*************
In Between
by Sharon Kidder
*************
Disclaimers: Most of the characters portrayed here do not belong to me. They are the sole property of Jedi Master Lucas....I'm just borrowing them. I'll put them back when I'm done...promise!
Rating: Regretfully G
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Chapter 1
Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn gently picked up the fallen boy. So young, so innocent, and so full of pain. Qui-Gon felt the waves of pain roll over him, heavy and smothering.
"Easy, my boy, we'll get you fixed up." He brushed his callused hand against the boy's forehead, "Sleep.....sleep....." The boy's face slowly relaxed in response as he dropping off into oblivion.
Qui-Gon wrapped his long cloak around the boy and strode away on long legs away from the small town square. Onlookers scattered from his path leaving murmured curses in his wake. A few, Qui-Gon noted, flashed their hands at the powerful Jedi in signs meant to avert evil.
It only took a few short minutes to clear the most crowded streets of the little town. Near the palisade wall, Qui-Gon turned a corner and entered a narrow street bordered by houses which whispered of grand days gone by, but now standing in silent testimony to the effects time and weather. Grim and dirty, they were proof of the hard life endured by the people in this backwater corner on this backwater planet.
The Jedi master stopped at one of the doors and shifted the burden in his arms slightly so as to free a hand to knock at the door.
No sooner had he moved to knock then the door opened, seemingly of it's own volition. There in the shadow behind the door he could just barely see her. She slowly stepped out into the failing sunlight. Qui-Gon found himself unable to move, or even breath. And average woman, most would say. Plain, but filled with an inner beauty and an inner peace that filled her dark eyes. Long hair, now beginning to show signs of gray cascaded down her back. The long caftan she wore emphasized her grace.
"Thirty years is a long time to make me wait, Qui-Gon," she softly admonished. Her calm, serene face appraised him from bottom to top, and hesitated on the silent bundle in his arms.
"Come in."
Qui-Gon found himself half paralyzed. Unable to speak, unable to move.
"Well don't just stand there like a gawky padawan," she chided softly. "Come in and let me see what you've brought to my doorstep after so long."
Qui-Gon nodded and stepped inside as she moved from the doorway.
Finding his tongue again, he told the woman, "The boy's has been injured and badly beaten. I cannot heal him. I need your help, Engelira. Please help him." The concern on his face struck a chord in the woman's heart.
"Set him down here," she motioned to a small divan. Qui-Gon unwrapped the boy from his cloak and set the boy where Engelira pointed. the boy stirred from his Force induced slumber. Qui-Gon felt the pain start to bubble up once again. "Not yet, my boy, sleep awhile longer." Again he caressed the young face, and again the boy sighed and ceased moving.
Engelira's face had taken on a serious look as the jedi set the boy down. "What happen," she asked.
"He was taunted by a group of young thugs no older than himself. He thought that he could earn their respect by virtue of his abilities and powers," the words came out tinged with dismay and a hint of scorn. "But instead they jumped on him as one and left him as you see here."
"And where were you when all this was happening?" Engelira snapped, her eyes fierce and her tone demanding.
"Where I was is no concern of yours," he snapped back, heat rising in his own eyes. "Leave it be that I was attending to my mission. The boy wished to explore the town and I saw no harm in that" Qui-Gon knew that his words would garner no respite from this woman.
"So you left a little boy, no a young Jedi," she stressed the label, "all alone in a town on a world who's feelings toward the Jedi are a little less than brotherly? He can't be more than 10. Have your senses finally taken their leave of you? I know we're both getting on in years, but I wouldn't have thought the Jedi Council would grant you a Mastership and allow you to take an apprentice if they knew you were losing your mind!"
"I know!" Qui-Gon snapped, his eyes to blazing. "Do you really think I would be that careless? Don't you think I haven't flogged myself a thousand times already for this lapse?" His tone softened and his brow furrowed again, "Now will you help him or must I beg on bended knee!"
Engelira's face softened. She sighed softly. "I never could say no to you Qui-Gon. And begging never was one of your better talents" She turned to the boy, "Now let's see what we can do."
Carefully she started to peel the boy's filthy clothes away from his chest and shoulders, revealing bloodied bruises already starting to purple on the small body. "How long have you had him?" she asked Qui-Gon softly.
"Only a fraction of a standard year," he replied, his voice roughened by concern. This was his first trip off Coruscant. He had not ever seen another world since he was taken to the Temple as an infant."
Engelira assessed the boy for fractured bones and cracked ribs. "Well, he got off very lucky indeed. No broken bones that I can tell. "Now go, fill the basin in the next room with hot water from the kettle. He'll need to be cleaned up when I'm done."
Qui-Gon obediently did as she bid, stopping only once to glance through the doorway at the woman and the boy. Her delicate hands almost covered the small chest. Her brows were furrowed and her eyes tightly closed in concentration. Qui-Gon felt a touch of relief as he watched the bruises slowly fade away under the woman's ministrations.
Once the basin was filled, he returned to the room to find the boy starting to sit up and stare at the woman as she massaged her own temples.
"Master, where are we? What happened? Who is she?" The questions poured out of the boy.
"We are safe, young padawan. You are in the house of a friend and she has healed the worst of your bruises." Qui-Gon kneeled on the floor in front of the boy. "You were foolish, Obi-Wan. You thought to raise yourself in their eyes by bragging. You should know better than to expect others to revere you because of who you are. You have disappointed me today."
Obi-Wan dropped his face, shame flooding his face.
"I'm sorry, Master, I-"
"Hush now, Obi-Wan," the older man placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "the fault is not entirely yours. I too am at fault here. I should have kept you with me and not allowed you to get into such a position." Qui-Gon glanced up at Engelira. "I should have known better."
"Now, as for my friend here, let me introduce you. Obi-Wan, meet Engelira, a good friend.....from a long time ago. Engelira, meet Obi-Wan Kenobi, my padawan apprentice."
Engelira offered her hand to the boy, "I'm very pleased to meet you Apprentice Kenobi. And I'm very glad your Master brought you to me." Again, her eyes locked with Qui-Gon's. "Now," she said suddenly, tearing her eyes off the older man, "I was about to sit down to dinner before I was so rudely," the word came lightly, "interrupted. In there, "she pointed to the next room, "is a basin full of warm water. Why don't you go clean yourself up and I'll set a place for you and Master Qui-Gon at the table." She chucked his faces with a soft knuckle as her face broke open in a wide grin.
Obi-Wan returned the grin and fairly ran from the room.
"He seems like a good boy, Qui-Gon. So full of life...." She sighed softly. "Come, you can help me with the table and tell me why you've waited this long to find me." She turned away from Qui-Gon and walked through another doorway into a small room framed by counters. In the corner sat a large iron stove with a pot bubbling merrily away on top. The well used table in the other corner had only a single chair at it's side.
"I'm afraid you and I will have to stand. I only have the one chair," Engelira commented offhandedly. Qui-Gon remained silent for a moment longer, simply watching the woman as she bustled about the cabinets pulling out utensils and bowls. "Well don't just stand there, help me get some cups down from there," she pointed towards a high cabinet. "I've got a few extras stashed away in there somewhere."
Qui-Gon opened the indicated cabinet and fished through the various bowls, pitchers, and platters until he came to several very dusty mugs at the back of the cabinet. "Here," she threw a small clean rag at him, "rinse those off and wipe them clean." He did as instructed and set the now clean mugs on the table. Engelira procured a small pitcher from a cool box and filled the mugs with water.
As he stepped back from the table, the boy came bounding into the room, his face now freshly washed and in stark contrast to the dirty tunic he wore. Obi-Wan didn't seem to notice the dirt on the tunic. Qui-Gon chucked, a rye smile tweaking his mouth. <<I wonder if I was ever like that. So unconcerned with appearances.>>
He gestured Obi-Wan to the single chair as Engelira placed a bowl of stew on the table. Obi-Wan dug into the food almost greedily. <<Or ever that hungry?>>
Qui-Gon thanked Engelira as she handed him a bowl of the stew. The rich aroma had started his mouth watering long ago. The thick gravy was chock full of tasty bits of vegetables and tender chunks of meat. They ate in silence, savoring the stew through to the last morsels. Only when Obi-Wan had finished the entire bowl did he even look up at his mentor and the woman.
"Thank you mistress Engelira," Obi-Wan politely addressed the woman. "The stew was very delicious..."
"Yes, Engelira, quite good," Qui-Gon echoed quickly, placing his bowl on the counter behind him. "I thank you for your help and your hospitality. We will take our leave of you now. Come Obi-Wan, we must get back to our ship," he moved to place a hand on the boy's shoulder and guide him from the room. The boy looked almost heartbroken to have to leave so quickly.
"Stop right there, Master Qui-Gon." Engelira's commanding voice halted both man and boy in their tracks. "Don't think that you can come to me after thirty years, ask my help, and walk away without even telling me where in the Seven Hells you've been or why you waited so long to darken my doorstep?"
Qui-Gon tried to answer, but the woman continued on relentlessly. "I've sat around these backwater places for so long waiting for you that I think my mind has gone to mush. I think I deserve an answer. No, wait, I will make that my demand for payment in exchange for services rendered to the boy. I will have some sort of explanation from you before I allow you to leave!" Anger flashed through her dark eyes.
Qui-Gon's shoulders drooped a touch. Defeated, he turned the boy away from the front door and sat him down on the divan. Engelira sat next to the boy. Qui-Gon stood in silence for a moment, staring at his boots, as if collecting scattered thoughts from the distant reaches of his memory. Finally he looked up and gracefully sunk to the floor to sit with legs crossed before him.
"I do owe you an apology, Engelira. I am sorry. It was rude of me to ask your help without so much as a by-your-leave. This," he shrugged his shoulders and looked at the Jedi cloak draped around him, "has changed me too much. I am not the boy you once knew."
Obi-Wan listened in rapt attention as his master began telling the woman a little of his life and his travels since passing the trials on Coruscant. Soon, though, the boy felt his eyelids drooping. Try as he might, he could not keep them open. His head sunk back onto the back of the divan and then slowly listed to one side, coming to rest against the woman's shoulder.
Obi-Wan came awake some time later as his master shook his shoulders gently. "Come Obi-Wan, it is time we left." Qui-Gon glanced up at Engelira who returned the glance with a nod. "We must get back to the ship before the captain worries."
As the walked out the door, Qui-Gon gently guiding his padawan before him, Engelira asked "When will I see you again, Qui-Gon?" He stopped, turned towards her, and sighed. His heart seemed like lead, cold, hard, and heavy. "I don't know, Engelira. I don't know." He turned away again, but something inside him made him stop. "Come to Coruscant with me," he asked without looking at her. "Come to Coruscant..." It was almost a plea.
"You know I can't Qui-Gon. I have too much to do here." The regret in her voice was plain to hear. "Maybe.....maybe....." but he was already walking away down the street.
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In Between
by Sharon Kidder
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Disclaimers: Most of the characters portrayed here do not belong to me. They are the sole property of Jedi Master Lucas....I'm just borrowing them. I'll put them back when I'm done...promise!
Feedback welcome!
Rating: Regretfully G
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Chapter 2 - 10 years later
Advance. Retreat. Block. Parry. Attack.
And again, advance. Retreat. Block. Leap. Parry. Attack.
The two figures swept back and forth across the pad, without noise except for that of their feet on the floor and the hum and spark of the lightsabers. Back and forth, never giving more than must be given, never advancing enough to get under or behind the other's guard. One moment retreating, the next moment attacking. Fluid yet swift, powerful yet careful.
The two figures both seemed to sense the onlooker in the shadows at the same time. The came to a halt and lowered their sabers almost in unison. The taller figure spoke first.
"What is it Daimon?"
"There is someone here to see you, Master Qui-Gon."
"Who is it that disturbs our sparring, Daimon," Master Qui-Gon pursued.
"She would not give her name, Master. She would only say that you asked her to come." He paused before going on, "She said she got tired of waiting. She is in the audience chamber now."
Qui-Gon's faces looked puzzled. "I don't recall summoning anyone. Nor do I understand who would be waiting for me. Come, Obi-Wan, let us see who this visitor is."
"Yes, Master," the shorter figure replied.
The two Jedi stopped briefly to gather their cloaks and settled them around their shoulders. Then master and apprentice strode from the room.
The audience chamber was nothing more than a large, square room filled with scattered pieces of furniture--a place for the Knights and Masters to meet with guests and visitors. On the far side of the room, Obi-Wan could see a woman sitting in one of the stiff, uncompromising chairs. He sensed his master's sudden angst before it became apparent in Qui-Gon's faltering steps.
He looked at his master's face, but Qui-Gon's eyes were far away; not just at the far end of the hall, but in a place far and distant from where they were. "Master..." Obi-Wan prompted. Qui-Gon's eyes snapped back to the present. Again he strode forward, this time with purpose.
As they neared the sitting woman, she looked up. A distant memory in Obi-Wan's mind flickered, then died. Still, she looked somehow familiar, almost comforting.
The woman stood as the two Jedi approached her. "Well, Qui-Gon, we meet again."
"Ten years is a long time to make me wait, Engelira," he replied.
A smile and a fragment of laughter lightened the woman's face. "Yes, but not so long as time you made me wait."
Qui-Gon bowed his head in acknowledgment. Turning to Obi-Wan, "You recall my padawan, Obi-Wan Kenobi?"
Engelira inclined her head, "Indeed, how could I forget. But where did this handsome young man come from. The Obi-Wan Kenobi I knew was only half that size, and covered in bruises as well." She smiled graciously at Obi-Wan.
<<Ah yes, now I recall>> Obi-Wan thought to himself. <<The woman on Delenor>>
"Obi-Wan, would you please give me a moment with Engelira," Qui-Gon said.
"Of course, Master," came the swift reply. Obi-Wan nodded again at the woman and backed away to give them a bit of privacy.
As he stood near the wall across the hall from his master and the woman, he could sense Qui-Gon's restrained emotions simmering just under the surface. They talked together for a few moments before Qui-Gon reached out to take Engelira's hand in his own and brought it up to his lips to kiss.
"Ah, the lamb has returned to the fold finally," a voice said from behind Obi-Wan. The apprentice turned to find Jedi Master Mace Windu standing behind him, observing the interaction between his old friend and the woman.
"Who is she, Master Windu?" Obi-Wan asked.
"Ah, now that's a story unto itself. Suffice it to say that she was a student here many years ago."
"She's a Jedi?" Obi-Wan couldn't help but to be amazed. Surely Master Windu was mistaken. Obi-Wan could sense nothing of the Force within the woman.
"A Jedi?" Master Windu scoffed. "No, she was a healer. Sensitive to the force, but unable to use it but for the power of her hands to heal the living flesh. She and Qui-Gon were close....very close," he said wistfully. "She left the temple around the same time Qui-Gon passed the trials. She never came back. After she left, Qui-Gon would not speak of her. Not one word."
Obi-Wan couldn't withhold himself, "Were they lovers?"
Master Windu raked Obi-Wan with a withering glance, "In that, no business have you!" he croaked in an imitation of Jedi Master Yoda, Mace's good friend and fellow Council member.
Obi-Wan grinned sheepishly.
Then Qui-Gon stood before them and the woman Engelira was walking out the main door away from them. "Come, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon looked down his nose at his apprentice. "We should get cleaned up. We leave on our next assignment soon and we'll only have enough time to eat if we hurry." Qui-Gon stole one more glance in the direction of the receding woman before turning toward the doorway leading into the temple and their quarters, with Obi-Wan in close attendance."
"Master Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan asked as he hurried to keep stride with his master, "You haven't told me where we are going. Is our destination and mission to be kept a secret as well?"
"Of course not, my young padawan. We are going on a diplomatic mission. We're going to force a settlement between the Trade Federation and the people of the planet Naboo," he replied.
"Sounds boring," Obi-Wan replied. He again quickened his stride to try and match his master, completely missing the look of worry on Qui-Gon's face.
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In Between
by Sharon Kidder
-------------
Disclaimers: Most of the characters portrayed here do not belong to me. They are the sole property of Jedi Master Lucas....I'm just borrowing them. I'll put them back when I'm done...promise!
Feedback welcome!
Rating: Regretfully G
-------------
Chapter 3
Engelira relaxed for a moment against the soft cushions on her couch. The rather stark guest quarters in the Jedi Temple were luxurious compared what she was used to on Delenor.
They were coming, of that she was certain. She had not been sure at first that they would. Her dreams which had been so clear and crisp had lost their clarity some days ago. She felt that something had changed them, but she was not sure what.
Years ago when she had been a healer in training at the temple, the dreams would keep her from sleeping for night after night. She would often relay the dreams to Qui-Gon and he would try to explain them away for her. When the dreams became too intense, she found herself unable to perform her duties. Many times she was chastened for her apparent lack of focus and concentration.
Qui-Gon, ever the gallant youth back then, tried to come to her rescue and intervene with her teachers, but to no avail. Finally, only months before Qui-Gon entered into the trials, she was forced to leave the temple. She begged Qui-Gon to help her, but his Master forbade it. His impending trials required all of his attention and Master Yoda would not let him leave to find help for Engelira's difficult dreams.
Without a hand to guide her, she wandered helplessly from system to system, searching for some way to end the dreams that were making her waking life a misery. Finally she found respite on the agrarian world of Delenor. The simple life of the people there comforted her.
After the dreams subsided, she was able to turn her healing talents into a way of life. She learned to control the dreams, to bid them come when she had need to them. In this way, she learned to become a seeress for the people of her community. They began to trust her in ways only Qui-Gon had ever trusted her before.
She had found love, married, and even had two children. <<Ah, the children,>> she thought to herself. <<Long gone, long gone.>>
Year after year she had sent messages to Qui-Gon on Coruscant, asking, no, begging, him to come to see her, at least to visit her. Years went by with no response. Until....until that night.
She had known for weeks prior that he was coming. She had seen it in her dreams. But, when the day came, she still wasn't quite ready for it.
And now, once again, she knew he was coming, and she wasn't quite ready for him.
She had come to Coruscant brought by her dreams. She had found Qui-Gon in his beloved temple and told him what she could. She had somehow found the strength to turn and walk away that afternoon, believing she would truly never see him again.
Until the dreams changed.
She pushed herself off the couch. <<Oh, I'm getting too old for this>> she moaned to herself as her bones creaked and popped. She moved to the door and opened it to see the two Jedi only steps away look up in startlement.
She breathed a sigh of relief to see Qui-Gon. Behind him came his apprentice Obi-Wan. And there standing next to Qui-Gon....
Engelira felt a shock somewhere deep in her mind. Suddenly the blurred dreams snapped into focus, the clarity so sharp she could almost feel the razor edges. She took a deep breath and steadied herself on the door frame. She shook her head ever so slightly at Qui-Gon's inquiring glance.
She looked down at the boy again and felt fresh stabs of agony at the back of her mind. There was no doubt, somehow this boy was responsible for the change in her dreams of late. Somehow this boy's influence has asserted itself on her dreams. She didn't understand why or how, but somehow she knew.
She motioned them to come in. Qui-Gon came beside her and held her elbow. Oh how good it felt to feel his touch again.
"Are you all right," he asked softly.
She took a deep breath and grimaced away the remaining pain in the back of her mind. She managed a smile, "I'll be fine, just a headache." His eyes locked onto hers and she could tell he was seeing straight through her small lie.
"Please, do come in. Make yourselves at home." She gestured to the main room. Obi-Wan and the small boy both ducked their heads in thanks.
"Engelira, let me make another introduction." Qui-Gon tousled the small boy's hair,, "This is young Anakin Skywalker, recently of Tatooine. He will be staying with me for awhile."
"I'm very pleased to meet you young Anakin," she said with the best smile she could manage.
"We don't have much time, I afraid," Qui-Gon went on. "Obi-Wan and I must take Anakin before the Jedi Council. But before we go, I wanted to see you. More than that, I wanted to show you that you need not worry. Your dreams would appear to be nothing more than that: simple dreams."
Engelira felt her heart go cold. But the dream had changed. And with the new clarity, her dreams took on an even more horrifying aspect than before. She wanted to grasp him by the cloak and beg him not to go back there again--but she know he would not listen to her.
He took her shoulders in his hands. "Everything is fine Lira." He hadn't used that pet name in what seemed like forever. "Your dream did not come to pass and all will be well." She let herself be carried away by that comforting voice, just as she had been comforted by it years ago.
"Of course," she tried to smile. Changing the subject, she said to Qui-Gon, "Mace came to see me while you were gone. He told me what I had already realized that night you came to my house on Delenor." Qui-Gon fixed a searching gaze on her face.
"We talk of this later," he said. "Turning to include Obi-Wan and Anakin, "We must go now or we will keep the council waiting."
Obi-Wan nodded his head in obedience and made to guide Anakin out of the room. "No, wait," Qui-Gon stopped in mid-stride. "You go on ahead Padawan. Take Anakin up to the Council chambers. I need to speak with Engelira further. I will join you shortly." With that, Obi-Wan turned and led the boy from the room.
As the door closed behind his apprentice, Qui-Gon turned back to Engelira. "What did Mace speak with you about Lira?"
"I don't want to talk about that right now Qui-Gon. I need to tell you something much more important."
"Go on, I'm listening."
"Qui-Gon, the dreams have changed. Several nights ago the dreams lost focus. I...I couldn't see what was happening, but I knew that the dreams had changed. And now..." it all came out in a rush--about seeing the boy and the sudden clarity of her dreams.
Qui-Gon guided her to the couch and sat her down before sitting beside her, her hand clasped in his.
"Tell me everything," he encouraged, concern sharp on his broad features.
Engelira told him everything she could recall, every crystal clear image, every horrifying detail. And when she finished he reached out to her and drew her head to his chest and stroke her hair.
"I cannot promise you that it will be as you say," he murmured in her ear. But there is such good in this boy, I know he will bring peace and prosperity to the galaxy." She started to object, but he wouldn't let her, placing his finger across her lips. "If events do happen as you say, then you must promise me this. Promise me you will go Tatooine, find the boy's mother, her name is Shmi Skywalker. You will find her in Mos Espa, a slave to the junk dealer named Watto. Buy her freedom," he pressed a credit slip into her hand, "and take her to an out of the way spot and wait." Again she started to object, but Qui-Gon pinned her with his hands. "Promise me!" he demanded, his eyes fierce.
She felt her will give way. She nodded her head, "I...I promise. I will find her...and I will try to keep her hidden. We will wait."
He stared into her for a long moment. "Thank you," he whispered. Bending over, he placed a kiss on her forehead. As they sat like that for a minute or so, she thought she could feel tears striking her hair.
Then abruptly he stood and turned away from her. "I must go now," his voice was gruff and choked. And just as abruptly he was out the door and gone.
As Qui-Gon climbed the stairs out into the fresh air, he turned to stare at the slowly sinking Coruscant sun. A soft breeze caressed his face, teasing slight strands of his hair into the air. Closing his eyes, he let the golden colors sink into his skin, his heart, his soul.
As he turned to the temple again to join his apprentice up in the council tower, no one noticed the tear escaping the corner of one eye.
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In Between
by Sharon Kidder
-------------
Disclaimers: Most of the characters portrayed here do not belong to me. They are the sole property of Jedi Master Lucas....I'm just borrowing them. I'll put them back when I'm done...promise!
Feedback welcome!
Rating: Regretfully G
-------------
Chapter 4
The funeral dirges rung out in the temple square, reverberating around Engelira as she sat on the steps by the street. The news had swept through Coruscant--a Master Jedi had been killed, defeated in battle while liberating a small planet from the ambitions of the Trade Federation.
She had known something had happened to Qui-Gon several days ago--she could feel it in her bones. The change in tenor around the temple had barely been noticeable, but *she* noticed it--she was looking for it.
She pushed herself back up on onto her feet and made her way slowly back into the temple guest area.
It took some doing, but she finally found a transport heading in a round about way eventually to Tatooine. It would take her some months, but she felt she'd be a bit better able to face the Skywalker woman after some time allowed the jagged edges in her soul heal.
Master Windu escorted her to the ship when it was time to leave.
"Are you certain I can't convince you to stay?" he asked, concern evident on his face.
She smiled back at him, "No Mace, I'm sorry. I really must go. There's nothing here for me anymore. It's time I searched out a new purpose for my life."
He sighed and griped her hand in his strong ones.
"But there is something you can do for me," she continued. "Give this message to Apprentice Kenobi, please?" She took a slip of old-fashioned paper from a pocket in her gown and handed it to Mace.
"Didn't you hear? The Council has agreed to grant him his knighthood."
Her smile widened, "That pleases me greatly. He *will* be a great asset to the Jedi." Her heart lightened with the knowledge, she turned from Master Windu and walked up the ship's ramp smiling.
--
Three months later.
--
Engelira paused for a moment outside the domed building, gathering herself in thought and form. She wore an elaborate tunic over well-woven loose pants and soft knee-high leathereen boots, an outfit she had bought with Qui-Gon's credits in the last spaceport her ship had stopped in. She felt the image the clothing inspired would suit her purpose. In a pocket of her tunic, her hand fingered the remaining credit chits--chits she had had changed over into the more common script used out here on the rim.
It had not taken her long to find the junk dealer named Watto. It seemed *everyone* around here had an opinion to express with regards to the Toydarian. While not well liked, he was considered a shrewd bargainer by many.
Engelira stepped though the doorway into the darkness of the room. Equipment, droids, and bits and pieces of machinery lay stacked and strewn throughout the room.
She spied the Toydarian in a heartbeat, his wings beating ferociously as he spoke at length with a customer. He turned his head her way, "Ehhh, I'll be with you in a moment."
While Watto was otherwise occupied, she spent the moment looking through the room. Off in one corner, she noticed a small woman with an oil rag cleaning what looked like a recently refurbished droid. Her hair lay long and lank against well worn cheeks and her eyes seemed lifeless.
"Eh, what can I do for you?" The Toydarian suddenly hovered in front of Engelira, wings beating out a rapid staccato.
She mustered her courage. "I have come to make you a business proposition."
"A business proposition, you say?" Watto scratched his stubbly chin. "What kind of a business proposition?"
"I am looking for a slave, a female, my own species, preferably with child. Rumor in the marketplace has it that you own such a slave. I wish to purchase her...that is if she is healthy, in good condition, and with child." Engelira looked down her nose at the junk dealer. "If she fits my needs, I am prepared to pay you generously."
The strangeness of her request made the Toydarian back off a fraction, but that last bit seemed to spark his interest. "I...ahhhh....How *much* are you prepared to offer?" he asked her.
Taking several of the credit chits out of her pocket, she showed them to Watto. The combined value was more than enough for a strong, young, healthy male of other species, much less a middle aged, worn, pregnant female human. Watto tried to disguise the excitement in his eyes.
"Done!" he shouted, grabbing at the chits.
"Ahh, not yet," Engelira avoided the junk dealer's grasping hand. "I want to see her first and make certain she is what I need."
Watto's eyes squinted, as if he expected her to try and swindle him somehow. He turned toward the woman in the corner, "Woman, come here."
The woman in the corner set aside her project, stood up, and walked over to them. As she walked up, Engelira noticed she was indeed beginning to show the unmistakable signs of pregnancy. But the face and down-turned eyes were still lifeless.
"You see," Watto growled, "she is healthy and well made, and early in pregnancy." At the last word, the woman covered her abdomen with one hand. Engelira's heart went out to the younger woman.
She addressed the pregnant woman, "Look at me dear." The woman looked up into Engelira's eyes, flashing a touch of defiance briefly. "Yes...well," Engelira murmured as she looked the woman over. "Your name?"
"Shmi Skywalker," the woman responded quietly, her eyes once more dropping to the floor.
"Hmmm. Yes, Watto, I think she will do. Draw up the documents now and I will take her with me tonight." She turned back towards the Toydarian who was practically salivating now. Behind her, the Skywalker woman gasped ever so slightly, but Engelira wasn't sure if it was fear or hope that sparked the outburst.
"Of course." He rubbed his hands and whirled away towards a back room to prepare the documents.
Less than a standard hour later, Engelira left the business of Watto the junk dealer with a new slave in tow. Shmi's footsteps shuffled behind Engelira's steady steps. Engelira led the way back to the small house she had purchased with what remained of Qui-Gon's money, save of course that money she had planned to use for purchasing the Skywalker woman.
In the week that she had been in Mos Espa, she had established her credentials as a widowed healer and seeress. In the small house, she planned to sell her services for a price to augment the last of her meager savings. There she would stay. She had promised Qui-Gon.
Engelira led Shmi into the small house and showed her to a room at the back of the house. "This will be your room, Shmi."
Shmi bobbed a slight curtsey, "Thank you, Mistress." Her eyes remained focused on the floor.
Engelira found part of herself wanting to cry for this woman's misery and half laughing for the surprise that was in store for her. "My name is Engelira, my dear. Please, I would like you to call me by my name."
"If that pleases you, Mis....En...Engelira."
"Now there is another matter to tend to. One that must be done in secrecy, I'm afraid." Shmi looked up at Engelira's words with a touch of alarm shining in her eyes. "Nothing to be afraid of at all, Shmi. You see, I'm here not to make you my slave, but to set you free."
Shmi's eye widened in shock. "But...." was all she could manage.
"Come, girl, let's sit down. I need to tell you why I'm here and why I have purchased your freedom." Engelira took Shmi by the shoulders and led her back into the main room, setting her down on the couch tucked up against the wall. Shmi looked up at Engelira again, this time with expectation bright and glowing in her face.
"I am...." Engelira hesitated a moment, wondering just how much to tell this woman. "I am a friend of the Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn." Shmi's eyes widened yet again, her excitement showing through her whole posture.
"He bade me seek you out and he gave me the money with which I purchased this house and your freedom. He asked me to find you and free you. And he asked me to watch over you and protect you...and to wait."
"So he's coming here?!?" Shmi could barely contain her excitement.
Engelira, her face wistful and sad, reached out and patted the woman on the knee. "I don't know, Shmi. I don't know."
Shmi's hands went back to her abdomen, cradling the unborn child there.
After a moment, Engelira sighed. "It's His child, isn't it."
Shmi only nodded, a single silent tear left a wet trail down her face. "He's gone, isn't he," the question came out barely loud enough to hear. "Somehow, I think I felt it, several months ago." Her voice cracked with pain.
Engelira sighed again. "Yes, I think so. I can't be sure, but I think you may be right." It stabbed her to the heart to admit her own fear, but a flicker of hope still remained. The sudden agony and grief that had gripped her several months ago did not end as quickly as she would have expected. Instead it seemed to linger over weeks, slowly fading away. That wasn't what she had expected to feel, especially not after the clear visions she had had prior to Qui-Gon's departure from Coruscant.
"But he asked me, us, to wait, and that's just what we'll do. And in the meantime, we'll hide in plain sight, just an old woman and her 'slave' whiling away the time. And between you and me, we'll raise his child up true and strong, with love and support for as long as we can."
"Yes," a wide smile brightened Shmi's face, "we'll do just that."
TBC.....
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In Between
by Sharon Kidder
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Disclaimers: Most of the characters portrayed here do not belong to me. They are the sole property of Jedi Master Lucas....I'm just borrowing them. I'll put them back when I'm done...promise!
Feedback welcome!
Rating: Regretfully G
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Chapter 5
The months passed quickly for Shmi and Engelira and stretched out into almost two years. Engelira's abilities as a seeress made her popular among the superstitious spacers and the podracing gamblers alike. And in the background the whole time, Shmi kept the house and the garden, bringing what surplus food she grew to the market to sell. And when the heat of the day grew to much to bear, she retreated to a back room to tinker with and repair electronic gadgets for various customers throughout town.
Together the women did as they had promised each other and raised Shmi's child with all the love and affection they could muster. In their care, the child flourished strong and carefree.
Long after dusk on one of those hot and dusty days, Shmi answered a knock at the door. As she opened the it, she almost cried out, barely stifling it with a fist pressed into her teeth. On the doorstep stood a tall figure cloaked in brown, a hood pulled well over the face. The figure was so familiar....so compelling.
"Good evening, mistress," the gentle, almost seductive voice startled Shmi, and her heart sank like a stone falling from the sky. It was not His voice. Disappointment fell on her like a dead Bantha as she stood in the doorway, frozen.
"May I come in?" A hand reached out and gesture toward the interior of the house.
"Of....of course," she surreptitiously batted at a tear with her hand. "Please, won't you come in. I'll fetch my mistress for you." She stepped back and gestured to a seat in the front room where Engelira met with her clients.
"Who is it, Shmi?" Engelira called from the back of the house. Before Shmi could reply, Engelira walked into the room--and halted abruptly, a look of utter shock on her face.
Engelira quickly shook her wits about her and addressed the figure, "What can I help you with?"
The robed figure reached up to pull the hood covering his face back, revealing the face of Obi-Wan Kenobi. "I've come as soon as I could, Mistress. I'm sorry I could not come sooner."
"No....of course you came when you could," Engelira waved away Obi-Wan's apologies. She looked a bit dazed. "Please, come back into my study, both of you," she beckoned them to follow her.
Seated in the cool comfort of her study, Engelira could not help but to look at Obi-Wan, as if soaking up his presence and memorizing his features. Little had changed in the years since she had last seen him, there in her apartment in the guest quarters of the Jedi Temple. But one difference stabbed at Engelira's heart and threatened to stop it's beating once and for all--the missing braid. Obi-Wan felt a flash of impatience and almost embarrassment at her scrutiny.
"Perhaps it would be best to start with introductions," Engelira finally announced. To Shmi she said "This man is Obi-Wan Kenobi, once apprenticed to the man you knew, Master Qui-Gon Jinn." Obi-Wan shifted uncomfortably at the mention of his mentor's name, but the movement was lost in Shmi's gasp.
"And this," she placed a hand on Shmi's slight shoulder, "is Shmi Skywalker." Obi-Wan sat straighter in his chair, eyes locked Engelira's, as if demanding an answer. It didn't take Jedi mind powers to understand his question.
"Yes, Obi-Wan, this is the mother of the child you call your padawan learner, young Anakin Skywalker."
This last bit proved too much for Shmi, "Ani! Oh my heaven," she cried out. "Please Master Obi-Wan, tell me you have brought him with you!" Shmi was on the verge of tears.
"I'm afraid not," Obi-Wan's face darkened a bit and he shook his head. "The Council has him for a few days of specialized training. They did not feel that he should return here just yet. They even forbade me to tell him where I was going."
Shmi seemed to dissolve into the tears that she had been struggling to hold back. Engelira wrapped her arms around the shuddering woman, trying to lend comfort for her grief.
Through the tears, Shmi managed to sob out another question. "And what of Master Qui-Gon? Why is he not with you?"
Now it was Obi-Wan's turn to try and desperately hide the grief that threatened to consume him. He leaned forward, pressing his face into his hands. With a shuddering breath, Obi-Wan began to tell the story of their fateful trip back to the planet Naboo. As he described the battled that had ensued between his Master and the Sith warrior, Shmi burst into fresh tears. Obi-Wan tried gallantly to carry on from there, but cracks in his voice threatened to engulf him. He stuttered to a halt, unable to bring himself to finish the story.
"The sith struck him down." Engelira finished for Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan could only nod his head and throw himself back against his chair.
For what seemed like a lifetime, Engelira rocked Shmi gently while Obi-Wan Kenobi sat statue-like in his chair. Finally, the younger woman's tears ebbed and drained away. Shmi sat like a lifeless droid, all energy sapped.
Silently, Engelira helped Shmi to her feet and walked her back to her room. Shmi fell into a quiet slumber almost the moment her head touched the pillow. Engelira turned out the light and closed the door.
Back in the study, Obi-Wan Kenobi remained silent and still as a rock. Engelira ached to take him in her arms and comfort him as she had Shmi. But mindful of his tenuous grasp on adulthood, she knew that such a gesture would likely only cause the young man to shut her out.
She returned to her seat and waited for the Jedi to rouse himself from his thoughts.
"I'm sorry, Mistress," he whispered.
"Sorry for what Obi-Wan?"
He looked up at Engelira, a tear darkening the corner of one eye. "I'm sorry I did not move fast enough. I'm sorry I could not save him...." Again he buried his face in his hands.
"Obi-Wan," Engelira gently prodded, "Obi-Wan, I have a confession of my own to make." That got his attention. He looked up at her. "When we met on Coruscant, I already knew what was going to happen on Naboo." Incomprehension filled Obi-Wan's grief darkened eyes. Engelira sighed. It was time to tell the whole story. "You see, I was once a trainee in the Jedi Temple."
Obi-Wan nodded his head, "Yes, Master Windu said you had trained at the temple as a healer. But you left the temple. Why?"
"Well, that's part of the story, Obi-Wan. Yes, I trained at the temple to become a healer. And as I am only force sensitive, I was not a candidate for Jedi training. As I reached my maturity, another aspect of the force began to manifest itself in me. I began to dream. Not just dreams as you or Shmi might experience, but dreams of truth, of the future. Imagine the visions that you have experienced through the power of the Force, and magnify them and clarify them a thousand fold. Then you will begin to have an idea of how they touched me."
Obi-Wan nodded his head, comprehension filtering into his mind slowly.
"But I could not control the dreams. They started to drive me mad. I could not focus on my instructions and without that focus, I could not complete my training as a healer. So I.....I ran away." Engelira closed her eyes a moment, the past flooding back to her.
"Go on, mistress," Obi-Wan gently prodded. Engelira looked up into his youthful face and noticed the lines and marks of grief that usually only mar the faces of men far older than this young man.
Gathering her wits about her, she continued. "I wandered from place to place, seeking solace and peace from my dreams. I finally found it on the planet Delenor. That's where I learned from an old woman how to control the dreams and make sense of them. I became a healer to the locals and a seeress for all throughout the area. Delenor is also where you and I met. Do you recall?"
Obi-Wan's forehead creased in thought. "I...no, I don't think I do."
Engelira smiled, "Oh, you were a young boy then, only 9 or 10 I think. It was your first trip off Coruscant."
Memory started to surface in Obi-Wan's mind. "You....I....I got into trouble. You....you healed me....I think I remember now. I remember your touch, here," he touched his own chest and forehead, "and here."
"Yes, that's right. You took quite a beating that day. Qui-Gon brought you to my doorstep and asked me to heal you. That was a long time ago." Engelira sighed wistfully.
"In any case, I healed you, and Qui-Gon hustled you off and back to that ship of his and away you went. I was heart broken at the time. He did ask me to go with him to Coruscant, but I could not."
"Why didn't you come with us, mistress?" Obi-Wan almost pleaded.
"I had my reasons, my boy. Unfortunately I do not think they are of any importance to me anymore." She slapped her thighs with her hands. "And that's where things stood until we met 6 months ago on Coruscant."
"Why did you come to Coruscant then?" Obi-Wan's curiosity was fully roused now.
Engelira hesitated before continuing her story. "I came because the dreams had changed. The dreams were no longer of the petty problems and triumphs of people throughout my world or my system. They were large in scale. The entire Republic was in torment."
"And suddenly one night the dreams were no longer clear. It was as if a thick veil had been put before my eyes. I could not see the events as they would happen. But I could somehow sense that the events going on behind that veil were far more horrifying than anything I had ever experienced. Somehow I knew that the Republic itself was in mortal danger."
Obi-Wan stared down at the floor again, his brow furrowing again. It was as if pieces of a puzzle were starting to come together in his mind.
Engelira continued on. "I realized that someone must know of the danger to the Republic. I could think of no one better to tell than Qui-Gon."
"So that was what brought you to the temple that day?" A wry smile crossed Obi-Wan's face, "I thought perhaps you were some old lover from my Master's hidden past come to cause him embarrassment." Obi-Wan stopped suddenly, "I mean...I didn't...I mean.." he stammered, panic fearful in his bright eyes.
Engelira laughed softly. "Oh, don't worry Obi-Wan, you aren't in any danger of embarrassing me. And as a matter of fact, perhaps you could call me some kind of a lover from Qui-Gon's past. You see, Qui-Gon and I do love each other very much. It's natural for us. We are siblings. He is my older brother."
Comprehension slowly filtered across Obi-Wan's face as his jaw dropped open in amazement.
"Close your mouth Obi-Wan, didn't you learn it's impolite to gape?" Engelira laughed. "What, did you think, that Qui-Gon was a man alone, with no family, no siblings, an island unto himself?" Amusement tickled Engelira's laughter, and slowly died.
"Yes, he is my brother. But the story doesn't end there. Later that week when the two of you returned to Coruscant with the Naboo queen and the boy Anakin, Qui-Gon brought you and the boy to my apartment. As soon as I laid eyes on the boy, the filtering that had plagued my dreams was pulled away from my mind and the visions burst into clarity. The boy was the key to them, but a key that I would just as soon have thrown from the highest tower on Coruscant." The last bit came out with a hiss.
Obi Wan wasn't sure what to make of her scathing comment. He realized that in some way, the woman must be blaming Anakin for her grief.
"You see," Engelira went on, "one of the dreams that came clearly then to my mind was one so horrid I can hardly speak of it. But after you took the boy up to the Council, I did speak of it...to Qui-Gon. I foresaw the battle that you described. I saw with my eyes Qui-Gon fall. I warned him of the future that would soon overtake him. I begged him not to go, to send someone else in his place," Engelira was wringing her hands in grief and shame now. With gentle purpose, Obi-Wan moved from his chair to kneel before Engelira and take her hands into his own, willing her the strength to continue on and the confort to do so without breaking.
"In the end, I could not convince him to stay. Before he left, he made me promise to come here and free Shmi. I think he planned to come back himself to free her, but when he realized the truth of my dreams, he asked me to come in his place, to care for her and watch over her."
"No one could have kept him from that path, mistress," Obi-Wan crooned. "You must know that his mind was not something easily changed. Even as we waited outside the Council chambers that night, he told me that he would do as he must. Nothing you or I could have said would have made him swerve from the path he believed himself to be on." Obi-Wan's faith in his once-mentor was strong and it made Engelira smile with the strength of it.
Engelira bent to rest her forehead on Obi-Wan's. "Yes, I know, he never was one to be easily dissuaded once his decision was made. I remember how much it used to get him into trouble with his old Master, Yoda." She looked deep into his eyes, "I imagine the same is also true with you."
Obi-Wan searched her face in return and a strange feeling surrounded him. Somehow there was a connection here that was unlike anything he had ever experienced. He banished it as a figment of his grieving heart, an attempt to hang on to something of the past.
Engelira finally sat back, extracting her hands from Obi-Wan's grasp to reach up and place them on either side of his face.
"And there is one more piece to the puzzle that I must tell you. I could not bring myself to tell Qui-Gon. I thought that it would likely cause him too much pain." Obi-Wan's face was a mixture of curiosity and dread.
"When I was on Delenor, I married a local man. A very good man. I wish you could have met him that night I healed you, but he had died only months before. But I digress. That man, my husband, gifted me with two children. One died at a very young age of a childhood illness. The other was taken from me at an equally young age." She looked deep into Obi-Wan's eyes and saw realization start to dawn.
"The child that was taken from me was strong in the force. Very strong. I tried to hide him from the searchers, but they eventually beat down my door and stole him from these very arms." Wonder and anger now began to flit across his face.
"Yes," she encouraged, "yes, you my boy, were that child, not 5 months old at the time. Just a baby...just an infant." She cupped his face in her hands. "You were my little Ben, that was the name your father and I gave you at birth."
Now denial started to darken his eyes. "But how? Why....?"
Engelira released his face and sat back against the couch, anger shining from her face. "The code of the Jedi demands that children be taken in early, before the age of reason starts to harden the pathways in their minds. The Jedi Code itself requires that children be indoctrinated until every thought, every action, every word becomes one with the Force and one with the Code. Families only get in the way," she said, scorn dripping from each syllable.
"That is why I could not come back to Coruscant with you and Qui-Gon. The Council would have sent me away immediately for fear I'd pollute your young and impressionable mind."
Obi-Wan sat silent for several minutes, the only sound in the room the sound of his breath. Finally he spoke, "He is..." the voice choked, "was...my uncle?" He looked up into her eyes, pleading her to deny it, affirm it, anything he could grasp onto and hold.
"Yes. Obi....Ben. He is your uncle."
Memory of those last moments in the palace at Naboo with Qui-Gon flashed past Obi-Wan's inner eye.
"Somehow, I think he knew," he told Engelira. "Somehow he knew." Wonder and fresh pain drew new blood from tender wounds in both their souls.
They talked for hours into the warm night, sharing stories and cementing a bond not meant to have been broken. For the first time in her life, Engelira felt at peace with herself. The information that Mace had given to her years ago had led to her discovery of the truth, and these hours with the young Jedi confirmed it beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Finally, Obi-Wan...Ben...rose from his seat. As much as he didn't want to leave this place, he knew he must return to Coruscant before Anakin got too suspicious. With a lump in his throat and tears again threatening, he bade his mother good night.
"Wait Ben," Engelira called after him as he was about to step out the door. "There is one more thing I need to show you." She beckoned him back into the house and led him upstairs and down a short hallway into a small room near the back. Moonlight flooded in through the open window in the back wall. Engelira didn't have to draw Obi-Wan's attention to the small form sleeping soundly on the bed in the corner.
With quite steps, he moved over to the bed to gaze down at the small child sleeping in the moonlight. Engelira moved to his shoulder and placed her hand on his arm.
Obi-Wan looked up at Engelira with a question on his face. "Who...." he whispered softly.
"She was born to Shmi about 18 standard months ago," she replied quietly.
Obi-Wan's face furrowed as he calculated the time. Sudden enlightenment and wonder lifting his young features as realization swept through him. "Then she is....."
"Yes Ben, this is Qui-Gon's daughter. Conceived in a moment of passion and carried through torment and anguish, and now raised by a pair of lone women, but she is still his daughter. Her name is Beru."
Obi-Wan reached out gently to caress the child's soft sandy hair and full pink cheek. Wonder and delight filled his eyes and brought a smile to his lips. Under his touch, the child shifted and yawned. "Hush little one..." he crooned ever so softly, sending peace and love through his touch. Enraptured by this small treasure, he almost didn't notice the strange sensation surrounding the child--an absence of the essence of the Force.
"She has her father's wisdom; unusual in one so young. But strangely, she is untouched by the Force. Not a whisper of even the slightest sensitivity. She will never know what it is to suffer the visions as I have. Nor will she ever be forced to follow the mandates of an unfeeling code."
Obi-Wan looked up at Engelira. "It is not as bad as it seems, Mis....mother." That last word came strangely from his lips. "But she will be safe here. I just wish....."
"Yes," Engelira prompted.
"I just wish my Master could have known." A single tear left a glistening trail down his cheek.
With visible difficulty, Obi-Wan tore himself from the child's side, and quietly left the room. Engelira followed him to the door. Outside, Obi-Wan stopped and turned back slightly to this woman who was now so familiar. "I promise I'll come back. Watch over her until I do," he begged.
Engelira nodded her head, tears of her own staining her cheeks.
With a swift motion, he was standing in front of her. His warm hands pressed against her face as he bent to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. A slight smile creased his face. "I find myself making more promises than is wise. I must fulfill the promise I made to my master. But when the boy is trained, I will come back." He searched her eyes for acceptance of his terms. "I will come back."
And with that promise, and one last kiss, Obi-Wan turned and walked into the night.
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Epilogue
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Engelira could hear her bones creak as she straightened up from her chair and gathered the rubbish left over from Beru's 5th birthday party. All the young children had gone home now, and Beru was busily fiddling with her new toys and gadets.
"Here, Shmi, will you please finish up for me? I feel I must go outside for a breath of fresh air."
Shmi noticed Engelira's slight distraction, "Of course Lira." She bustled off into the kitchen, carrying a load of dishes and utensils.
Engelira pulled a wrap around her shoulders and stepped outside the house. Against the horizon, the last of the suns was slowly setting. The sky glowed with brilliant red and orange hues. She walked slowly to the outskirts of town and towards the large boulder that marked the edge, some 300 meters out from the last building. Pulling the wrap tighter around her shoulders, she rounded the far side of the boulder.
He stood leaning back against the stone, just as her dreams had told her. He looked at her as she walked up to him. The last five years had not been kind to him, his face bore marks of pain and grief and his hair was almost completely silver. He still wore the same mustache and beard as he had when she last saw him.
She reached for him with her arms and felt herself wrapped completely in his embrace.
"We waited for you," she whispered. His hand brushed her hair back from her face.
"I won't ever make you wait again," he swore, his voice rough with emotion.
Engelira looked up into his still handsome face. "Come, there is someone you need to meet."
She took his large hand in her own, and led him back into town.
THE END