a/n: Hi, everybody! Thanks so much for following this story so far. Hope it doesn't disappoint. As I'm sure everybody knows, none of these guys are mine. Oh, and I have Q quoting a bit of The Walrus and the Carpenter, which was written by Lewis Carrol. All mentions of Master Windu are in here purely to torment my best friend, who hates him. I love being evil. On with the story!

Obi-Wan Kenobi had felt a strange sense of foreboding that he could not explain; a feeling that began soon after Anakin had retired for the evening. He paced the length of the meditation chamber, pondering the sensation. It was almost as if some other presence, some other power had invaded his mind, making it difficult to tap into the Force. He didn't recognize the presence but it had a familiarity about it that disquieted him. It wasn't the pervasive taint of the dark side, the aura of evil that he had felt projected by the Sith Lord that killed Obi-Wan's Jedi Master, or more recently, by Count Dooku once Obi-Wan had faced the fallen Jedi in battle. So what was it?

Nor could Obi-Wan sense Anakin's presence, which made him all the more worried. If Anakin were sleeping it might help to explain the absence, but with the other sense troubling Obi-Wan this line of reasoning just didn't feel right. And knowing Anakin as well as he did, his Padawan being safely asleep was far too simple an explanation.

He needed to go to the boy. But, as worried as Master Kenobi was, he somehow could not bring himself to check on his Padawan. This was probably the most disturbing feeling of all. He knew something was not right; perhaps couldn't quite pinpoint it beyond knowing that it concerned Anakin; but it was like something, this other presence had clouded Obi-Wan's mind to the necessity of rushing to his Padawan's aid. At last a hazy perception rose sluggishly within the Jedi's mind and he voiced it before it could sink back down to be lost again.

"Q!"

Obi-Wan wasted no time. He rushed to find Master Yoda, having a feeling he needed senses more attuned to the Force than his own to sort all this out.

Yoda was expecting him, the wizened Jedi Master in his usual meditation spot but not projecting the mental calm of the exercise.

"Master Yoda, pardon my intrusion, but I--" Obi-Wan began, bowing quickly in respect while speaking.

"In grave danger I fear is young Skywalker, Master Obi-Wan," Yoda interrupted the breathless young Jedi Knight. "In danger of losing himself, your Padawan is!"

That was all Obi-Wan needed to know. Hoping Master Yoda would forgive the rudeness of his departure, he thanked the Jedi Master hurriedly and raced to Anakin's quarters.

Yoda shook his head as he watched Kenobi rush out of the chamber to help the Jedi Padawan.

A high-maintenance Padawan, Anakin Skywalker was, one that required almost constant supervision. Very strong in the Force Anakin was, that much was certain. And Yoda feared that Anakin had gotten even more powerful yet.

Yoda fervently hoped the Force would be with Obi-Wan Kenobi, and a powerful enough ally it would prove.

Mace Windu entered the Council Chamber, finding it empty except for Master Yoda, who appeared contemplative to the senior Council member.

"What's wrong?" Windu asked, walking towards Yoda and dropping into the seat beside him with a power and grace that lent itself naturally to his movements.

Yoda sighed. "This Q, I sense."

Windu looked alarmed. "His presence is here?" he asked in disbelief.

Master Yoda nodded. "Difficult to sense, he is. Interest in young Skywalker, he shows. Because of this, sense him, Obi-Wan could. Yoda turned to face him, and Windu could feel how disturbed the venerable Jedi Master was by what he had sensed. But he could also feel something else troubling him as well.

"There is more to this?" Mace Windu asked, dreading the answer.

"Important to Q, the Jedi are not," Yoda answered reluctantly. "An experiment, we are to him. Curious he is about us, but a threat he does not believe we pose to him."

Windu felt himself go cold at the news. "But he poses one to us," he said slowly. "I will gather together the rest of the council. We will find him and find some way to protect ourselves from him."

"No," Yoda replied. Windu glanced sharply at him, waiting for the diminutive Master's reason why. "In young Skywalker, our fate rests," Yoda continued. "On his choices, we must rely. If unwisely he chooses, sealed, our doom is."

With a chill, Mace Windu wondered if the Q threat was all Master Yoda was referring to with the words.

Obi-Wan flew to Anakin's door, lightsaber in hand but not activated. He stopped short of forcing the door open, valuing the boy's privacy, but instead pounded on the door urgently.

"Anakin! Anakin! It's Obi-Wan! Open the door!" Obi-Wan cried desperately, hoping his Padawan was in a condition to answer. No reply came.

Beginning to fear the worst, Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber, ready for anything. The Force gathered around him like a reassuring mantle, he prepared to burst through the door when it gently slid open, Anakin Skywalker standing calmly within.

From Anakin's appearance it was obvious he had either been sleeping or preparing to go to sleep. He stared questioningly at the glowing weapon in his perplexed Master's hands. "Is something wrong, Master?" he asked, stifling a yawn.

"Excuse me, Padawan, I sensed--I mean, I felt a disturbance in the Force and--I thought you were in danger..." Obi-Wan scanned the room uneasily, as if not completely convinced there was no unseen danger lurking there, then deactivated the lightsaber, saying in a still cautious tone, "I must have been mistaken."

"I guess so," Anakin shrugged.

"You haven't sensed...Q's presence here, have you?" Obi-Wan asked, still certain that something didn't feel right, even if he couldn't locate its source, or any trace of the elusive Q.

"No, I haven't," Anakin yawned again, saying, "Everything is fine, Master."

"I see." Obi-Wan said warily. "Good night, Padawan," he added, still a little on his guard.

"Good night, Master," Anakin responded sleepily. The door slid shut.

Once Master Obi-Wan was safely out of the way, Anakin began to glow again. When the light dimmed, his sleepwear was replaced by Jedi robe and tunic once more.

"Handy trick," he commented to the figure forming in the middle of the room.

Q laughed again, and Anakin wondered why the sound still bothered him.

"You don't know the half of what your new power can do," Q said in the same unnerving tone. "Much more than just messing with Master Kenobi's head, let me assure you. Fun as that might be..."

"But I can feel it!" Anakin said insistantly. "I am the most powerful Jedi that ever was! I'm even more powerful than Master Yoda or Master Windu!" Anakin's young face grew somber as he added, "I might have even been able to save my mother, if I only had these powers before she died!" Frustration and grief flooded his eyes.

Q seemed amused by Anakin's last statement. "What are you talking about? You can go back and save her any time you want!"

"I-I can?" Anakin was dumbfounded. "How?" he asked.

"You wouldn't understand the temporal mechanics, Ani," Q answered, adding thoughtfully, "at least, not without some...guidance." He spread his arms wide in an all-encompassing gesture. "'The time has come the Walrus said, to talk of many things; of shoes and ships and sealing wax, of cabbages and kings; and why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings," Q quoted with a wide smile.

"What does that mean?" Anakin asked in confusion.

The smile faded from Q's face and his arms dropped disgustedly to his sides. "Never mind. Just follow me and I'll show you what having the Q power really means." With a last malevolent smile he disappeared, followed a heartbeat later by Anakin Skywalker.

a/n: This isn't dragging too much, is it? I really hope not. Let me know what you think! Your opinions are valuable to me.