"Leave on the audio feed," Obi-Wan told Stephin. Obi-Wan spoke the words crisply, like an order. He did not glance at Qui-Gon. He was totally focused on the moment, on the problem at hand.

Qui-Gon felt a surge of satisfaction. It was as though Obi-Wan had taken a step on a journey back to him. Puzzled, Stephin nodded.

Qui-Gon heard the sound of boots thudding in the hallway. "Take no lives," he told Obi-Wan. If they could accomplish this without loss of life, it would be a good day.

". that a new blast potential of the Annihilator has been discovered. "

The security officers thundered in, blasters pinging, electrojabbers swinging.

"Stay behind us!" Qui-Gon shouted to Cilia, who now was ready to fight and had stepped forward.

The blaster fire was furious. Qui-Gon jumped and twisted, trying to be everywhere at once. Obi-Wan moved to protect Stephin. The guards were well trained for battle. They kept constantly on the move, using sophisticated flanking maneuvers. Qui-Gon realized that Lorian's Temple training had come in handy.

Still, the security officers were not Jedi. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan could keep them at bay. He heard more boots thundering down the hallway and the distinctive whirr of oncoming droids.

Yes, they could keep the attackers at bay, but if more and more arrived, how long would it be before blaster fire got through?

Qui-Gon could see that the same thought had occurred to Obi-Wan. His Padawan did not flag, but a renewed burst of energy sent him in a spinning arc. He deflected blaster fire at the same time he destroyed two oncoming droids with a well-placed kick.

Then the moment Qui-Gon was waiting for occurred. The image of Lorian Nod fuzzed and broke into shattered pieces. A memo flashed onscreen.

Stephin had been able to keep the audio feed open. The voice of Lorian Nod boomed out.

"What is that? What is happening? Get that off the screen!"

MISINFORMATION REGARDING "ANNIHILATOR"

The memo title could be read clearly. More information streamed across the stream as the holofile unfolded.

WE KNOW NOT HOW OR WHY THIS RUMOR BEGAN.

"Get that off the screen!" Lorian shouted. "Don't you see what it is, you fools? It's a lie!"

The focus of the security officers wavered. Qui-Gon saw their eyes drift to the screen. They tried to keep fighting and keep track of what was flashing.

Another voice came through the feed. "This says that there is no Annihilator!"

It must have been another officer in the studio who had blurted it out.

"It's a trick," Lorian said. "Spies…"

"It's an official document from Delaluna," another voice said. "Look at the code seal."

The officers had all stopped fighting. They stared at the screen in disbelief. Whoever was programming the droids had stopped. They stopped in midair.

"Let's go," Qui-Gon said to Obi-Wan.

They raced out into the corridor. Following directions Stephin had given them, they ran to the studio and burst through the door.

Lorian's face was dark with rage. "You are under arrest, Jedi!"

"I believe you are mistaken," Qui-Gon said calmly. "We are arresting you."

"That arrest can only be ordered by the president himself!" Lorian snapped. "Guards! Take these Jedi away."

A guard across the room lowered his comlink slowly. "The arrest order has come through," he said. "I am to detain you, Lorian Nod, by order of Minister Ciran Ern."

The color slowly drained from Lorian's face. He tried to smile, but it looked as though it cost him a great deal of effort.

Looking at Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, he shrugged. "How strange life is," he said. "The galaxy is so immense, but I can't get away from the Jedi.

They have destroyed my life once again."

Lorian Nod was in prison, awaiting trial. Cilia was no longer an underground hero, but a public one, able to walk the streets with her husband. The Guardians had fallen into disarray and the minister had promised to disband them.

It was time for the Jedi to leave.

Qui-Gon waited at the landing platform with Obi-Wan. He remembered arriving on this planet while worrying about what was to come with his apprentice. It was true that he missed that pure trust, that lack of shadows between them. He had seen the flaws in Obi-Wan, and the flaws in himself. He had seen where their flaws could rub up against each other and create fissures in their relations, cracking them open like a groundquake could split the very core of a planet.

Yet there was something to be gained from that, Qui-Gon thought. Now their relationship could truly begin, for they had seen the worst of it and they had both decided that what they wanted, the most important thing, was to go on. There had been no betrayal. Qui-Gon knew Dooku was wrong — he was not alone.

"The idea to leave the audio feed open was a good one," he told Obi-Wan. "Lorian was trapped by his denials."

"I thought he might say something incriminating," Obi-Wan said.

"You ordered Stephin to do it," Qui-Gon said. "You did not check with me. You did not even look at me." "I am sorry, Master — "

"It was the right thing to do."

Qui-Gon saw the flash of pleasure in Obi-Wan's eyes. He is no longer afraid of displeasing me, Qui-Gon thought. Good.

"Shall we board?" Qui-Gon asked.

"Of course, Master." Obi-Wan paused and looked longingly at a food court. "But can we eat first?" He grinned. "I'm still thinking about that turnover."

Qui-Gon laughed. Yes, his Padawan was back. And the boy was back, too.

Now they could begin again.

He had not known the Jedi cruiser to Naboo was taking him on what would turn out to be his final mission with Qui-Gon. Yet they both had understood that the time was coming when Qui-Gon would recommend him for the trials. Obi-Wan knew he was ready, but he was not yet prepared to leave his Master. He was anxious to be independent, but he was reluctant to come out from the protection of his alliance with Qui-Gon. It was not apprehension that kept him there, but loyalty.

Friendship. Love. They had spoken more on that trip than they had ever spoken before. Qui-Gon had been in a rare talkative mood, and they had remembered old missions, old acquaintances. They had laughed over the exploits of Didi Oddo, the friend who was always in trouble. They had remembered the loyal brothers, Guerra and Paxxi, now heads of large families on their homeworld of Phindar.