Imagine Star Wars with Qui-Gon training Anakin and Xanatos training Obi-Wan...hm...how would that turn out? :D You're about to find out! Anakin and Obi-Wan are sixteen and the same age. Wheee....read and enjoy!!!!
Chapter One
The cerulean orbs stared intently at his opponent. Sixteen year old Obi-Wan Kenobi circled the almighty 'chosen one' with his lightsaber held up defensively. Anakin Skywalker smirked at the boy in front of him before lashing out. He always attacked first. Immediately, Obi-Wan moved his lightsaber up to parry before thrusting an upward blow, which only distracted Anakin.
In the audience, Qui-Gon carefully surveyed his apprentice. The blue eyes were narrowed in concentration; his frustration was beginning to show in his blond brows. Earlier that day, his opponents hadn't been much of a problem for him. He had disarmed them with ease. Now in the last round of the tournament, he was finally meeting someone of his level. As the two boys swung their lightsabers in a flurry of blows, Qui-Gon could not help but admire the other boy. For a teenager, he was quite calm going against the chosen one. As he felt his apprentice's frustration building by the minute, he sent /Relax, Anakin. It's just a fun tournament. Besides, you need to clear your mind in order to find his weakness/
After a few moments, a faithful, yes master was sent back to Qui-Gon. The tall jedi smiled as he watched his apprentice's graceful movements, met by the other boy's equally graceful parries. Qui-Gon had seen Obi-Wan Kenobi before, he was two the first time Qui-Gon met him. Actually, Qui-Gon and his former apprentice Xanatos had been the one to find Obi-Wan. The last time he had seen the boy was when he was thirteen, begging for Qui-Gon to take him as an apprentice, but instead, Qui-Gon had turned him away. He was not ready for an apprentice so soon after Xanatos's betrayal, but a few days later, he had taken Anakin. Sometimes, he felt guilty for choosing Anakin, but the rewarding moments of being Anakin's master would win out any of the guilt. And all this time, Qui-Gon continued to wonder who Obi-Wan's master was.
Yoda, perched above, watched the two young apprentices fight. Anakin, a natural warrior, a natural connector with the force, was, as always, fighting gracefully. Yet, Obi-Wan Kenobi, the one who struggled, was finally beginning to see the rewards of hard work. With pride, Yoda watched young Kenobi's serene and focused features as he released all of the emotions that hindered him. He was getting better at controlling his emotions. Yoda could also see young Skywalker struggling to do the same. For once in his life, something wasn't easy.
Anakin began to attack with more ferociousness, with more aggression as he tried to weaken his opponent. Yet still, Obi-Wan continued to thwart his blows. He did not know how he was holding his ground against the 'chosen one'. Anakin had always come on top in lightsaber classes, in…everything. He was a natural and somehow, somehow, Obi-Wan was holding on. Somehow, he had a chance against him. The ooh's and audible gasps from the crowd kept him fueled. They too, were surprised that the duel was still going on. After ten minutes, the two boys were still attacking each other with vigor.
Mace Windu, the judge of the duel decided to call a draw. "It's a draw. Both of you fought well." He said with a large smile. "Good job."
Both boys deactivated their lightsabers and respectfully bowed. "Thank you, Master Windu." They murmured as they gasped for breath.
"Good fight," Obi-Wan grinned at Anakin.
"Yah," Anakin smiled back, though his eyes displayed something else.
As the two boys stepped off of the mat, their friends and other initiates swarmed around them. "Obi-Wan! That was so cool!" Bant grinned as she hugged him. "You were awesome."
"That was amazing, Obi-Wan." Garen agreed.
"Anakin, that was crazy." Tru patted his friend on the back. "You fought well."
"Yah, Ani, that was good!" Darra smiled.
"Thanks, I could've done better though." He shrugged dismissively before striding over to his master.
Obi-Wan searched the crowd for Anakin. Spotting the boy with his master, Obi-Wan made his way over to Qui-Gon. The tall man still made Obi-Wan uncomfortable, but it was no matter. "Anakin!" Obi-Wan called before the other boy could walk away with his master.
"Oh, hey Obi-Wan." Anakin smiled tiredly.
"You dropped this." He produced a beautiful, warm rock.
"Oh," The boy's eyes widened, "thanks." He took it from Obi-Wan's palm with visible relief and gratefulness.
"Hi, Master Jinn," Obi-Wan greeted with a slight bow.
"Hello, Obi-Wan, you fought well."
"Thanks," He smiled sheepishly. For some odd reason, he had a need to please the jedi, as if he was his own master.
"Obi-Wan! There you are!" A young man groaned as he jogged up to his apprentice. "Padawan, I've been looking for you. You disappeared in the crowd over there." He laughed, completely oblivious to the company beside his apprentice.
Anakin could feel his master stiffen as the young man came to view. He was in his early thirties with brown hair, a confident smile, and a handsomely carved face. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize you were talking to someone." He cleared his throat and then glanced at his apprentice's company. "Ah, young Skywalker, you fought extremely well."
"Thank you, Master Du Crion." Anakin answered with an uncertain smile.
"Qui-Gon," Xanatos greeted coolly, "you did well with this apprentice."
"What—what are you doing here?" The older man spluttered, unable to speak.
"Um, I've been here since…ever." He shrugged. "I've just been staying out of your way. After all, it's a large temple."
"I mean—"
Xanatos cut his former master off with a hidden glare. He leaned forward and whispered, "Not here, Qui-Gon, in front of everyone. If you want to talk, we'll do it later. Or maybe you'll just run off to the council as always…right?" He smirked as he leaned back. "Obi-Wan and I will go now. I'm sure Anakin's tired too, he's very skilled with the lightsaber."
"Thank you." Qui-Gon stiffly replied, throwing Obi-Wan an unsure glance.
"Bye." The two boys waved at each other before departing with their masters.
"What was that about?" Obi-Wan asked as they were out of earshot.
"Nothing, just some old problems from old friends."
"Right…" Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, "you mean, some big old problems."
"Obi-Wan, he was my former master, remember?"
"OH…really?" He gasped.
"Yes."
"But—but his old apprentice was a…traitor."
"Technically…" Xanatos gave his apprentice an apologetic smile, "listen, it was our last mission together and I was young, foolish, and totally egotistic. So basically, my father convinced me to join him, Qui-Gon killed him, and I drew my lightsaber against him. Long story short, I had technically betrayed Qui-Gon and he had abandoned me after that. Days later, I realized my mistake, crawled back to the council on my knees begging for their acceptance and they agreed to take me back."
"Just like that?"
"Yep, you didn't know me back then, Padawan. I was different. I would've never crawled, much less beg on my knees to be taken back." Xanatos shrugged. "Anyway, I tried avoiding Qui-Gon for all these years. It worked until…today."
"Oh, I see." Obi-Wan nodded as the two entered their quarters. "I'm gonna go wash up."
"What was that about, Master?" Anakin asked.
"Nothing, that was just an old apprentice of mine." Qui-Gon replied stiffly. "We have some bad history."
"Oh, the one who betrayed you?"
"Yes…" Qui-Gon hesitated, "it's of no matter, Ani, it's in the past, supposed to be forgotten of, go wash up. I'm going to head out for a little bit."
"Yes, Master." Anakin nodded.
As Anakin disappeared into the fresher, Qui-Gon exited their quarters to seek Du Crion/Kenobi. It was a surprise when Qui-Gon discovered the quarters only about six feet from his. "Wonder why I never saw this before," He murmured before knocking on the door; he had to make amends with Xanatos before it was too late—before it destroyed them both.
"Master! Door!" Obi-Wan shouted as he dried his hair with a towel.
"You get it! I'm busy—ow!" Xanatos released a string of curses.
"Are you OK?" Obi-Wan demanded.
"Yah…I just burned my hand…"
"Oh…I meant, is the food OK?"
"Get the door!" Xanatos groaned.
"Oh, right…" Obi-Wan pulled the door open without glancing through the eyehole to see who it was. "Oh, Master Jinn…um…Master!"
Qui-Gon couldn't help but quirk his brow in the young boy's direction. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, showing off his carved abs, and another towel held in his hands that was being used to dry his hair. "Hello, Obi-Wan." Qui-Gon said.
"Excuse me, Sir…" He turned, stumbled on his feet and then into the fresher to put on some clothes.
"I was wondering when you'd show up." Xanatos said as he appeared in the doorway. "My apprentice must've forgotten his manners again." He rolled his eyes affectionately.
A muffled, "Sorry, Master!" could be heard through the door.
"Come in," Xanatos gestured.
"Um…OK." Qui-Gon entered their quarters and sat on their couch. He noticed the warm dark colors used on the walls, small potted plants resting on some corners, and a few books and holopads scattered on the desks.
"Excuse me for the…mess." Xanatos grimaced. "So, what brings you here? I must say, I'm kind of…surprised that you didn't drag Master Windu along to accuse me of using dark powers."
"Xanatos, I honestly don't know…where to begin." Qui-Gon said. "I'm not going to lie that I was surprised to see you today. Actually, more than surprised, I really did jump to those same conclusions. But then I guess…I looked at Anakin, at Obi-Wan, and then I realized that you're probably not that same boy that I left back on Telos. You must've earned the council's trust to be allowed to not only be a jedi knight, but a jedi master. And so, I guess you do deserve a chance from me. I'm not going to run to the council…I'm going to believe them and you, I'm going to believe the fact that you changed."
Xanatos stared at his former master as he struggled to keep his jaw from dropping all the way to the ground. "…um…let's just say that is not what I was expecting! I believe that you've changed too…for the best of course."
Qui-Gon chuckled, "Obi-Wan turned out to be a fine boy, he glows with light, Xanatos."
"…oh…" The young master smiled with pride, "he does, doesn't he?"
"Yes, he does." Qui-Gon glanced in the direction of the fresher. The sixteen year old had yet to emerge, though the two men could hear him rummaging through a few drawers and then a few 'ows' followed by a string of curses.
"He's a little on the clumsy side." Xanatos laughed.
"I could see that. Well, Xan, I just wanted to make my amends with you. I needed to let go, you know what I mean?"
"Yes, Qui-Gon, I know. I'm glad that you came. You should bring Anakin over some time, I'll cook."
"Um…" He glanced uncertainly towards the kitchen where black smoke could be seen rising from the pots, "how about I cook and you bring Obi-Wan over some time?"
Xanatos glanced at the kitchen and immediately nodded in agreement, "Sounds good."
"Yah, I have to go now…Anakin will be wondering where I am." Qui-Gon explained as he stood up. "It's…" He smiled thoughtfully, "good seeing you again, my old apprentice."
"Same here, it was not what I had expected."
Qui-Gon shrugged, "Expect the unexpected, have a good dinner."
"Yup…" Xanatos threw another furtive glance towards the ktichen, "will do."
The older master chuckled before exiting the quarters. As the man disappeared, Xanatos turned towards the fresher and called, "What's taking you so long in there, Padawan?"
"Um…I kind of dropped…something in the—um…toilet…"
With a sinking feeling, Xanatos swallowed and asked, "What'd you drop?"
"Um…remember how you told me not to ever hold any grudges and that jedi had to let go…"
"Obi-Wan Kenobi! What did you drop in there?"
"Just that…er…gold ring that you uh…keep with you all the time." The sixteen year old stuttered, unsure if he wanted to face his master yet.
"Come—out—here—now." Xanatos said through his teeth with controlled anger.
Unsure, Obi-Wan poked his head through the doorway and stepped into the living room. "I'm sorry, Master, I tried getting it out…I really did, I just accidentally hit the…flush and it kind of…disappeared?" He swallowed, knowing how horrible he sounded. The excuse sounded lame even to his own ears.
"Obi-Wan, just for that, I'm going to force you to choke down every single crumb of the dinner I made. And then I'm sentencing you to two hours of meditation and then kitchen duty with one of the temple's cooks for a week."
"What!? Master! What I did wasn't even as bad as the time you accidentally cut half of my padawan braid with your scissors. I accepted your apology then!"
"See, Obi-Wan, your hair grows back. I can't magically make the ring appear again, unless you want to dig in the sewers, which I doubt you do, you can't make the ring come back either. Besides, I'm the master and you're the apprentice, get over it."
"Fine," He grumbled as he sat himself down at their dining table.
"It's chicken with rice." Xanatos said proudly as he scooped the black chicken from the pot and onto his apprentice's plate.
"More like charcoal with rice," Obi-Wan grumbled, "are you sure this is safe to eat?"
"For that comment, I think I'm going to add another hour to meditation." Xanatos smirked as he playfully swatted the boy's head.
"Right…cause' that's soooo fair."
"Yep, you know why?"
"Because you said so."
"Exactly, you're learning my young padawan."
"And you're so funny," Obi-Wan said sarcastically with a dry laugh.
"That I am, Obi-Wan," Xanatos made a face at his dinner as he poked it with his fork.
"A great cook too," He mumbled as he forced himself to chew the extremely burnt chicken. "It's delicious Master, you should have some."
"Really?"
Obi-Wan eagerly nodded. "Then why don't you swallow the 'delicious' chicken?"
The sixteen year old's eyes immediately widened for a short moment before he forced the chewed mouthful of burnt chicken and rice down his throat with a visible grimace. "Do I have to finish this?"
"Ah…so you lied…" Xanatos smirked.
"What?"
"I'm going to have to add another extra hour of meditation now, Padawan. You're sixteen, you should know better than to lie and for that, you're going to have to eat my share of food." Xanatos happily slid his plate over to Obi-Wan. "Bon Appétit!"
Obi-Wan glared at his master as his eyes lowered into thin slits. He immediately knew that Xanatos was enjoying his time torturing Obi-Wan. It was his way of…revenge, not in a dark way, but in a playful, satisfying, torturing his apprentice for fun way. "Finish your food and do the dishes, I'm going out to the dining hall to see if they have anything good to eat. I'll know if you flushed it down the toilet or if you threw it in the disposal, out the window, or in the trash. You've never been a very good liar."
"I wasn't lying! It was a joke!"
"Uh…huh…that's what they all say." Xanatos snickered as he exited the quarters. It was too fun.
Obi-Wan gave an exasperated groan and then rummaged around the kitchen to see if there was anything he could use to make the food taste better. Besides, he had to get used to working in some sort of kitchen. He had kitchen duty with the temple jedi chefs for a week!
What do you guys think? Let me know if you liked it and what I could do for improvement! Yah, I'm over and out!