Author's Note: Ok so this conversation is my AU rewrite of a scene in Episode III after Anakin is appointed to the Council but they refuse to make him a Master. I've changed a few things, the circumstances of Dooku's death being the largest. Padme is pregnant, Anakin's already dreaming of her death, Windu is being an asshole so in other words his usual self and Anakin still wants to be a Master even if he was humbled a little by his late night talk with Obi-Wan in Dex's Diner.


Conversation IV: Trust

"It still doesn't make sense to me," Obi-Wan said as they walked through the halls of the temple. "Dooku's attack on Palpatine after you had beaten him would only have ended with his death. Even if you would not kill an unarmed opponent if he attacked Palpatine he gave you no choice. I don't know what else he was hoping to accomplish."

"I don't know if he was really thinking straight, Master," Anakin noted.

"It still doesn't sit right with me. Something is wrong here."

"I agree." Anakin sounded bitter.

"You're upset," Obi-Wan turned his perceptive gaze on his student."

"It's just… unfair, to put me on the council and not make me a Master."

"Anakin, you know they will in time."

"Yes but… it just seems…"

"Unfair," Obi-Wan repeated for his student.

"Prejudiced. They're scared of me. I'm more powerful than any of them but they still treat me like an errant padewan."

"They are scared of change. They can feel it, in the Republic and in the Jedi Order. You're part of that change and so is the Chancellor for better or worse."

"What are you saying, Master?"

"I told you before that relations between the Chancellor and the Council are rough, his appointment of you isn't doing anything to smooth them over.

"I swear, Master I did not ask to be put on the Council."

"No. You would never abuse your friendships in that way, I know that. But the Council doesn't trust him."

"Doesn't trust him? Then why approve my appointment?"

Obi-Wan sighed and looked down.

"Anakin, you should know I did not agree with this and there are more on the Council I think who are on our side but…"

"But what?"

"Well, you will soon see that there are few voices in the Council."

"Master?"

Obi-Wan turned away and kept walking. "The only reason the Council approved your appointment is because the Chancellor trusts you. They… they have asked me to give you a mission."

"Why did they not give it to me themselves a moment ago?"

"Because they don't want it on record?"

"Why?"

"Because, Anakin, it's treason for one and for another they're asking you to break the Code."

"Master? How can the Council ask that of any Jedi?"

"They shouldn't." Obi-Wan responded, his voice tinged with frustration, a crack in his usual calm. Coming to a stop Obi-Wan looked out over the Coruscant skyline.

"They want you to report back to them on all of the Chancellor's dealings."

"They want me to spy on the Chancellor? They're asking me to betray the Republic, betray a mentor and a friend? Why?"

"The Order's loyalty is to the Senate, not the Chancellor who has managed to maintain power long after his term and far outside of his mandate."

"The Chancellor is not a bad man, he only want to bring this war to a swift end. I can not do what the Council has asked of me."

"I'm sorry, Anakin."

"You agree with them." Anakin accused.

"No, but something doesn't feel right, search your feeling and you will sense it too. Even though I know that, if we put our morals in jeopardy this time what will stop us from doing it again. This Order and the Council will fall to corruption just as the Senate has."

"Master! They would remove you from the Council if they heard you talking like that."

"Yes, but they wouldn't remove you," Obi-Wan pointed out bitterly. "They need your connection to Palpatine and you're the most powerful Jedi they have." He shook his head. "Something has to change. The traditional oath of the Council called for the temple to be a place of 'open speech' yet suggestions of change are treated as immaturity and insolence. The 'noble purpose' we were once dedicated to his been forgotten in our militarism. The oath says 'let us take these seats together, with no one about the others. May we work together, free from the restraints of ego and jealousy…' Yet the Council is now ruled by a few strong voices who have become arrogant in their power while others, yourself included, covet those positions. We have become an army that follows orders as blindly as the clones we take charge of. It's wrong but I just don't see what can be done while this war continues."

"The war will end. The Chancellor will see to that."

"I hope you're right." Obi-Wan looked his apprentice over worriedly. "But there's something else bothering you."

"No, Master."

"Anakin."

"It's nothing."

"Please don't make me your enemy, Anakin. I have enough enemies already."

"Never, Master. Sometime I feel like you're my only ally."

"Now there's a terrifying prospect. I admit we make a formidable team but I would hate to face the Chancellor and the Council alone, just the two of us."

"You have such little faith in my abilities."

"I didn't say I wouldn't do it." They left on amiable terms though dark clouds loomed in their minds and a sense of foreboding that neither could ignore.