Chapter 2: Perfect Padawan
The first night in his new accommodations didn't make Obi-Wan feel much better. Too many thoughts and questions were swirling in his head and keeping him from a peaceful sleep. Well, of course he knew the basics. His Master would train him by taking him to missions, doing lightsaber practice, helping him setting up a plan for his studies and be his mentor in all the small and great matters that were necessary to learn to become a good knight. This was well known among all the initiates and something that had been discussed frequently in the later years when they were steadily approaching the age when they would, or would not, be accepted as a padawan. Finally he fell into a restless sleep but all to soon he was awake again.
He'd better get up and prepare himself for a new day. Master Jinn didn't like him very much, that was clear enough. The man had refused him several times before he set off to Bandomeer so Force only knew why he had changed his mind.
Well, Obi-Wan didn't intend to complain about that. He still wanted to become a knight and his own feelings, strongly supported by his perception of the Force, told him that Master Jinn was the right master for him. He just had to make Jinn realize that. He would show him that he could be the best Padawan ever, if he only understood how.
Obi-Wan had never been a natural morning person but he decided that getting up late would probably leave some scratches in his "perfect to be" image, so he rose and entered the 'fresher, still pondering how he could improve himself to perfection.
He was a reasonably good 'saber fighter for his age, that one was for sure. He'd won enough tournaments among the initiates to be certain of that. Good thing. Master Jinn had accused him to have anger problems. Well, check that, but basically when it came to that force forsaken chissk, Bruck Chun. Yup, he had to improve that one. Else he was fairly level headed, as far as he knew. Bruck was not going to best him anymore. What else? Oh, it was his classes, of course. He would have to excel in those. He knew he wasn't a bad student, but he wasn't really number one in everything either. He was reasonably good in history, and to his own, and probably Master Sherak's, surprise as well he had done fairly well in philosophy last year. Astromechanics and calculus on the other hand, that was certainly meant for droids. He had to improve there as well. His immediate future seemed to contain a lot of improvement, that was for sure. Well, so be it. He would put in the work needed and then some more. He was not going to disappoint Master Jinn, not in a single topic if he had something to say about it.
With a determined look on his face he emerged from the 'fresher. He assumed that his Master would expect something from him besides the studies as well. He could have made breakfast, but as Qui-Gon had stated last evening, the cooling unit was really very empty. A quick inspection revealed that the situation in the cupboards wasn't much better. Breakfast was out of the question then. What he could do was heating some water for tea, Master Jinn obviously liked that stuff. And he could brush the master's boots which were neatly placed by the entrance.
The boots were brushed to a shine and the tea water was boiling when Qui-Gon Jinn emerged from his bedroom. His padawan was sitting on the couch in the living room looking every bit a patient jedi padawan. The sound of boiling water came from the kitchenette.
"Oh, good morning Master," Obi-Wan sprang up from the couch, "I will make some tea for you while you're in the 'fresher. I'm sorry that I didn't make breakfast but…" He halted. That one came too close to an accusation for his taste. Accusing his Master for leaving the cupboards empty wouldn't be a good start.
Qui-Gon yawned. "Thank you, Padawan." Then he retreated into the 'fresher. Unlike his new padawan he was a morning person, but the last week's events had taken his toll on him. After the Xanatos disaster he had sworn that he would never, ever again take upon himself to train a padawan, and here he was, with a brand new padawan in tow. "Oh, the irony," he muttered to himself, "you're really an old fool Qui-Gon Jinn."
When he came out from the refresher a steaming mug of tea was ready on the table. He grabbed it and took a sip. It was…strong. To say the least. He could almost feel the tastebuds writhe in pain.
"How much tea did you use, Obi-Wan?"
The boy flushed, obviously detecting that something was wrong. "Three spoonfuls, Master. I wasn't sure of how much I would need but I remembered that during the travel you mentioned that you liked your morning tea strong…"
"Oh, well, not quite that strong, Padawan. If you're going to repeat this treat, then half a spoonful would be sufficient for one mug."
"I'm sorry, Master. I will improve," Obi-Wan hung his head and looked every bit a forlorn puppy. Blast it, he had overdone it and now his master was already considering him an idiot. Well done, Kenobi. Well done, if you don't improve your cooking skills considerably you will probably end up poisoning your own master. Good start indeed.
"Let's go to the refectory and get some breakfast there," Qui-Gon suggested. "I will have to refill the cooler and the cupboards."
Obi-Wan nodded and followed the Master down the corridor to the lift.
Trough his time as an initiate, Obi-Wan had never been afraid of entering the refectory. As an initiate the morning meal had often been eaten there before he and his friends had gone to their respective classes. Now he actually was nervous. He should possibly have felt triumphant coming back as a padawan, but he didn't. Actually he felt rather queasy. Yes, he had a Master. He even had Master Jinn, one of the best swordsmen of the Order, but he also felt sure that Master Jinn soon would realize what a terrible mistake he'd done down in the mines so most likely, given time and thoughts, he would find himself cast away again. Food wasn't tempting at all. Not the least.
He'd hardly entered the refectory before he was almost struck to the ground, well…floor by 35 kg of excited Mon Calamari: "Obi, Obi, you're back! " Bant Eerin almost squealed in delight. "Reeft said he had seen you yesterday evening but I thought he was kidding. It is really you, what happened…?"
Qui-Gon turned and saw his apprentice and the Mon Calamari girl: "A friend of yours, Obi-Wan?" he asked, "if so, please introduce us."
Obi-Wan flushed. He could feel the blood coloring his earlobes brighter red than the lightsaber of a Sith.
"Ye…yes, Master," he stammered, "this is Bant Eerin, we have grown up together. Bant, this is…my master, Master Jinn."
Bant's eyes grew even bigger than they naturally were. "Your what?" she exclaimed, "Obi, you don't have a master, …didn't…how did this happen? What has happened?" Her confusion was almost palpable. "I'm sorry, Master Jinn," she hastily added with a bow, "I didn't mean to offend."
Qui-Gon felt the girl's embarrassment and intervened: "Obi-Wan,why don't you have breakfast with your friends and catch up with them, and then you can meet me outside the student's wing at eight hour. We need to discuss your study plan with Master Sher'an."
Obi-Wan bowed. "Yes Master."
It felt good meeting his friends again. He had grown up in the creche together with Garen Muln, Bant and Reeft and outside the Temple they would probably have been considered as siblings, well, if one didn't notice the fact that Bant was Mon Calamari, Reeft was Dresselian while Obi-Wan and Garen were human. The questions were many and Obi-Wan had to re-tell what had happened from he left for Bandomeer until Master Jinn had apprenticed him. The three other gazed wide eyed at him. "So Master Jinn really asked you to be his padawan and the Council approved?" Garen exclaimed. Obi-Wan nodded, and noticed that he had hardly eaten half of his breakfast.
"Yes, he did. I have no idea why he changed his mind but I really have to show him that he did the right choice after all," Obi-Wan explained, and in that moment a distant bell was chiming, informing that first meal should be over and the initiates and padawans had to go to their classes. The quartet sprang up and Reeft snatched the last piece of bread and a muja fruit from Obi-Wan's plate before he left.
Obi-Wan set off to meet his Master.
…..
Slowly Obi-Wan settled in as half of the Jinn/Kenobi team. He had admittedly felt a sting of pride when the door sign was changed from one saying just "Jinn" to one that proudly proclaimed "Jinn/Kenobi", something that sent him into a self-imposed two hours' long meditation. After all a jedi should not fell pride, right?
Every morning he got up early and made breakfast for the two of them before they went off to their separate morning duties. His first attempt had been a disaster even bigger than the mug of tea he had made the first day, with toasted rika-bread that actually more resembled coal. "Possibly 'cremated bread' would be a better definition for this dish than toast bread", he mused. The bread was accompanied by sliced fruit which he had to wash before serving after he had cut his finger when slicing. Wonderful, Kenobi, now you're going to prove to your master that you will be a wonderful swordsman, unless you cut off your own hands with the fruit knife before that.
Still, the breakfast was ready when his master got up, and he had even managed to scrape off the worst of the carbonized crumbs from the bread, so it actually resembled a decent first meal. He drew a deep sigh. Maybe he could learn to be an acceptable apprentice after all. He just had to sneak up a bit earlier so he could shine their boots and clean the 'fresher as well before his Master got up.
The rest of the days were busy. Before they left the apartment they shared a morning session of meditation, something he found quite boring, but since his Master seemed to enjoy the meditation he did his best to follow the Master's lead.
Then there were the classes. It wouldn't have been too bad if it weren't for the courses in astromechanics and navigation. He could handle the simplest of the calculations but when it came to the more advanced parts like calculating the point where one had to drop out of hyperspace before arriving (too deep into) a planet's surface he was quite bewildered. In one of the tests he had suggested a distance so far away that it would have taken another week to reach the planet. Definitely not good if he had been heading for a mission that needed to be taken care of immediately, and Master Ma'Then was less than pleased with the outcome of the calculation.
It certainly didn't look good before the mid-term tests so Obi-Wan intensified his studies in the late evenings after his master had gone to bed. The only part of his new life he actually enjoyed just as much as before was the lightsaber training. As soon as he got a training saber in his hand he relaxed. The tense feeling he always had seemed to vaporize and he submerged himself into the katas and the sparring sessions with a heartfelt joy. In these sessions he felt the Force flowing through him and around him as it always had during 'saber training and even Master Drallig praised his efforts.
The sessions with Master Jinn were even more invigorating. During these sessions he sometimes actually felt that his master was pleased with him and even though he didn't fully relax, he felt more at ease than he did home in their apartment. There he felt that his master was ever so often scrutinizing him with suspicious eyes. But in the dojo everything changed and Master Jinn became almost lively and friendly and the reserved air that usually surrounded him sometimes left him and even small glimpses of humor could be felt through the Force.
However, the price for his attempts on being perfect had begun to take it's toll on him. The nervous feeling that was a combined effect of his master's cool demeanor and the nervously of not passing his mid-term tests resulted in a less than healthy appetite and together with the, rightfully volunteered, extended training sessions in the dojo he gradually became thinner and more pale. Dark shadows began to appear beneath his eyes and hadn't the outer tunic covered him up so well the rib cage soon would be quite visible.
At last even Qui-Gon noticed.
"Padawan, you seem thinner and paler than before. Is there something wrong?"
"No, Master."
"Are you sure you are well? I believe a visit to the healers may be a good idea."
Obi-Wan paled even more, and if he had been in bed it would have been a challenge distinguishing him from the sheets on his sleep couch. The healer's ward was absolutely not his favorite spot in the Temple. He had been there too many times in his childhood. Being a healthy and active boy with just as lively friends had a tendency of ending in small…well, mishaps, and for some reason the healers' ward often became the final stop after such events.
"No, Master, please. It's not necessary. I'm feeling all right, maybe I'm just growing fast," he suggested hopefully.
Qui-Gon considered his not overly tall apprentice with some skepticism. "Well, if you're absolutely sure you feel fine, I assume we can wait a couple of days before going to the healers' ward…"
His own resentment for said place was legendary among the healers and he wanted to stay out of that blasted place as long as possible, and since the boy said he felt fine… The healers' ward could wait a couple of days more. After all growing boys tended to have a period where they appeared quite gangly. Maybe his padawan had one of those periods right now?
But one evening the door bell chimed.
