Author's Note: I apologize for the eternity it has taken me to update this fic. I've just been lazy and have lacked inspiration, I guess. Hopefully, you will enjoy this chapter, which should help me jump back into writing Star Wars stories. (By the way, the drabbles in this chapter are not going to involve any romantic or sexual relationships between teachers and students. I'm just writing these drabbles based on an expression.)

Strange Bedfellows

Dooku and Qui-Gon: Dooku often had cause to reflect on how mismatched a Master and Padawan pairing he and Qui-Gon were. Sometimes the two of them would seem so similar. Their intuitions would appear to flash along the same wavelength, and their strong wills would be set on the same goal. Then, just when Dooku was starting to think that he and his Padawan were well-matched, after all, Qui-Gon would go tearing off down some detour to save a scruffy space pilot, or, worse still, a filthy thief, with all the resolution he would display if it were an official mission from the Council. It was ridiculous and vexing, since it often meant that Dooku had to deal with Qui-Gon's motley collection of strays. As far as Dooku had discovered, putting up with his apprentice meant tolerating Qui-Gon's less savory friends, whose redeeming attributes were only visible to Qui-Gon Jinn. Yes, Dooku had selected Qui-Gon to be his Padawan after witnessing the young man's stunning performance in a lightsaber duel, and war always made strange bedfellows—in this case, Dooku, Qui-Gon, and Qui-Gon's scores of scum of the galaxy.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan: Qui-Gon hadn't wanted to take Obi-Wan as his apprentice. The young man reminded him too much of another promising Padawan from his past. Obi-Wan had the same raw potential and burning desire to learn that had driven Xanatos to destruction. He demonstrated the same dry sense of humor and fierce intelligence that Xanatos, so many years ago, had been renowned for as a student. Even the earnest expression blazing in Obi-Wan's bright eyes reminded Qui-Gon of Xanatos. Obi-Wan was a purer, stronger, and more loyal version of Xanatos, but the memory of Xanatos still shadowed both their minds. Qui-Gon had finally found the courage to accept Obi-Wan as his Padawan when Obi-Wan, on Bandomeer, was willing to suffer a fiery death for Qui-Gon's sake, and war always made strange bedfellows—in this case, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and the ghost of Xanatos who would never rest in peace.

Obi-Wan and Anakin: There were times when Obi-Wan felt like he didn't know Anakin, the person who was like a son and a brother to him, at all. Sometimes he would glance over his shoulder at Anakin, part of him expecting to see the eager nine-year-old he had first met when a war spanning the galaxy would have been nothing more than a nightmare, and instead he would see a strong, tall warrior in the place the boy should have occupied. Other times, an opaque expression would slide over Anakin's usually open features, and Obi-Wan would realize with a start that he only knew the basic outlines of the first nine years of his best friend's life. It was moments like that which made him remember that he had only taken Anakin as his Padawan because of a promise he had made to his own dying Master. War made strange bedfellows. That was how Obi-Wan, Anakin, the memory of Qui-Gon, and the ghost of slavery had managed to form an uneasy, ever-shifting alliance that could rupture without warning.

Anakin and Ashoka: Anakin hadn't wanted a Padawan. He would never, even under the worst torture the Confederacy could devise, but, in many ways, he still thought of himself as Obi-Wan's apprentice. He might chomp at the bit—because he had always done that, so he saw no reason to reform now that he was a Knight—but, in every manner that mattered, he still perceived Obi-Wan as his Master. Obi-Wan had been the one who had requested a Padawan, but the Council (in its perpetual effort to ruin Anakin's life as though enough enemy droids weren't trying to do that already) had foisted the youngling on Anakin instead. It wasn't that he disliked Ashoka. It was just the knowledge that he would not have her as an apprentice if it weren't for the Clone Wars that often made him think when he saw her display any of her quirky Torguta tendencies that war certainly made strange bedfellows—in this case, it resulted in the impulsive leading the impetuous, and possibly blowing up the whole universe in the process.