"Anakin, you know how I worry when you're late. You have to let me know what you are doing."
"I'm sorry, Mom," Anakin said, eyeing the spoon in his mother's hand. He wasn't sure if she was holding the utensil because she was making dinner or because she was planning to use it on him.
Shmi sighed, looking down at her small boy with more love, affection, and annoyance than she knew what to do with. It drove her crazy when her son lost track of the hour and came home later than he was supposed to, and she always worried that Watto was overworking him, or that he had run into some trouble, but it was usually just that he got carried away with his projects. She knew he would work himself to starvation if there was no one to intervene.
"You try so hard when you want something," she said. "Why can't you want to come home and eat?"
Anakin heard the frustration in his mother's voice and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I really am sorry," he whispered. "Are you going to spank me?"
"I should..." his mother said thoughtfully, and then after a pause she set the spoon on the counter. "But I won't this time. Go clean up and help me with dinner before I change my mind."
She patted him affectionately on the back, and he let her go and hastened to obey, considering himself lucky. Shmi sighed as she watched him skip away, knowing she would never punish him for acting as a boy should. Her heart swelled to see him happy. "You'd be late for your own destiny, Anakin Skywalker!" she called to him affectionately as she returned to her work.
"Good job, Anakin. You learn very quickly when you apply yourself."
Anakin smiled, warmed by the praise, and he held his form diligently as he waited for his master to release him from it. "Okay, I think that's enough for one morning," his master told him, and Anakin righted himself back to his feet. "It's about time you headed to class. You did well."
Obi-Wan wanted to give his padawan the best chance for success, and he hoped that the morning exercise would help him to focus better on his schoolwork. It had been a somber affair the night before, but he was glad to see how his padawan's mood had lifted with the following morning's activity. "We can practice again later if you finish all your homework," Obi-Wan assured him.
"Thanks, Master," Anakin replied, looking up at his master gratefully.
Obi-Wan could not help but smile back at him, but he thought it wise to issue a warning before sending Anakin off. He knelt down and looked his padawan closely in the eyes. "Do you remember what I told you last night? Will you behave today?"
Anakin nodded vigorously. "Yes, Master. I'll do my best."
"I know you will," Obi-Wan said, smiling again. "Now run along. Don't be late."
Obi-Wan was pleased to see his padawan's eagerness as he hurried from the room toward his classes. Anakin had seemed to take his spanking so seriously and was responding so well already, that Obi-Wan wondered if he would ever have to do it again. You'd be proud, Master, he thought, feeling a pang of deep sorrow that prompted him to seek meditation before the emotion overtook him.
Anakin's mood remained light as he joined his first class. He did not dislike his mathematics and logic class because it came more naturally to him, and he understood enough already to join with younglings who were his own age. The latter was only satisfactory to his pride, however. He did not get along with any of his classmates.
Anakin was the only one in his class to have already been paired with a master, and the other younglings had been questioning him the past few days about how he could really be a padawan already. They noted how they had never seen him before, that he talked kind of funny, and that he was not in all of their classes. Many of the questions were born from an innocent curiosity, but Anakin mostly ignored them, missing his old friends on Tatooine and not knowing how to interact with anyone he had so little in common with.
He isolated himself again as he focused on his coursework, remembering the lesson his master had imparted on him the night before. The numbers made much more sense to him than words did, and he found himself enjoying the lesson and even working ahead on his assignments. His teacher praised him for this, which sparked a little jealousy in his classmates. When the class broke for free time, this jealousy manifested in more questions and some teasing from the younglings.
The subject of Anakin having spent a day hiding from class had made the rounds, and when it became a topic for their conversation, Anakin wished the floor would open up like a sarlacc pit and swallow him to save him from his embarrassment. They asked him where he had gone and if he had gotten in trouble, and he did not provide answers for either question. He did not want to reveal the place he went to seek comfort, nor did he think it was any of their business whether or not he had been punished.
"But did you get the strap, Anakin? Was it bad?" one of the younglings asked curiously. Anakin merely stared at the girl in confusion.
"He must have, since he's a padawan," another youngling replied.
Anakin wanted to say that he didn't know what they were talking about, but he did not want to appear stupid, so he said nothing. Some of them understood his silence to mean that he did not wish to be bothered, but for others it enticed them to push him more.
"Or maybe he didn't," another boy said, the question of Anakin's padawan status implied with his tone.
Anakin gritted his teeth in irritation at the accusation. "What would you know about it, if you're not a padawan?" he said haughtily.
"Well, I know you take classes with younglings," the boy returned, laughing.
Anakin flushed, feeling hot with embarrassment and anger. On Tatooine, if you picked a fight with words like that, it would get sorted out with someone's fists, but Anakin could not imagine having a brawl in the clean and sophisticated environment of the Temple. He did not have the words to make a satisfactory contradiction, so he turned away, his emotions bubbling within him.
Anakin could not focus on the remainder of the lesson, feeling no outlet for his frustration, and he comforted himself by promising that he was going to skip his next class. In the back of his mind he didn't think he would really do it, but it was fun to imagine that he would. However, when the lesson ended, and it was time to make his way to his reading class, the teasing giggles from some of the others made his anger flare again, and instead of walking to class... he just kept walking.
He walked until, almost without thinking about it, he found himself in the kitchen again. He stood in the doorway for a moment, instantly feeling calmed, and Tara shared a confused look with him. "You again, Ani?" she said. "Didn't you just get in trouble for hiding out in here? I should spank you, and send you away. No doubt your master will when he finds you."
But Tara had no intention of disciplining the child she was fast becoming fond of, and she picked Anakin up and set him on the counter. "Since you're here," she said, handing him a vegetable peeler, "you can work on these potatoes and tell me why you have decided to skip your classes."
Anakin was happy to use his hands and quickly obliged, reaching into a bowl beside him to pull out a potato. He wasn't sure why, but simple tasks like this made him feel better, and he felt his frustration subsiding as he carefully cut a peel into a long spiral as his mother had taught him to do long ago. Tara let him work in silence for a bit before she prompted him to speak.
"Come on Ani, tell me why you're here," she said, turning toward him with a mixing bowl in her hands and whisking vigorously.
"I just don't like going to class," Anakin said simply.
"Well, that's not a good enough reason not to do something. It's important to learn things, especially the things we find most challenging. You'll never progress as a Jedi if you don't."
Anakin sighed, dropping the peeled potato into a pot and retrieving another. "Maybe I'll never be a Jedi. I'm not smart enough."
"I don't think that's true, Ani, and it's not about how smart you are. It's about how hard you work."
"Well, no one thinks I can do it," he countered.
Tara paused her whisking and looked upon him seriously. "Anakin, are you really going to let some younglings tell you they know better than your master? I would be pretty offended by that if I were Obi-Wan. He made the choice to train you because he believes in you. You shouldn't doubt him."
Anakin paused, staring at her for a moment. "I didn't think of it like that," he admitted.
Tara let her statement rest, and a silence fell between them as they worked. "So..." Anakin began after a while. "Why are you here?" he asked curiously, noting she was the only person he had seen in the kitchen lately.
"Well, normally they would leave this work to the droids and the service staff, but I'm being disciplined, so they're having me fill in," she answered honestly.
"What are you in trouble for?" Anakin could not help wondering how a padawan who was so much older than him could be in trouble.
"Because I have the opposite problem as you, Ani," she answered with a chuckle. "I like studying a little too much, and sometimes I forget myself and spend the whole day reading, and I get a little slothful toward my other duties. This is supposed to remind me of how much labor goes into things, or something like that... Next week is housekeeping."
Tara huffed as she resumed whisking, and Anakin felt a little sorry for her. "Isn't that droid for mixing?" Anakin asked, pointing to a droid behind her that was not being used.
"I think so, but it doesn't work," she answered.
"I bet I could get it to work," he said proudly. "I'm good with droids."
Tara smiled at him. "Alright then, let's see what you can do." She walked the droid over to him and powered it up, and the droid let out a series of beeps and whistles but did not otherwise move.
Anakin listened carefully and nodded. "I got you, buddy. I'll get it."
"You can understand the droid?" Tara asked incredulously.
"Sure, it's easy once you learn their language. Can you hand me those tongs? The tiny ones?"
"Yes, but how did you learn binary? " Tara questioned, handing him the makeshift tool he needed to adjust some wiring in the droid's arm.
"I don't know... I just picked it up eventually," he answered honestly.
"Anakin, little boys who can learn a language like binary are not unintelligent. Can you imagine what you could do if you tried to learn on purpose?"
Anakin didn't say anything as he worked to adjust the wiring, and Tara watched in fascination as his soft brow furrowed while he performed the surgery. "Try it now," he told the droid, who lifted its arm and motioned in a whisking manner. "Good as new!" he said excitedly, sending the droid back to Tara.
"Thank you," Tara said with genuine gratitude as she delegated her mixing to her new helper. "You know, I'd be happy to repay you if you ever need help with your studies. I've helped your master a time or two. I'd bet we'd make quick work of it."
"Is my master smart?" Anakin asked curiously.
Tara laughed. "Oh, he's smart alright..." she said, thinking of Obi-Wan's quick wit that sometimes earned him a reproof. "And he's definitely smart enough to find out you skipped class. Don't you want to go back now?" she asked Anakin hopefully. Tara enjoyed his company and did not want to see him leave, but she also did not want to see him in greater trouble by extending his stay.
"I'm not going back to class," he replied fiercely, and Tara could tell he would not be convinced.
"Then... I think I ought to take you to your master..." She spoke the words gently and carefully, not wanting to push.
"He's going to spank me," Anakin stated, and Tara wasn't sure if he was expressing fear over it or not.
"Isn't it what you deserve?" she asked pointedly.
"Yeah... I guess so." Anakin looked away shyly, and began nervously tearing a peeling into smaller pieces.
"You're an odd sort of youngling, you know," Tara said, gently brushing the potato peelings off his lap, "but I like you. Come on, Anakin, it will be alright."
Anakin sighed and took her hand, resigned to his fate. As they walked down the hall to Obi-Wan's quarters, Anakin recalled what the younglings had said earlier about getting the strap. "Hey, Tara, what does it mean to get the strap?" he asked curiously.
"Oh, well... That's something padawans get when they misbehave. It's just another kind of spanking."
"But it's only for padawans?"
"Well, yes... older padawans, not younglings," she clarified, "but if you learn to behave now, you may never have to be acquainted with it."
As they approached the door to Obi-Wan's room, Tara sensed Anakin's anxiety escalate, and she squeezed his hand in an effort to comfort him. "It's going to be okay, Anakin," she reminded him again. "Your master will be fair."
When Tara knocked on Obi-Wan's door, Anakin hoped that his master wouldn't answer, but he was quickly let down. "Hello Tara, it's nice to see you," Obi-Wan greeted warmly.
"Master Obi-Wan, your padawan," she said a little awkwardly, nudging Anakin forward. Tara had known Obi-Wan while he was still a padawan, and it felt a little odd to call him "Master."
"So it is," Obi-Wan said, crossing his arms. "What's the meaning of this? Shouldn't you be in class?"
Anakin studied his master's boots, feeling ashamed and unable to meet his gaze. "He came to visit me in the kitchen," Tara explained on his behalf. "I've been watching over him."
Obi-Wan looked at Tara and chuckled with amusement. "Were you reading too much again?"
Tara blushed, recalling a time they had spent a night in the Archives together, having fallen asleep while reading, and the scolding she had received from her master when they were caught. "You know me," she said, laughing a little.
"Well, thank you, Tara. That will be all for now." Obi-Wan gave her an appreciative smile, and she bowed in return.
Tara knelt down and gave Anakin a quick hug. "Please be good and mind your master, little one. He means well," she said, smiling at him warmly before she rose and parted to return to her work.
Obi-Wan gently pulled his padawan into the room, letting the door close behind him, and stared at him quietly for a minute as he contemplated the situation. Anakin had seemed to take his discipline so seriously before, that Obi-Wan thought he might never have to spank his padawan again, at least for a long while. He could tell by this mischievous streak that would not be the case.
"Anakin, I am disappointed that you made the choice to disobey and leave your class," he said finally. "What did I say would happen if you did that again?"
"You said you would spank me," Anakin stated, still unable to look up at his master.
"Did you think I didn't mean that?"
"No... I knew you meant it," Anakin said dejectedly.
"Then I have to say I'm confused, Anakin. Can you tell me why you decided to disobey when you knew what the consequences would be?"
Anakin remained silent, unable to answer, and Obi-Wan sighed in frustration. "I know it can be difficult to explain yourself, but it is disrespectful not to answer when I ask you a question," he said sternly. "There is no need to be frightened. We are just talking. I need you to tell me why you decided to skip your classes and go to the kitchens instead."
"I like Tara," Anakin said simply.
"I like Tara too, but you know that's not a reason."
"I can't explain it," Anakin answered, and Obi-Wan sensed more defiance than confusion in the remark. Anakin had said "can't" when he meant "won't."
"If I put you over my knee, will that help you explain yourself?'' his master threatened.
Anakin gulped but remained silent, and they stared at each other for spell, waiting for the other to react. Obi-Wan was at a bit of a loss, and he tried to reach out with the Force, looking into his padawan for answers. Anakin was a little scared, but not nearly as frightened as he had been the night before, and there was a willful determination that had not been there the last time he was being confronted for his misdeed. Obi-Wan knew he needed to correct that early if he wanted his padawan to learn his lesson.
"Anakin, I'm about to swat your bottom if you don't start talking. You have ten seconds," he said firmly, and he began counting slowly in his head until he reached 10. "Your time is up," he said, staring at his padawan expectantly.
Obi-Wan let out a long sigh when Anakin kept silent and moved toward him to act on his promise, but when he sensed Anakin's fear spike, he stopped abruptly. "I'm not going to hurt you," he assured him in a soft tone. "Never... But I am going to spank you though. You are being disobedient and disrespectful."
He slowly reached out and took Anakin's hand, carefully pulling him forward and turning him so that he could deliver three stinging swats to his backside. Anakin yelped at the third, and the pain seemed to have an immediate effect on his defiance. Obi-Wan gripped him securely and looked into his eyes. "Don't be scared," he said firmly. "I am trying to help you, and I need to understand what you were thinking. Now, tell me why you skipped your class."
"I... I just... I didn't want to go..." Anakin struggled.
"Why didn't you want to go?" Obi-Wan pressed. His master had never let him get away with failing to thoroughly explain himself, and Obi-Wan recalled that the discussions were often more impactful than the discipline. He did not want to be remiss where his own padawan was concerned.
"I don't feel like I belong there... Why can't you teach me?"
"I can't be with you all the time," Obi-Wan said, but he felt sympathy for Anakin as he remembered at one time wishing he could spend every moment with his master. "Besides, you don't want me to try to teach you all that kind of stuff. I wouldn't be very good at it. It's important to hear from different people who are good at different things. It helps you grow... And you need to learn to get along with other people."
"Sometimes I miss my old friends," Anakin confessed.
"I know, but you made the choice to come and learn didn't you? That means you have to try to do the learning. It will pay off later, you'll see."
Anakin nodded, realizing his master was right. "I'll do better tomorrow," he promised, eagerly.
Obi-Wan resisted the urge to chuckle as his naughty padawan. "Yes, you most certainly will. I'll be walking you to and from your classes to make sure of it... And you're still getting that spanking. You earned it."
Anakin's shoulders slumped, and his gaze fell to the floor as he anticipated his punishment. The pitiful sight pricked Obi-Wan's heart. "Come now, you knew this would happen," he said softly.
"Yes, Master," Anakin acknowledged.
"Then let's get it over with, young one," Obi-Wan said firmly, leading Anakin to a chair and moving him to his side once he sat down.
"Master... You can use the strap... I'm old enough," Anakin said timidly.
Obi-Wan stared at his padawan in confusion, a little startled by the statement. "Do you know what you're talking about?"
"The younglings said padawans get spanked with a strap, and I'm a padawan, so I thought I would too," he explained.
Obi-Wan let out a long sigh and rubbed his forehead. "Is that what this is really about? Are you trying to get a spanking?"
"No... Not really," Anakin answered, but even he wasn't entirely sure if it was true.
"You are too young for the strap, but I've no doubt you'll know what it feels like soon enough. You are quite something, young one." Obi-Wan shook his head in astonishment at his padawan's antics. He wasn't sure if it was funny or sad that a boy his size, who had been so scared of a normal spanking, would seek after a whipping. As he stared into Anakin's large eyes, he wished he could forgo the spanking entirely, but he knew it would be unwise to give into the temptation.
"You knew the consequences for leaving class," he began sternly, "and I am going to give them to you now in the same way I did last night. Do you understand?"
Anakin nodded, and Obi-Wan gave him a stern look. "Answer me with words, Padawan. Do you understand what is about to happen?"
"Yes, Master," Anakin replied obediently.
"Come on then," Obi-Wan commanded, gently pulling a compliant Anakin over his lap.
As Obi-Wan spanked his small padawan for the second time he wondered if he had gone too easy on him before. He made an effort to stay in tune with Anakin's feelings and made sure he was disciplining him seriously enough to make his point. Like before, Anakin did not cry and for the most part kept himself still, but his master could tell he was ready for it to be over and done with.
Obi-Wan paused, holding onto Anakin tightly. "Anakin, what did I say would happen if you disobeyed and left class again?"
There was a brief silence before Anakin managed to get the words out. "You said... You said that you'd spank me."
"And what are you getting now?" his master asked pointedly.
Anakin was embarrassed, but he did not want to be disrespectful, so he forced himself to answer. "A spanking," he whispered.
"That's right, so what do you think will happen if you skip your classes again?"
"You'll spank me again," Anakin acknowledged.
"Yes, and maybe more than that. There are many other consequences I can add to a spanking. You don't want more work on top of everything you already have to do, do you?"
"No, Master," Anakin answered, and Obi-Wan sensed his remorse as he contemplated the gravity of his offense.
"You can stand up now, but we aren't done," Obi-Wan said, helping him to his feet. "You are much too small for the strap, but if you're set on being spanked with something a little more serious, I have just the thing. Wait here."
Obi-Wan rose and opened a drawer in his bedside table, and he pulled out a large wooden brush. It had belonged to his master, and it ought to have been burned with Qui-Gon's body, but Obi-Wan couldn't bring himself to let it go at the time. It was an odd thing to have kept, but when he saw it he thought fondly of his master's long mane, and he knew that having a padawan of his own might warrant its use.
Anakin's eyes widened at the sight of the brush in his master's hand, and he backed away half a step. "It's okay, Anakin," his master said calmly. "I'm only going to spank you a little longer. You haven't quite learned your lesson."
Obi-Wan returned to his chair and pulled Anakin back over his lap. "Now, I hope this hurts enough to satisfy you, Padawan. You are not to test me like this again unless you want to feel this brush on your backside."
Obi-Wan gave him a few firm spanks with the brush, and Anakin, who was trying very hard to be still and quiet, could not help squirming from the sensation. "Are you going to start behaving?" Obi-Wan asked between swats.
"Yes, Master, I promise," Anakin choked.
"I certainly hope that's true," his master replied, driving the point home with a few final taps of the brush.
Obi-Wan set the brush aside and gently helped Anakin to his feet. He could tell that Anakin wanted to cry, but he sensed there was a fear over it that he could not understand. "I'm not angry with you, Anakin," he said, hoping this assurance would bring comfort. "I only want you to do the right thing. That's why I gave you that spanking, not because I was mad or wanted to hurt you... Does that make sense?"
"Yes, Master," Anakin replied, his voice cracking. "I'm sorry."
"You are forgiven," Obi-Wan replied, moved by Anakin's contrition. He wondered if Anakin would want to seek comfort. They were fond enough of each other, but Anakin did not seem to be the hugging type, so Obi-Wan let it be. As their bond slowly deepened, he knew he would be able to communicate his affection without words or actions.
"Would you like to come back to the kitchen with me? I know where they keep the sweet things. I bet Tara won't mind if we help ourselves."
Anakin smiled and nodded, eager to move on from the grave situation. It pleased Obi-Wan to see his padawan's mood shift, and they had a pleasant afternoon in the kitchen, bantering with Tara in between helping her. When evening came, Anakin was in a better mood toward his studies, and Obi-Wan took the time to help him complete his assignments so he would not feel overwhelmed the next day.
When Obi-Wan returned to his quarters to prepare for sleep, his eyes caught the brush he had left out, and he felt a sudden wave of emotion as he thought of his youth and of his master. He put the brush away quickly, tears pricking his eyes, and readied himself to meditate. "I hope I've done well, Master," he whispered to an empty room. "As you did."
Obi-Wan took his time to meditate until the hour became late enough that he knew he ought to sleep if he wanted to be alert enough to keep tabs on his padawan the next day. It was not long after he had shut off the lights and settled into bed that he was startled awake by a presence. Anakin had entered his room and was on the ground, presumably to sleep. Obi-Wan had caught him at it once before, but he never said so.
"Anakin," he called softly, "I think you are big enough to sleep in your own room."
There was a silence, but when he heard Anakin sniffling he turned on his light. So you can cry, he thought with a mixture of sorrow and satisfaction. "Come here, little one," he said, reaching out for the boy who approached him tentatively, his face streaked with tears.
Obi-Wan looked upon him tenderly and gently wiped his tears away. He could sense several emotions in his padawan, and took his hand, offering comfort. "Are you missing your old home?" he guessed.
Anakin nodded, not quite able to speak. "This is the only home I've ever known," Obi-Wan said softly. "I would be sad if I had to leave it too... but it will grow on you, I believe. You'll come to see you are loved here."
Another tear slid down Anakin's face and before Obi-Wan knew what happened he felt the little boy's arms around his neck. Obi-Wan gripped him tightly, returning the embrace, and he felt their bond strengthening. It had been a challenging day for both of them, but they were both growing from it.
Obi-Wan waited patiently for Anakin to pull away on his own, and when he looked at the pleading in his watery blue eyes, Obi-Wan knew he was not going to send him away. "You may stay in here tonight," he conceded, "but you'll sleep in the bed, not on the floor."
Obi-Wan got up from the bed and shifted Anakin onto it, motioning him in and pulling the covers over him. "We'll work on meditation tomorrow," he said. "It will help you when you feel like this."
"Thank you, Master," Anakin whispered appreciatively.
"Of course, my padawan," Obi-Wan replied, giving him a warm smile before he turned out the light.
THE END
Author's Note:
The Temple Tale at the beginning is part of a series of Jedi themed moral tales I wrote, and it was meant to add some background for the Jedi discipline culture I've developed in my stories.
Master Wren and Tara Whee are characters I made up.
I have written Anakin a little neurodivergent on purpose, partially because I think canon Anakin is nerodivergent, and partially because that's just the story I wanted to tell for my own satisfaction. The following stories in this series somewhat highlight his neurodivergency, but it is never acknowledged in the story (just as it isn't in canon).
