Mace had risen to the top at a young age. His fellow Padawan's admired him for his skill and Purple lightsaber. He passed the Jedi trials and became a Jedi Knight. He was elected to the high council to lead with Master Yoda. He trained a padawan, Depa Billaba, and she joined him on the council.

In short, Mace Windu succeeded in every way it was possible for a Jedi to succeed in. He'd faced few hardships and was admired by many.

Perhaps that was why Obi wan Kenobi was such a mystery to him.

Despite his obvious skill, Master Jinn would have never had made it on the council. He was too hot headed and cared little for the code. His first Padawan, Freemor, did not carry his master's traits. He was weak and the council expected little harm from him. But after Xanatos, Mace knew they had to watch Master Jinn's next Padawan carefully.

He remembered Kenobi as a youngling. Even then, he showed signs of promise. He had the strength and discipline required of Jedi. Mace pictured him as a temple guard or perhaps as Freemor's first padawan.

He never expected Master Jinn to take Kenobi as his Padawan. Kenobi was nothing like Master Jinn's past Padawans. He wasn't weak like Freemor and he wasn't power hungry like Xanatos. Yet, he was powerful like Xanatos and as gentle as Freemor was. Under Master Jinn's tutelage, he had enough potential to fall to the dark side or to be expelled from the order.

Mace waited with bated breath for news of Kenobi's fall.

He didn't expect Kenobi to rise to the top. To be the exact opposite of his hot headed Master. To contain a vast amount of wisdom in that small head of his.

He hadn't expected him to become a Jedi knight without the trials. He hadn't expected him to train a padawan at such a young age. The prophesied chosen one, no less.

Mace didn't expect that one day he'd be appointing Kenobi to the high council. That he'd ask him for advice. That the name 'Kenobi' would strike fear in the hearts of many.

Of course, there had been rumors. Rumors trail the successful, hoping to tarnish a good man's name. Normally Mace ignored them. The tabloids were mostly trash, chasing every lead without good evidence. In their eyes a person was guilty until the story ran out of steam.

He couldn't ignore these.

There were rumors that Kenobi had broken the code. Rumors of him and a certain Duchess from Mandalore.
He never asked. But some days he wondered.

Kenobi had that certain charisma and charm that women loved. Combined with his striking looks and status as a Jedi, he was a prime candidate for seduction away from the order.

It was strange then, that the rumors only coupled him with one female. Especially when he hadn't seen her in years.

Mace disliked strange things. Things are only strange when there is much more to learn about them.

The rumors dispelled at her death, drifting away into the void of space. Kenobi went on as nothing ever happened. Mace approved of his choice. There was still a war to fight, disputes to settle. Kenobi could not waste his time thinking about trivial.

Mace had never entertained thought of breaking the code. Never had he let his emotions get the better of him.

Then why did he feel so empty inside?

This chapter was really cool to write. Because Mace is disconnected with his emotions, he doesn't even recognize when one of his own is hurting. He's so focused on the rules that he can't even recognize Obi's hurt force signature. It may seem mean, but he also was never in love. He doesn't understand heartbreak.

Thanks to 'Antonia Rose' for suggesting Mace's POV. :)

When I looking up Qui gon's padawans, (I couldn't spell Xanatos name :P) I discovered that he actually had an another, less talked about Padawan named Freemor. After Xanatos fall to the dark side, Qui gon dismissed his success with Freemor, believing that he was a failure. Which is sad, because Freemor became a Jedi knight! (Even though he couldn't even best his own master in a fight. :D)

(ALSO HE TRAINED KANAN JARRUS'S MASTER DEPA! I'M DONE BYE.)

Have a lovely day! :)