Qui Gon frowned when the door chime rang. He was feeling rather petulant, grumpy that Mace was forcing an interaction considering how badly the last time they had talked had gone and exasperated by the lack of information about Obi Wan. He was the boy's master for crying out loud. He had the right to know what had become of his former charge.

Luckily Anakin had found some friends in his age group to go meditate with so he wouldn't have to keep a check on his tongue when he inevitably lost patience with his old friend and bullheaded council member, Qui Gon thought as he opened the door. He was surprised to see Ben was with Mace, fidgeting nervously. "Master Windu."

"Master Jinn. I'm glad you could see us." Mace smiled wanly.

"Well, you said it was important. Please come in." Qui Gon waved them in. "Have a seat." Mace seemed overly concerned with his padawan who looked extremely nervous. Qui Gon realized they were probably here about the incident between Ben and Anakin. Perhaps Ben had admitted that there were no dark feelings and that he had been at fault for the exchange. Perhaps he was actually going to get an apology from Master Windu. He wasn't sure he'd survive the shock if that happened. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Mace sighed and looked at his padawan again who gave him a tiny nod. "We're here… to tell you what happened to Obi Wan."

Qui Gon sat up, interest peaked, all those earlier uncharitable thoughts instantly forgotten. "Is he alright?"

Mace nodded. "It's difficult to explain, because this will come as a shock. But… well-"

"I'm Obi Wan." Ben interrupted.

There was a beat of silence while Qui Gon processed what the little padawan had said. "I'm sorry, what?"

Ben didn't make eye contact with either master in the room. "I am Obi Wan. When I saved your life on Naboo… I woke up in the healer's wing like this. I don't know why or how. But-"

Qui Gon stood up suddenly, pacing the room in agitation. "What is this? That is impossible. Mace, what is going on?"

Mace sighed, he knew this was going to be difficult. "We are working on figuring out how exactly this happened. But this is Obi Wan."

"This is some type of joke." Qui Gon retorted. He saw Ben flinch back and fiddle with the hem of his robe in a way that was so reminiscent of Obi Wan that- No. "If you think I'm going to believe this- I want to know what happened to my padawan. "

"Your former padawan." Mace corrected coolly. "When you were injured Obi Wan used his own life force to heal you. Doing so has dramatically changed the course of the Universe. Master Yoda has confirmed this, through his meditations he saw that you were supposed to die on Naboo." Qui Gon saw Ben look up sharply at his master, apparently the boy had not been told that part of the story. "And it has dramatically changed him. This is Obi Wan."

"The use of life force in that way would kill that person." Qui Gon argued. "It wouldn't regress them back to childhood."

"True. But like I said, by saving you Obi Wan changed the course of the entire Universe. When one meddles with the impossible, I guess you should expect impossible things to happen. Master Yoda says that many things that had been prophesied before are no longer true."

"Master, I did not mean to cause you distress with this information. I knew you were searching for information about me and I felt that it was time to put your mind at ease." Obi Wan cut in. "I could bring up any of our old missions if you would like. Tell you things that only you or I would know. What do I need to tell you for you to believe me?"

Qui Gon glared back and forth between Mace and this boy claiming to be Obi Wan, but inside he was wavering. Could it really be? The boy looked like how he would have expected Obi Wan to look at that age, certainly acted like Obi Wan. And what would Mace gain from this sort of trickery anyway? But this was impossible, there was no way around that fact. "Fine. Let us put an end to this for once and for all. If you really are Obi Wan, when I was dying in Naboo. What were the last words I said to you?"

The boy hesitated and nodded solemnly. "That was the worst moment of my life, I don't think I'll ever forget it." He took a deep shuddering breath. "The last words you said to me were, 'He is the chosen one. He will bring balance. Train him.'"