Chapter 11 - At the Races

Anakin walked up to the door and eyed his Master. An unspoken show of support before the man pushed the button to ring the bell. Ever since they'd received the message the night before, inviting them over, Obi-Wan had been nervous. "But what does he want?" Anakin remembered him asking. The invitation hadn't said.

Qui-Gon opened the door with a smile on his face and ushered them inside.

'See!... I told you… He's happy…,' Anakin used their immature training bond to reassure Obi-Wan. He spent the last two days learning how to send just those short sentences.

"Like a youngling, a bond is. Feed it. Tend it. And grow it will," Master Yoda had lectured. Anakin got rather good at making his grow. If he pressed himself, he might get more than a few words, but Obi-Wan was still struggling with just sending thoughts and feelings, and Anakin thought he should wait for his Master to catch up first.

"Come on in. Obi-Wan, would you like some tea?" Qui-Gon offered. The jovial Master led them into a small kitchen in his quarters. Because most Jedi dined in the refectory, Anakin was learning, most Jedi quarters only had a small kitchenette, except for a Master's quarters, which had a small, yet full kitchen space.

"Are those cookies!" Anakin shouted when he saw them on the table.

"Yes, help yourself," said Qui-Gon.

"Master, do you need any help?" Obi-Wan offered.

"No, no. I've got this." Qui-Gon busied himself with preparing something in the kitchen.

Anakin and Obi-Wan exchanged another subtle glance before they sat down at the table. They both reached right away to the plate of cookies. Anakin shoved his into his mouth, but Obi-Wan held his up to the light, as if examining it for a subtle incandescence.

"Are these Master Zao's?" He asked. "How'd you get your hands on Master Zao's cookies? They are legendary, and almost never found in the Refectory," Obi-Wan explained.

"Oh, I have my sources," Qui-Gon answered with a grin. He returned to the table with a tray of cups. "I have your favorite tea here, Obi-Wan. Anakin, have you ever tried Concordian Rooibos? It's a sweet, nutty blend. I think you'll like it."

"It's a hot drink. Be careful." Obi-Wan warned.

Anakin felt the mug and his Master was right. The drink was very hot, but he tentatively took a sip. Qui-Gon was right, it was sweet, in an odd sort of way. Anakin didn't know what to make of the drink. It tasted like one of the odd concoctions his mom made for old Master Watto and his foreign business partners. A very odd drink, indeed.

He put the cup aside to let it cool, and focused on the cookies. Obi-Wan was right. They were legendary. Somehow, they tasted just like the Ghomrassen cakes his mom makes on holidays. The ones that tasted best whenever she was able to acquire (acquire, not stole, because stealing's bad) her secret ingredient from Gardulla's kitchens. His Mom still insists, though, that the most important ingredient is love. Anakin once planned an experiment to test that fact, but they did not have the food to spare back then.

'Perhaps,' Anakin thought. 'When mom is freed, we can finally test it. And if Master Zao can cook this well, he's more than welcome to come and help me judge.'

"I was thinking," Qui-Gon started. "There is a racetrack here on Coruscant. It's in the Uscru District. Very clean establishment, I understand. And I was thinking Ani might like to come watch a race with me?" His voice went up with anxiety as he eyed Obi-Wan for an answer.

"Well, Anakin, What do you think of that?" Obi-Wan turned to ask him.

"Wizard! I'd love to go to the track with you, Master!" Anakin exclaimed.

"It's Grandmaster. And I'm glad to hear that." Qui-Gon relaxed into his chair, sipping his beverage as he did so.

Two days later, Anakin waited with sand in his clothes. Yuck, not real sand. His mom used to say that whenever he was so excited that he could not hold still.

Thinking about his mom had Anakin feeling sad, but not for long. No, today was the day Qui-Gon was taking him to the races, and he was due at any minute to pick him up.

Bzz. Bzz.

Anakin looked up as Obi-Wan was opening the door.

"Anakin, are you ready to go?" Qui-Gon greeted him with wide arms.

"Yes, Master. He's been more than ready all morning. Here." Obi-Wan turned to pick up a small bag. "I packed his lunch."

"Oh, that won't be necessary. I'll buy us food," Qui-Gon said.

"It's just that the healers have him on a special diet for a few more weeks now. Uh, you can buy him a snack if you want, but please stay reasonable with the calories and the salt."

"Oh well, If they're healer's orders, then I can't refuse." Qui-Gon stepped into the small kitchenette to get the bag from Obi-Wan

While Qui-Gon was there Obi-Wan leaned over and whispered to him. They whispered back and forth for a few minutes. Then Obi-Wan spoke up and said, "If you have any trouble, call me."

"We should be back around eighteen hundred hours. Enjoy your day, Padawan, er Knight Kenobi," Qui-Gon stumbled over the awkward salutation.

"Yes, have fun. Anakin, follow Master Qui-Gon's orders, and don't do anything I wouldn't do. You too, Master," Obi-Wan teased.

Anakin waved and followed Qui-Gon out. In the hall, the old Jedi leaned over and whispered, "Don't worry. There's a lot of loopholes to that last rule. And I know all of them."

Obi-Wan hadn't really realized how much he needed this day to himself until he started to plan it. And boy did he have plans. He'd go to the room of a thousand fountains and meditate until he could feel weightless. Then he'd meet his old friend Bant Eerin and spend some time with her.

Bant was a Mon Calamari Padawan training under Master Kit Fisto, and she had been his friend since their younglinghoods. "Hmm," Obi-Wan sighed. It had been far too long since he'd spent any time with Bant. First she had a long term mission to Devaron and the Temple of Eedit. Gosh, she was gone nearly nine months in all. Though the experience was classified for some reason, she was practically beaming over the comm afterwards. Apparently, it inspired her to focus more on her Consular skills, especially the art of healing.

But it was while she was gone that the temple got word that Siri Tachi was leaving the order. Siri was Obi-Wan's friend too. A little more than a friend, actually. But she had this fight with her Master, and Adi chose to send her away for a bit. About the same time Bant left for her mission, actually. Obi-Wan didn't know what Siri and Adi fought over. Her Master wouldn't let her with him alone afterwards. Anyways, Siri was supposed to be getting her head clear and coming back to her training more focused… Not leaving!

Obi-Wan became very sad when he heard Siri decided to leave the order. He probably would've left with her, if only she would've called him… If only he knew where she went… But alas, Obi-Wan had no idea where in the Galaxy Siri was. He imagined she probably decided to stay wherever her respite retreat was. Anyway, it wasn't healthy to be attached, as he was. He needed to let go.

Which brought him back to Bant. Obi-Wan felt guilty, in all his pathetic gripping, she had lost a friend too. And he wasn't able to be there for her. Not as he should have been… That was four months ago. What with missions, and recently Anakin's training, he hadn't been able to spend any time with her, until today.

But that would happen later. First, he was going to take a nap.

When Anakin saw the doors to the track, his mouth dropped. Okay, really he was awed seven times on the way there by the sights and sounds of the city, but those doors could fit ten Hutts under them!

Qui-Gon showed a man two pre-bought tickets, and they were ushered inside. They were on a large platform with beings selling foods and other items. One of them had smaller model racers and a few things in the colors of the competitors. There was also a man collecting money behind a window. Anakin recognized him immediately as a bookie.

In the center of the platform was a large billboard featuring each of the riders and their vehicle statistics. Anakin's eyes quickly devoured the information. "I wouldn't put money on two or seven. Their engines have a lot of power, but are really bad on turns One and Three might do well enough with their stellar drives, but I'd bet on five."

Qui-Gon nodded. "We shall have to see then." He then walked past the bookie's table.

"Wait. Aren't you going to place a bet?" Anakin squawked.

"No, I'm not. Wait, is that why you thought I asked to bring you?" Qui-Gon knelt to get better eye contact. His eyes were concerned.

"Yeah, isn't it?" Anakin's voice got lighter with uncertainty.

Qui-Gon closed his eyes and looked down. "Look, what happened on Tatooine was an exception. Jedi don't usually place bets on these things. I asked you here so we can enjoy a day together, outside of the Temple, and so we can watch the races."

"Okay," Anakin said slowly. "But I'm still going to root for number five."

Qui-Gon smiled and nodded. "If that is your decision."

Obi-Wan found a spot in clear sight of the largest waterfall in the room of a thousand fountains, which was on the edge of a lake-of-sorts that as a youngling he'd learned to swim in. The spot was peaceful. As he sat there, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander the room with the Force.

Suddenly he was roused by a stream of water being splashed on him. "Wha- hey!" He shook his head and looked around. There, swimming in the lake was his friend, Bant.

The Mon Calamari looked around bashfully, as if she had no idea who it was who splashed him.

Obi-Wan knew better. He used the Force to lift a bit of water, as a bubble, over her head. Then he let it drop, and she squawked. Then she laughed, and he laughed with her.

Anakin walked with Qui-Gon to their seats. They were in section J-32 according to the signs, which was far enough up that they'd both have a pretty good view of the whole track, and the racers.

When they were both seated, Qui-Gon knocked his head as if he had forgotten something. "Oh wait. I wanted to get you a pretzel-dog. They're really good here. Can you hold our seats until I get back?"

"Yeah, sure," Anakin answered.

"Good, I'll be right back," Qui-Gon said, then vanished back into the crowd.

Anakin sat there for several minutes. His hands drummed with boredom on his seat. Then he scanned the crowd with his eyes, and his Force-enhanced senses. His attention landed on a Czerialan male, dressed in long sleeves and a hood. He accidentally bumped into a lady and took something from her purse. Then he bumped into another man and left with his wallet.

In a panicked state, Anakin looked back around him for someone he could tell about this to. The man behind the mop, working for the racetrack was thinking about neglecting his duties, and how he might get away with it. There was a man in a tall spectacled hat who was feeling guilty for losing most of his family's money and was just hoping this last bet, on number Two, would make up for his losses. The Ithorian man beside him, with two younglings of his own beside him, was feeling angry at one of the younglings who wouldn't hold still.

Anakin was panicking more and more as he looked around. He knew he told Qui-Gon he'd stay put, but he just couldn't anymore. He dived for the safest place he could find.

"So, what's been keeping you busy lately?" Bant asked after she'd gotten out of the water, as she used a towel to dry herself off.

"Well, after my impromptu knighting on Naboo, I've got a kid to take care of, and…"

Bant turned her head to the right and stared at him with her left eye unblinking. The expression meant she was surprised.

Obi-Wan had assumed the whole Temple heard of his unusual situation by now. He rushed to explain, "Anakin, he's a youngling my Master brought here from Tatooine, because his Midi-Chlorian count is so high. I didn't think the Council would accept him, but they did. Now he needs to start at the beginning with learning everything, and they wanted him to have individual attention, but he's still too young to be a Padawan. And they didn't want to let Master Jinn teach him, so…" He shrugged.

"Oh yeah, I thought that's what you meant." Bant quickly replied. Have you brought him here?" She began looking around.

"No, no. He's with Master Jinn today. No, I brought him here once, but something about the place was making him too anxious to meditate."

"Hmm, I'll bet it's the water."

Obi-Wan raised an inquiring eyebrow.

"I've seen it in lots of mammals. If they haven't learned to swim yet, the water can be scary."

"Still, I wouldn't want to teach him the way Garen Muln taught me."

"Of course not! No one is suggesting you throw him in. You should bring him to the healing halls. We have a smaller pool there that has a shallow end. They use it for hydrotherapy."

"Oh well, I couldn't…" Obi-Wan tried to talk his friend out of it, but she was too excited to listen.

Bant reached for his sleeve with her webbed hand. "I'll have to ask permission first, but once my instructors hear what it's for, I'm sure they'll approve."

"Alright," Obi-Wan gave in.

Bant smiled. "Oooh, this is gonna be great. I might even be able to get extra credit from Master Allie. Anakin is one of her favorite initiates. I think she's writing a book on him, or something. She has this big book full of notes. Hey, did I tell you my new specialty is Pediatrics." she rambled excitedly.

"No, does this have anything to do with your secret mission to Devaron?"

"Yes it does, in fact," she answered.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "Well if anything's going to inspire you to work with younglings, it'd be a temple full of crotchety old Masters."

Bant swiped at him. "You know there's more that goes on in the Temple of Eedit than that."

"Oh of course there are the Jedi who go crazy and the Council decides to send them away on a little respite retreat away from civilization… You know it's probably a miracle Qui-Gon hasn't been sent there yet." Both laugh.

"More goes on there than you know. But really, I'll talk to the masters and then contact you to schedule Anakin's first swimming lesson."

"Yes, thank you. I can't believe I didn't think of it before. Tatooine is one big desert."

Bant scratched herself. "Ooh, you're making me want to dive back in there." She motioned for the lake beside them.

"Oh, Tatooine has nothing but sand and two suns. It's over 100 degrees on an average day, and hot enough to fry an egg in the sand on the worst."

"Ooh, I'll throw you in there." Bant shoved him due to his teasing, and they wrestled for a bit. Then Obi-Wan's comlink started to buzz from his pocket, and their movement ceased.

Qui-Gon knew Obi-Wan warned him not to leave Anakin alone, but really what harm could one little boy find in five minutes in a public place?

Qui-Gon retrieved his snacks and went back to the stands. "Anakin… Anakin!" They were empty. The boy was nowhere to be found.

Qui-Gon looked everywhere. Eventually he had to use the Force to follow the Youngling's Force Presence up and into a VIP boxed seating. Fortunately no one had yet taught him any sort of shielding.

Qui-Gon went up to it's door and found a young boy as he was cleaning up. Before he relocked the door, Qui-Gon stopped him. "Wait. I think you have unexpected company."

"Master Je..." the boy greeted.

Qui-Gon silenced him with a finger to his lips. "Ssh."

He then crept into the room. Bending over he peered under the bench. Two eyes blinked back at him.

Qui-Gon could have scolded the boy immediately, but an instinct held him back. Instead he waited for the boy to speak first.

Anakin was anxious. He looked around to the boy, standing with his cleaning supplies, then back to Qui-Gon.

The Master realized something then. He owed his Padawan an apology. Training Anakin was a lot more complicated than he'd realized. And going step by step wasn't a bad idea.

This was one of those circumstances he was supposed to call Obi-Wan incase of, but Qui-Gon wasn't going to admit defeat yet. "Take a deep breath in… and out…" Technically it was giving a lesson, but in the circumstances, Qui-Gon reckoned even Yoda would do the same. "Again. Let all your negative thoughts leave with your breath." As Anakin followed the instructions, he seemed to relax a bit. "You know you're completely safe with me. If I let anything happen to you, your Master would kill me. And the council would probably sell tickets."

Suddenly Qui-Gon felt something bouncing off the walls with the Force. A negative emotion, anger, and a bit of doubt aimed at the Jedi Council. It seemed to bounce off Anakin too, hitting some type of shielding that made Qui-Gon squint.

Anakin, meanwhile, snickered at the joke. He crawled out on his own.

'B-but is it a natural shield?' Qui-Gon poked the boy harmlessly with the Force, looking for the same shielding. 'No, he doesn't have any shielding of his own yet. Huh!' Qui-Gon gasped. 'It could be a dark influence shield. Yoda would know how to put one of those up over the youngling. But then, if that's what that was… Where did that dark influence come from?'

Qui-Gon turned to the cleaning boy. He was not force sensitive at all. "Thank you. We're sorry to interfere with your duties."

"Ah, no problem. The box is empty most of the time, anyways. It used to belong to this Senator who died. Pall- something, I think. Anyways, it'll be empty until it gets sold again. I still have to clean it though."

Qui-Gon nodded to him, then put a hand on Anakin's back. He'd have to report this, later. In some of the oldest tales, objects can be imbued with dark energies. But for now, he just wanted to get Anakin out of there. Shields, like what he suspected someone placed over him, had a depleted effect as they were used.

At the door Anakin froze again. "What is it?" Qui-Gon asked.

Anakin gulped, then pointed. "He is getting angry at his younglings. And he wants to steal from that man there." Anakin pointed around him.

"Come around here. Let's watch."

The man with the kids was growing irritated. He breathed in deeply, and out again. Then he whispered something to his youngling: a promise to behave and she'd get a reward in the end. She hugged him, and the father shed a silent teardrop.

The man who was ogling his friend's new watch turned to see an older veteran, and he felt grateful for what he did have. He did not steal the watch.

"You see, everyone has the potential for dark side tactics. Everyone is tempted by them. Even you and me." Anakin looked up at him. "Yes, even me. What makes the difference is we don't choose to act on them."

Anakin turned and pointed. "What about him?"

A Czerialan fella was walking up and took a bag that clearly belonged to another guest.

"Now, that I can do something about." Qui-Gon raised a hand. "Guard!" He shouted.

When the thief realized he was spotted, he turned to run, but Qui-Gon leapt over several seats and pulled out his lightsaber to stop him.

The thief's arms went up. "I don't know why you're harassing me. I've done nothing wrong."

"Oh, nothing wrong Dr. Plum Rexler." Qui-Gon read the name inside the wallet the man was holding. "Or Mrs. Bentina Vashley." and on the engraving to a bracelet he had clearly stolen.

"Is there a problem, Master Jedi." A guard in a uniform came up and asked.

"Yes. This man was stealing from various guests here. I suggest you put these in your lost and found. I have a feeling their owners will be looking for them." Qui-Gon handed the stolen items over, and let the guards take the thief away. He then turned back to Anakin, who was smiling big at him.

"That was so cool," Anakin praised.

Qui-Gon then felt under his robe to the pocket where he had stored his purchases earlier. "You want to help me eat one of these?" He pulled out the goodies. There were Pretzel Dogs, Tooka Hash, and some Corellian Funnel Cakes. Probably more than Obi-Wan meant when he said to stay reasonable with the salt and calories, but… 'You only live once.'

He also pulled out a red flag with Racer Number Five's logo on it. "Now you can root for him the proper way."

When Obi-Wan's commlink started to buzz his first thought was Anakin. Even before he reached for the device, he tapped the training bonds he had with both the boy and his Master.

Anakin was watching something very exciting, and probably didn't notice his poke.

Qui-Gon responded with a thought, 'All is well Padawan. Relax and enjoy your day.'

Obi-Wan then looked down at his device. It was a Council Line. He answered it right away, "Kenobi here."

"Knight Kenobi, where is Initiate Skywalker?" Mace asked.

"Anakin, he's with Qui-Gon for the day. They're going to the races. I'm sure he's mentioned it," Obi-Wan answered. The boy had probably told half the temple about the invitation already.

"Oh, that's good. I would hate to worry him. Even Piell is scheduled to comm call from Tatooine. His earlier message suggested there is an issue concerning Anakin's Mother, but technical issues prevented him from saying more. We would like you to be here, as Anakin's representative, when Master Piell reports in."

"Oh, ah… Yes, I'll be there," Obi-Wan replied.

Hello Everyone,

So, I've gotten a bit creative with the Siri story line. I won't be explaining why here and now, but there is a reason for my changes. From what research I've done, I believe the changes work in the story and timeline, but if anything is wrong, I haven't read any of her material, so please do speak up.

And Bant is a new character for me. Both with her species and her character. Again, I haven't read any of her material. Her characterization is built on her wookieepedia page and my own imagination. I hope I did her well. My goal was for cute BFF vibes between her and Obi-Wan.

And I had Anakin root for number Five because in A New Hope, Luke was squadron member Red Five.