Mid-afternoon at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. It was Anakin's favoured time for practicing his combat skills, and he could be found, without fail, in one of the training rooms honing his lightsaber technique.
In the absence of his Master, Yoda had been instructing Anakin in some of the finer points of lightsaber combat. At first , Anakin had been skeptical that the diminutive green Master could do anything with a sword. This impression had not lasted longer than five minutes. Pouring all of his strength into his attacks, he tried in vain to get a single blow past Yoda, who, without even moving, easily parried the strokes.
It was a most frustrating exercise, to be sure. However, it did do wonders for his form.
Obi-Wan's return came in the midst of one of these sessions. Throwing open the door energetically, he raced into the room, finding his Padawan and Yoda in fierce combat. Sensing his Master's presence, Anakin's face lit up with a delighted smile. "Obi-Wan!"
"Mind what you are doing, Skywalker!" Yoda admonished as he directed a particularly nasty stroke at the Padawan. Anakin had to duck to barely avoid it, and he returned with a few strokes of his own. Finally, Yoda nodded and put his blade away. "Enough, Anakin, for today."
Obi-Wan stepped up behind Anakin and heartily slapped him on the back. "Been living well without me?"
"Without you?" Anakin grinned and shrugged. "Master Yoda has been teaching me."
"A fine Padawan have you trained, Obi-Wan." Obi-Wan smiled with a sort of pride between that of a father and a brother at Yoda's praise. Yoda simply returned the smile and nodded. "Very fine, indeed."
Anakin bowed his head respectfully. "Master Yoda is kind to me. I have a long way to go before I can say I'm a Jedi."
"Jedi learn all their lives, Skywalker. You need not know everything before you face the Jedi Trials." Anakin bowed his head once more, but Yoda had already shifted his attention to Obi-Wan.
"Master Yoda." Obi-Wan bowed formally, all traces of levity now gone.
"So. Returned you have."
Anakin perked up with curiosity. "Did you find anything, Master?"
"Patience, Padawan," Yoda chided him, then turned back to Obi-Wan. "News from Dantooine, have you?"
"Yes, Master, and none of it good." Obi-Wan reached into one of his pouches and produced a blackened rose stem. He handed it to Yoda, who gingerly examined it.
Anakin peered questioningly at the stem, and Yoda nodded that he may pick it up. He held the stem carefully, looking it over thoroughly. "Roses?"
Obi-Wan looked sternly at Anakin, reminding him it was his place to be quiet at present. Addressing Yoda, he continued. "A very… unique type of rose, Master. See how this rose stem is blackened from the fire?"
"But what kind of-"
"Anakin, wait for a moment. There is only one kind of rose that can survive an explosion like the one that killed Sifo-Dyas. They're called flame roses."
"Flame rose, Obi-Wan?" Yoda pondered this for a moment, then shook his head. "This is something of which no knowledge I have."
"Few do, Master. I took the liberty of looking it up in the archives when I arrived. It's a red-orange flower that bursts into flame every morning at the first light of dawn. The petals burn to ash and then it buds again by evening."
Anakin's eyes lit up with recognition. "The report I read said the attack came at dawn-"
"So it did," Obi-Wan confirmed. "The facility exploded early in the morning and I found this in the quarters that, according to an administrator, Sifo-Dyas slept in. The fire from the roses triggered a plasma bomb set into the wall. It killed everything within a mile radius."
Anakin considered this, then scratched his head in confusion. "Then where was the Chancellor, since he escaped?"
"The Chancellor is apparently quite the early riser." Obi-Wan could only shrug. "He told me he was far enough away inspecting a hospital containing the wounded from the first explosion. Subsequent questioning of the staff confirms his presence at the hospital. But it was far enough away that the blast simply shattered the windows of the hospital, instead of destroying the building."
Yoda paced back and forth for a few moments. "Were there signs of dark activity?"
Obi-Wan shook his head. "Other than it is too highly convenient for an accident? No. I doubt, however, that any such act could be planned and executed with such mastery by another. The rose is a mark of deliberate planning from a sentient hand, and Sifo-Dyas felt none of the danger. I cannot believe that the Dark Side was not involved in masking the plot."
"Trace the rose stem-"
"I have. But Master, this is truly odd: the rose was easily found. The flame rose is grown naturally only on Alderaan. There is no other place in the known galaxy where it has evolved."
"Alderaan. Unexpected this development is. Viceroy Organa will not be pleased. But cooperate, he will, when you arrive." Yoda rested his hand on his gimer stick and looked at the pair intently. "To Alderaan you and your Padawan will go with your proof, Obi-Wan, and find out who owned these roses. Bring the assassin to trial, we must."
Obi-Wan and Anakin bowed to the diminutive Master, then exited the chamber. Strolling down the hallway, Obi-Wan smiled once more and looked over at his Padawan. "Did you lose any sleep over my absence?"
"Worse, Master." Anakin looked at him quite solemnly. "I cried myself to sleep every night."
"I thought so."
"I've been fighting Master Yoda every day," Anakin said, more seriously. "I'm lucky he would take his time to teach me."
"You looked good. He's right: you are a good apprentice. Your stroke is much cleaner now; less flash, more power. However," he paused with a slight smile, "you're still a little sloppy."
"I wouldn't want to put you out of a job yet, Master." He gave Obi-Wan a look that was ridiculously roguish, and neither could keep a straight face for long.
"You'd best pack, Anakin." Obi-Wan stopped as their paths were about to diverge. "We leave for Alderaan as soon as possible."
"I'll be ready," Anakin assured him. He started walking down his own hall, but stopped and looked back at Obi-Wan. "Master… what if it is the Dark Side, and the murderer is a Dark Jedi?"
"Then he will stand trial like anyone else, my Padawan." Seeing his apprentice was not convinced, he added, "Don't worry about it, Anakin. Even a Sith Lord will have trouble facing two Jedi."
Anakin still did not look entirely sold on the idea, but it was pointless to deliberate. "I'll go pack. And this time I won't forget the power converters."
Obi-Wan grinned mischievously in return. "Just don't forget to pack a formal gown. We want to impress the Viceroy." The look of horror on Anakin's face was almost complete, so he continued, "Your lilac one is particularly flattering."
Anakin, not having any way to respond to the suggestion, merely bowed magnanimously before heading down his hall. "As always, your advice is flawless."