Chapter 4: Headaches

Obi-Wan Kenobi had a headache. For the umpteenth time since he became a master himself, or more precisely the Master of Anakin Skywalker, he wondered how in all the kriffin' nine sith hells it was even possible to develop a migraine from nowhere. He'd never had that before, but now it seemed to be a constant companion. For some reason this new acquaintance of his seemed to find the evenings to be a good time to visit.

He had felt a vague pressure behind his brow the very first day in the Temple when he and his shiny new Padawan (would he ever get used to the term 'my Padawan'?) entered the refectory and Anakin more or less broadcasted his feelings for the curious Jedi throughout the room. In that very moment he decided that one of the first things he had to teach his padawan was to shield his emotions.

It was easier said than done.

Anakin did not grab the concept at once.

"Why?" he demanded to know. "Why am I supposed to shield my emotions here? I know I had to back home because if Wattoo had noticed what I really thought about him he might have pushed the button and -booom- exploded me or mom. Jedi don't do that. Do they?"

"No, Anakin - they, I mean we, don't, but it's embarrassing for others to 'hear' what we are thinking all the time. That's why we shield."

"Embarrassing?" Anakin frowned, "why? It was embarrassing for you when they called you Sithkiller, wasn't it?"

Obi-Wan blushed slightly, he really hated…no, Jedi didn't hate….disliked the nickname. Disliked it very strongly actually."

"Well, yes…"

"I knew it. So when they embarrass you, why should we care about us embarrassing them?"

Obi-Wan sighed. Heavily

"It is not the way it works. Besides, it was you embarrassing them, not me or we."

"That is not a good explanation," Anakin retorted.

"A jedi doesn't seek revenge and if that was your intention it would have been better if you had shielded."

"But it wasn't my intention. Not really. It just happened and I didn't like them staring at us as if we were back on the slave market, well I was there, not we because you haven't been there. Have you?"

The final part of the sentence was uttered with a slightly morbid interest.

"I have been to a slave market actually," Obi-Wan answered with all the Masterly dignity he could muster, "but I admit I don't know how it feels to be on…uh…the wrong side. However, Anakin, how would you like it if all these people were able to read your thoughts at all times, and you had no privacy what so ever?"

"I wouldn't like it," Anakin stated. "Back home we could sometimes hear everything the neighbors were doing and it was awful."

"Exactly so. And they can. That's why you have to learn to shield. If you don't they can read every single thought you have. It would be even worse than living in a house with nothing but windows on all four walls."

Anakin contemplated the explanation for a while before looking up.

"Master Obi-Wan," he said with a pleading look,"can you teach me how to shield?"

…..

The next seizure of headache, and this time it was more than a mild pressure, came a few days later.

"Kenobi!"

Obi-Wan grabbed his comm link from the table where he was absolutely sure it had not been the evening before. Somehow his very few belongings seemed to have gotten a life of their own and moved around by their own share will nowadays. Especially when Anakin was home.

"Master Kenobi," the unknown voice in the other end of the conversation said, "please come to the Students' Wing as soon as you can."

A very bad feeling hit his gut. (As if the beginning headache wasn't enough to handle.)

"Students' Wing? Is something wrong? Is it Anakin?"

"You may say that. I would appreciate if you could come here quickly."

And with that the call was ended. He managed the distance almost one minute quicker than last time he'd been called for.

Anakin was awaiting him in Master Sher'an's office. A blood stained rag rested in his left hand and traces of red beneath his nose indicated where the red spots originally came from. When he saw Obi-Wan he stood up.

"What is it this time?" Obi-Wan sighed exasperatedly.

"You may answer your Master, Anakin," Master Sher'an said calmly.

Anakin looked down. He obviously felt uncomfortable, but didn't say a word.

"Anakin…"

"OK, OK, I had a fight with Neela and he punched my nose, but I managed to give him a blue eye."

The last part was added with a very little jedi-like amount of satisfaction, and he looked up at his Master with a determined face expression.

"Well, the important question is why you came into a fistfight with one of your classmates?"

"He is not my classmate. He's three years older than I and my classmates are ba… they are younger than me."

Obi-Wan recognized a diversion when he saw it, and realized that Anakin certainly not was in the mood of explaining what had happened and why, and he wondered why. Even though their partnership hadn't lasted long he had already understood that Anakin had a haughty temper, even though he usually was a kind and well meaning boy. He felt the now well known headache curling up from his neck and systematically working it's way forward.

He made a light bow towards Master Sher'an.

"Has he explained to you what happened?"

The Master shook his head. "No, he wouldn't tell. The other boy, Neela, has been taken care of by his own Master and I hoped you would be able to make Anakin tell what the reason was."

Anakin pursed his lips tightly while his eyes got a very determined expression. Obi-Wan's headache notched up one level.

"Anakin, please tell us what happened," he said.

"No!"

"Anakin…"

"No!"

Obi-Wan realized that the situation was at an impasse, at least for the moment. If he'd learned something about his Padawan during the last few weeks, it was that he was almost as stubborn as his own deceased Master had been. He gave the boy a stern glance.

"Very well, Anakin. We will discuss the matter when we get back home. After class. I take it you're not going to die from a bleeding nose and unless you can tell me you feel unwell, you will go back to class now and come directly home afterwards. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Master," the boy mumbled and with a very strained movement he bowed first to Master Sher'an and then to his own master and left the room.

As soon as the door closed behind Anakin, Obi-Wan let out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Master Sher'an. You have my word that I will get to the bottom of his behavior and ensure it will not happen again."

The other master looked at him and with a facial expression half way between a frown and a incredulous smile he nodded.

"Don't promise more than you can keep, Master Kenobi. I have a feeling that this will not be the last time your padawan visits my office."

Obi-Wan returned to their quarters, and for once he allowed himself to lay down and rest for a few minutes. He really wanted to get rid of these headaches. Maybe some minutes of meditation and then a rest would help?

He woke by the sound of the door being opened, uncharacteristically silent. The sound of light steps moving towards Anakin's room revealed that the padawan rather not wake his master yet.

"Anakin?"

The steps came to a halt.

"Yes, Master?"

Obi-Wan sat up and looked at his Padawan.

"Come in here. Now."

Anakin shuffled inside, clearly not happy about the prospects for the next minutes to come.

"What happened earlier today, except the obvious, I mean?"

Anakin didn't move, nor did he meet his Master's stern glance.

"What. Happened." Obi-Wan didn't raise his voice, but the clipped pronunciation revealed that any attempts on not answering or even lying would be tolerated.

"We fought…"

Improvement. At least the boy said something.

"That much I have realized, but why?"

Anakin looked up, blue eyes shining suspiciously in his pale face.

"Neela said…he said…that you shouldn't have been knighted and that there was no way you could have killed a Sith. He said that you was…was…too soft because you like to read holobooks."

Obi-Wan's jaw dropped. He had expected almost anything except this.

"So, that was what he did. But that doesn't explain why you thought you had the right to fight him," he said.

"But Master, you did kill the Sith. And you are not soft."

"Anakin, sit down here. I want you to understand one thing. I really don't mind whether Neela think I am…soft… or not. If that is his opinion there is nothing you, or I, can do to change his mind - least of all beat him. If a Jedi fight, it should always be in selfdefense or to protect others, but…"

He realized his mistake before he even managed to finish the sentence. Anakin's head shot up.

"Right, and I defended you. Or rather your honor, Master."

The headache which had subsided after the nap came back with full force.

"I am fully capable of defending myself, my very young Padawan, but if I'm going to do so, it will be if you or I are in life threatening danger. Not because a twelve year old thinks I'm soft. By your actions you have set yourself and me in a rather embarrassing situation, and we will both have to take the consequences."

Anakin looked up: "How so?"

"Because we will have to go to visit Neela and his Master right away. When we get there, you will explain to them both what happened, and you will apologize for your rash behavior. And believe me, this will be more humiliating for me than Neela simply thinking I'm soft," Obi-Wan explained.

A tear trickled down the Padawan's cheek.

"I'm sorry, Master. it won't happen again," he whispered, and then with some more strength he added, "but if you're ever in life threatening danger I will do my best to fight for you."

…

It was late in the evening when the Master-Padawan duo entered their apartment again. Anakin was noticeably more subdued than he'd been earlier that day, and Obi-Wan's headache had increased to a heavy punching inside his temples.

"That was not fun," Anakin sighed.

"It wasn't supposed to be," his Master retorted dryly, "hopefully Neely and you will come on better terms with each other after scrubbing the shower area of the initiates dojos for the next week. By hand! No droids."

"Yes, Master," Anakin sighed again, even deeper now, and retreated to his own room.

As soon as the door closed, Obi-Wan allowed himself a small smile. They had turned up on the other Master-Padawan pairs' doorstep and Neela had been quite embarrassed to see him there. So had his Master when he heard Anakin's explanation of why the fistfight had occured. His apologies on behalf of his Padawan had been almost comical to watch. But after the pleasantries had been exchanged the two masters had agreed that some common labor would be a suitable punishment for the two boys and the rest of the evening had actually been rather nice. Neela's master had invited them for a cup of tea and when the tea had been consumed the two boys were chatting eagerly about starships and flying.

There was hope after all.

And somehow his headache had diminished to almost nothing.