Anakin's attention was enthralled by the vastness of space, an inky black that observations from the surface of the planet couldn't do justice. Tiny dots dotted the entire length of the viewport, though his attention was on the rusty surface of Nar Shaddaa, yellow rings of various sizes visible even from space.

He had known about different planets, of course, even left twice to accompany Watto to the planet surface. But each time, he had been deep in a packed third class hull, stuck between the oily and grimy individuals beside him in a dark hold. Staring out at the several moons visible, he couldn't contain his awe at the beauty.

At once, a sense of doubt washed over him, over whether he was truly prepared. A small part of him whispered to return to a simple life on Tatooine, to avoid losing himself in the vastness of the galaxy. Yet this voice was quickly quashed with a swell of determination.

The door hissed open, revealing a young girl in tan jedi robes. Her blue eyes widened in slight surprise before a smile spread across her face and she extended her hand out. "You must be Anakin! I'm Satele, Master Vos' padawan."

Giving a roguish grin, he took her hand in his own and placed a kiss on it, smirking at the blush that tinted her cheeks. "A pleasure to meet you Satele. You don't mind if I call you that, do you?"

She stammered out a reply to the negative, causing Anakin to chuckle briefly before stopping at her indignant huff. "My apologies, I should not be teasing you."

"You really shouldn't," Satele replied dryly, before cracking a grin herself, "but I'm glad you are. Makes it all the more interesting, no?"

"Exactly," Anakin replied eagerly, before eyeing her curiously. "You're quite different from what I've been told to expect from a Jedi. Not stuck up like Kenobi."

Satele giggled at that before covering her mouth, nervously looking around, "He is quite traditionalist. But enough about Kenobi, anything you want to do?"

"Ten questions?" Anakin proposed. Satele considered before nodding in acceptance, dragging out a chair and sitting opposite him. "You first then."

"What's it like to have parents?" she questioned without hesitation. Anakin considered for a moment before answering.

"I could tell you a hundred different ways what family should be like, but I could never tell you if it felt real," Anakin admitted. "In the Rim, there is little room beyond selfish survival. Mothers have children because of three reasons: because they are raped, because they prostituted themselves off, or because they are breeding stock."

Satele covered a horrified gasp, to which Anakin shrugged. "I imagine there's a comfort in knowing someone has your back, that pretty much no matter what you'll have something, or rather, someone to fall back on. We've evolved this romanticised perception on the biological impulse to preserve genetic legacy, deriving comfort from it."

"So like the bond between a master and apprentice?" Satele proffered meekly. Anakin nodded in agreement.

"It varies between cultures, of course, but that is the general idea."

"Your turn."

"Hmm...what's it like being a Jedi?" At her confused look, he elaborated. "How does it feel, working for the Republic, joining your master on missions, seeing the galaxy…"

"You make it sound so exciting," Satele laughed depreciatively. "I suppose it would seem that way, but in truth it's just another set of routines. It's a lot of problem solving...though I admit there is a certain satisfaction to that."

"And how is master Vos?"

"Ah ah," she wagged her finger, "I do believe it's my turn."

With an exaggerated huff, he waved for her to ask her question, the corners of his lips curling upwards as she seemed to struggle to come up with anything.

"What's master Jinn like?" she settled on. At his curious expression she elaborated, "My master Vos has nothing but good things to say about the man, fair given he trained under master Jinn for several years."

"He's flexible, quick on his feet, a calm and approachable guy." At her eager expression, Anakin shrugged. "I've been here for less than two days, and spent maybe an hour with him, you probably know more about the man than I do."

She flustered in realisation, the chuckles that racked Anakin not helping her embarrassment in the slightest. Before it could get awkward, he controlled himself, asking, "So what is Jedi training like?"

"A different question already?" she doubted wondrously, but acquiesced nevertheless. "I suppose it's a lot of centering yourself, to be at peace. We have a code:

There is no emotion, there is peace.

There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.

There is no passion, there is serenity.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

There is no death, there is the Force."

"Well that seems...very restrictive," Anakin frowned, containing his original statement for the sake of politeness. "Even with knowledge one can be ignorant, even in passion one can be serene, even in chaos, there can be harmony, even with emotion, there can be peace."

"It isn't our place to challenge the code," Satele shrugged, even as a slight waiver was found in her inflexion. "Many Jedi who tried...they ended up falling."

"To the dark side?"

"Yes."

"But what is the dark side?"

"Well it's the opposite of the light side."

"Then what is the light side?"

"I…" she paused, trying to find words that would not come before conceding, "I'm not sure. The masters will have an answer, I am still unlearned in the ways of the Jedi."

"Well that seems to be a problem. If a Jedi is expected to follow the light and avoid the dark, surely one must understand what the two are, what they represent, the signs," Anakin proffered. Satele frowned, slightly self-conscious, and Anakin straightened up in understanding. "You shouldn't blame yourself, if anything, this is a failing of the Jedi in not instructing you."

"Well what is your answer?" she snapped heatedly. Anakin allowed it, given the circumstances.

"Forty two," he replied confidently, causing Satele to double take as she looked at him for any hint of deception. "If the Jedi want to set an arbitrary answer to how a Jedi should behave, then why can't I? You laugh at the seeming absurdity, yet to constrain yourself to such a code is no less nonsensical, is it not?"

Satele frowned, relieved that she wasn't the target of some malicious joke, yet doubts also beginning to cloud her expression as she weighed his words. "I...have had doubts myself, but it is not the way of the Jedi to doubt."

"To doubt is not wrong," Anakin denied vehemently, startling her with his conviction. "Doubt is what leads to insight, to reflection, to improvement. Without doubt, we remain ignorant, and is that not contrary to the code?"

"An interesting interpretation," Qui Gon admitted, startling the two children as he emerged from the balcony on top. Satele had an awestruck look on her face, while Anakin merely smiled in greeting, something the Jedi master returned. "I myself have faced doubt with the code. There are those who live by the code, and equally those who only see it as advice. I find myself in the latter group. But let us save our discussion of the code. I am curious, Anakin, what you believe as light and dark."

Both Qui Gon and Satele observed as his face scrunched up in concentration before he spoke, "I suppose light is the embodiment of traits considered meritorious, such as honour, duty and sacrifice. Dark would be the rejection of such expectation and convention, with self-service, moral shortcuts and the like. I do not deny that there are things we aren't meant to understand, only destroy in its entirety, but I reject the notion that this only applies to the dark. Either light or dark in too great a concentration destroys the balance, and must be corrected."

"An interesting perspective," Qui Gon appraised, "one which I personally am largely in agreement with."

At Satele's downtrodden look, Qui Gon reassured, "Do not fret, padawan Satele, this is merely my opinion, and certainly by no measure absolute. Self-discovery is a journey that each must engage with at their own pace, in their own way. In time, some may find that their ideals no longer match with the Jedi, and those individuals may find their own path. That is not to say they become Sith, in fact most go on to lead normal and plain lives no different from most other citizens of the galaxy."

She seemed to brighten up at this, chirping, "Thank you master Jinn."

The Jedi master laughed, bidding the two farewell before leaving the room to the duo once more, who sat in companionable silence as they watched the ship slowly depart from the system, before streaks of blue light flashed by, heralding their entrance to hyperspace.

"So how were the negotiations?" Anakin asked. Satele hummed noncommittal, fussing with her braid before answering.

"Boring, dull, just waiting around while the bureaucrats do their jobs. A few of their thugs tried to get handsy with me, but master Vos prevented anything too bad from happening. But let's not talk about that, come, meditate with me."

The two sat opposite each other, their hands clasped against each other as they closed their eyes and reached out to the force, slowly entering a trance, lost to the stimuli of the present as they wandered in a separate plane that formed the cosmic force.

Anakin strode towards a humming beacon of light amidst a torrent of void, walking towards it and caressing the warm glow before it cocooned him, and his vision flashed before he found himself in an unfamiliar body, the feeling of a thousand needles prickling him as he struggled to breath, as though a burning fire was in his lungs. There was a scorch mark on his abdomen, where blood was rapidly oozing out as he tried to claw his way up from the lava banks with a metallic limb, grasping helplessly at the loose soil as he felt his robes catch on fire, too close to the heat of the flowing lava. As he let out screams of agony, he looked up, to see two figures look down at him. Despite reaching out to the faceless beings, identities unknown, they turned their backs on him, as he felt himself slowly eaten alive by the fire, until he finally lost consciousness.

Eyes widening, Anakin sucked in a deep breath, glad for the relief returning to the real world brought. Instinctively, he felt for his arms, thankful that both seemed to be present. Letting out a sigh of relief, he looked up to see that Satele was staring at him with abject horror and sympathy, as she enveloped him in a hug. By instinct, Anakin stiffened, causing the padawan to slink back.

"Sorry...I'm just...not used to physical contact. It feels nice though," Anakin admitted. "Can we do that again?"

Satele smiled brilliantly, and hugged him once again. This time, Anakin curbed his reaction, relaxing himself and basking in the warmth that Satele provided. They stayed together for several minutes, simply listening to each other's heartbeats until Anakin tentatively reached out with the force, probing her aura.

This elicited a gasp from Satele, who felt something within her stir and react, though she couldn't quite pin down what. Eyeing Anakin curiously, she silently asked for an explanation, though Anakin was too focused on familiarising himself with her aura to see this, instead reaching out with his hand, placing it on her chest, closing his eyes and concentrating, delving himself deep into a trance, enveloping himself in the cosmic force as he saw her aura, a light hue of pink gently floating amidst the void. Tentatively, he reached out, stroking it, and could almost feel it purr in satisfaction.

Content with what he saw, he left his trance, seeing a very confused Satele shuddering. Blushing as he just realised where he had put his hand, he quickly retracted it, preparing for an impending rant but thankful when she merely observed him curiously.

"What was that? I've never felt anything like that!"

"I reached out to your force aura, it was a beautiful pink hue."

"Wait...what?" Satele guffawed. "That's impossible! Only Jedi masters are supposed to be able to even read auras, and I've never heard of anyone able to interact with them!"

Anakin shrugged, unsure of how to answer, as Satele began furiously muttering to herself. This continued for several minutes until she seemingly remembered he was present and watching her with poorly concealed amusement.

"You didn't tell me you knew how to enter a trance!" she accused.

"I thought that was the point of meditation!"

Satele sputtered disbelievingly before huffing annoyed, crossing her arms. "This is poodo. What aren't you good at?"

"Well you could probably beat me to Kashyyk and back with your lightsaber," he shrugged. Satele brightened at this admission.

"Wanna try? Might as well see if the prodigy boy might suck at something."

"You're on," he teased, blowing a raspberry at her as she tossed her hair back dramatically while igniting her lightsaber, a cerulean beam of light shooting out of a metal cylinder. Twirling it in the air, the buzzing noise it produced echoed in the observation deck. Standing with feet shoulder width apart, she demonstrated several repeated

"These are cadences of form 1, the basic form all Jedi learn," Satele explained as Anakin observed. "There are more advanced forms, most Jedi opt for Ataru, the fourth form, or Maakashi, the second form, my personal choice. But enough about that, let's try and teach you the basic forms."

"Would you like me to call you mistress while we're at it?" Anakin teased, causing her to huff petulantly. Accepting the lightsaber, Anakin palmed it, running his fingers over the grip. It was airy, too light for his taste, and the metal was a bit too smooth, the grip lacking for his liking. Tapping the button, he fell backwards in haste to avoid the blade as it ignited downwards toward his body rather than outward as intended.

Satele collapsed to the floor laughing while he tried to act angry until the humour of the situation broke his composure and he too chuckled, turning the blade around before igniting it, observing the blade closely and giving several experimental swings. Making several figure eights at increasing speed by flexing his wrist, he found himself quickly acclimating to the lightness of the blade.

Recovered from her laughter, Satele moved behind him, guiding his feet to be wider apart. She moved back, humming in thought before giving a nod of approval. "That's good, this is the basic stance. Relax your muscles slightly. Wanna play a game?"

"Okay?" he answered warily, causing her to grin innocently, skipping out of the room before returning several minutes later with two metal orbs. "What did I just sign up for?"

"A lot of amusement for me," she cheekily remarked before clicking a button, causing the two remotes to hover out of her grasp and begin circling Anakin, who eyed the two cautiously. Suddenly, a white bolt of light shot out of one of the orbs, which Anakin threw himself to the ground to avoid.

"What the kriff!"

"You're supposed to get hi-I mean deflect them," she pouted while Anakin shot her a glare as he recovered, only to get struck in the chest by another bolt, which stung him. He dodged a third before centering himself and raising the lightsaber blade, while eyeing the two droids wearily. He deflected the next bolt the orb in front sent, though his moment of triumph was quickly interrupted by a bolt shot from behind clipping his shoulder. "Not bad."

"I hate you," Anakin grumbled as he turned deftly to deflect a bolt from the droid behind, only to stagger as the second probe sent another bolt towards his exposed back.

"Love you too," giggled Satele as she clicked the remote in her hand, deactivating the droid once again. "But really, that was quite impressive, it usually takes adepts far longer to acclimate to a blade. Did you have any training?"

"None formally, but you don't survive in the outer Rim without gathering a bit of fighting know how," Anakin grimaced, before brightening. "Hopefully this means I won't be too behind."

"At most slightly," Satele assured warmly as Anakin returned the lightsaber. "But you'll catch up, you've got quite a bit of natural skill, even my untrained eye can see that."

"Thanks," he grinned, wiping the slight sweat from her brow. "Let's do something else though, as much as I'm sure you enjoy the thought of an untrained boy besting you in lightsaber combat."

"We're nearly the same age," Satele remarked dryly before acquiescing, "So what do you want to do?"

"How about sneaking into the high council meeting that Qui Gon is having?"

"You want to do what?" Satele exclaimed in disbelief. Anakin merely raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Are you insane?"

"We weren't explicitly told not to listen in to the meeting. Besides, gotta do something with the droid I...borrowed," Anakin shrugged. At Satele's incredulous look, he smirked, pulling out a small probe. "One of the ships' equipment monitoring droids. Very easy to slice into, by the way."

"I don't even want to know," she shook her head before grinning conspiratorially, "that way I get plausible deniability."

"Great," Anakin smirked, walking to the wall and yanking open one of the vent covers before shoving the probe in. Pulling out his holopad, he tapped into the droid's control, which showed the camera feed from the droid. Satele watched curiously as he steered the probe past several pipeways, until it approached a particular vent hole. Satele watched enraptured as the probe hovered above what was clearly the conference room, where they stared at the back of Qui Gon and Obi Wan.

"Masters, if you want my opinion, it is clear this is the child of the prophecy," Qui Gon was heard saying.

"This again?" Ki Adi Mundi sighed, and there were low mutters that could not be heard properly before the voice of Mace Windu cut through.

"We need not be reminded of the prophecy again, master Jinn. Your thoughts on the issue are well known as are ours."

"You cannot deny his potential. There must have been some sort of intervention by the-"

"Impossible, the force is not sentient."

"Evidence, you have of this, hmm?"

"It's a non-falsifiable statement, surely you can't expect every inanimate object to be proven dead?"

"It is the will of the force that we found the boy, it's the only explanation. The Council must have sensed Skywalker's presence is far stronger than normal. Especially given he was far outside our usual range."

"Qui Gon has a point," Windu acknowledged, "but this does not prove that the prophecy is true. They are notoriously fickle, and many don't pan out at all. I will not have this council divided. The fact remains we may not admit the boy, he is too old by any normal standard. That we even considered it is a courtesy to you, Qui Gon."

"I will train the boy myself if I have to," Qui Gon asserted.

"Have a padawan, do you not, hmm? Another, you wish to take?"

"It is not unheard of. Besides, Obi Wan is ready for the trials."

"And what if the council decides he is not to be trained?" Windu challenged. "We have yet to meet the boy."

"I will-"

"Master," Obi Wan protested, "surely you can't mea…what the heck is that!"

"Ah crap," Anakin cursed, hastily tapping orders for the droid to withdraw, though a force pull from Obi Wan yanked it straight out of the vents and into his hand. Both children eeped at the angry look Obi Wan gave through the camera feed of the droid, to which Anakin gave a shrug, disabling the feed with a sheepish smile as Satele started to hyperventilate. "Calm down!"

Upon seeing no reaction, Anakin slapped her, causing her to visibly startle, a hand moving to her cheek before she shook out of her stupor. "Right, right, well, what are we going to tell them?"

"Indeed I am curious," Qui Gon's calm voice called out, followed by a visibly angered Obi Wan, as though he were on a leash, and a more sedate Quilan Vos, who looked more amused than anything. "Perhaps an explanation is in order?"

"Well, I was just curious about the droids on board, so I started to tinker a bit with one lying in storage. I managed to hook it up to controls on my holopad, and was just showing Satele how it could navigate in areas otherwise inaccessible when suddenly the droid got yanked out and into his hand," Anakin pointed to Obi Wan with some annoyance. "The gyroscope modulation will be a pain to rework, you know?"

"That isn't the point! You were spying on a meeting of the high council!" Obi Wan exclaimed furiously.

"What is a high council?" Anakin questioned, ignoring Satele's chortle or Qui Gon fighting down a smirk. "You can't expect me to believe that you'd call the governing body 'the high council', right?"

"I...but...what…" Obi Wan sputtered before throwing his hands up in exasperation. "We know that you were spying on the meeting to garner information on the prophecy!"

"Prophecy? You seriously believe in that sort of thing?" Anakin asked incredulously, and he heard Satele's quiet snickers beside him. "Did I just sign up to join some sort of cult?"

"I…" Obi Wan gave a pleading look to Qui Gon, who merely shrugged indifferently, while Quilan Vos openly had a grin on his face. Giving a sound of frustration, he stormed out of the room, leaving the four very amused individuals alone.

"Must you antagonise my apprentice such?" Qui Gon asked, though all sensed it was a tokenistic question at best. Anakin gave an unrepentant grin. "I suppose I have my answer then. Regardless, we're landing shortly, and you're to immediately meet with the council. Do try and show some...restraint. Many are not as open minded as us."

As the ship approached Coruscant, Anakin looked out the viewport in awe. There were streams of ships entering and leaving the planet, while the surface was one large ecumenopolis, with rings of light the size of continents demarking individuals cities of the planet surface.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Satele mused. Anakin only nodded in agreement, too enthralled by the view as they slowly descended towards the planet surface. Eventually, individual buildings became more distinguishable, with the walls of the Jedi temple being easily visible among the cluttered Coruscanti skyscape. Spires in each corner rose up from the main frustum body of the structure, though most impressive was the middle spire, larger than the others and at the center.

"They rule from a literal ivory tower," Anakin muttered under his breath. Satele giggled at the comment, though both missed the more sombre looks the two Jedi masters behind them had.

"I doubt they'd appreciate you telling them that," Satele rused, eliciting a snort from Anakin. "Do try and behave, I quite like you, and it'd be a shame to lose you so quickly."

"Aww you do care," he teased, causing Satele to fluster and blush slightly.

"Jedi are supposed to be chaste, you know?"

"What we're supposed to and what we actually do are two very distinct things," Anakin lectured sagely as they touched down on a landing pad and boarded a speeder which took them through a private skylane towards the Jedi temple, which towered even more impressively from such an angle of observation. Their speeder parked into one of the hangar bays, from which the five individuals stepped out.

"Do try and be good," Satele gave a wry smile. "Hopefully I'll see you around."

With that, she and Quilan Vos split off, leaving Anakin, Obi Wan and Qui Gon. They wandered through the maze like corridors, past several other Jedi moving sedately about with their business, before they boarded a turbolift, shooting them up the spire until they reached the top. Several sets of doors hissed one after the other, until they were able to proceed into the council chamber proper, where twelve Jedi sat on chairs of various sizes and shapes, observing the trio curiously.

The two Jedi bowed, while Anakin merely dipped his head in acknowledgement.

"This is the boy?" Windu questioned, concentrating for a moment before letting out a thoughtful hum. "He is...less impressive than you led us to believe, no?"

"Deceiving, looks can be, hmm?" Yoda interjected. "Sense his potential, I do, but emotion...much emotion within him."

They asked several more questions, before Windu frowned. "Leave us, we have much to deliberate."

The three bowed their heads, stepping outside the council chamber. Anakin looked towards Qui Gon, who offered a smile despite his clear unease at the situation.

"Will I be accepted, master Jinn?" "I doubt the council will reject you. All sensed your potential."

They don't like me," Anakin lamented, shrinking into himself. "Should I have hid my answers better? Were they not satisfied?"

"The Council will see reason in the end," Qui Gon reassured, placing a hand on Anakin's shoulder. "You need not worry, you shall have a place in this galaxy. I can feel the force singing around you, Anakin, and rarely have I ever felt such a calling. You are destined for something, and not even the council can ignore that."

"You shouldn't speak for the council, master" Obi Wan interjected. "It is not wise to assume."

Before Qui Gon could answer, the door hissed open, and they entered the chamber once again. Anakin shifted nervously from foot to foot, and Qui Gon observed the council severely, even as Obi Wan remained impassive. After a brief pause, Windu leant forward, locking gazes with Anakin before focusing on Qui Gon. "You will not train the boy, Qui Gon. Your apprentice, Kenobi, will."

There were several heated looks between the various council members, before Windu looked at a pained Yoda. "Considering your recent actions, the council has decided to reassign you to part of the Lyris facility's security. You are to depart for your assignment immediately."

"As the council commands," Qui Gon frowned, before turning to Obi Wan and smiling. "Congratulations, my former apprentice."

"Masters, surely…"

"The Council has spoken, young Kenobi. You may leave. All of you."

The trio departed the chambers, Qui Gon still regal as always, though both Anakin and Obi Wan appeared disturbed. "Master, surely they shouldn't be doing this."

"My views have often clashed with the Council, I suppose this was the last line for them. Goodbye old friend, may the force be with you."

"And you, master," Obi Wan returned. Qui Gon offered one last smile to both of them before departing, leaving the duo clearly uneasy.

Author Note:
For those who suspect Satele will be taking Obi Wan's place as the sibling figure, congratulations! Kudos if you know where I pulled the name from as well! Obi Wan in this novel will be a staunchly traditionalist Jedi who follows the council almost blindly. I realise the setup might be a bit quick, so I want to give some context: Satele, as the padawan of Vos, is quite unorthodox and thus has little friends as she is looked down upon by other Jedi. Anakin, who didn't have friends as a slave because of his force abilities, is also eager to latch on. Sorry if this wasn't communicated well. Yoda is also far more aware of the flaws of the Jedi, similar to how he was in Episode 2 of the trilogy. Feedback, as always, is welcome!