Chapter Text
Anakin is tense today. Obi-Wan notices it immediately – he's always had a good eye for the boy's emotional state, even when he had just met him and was trying very hard to ignore that he existed at all, never mind that he might be distressed. Best, he had thought at the time, to leave that to his master, the man who wanted to be Anakin's master.
He's learned, since, that Qui-Gon does not pay nearly as much attention to Anakin than Obi-Wan himself does, and Obi-Wan is only in the temple every few weeks, sometimes less, between missions. In the last year, Obi-Wan suspects that things have gotten considerably worse between master and new padawan as Anakin grew into his teenage looks – and his teenage temper. He's no charmer, Padawan Skywalker, not as smooth a talker as even Obi-Wan was at that age, never mind Xanatos, but he's a good-looking brat with a wide smile and an eye for pretty girls. He also has more than a few sometimes less-than-friendly rivalries with other padawans. Obi-Wan remembers what it was like, of course. Becoming a padawan had saved him from the worst of it, but for those padawans who are somewhat more Temple-bound, as Anakin has been while Qui-Gon crammed 10 years worth of Jedi education into him, Initiate rivalries tend to continue. Bant had complained about Aalto to Obi-Wan plenty of times in their early teens. And now Anakin was coming up against the same phenomenon, with a Master who is as utterly lacking understanding now as he had been of Obi-Wan's conflict with Bruck Chun, more than a decade ago.
It's been five years since Obi-Wan was knighted in the wake of his defeat of the Sith on Naboo and the twenty-five day coma Qui-Gon had fallen into. Obi-Wan had taken charge of Anakin during those few weeks, trying to mentally and emotionally prepare himself to become the boy's Master if (or when, as it had seemed at the time) the healers declared Qui-Gon brain dead and one with the Force, and turned off the life support. But they hadn't. Qui-Gon had recovered, and taken on Anakin. Between his recovery and the needs of Anakin's education, they'd been trapped at the Temple for more than a year without escape. Since then, Qui-Gon had been taking Anakin into the field as often as possible, which was not, of course, as often as he might have liked.
It provided Obi-Wan with the opportunity to see both his old master and Anakin. The former he had struggled to speak with. Too many things lay between them, it seemed, for Obi-Wan to have any peace in interaction with Qui-Gon. With Anakin, though, things were a little simpler. It was easy enough to play the older brother padawan that he himself had never had, to spar with the boy, teach him Force tricks that Masters perhaps did not approve of, and trade tips on interesting profanities in alien languages. And Obi-Wan has come to know Anakin well in that time. So: he can tell that the boy, today, is tense.
The salle Obi-Wan has booked is a private one, mercifully. He'd only really wanted such because he himself is becoming known in the Temple as a duelist to watch, and he dislikes the audience... all the time, actually, but especially when with Anakin. They need to make no preparations on arriving other than the removal of lightsabers from their belts and the customary bow, and then Obi-Wan launches into a rapid Ataru assault.
Anakin startles. Obi-Wan has chosen to take up Soresu as his preferred form, as he no longer has someone else by his side on missions to guard the gaps in defence that Ataru leaves, so this is unexpected. As Obi-Wan was counting on, Anakin is immediately on the back foot, defensive and off-balance.
As Anakin has been trained in a mix of Qui-Gon's preferred Ataru and his own powerful Djem So, defensive is not how he wants to be. He becomes frustrated quickly.
Obi-Wan smirks. "What?" he asks, and laughs when he parries a sloppy blow. "Perhaps you should pick up some Soresu, Anakin!"
"I do fine," Anakin growls, and slips around to Obi-Wan's side. He attempts an overhand slam, but Obi-Wan parries it easily, stepping into a Soresu stance, and settles himself beneath Anakin's barrage. Still relatively untrained as Anakin is, he cannot find a gap in Obi-Wan's defenses.
"Clearly not," Obi-Wan observes in a mellow tone. He fends off another attack almost casually. Then, lightning-quick, he jabs forward to score a burn on Anakin's arm.
Anakin falls back with a small cry. He rallies quickly, though, and attempts an Ataru leap. Tired as he is, it's a sloppy maneuver.
Obi-Wan sees the opportunity. With the Force he reaches out and snags Anakin's ankle, loose from his body, and pulls him out of the tight flip. Anakin slams face first into the mats with a grunt.
"You have much to learn still, padawan," Obi-Wan says, mild.
To his surprise - or not - Anakin doesn't get up right away. Instead he rolls over on the mats and flings his lightsaber aside. "Sure," he says, staring up at the ceiling. It sounds like the agreement of a person who is agreeing because if they try to argue, they'll begin to cry instead. The agreement of a person who has heard certain words so many times that resistance is futile.
"Ah," Obi-Wan says, and turns off his own blade, then comes to kneel at Anakin's side. "Having issues with your master, Anakin?"
Anakin closes his eyes.
"You can tell me," Obi-Wan says. "I'm sure I can empathize, no matter what it is he's done this time."
Anakin just shakes his head. Now a few tears do slip from beneath closed eyelids, no matter how hard he clenches his eyes shut, and he flings an arm up over his face to try to hide them.
"Ah," Obi-Wan says again, softer this time. He slides an arm under Anakin's neck and across his shoulders, and hauls the boy up into an awkward half-hug. "It'll be okay, padawan. Let it out."
Anakin makes a choked noise into his shoulder, and says, "I have so much still to learn, Obi. I don't want to leave."
The return of a nickname Obi-Wan hasn't heard since just after Anakin's eleventh birthday startles him, and the words that follow only intensify it. Anakin has turned into his arms, and Obi-Wan holds him close, lets him cry for long minutes. When he seems to have calmed a little, Obi-Wan gently pushes him away so that he can look into Anakin's red-rimmed blue eyes.
"Why would you leave?" he asks.
"I think Master Qui-Gon's going to repudiate me," Anakin whispers, and looks away like he's ashamed.
Obi-Wan draws a sharp breath. "Why would you think that?"
"He's just... he's said some things. About how I–I never learn, how if I can't get my emotions under control, if I don't change, I'm going to Fall. He said, no worthy padawan would ever have such anger."
Obi-Wan can imagine the words in their master's mouth easily enough. "I see," he says. "What else?"
"I... I don't know. He closed the bond."
"He what?" Obi-Wan blurts, shocked. The bond between master and padawan is... sacred. Yes, Qui-Gon had closed the gateway between his and Obi-Wan's minds a few times, but only when Qui-Gon himself was on the edge of Falling, or... or when Obi-Wan had threatened to leave the Order. So, perhaps Anakin was not so far off base indeed. "Oh, padawan."
"He hates me," Anakin whispers, and hides his face in Obi-Wan's shoulder once more. "I'm not... I'm too angry, and I'm not good at meditating, and I'm bad at diplomacy, and I keep failing my Core History quizzes, and I miss my mom. I'm never going to be a Jedi."
"Anakin--"
"What'll happen to me, Obi-Wan?" Anakin asks, his voice still muffled. "Will they send me back to Tattooine?"
"No," Obi-Wan says fiercely. "Never. And your difficulties are no fault of yours, Anakin. You are a fourteen year old boy who did not grow up in our Order, you had a difficult childhood, and Qui-Gon should be helping you, not heaping fault on you for things that are beyond your control."
Anakin leans away, startled anew by the vehemence of Obi-Wan's words.
"Qui-Gon Jinn is an excellent Jedi," Obi-Wan says, "but he is not always such a good master."
"What?" Anakin says, then, "No, Obi-Wan, wait, no, it's not like that. He's a good master, I'm just... I'm just a failure. I'm sorry. I shouldn't..."
"You should," Obi-Wan says. "You have every right to feel confused and hurt and afraid. Come, padawan – meditate with me for a moment, and then we'll talk."
Anakin swallows, whispers a soft assent, and rearranges himself obediently onto his knees in front of Obi-Wan, so close that their bent knees touch. Obi-Wan takes a centring breath, then lets himself slip easily into meditation. Anakin, across from him, struggles. Obi-Wan can feel the turbulence in the Force now, as clearly as if the Force around them were a bell that Anakin's emotions had struck, and now it rings, vibrating around them. The power of Anakin's feelings creates immense resonance in the Force, something Obi-Wan has always been sensitive to; he's sure Qui-Gon feels it all the more intensely, in tune with the Living Force as he is. But the distance of the Unifying Force allows Obi-Wan to keep his own mind separate, and then he extends a faint tendril of stillness to Anakin.
Anakin grasps onto it eagerly, lets Obi-Wan's calm suppress his own agitation, as if setting a calm hand on the surface of that vibrating bell. The calm comes slowly, but Obi-Wan feels it as Anakin manages something resembling serenity, his confusion fading first, then the residual frustration from their spar, and then the worst of the grief and fear. Not all of it – some lingers, and Obi-Wan knows that there will be more work needed than a single meditation to fully settle Anakin's mind. Still, Anakin had found his focus in calm quickly, without as much assistance as Obi-Wan had assumed he might need.
"Good," Obi-Wan murmurs. He feels, through their slim connection, the flare of surprised pleasure in Anakin at the praise. He remembers the same feeling in himself during his own padawan days, a result of Qui-Gon's sparse compliments.
"Thank you, master," Anakin mumbles as they come out of the meditation. A customary response, one trained into Anakin in the last years, and Anakin flushes a little when he realizes he's said it to Obi-Wan and not to Qui-Gon. "Er," he says, "sorry."
"It's alright, Anakin," Obi-Wan says. "Now. We have options, but letting this situation lie is not one of them."
"Are you sure?" Anakin asks plaintively.
"Yes."
Anakin sighs.
"Anakin."
"Sorry, Obi-Wan."
"Indeed." Obi-Wan smiles, then. "Either way, I think I'll be having words with dear old Master Jinn. You don't need to be there if you don't want, but I would like you to be. You don't need to say anything yourself. Alternatively, we can surpass him for now, and speak directly to the Council – you do not deserve to be treated as if you could Fall at any moment, when in fact you are doing excellently in your studies, especially considering your unusual beginnings."
"The – the Council?" Anakin says.
"Yes, Anakin. Part of their duty is to assist in master-padawan conflicts, which are not usually so easily resolved if they crop up," Obi-Wan says. "Most master-padawan pairs are serendipitous in the Force and as such, if there are issues, they are more major than a squabble or a petty disagreement. Qui-Gon and I had such problems at times during my apprenticeship, but we never brought them before the Council. Usually the Force intervened somehow, such was the strength of our bond within the Force. That or Yoda stuck his nose in."
Anakin snickers. "Hard to tell the difference sometimes."
Obi-Wan smiles. "Yes. Still, I wish I had been more willing to bring my struggles to them. The Council is there to be a resource to the Order and to guide us as individuals, not only as a whole."
"... I don't think they like me much, though," Anakin says.
"They like you fine," Obi-Wan says. "I've heard good things about your abilities with the 'saber from Master Windu just yesterday, in fact, and he was pleased to hear that we would be sparring today."
"Why do they always frown at me, then?"
"I suspect that it's actually Qui-Gon they're frowning at," Obi-Wan says. "They don't like him much, that I know for sure."
"Oh."
Obi-Wan smiles. "So. We will speak to Master Jinn, but him first, or the Council first?"
"... Master first, I think," Anakin says, and looks at Obi-Wan a bit shyly. "I don't... really want to get the Council involved if we don't need to. I bet you can talk to him. And I'd be okay with being there."
"I will certainly try," Obi-Wan says. He reaches out and ruffles Anakin's hair. "Let's shower, then, and we'll go talk to your Master. You smell like a nerf."
"Hey!" Anakin protests, and Obi-Wan rolls away from his swat, laughing, and darts for the showers, Anakin on his heels.
Obi-Wan doesn't bother with the doorchime. Anakin lives here, and anyway, his code still works. Qui-Gon didn't bother to reprogram their door to keep him out when Obi-Wan moved into his shoebox Knight's quarters, which Obi-Wan only knows because he'd brought Anakin back once when he fell asleep on Obi-Wan's couch after an exhausting spar and a large dinner.
Qui-Gon is sitting on the couch with a datapad when Obi-Wan strides in, and he raises and eyebrow at his stone-faced former padawan. "Hello, Obi-Wan," he says, and glances behind him to where Anakin is standing with hunched shoulders. "Padawan."
"Hello, master," Anakin says, subdued.
"Hm," Obi-Wan says, drawing Qui-Gon's attention back to himself.
"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon begins, his tone moderately chiding.
Obi-Wan holds up a hand to cut him off. "I heard something interesting today," Obi-Wan says mildly. "Tell me if you've heard this one before: a Jedi Master with a maverick reputation takes on a powerful young boy whom he had Searched out on his home planet and taken from his parent, to train him. He has high expectations for the boy, who is charming and strong in the Force. The Council is hesitant, but they ultimately allow the pairing – the master, after all, has always been known to follow the will of the Force above all else.
"But something goes wrong. The boy turns out to be... angry. Arrogant, some might say. And too attached to his home, even after years away."
"Obi-Wan–" Qui-Gon interjects, sounding irritated.
"I'm not done." Obi-Wan's voice is quiet but definite. "The Master was oblivious, you see, to the growing turmoil in his shining pupil. The boy could do no wrong – until he did. To the Master's eyes, the boy turned on a dime, betrayed his Master, and abandoned the Jedi Order for good. And, as he did so, he Fell to the Dark Side."
Behind him, Anakin draws him a sharp breath. Obi-Wan reaches out along the lingering hairline bond between them to offer soothing emotion, even as he keeps talking. "Something tells me, Master Jinn, that this is not a story that Anakin has heard before. So let me finish it."
Qui-Gon is sitting stone silent, his jaw tight. He says nothing, and Obi-Wan smiles.
"Years pass. The Master is reluctant to train another boy after what happened to the first, but he comes around – but that's not what this story is about. No, the important part comes even later than that. More than a decade after the first shining boy Fell and eventually died, a new child comes along. Just as gifted, just as charismatic and burning like a star in the Force. The Master does not see, at first, the parallels. The new boy comes from slavery, not from nobility. There is no arrogance in him, only confidence and unselfconscious power. The Master sees signs of greatness once again, and with no hesitation, he casts aside his current padawan to take on the new boy. He must be the one to train him.
"He gets his wish. His old padawan becomes a knight and steps aside quietly. The Master takes the boy as his new padawan. Things are good for a time. The master is able to expand the boy's potential exponentially – only confirming to himself what he initially believed: that the boy is the Child of the Force, the Chosen One. But, as with all things, it doesn't last. The boy turns out to have a temper. He doesn't get along with other Jedi all that well, and he struggles with classroom learning. He is wilful and resistant to Jedi teachings and any teachings. He and the master clash.
"And soon the master is thinking: haven't I seen this before? He sees the signs where before he was blind. So perhaps, just perhaps, he'll put a stop to this all before it goes too far."
"I have no intention of repudiating Anakin," Qui-Gon says, his voice nearly a growl.
"That is not what Anakin believes."
"Anakin is a child," Qui-Gon says, "who does not know how to let go of his insecurities."
"Because you have not taught him," Obi-Wan says quietly. "As you failed to teach me. Because, perhaps, it was a lesson you taught too well to Xanatos."
"Xanatos has nothing to do with this."
"Xanatos has everything to do with this!" Obi-Wan shouts. His voice rings in the sudden silence of the quarters that were his home for nearly a decade. "And you karking know it, Qui-Gon Jinn."
Qui-Gon has fallen sullenly silent again, so Obi-Wan takes the opening and tears in, his tone a cutting blade. "He had everything to do with your refusal to take me as a padawan, he had everything to do with every issue we ever had, and he has everything to do with your problems with Anakin now. Anakin is not Xanatos, Qui-Gon. He does not deserve to be treated as if he is, just as I did not deserve to be rejected for justifiable adolescent anger."
"You learned to control your anger, Obi-Wan."
"Yes! Because once upon a time you were a man who was willing to teach such things to a frightened, frustrated boy who knew no better." Obi-Wan meets his former master's eyes, somewhat surprised that the man had yet to stand and try to intimidate Obi-Wan into dropping the argument. "You saw a flaw in the child you had imagined to be perfect and now you are dropping him like a hot rock, Qui-Gon."
"You make it sound as if my reservations are petty," Qui-Gon says. "But I have much more experience with the Falling and Fallen than you do, padawan. I will not deny that I have my hesitations about the way Anakin is developing–" he looks at Anakin, then, but only for a moment before turning his gaze back on Obi-Wan "–but not for no reason, and, in any case, my concerns are no concern of yours."
"They are when they are causing my brother padawan such grief," Obi-Wan says. "I am a Knight in my own right now. You cannot deny me my right to intervene if I suspect an abuse of power, and that is what I see."
Qui-Gon's lips thin. "I have not abused my padawan."
"Not yet. You have caused him grief and fear, however; your actions have brought him closer to the Dark than any intrinsic trait of personality that I have witnessed."
"You believe you know my padawan better than I?" Qui-Gon shakes his head, and now he does rise from his seat. He towers over Obi-Wan by a head, and Anakin by more. "I believe that this is not your business any more, Obi-Wan. Get out of my quarters, and leave me to discuss these matters with my padawan."
"I would rather not." Obi-Wan crosses his arms, and is conscious of the fact that Anakin has shrunk behind him, only by a fraction, but enough. "Your padawan fears you, Master Jinn. I will not leave you two alone together."
"I would never harm him."
"Not physically," Obi-Wan acknowledges. "But you have already harmed him emotionally. It is clear to me from your response that you are in no position to repair your relationship on your own; I demand that this issue be brought before the Council."
"The Council?" Qui-Gon scoffs. "We do not need them to resolve this. Anakin, come here."
At Obi-Wan's back, Anakin hesitates. "I..."
"Anakin."
"Sorry, Master," Anakin whispers. "I know you wouldn't hit me, but..."
"It's alright," Obi-Wan says, and pointedly turns his back on Qui-Gon to place his hands on Anakin's shoulders. "Master Jinn would never harm you. What do you want?"
"I just... want someone else here when we're sorting this out. He never listens to me."
"Okay." Obi-Wan glances back at Qui-Gon, whose face is pale, with rage or realization Obi-Wan cannot tell, so controlled is the man's expression.
"You seem to have him well in hand," Qui-Gon says, his voice cold. "Was this all a farce to steal my padawan from me, Knight Kenobi?"
Obi-Wan shakes his head. "That was never my intention."
"And yet you seem so sure that you know better than I how best Anakin should be trained."
"Perhaps I do," Obi-Wan says. "Thank you for the suggestion." And then he reaches to his belt and pulls his comm unit from its pouch. He taps in the code he wants, and a moment later, a chime of connection.
"Mace Windu," the voice on the other end says. "Knight Kenobi, why are you calling me? It's the middle of dinner hour."
"I request that you assemble the Council," Obi-Wan says, his voice quiet but resolute. He doesn't take his eyes off Qui-Gon. "I wish to contest Master Qui-Gon Jinn's right and ability to train Padawan Anakin Skywalker."