surrender, stepping off firm ground into a toxic pool on his homeworld of Telos. Qui-Gon had leaped to prevent him even as his heart knew he was too late. He had seen the man Xanatos fall, blue eyes blazing with hatred, but at the same time, he had seen the boy he had once known, blue eyes full of eagerness, full of promise. It had cut him, made him grieve. Months had passed since the incident, and Qui-Gon felt the memory as fresh as if it had happened yesterday. Had his former apprentice failed his training? Or had Qui-Gon been the one to fail?
His second Padawan, whom he also loved, had also betrayed him. Obi-Wan sat beside him now, but Qui- Gon did not feel the old harmony between them. Obi-Wan had left the Jedi Order in order to devote himself to a cause on a planet they had tried to save. Qui-Gon still remembered standing on the rocky ground of Melida/Daan, seeing something in the eyes of his apprentice he had never seen before. Defiance. Obi-Wan would not listen to Qui-Gon's order to leave. He had remained.
Obi-Wan had come to see that he had been wrong. He had done everything he could to rebuild what they'd had between them. They had begun on a long road. Trust was the goal.
Tahl's disapproving frown rose in his mind. You are always so dramatic, Qui-Gon. Obi-Wan is a boy who made a mistake. Do not hold him responsible for your failure with Xanatos.
Was that what he was doing?
Time, you need, Yoda had advised. That is all.
Qui-Gon accepted that. But how much time was appropriate? When would he know? And would Obi-Wan sense his struggle and come to resent him for his stubborn heart?
Your flaw is your need for connection to the living Force.
Qui-Gon saw the truth of this. He had not completely discounted what Dooku had to say. In his daily life he tried to keep that connection in balance with his Jedi path. No attachments. He did not see this as a conflict. He saw it as a great truth — that he could love, but have no wish to possess. That he could trust, but not resent those who let him down.
Lately, that last one had been tricky.
'We're stopping for fuel,' Obi-Wan said, breaking into his thoughts.
They were returning from a routine training mission, and their pace was not rushed. 'I'm sorry to interrupt you, Master, but do you wish to disembark? We'll be here for several hours.'
Qui-Gon opened his eyes. 'Where are we?'
'A planet called Junction 5. Do you know it?'
Qui-Gon shook his head. 'Let's disembark,' he decided. 'It will do us good to stretch our legs. And I bet you could use some decent food.'
'I'm fine,' Obi-Wan said, bending for his pack. Qui-Gon frowned. There it was. Once Obi-Wan would have agreed, would have grinned at him and said, 'How did you guess?' Now Obi-Wan was intent on being a 'correct'
Padawan. He would not admit that the days of gray, tasteless food and protein pellets were dismaying.
Maybe it wasn't a case of forgiveness at all, Qui-Gon thought as they joined the line to disembark. Maybe it was a case of missing what he'd had. He had his correct Padawan back. Now he missed the imperfect boy.
The planet of Junction 5 seemed to be a pleasant world. The capital city of Rion was built around a wide blue river. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon took a turbolift down from the landing platform to the wide boulevard that was one of Rion's main thoroughfares.
'Every visitor must register with the local security force,' Obi-Wan said, reading off a pass they had been given. 'That's unusual.'
'Some societies are tightly controlled,' Qui-Gon said. 'As the galaxy becomes more fragmented, beings are more afraid of outsiders.'
They strolled down the boulevard, glad to feel the sun on their faces.
But Qui-Gon had not gone more than a few steps when he felt that something was amiss.
'There is fear here,' Obi-Wan said.
'Yes,' Qui-Gon said. 'We have an hour or so. Let's find out why.' He reached for his comlink. Since Tahl had been blinded in a battle on Melida/Daan, she had made her base at the Temple and was available for research. She rarely had to access the Jedi archives; her knowledge of galactic politics was immense.
'Are you busy?' Qui-Gon asked.
Tahl's dry voice came clearly through the comlink. 'Of course not, Qui-Gon. I am sitting here waiting for you to contact me so that I'll have something to do.'
His smile was in his voice as he answered, 'We have a stopover on the planet Junction 5. The Force is disturbed here. Can you give us an idea why?'
'We have been monitoring the situation,' Tahl said. 'The planet has not asked for Senate or Jedi help, but we are prepared for it. For many years Junction 5 has maintained a rivalry with its moon, Delaluna. Several years ago Junction 5 discovered that Delaluna was developing a large-scale destructive weapon, capable of wiping out cities with one blow. The citizens of Junction 5 call it the Annihilator. They live in a state of constant fear that it will be used one day.'
'Have they tried to negotiate a treaty?' Qui-Gon asked.
'The problem is that Delaluna denies the existence of the weapon,'
Tahl said. 'Talks between the two governments are stalled. Because of this great fear that has gripped the population, there are rumors of double agents and spies trying to undermine the government to prepare for a Delaluna invasion.'
'Are they planning an invasion?'
