Qui-Gon watched as Guod's eyes flickered between himself and Heri. Despite her injury, Heri stood firmly and her face was set in a mask of concentration as the lightsaber she held in her hands did not waver. Slowly, Guod lowered his blaster and placed it on the floor his eyes never leaving Heri.

As Heri directed the other man to back away from the weapon, Qui-Gon fell back heavily on the ground, his chest burning with pain. He was dimly aware of Heri and Guod speaking, but he could not concentrate on them. It was enough of a struggle to remain conscious.

"Master Qui-Gon?" Obi-Wan asked in a teary voice as he moved from behind him and sat at his side.

"It's all right now, Obi-Wan, you're safe." Qui-Gon forced out offering the boy a slight smile despite his pain.

He watched through pain filled eyes as Obi-Wan reached out a hesitant hand and rested it gently on his arm. "You got hurt. For me." He said, his small eyes seemed fixated on the wound in Qui-Gon's chest.

Qui-Gon was dimly aware that others were beginning to fill the room, but his first concern was for the small boy with frightened eyes. "You're very important to me, Obi-Wan. I couldn't let him hurt you." He said as gently as he could, though the pain was beginning to spread and he wasn't certain how much longer he could cling to consciousness.

"I can help." Obi-Wan said as his small face lined with worry and concentration.

"Obi-Wan, you don't--" A rush of power flooded his system through the bond that was still between them. He drew a deep breath in surprise as his pain eased and the bond that had been so damaged grew stronger.

Qui-Gon quickly reached out a hand and placed it on Obi-Wan's chest. "Shhh, Obi-Wan. I'm going to be fine, you don't have to help me. It's okay Little One, we're all fine now. Thank you for your help, but I need you to stop before your hurt yourself." The power that had been flooding him slowed finally to a trickle and Obi-Wan slumped forward, obviously exhausted.

"I don't want you to die." Obi-Wan whispered miserably as his tears began to fall again. "I don't want you to go away."

Qui-Gon reached out and pulled the boy to his side, ignoring the pain in his body. Brushing his hand over the boy's golden hair he held him close. "I'm going to be fine Obi-Wan. No one is going to die here today. I'm not going anywhere." He was so focused on the boy that he nearly jumped at the touch on his other shoulder.

He looked up to find the concerned face of Mace leaning over him. "Charr'a is on her way right now, just hang in there a little longer and we'll move you out of here." He glanced at Obi-Wan who had hidden his small face in Qui-Gon's shoulder before turning his attention back to Qui-Gon. "Will you be all right until she gets here?" He asked.

"We'll be fine." Qui-Gon nodded. He felt Mace send a wave of directed Healing Force to his chest and smiled his thanks as the other man stood and left the two of them to be as alone as they could.

Qui-Gon laid his head back on the cold floor and tried to block out the motion and activity in the room. It helped that Obi-Wan was by his side, it gave him something other than his pain to focus on. He turned his head slightly to look at the boy and found him looking back at him with wide blue eyes.

"What are you thinking about, Little One?" He asked softly.

Obi-Wan shook his head and moved a little closer. "Does it hurt a lot?" He asked finally.

Qui-Gon shook his head. "It isn't too bad, Obi-Wan. You and Master Mace have helped me already. As soon as Healer Charr'a arrives, she will be able to help much more and then I will be as good as new." He offered another smile at the serious express on the boy's elfin face.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"I swear Jinn, I should assign one of my Healers to follow you around all the time. What have you managed to do to yourself this time?" Qui-Gon looked up from his conversation with Obi-Wan to find Charr'a kneeling down next to him.

"It was Guod, he fired his blaster at me, but Qui-Gon jumped in front of it and saved me." Obi-Wan said defensively before Qui-Gon could answer. The boy's small face was set and he glared at the Healer.

Charr'a smiled quickly at Qui-Gon before holding her hands up in apology to Obi-Wan. "My mistake." She placed a hand on Qui-Gon's forehead and suddenly all the residual pain he had been feeling vanished. "I've blocked your pain receptors so we can move you." She explained as she waved for the hoverbed to be brought over.

Bel-San was then at his side, holding out a hand. "Come on, Obi-Wan we need to move away so they can help Qui-Gon."

The boy looked from Bel-San to Qui-Gon quickly before tightening his hold. "No! You can't make me, you can't go, you promised."

"It's all right, Obi-Wan, we just want to help Qui-Gon." Bel-San said reasonably in a tone he had perfected over the years he had spent working with children.

"No. I want to stay with you." Obi-Wan turned beseeching eyes on Qui-Gon and held onto the dark robes with his small hands.

"Give us a moment?" He asked the two Jedi who nodded and moved away. "You've been very brave today Obi-Wan, I'm very proud of you. You were very scared but you didn't let that stop you from trying to help us. But it's all over now and we are all safe. Healer Charr'a and Teacher Bel-San just want to make me better, they aren't taking me away from you forever, just for a little while so I can get better. Can you be brave for me and go with Bel-San? I'm sure that as soon as I'm better he'll bring you to see me." He offered, glancing briefly at Bel-San and hoping the other man would pick up on his verbal cue.

"That's right Obi-Wan. We just want Qui-Gon to get better and I'll make sure you can see him as soon as possible, I promise." Bel-San walked over slowly and extended his hand.

Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment longer before he slowly uncurled from Qui-Gon's side and walked over to Bel-San. The Teacher picked him up and held him tightly as Charr'a Force lifted Qui-Gon onto the hoverbed and began to move him from the room to the Infirmary.

* * *

Qui-Gon opened his eyes, slowly blinking in the bright lights of the Infirmary. As he drew a careful breath he noticed he didn't feel any pain, though he was stiff. It was quiet in the Infirmary and he let his eyes close again as he felt weariness tug at him again.

"Reckless you are."

Qui-Gon turned his head slowly at the sound of his Master's perturbed voice and found the small Jedi sitting at his bedside. He looked around the room briefly and noted they had placed him in the section of the Infirmary that had unofficially become his. It wasn't as though he tried to hurt himself, though it did seem to happen quite often.

"Master." He said calmly in greeting.

"Run into hostage situations, a Jedi does not."

"Actually, Master, I can name at least two different instances when you did exactly that." Qui-Gon pointed out mildly.

"The point that is not. More careful you should be." Yoda sighed. "Hurt very badly you could have been."

"The point is that I wasn't and even if I had it would have been worth it. I couldn't let him hurt Obi-Wan. Anything is worth that." He paused and looked at his former Master noting the pain in the small Jedi's features. "I'm sorry, Master." He laughed. "I seem to be apologizing to you quite a bit lately."

"Meeting the Council is in the morning to discuss this event. Mistakes were made by all in this." Yoda said quietly.

"I imagine I will be a topic of conversation." Qui-Gon said with a sigh. "I doubt the Council will dwell too long on how everyone managed to walk away from this alive."

"Justify the end the means do not, Qui-Gon." Yoda said firmly.

"I know. It was still worth it, though. He is alive and that is all that matters."

"On your behalf I will speak, my Padawan. Rest you should." Yoda placed one three fingered hand on his shoulder. "Done well you have." He said before he turned and walked from the room.

* * *

Qui-Gon heard the sound of voices distantly.

"He's sleeping." The high pitched voice of a child whispered.

"He'll be awake soon."

"We shouldn't wake him up."

"You worry too much, Obi-Wan."

"Shhh." The boy hissed.

"I'm glad that at least one person in this room is interested in my well-being." Qui-Gon said as he opened his eyes to find Bel-San and Obi-Wan at his side.

"I told you he would wake up." Bel-San said, giving Obi-Wan and knowing glance.

"Only because you were so loud." Qui-Gon said as he sat up slightly in the bed.

"Told you. I tried to make him be quiet but he wouldn't listen." Obi-Wan reported seriously.

"Yes well, Bel-San has never been very good at being quiet."

"We all have our faults, but apparently some of them are a little less self-destructive than others." Bel-San said as he bent down to pick up Obi-Wan and place him on the side of Qui-Gon's bed.

Obi-Wan crawled closer to him, but did not touch him. "Are you better now?" His brow crinkling in worry.

Qui-Gon reached out and smoothed the boy's forehead. "I'm perfectly fine now and quite safe to touch." He assured the boy.

Immediately, Obi-Wan launched himself at the Jedi Master and hugged him tightly. "I was worried." He said softly.

"I know." He ran a soothing hand along the boy's back. "How are you?"

"I'm good."

Qui-Gon looked over Obi-Wan's head to Bel-San to confirm the boy's statement.

"He was a little bruised from the encounter, but Charr'a cleared him to leave the Infirmary almost as soon as he came in. He's been too wound up to sleep though, insisted he couldn't until he saw you."

Qui-Gon looked at Obi-Wan as the boy settled more comfortably against his side. "You've had a very busy day, Little One. I would think you would be very tired."

"Had to see you first." Obi-Wan said around a yawn, his eyes drooping closed as he spoke.

"I'm just fine, Obi-Wan." He assured the boy as he pulled the blanket to cover him. Within moments, the boy was sleeping soundly at his side.

"Poor kid's been worried sick about you." Bel-San said quietly.

"Is he really all right?" Qui-Gon asked as he looked up from the sleeping form.

"Physically he's fine, you managed to make sure of that the hard way. He's been kind of clingy though since this all happened. I imagine you'll have a hard time prying him off you when he wakes up." Bel-San leaned forward. "You should know something else."

Qui-Gon tried not to disturb the boy as he heard Bel-San's words. "What?" He asked quickly.

The other man shook his head. "Oh, no it isn't anything bad, necessarily. It's just, Adi checked him out after they brought you in, and she said it looks like he managed to reconnect the bond between the two of you. Apparently it has something to do with that little stunt he pulled in the Creche."

Qui-Gon shook his head. "I thought I felt something. But he shouldn't have been able to do that, he shouldn't even have know how to begin to do something like that."

"Apparently he was paying closer attention on Destricore than we thought. That's the only explanation we've been able to come up with."

Qui-Gon let his head fall back. "The Council isn't going to like that one bit." Qui-Gon looked up suddenly. "What about Heri, how is she and what are they going to do with Guod?"

Bel-San held up a hand. "Hold on, Qui-Gon calm down. First, Heri's going to be fine. Guod got her pretty good, but it wasn't life threatening. The Healers say she'll be able to leave in a few days. Obi-Wan and I were in to see her earlier, and she seemed fine." The other man leaned back in his chair and ran a hand absently through his curly hair. "As for Guod, well that I'm not sure. I do know they took him away and that he is locked up in a holding cell on one of the lower levels with a few more guards this time. I've heard talk about rehabilitation, but I doubt that will be effective. It's hard to know what they'll do with him. They can't let him go now, not the way he is. He killed his guard to get out the first time, and we all know what he was willing to do to you and Obi-Wan. He's a danger, but this hasn't happened in the Temple in more years than anyone cares to remember. We really aren't equipped to deal with this sort of thing. I, for one, know I wouldn't feel comfortable knowing he was down in some lower level of the Temple rotting away for the next fifty years."

Qui-Gon sighed. "I never expected it of him."

"No one did, that's the thing. We all knew he was a little off, but we didn't think he was capable of this."

The Jedi Master rested his head against the pillow of his bed and fought to keep his eyes open. When Bel-San saw him, he stood. Placing a hand on his shoulder, the Teacher smiled down at him. "Get some rest, Qui-Gon. I'll come by sometime tomorrow." He turned began to walk away.

"Wait," Qui-Gon called as loud as he dared. "What about Obi-Wan, you can't leave him with me alone." He had already pushed the limits of the Council as far as he thought they would go.

Bel-San shrugged. "If the infirmary doesn't qualify as a public place, I don't know what to tell you. Let the kid sleep, Qui-Gon, he needs it. And so do you."

* * *

Qui-Gon woke, gradually aware that he was shoved uncomfortably into a corner of the bed in the Infirmary. He opened his eyes to see Obi-Wan still at his side, but sprawled out to take up more room in the small bed than he thought a five-year-old would be capable. Qui-Gon shifted slightly and began to rearrange Obi-Wan to regain some control of his own space. The boy moved compliantly in his sleep and did not wake.

At a quiet chuckle, Qui-Gon looked up in surprise at Demeron who sat by his side. "I wondered how long you would lay shoved into that corner." He said softly in deference to the sleeping boy.

"How long have you been here?" Qui-Gon asked curiously as he finished settling the boy.

"Not long. I just came by to see how you were and give you a bit of news." The older Jedi said calmly.

"I'm feeling much better. Mostly I'm relieved to know that everyone managed to come out relatively whole." He waited quietly as Demeron seemed to build up to something.

"I spoke with Heri about what happened, she told me what you did. About how you protected the boy. I know things have been strained between us, and for that I apologize deeply. I think I forgot the purpose of taking a Padawan isn't to compete with others but to make certain that the children are with the people they belong." The other man paused and smiled somewhat sadly down at the sleeping boy. "I hadn't seen the two of you together before yesterday in the Creche, you know. I don't think I have ever seen a connection so strong. Anyone who can't see that isn't listening to what the Force is trying to say." He smiled at Qui-Gon. "I guess what I came to tell you really is that I spoke with the Council early this morning on your behalf and I've withdrawn my name from those who wish to take the boy as Padawan. I don't know if it will help any, but I know this is what feels right."

Qui-Gon stared at the other man speechless. "Demeron I, I don't know what to say." He shook his head.

The other man smiled again and patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry I let this come between us. I hope that you can forgive me."

Qui-Gon nodded numbly, stunned.

"I can't stay, I have an appointment, I just wanted you to know." Demeron stood. "Oh, and the Council has asked to see you as soon as you are able."

* * *

Qui-Gon walked into the circular chamber of the Council room with no little trepidation. The assembled Council regarded him silently as he walked to the center of the chamber and bowed. "Masters."

"Master Jinn." Plo Koon acknowledged.

"How feel you?" Yoda asked him from across the room.

"I am well, my Master." Qui-Gon nodded to the small Jedi.

"We have called you here today because we have reviewed the events of the past few days, Master Jinn." Plo Koon began.

Qui-Gon nodded silently.

"Once again you have shown your recklessness and your willingness to throw yourself into situations that could be handled in a better way."

"Master, I object." Qui-Gon began, not cowed by the seriousness of the meeting.

"Finished we have not, Master Jinn."

"However, we have acknowledged there were extenuating circumstance. Masters Demeron, Heri and Adi have spoken on your behalf regarding your actions that day and your relationship with the boy. After seeing your interaction with Obi-Wan Kenobi and how strongly the bond between you refuses to be broken, we feel there is no choice but to allow you to take the boy as Padawan."