"One last session won't hurt," I insisted as we nodded to the guards flanking the massive front gates of the Jedi Temple. The complex as a whole sprawled across dozens of buildings, as massive vertically as horizontally, and made use of far more open space between buildings than much of Coruscant. There were several other entrances and exits, but coming in the main way was often most efficient, especially for accessing the higher-level spaces used for group training. "And I'm sure he'll want to speak with me before he goes in."

"Very well," Qui-Gon agreed. "I have been asked to join a discussion regarding yesterday's attack on Malastare. Young Skywalker is expected in the Council chambers in just over an hour." We exchanged nods as he headed off to meeting spaces on a lower level.

I didn't have to ask after Anakin, as his presence called out clearly to me from the library of all places. He was deep in discussion with a junior librarian, a small holo map of Mid and Outer Rim worlds floating in front of them.

"... significant expansion of resources, just because of the time factors involved in traversing the hyperspace lanes." The librarian, a human female no older than me, was clearly absorbed in the topic and her young questioner.

"But the Republic has the resources, right? They can call on members to provide extra ships if needed." Anakin stared intently at the holo, which marked out in colors what I took to be the spheres of influence of the Republic and other regional powers (notably the Pyke Syndicate and the Hutt).

"That is their leverage, yes. But in practice, it takes a massive provocation for the Republic as a whole to mount a response," the librarian explained. "The official Republic policy is for local conflicts to be handled locally, provided everyone follows certain rules. So rather than expecting the intervention of the Republic, planets seek protection among their trade allies and neighbors."

"And over time, the willingness of the Senate to overlook blatant violations of their own rules has increased," I interjected. The librarian started, having not noticed my arrival, but the boy met me with a welcoming smile.

The librarian nodded, shaking off her surprise. "That's what some people have been saying, yes: that powers like the Trade Federation and the Syndicates have been emboldened by the Republic's lack of decisive action. Some say this is natural, and reflects a shift in the balance of power toward trade interests and away from planetary governments. Others see it as a dangerous weakening of the Republic."

"If the Republic can't protect the people of the galaxy the way they should," Anakin spoke up, "then it is too weak. It's not doing its job."

"Some say that the job of the Republic is just to protect planets from each other, not to interfere in how a planetary government treats its people," the librarian pointed out.

Anakin scowled. "That's dumb," he said after a moment's thought. "Jedi Knights have gotta protect people from bad guys. If the Jedis work for the Republic, then it must be the Republic's job."

The librarian didn't have an immediate response to that, so she shrugged, gesturing in my direction. I took her hint. "We're nearing the time for your examination, Anakin. Let's find a place to prepare."

"Okay. Thanks, Trella," the boy called happily as he climbed down off the too-high library chair.

"Good luck, young man. I'll record these queries under your library account. Anakin Skywalker, right?" She waved cheerily. "Come back soon and we'll talk some more."

The Temple included many small chambers with a variety of cushions, mats, and chairs; it was easy for us to find a space to be alone. I saw Anakin's face wrinkle in distaste as I sat cross-legged on the ground, inviting him to do the same. His restless energy bounced around like a caged beast as he slowed his breathing, his eyes closed and palms open on his knees as I had taught him.

"Center yourself," I instructed, "and let the awareness of your body dim and fade, so that your pure mind can emerge. Picture you and me, our positions in this room. Let the room fade to nothing; let our bodies fade to nothing. Our luminous selves remain."

I followed my own instructions, the room disappearing under my closed eyes until the white-hot glow of Anakin's mind dominated my senses. Behind, under, and through it flowed the Force of the planet, the lives and minds of billions of beings pulsing, swirling just at the edge even as Anakin - and a few other nearby powerful Jedi - stood out brightly and distinctly.

"Reach your mind out, gently, and touch mine," I instructed. I opened my mind up, pouring all of my discipline and training into diffusing and softening myself to allow for a connection.

Anakin had made progress. The first time we tried this, I had brushed against his mind and he flinched inward, a ball of suspicion and remembered pain. Now I felt the ambient energy shift in a gradient between him and me as the ball of his senses distended, stretching, reaching toward me. I received it with the lightest possible touch, and felt his happiness at success. His mind pulsed it, waves of emotion rippling through his mind, pushing him forward.

As natural as it would have been to do so, I did not respond to his emotions with my own. My awareness stayed in contact with his, but both the mental and physical components of my own feelings were fully smoothed out, damped down, and his ripples of joy passed through me as though I were void, interacting with nothing.

"Very good, Annie," I praised, feeling a surge of confidence from him in response. "Tell me what you feel from me, from our connection."

"You're empty," he murmured, a single spark of curiosity spitting from him and bouncing back unhindered. "You are thinking, but not feeling. How do you do that?"

The aggressive hunger in his question caused his presence to grow, not only wider but more solid. It also shook both of our minds, jarring and loosening the connection. I thinned myself more, exerting a small gravity to keep him with me. "I am not empty," I contradicted, "but my emotions are contained. Experienced, but not embodied. Something I do, not who I am."

"How?" He asked again, and the accompanying desire was enough to yank us completely apart.

We opened our eyes at the same time, and he spoke first. "How?" the boy implored again. "How d'you lock your heart up so tight?"

"Discipline," I answered with a small smile. "Close your eyes again."

For our second and third attempts, we focused on Anakin's fear. It was not, as I had first expected, a single solid mass, like one deep affection or trauma. Instead, it was diffused among a hundred memories and embedded in many other parts of him. Anakin had lived with abuse, in an environment where both physical and emotional injury were very real. He had grown up in a crime-ridden area where there were no strong guarantees of his safety, or that of his mother. His fears were not fanciful delusions; they made sense. He worried about things that could realistically have happened to him and her.

And in reality, his fears for his safety or Shmi's were not baseless even today. Although Coruscant was a safer area of the galaxy with far more legal rights for its citizens, the Skywalkers were tangled up however indirectly in a high-stakes conflict involving powers who had already shown a willingness to harm civilians. And even barring that, crime in the corridors and skies of Coruscant was not nonexistent.

But all of this was a tangent I wholeheartedly kept to myself. My work with Anakin wasn't an attempt to reason him out of his fears, but simply a set of techniques to understand and tame them. It was a process that would certainly take years, but in even just a handful of days, he had already started to understand the rudiments of mental control.

I expressed my satisfaction with his progress as we made our way to his examination. "You're on your way already. A true Jedi sees all of the world from a vantage of complete detachment, involving himself where and how he chooses, experiencing only those connections that strengthen and nourish him."

Anakin nodded, taking my hand and squeezing it tightly. "What are they testing me for?"

"To see if you will still take to training like a younger boy would. The Order usually removes children from their parents early enough that they can cut off their emotional attachments."

"Oh." I sensed his nervousness increase. "So to pass, I have to show I can cut off Momma? And Padme? And you?" He squeezed my hand tighter.

I nodded. "They will ask you questions and show you images of danger and violence. They will look for fear, more generally, but especially fear based on personal attachments."

"I… don't wanna cut my attachments. I love Momma," he said fiercely, anger and slight fear underlying his thoughts.

"Yes, I know," I agreed. "And that's part of why I expect them to reject you today."

He stopped walking forward as I felt panic join his other emotions; he didn't like the idea of failure or rejection. "They'll fail me because of love? That's not fair!" Standing still, his hand still tightly gripping mine, he looked up at me frowning. "Why am I taking the test if I'm gonna fail it anyway?"

"These Jedi are very wise. The greatest masters alive today." I gestured with my free hand down the end of the hallway; we had almost reached the chamber when he stopped.

"Greater than Qui-Gon?" Anakin looked more excited than nervous again.

"Some of them, yes. It is good for them to see you, to learn more about who you are and how you feel. And they have earned the right to make this judgment for themselves."

"Is Yoda in there?" Anakin pulled against my arm to lean forward, trying to look through the corridor wall to see who was on the other side. "He's nice. People say he's a great warrior, but when he came and talked to me he was really old."

"Yoda is the Grandmaster Jedi, the leader of the Council," I said.

"Oh! That's okay then. Are we late?"

As we approached the entrance, I spun Anakin around and picked him up in a big hug. "It's just you going in, buddy. I'll wait here for you. Be polite, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks, Obi," he said, and walked through the doors to his fate.