Author's Note: Wow, I've never got so many reviews before for one chapter! Thank you so much for your support, comments and suggestions! You are wonderful reviewers :)

This time, I will try to answer all of you at once. I made a list of FAQs ;-)

What is slash? - Fanfic featuring people of the same gender romantically involved (I found that definition on another fanfiction website) - in other words: this fancic includes a homosexual relationship. I think another word for it is "yaoi"... I'm not sure, however... crazy fanfiction-language ;-)

Will the slash be between Anakin and Obi-Wan? - Yes. Dooku and Qui-Gon are too old for them ;-)

How old are Anakin and Obi-Wan in this (and the last) chapter? - Both of them are eighteen years old.

So it means Padmé won't be in this fanfic? - Padmé will definitely be in this fanfic. But she has not nearly such a big part as in the movies. And that's all I can say for now...

A great wave of relief flooded Obi-Wan when Master Dooku, Master Jinn and the Gungan had finally disappeared. He just hoped Anakin kept his distance. He would have preferred to be alone. Never in his life had he felt so utterly miserable and pathetic. Stupid, clumsy, unworthy, weak, pathetic, cowardice - a disgrace to the Jedi Order.

"You're not," Anakin said as if he had read his mind. "A disgrace to the Jedi Order, I mean," he continued. "If there's someone who is a disgrace to the Jedi Order, then it's me. In my opinion, almost killing someone is much, much worse than being afraid of water after you almost got drowned when you were younger. And that's not only my opinion: Everyone who's sane in their mind will agree with that."

It did not comfort Obi-Wan at all. "Just because you did something worse, it doesn't lessen my failure," he said and although he wanted to sound angry, his voice sounded small and whiny.

"True...," Anakin muttered.

Obi-Wan shut his eyes and willed the tears to go away. Why could he not be a better Jedi? He had tried so hard but despite his rebreather and the knowledge no one was going to try and drown him, he had become all hysterical again. He had tried so hard... Yes, tried. That was what his Master had said. He had only tried it - not done it. He was not strong enough for doing.

"And what about swimming?" Anakin interrupted his dark thoughts.

"What do you mean, what about swimming? That's not a proper question, Anakin!" Obi-Wan burst out.

"I-I-I mean if it's only diving that you don't do anymore or if you don't like swimming either," Anakin said hastily.

Obi-Wan looked up at him. Anakin was still standing in the shallow water, his Jedi cloak soaked wet, his shoulders slumped, water from his dishevelled Padawan haircut running down his face. He looked like a half drowned womp rat, and that, somehow, made Obi-Wan answer relatively calmly. "I haven't tried it again since...well."

"Would you like to try?"

"There is no try, you know that."

"I think there is. Trying, in my opinion, is if you want to do something but you cannot be sure if you're strong enough to finish it."

"Great, Anakin Skywalker, absolutely great!" The fact that Anakin looked like a half drowned womp rat did not make him any less arrogant. "The Chosen One speaks, or what?! You know what, I prefer to trust in Master Yoda's or Master Dooku's wisdom."

"Master Dooku -"

"Don't say it's his fault!" Obi-Wan warned him. "Because it's not." It's my fault...and Master Dooku deserves a better student. One who doesn't hinder him. One who, one day, will be a great Jedi like him. One who is patient, serene, skilful, powerful... one who is like Anakin.

"I know. It's my fault," Anakin said in a small voice.

Obi-Wan had not expected that. "I didn't say it's your fault. It happened five year ago and I should have got over it."

"Yeah, and I should have never done it and Master Dooku should have been more patient and understanding with you and Master Qui-Gon should have been more careful with his Padawan Xanatos and Master Yoda should have punished you when you cut off my braid and the Senate should have intervened and stopped the blockade and the Gungans shouldn't have banished Jar Jar... it's always should, should, should. Shoulds do not help anyone. Sure, you should have done something with your, um, water-problem earlier, you should have spoken to Master Yoda perhaps. You didn't speak to him, did you?"

"No."

"And to Dooku?"

"No."

"You should have, of course, but it doesn't change anything now. Here we are and the fact is, some things didn't happen and some things happened and we have to live with the results now and work on it."

"Okay, that was a nice speech," Obi-Wan said, slightly amused in spite of himself. "And what do you want to tell me by that?"

Anakin grinned a little bit. "What I want to tell you by that is... I mean, the question I want to ask you now is - the question you should ask yourself is - Would you like to try, um, do, I mean... Would you like to swim again?"

"Yes, of course."

Anakin smiled encouragingly at him. "Then do it."

Obi-Wan snorted. "You make it sound so easy. You have no idea..."

"I never said it's easy," Anakin defended himself. "But since you get angry if I use the word 'try' - what else should I have said? 'Do it not'?"

"And here comes 'should' again," Obi-Wan teased him.

"Yes, yes, yes, okay. It's difficult to say sentences without 'try' and 'should'. Do you think we could simply speak normally?"

"Well, we could try of course but I don't know if it's going to work."

Womp-rat-Anakin laughed. "Alright then, let's try it. So, the question again: Would you like to try to swim again?"

"Yes," Obi-Wan answered again, though he dreaded the consequences.

"Now?"

"I-I don't know," Obi-Wan said truthfully.

"That sounds like a 'yes' to me." Anakin gave him a big smile. "The first step would be, of course, to get into the water again. Try to get in as deep as I am."

Obi-Wan took a deep, shaky breath. He already felt dread rising within him when he simply stared at the lake's surface. Infinite, dark depths that threatened to swallow him. Don't be stupid, he told himself, Anakin's still standing there and he's perfectly fine. The water doesn't do anything to him. Slowly, Obi-Wan got to the bank, sat down at the edge and very, very slowly, he put one foot first, then the next, into the water. He sat like that for a very long time, staring transfixed at a little insect which flew in circles around his boots and the reeds. Now the next step... He got up and stood ankle-deep in the water, cautiously probing the muddy ground with his feet. He sighed. From an objective point of view, it was nothing more but standing in a puddle yet. And still, it had cost him such an effort. How could he ever get to the point that he was actually swimming? He looked up at Anakin, who stood still rooted to the spot, waiting for him to continue with incredible patience. What Obi-Wan would give to have such patience! He probably would have lost patience before long, would have pulled him into the water - just like Dooku had done - and would have pushed his head underwater to prove to him that water was not dangerous at all. Obi-Wan hated to admit it but maybe Anakin was ready to take the trials and be knighted. Obi-Wan stared at his feet again, willing them to move one step further into the lake. Then he had to pause again.

"That's going to take a bit of time," Obi-Wan said, frustrated with himself because of his slow progress.

"I didn't expect you to jump in with a header like Jar Jar," Anakin said good-naturedly.

Obi-Wan laughed nervously. His legs finally did the next step. He kept his focus on his boots, concentrating on how they churned up the mire, which created little clouds around his boots. He tried not to think about how far he was already away from the bank. The odd thing about it was: the deeper he got, the less frightened he felt. Each step released his fear a little bit. Each step proved to him it was perfectly safe. At long last, he stood next to Anakin. Looking back, he was almost a bit proud of himself. He had made about four metres into the water. Nothing really heroic, of course, but he had done it. Very slowly, though, but he had done the four metres. And he knew he could go further.

"How do you feel?" Anakin asked him.

"Nervous," Obi-Wan said promptly. "But a bit better," he added.

"Ready to swim?"

"Uh, not yet. At first, I just want to walk in a bit deeper."

"Well, go on," Anakin encouraged him.

"Yes. Um, this sounds really stupid but... Could you get out of reach?" Obi-Wan felt really bad for saying it because Anakin was being so nice to him and tried to help but Anakin's presence - so close here in the water - reminded him too much of what had happened five years ago. "I don't mean to offend you but I think I could relax better if I was here on my own."

"That's alright," Anakin said and he seemed not offended at all, just a tad awkward maybe. "My feet were getting cold anyway." With that, he walked out of the water, sat down on a sunny spot at the waterside and meditated.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath and continued slowly but steadily. At certain intervals, he paused and took his time to take a look around and take in his surroundings. He thought that, maybe, he liked this place. It was silent and peaceful and the air was pure - so different from what it was like on Coruscant. To Obi-Wan's utter astonishment, he thought that the smell of water was pleasant. No, more than that: It was intoxicating. Soon, the water was at his waist. He combed the lake's surface with his fingers, enjoying the soft plashing. He fished a little bee which was about to drown, out of the water. I hope you won't get a trauma like I had. Obi-Wan grinned to himself as he thought about it. As the bee's wings were clotty with water, Obi-Wan used the Force to levitate it towards the bank. Surprisingly, it took him no effort at all. Normally, it was difficult to levitate such small objects. It could be easier to move a big rock than a needle sometimes. It was particularly difficult to levitate living beings. But today, Obi-Wan was in perfect tune with the Living Force. When he set the bee down on the exact leaf he had planned to use, his gaze rested on the ring his Master had given to him on his thirteenth birthday: The ever-present bluish glow had vanished. It was shining a deep black now. Encouraged by that, Obi-Wan got fully into the water and did the first stroke. His movements were hectic at first and he kept checking if he could still reach the ground with his feet. Soon, however, he trusted the water, the Force and himself enough to enjoy the wonderful sensation of floating through the refreshing coolness. He even closed his eyes for a certain time. There was still a little uneasy feeling in his stomach when there was suddenly no ground under his feet anymore but he managed to stay calm and swim back to the bank with relaxed strokes.

Anakin was sitting cross-legged in the moss. He was deep in meditation. It was a bit absurd but to Obi-Wan it seemed as if the Force loved Anakin. It was all around him, calm and strong and it was just... the Force. Not the nervous mess which surrounded other Padawans when they meditated. Most people had difficulties in calling the Force to them and enwrapping themselves in it. With Anakin, however, it was different: He did not need to call the Force - the Force came to him and enwrapped itself around him. It was the first time that Anakin's aura in the Force neither made Obi-Wan angry nor jealous nor nervous nor frustrated. Quite the contrary: The calmness of the Force had helped him to relax and take heart. Obi-Wan understood it was not the Force or Anakin's aura which had changed. The change had happened within himself. It was the first time that Obi-Wan accepted Anakin's help and it was the same as with the water: There was nothing bad about it. He had let go of his fear and had trusted - in himself, in Anakin, in the Force - and it had proved to be innocuous. Everything was still normal. Anakin did not gloat, Obi-Wan did not feel inferior because he had been helped... It seemed to be alright like that. Anakin had his eyes closed, oblivious to Obi-Wan's gaze on him. The sunrays which fell through the canopy of leaves bathed him in a dazzling light. With the Force glowing brilliantly around him, he looked like a Force-vision. Obi-Wan had never before given it much thought, but today, at that perfect moment, he knew Anakin was the Chosen One.

Chosen One or not – there was still an old score to settle. Careful not to make a noise, Obi-Wan cupped his hands and filled them with water, sneaked towards the meditating Anakin and sprayed the water into his face. Anakin leapt up with a yelp and next moment, Obi-Wan was Force-pushed back into the lake. A millisecond later, Anakin's lightsaber sprang to life, ready to attack.

"Man, what do you think you're doing?!" Anakin shouted. He still looked a bit dizzy from his meditation. "You're lucky you still got your head on top of your body!"

Obi-Wan laughed. "You have perfect Jedi-reflexes!" He sprayed more water at Anakin, making his lightsaber hiss angrily.

Anakin quickly deactivated it. "Hey, you want to short-circuit my lightsaber, or what?!" Then Anakin was in the water too and drove Obi-Wan backwards, using the Force to send waves of water crashing over him.

"That is no -" Obi-Wan spluttered, his mouth full of water " - respectful use of - " he got underwater and resurfaced again " - the Force!"

"And what about you destroying my lightsaber, eh? What was that?"

"Well, that was..." Wiping the water from his eyes, Obi-Wan tried to think of something clever to counter.

"Well?"

"Well, it was not revenge," Obi-Wan concluded lamely and the next wave crashed over his head. He thought it was time to defend himself and thus threw himself on top of Anakin and both of them submerged. They continued their fight underwater, struggling to break free from each other's grip. Finally, they resurfaced again, both gasping for air.

"And what - would you have done -," Anakin panted, " - if battle droids had arrived - and my lightsaber was – out of order, huh? You would have had to - fight them all by yourself!"

As Anakin was still grasping Obi-Wan's shoulders, ready to duck him again, Obi-Wan thought of something nice to say. "Ah, you're sooo amazingly - incredibly, unusually, extraordinarily strong in the Force - that you would have had no problems - fighting all the droids with your hands."

"Heh!" Anakin laughed loudly and tightened his grip on Obi-Wan's shoulders. "Mocking me won't help your cause!"

"Uh-oh." Obi-Wan freed himself from Anakin's not so very tight grip, quickly turned around and dived under. He had wondered if he could do this but after he had got so much water in his mouth and he had not even had problems with Anakin gripping him and ducking him, he should be alright. And he was. More than alright. It was amazing, he dived deeper and deeper, relishing in every stroke. He had never felt so alive before.

Anakin caught up with him. He had his rebreather on, which was cheating, really. Anakin grasped him again but instead of pushing him down further, he pulled him up and swam together with him to the surface.

"What was that about?" Obi-Wan asked, slightly confused but mostly still thrilled from the great diving experience.

"You shouldn't dive so deep without a rebreather," Anakin advised him, completely serious.

"But I had my rebreather with me," Obi-Wan protested. "It's at my utility belt. I could have put it on if I was running out of air."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," Anakin argued. "What if you had got hysterical again and if you had not found your rebreather in your panic?"

"But I didn't panic."

Anakin shook his head in slight amusement and gave Obi-Wan a penetrating glance. "You're a bit over-confident. Don't get reckless."

"Don't act so worry-Windu-like."

"What!"

And soon they started fighting again. Obi-Wan felt extremely hilarious - as if he was Force-drunk, if something like that existed. He dived again, this time with his rebreather on, so Anakin did not have to worry. Suddenly there was something in the dark depths of the lake. Huge yellow eyes. It got nearer very quickly. Panicking, the two of them swam to the surface, scrambled out of the water and ignited their lightsabers.

Fortunately, it was not a dangerous Padawan-eating monster but a submarine vehicle. With none other than their Masters and Jar Jar Binks in it. Laughing in relief, they deactivated their lightsabers. When Master Jinn saw them like that - soaked wet, dishevelled and cheerful - he gave them a broad smile, one that Master Dooku did not see, however. Master Dooku gave both a reproachful and very, very stern look. Obi-Wan knew it was going to be a long evening with endless lectures and extra-long hours of meditation but it was not such a big problem. Not anymore.