Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Star Wars. They are the rightful property of one George Lucas, who fortunately decided to share them with the world through his films. I'm merely borrowing them in the most respectful way to have some more fun. That is all.
AN; still have no intention of doing things chronologically. Use your head:)
And thank you people for the reviews. It does present extra motivation for me to continue this, so keep 'em comin'!

Moments – series

Sharing a block

Qui-gon powered down his lightsaber and took a step back. Xanatos was on one knee on the floor, panting slightly. His lightsaber was lying five feet away from him, right where Qui-gon had intended it to land. Still breathing easily Qui-gon attached his lightsaber to his belt.

"You are not there yet, padawan. You twist you feet too far and leave you torso exposed on the lower right side too often. It creates the opportunity to disarm you, as I have demonstrated."

He could hear no objections from his apprentice, so he assumed he was silently pondering them or fuming about the fact he was just defeated, again, by his master. Qui-gon looked at his chronometer. Excellent, he thought.

"Xanatos, stay here and practise with one of the droids. Set it to attack you in the lower right quadrant, level 7."

Qui-gon could see a quick spark of indignation in Xanatos his eyes, but his padawan managed to swiftly suppress it.

"Yes, master."

He knew his apprentice could tackle level 7 quite easily, but repetition was key here, not pushing the boundaries. Without further comment Qui-gon turned and left the training area.

- ∞ -

Angrily Xanatos grabbed on of the training droids and set it to level 7, lower right quadrant. Slowly swinging his lightsaber to block the attacks he fumed at his master's response. Only just holding himself back from striking out and cutting the droid to pieces Xanatos made a silent promise.

'One day I'll be the master. And then you, Qui-gon, won't dictate my life any further. How dare you suggest I'm incapable. I'm better than you!'

With his final though he slashed off one of the arms of the practise droid. It lay sparking on the floor of the training area. He stared at it momentarily, before lifting his lightsaber again, ready to slice off the other arm.

- ∞ -

Quickly and silently Qui-gon walked down the southern corridors of the Temple. Normally this was the time he and Xanatos would meditate before midday meal, but his apprentice needed more and more guidance lately, which often resulted in extended periods of training. Qui-gon wondered for a moment why his apprentice seemed to be slipping a little lately, but he quickly dismissed the idea. Xanatos was progressing nicely, and the boy would do what he told him to, like the good padawan he was. The Force gave him a small tug, but he dismissed it. No good to dwell in the what-if's, he thought.

Walking down a particular corridor Qui-gon slowed his pace. Large windows allowed him to see into the rooms. Inside little children were playing, walking around or sound asleep in the cribs. He had walked to the jedi crèche, a place he found himself more and more these days.

It was no mystery Qui-gon was strong with the Living Force. Master Yoda had taught him well, and he was considered to be one of the best jedi in the order on the subject. One day he had been meditating in the temple gardens when a small group of jedi younglings had been allowed to play in the gardens for a while. Their carefree nature and bright Force signatures immensely helped in his meditation. He even didn't mind the noise they together seemed capable of making. Since that day he had been coming to the crèche more and more often.

Lightly tapping the pad next to the door Qui-gon entered a part of the crèche. Two days ago he had visited the nursery, learning about the new babies that had arrived at the temple. Today Qui-gon decided to go see the toddlers. It was remarkable to see such little children already reaching out with the Force. He tried to observe them, and learn from their instinctive use of the Force.

"Master Qui-gon, how nice to see you again."

One of the padawans assisting in the crèche, Haldiri, came up to him. Qui-gon made a short bow.

"Thank you, padawan Haldiri. I wondered if I could sit with the little ones for while."

Haldiri smiled. She knew of Qui-gon's recent 'hobby', and was glad to help him.

"Of course. Come, I have a group right here that is up and awake."

Qui-gon nodded and followed her into a room. Nine children were moving about, playing with various toys strewn about the room. With a quick thank you to Haldiri Qui-gon settled himself into one of the corners on a chair and watched as the younglings played. Some looked at him curiously, trying to figure out who the newcomer in their environment was. But after a minute they gave up and continued with their activities.

Slowly closing his eyes Qui-gon settled into meditation. The bright spikes in the Force around him made him feel alive, and the air quietly hummed with the energy of the Living Force. He was about to settle into a deeper phase of meditation when he felt a tug on his robe. He opened his eyes. A toddler with blue eyes was staring back at him. Qui-gon couldn't help but smile.

"Hello there, little one. Trying to steal my robe, are you?"

Whether it was the tone of his voice or the attention Qui-gon didn't know, but the toddler smiled at him and grabbed another fist of his robe. Maybe he actually was trying to steal my robe, Qui-gon thought with a silent chuckle. Reaching down he pried open the little hands. Qui-gon felt his fingers tingle pleasantly with Force energy. It reminded him why he kept coming here. Releasing the toddler Qui-gon straightened back into his chair again. The child swayed a little when he was released, and defeated by gravity he fell on his behind. But instead of crying he kept looking at the interesting new thing to explore and play with. Qui-gon could feel his curiosity. Swiftly casting around he spotted a set of building blocks. Without much thought he summoned three blocks to him through the Force. The blocks fluently flew into his opened hands. Qui-gon set the blocks in front of his newly acquired audience. The little boy immediately grabbed one of the blocks and stuffed one of its corners in his mouth.

"Can't imagine that tastes very good," Qui-gon said in a low voice.

The boy took the block out of his mouth and laughed. His laughter sounded like music to Qui-gon's ears, and he found himself grinning along. Scrutinizing the boy a little Qui-gon noted nothing extraodinary about the boy. The Force was quietly flowing through him, almost peacefully. Although not very powerful, Qui-gon was somewhat impressed by the calm nature of the Force in the child.

"You're feeling good today, aren't you?"

The boy looked at him, still smiling. After stuffing the block in his mouth once more the boy made a grab for the second block and tried to stack the two on top of each other. Qui-gon used the lapse in attention to return to his meditation. For the next half hour he sat there in deep meditation, relaxing and releasing the worries and stress he had accumulated.

Slowly bringing himself back he opened his eyes again. And encountered a set ofblue eyes looking back at him. Surprise flowed through Qui-gon's mind.

"Hmm, still there, my young friend?"

The same toddler as before was still sitting in front of him. The blocks were lying on the floor, slightly more moist then they had been before. Qui-gon didn't know why the child had chosen to stay here, but was pleased he had. Undoubtedly his meditation had been better because of it.

"Well thank you, young one. Perhaps we'll see each other again."

Qui-gon slowly stood up. The boy's eyes followed him. The blue of his eyes nothing special, but the boy's curiosity charmed Qui-gon. He was about to step around the toddler and leave when the boy made a noise.

"Ahhgu!"

Qui-gon looked down and regarded the boy. Again he used the Force to examine the boy. But it revealed nothing special.

"I'm sorry. But I must go, I have duties to attend to."

"Aajiinaa?"

Qui-gon shook his head. "Another time perhaps, young one."

The little boy stopped smiling. A small frown appeared on his face and he looked down to the floor. Silently Qui-gon hoped he would not have a crying child on his hands, that was not something master Yoda had taught him to handle. But what happened next took him completely by surprise. The boy extended two little pudgy arms towards one of the blocks. Slowly but steadily the block rose from the floor. It hovered just for a moment before it ascended. Finally it reached its final destination and floated right in front of Qui-gon, at the level of his chin.

Stunned Qui-gon stared at the floating block. He knew the children were instictively using the Force, but levitating a block was something he had never seen before. And it was something he had thought none of them would be capable of at this tender age. Quickly he looked down at the boy. Suddenly Qui-gon held his breathe. The dull blue of the boy's eyes had been replaced by a startling blue grey, alive and dancing with the Force. Qui-gon could almost see the light the Force was infusing in his eyes. It completely changed the boy's appearance. Qui-gon had a sudden but very brief feeling this child was going to be a great Knight.

Still a bit stunned Qui-gon took hold of the block. Instantly the intense feeling of the Force left the boy, and his eyes returned to their previous, ordinary blue colored state. But the smile on the boy's face was priceless. It was almost as bright as his eyes had been just moments ago. Qui-gon's heart felt as ligt as a feather, and he grinned equally big.

"Thank you, my little friend."

The boy smiled at him for another moment. Then he turned and started crawling towards one of his fellow groupmembers, a twi'lek girl playing with two fluffy stuffed animals. Qui-gon watched him go, his wide grin fixed to his face. Turning on his heels he made his way to the door. Before exiting he took one last look over his shoulder. The boy and the twi'lek girl were playing with the stuffed animals, both smiling. Nodding contently Qui-gon left the room. He said goodbye to padawan Haldiri and left the crèche. On the way to his quarters Qui-gon couldn't help but smile at the events. His initial assesment of the boy had been obviously flawed. The Force was strong with him, stronger then Qui-gon had ever seen. Abruptly stopping in his tracks Qui-gon frowned and examined the block he was still holding in his hand. But quickly the frown was replaced by a content smile.

'I will keep my eyes on you, little one.' He put the block away in his sleeve. 'I have a feeling you and I are not done with each other.'

- ∞ -