Chapter 2: Prelude to a Legend

The child in the bed was still wide awake, so the grandmother continued her story.

«Unlike most other force sensitive children, Obi-Wan was not taken from his home and the custody of him formally given to the Jedi. Actually he was delivered to the Temple. One morning they found him before the main entrance, wrapped in a warm blanket and with a note showing his name and a plea for 'Please give him a better life than I can'. The note didn't have any signature.

His mother should have known. Maybe she would have found someone else's doorstep, if she'd known his future.

The Jedi searched for his parents for several weeks, but none were found. According to the note his home planet was Stewjon, which didn't really help much since Kenobi was the third mostly used family name on that planet. Despite their efforts they didn't manage to find either of his parents. Which, in my mind, proves that they were neither wizards nor all-knowing. After half a year the court granted the Jedi Order custody of the child after they had reported their actions in trying to find the parents, and they had found him to be force sensitive and thus fit for jedi training.

His first years in the temple passed peacefully enough. He was described as a loving child, and a child that was easy to love. He was bright, compassionate and as soon as he was able to talk more or less coherently he could always come up with a good remark that made the crèche master forgive him several of these minor pranks or deeds he later was known for. Trying to climb the outer wall of the west tower to see if there really were a nest of porgs there, truly wasn't a good idea in an age of five. Fortunately enough Master Shareen was able to grab him from the window sill before he fell down the four floors to the landing place. It could have been a sudden stop to the myth since he at that point was too young to be able to control a fall, even less the landing, with the force.

Together with his age mates Bant, Garen and Reeft he had a happy life in the crèche and later as an initiate, spending his days learning the basics of the force. The only cloud on his personal sky at this time was another age mate, Bruck Chun who was his most fierce rival in the dojo. Obi-Wan loved lightsaber training above everything else and he was often paired with Bruck in the training sessions. That almost came to be the end of his dream of being a Jedi Knight. Bruck was an imaginative child and in his envy he taunted Obi-Wan at every given opportunity. As the time appeared they were going to be chosen as padawans the rivalry became more fierce and despite knowing better Obi-Wan sometimes reacted with anger and frustration, something that was truly not acceptable for a jedi.»

«What is a pada….padaw…padawan, grandma?» The child looked confused at her grandmother. The word was totally unknown to her.

«Oh, I guess you could call it an apprentice. You know Laherra who works for the tailor two blocks down the street? He's learning how to sew clothes from the tailor. A padawan should learn the more complicated things about the force from a master, before he or she was allowed to be a knight.

Anyways, Obi-Wan almost didn't become a padawan due to his rivalry to Bruck. Every initiate needed to be taken as a padawan before his 13th life day and Obi-Wan was not chosen. Three days before his life day there was a big lightsaber tournament where the older initiates could show some of their skills for masters who were looking for a new padawan. Obi-Wan won his class but was tricked into a fight with Bruck immediately afterwards. Unfortunately the fight was observed by some of the masters, including Master Qui-Gon Jinn with whom Obi-Wan had felt an immediate connection when he was presented to the master just before the tournament. And as anger was an emotion that was truly not acceptable for any jedi Master Jinn refused to even consider taking Obi-Wan as his padawan. »

«How could he become a myth if he wasn't even becoming a…an apprentice? And why did he fight with Bruck? He was stupid.» the child concluded.

«So, now…stupid? Who was it that had to be patched up a bit half an hour ago due to a fight outdoors?»

«That was different. I was…defending my opinion.» the child snipped.

«And Obi-Wan was defending his future, or so he thought. 3 days later he was shipped off to the agri-corps at Bandomeer. Initiates who weren't chosen as padawans were transferred to other duties and the agri-corps was one of these possibilities. He reluctantly accepted his fate, but at the same time he felt that all his dreams for the future had fallen apart. The fight with Bruck was the last time in his life he let his anger take control over him.

However, the force must have had plans for him because Master Jinn was sent with the same ship on a mission to Bandomeer and during the mission Obi-Wan won his trust. They came back to the Temple as Master and Padawan.

The following years were in many ways the happiest in Obi-Wan's life. After the rough start it took time for Master Jinn and Obi-Wan to learn to trust each other but as the years passed they gradually attuned to each other and formed one of the strongest master-padawan bonds the Jedi Order had ever seen. They had some rough missions and at one time Obi-Wan actually left the order for a period of time, but when he regretted leaving he was taken in on probation and after a while given back his rank as padawan. He gradually increased in skills and knowledge and at the age of 25 standard lifecycle he was close to being knighted.

That's when Master Jinn and he were sent to Naboo. What should have been an easy diplomatic mission turned into participation in a full-scale war on the planet. They had to flee and on their way back to Coruscant they had to make an emergency landing at Tatooine.

That's where Obi-Wan Kenobi met Anakin Skywalker for the first time. During the stay on the planet Qui-Gon Jinn met Anakin and suspected him being force sensitive. He had him tested and it was confirmed, -he was incredibly gifted with the force. Anakin was born as a slave, but Qui-Gon managed to free him and when they left Tatooine, they had Anakin in tow.»

The child was shocked: «Did they tie him? Then Keetanka was right. The wizards were evil.»

The grandmother laughed softly at the misunderstanding.

«No, no. Of course they didn't tie him up. It's just a phrasing meaning he followed them. Back in the Temple Jinn demanded the boy to be trained, but as you can understand the Council of the Jedi deemed him too old. He was nine, and as you remember children over 3 standard years weren't admitted to the temple.

As the Council declined to train Anakin, Qui-Gon Jinn claimed that he would take Anakin as his padawan. At that time he was convinced that Anakin was the one described in an old prophecy describing that there one day would be born a child that would bring balance to the force. Due to the tests showing that Anakin was so incredibly strong in the force, he might have been the child from the prophecy.

The rule was that a master could have one one padawan, so the statement shocked Obi-Wan and the council members, but before the matter truly could be settled, Master Jinn and Obi-Wan were sent back to Naboo to protect the Nubian queen. During this mission Master Jinn was killed defeating a sith, the first one that had been seen in a milennium. Obi-Wan saw his master fall and managed to kill the sith. He reached Qui-Gon only minutes before the master passed into the force. The last words that came from Qui-Gon was asking Obi-Wan to train the supposedly chosen one.

From that moment on a legend was born.