perfect little Padawan to the end.  He did not disobey you, you know, that
                was my doing," Xanatos grinned.  "But you never gave him the chance to explain did
                you?  You never gave anyone a chance!"

                The knife Xanatos verbally twisted in Qui-Gon's gut cut very deep.  The Jedi's face
                twisted grimly.  He had failed Obi-Wan.

                "Did it feel good Qui-Gon, to walk out on him, the same way he walked out on you? 
                You always did have a vindictive streak," Xanatos continued to taunt, although his
                breath was coming a little shorter now.

                Qui-Gon felt the guilt, grief, and anger swelling inside him, starting to haze his thinking
                and quicken his attack.  "No," he reined himself in.  Giving in to anger and hate was
                what Xanatos wanted him to do, and he would not give his enemy that satisfaction.

                ***

                Obi-Wan heard it again, that familiar, terrible rustling sound; the Therdaks were
                coming.  Force, couldn't they leave him alone?!  How often did they have to eat
                anyway?

                The young Jedi moaned softly, dreading what he knew was coming.  As the agonizing
                tongues of fire once more reached out to drain the life from him, Obi-Wan came to a
                near breaking point.

                "Not again!" he cried, nearly sobbing.  "Oh please, not again!" he fairly screamed; only
                after it left him did he realize that he had screamed it through the Force, rather than
                aloud.  The realms were beginning to mix for him as confusion replaced reality and
                Obi-Wan hardly knew what he was doing anymore.

                To his surprise, the Therdaks stopped for an instant and drew back abruptly.

                "Why?" the same deep voice which had spoken to him when he first woke up here,
                only this time, Obi-Wan realized that, although it sounded just like a voice, he was not
                hearing it with his ears, but in his head.

                It was a ridiculous question, but Obi-Wan was too week to do anything but answer. 
                "B-because it hurts," he gasped, then realized his mistake.  Apparently, the Therdak
                could not understand, or not hear him when he spoke with his mouth, (for the very good
                reason that they had no ears) but when he spoke through the Force... Obi-Wan
                repeated himself silently.

                "Pain?  It causes you pain, young one?" the Therdak sounded concerned, distressed.

                "Yes," Obi-Wan answered weakly.  "Very much.  I know you need to eat, but I'm not
                made to support this kind of thing, it's killing me," the young Jedi was honest.

                "Then why do you let us?" the Therdak was confused.

                Obi-Wan realized that the Therdaks didn't know he couldn't move had he wanted to. 
                That must be Xanatos' doing somehow.  "I cannot help it," the boy said, hating his
                helplessness.  "I am a prisoner here, with no choice."

                There was a long silence.  "We too, are prisoners of the Dark One," the Therdak said
                softly.  "We did not realize you were also here against your will."

                Obi-Wan could not tell if it was one of the Therdak, or all of them together as a kind of
                group-mind, that he was speaking with, but whatever, it sounded incredibly sad.

                "We too are dying young one.  This prison is cold and empty, no nourishment, no light,
                no air to breathe!  In our home, what the Dark One calls "Force" is the very air itself! 
                We cannot live without it.  Two of our number died before you came.  The Dark One
                says that soon he will give us much, he will take us to a place where there are many
                like you and he... but we may not live that long.  We do not wish to harm you young
                one, we want only to be released, to be allowed to go home."

                Suddenly Obi-Wan understood what Xanatos wanted with the Therdak.  Of course,
                Force-eaters, what better weapon against other Jedi?  "I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said softly,
                and he meant it, he was sorry for the Therdaks.  "I wish there was something I could do
                to help you..." he paused, realizing he did not know his companion's name.

                "Itor," the Therdak responded.

                "Itor," Obi-Wan repeated.  "I'm Obi-Wan Kenobi."

                "We too, are sorry, Obi-Wan Kenobi," the Therdak said.  "Please do not fear us, we
                will not harm you again, we did not know."

                The sorrowful creatures retreated, their soft feet skittering quietly on the hard ground.

                ***

                The fight lasted several more minutes, but in the end, Qui-Gon backed Xanatos up
                against the wall and knocked the weapon out of his hand.

                Strangely, there was no fear in Xanatos' icy blue eyes as he gazed at Qui-Gon over the
                blazing green blade that hung between them, only dark, relentless hatred.  "End it
                then," he dared.  "You know you've wanted to do this for years.  But think on this first,
                just how much is your revenge worth to you?  Is it worth the boy's life?  You kill me, you
                kill him."

                Qui-Gon's eyes narrowed, on guard for trickery.  "Not even your lies make sense
                Xanatos, Obi-Wan is already dead."

                Xanatos gave a short, bitter laugh.  "You really have broken your connection with him,
                or you could never have been fooled by a mere recording.  Oh yes, what you saw was
                real, but I decided to stop short of killing him, I had... other uses that were more
                beneficial.  Go ahead and don't believe me, if that's a chance you want to take, but think
                first Qui-Gon Jinn, and think hard.  Don't I always have a backup plan?  So here's the
                deal, either you kill me, and with it your hope of ever seeing your precious little
                Padawan again, or you don't, and I take you to him." Xanatos cocked one eyebrow. 
                "The choice is yours."

                There was no war, no struggle within Qui-Gon.  His choice was quite obvious to him. 
                This could be a trick, but that was a risk he would take.  "Take me to him Xanatos," he
                said simply, lowering his blade, but still keeping it in readiness, just in case.

                Xanatos was actually a trifle surprised at the ease with which Qui-Gon decided.  "Follow
                then," Xanatos said briskly, starting to move away from the wall.

                "Not so fast," Qui-Gon moved the blade of his lightsaber closer again.  "Give me your
                hands."

                Xanatos hesitated, and the blade inched closer to him. The look in Xanatos' eyes was a
                challenge.  "What are you going to do if I don't?" they seemed to mock.  "Kill me?"

                "No, I can't afford that," Qui-Gon answered the unspoken question. "But there's nothing
                that says I can't just take them off," Qui-Gon threatened calmly.

                For an instant, fear and disbelief flickered in Xanatos' eyes.

                "Don't push me Xanatos," Qui-Gon warned quietly.

                Finally deciding it wasn't worth the risk to find out if Qui-Gon were bluffing or not, the
                Dark Jedi thrust his hands out with a snarl of contempt and allowed Qui-Gon to bind his
                wrists together.

                True, Qui-Gon knew this wouldn't necessarily stop the fallen Jedi if he chose to try
                something, but it might slow him down a little.  Anyway, it was the best he could do.

                "Now," Qui-Gon said, one hand on the back of Xanatos' collar, the other gripping his still
                ignited saber warily in the other.  "Take me to Obi-Wan."

                Xanatos led him through the deserted courtyard and into the crumbling ruins of the old
                mansion beyond.  As they walked, Qui-Gon realized that he did not know the man
                whom he forced to walk before him, not any more.  It was perhaps an obvious
                revelation, but it had never quite hit Qui-Gon like this before.

                Certainly he knew Xanatos had changed, had chosen the path of darkness, but
                Qui-Gon realized that somewhere deep inside he had been unable to let go of the other
                images he held.  Images of Xanatos as a boy, no older than Obi-Wan, so eager to
                impress and be thought highly of, Xanatos, with his hair cropped close and his
                apprentice braid flying as he guarded Qui-Gon's back in battle, all the missions they had
                gone on, all the situations they had survived together, all the love he had felt...

                Xanatos had not always been dark.  All along he had had faults that Qui-Gon now saw
                had disposed him towards the darkness that he had ultimately chosen, but no one is
                ever born evil, evil is a choice.

                That was it right there, Qui-Gon realized, his whole problem.  In his heart, he could not
                separate the Xanatos whom he remembered from the creature that his former
                apprentice had become.  Yet the man he walked with now held no trace, showed no
                glimmer of the boy he had known once.

                That Xanatos was dead; Qui-Gon could mourn him, but he could not bring him back,
                nor could he keep equating them as one and the same person.

                It was a freeing discovery for Qui-Gon.

                Xanatos stopped inside one of the few rooms of the run-down old house that was still
                usable, pausing before what looked like a dull, full-length mirror.  He gestured at the
                glass.  "There," he said simply.

                Qui-Gon's brows creased in caution, not sure what exactly Xanatos was up to.  Leaning
                a little closer, he peered into the smoky mirror, and found that it was like reflective
                plexi-glass.  If you got close enough, you could see through it to the other side.  It was
                almost all darkness beyond the glass, but Qui-Gon could just make out Obi-Wan's still
                form, lying prone on the ground, the only sign of life the uneven rising and falling of the
                boy's chest.

                Something was wrong though.  Qui-Gon reached out, but could not feel Obi-Wan, he
                could see him, but not find him in the Force.  What manner of trickery was this?

                Qui-Gon turned on Xanatos, his face dangerous.

                Xanatos laughed to keep from shrinking back, which Qui-Gon's hand on his collar did
                not allow.  "He's not in the same dimension as we are stupid," he mocked.  "You want to
                feel him?  Step through the portal."

                "Very well," Qui-Gon nodded.  "You first."  Still keeping a firm grip on his captive,
                Qui-Gon pushed Xanatos forward, through the strange portal, following a step behind. 
                The dull surface gave before them like gauzy mist and almost complete darkness
                swallowed them up.

                ***

                Obi-Wan lay still in the dark because he could do nothing else.  Somewhere, not far
                away, he could feel the suffering Therdaks' life-signatures growing weaker and weaker. 
                The poor beings were starving, parching and suffocating to death slowly.

                It reminded him of being trapped on that forsaken rock somewhere in space between
                Coruscant and Bandomeer in the darkness of the caves, with the Arconians fading
                away around him...  It made Obi-Wan feel so sad for the Therdaks, he wanted to help,
                but he was powerless... no, there was one way he could help them.

                Obi-Wan shuddered, remembering the pain it caused, but they were dying...

                "Itor," he whispered hoarsely, his own voice scratchy from lack of water.  Then he gave
                up on speech, since they couldn't hear anyway, and communicated only on the
                telepathic level.  It was too much effort now, to do both as he had been.  "Itor?"

                "Yes, Obi-Wan Kenobi?" came the faint reply.

                "I-I can't just let you all die..." the young Jedi hesitated, grappling with his own fears,
                before pushing them away and continuing.  "Go ahead, and - and drink from me," he
                said softly, not knowing quite else what to call it.  "I-I'm strong enough, it won't kill me,
                I'll be okay," he offered bravely.

                "We cannot do that young one," Itor said sorrowfully.  "It puts you in great pain and
                we will not harm you so again.  But the generosity of your offer is appreciated," Itor
                croaked feebly.

                Just then there was a soft whooshing sound and Obi-Wan tensed.  That was the sound
                that always preceded Xanatos' entrance.  Obi-Wan had fully expected to die here.  He
                believed what he told Xanatos, that the Dark Jedi would never be back.

                The boy's heart clutched up for a moment.  If Xanatos were returning, then that would
                have to mean that Qui-Gon was dead, and that thought cut Obi-Wan to the quick.

                He knew that Qui-Gon wanted nothing more to do with him, and Obi-Wan did not blame
                him for it, he knew he had blown his chance and no longer expected to be able to get it
                back.  Still, Obi-Wan cared for Qui-Gon deeper than even he had realized and the
                thought that Xanatos might have succeeded in his wicked schemes came close to
                breaking the young Jedi's heart.

                Obi-Wan's blood ran cold when he saw Xanatos, once more eerily self-illuminated, but a
                moment later fear turned to joy as he saw Qui-Gon's tall, distinctive form appear behind
                Xanatos, also visible in his own light.  Obi- Wan didn't realize it, but he too glowed faintly
                here, it was the effect that a force-sensitive being had on this empty dimension.

                Obi-Wan realized that Xanatos' hands were bound in front of him and Qui-Gon had a
                good grip on his shirt.

                "Master Qui-Gon!" Obi-Wan tried to shout in joy, but all that managed to come out was
                a faint croak.

                "Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon released Xanatos, and knelt down by the prostrate teenager. 
                "Come, we must leave."  He didn't like turning any of his attention away from Xanatos,
                but Obi-Wan looked like he needed him more at the moment.

                "I can't," Obi-Wan whispered weakly.  "I can't move, I don't know what's wrong with me."

                "You're weak, you've been through a lot, we'll get you out of here and you'll be all right
                again," Qui-Gon said gently.  Obi-Wan looked so fragile and pale, like a little child now,
                but the strength in his eyes was as steadfast as ever.

                Behind them, Xanatos began laughing.  "A fool's hope Qui-Gon, a fool's hope!  Do you
                forget what you saw on the recording?  Oh yes, it was real, but do you see any marks
                on him now?  No.  This dimension may be his prison, but it is also the only thing that is
                supporting him.  Just as I am the only one that can keep him alive."

                Qui-Gon rose to face Xanatos again.  "What do you mean?" he demanded.

                "My, you are dumb if you can't figure something so simple out," Xanatos smirked.  "He
                should have died when the My'nars were done with him, their poison and their bites
                should have killed him, but I brought him here, to this dimension that I discovered where
                the normal rules of our galaxy no longer exist.  That supported him long enough for me
                to heal him somewhat.  But make no mistake Qui-Gon; it is only by my strength and my
                intervention that he is still here.  This dimension creates a statcious where he can
                subsist, and my hold on him keeps him alive, remove either, and he will die."  Xanatos
                grinned.  "He cannot leave this place, and if I withdraw my hold from him..."

                Obi-Wan's body tightened spasmodically and his breath became dangerously short.

                "Stop!" Qui-Gon demanded, pushing back a thrill of alarm as Obi-Wan's bright eyes
                started to glaze over.  The Jedi Master struggled to reach in and wrestle control of
                Obi-Wan away from Xanatos, but Xanatos had entwined himself deeply around
                Obi-Wan's body.  If Qui-Gon had had a training bond with the young Jedi, he could
                have gotten past that.  If they had even the tentative link that they had had after
                Bandomeer, he could have taken over the control and supplied the strength that
                Xanatos was now depriving Obi-Wan of, the strength the boy needed to survive. But
                there was nothing there when Qui-Gon reached for it and Xanatos' words rang in
                Qui-Gon's head.   "You killed him, you did..."

                Xanatos laughed at his former teacher's struggle. "You forfeited your ability to do that
                Qui-Gon," he shook his head.  "Do you see the irony?  I am now much more connected
                to him than you are; I hold his life in my hands. Undo me," he held out his arms.

                Qui-Gon hesitated and Obi-Wan's eyes started rolling back in his head.  "All right, all
                right!" he said grimly, cutting Xanatos' wrists loose.  Then he knelt to check Obi- Wan's
                vitals.

                Obi-Wan took a deep, shuddering breath and relaxed as the power that had been
                sustaining him returned.  "Don't," he murmured softly, too soft for anyone but Qui-Gon
                to hear him.  His earnest turquoise eyes pleaded with Qui-Gon. "Don't stop it, let me
                die.  I-I can't live supported by evil, I can't..."

                Qui-Gon swallowed the lump in his throat, his hand tightening around Obi-Wan's.  To be
                surrounded in and supported by so much Darkness, and yet cling so tenaciously to the
                Light took an incredible strength of spirit.  Yet the struggle had left Obi-Wan drained and
                the boy knew he could not resist forever.

                Qui-Gon could see it in Obi-Wan's eyes.  The young Jedi wanted to die before the Dark
                Side that Xanatos had already curled around his body could overcome his spirit.

                Xanatos grinned at his triumph and rubbed his wrists. "You see?  I am always one step
                ahead of you.  And now, Qui-Gon Jinn, you will die."

                Xanatos stepped back.  "Therdaks, I have brought you more to feed upon!" he called
                into the darkness, sending his words to the Therdaks.  "And this one, you don't have to
                stop short of killing."

                There was a soft rustle and the scuttle of insect-like feet on the floor.  Qui-Gon could
                not see the beings, which seemed to create a void in the Force, but he could hear them
                approach.

                Rising to his feet and re-igniting his lightsaber, Qui-Gon slid instinctually into the ready
                position as he prepared to face whatever monstrosities Xanatos had dredged up.

                "Master Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan's weak voice said urgently. Looking down, Qui-Gon's
                eyebrows creased in confusion as Obi-Wan shook his head at him.

                "No, Dark One," Itor's deep voice rumbled, Obi-Wan could hear the faint edge of
                weakness in the failing Therdak's voice, but there was an icy determination in place
                over it that sent a shiver up the boy's spine.

                "You brought us here as captives, you took advantage of the fact that we would not
                use our natural abilities to harm anyone, including you, and then you lied to us!" the
                angry Therdak accused.  "These are not food, these are sentient beings whom you
                bade us torture when we knew no better!  No more Dark One.  No more."

                The Therdaks advanced slowly, menacingly, towards Xanatos.

                Xanatos backed up, shocked.  "Now, now wait a moment..."

                "No, we will wait no longer!  We want to go home! Open the portal for us!" they
                demanded.

                "Stay away from me you fools!" Xanatos said angrily, but with a touch of panic in his
                voice.

                The Dark Jedi made a break for the portal that would take him back to the ruins on
                Telos, but the Therdak were quicker.  In an instant, they were on him.

                Left no option but to get rid of them to their home, or be eaten alive by the very helpers
                he had thought to tame, Xanatos tried to fling open the portal that led back to Dakia,
                which he had sealed with the Force after bringing the Therdaks here.  But with his
                attention distracted by the Therdaks, which were beginning to drink from him, he
                opened not only the Dakia portal, but hundreds and hundreds of others that he hadn't
                even been aware existed.

                The ground began to shake ominously and bright flashes flared as a rumbling sound
                filled the air.  The limbo they were in was not capable of containing so many portals at
                the same time and its unstable existence was preparing to collapse.

                Obi-Wan clutched at his lungs and stomach, rolling onto his side as the upheaval
                around him and Xanatos' withdrawal of attention once more sent his body into a
                downward spiral.  Released from the bonds that both restrained him and kept him alive,
                Obi-Wan could move, but he could barely breathe and felt his vital organs shutting
                down as his body died around him.

                "Go!" he gasped at Qui-Gon, pushing away the Master's concerned hands.  He could
                sense that there were only moments left before this place collapsed on itself and took
                everything and everyone here out of existence with it. Obi-Wan knew he was dying, but
                he didn't want Qui-Gon to perish as well.

                "I will not leave you, Padawan," Qui-Gon said with fierce determination.

                Obi-Wan smiled faintly at the word, but it wasn't real to him.  It was a nice last gesture,
                but he couldn't believe, couldn't trust anymore.

                Desperately, Qui-Gon tried to penetrate the wall that had come between them.  "Let me
                in Obi-Wan, let me help you before it's too late!" he entreated when he realized that part
                of the block between them was that Obi-Wan was no longer open to him.

                Obi-Wan himself hadn't realized that he wasn't, but now...

                "You've got to trust me Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon said urgently as they felt the world going to
                pieces around them.  Obi-Wan's body was failing fast.

                "I-I don't know if I can," Obi-Wan stammered, as if shocked by the realization.  Good
                knows he wanted to, but something in him just refused to open up. "I'm sorry," he said
                softly.  "I understand now." And he did.  He did understand. He understood that
                Qui-Gon had not been intentionally shunning him, or resisting being able to trust him
                again, but sometimes it's simply not so easy. You couldn't necessarily do something like
                that just because you wanted to.

                Obi-Wan started to slip away.

                Qui-Gon realized that he could not force the boy to trust him anymore than he could
                force the boy to live. In order for Obi-Wan to survive, he would have to trust Qui-Gon
                enough to surrender control of his body to the other Jedi. Qui-Gon could not and would
                not take it by force like Xanatos had.

                Xanatos had created a dependency in Obi-Wan, almost like a spice addiction, so that
                Obi-Wan could not command his own body, nor support it without Xanatos' constant
                control.  To break that, Qui-Gon himself would have to take complete control of
                Obi-Wan's body for a few moments, but after the way he had been abused through
                such a hold, it was obviously not easy for Obi-Wan to give permission for anyone to
                take such power over him again, even to save his life.  But if Obi-Wan could not, if he
                could not bring himself to trust Qui-Gon that deeply, he was going to die, and Qui-Gon
                couldn't stop him.

                With a jolt, Qui-Gon realized his mistake.  Why should Obi-Wan trust him that deeply? 
                The abandonment issue aside, had he ever demonstrated that kind of trust to the
                Padawan?  Even before Melida/Daan, even before he had any reason not to trust
                Obi-Wan, had he ever given him his unconditional trust?  His unconditional love?  How
                could he expect of Obi-Wan what he himself had never shown the boy?

                Kneeling by Obi-Wan as all hell broke loose around them, Qui-Gon took the choking
                boy's hand and for the first time in years he opened his heart completely.  He opened
                himself entirely to Obi-Wan, holding nothing back.

                Obi-Wan's eyes went wide, even as his lungs continued to spasm painfully.  Qui-Gon
                had removed all shielding, leaving himself wide open and completely vulnerable.  It was
                the deepest kind of trust he was showing.  Qui-Gon was entrusting Obi-Wan with more
                than his life; he was entrusting him with his heart and his soul.

                Unable to refuse such pure, unadulterated faith, Obi- Wan responded in kind and
                Qui-Gon quickly eased his way in. Feeding Obi-Wan strength, he took over the support
                that Xanatos had discontinued and then quickly returned control of Obi-Wan's body to
                him.

                "Come," Qui-Gon said hoarsely, rising to his feet and pulling Obi-Wan with him.  Half
                carrying, half dragging the youth, Qui-Gon made his way swiftly to the Telos portal not
                far away.

                As they reached the door he saw the Therdaks disappearing happily through the
                gateway to their own world and dimension.  In his desperation to save Obi-Wan's life,
                he had forgotten about them.  Them and... Xanatos.

                Qui-Gon looked around and saw Xanatos slumped on the ground several dozen meters
                away.  Everything in Qui-Gon screamed for him to just get the heck out of there and
                leave Xanatos to the fate he more than richly deserved. After all, he had Obi-Wan to
                think about...

                Stepping through the portal, Qui-Gon lay Obi-Wan down on the floor of the crumbling
                mansion.  "Listen to me Obi- Wan," he said quickly.  "I want you as my Padawan again,
                if you will have me.  Whatever happens, I want you to know that.  But there is something
                I must do first."  Qui-Gon wanted Obi-Wan to know that he was wanted, just in case... in
                case Qui-Gon never came back.

                Obi-Wan nodded slowly, he understood.

                Rising quickly, Qui-Gon plunged back through the portal without hesitation.

                Xanatos was struggling to his feet when Qui-Gon reappeared.  Huge cracks had
                opened in ground and the floor was listing sharply.  Qui-Gon had to hang onto the
                frame of the portal to keep from slipping.

                "Xanatos!" he called out and the younger man looked up, a wild light in his eyes. 
                "Hurry!" Qui-Gon called, holding out his hand.  "There isn't much time."

                Xanatos just stared at him for a moment, but did not stir.  "You are wrong once more
                Qui-Gon," he said with an unreadable look on his cold face.  "There's no time.  It's too
                late."  Xanatos just stood there, making no move towards the safety that Qui-Gon was
                offering him.

                With a tremendous rumble the strange dimension collapsed, pancaking and imploding
                inward like a black hole.

                Qui-Gon only just made it out the portal in time, half blown out by the explosion. 
                Knocked flat, Qui-Gon rolled over a few times.  Leaning up on his elbow, he saw the
                mirror-like portal shatter and vanish as the realm it led to disappeared.  Taking Xanatos
                with it.

                Qui-Gon felt Obi-Wan's hand on his arm.  Qui-Gon was glad to see that the boy was
                already looking stronger and beginning to recover.  Obi-Wan bounced back incredibly
                well.

                For his part, Obi-Wan was very relieved; he had been quite worried about Qui-Gon
                when he went back through the portal, although he understood that it was somehow
                very important to Qui-Gon to do so.

                "I'm sorry," Obi-Wan said softly, but his eyes spoke more than his words.  "I
                understand," they said.  "I tried to save Bruck too..."

                "He - he didn't want to be saved, Master," Obi-Wan tested the word out almost
                hesitantly.

                Qui-Gon nodded slowly, rising to a sitting position. "I know," he agreed softly.  "But I had
                to try, Padawan," he infused so much warmth and trust into that one word that Obi-Wan
                didn't think he could stand it.

                Tears clouded the boy's eyes.  He could take Qui-Gon's rejection; he had done so
                before, he knew how to bear the Master's silence and emotional withdrawal, but
                Obi-Wan was at a loss for how to deal with this sudden show of care.

                "Stupid time to cry, now!" Obi-Wan berated himself, trying desperately to hold back the
                emotions that were churning inside him.  He had wanted Qui-Gon so badly, wanted him
                as a teacher, wanted him as the father figure that he had never had, but his young
                heart craved.  Yet somehow, he didn't think it could ever happen.  Somewhere along
                the way he had lost the hope that Qui-Gon would ever care for him.  It had happened
                long before Melida/Daan he realized, that was just the way it had culminated.

                Qui-Gon saw the boy's desperate struggle to be "brave", and not let the Master see
                what he was feeling. Normally, he would probably have stepped back and let the boy
                compose himself, but somehow, he didn't feel that that was what Obi-Wan needed right
                now.  "Don't lock your emotions away Padawan.  It is not weakness to feel," he said
                softly.

                It was all the push Obi-Wan needed and at last, the tears came.

                Qui-Gon drew Obi-Wan into his arms gently and let the boy rest his head against the
                big Jedi's breast.

                There was much they needed to talk about.  Much that needed to be said, much that
                needed to be healed between them, and Qui-Gon was not going to let it be put off any
                longer.  Obi-Wan had to be a priority to him, he realized. But it could wait a few more
                minutes.  As far as Qui-Gon was concerned, the whole galaxy could wait for as long as
                was needed, for as long as Obi-Wan needed.

                Obi-Wan burrowed into Qui-Gon's tunic and just stayed there.  He didn't care if it was
                stupid and childish; he was so weary and so relieved.  It was like the bottle that he had
                been shoving everything into for so long had finally burst, freeing him.

                Free of the dimension that had banished his injuries, Obi-Wan could feel them creeping
                up on him again, but they were no longer life threatening and he didn't want to worry
                about that right now.  He didn't want to worry about anything right now.

                Qui-Gon found himself stroking Obi-Wan's soft, short hair almost without meaning to,
                but Obi-Wan made no objection, so he did not stop.  He and the boy had certainly had a
                rocky road so far, but sitting here like this, Qui-Gon knew that Tahl was right, and that
                sometimes what was broken could be reformed into something even stronger and more
                beautiful.

                Qui-Gon knew he was not especially gifted in foresight like some, but he could foresee
                a quite a future for he and his Padawan, together.

                THE END