"Is this really necessary," Anakin smirked as two guards stood in the doorway of the council room.

'No one was really hurt,' he said to himself, thinking on how melodramatic the Jedi were.

He watched with increasing wariness as various members of the Jedi council took their seats, many of them not looking at him as he hovered in the centre of the room.

"Be quiet, Anakin."

His tone easily lowered the mood of the entire galaxy and Anakin felt something close to guilt.

'Well if they weren't so uptight all the time.'

Obi Wan faced away from him but he could easily paint a portrait of the resigned look he most likely wore.

"Master," Anakin started with a roll of his eyes.

"I did not tell you to speak."

The venom that laced those words stung.

"Master Kenobi, we shall begin now," Adi said gently and Obi Wan nodded and took the seat closest to the doorway. Anakin was tempted to roll his eyes again.

"Padawan Skywalker, the Jedi council has been called here today in light of your conduct as a Jedi padawan. Your reckless behaviour is intolerable in an order that demands mastering one's impulses and childish whims," she emphasised the last few words.

"You know why you are here," Mace Windu looked at him with a stern expression. "And you realise there are consequences to your actions."

Anakin felt a surge when the force pulsed through him. He found it intolerable that Mace Windu would try to manipulate him. He, the Chosen One. He pushed back with all his strength and felt victorious when Mace flinched, looking vaguely afraid.

"I was defending myself," he retorted, fixing various members of the council with what he thought was an innocent stare.

"You were beyond your limitations," Kit replied. "Leaving without permission, beyond Padawan curfew to explore a city that you do not know. You are in training to become a Jedi yet you are a disgrace to the values we uphold. Brawling in the streets, representing the Order and making it a mockery!"

There were murmurs of agreement throughout the room and Anakin felt his fists clenched.

"They attacked me!"

"Anakin Skywalker. You must learn that there are consequences for the moments when a Jedi cannot control themselves. You do not seem to realise how many doubt your capabilities," Mace Windu spoke once more. "And with every step, you prove them right. Could we go back to the beginning, perhaps we, as an Order, may have made different choices."

Anakin felt his cheeks flush and the room became unbearably warm. He was saying he was unworthy. That they never should have trained him.

"Kneel," he said with a sigh and a shake of his head.

Anakin's brow furrowed in confusion but one look to his Master and he knew not to disobey. His knees hurt briefly as he dropped down but the embarassment of the position hurt more.

"Master Kenobi."

Anakin felt reassured when his Master stood behind him and turned his head slightly.

"The cutting of a Padawan braid is a ceremony of honour, Skywalker. The transition to a Jedi Knight. For you, however, you will wear it as a sign of disgrace."

He watched with growing worry as Mace Windu motioned to Obi Wan and he heard the sound of a lightsaber behind him, it's blue light casting his own shadow before him.

He felt Obi Wan's hand on his shoulder, keeping him in place as the heat swept behind his ear. He closed his eyes and realised too late that tears had escaped. He hoped they would go unnoticed. He didn't look to see who lifted his hand and tied the braid around his wrist.

'It will grow again, young padawan,' he heard Obi Wan in his mind. 'Appease the council for now. I'm sorry.'

"Go now, you must," Grand Master Yoda spoke with sadness.

Anakin heard but couldn't find within him the strength to move. In truth it felt as though the force had chained him to the ground by his knees. He was almost a dead weight as Obi Wan pulled him to his feet and marched him from the room. His breathing quickened and morphed into dry heaves as he sobbed into Master Kenobi's shoulder.

"I didn't mean to fight. I thought they would kill me, master."

"Hush, now. It's alright, young one. The braid will grow again. And when you are finally a Jedi Knight you will be proud of how much you yourself have grown."

"Have I disgraced you, Master," he asked. His eyes so wide and tearful that Obi Wan was taken off guard. He tried to think on how Qui Gon might have reacted if it had been him.

"You have made me proud Anakin. Because it is clear how much the Order means to you. But the rules exist for a reason, Anakin. And that reason is not for your enjoyment in breaking them. You look now like Jedi, but your behaviour must reflect that."

Anakin held up his wrist that had his braid twisted around it.

"Do you think it will grow back before I see P-" he faltered. "I do not wish to be disgraced before the Senate."

"I'm sure it will," Obi Wan assured him.

Later that evening Obi Wan watched through the gap in the doorway as Anakin stood in the fresher, scraping as much of his short hair as he could into a small braid. He turned his head this way and that trying to see his handiwork and Obi Wan backed away from the door just in time as it opened.

"Goodnight Master," he said with a soft smile and closed the door to his bedroom. Obi Wan had forgotten there had ever once been a door there.