Jedi Master Misty Sman-Esay - Xan is going to tend to be a bit overprotective of Obi-Wan. That is what older brothers are for – even Jedi.

Jedi Angel001 – I almost feel sorry for the Council … almost. I think Qui-Gon has the last laugh in giving Anakin over to Xan.

Geri K – Yeah, my middle son was a whiner when he was younger. Thankfully, he grew out of it.

Incognito12 – Yes, Qui-Gon would be proud of the way Xan acts in the Council chambers.

Chapter 10

"Why did you have to go and do something stupid like that?" Anakin spat out at the other boy sitting across from him in the room, breaking an uncomfortable silence. "I mean what were you thinking … or were you even thinking?"

"You wouldn't understand." The words were spoken calmly because unlike Anakin, the other boy was not overly prone to anger which made their current predicament all the more puzzling. He was the last person in the creche Anakin ever expected to fight.

"So everyone keeps telling me," he huffed, wanting to lash out at the other boy and remove the annoying calm from his face. "Why don't you start explaining? We're supposed to be thinking about our actions anyhow and I'm tired of not understanding."

"Look, I'm really sorry I got you in trouble." A crack opened in the boy's shielding and Anakin's strong connection to the Force immediately zeroed in on powerful currents of shame and sadness. Realizing the breach, the boy quickly tightened his shields, looking away. "I'll tell your master what happened and everything will be fine."

"Now you're the one who doesn't understand. You don't know how hard I've worked to stay out of trouble lately." It was the truth. Obi-Wan was coming back to the Temple soon and he didn't want to chance being 'confined to quarters' – the ultimate of all horrors - so he had been on his best behavior.

"He's not going to blame you for this."

"You don't know my master."

Xanatos could easily sense the hostility and anger radiating from the room before he even entered; it assaulted his senses like facing the heat of a raging fire. In the little over two years since Anakin had come into his life, he had found himself in this situation much too often. Trying to school his expression to somewhere between 'mildly disappointed' and 'I'm going to kill you when we get back to our quarters,' he stepped through the door. The two boys looked up at him with serious expressions, and Xanatos crossed his arms over his chest. His eyes lingered on the rapidly darkening purple bruise across Anakin's cheek before sliding to the other boy. Obviously his apprentice had gotten a few good punches of his own in as well.

"What happened?" The tone of his voice and his very presence commanded a response, and Anakin sat up straight. Before he could get any words out the other boy spoke.

"I started it. I tackled Anakin. He was only defending himself."

Xanatos stared his padawan down, clearly unconvinced, drawing an answer with his eyes. "I threw the first punch, Master," Anakin relented. "After he tackled me," he growled out, scowling at the other boy.

"It was completely my fault, Master Marojni," the boy insisted.

"Thank you for your honesty about your part in this, but by all accounts two boys were wrestling on the floor, both throwing punches at each other, so both of you were at fault." Xanatos pinned Anakin down with his gaze again.

"But I was raised in the Temple and should have better control over my anger," the boy tried. "I should not have provoked him."

Anakin lunged forward. "So first you're telling me I don't understand - now you're better than me?" He stopped abruptly and flopped roughly back into his seat at a Force push from Xanatos.

"Obviously not," the boy said quietly, shaking off a solemn look that crossed his face. "Obviously I'm not better than you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Padawan, go wait for me in our quarters," Xanatos said sternly. "We will discuss this when I return."

Anakin opened his mouth to protest and shut it quickly at the flash of irritation in his mentor's eyes. "Yes, Master." He walked out of the room and Xanatos sunk down into the chair next to the other boy.

His head was bowed and dark brown curls hung down nearly covering his face. Despite the simple assertion that he should have better control over his anger, Xanatos sensed no anger – only utter humiliation. The boy shot a nervous glance in his direction.

"I'm really, really sorry, Master Marojni."

"I can sense that," Xanatos said softly, wondering why the Force drew him to stay when his apprentice needed guidance. "First fight?"

"Sir?" he questioned politely.

"I was in a lot of fights as a youngling – actually, I started most of them. You don't seem the type, so I'm trying to figure out why you would attack Anakin all of a sudden Ben'dak …"

"Ben – please call me Ben."

"Okay, Ben. Would you care to shed some light on what happened?"

Ben sighed, obviously not wanting to go into the details, but a master had asked him so he would not refuse.

"Jared, Borhan, and I were in the training rooms and Anakin asked if he could join us. He's sparred with us lots of times before, but Jared just wanted it to be us today. Anakin seemed hurt and started to argue. Jared finally shouted back that Anakin just wouldn't understand because he had everything handed to him."

Ben paused, looking up at Xanatos to gauge his reaction. The Jedi master nodded, urging him to continue. "What wouldn't he understand?"

"We just wanted some time together." He shrugged his shoulders. "Anakin isn't really part of our group and I'm leaving in a month."

"Leaving?"

"Thirteen year olds lacking a master and a braid don't stick around … if you know what I mean?"

Xanatos's face contorted in shock. He had watched Anakin and Ben spar on several occasions and the boy sitting beside him seemed quite gifted, in good mastery of himself for his age.

"It's okay – I've accepted it." The strain in his voice and hitch in his breathing betrayed a different truth. "It still doesn't feel right, but I am ready. Jared is having a harder time and his emotions were running away with him. Anakin is bigger and I didn't want him to get clobbered so I tackled Anakin." He smiled shyly running his fingers around the deep coloring beneath his left eye. "I honestly hoped the shock would snap them both out of it. It made sense at the time."

"I'm glad you told me." Xanatos rested a hand on the boy's shoulder. "I should go speak with Anakin some more."

Xanatos stood to leave the room and was stopped at the door by softly spoken words.

"Thank you for listening, Master Marojni."

Xanatos glanced back, offering a slight smile. "Don't give up yet – a lot can happen in a month. May the Force be with you Ben."

Xanatos wandered back to his quarters, his mind more on another 12-year-old who had thought his dreams were over than on his errant apprentice. He entered and sensed Anakin sitting at his workbench tinkering and was glad that the boy realized he needed to calm down and focus. Sinking down on the sofa with eyes closed, he waited. Anakin would come to him when he was ready to talk.

"Master?" The voice was small and hesitant when he finally heard it.

"Yes, Anakin." The sofa inclined slightly and he opened his eyes to find Anakin seated beside him.

"Are you angry with me?"

"Do you sense anger?" Xanatos asked, loosening his shields.

"No … but you're disappointed." Anakin looked down at fidgeting hands. Disappointment was almost worse than him being angry.

"Anakin, I am more tolerant and flexible than any other master you will find in this Temple, except in one thing. You cannot give in to your anger, and I will always hold you to a very high standard on this. I can't expect you to never get angry any more than I can expect it of myself, but you can't afford to act on it."

"But I didn't touch the Darkside," Anakin protested.

"It's a fine line Padawan, and chances are you won't realize you are dangerously close to crossing it until you already there. It is best to stay far away." He draped his arm around Anakin's shoulders pulling his head against his own shoulder. "The Force has given you a phenomenal gift and at the risk of boosting your already alarming ego, you will be one of the most powerful Jedi ever … but it comes at an incredible cost. You have to be vigilant about staying to the Light."

"It's hard." Anakin's bottom lip trembled and he bit down on it to still it before speaking. "It seems so easy for the others to just release it."

"I know - believe me, I know," Xanatos whispered, giving Anakin's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "It will always be a struggle, but it is worth it, and it is something you must do. I have faith in you."

A silent moment passed.

"So I'm in trouble?" There was a wisp of hope that his genuinely repentant spirit would get him out of the situation.

"Yes, you are," Xanatos replied sternly, unwaveringly. "I think losing any outside Temple privileges for a week will give you ample time to reflect on this, don't you?"

"But Obi-Wan …"

"Notice I said you were confined to the Temple, not confined to quarters. I would say it's a good compromise."

"Yes, Master." Anakin chewed at his bottom lip for a moment. "Did Ben say what he was thinking when he tackled me?"

"Ben was trying to keep a friend from getting in a fight."

Anakin pulled away, angling on the sofa to face his master. "All I did was ask to spar. I don't see what the big deal was."

"It's time to fill in a gap – something you might not know about Temple life." Anakin perked up. "Ben turns thirteen years old in a month, but has not yet been chosen by a master."

Anakin shrugged. "Is that bad?"

"It depends on your point of view. If he is not chosen by his life day, he will not become a Jedi knight. He will most likely leave the Temple and be sent to the Agricorps to learn how to use the Force to grow better crops on worlds where food is scarce …"

"That's not fair," Anakin protested in stunned disbelief. "He works hard and is good at a lot of things."

"It may not be his dream, but it might be what the Force wills for him."

"But this is his home, and he has friends here." Anakin's compassion was one of his most endearing attributes, and Xanatos marveled at the fact that the boy could legitimately hurt for a boy that he had exchanged blows with less than a couple of hours before.

"So you see why he and his friends might have wanted to be left alone."

"Yes, Master. I didn't know."

Darkness bathed the common room of their quarters, but Xanatos didn't dare to turn on the lights. Pulling his robe on over his sleep clothes, he checked one more time to make sure Anakin was deeply sleeping before slipping through the front door. He followed winding corridors further and further away, finally ending up at Obi-Wan's quarters. Of course, his friend was gone, but the empty rooms gave him something he desperately needed – privacy.

He settled down in a chair at the com unit and entered the now familiar frequency. The simple, quiet image of Shmi Skywalker appeared before him smiling warmly as always.

"I hope I have not kept you waiting too late," he said. "It took him a while to settle tonight."

"Not at all," she said. "How are the two of you?"

"We returned from a mission a week ago." He never told her when they were leaving, only when they returned so as to not worry her. "We should be here for a few months as we both could use a break. I also want to make sure Anakin is not getting behind in his studies."

"How are his studies?"

"He's doing well, although he prefers anything hands on to book studies."

"That's been true since I began teaching him to read."

"He's looking forward to Obi-Wan returning in a couple of days. We haven't seen him for several months."

"Tell him I said hello." A stern, maternal look crossed her small face. "And now for the bad … be honest."

"I've only lost him twice since we spoke last."

She laughed at the way he recoiled as though expecting to be scolded. "That's progress."

"And, he was fighting today."

She smiled. "I know my feelings of 'boys will be boys' will fall on deaf ears again."

"I try to remember he is just a boy, but I also have to look at the Jedi he will become as he grows older. Which reminds me … his twelfth life day is coming up in a couple of months. I will try to send some holos soon. I had to requisition new clothing for him again; he's growing so fast."

"I better go now," she said. The grainy image couldn't hide the longing that seemed to cling to her. "It's late."

"It's only one more year," Xanatos reassured. "We will be there soon."

He reached out and ended the transmission, settling thoughtfully in the chair.

"A good conversation you had?"

Xanatos jumped up and turned quickly, instinctively looking down at hearing the challenged grammar. Sure enough, Master Yoda stood there, observing him with amusement.

"Know I do that speak to her, here in Obi-Wan's quarters you do."

"And I will continue," Xanatos replied defensively.

"Understand that also I do. Here on another matter I am."

"The fight," Xanatos said. His posture sunk as he began to give an account. "I have spoken to Anakin …"

"Glad I am that happened it did." Xanatos looked at Yoda suspiciously, making no secret of his confusion. "Met Ben'dak you have."

"Yes, I did." Xanatos raised both eyebrows. "I have to say I was surprised to hear he will be leaving." Xanatos inhaled sharply with sudden realization. "Master, please tell me you haven't …"

"Time the boy still has to fulfill his destiny. Returning to the Temple Obi-Wan is. Seen them as master and padawan I have for some time, but his master's stubbornness Obi-Wan has. Require your help again I do. "

Xanatos sighed deeply. He didn't relish the idea of setting his brother up, but he felt the utter rightness of it through the Force – and Obi-Wan was their master's match when it came to being stubborn. "Okay, I'm in," Xanatos finally said. "What's the plan?"