TM: Living Forever
Jan. 18th, 2006 10:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
master_obiwan"I'm going to live forever," Anakin stated with 9-year-old certainty. His voice was low due to the emptiness of the room they were in, as most of the Temple denziens had retired for the night-cycle. The few Jedi that brought the nighttime alive ghosted through the halls periodically as the newly minted Master-Apprentice team walked.
Anakin had been too excited to sleep after returning from Naboo, so Obi-Wan offered to give him a tour of the Master's favourite spots. They had talked little, as both were starting to come to terms with the events of the previous days, and the awkward silence and unfamiliarity that hung between them was made more comfortable by the presence of these ancient haunts. As they walked, Obi-Wan thought of Qui-Gon, of the legacy he was leaving behind and of the future he had set into motion. The elder Jedi supposed that the youth's thoughts dwelled on the subject of Qui-Gon, as well, but the proof that Anakin's ruminations were of a similar, yet mundane and different nature had not been provided until he had spoken those five words.
When no answer was forthcoming from his Master, Anakin's face scrunched up in a thoughtful frown and - with certainty melting away into whimsy - he amended, "At least I hope I'll live forever."
Obi-Wan spared a quick glance at Anakin, trying to gauge him. "And what makes you say that?"
To his credit, Anakin thought about his answer. "I s'pose because...I heard once, that Jedi can't die. But..."
"...But Qui-Gon's death has made you rethink this?"
"Yeah, I guess." Anakin kicked at the ground, a little embarrassed. "But, I mean, there was no reason for him to, to..."
Obi-Wan steered Anakin to a nearby bench. He knelt before the lad and was struck, suddenly, by the fact that the Council had been wrong. Anakin wasn't too old to be a Jedi.
He was too young.
All words of comfort and explanation that Obi-Wan could offer fled from him. Those words were meant for Jedi children, children who had, for their entire life, lived and breathed within the sheltered walls of the Temple and had an innate understanding of the Force and how it worked. Anakin was no such child. He had lived in a different world; a world where hurt and pain and suffering were a daily occurrence, punctuated only by the blessings and beautiful aspects of life which were made in self-defence, lest all hope be lost. His only nurturing and encouragement had come from one woman, whom he had to abandon to strike out on this path of self-denial and service.
To lose another who had offered the same so quickly after the first...no Child of the Temple was old enough to remember such things.
Anakin was a real child, not a Jedi child. This meant that Obi-Wan had to retool his lesson.
Placing his hands on the lad's shoulders, he caught the boy's eye. "Anakin, what you heard was true. Jedi do live forever- "
"They do?" the Padawan perked up, cutting Obi-Wan off. "Wizard!"
"Yes, but not in the way you might think. Everything a Jedi does leaves a mark on the galaxy. His or her deeds are etched within the lives of those they have served and it is those deeds that live on beyond the life of the Jedi."
Anakin's face fell. "Oh." The thoughtful scrunch returned. "I don't understand."
The Master's smile was kindly. "Qui-Gon was a great Jedi. He did many things for many people. He touched those people in a way that no one can ever see. They hold the memory of the man that had helped them in their time of need, and it will be that memory that they will recall when looking back."
"So, you're saying that as long as we remember him...remember what he did...he'll never be gone, really."
Obi-Wan checked the sigh that threatened to escape. "That is exactly what I'm saying."
The smile Anakin offered his new Master was a happy one. "Then I will live forever!" that certainty was back.
Obi-Wan raised a brow at that.
Anakin nodded. "Yep! I plan on being the best Jedi ever! Just watch! And you, too, Master Obi-Wan. You'll live forever, too!"
Obi-wan smiled. "You think so?"
"I know so." The boy's smile turned shy. "At least, I know you'll live forever, for me. Because I will always remember you."
"Well then, I suppose I'll live forever."
Anakin had been too excited to sleep after returning from Naboo, so Obi-Wan offered to give him a tour of the Master's favourite spots. They had talked little, as both were starting to come to terms with the events of the previous days, and the awkward silence and unfamiliarity that hung between them was made more comfortable by the presence of these ancient haunts. As they walked, Obi-Wan thought of Qui-Gon, of the legacy he was leaving behind and of the future he had set into motion. The elder Jedi supposed that the youth's thoughts dwelled on the subject of Qui-Gon, as well, but the proof that Anakin's ruminations were of a similar, yet mundane and different nature had not been provided until he had spoken those five words.
When no answer was forthcoming from his Master, Anakin's face scrunched up in a thoughtful frown and - with certainty melting away into whimsy - he amended, "At least I hope I'll live forever."
Obi-Wan spared a quick glance at Anakin, trying to gauge him. "And what makes you say that?"
To his credit, Anakin thought about his answer. "I s'pose because...I heard once, that Jedi can't die. But..."
"...But Qui-Gon's death has made you rethink this?"
"Yeah, I guess." Anakin kicked at the ground, a little embarrassed. "But, I mean, there was no reason for him to, to..."
Obi-Wan steered Anakin to a nearby bench. He knelt before the lad and was struck, suddenly, by the fact that the Council had been wrong. Anakin wasn't too old to be a Jedi.
He was too young.
All words of comfort and explanation that Obi-Wan could offer fled from him. Those words were meant for Jedi children, children who had, for their entire life, lived and breathed within the sheltered walls of the Temple and had an innate understanding of the Force and how it worked. Anakin was no such child. He had lived in a different world; a world where hurt and pain and suffering were a daily occurrence, punctuated only by the blessings and beautiful aspects of life which were made in self-defence, lest all hope be lost. His only nurturing and encouragement had come from one woman, whom he had to abandon to strike out on this path of self-denial and service.
To lose another who had offered the same so quickly after the first...no Child of the Temple was old enough to remember such things.
Anakin was a real child, not a Jedi child. This meant that Obi-Wan had to retool his lesson.
Placing his hands on the lad's shoulders, he caught the boy's eye. "Anakin, what you heard was true. Jedi do live forever- "
"They do?" the Padawan perked up, cutting Obi-Wan off. "Wizard!"
"Yes, but not in the way you might think. Everything a Jedi does leaves a mark on the galaxy. His or her deeds are etched within the lives of those they have served and it is those deeds that live on beyond the life of the Jedi."
Anakin's face fell. "Oh." The thoughtful scrunch returned. "I don't understand."
The Master's smile was kindly. "Qui-Gon was a great Jedi. He did many things for many people. He touched those people in a way that no one can ever see. They hold the memory of the man that had helped them in their time of need, and it will be that memory that they will recall when looking back."
"So, you're saying that as long as we remember him...remember what he did...he'll never be gone, really."
Obi-Wan checked the sigh that threatened to escape. "That is exactly what I'm saying."
The smile Anakin offered his new Master was a happy one. "Then I will live forever!" that certainty was back.
Obi-Wan raised a brow at that.
Anakin nodded. "Yep! I plan on being the best Jedi ever! Just watch! And you, too, Master Obi-Wan. You'll live forever, too!"
Obi-wan smiled. "You think so?"
"I know so." The boy's smile turned shy. "At least, I know you'll live forever, for me. Because I will always remember you."
"Well then, I suppose I'll live forever."
