Settling
a cup down by Ahsoka’s side, Obi-Wan glanced worriedly over at Ben
as the man continued to scowl
lightly at
the empty space beside him with his arms crossed over his chest,
sitting on one of the crates they hadn’t loaded up yet to return to
Coruscant.

“He
still looking at air?” Anakin questioned as he stopped by his
former master’s side, frowning worriedly too at Ben.

For
the last hour or so, Ben had been looking rather put
out
at the air beside him except for that moment where Asajj went over
with a cup of tea, then he had looked rather amused for about a few
minutes before going back to pretty much pouting while sipping his
tea and staring up at the air.

Nodding,
Obi-Wan sighed deeply. “Maybe we should have the healers take a
look at him when we get home, he may have dementia that was hidden
underneath the Force addling and if that is the case, he needs
treatment.” Obi-Wan murmured quietly while internally panicking a
bit because if that was true then he’d
have dementia in the future.

Honestly
he was on five different new medications thanks to Ben and his blood
pressure medication had been upped in strength and he just didn’t
want to consider what else they’d like to do to him with what they
saw coming in Ben.

“Well,
he is an older man…” Ahsoka pointed out absently while going over
her study information.

“He’s
barely sixty Ahsoka, humans age like hell yes but thanks to medical
improvement we manage better and I am a Stewjoni,” Obi-Wan murmured
dryly. “Ben is only seven years older than  Mace
Windu.”
He pointed out when she opened her mouth.

All
of them paused at that thought.

Ben
wasn’t all that older than Mace Windu and yet looked like he was
Yoda some days.

“Sun
exposure and dehydration?” Anakin scratched his chin.

“And
grief.” Ahsoka tacked on after a moment.

Grimacing,
Obi-Wan nodded slowly. “That would make up for the skin and joints
I imagine but the medical stuff…” He sighed deeply then focused
back on Ben as the man shifted a bit.

“Are
you going to continue being an asshole?” Ben suddenly asked the air
beside him, frowning up at nothing. “It will be quite tedious to be
considered to be demented when I’m quite lucid thank you very
much.” He
sniffed and took a sip of his cup only to glare into it and then look
up again. “Also my cup is empty you jerk.” He stood and hobbled
towards where Asajj was standing with the kettle.

Exchanging
looks, Anakin nodded towards Ben while widening his eyes at Obi-Wan.

Shrugging
while crossing his arms, Obi-Wan looked back to Ben.

Said
man was fondly patting Asajj’s cheek. “Thank you my dear, now,
as I was saying Qui-Gon, just pull your ass together.” He sighed
tiredly while turning around to glare slightly up as if he was
looking up at another.

Obi-Wan’s
heart clenched as Anakin let out a sharp choking noise, hitting
himself in the chest as he watched with wide eyes.

Ben
thought he was talking with Qui-Gon?!

‘I-I
knew that age would make you think people who died weren’t dead
anymore bu-but this is a bit far isn’t it?’ Obi-Wan thought
shakily as he wished he had alcohol in that moment as Anakin’s hand
came down on his shoulder in
support. ‘We
watched him die.
Ben can’t be that far gone… can he? He hasn’t seemed so the
last few days.’ Obi-Wan knew the others were confused though Ahsoka
had a look of faint recognition and understanding to the name.

But
unless you were there, unless you knew the story firsthand… there
were so many details missing to this story, the nuances lost with
time as Ben took a sip of his tea and tapped his foot on the ground.
“Ben, maybe you should take a rest?” He managed to get out, his
voice shaken.

Finally
the old man looked to him, his brows raising and then narrowing, a
look of deep displeasure crossing it as he turned his head and
outright glared as if someone had stolen his tea and underwear.
“Qui-Gon Jinn, so help me, you pull together that Force energy and
show your lousy ass this moment or I swear when I die, I will punt
you through a black hole and wait for you to come out only to repeat
it again.” Ben swore, his voice on the verge of angry and that was
as shocking as what he was saying.

Ben
had never been angry in as long as he’d been there, he had been
happy, lost, confused, sad or just gleeful.

But
he had never been angry and his anger was scorching in the Force and
gave off the same feeling as when you were scolded by someone you
looked up to, as when you knew you had disappointed someone.

The
air in front of Ben shimmered with blue and Obi-Wan could feel his
stomach dropping in shock.

Anakin’s
grip on his shoulder became painful as several troopers jerked their
blasters up from their belts as in front of Ben, the blue shape of
Qui-Gon became apparent as the old and dead
Jedi blinked down at Ben in exasperation. “Ben, this takes quite a
bit of energy I will have you know, I’m not sure how long I can
hold myself visible.” The man rumbled out.

Snorting
loudly, Ben pointed at Obi-Wan. “Go say sorry to your old padawan
you old grouch, you should have done that years ago.” He snapped
out with narrowed eyes.

The
world felt frozen to Obi-Wan as blue eyes, just as intensely blue as
when he had been alive, focused on his and a warm smile crossed
Qui-Gon’s face. “Obi-Wan, hello old padawan.”

Darkness
slipped in and Obi-Wan felt his knees buckle as the faint realization
that he was passing out hit him.

He
hoped Anakin had mind enough to catch him before he hit the ground.