The Account of the Trial and Sentence of Master Qui-Gon Jinn

I have agreed to write this account on one condition only: that no one shall look at this datachip until after I have passed into the Force.

[Anakin paused a moment. His master had most certainly not passed into the Force yet, but Anakin could no more stop reading this tale than he could undo his master's saber training. He kept reading.]

I am Xanatos of Telos, just declared Jedi Master, and the former padawan of Qui-Gon Jinn. I vowed fifteen years ago to train Anakin Skywalker in the ways of the Jedi, at my former master's request.

I have succeeded in this--today I will cut his braid.

Today, therefore, as it has been asked of me by the Council, I will also set down the events of fifteen years ago that led me to take Anakin as my padawan.

My former master took as a third padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi, a promising young boy who was dedicated to following the Code and skilled in the Unifying Force. As opposites in many ways, they complemented each other perfectly and quickly became the most-often requested diplomatic team the Jedi had.

But horribly for them -- opposites also attract -- and they, on a mission to a backwater, but beautiful planet, Naboo, gave in to their forbidden love and Qui-Gon kissed his padawan.

Such things, love between master and padawan, are completely forbidden to the Jedi. So Master Jinn was tried and sentenced to death. Padawan Kenobi refused to live without his master, so both were executed by fire.

That is the story in brief, but not as I lived it.

Fifteen years ago...

Master Qui-Gon contacted me from Naboo, and asked a favor. He requested, without preamble, that I train Anakin Skywalker.

When I asked him why he himself would not, he paused a moment. Then he said quietly, "I do not think I will be allowed to train anyone after this."

"After what?" I asked.

"After kissing my current padawan," he answered.

I gasped my shock--surely he hadn't! Surely he was joking. That was a serious, serious crime, for which he could be executed! Didn't he know that?

"The Council already knows, and they are about to take me into custody," he answered my unspoken question.

"Why, Master?" I asked. "Obi-Wan Kenobi is beautiful, but I would not risk death for him."

"I would," and those two words said it all--all the denial and suffering and final yielding.

I bent my head, waiting for calm, and after a moment, said merely, "I will, then, at your request, take Anakin Skywalker as my padawan."

A few days later, I saw them leave their ship, my master and his padawan close, as though the universe would have to tear them apart to get them to leave each other.

Anakin followed, and my heart immediately went out to the boy; he was so very powerful in the Force, yet innocent.

Almost unconsciously, I greeted him, not needing an introduction, and led him away to my quarters. He was quiet, but there was an undercurrent of swift questions surging through him. Settling him in padawan quarters took a few minutes, but as soon as he fell asleep, exhausted from the trip, I was off to observe the trial that I was sure must be going on.

The room used for a courtroom was not the typical Council room; instead, it was square and brightly lit. Qui-Gon Jinn stood in the center of the room as the accused. Obi-Wan Kenobi sat in the first row of spectators' seats, watching his master with a fierce protective look in his eyes.

To start the trial, Mace Windu presented the accusations against my master.

"Qui-Gon Jinn of the Jedi," he intoned, "You have been accused on charges of having unlawfully seduced your padawan with carnal intent. The court will show your crime in these three ways: proof that you have long lusted after your padawan in your thoughts, proof that, on Naboo, you did unlawfully kiss your padawan, and proof that you did wish to form and be bound by life vows with your padawan. How say you, first, to these accusations?"

My master looked up at Master Windu keenly.

"Prove them if you can," he said, a declaration of neither innocence nor guilt.

In the next few hours that afternoon, Master Jinn's every unguarded thought since he had taken Kenobi as his padawan was examined. If he could not explain each one, that was duly noted. Some of the quotations were extremely inconsequential and could easily be explained. Others my master had no answer for.

Hours that seemed like days went by this way. Padawan Kenobi sat straight and pale at the front of the room, alternating between gazing at Qui-Gon with his heart in his eyes and shooting dagger looks at whoever was questioning Qui-Gon.

After some time, as Qui-Gon's former padawan, I myself was questioned. They asked me whether Qui-Gon had ever displayed any carnal intent toward me, or I toward him. I told them the truth--no, never. My own apprenticeship had been one of perfect propriety and Qui-Gon had never touched me in a manner unseemly, nor wished to, I was sure.

As the examination of his history concluded, I began to see that they had drawn the proverbial noose around my master's neck and were waiting only to draw it tight. They had already decided on a verdict.

Master Windu then gave the court a short recess and I stepped outside the room, to discover that sunset was approaching. The sky, as always, shone gold and red above the Temple.

Obi-Wan was standing a few feet away, staring out the window, thinking who knew what. I walked over to him to attempt a little comfort--I would be the only one who would dare to give it.

"Can you save my master?" he said, after I greeted him solemnly.

"No one can, it seems, unless the Council has a sudden change of heart," I said.

"The Council has no heart at all to change," he said under his breath.

"Obi-Wan--" I began.

He turned toward me suddenly and said:

"If you can't save him, if no one can save him, rest assured he won't die without me by his side!"

I took a half-step back.

"Surely there's no need to go that far?" I said.

"Why not? What am I without him?" Obi-Wan asked.

"You will be a great Jedi knight someday..." I said.

"That's what he told me," Obi-Wan nodded. "But I won't be anything, unless he's with me. I don't want anything else."

After the short recess, I entered the empty courtroom and heard voices coming from the front of the room.

I realized that the speakers were behind the thin wall that separated the courtroom from the office next, and they obviously didn't know that their voices bled through into the room I was in, so that I could hear them easily.

"This will never work, Mace. There is no evidence for the third point and you know it!" a female voice (I couldn't tell whose) said.

"We'll think of something. If not, the first two are enough to convict. Don't worry," Mace replied.

I moved as quietly as I could to the door and let it slam behind me, giving the impression that I had just entered the room.

A few minutes later, the second part of the session got underway.

They played the security tape from Naboo before the assembled Jedi and the Council. And yes, indeed, that tape made it very clear that Master Jinn had kissed his padawan. Or had kissed him back, but that was a small thing.

Questioning Padawan Kenobi turned out to be mostly a waste of time. Obi-Wan was obdurate, cooperative in words, but saying absolutely nothing that was not directly asked of him. A rather amusing exchange between Obi-Wan Kenobi and Mace Windu went like this:

Master Windu: Padawan, do you love your master?

Obi-Wan: Yes.

Master Windu: Does he love you?

Obi-Wan: As a master should.

Master Windu: But with carnal intent?

Obi-Wan: How should I know that?

Master Windu: Has he told you?

Obi-Wan: Has he told me what? "Obi-Wan, I love you with carnal intent?" No.

Master Windu: He has not? Has he ever implied it?

Obi-Wan: Master Windu, there have been no improper actions toward me from him, a fact that does not hold true of all in this Temple.

At that, Master Windu looked away briefly, a gesture that told me, at least, far more than a confession would have. I figured the cross-examination of Obi-Wan was over, but he continued.

Master Windu: Padawan, did you kiss your master on Naboo?

Obi-Wan: I did.

Master Windu: Why?

Obi-Wan: Because he was kissable.

Master Windu [through the laughter in the courtroom]: Padawan Kenobi! Explain yourself!

Obi-Wan: I have. You have your answer.

A few more rounds like this, and Master Windu apparently decided the examination of Kenobi was useless.

At this point, Master Windu dismissed Obi-Wan, who remained standing near the front of the room.

Mace urged one of the pair to explain their actions on Naboo. Anything in Qui-Gon's defense, any extenuating circumstances, he requested.

At this, Obi-Wan stepped forward, much as though he'd finally made up his mind to speak and had gathered all his courage for one last chance. He stood before us and the Council and said steadily:

"You accuse the wrong Jedi of a crime! You point your fingers at my master and say that he is guilty, not only of falling in love, which is a crime to you cold-hearted ivory-tower statues, but of seducing me with "carnal intent." In all this, you ignore your own lustful desires. You leave at the wayside undesired touches you gave an unwilling padawan, or your lewd comments, or your secret whispers about this or that padawan's beauty."

He paused for a moment and gathered his breath. We all sat in shocked silence, Qui-Gon very straight in the front, smiling faintly, proud of his padawan, I was sure.

"I say to you, these things are the real crime! They are what you should be prosecuting here today, not an innocent love between those who are equals in heart, if not in rank."

Obi-Wan took a deep breath, extended his hands and stepped forward until he stood within arm's reach of his master. A smile passed between them, tender and secret, and Obi-Wan continued, startling us all with his next words.

"And so, Qui-Gon, my equal, my heart, I ask you this one question--do you love me?"

Through the gasps of outrage in the courtroom, I saw Qui-Gon catch Obi-Wan's hands in his and say calmly, "Yes, Obi-Wan, yes, I do."

Obi-Wan's next words were whispered at first and got steadily clearer and louder:

"Qui-Gon Jinn,
I bind myself to you forever.
Not even death shall part us.
I will be yours as you are mine
We shall be each other's.
All the days of our lives and afterward
even into eternity in the Force,
I shall cling to you as you hold to me.
My heart and body are now yours alone,
never to be shared with another.
This vow I make to you as my love-
if I break it let my life be broken."

The hush in the courtroom became a tangible thing--no sounds this time--everyone was too shocked. They were invoking a lifebond! This was forbidden to the Jedi--Obi-Wan was not even supposed to know it was possible! Qui-Gon, though a bit startled, it seemed, managed to complete the ceremony:

"Obi-Wan Kenobi,
Your vows I accept and make my own.
I am yours as you are mine-
we shall cling to each other through death itself
and beyond, into the unity of the Force.
I give you my body and heart.
I am alone yours.
This vow I make to you as my love-
if I break it let my life be broken."

As he finished saying those things, I thought wildly through my shock, "there's no way anyone can see anything corrupt in that." Then Mace Windu recovered and flounced--no other word will do--to the other Council members.

"Have you seen with your own eyes this man transgress the Code?"

Several stirred uneasily, but all responded as if by rote, "We have."

"Do you need any further evidence?"

At the Council's united negative, Mace Windu gave them permission to deliberate a sentence and the Council left the room.

Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon remained standing, arms around each other's waists, eyes wide, waiting.

It only took a few minutes, as everyone was sure it would.

Qui-Gon was sentenced to die by fire in the Pyre of the Darkened. Obi-Wan was given a choice--die with his Master, or be cast out of the Jedi.

He said nothing, but pulled Qui-Gon down and kissed him lightly in front of the court, making plain as day what he chose.

They, under Jedi escort, left the courtroom to go back to their quarters. I paused for a moment, trying to absorb everything that had happened in just a few hours here.

Mace Windu approached me (I flinched away from him unconsciously ) and asked for a favor.

"Xanatos, someone has to watch the camera that tapes their rooms tonight. I don't want them trying to escape. Would you mind?"

I frowned, but could come up with no good reason to get out of it. At least I could be kind to them, and not spread the details of their last night alive all over the Temple, as others would have.

"I'll do it," I said quietly.

As I watched the viewscreen connected to the camera in their quarters, they entered, almost as though nothing had happened and they were not to die tomorrow.

Cloaks were shed, thrown carelessly over a chair. Obi-Wan, almost frighteningly cheerful, moved away from Qui-Gon, talking rather aimlessly about nothing, doing little things like straightening a book on the shelf, or picking up an empty cup left on the table and setting it on the counter.

Then Qui-Gon spoke a low-voiced "Padawan," and Obi-Wan turned, forgetting everything.

"Master?"

"Come here, it's all right, come here," Qui-Gon said, opening his arms. Obi-Wan smiled briefly and fairly flew into them, hugging his master close.

They held each other for long minutes, whispering things the audio feed could not pick up. I watched, fascinated.

Eventually holding wasn't enough, and they began to kiss each other, light and soft at first, then deep kisses, so deep I wondered if they were trying to become absorbed in each other forever.

Moments passed and whispers and sighs and the outline of their bodies in the moonlight was all I could hear and see, the lights having been dimmed at some point. Clothes fell away from them, scattered carelessly on the floor.

Falling onto Qui-Gon's bed in the corner of the room, they kissed and slid and gasped, bodies straining with, not against, each other.

I heard Obi-Wan cry out first, but Qui-Gon followed him a second later, both saying words that could have been the other's name.

I had never wanted another man, but seeing this, I could understand the attraction. They were beautiful together, beautiful.

"Oh, love," Obi-Wan whispered, running lazy fingers through his master's hair. And then they began to kiss again, gently, naked bodies twined together in the moonlight on top of the sheets, shining dimly. Two different, yet perfect bodies, one toned by youth and constant training sessions, one honed by experience and grace.

I slumped back in my chair as they continued to kiss; obviously they weren't going anywhere.

I watched through the rest of that night, stark awake, staring at a dark viewscreen, listening to soft moans and sighs intermingled with occasional words, mostly endearments. All I could see on the screen now was shifting shadows, hardly enough to imagine what they were doing, if the audio feed had not made it absolutely clear.

When the light came streaming in the windows of their room, I could finally see them again. They lay entwined together so tightly that for a moment they looked like one being. My former master had gathered Padawan Kenobi protectively in his arms and Kenobi's head lay on his shoulder, fingers twisted in his hair.

For the first time, I switched the viewscreen off. This simple act of sleeping together was somehow more intimate than all the passionate moans I'd heard the night before. Let them have their brief privacy. It was all I could do for them.

About two hours later, Councilor Mace Windu entered the viewing booth and after a few choice words about my failure at round-the-clock surveillance, turned the viewscreen back on, and groaned in shock at the couple. I looked over at the screen and resisted the urge to smile--they were fully dressed and meditating now. The only unorthodox thing about them was that they sat together, Kenobi between my master's legs, eyes closed, faces utterly serene.

The Council disturbed their meditation a few moments later and took them, holding each other's hands, faces wan but calm, to the Pyre of the Darkened, reserved for those who had committed the most serious offenses against the Code and the Jedi.

The Pyre was a small metal-clad box-shaped place with only one door and a strong post in the center of the room.

I have been told that the Council members tied Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan back to back on that post, laid wood drenched in fuel at their feet, recited their crimes against the Code and gave them a last chance to recant their love vows, which they refused.

Then Mace Windu lit the wood on fire and the Council left the rooms, shutting the door to keep fire and the sound of screams inside. They sent pure oxygen through the air ducts to that room, turning the fire quickly into an inferno. I can only imagine, though I don't want to, the pain of their death--they both burned and suffocated at once. There are few deaths devised that are more painful and terrifying. In any case, the fire consumed them, leaving only ashes.

I entered that room a few days later, after all were certain that it had cooled completely, and gathered their ashes. Among them lay a small rock, scorched, simple, but it glowed with Force.

When I attempted to probe the stone, I received only this rush of feeling:

burnhotpainbadscorchwithermeltcrackfadebutloveiseternal.

I left that stone among the ashes and on a mission several years later to Naboo, scattered them on the breeze. A fitting end, I thought, for those whose only crime was love and in whom I could see only light.

Anakin felt the rush of emotion threaten to overcome him, and waited quietly until he could breathe again. They had suffered so much and for nothing, it seemed. All that was left of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan's love was ashes on the wind and a single datachip.

"I will be the one to live their legacy," he said quietly. "It will no longer remain hidden in shadow, but will be known for what it was, not Darkness, but Light."

A moment later, he felt a light touch on his shoulder and looked up.

"Deep thoughts, Master?" a familiar voice asked.

Anakin smiled and stood, shaking his former padawan's hand.

"Han! So good to see you--I'd thought you were on mission!"

Han ran his fingers through his half-long new-knight hair and laughed. "I got back last night--in one piece, thank the Force! And, oh, yes, Master, there's someone I'd like you to meet."

Han gestured and a young blond haired man, sporting a padawan braid down to his waist, stepped forward.

"Master, this is Luke Naberrie, padawan to Master Starlene. We met on the mission, and he...he reminds me of you, a lot."

"Nice to meet you, Master Skywalker. Han's done nothing but talk about what a great Master you were to him," Luke said.

"Typical of Han to exaggerate," Anakin laughed.

"I do not exaggerate, Master," Han said. "But what so serious were you contemplating when we disturbed you?"

Anakin glanced from one young man to the other, and made a split-second decision.

"This tale--you might enjoy it." He lifted the datachip out of the slot and gave it to Han, smiling. "Why don't both of you read it and see what you think?"

"Sounds interesting, Master," Han said. "What do you say, Luke? Are you up for some deep thinking right now?"

"Always, what else?" Luke answered, and shot a look at Han, that, to someone who had just finished reading the tale of Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon and their doomed love, was apparent as an I-want-to-be-with-you-always glance.

Anakin smiled, hoping he was making the right choice. Maybe through them there could be some redemption for the Jedi order. In any case, he would see to it that Han and Luke would never meet the same fate that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had chosen.

He watched them walk into the distance, laughing at some small joke, and turned back into the stacks of datachips, searching again for a certain nagging trade agreement from two far-distant star systems.

END