Read this as if you were watching a movie trailer. Yes, I know, it's terrible. But there you are. I hope you enjoy it!
Obi-Wan is working in a small galley, stacking pans. A large man comes up behind him, looks at what he's doing, and cuffs him hard enough to knock him against the bulkhead. He stares up at him, dazed and surprised. "You have to stack these exactly, or they don't fit," the man growls, and restacks the pans. He turns away, and Obi-Wan flinches.
Screen goes black
Obi-Wan stands before a door in a rustic cabin, metal staff before him, dressed in a sleep tunic, hair long enough to brush his shoulders. Lasers streak toward him, and he uses the staff to absorb them. Men in ill-fitting clothes move in on him, more and more, and some of the blasts start coming from above him. He gestures once, pushing some back, but then there is a shout behind the door, and it slams open. Men pile on him, and although he struggles, he is finally pinned down on his knees, arms twisted behind him.
One man swaggers up to him. "Where is the girl?" he demands.
Obi-Wan starts to open his mouth, then closes it again, clenching his lips together.
"We can make you talk," the man says, and smiles. "Open that staff again. And get me some rope."
Screen goes black
Qui-Gon stands in a garden, dressed in nondescript robes. Another man is with him, a little younger, just as worn, in blue tunic and hose. "If he was your apprentice, he didn't have a braid."
Qui-Gon goes pale.
Screen goes black
Obi-Wan is dressed in blue livery, standing wearily before the Jedi Council. His hair is long, tied back into a ponytail. He looks like he's been through a war; there are shadows of bruises on his face, and a cylendar of steel hangs at his belt under the blue cape. "Unbind your hair," Mace orders.
Obi-Wan reaches up slowly to let his hair loose, only to have his hands batted out of the way. Larger hands lovingly remove the tie from his hair, running fingers through it to loosen the braid hidden inside, then lay the braid over his shoulder, where it belongs. Finally, one hand rests familiarly on his shoulder.
"Ah," Yoda says. "Welcome back, Master Qui-Gon."
Obi-Wan turns unsteadily, looking up at his Master.
"It is good to see you again, Padawan," Qui-Gon says.
Obi-Wan stares for a moment, then his knees buckle, and he collapses, unconscious.
Black screen, large white letters:
Long Road Home
Part two of the Visions of the Past, Memories of the Future trilogy
Coming November 25, 2005
Thank you so much to those who read, and a very special thanks to those who who enjoyed this journey with me - and told me! See you in a couple of weeks! JJ