Every few years, the Jedi Temple arranged a tournament for the apprentices. Even Jedi were allowed to have a bit of fun sometimes. Of course, the tournaments were also to improve the apprentices' abilities and for the Masters to see how the apprentices fared. Many Masters and Padawans had returned to the Temple for that event. So had Qui-Gon and Anakin.

Anakin looked forward to seeing his old friends again. He and Qui-Gon had been continuously on missions, and Anakin had not seen many of his friends for years. Needless to say that he would enjoy a bit of rest in the Jedi Temple.

But things had changed. Anakin could not tell whether it was him who had changed, or everyone else. Probably both. There were so many young apprentices whom he did not know but who knew him. The older apprentices scrambled for sparring with him. And everyone asked him silly questions:

"Are you the Chosen One?"

"Have you already killed many dark Jedi?"

"When will you be knighted?"

"Can I come with you when you bring balance to the Force?"

One youngling even asked him, "Can I become your Padawan later?"

No one really bothered that he was only sixteen. When he told them, they were surprised. "You're already sixteen?" And then, of course, the always recurring question, "But why is your braid so short?"

That's why Anakin chose to stay in his room or meditate with Qui-Gon. The next day was better. He met several of his old classmates in the Combat Chamber during his morning exercise. They behaved still relatively normal towards him.

"Hello, Chosen One!" Siri addressed him.

Anakin winced and gritted his teeth. "Have you forgotten my name, Siri?"

"Hey, I was joking," she said cheerfully. "What happened to you? Have you suddenly become a solemn and serious Jedi Master? Oh, they probably appointed you on the Council, right?"

Anakin grinned. He was relieved Siri took things so lightly. "Are you challenging me to a duel, or what is that nonsense about?"

"Maybe," she said haughtily and ignited her lightsaber. "Then let's see what you have learned, Chosen One."

"And by the way, Master Yoda is certainly not solemn and serious." With that, Anakin attacked. Siri had improved her lightsaber skills a lot since they had last fought - some three years ago. Anakin had heard that Adi Gallia had become Siri's Master but he had never had the chance to congratulate Siri on it. They fought for almost half an hour until Anakin could win.

"Good job," he told her appreciatively.

Siri panted heavily"You weren't too bad either, Chosen One."

People had gathered to watch the fight and now they were applauding. Anakin recognised Bruck among the audience and waved enthusiastically. "Hey, Bruck, it's good to see you again."

"Hi Anakin."

"How are things going? I haven't heard from you for ages."

"I'm fine. And you?"

"Great. It's good to be back. Shall we fight a little duel?"

"Uh, no, thanks."

"Why not?"

"I, um, hurt my leg on my last mission and I want have to treat it with care because of the tournament. How about Oafy-Wan?"

"You're still calling him that?" Anakin had to laugh. Suddenly everything seemed to be back to normal.

"He's over there." Bruck indicated a lone figure who was practising katas.

Anakin was immediately intrigued. Obi-Wan was using the dignified Dooku-style! Amazed, Anakin watched him do some more anachronistic stabbing moves until someone urged Anakin forward.

"Come on, we want to see your rematch!"

Anakin did not even know the boy who was shoving him forward but Bruck and Siri were telling him to fight now too. Anakin, however, was a bit hesitant. He had not seen Obi-Wan since the incident and he was not sure if Obi-Wan still held a grudge against him. He would have liked to avoid an encounter between them but the rational part in him told him he could not avoid it forever. Especially as Qui-Gon had hinted he wished to go on a mission with his former Master again. Meanwhile, everyone was ushering him forward and he could not back away anymore. It would have looked as if he was afraid of losing against Obi-Wan. Besides, Anakin was curious to see Obi-Wan using the Dooku-style in a fight.

ooooooo

Obi-Wan had tried to avoid the crowd who was gathering around Anakin and Siri, cheering for their Chosen One. He felt a bit self-conscious practising the unusual sword form in front of everyone. But he badly needed the extra training if he did not want to fail during the next mission as he had done on the last one. Things went well enough at first. Soon, however, he heard the well-known voice of Bruck Chun.

"Heh, Oafy-Wan! Here's someone who wants to fight against you!"

Obi-Wan stopped dead in his katas, turned around and faced the former Bear Clan. He sighed inwardly. It was not difficult to guess who wanted to fight against him. Anakin had grown over the years they had not seen each other. He was taller now than Obi-Wan. Great. And now my last advantage over him is gone too. Naturally, Obi-Wan did not want to fight. He had the feeling that his lightsaber skills decreased day after day. The more Dooku taught him, the more confused got his skills. Master Dooku had a very special technique hardly anyone else still used. That technique was very different from what Obi-Wan had learned during his Temple training. So he had to start from the very first step again and he had not reached a level yet that he could fight a duel - least of all against Anakin. He still could do the technique he had learned in the Temple - but the others had had the chance to improve their skills. Obi-Wan's Master did not allow him to use that technique anymore.

But Obi-Wan did not have a choice. He could not back away anymore with everyone staring expectantly at him. It would have looked as if he was afraid of fighting against Anakin. Okay, he was afraid. But he certainly would not show anyone.

"Hello Anakin," he said calmly. "Do you need a pause after your last duel against Siri or can we start right now?"

"Let's start right now," Anakin replied.

And let's get it over quickly, Obi-Wan added in thought. They bowed, ignited their lightsabers and waited for Bruck to give the starting signal. Anakin's first attack caught Obi-Wan already off balance. Parrying it clumsily, Obi-Wan swore under his breath. Anakin had become incredulously good during the last three years. Or maybe Obi-Wan had simply become so utterly lousy. The duel was awkward at first. It was ironic, but Obi-Wan's unskilful fighting style prevented Anakin from showing his full potential. Once, Obi-Wan almost hit Anakin's shoulder. Almost. Next moment, he was Force-pushed backwards so that the air was knocked out of him. The audience gasped when his back met the wall in a loud - and painful - thud. Then they erupted into applause and chorused Anakin's name.

"You okay?" Anakin asked, a tad worried.

"I'm fine," Obi-Wan snarled, got on his feet again, stretched his aching body and held up his lightsaber again, ready to parry the next blow. They encircled each other, no one making the first move. Obi-Wan deked a slash at Anakin's knees and somersaulted above him (which was not the cleverest idea because his back still hurt from its crash with the wall) to attack from behind. Anakin, however, had sensed his tactic early enough and met his blade when Obi-Wan had not even landed on the ground yet. The audience were beside themselves with excitement. Obi-Wan staggered backwards and attempted to use the new move Dooku had taught him last week. It went thoroughly wrong. Before he could think clearly, Obi-Wan found himself lying at Anakin's feet.

"Huh, what was that?" Anakin said, clearly amused.

The audience laughed. Anakin swung his lightsaber for the winning strike but Obi-Wan crawled out of reach at the last moment. The audience laughed even more loudly. Sithhell, I must look so stupid... He got on his feet again and met Anakin's next strike. Anakin drove him backwards, his lightsaber incredibly fast. Obi-Wan could only clumsily parry the fierce blows. There was nothing he could do to counter Anakin. He felt as if his fingers were all thumbs. Automatically, he reverted to his old technique. But now Anakin became really good. He was invincible. Obi-Wan's old moves were extremely slow and faulty. Once again, he tried a stab at Anakin's shoulder but the movement had been too predictable because it did not incorporate at all in the usually swift movements. Great, I'm not only a complete failure to my Master's teachings, but I also can't even use the old technique anymore. That's younglings' level, Oafy-Wan. Just pray to the Force you never get into a dangerous situation without your Master at your side, or else you're going to be bantha-fodder in a millisecond. The rest of the duel was pure torture. The audience laughed at Obi-Wan and cheered for Anakin. Obi-Wan was utterly relieved when Anakin finally disarmed him and he was flying through half the room, landing painfully on his knees.

"That's it," he panted and added a reluctant, "Congratulations." Hastily, he grabbed his lightsaber with the Force and left the Combat Chamber hurriedly.

"Hey, wait!" Anakin caught up with him and, immediately, Obi-Wan increased his pace. "You didn't even give me the time to tell you that you fought well."

"Haha," Obi-Wan said morosely. "I fought anything but well."

"Okay, you fought in a very... unusual style," Anakin conceded.

"I didn't fight in any style at all," Obi-Wan contradicted him, still walking along the corridor in long strides. "I just had a glowing thing in my hand and put it in your way when your lightsaber threatened to slice me to pieces."

"Anyway, I saw you use some of Dooku's fighting techniques and, well, I wanted to ask you if you, um, could show me some moves or anything."

"Just stop making fun of me -"

"I'm not making -"

"You can save yourself the effort!"

"Which effort? I didn't –"

"I know very well what you mean to say!"

"I didn't mean to –"

"And I don't want your pity!"

"Whoa, Obi-Wan, what the -!" Anakin grabbed his tunic and turned him around, forcing him to face Anakin. "Why are you always so angry?" Anakin asked him. "This is not about pity. And anyway, you couldn't stop me to pity you. Either I pity you or I don't. But it doesn't change just because you don't want pity. And what is so horrible about pity? Aren't the Jedi taught to be compassionate? But as I said, this is not about pity. So, will you teach me some of the lightsaber techniques? Just say yes or no."

"That depends."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "That was not a yes or a no."

"Is this an interrogation, or what? I can answer as I wish." Obi-Wan was still angry at Anakin, particularly because Anakin looked neither sweaty nor exhausted from his two duels. But the fact that he was smiling openly at Obi-Wan and seemed to be utterly sincere with his request made it difficult to be permanently angry at him.

"Okay. Depends on what?" Anakin asked playfully.

Just like old times. He never takes anything or anyone seriously. "If it's possible to train somewhere without your fan club cheering at every move you make, then yes, maybe," Obi-Wan agreed reluctantly.

"Fan club," Anakin repeated and gave Obi-Wan a little punch in his side. "It's not my fault they're following me around and watch my lightsaber training."

"Well, you don't have to fight so bloody amazingly all the time, for example."

"Wow, was that a compliment? Thanks!" Anakin grinned broadly at him.

Obi-Wan grimaced. "It was not a compliment, it was simply a suggestion on how you could get rid of your fan club."

"You're not making sense, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You just told me you didn't want pity. I know you'd kill me if I ever lost against you on purpose."

"Okay, okay, you win the argument," Obi-Wan had to concede. "Let's get in there." He opened the door to an empty classroom. "That is, if you still want to train. Or have you already changed your opinion?"

"No. I still want to train."

They shoved the tables and chairs aside to have room to practise.

"Did you mean it when you said that I fight well?" Anakin asked unexpectedly.

Obi-Wan was completely caught off guard by that question. "What?" he said incredulously.

"Well, you... you told me I should stop to fight so well because...you know."

"Yes?"

"Yes. You said that. So, did you mean it?"

"Why are you asking that?"

"Sithhell, Obi-Wan, probably because I want an answer?!"

Anakin was clearly annoyed now, but Obi-Wan was just as annoyed. "Stars End, just how arrogant can you get? Isn't it enough to have your fan club and all the Masters tell you thousand times a day what an amazing swordsman and Jedi you are? What do you want me to do? Fall on my knees, beg for an autograph or a training match with you?"

Anakin smashed the table he was shoving aside, unnecessarily hard into the other tables. "Shall we start?" he said grimly.

"Oh, suddenly? Don't you want to hear more compliments?"

"I got my answer," Anakin said bitterly. "Can we start now?"

Obi-Wan was annoyed and thoroughly confused by Anakin's behaviour. Anakin was not making sense at all. Obi-Wan did not feel like training with him anymore. "Just what do you want?"

"Let's just start!" Anakin ignited his lightsaber and Obi-Wan involuntarily backed away. He was suddenly afraid Anakin could really attack him. Here were no witnesses and Obi-Wan did not stand a chance against Anakin. He decided it was better not to do anything that further enraged Anakin. He still remembered very well when Anakin had almost drowned him and he did not want something like that to ever happen again.

"Okay," he said uncertainly. "Erm... let's start with one of the basic forms. Your starting position is like this," Obi-Wan showed him, "and then it's stab, parry, two steps forward, stab, parry, two steps backward, and so on."

Anakin watched Obi-Wan perform the form a few times and then he tried to do it as well. Obi-Wan examined his movements critically. Something was wrong. Of course, he had forgotten to show Anakin how to grip the lightsaber hilt! "Wait a moment," Obi-Wan stopped Anakin's exercises. "I forgot to tell you..." He walked over to him. "Here, you need to grip the lightsaber in a different way. It's because the stabs are more forwards and backwards and not these swishing movements at your side."

"Okay." Straining himself, Anakin changed his grip on his lightsaber hilt and did the form again. "That feels strange."

"That's no wonder," Obi-Wan remarked. "You're all tensed. If you grab your lightsaber that tightly, it's never going to work." Obi-Wan corrected Anakin's grip again.

"How can I ever fight like that?" Anakin complained. "It's completely crazy. Couldn't I just hold the lightsaber as I always do?"

"Do you want to become a good swordsman or not?" Obi-Wan retorted.

"Uh." Anakin threw him a surprised glance. "You're a strict teacher."

Obi-Wan shrugged, smiling slightly. "Well, Master Dooku told me that when I complained once."

"Oh dear, that's a hard thing to say. True, of course, but still... I bet you never complained again afterwards, did you?"

"No, of course I didn't. Because he's right. Try again now." Obi-Wan watched Anakin do it again. He could not help but grin a little bit. It was the first time he saw Anakin Skywalker look not graceful while performing a lightsaber form. But Obi-Wan had to admit he tried very hard and learned quickly. "That was better," he said. "Now we can do it together. I parry your stabs and you parry my stabs. It's the same movement again and again."

They did that for a very long time: Parry, stab, moving backwards, parry, stab moving forwards, parry, stab... Obi-Wan knew it was a boring thing to practise but it was the most basic movement you needed to know if you wanted to be able to fight in that style.

"Okay, enough of that," Obi-Wan said when he noticed Anakin was getting bored because he could do it well enough. Not perfectly yet, but well enough to teach him something else which was more interesting. "Here's another basic form. It's quite simple actually when you understand how to do that twist with your ankle, and then it looks pretty impressive."

"Impressive-looking?" Anakin grinned. "Sounds good. Then I can pretend I can fight real Dooku-style."

"As long as your spectators have no idea how it's supposed to look... Okay, are you ready?"

Anakin had problems doing the "impressive-looking-twist" as they had agreed to call it. Obi-Wan could understand that well enough. He remembered how terrible he had been (and most of the time he still was terrible) during his first lightsaber lessons.

"That feels odd," Anakin panted, trying very hard but failing again. "My arms always want to slash down, no matter what my brain tells them to do."

"Yeah, that's the problem. At the beginning it feels completely unnatural because you're used to other ways of fighting. It's as if you should suddenly shake your head if you mean 'yes' and nod if you mean 'no'. Master Dooku told me to forget everything I had learned so far. It's a bit frustrating if you've put all your efforts in your lightsaber skills for so many years and then you have to forget it."

"I can believe that. I think it's too late for me now. I cannot forget anymore. It's all... all the moves are inside me."

"Did you ever have lightsaber classes with Master Antana?"

"Only very rarely when Master Yoda had an important Council meeting. We were always glad when we had Yoda back."

"Master Antana taught the Wookie Clan and she teaches lightsaber techniques with the aim that you never forget the things you learn because your body performs the moves automatically."

"Oh no!" Anakin laughed but looked sympathetically at Obi-Wan. "And? How are you getting rid of Antana's indoctrinations?"

"Not very well yet." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "I even managed to shatter Master Dooku's patience a few times and get him desperate. And that says a lot. Normally he's over-patient. He's so patient it can make you crazy sometimes. Speaking of patience, why aren't you practising anymore?"

"Ah, the thing is, are you sure it is safe? It feels like that twist is going to break my arm."

"Well, my arm's still there," Obi-Wan said, amused. "It's just your ankle - not the whole arm - which does the movement."

"I'm not a Teevan." Anakin tried it again a few times. "I don't get it. Why does it work when you do it?"

"Maybe because I've been practising it for more than three years... Give me your hand." Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin's lightsaber hand and directed his movements.

"Ah, I understand!" Anakin said enthusiastically. "Man, that's easy!"

"Well, I told you so. Now try to do it alone."

After several more failed attempts, Anakin did it. "Hey, did you see that? I did it!"

Obi-Wan laughed at Anakin's enthusiasm. "That was almost perfect. Now you only have to try to have an impressive expression on your face. You shouldn't look as if it's hard work or anything."

"You mean I should look as if it's far beneath my usual standard? That's the most difficult part then, I guess."

"Yeah. Can you do it again?"

"Sure." Of course, Anakin could not simply do it again. He needed twelve more attempts to succeed. But then he got it and did it right again and again.

"Great!" Obi-Wan said, satisfied. "Now you probably wonder what it's for aside from looking impressive. You can easily attack someone who does a backflip with it. Could you do a backflip now?"

"Okay." Anakin backflipped and Obi-Wan disarmed him. "Ah!" Anakin jumped on his feet again and stared at his empty hand. "That was amazing! Where's my lightsaber? I didn't see what you did because I was upside-down at that moment but it was cool all the same."

Obi-Wan tossed him his lightsaber back, which he had caught. "Do a backflip again and try not to pay attention to your lightsaber but to my movements. Then you probably understand how to do it. I don't really know how else to show you how to do it."

"Okay, one more backflip." Again, Obi-Wan disarmed him. This time Anakin had not seen it because his foot had been in the way. After seventeen more backflips, Anakin was completely dizzy and swayed through the room as if he was drunk.

Giggling, Obi-Wan stopped him. "I think we'd better have a little break."

"Great idea..." Anakin lay down on the floor and put his arm over his eyes. "I wonder if it's only me or only my eyes or the whole room that is spinning," he mumbled. "I think it's in my head... One more backflip and I would have puked."

"Please don't."

Anakin chuckled. "Nah... I think it's getting better. But I'd better not open my eyes too soon."

Obi-Wan sighed inwardly. Sometimes he wished he could be like Anakin: That he could take things more lightly and laugh about his own mistakes instead of letting them get him down.

ooooooo

Anakin felt good. Although his head was still spinning and he was exhausted from the hard training, he was satisfied with this day's events. He kept his eyes closed and let his body regain energy.

"We must sign up in teams of two for the tournament," Anakin said. "Bruck and Siri have signed up as a team and I don't have a partner yet. So I wanted to ask you if we could maybe take part in it together." Anakin waited nervously for an answer. Obi-Wan was silent for a very long time and Anakin did not dare to open his eyes in order to look Obi-Wan in the face. Maybe he should not have made it sound as if Anakin would have preferred to team up with Siri or Bruck and as if Obi-Wan was his last option. "Or do you already have a partner?" Anakin continued. "And if you'd rather team up with one of your friends that's perfectly okay, of course. I just, well... wanted to ask."

"I won't take part in the tournament," Obi-Wan said finally.

"Oh. I didn't know that. I assumed... Why won't you take part in it?"

"Master Dooku, um... and I have to go on a mission again."

"That's a pity," Anakin said sympathetically. "Where are you going?"

"Dunno. I forgot the name. It's something I can't even pronounce."

"Master Qui-Gon says he misses his former Master and he wants to work together with Master Dooku again. I bet I will still accompany Qui-Gon on missions too when I'll be a Jedi Knight. I could never imagine going on a mission without him. And one day, when we have our own Padawans too, we'll be six Jedi who go on missions together. And then, our Padawans take Padawans too and we take the next Padawan and so on and so on. It's bound to get out of hands eventually, isn't it?"

"Well, people tend to die at a certain age and not every Padawan has such a strong bond towards their Master as you or Qui-Gon."

Anakin opened his eyes and sat up. "So what about you and Master Dooku? Do you have a strong bond?"

"It's okay," Obi-Wan answered much too quickly for Anakin's liking. "He's a great Jedi Master and I'm really thankful to be his apprentice. Shall we continue with the training?"

"Yes, I'd like to. Do I have to do backflips again?"

"Ah, well... That was not such a good idea, I guess." Obi-Wan grinned sheepishly. "Master Dooku taught me how to use the impressive-looking-twist just by explaining it in theory and I needed hours to understand what he meant. So I thought it would help if I showed it to you but, well... I suppose I'm not a very great lightsaber teacher yet. Whatever. Maybe I could explain it like this." When Obi-Wan used his fingers to illustrate the complicated moves to Anakin, Anakin thought that Obi-Wan actually was a good teacher, and he was sure Obi-Wan would make a great Master one day. But Anakin kept that to himself. He feared Obi-Wan might interpret it as a sign of pity or mocking again.

They practised for hours and took it in turns to backflip. Anakin even persuaded Obi-Wan to teach him still another stunt, which was even more complicated. But if Anakin really wanted to achieve something, he could be extremely ambitious. None of them realised how time flied. They were both surprised when Dooku entered the classroom, measuring them with a very strict glance.

"Padawan, may I remind you that you missed your afternoon lesson?" he addressed Obi-Wan. "And you are late for our evening meditation too."

"I'm sorry, Master," Obi-Wan said and bowed obediently.

"We will catch up on the training this evening," Dooku said authoritatively, "and afterwards you will study rules 21 to 35 of the Jedi Code again and meditate on it."

"Yes, Master," Obi-Wan replied.

"It's not Obi-Wan's fault," Anakin spoke up. He did not want Obi-Wan to get into trouble because of him. "I asked him to show me some of his lightsaber techniques and we completely lost track of time while practising."

"That is no excuse, Padawan Skywalker," Dooku told him sternly. "A Jedi must always know where and when he is and what he is doing. He must not be distracted because he is, for example, enjoying his training. Obi-Wan, I think you should repeat rules 6 and 7 too."

Obi-Wan nodded dutifully.

Sithhell, I'd better keep my mouth shut... Anakin threw Obi-Wan an apologetic glance but Obi-Wan just smiled at him as if he was not really bothered by that amount of extra work.

"And Padawan Skywalker, I advise you to repeat those rules as well. It might be helpful."

"Yes, Master Dooku," Anakin replied politely. He had no idea what rules 6 and 7 were about. He really should study them perhaps.

"Well, Padawan," Master Dooku turned to Obi-Wan again, "I'm afraid you will not be able to take part in the tournament as the Council has just given us a new assignment."

"Alright," Obi-Wan said slowly, avoiding Anakin's eyes. "When are we leaving?"

"We are leaving the Temple tomorrow. We are going to Aar."

Aar. That was not very difficult to pronounce. Anakin could not help but feel a tad disappointed because Obi-Wan had lied to him. Could he not have just told Anakin the truth? He would have accepted that, of course. Things had seemed to go so well when they had trained together... Was Obi-Wan afraid of him? Was he afraid to take part in the tournament together with Anakin? Or was he afraid of Anakin's reaction when he told him that he did not want to team up with Anakin?

"Sorry for lying," Obi-Wan said softly.

"That's alright. I...understand," Anakin muttered.

"See, I wouldn't want to hinder you," Obi-Wan said.

"You wouldn't have." Anakin crossed his arms over his chest and looked up at Obi-Wan at last. "Anyway, thanks for practising with me today."

"You're welcome." Obi-Wan smiled uncertainly at him.

"And how did you fare with that lightsaber technique, Padawan Skywalker?" Master Dooku asked him.

"Uh, it was really interesting but of course I'm not an expert at all, so I can't really say if I was good or bad." Anakin looked at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan shrugged casually. "He was terrible, of course," he told Dooku. "But considering it was his first attempt at a new style, I'd say it was quite...impressive." He smirked at Anakin.

Anakin grinned back. "Good luck on your mission. And may the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you too."