Author's Note: So sorry about the delay in updating. Work has been extremely busy and stressful this last month and I have had little time to myself. Things seem to be calming a bit, but one never knows what can happen next in my line of work! I will try to get more writing done in the next week...before the flood gates once again open!

Chapter 2

I awoke early this morning to find Obi-Wan meditating in my common room. I had not had a restful sleep and, although I tried, I wasn't able to conceal my presence from him. His eyes opened the moment I entered the room and he turned to face me.

"Brynn," he said in a sad voice, totally unlike the Obi-Wan I knew and had grown up with.

"Ben." I replied in a scratchy, tired voice.

"I hope you don't mind, I've put on a pot of coffee." He continued as he rose from his sitting position and came toward me.

"Thank you." My voice was still not my own. I reached out and put a hand on his arm.

"I…" he began, but was unable to continue. I nodded my head in understanding and gave his arm a squeeze. It was then I felt the extreme sadness and guilt.

"Obi-Wan, it's not your fault." I was trying as hard as I could to keep my voice even.

"But…" he began again. "I…" again he was unable to finish his thought. I put my hands on his shoulders and used the Force to speak to him, trying to let him know it wasn't his fault and I didn't blame him. I led him to the kitchen and sat him at the small table where my father and I had enjoyed breakfast together so many times.

"Have you eaten Ben?" I asked. It was strange to have him there without his master, my father.

"No, I…"

"Help yourself to whatever you wish." I interrupted. "My master is expecting me in an hour. I'm going to take my coffee to the gardens and meditate until then." I finished briskly, without looking at him, to avoid the emotion I felt building within myself.

Knowing news of the death of Qui-Gon Jinn would already be travelling through the temple, I grabbed my cloak on the way out the door, slipped it on and pulled the hood up to hide my face. I moved quickly through the hallways, not looking up. Once in the gardens, I lowered my hood and wandered slowly toward my tree sipping my coffee and trying to clear my mind. By the time I reached my destination, I had finished my coffee, but been unsuccessful at clearing my mind.

After spending the next half-hour trying, unsuccessfully, to meditate, I sensed my master's presence. I opened my eyes to see him sitting on the ground in front of me.

"I knew I would find you here, padawan." He noticed my confusion and added, "No, you have not lost track of time. I came looking for you." I nodded, but said nothing. "I thought you might need a hand meditating this morning. Now, close your eyes and I will help you clear your mind."

I did as he said and felt his hand touch the side of my head. My mind cleared of all thought and I easily fell into a meditative state. Some time later my master spoke again. "Brynn-Te, that is enough for now." I opened my eyes. "Perhaps it would be wise for you to take the day off."

"No master, I'd rather be doing something," I replied a little too quickly. The thought of all that time to myself to think was not something I wanted at the moment.

The look on Master Bondara's face told me that he did not agree, but he did understand. "Very well then, let's get going. We'll start with sabre technique."

I always feel most at home and at peace, no matter the situation, when I have my lightsabre in my hand. I think that is why we were going to the sparring room first. This day was no different. The moment I felt the hilt of my sabre in my hand, a calm came over me. The calm, however, didn't cover up the fact that my heart was not in it. I was making mistakes that a padawan of my experience should never make.

"That's enough for now Brynn-Te." My master said as he extinguished his lightsabre. "You are distracted."

"Sorry master." I replied acknowledging that he was right.

"The counsel has asked me to do some research on a few outer rim planets. Let's head to the archives and see what we can get done before lunch."

So, off we went. Even on my best days, studying and researching are not my strong suits. We were only about an hour into our search when my master spoke up, "Perhaps you should call it a day Brynn-Te. I believe that is the same page you have been staring at for the last 10 minutes."

"No, master. I'd like to continue. I'll try harder." As soon as I had finished my sentence, I knew what he was going to say.

"Try? You know what Master Yoda says about that."

"Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try." I recited. "I will do better." Master Bondara smiled and nodded, and we went back to work.

It was a struggle, but I managed to find the information I was asked for. Well, most of it at least. As I made my last note and closed the file I was reading on the data pad, my master stretched his neck from side to side and declared, to my relief, it was time for lunch.

As we walked through the halls of the temple I noticed everyone we passed was in deep conversation, and each individual stopped and looked at me as we passed. I was used to it somewhat due to my uncharacteristic upbringing, but it was different today. I knew what they were all thinking. They all wondered how I had reacted to the news of my father's death, and how I was dealing with it. These thoughts were starting to bother me when my master's voice interrupted them.

"Brynn-Te, we have accomplished a fair amount this morning. Why don't you take the rest of the day for yourself." It was a statement, not a question.

"No, thank you Master. You know I like to be busy." Which was true. I have never been one for sitting around doing nothing.

"Very well," he said simply. I knew he did not agree with my decision and wanted me to take the time to myself.

I didn't eat much at lunch. Actually, I think I ate a total of five forkfuls of food. Mostly, I moved it around on my plate hoping time would pass more quickly. At long last, my master finished his meal, and after admonishing me for playing with mine, he rose and I followed him out in to the hall.

We headed to a meditation room where we worked on some force training. This didn't do much other than frustrate me, since I wasn't able to keep my focus for more than five seconds at a time. After this, it was off to the training room for a physical work out. Finally, something I was pretty sure I would be able to focus on and do properly.

It felt great to be working out. Pushing my body to its limits and succeeding in my tasks for the first time all day. We hadn't been at it for very long when my master's comlink sounded. It was the counsel requesting our presence.

After cleaning up and changing, Master Bondara and I headed up to the counsel chamber. As we approached, Obi-Wan came out of the chamber. As we passed each other, I noticed that his Padawan braid was gone.

The door slid open in front of us and we entered, bowing to the counsel. They wanted to discuss what had happened to my father and how it was affecting me. Not something I wanted to discuss at all. It wasn't long before my lack of patience got me into trouble once again.

"Look, I just don't feel the need to continue this when it's just going in circles and I really don't want to discuss this any more!" As soon as the words left my lips I regretted it, and knew I was out of place saying such things to the counsel.

"Brynn-Te, the counsel will decide whether or not continued discussion is necessary." Mace Windu said in a very stern voice. " This matter is not to be taken lightly, and we will carry on."

"Yes, Master. I'm sorry." There is something about a reprimand from Master Windu. It always makes you feel like small child being punished for something like getting mud on the carpet.

We stayed with the counsel for a short while longer, until my next out burst. At that point they decided to call it a day and told my master to ensure that I went straight to my quarters and remained there until morning. As we were leaving the counsel chamber, I heard Master Yoda's voice, "Much defiance she has in her." Then Master Mundi replied "So much like her father, minus his patience."

Back in my quarters, I milled around trying to find things to do. Giving up, I headed into the kitchen and started to prepare some soup for dinner.

It wasn't long before I heard the door open and the familiar footfalls heading toward the kitchen. Obi-Wan came around the corner and leaned on the doorframe.

"Hey." He said simply.

"Hey," I replied without turning around. "You're just in time for soup."

"I'm not hungry."

That statement made me turn and look at him. "You are always hungry, now sit."

"Not today." He sat at the table and fiddled with his hair where his braid once was.

I tried to smile. "All grown up now, young Kenobi?" He looked down at his boots and shrugged his shoulders. I knew becoming a knight meant everything to Obi-Wan, but I also understood that he never would have chosen this circumstance for the promotion. "Here, eat. It's your favorite." I put a bowl of soup down in front of him and set one down for myself across the table.

"Brynn, really, I'm not hungry. Thank you though."

"What have you eaten today?"

"I had a muja muffin this morning."

"That's not exactly a proper meal, and it definitely doesn't constitute three meals." There was only once before that I had seen Obi-Wan not want to eat, and he was deathly ill at the time. "Eat." I wasn't sure how convincing I was being, especially since I was just playing with my own soup.

"I'm sure you haven't eaten much more than that yourself." I should have known that he would try turning it back on me.

"Actually, I did have lunch." I decided to leave out the fact that I had barely touched what was on my plate. "Listen, at least eat some of it for me. I've been trapped in here for hours with nothing to do but think and make this soup. Just eat it and pretend to enjoy it." That came out a bit more harshly than I had meant it to.

He looked up at me with sad, concerned eyes, " What do you mean you've been trapped here?"

"Eat. We'll talk after." I said quietly, staring at my soup. I needed to regain control of my emotions before saying anything else. We sat at the table together for a long while, mostly playing with our meals, but occasionally eating a bit.

Finally, Obi-Wan put down his spoon and pushed his chair back. He had finished all but two spoonfuls. I ate one last bite, collected the bowls and brought them to the sink. I washed up and put everything away. Obi-Wan's uncharacteristic silence was starting to unnerve me.

"Ben, lets go sit in the other room."

"Right," was his only reply. We moved to the couch in the common room and resumed our silent staring at nothing. I was just contemplating a small mark on the wall across from me when Obi-Wan once again spoke. "Brynn, why did you say you have been stuck here for hours? What is going on?"

"Well," I began, "When we went to see the counsel this afternoon…" I proceeded to tell him what had happened at the meeting. I was nearly through my story when my emotions caught up to me and I could no longer hold back the tears.

"I can only imagine how difficult that was for you." He said, putting his hand on my knee.

I wiped my eyes and looked up at him. "Now, tell me about your meeting with the counsel," I said glancing at his missing braid. He hesitated, not really wanting to say anything. "I don't need every detail, I know it must have been a difficult meeting for you."

He nodded his head and began telling me what transpired in the counsel chambers. He too let his emotions come to the surface and a single tear ran down his cheek as he finished. "I promised Master Qui-Gon that I would train Anakin, and although Master Yoda does not agree with it, the rest of the counsel does. Anakin is now my apprentice." Obi-Wan looked up at me, so many emotions showing in his eyes. "How did this all happen? Why did it happen?"

I was suddenly over come with sadness. "I don't know Ben." The tears came again. "I don't know." He reached over and took me into his arms. I could feel his sadness as well. I fought to rein my emotions in. I pushed away from him and stood up. He followed suit.

"You should get some rest," Obi-Wan started, but corrected himself when I gave him a sideways look. "Alright, we should both get some rest. Do you mind if I sit here a bit longer though?"

"Stay as long as you like, but remember, you have to return to your own quarters at some point. You, unlike my father, do need sleep." I replied, referring to the fact that my father seemed to be able to go for days on end without sleep.

"I will." He answered, an almost smile appearing on his face.

"Congratulations Obi-Wan, you deserve it. You will be a great Jedi Knight." I said giving him a quick hug. As I backed away from him I heard his thoughts, That's exactly what your father said. I stepped back even farther. I didn't think he meant for me to hear that. "He was right." I said simply, and I turned to go to bed.