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Hearing someone coming up the deck -- and certain it wouldn't be his master -- Anakin quickly dropped his feet from where they rested on the console and grabbed up a data pad with the Force, though he barely had it turned on before he was no longer alone in the cockpit.

"Master Jinn," he acknowledged.

"Padawan Skywalker. May I join you?"

Anakin grinned and nodded, then accepted the container of -- ugh -- tea that Master Jinn handed him. He took a sip regardless of his feelings toward the taste, however, and set the data pad aside without ever having to worry about what it might have been showing, since it was obvious that the older master was planning to stay a while.

Instead of feeling intimidated or perturbed as he might have with any number of other masters he was acquainted with, Anakin found himself welcoming the opportunity to interact. To study this person his master was showing a more than duty related interest toward, the first that Anakin could remember. That interest was probably based on some of the same reasons Anakin wasn't feeling resentment. So far Master Jinn had actually been friendly instead of judgmental. It made Anakin wonder if something about Coruscant seemed to encourage the distant behavior, as if residing too close amongst one another, and so close to the various Jedi Councils and the Senate, the resident Jedi forgot that not all of life was about duty and appearances.

Force knew how he hated politics, external or internal.

"I suspect my master wants me to show you the controls and give you a set of the passwords?" Anakin asked as he observed Master Jinn taking a few moments to look over the specifics of the ship and cockpit.

Although he nodded, Master Jinn didn't seem exactly comfortable with the idea, and Anakin had to wonder what that was about. By the jacket the other still wore, he'd guess that the older master knew how to pilot; Jedi as a rule didn't use things that rightfully belonged with or on someone else. Well, not unless they were involved in a mission requiring deep cover. And even then they didn't usually pick stuff that would so blatantly misdirect the observer. Should a civilian -- or quarry -- need, as well as expect, the undercover Jedi to be able to pilot, that Jedi damn well better know how to pilot.

So the unease couldn't be because Master Jinn wasn't confident in his piloting ability. Or because the other wasn't willing to take his share of the duty; again the master just wouldn't have bothered to let them know of his skill unless he was offering it.

Anakin supposed it could be that Master Jinn didn't know how to fly this ship. It was, after all, a little more than the typical independent pilot would be able to afford, and not one commonly used by the guilds or trade consortiums. But even if that was the case, surely the master wouldn't be embarrassed about having to ask questions? That type of pride was something you were supposed to grow out of even before reaching knighthood -- even if Anakin despaired that he ever would.

Oh. Maybe he resented having to be tutored by a mere padawan?

"Ah, I've got first shift as you might have figured out, but I'm sure Master Obi-Wan will be happy to run over the controls and everything with you a bit later," he suggested, just in case.

"What? No, I don't mind if you do so now," Master Jinn responded, although he sounded a bit distracted. The other's focus was on some of the new additions Anakin had suggested they make to his master's ship, which could mean that maybe he was familiar with at least the type.

"That is unless your duties preclude taking the time to familiarize me with everything," the other continued, turning quickly back toward Anakin. "I'm not too far behind on a rating for this type of ship -- the Mark II version. You would probably just need to show me any upgrades or non-standard patches you've installed."

Anakin grinned to see that the other knew enough to figure not all of the changes were particularly noticeable.

"Sounds good. Right now I've got to keep us out of the major traffic lanes until we're ready to transition into the first jump corridor, but we can go over things then. As you might expect, too many of the big guys tend to forget there might be other ships around them even with the sheer volume of traffic departing and returning to Coruscant. Master Obi-Wan and I have spent a little time exploring some of the less common routes. It might take us a little longer to quit the system, but avoiding that volume of traffic is a good thing, and by taking off a little earlier, we make up for the changes."

Not that that was the only reason for such an early departure, of course, but that other reason wasn't his to tell. Which reminded him of his next duty --

"Excuse me a minute, Master Jinn." And Anakin leaned forward to make a few modifications to the board, then to open up communications. "Prepare for half gravity in two minutes, Master," he sang out. But then frowned and turned toward the older master. "Ah, assuming that's okay with you?"

Master Jinn looked a little bemused, but nodded. "I don't want my presence to disrupt normal ship routine."

"Oh, I'm sure it'll do that, but only in a good way," Anakin laughed. Then sobered once he realized that he was almost interacting with this master as he would his own. And that was not something that usually went over very well. But Master Jinn didn't seem to notice, or at least didn't seem to care, and was now coming over to slide and strap himself into the co-pilot's chair.

"Your Master was mentioning about some excitement you had in your last mission?" the older man then asked as he made himself comfortable with the reduced gravity.

Although no doubt the question was meant to put him at ease, Anakin paused for a moment and rather wished he could just get into explaining the board and let that distract them from having a conversation. He used the excuse of tucking his padawan braid down the back of his tunic from where it had started to float up to avoid answering the question, but knew he wasn't going to get away with not talking for too long. And if this master was like most of the others, trying to deflect the conversation, or out and out refusing to discuss it would only invite them to badger him until they got what they wanted anyway.

Jedi -- especially padawans -- were not allowed the luxury of keeping memories or feelings that bothered them to themselves. If there wasn't someone out and out prodding, they were supposed to be able to meditate about it and release it into the Force.

When first confronted with this concept, Anakin had simply figured most Jedi masters were busybodies, gossips or worse. That because they didn't remember their own parents or family and what it was like to grow up like a normal person, they figured it was their duty to help counsel -- or discipline -- anyone else's padawan. He'd eventually learned that part of his assumptions were correct, that it was their lack of familiarity of the family dynamic that led to the communal desire to help raise the initiates. But he also learned that his master had very definite ideas of how best to train and raise Anakin, and that they didn't always match up with what the other training masters expected.

He had also learned that sometimes the talking really did help. Especially when the meditations did not.

"Well, ah, what exactly did Master Obi-Wan say about the mission?" he hedged as he bowed to the inevitable.

"That he had almost lost you on it, and that he felt this mission was coming a little too soon after the last." The words were spoken gently, matching the expression on the other man's face. "Anything I can do to help either of you in this mission, I hope you will ask."

Anakin let out a breath and cocked his head. "We're both cleared and able to conduct this mission," he said with a touch of fierceness, knowing that wasn't what the Jedi Master had been implying, but still feeling the need to make sure the other wasn't going to challenge his master for the leadership of the mission.

"Even if I didn't have every confidence in the skill of your healers or in the wisdom of the Council, I think I can safely say I believe your master would never do anything willingly to endanger another, either those he's been assigned to assist, or you, Padawan Skywalker." And still the other's expression was placid, warm, and not resentful of Anakin's response, even if the final formality might have been a bit of a challenge itself.

Again he let out a breath, something between a sigh of frustration and of relief. "It wasn't really that bad of a mission, well, other than it didn't end successfully and I almost died," he nodded, now willing to try and explain. "I mean, we've been on some others that our injuries were a lot more than just physical, you know?"

Okay, even this one had had its share of mental and emotional trauma, but looking back on it now -- it all seemed pretty trivial. Other than his guilt in causing the failure and his master so much concern at the time. And even now, given that his master had mentioned it to the other.

"We were sent as neutral observers to a disagreement on Z'ctanz. It's one of the Mid-Rim planets," he added, not knowing just how up on Republic worlds an archeologist or even a librarian would be. "And it wasn't really a disagreement despite the Senate saying so. It was a war!"

He scrunched his face, and then rubbed it briskly with the heels of his hands before redirecting his attention for a moment to the board and the course change he needed make at this stage of their departure.

"We'd been there for almost two weeks and hadn't even met either of the leaders," he continued, the disgust still present in his tone. "They'd sent their lieutenants to start some negotiations while they just kept the war -- the killing - going on." He paused again, this time to try and bring himself back under control, and also to give Master Jinn chance to say something. But a quick glance showed him only patience and sympathy, not the interruption or questions he was half expecting.

"Anyway, as you might imagine, this wasn't making Master Obi-Wan very happy, but we weren't sure how to put a stop to it. And we were there to make sure the fighting was being conducted without any atrocities, not actually to end the damn thing! But then someone let it slip that the natives of the planet weren't even conducting the war, that most of the troops were off-world mercenaries. Well, that wasn't at all what the Senate was at least pretending to know, and gave us a little leeway when one of those natives approached us to maybe do something. Like maybe making them take the war off planet and kill each other -- without destroying someone else's way of life."

It had all been so pointless, a matter not of patriotism or even of money, but of pride. And a callousness toward life, shown not only by the war leaders, but also in the men they commanded. He and Obi-Wan had been quite sickened about it, had almost been tempted to just leave them to their pettiness once the threat of Republic intervention got them to agree to vacate Z'ctanz. But it had been such a colossal waste of life, and when the opportunity arose to maybe end the conflict --

"We convinced those fighting that the Republic would send ships if the Senate found out, which got them off planet. Then, before the war could start up in space between their ships, we talked the leaders into meeting -- on one of the small uninhabited, but habitable moons in system. I don't think Master Obi-Wan figured he'd really be able to mediate an end, but any cease fire would at least allow the injured to vacate the area, and maybe encourage a few more desertions." Anakin shrugged. He believed in duty, of course, but even his master let him speak his own opinions about things.

And killing, just because you were paid to do so, seemed to him a thing of the Dark.

"The meeting didn't go well?" came Master Jinn's query.

Anakin suspected it wasn't so much a prompt, since he'd been saying this last bit rather fast and knew he couldn't just leave the story to that. Rather, he expected the other master was simply giving him yet another moment to gather back his control, and to offer some sort of support by at least showing a willingness to still listen even if Anakin's emotions were getting the best of him.

Using the excuse of looking over the controls again although nothing needed to be changed, Anakin even took a sip of the now tepid tea. He found it to be rather soothing despite his expectations.

"The meeting did not go well," he repeated after finally setting the thermos back down. "The leaders weren't even human, and no, I am not particularly biased against non-humans, but I at least had been expecting them to be so, since ninety percent of the beings fighting under them were. Unfortunately I wasn't very good at keeping my ... surprise hidden when they turned out to be a Toydarian and a Dug."

Anakin didn't mention why those two species particularly bothered him, that the two had come with body servants -- called such only because slavery was not allowed on worlds who wished to continue as part of the Republic. Or that it hadn't mattered to Anakin that the two generals were not the Toydarian or Dug who had once held his ownership papers. They had not been so far removed in either looks, obvious habits, or predilections for Anakin to have cared about that small difference.

But Anakin wasn't at all sure how much his master might have mentioned his past to this other master, and found he really didn't want to. It had been so nice not to be judged as a worthy or unworthy Jedi candidate on his merit and skill instead of because he'd once been a slave.

"And this Toydarian and Dug took offense to your surprise?" came another gentle prompt.

Anakin was surprised at how good Master Jinn was in reading his distress, since he was pretty sure he wasn't leaking it through his shields or showing it in his expression. After the first of the explanation, he'd been working very hard to keep his expression at least neutral. But only his master, those on the Council, and less than a handful of other masters had ever shown him that same type of sensitivity. He supposed it wasn't just because Master Jinn seemed to be pretty deep in the Living Force, or, even that the indifferent masters weren't so skilled themselves. Rather, he figured the others simply hadn't cared enough to show him -- or perhaps anybody -- such consideration unless it was relevant to a mission or a lesson.

Of course, he supposed Master Jinn might consider anything to be relevant to the success of the mission so far; it wasn't as if he claimed any great experience in participating in them.

"The Toydarian and Dug reacted to my anger by firing on us. I guess they thought we had duped them into coming to the negotiation but instead were going to arrest them." Anakin shrugged. "Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if shooting at someone hadn't been on their minds all along, though I would have thought it to be at each other before a third party. But, no, suddenly Jedi were open season, something the two of them could agree on. We defended ourselves, but there were also innocents in the room, and I pushed Master Obi-Wan into seeing to them, assuring him I could defend against a couple of blasters."

And he had, when it had only been the leaders and their few bodyguards. But, of course, just about everyone within fifty kilometers of their position were mercenaries, and fighting was the only thing on their minds. A couple of blasters soon became many, and it didn't matter that some of the new arrivals were happy to shoot at anything that was moving, including their own fellows. There were still too many bolts to successfully deflect.

"I was overconfident," Anakin then admitted, his master's lessons and value on honesty now too ingrained for him to even think of not taking the proper blame. "Not only assuming I wouldn't need my master's help, but in how I was fighting. I started showing off, maybe figuring I could scare them into backing down by showing them I wasn't scared; that I was as good or better at fighting then they were."

At this point he didn't want to pause where he had, but they'd arrived at the jump corridor they were going to use, and he needed give warning for the jump into hyperspace, which he did with a quick economy of words and movements.

"Even in the little bit of sparring yesterday, you may have noticed that my master has an ... acrobatic style of fighting?" he asked when his next duty was done and the stars turned to streaks outside of their view ports.

Master Jinn nodded but let Anakin return to the story without seeming to note the oblique tangent.

"Well, like many padawans, I've been trying to come up with my own style and am experimenting with several, but in the meantime I pretty much copy my master's. Lots of times I really can do it, and it looks so cool when Master Obi-Wan does it --"

He broke off when Master Jinn's expression changed for just a second.

Had that really been a smile?

"Well, this time I didn't do it right. I mistimed an overhead leap and landed with my ankle twisting underneath me. Are you familiar with slug throwers?" he suddenly asked. Then didn't wait for a nod, shake of the head, or any other sort of answer.

"Most of the mercenaries used blasters, but I guess the Toydarian found them to be too bulky to fire, or maybe he just liked how much noise and blood a slug thrower produced. He certainly didn't have to worry about the recoil as he just let it push him backward in a kind of glide."

He thrust his arm out toward the master and peeled back his sleeves.

"From what the healers said, I was really lucky," he continued as Master Jinn showed as much attention to the scars on both sides of his forearm -- the one on the outer part much larger than that on the inside -- as had the initiates with Bant. "Apparently there are different sizes of slug-throwers, different calibers of projectiles, as well as different types of materials they can be made out of. Some could have taken my arm off entirely at the point of impact just because of size alone, while others could have fragmented upon initial impact, and chewed my arm up better than a rancor. Some even hold chemical toxin inside to spill," he continued, admiring his own clinical recitation, especially in light of how green the Jedi Master looked for just a moment.

"But this gun or its bullet wasn't really very big, and while messy, the wound wasn't really life -- or even career -- threatening. Except that I also couldn't walk anymore from the sprain. I was managing, but not very well," he scowled. "And Master Obi-Wan left off those he'd been protecting to come to my aid as I started to go into shock -- in both the mental and physical sense of the word. He had to carry me while trying to get us back to our ship. I guess I was losing a lot of blood, and Master Obi-Wan couldn't take the time to treat the hole as we were still surrounded by about forty ships looking to spill more of it. We were chased all the way to the Devlin Corridor," he explained in bemusement at the severity of the risk the mercenaries had been willing to take just to kill two people.

"My master spent almost a day and a half gripping my arm as a pressure bandage, feeding me energy and going without food or sleep, plus staying one step ahead of the ships in pursuit. He says there were six in the official report, but I suspect there were more a lot longer along the way that he let on. I was unconscious the entire time, however, and I know he won't tell me how bad things were for him --"

"Does it really matter, now that you are both well again and the mission is behind you?"

Anakin pulled back in affront. Of course it mattered! He deserved to know the truth, to know just how badly he had endangered his master's life because of his own foolishness. He --

"Surely you are not saying your master keeps some sort of tally as to how many people he defeats --"

"No, of course not!" Anakin's scowl deepened. "He's a Jedi, not a bounty hunter. He --"

Master Jinn held up his hands to forestall any more of Anakin's anger.

"I am not accusing him -- or you --of anything, Anakin. But isn't it likely your master would have done the same thing whether there had been one ship or a hundred pursuing the two of you? Isn't it possible that he doesn't even know how many ships were really there? That all he was and is concerned with in a situation like that is protecting you? And isn't that all that is really important? That you would have done the same thing had your situation been reversed?"

Anakin sighed and suddenly felt stupid. And tired, as if he'd just spent the last hour or so doing repetitive katas instead of sitting on his backside telling a story. "Yeah. But I guess I still feel guilty and ... "

"It wasn't your fault, Padawan," the master offered. "I heard nothing here today that convinced me things would have turned out much differently. You yourself said the Dug and the Toydarian were looking to continue their fight." Master Jinn lifted his own thermos and took a long drink.

"Overconfidence is a fault, not a trait," he counseled. "As long as you recognize and take steps to correct it from reoccurring. Sustaining some sort of injury in that type of situation was pretty foregone, and you can be content that only you were hurt by what you did, which will help you remember not to let something like that happen again. Right?"

Anakin nodded, knowing that his face was red, but he was not really feeling embarrassment -- exactly. He'd been given a lot to think about even if it wasn't really anything different than his own master or the healers had already told him. Maybe it was different because Master Jinn didn't have the same biases as the other masters, or even his own.

Or maybe it just took massive amount of repetition to pound this type of lesson into his head, just like learning the katas or his various studies.

4.

"Stand by for resumption of full gravity in two minutes."

As Anakin's announcement came through the comm. system in his quarters, Qui-Gon looked up in surprise from the data pad he'd been reading. He'd been rather pleased that Anakin preferred to run the ship at something nearer half of Coruscant's gravity; being so large, any reduction in gravity made him feel a bit more graceful.

And fortunately he'd never been one of those bothered by nausea or disorientation in freefall, not even the transitions usually bothered him although he did take the care to adjust his frame into a better position within the bunk's webbing. Things did occasionally go wrong and it would be embarrassing to hurt himself this early into a mission simply from falling.

"Stand by for transition into normal space," came the next announcement and Qui-Gon's surprise grew.

Erinne lay three days out from Coruscant even through the hyperspace jump-points. Each drop into normal space would add at least an hour to the journey. This drop out was only five hours into the flight, and if that was the norm, it would actually take them nearer four days to get there than the three Obi-Wan had mentioned.

Anakin's warnings had been about the transitions, however, not any indication of trouble. But still ...

Despite his initial thought for caution, Qui-Gon found himself getting up out of his bunk and heading toward the cockpit. It wasn't as if he couldn't handle either transition standing or moving. Qui-Gon had to think the Force would offer him warning to be braced should there be some difficulty in the offing anyway. Just as it was now gently urging him to return to the cockpit.

Qui-Gon could think of no reason why either of his companions would prefer changing shifts in normal space instead of hyperspace, but he assumed the transition was for Obi-Wan to take over duties from his padawan. Which Qui-Gon found himself looking forward to.

While his chat with Anakin hadn't given him many more specific details about either master or padawan, it had certainly further refined the impressions he had already begun to form. The story had actually been horrifying, had first given him pause to be so forcibly reminded of just how much the Universe asked of the Jedi -- especially their young students -- as well as pointing out how different a Jedi he was compared to the other two.

He knew and believed that all means of service had value in the Light, knew too that more than once his direct actions had lead to an avoidance of the type of disaster Obi-Wan and Anakin's last mission had become.

He couldn't even really say that Anakin was worse for the experience -- or for any others he'd already needed to overcome or cope with.

In truth, Anakin was no more confused or insecure than any other teen his age -- at least compared to those of Qui-Gon's admittedly limited acquaintance. Xanatos had certainly exhibited the same tendencies to brood or feel guilty, to make mistakes. And Qui-Gon had gone through much the same in his own childhood. It was all part of growing up, as was learning to live with the consequences of those mistakes.

The difference, of course, was the field in which the mistakes were being played upon for Anakin. Qui-Gon didn't remember any instances of his own errors or Xan's resulting in their own or someone else's death, not even the danger of that happening. On the other hand, just deciding to get up out of the bed in the morning could result in death. Or, for that matter, deciding to instead stay in bed, as had happened to the few victims of Solus Four's last ground-quake.

Nor did it seem as if Anakin wasn't capable of playing on this more deadly field of life.

Whether one wanted to claim it was direct intervention from the Force, or just figured it as a testament to the training and skills of the Order, no matter how it was explained or believed, Jedi masters chose their padawans, they were not simply assigned by some form of committee. And rarely did a master choose an incompatible padawan, or one unable to become the partner that was expected. His friend Chan'tlc had been a healer, and so had become her padawan. His Xanatos was a researcher much like he was, as Qui-Gon's own master had been, and he had to assume Obi-Wan's master was a diplomat too.

So it was not too much to suppose that Anakin would eventually become a diplomat or warrior, as Qui-Gon could think of no better example of a compatible and proper pairing than Anakin and Obi-Wan.

Such thoughts had Qui-Gon looking back at Obi-Wan's door before then turning toward the cockpit when there seemed no point in pursuing something in Obi-Wan's direction. As before when he had checked a couple of hours earlier, the knight's door remained closed and Qui-Gon had little sense of movement coming from beyond it. While five hours was in no way extraordinarily long for a Jedi's meditation, it wasn't usually the norm for someone so young and obviously active, either.

Unless the Jedi in question was truly disturbed by something.

Yes Obi-Wan had exhibited some distress when talking of the timing of the mission, and Qui-Gon had been able to sense the knight's own guilt in needing to keep secrets from his padawan because of being one of the Council's Sith hunters. Still the knight did not strike Qui-Gon as someone who wallowed in angst or guilt for too long. Obi-Wan Kenobi seemed far too practical and pragmatic to need to extensively mediate about decisions and circumstances far out of his hands or control.

Obi-Wan wouldn't be the first Jedi to have fallen into a state of sleep during meditation. Especially if he had as little sleep the night before as Qui-Gon expected, given the early launch window and little enough prep time between the assigning of the mission and that departure. Qui-Gon himself had debated taking a nap after leaving Anakin to his studies, while the padawan stayed in the cockpit in case of an emergency.

But he had opted to read instead for his relaxation, knowing the need to worry at the tidbits Anakin had offered would have kept him from sleeping or relaxing without some other form of distraction. Furthermore, with their destination and the ship both using Coruscant Standard time intervals, he wouldn't need to worry about resetting his biological clock before their arrival, and so could keep to his usual schedule of activity for at least a little while longer.

By the time Qui-Gon had reached the hatchway to the cockpit, the ship had begun the transition into normal space although not yet to full gravity. He stopped at the first hint of disorientation. Then almost immediately resumed his tugging at the six-inch thick barrier, only to be abruptly pushed back -- along with the massive door -- by the ship being given an abrupt jolt away from their heading. The inertial dampeners had not compensated for the movement quickly enough, and for an instant, forward was up, and aft became down. Due to the partial gravity field, however, Qui-Gon kept his balance and pushed away with one hand instead of crashing into the bulkhead.

He shut his eyes and reached out with the Force for a better understanding of Anakin's actions. Not even the harsh emergency klaxon abruptly starting disrupted him before he had caught a glimpse of what had provoked the unexpected maneuver. Just as they dropped back into normal space, they had come under attack. By a multitude of other vessels.

The ship rocked under the impact of weapon's fire against their shields, then from two more near hits in quick succession.

"Going to zero G in five," Anakin warned over the ship-wide comm system.

For just a moment Qui-Gon was tempted to go back to check on Obi-Wan.

But he knew that no matter how deeply the knight might have been meditating or sleeping, the klaxons would have awoken him even if Anakin's initial, general warnings had not. And no doubt Obi-Wan's station right now would be in the weapon's bay; Qui-Gon would only be delaying the other or getting in the way should he go after the knight. So even though it was obvious that Anakin needed no relief from his piloting, given the acrobatic defensive actions he was putting the ship through and the fact that only one more impact had even reached their shielding, Qui-Gon might still be better able to help the padawan in some fashion than the master.

Or he would at least be out of everyone's way by staying in the cockpit.

"Anakin?" He folded himself through the opening and used the handholds across the ceiling to drag himself over then propel himself down into the co-pilot's chair as gravity cut out completely.

"I could use a hand," Anakin said in a tone that was not quite pleading. "If you can monitor the shields and other ship systems, I can better link with my master at weapons control, then need only worry about flying."

"Of course." Qui-Gon finished fastening himself into his seat restraints.

Looking over the board in front of him, he noted first that Obi-Wan was already bringing up the weapons systems, and that Anakin had made no attempt to open any sort of communications with their attackers. The three-dimensional sensor plot showed seven close targets but recognition profiles only for three. Giving a quick look at the real-time view screen, Qui-Gon saw that six different types of ships encircled them.

All were small, and built for speed and maximum offensive firepower, not long-range travel. Pirates, then, either operating out from a nearby, larger transport ship, or from the planetary system.

He began a search of the navigational readings.

The small system contained a single habitable planet, and two terra-formed moons around one of the outer gas giants. A wide asteroid belt also orbited around the mid-sized yellow sun, giving too many possibilities for a base for the attacking ships. Or at least viable hiding places. While pirates were not uncommon in the Outer Rim systems, it was rather unusual for a group this large to be in operation less than six hours out from Coruscant and the other Core Worlds.

On the other hand, it was even less likely for this to have been a planned ambush instead of a target of opportunity. To be some sort of concerted effort to stop the Jedi from reaching Erinne, their quarry would have had to have contacts within the Temple itself, which was extremely unlikely. And able to influence those contacts into giving up flight information. But they still wouldn't have known Anakin would have chosen to drop out of hyperspace here, unless they had influenced Anakin?

No, while their quarry was reputed to be dead, and might possibly be a dead Sith, even they couldn't influence a large number of folks from so far away. Especially Jedi.

It was also unlikely, from what little information Qui-Gon had dug up in the last hour regarding Sith encounters within the past five years, that somehow Obi-Wan was under constant surveillance because of his previous involvements. Cooperation or coordination between the followers of the Dark seemed as non-existent in recent times as it had in millennia past. Sith liked and trusted each other almost less than they did Jedi.

Be they pirates or Sith, however, their attackers did have the upper hand in numbers and fire power, and that was the immediate concern instead of how they had come to be here. Anakin and Obi-Wan would have to be very, very good to get them away before the sheer number of incoming fire overpowered the shields of the Udan Orr. They would have to hope they were defending from pirates, as such would be more likely to want to keep the ship more or less intact, along with a crew or passengers that could be ransomed. And then, three Jedi against even twenty or more pirates would not be nearly as difficult as one ship against seven -

Six.

Although he had not destroyed the other ship, Obi-Wan had managed to take out its propulsion system. While it might still be able to fire weapons, that likelihood of scoring a hit would be much less with it lying dead in space.

After another minute, their opponents stood at five, with another of the attackers having lost their weapons array to precise targeting. Obi-Wan was not going for kill shots. As a fellow Jedi, Qui-Gon appreciated the effort being taken to strictly defend, but Obi-Wan was not the only skilled fire control operator in this battle; they had taken a couple of well placed hits against their shield generating pods themselves. One or two more similar strikes and they would be just as vulnerable as the lightly shielded ships they defended against.

And no longer was he quite so sure the others would be so considerate in targeting to disable the ship instead of destroying it.

Qui-Gon began re-routing power from all the non-essential systems in an effort to bolster their failing shields. He had already sealed off the bulkheads in case of a hull penetration, and now he began taking all of the unoccupied rooms off the life-support system grid. Should any of them need to move from where they were to the engine room or medical, they would have to use one of the portable oxygen supplies. But that was a minor inconvenience when compared to the extra power this allowed him to reallocate.

Obi-Wan's next shot was either not quite as precise, or the knight had realized simply defending would take too long to put the others out of commission. Now only four opposed them, the fifth ship exploding in a sphere of shrapnel and coruscating energy that blinded Qui-Gon for an instant. Anakin didn't even flinch.

Not knowing whether to be impressed or fearful that Anakin was handling all of the maneuvering with his eyes closed, Qui-Gon dropped his own attention back down to his displays and the tell-tail warnings that began lighting the board. Some of the destroyed ship's shrapnel had gotten through the shields and was now impacting against their hull.

The four remaining ships seemed more angry than fearful of their compatriot's destruction, two flying recklessly closer instead of fleeing, or hanging back. Rapid pulses shook their ship until Qui-Gon felt like a clapper in a bell. Had gravity not already been taken off-line, they would have lost it in the last exchange, and both Anakin and Qui-Gon were rocked into the flight panel with bone bruising strength that would have been even worse were they not webbed in.

At this Anakin cried out, the first sound either he or Qui-Gon had made since their initial exchange at the beginning of the battle, but he didn't even slow in his coaxing the ship into several amazing maneuvers.

Another hit sent two more systems flashing red, one being the lighting system shorting out. Then the starboard shields failed, just as another shot was directed that way. Somehow Anakin managed something well beyond the manufacturer's tolerance specifications, and shifted them so the hit impacted against the still strong aft shields. Had he the time to consider anything other than the board in front of him, Qui-Gon might have been nauseous for all the contortions Anakin put the ship through.

Nauseous or scared.

Obi-Wan took out another ship, leaving only three active against them. But the hole in their starboard shields grew, and another couple of hits would likely bring down the aft shields. One of the two ships that had held back instead of going head to head against Anakin's brilliant flying now moved into a more aggressive position. Instead of continuing to fire its heavier grazers and x-ray pulsars, it brought its lasers into play.

For a moment Qui-Gon could only stare and wonder; such a weapon system did little against active shields. But then he understood when a second ship began a similar barrage. These new laser pulses were targeted against their view ports, just as the first must have been being directed against the weapon pods. Had either Anakin or Obi-Wan been using anything other than Force sight, they would have been more than temporarily blinded.

Even as Qui-Gon blinked and shook away his own reaction of automatic tears, demands for surrender started to come across an open frequency. The pirates expected them to be disoriented and demoralized, and Qui-Gon had to wonder what they would do upon discovering that was not the case.

Qui-Gon directed Force healing through his damaged optic nerve and regained enough vision to see the third ship drop away, spilling bodies and debris. Despite the tragic loss of life, he gave a little sigh of relief. Now down to two on one; even if they were boarded, there couldn't be enough pirates to seriously threaten the three of them.

Another look across the board and systems showing more dead than working and he felt his heart suddenly clutch. The communication trace showed the shrill demands didn't come from one of the two remaining ships. At least one more ship was out there, far enough away not to show up on the sensor grid, but with a powerful enough communications array to reach them regardless. And if it had fire power to match -

"Anakin, prepare to jump to hyperspace," Qui-Gon commanded without thinking. He was already feeding in calculations for a retrograde jump back along the path they had come from, and working out calculations in his head for a blind jump if necessary.

"Not yet -" a protest was torn from the padawan's mouth even as another hit shook their ship. This one hit them much harder, had to have come from the out-lying ship.

"Do it, Anakin!" came Obi-Wan's order to back up Qui-Gon's.

Qui-Gon expected to see disappointment or anger for having to retreat when he turned because the youth slapped his hands down. Instead he found Anakin pale and stricken, yet he had no time to question what was wrong before his plot fed into Anakin's board. And although his frown deepened, Anakin made no further protest and quickly shifted his attention back to his controls. In the next instant the chaos of two space fields trying to coexist swept through them.

Anakin wasn't sure if his queasiness came from the sloppy drop into hyperspace, or from feeling the deaths of those caught in their wake. He had killed before, but never so impersonally. Somehow that he couldn't see the eyes as their lives ended made it worse, like something from the Darkside. It had been so damn easy. And it would easy to do again: never connecting with his enemy, never really needing to acknowledge that by his action, another had ceased to live.

Anakin did understand the concept of the deaths of a few to protect the many. The necessity for a Jedi to sometimes kill in order to defend. He even knew that had they been able to disable the pirates long enough to turn them over to the proper authorities, some if not all of them would just as likely have been put to death for their past crimes regardless. High justice, as long as it was justice and not revenge, was a valid response to pirates, both legally and morally.

So why did it hurt so much?

He wanted to cry, or throw-up, and knew this was something he'd need to meditate long and hard about before he could begin to forgive himself.

Or begin to forgive Master Jinn for making him do it. Or forgive his own master.

He wanted to cry, and be held like he was a child again. To be told things were all right. That it wasn't his fault.

"Anakin, are you injured?"

Anakin gave a quick shake of his head. Not in answer to the question, but to clear his vision and light-headedness even though he knew it would make the pounding worse. "'m fine," he managed to get out through a throat that felt about three sizes too small. Much like the rest of his body. Moving his fingers over the board to turn off failed systems hurt. Moving his head to watch what his fingers were doing hurt. Blinking hurt.

He swallowed heavily and took a deep breath, hissing when that pushed his lungs against his bruised ribs. But his injuries were minimal if painful. He still had full access to the Force, which he quickly directed to give a boost of energy that would turn to adrenalin and start his healing.

"Are you sure, Padawan?"

Anakin nodded, turning at last to look at Master Jinn. The older man looked about as queasy and messy as Anakin felt, but wasn't bleeding anywhere obvious. "Nothing a little bit of rest and meditation won't take care of, Master. Yourself?" he asked despite being pretty confident of the answer.

"I'm fine."

"Then you need -- I can take care of things up here, but can you -" Anakin paused and bit his lip, in part because he had almost ordered a Jedi Master around, and in part because he needed the other to do what he'd nearly ordered. What he wanted to do himself.

"Can you please check on my master?" he began again. "He's not really hurt, I think, but it feels like he is unconscious and -"

Master Jinn's alarm might have been amusing, and it certainly told much about the man's growing feelings, but Anakin could only silently acknowledge the reaction before Master Jinn was floating up from his seat and pulling himself toward the back hatchway.

"Assuming it works at all, I'm going to return us to half gravity," Anakin warned as he began restoring the atmosphere to those sections of the ship between here and the weapons pod, then giving the overrides to unseal the bulkheads so Qui-Gon wouldn't have to fight them along with carrying his master to their small medical facility. Even assuming an inaccurate damage control system that so far wasn't reporting anything so catastrophic - were there a hull breach, the overrides wouldn't work.

So it wasn't like he'd be sending the other into some sort of unknown danger.

"I'll be down to help just as soon as I get repairs underway. Just in case, though, do you have one of our portable comm units?"

"Yes," Master Jinn impatiently growled back from where he hovered at the opening.

This time Anakin did allow himself a smile at Master Jinn's concern, but only after the other was far enough away that even a hint of his thoughts couldn't be sensed. Although Anakin loathed turning his duties to his master over to someone else, at least Master Jinn was exhibiting more than a dispassionate interest. And if Anakin were to be true to his earlier vow, if Master Jinn turned out to be the one who could help him fulfill that vow, he'd likely be less involved in seeing to his master's well being in the future anyway. So he might as well get used to the possibility now.

Yet that thought hurt almost as much as did the need to rationalize all of the deaths of the pirates. Despite his wish to see his master happy, he obviously still held some jealousy in thinking his own presence wasn't enough.

One more thing to meditate on.

After he made sure the ship would be able to come out of hyperspace again. And that they could resume their journey to Erinne.

Although a small ship, the Udan Orr was top of the line, and had been carefully maintained from the first day it had come from the shipyard. Not only did most of the operating systems have multi- redundancies built in, but she also contained a handful of servomechanisms that could perform basic repairs unsupervised. They did not have any of the artificial intelligence of a real droid, but Anakin had been able to tweak their programming to accept wider parameters of operation than had come from the factory. Which meant he could direct them to start on the worst of the internal damage, and would need only to run final diagnostics on their work instead of handling all of the repairs himself. Stuff he could oversee from the galley and their tiny medical bay once he put them to work.

Checking to see that the proximity alarms still functioned, Anakin set the remaining controls to autopilot and began unwebbing from his chair. Master Jinn hadn't radioed back any trouble in getting to his master, which meant he could head directly to the medical bay himself. And give the other the explanation as to why his master hadn't regained consciousness, which Master Jinn had no doubt begun to worry about.

Obi-Wan didn't need to open his eyes to know he was in some sort of medical center, needed only a few seconds to realize it was the one on his own ship. And to remember the circumstances which had led him to being here.

The ship had come under attack during a drop back into normal space. Leaving Anakin to pilot, Obi-Wan took over weapons, and took the responsibility for ending the lives of their opponents when survival and escape demanded it. He could feel his padawan's uneasiness about that, and knew they needed to talk. That gave him the impetus to open his eyes despite their return into hyperspace, and to move off the diagnostics table even before he tried to sort through the images that threatened to overwhelm his inner sight.

Only to find himself brought up short by a sturdy hand placed against his chest - his bared chest. A hand not belonging to Anakin.

"I'm not sure you should be moving yet. I am getting some anomalous readings from you, not to mention some plain, old fashion internal bruising."

It took Obi-Wan a couple more seconds to put a name to the multitude of faces that swam before his eyes. They all belonged to Qui-Gon Jinn, another Jedi, a master, and their resident expert on Force ghosts. Apparently also his nursemaid. Which meant Ani was dealing with the ship. Which meant the ship had taken as bad a beating as he had suspected before they had jumped into hyperspace.

Closing his eyes again, Obi-Wan let himself center on the warmth of the hand that moved from his chest and around to his back, now supporting his shoulders as the upper part of the table began to raise him into a sitting position. Moving exacerbated his headache, yet also helped him focus on the here and now, which was the only tolerable thing about it.

"The anomalous readings are probably normal for me," he said thickly. Just in case, he spared a little more energy to take an internal reading. A couple of muscle pulls, an ache about his neck and shoulders likely from whiplash, and the expected headache from the slightly out of synch translation. And, of course, the source of Qui-Gon's anomalous reading: a persistent, Force-induced vertigo.

He was also quite cold. But even as Obi-Wan started to shiver, Qui-Gon was wrapping a blanket around him. He was already wearing one across his lap. And little else. Immediately he started to blush even though he knew the other would have only reduced him to this state of undress from necessity.

"A piece of shrapnel worked its way through the back of your chair and about a half an inch into your right trapezius."

Obi-Wan flexed the shoulder and arm, only now recognizing the constriction he felt was also from bandages, not just muscle strain. The smell of bacta had been his first clue he was in medical, so while his upper back hurt and was quite stiff, it was already well on its way to healing. Certainly by the time they arrived on Erinne it would be at most tender, nothing to slow him down or make him unable to complete the mission.

"Your tunic and leggings were saturated with blood and I wasn't sure if you were injured elsewhere."

The flush of embarrassment spreading across Qui-Gon's face went a long way to curing Obi-Wan's. "Thanks," he offered, along with a half impish smile. "So the ship and my clothes are the only casualties?"

Aside from looking uncomfortable and a little disheveled from the time spent in zero gravity if not the combat itself, the Jedi Master didn't look and wasn't acting as if he was injured himself. Still ...

Qui-Gon nodded. "I am fine and Anakin says he is, but you might want to verify that through your link."

Obi-Wan did just that, not really needing to catch Anakin's attention and in fact purposely masking his presence so the teen didn't try to down play anything. Like himself, Anakin had gotten a bit beat up from the gyrations he put the ship through, but had already shunted enough raw Force energy through his body to no longer be bothered.

"And the ship?"

To that Qui-Gon shrugged and reached over to a sealed tumbler he had to have prepared previously as it was wonderfully warm when he placed it into Obi-Wan's hands. "We're still underway, and nothing catastrophic failed during the battle. It does appear they were just as interested in taking out our weapons as we were theirs. The maintenance tube aft of your pod buckled, which dislodged then snapped away part of the ladder and created the shrapnel."

Obi-Wan took a long sip of the drink. Not tea, not anything he recognized though he tasted a hint of berry and felt a slight kick from some sort of alcohol. It tasted quite good, soothed his throat, and was helping warm him more than the blanket, but not as much as the feel of Qui-Gon's hand when the other fussed a little bit more with securing the bandages about his shoulder.

"We were all quite lucky most of it impacted against the opposite bulkhead instead of into the weapons pod," Qui-Gon then said softly. "And that the seat bracing for your neck and head is thicker than that across your back. There was another spear that nearly made it through that portion."

The shiver that Obi-Wan gave at that was not from the cold. While he had no particular fear of dying and he wasn't sure he wanted it to come from old age in the first place, he did know he preferred it to be with his lightsaber in hand, not from some anonymous or random act of violence. Then his brain processed not just what Qui-Gon had said but how, and he shivered again.

We.

Maybe dying from old age wouldn't be that bad if it didn't mean he would be doing so alone.

Before Obi-Wan could do more than open his mouth to respond, however, pounding footsteps sounded, followed quickly by the source of the noise. A worried, excited and thoroughly worked up padawan.

Obviously he hadn't masked his presence nearly as well as he had thought.

"Master, you're awake!" Anakin exclaimed, bounding around the corner. "And really hurt!" he noted when his eyes took in the blood on his crumpled clothes on the nearby counter that Obi-Wan only just now noticed himself from Anakin's attention.

"Only a bump and a scratch which are already almost healed thanks to Master Jinn's quickness and expertise."

"Qui-Gon," the master in question quietly admonished before beginning to pick up and restore the supplies and equipment he had worked with, giving the two at least the illusion of privacy.

Obi-Wan recognized the nature of the fierce look Anakin gave him, and held out his hand to draw his padawan close. "I really am fine, Ani. No more stiff and sore than you are yourself. We'll work through it before we reach Erinne." He took the time to run his hand lightly over the crown of Anakin's head and down to the nape of his neck to confirm that nothing was too far out of synch within his padawan's body.

"I am also very proud of you," he said more softly, just for Anakin's ears alone. "I know how hard it was for you to follow that last order. I hope you know it was hard for me to give it. Not because of what it was going to do to me, but because of what resulted with the other ships and, therefore, you. Would you still have hesitated to follow the order even if the ships were not close enough to be caught in the translation wave?"

Although Anakin lowered his eyes, he nodded slowly.

Obi-Wan sighed and lifted his other hand to lightly grasp and raise Anakin's chin. "I know you wish to spare me discomfort. And I am most appreciative of the extraordinary care you take on my behalf, Padawan. But you must promise me you will never hesitate like that again. We both knew what would happen, but we also know that I will recover from the vertigo, and that I can manage even while it is happening. I would not so easily recover from you being injured, or especially from your death should that result because you are too afraid for me."

"Yes, Master." An automatic response, but Obi-Wan could also sense that Anakin genuinely meant it, even if he wasn't quite sure he could make such a promise and keep it.

Obi-Wan quickly stifled a second sigh. While Anakin had always been a little too protective of him, he had understood the boy's need, and his fear of losing yet another person who meant so much to him, as he had his mother and Obi-Wan's previous master. He had no more desire to leave Anakin, in death or from any other means, than the teen wanted to be left. But theirs was a dangerous life, and Jedi did die; padawans, knights and masters.

Maybe he had been wrong to be so informal with Anakin. If they had the more normal master and padawan relationship, there wouldn't be so much fear of loss. Of course any death was a loss and the Order grieved, especially those who had been linked or bonded to the one who had died. But they were Jedi, and had learned to accept death as a natural part of life from their first days in the crche. By being taken from their families so young, the ties later formed simply weren't normally as strong as those forged in family.

Except for the one boy who had come to be a Jedi when he was nine, and had learned too early the pain of losing someone they loved.

"I will keep your promise, if you make one to me," Anakin suddenly whispered with a fierceness that only focused attention on the affection shining in his eyes.

Obi-Wan raised his brow.

"I will try not to dwell on what may happen in the future, if you stop dwelling on mistakes you think you have made in the past," came out in a rush.

"And that is the only way I will get you to obey me, Padawan?" Obi-Wan kept his tone cold, the emotions the challenge raised, hidden. He couldn't just let this pass, and yet ...

Instantly Anakin blushed and lowered his eyes again. "I'm sorry, Master. It's just that I -- you -- no one else blames you for Master Mace, but you still ..." His voice trailed off in contrite confusion.

Obi-Wan relented, recognizing the fear and guilt left over from that time that still plagued Anakin as deeply as it did himself. Maybe if he did forgive himself for his master's death, he could help Anakin do the same.

He pulled gently on Anakin's neck until he could lean up and brush his lips against the teen's forehead. "I will endeavor to try, Padawan," he promised.

"And I will be more aware of the big picture, Master, and not just consider things for how they effect either of the two of us."

Obi-Wan smiled. "How about you give me a hand up then, and I'll give you a hand with the repairs."

"First let me help with your headache." Because it felt so good when Anakin began to focus some of his abundant energy on Obi-Wan's aches, too late did Obi-Wan note the glint in his padawan's eye. He had time only to widen his own eyes in protest before the compulsion to sleep overrode his admittedly faulty mental shielding.

5.

Although he had managed to stay busy, and had purposely chosen not to overhear what Obi-Wan and Anakin had been saying, Qui-Gon could not ignore the surge in the Force that occurred behind him. He turned in time to see Anakin lowering the raised portion of the diagnostic table, then drawing both blankets to better cover his master.

"Tell me you didn't just put your master to sleep?"

From the guilt that chased across Anakin's face, it was obvious the teen had forgotten for a moment that he wasn't alone in the room with his master, that another master was present who just might object to such liberties being taken. But the guilt quickly turned to resolve, which Qui-Gon found himself respecting.

At least until he got an answer.

"I did, Master Jinn. But only because my master is too protective over my well-being, and too stubborn to look to his own."

"We've already talked about that, Padawan. It is a master's prerogative." Qui-Gon strove to keep his tone neutral along with his expression, though he did move back up to the other side of Obi-Wan to look the knight over. He had to admit that a few of the pain lines that had tightened around Obi-Wan's eyes did seem to be easing.

"Yes, sir, I know and agree. But this time my master was only concerned because it was his shift in the cockpit, not because I might be too tired to continue with monitor duty or repairs." There was no hint of contrition or remorse in Anakin, even as he acknowledged he might have overstepped his responsibilities. Qui-Gon could read that the teen was more than ready to accept any consequences his actions may have caused, either by his master later, or from Qui-Gon right now.

Again, such conviction was hard to censure as it resonated with support in the Force.

For a few moments more Anakin fiddled with the blanket, then smoothed back Obi-Wan's hair before leaning over to kiss his master's forehead. He made to leave, but waited for Qui-Gon to proceed him as they moved into the galley, and thus showed a continued willingness to explain or accept punishment; whatever Qui-Gon saw fit to demand.

For his part, Qui-Gon was still willing to listen. He took up one of the chairs in the galley and waited for Anakin to seat himself. "Your master's injuries are well on their way to healing, which would not have changed had he rested in the pilot's chair."

"Yes, sir," Anakin agreed again. "And if that was all there was, I would have only suggested I take another shift instead of insisting." He sighed and fidgeted slightly in his chair, finally turning his head far enough around to take another look at his sleeping master. "It's not really my place to tell you, but, well, you were real understanding earlier. I know you are bothered by what I just did, and this may affect something else you'll need to do before this trip is over, so I think you really need to know."

The only time such a statement had been said to Qui-Gon before had been when someone else had been too ill to properly perform their duties. Once when another knight had perforce to persuade him to take over a mission from the senior Jedi they had been working with, and once when a fellow master had been requesting permission to leave a mission because of an injury his padawan had been concealing and had become life-threatening. He didn't want to think this was something of the same nature, couldn't imagine the Council would have sanctioned such a team for the mission if they were not able to complete it, even if he had misread the diagnostics of the medical examination he had performed on Obi-Wan. Or misread his own Force-sense.

"Your strength lies in the Living Force, doesn't it?"

Qui-Gon nodded somewhat warily in answer to Anakin's question.

"And no doubt you've noticed that I swing between the Living and Unified Force, depending on what I'm doing." Anakin suddenly grinned, and looked about fourteen years old instead of seventeen. "Not even my master or Master Yoda knows which will prevail once I get myself under control. Assuming I ever get it under control," he added a bit self-deprecatingly.

"With your master's strength lying in the Unified Force, it would take quite an effort on your part to learn enough about the Living Force on your own to become its master."

Anakin nodded. "That's what most of the other masters tell us. And I know Master Obi-Wan is desperately looking for someone better versed in the Living Force who can also stand to work with me, so we can better understand and explore my full potential."

Qui-Gon raised his brow at that. While Jedi were as full of faults as any other sentient being, disliking another Jedi rarely affected any working or training relationship once formal studies or duties got underway. And even before then, rivalries formed between initiates before they had chosen their life's path more often than not fell away under the realization of their dreams. There were simply too few Jedi and too many tasks needing to be done for one Jedi to ignore the aid another of their brethren could offer.

But Anakin was implying his teachers, the other masters, were having trouble working with him.

"My training isn't the problem I'm talking about though, or is only a peripheral part," Anakin said intuitively.

Qui-Gon hoped that his shielding or thoughts weren't that transparent.

"Our problem here is because of my master's rapport with the Unified Force. Well, because he's also prescient. One or the other would be okay, but with both, traveling through hyperspace is very ... unsettling. That's the main reason he prefers we leave so early. He usually can work around it by doing something involved like piloting or katas. When we're traveling on a commercial or hired ship, he either goes to sleep or meditates through the first transition." He scowled and started to drum his hand on the table, but halted before Qui-Gon gave any thought to stopping what was obviously a nervous habit.

"But the timing of this mission meant I had to cancel my next ratings testing, so I talked him into letting me do most of the flying the whole trip, including taking us out. I never would have done it if I expected we'd be attacked, and that we'd need to make a jump before he could prepare for it!"

Now Anakin's eyes were filled with guilt, and no few tears. While Qui-Gon didn't fully understand what the nature of Obi-Wan's distress was, he had seen the results, and the results of Anakin's feelings about it. He reached out and gathered the hand Anakin had left on the table between his own.

"I am not your master, but I have had a padawan myself, Anakin. And I can sense how strong the bonds between the two of you are. You do him credit with your concern, even as it has led you to acting on convictions which might be contrary to his wishes. Don't mire those convictions in guilt, too. The only thing we can know is that your piloting saved the ship and has kept the mission intact. We cannot know if the same result would have occurred had either your master or I been piloting when we were attacked."

"But if Master Obi-Wan had been piloting, he wouldn't have dropped back into normal space to be attacked," the teen protested somewhat more stridently. "I always drop us back into normal space for the shift change to give him time to surface and center before he has to take over."

"Which is a very kind and responsible action to take," Qui-Gon praised. "But neither can we say something similar might not have happened without that transition; the ship just entering into the fray when you took us out could well have been large enough to pull us out of hyperspace regardless. And that would likely have been an even more uncomfortable translation that was our return to hyperspace." Qui-Gon gave the other a warm smile.

"Had that happened and your master been piloting, he might not have been able to perform as skillfully as you had. Or if you hadn't made the drop and we were still pulled out, he might not have been able to man the weapons pod. Avoiding being disabled or destroyed by seven ships is quite an extraordinary accomplishment, Anakin. It is not something many other pilots could have done, myself included."

Anakin was not too old not to take a measure of pride in his flying, or to appreciate a heartfelt compliment, especially by someone who really could understand what he had done. Even so, Qui-Gon could see the boy was not completely convinced what had happened hadn't somehow been his fault.

"Do you feel the pirates knew we would drop into the normal space when we did, Padawan?"

Anakin looked up from the table in surprise. "N-no."

"So you would conclude that they were lying in wait for any prey, not specifically us."

This time the teen said nothing, just nodded.

Qui-Gon managed to keep a smile from his lips; it was certainly not a laughing matter, but he had his own small measure of pride in how easily he was leading the other into a logic trap.

"And in order for that type of action to be effective, the pirates would have been lying in wait for a number of hours if not days previous, and would have undoubtedly waited hours or days more had we not shown up, correct?"

Another nod.

"Would it be safe to say that they would still be there, or would be returning there day after day until another ship arrived, then?"

"Y-yes, sir." Anakin was obviously beginning to sense that he had been neatly trapped, but was just not quite taking the leap to see where.

"Then based on your assumptions of their tactics and their skills which you observed first hand, what would have happened had the ship that next ran into them been an unarmed diplomatic cruiser? Or a luxury liner?"

"The pirates would have overwhelmed such a ship, sir," came out in little more than a whisper.

"And innocent people would have died or been injured, captured, and maybe ransomed or sold into slavery -"

Awareness had been dawning, but at the word slavery, Anakin's face lost all of its color, to the point that Qui-Gon feared the teen would pass out.

"Padawan Skywalker?"

The youth swayed a little in his seat, but then Qui-Gon could see him marshal his control.

"Whether it was the will of the Force or not, Padawan," he offered softly, "what we know is that because of your piloting, we survived, and that has now insured others will also survive. I am not prescient, and by how you speak of it, I would imagine you are not, at least not yet. So we cannot know all of the possible outcomes of all possible actions. Only the one in the moment we take it. To dwell on anything else can be madness."

And even as he said the last, Qui-Gon began to wonder if that was the root of Obi-Wan's difficulty in hyperspace. Moving through one point when all things and all times were possible. If you could somehow see that, it would be madness.

"I have learned about most of this stuff, Master."

Qui-Gon hid his smile at the slight peevishness in Anakin's tone. "I've no doubt you have, just as I meant no slight against your master's teaching by pointing it out just now. Yet I also know it is quite one thing to spend most of your life hearing and studying such things, and that they stay merely a thing of philosophy. Right up until the moment the philosophy becomes truth."

Anakin nodded, and with more conviction this time, yet still worried at his lips before turning away to glance again toward Obi-Wan. It was as if he needed the visual assurance despite his link. Which led Qui-Gon to believe Anakin was again about to offer information he wasn't sure Obi-Wan would approve of being disclosed.

This made Qui-Gon question the nature of Obi-Wan and Anakin's bond. They were obviously close, closer, in fact, that almost any other pairing he had come across. But it had been obvious just the day before that they did not share a mental closeness as deep as their emotional bond. Otherwise Anakin would not have been so caught up in the communion the three of them managed to form during their katas. This distancing wouldn't be all that surprising, he decided, given that both had lost their masters on the same mission, leaving Obi-Wan to take over Anakin's training.

It was hard to replace bonds willingly let go -- such as the natural parting between a master and padawan who gained knighthood. It was infinitely harder to replace bonds that were severed abruptly by the death of one of the participants.

Anakin was still silent, still fidgeting. For a moment Qui-Gon backed away from the thought of encouraging him to speak whatever was on his mind; if it was something Obi-Wan wouldn't approve of, he didn't want to come between a master and his padawan.

On the other hand, even had Qui-Gon been blind to the Living Force, he could sense how conflicted Anakin currently felt. He had never been able to sit by and ignore another's distress.

"Pada - Anakin, you can ask or tell me anything," he said not unkindly. "I will keep your secrets or keep your master's secrets if you need that of me. But you need to lessen your fears if you intend to keep on your feet. If it is something you cannot talk about, then give me the commands to continue to oversee the repairs and go meditate if you will not rest."

"It's not a secret," Anakin responded, but then fell silent once again. And even when he finally worked up the courage he'd been looking for, he kept his eyes locked on the finger he was using to swirl around some spilt liquid across the table. "I mean, everyone at the Temple knows, or most everyone. But you're new there, and I guess no one had told you yet, which means you didn't judge us like they do, and -"

Qui-Gon had to fight to keep from grabbing up Anakin's hand. "Whatever you have to say will not change how I think of you or your master."

The teen raised his head and met Qui-Gon's gaze squarely. "Yes it will."

Qui-Gon paused before giving an automatic denial. And took a deep breath that was not quite a sigh, was more of a testing of the flavor of the Force.

"You are right," he started finally. "No doubt it will. But because I do not know either of you well, everything I learn affects my impressions of you. I cannot think of anything you could say that would make me not like you, however. No, I know there is nothing you can say that would make me not like you." Or your master, he wanted to add, but didn't, at least verbally. Not yet.

"You're eager, intelligent, willing to listen and to learn. How could I not like you, Anakin Skywalker?"

"Because I'm not supposed to be a Jedi."

By tone, by expression, Qui-Gon knew Anakin did not mean his words in the sense that he wouldn't pass his trials, or even that he should have been rejected as an initiate and not become a padawan. This was something fundamental, as if he had come about his Force sensitivity dishonestly. Or hadn't been found -

"Your master mentioned yesterday that you didn't grow up on Coruscant," Qui-Gon began slowly.

Anakin nodded. "I was born and lived for nine years on Tatooine."

Trying to recall what he could about a place named Tatooine - a moon? -- Qui-Gon paused to let Anakin continue. But the teen wouldn't, not yet, leaving it up to Qui-Gon to try and drawn him forth a bit more.

"Isn't Tatooine somewhere on the Outer Rim? A desert planet?" But, of course, Qui-Gon had gotten that information from Obi-Wan's conversation yesterday, not from his own knowledge.

Still Anakin nodded. And waited.

There were no Jedi training enclaves in the Outer Rim, were hardly even searches conducted there for likely candidates to be taken in as pre-initiates. So many of those planets either didn't belong to the Republic, or their governments turned a blind eye to the Republic's laws. Jedi, as perhaps the most visible and recognizable enforcer of Republic law, therefore, were never trusted and rarely welcomed.

"So you weren't found and raised at one of our Temples?"

Another nod.

"Which means you didn't lose your master on the same mission Obi-Wan did?"

Anakin took a deep breath. "I was a slave when Master Mace and Obi-Wan found me. My mom and I had been owned by a Toydarian to work his shop, but after mom d-died, I was sold to a Dug because of my mechanical skills. He was a pod racer," came the further explanation. "And a cheat when his or my skill wasn't enough for him to win."

Now a sigh that spoke of long ago pain and Qui-Gon didn't even think about not taking up the boy's hand between his own again.

"For some reason Master Mace and Obi-Wan met with your owner?" he prompted gently.

"Yeah." Another sigh. "They had made an emergency landing and needed parts to repair their ship before they could take off again. Watto, the Toydarian who had owned my mom and me, ran a parts junkyard. He had what they needed, but wouldn't take Republic credits. They needed to find a way to make money fast, and on Tatooine, that means gambling. The Hutts run the place," Anakin added.

Which, as he intended, pretty much explained it all.

The Hutts were just as notoriously known for their gambling vices as they were for their lawlessness.

"Anyway, there was a pod race scheduled, which they bet their ship on. And lost. But -- I mentioned that Sebulba, my master then, was a cheat?"

It was Qui-Gon's turn to nod.

"Well, he had cheated during that race by sabotaging several of the other racers' pods. This was pretty common for him, only there had never been a Jedi around when he had done it before, so he had never gotten caught with proof. A lot of folks were really happy to see him get caught this time, including Watto, who got me back in his own wager when Sebulba's things were distributed to pay off those he had cheated."

The hand Qui-Gon still held began to tense. He tightened his grip to give Anakin something to hold on to.

"A lot of people were just as unhappy Sebulba had been caught, though. They blamed the Jedi, and wanted some payback of their own. Obi-Wan and Master Mace were getting the parts they needed, Watto having changed his mind about accepting their credits since he had come into so much wealth because of their actions. And some of Sebulba's friends -- or maybe they were just people he owed who would now never get their money since he'd been banned from racing after getting caught - well, whoever they were, they attacked. With a bomb of some sort, or a grenade, anyway, something that got thrown. There was a tremendous explosion. And because of so many power sources and fuel cells stored around the shop, the creeps didn't need more than one to set off a whole series of other explosion."

"But that wasn't how Obi-Wan's master died?"

Still looking down at the table, Anakin shook his head.

"At the time I knew nothing about the Force. I thought Jedi practiced magic. And I could see it -- the magic around them -- when Obi-Wan and Master Mace reacted even before the first blast. I didn't know I could do the magic - access the Force myself. I was scared without knowing why, because I knew I was going to die. Somehow I was able to draw on the Force even then, and was being warned about what was going to happen.

But the power was wild, using me instead of me it, and the next thing I remember was instead of taking hold of the hand Obi-Wan had been offering to get me out of there, he was being flung through the wall of Watto's shop."

"And you were worrying about my initial reaction to you, Anakin?" Qui-Gon interrupted, trying to diffuse a little of the tension and guilt that still gripped the youth. "Getting Obi-Wan - getting any Jedi as your master after a first impression like that is just as big an accomplishment as what you did today to keep us from being boarded or destroyed."

Although it hadn't quite come out like Qui-Gon intended, by the other's flush that was all embarrassment and no guilt, Anakin seemed to have figured out his meaning: that the teen had to have been pretty special to be able to win over someone he had nearly killed.

"Yes, well, Master Mace reacted in time to save Obi-Wan, of course. He didn't know the Force surge had come from me, just used his own abilities to snuff it out. Which dropped me unconscious too. And so Master Mace was only able to get the two of us out before the rest of the place went up. With Watto dead, no one disputed Master Mace's claim of responsibility over me. But I think the Hutts really just wanted to get the two Jedi off their planet before any more damage was done, and figured losing one slave was bargain enough. They even threw in the parts needed for the ship as a bonus along with my papers."

Qui-Gon suspected Anakin had been correct about the Hutts' motivation.

By necessity, his own research had taken him often enough into the Outer Rim to follow up rumors and oversee excavations of ancient civilizations. While the Hutts did not control every planet thusly located that did not have Republic supported governments, they certainly had their slimy hands into most of them. There wasn't even a word like altruism in the giant slugs' guttural language. So any favors they might have done for a couple of Jedi had to benefit themselves more.

"Obi-Wan's master then discovered you were Force sensitive on the trip away from Tatooine?" Qui-Gon prompted again to get Anakin away from dwelling on a more than obvious distressing part of his life and back to the subject at hand - becoming Obi-Wan's padawan.

Anakin blushed. "Obi-Wan knew exactly what he had been hit with in Watto's shop. When he, ah, regained consciousness a couple of days into the trip, he told Master Mace."

Given the approximate age of the two now, Obi-Wan would have been around twenty-three then. A senior padawan, and probably not far from his trials, but still under his master's authority and likely even more outspoken than his current reputation, since he hadn't the responsibility of needing to be an example to his own padawan yet. Qui-Gon could well imagine the nature of how such a discovery had been mentioned to Master Mace, given how embarrassed Anakin still was about what had happened.

Something of what he had been thinking must have shown on his face, for Anakin quickly offered more details.

"Actually, Obi-Wan was pretty forgiving about what I'd done, even then. I know that was partially because he and his master had other concerns; they were already overdue in their mission because of the problems that led them to set down on Tatooine. Anyway, Obi-Wan helped Master Mace with some testing on me in between all the other things they were trying to take care of on that trip. And I could tell they were pleased with the results. We finally got to Naboo and from there I had a pit-crew view of watching them bluff their way through an orbital blockade, rescue a princess, and ... fight a Sith."

Anakin's tone and expression were too intense for Qui-Gon to make light of the casually referenced happenings on Naboo. While he was interested in the details, it was obvious now that Obi-Wan's master had died there, just as it was obvious that Anakin didn't really want to talk any more about it.

Indeed, the teen suddenly grabbed his hand back from Qui-Gon and stood up. Instead of going over to check on Obi-Wan as Qui-Gon expected however, Anakin moved over to the small heating unit and the pot the Jedi Master had started after bringing Obi-Wan into the medical bay. He poured two drinks and served Qui-Gon, then began to pace, simply holding his own thermos without drinking.

Qui-Gon decided not to worry about mentioning that it wasn't tea. If Anakin was old enough to fight a Sith, he was old enough to drink a little liquor.

"Master Mace had told me from the very beginning that I was too old to be trained to be a Jedi," he started again in a soft voice, not exactly changing the subject. Perhaps more returning to their original subject, from which Naboo had been the tangent. "He did think that since I showed an aptitude for mechanics and flying, he could sponsor me into one of the air corps. He'd also agreed to work with me on some control over my Force use since he'd seen first hand what I could do when caught by surprise. Needless to say, I was pretty happy about my future, and thought he was just about the most wizard person I'd ever met. I didn't care about being a Jedi, just in being free."

Anakin stopped for a moment in his pacing and shot Qui-Gon a glance although no comment had been made.

"Okay, I guess in my heart of hearts, I thought it would be pretty wizard to be a Jedi. Master Mace had spent more than half the travel time training Obi-Wan and they didn't mind me watching. It was so cool, not only seeing their lightsabers and what they could do, but that Obi-Wan had healed so quickly from the damage he had sustained when I had pushed him through the wall. I'd thought then it was a Jedi thing, not really because of the Force. Obi-Wan explained it was a bit of both; he'd learned how to heal himself in Jedi training -- though his master was much better at it -- but could only do it because of the Force. And I figured if I could learn it, even if somehow other things like the Air-corps didn't work out -- that even if somehow I ended up being a slave again, at least I wouldn't die because of some stupid injury and no medical assistance."

Though the words were left unspoken, it didn't take a Jedi to figure out why Anakin was so concerned - and so bitter - about lack of attention to an injury. Softly, "How old were you when your mom died, Anakin?"

"Seven, seven and a half." Anakin shrugged. "She'd been hurt when equipment in the junkyard fell on her, then got sick from getting hurt. Watto actually did try to get help for her, though only because an injured slave couldn't do very much. But the guy he found didn't really know what he was doing, or was too stupid or drunk to care. She died about a month later."

No doubt Anakin knew exactly how many days it had taken for his mother to pass into the Force, probably even the number of hours. Qui-Gon found himself wishing the teen would sit down again so he could offer some form of comfort. Depending on how long Obi-Wan stayed asleep from Anakin's Force compulsion, Qui-Gon vowed to make sure Anakin took time for himself and meditations if his master could not oversee it soon.

"There are times when Master Mace's death hurts worse than my mom's," came a near whispered confession. "Obi-Wan has never blamed me, but some of the other masters have - do. Never out loud, of course, and maybe they don't even realize what they are thinking when they see me, but sometimes I can sense it anyway." Finally he came back to his chair and slumped down in it.

"And I blame me. I'd been told to stay in hiding, but I just had to follow them. I wanted to watch. After seeing what Obi-Wan and his master did against the soldiers and droid fighters when they freed the princess, I couldn't imagine how one guy could be a threat, not even when he removed his cloak and I saw he was some sort of horned monster. Not even when he brought up a light saber too. Or when it became a staff with blades on either end."

Qui-Gon nodded. Few people outside of the Order had ever heard of the Sith. When so many non-Jedi already feared the Order even though the Jedi only used their powers for defense and on the behalf of others, it was hard to admit that the monsters they expected Jedi to be did exist.

"And even when I figured out something was different about the Sith, I didn't run. I like to think I followed because I thought I could somehow help, not just because I was excited, but I don't really know anymore. I had managed to hurt Obi-Wan pretty good before I had any idea of the Force and what it could do, so surely I could do something to the horned guy now that I did know?"

He looked up as if expecting an answer, but didn't give Qui-Gon opportunity to comment.

"I never got the chance. I don't know if it was because he could read my thoughts, or had a way of seeing it anyway, but from almost the very beginning it was as if the Sith knew that Obi-Wan had been injured recently. That he wasn't anywhere near as healed as he'd led me to believe."

Even now, Anakin's face held a bit of indignation at the memory. But guilt overshadowed everything else.

"The monster kept trying to push at Obi-Wan as I had done on Tatooine, kept thrusting out with his blade or a hand exactly at the places on his body I'd helped bandage. He was also using the Force to do that, which made Master Mace angry, especially after the Sith knocked Obi-Wan off the landing they were fighting on and down a couple of stories to a walkway below. I guess I got pretty angry too. And scared. I didn't see him do it, but Obi-Wan managed to get himself back up to the level of the fight. He started to run to catch up the few hundred yards that separated him from his master and the monster, just as I came out from my hiding place. The Sith threw some sort of energy attack against me and I just stood there in complete panic. And like Master Mace had days earlier in Watto's shop, Obi-Wan had to choose who to help. And who to let die."

"And he chose you."

Near tears, Anakin sniffed and nodded. "He jumped in front of the stupid lighting, trying to turn it with his lightsaber like he and Master Mace had been doing all of the blaster bolts. But it was a lot more powerful than a blaster bolt. I think M-Master Mace needed to help turn it too, like he had helped Obi-Wan against my Force ... push, which left Obi-Wan's master open to the Sith's blade."

Qui-Gon gently put the thermos back into Anakin's hand and encouraged the teen to take a drink to give them both time to regain their composure.

"I've had just about every one tell me it wasn't my fault," Anakin muttered into his drink when Qui-Gon would have spoken. "The Soul Healers were quick to say that if I hadn't been there, Obi-Wan would probably still have been pushed off the ledge, that he and his master would still have been separated by the Sith. And that if the Sith had blasted Obi-Wan directly with the lightning right off instead of at me, Obi-Wan might not have worked so hard to deflect it, thinking he could just absorb and pass it off like any other energy burst. From what they think it was, they say it would have killed Obi-Wan. Which would have still distracted Master Mace and then two Jedi would have been dead with a Sith running free. And Naboo would be lost to the Dark, or the Trade Federation, or whoever was really behind the stupid blockade."

Qui-Gon took his own sip. "All very logical conclusions. It would be very easy to see the hand of the Force guiding you all, from the moment their ship malfunctioned and made an unscheduled landing on Tatooine and finding you. Many people would say that your being there saved Naboo."

For a moment there was a rather incongruous smirk on Anakin's face. "The Princess did," and he blushed clear up to the roots of his sun-streaked blond hair. "But I wasn't the one who killed the Sith. That was all Obi-Wan."

It was surprisingly innocent how Anakin called his master simply Obi-Wan when thinking of the days before they had bonded, but went out of his way to make sure the master was put before the name anytime else he used it.

"For all the horrible stuff I saw on that day, I will never forget - would never want to forget -- seeing that fight." he offered with a lot more animation in his face. "He was so wizard! You just couldn't imagine how amazing Master Mace and Obi-Wan were fighting together. The Sith was probably not much older than Obi-Wan, was about the same size, and just as acrobatic, if not more. The things all three of them did were just impossible. Leaps, flips, jumps, the parries and thrusts. It was so scary, but so beautiful in its own way."

Qui-Gon kept silent in Anakin's pause, but made sure his expression showed no censure for this admission either. In some ways he could understand Anakin's fascination; from what little his own inexpert eye could make out from yesterday's session, Obi-Wan was more than just a remarkable swordsman. If the Sith was in the same category, or even better for being older and trained solely for the task of fighting against a Jedi, it would have been an awesome sight to witness, no matter the intent or outcome.

"I've watched my master fight since, and he is even better now, but on that day he absolutely glowed in the Force. After the Sith killed Master Mace, the monster never had a chance, no matter how many tricks and Force things he tried to throw. Obi-Wan was mad - furious - and sad, but he was also so focused on making sure the Sith could never do that again to someone else. I think some of the masters afterward - and the healers - suspected Obi-Wan had stepped into the Dark when he killed the Sith, but he hadn't."

Said with absolute conviction and a shadow of the Force in emphasis, but totally unconsciously.

"I could see his light, can still see it sometimes," Anakin said almost to himself. "Fortunately, so could the High Council. They came to honor Master Mace, and said the battle was Obi-Wan's trial, making him a knight even before he got out of the medical wing set up in the palace for the off-worlders."

"Which left him able to take on an Apprentice." Qui-Gon had to smile.

"Well, it wasn't that easy, but yeah," Anakin blushed. "I know Master Obi-Wan would have followed his master's plan and found someone else who could have recommended me for the Air-corps. He had even talked to a few people on Naboo on my behalf; there were a lot of deaths in that war, a lot of parents who lost their kids, also a whole lot of people that needed to be replaced, especially mechanics and pilots. Plus the Princess liked me and said I was a hero." Another blush.

"But after the Council confirmed he had fought a Sith, Obi-Wan pointed out what might happen should another Sith find me and decide to train me in their ways instead of me getting training in the Jedi ways. One of the masters argued about how unlikely a Sith would ever find me, while he was thinking I was just too old and would be a nuisance right up until I failed. When another pointed out how unlikely it was in the first place for there to have been a Sith on Naboo once, yet that almost insured the likelihood of there being a second, a third Councilor said I was too old out loud, while she was thinking I had too much power to ever be controlled. It was kinda funny, hearing them say one thing and think another, but I was also getting kinda mad. Especially as they were fighting and arguing when they should have been either celebrating Obi-Wan's accomplishment, or helping him heal from the battle and his master's death instead of tiring him out." A bit of residual anger still hovered around Anakin for that.

"I guess I kinda started pushing, trying to get them to just shut up, if not leave. And again things got out of hand, cause there was just so much power in the room with having half the Council in there. Master Obi-Wan was arguing that the only way someone with my potential could be protected until I could protect myself was to be trained as a Jedi, while I just wanted to make sure no one else ever died because of me."

He looked troubled and somewhat guilty again, but at the same time, the words that followed were fiercely unapologetic. "I had seen Master Mace try to convince Watto to take Republic credits that first meeting, then saw him later convince one of the Princess' advisors to get over her hysterics. And I had seen the Sith try to convince both Master Mace and Obi-Wan to stop fighting, so I figured convincing people was another Force trick." He suddenly blushed.

"One of the masters in the room was a little green guy. He looked pretty old and pretty feeble, and hadn't been saying anything, so I figured he wasn't very important, but that maybe if he also supported Obi-Wan, they would at least go off and fight about it somewhere else."

A little, green, old and feeble Councilor. While Qui-Gon knew none of them personally, every Jedi knew of Master Yoda. And while Anakin's description of his physical attributes was accurate, the teen couldn't have been more mistaken about the rest. Master Yoda was the most formidable Jedi in the Order, the one most in tune with the Force, the wisest, the most respected and, while not officially the head of the Council for they were all equal on paper, in practice his opinion or actions were never contradicted.

"Needless to say, my bit of compulsion didn't work," Anakin said in all embarrassment. "Master Yoda knew what I was doing of course, but also knew why. And he supported me anyway, at least in not bothering Obi-Wan anymore about it right then." This time when Anakin got up, he did head over toward his master, but with little of the restlessness or guilt that had been plaguing him earlier.

"I didn't see the Council again until Obi-Wan was out of the infirmary. They had held off Master Mace's immolation until Obi-Wan could attend, and it was after that when Master Yoda told him the Council would allow him to take me as a padawan if he still had a mind to."

He smoothed back Obi-Wan's hair in a tender gesture, as if their ages and relationship were reversed. Qui-Gon was struck again with how different both were from the other Jedi he knew. By Anakin's contradictions in age and personality. In many ways the teen was as old as his master, certainly in exposure to the worst that life had to offer, and in his ability to cope. Also in his willingness to perform his duty even if it went against his orders. But in other ways he was still a boy, awkward with his emotions and feelings, easy to excite or anger, traits his peers would have learned to control while Anakin had still been a slave. Since Anakin didn't really know who or what he as yet - and certainly not who he was to become -- it was no wonder other masters had difficulty in relating to him.

Which was quite a shame.

In the next instant, Anakin tossed back the rest of his drink like an old space hound and looked back over toward Qui-Gon. "I had best get back to overseeing the repairs."

"How can I help?" Qui-Gon also finished his warmed brandy and rose.

"We don't have any true AI droids, but the servo bots are pretty useful in diagnostics and simple repairs anyway. If you could go up the bridge and read off some of the readings to me in engineering, I'm sure we could get everything back in some kind of order until we can land and replace some of the damaged systems."

Qui-Gon nodded.

Having spent the last eight years as Anakin's master, waking up in a room full of robots no longer bothered Obi-Wan, or even surprised him. The six - no, eight - diagnostic machines scattered about the bulkheads of the galley were not dealing with any visible damage, leaving Obi-Wan to conclude the majority of the repairs to be finished; at least anything not requiring major refitting or an external maintenance bay. The bots were now to the `check everything else for anything' stage. Which meant he'd been in the enforced healing trance much longer than he'd planned.

Knowing he would have come out of the trance earlier if he hadn't needed it, Obi-Wan couldn't fault Anakin for what his padawan had done. And being overly protective was Anakin's usual response to a brush with danger. Not that Obi-Wan was too different in that for his padawan, himself. But the ship had sustained enough damage that his help would have been useful, not to mention it being his turn or past his turn on the bridge. Hopefully Master Jinn - Qui-Gon - had stepped into that and any other role Ani might have needed from another.

Obi-Wan sighed, and then relegated his regret to the back of his mind and the Force. What was done was done, and there was no use stressing about something the others had quite forcibly taken out of his hands. Had his padawan really needed him, he had no doubt no Sith nor even the Chosen One could have kept Obi-Wan from responding.

He unwebbed himself and rolled carefully from the medical diagnostic bed, clutching the blanket to him not because of his nudity, but because of how cold the room was, especially to his bare feet. Partial gravity had been restored, but whether that was indicative of systems not yet back to one hundred percent, or Anakin's preference, he wasn't sure. Even without a view screen he could tell they were back in hyperspace, of course, thanks to the persistent headache and vertigo.

Bad for him, but good for the mission. He didn't even want to think about how much time they'd already lost because of the attack, or what would be needed to make it up in order to arrive at least near their schedule.

And that was assuming the ship wasn't too damaged to handle constant hyperspace travel.

He needed to check on that, to make a call to the Council to let them know of the attack and of the potential for serious delay. But first Obi-Wan figured he'd better check on his own battle damage. The reaction to hyperspace was overwhelming any other pains he still felt, but part of that was also because the puncture wound in his shoulder had closed and was well on its way to healing. The skin tightened and pulled awkwardly as he flexed it, but then so did his neck and other shoulder. That was the bigger source of discomfort, the whiplash, but even it was well on its way to healing. And he could hurry it up a bit.

The cargo bay aft of the galley had been outfitted as a training salon, and that was what Obi-Wan needed now after assuring himself through their training link that Anakin was still fine on his own. Loosening his stiffened muscles and damaged tendons now would aid him in maintaining a watch on the bridge later. Plus he needed to know his limitations, needed to judge his fitness to continue the mission. Or at least consider if he needed to turn the lead over to Qui-Gon.

Just as he had his responsibility for his padawan.

Doing katas in the nude was not a pastime Obi-Wan frequently indulged in, but he put aside consideration of the appropriateness of doing so when there were others about out of his mind, much as he did the coldness of the environment. This way he would also be able to observe the damage his body had sustained from his reflection off the bulkheads.

He carefully sank down onto the blanket he'd been using to cover himself; he needed to stretch before beginning even the simplest of warm-up katas, and saw no reason to make himself even more uncomfortable by sitting directly on the cold deck.

His shoulder protested the first extension and Obi-Wan couldn't contain a sharp hiss, but then that was one of the good things about using this space for training. Sound proof - even Force proof if he turned on a shield generator. He could rant and rage all he needed without alarming his meditative or sleeping padawan. Or Qui-Gon, whom he sensed on the bridge, once Obi-Wan insured the communication panel was set to a passive alert. Any signal Qui-Gon might now send would require Obi-Wan to walk over to the panel to respond, but that was better than dragging the other master down here in a false impression of urgency.

Stiff, sore and feeling quite battered by the time he finished, Obi-Wan also felt a strong measure of relief to have been able to get through all but the most strenuous portions of his normal workout. Because of his shoulder he'd stayed away from most of the aerial jumps and flips in his repertory; for that he'd wait until he had someone to spot for him.

Simply picking up the blanket when he was done, Obi-Wan dragged himself back to his cabin and the dubious comfort of the sonic shower within. While he preferred water showers over sonics, at least this way he wouldn't have to worry about soaking his bandages or needing them replaced. Well, assuming he ignored the fresh blood that had soaked through. Of course it and the earlier grime that Qui-Gon had mostly cleaned away would be taken care of by the sonics, so he really didn't need to worry, since the bleeding had again stopped.

Once inside his quarters, he found that Anakin had set out a fresh set of clothes for him, and cleaned his boots. Obi-Wan sent another mental tendril to his padawan, this one filled with love and gratitude even though it would only be perceived by Ani's subconscious.

His padawan took much better care of him than he ever had his own master, though Mace had never complained nor truly had any reason to. Part of Ani's solicitude, Obi-Wan knew, was left over training from being a slave. It had bothered him greatly at first to be so waited on. But once he found out that Anakin didn't do it because he felt he needed to -- that his padawan didn't fear he would be dismissed or replaced should he not prove valuable enough -- and that it wasn't even misplaced gratitude for being rescued from his slavery, Obi-Wan had been able to accept that Anakin genuinely enjoyed taking care of his master because it was his decision to do so.

In and out of the bathing cubicle quickly, Obi-Wan drew on his tunics and leggings. The soft leather boots went on last, but he relished the feel of them as much as he did feeling clean. They had been given to him by one of the Hyraatu, for Obi-Wan's apparent intercession with their gods. Whether his aid had truly been necessary, and whether it had been their gods who had finally granted the life-giving rains that saved a small nomadic tribe from starvation or simply exquisite timing, these boots had become Obi-Wan's miracle.

He had never found out what type of animal the hide had come from, or how the shaman had managed to fit them so precisely when Obi-Wan and he had never come into direct contact during the course of the three months Obi-Wan had been with the Hyraatu. All he did know was that although he'd had them for five years so far, they failed to show any sign of wear or tear. They were also waterproof, climate sensitive, and the most comfortable things he owned outside his lightsaber.

Obi-Wan finally felt ready to face Qui-Gon, and to do his duty to the Council. He grabbed the cloak that Anakin had also thoughtfully pulled out of his trunk for him and strode toward the bridge. And found that not only was Qui-Gon ably managing his piloting duties, but was just finishing up a communication with the Temple and the High Council. Obi-Wan held back at the hatchway unnoticed and watched, not wanting to countermand anything Qui-Gon had already done, and also more than a little curious to see how the other master handled his first mission briefing with those he seemed in awe of.

Obi-Wan was unsurprised to see Master Yoda there, the ancient green troublemaker had taken an even more personal interest in Obi-Wan's life after his master's death. Plo Koon was also present, as the architect of the mission and, Obi-Wan knew, just as much because the Kel Dorian had almost always stayed involved in missions his best friend participated in, and now that friend's padawan as he became a knight.

Being the source of such constant observation by members of the Jedi High Council had bothered Obi-Wan early in his relationship with his master, but once he had found out Mace had actually been part of the Council until he had taken Obi-Wan as his padawan, it hadn't been as surprising. Only interminably embarrassing and damn hard to live up to. Until he had grown up enough to realize that the Councilors were Jedi just like all of the others, maybe a little more experienced, hopefully a little wiser and more in tune with the Force, but fallible and prone to make the occasional blunder all the same.

He liked Master Yoda quite a bit, even if the little troll did like to interfere in the lives of his favorites, and he'd had his first crush - like so many other padawans - on Master Adi Gallia. That he had also gotten his first kiss from the beautiful Councilor from Corellia was a secret only the two of them knew, now that his master was dead. Anakin would be envious as well as unsettled if he ever found out.

Master Gallia was not one of the Council Qui-Gon was reporting to this time, but both other female Councilors were present, Masters Yaddle and Depa Billaba. And from years of observing his master making reports, and then his own, Obi-Wan knew that the two women were just as impressed with Qui-Gon Jinn's resourcefulness and willingness to step in to assist as Obi-Wan was.

"Fortunate and pleased, Master Jinn, are we in your assistance and presence on this mission," Master Yoda was finishing up. "More pleased, I think, is young Kenobi, hmm?"

Obi-Wan gave a strangled groan and blushed a furious red at this evidence that at least Master Yoda had caught his arrival on camera. And then blushed even deeper to see the soft smile on Qui-Gon's face when the Master turned to acknowledge Obi-Wan before turning back to the Council.

"No more pleased than I am, Masters," Qui-Gon responded. "I thank the Force and the High Council's wisdom in allowing me to assist in the mission."

Obi-Wan could live with Qui-Gon thinking Master Yoda was simply talking of Qui-Gon's opportune presence on board the ship during the attack and the aftermath, but he knew better. The oldest living Jedi was almost as bad as Anakin when it came to Obi-Wan's private life. Or lack thereof.

Yes, Obi-Wan had plans for getting to know Qui-Gon better, but didn't think he needed anyone else's help to do that. Which he sent through the Force to the little troll though, of course, this distance and their relationship wasn't close enough. Even so, Master Yoda's ears raised up a little, as if in response to Obi-Wan's warning, or perhaps just Qui-Gon's ... innocence.

"Wise we are, wiser still is the Force. Listen to it you both must if this mission you will complete. Go now in peace and may the Force be with you all."

"You were right, they really aren't quite as ... intimidating as I thought," Qui-Gon offered as he shut down communications and took the opportunity to check over the control board before turning to face Obi-Wan again. "Well, actually they are intimidating, but not so much when dealing with them individually. It's only when you think of what they are faced with in directing all of the Jedi in the field. I'm only surprised all of the positions aren't temporary. To live with that level of responsibility ...