“How
long does he think he’s been gone?” Mace questioned quietly, arms
crossed over his chest as he watched the healers continue working on
Obi-Wan, the redhead’s damaged eyes focused on Qui-Gon as the man
continued to sleep in the other bed in the room. Honestly
Mace was rather certain that Obi-Wan could not see Qui-Gon without
the special glasses that had been lost in the abduction, but the
slight shadows he could see and the sensation of the Force was
keeping him calm enough it
seemed.

“He
doesn’t know,” Quinlan rumbled quietly. “He said he thought
he’d been gone for eight
days but he thought
he might have been gone longer.” He breathed out heavily.

“…So
he has no idea its been closer to a month.” Mace sighed a bit,
rubbing his face with a hand.

Shaking
his head, Quinlan leaned against the window to peer in too, watching
Obi-Wan. “Skywalker almost told him but I managed to avert it, I
feel like Qui-Gon should be the one to tell him how long he’s been
gone as he might take it better from him.” He murmured.

Sliding
his hands into his sleeves, Mace nodded. “In the temple at least,
he has safety here as he does not have outside the walls.”

They
both went mute for long minutes as the healers fussed over Obi-Wan.

Then
Quinlan sighed deeply. “Its going to take years to get him to leave
the temple after this, even with Qui-Gon beside him. Any progress
that has been made can be reverted back to zero I’d say when it
comes to his mental states.” He settled in a grim tone.

Mace
just nodded in agreement, wincing as Obi-Wan jerked in pain as a pus
filled wound was cleaned out and yet no noise escaped the others
mouth.

Quinlan
had said the redhead had spoken when found but…

Would
his state lead Obi-Wan to his muteness once more?

Exhaling,
Mace looked to the kiffar and then shrugged. “I will have to go
now, we need to figure out what to do about Palpatine though at least
the Senate is electing a new Chancellor thanks to the evidence found
in his manor.”

The
look of disgust on Quinlan’s face was clear at that. “The things
we found there… Force, how could you hide all those… those poor
kids.” He winced and looked away.

Sighing
deeply, Mace shook his head. “I do not know, nor do I want to know
what he’s done with those children but there is… little to be
done for them except keep them comfortable. He’s clearly starved
and isolated them to the point of being
feral and I’d
guess for some sort of ritual he intended.” He
said heavily.

Nodding,
Quinlan straightened up. “Least the judicial has been presented the
evidence, there’s so much and those kids… what’s going to
happen to them?” He inquired.

“They
are Force sensitive but I do not have hope for normal lives for those
younglings,” Mace murmured quietly. “Not raised in the dark and
in violence as they have… at best they can be made comfortable I
guess… at least now they won’t experience violence.” He
breathed out heavily.

It
didn’t make him feel all that much better, wishing just as he had
when Obi-Wan had been recovered that they had known this much sooner.

()()()()

Chortling quietly,
Qui-Gon glanced up at Anakin with an amused look. “Where did you
get these?” He asked in confused awe as Obi-Wan poked at the
hugging plushies in admiration, the redhead having crawled into
Qui-Gon’s bed a day ago.

Grinning,
Anakin took the two hugging plushies to
hold them up for them.
“I took a picture to Padme and asked her about getting something
made for you two and she suggested custom stuffies.
With the pictures I
took we took them to
a company and got
the hugging sweethearts made.” Anakin
chirped brightly.

Deciding
against asking what they cost, Qui-Gon accepted the two hugging
plushies back and smiled softly at Obi-Wan as the redhead rested his
head on Qui-Gon’s shoulder with a curious look on his face.

“You
can pull them apart but they remain like that with their arms
stretched out, seeking to hug each other. Figured the sentiment would
be nice for you two.” Anakin noted quietly.

Obi-Wan
shifted, looking up at Anakin and then he reached out to take the
plushies, fiddling with the fasteners.

He
cooed in happiness when he saw what Anakin meant, the two plushies
reaching out towards each other despite being removed from one
another, the stuffie Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan ready for each other.

Even
as he smiled at the sight, it saddened Qui-Gon to hear Obi-Wan coo,
knowing that Palpatine had reduced Obi-Wan back to his initial state
when he had returned to them but he’d do his best to help Obi-Wan
recover.

He
pressed a soft kiss to Obi-Wan’s forehead as the two plushies were
returned to each other, the magnets clicking lightly inside the soft
toys as they hugged onto each other and then were snuggled by Obi-Wan
as he settled back down into Qui-Gon’s side, bacta patch covered
legs pressed to Qui-Gon’s remaining one.