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The next weeks were filled every day. The days flew by, packed with lessons and training. Anakin, Sarah, and Obi-Wan had every minute of the daytime filled...but evenings were a different story. Obi-Wan made sure that the three ate dinner together every day.
It would begin the same way every night, and it would always end that way as well. There would be a period of strained conversation, and then they would simply give up and there would be silence, broken only by the sound of forks scraping plates and glasses thumping the table.
As the days passed, they fell into a pattern. Obi-Wan worked with Sarah every single day, and in the afternoons, he would spar with Anakin, which was, to put it mildly, not fun.
Obi-Wan was sincerely impressed with Sarah. The girl was remarkable. She had an unbelievable aptitude for the Force, and in only a few short months, she could actually make Obi-Wan sweat in a lightsaber match. Before they knew it, she was in regular classes with Anakin and other Padawans, and she was doing astonishingly well.
Obi-Wan was truly impressed with the girl, but he was much less impressed with himself. Things were still strained between himself and Anakin, and he hated it. He and Sarah had managed to form a close bond quickly, but the strain on his bond with Anakin was slowly getting harder and harder to maintain.
As for Anakin and Sarah, Obi-Wan continued to notice the tension between the two. He wanted so much for them to be friends, but Sarah remained a bit of a loner at the Temple while Anakin would go off and have fun with his friends...but Obi-Wan had no idea what to do about it.
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The next day, there was a scheduled exercise for Anakin and Sarah, and Obi-Wan was nervous. It was an exercise in teamwork. Using training lightsabers, training droids would begin to shoot bolts at the Padawans, slowly picking up speed as the Jedi deflected the bolts.
It was an easy exercise, Obi-Wan knew, if the two worked together. It would be necessary that they cover each other from all sides and use the Force to flow into the other's moves. If the two managed it, the exercise would be over quickly and easily...if they worked together.
The floor of the training circle was also heaped with blocks and obstacles that the two would have to be constantly avoiding as they trained. Anakin and Sarah were standing in the middle of the circle, prepared to begin, when Obi-Wan heard the soft tapping of a cane on the floor behind him.
When he turned around, Master Yoda was standing there, prepared to watch the exercise. Obi-Wan drew a sharp breath. He almost groaned, but managed to restrain it. Obi-Wan bit his lip, silently trying to urge his Padawans to work together.
The training probes slowly began to circle Anakin and Sarah, revolving slowly and steadily shooting bolts at the two Padawans. Anakin and Sarah leapt into action, deflecting the bolts entirely separately, doing well, but as the droids began to pick up speed, their individual work was not enough.
They stubbornly would not work together. They leapt over blocks and deflected the bolts, but soon, it overwhelmed them. Anakin took a running leap and slashed one of the droids in half, and the pieces fell, smoking and smoldering, to the ground.
Obi-Wan put his head into his hands. This was not going the way that it was supposed to. Anakin and Sarah were dripping in sweat, and more and more bolts began to get through to them, burning their skin and scorching their tunics. Obi-Wan sighed. Finally, it was too much for the Padawans, and Obi-Wan gave the order for the droids to shut down.
The two Padawans stood, bruised and burned, sweating, their chests rapidly rising up and down. Obi-Wan could not bring himself to make eye contact with Master Yoda. His Padawans had failed a simple exercise that, had they just worked together, should have been over quickly and easily.
Anakin and Sarah stood before Obi-Wan, sweaty and burned. Obi-Wan, not knowing what to say and feeling extraordinarily intimidated by Master Yoda's presence, tossed them each a towel and told them to go clean up, dreading the talk on teamwork and pride that he knew he would have to give them later.
Anakin and Sarah left the training room, and Obi-Wan did not want to look at Master Yoda, but he knew that he did not have a choice. But when Obi-Wan looked at the small Jedi Master, he was staring out after the two Padawans, giving no notice to Obi-Wan. Finally, Obi-Wan heard a quiet "hmmm" from the green Jedi.
Trying to swallow his own pride and nervousness, Obi-Wan spoke. "Master Yoda..." but he trailed off when Yoda turned around and gave Obi-Wan a sharp look. Obi-Wan immediately was quiet.
"Learn to work together, they must, Obi-Wan. Resolve your conflict with young Skywalker you must." The Master stared at Obi-Wan, giving him a severe look. He poked Obi-Wan's knee with his cane. "Sending the three of you on a mission, I am. Know when, I do not, but prepared you should be."
Obi-Wan nodded. "Yes Master." He bowed as the Jedi Master turned and walked away, his cane tapping lightly on the marble floor.
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Meanwhile, Anakin and Sarah, tired and bruised, walked back to their quarters silently. The rigidity between the two hung thick in the air. Finally, Sarah spoke, "Look, Anakin..." but Anakin interrupted her. "Whatever Sarah, I really don't want to hear about it. I'm tired and I don't want to talk."
Sarah looked hurt. "Anakin, what's your problem? Obi-Wan is just trying to be a good Master. You're not always supposed to like everything that he has to say to you."
Anakin let out a derisive snort. They had arrived at the apartment and had entered. Finally, he replied, "You don't understand, Sarah."
"I'm trying to Anakin! But if you ask me, you're being a complete jerk."
Anakin turned on Sarah. "Oh, I'm being a complete jerk? What about Obi-Wan? He's the one who doesn't care! Things were bad enough before you came along, and now you're here, perfect and wonderful, and exactly the sort of Padawan that Obi-Wan has always wished that he had instead of me!"
Sarah looked at Anakin, not knowing what to say. Anakin continued to rage, "I am trying! I have tried to be a good Padawan, but Obi-Wan doesn't want me! Don't you see it? The only reason that I am even here right now is because Qui-Gon asked him to! I'm nothing more than a stupid obligation!"
"Anakin," Sarah said, "that's not true!"
Anakin glared at Sarah, shaking his head. "Shut up Sarah, you don't even know, you never will."
Sarah stared at Anakin with hurt in her blue eyes. Anakin looked at her, knowing that he had been too harsh. Then there was a knock on the door. Some of Anakin's friends were there. They had a quick discussion, and Anakin took off with them, not even glancing back once before he slammed the door.
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A/N Sorry that this chapter seemed a little bit short, I will try to make the next ones longer. I know that this story has mostly focused on Obi-Wan so far, but I think that in the next few chapters that will most likely change as the story progresses a little bit more, but I'm not sure yet. Anyway, hope you're liking it! Feedback is always most appreciated. Thanks for reading! --Swifty