Chapter 10 - Yoda's Holiday

It had been about a week since the Night Shift of Doom. Which was thankfully not as dooming as it could've been. Qui-Gon had taken his friends out and bought them a drink to thank them for their help. The only ones he really had left to thank were Obi-Wan and Anakin. Qui-Gon wasn't sure what he could do to show them his appreciation. 'It's not like I can buy them a beer.'

For the first, Obi-Wan was still freshly knighted, and they hadn't yet formed that casual friendship where they could just go out to a bar together. Qui-Gon still saw Obi-Wan as a Padawan. And he still called Qui-Gon Master.

For the second, Anakin was underage, and Qui-Gon didn't need Creche duties, or a child development research paper, 'Thanks Master Dooku,' to know that'd be a very bad idea.

'Still, there's got to be something I could do,' he thought.

That's when Qui-Gon looked up from his meal and saw the pair in question. Anakin sat down with a group of Younglings his own age, and Obi-Wan sat a few tables away with a couple of his friends. Obi-Wan was nervous for Anakin's sake, and he watched the younglings closely.

Anakin was nervous too, and he kept glancing back at his Master.

Qui-Gon tapped Obi-Wan through their training bond. 'Relax boy. You're Padawan can smell your fear.' It was the same advice Dooku once gave him. This got Obi-Wan's attention, and he quickly returned to a balanced state of mind.

'The poor boy,' Qui-Gon thought to himself. 'He's barely a Knight and they have him practically raising the kid. 'Ooh, I know! I know how I can thank them both for their help that night.'

Qui-Gon got up and walked over to Obi-Wan. "You know, I was thinking. The Younglings have their little Push-Feather tournament, for the twelve and unders, in a couple days. I could take him for a while and give him some coaching. You can spend that time with your friends."

Obi-Wan winced. "I don't know about that. Push-Feather is a little advanced for him at this point."

"If I coached him, he'd be able to compete. And think of the friends he'd meet at the tournament." Qui-Gon just knew his plan was a good idea.

"But he's still on the first two tiers. Master Yoda wants him to be a bit more balanced before he starts the rest of the training," Obi-Wan argued.

"But those are six year old's lessons," Qui-Gon tried.

Obi-Wan stopped him with a hand. "His training is being managed by the Council. They know what they're doing. I think it's best that we trust them."

"Fine," Qui-Gon breathed out. If you asked him, he'd say that the council was stunting Anakin's training. They wanted him to study everything in order, and master each lesson before moving on. But Anakin was not a four year old. He was nine. His peers had mastered Push-Feather and more by his age. If Qui-Gon had been incharge of his training, they would be studying all elements at the same time, to get him caught up faster. And they would've started lightsaber combat already too. But it was clear, getting Obi-Wan to go against the council was a game of Push-Feather all its own.

Suddenly Qui-Gon remembered Master Don's warning, from his first day in the Creche, against teaching the tenants of the Force out of order. 'If they get to throwing things around the room with the Force, before they've learned Control, that's bad! You don't want to see that,' he had said.

'Surely it wouldn't get that bad. He would learn balance eventually… Right?' he asked himself, and got no answer. The Force was silent. 'Maybe for the other younglings, but he's the chosen one.' Again, it was silent.

Grandmaster Yoda walked up on Qui-Gon when he was deep in thought. He took his hand and led him away from his former Padawan. "A project, I have. Qui-Gon's help, I shall need. With me, come."

Qui-Gon didn't have any options, but to follow the Grandmaster out of the Refectory. "Master?... Yoda... What is it?"

"A holiday, I would like to plan," Yoda said.

"Holiday?" The Jedi knew about the galaxy's tendency to celebrate days of every year. Just, most of the time, the order didn't celebrate with them. Jedi preferred balance, and what was more unbalanced than deciding one day meant more than the rest.

"Yes. Lineage Day, we shall call it. A day for padawans to visit their grandmasters, it will be."

"And you want my help with this?" Qui-Gon inquired.

"A grandmaster, you are. Hmm?" Yoda hummed

Qui-Gon shrugged and shook his head. "They do call me a maverick. Alright, where do we start?"

Yoda pulled him into his own quarters where he retrieved a green flimsy notebook from a side table drawer. "An inquiry for the council, we will prepare. First, interview other grandmasters, you will." Yoda handed him the notebook. He opened it and saw several open ended questions listed, with space to take notes.

"Interview other grandmasters. I only know a few. It would be odd to just walk up to them with the notebook and start asking questions," Qui-Gon complained.

"In the Grandmaster's lounge, you should start," Yoda suggested.

"We have a Grandmaster's lounge?" Qui-Gon had never heard of it.

"Of course we do! Tell the younglings about it, we do not. Steal our cookies, they would." Yoda led him out of his quarters and down the hall to another room.

Yoda opened the door and walked in. Qui-Gon sheepishly followed him. The room was rather large. There were several tables set up along one side of the room. On the largest table was a buffet of food that smelled better than the refectory. On the other side of the room was a small garden and even a heated pool.

"Hello Master Yoda. I see you've got a new one," Yaddle shouted to them. She was wearing just her under tunic, and lounging in the pool.

'That looks like an interesting place to meditate.' Qui-Gon thought. Yoda moved over to talk to Yaddle, leaving Qui-Gon standing at the entrance. His eyes scanned the closer tables again.

"Master Dyke?" Qui-Gon recognized. The older Master was playing a card game with a few other Jedi.

"Qui-Gon, It's nice seeing you here. Here, take a seat." Master Dyke motioned to an empty chair at their table.

"Thank you," Qui-Gon said. He took a seat. As he pulled open his notebook in front of him, the others eyed it with suppressed smiles.

"Yoda and I are working on a little project. It would help if I could ask you all some questions." Qui-Gon began fruitlessly looking for a pen in his robes. Then one of the Jedi at the table pulled one out and wordlessly handed it to him. "Oh, thanks. Here we go. How do you interact with your former Padawans?"

"A very good question?" One of the others said. Qui-Gon couldn't tell if his enthusiasm was real or faked. "Given the Order's policy on attachment, it's very much thought that we should just move on at their knighting, and not look back, but most of us don't think that way."

Qui-Gon found this agreeable, so he started writing it down.

"No, of course not. Nothing in the code tells us to drop them on their asses at the Hall of Knighthood. Our role just changes, that's all," Master Jocasta Nu leaned over from an adjacent table to add.

"But how does it change? This he might need to know." Another Master asked for him. Qui-Gon nodded silently in affirmation as he was penning their responses.

"No longer responsible for their daily upkeep, we are. Let them look after themselves, we must." Yaddle had put on her robes and sat down near them to answer.

"My Bel-ira needed to step off on her own. To follow her own path. But whenever she needs anything, whether it is advice or a supportive shoulder, she knows I'm there," An elder Zabrak Master added.

"We do become more advisors than teachers. My Jerec still comes back to me for advice from time to time. But I must remember that it is just that, advice. In the end it is up to him the choices he makes," Nu said.

Qui-Gon couldn't help but think sourly that Obi-Wan doesn't need his advice any longer. Not when it's clear he'd rather go to the Council for help.

"What about your Kenobi?" Nu turned to him and asked.

"Oh, uh… Obi-Wan doesn't need my advice." Qui-Gon tried to avoid the question.

"Your advice, no. But your support, he will always need." Yaddle said.

"Have you reached out to him since his knighting?" Master Dyke asked. "It's often up to us to reach out and show them we are still there for them."

"Oh… Ah…" Qui-Gon felt like a child, knowing the correct answer on the tip of his tongue, but being unable to produce it. "How might I do that?" He asked instead.

"I'd invite him and his Padawan to your quarters for dinner," someone suggested.

"Just stay casual, and let him sense your calm." The Zabrak Master added.

"And don't use your bond to check up on him anymore, or to lecture him." Master Dyke said.

This made Qui-Gon wince. "I just did that this afternoon." The others laughed.

"Perfect at this, none of us are," Yaddle said. "Time, change takes. It will happen if you let it."

Several others nodded. "Perfect words," Master Nu complemented.

"Okay, let's get back to business." Qui-Gon referenced his notebook again. On the top of the next page was another question. "What is your role in your Grand-Padwawn's life?"

"Ah, this is another good question." Master Nu said. "I don't think there is just one answer to it either. We all do it differently."

"Yes. For instance, when my Bel-ira was a padawan, and she went through the changes, I needed my Master Sylva to help us through that. As a man, I was never built to understand female teenage hormones." The Zabrak Master explained. "But with Bel-ira's padawan, little Zoe, my role is completely different. I'm not her master, so she knows she can get away with things she couldn't do around Bel-ira."

"You don't let her get into trouble," Qui-Gon worried.

"I don't encourage it. And I don't let her do anything dangerous. But I'm not going to lecture Zoe like I might have Bel-ira," he corrected.

"I'm going to guess, don't lecture them either, is a rule." Qui-Gon summarized.

"Well, of course it is," Nu lectured. "We are not their Masters. Their teaching is not up to us. But at the same time, they are our lineage, and we still care about their development. Our methods are just a little less formal."

"Just think about it this way," Dyke asked. "When Kenobi was young, how would it have felt if Dooku came in and started training him?"

"I don't know. I do know I felt so tense whenever he noticed something out of place with Obi-Wan. I felt like I wasn't a very good Master. Gosh…" Qui-Gon breathed out a sigh when he realized. "It's how he must've felt when I… We had words earlier." Qui-Gon winced again. "I was just offering to coach Anakin for the Feather-Push tournament, which Obi-Wan was refusing. And I may have implied the boy was behind in his training."

When several other Masters winced too, Qui-Gon knew it sounded bad.

"It's all because the Council's got him training Anakin their way," Qui-Gon elaborated. "Obi-Wan's never been good at defying the Council. I tried teaching him to think independently, but apparently..."

"You're still thinking like his Master," Nu admonished. "You taught him not to just take the first answer he is given, regardless of its source. To evaluate a problem logically. And that choosing the best solution might mean doing the unpopular thing. How do you know he hasn't done that?"

Qui-Gon furrowed his brow. "I-I…"

"He does know the youngling better than anyone else at this point," the Zabrak Master explained. At this point Qui-Gon was kicking himself for not learning their names before he began.

"Trust, in the early stages is emphasized so the Padawan learns to trust their Master's teaching. In this stage you must instead trust your Padawan. Trust that your lessons stuck and trust the Force to teach him the rest."

Qui-Gon sat there with his mouth open a bit more than he'd like to admit.

One of the others clapped their hands. "I couldn't have said it better myself. Bravo, Master Nu! Bravo!"

Nu bowed, slightly embarrassed, as she smiled at the acclaim.

"So then maybe you all can help me." Qui-Gon tried. "I wanted to take him for the Feather-Push so we could spend some time together, and so Obi-Wan could have some time to himself."

"And that's a very good idea," One of the Masters affirmed.

"Yes, but the coaching, we've determined to be a, not so good idea. What else could I offer to do with him?"

"Good question. Turn the page in your book. In there, it may be." Yaddle encouraged.

Qui-Gon turned the page to his notebook. Indeed, there at the top of the page was the question, 'What activities do you do with your GrandPadawans?' Qui-Gon laughed it off and started to write down what the others were saying.

"That depends on your GrandPadawan's interests," Nu said.

"My GrandPadawan Jillian and I go to the Theater. We watch romantic comedies that would make my former Padawan cringe. But Jillian likes them and enjoys our trips," One of the Masters said.

"I take mine to the Central Plaza, and we look at the fashion trends." Another suggested.

"You can take him some cookies." A Veknoid Master motioned to the large table.

"Really? I understand they are especially for you here," Qui-Gon asked. He looked over to a table where Yoda had collected a bunch and was devouring them.

"Bakes them himself, Master Zao does. There for sharing, they are," Yaddle told him. Qui-Gon saw Yoda roll his eyes.

"Yes, I'm trying a new recipe, so tell me what he thinks," said Master Zao.

"What is your Anakin into?" Nu asked next.

"Ani, well… He likes mechanical stuff, like building droids. And he likes racing. He actually won a race for us on Tatooine," Qui-Gon answered.

"You could take him to the track in Uscru District." The Zabrak Master suggested. Qui-Gon hastily wrote this down, but a few of the others gave him a dirty look. "No, no. It's much nicer than the garbage tunnel joints, and legal too."

"Or, I know of an outlet store that sells all the best droid parts. You could take him there," Master Dyke put forward.

"Yes, good idea." Qui-Gon wrote it down, too.

Elsewhere in the Temple, Obi-Wan was sitting with Anakin working on his homework for the night. Anakin was reading much better, lately, but he still needed help with certain words.

"The Jedi j-u-m…?" Anakin looked up to his master.

"Keep sounding it out. You're almost there." Obi-Wan encouraged. The buzzer at the door started going off, and he got up to go answer it.

Anakin looked back at the book. "J-u-m-p-e-d. Oh, jumped. The Jedi jumped over the… Uh, Master, I'm gonna need your help again."

On the other side of the door was Mace Windu. Obi-Wan turned to look at Anakin over his shoulder and said, "In a minute. We have company."

"I won't hold you for long. I was wondering if you've seen Qui-Gon around. I need to ask him to change his creche duties schedule slightly."

"No, I haven't seen him since earlier. Master Yoda wanted his help on a project, I think," Obi-Wan answered.

Mace rolled his eyes. "The Holiday Project," he breathed. "Not another one."

Obi-Wan's brow furrowed. "Holiday project?"

"It's Master Yoda's thing. He gets new grandmasters when they're struggling to adapt to their new roles, and gives them a special assignment to talk to the other grandmasters. Some of them go all the way and present a proposal to the Council for a Jedi holiday." Mace motioned wide with his hands. "I know where to find him now. Thank you." Before he turned and walked away, he opened his mouth again and said, "Don't tell anyone you heard about it from me. The Holiday treatment is his worst kept secret." The Master would be too proud to admit ever being fooled, but If you went to his quarters, you wouldn't not find a green flimsy notebook tucked away on his bookshelf.

Obi-Wan shrugged and shut his door. "Okay, where did we leave off." Anakin pointed to a long word. "Ravine. It's like a hole in the ground, only much bigger," he defined.

Anakin nodded and read. "The Jedi Jumped over the ravine…"

Hello

Push Feather is a real Jedi game, though it has nothing to do with feathers. It's all about trying to push your opponent off balance with the Force. Thus, a little too advanced for Anakin at this point, according to Obi-Wan.

And I know my interpretation of Jedi and Holidays is not canon. I just figured it made more sense for them. At least that is the Order's take on it. Individual Jedi can choose to do differently, especially when on missions with other non Jedi.

As far as the "Official," Jedi Temple floor plan goes, there is no Grandmaster's Lounge, but I wanted there to be one, so I made it up. They have card games, a hot tub, and bingo every Saturday night. Please note, if you bring your Padawans, they won't be kicked out… but Yoda may blame them for stealing his favorite cookies.

Some of the Jedi here are real, like Master Nu, Master Zao, and Yaddle. Others like Master Dyke, and our unnamed Zabrak friend, I made up.

Next chapter, as I see it now, Qui-Gon will be taking Anakin out for a little R&R bonding time. There will be a surprise that will lead into the next chapter, too.