Title: Lost in the Darkness

Author: Felicia Zezili

Rating: R  (violence, strong language)

Category: MAJOR AU, angst and emotional and physical torture non-slash…oh yeah and semi dark Obi-Wan

Summary: 5 years ago Obi-Wan disappeared. Now While on a mission with Tahl and Bant, Qui-Gon finds Obi-Wan but now that he has found his Padawan can he save from the darkness?

Author's notes #1:  This story is dark. It was for this "Exploring the other side" thing presented by general Kenobi I don't know if anyone heard of it. If you haven't it was where people wrote stories or did art or just voiced an opinion about Obi-Wan joining the Dark side.  Anyway during the two weeks that this little program was up I mess up my computer and by the time I got it back it was over and I never got the chance to post it. And since I took all this time to write it I might as well post it right? 

Time frame: kind of jumps back and forth. From flashbacks with Obi-Wan age 15 and present time Obi-Wan age twenty.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars (as if you didn't know) or any of the characters from star Wars (again a big surprise.) I do own however

Archive: If you want it just have to askJ

**Warning** Remember how I said that "To lose ones faith" was my cruelest Obi-Torture story? Well I think this one bumps it down to second. There is much Obi-torture both physical and emotional in this story.  The torture as always with me is graphic and if that bothers anyone Just leave now. 

Spoilers: Probably some references to JA#1 through JA#13

Author's notes #2:  I had at least four ideas for the beginning of this I was first going to go with after Tahl died but I already did a story with that kind of format and I didn't read those other two books about after Tahl's death. Then I was gonna do it after JA #2 when Qui-Gon had first taken Obi-Wan as his Padawan and still suffering from Xanatos' betrayal but that was too early in the series for the kind of close father/son kind of bond I wanted Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon to have. Then I was going to try in the middle of JA#7 but that was still to early I felt. So finally I decided that I'll do it when he's fifteen cause they just skipped that age in the series so everything up to JA #13 happened.

Quick note: ~ = Dream sequences (can you get the feeling I love them?)

                    // = Communicating threw the force

                    ** = Flash backs

Chapter 1

Once upon a dream

~A black abyss surrounded him. It didn't matter which way he went because there was no escape from it. Suddenly he felt someone behind him. He turned and stood face to face with Obi-Wan Kenobi.

"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon said overjoyed I had been so long since he had last seen his padawan and now he stood right before him. "Obi-Wan where have you been?"  Obi-wan just smiled. Qui-Gon tried to reach out and touch Obi-Wan but his hand past right through the young Jedi. "What the…" Then Obi-Wan disappeared before his eyes. Qui-Gon desperately reached out for him. There was no way he was going to loose him again! But then the abyss swallowed up Qui-Gon. ~

Qui-Gon Jinn awoke with a start. He immediately sat up in bed looking around frantically. He wasn't usually so shaken by a dream but this one was different. He thought he had finally found Obi-Wan again. Such a pleasant fiction.

Qui-Gon looked over at the clock on his nightstand. It was 4:30 AM there was no way he would be able to fall back asleep. His mind was too active at the moment. He got out of bed and walked out into the common room. He looked over to the other side of the common room were the entrance to Obi-Wan's room was. Even after 5 years Qui-Gon still found it difficult to go in that room.

The Jedi Master sighed heavily and then walked over to his favorite chair, which faced the window that gave a breathtaking view of Coruscant. Even at this early hour the traffic outside was busy. He smiled as he remembered how Obi-Wan would sometimes love to just sit and watch the business of this small section of the planet wide city. Oh Obi-Wan how could I have ignored the warnings that were right in front of me. How could I have let you down like this? Qui-Gon gazed out into the city as the memories of that fateful day of Obi-Wan's disappearance had occurred.

                                                     (5 years earlier)

**Qui-Gon could not seem to get the annoying nagging feeling in the back of his mind to shut up. He had no idea what was causing it. Maybe the message that he had received from the council earlier could be attributed to it.

The Jedi Master looked over at the desk where the message sat. How on slip of paper could cause him such unease was amazing. He shook his head. It had been more then 2 decades yet the aftermath caused by the mission to Eshkol was still going on. 

The mission had been a failure from the start. There was a bloody civil war going on between the two different species that inhabited the planet the Nata and the Mai. After one particularly bloody battle where both sides experienced considerable loses. The leaders of the two groups agreed to meet for peace talks and asked the Jedi to mediate the meeting. Because of the hostile environment that Council sent only two Masters and asked the Padawans to remain behind. Qui-Gon and Master Nella Kolya were the two Masters sent.

A few days into the peace treaty meeting and the tension began to build. The Nata being very untrusting of the Mai believed that the Mai had convinced the Jedi to seeing their view. The Nata attacked early on morning catching everyone by surprise. They captured Qui-Gon and Nella demanding that they contact the senate and plead their case to them. When the two Jedi refused and try to explain that the senate would probably not even listen the Nata became furious and planned to execute the two Jedi the next day.

Qui-Gon and Nella knew that they would have to make their escape that night. They had been doing fairly well but then things took an unexpected turn. The were ambushed and Nella was shot and critically wounded. She told Qui-Gon to leave her and save himself. Explaining to the reluctant Master that she was already a goner. Why risk his life for that. And with a heavy heart Qui-Gon left Nella behind.

When Qui-Gon had made it back to the temple everyone said that there was nothing he could have done and no one blamed him. Well no except Master Nella's apprentice Ramla. Ramla could not accept that her Master had no chance of survival and believed that Qui-Gon could have gotten her out of there. Ramla's anger consumed her and a few weeks after the events on Eshkol Ramla left the order but not before promising that she would avenge her Master and make all those involved in her death pay dearly.

The message that Qui-Gon had received was word that Nata delegates that had been at the peace talks and were suspected to being behind the attack, were on a ship that had been had been destroyed. Later the council received a message from an unknown sender reading 'The day of Payment has come.'

Someone calling his name interrupted Qui-Gon's train of thought.

"Master?" Qui-Gon looked and saw his Padawan standing at the door to their Apartment. "I'm heading out with Bant and Garen okay? I'll be back in 2 hours." Qui-Gon nodded then turned his gaze back to the message. He heard the familiar sound of he door opening and closing. That nagging feeling was getting more intense but Qui-Gon still pay little attention to it.  

                                     (2 hours later)

Qui-Gon was now sitting on the couch in the common room, reading from his data pad. The nagging feeling had stopped a half hour ago and Qui-Gon had thought nothing of. Until a warning from the force came screaming for attention.

Qui-Gon jumped to his feet and quickly scanned the room but there was nothing. Then a wave of pain came over Qui-Gon. It was so great that it drove the big Jedi to his knees. As he pain cleared away Qui-Gon got to his feet again. He realized the pain was not his own and it could have only come from one other person. "Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon said under his breath and then ran out of the apartment only to run into Tahl who had been coming to see him. Her gold/green eyes were filled with worry.

"Qui-Gon! Hurry Obi-Wan and Garen are in trouble!" Tahl said as she pulled Qui-Gon to follow her. "Bant contacted me and said on there way back they ran into a group beating up someone and when they tried to stop it the men turned their aggression to them! Bant got away to get help!" Tahl explained as they ran.

Once they reached the alley where Bant had said they would find them. The first thing they saw was Garen lying on the ground oblivious to the world around him. Bant kneeled by him and there was another person leaning against the wall. He must have been whom the group was beating first. But there was no sign of Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon looked around frantically. Obi-Wan was gone! **

Qui-Gon put his head in his hands. How could he have been so stupid!

Why hadn't he paid attention to his feelings and trusted them like he had been taught to do. He had been focusing on his anxieties. Something he was always correcting his Padawan about. Maybe he should have taken his own advice.

After Obi-Wan disappeared Qui-Gon began a frantic search refusing to give up. Even when the days turned to weeks, the weeks turned to months and the months turned to years. His friends Tahl and Mace told him that he needed to move on but he couldn't move on.

He drove himself into self-isolation going on mission after mission and keeping the search up in between. The only reason that he was back at the temple was because of an injury that he had acquired on his last mission. But now the injury was healed and Qui-Gon was ready to head back out. Obi-Wan was out there somewhere and Qui-Gon would find him.

                                                ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~