Where Surprises Are Pleasant

Anakin's week had been the Worst Week Ever!

It had started at the beginning of the week when, just as Anakin had been getting the hang of the beginning of meditation (Thank you, Obi-Wan!), that he'd been interrupted by the com. It had been a message from the Council that they had needed to see his master. Obi-Wan had looked at him regretfully, told him to keep working on it, and left. Which, of course, meant that Anakin had gotten nowhere since nobody but his master ever explained things right. This isn't to say he didn't try. He'd worked for almost an hour on trying to meditate before finally giving up and going to his crèche-work.

But he'd fallen behind on his crèche-work again, and there was a lot to do. So when his master had returned (three hours later! Why did the Council always take so long?) Anakin had been hoping to get a little extra help in the areas that were puzzling him.

Did that happen?

No. Of course not. Why should it?

Instead, with a carefully blank face, Obi-Wan had told Anakin to join him in the common room. There, he proceeded to explain that he was being sent out on a mission. At first, Anakin had been thrilled. Finally! Something interesting to do! Adventure! Something to break up the tedium of all his lessons. But no, this wasn't to be. Obi-Wan had gently explained that he would be going alone. Alone! Another solo mission, again!

Anakin didn't understand that. Not one tiny, little bit. From everything he'd heard, Padawans always went wherever their master went. So what the hell? Why wasn't he going? He'd done well at the Naboo blockade! Palpatine always heralded him as a hero. So why wasn't he allowed out of the Temple on a field trip that would actually be fun? Obi-Wan calmly and patiently explained (again) that because Anakin still hadn't started on self-defense, that Obi-Wan would be called on solo missions. He also said that when Masters had very young Padawans, they would often be left in the Temple in the early years of apprenticeship, to ensure the Padawans had enough education of the basics before finally being let out to the field. Most Padawans started fieldwork around twelve to thirteen years of age. Anakin was only barely eleven.

Anakin had stewed horribly about that for the rest of the day as he watched his master prepare for the mission. Oh, he knew he was acting like a brat and that Obi-Wan didn't deserve this. It was the Council's fault, not his master's. But the Council wasn't there for a proper tantrum. Obi-Wan tried to talk to him, but Anakin was just too angry to listen.

This did not mean, however, that Anakin didn't see his master off. No. He was there to wave good-bye and, despite whatever Master Windu thought about it, he gave Obi-Wan a hug for good luck. He hoped that his master understood that Anakin wasn't angry with him, just the Council and the situation, because Anakin couldn't articulate it when he was busy hugging and letting his master know he'd miss him and that he'd have all sorts of work done by the time Obi-Wan returned.

And Anakin did try to keep that promise. He really, really did. That very evening, after Obi-Wan had left, Anakin had planned to start making headway on all of his crèche-work and show his master that he could be self-sufficient so Obi-Wan could be proud of him.

But did that happen? Nope. Not at all.

Why? Because Master Windu didn't like the fact that Anakin had hugged his master and had pulled him away from the time he'd devoted to getting ahead. He'd claimed it was because he knew Anakin was struggling with meditating and merely sought to help him during Obi-Wan's absence. Anakin was certain it was because he didn't like that Anakin showed something that could be viewed as "attachment" to his master.

So for four hours, Anakin had been held hostage by the Jedi Master, going through meditation exercise after meditation exercise, until Anakin was positive his brain was going to explode. Seriously. Did anyone know how to explain things like Obi-Wan did? Anyone? Those hours had been worse than when Obi-Wan had caught him sneaking out deliberately instead of accidentally and drilled him in his lessons for over a day.

By the time he'd gotten back to their apartment, he was exhausted and collapsed into bed. Of course, since he didn't have the time to get ahead like he'd wanted, he was now behind in his crèche-work. He hadn't even had time to finish the assignments that were due the following day. And did his teachers understand that he'd been kidnapped by Master Windu? Nope. They just frowned at him, radiated disapproval, and told him to get it done along with giving more assignments that were also due the following day. This, of course, was ridiculous. But he didn't dare say a thing, lest he get into even more trouble.

Thus, for most of the week, Anakin was behind in his crèche-work. Something that the severely stuck-up Ferus Olin lauded over him. Force he was worse than the teachers sometimes. Ferus Olin was just an Initiate. He didn't even have a Master yet. But he excelled in making Anakin feel woefully inadequate, like he didn't belong at the Temple, prophecy or not. Not that Ferus ever did anything overtly. Oh no. He was far too perfect a Jedi for that. (Ferus had nothing on being a perfect Jedi. Master Obi-Wan was a perfect Jedi!) Instead, it was the polite questions of why Anakin was so far behind, or the offering to help him if he didn't understand anything. And Ferus was always praised by the teachers by his excellent work. And the other students always looked to him for answers when Anakin knew his answers were just as valid, just a little different. It was so irritating.

Anakin had to give up two (two!) of his lunch hours to even catch up on the work he owed. Still, at least Anakin prided himself in the fact that the work he handed in wasn't rushed or incomplete. Obi-Wan had impressed on him to always do his best and he did. It was why he tended to be late on his assignments; he was always looking up related materials to make sure he was thorough and correct in his answers.

But that was all with just his lessons!

Right smack dab in the middle of the week, Anakin had woken up in the early mornings covered in sweat and drowning in worry after a dream of some sort that he couldn't remember that had terrified him. And. Obi-Wan. Wasn't. There.

This had happened only once before since he'd come to the Temple. He'd woken up from some dream he couldn't recall with fear so powerful he could barely move. Obi-Wan had come rushing in, and it had been the first time that his master had hugged him properly. Obi-Wan held him for a long time, and once Anakin had calmed, he'd picked up the Padawan like he weighed nothing and brought him to the kitchen. He'd gotten out two mugs, filled them with blue milk, and put in a thick tablespoon of honey. His master had asked no questions about the dream, and just sat at Anakin's side as they drank their milk. From there, he'd picked up Anakin again and brought him into Obi-Wan's room. The door had stayed open, and the hall light remained on, and once comfortably held in Obi-Wan's arms, Anakin had fallen deeply asleep.

It had been just what Anakin had needed at the time and he'd been ever so grateful to his master. He'd tried to be extra good for him in payment, though that didn't last as long as he'd wanted. But, the second time such a horrible dream occurred Obi-Wan wasn't there. So Anakin had huddled in his sleep-couch, trying to release his fear. Trying to reach meditation to help him release it. Hell, trying to reach Obi-Wan, despite the vast distance that separated them for some sort of reassurance.

Needless to say, he didn't sleep.

Which made the following day so much worse. He was called to task for falling asleep in class, given extra work (again!) as punishment, and didn't even get to have lunch since it was one of the days where he gave up his lunch hour just to catch up. Then, to cap off the day (since this was the long day, where he had classes almost every hour...), Master Yoda had visited a class just as Anakin was suffering the most from hunger and sleep-deprivation. And could Master Yoda, reigning Grandmaster and so-in-tune-with-the-Force-surely-he-could-see-Anakin-wouldn't-be-paying-enough-attention leave him alone?

No. That would make too much sense.

Instead, he asked a question to the class in his bizarre speech pattern and called on Anakin to answer it. Anakin (who had been in the middle of a yawn) paused a minute, before giving the first answer that came to mind. Which had apparently been very unorthodox and required much questioning from his fellow students (Damn you, Ferus!) and left Anakin strongly on the defensive.

He'd been so exhausted after it all, he'd collapsed to bed after dinner and slept through his alarm the following morning. Making him late. So the teacher gave him more work. Again. (Anakin was beginning to notice a pattern. A very annoying, very not-his-fault-but-he'll-be-blamed-anyway, pattern.)

Of course, after the hellish week Anakin had been undergoing, it wasn't really a surprise that he tried to sneak out of the Temple to get to the lower levels of Coruscant for at least a little stress relief. "Trying" being the operative word. Some random Jedi Knight between missions had discovered Anakin's attempt to leave and brought him down to the kitchens (once the Knight realized that Anakin's master was out on a mission) so that he'd be on kitchen duty for the remainder of the week. This did not help in trying to catch up on all the work he needed to do. At. All.

And then. Finally. Obi-Wan returned.

Anakin had ditched kitchen duty for the evening to greet his master upon his arrival (something the head chef understood and smiled at... Finally! Someone who understood!). Obi-Wan's transport was late and Anakin was left fidgeting in the hanger until, at last, an air taxi arrived and Anakin knew his master was back.

He ran forward to greet his master, (he'd wanted to hug Obi-Wan, but Master Windu had arrived and Anakin wasn't going to make the same mistake in the same week, thank you.) and paused when he finally got a good look at him.

Obi-Wan looked weary, worn, and exhausted. His beard was looking a little shaggy, and his hair looked like all he'd done this morning was run his hands through it. This, to Anakin, was unacceptable. He was going to drag his master back to their apartment, give him a proper meal, and get him to bed. Then, with the new morning, everything would be back to normal and the awfulness of the week could finally be put behind him.

But this was not to be. Anakin latched onto Obi-Wan's arms, intent to get back to the apartment when Master Windu interrupted them. (ARGH!) It seemed Master Windu had wanted Obi-Wan to debrief the Council right away, since they had many concerns after looking at the preliminary report he'd sent them.

"In the morning!" Anakin had tried to insist. Because, clearly, anyone could see that his master needed a warm meal and a good night's rest.

Yet Obi-Wan, super-selfless and super-stupid Obi-Wan had reached over, squeezed his shoulder, and said it would be fine. He'd be along shortly.

Anakin fumed and huffed horribly, but didn't say a word and went down to the cafeteria to get a good meal for his master and hurried back to their apartment.

Two hours later Obi-Wan shuffled through the door and said only five words. "I'm back," when he entered, "Thank you," after Anakin had all but kicked his master to bed and helped him pull of his boots, and "Goodnight," just before he passed out on his sleep-couch. Anakin put the food he'd gotten (Obi-Wan's favorite...) into the cooling unit and just crawled into his own sleep-couch.

The following morning Anakin made sure that his master was still asleep and that the alarm was unplugged so that he could keep sleeping. Then he went off to his classes. Where he was still behind in all his work. Thankfully he had two free hours between his first classes of the day and he spent the entire time in the Archives, finally catching up and submitting all his assignments. He wasn't ahead, like he'd wanted to be, but at least he was caught up. And after this horrid week, that was something.

His lunch hour was peaceful until he spied one of his teachers, looking as irate as a Jedi could, came stalking over to him, dragging a barely-awake Obi-Wan behind him.

Naturally, Anakin could only think, Now what?

It was the teacher of the class he'd fallen asleep in, and he seemed intent to berate Anakin in front of his master and the rest of the cafeteria. Anakin couldn't stand it! He hadn't even had a chance to talk to Obi-Wan about it! Yes, it was wrong to fall asleep in class, Anakin already knew that thank you, but there had been a reason behind it and he wasn't able to get a word in edgewise to explain. Obi-Wan wasn't awake enough to defend him, and didn't even know the whole story and it was just so unfair. And to top it all off, to make the perfect cap to everything, the Knight that had gotten him on kitchen duty was coming over, no doubt to share that little escapade as well.

Tears were prickling behind his eyes, but he wouldn't cry, he wouldn't. No matter how unfair it was, no matter that he knew a lot of what had happened was partially his fault, no matter that Obi-Wan was finally starting to wake up now that Anakin was upset and Anakin didn't want that, he wanted his master to get some sleep before discussing all of this. No matter what he wouldn't cry, because Jedi didn't cry and he'd at least get that right.

Deep breath. Release.

Come on. Release!

It wasn't working. It was just too much after such a terrible week. He wanted Obi-Wan to be proud of him, and instead of hearing what Anakin had been able to accomplish, he was hearing all the mistakes. And Anakin was only eleven years old, a Jedi for over a year. The disappointment and frustration of the week was just too overwhelming.

There was a hand on his shoulder and he looked up. Both his teacher and the Knight were still trying to talk to Obi-Wan, but Obi-Wan was ignoring them, focusing solely on him.

"Anak-" and there was sympathy in Obi-Wan's voice. Obi-Wan, who was always so calm and didn't show anything, was feeling sorry for him and Anakin couldn't stand it.

"Leave me alone!" he shouted. Then he choked, because that was anger and Jedi didn't give in to anger. So Anakin just ran. He couldn't take any more. He just needed to be away. Someplace where he could cry and wish his mother was there to hold him and kiss him and make everything okay again.

He barricaded himself in his room. And he let out all his feelings, not as a Jedi would, but as a little boy would.

It was some time later that Obi-Wan knocked. His Padawan felt much calmer, though still morose.

Obi-Wan let out a soft sigh. When he had gotten home the previous evening, he could tell that Anakin had needed to talk to him about something, most likely something that had occurred during the week. But when Mace had told him to debrief right away, Obi-Wan had jumped at the chance to just get it all over with so that he could spend proper time with his Padawan without having to worry about an interruption from the Council. Besides, as much as Anakin had missed him, Obi-Wan had missed his little Padawan, though he wouldn't admit it.

Unsurprisingly, given that the planet Obi-Wan had gone to had ultimately seceded from the Republic, despite Obi-Wan's best efforts, the debriefing had taken an inordinately long time. The evening, which he'd wanted to just spend time with Anakin, had been reduced to blearily making his way to his sleep-couch and being very grateful that Anakin had helped him get his boots off before slipping into oblivion. His plan to properly talk with his Padawan for the following morning had also been crammed into a freighter and set into hyperspace when he'd realized that Anakin had unplugged his alarm. (Very thoughtful of his Padawan. Inconvenient, but very thoughtful...)

Of course, he'd discovered that he'd overslept (and how! It was the lunch hour!) when someone was pounding at his door demanding to see him right away. Obi-Wan had barely had time to slip his boots on and certainly wasn't awake when he'd opened the door and one of Anakin's teachers had grabbed him and started dragging him to the dining hall to have a talk with his very young Padawan. The teacher was apparently fed up with Anakin falling asleep in class (and which class had that been? Obi-Wan hadn't been conscious enough to remember...) and was intent on having a discussion about proper Jedi behavior as soon as possible.

Obi-Wan had been desperately trying to wake himself up (he hadn't even had his morning tea...) when another Knight had come over to explain that Anakin had apparently been caught sneaking out of the Temple (Again? Sigh...) and that he'd assigned Obi-Wan's Padawan to kitchen duty for the remainder of the week. And through it all, with Obi-Wan still trying to get his brain back online, Anakin was getting more and more upset.

For all that Anakin struggled with meditation and using the bond, whenever he was feeling something strongly, he could naturally tap into their connection with the same brilliance and ease he did with focusing on podracing. That had been enough to break through Obi-Wan's sleepy haze and focus. Not on the two Jedi trying to explain things to him, but on his Padawan who was struggling with a great deal of anger and frustration.

And, much to Obi-Wan's pride, Anakin's instinctual reaction had been to try and release it to the Force. It had been too much feeling (how long had this been left festering?), but Anakin hadn't thought about what to do, he'd just tried to do it. And Obi-Wan was so pleased by it. But the first thing he needed to address was that all-powerful frustration and festering negative feelings. Obi-Wan wasn't sure what had gone wrong. Suddenly his Padawan had burst out in anger (as was his tendency, unfortunately) and run away.

He'd been left to deal with the two Jedi (which he didn't want to deal with when he had a Padawan who was still radiating such upset) and patiently listen to what they had to say and mediating the situation. ("I don't know the full story yet, but I assure you I'll deal with it.") and contacting his afternoon teachers to let them know Anakin would be absent before he could finally track down his Padawan and do what he'd wanted to do since he returned to the Temple.

Obi-Wan had to admit, his time away had given his Padawan time to cool down, and his emotions weren't quite so turbulent. But he still didn't expect much of a reaction once he knocked on the door. He merely waited a moment before palming it open.

Anakin's room was a mess. The sheets of his sleep couch had been ripped off and flung across the room; a stack of datapads and chips looked to have been swept off the desk by an arm, and a soft set of plush pillows that he and Anakin had been using for levitation exercises looked to have been kicked across the room and stomped on.

His young Padawan was sprawled on his sleep-couch, an arm slung over his eyes, looking as exhausted and worn as Obi-Wan had been when he got back to Temple the previous day. Obi-Wan couldn't be sure, but there appeared to be dried tear tracks on Anakin's face, and the feeling along the bond was just numb.

He took a moment, moved his Padawan's legs aside, and sat down beside him. Anakin didn't respond. So, with a little hesitation, Obi-Wan reached over, and pulled his young Padawan up into a hug. Anakin let out a soft sigh, a sniffle, and loosely wrapped his arms around his master. They sat there together for a while as Obi-Wan struggled to figure out what to do.

After a moment, Obi-Wan let out another breath. "So, Anakin. How has your week been?"

The child mumbled something into Obi-Wan's tunic.

"I didn't quite catch that," he said quietly.

"It doesn't matter."

"It rather matters to me."

"Hasn't everyone already told you?" huffed Anakin sullenly.

"I don't want to know what other people say about what happened this week. I want to know what you have to say."

His Padawan looked up to him, blue eyes almost measuring, before sitting back and launching into a thorough account of how his week had been. Thorough, snarky, sarcastic, and sullen. Obi-Wan's eyebrows raised at various points and he was utterly amazed at how much had happened to Anakin over the very brief time he'd been away on a mission. And, because Anakin had such difficulty with meditation, it was no wonder that such frustrations had been left festering until his angry release at the dining hall.

As Anakin drew to a close in the tale of his harrowing week, he stared down at his sleep-couch.

Obi-Wan let out a small chuckle. "Anakin, remind me to tell you some time about the week my Master and I spent on Viety II. There may be no luck, only the Force, but there are times when all Jedi wonder why everything that can go wrong, does."

This did not seem to help Anakin one bit, as his Padawan merely crossed his arms. But Obi-Wan had felt a flicker of curiosity along the bond, and so he sought for more distractions.

"You know, I don't think your week went quite as badly as you seem to think."

"Yeah, right."

"I've noticed a few good things that I don't think you noticed."

"Like what?" Anakin demanded, looking up.

"For starters, how much your heart was in the right place." Obi-Wan sat back, smiling at Anakin. "You wanted to show me that you could be self-sufficient, like any Jedi, so you sought to get ahead in your crèche-work. And despite falling behind as more and more work was put on you, you are currently all caught up. I trust you understand all of it as well?"

Anakin nodded, still looking sullen, but Obi-Wan could feel that his praise was helping to lift Anakin's spirit. "Of course," he mumbled. "I've got a few questions on some of the subjects, but I get the overall concepts for those."

"As I expected. I'm sure that other Padawans or Initiates would have struggled a great deal more than you under similar circumstances."

He leaned forward. "And that answer you gave to Master Yoda in class, was correct. A little unorthodox, certainly, but you're rather an unorthodox Jedi. My Master certainly would be enjoying this. He always thought the Council needed to be shaken up a little from time to time."

That, finally, drew out a small smile.

Obi-Wan reached out and put a hand on his Padawan's shoulder. "And I am sorry that I wasn't there for you when you had that dream. Know that if I could, I'd have returned in a heartbeat to help you." Because Anakin had lived enough suffering over the course of his life. And while life would always be filled with both good and bad situations, Obi-Wan wanted Anakin's time at the Temple to be filled with good times to balance out the bad ones he'd already been through.

"Also, despite everything you've been going through this week, you haven't spoken out or gotten angry at any of your teachers or that Knight who caught you sneaking out. You've been controlling that temper of yours and that is magnificent progress. I understand how difficult it can be to do nothing but accept things when you see something that you know is unfair."

Obi-Wan smiled. "And just now, when all of this feeling was swirling around you and becoming too much to bear, you instinctually tried to release it to the Force. Very good, Anakin. Very good indeed."

His Padawan finally looked up with a small grin that was growing and along the bond, Obi-Wan could feel that Anakin was feeling a little better.

"Knowing your week through this new light," Obi-Wan leaned back again, crossing his arms, "can you tell me were your mistakes were?"

Anakin gave a brief scowl before sitting up and looking at him in the eye. "I should not have tried to sneak out of the Temple, Master," he replied. "It was wrong to and if I needed distractions from what was going on, I should have sought out something else."

Obi-Wan nodded. "You'll stay on kitchen duty this week. However, I think it's time we redouble our efforts with meditation for you. Releasing will help you better than just distracting yourself from the problem."

There was a quiet groan, but Anakin continued. "I should not have gone to class when I was as tired as I was. That was just asking for trouble. I should have told him I wasn't feeling well and gone to the Halls of Healing. They might have helped me get some sleep so that I wouldn't be so exhausted for the rest of the day."

"Excellent, Anakin."

There was a loud rumble, and Obi-Wan knew he was blushing. After all, he hadn't eaten anything since the previous day.

Anakin looked up with a grin. "Dinner, Master?"

"Yes, that rather sounds like a good idea."

Anakin was wondering what was in store for him. It had been three days since Obi-Wan had finally returned and things were once more settling into the normal of everyday Temple life. Anakin was still on kitchen duty, his evenings were now spent entirely devoted to meditation practice with Obi-Wan, and he was (somehow) remaining caught-up on his crèche-work. But Obi-Wan seemed to be radiating something very positive. Anakin couldn't get a good read on it, due to his inability to properly access the bond (and when would that be again?) and he was beginning to feel a bit nervous about it.

The previous evening, Obi-Wan had asked if Anakin had any plans for the following day and Anakin had said no. Then Obi-Wan had grinned and politely asked that Anakin keep it that way. As far as Anakin could tell, Obi-Wan had something planned for that day. And after so much time meditating and guiding him on how to release feelings to the Force and discussions on how the Force helped once properly connected, Anakin felt a fair amount of dread. He had a sneaking suspicion that because today was a free day for him, he was about to get a massive headache with attempted meditations.

Breakfast had gone quietly and normally, save for the massive grin that Obi-Wan was sporting. After all, this was Obi-Wan. He didn't show anything other than Jedi calm. So Anakin felt he had good reason to be suspicious. If Watto ever sported such a huge smile, it usually meant massive trouble for Anakin, so he was very wary when Obi-Wan started clearing their plates.

"Padawan?" his master said cheerfully. "Would you please accompany me?"

And thus, Anakin knew his fate was sealed. Whenever Obi-Wan said that, he usually dragged Anakin off somewhere for more intensive studying. And given the focus on meditation, well Anakin didn't need the Force to see his future. He was pretty much doomed. So he quietly agreed and followed his master out of their quarters.

At first, Anakin thought they were going to the Room of a Thousand Fountains, as his master had a clear preference for the peaceful atmosphere. But when they blew right by it, he merely blinked and thought they might be going to one of the many gardens.

Yet they didn't. They took a left instead of a right and headed for a lift.

This was... strange. Where in the Temple was his master taking him?

They got off at an unfamiliar floor and Anakin blinked as he followed a pace behind his master, wondering where they were going and what was going on. They stopped just outside a door.

"Now, Padawan," Obi-Wan said, a distinct twinkle in his eye, "when I was your age, this was perhaps one of my favorite rooms in the Temple. And, unless I'm very much mistaken, this will likely be one of your favorites as well."

Anakin glanced at the door, suspicious but confused.

"Go on in."

Frowning, Anakin cautiously stepped forward and reached for the panel to palm. He paused, looking back to Obi-Wan, who was still grinning like an idiot. So, with an internal roll of his eyes, he quickly palmed the panel to get the big mystery out of the way.

No way...

Inside were students. Lots and lots of students. From years younger than him all the way up to Masters. And they were all engaged in the same subject, one that Anakin had been left wondering when he'd get the chance to start.

There were hums, snaps, hisses, and the occasional flying spark as lightsabers clashed in demonstrations, practices, and outright spars. And floating in front of his face, was a training saber.

"I rather think it's time you started learning," Obi-Wan said behind him, "don't you?"

Anakin could only nod dumbly as he reached forward to take the practice saber.

This was the Best Day Ever!

Author's Note: ^_^ We've all had weeks like this.

*ahem* In any event, since a lot of this fic is contemplative and serious, we needed some humorous fluff. Anakin's sarcasm was incredibly easy since the way he relates his week is exactly how we explain things to each other. Of course, our sense of humor can be something of an acquired taste, so we can hope this translates as well in non-enunciated text as it is when in full sarcastic-toned fury.

This is also a nice little pick-me-up after the somewhat sour note the previous chapter ended on.

Next time: A subtle change that isn't so subtle, but very, very necessary to our line of thinking. (Thus, turning this to an AU... As if it wasn't already...)