Chapter 38 - The HG Holo-Vision Special
Mace was walking down the hall when he felt a tremble in the force. Fearing one of his fellow knights was in trouble, he turned towards it and peered into a training room. There, the Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi was struggling to defend himself against young Skywalker, who nearly had him pushed to the edge of the mat. Even though Anakin only had a practice saber, Ki-Adi was breathing heavily as he parried the younger man's strikes.
Mace decided to leave them to their lesson. Anakin was learning well, and his opponent deserved to be taken down a peg. As he turned around he almost bumped into Kenobi.
"Hello, Master Windu." The knight clumsily bowed, while struggling with both an infant, and a large bag over his shoulder.
"If you're taking Abigail to see the duel, I'd hurry up. Master Mundi won't be able to hold up much longer." Mace made a mental note to talk to his fellow Masters about Anakin going on the Gathering soon. If his skills were where they appeared to be, he was ready for that next step.
"Oh, no. We're just here to get Anakin. I've just picked this one up from the Creche." Obi-Wan turned to discover he and his bag were wider than the door. "This all worked better in theory."
Mace reached out to help him. "Perhaps Siri could help you carry these."
"Siri took the other three bags." Mace's eyes opened wide. "I know. You'd never imagine how someone so small could need so much stuff. My apartment is full, just with the day stuff. Siri and I would ask to keep her overnight, but..."
Mace nodded, thinking about what he'd just heard.
Obi-Wan turned to yell for his initiate, "Anakin, get your stuff. It's time to go."
As Anakin followed his Master out, Mace walked up to the instructor.
"His lightsaber skills are fast improving," Mace noted.
"Yes, It's why I dueled on the defensive today. I wanted to see how far he could take it."
"Oh, it was intentional then," Mace looked down. "He's growing into a powerful duelist. Perhaps it's time to consider the next step for him."
Ki-Adi tilted his head to ponder the subject. "While I think he's almost outgrown his practice saber, I'd still hesitate to bring him to Ilum before his age mates. There's a reason we usually wait so long."
Mace nodded. "Preteens can be clumsy and foolish. And his master, I feel, has a lot on his table right now to worry about that boy having a real weapon."
Ki-Adi hummed, "Fatherhood is a big mission. That you are correct."
"It would be nice if we could give him a larger quarters, but unless we promote him to a Master…" Mace trailed off.
Ki-Adi's face lit up. "We could move him to one of the older levels. Near my own quarters."
"Of course!" Mace agreed. The Council did approve customized apartments for knights with special needs before. Most times they were simple alterations, like Master Koon's air filter, or alterations to the kitchen or refresher, but when it was necessary, the council was prepared to do more. Even drop the whole apartment under water, for an aquatic species of knight. The Cerean Master, infact, lived in specially renovated quarters on a lower floor than the rest of the Jedi. His apartments were designed for a family, not just a knight and Padawan pair. Though he was a Master now, the Council made the decision to place Ki-Adi and his family down there when he was still a knight. This was long before Mace was on the council, but he hit his head for not thinking of it.
"You can go tell the rest of the council and start looking for a contractor. I will take Kenobi and Tachi down to look at the space and we'll design a floorplan." Ki-Adi smiled, already enjoying his part of the plan.
"Not a contractor." Mace drawled. He did not enjoy temple renovation projects, and when they came up, always preferred to delegate them to someone else.
"Don't worry, we'll make the floorplans. All you have to do is hire a contractor and bequeath us the funds."
And that Mace had no doubt his detail oriented peer would do. Down to notes on plumbing and electrical. "Just remember to keep it economical."
Ki-Adi rolled his eyes.
'Where's Plo when you need him?' Mace walked away wondering who he could delegate his half to.
Anakin looked down at the little one's face and he again puffed out his cheeks, making that face, and Abigail squeaked with laughter. He smiled.
"She likes you," Siri said.
"Yeah. It's surprising how entertaining a baby can be. I mean, for someone whose life revolves around eating and pooping, and who sleeps more than half the day."
Obi-Wan laughed coming into the room. "I'll remind you of that when you're a teenager."
Anakin didn't get the joke. He knew lots of teenagers on Tatooine, and they were all cool. But he was saved from having to respond by a presence approaching their door. "Master Mundi," he announced. "What's he coming for?"
Siri put on a confused expression. Obi-Wan didn't sense anything either, but he got up and opened the door without question.
Master Mundi was just about to push their door chime, and pulled his hand back awkwardly. "Oh, Knight Kenobi. I have an offer for you from the council."
Obi-Wan stepped back so that the Master could pass him.
"It's good that you are here, Knight Tachi. The council's offer extends to you, as well."
Siri gave the Cerean Master a funny eye, and asked, "What exactly does the council have to offer?"
Mundi looked around the room quickly and used the Force to move one of Anakin's projects from the table.
"Hey!" Anakin jumped up to protest.
Master Mundi ignored the boy and pulled a rolled sheet of flimsy out from his robes. "Your new quarter assignment."
Anakin stepped forward to get a better look. He noticed the flimsy had a drawing on it, but not just that. There were symbols used throughout and he got a feeling they were like the technical drawings in a manufacturer's instructions or a Droid's handbook. Anakin tilted his head. He was curious to learn more.
"This space is right across the hall from my own quarters, and it hasn't been renovated yet. I thought you would like to see it."
"A Master's Quarters!" Obi-Wan squawked.
"Not exactly," Mundi answered. "Due to my own unusual situation, I don't live in a typical Master's Quarters. I live in a customized area, renovated on one of the lower floors. It gives me space to house my wives and daughters, when they come to the Temple. It's been many years since my young ones were small, but I know how much space a youngling Abigail's age takes up, in addition to a Padawan, and I find it admirable that you would try in these quarters." He raised a hand to gesture around him. "But I've persuaded the council to give you a similar suite to my own."
Obi-Wan and Siri looked at each other. "Well, It'd be nice to have a room just for her," he said.
"Would I be getting a separate set of quarters too?" Siri asked.
"We could do that, but I was rather hoping you'd go for the shared quarters design. Here." Mundi bent over to point to the drawing. "We could give you a nursery space for the little one, and space for two padawans, if you would ever consider taking one, Siri. My own quarters have eight bedrooms, so we will not be short of space."
"Can I have a room just for building droids?" Anakin asked.
"No." Obi-Wan quickly dismissed.
"Now, you're the one always complaining about him leaving his stuff everywhere?" Siri pointed out, much to Anakin's approval.
Mundi took a deep breath. "It would be beneficial to put aside space for learning activities, and the like. Here, why don't you come with me? We'll look at the space and you can see how my own quarters are set up. Then we'll write down our ideas for the council."
"Alright, I'll go comm Qui-Gon. See if he'll come over and babysit. Do you want to stay with him too, Anakin?"
"No way! I'm coming with you guys" Anakin answered. Like he'd ever just let them plan their living quarters without him.
"What's this mean?" Anakin carried the floorplan and walked with the others down to the lower temple floor.
"Oh that's a lift," Mundi answered after looking over Anakin's shoulder at the symbol he was pointing to.
"Didn't we just get off the lift?" Anakin looked back.
"A dumb lift. It was meant to carry items from the lower floors up to this one, back when this was one of the uppermost floors," Mundi lectured.
"How long ago was that?" Anakin asked.
"A long time ago," Obi-Wan answered.
"Before your Master's Grandmaster was an initiate," Mundi answered. "The Temple has many floors, but most are closed off unless you have Council business to go there. It is too much of a risk, Initiates running around and getting injured in unfinished zones. By the way, this is one of those. So I want you to stay within sight of either me, Knight Tachi, or your Master at all times. Do you understand?" As he said this, he opened one of the doors in a long, semi dark hallway.
The room behind the door was even darker, but Anakin used the Force to see without light. The room was large, and it was full of gadgets.
"Do you understand?" After a moment, Mundi repeated his question.
"Yeah, don't go off alone." Anakin almost rolled his eyes at the Master, but he resisted it in the end.
Mundi moved into the room and he activated a lamp he'd carried with him. He turned around and smiled, proud of what he was presenting.
Obi-Wan's mouth dropped open. "I-it's nice," he struggled to say.
"Are you sure it's habitable?" Siri asked. Then she reached out to Anakin and instructed him, "Don't touch that."
"I'm sorry about the trash. It seems this place got used to retire old equipment over the years." Mundi said.
But Anakin wasn't minding it at all, as he walked through it he noticed several pieces of old droids that appeared to still be functional. Though it was hard to resist, he agreed it would be best to come back with his gloves and toolkit to disassemble what he wanted to take.
"Come around here," Mundi instructed them. "This is where your plumbing is, so I would build a wall here and on one side I'd put your refresher, and bedrooms, and on the other side, your kitchen."
As he described where they would put everything Anakin imagined it all coming together. Apartments were a lot like old droids, he determined. You replace a few components, then give it new plating, and it can be good as new.
Obi-Wan, it seemed, had a harder time imagining it all. Anakin tried to help by sharing some of his imaginings over their bond, but it wasn't until they got to the south side wall that Obi-Wan's mouth dropped. There was a set of transparisteel doors, and outside was a balcony.
"Now, I wouldn't go out there until we have it inspected. The one in my apartment needed a little work before it could pass code, but It'll be nice once the work is done," Mundi stated.
"It's perfect," Obi-Wan mumbled and he smiled.
"Now, we can go to my apartment and pick out some finishes," Mundi offered. "I have all the sample books there."
"Mom!" Anakin ran ahead of him and into the apartment building.
Obi-Wan was glad that Shmi came to Coruscant to live. He'd seen Anakin bloom since then in countless ways. He was more focused on lessons and when he was meditating. He was no longer finishing early and shifting in restlessness, as happens to a lot of Younglings. The boy was thriving, and though the Council would say it was their training, Obi-Wan knew who to credit it to.
Exchanging their biweekly comm calls for a trip through Coruscant and to the Lars' apartment building was natural. Obi-Wan was learning to appreciate the time, especially in a day like today, when his every hour was spent looking at samples and picking out options that don't clash with the rest of the design. There was probably no better way to make Ki-Adi-Mundi's face turn inside out than to pick a bright green sofa for a room where the walls were a light violet.
"Oh my Ani," Shmi gave her son a big hug. When she let go she turned to his Master. "Greetings Obi-Wan. Come on inside, both of you." Shmi had clearly learned from an earlier experience that Obi-Wan was not used to hugs. Instead, she reached out to give his arm a firm squeeze.
Obi-Wan smiled and bowed his head to her, politely.
"Mom, guess what!" Anakin shouted. "We're getting new quarters. But we can't move in there yet. There is a work crew that has to come in first to build it. But when I asked, Master Windu said I can be there for the first day of demo- demol- when they take everything apart. After the first day, he says it will be too dangerous, but they will let me be there when they start. And it'll be so wizard!"
Obi-Wan sat down on the couch and leaned his head back, while Anakin went on to describe the renovations and the droid parts he already pulled out of the junk down there.
"You look tired." Cliegg Lars said from where he apparently had been standing, for Obi-Wan didn't know how long.
Obi-Wan reached up to rub his eyes. "Yeah. I never knew how much planning goes into a renovation. I'm beginning to appreciate the standard Jedi quarters a whole lot more."
Cliegg laughed. "I'm sure you'll appreciate it a lot more when it is finished."
"Yeah, that's what they keep telling me. Hold on." Obi-Wan stopped to pull out his comlink which was vibrating. It had an urgent message from Ki-Adi-Mundi blinking in bold red letters. 'URGENT: Problem with suppliers. Bathroom needs a new tub selection. To stay on schedule we must order TODAY!'
Obi-Wan spoke into his comlink and it typed out the message "Hold on. Do we really need the tub? We already have a shower in that refresher."
He was about to hit send, when Cliegg put a hand up to stop him. "Well, it is difficult to bathe a small child in a shower. And your little one will outgrow the sink baths very quickly."
"Oh." It finally clicked in his head why the Master had been so insistent that they put one in. "What type of tub should I consider?" He deleted his message draft with a slide of his finger.
Cliegg moved to motion him into the office. "The most important thing is that it fits the space. Here, you can use my computer to look up models if you like."
"Thank you. Mundi's already sending me several suggestions to look at."
Hello Everyone,
I wasn't sure if you all would like to read about the designing of the new Kenobi-Tachi quarters, but decided that I would. So I took you along with me. The details on Ki-Adi-Mundi's family are pretty sparse on the wiki. He had several wives and daughters, as was typical for their culture. No sons, which disappointed the character. And If I had to guess from the Wiki, he and his wives lived on Cerea, his homeworld. But since he's there in person in the movies, I imagine he spent a lot of time on Coruscant too, and thus has to have a way for them to visit him. And so I imagined it this way.
In the next chapter I am thinking about putting a time gap in there and having Anakin be about Twelve. He'll be going on the Gathering to finally get his own Kyber Crystal, and preparing for the Initiate trials, so he can be an official Padawan. We'll likely see Huyang again, and I'll be activating him this time, too.