Star Wars: What if Qui-Gon Jinn lived?

by TheCasualObserver15

What if Qui-Gon Jinn survived his encounter on Naboo? What if he was the master that was to train the 'Chosen One' of prophecy? My own take on what would have happened to the star wars universe as a whole. With some of my own stories weaved in.

2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Gathering, part 1

Ok, before we start I want to make a few things clear.

1. 1. Yes. I am doing a two part thing. So what? It's my fanfic and I will do what I want.

b. I did this two part thing because I dint want to keep you guys hanging without an update.

c. wait no... 3. Thank you to all those who left reviews from last time. I am glad you guys are enjoying this

So with that out of the way, lets go to a place a long time ago, to a place far, far away...

That has space ships that can go faster than light. Why don't we have that? Its because their aliens isn't it? Damn their privileges.

It had been roughly a year since the invasion of Naboo, almost a year since Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan had defeated the assassin and sent him down the reactor shaft, a feat that had people calling them 'Sith killers', almost a year since Obi-Wan had passed the trails and been raised to the rank of a Jedi knight, almost a year since Anakin had been accepted to be trained by both the Jedi academy and master Qui-Gon Jinn. And Anakin loved every second of it. Sure, to begin with he had complained about being in the new younglings lessons when he already had a master with Qui-Gon.

When he brought this up with his master, the Jedi master simply chuckled slightly and said, 'That may be true Anakin, but it is still important to go over the basics even if you have a talent with the force. Sometimes a Jedi's most powerful technique is the simplest one.'

'Besides,' he added. 'It's a good idea to get to know your future fellow Jedi because one day, you may need their help and getting to know them that little bit better can help.'

So with that said, Anakin went to his first youngling lesson. To begin with, Anakin felt a little bit embarrassed to be in the same class as children who were about half his age, but remembering what his master told him, he took his place among them. His first lesson was taught by master Yoda, who had always greeted new younglings with a lesson, and the lesson that he was to teach was about meditation. To start, the old green master explained what meditation was used for in the Jedi order, about how it was used to clear the mind and connect with the force explaining that the deeper the meditation, the deeper you are connected to the force. He then went over some of the different meditation techniques and their different advantages, such as the Art of movement technique, to the difficult Alchaka technique. He even went on about how visions that are received from the force can predict the future.

'Difficult to understand they can be. Heed them you must.' He had said to them. This had interested Anakin a little bit, about how something as simple as meditation can still be so useful to a Jedi. Although he was more interested in the more physical applications of it though.

'Now meditate you will.' Yoda had said to gain the younglings attention and to continue the lesson. At this point everyone had sat down, closed their eyes and begun to meditate like Yoda had instructed. Anakin, towering over the smaller children around him, followed suit and started to meditate. What happened next had not only excited Anakin when he was told what had happened, but it also surprised the grand master when it happened. It hadn't been more than a few moments before every single object that wasn't nailed down started to float around the room, as if they were caught within a gravitational orbit of a planet. Even Yoda's lightsaber was pulled away from his belt and started to float around the room. Yoda took a moment to observe the centre of the source that was causing this to happen and saw Anakin, calmly sitting there breathing softly, completely oblivious to what was happening around him.

Mmm, interesting he is. Powerful he can be. Yoda thought to himself.

And it continued just like that, with each lesson that he received from the youngling instructors and his own master Qui-Gon, he excelled. So much so that he ended up in the classes of younglings of his age after his first 6 months of training.

Now at the present day, Anakin was practising lightsaber combat with his master in one of the temples many training rooms. For the time being, Qui-Gon was merely spectating, watching how his apprentice was handling himself against one of the sparing droids with a practice lightsaber. So far, he was doing rather well, avoiding and defending when he needed to and striking whenever possible. He watched as Anakin had just blocked a downward slash from the droid then pushed the blade it was holding to the side where the now exposed droid received a strike to the chest that would have been lethal to any normal being, but had simply deactivated the droid, causing it to fall with a clank against the floor. Anakin then turned to look at with master with a cocky smile that had quite recently become all too familiar with the young padawan.

Qui-Gon simply sighed in return. 'Anakin, how many times have I told you? You are sacrificing too much of your defence and balance to have more of an aggressive attack. You need to learn to be patient.'

Anakin rolled his eyes slightly. 'But master, the whole point of a fight is to win in the first place and if I can do so as quickly as possible then wouldn't that be better?'

Qui-Gon raised his eyebrows questionably. 'Is that what you believe?'

'Ummm, ... yes?' Anakin replied uncertainly, not too sure where his master was heading.

'Ok then.' he said as he walked towards Anakin, while extending his hand which caused one of the training lightsaber's from a nearby rake to float into his hand. When it landed in his hand, he ignited it and took a ready stance with it.

'Then lets test that shall we?' he said to Anakin, who had finally understood what his master meant. With a smile, he re-ignited his own training lightsaber and attacked his master with it. Out of all the lessons that he had, lightsaber training was by far his favourite, especially when he fought with his master. Compared with the other instructors that Anakin had, his master brought a level of skill that was only ever gained through experience, which made the fight so much more enjoyable for him. In the fight, once Anakin had started attacking, he never let up even for a moment. Trying to brutally smash his way through his master's defences with a multitude of swipes and slashes, said master was effortlessly blocking each and every attack, marvelling at how his student had grown in his abilities in such a short amount of time.

But, he thought to himself, not enough to beat me yet though. And when their saber's clashed again, what must have been the second dozen time at this point, he masterfully sidestepped and allowed the momentum from Anakin's strike to cause his young apprentice to momentarily lose balance, then Qui-Gon used the force to push him to the floor where the breath inside him left explosively. Another part about training with his master, which was both to love and hate, was that he never held back. This was good because it made Anakin truly prepare himself against an enemy that would want to kill him, like the Sith that his master and his padawan of the time, Obi-wan, had to fight. And the bad part was that it almost always ended with Anakin being in a small amount of pain on the floor of the temple room.

'You see Anakin,' Qui-Gon started to say, 'with what you propose to do, you imply that to win you have to make an opening happen. While sometimes this is needed, you cannot do it all the time. Doing so would just tire yourself much more quickly and leave yourself open to attacks which your opponent can easily take advantage of like I have with you.' By this point, he had walked over to the Anakin and held out his hand to help him back to his feet, a hand that Anakin took.

Once Anakin was back to his feet, rubbing his side slightly, Qui-Gon continued with his lecture. 'Then the only thing that they would have to do Anakin, and what you should start learning to do, is to simply have patience and wait for an opening to occur.'

'But master,' Anakin replied, 'if you do that then everything would just take too long to do.'

'That may be true, but' his master countered, 'the fastest action taken without first having the patience to take in what is truly happening can make the matter worse than making it better. Do you understand Anakin?'

'Yes master.' He replied in a voice that had Qui-Gon questioning whether or not he actually had. 'But master,' he continued, 'couldn't you have just told me that instead of throwing me onto the floor?'

'Mmmm.' He thought while lightly stroking his small beard. 'Possibly, but if I did then you would never learn anything.' He replied with a small smile.

'Plus its really funny when he kicks your butt.' A new voice echoed slightly off the walls of the training room as the person who that voice belonged to entered the room.

Anakin, in response, laughed sarcastically. 'You know you're welcome to give this a try Frey.' He said to the person that he now recognised as his friend Frey Callipso. Frey was the first person that Anakin had met after being moved into the younglings group of his age. In his first lesson with the new group, Anakin was paired with Frey for a lightsaber sparing session where during it they started talking and they had gotten along like a house on fire. He had short bark brown hair and leave green eyes which were not bothering to hide the amusement that he felt.

'Well I would,' he began to say, 'but it's much more fun to watch you getting your butt kicked.' Before Anakin could respond, Qui-Gon intervened before they could start a long winded conversation to see who can make fun of whom the most in their friendly way.

'Hello Frey, so what brings you here?' Qui-Gon asked kindly.

'Hello master Jinn,' he said with a slight bow. 'I came to see if it was ok to spar with Anakin for a little bit. But if it's not then I can come...'

'Nonsense.' Qui-Gon interrupted with a dismissive wave of his hand. 'By all means, come and practise. It's good for younglings to train with each other to get accustomed to different fighting styles that they have.'

'Thank you master Jinn, I could use the practice.' Frey replied with a nod of his head, then proceeded to take a training lightsaber from the rake and approached Anakin readying himself. Qui-Gon then returned his training lightsaber and went back to observing the proceeding practise fight. He watched the two spar for a little bit before he was interrupted by his old padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi.

'Morning master.' He said politely

'Morning to you too Obi-Wan. How was your last mission? I hope it didn't leave you with too much trouble to deal with.' Qui-Gon replied with.

'It was nothing much, just a bit of a skirmish in the outer rim. Although things have been quiet since the blockade back on Naboo.'

Qui-Gon sighed slightly at this. 'Yes. Yes they have.'

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at his old masters reaction. 'I am guessing from your reaction that the search hasn't made any form of headway recently then?

'The search hasn't made any headway since Naboo.' The search that they were talking about was the search for the Sith assassin that they faced back on Naboo. Once the planet had been freed from the blockade, the Jedi had spend weeks searching through the reactor shafts and where they lead to but had not found one trace of him besides from his severed legs. His disappearance had leaded them to two conclusions. One, the Sith had help disappearing and two, that the assassin was somewhere out there. Once the council had been informed with this development, they had put Qui-Gon in charge of finding where the Sith had gone and to bring him back alive if possible for questioning. But, unfortunately, besides knowing his appearance that the fact that he was a Sith, they knew nothing else about him and this had lead to more than one complication in finding him.

'If it wasn't for the fact that we were missing the other half of his body then I would have thought he was dead. But we are, and he's not.'

Obi-Wan nodded his head in agreement. 'And the fact that he had disappeared so effectively means that he had help which also means that by now he would of received treatment for his injuries.'

'Yes and if that is the case, then he is hiding until he wants to show himself. And if he is planning something, then we need to find him and soon before he can implement it.'

'Yeah that would be ideal.' Obi-Wan said, wondering now what the Sith would do when, not if, but when he would reveal himself. The first thing that popped into his mind was revenge, revenge on the people who had defeated him in the past, such was the way of the Sith. He immediately looked towards his old master, who was observing Anakin sparring with his friend, with a concerned look. If the Sith wants revenge then he will go after him and his old master, although Obi-Wan may never of said it out loud but he was worried about the Sith facing his old master again, the fight that had happened on Naboo had pushed both of them to their limits and it still was a fight that kept Obi-Wan wondering what would of happened if he didn't reach his master in time. But now, with the possibility of the Sith still alive, that put Obi-Wan on edge, thinking that the assassin could try and become more powerful and killing his old master.

No. He thought to himself with a shake of his head. He knew that he should have faith in him and the force that everything should end up ok, and he shouldn't have anything to worry about it in the first place. Ever since Naboo, Qui-Gon has been working tirelessly on his abilities and that of his new student Anakin, always pushing to improve, to make himself and Anakin better. Even Obi-Wan had changed because of it, changing his preferred style of lightsaber combat from Ataru to the highly defensive form III, Soresu. Made to block any and all attacks so that he could outlast his opponent and strike when they were tired or making decisions through frustration leaving them vulnerable to a counter attack. But still, the image of the Sith killing his old master in cold blood still clouded the back of his mind. Obi-Wan tried to think of something to say so that he could get his mind off the dark matter that had started to weight down on it, then he remembered a rather interesting conversation about what had happened that day in the council room.

'So,' Obi-Wan began to say to Qui-Gon, 'I heard that you had another interesting argument with the council again.'

Qui-Gon laughed slightly, 'You can say that again.'

Obi-Wan smiled slightly at his old master. 'I'm guessing that you haven't given up on trying to change the temples rule about Jedi having emotional connections then?'

Qui-Gon nodded his head with a small smile. 'You have known me long enough to know the answer to that.' Within the Jedi order, Qui-Gon had always been seen as a maverick, never always following the Jedi orders completely if the force showed him a better way. This had of course placed him on rough grounds with other Jedi and the council, more so with Mace Windu than with anyone else, but they still request his help with matters because they know that when it comes down to it Qui-Gon always did what was best and always brought situations to the best of endings. 'But my point still stands.' Qui-Gon continued, 'The only reason that that particular rule exist in the first place was because the council of the time thought it was prudent because of the fall of a Jedi knight that had lost his loved one. But if you check the records, there has been a steady increase in fallen Jedi because of that rule, if they had connections with others then that would have helped and prevented those Jedi from turning dark in the first place.'

'Besides,' he added, 'if I do manage it, you and Lania would be able to do more than just flirt with each other.' Obi-Wan's checks started to gain a red tinge in reaction to that. Lania Morrow was another Jedi knight within the order and she was a close friend to Obi-Wan, whenever they meet they always find subtle ways to flirt with one another. And Qui-Gon always found his old padawan's reaction when they talked about her rather amusing so he would always manage to slip in a small taunt when he can.

Obi-Wan quickly cleared his throat, 'I don't know what you mean.'

Qui-Gon smiled warmly, 'Of course you don't.'

'Anyway,' Obi-Wan said in an effort to get rid of the slight heat that had started to take hold of his checks, 'I should get going now, another mission awaits.'

'So soon?' Qui-Gon asked.

'You know what they say, no rest for the wicked.'

'You should start considering taking on a padawan soon.' Qui-Gon said to Obi-Wan, who had started to walk away. 'You are more than ready to do so and it will be good for your training as well as theirs.'

Obi-Wan smiled slightly at this. 'Well I make no promises, but I do have my eye on someone.'
Qui-Gon started to smile warmly as his watched his former padawan walk away. He was glad that Obi-Wan was doing so well, he thought that this was what it felt like for a parent to watch their child become a kind and helpful person, a mixture of pride and joy for the man he had become. He then turned his head towards Anakin, who was helping Frey up from the floor from their latest sparring match.

But for now, he thought to himself, it's time to focus on the padawan I have presently.

The day continued with Qui-Gon and Anakin, Frey leaving after the seventh time that Anakin had beaten him in their sparring match, training in the forms of lightsaber combat, from the simple form I, Shii-Cho, to vicious form XII, Juyo. And as the day drew to a close, the master and his apprentice were fighting against each other in a free style sparring match. Qui-Gon using the Ataru style and Anakin using form V, Djem So, using it powerful attacks to try and break through his masters defences. While Anakin was throwing powerful swipes and slashes towards his master, said master was evading and blocking each attack that his apprentice tried. And as Anakin tried a thrust towards his masters chest, Qui-Gon spun around and clashed his blade with Anakin's which caused the young padawan to lose his hold of the training lightsaber where it flew across the room and landed with a clatter on the floor. Qui-Gon nodded his head towards Anakin as he turned off his training lightsaber.

'Good, you're getting better. You still need to be more patient with your strikes, but right now I believe we need some food and a good night's rest.'

'What?' Anakin said in reply, with a hint of disappointment in his voice. 'But I want to keep on training, I can still keep going. I mean, isn't a Jedi knight supposed to be able to persevere against any kind of pain?'

Qui-Gon smiled at Anakin's reaction. No matter what happened, no matter how many times he was thrown about by Qui-Gon, Anakin kept on wanting to train more and more until he could become a strong Jedi that Qui-Gon knew he would become. And as Anakin started to open his mouth to try and persuade his master into more training, a rumbling sound started to groan from the young padawan's stomach, echoing slightly in the temple training room. Qui-Gon gave Anakin a knowing look.

'Ok, maybe I could go for some food.' And with that they headed to their shared quarters that each Jedi and their padawan receive from the council.

During their meal in their shared quarters, a reasonable sized apartment that had a joined kitchen/living room with three doors, one leading to Anakin's room, one leading to Qui-Gon's room and the last leading to a washroom, Qui-Gon sensed that Anakin was looking at him with a mixture of curiosity and nervousness through the force. It was clear to Qui-Gon that Anakin wanted to ask him something but was debating on whether or not to actually ask him. And as the last of the meal was eaten and the plates were put away, Qui-Gon decided that he would ask his young padawan what was bothering him.

'Now Anakin, what is it that you wanted to ask me?'

For a moment, Anakin had a surprised look etched across his face, 'How did you know that master?'

Qui-Gon smiled at him, 'Anakin, I was given the rank of a Jedi master for a reason. But that's beside the point, what is it that you wanted to ask of me?' He asked again.

Anakin started to fidget slightly, 'Well I was wondering... when will I get my own lightsaber?'

'When you have acquired your kyber crystal and use it to construct one.' Qui-Gon replied simply.

Anakin frowned at his master's response, 'Ok, so when will that be then.'

'Soon.' He replied with just the same amount of simplicity as before.

Anakin started to frown even more, annoyances showing clearly across his face. 'That isn't very specific master.'

Qui-Gon nodded his head slightly, 'That may be true, but so is what I have said Anakin. It is going to happen; you just need to be patient.'

'Yes master.' Anakin replied, still slightly annoyed with the lack of an actual answer from his master. Then a thought entered his mind and he wondered if his master would actually let him.

Well, he thought, only one way to find out.

'Well then, would it be ok if I tried out your lightsaber instead?'

Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, 'You want to try out my lightsaber?'

'Yes master.' Anakin replied. 'I know that the training lightsaber's are made to handle the same as the real thing, but to hold one that actually works and has a real kyber crystal in it, I just want to feel the difference.'

Qui-Gon looked at his apprentices pleading look and started to smile. 'I don't see why we can't do that.' He said as he started to unhook his lightsaber from his belt. 'But you will have to be careful; I don't want to tell the council how a smouldering hole appeared in our quarters.'

Anakin, who had been grinning with excitement at the fact that his master had agreed to let him try out his lightsaber, quickly nodded his head. 'Yes master. Thank you master.'

'Now then,' Qui-Gon started to say as he moved towards the middle of the room where there was more space, 'Come over here.'

Anakin followed his master to the middle of the room with a small spring to his step, barely able to contain his excitement.

'But remember, this will cut so be careful understand.' Qui-Gon said in a stern voice.

'Yes master.' Anakin replied happily.

Qui-Gon then nodded and gave his lightsaber to Anakin's waiting hands. As soon as Anakin held it, his face became a look of concentration. He knew that he had handled the training lightsaber's long enough so that he doesn't accidently hurt himself with it, but with a real lightsaber that can actually cut through pretty much anything, Anakin held it with extra caution to avoid losing any limbs. He turned around so that Qui-Gon was behind him and ignited his master's lightsaber. The emerald blade bathed the space around him in a green glow with a strong hum accompanying it, the blade itself seems too large for Anakin.

'There is a dial on the side that can change the length so it can be made easier for you.' Qui-Gon said helpfully, still standing behind his padawan, watching.

Anakin followed the advice and turned the dial which caused the blade to hiss slightly as it shrank to a more manageable length for him. He gave the blade a few small swings to try and get used to it, each swing getting a little bit bigger as he got more confident.

'So has does it fell Anakin, compared to the training lightsaber's?' Qui-Gon asked, wondering what Anakin thought of the blade.

Anakin frowned slightly. 'It feels... like it's alive.'

Qui-Gon nodded. 'That is the kyber crystal inside of it. As you know, kyber crystals are connected to the force so it is common to say that it feels like it's alive. They also resonant on the same force presence as other force users so when you go to find your kyber crystal, you will be able to feel it more strongly than others.'

Anakin though about what his master had said, about how he would feel his own crystal much more strongly than what he could feel from the crystal that was inside of the blade, that fact shocked him slightly. It shocked him because when he felt the crystal inside of the blade, he felt that it had blood pumping around inside of it, as if it was an extension of a large and powerful creature and if he was able to sense his own crystal but with more strength. He thought that it would feel like it was a beating heart, pushing its power towards him to help him find it.

'Now I think it's time for you to go to bed now.' Qui-Gon said after looking at the nearby clock and realising how late it had gotten. 'Now could I have my lightsaber back Anakin?' He asked kindly.

Anakin snapped his head towards his master, surprised at how deep he was in his thoughts. 'Yes master.' He said as he deactivated the blade, banishing the green glow from the room, and handed the blade back to his master.

'Thank you master.' Anakin said to Qui-Gon after he handed it back to him.

Qui-Gon gave him a dismissive wave of his hand. 'There is no need Anakin, it is my job to help you grow and become the best Jedi and person that you can be in whatever why I can.' He said with a warm smile. 'Now off to bed with you. You will need your sleep.'

Anakin at this point had started yawn and rub his hand over his eye. 'Ok, goodnight master.' He said as he walked towards his room.

'Goodnight Anakin. Sleep well.' Qui-Gon said to his young padawan in a warm tone.

Anakin was awoken from his peaceful slumber by the loud alarm from his clock that always ended up leaving a dull ringing in his ears, like a faint echo in a cave. He reached out with a lazy hand and turned off the alarm and laid in his bed for a moment, taking in the room around him, bathed in the light of the morning sun pouring through his window. The window also providing a view of the city of Coruscant, already reflecting the light of the sun of the metal and glass of their structures, the air already beginning to fill with speeder's and other such vehicles as they zoomed past his window. While Anakin would of loved nothing more than to retreat back into the warmth of his bed and drift back into the pleasantness of sleep, he know that he would have to get up before his master came in and forced him to get up and lecture him about being lazy and sleeping in bed all day. Back when he was a slave on Tatooine, if he was seen like this by his owner then he would have been punished for his laziness, in bed or at work. And at the end of each gruelling day at Watto's junk shop, after going home to his and his mother's small living space and going to bed, he would hope that one day that he would wake up one day and be away from it all. To be free as well as his mother, to do what he wished to do. This hope, he realises, was only half granted. He was free but his mother was still stuck on Tatooine, trapped as a slave. This meant that he still had to keep his promise to come back and free her, which meant that he had to become a Jedi, which meant that he had to train to become strong, which meant that he had to get up and greet his master. With a small groan he pulled himself from his bed and got changed into his Jedi training robes. Once he was ready he opened his door and was greeted with the smell of a prepared breakfast and the sight of his master sitting down at the table, patiently waiting with a cup of tea in his hand.

He looked up when he heard Anakin's door opened. 'Ah, good morning Anakin. I'm glad that you could join me this morning.'

'Good morning master.' Anakin replied in a slightly groggy tone as he walked towards table, sat down and began to devour the food in front of him.

'If there is one thing about you that won't change, it will be your sense of apatite.' Qui-Gon said with a slight shake of his head.

Anakin looked up when his master said this and swallowed the food that was in his mouth. 'Well back on Tatooine, me and my mom wouldn't have been able to get a lot of food being slaves and all so most of the time I would go to bed mostly starving. So having this much food everyday is pretty incredible for me.' He said as he was about to resume his attack on his breakfast, but stopped as the thoughts of his mother started to enter his mind and a look of longing had consumed his features. 'I wish she was here to enjoy it though.'

Qui-Gon looked at his padawan with concern. He knew that with the temples rules about forming any type of attachment with anyone, including family, was hard for Anakin to accept. And seeing him long to meet his mother again made Qui-Gon's heart ache slightly for the mother that he has never meet.

Qui-Gon gave Anakin a comforting look. 'Anakin, I can't imagine what it must be like to miss a mother you have known for most of your life. As you know Jedi's are taken as babies when they are tested positive as force sensitive and then trained. This is the way it has been for centuries in an effort to avoid Jedi from falling to the dark side. But with you, you have fully formed memories of her so it is harder for you. But Anakin, if you ever want to talk about her or anything that troubles you then I shall always make time for you and listen.'

Anakin looked at his master for a few moments before a small smile started to appear on his face. 'Thank you master. I know that I shouldn't think about her while I am training to become a Jedi but I just can't help it sometimes.'

Qui-Gon nodded. 'I know, but if my brief encounter with your mother has taught me anything, then it is that she would be proud of who you are trying to become.'

Anakin small smile started to grow larger at what his master had said. 'Thank you master. I know that she would have been proud too. I guess I just needed to hear that.'

Qui-Gon smiled, happy that Anakin was feeling better. 'I will always be happy to help you Anakin, whatever it may be.'

After Anakin had finished eating his breakfast, Qui-Gon spoke again. 'Now it's time for you to start packing some warm clothes Anakin.'

Anakin gave his master a confused look. 'Why do I need to do that master?'

'Why,' Qui-Gon answered his apprentice, 'it's time you and some other younglings to get their own kyber crystals. It's time for the Gathering.'

Anakin, after packing a bag with warm clothes and slinging it on his back quite quickly, was walking with his master along the hallways of the temple leading outside where a ship was supposed to be waiting for them. This ship, which was called the Crucible he master had informed him, was to take them to the arctic planet Ilum where the ritual was to take place. While Anakin was feeling excited to finally get his own kyber crystal to make his lightsaber on this trip, he also felt annoyed with how he was suddenly told that the Gathering was taking place today on that day instead of knowing in advance. Deciding to ask why, he turned his head towards his master and spoke.

'Master, why didn't you tell me that this was happening today?'

'I did Anakin, this morning if you recall.' Qui-Gon said, responding to his young apprentice's question.

Anakin's annoyance started to leak into his features as he frowned. 'That is not what I meant master. I meant why didn't you tell me that the Gathering was happening today a couple of days ago?'

Anakin's master all but simply smiled. 'Patience Anakin. You will get your answers soon enough.'

This response irritated Anakin further but he followed his master to the waiting ship. He knows that his master always had a reason for what he did no matter what it was. Like when he stood like a stone against the counsel until they agreed to train him because his master believed in him, or how heavily and constantly he was training Anakin because he wanted him to able to protect himself and others and how he was always there for Anakin when he was troubled because his master truly cared about him. And just like now, his master had his reasons for not telling him about the Gathering today and if he said he was going tell him what those reasons were soon, then Anakin would wait, even if it did annoy him.

After a few moments, they were finally outside and there on the landing pad was the ship that was to take them to Ilum, the Crucible. It was a large ship, about 90 meters or more in length, but it was obvious to any casual observer that the ship was very old and well used, there are traces of rust and dirt along its hull and in its seams. Anakin wondered briefly how a ship so clearly old would still be able hover let alone fly. Finding the needed parts for the ship must be almost impossible. But Anakin couldn't judge too much considering that he used to work in a junk shop and the pod racer that he had made was made up with whatever parts that he could get his hands on.

Waiting just outside the ship was a small group of 5 other younglings from his class, including his friend Frey, all who had similar bags that he had with what he assumed had warm clothes in them much like his own. Anakin joined the group and went straight to Frey to see if he knew what was happening while Qui-Gon stood in front of the group and waited.

'Hey Frey, did you know that this was happening today?' Anakin asked his friend.

Frey turned his head towards Anakin. 'Hey,' He replied. 'Nope. Not a single clue, I was woken up this morning by one of the instructors and told to get ready for this.' He lifted his hand holding his bag and gestured to the ship in front of them. 'Did you?'

Before Anakin could answer he was interrupted by someone just behind him. 'He was probably told by his master just like with everything else. You always do manage to find a way to cheat don't you.'

Anakin's grip on his bag started to get tighter as he closed his eyes and breathed slowly. He turned around and saw Liza Rendix, the most obnoxious person the he had the misfortune to meet. She had long copper coloured hair which was always tied in a neat ponytail and dark eyes which rarely showed Anakin anything apart from dislike towards him.

'You know it would be nice if for once you didn't think that I somehow cheat in everything and believe that I have done what I have done.' Anakin said with a hint of annoyance. She had always said that Anakin was lying whenever he told people about what he did before he joined the academy, his battle back on Naboo and his pod race on Tatooine was all but considered a fairy tale to Liza. Even when they were paired together to spar in their classes, she would say that Anakin had cheated when he was able to keep up with the so called best student in the class.

She gave a short laugh in return. 'What? Believe that you took down a battle ship by yourself? No, you simply took the opportunity to cling onto the popularity of the pilots who actually did that.'

Before Anakin could reply saying how he didn't lie or cheat at anything, Frey stood between them with both hands held out in front of them. 'Could you guys not do this now? I mean we are about to go to Ilum and actually get our own kyber crystals, so for once could you guys play nice.' He said with no room for doubt.

Anakin stopped and look at his friend, then back at Liza who was looking back at him with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face. 'Looks like you need help with arguments too.' She said in way that irritated Anakin more.

Anakin took a small breath before replying. 'Fine I will try to play nice even though she started it.'

From the look of it, Anakin guessed that she was going to retort with something else, but was stopped as an aged voice rang out in front of the group. 'Your attention, I want.'

Anakin, Frey and Liza all turned around and saw the grand master of the Jedi order himself, Yoda, standing before them with his wooden walking stick, standing next to Qui-Gon who easily towered over the old green master.

How did he get there? Anakin thought to himself, but was pulled away from his thoughts as Yoda began to speak.

'An important day for you all, this is. The best of your class, you all are. Chosen for the Gathering, you have been. A great honour for all Jedi, this is. Me and Master Jinn, accompany you we will. Take us to Ilum, this ship will. There the Gathering commence, it shall.' At this point he had turned around and started to walk towards the Crucibles open cargo door. 'Come. To be late we do not want.' He said simply.

With that, everyone started to walk towards the ship that will take them to Ilum. While they were doing this Anakin gave Frey a light tap on his shoulder to get his attention.

'How did he get there so fast? I mean, isn't he really old or something?' he whispered curiously.

Frey took a moment to think before replying in a whisper. 'Well I have heard that he is over 850 years old but I have no idea how he can move so damn fast.'

'I know right.' Anakin said in response, at this point they were both inside the ship with the everyone else. 'And doesn't he shuffle everywhere he goes too?'

'Wish to ask something you do?' Both Anakin and Frey jumped from the voice of Yoda coming behind them. They both quickly turned around to see him standing there with a raised eyebrow on his old, wrinkled face.

Frey had both a look of shock and confusion on his features as he stared at the small green master. 'How? How did you get there? You went in this ship first.'

Yoda smiled slightly before he responded. 'Many skills a Jedi learns from experience they do. How to use them one must know.' As he said this he started to walk in front of them to go to the main area of the ship.

'Do you think you could show us those tricks sometime master?' Anakin asked the retreating from of Yoda curiously.

This made Yoda stop for a moment and lightly stroke his chin. 'Mmmm, No. More fun for me it is.' He said as he lightly chuckled and began walking again.

Anakin and Frey stood there for a moment, watching the old master join the rest of the group. 'Next time,' Anakin said to Frey. 'We make sure that Yoda isn't nearby.' Anakin said solemnly. 'At all.'

'Agreed.' Frey simply replied.

Palpatine was sitting in his office as he watched the Crucible lifted off the landing platform and flew out into the sky until it became a small dot and then nothing as it made its way out of the planet's atmosphere. Palpatine smiled, this smile was not the fake one that he showed to others to make them think that he was a kind old man, no. This true smile showed only the promise of pain and cruelty.

Time to set some things into action. He thought to himself as he stood up and moved to his personal chambers in the chancellor's office. Once he entered he closed the door behind him and locked it, then he walked toward his wardrobe. Inside hung a range of formal clothes and robes needed for different political occasions, but he didn't need any of that right now. Instead he moved the clothes out of the way and opened the secret compartment at the back of the wardrobe and retrieved his Sith cloak. He put the cloak on, it darkness seemed to bleed into the rest of the room making it darker. He then moved towards his personal communicator and contacted his new pawn, he placed the call and waited a few moments before a hologram of an reasonably old man with snow white hair appeared before him, kneeling.

'What is thy bidding my master.' He said in a deep voice.

'Count Dooku.' He addressed his apprentice. 'I have a few tasks for you. As you know today is the day that a group of younglings are taken to Ilum to take part in the Gathering.'

'Of course master, I remember accompanying some of the younglings myself.' Dooku replied as small pieces of his former life as a Jedi leaked into his mind.

'Well,' Palpatine continued. 'I want you to retrieve a few things for me. One of them being a youngling. Tell me, have you heard of the youngling that your former apprentice has taken under his wing.'

'Yes master, I have. I have heard that he is an extremely talented with the force.' Dooku replied.

'Yes he is. I want you to take him and bring him to me. I wish to show him the true power of the dark side without the interference of his damn Jedi master.' Palpatine said with nothing but rage as he thought of all the times that he had tried to talk to the boy only to have his master interfere.

'It shall be done my master. Is there anything else?' Dooku asked curiously.

'Yes there is. On Ilum, unknown to the Jedi, there is an ancient Sith research base. Inside there is a Sith holocron containing valuable information about the research that had taken place there so long ago. I want you to bring me the holocron and anything relating to the research that happened there as well.'

'It shall be done my master.' Dooku repeated to his master

'Good.' Palpatine replied. 'Oh and one more thing.' At this point Dooku started to fall down to the floor as he struggled to breathe, he hand at his throat to try and stop the invisible force that was squeezing it. 'Fail to bring me either the boy or the holocron. And you will experience more pain then you can ever imagine. Do you understand?' he said in a low, anger growl.

Dooku couldn't speak, the only noise that was coming from him was pained gasps so he tried to nod his head which proved to be more difficult than he had thought. 'Good.' Palpatine said as he released he hold on him, causing the Count to breathe in large amount of the life giving air. 'I expect you to report to me once you have completed your mission.'

'Yes..., my mater.' Dooku said in between breathes.

Then his hologram disappeared as the transmission was terminated. Palpatine stood there for a moment and he started to smile as he thought of the plans that he had for the boy.

And his plans for what was to befall the Jedi and leave them destroyed and in ruin.