TITLE: Continuing Education
DISCLAIMER: LucasFilm owns all. I'm just borrowing.
SUMMARY: Being a Jedi is hard. Raising a child is harder.
NOTES: Just like the others in this sort-of-series, this story is 100%
plot-free.
In the darkness, Qui-Gon felt eyes watching him. They followed his every
move, noted his every breath. He exhaled slowly, preparing to confront
his watcher.
"Another nightmare?"
"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan said, in a small voice. "Can I
sleep with you?"
Qui-Gon shifted over, and patted the mattress beside him. "Of course.
But the next time Negara asks if you want to come over and watch monster
vids--"
"--I'll say No, thank you."
"Good for you. Good night."
Yawn. " 'night."
"Just one, Master, please?"
"I don't think it's a good idea, Obi-Wan. Sweets tend to make you...
overly energetic."
"But just one, sir...." Obi-Wan fixed his eyes pleadingly
on Qui-Gon.
"Well, maybe just one."
"Thank you! Do you want one, sir?"
Qui-Gon shuddered. The sweet, sticky fruit pies the children loved were
a little too much for an adult palate. "No, thank you. You go on,
though."
As Obi-Wan hurried off to collect the pastry from the dessert table,
Qui-Gon could feel Adi Gallia and Yoda both watching him from the other
side of the cafeteria. He resolutely did not look at them.
"It's a good thing Obi-Wan is so eager to please, and so unwilling
to put himself forward," Adi remarked. "At this rate, he'll have
Qui-Gon wrapped around his finger within a month."
"Complement one another, they will," Yoda replied, serene.
"Inflexible, Qui-Gon becomes; soften him, the boy can."
"Perhaps. But what of the boy himself? Qui-Gon Jinn is an admirable
Jedi, but he may well be too harsh...." Adi trailed off. She liked
the little Kenobi, as did many of the other Jedi. He was a light-hearted
child, quick to smile and offer friendship.
"Trust in the Force," was Yoda's only reply.
Adi nodded.
"Master Mace, why don't you have a padawan?" Obi-Wan
asked.
"I will, Obi-Wan, some time. Just not now." Mace and Obi-Wan
walked through the meditation garden together. A few yards behind them,
Qui-Gon was deep in conversation with Master Yan-l-Yan.
"Soon?"
"I hope so, yes."
"Master Qui-Gon said he hopes you do, soon. He said that it would
do you a world of good." Obi-Wan frowned. "He laughed when he
said it, though."
"Did he?" Qui-Gon laughed? That's something new.
"Uh-huh. He said it 'gives one a new perspective on life as a Jedi',"
Obi-Wan said, obviously quoting.
"I'm sure it does." Mace refrained from saying anything else,
as the other Masters caught up with them.
"Master Qui-Gon, I'll let you go, now," Yan-l-Yan said. "I'm
sure you and Obi-Wan were planning to attend tonight's Master and padawan
star-gaze."
"Well, actually, I hadn't planned on it." Qui-Gon glanced
at Obi-Wan. His apprentice had noticed a particularly interesting rock,
and was kneeling on the ground to look at it more closely.
As if feeling his Master's eyes on him, he looked up quickly. "I
don't really want to go, either, sir," he said, a little wistfully.
"It will be a good experience for both of us," Qui-Gon said
firmly, backpedalling furiously. Spending the evening in the company of
dozens of other children and Jedi wasn't his idea of fun; but if Obi-Wan
wanted to go....
As expected, Obi-Wan's eyes lit up. "That'll be great! Will you
and Tegan be there, Master Yan?"
"Yes, Obi-Wan."
"And Master M...." Obi-Wan looked guilty, remembering that
Mace hadn't chosen a padawan. Then he brightened. "Master Mace, you
can come with me and Master Qui-Gon! Can't he, sir?"
"Of course he may," Qui-Gon agreed, easily.
He has you trained, hasn't he? Mace smirked.
Just wait 'til it's your turn, Yan replied, ruefully. Having
a child-- even one not of your own body-- changes your entire life.
Yes, it does, Qui-Gon confirmed, his tone slightly troubled.
The lights of the Coruscant are too bright for any true stargazing.
No matter where you go along its vast man-made surface, its rising towers
and sprawling walkways, dark streets and shining heights, the lights of
a thousand thousand buildings follow you. All you, or anyone, can see in
the night sky of Coruscant, are the dim traces of stars.
A multitude of Masters and apprentices filled the Temple planetarium.
The walls of the enormous room curved outwardly, very slightly, to form
a dome. Carefully hidden projectors sprayed out points of light to shape
the constellations of a hundred solar systems. The air was filled with
the murmur of voices, naming the stars. The Hunter and the Prey. The castle
of D'rettha. The fourth brother. The bird and the bear. The stone king.
Very occasionally, one bright spot would flicker, blaze more brightly than
even before, and vanish.
"Do you see one of yours, padawan?" Qui-Gon asked.
"Not yet," Obi-Wan replied, a little absently, as he walked
along, very slowly, eyes fixed on the ceiling. A gentle application of
the Force from his Master kept him from walking into anyone else; Qui-Gon
suspected he wasn't the only Master doing so.
"There-- up in that corner," Mace said, kneeling next to him.
"Do you see? It's what my people call the Wirrynd. It's a bird, a
huge bird. See the wings?"
Obi-Wan squinted for a moment. "Looks more like a freighter to
me, sir."
"A freighter?" Mace squinted. "No, no. Look. See, his
wings are spread all the way out, and that brightest star-- that's his
eye."
"Yes, sir," Obi-Wan said, obediently, obviously unconvinced.
"You have to look," Mace insisted.
Qui-Gon watched silently. He was already very fond of his young student,
but-- for the first time in his life-- could not help but feel that he
was unequal to this task. All around him, other Masters and their padawans
moved about the room, in complete harmony. Surely he couldn't be the only
Jedi to have these concerns, these... doubts? Surely not.
First time for everything, a dubious little voice in his head
said.
Afterwards, Mace went off on his own, leaving Obi-Wan and his Master
to return to their quarters.
"Did you see any stars from your planet, Master?"
"No, Obi-Wan; but I'm glad you found yours."
"So am I. It makes me feel... you know."
He looked down. "Feel what?"
"Kind of... kind of connected. To everyone else, I mean, the other
Jedi, and-- well, they're all the same stars, even when we don't have the
same names. They're the same stars, even when we don't even see them."
"It's good training. You'll find it easier to get on in galatic
cartography."
"Yes, Master." And Obi-Wan was quiet after that.
Qui-Gon walked along the corridor, heading for the training room where
many of the younger students gathered after classes were done for the day.
He spotted Obi-Wan immediately, in a group of children. At least, he assumed
it was Obi-Wan. He recognised the way the Force eddied around his learner.
However, the learner himself had a large blanket draped over his shoulders,
covering his face. His friend Lesandre, similarly equipped, stood a few
metres away. As if in answer to some unspoken signal, Obi-Wan began to
flap his arms violently, roaring-- sort of-- and stamping. The other boy
did the same. They began to chase their playmates, looking as terrifying
as eight-year-old boys covered in old raggedy blankets can.
"What, exactly, do you think think they're doing?" Mace wondered.
"I wish you wouldn't sneak up on my like that," Qui-Gon said,
reprovingly, although he had known the precise moment the other man had
arrived. "I think they're playing... monsters, maybe?"
Obi-Wan saw them, and abandoned his friends for his Master. "Hello,
sir. Hello, Master Mace."
"Good afternoon, Obi-Wan. What game are you playing?" Mace
asked.
"Draigons!" Obi-Wan said, happily. "We get to be the
draigons, and everyone else is Jedi."
"That's a little violent," Qui-Gon said. "Isn't there
some more educational game you might play? Something like-- ow!" He
glared at Mace.
"Sorry, Qui-Gon. Was that your foot?" Mace glared back. They're
kids, remember?
Qui-Gon blinked, then looked over. The children were having a good time.
He looked down. Obi-Wan wasn't. Damn.
"You know, draigons can fly," he said, slowly.
"Yes, sir." Obi-Wan flapped his 'wings', somewhat sadly.
"Well, then. If you're going to play, do it properly." And,
with a very slight nudge of the Force, Master Qui-Gon Jinn lifted his padawan
learner into the air, and sent him, shrieking with glee, to hover over
his friends.
"You know we're going to get in trouble," Mace said.
"I know. But at least it's fun."
"Who are you, and what have you done with-- ow!"
"Was that your foot? Now shut up and get the other one."
Mace obliged; and Lesandre went sailing into the air with his friend.
The Masters were soon occupied with their task [Piloting small boys
was, as it turned out, a lot harder than it looked.], and forgot
about such issues as restraint, decorum, and noise level. When the room
did fall quiet, it did so with an abruptness that could only mean
one thing.
"Put them down," Master Yoda directed, sternly.
With a whoosh, the two boys were returned to the floor.
"To your quarters, go," Yoda said to the students.
With a rumble of little feet moving very quickly, they did.
"Students they are," Yoda said.
"Yes, sir," Qui-Gon and Mace replied.
"Not starships."
"No, sir."
"Serenity and tranquility they must learn."
"Yes, sir."
"Provide good role models, you should."
"Yes, sir."
"See this again, will I?"
"No, sir." Not if we can help it.
"Heard that, I did...!"
It was rather a long time later when they emerged, chastened. Lesandre
and Obi-Wan were waiting for them.
"Are you in real trouble?" Obi-Wan asked.
"No more than usual," was his Master's honest reply. "Come,
now. Time for meditation. We'll eat in our quarters."
"Yes, Master. See you later, Lesandre. Bye, Master Mace."
Left alone, the Shistavanen boy and the human man looked at each other.
They both grinned.
And the next moment, Lesandre, new padawan to Mace Windu, went flying
through the air on the wings of the Force.
The eyes were on him. They watched him closely, closely.
"No more horror vids ever, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon yawned,
moving over to make room for the boy.
"Never," Obi-wan agreed, fervently.
"Obi-Wan?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Don't steal the covers this time."
Snickering. "Yes, sir."
Silence.
"Master?"
"Mmmm?"
"Could you try not to snore? Because that really gives me
nightmares."
"Obi-Wan?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Sleep. Now."
And a little more snickering. "Yes, sir. See you in the morning."
"Good night."
"G'night."
END