Though to stranger, or a non-force sensitive observer it would have appeared to be normal and as though Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon were simply going about their business, the tension between them was almost tangible.

Qui-Gon had no idea how to go about interacting with his padawan; he wasn't sure how much time he should give Obi-Wan to himself, or whether he should not let Obi-Wan out of his sight and try to talk to him immediately.

Though Obi-Wan had been resting for days on end, his mind was scattered, and he found himself unable to focus on anything. He knew he needed to complete his work, and that he should meditate, but all of his attempts to calm his mind had failed utterly.

Unable to make any real progress in his work, he found himself puttering around their quarters, making tea, reorganizing his desk, browsing through a list of holobooks…

He felt out of control. As he sat down at his (recently cleaned and reorganized) desk once again, his fists clenched with the restless energy that coursed through him. What a mess; to his dismay, his attempts at organizing and controlling his surroundings were obviously having no similar effect on his mental state. If only it were that easy, he couldn't bring himself to face his own mind, so full of chaos and rampant emotion.

The shame of his situation, which had been ever present lingering under the surface of his thoughts, now flared up and washed over him. He could feel the color rising to his cheeks and scowled further. Had he no control? Where was the mask of serenity that all Jedi sported?

After spending what seemed like the lengthiest 10 minutes of his life reading a text on the history of the Galactic Senate, he got up again and walked to the kitchen. It was a bit early for lunch, but he needed something to do with himself. He was relieved to find that Qui-Gon was currently in his room, apparently in meditation. He couldn't bear to face his master. He knew that Qui-Gon wanted him to talk about his feelings, but how could he possibly talk about something so personal and so shameful with Qui-Gon Jinn, his teacher and role-model, when he couldn't even face to examine his feelings himself in private meditation?

He was startled out of his thoughts and his sandwich-making when he heard the door chime. He stood still for a moment, listening for any signs of movement from Qui-Gon's room, but when he determined that his master was not moving to answer the door, Obi-Wan reluctantly went himself.

He paused again when he reached the door, but knew it would be impolite to keep whoever was there waiting, especially if it happened to be a master, so he took in a breath, stood up straight, and palmed open the door.

Obi-Wan was surprised to find Bant standing nervously in the hall. Her eyes shone with worry; she stood there for a moment, taking in the sight of her best friend, and as soon as she was certain that he was really standing there in front of her apparently in good health, she launched herself at him in a hug.

She latched onto him tightly, pinning his arms to his sides leaving him in an (unintentionally) awkward position, unable to really move. She began to talk at light speed.

"Obi! I've been so worried, everyone else too! I tried to see you sooner, but my master said that I should give you some time, and that even though they'd discharged you, you still wouldn't be completely better, but I've just been so worried, especially when you didn't meet us for dinner like normal, and didn't say anything and…" she paused to take a breath, and her voice slowed becoming very deliberate, almost mournful, "I missed you."

She held onto him for a moment longer before releasing him. Her concern was still written across her face, and Obi-Wan felt the full force of this emotion when their eyes met, though he quickly diverted his gaze to the floor.

Unable to think of something to say in response to this, he invited her in. He would have offered her something to eat, but he knew that she disliked eating early and would decline. He also knew that she hadn't come for small talk, and wouldn't just be brushed off, she was too stubborn for that.

The two headed towards Obi-Wan's room, as was the norm when Bant came over to their quarters. She used to come over quite often on evenings they both had free and they would watch holovids, talk, and joke together, but as time had progressed into Obi-Wan's apprenticeship with Qui-Gon, she had come over less and less. In fact, it had been weeks since Obi-Wan last invited her over, saying that he was just too busy and too tired to see his childhood friend.

Bant took a seat on the edge of Obi-Wan's bed, and Obi-Wan sat down next to her, though leaving a much larger gap between them than he normally did. Bant looked at him expectantly in the silence, wishing he would speak.

"I didn't expect to see you," Obi-Wan said, his eyes cast on the floor.

Though this probably wasn't really what Bant wanted to hear, at least it was the truth. Both Obi-Wan and Bant were well aware that he did not say that he was glad to see her.

He hadn't expected to see her at all; he thought that she would be too angry or ashamed by his actions to talk to him, or at the very least that she would be scared off by his 'emotional instability' and not approach him. Though he had been caught off guard by her visit, part of him was flooded with relief that she cared enough to come and see him.

"Of course I came to see you," Bant responded, "I would have come earlier if my Master Tahl hadn't insisted that I give you some time to recover."

Her eyes flitted to Obi-Wan's arms as she spoke, and Obi-Wan self consciously tugged down the sleeves of his tunic which he had pushed back slightly while he was in the kitchen, revealing part of his bandages. When Obi-Wan didn't respond to her, Bant went on.

"When you weren't at dinner, I just assumed that you had left on a mission with your master, and hadn't had any time to come say goodbye. But then, I saw your master there, without you. I guess I wouldn't have worried, but he really looked shaken, and I know that your master is usually very reserved," Bant said very quietly, "and so I asked Master Tahl about it."

There was a pause before Bant spoke again.

"When she looked into it, and told me what had happened…it was the last thing that I would have expected, that you would try to…" here Bant took in a shaky breath before hesitantly continuing, "kill yourself."

At this point Obi-Wan looked up at Bant, who looked as if she was about to burst into tears. He had seen Bant cry before when they were much younger, and more recently, when she had been injured while sparring, but it was not with such grief, and Obi-Wan felt a pang of guilt, knowing that he was the cause of her anguish.

He scooted towards her on the bed and put a hand on her shoulder as a tear slid down her cheek. He was about to speak, to comfort her, to fervently apologize to her, to ask her to please forgive him and to please not cry for him, he wasn't worth it, but Bant spoke up before he could.

"I'm so sorry Obi-Wan," she said, now crying in earnest, "I don't know how I didn't see it. I must be such a bad friend that I wasn't even there for you when you needed someone."

"No, Bant," Obi-Wan responded, utterly astounded by Bant's reaction, "Please don't cry."

He had thought that she might feel abandoned, that she might be angry, or not want to deal with him, but it had never occurred to him that she would think it was her fault, or that she would be so deeply wounded, otherwise, he might have thought twice that day.

"It's not your fault," he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Bant sobbed even harder and hugged her friend tightly. Obi-Wan returned the embrace, and felt a knot form in his throat as he held her. The beginnings of tears quivered at the edges of his eyes as he absorbed the feeling of being loved—of being needed—by someone.

Qui-Gon was roused from his meditation by a torrent of emotion from Obi-Wan's room. For a brief moment he panicked, and was about to rush into his padawan's room but he immediately realized that it was not his Obi-Wan, but his padawan's friend, Bant, whose emotion he was sensing.

Tahl had contacted him earlier, saying that her padawan, who had been quite distraught, would most likely come to see Obi-Wan today. Both masters had been uncertain and somewhat anxious about how Obi-Wan would react to seeing his friend, but Qui-Gon knew that Obi-Wan could not shut himself off from the world forever, and that it would be cruel to keep Bant from seeing her friend, so he had not protested.

Qui-Gon remained in a meditative pose as he observed the two young Jedi through the force.

Their emotion had such energy. It was in this moment that he realized how truly young his padawan still was.

Bant's emotion was entirely unrestrained as she cried. Though one might consider her conduct very immature and ill-suiting a young Jedi, Qui-Gon could feel that she was releasing all of her pent up anxiety and fear into the force through her tears. In a few years, or in a less extreme situation, Qui-Gon was sure that she would be able to sort through her emotions efficiently and effectively in meditation, but she was young and had almost lost a friend. Qui-Gon only wished that Obi-Wan could release all the negative emotion he was carrying with him into the force as well.

Qui-Gon could feel Obi-Wan's mental shields loosen the slightest bit. Even though he still held back his emotion, Qui-Gon knew that Bant's presence was helping him a great deal.

After a while, the sobs from the neighboring room stopped and the torrent of emotion in the force cleared. Though Qui-Gon could not hear from where he was, he could only assume that the two talked until Bant left nearly a half hour later, and he was pleased to know that Obi-Wan was finally opening up, if only a little bit.

Obi-Wan walked with Bant to the door. She had asked him if he wanted to come eat lunch with her in the refectory, but did not push him when he said that he didn't want to face the rest of the Temple quite yet, and still needed some time to himself.

She gave him one more brief hug before she left, much more lighthearted hat she had been when she came, though still somewhat forlorn. Obi-Wan was different; she had expected the sadness, but he was so much more guarded and distant than he used to be. She just hoped that in time she would have the old Obi-Wan back.

The door slid shut, and Obi-Wan headed back to his room, taking a seat on the bed where Bant had been, and letting himself fall backwards onto it.

For the entire time when Bant had been there, he had not let himself cry. He was just so used to hiding his emotion when he was around her, and it had taken all of his energy. Finally giving into his exhaustion, he lay down and let the tears fall.

They were not the same bitter tears of failure and regret he had shed upon regaining consciousness in the infirmary. These tears seemed to him a release, and as he lay there, he felt himself drifting off into sleep.

Hi everyone! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and that it was worth the wait. Please review; feedback is always appreciated. (If there is something that really bugs you, tell me, otherwise I won't be able to fix it, and if there is something that you love, tell me so that I can keep doing it.)

I believe that crying can be really theraputic, and I hope that that came across clearly in this chapter, and was not too far out of the norm of the Jedi for it to not be believable.