Riding the Wheel of If
Episode Eleven
The Jedi Temple was quiet...
much too quiet... and Obi-Wan was reminded of the reality where he found
Qui-Gon alone in the Temple, the last of all the Jedi... and the prisoner of a
madly powerful Xanatos - so unlike the Xanatos Obi-Wan had just left. But there
was no debris here, no signs of long neglect or disaster. And, though quiet,
the
As he had before, the reality-traveling
Knight put his 'saber away and drew his hood up over his head, intending to
move stealthily through the silent Temple, hopefully to find Master Yoda and
find out what was going on here. As he walked, he began to encounter other
Jedi, who also wore their hoods up, moving quietly as if afraid to wake
something up. Obi-Wan saw not a single face and no one seemed to see him much
less were curious about him. That could mean... many things.
On his guard, he came to the
central dining hall, thinking he could likely just blend in for a while until
he saw someone familiar. He set his pack down in a corner, then stepped to the
end of the serving line. He had a tray in hand and was reaching for a piece of
fruit when he heard a rustling noise. Looking, he was surprised to see that
everyone else in the crowded room was bent low in a bow facing the door.
Hastily Obi-Wan bent, too, then he glanced up out of the edge of his hood to
see what had drawn such obeisance from the throng of Jedi.
He caught only a glimpse of a
flowing dark brown robe and large hands fisted on hips. But the boots he also
caught a glimpse of. He knew those boots. Then Obi-Wan felt a wave of Force
shudder through the room. It was not unpleasant, but curiously beneficent like
warmth without personal caring. And marked with power.
"My Jedi," a deep
voice murmured, thick with pleasure, then there was an answering wave of warmth
back toward the man who had spoken, rather more intense. "As you
were."
Then the Jedi around Obi-Wan
straightened and went right back to collecting their meals or eating. He
straightened as well, intending to look at who he knew was Qui-Gon when he
realized with a shock that this version of his beloved Master was coming right
for him.
"Obi-Wan, is it?" the
beautiful voice murmured, and a hand immediately came out to gently clasp his
chin, turning his face up.
Obi-Wan gaped with shock at
Qui-Gon, but... this was somehow more than Qui-Gon, a Jedi Master graced with
an almost supernatural, glowing beauty, his eyes luminescent like moonlit dark
blue pools. His face was completely unlined, his hair and beard bearing not a
trace of gray, yet there was an inexplicable gravity of age about him... or was
it agelessness?
"Y...yes," Obi-Wan
answered, noting also that Qui-Gon's hair was unusually lush and full, flowing
well past his shoulders, past even his waist. // Am I in the presence of... a
god? // he wondered, stunned by this transformation of his master.
Then Qui-Gon smiled, and
Obi-Wan felt the blessing of the Force bloom in his heart like the loving
caress of a parent and the forgiveness of one wronged. "You are not one of
mine," Qui-Gon said, still holding his chin, but looking at him with
evident pleasure. "Lovely..."
Obi-Wan blushed, feeling like
his feet had been ripped right out of him, not knowing how to approach this...
this... "No, sir, I am not from this reality," he admitted, then with
a quick glance around, he realized something that he should have noticed.
There were no Masters. Only
Qui-Gon Jinn wore the traditional dark brown Master's robe; all others, young
or old, wore the lighter brown like Obi-Wan wore. // Uh-oh... what does THAT
mean? // "Ah, how did you know that I..."
"That's you're not from
this reality?" Qui-Gon nodded, not in the least disturbed at finding a
Jedi from another alternate universe in what Obi-Wan was realizing was his,
Qui-Gon's
Obi-Wan was dead certain this
was NOT the Qui-Gon he was hoping to find. "Er, I..."
The other laughed, a musical
sound from deep in his chest. "I do not mean me, lovely Obi, but you do
seek Qui-Gon, do you not?" His hand came up to lay against the Knight's
chest as he neared, smiling.
"Yes," Obi-Wan
replied, then noticed that somehow Qui-Gon had gotten him to move considerably
closer to the door. When had that happened? Around them Jedi had carefully
averted glances as if they were not allowed to casually look upon the Presence.
"I lost my Master to the Sith on Naboo before I could tell him... that I
loved him." The other's light touch on his chest felt like a caress,
calming him. Distantly he wondered if he should be worried.
"Yes, and you've been
hoping to find a reality with a lonely Qui-Gon who perhaps has lost his
Obi-Wan..."
The Knight stared at the
godlike Jedi, stunned. Then a large hand was steering him out the door.
"Come, let us talk," Qui-Gon murmured, leading him away.
"How... how did you
know?" Obi-Wan asked when they'd reached a room that would have been the
Council Chambers in most other realities, but instead was apparently this
Qui-Gon's own living area. The Coruscant sky as seen through the tall - one
way? - windows was just as busy with traffic as Obi-Wan had remembered in his
own reality. The room, however, was decorated simply though comfortably, all
greens and browns, nearly a garden in itself as plants crowded the walls and
fit between pieces of furniture. Here, as most everywhere, Qui-Gon was
evidently a strong Living Force adept.
"Don't laugh, sweet Obi,
but the Force revealed it to me," Qui-Gon murmured behind him, a hand to
the Knight's waist. When Obi-Wan turned to gape at him, he added with a teasing
tone, "Or perhaps I am the Force? You do not deny the Force has been
guiding you?"
// HE is the Force? // Obi-Wan
gazed at the beautiful incarnation of his master, now possibly an
incarnation... of the Force itself? Could it be? Was that why he was a god, the
Jedi Master to these Jedi? "Why are there no other Masters here?" he could
not help but ask, shook by this Qui-Gon's knowledge of who he was and his
journeys.
The smile only deepened, and
the large hands slid more firmly around the waist of the Knight, drawing him
close. His scent, subtly Qui-Gon but somehow so much more, was intoxicating,
his sheer magnificent presence potent. "Because there can be only One. One
Jedi Master, one Sith Master... that is how it is. The Sith has his own
followers, his own
"You know the Sith
here?" Another surprise! Obi-Wan wondered whether he should be alarmed; in
several of the realities Palpatine's true identity was not yet known.
Obi-Wan found himself sliding
his hands up the Master's arms, drinking in the obvious desire in the other's
touch and look. He wanted to know more about this reality, but the heat that
was beginning in his groin seemed to have a mind of its own, and it wanted this
Qui-Gon, and badly.
The tall Jedi bent to his ear,
not to speak into it, but to lave the shell of the Knight's ear with his
tongue. Obi-Wan found himself holding on, his knees going weak. "Of course
I know Palpatine, the Sith Master... he has his Empire on his side of the
galaxy, and I have my Republic on mine. We have a balance that assures peace
between us. I think even you would be impressed..."
"Ohhhh..." Obi-Wan
moaned, sliding his hands into the long mane, wanting more of that talented
tongue. "Peace between the Jedi and Sith? But... but the Sith are evil, of
the Dark Side..."
Qui-Gon had deftly unfastened
Obi-Wan's belt and sash, fingers finding and loosening the ties of his tunics
as he moved down to lick at the Knight's throat. "But Obi-Wan, the Force
is One. There is no Dark or Light..."
Between the Jedi Master's
tongue, hands, and sheer masculine potency, Obi-Wan recognized that he was
losing his own restraint rapidly. He was being seduced by a powerful entity, an
expert in pushing all his buttons. The words Qui-Gon was saying were startling,
but as yet they were only astonishing, not threatening. Obi-Wan knew that in
fact the Force was One, that Dark or Light Side, it was all still the Force...
and he knew that the perception of the Sith as evil could be just that... a
perception... // Yet the Sith on Naboo was evil incarnate... //
Then the Master's tongue was
in his mouth, and his brain fairly short-circuited. Obi-Wan kissed back every
bit as deeply, wanting this Qui-Gon, wanting everything he could get from him,
wanting his tongue, wanting his cock deep inside, possessing him. What few
protestations were still floating around in his mind scattered and disappeared,
swept away in the moment's urgency.
His tunics were pushed off
him, boots pulled off, leggings pulled down until he lay naked and sprawled in
the center of the large bed, already tingling from the heavenly, caressing
touch of the Jedi Master. Gasping, Obi-Wan levered himself up on his elbows to
watch Qui-Gon disrobe, although it seemed that the shimmery, silken fabrics
covering him simply melted away, leaving golden, glistening skin, gleaming as
if anointed with oil.
As Qui-Gon knelt between his
legs, reaching up to free the mass of dark hair, Obi-Wan indeed could believe
he beheld a god. Everything about him said "Qui-Gon" but at the same
time, everything said "More". Qui-Gon magnified and Magnified. Then
the luminescent pools of the god's eyes fixed on his. The Knight's mouth went
dry, the intensity of that supernatural gaze searing straight through him.
"Do you want me,
Obi-Wan?" the deep voice sang through his being. The touch and sound
carried the Knight into another level of consciousness, it seemed, where
everything, not just Qui-Gon, was MORE, even when he touched himself. It was
like a deeply meditative trance where the Force breathed his very being, and he
breathed the Force.
"Oh, yes," he
sighed, submitting to the energies of the universe, the Force he had communed
with his whole life, assenting to a higher communion yet. Then the Master
lowered himself onto him, and the embrace of the god's body sent the first
tsunami of sensation through his being. Obi-Wan welcomed it, all his fears and
concerns melting away. "Love me..."
His mouth was seized and the
invading tongue was a hot wire sending a jolt of electricity straight to his
groin. It stoked a fire in his core that began to burn steadily, growing a pressure
that eventually would have to be released. Everywhere the Master suckled,
kissed, stroked him, Obi-Wan burned brighter, yielding in passion to the
irresistible lure of the Force itself.
When he was entered, he felt an
influx of power that left him gasping, sheer energy racing through his veins,
dancing through his sinews, the Force everywhere in him, inside and out. He
drowned in the Master's eyes, felt the hot gaze sear his soul indelibly. While
the rivers of satin hair caressed his limbs, the fiery length of the Master's
member thrust strongly into his being. Obi-Wan, his mind splintered into a
thousand, brilliant crystals, felt every powerful stroke as a repetitive
marking of mind, body, soul. Marked forever. Marked as... His.
When the eruption exploded the
first time, Obi-Wan, even as he screamed his passion, wondered distantly if he
was dying. Becoming One with the Force had just acquired a whole new meaning.
But the thought did not stay in his mind long; nothing did, only the pure
sensing into which he was willingly trapped.
It was a long night.
________________________________________
When Obi-Wan woke and realized
his brain was back in working order, he found himself in a large bed underneath
soft covers... nestled against the broad chest of the Jedi Master Qui-Gon,
wrapped in arms and soft, silken hair. Awed, he raised his head and looked into
the beautiful deep pools of the Master's eyes. The Knight remembered...
"Yes..." Qui-Gon
breathed, smiling with an expression of deep satisfaction. "You have
shared a night of shattering sex with a god. You are exquisite, so vibrant with
passion."
One word in there pulled
Obi-Wan to full, sharp awareness. He withdrew from the clasp of arms and hair
and sat up, looking down at the breathtakingly beautiful, naked man in whose
arms he had lain. "You even refer to yourself as a god," he pointed
out, narrowing his eyes.
Qui-Gon did not seem perturbed
in the least at the accusation. "But I am in many ways, Obi-Wan. Was not
the sex we shared beyond anything you've ever experienced?"
Obi-Wan looked away.
"Yes." Then he made himself look at the other again. "You're
powerful and magnetic, Qui-Gon. The other Jedi clearly revere you. That does
not make you omnipotent." He glanced around, locating his clothes quickly,
and noting with relief that his lightsaber was lying beside them. He left the
bed slowly, backing away a little. Something was not right here, though he had
no real evidence of that. He remembered again about the Jedi and Sith
apparently co-existing peacefully in this galaxy. That thought alone disturbed
him deeply.
"You do not know..."
Qui-Gon murmured, sitting up. Then he clapped his hands sharply, twice.
Immediately the door to the large chamber opened and two men entered, dressed
in skimpy, clinging clothing that the Knight would have thought would be better
suited for... pleasure slaves. Then he recognized the two men and his mouth
went dry.
Xanatos... and Mace Windu. The
former, his loose black hair nearly down to his waist, moved toward the large
bed in a sort of slinky slither, smiling serenely. He glanced at Obi-Wan in a
sort of knowing leer, then looked back at the Master, still with the same
smile. Mace, his dark skin gleaming as if oiled, paused inside the door,
muscles rippling. He had eyes only for the Master... dark, hungry eyes...
"My Master," Xanatos
murmured, then sank to his knees and bowed low, his forehead touching the
ground.
"We have a guest,
Xani," Qui-Gon chuckled with evident fondness. "His name is Obi-Wan.
Tell him what I am, won't you?"
As Obi-Wan gaped, Xanatos rose
smoothly to his feet and approached him. "Obi-Wan..." He smiled
deeper, regarding the Knight's nudity as one would admire a beautifully
sculpted statue. "Qui-Gon is our Master and our God of the Force. We serve
him and he gives us all we need and loves us well." A gleam came into his
eye at this last, and Obi-Wan had no doubt that "loves us well"
included what Qui-Gon had rightly called "shattering sex".
"So you are an
incarnation of the Force itself?" Obi-Wan asked the Master, unnerved, his
heart pounding. Something told him he may have a hard time escaping this
reality. And the reality-switching lightsaber was in his pack, left carelessly
back in the dining hall. Though he did not as yet see anything wrong per se,
this whole situation was still so unreal, so unbelievable. // I should not be
surprised at anything, // he scolded himself, trying to keep calm. // After
seeing Yoda in hot pink... // "Am I in this reality as one of your sex
slaves somewhere? Where is Yoda?"
Mace came forward then,
performing the low bow as well, but then rising to step behind Xanatos,
slipping his arms around the younger man's waist. He peered over Xani's
shoulder at the Knight, smiling in that same damnable calm way. "Yes, yes,
and who is Yoda?"
// Qui-Gon Jinn, God of the
Force. Right. Oh... shit. // "So I am here?" He turned to Qui-Gon,
who still lay relaxed and displayed on the bed. He averted his eyes from the
sight of the impressive penis laying half-hard against the "god's"
belly.
Qui-Gon waved his hand airily,
his eyes gazing rather more at Obi-Wan's body than on his face.
"Somewhere... not on Coruscant, though. There is no Yoda here." He
uncurled off the bed then, and approached the Knight. "You could stay here
and be loved as well, Obi-Wan," he murmured, his voice low and seductive.
"Consider it..."
Obi-Wan found himself
sandwiched between Xanatos and Qui-Gon, their hands on his body, caressing,
fondling. Even Mace reached past Xani to touch him. Again the Knight felt the
seductive power wash over him, felt and smelled the intoxicating allure.
"I... I don't know," he murmured, faltering.
With dismay he thought of a
couple realities ago when he did want to stay, when another Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan
both loved him and he them... did they survive Naboo? He would never know. The
Force - this Force, even - had drawn him away from there as surely as this
Qui-Gon-god was drawing him into this seductive web of desire.
His hands seemed to move of
their own volition, and he was touching them as he was being touched. In
moments he found himself kissing Xanatos, one hand buried in his hair while
Mace was fondling his hip and Qui-Gon was licking along the nape of his neck...
Then he felt it. There was...
something... on Xanatos's neck, right where his Padawan braid - if they'd even
had such a thing here - would have once grown. Obi-Wan rose abruptly out of the
sex-soaked fugue, pulling his mouth away. He roughly turned Xanatos's head to
the side so he could see what he'd felt. "What... what's this?" He
touched a small, dark blue metallic disk behind the man's ear.
"The Favor," Xanatos
replied serenely. "I believe the Master wishes to bless you with it as
well."
Obi-Wan didn't want to know
anymore. Of course, it was some kind of implant, some device which controlled
the Jedi or suppressed their will. // Knew there was a catch, // he thought
with a gulp, pulling away from their arms. // No wonder they all wear their
hoods up! // To his amazement, they did not try to stop him.
The Knight was half-dressed
when Qui-Gon came over and laid his hands gently on his arm and back. Obi-Wan
froze. "Did you think I would force you to accept my Favor, Obi-Wan? I
told you, you are not mine. Though if you wanted it, it would be yours."
The touch was soothing, a balm
to his shock. But Obi-Wan knew all too well that he could never be truly happy
in the service of a... a... god, no matter how sexually satiated he could hope
to be in such a service. Or happy, fulfilled... "I think you know I cannot
accept, Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan murmured, stepping away from the touch and
resuming dressing. "You were right, you're not the Qui-Gon I hope to
find."
Qui-Gon folded his arms, but
remained within reach. "I know about your lightsaber," he informed
him quietly. "Not this one, I mean the other."
The Knight froze yet again. He
still didn't know what to make of this Qui-Gon - was he a demented, powerful
madman like that one Xanatos had been? A benevolent dictator? If there was no
Dark or Light here, was he just as the Sith Master was? Or was he indeed an
incarnation of the very Force which had sent him from reality to reality? If he
knew about the lightsaber...
"What of it?" he asked,
trying to sound casual. He finished fastening belt and sash and reached for his
boots.
"When the time comes, you
will be able to break it. When you are ready to stop."
Obi-Wan turned to look at him.
The beautiful, godlike Qui-Gon merely returned the gaze with what looked like
love behind the calm exterior. All the Knight could do was nod at that. He
broke the gaze after a long minute and bent to pull on his boots. When he was
done, he attached the lightsaber to his belt and looked back at Qui-Gon again.
"I do not know whether to thank you, care for you, hate you, try to stop
your enslavement of the Jedi... or just leave. I don't think I could stop
you..."
He glanced over at Mace and
Xanatos again, who stood in each other's arms, apparently awaiting their Master
to finish his business with the stranger so they could take him to bed. They
were not looking at Obi-Wan, but steadily at the Jedi Master. Favored.
Enslaved. // Yet Qui-Gon is letting me go... I think. //
"No, that is quite beyond
you," Qui-Gon admitted. "There is something however you do not know
that would perhaps ease your mind. My Jedi know they are slaves... they have
chosen to come here and accept the Favor. It is a great honor to be offered the
Favor in the Republic."
Obi-Wan realized he had not
seen any children, either. "Chosen when? As adults? Are they
Force-sensitive?"
Mace and Xanatos looked
puzzled. Qui-Gon smiled, gesturing reassurance to them. "Obi-Wan, all are
Force-sensitive here. Everyone. Yes, as adults they apply for the Favor and if
deemed worthy, are accepted. And just as in your original reality, they serve
the Republic and bring peace, all under my guardianship. The devices that we
refer to as ' my Favor' are actually communication devices, not a device to
control. So you see... all is not as you believe them to be. Do you still think
me so cruel?"
The Knight shook his head, but
he felt so confused that he had no words with which to respond. It might take a
lifetime figuring out the whole truth behind this reality. What were those
disks? Were they really only for communication? // Right. Qui-Gon could be
lying, of course. // "I... I have to go."
"Indeed," Qui-Gon
murmured, sounding almost for a moment like the Qui-Gon he'd known. "You
will find your Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan Kenobi. And if you take anything away from this
reality, take this..." The Master neared again, laying a hand against his
chest. "Do not be so quick to judge. I am guiding you... and I do love
you."
Then before Obi-Wan could say
or do anything, Qui-Gon took his face in his hands and kissed him a last time,
deeply. A voice spoke gently into his mind: // Accept this as a promise from
the Qui-Gon you will discover... //
Obi-Wan trembled and allowed
the kiss, still susceptible to the god's potency, but too confused to resist.
Then he was released and turned to face the door. "Go now. I will be with
you," Qui-Gon replied, then turned to go back to his lovers. The words
struck Obi-Wan in his soul. Not "The Force will be with you," but
"I will be with you." Then it was true...
The Knight departed from the
chamber without a glance back, fearful that he might lose his resolve if in the
presence of that strange, sexually charged power one moment more. // Mere men
are not made to live like this with their... gods... though the call is a
powerful one... //
He made it to the garden
without any interruptions, even after retrieving his pack, which had been
exactly where he'd left it in the dining hall the night before. There had been
many Jedi in the hallways of the
Settling into a meditative
posture, Obi-Wan took a minute to compose himself, then he raised the
lightsaber. Activating it, he thought he felt a quick brush of something across
his lips before he disappeared.
Eliz-Mar Von