Only a few minutes after Qui-Gon's comm unit received a new basic mission outline and a summons to appear before the Council to discuss the details, Qui-Gon had already come to the conclusion that Obi-Wan should stay behind.
He justified, "You need to undertake the series of examinations which will qualify you for Senior Padawan status as soon as possible. You need time to prepare."
"But my place is by your side, Master," Obi-Wan said.
"I'll manage without you this once. Don't discount these tests; they are an important step in your training. The Council will understand the need for you to remain behind, and so should you."
But when they'd arrived in the Jedi Council tower, Qui-Gon hadn't even been given the time or opportunity to speak before the Council had already announced, in no uncertain terms, that Qui-Gon would not be allowed to take his Padawan with him.
Obi-Wan could practically feel the stubborn set of his Master's jaw from the moment the word 'allowed' was spoken, and he internally winced, knowing what was coming.
"He is my Padawan," Qui-Gon said, his voice dangerously mild, "and I'll train him as I choose unless and until the Council deems me unfit and reassigns him."
"You will listen to the edicts of this Council," Master Windu ordered.
It always amazed Obi-Wan how Qui-Gon could somehow convey the essence of a deathly glower without ever actually altering his facial expression. "Is the Council proposing that Padawan Kenobi is incapable of simultaneously completing this mission and performing his studies?"
"We are well aware of your Padawan's abilities," Plo Koon said, "but we question whether it is in his best interest to have to split his focus."
Qui-Gon said, "Obi-Wan knows his duty, and you seem to be underestimating him. He will be coming with me," he announced with the exact same authority he'd conveyed only a little while ago when telling Obi-Wan that, in fact, he wouldn't be coming. "So if there are no other issues, I believe our transport leaves in one hour."
Qui-Gon swept out of the room with such determination that Obi-Wan doubted the Council would have tried to stop him even if they did have something else important to discuss.
Obi-Wan moved to follow his Master out of the room, as was his place, but he ended up hovering uncertainly in the doorway because the Council hadn't technically dismissed him. Unlike his Master, Obi-Wan had no particular desire to completely break protocol. Not unless he had very good reason to do so, at least.
Apparently the Council members didn't notice that Obi-Wan was still there, or perhaps they'd secretly wanted him to overhear, for Master Windu had turned to Master Yoda and – for the first time ever in Obi-Wan's memory – smiled.
"I told you," he said. "The surest way to get a man like Qui-Gon Jinn to do something is to tell him he shouldn't and then let his defiance step in and take care of the rest."
"Correct you were," Master Yoda agreed. "Too important this mission is. Dangerous. Uncertain is the outcome. His Padawan at his back he needs."
Obi-Wan didn't know whether to be amused or shocked. He settled mostly for being thankful, given that he'd wanted to accompany his Master on the mission all along. He couldn't help but think, though, that the way the Council had made it happen bordered on being somewhat underhanded.
Still, he resolved to remember the trick in future.
Obi-Wan couldn't claim to be particularly impressed when he overheard Anakin talking to Darra Thel-Tanis and Tru Veld about skiving off his morning assignment assisting the crèche Masters in favour of joining an impromptu lightsaber competition between a large group of Padawans who were currently stationed in the Temple.
"What would be the point of going?" Anakin said. "I'd just be standing around getting in the way. It's a waste of time. I've got better things to do. On a mission I'm way more likely to have to deal with battle situations than with a bunch of unruly five year olds, anyway."
His friends both remained silent about how thin that justification must have sounded even to them.
Obi-Wan, on the other hand, had no intention of just letting Anakin's arrogance slide. It would serve Anakin right. If he was going to be disobedient, he could at least have the decency not to be obvious about it, yet he hadn't even attempted to pitch his voice low despite surely knowing that Obi-Wan was just in the other room with only a closed door to separate them. Anakin might be many things, but 'stealthy' certainly wasn't one of them.
Obi-Wan didn't suddenly burst in on the three of them and demand that Anakin break off his covert plans and perform some kind of punishment for considering it, though. There was a better way to deal with this.
When Anakin's friends had departed, Obi-Wan wandered casually out into the main room of their quarters holding up a holopad.
"What's this I see in your training log about you being assigned to the crèche again?"
"Master Rosha just told me about it yesterday," Anakin said. Then, muttering, he added, "As if I have nothing better to do at such short notice."
"I wonder that they'd ask you to help them," Obi-Wan said offhandedly.
Anakin frowned. "Master?"
Obi-Wan waved him off casually. "Oh, no, it's nothing. Except... well, let's be honest, you're hardly all that patient when dealing with the little ones. You tend to cause about as much trouble as they do whenever you're on crèche duty, in fact. And I'm sure there are other tasks you'd be more suited for. You might want to mention to Master Rosha that in future she'd be better to assign another Padawan. If you tell her that it's on my advice then I'm sure she'll understand."
"With respect," Anakin said through gritted teeth, and Obi-Wan was under no illusion that there would actually be the slightest amount of respect in what Anakin was about to say, "I'm more than capable of dealing with a bunch of younglings. In fact, I could get the most glowing report the crèche Masters have ever doled out to a Padawan if I wanted."
"Perhaps," Obi-Wan said, sounding just doubtful enough to not make it too obvious that he was issuing a challenge. Dealing with Anakin didn't require all that much subtlety in general, but there was still such a thing as overdoing it.
When eighth hour – the time of both Anakin's official appointment and the start of the sparring tournament – approached, Obi-Wan watched surreptitiously as Anakin practically stormed down the hallway away from their quarters and branched off in the direction of the crèche instead of towards the training salles.
Obi-Wan watched him go, feeling strangely ambivalent when he should have been stifling a chuckle. He had a feeling that Anakin wouldn't properly appreciate the reprieve from the extra meditations he would have been assigned had he gone through with skipping out on his duties.
He'd learned countless things during his time with his own Master that had helped him immeasurably in training Anakin, but this particular technique wasn't something Qui-Gon had taught him directly. He wondered only now – too late to change his mind – whether that might make it a less valid tool to be used. Anakin tended to need a very different kind of treatment than most other Jedi would, after all.
There were a lot of lessons Obi-Wan had learned over the years, and he applied them all as well as he could. He just hoped that his best efforts turned out to be good enough.
~FIN~