#doesn't explicitly say that obi-wan is touch-starved but i tried to imply it? idk if that went through but. y e a h

[pandora15]

Whumpay 2021 Day 2 Prompt: Touch Starved

The exile was not doing any favors for Obi-Wan.

Never had Qui-Gon felt so useless, being unable to do anything more than watch his former Padawan suffer alone, after losing everything and everyone.

It was…painful to watch.  But it was all Qui-Gon could do, all any of them could do.  The other Jedi who watched along with him—the ones who have fallen, just like Qui-Gon did so long ago—were heartbroken to see what had become of Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan—who gave so much of himself and more during the war, who deserved all the peace and happiness the galaxy could offer him—was completely alone, completely broken.

In the three years that passed since Order 66, since the Empire, Qui-Gon watched his Padawan grow more and more despondent.  A Jedi was never meant to be alone, but now—

Qui-Gon watched as Obi-Wan lifted his mug of precious water to his lips with trembling hands.  He watched as the mug slipped out of Obi-Wan’s fingers, colliding harshly with the table and shattering before depositing itself onto the sandy ground, the water spreading itself across the sand instantly.

Obi-Wan’s breath hitched.

“Obi-Wan—” Qui-Gon tried, but it was no use, and he knew it.

Obi-Wan couldn’t hear him.  Not like this, and not now.

That didn’t stop Qui-Gon from reaching a hand forward, from putting a hand on Obi-Wan’s shoulder.

His stomach clenched as his hand passed through Obi-Wan’s form, just like it did all the other times Qui-Gon tried to comfort him.

He only wanted Obi-Wan to know he was not alone, and yet—

Obi-Wan shuddered, sinking to his knees next to the shattered mug with a harsh exhale, bowing his head.  His shoulders trembled.

From somewhere behind him, Qui-Gon heard Shaak Ti’s sharp intake of breath, along with Mace’s quiet sigh.  The Jedi all around him were desperate to somehow tell Obi-Wan that he was not alone, that they were all right here for him, but Obi-Wan could not see them.

Qui-Gon’s mouth snapped shut, and the hut lapsed into silence.

Then, there was the sound of Obi-Wan’s quiet, muffled cries.

(Pandora’s Whumpay 2021 Masterlist)