"Let me go!" Obi-Wan screamed at his Master for what seemed like the hundredth time. His Master's vise-like grip on his forearm was the only thing keeping him from plunging to his death in the ravine hundreds of feet below.
"No, Obi-Wan!" There was no way Qui-gon was going to let his apprentice fall. His left hand was wrapped tightly around his Padawan's forearm, and the other was clinging to a huge rock at the edge of the cliff. Sweat beaded on his forehead with the effort of holding Obi-Wan over the edge. He had caught him just as he'd lost his grip on the cliff face, but with his Padawan's right wrist broken, and his left arm hanging useless at his side, Obi-Wan was unable to offer his Master any help.
"You have to let me go. You're slipping." Just as his apprentice said it, he felt himself lose another inch. His hand was already bleeding from his grip on the jagged rock, and he knew his Padawan was right. Time was growing short.
But while Qui-Gon ran the scenario over and over in his mind looking for a solution that didn't involve dropping his student, Obi-Wan shut his eyes. Suddenly his grip on the younger man's arm was loosening aswell.
Realization washed over him like an icy wave. His apprentice was using the Force to make Qui-Gon lose his grip and drop him.
"No! You will not give up!" Qui-Gon scowled down at his apprentice and tightened his grip on the boy's arm with renewed determination. Obi-Wan had been his apprentice for seven years now, and he was not about to let a little thing like gravity separate them.
"There's no other way, Master. You know I'm right." Obi-Wan looked up at his Master, softening his previous expression of determination. He didn't want to fight with Qui-Gon in their last moments together.
"Let me go, please." He said softly. Qui-Gon could see the love for him in his Padawan's eyes. The boy who he had raised for the last seven years. The boy would had become a man under his care. The boy who was the closest thing Qui-Gon would ever have to a son. He couldn't let him go. He couldn't watch his son slip from his grip and plunge to the rocks below.
Then Qui-Gon got an idea. If Obi-Wan could use the Force to try to make his Master let him go, then he could certainly use it to save himself.
"Obi-Wan, listen to me. I'm going to swing you against the cliff face, I want you to push against it with your feet, and use the Force to vault up here."
Qui-Gon knew it would be tricky. In order for the maneuver to work, he would have to use the Force to keep his grip on Obi-Wan's arm while he swung him towards the cliff face, and if his Padawan failed to use enough of the Force to aid his rotation over Qui-Gon's head, he would pull his Master right over the cliff with him.
"Master," came Obi-wan's voice breaking through his thoughts, "we are both too weak to make that work."
"No, Padawan. We will make it work. Now close your eyes, and center yourself. We haven't much time."
Seeing that his Master wasn't going to relent, Obi-Wan closed his eyes, feeling the Force pulse around him. He shut out the pain in his left arm and right wrist, and focused on the movements he would need to make in order to clear the lip of the cliff. He knew that if he failed, his Master would be pulled over with him. He could not let that happen.
"Are you ready, Padawan?"
"Yes, Master."
Once he heard his apprentice's calm acceptance, Qui-gon wasted no time. He reached out to the Force to maintain his hold on the rock, and his Padawan, and swung his arm sharply towards the cliff face, pulling Obi-Wan along with it.
He felt Obi-Wan's feet hit the sheer wall of rock, absorb the impact, and push out with a violent Force-aided thrust away from the mountain. Qui-Gon used the Force to continue the outward motion, swinging his Padawan up and over his head.
The force of the swing nearly pulled Qui-Gon's arm off, but it worked. His Padawan landed several feet behind him with a hard thump.
Qui-gon laid there for a split second catching his breath before scrambling to his apprentice's side. He had landed hard on his back, and was still trying to catch his breath.
"Are you alright, Padawan?" Qui-Gon asked, looking down at the young man who had become his son.
"Better…than I…would have been…if you'd…let go." Obi-Wan panted.
"I'll never let you go, son. Remember that." Qui-Gon smiled, and began to help his apprentice up.
Obi-Wan just looked at his Master for a second before he replied. "I know, I know."