Saga - PT Master

Author: CaraJinn
Era: Immediately after TPM
Genre: Drama/Humor
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker
Summary: Obi-Wan Kenobi had always wanted to become a Jedi Knight. What he didn't expect was to become a Master merely days after his own Master died. Adapting to his new role as the mentor and Master of the quite unusual Padawan Anakin Skywalker became a bumpy road
Author's notes: For the beginning of this story I have borrowed a line or two of the original dialogue from TPM. I promise, it's only to give a smooth transition to the present story and it will soon become a story of it's own. Or rather a series of ficlets describing the new Master/Padawan pair's challenges.

.......

Chapter 1: The Promise

"You will be a Jedi. I promise."

There. It was said. The promise was given. Obi-Wan Kenobi swallowed the lump in his throat and looked up from the half worried, half expectant face of young Anakin Skywalker who stood beside him as his own Master's body slowly was consumed by the funeral pyre.

A little more than a day earlier he had made another promise. A promise to the man who had been his mentor, his friend, his father for the last 12 years. The man whose body now was laying dead and still on the pyre. Qui-Gon Jinn's dying words had been 'Train him' , a reminder that Obi-Wan only seconds before had promised him to do just that. And for all the love he had for his Master and for all the honor he felt, he intended to do just that.

He just wished he didn't have to.

When Qui-Gon had proclaimed he intended to train the boy himself he had felt betrayed and hurt in a way he'd never experienced before. They had come to terms with each other before the final battle against the black and red-tabooed Sith, but still he really, really wished he didn't have to. He couldn't explain it, it was like the Force itself was yelling 'Danger, danger' into his ears, but there was no way he could resign from his promise now. He owed his deceased Master that much, and more.

But, Force, he wished he didn't have to. Two day's ago he had been an apprentice, a Padawan learner himself. Now he was less than 24 hours into his knighthood and already a Master. Albeit not a Master as a result of age, wisdom and experience, but still - having a Padawan would entitle him to the…well…title of Master when others addressed him. It was sheer madness. Impossible. It couldn't happen. And still it had.

It had been a tough fight with words. The entire Council had arrived from Coruscant in the afternoon the day before, and Obi-Wan had been there to meet them, grateful that young Skywalker was left behind in the competent care of the Queen's handmaidens. At least for the moment. He had greeted the Council and followed them to one assigned chamber in the Theed Palace where they had had an improvised council meeting and he had reported the previous day's events.

There had been many questions, and not so many answers from his side. Yes, he believed that the stranger was a Sith. He had been very competent in the art of lightsaber combat. Yes, it was the Sith that had killed Master Jinn. And yes, he had killed the Sith himself. He had earnestly told them about that single, terrible moment when anger and hate had flooded him like a mighty wave, but then receded and left a silent determination behind. He would accept Qui-Gon's death, but he would not let the Sith have the opportunity of killing anyone else. So he had jumped, called Qui-Gon's 'saber to himself and sliced the Sith in two, not because he was angry, far less because of hatred but as a necessity to survive himself.

The Council had accepted his explanation, -and his reasons.

He had been asked to wait outside the chamber and so he did, tired to his bones and totally sleep deprived. He knew well that a Jedi shouldn't cling to the memory of those who passed away, but so he did. He had tossed and turned in the bed in his bedchamber but sleep wouldn't find him, so finally he had given up and walked quietly out into the garden. There the tears came. Tears for his Master, tears for himself and in an obscure way also tears for little Anakin who had been deprived of his master to be, even before he became an apprentice.

Finally he had fallen asleep under a tree in the garden and he barely managed to sneak inside the Castle again before the servants woke to their daily routines.

Eventually he was called into the chamber again and Master Yoda proclaimed: "Discussed the matter we have. Your trials you have passed and a Jedi Knight you are from this day forward."

He had been completely flabbergasted and the only word he was able to speak was a plain: "Why?"

The obvious surprise had made several council members smile, despite the slightly somber feeling in the room.

"The first Jedi to defeat a Sith in combat in a thousand years you are. Tempted by the dark side you were, but passed through your anger and thirst for revenge you did. This is the greatest of all trials, and passed it you have. A Knight you will be if you accept it."

At that moment he had knelt down on his right knee, partly because tradition demanded it, but even more because his legs were so wobbly that they hardly would carry him anymore. The Council Masters had stepped forward and with their 'sabers raised in the air above him old Master Yoda had performed the ancient knighting ritual and cut his padawan braid.

He was a Knight, at last. The moment he had looked forward to and wished for was finally there and all he could feel was an all consuming emptiness as he stood with his braid in his hand and no-one there to give it to. In that moment he should have handed it over to Qui-Gon and he would have seen the older man's eyes shine with pride. Instead he curled it up and tucked it into a pocked in his utility belt.

As the masters stepped back he rose. Fortunately his legs were more co-operative now.

Then he made a deep bow towards the council.

"Masters, if I may speak one more thing…?"

Mace Windu nodded silently.

"When Qui-Gon, when Master Jinn died, he made me promise to train the boy, Anakin Skywalker. I promised him to do so. I will ask of the Jedi Council to grant me the right to train Anakin Skywalker to become a Jedi Knight."

The chamber turned deadly silent.

"Train the boy? Impossible it is. Too old he is, and too dangerous. A Jedi he should not be," Yoda stated.

"I expected this reaction, Masters. Still, I gave my Master my promise and I will fulfill it, with or without your permission. My honor bids me to do so."

The old Master sighed inaudible: "Please leave the chamber and wait outside. Another discussion we will have."

Obi-Wan bowed and left once again.

This time it took longer time for the verdict to be ready, but eventually the old Master came hobbling out from the chamber.

"Agree with you taking this boy as a Padawan learner I do not." For once the old Jedi's patience had left him.

"Qui-Gon believed in him."

The Chosen One the boy may be. Nevertheless grave danger I feel in his training."

"Master Yoda, I gave Qui-Gon my word. I will train Anakin. Without the approval of the Council if I must.

"Qui-Gon's defiance I sense in you. Need that you do not. Agree with you the Council does. Your apprentice Skywalker will be."

And with that the matter had been settled. Obi-Wan had become a Master.

The rest of the day went in a blur and he never even managed to see his brand new Padawan until the day was almost over. He had managed to retire to his own room, totally exhausted, when he heard the door to Anakin's room being opened and then closed again.

Quietly he rose from the couch, and exited his own room.

A soft knock on Anakin's door and a young, slightly quivering voice answered: "Come in."

The boy was alone in the room, sitting on his bed. His boots had been kicked off and he looked every bit a forlorn puppy.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said cautiously.

"What?" Anakin's eyes met his own with a surprising clear glance.

"I have come to ask you…they have allowed me to be your Master since Qui-Gon…." Again the traitorous lump in his throat threatened of suffocating him. He began again.

"Anakin, would you like to become my Padawan? The Council has approved it."

"What?"

"Would you like to become my Padawan?" he tried again.

He could see Anakin fight back his tears. Clearly this was not what the boy had expected, far less wanted.

Silently he laid his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Anakin. I know this wasn't what you wanted."

"Yes." The word came out almost as a whisper. Obi-Wan wasn't certain of what the answer related to. Was it a 'Yes I want to be your Padawan' or a 'Yes, you're right, I don't want youas my Master'. Maybe it was a mixture of both?

He tried again.

"If that was a yes, we have work to do."

"Oh?" The boy looked quizzically up at his face. Some of the sadness seemed to have been replaced by expectation.

"Yes. We will be present at Qui-Gon's funeral pyre tomorrow and if you accept we must make you look like a proper Padawan. You need a haircut and a braid."

The boy jumped down from the bed and rummaged through the desk. Triumphantly he pulled a pair of scissors from a drawer.

"Do it! " he ordered.

It wasn't the most flawless haircut in the world, but 20 minutes later most of Anakin's thick hair had been cut off and a little pigtail was neatly bound together in the back of his head. A very short braid with a tuft of red-gold hair intertwined with the boy's own blond hair could be seen behind his right ear.

"We will pledge our vows as Master and Padawan to the Council tomorrow morning," Obi-Wan explained. "Now, you need to get some sleep. I have a small errand to run, then I will be in the adjacent room the whole night if you need me. Sleep well….Padawan."

"Good night, Master." The boy had already undressed and was buried deeply below the duvet.

Obi-Wan left and closed the door quietly behind him. Then, with long determined strides he set off for the room in the basement where Qui-Gon was resting on lit de parade before tomorrow's funeral pyre.

Softly he stepped towards the deathbed.

"Master, this will be our final goodbye. I just want to thank you for everything you taught me and everything you were to me, despite I know you cannot hear me now. And rest assured that I will do my best to fulfill the promise I gave you. Anakin will become a Jedi Knight."

When he left the room a curled, red-gold braid with one silka bead lacking was resting nicely in Qui-Gon's folded hands.

 

Oh, @CaraJinn, your Obi-Wan is so ADORBS! in any and all moods & situations! This is indeed a hard moment but it is forging him into a person with the unfailing resolve and integrity we all know and love!

 

...And the great @CaraJinn has done it again

Have to say I agree completely I think my favorite lines where the last few, although I also love when he's talking to Anakin.

 

Thanks, I try to pull up some soft spots in-between and show the difference between the rather cool and logic Master and the more sensitive being inside the 'Master' frame.

 

Chapter 2: Homecoming

The starship silently docked by the Jedi Temple and the entire Jedi Council disembarked. Following suit were two figures, a blond boy and a taller young man with spiky red-gold hair. Even and untrained eye would see that they both looked tired, sad and a bit forlorn.

"Where are we going?" Anakin asked, "Are we going to stay in your apartment? I mean, the one you shared with Master Qui-Gon?"

"I don't know, actually," the older one answered. "I have taken it for granted, but I believe I will have to get a confirmation. Would you like us to stay there?"

"I think so," Anakin bit his lower lip, "if you want to, I mean. It's your home. And it was Master Qui-Gon's, so if we stay maybe it won't feel so lonely?"

Obi-Wan nodded in agreement. It would be torture to see Qui-Gon's things again knowing that he would never return, that he never would hear the familiar baritone voice again or smell the Master's favorite freshly brewed sapir tea in the morning. Again the Force forsaken lump formed in his throat and he had to swallow to get his feelings under control again. He couldn't, wouldn't, break down and cry - at least not when Anakin was present. He would be every bit the Jedi Master he didn't feel like being. Not yet. Maybe never.

He had been so deep in thoughts that he didn't notice the almost unnatural silence in the entrance hall when the huge doors had closed behind them. The Temple was never a really noisy place but a low humming of voices could always be heard beneath the high ceilings. The Temple never slept, not even when most of it's inhabitants did.

Now it was depressively, eerily silent.

Yet it wasn't empty. As Obi-Wan followed the Council Members indoors he could see small groups which had gathered in the hall. Stray by-passers cast him curious glances and he felt like something that had been dragged in by a kitling. It made him wonder if he somehow had forgotten to dress in leggings this morning, but a discreet glance down toward his boots confirmed that every possible part of the Jedi attire was in place.

Then the whispering started. At first he couldn't hear the words, it was only a silent humming coming from many throats. Then he heard the most repeated word in the conversations: "Sithkiller."

For a moment he felt like the air was squeezed out of his lungs and he could hardly breathe. Sithkiller… A title he'd never ever wanted to have. It would for always remind him of the horrendous battle and the sickening feeling when he saw his Master fall, pierced by a red lightsaber. Then he straightened his back.

I have to act like I didn't hear that. I cannot respond to it whatsoever. They will forget. They will talk of the 'Sithkiller' for some days and then they will stop. At least I hope so. Let's take first things first, Anakin and I will need a place to stay, so let us get that matter settled.

"Anakin?"

"Yes. I mean, yes Master."

"Follow me. We'll go down into the lower levels to the depot and ask for the gear you need. They will also be able to assign us accommodation, be it our…mine…Qui-Gon's and mine old or a new one."

"Yes, Master."

The depot was just as quiet, just as chilly and just as scary as it had been when Obi-Wan came back from Bandomeer as Qui-Gon Jinn's new Padawan. He had been so scared then. Scared that his new status would be a fraud and that he would wake in his bunk in the cabin on Bandomeer again. Scared that Qui-Gon would realize that he was wrong and reject him as his Padawan again when things had settled down. For the first months he had been so terribly scared.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

Despite the old jedi code he could feel some of the same fear emanating from Anakin.

"What if he doesn't want me?"

And this time there was no Tahl around to make the new Master-Padawan pair feel comfortable with each other, no Tahl to rebuke the Master and no Tahl to soothe the Padawan. He simply had to do the job himself.

"Padawan Kenobi, what do you want?"

The brusque voice from the Master of the Depot broke his train of thoughts.

"Actually I…," he began, but he never managed to finish the sentence before a younger voice chimed in.

"He's not a Padawan. He's a Master. He's myMaster. And we want a place to stay…"

"Hush, Anakin," he said and laid a hand gently on Anakin's shoulder, "I apologize for my Padawan's behavior, Master Chacl. But it is correct what he says, we really would appreciate to be assigned quarters and he will need a full padawan gear."

Master Chacl gaped.

"You are…what happened?"

"I am. Master Jinn was…killed on our last mission. And I have been granted the task of mentoring young Anakin Skywalker. I guess that makes me a…Master, sort of."

The Master of Depot nodded silently.

"Very well, MasterKenobi, I will find a standard set of gear for your Padawan and then we'll see if we can find accommodation for you. Do you have any wishes?"

"I..we…Would it be possible for us to stay in Master Jinn's and mine apartment?"

Obi-Wan had not intended to sound so praying, but even he could hear the silent hope emanating from his own voice.

Master Chacl just disappeared into the inner sanctum of his depot. A few minutes later he came back with a huge pile of clothing, most of it in a size fitting a nine year old human, but on the top lay a brown robe of Obi-Wan's own size and a 3D printed sign proudly stating: "Kenobi/Skywalker".

"I hope I got the boy's name right," he said calmly, "and I couldn't avoid noticing that your robe has seen better days Master Kenobi. By the way, you have been assigned the old Jinn/Kenobi apartment."

In a daze Obi-Wan left the depot with Anakin (and a huge pile of clothing and bed linen) in tow. They had always assumed that the day Master Chacl freely gave out anything would be the day the Galaxy ceased to exist. And he had actually got a new robe without even asking for it, far less requesting it.

Now he felt slightly scared too…

The apartment was silently awaiting them. Obi-Wan hesitated for a moment before he put his hand on the opening mechanism and the door slid open. He was home, and yet not… Home had been with his Master, not with this young boy with sandy hair by his side. That just wasn't home. A sting of shame struck him and he turned to Anakin, hoping fervently he had managed to shield his emotions so well that the boy didn't perceive them.

Instead he turned towards Anakin: "Welcome to your new home, Anakin."

They both stepped into the small hall. Both man and boy with mixed emotions, coming from the same source. Last time Anakin had been here he'd hoped he one day would get back with Qui-Gon Jinn as his Master, the last time Obi-Wan had been here there had been this tension between him and his Master after the near repudiation of himself Qui-Gon had uttered in the Council Chamber.

For a moment he stood silent, reining in his immediate wish to run into his own room, close the door behind him and cry until there were no tears left. He couldn't. Partly because he needed to be strong for Anakin, or at least give an outward expression of being strong, and partly because…his room wasn't his any more. Or, would cease to be in a few minutes. It would be Anakin's, and, Force forbid, he had to be the intruder in Qui-Gon's room. For a moment it felt almost like blasphemy.

"Anakin, we have work to do. I want you to have the bedroom to the right, the one you slept in before we…were sent to Naboo. Can you please remove all the stuff you find in the closet and take it out into the hall, and I will do the same with what's in Qui-Gon's room?"

And with that Master and Padawan went to work.

A Jedi truly possess very few belongings so one hour later both bedrooms were emptied. And the hall was full of various clothing and other gear. Plus some of Obi-Wan's meticulously put together models of spaceships.

"These are wizard, Master. Can I keep some of them? I mean, If you want them yourself I understand but a Master cannot have spaceship models all over the place, can he? I mean, can you?"

For the first time in something that felt like an eternity Obi-Wan burst out with laughter.

"No, I guess I cannot. Feel free to pick those you want. But we need to get a cleanbot to clean the rooms before we move in again."

He grabbed the comm link and requested a cleanbot to come and clean the two bedrooms in the Kenobi/Skywalker quarters.

"What do you say, Anakin. I believe we have earned mid-day meal by now. Shall we go down to the refectory and grab a bite while the bot is doing it's work? "

Anakin nodded eagerly. Truth be spoken, he was really hungry by now.

Side by side the two stepped out of their apartment and set course for the refectory.

The refectory was usually a noisy place at this time of the day, but in the very same moment as Obi-Wan and Anakin entered the room and lined up in the queue before the counter the noise gradually died, and numerous pair of eyes turned towards them.

The whispering began again.

"Kenobi…"

"Sithkiller…"

"The boy has become his apprentice though he's way too old."

"He's the first one to kill a sith in a millennium.

"Pretend you don't hear them," Obi-Wan muttered to Anakin. "We're the news of the day, but it will soon fade."

Anakin just nodded. He wanted to scream out towards all the whispering voices: "You don't know anything. My Master killed the Sith after Qui-Gon was dead and I know I'm too old for this but Qui-Gon picked me and I will become a Jedi and I will make Obi-Wan proud."

But instead he pursed his lips tightly together and pretended they were slave traders on the market.

After several long, excruciating minutes they both had their trays loaded and they set off for the nearest empty table. As soon as they had seated, the noise level increased again.

"I assure you, Anakin, neither of us have grown four ears and 12 eyes… They will stop gossiping in some days," Obi-Wan tried to calm the rebellious feelings emanating from his Padawan, "and the first thing we must begin training is how you can shield your emotions. I believe every Jedi in the room perceived your emotions when we were lined up there."

"Oh…," Anakin mumbled, mouth full with spicy grainbread. Then he swallowed. "I'm sorry, Obi-Wan. I just didn't like them staring at us like that."

"I know," Obi-Wan sighed, "I know. I don't like it either, but I assume we will have to get used to it for the nearest future."

They polished off their plates and returned to their quarters as quick as they could.

Both bedrooms were clean and shiny and they decided to move in before they called it a day. It was with a heavy heart Obi-Wan collected Qui-Gon's remaining clothes into sacs to carry them back to the depot for cleaning and possible re-use by some other tall Master. He knew it was the only sensible thing to do, but somehow this simple task felt even more final than Qui-Gon's funeral pyre had been.

"We need to carry Qui-Gon's clothes down to the depot, " he sighed. "I assume we can do that at once. I will need to go through his other things when I'm settled and get rid of what's not useful anymore."

And with that they left quarters - again.

For the remaining part of the evening they were settling in in their respective rooms. Anakin busied himself with decorating the room with the chosen model spaceships while Obi-Wan was rummaging through Qui-Gon's belongings. Every now and then his heart contracted in pain when he recognized a drawing or small item he had given his Master for the Winter Festival.

Let it go. A Jedi craves nothing from the past and these were given to Qui-Gon. They are not mine to keep.

Then he saw it. It was a hologram taken on his 14th life day. He was standing between Qui-Gon and Tahl, all three of them looking almost ridiculously happy. The picture was taken outside Didi Oddo's place in Coco Town and he remembered that Qui-Gon had invited both him and Tahl there for a life day meal. When the picture was taken he had been so full that he barely managed to smile.

Silently he picked up the picture and placed it in the shelf. Blast the Jedi's attachment rule, he needed it. Just as much as he needed the black riverstone lined with red veins.

The room across the hall had become suspiciously quiet, and he rose to peek in. Anakin had collapsed on the bed, snoring softly, totally exhausted by the day's events. Carefully Obi-Wan took his boots off. Brushing teeth and wearing sleeping clothes would have to wait for another day. Softly Obi-Wan draped the blanket over the sleeping boy and returned to his own room.

Only minutes later he was dressed in his own sleep pants and covered by the new blankets in his new room, and with a black riverstone clenched in his right fist. Somehow it felt comforting.

 

Wonderful reflections and realistic reactions Of course Obi-Wan needs to keep those tangible reminders of happier times.
It's totally natural that the feelings of grief would mix in with the feelings of unreality: am I ready for this? on each side. But they really are getting along very well with one another.

 

a great story with the right emotions coming from Obi-Wan

 

I am glad you are writing this fic. It gives us a better understanding how the ancient Jedi order is run and what single individuals in it act like.

In the back of my silly mind I had to think about Kung Fu Panda, but that is me. Sorry for that!

 

Thanks so much for the feedback. The next chapter has been pending for a while since I've focused on another story + RL, but I really appreciate the comments. There will be some lighter emotions in next chapter.

 

Chapter 3: Settling In

"Obi-Wan! Wake up. Master…"

The shrill young voice penetrated Obi-Wan's sleep and he woke as he felt the blanket being pulled off his still half asleep body.

"Mmmmpfhhh…"

"Master! We have to get up. You're going to have me ins…inscribed to classes and we need to get there early. You said so yesterday and it's almost seventh hour already."

"Oh, did I? What? Seventh hour. By the Force, we should have been doing the morning meditation already."

The young Master bounced out of his bed and set the course towards the 'fresher, slamming his elbow into the doorframe as he entered. A silent 'ow' was all Anakin could filter out from the words emanating from his Master's lips.

Two minutes later he emerged, small droplets still pearling from his fringe after an all too hasty face splashing with cold water.

"Come on, Anakin. We have to go. We have an appointment with Master Sher'an at seventh hour sharp."

"We'll be too late for that anyway," Anakin muttered, "and besides, I'm hungry."

"Anakin, come on!"

Anakin followed with a slightly furtive mien.

They came to the appointment only three minutes too late and by that they avoided a scolding from Master Sher'an, only a slight disapproving glance could be seen."

"Master Kenobi, I've been expecting you."

Obi-Wan felt an urge to look back over his own shoulder to see who this 'Master Kenobi' was. It surely would take time to adapt to his new title. Somehow 'Master Kenobi' seemed less…fluent than 'Master Jinn'.

They quickly agreed upon Anakin's timetable for the first three months and Anakin and Obi-Wan left the office.

"Now, let's go to the refectory and get you some food before you meet to your first class."

Surely it wouldn't look good letting his Padawan starve to death the first week. Hopefully he would avoid such a disaster in the upcoming weeks as well. He really needed to do some shopping of groceries for the upcoming days. They would need to have something to eat for first meal in their own apartment on days like these.

…

Slamming an electronically guided door behind him should in principle be impossible, but Anakin made it with aplomb.

"Anakin! Don't slam the door. How did you manage it anyways?"

"Like this!" The door opened a bit and slammed shut again.

Obi-Wan held up his hands in defeat.

"OK, OK, I get it. Something is wrong and you're upset. What happened? "

"They've…they've…put me in a class with…babies!"

Anakin's voice was so indignant that he could hardly speak coherently.

"With babies?" Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow quizzically, "how so? I believe it isn't possible. All classes demands that one at least is able to speak coherently."

"Masterrrr!" Anakin growled, "My class mates are only six standard years old. I'm nine! They are babies."

He took a stance on the floor, feet slightly spread and arms crossed tightly over his chest. His annoyance almost palpable. Obi-Wan did his best not to burst out in laughter. A couple of calming breaths later he was able to speak again.

"Anakin," he said softly, "come sit."

"Don't want to."

"Come here." Obi-Wan patted the couch on his left hand side.

Reluctantly Anakin entered the living room, annoyance still flooding from him.

"Why do you think you're put in a class with someone who's younger than yourself?"

"Dunno' "

"Well, for how long have you been living here?"

Anakin scowled: "Before or after Master Qui-Gon died?"

Obi-Wan felt a little stab in his heart, but concealed it well.

"Both, I'd say."

"Well, we were here for about two weeks before going to Naboo, and then we've been back for five days. That makes it (he counted his fingers) twenty days," he finished triumphantly.

"Right. And how long have your classmates been living here?"

"Oh…." Anakin hung his head slightly, "longer, I guess?"

"Right again. Most Jedi arrive before they reach the age of three standard years. That means that your class mates have been here for at least three years already. They are about learning the same basics as you, right now."

"But I will never get friends here if I'm supposed to be with babies."

Anakin wasn't one to give in so quickly.

"I promise you, you will get friends. And if you study hard these first months I'm sure you will surplus your class mates in no time and escalate to the next levels quickly. You are a bright boy and since you're more mature than them you will soon bypass them. I'm certain of that."

Anakin looked up at him, far less agitated now.

"Do you really think so, Master?"

"I'm certain."

Obi-Wan squeezed his protege's shoulder comfortingly.

….

The seventh day came of their first week as Master and Padawan came far quicker than any of them had expected, and Anakin woke to the lovely smell of…pancakes? In a moment he was out of his bed. Pancakes was something his mother had made on the very rare occasions when she'd managed to get all the needed ingredients.

"Mom,…I mean…Master, what are you doing?"

Obi-Wan watched his oh so young apprentice with an amused glimpse in his eyes.

"Good morning, Anakin. What do you believe I'm doing?"

"It seems like you are making pancakes?"

"A very good observation, young one. Why is it that it surprises you so much?"

"I thought…I thought…that only moms can do that. Make pancakes, I mean."

"Well, you're wrong in that assumption, I can assure you that I'm not your mother."

A shadow fell over Anakin's young face and Obi-Wan saw the change of mood in him.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Anakin. I didn't mean it that way. I know you must miss your mother."

"I guess I do," Anakin answered hoarsely, "don't you miss yours? Not ever?"

"Anakin, like most other Jedi I never knew my mother. Most Jedi are given to the Order before they are three years old. I was even younger. I was given away when I was only a few days old. Or so I've been told."

Anakin's brow wrinkled in concern.

"Do you mean that you never met your parents? Not ever?"

"Not that I can remember, no," Obi-Wan assured. "I cannot remember anything else than growing up in my creche with my crechemates. They were almost like siblings to me."

"But why did your mother give you away so young?" Anakin asked. "Why didn't she want to keep you at all. Did you never wonder why? Did you ever think that she didn't like you?"

For a split moment Obi-Wan felt the old, well known feeling of being unwanted stab his heart, then he realized that Anakin was not intentionally trying to hurt him, he was merely curious.

"Actually I didn't think much about it when I was an initiate," he answered. "When I became a Padawan, my friends and I discussed our origin and that's when I realized that everyone else seemed to know something about their birth parents. But I didn't. So my Master and I tried to dig up some information about them, but we only found that I've been left at the stairs in front of the Temple when I was a few day's old. Later we discovered that my homeworld was a planet called Stewjon, but we never managed to find my birth family. Well, actually we didn't look for them either."

"I'm sorry," Anakin said quietly, "I didn't want to hurt you."

"It's OK, Anakin, really. I don't worry much about it. The Jedi aremy family, as they will become yours with time," he assured.

The stack of pancakes had slowly been growing while the two of them were talking and Anakin reached for the plates and drinking glass in the cupboard. When the first meal table was ready he looked upon his Master again.

"Master? You never really answered how you'd learned to cook?"

Obi-Wan chuckled softly.

"It was a necessity. Here, in the Temple, it's never a problem because we can always find something to eat in the refectory, but when out on a mission it's a necessity to be able to have some basic cooking skills. I learned that the hard way. Master Qui-Gon was a gifted Jedi, but he was never good at cooking. Sometimes I wonder if that was why he loved his tea so much, he couldn't make anything else. After the first mission together where preparing a meal was a necessity I realized that it would be a very good idea to learn some basic cooking myself."

Anakin snickered.

"I should be safe then. I don't need to learn to cook, since you're a Master of pots and pans…"

A plate with a huge stack of pancakes levitated from the stove to the small table.

"…and for that comment, my very young Padawan, you are the one who will have to wash the dishes after first meal today. Teaching you how to cook can wait until another day."

 

LOL!!!!!! "They're babies." A very realistic reaction! And love the tie-ins to Obi-Wan's earlier discoveries about Stewjon. He and Anakin are getting along wonderfully, full of warmth and teasing, and pancakes, always a great yummy thing!

 

Thanks @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha . Yes, I try to tie most of my stories a little bit together. Even though they're independent of each other I like them to take place in more or less the same universe.

 

Chapter 4: Headaches

Obi-Wan Kenobi had a headache. For the umpteenth time since he became a master himself, or more precisely the Master of Anakin Skywalker, he wondered how in all the kriffin' nine sith hells it was even possible to develop a migraine from nowhere. He'd never had that before, but now it seemed to be a constant companion. For some reason this new acquaintance of his seemed to find the evenings to be a good time to visit.

He had felt a vague pressure behind his brow the very first day in the Temple when he and his shiny new Padawan (would he ever get used to the term 'my Padawan'?) entered the refectory and Anakin more or less broadcasted his feelings for the curious Jedi throughout the room. In that very moment he decided that one of the first things he had to teach his padawan was to shield his emotions.

It was easier said than done.

Anakin did not grab the concept at once.

"Why?" he demanded to know. "Why am I supposed to shield my emotions here? I know I had to back home because if Wattoo had noticed what I really thought about him he might have pushed the button and -booom- exploded me or mom. Jedi don't do that. Do they?"

"No, Anakin - they, I mean we, don't, but it's embarrassing for others to 'hear' what we are thinking all the time. That's why we shield."

"Embarrassing?" Anakin frowned, "why? It was embarrassing for you when they called you Sithkiller, wasn't it?"

Obi-Wan blushed slightly, he really hated…no, Jedi didn't hate….disliked the nickname. Disliked it very strongly actually."

"Well, yes…"

"I knew it. So when they embarrass you, why should we care about us embarrassing them?"

Obi-Wan sighed. Heavily

"It is not the way it works. Besides, it was you embarrassing them, not me or we."

"That is not a good explanation," Anakin retorted.

"A jedi doesn't seek revenge and if that was your intention it would have been better if you had shielded."

"But it wasn't my intention. Not really. It just happened and I didn't like them staring at us as if we were back on the slave market, well I was there, not we because you haven't been there. Have you?"

The final part of the sentence was uttered with a slightly morbid interest.

"I have been to a slave market actually," Obi-Wan answered with all the Masterly dignity he could muster, "but I admit I don't know how it feels to be on…uh…the wrong side. However, Anakin, how would you like it if all these people were able to read your thoughts at all times, and you had no privacy what so ever?"

"I wouldn't like it," Anakin stated. "Back home we could sometimes hear everything the neighbors were doing and it was awful."

"Exactly so. And they can. That's why you have to learn to shield. If you don't they can read every single thought you have. It would be even worse than living in a house with nothing but windows on all four walls."

Anakin contemplated the explanation for a while before looking up.

"Master Obi-Wan," he said with a pleading look,"can you teach me how to shield?"

…..

The next seizure of headache, and this time it was more than a mild pressure, came a few days later.

"Kenobi!"

Obi-Wan grabbed his comm link from the table where he was absolutely sure it had not been the evening before. Somehow his very few belongings seemed to have gotten a life of their own and moved around by their own share will nowadays. Especially when Anakin was home.

"Master Kenobi," the unknown voice in the other end of the conversation said, "please come to the Students' Wing as soon as you can."

A very bad feeling hit his gut. (As if the beginning headache wasn't enough to handle.)

"Students' Wing? Is something wrong? Is it Anakin?"

"You may say that. I would appreciate if you could come here quickly."

And with that the call was ended. He managed the distance almost one minute quicker than last time he'd been called for.

Anakin was awaiting him in Master Sher'an's office. A blood stained rag rested in his left hand and traces of red beneath his nose indicated where the red spots originally came from. When he saw Obi-Wan he stood up.

"What is it this time?" Obi-Wan sighed exasperatedly.

"You may answer your Master, Anakin," Master Sher'an said calmly.

Anakin looked down. He obviously felt uncomfortable, but didn't say a word.

"Anakin…"

"OK, OK, I had a fight with Neela and he punched my nose, but I managed to give him a blue eye."

The last part was added with a very little jedi-like amount of satisfaction, and he looked up at his Master with a determined face expression.

"Well, the important question is why you came into a fistfight with one of your classmates?"

"He is not my classmate. He's three years older than I and my classmates are ba… they are younger than me."

Obi-Wan recognized a diversion when he saw it, and realized that Anakin certainly not was in the mood of explaining what had happened and why, and he wondered why. Even though their partnership hadn't lasted long he had already understood that Anakin had a haughty temper, even though he usually was a kind and well meaning boy. He felt the now well known headache curling up from his neck and systematically working it's way forward.

He made a light bow towards Master Sher'an.

"Has he explained to you what happened?"

The Master shook his head. "No, he wouldn't tell. The other boy, Neela, has been taken care of by his own Master and I hoped you would be able to make Anakin tell what the reason was."

Anakin pursed his lips tightly while his eyes got a very determined expression. Obi-Wan's headache notched up one level.

"Anakin, please tell us what happened," he said.

"No!"

"Anakin…"

"No!"

Obi-Wan realized that the situation was at an impasse, at least for the moment. If he'd learned something about his Padawan during the last few weeks, it was that he was almost as stubborn as his own deceased Master had been. He gave the boy a stern glance.

"Very well, Anakin. We will discuss the matter when we get back home. After class. I take it you're not going to die from a bleeding nose and unless you can tell me you feel unwell, you will go back to class now and come directly home afterwards. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master," the boy mumbled and with a very strained movement he bowed first to Master Sher'an and then to his own master and left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind Anakin, Obi-Wan let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Master Sher'an. You have my word that I will get to the bottom of his behavior and ensure it will not happen again."

The other master looked at him and with a facial expression half way between a frown and a incredulous smile he nodded.

"Don't promise more than you can keep, Master Kenobi. I have a feeling that this will not be the last time your padawan visits my office."

Obi-Wan returned to their quarters, and for once he allowed himself to lay down and rest for a few minutes. He really wanted to get rid of these headaches. Maybe some minutes of meditation and then a rest would help?

He woke by the sound of the door being opened, uncharacteristically silent. The sound of light steps moving towards Anakin's room revealed that the padawan rather not wake his master yet.

"Anakin?"

The steps came to a halt.

"Yes, Master?"

Obi-Wan sat up and looked at his Padawan.

"Come in here. Now."

Anakin shuffled inside, clearly not happy about the prospects for the next minutes to come.

"What happened earlier today, except the obvious, I mean?"

Anakin didn't move, nor did he meet his Master's stern glance.

"What. Happened." Obi-Wan didn't raise his voice, but the clipped pronunciation revealed that any attempts on not answering or even lying would be tolerated.

"We fought…"

Improvement. At least the boy said something.

"That much I have realized, but why?"

Anakin looked up, blue eyes shining suspiciously in his pale face.

"Neela said…he said…that you shouldn't have been knighted and that there was no way you could have killed a Sith. He said that you was…was…too soft because you like to read holobooks."

Obi-Wan's jaw dropped. He had expected almost anything except this.

"So, that was what he did. But that doesn't explain why you thought you had the right to fight him," he said.

"But Master, you did kill the Sith. And you are not soft."

"Anakin, sit down here. I want you to understand one thing. I really don't mind whether Neela think I am…soft… or not. If that is his opinion there is nothing you, or I, can do to change his mind - least of all beat him. If a Jedi fight, it should always be in selfdefense or to protect others, but…"

He realized his mistake before he even managed to finish the sentence. Anakin's head shot up.

"Right, and I defended you. Or rather your honor, Master."

The headache which had subsided after the nap came back with full force.

"I am fully capable of defending myself, my very young Padawan, but if I'm going to do so, it will be if you or I are in life threatening danger. Not because a twelve year old thinks I'm soft. By your actions you have set yourself and me in a rather embarrassing situation, and we will both have to take the consequences."

Anakin looked up: "How so?"

"Because we will have to go to visit Neela and his Master right away. When we get there, you will explain to them both what happened, and you will apologize for your rash behavior. And believe me, this will be more humiliating for me than Neela simply thinking I'm soft," Obi-Wan explained.

A tear trickled down the Padawan's cheek.

"I'm sorry, Master. it won't happen again," he whispered, and then with some more strength he added, "but if you're ever in life threatening danger I will do my best to fight for you."

…

It was late in the evening when the Master-Padawan duo entered their apartment again. Anakin was noticeably more subdued than he'd been earlier that day, and Obi-Wan's headache had increased to a heavy punching inside his temples.

"That was not fun," Anakin sighed.

"It wasn't supposed to be," his Master retorted dryly, "hopefully Neely and you will come on better terms with each other after scrubbing the shower area of the initiates dojos for the next week. By hand! No droids."

"Yes, Master," Anakin sighed again, even deeper now, and retreated to his own room.

As soon as the door closed, Obi-Wan allowed himself a small smile. They had turned up on the other Master-Padawan pairs' doorstep and Neela had been quite embarrassed to see him there. So had his Master when he heard Anakin's explanation of why the fistfight had occured. His apologies on behalf of his Padawan had been almost comical to watch. But after the pleasantries had been exchanged the two masters had agreed that some common labor would be a suitable punishment for the two boys and the rest of the evening had actually been rather nice. Neela's master had invited them for a cup of tea and when the tea had been consumed the two boys were chatting eagerly about starships and flying.

There was hope after all.

And somehow his headache had diminished to almost nothing.

 

A very realistic turn of events: a fight where Anakin wants to literally defend Kenobi turns into a lesson about how to do so and when and then the boys become friends and share a punishment they won't soon forget! Shielding is definitely an invaluable lesson as well.

 

Chapter 5: Bits and Pieces

"Anakin! What is this thing doing here? And while we're at it - what is it?" Jedi Knight, some would say 'Master', Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice rang with a tune mid-way between exasperation, pain and for a keen ear: despair. This was the third time this week he had stepped on…well…something when he was on his way from the couch or the bedroom to the 'fresher. And every time he did so, said 'something' appeared to be equipped with sharp edges or corners, which made the meeting between foot and 'thing' an unpleasant experience.

Two bright blue eyes in a round face peeked out from the padawan's bedroom.

"I believe," the young person said, "it's the tail of a model starship. Actually it is a AEG-77 Vigo."

Obi-Wan scrutinized the debris with a keen eye.

"I believe you're right, but that doesn't answer my second question: What is it doing here on the floor and where does it come from?"

"You've made it, Master!"

"I what?"

"You've made it," the young voice was more certain now, "don't you remember? When we came home…I mean, when we moved in here…that is, when I inherited your old bedroom you said that I could keep some of your old spaceship models."

Obi-Wan nodded thoughtfully. Actually he hadoffered Anakin to keep some of his own old models, being quite sure that they wouldn't really fit in in a Master's bedroom and somewhere, back in his mind - way back actually- a small insisting voice told him not to throw them away. After all he had spent many happy hours building them, sometimes while listening to his own Master's tales about space travels.

"I know I did that, but my assumption was that they should stay in your room, Anakin, not being spread out on the floor like this."

Anakin wouldn't be defeated so easily.

"If you were wearing your boots, it wouldn't hurt," he informed.

Obi-Wan sighed. Obviously this was going be another battle of wills with his young and quite headstrong Padawan.

"I shouldn't have to wear boots inside my own…our own…home. The floor should be barefoot safe at all times."

"Why?" Anakin demanded to know.

"You will realize why as soon as we start to go to missions," Obi-Wan explained. "Do you remember the marshland of Naboo? Where the Gungans live?"

Anakin nodded eagerly, hoping fervently that the mentioning of Naboo would lead to a tale that somehow involved Padmé. The hope was in vain.

"Well, that mission lasted only for a few days, but missions can be more long lasting…"

Obi-Wan's voice trailed off as his brain was lost in memories about a certain extended mission to Mandalore and several other planets.

"Master? Why do you get that weird expression in your face?"

His musings were mercilessly disturbed by his Padawan's voice.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just an old memory. What I was about to say was that missions may be long lasting and sometimes in uncomfortable places where we need to keep our boots on at any time. They are comfortable, but at home I like to have my feet get as much fresh air as possible.

Anakin scrunched his nose, and sniffed…

"Don't you even try that. I did go to the 'fresher this morning and I did not use only the sonic cleaner as someone else I know. My feet are perfectly clean, and besides I do wear socks."

This time it was Anakin's turn to object: "But Master, water is weird. That is something you drink. You don't waste it by soaking your body in it. And you said the sonic cleaner was a good substitute. You said so yourself…"

….

Obi-Wan's next encounter with Anakin's 'somethings' came three days later, when he actually had begun to believe the boy had understood that he should keep his belongings off the floor in the common room.

After consuming several mugs of silpa tea during a long evening where he tried to guide his Padawan through his assignments, he woke in the middle of the night and realized that the high consumption of tea just before bedtime as usual was not the best idea in the galaxy. He simply had to go to the 'fresher. Some bodily functions needed to be obeyed, jedi knight or not.

He never came that far.

Actually he came just two steps outside his bedroom, and thus just one step left to the 'fresher door, when a new 'something' caught up with him and pinched his right foot.

In pure astonishment he tumbled towards the opposite wall with a low 'thud'.

"Ow! What in the nine sith hells is that?"

He switched on the light with a slight movement of his hand. Right, frivolous use of the Force wasn't supposed to happen, but sometimes it could come in handy. As it did now.

The creature which had caused the pinch was definitely a mechanical 'something', but not like anything he had ever seen before. The body was oblong and less than a foot long, two rather large wheels was welded to it's rear part so it could clearly move quite freely, two smaller wheels could be seen in the front area - just below a pair of slightly scary claws which probably had given him the pinch.

He lifted up the small droid and scrutinized it further. It seemed to be made up from bits and pieces of…well…everything that could be found in a crate containing mechanical and electronic junk. Somehow the thing seemed to not like him because it clicked something that seemed most of all like a threat with it's small claws.

"Who, or rather what, are you?" he mused, "I have a pretty good idea where youcome from, but where did he get the parts from?"

With a resolute movement identified the power switch on the belly of the droid and switched it off. A high pitched, rather annoyed, 'beep' was the last sound heard from the creature. Silently he brought it back to his room and stowed it away under his bed, hoping that it wasn't able to somehow switch the power back on by itself. He had already learned that his Padawan was a very skilled mechanics and had a feeling that the droid could have a couple of built in surprises.

The following night Obi-Wan stayed awake. Even though he preferred sleeping at night he was quite curious to find out where his Padawan got all the mechanical bits and pieces, so he intended to investigate just that.

A few minutes after midnight he heard a low hiss from the door to the padawan bedroom and the sound of two feet, obviously not wearing boots, shuffling over the floor. Then a new hiss from the entrance door.

The apartment was quiet.

Stealthily Obi-Wan left the apartment, shielding the best he could in the Force. He did not want Anakin to understand that he was being followed, at least not for the moment. Quietly he followed the Padawan down to the main level and then a couple of flights further down. Cautiously he peeked around a corner, just in time to see Anakin disappear into the laundry room.

"Oh!"

A sudden understanding struck him. The ventilation of the laundry room was probably going directly out into fresh air, or- as fresh as the city planet could make. A small boy like Anakin could probably sneak out quite easily from there, as long as he knew how to stop the rotating fans. He was sure a skilled mechanic like Anakin had figured out that days ago. As silent as he had arrived he turned around and chose a more conventional exit from the Temple. He'd had enough of climbing ventilation ducts as a Padawan… Doors were strongly preferred when he had an option.

His assumptions were right. As soon as he came out he descended a couple of flights just in time to see Anakin's small stature disappearing into a hooverlift going down.

Not good.

How would he know where Anakin decided to leave the lift? There were almost hundred levels before the actual planet surface was reached. Desperate times needed desperate measures and with a quick sprint he managed to open the doors to the shaft and jump down upon the roof of the hooverlift before it had descended to much.

Thank the Force, nothing broken. The moving compartment didn't even move too strongly when he landed.

Thirty some levels down the lift slowed down and stopped, and Anakin exited.

Fortunately nobody was waiting in line to take the lift to another destination so Obi-Wan managed to sneak out without being noticed. Again he was following in Anakin's wake. The boy was good, but this was a dangerous area. Carefully Obi-Wan checked that the lightsaber could be reached easily, just in case…

Then he saw it. A huge pile of junk was gathered in a square area, lit by some quite modest lights. He could see Anakin pulling a bag from inside his tunic and begin to pick pieces of junk from the pile, -pretty much like a maid shopping groceries on the market. He almost chuckled by the thought of how Anakin would react if he ever got to know that particular comparison.

From time to time he could see eyes glowing in the dark alleys around the square, but for some reason they, whoever or whatever they were, did not make any attempts to attack Anakin. Good for them.

Finally Anakin seemed to have filled his bag and he set off in the direction they had come from. Obi-Wan barely managed to disappear behind a corner to avoid being seen. He saw Anakin enter the hooverlift again, and cursed silently to himself. Jumping down upon a lift was one thing, jumping up was something quite different. He would have to find another lift and get back home as quick as possible. He really, really wanted to wait in the apartment when Anakin came back.

He barely managed it. He had snapped 'the thing' from under his bed and barely sat down in his favorite spot on the couch when the door opened quietly and Anakin entered, just as silently as when he left.

Obi-Wan rose and with a flicker of his hand he switched on the lights.

Qui-Gon would not have liked this. I'm getting used to frivolous use of the Force. This is the second time this week. I hope he would have understood that in this case it's a necessity.

"Welcome back home, Anakin," he said plainly.

The boy's eyes seemed for a moment to transform into two big blue marbles.

"Ma…ma…master….?"

"You are aware that you are supposed to sleep at night? Preferably in your own bed?"

"I…I….yes, Master," Anakin's voice trailed off.

"And I presume you are already familiar with this little fellow?"

He pulled 'the thing' from behind his back. Anakin lit up.

"Oh. One C - there you are. I thought you had lost your way and disappeared from the apartment," he said.

"One C?"

"Yes. That's his name. He's the first droid I've made here on Coruscant so I named him One C . C stands for cockroach. When he's moving he resembles one. I used to make droids back home, at least I made one, and Threepio was beginning to function very well when I left so I decided to make a new one here for a new Threepio would be too big to store. They would never allow me to make one of those."

"But why?"

Anakin looked stubbornly at his Master. "I like making things and One C can pick things from the floor and get things and do all kinds of useful stuff, at least when he doesn't steal my models or tools or other things and pull them out here. I have to fine-tune his navigation skills a bit. He was supposed to collect things, not spread them out."

Obi-Wan was not so easily diverged.

"Anakin," he said softly, "I followed you tonight."

"Oh…"

"You headed for a level some thirty below here to find whatever you've got in your bag. You were observed by at least a dozen of the regular inhabitants down there, and you were extremely lucky that they didn't attack you. Those levels can be dangerous."

"But they didn't attack," Anakin stated triumphantly.

"That doesn't matter. They could have. And I am not so certain that you would have won that fight."

"But you were there, Master. You could have defeated them with your 'saber. I'm sure you could."

"I might," Obi-Wan agreed, "but fighting is not what we aim for. You were an intruder to their area and if I had been forced to fight them to defend you, what could that have made me?"

Anakin swallowed.

"Right," Obi-Wan continued, "that would have made me a killer. It's a tough life down there and even though they would not have been right to attack you, you were the intruder disturbing them. They might want to defend themselves and what little they have left down there. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Anakin's big blue eyes seemed suspiciously wet for a moment.

"I…I think so, Master. They are somehow slaves down there. They don't have a master, but they are slaves of the life they're living because in reality they cannot chose to live anywhere else…"

"Yes, that's right. So I want you to promise that you won't go down there alone again. Not ever. Or at least not until you have become a Senior Padawan."

"I promise, Master. But where shall i get my bits and pieces from then? We don't have any money on our own so I cannot buy stuff, and I cannot really steal it from the hangars either," he sighed.

A small impish smile spread over the young Master's features: "I said 'alone', Padawan. And that's a promise I want you to keep, but if you ask your old Master to follow you on an excursion every now and then, preferably in full daylight, the answer may very well be 'yes'."

 

I loved the banter about the 'fresher & water/sonic showers.


Totally entertained by Anakin's persistent making and tinkering! And Kenobi's stealthy following! It's fortunate he did, and Anakin definitely learned a valuable lesson about trespassing, thankfully not the hard way. And any future excursions will be in broad daylight. Whew!

 

Your description of their growing relationship with one another is fabulous, dear CaraJinn. The shyness, the misunderstandings, the frustration.

And sorry that I am online so seldom. This bad phase will continue for quite a while I am afraid.

 

Thanks both of you. I try to make this story a little "sandwich" of good moments and frustrations...

 

So as weird as this sounds I just read this story backwards... somehow I missed all the chapters after the first one I am loving it, too, it feels like we're just watching them go about their normal life, it's funny, and very much in character!

 

Chapter 6: Still Waters

The Kenobi/Skywalker apartment was a calm place. Extremely calm. Actually it was far too calm for Obi-Wan's likings. He knew he shouldn't complain, because in the few months that had passed since his unplanned and swift elevation to the Master's ranks the apartment had been a whirlwind of…well, chaos. The source of the chaos, namely his own padawan, was lacking. And that was weird indeed. At this time of the day Anakin would normally have come running in half an hour ago (why did he never enter walking, like normal people?), screeching to a halt in front of the cooling unit to pick up a snack and disappeared into his own room for some quality time tinkering with his mechanical projects. His own toes still ached by the memory of 'One C', -the toe pinching droid Anakin was so proud of, but he realized that the mechanical inventions somehow comforted his padawan, especially since said padawan hadn't found any good friends yet.

Where in the galaxy had he disappeared? He really should have been home by now. For a split moment Obi-Wan hoped that Anakin had found a new best friend whom he was playing happily with after the last class of the day. Furthermore he hoped that it would last so that he every now and then could have some quiet moments in his own company knowing that Anakin was content and was using his unstoppable energy on something, no someone, else.

He was fairly certain that this was not the truth.

Running through the corridors yelling 'Anakin' from the top of his lungs wouldn't be a very masterly thing to do so he assumed he would have to try a more subtle method to try to find Anakin. He stretched out through the training bond and found nothing. Where Anakin's usually sparkling energy normally would appear, there was now a mass of something grey and dull and general 'unhappiness'. It was all very vague, but it was there.

"Blast it!" he muttered to himself, "I shouldn't have been so thorough when I taught him how to shield properly. He learned that lesson too well."

From what he could feel the shields that prevented him from reaching his padawan really were strong. But at least his padawan was there - somewhere. He just had to start looking. Whatever it was that was going on wouldn't be good. With a deep sigh he left the apartment to start his search.

Anakin was nowhere to be found. The refectory was full, but no small sandy haired nine-year old boy was to be seen. Same with the dojos, which admittedly took some time to search through. He hadn't expected his protege to be found in the creche, and a closer examination proved him to be right. He ended up in the Teaching Wing of the Temple, which would have been a wiser place to begin the search now that he was thinking about it. Well, he most certainly had a lot to learn about being a Master.

His apprentice was nowhere to be found, which again was according to his suspicions, but that didn't matter. He went directly to the planning desk. The old master in charge looked up at him, quizzically.

"How can I help you, Master Kenobi?"

"I'm looking for my Padawan, Master Geobok," Obi-Wan explained, "his name is Anakin Skywalker and he didn't come home after classes so I wonder where he went off to."

"Ah, young Skywalker…" the older Master nodded, "his class in basic astrophysics was cancelled. The Master who is teaching the class has got the flu, so instead the students were sent to the pool for a swimming class."

Obi-Wan froze. A very bad feeling nudged his mind.

Oh, Force, I didn't see this coming at all. They shouldn't have had swimming training at all in this cycle. Anakin is from a desert planet and he is hardly used to any water at all, except for drinking. And barely so. He never uses the water shower if he can avoid it. He only steps into the sonic one. He must have been terrified.

"Where is he?" he asked.

"Well, I heard his teacher say that one of the students had ran off from class, and never came back. That might have been your padawan. He himself had to stay behind with the rest of the younglings."

"So, you actually tell me that my padawan ran away from the class and nobody even thought about informing me of the matter," Obi-Wan said in a terrifying low voice. "I will find him myself, thank you very much."

It took him several hours more to actually fulfill his promise. After searching the lower parts of the temple he finally felt a familiar tug in the training bond from the reactor creating heat for the entire Jedi Temple. Well hidden behind a hot heat transformer a small figure sat hunched together on the floor, wearing only swim shorts. Nothing more. His face was grimed by tears and dust when he looked upon his Master.

Obi-Wan instinctively sad down beside him.

"Anakin…?"

"I'm not going back. I'm absolutely not going there again," the boy shot his chin forward with an all too familiar stubborn expression in his face.

"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked plainly.

The boy sniffed and wiped his already red-rimmed eyes.

"They laughed of me because I cannot swim… and I wouldn't let them. And I couldn't fight them because they were already in the water and I…couldn't go there. So I just left."

"Why didn't you come home?" Obi-Wan asked softly and laid an arm over the boy's slim shoulders.

"I…I couldn't. I was in a hurry to get away before I got really, really mad and I couldn't run through The Grand Hall in…in this," he gestured towards himself, "so I took the stairs and ended up here. "

"Well, at least you found a warm place," Obi-Wan wiped a thin layer of sweat from his brow. "But you cannot stay here forever, so come with me now. We need to go home."

"No!" Anakin was determined now.

"Yes, you will," Obi-Wan stated. "Here, take my cloak and if we meet someone I will carry you. They will most likely believe you have hurt your foot or something."

Anakin nodded reluctantly: "Well, I am hungry…"

….

The dinner that evening was a quiet meal, which they ate in their apartment. While they ate Obi-Wan questioned his Padawan further.

"You are aware you will have to learn to swim, Padawan?" he asked.

Anakin snapped back in his defiant position. Arms crossed over his chest.

"No, won't do it."

"You will have to, " Obi-Wan repeated calmly. "What would you do if you were sent on a mission to one of the water planets, such as Glee Anselm? Walk on water?"

"I could stay in my ship," Anakin retorted hopefully.

"You couldn't do that forever. There will be multiple occasions where you'll have to swim."

A somber silence gathered around the boy.

"But all of them can swim already. And I cannot…"

"I know," Obi-Wan sighed, " after all you are from a desert planet so where would you have had the chance to learn? But that doesn't mean I can allow it to continue."

…

The Jedi Temple was quiet and radiated peace in the middle of the night. If anyone were awake they were not out in the corridors and thus the two figures, one small and one larger, who stealthily moved through the halls towards the pool area managed to remain unseen by human (and other species' eyes). Deliberately they aimed for the pool farthest away from the entrance.

Obi-Wan slid quietly into the pool. Anakin stayed behind on the edge.

"Come down, Anakin, I'm here to catch you and it is not deep."

Anakin looked suspiciously down on his Master and realized he had a point. The water only reached Obi-Wan to his waist and he was not an overly tall man, so Anakin could easily stand on the bottom of the pool and still keep his head above water.

"But Master, it's so…wet," he protested.

"I know," Obi-Wan confirmed, "that's one of the things with water. It is supposed to be wet."

The silence between the two hung thick in the humid air.

"We agreed upon doing this," Obi-Wan reminded his Padawan mildly. "If you don't want to slide into the water like I did, use the stairs."

Anakin swallowed hard and nodded.

A little while later he stood in the water, alternating casting skeptical glances to his Master and to the water.

"What if there's something in it?" he asked shakily, "I mean big fishes or something."

Obi-Wan stifled a laugh, and refrained wisely from quoting Qui-Gon's saying about 'there's always a bigger fish'. It would probably not be a good idea feeding Anakin's imagination with that right now.

"I promise you, Anakin, there are no fishes here," he said, "the water in the pools is recycled, cleaned and disinfected. Neither fishes nor bugs will survive the cleaning process. Now, please do look at me…"

And with that he leaned back and let the water carry him. Anakin watched with large round eyes.

"Wizard, the water is carrying you, " he exclaimed.

"Right, and it will carry you too," Obi-Wan explained. "You just have to trust it."

Anakin frowned. Admiring the water's ability of carrying his Master was one thing, trusting it to carry himself was something entirely else.

"I will hold you if the physics should fail," Obi-Wan promised. "I will put my hand behind your neck and now you can lean back and float."

"You certain, Master?" Anakin asked shakily, "you won't let me down? Literally…"

"I won't. You are perfectly safe," Obi-Wan assured him.

Slowly the padawan laid back and as his feet lifted from the floor Obi-Wan could see the anxious expression in his face change into something that best could be described as marveling.

"It's really true, Master. I'm flying!! "

"Technically it's floating," his Master corrected solemnly, "but you're right. It feels like being weightless and thus we may consider it as flying, sort of."

The lesson continued and before one hour had passed Anakin had overcome most of his fear of the water and he was even able to swim 2-3 strokes. Neither he, nor Obi-Wan heard the entrance door open, and the intruder was certainly hiding his force presence very well.

"What are the two of you doing here at this time of the day, uh…night?" Mace Windu's deep voice droned through the silent room.

Obi-Wan looked up and saw the Master of the Order standing on the edge of the pool, looking sternly down at them.

"I…we…I am teaching Anakin how to swim," he stuttered.

"So I can see," Mace Windu replied dryly. "But why do you do it now? After living in this Temple for the last 25 years, you should really know that the pool area is closed after 22th hour."

"Well, since Anakin doesn't have very much experience with water, I thought it best to be a bit discreet when we were working on the initial lessons," he explained truthfully, "you know how kids can be. Besides, it's important that Anakin catches up with his peers as quickly as possible."

The Master of the Order nodded: "The explanation is accepted. However, I would recommend you to keep your….bathing sessions to a more normal time of the day, Master Kenobi. The rules are valid for all of you. I suggest you both leave the pool area now. And I mean now."

"Yes, Master Windu," Obi-Wan confirmed sheepishly.

The tall Korun Master quickly turned and began to walk towards the exit, expertly hiding the small smile that threatened to form in his face.

Behind him a wave of water rose from the still water as if lifted by an invisible hand, and splashed down over the pair still in the pool.

"Now, Kenobi. Now!"

 

Very realistic portrayal of the trepidation of someone who is literally unfamiliar with water/pools. And being around those who've already mastered swimming doesn't help. Obi-Wan handled that expertly, even the encounter with Mace. I just wonder what would've been the reaction from Yoda, if he'd shown up at the pool instead?

 

What TPAM said, and also, when Mace Windu says "get out of the pool"...... get out of the pool.

 

I've only read through Chapter 3 so far, have to get busy, but I'll be back for the rest. Some thoughts:


“And he had actually got a new robe without even asking for it, far less requesting it.

Now he felt slightly scared too… “


I think we're all a little scared now.



“It would be Anakin's, and, Force forbid, he had to be the intruder in Qui-Gon's room. For a moment it felt almost like blasphemy. “

The psychological 'overtaking'; a son's usurping his father's place. Very well thought out and presented.



“He knew it was the only sensible thing to do, but somehow this simple task felt even more final than Qui-Gon's funeral pyre had been. “

Yes, indeed. It is finality to remove the last remembrances of a loved one, even after the physical form has been taken care of. Well done.



“Obi-Wan felt an urge to look back over his own shoulder to see who this 'Master Kenobi' was. ”




“"Anakin," he said softly, "come sit."

"Don't want to." ”

Who's acting like a baby now? It's Anakin!




““I should be safe then. I don't need to learn to cook, since you're a Master of pots and pans…"

A plate with a huge stack of pancakes levitated from the stove to the small table.

"…and for that comment, my very young Padawan, you are the one who will have to wash the dishes after first meal today. Teaching you how to cook can wait until another day." “

LOL!! Take that, Anakin.


Really enjoying it so far.

 

I'm back...

"I knew it. So when they embarrass you, why should we care about us embarrassing them?"

Obi-Wan sighed. Heavily"


Child logic. Anakin 1, Obi-wan 0.


"He managed the distance almost one minute quicker than last time he'd been called for."


He's been doing this a lot, lol. Pretty soon, he'll be on the Jedi track team.



"Obi-Wan returned to their quarters, and for once he allowed himself to lay down and rest for a few minutes."

When you're a parent, resting is a 'no-no'.



"If a Jedi fight, it should always be in selfdefense or to protect others, but…"


You stuck your foot in it now, Obi.



And somehow his headache had diminished to almost nothing.


Imagine that. Welcome to the life of a parent, Obi-wan. If you survive, it will be worth it. Or will it?



Chapter 5


"at home I like to have my feet get as much fresh air as possible.

Anakin scrunched his nose, and sniffed…"

Smelly feet, have we?



"They are somehow slaves down there. They don't have a master, but they are slaves of the life they're living because in reality they cannot chose to live anywhere else…"


I found this to be one of the best lines in the chapter. So true.


Chapter 6


"Running through the corridors yelling 'Anakin' from the top of his lungs wouldn't be a very masterly thing to do"


And why not?



"I will find him myself, thank you very much."


Crazed Papa-Wan Kenobi, lol!



Anakin nodded reluctantly: "Well, I am hungry…"


Sometimes the belly can do what the brain cannot, lol.



"I know," Obi-Wan confirmed, "that's one of the things with water. It is supposed to be wet."


You're not helping, Obi-wan.




"What are the two of you doing here at this time of the day, uh…night?" Mace Windu's deep voice droned through the silent room.


Uh-oh, here comes Buzzkill McParty-Pooper.



"So I can see," Mace Windu replied dryly.

He's the only one in the room who is dry.


Great updates. Mace with a whimsical side? That was funny, but possibly terrifying for Anakin, so we're back to funny. Looking forward to more.

 

@Vek Talis is right when saying: Child logic. Anakin 1, Obi-wan 0.

I have taught many clever kids between 1 years of age and 18 years of age the past years. We grown-ups can learn a lot from them. From life in general.

Master Yoda is right when saying that children have a beautiful mind in AotC.