Chapter 53 - A Vow

Anakin followed his clan mates back to their rooms. On the way there, everyone was excitedly chatting about the three newest Padawanship offers there had been that evening.

"And Master Koon says, after our braiding ceremony, he's going to take me to see the Hyperdrive History Museum on Corellia," Kate said.

"That sounds cool. I read they have an old Sleeper Pod, and three real Rakatan Ships. I heard you can actually walk on board one of them!" Anakin encouraged.

"Yeah, I guess they do. But what I really want to see is a presentation they give over the physics of how a Hyperdrive Engine works. It'll be to celebrate our pairing," Kate finished.

"Yeeeeaaaaaaah," Kent slowly enthused. "Just make sure he takes you to get Corellian Ice Cream or something. That's the kind of Celebration I'd want to have."

"I'll tell Siri you said that. By the way, you need to pick a color for your room." Anakin handed Kent a booklet of paint samples.

"We should offer to help paint. It would probably be fun," Alex suggested. "Master Jinn says my future room just needs a good scrub. But then Master Kenobi was making faces when he said that, and it was his old room, so I don't know." He shrugged.

"Don't worry Alex," Freya said. "I'll come by and help you fix it up, if you need."

Suddenly, Master Billaba turned. She was standing near the door they were headed for, and walked up to them when she heard them talking. "Oh, you're here. Freya, dear. I've come looking for you. Master told me about the offer he made you, and I wanted to welcome you to the family."

Anakin held his breath to keep from giving any reaction. When Freya had admitted to receiving an offer, he was expecting some Middle-ranking Jedi he hardly knew. Depa Billaba's Master, as she referenced here, was Master of the Order, Mace Windu. He wanted to squeal, then berate Freya for not accepting the offer immediately, but he held his breath and looked away.

Freya looked around the room and back at Depa. "Oh. I told him I needed some time to think, before making a decision. And we've been busy all day. I hadn't had a chance to...uh."

Her voice sounded so nervous it made Anakin almost want to wince, but Depa kindly smiled, and she said, "I know what you mean. It's a big decision. Perhaps I can help."

Depa turned around and led them into the Initiate's quarters. There she found a pair of chairs. She and Freya sat down. Everyone else gathered around them, sitting on the floor like they were younglings at story time again. It was just so tempting to hear what she was going to say next.

"When I was your age, I was of the opinion that I didn't really need a master. I thought I could learn everything on my own, and I was annoyed that I even had a master."

There was a pause where Kent whistled in agreement and others giggled, not in disagreement. Anakin didn't know what he felt. He loved Obi-Wan like a father, but he also would like to be able to go down to the tech lab whenever he wanted.

Depa looked around the room, and smiled at her audience. "I was definitely not shy about expressing my feelings. Especially not to my poor Master." She shook her head. "Mace, he had a wealth of patience, I'll tell you. No, he let me be as stubborn as possible, until I… Well, I'll have to tell you the story…"

Depa paused for a moment to lean back a bit. "I had a friend from my old clan. She and I liked to read these magazines. Sort of Holo podcasts, but in Flimsy. In one of them they talked about hair styling, and it had pictures of a model that just looked so cute. We decided to try it." Depa blushed slightly. "What I got was a mess that was neither cute, nor stylish. Anyways, my hair was in such a tangle that I could not undo it, no matter what I did. My friend was no help either. After thirty minutes she ran home to find her own Master, and I was left with one last hope to turn to. I had to ask, balder than a baby, Mace Windu for hair care help."

Everyone laughed at her joke, but Depa just wistfully smiled. "It turns out, Mace is a genius with hair. He explained why the trick didn't work for either of us. We have different types of hair than the models did. The article was written about synthair." She shook her head. "He carefully combed my hair, and then gave me stuff to wash it with. After I showered, he braided my hair. And while he did, he gave me even more advice about what I could do to make it look like this." A hand came up to rub her braids that curled around behind her head.

"Anyways…" Depa turned back to Freya. "It was at this point that I realized: Even though your Padawanship is a journey you take by yourself, it is always valuable to have support along the way."

Freya looked down. After a while she whispered, "I was kinda worried. He has a big job. Would he be able to help me learn? Even if it takes me longer than most younglings?"

Depa put an arm out and patted her shoulder. "He's a stubborn man, Mace Windu. And he offered to train you. That means no matter what he has to do, even if he has to argue with a room full of politicians to get you out of lockup. Don't ask me how I know this. He'll be there for you. I have no doubt that he will. And you know who else you can go to? Me, cause I'll be your lineage sister."

Freya smiled back at her. "Then I will accept his offer and be his Padawan. When will Master Windu be available? I should tell him right away." She stood up and started to pace.

"He'll be out of a Senate meeting soon. I'll be going down to see him in a bit, and you can come too. I'm sure your news will brighten his day," Depa told her, still smiling.

"But wait. How did Master Windu know so much about girls' hair?" Anakin couldn't help but ask.

Some of the others giggled at the unintended implication of his words.

Anakin realized a second later what that was, and he pressed his lips together in embarrassment. He didn't mean to imply that the stoic Jedi Master had any love life. "I mean, uh…"

Depa giggled. "I had the same question. It was Grandmaster Yoda who gave me an answer." She pulled out a comlink from her pocket and pulled up an image stored on it. Her eyebrows rose as she told them, "After an out of the way mission where the Grandmaster partook of certain native herbs, he was uh-especially generous with his storytelling, and he lent me this holo-graph. Can you see who that is?"

There was muttering as the group leaned in to see. "Wait, is that Master Windu under all that hair!" Freya exclaimed.

Anakin looked at it, and saw a teenager and another young Jedi posing mid lightsaber duel to look at the camera. The teen had Mace's jawline, and from his head were very long dreads. The other bore a strong resemblance to Anakin's Grandmaster Dooku, only he had dark brown hair and not a streak of gray.

"Hey, we'll be in the same lineage," Anakin realized. "Both Windu and Dooku, my great Grandmaster, were trained by Yoda."

"You're right, Anakin," Depa praised. "And you know what, we're all family, every Jedi. It's the lesson those lineage charts you made for our new Holiday are supposed to teach. If you go far enough back, every lineage descends from a few original ones." She gestured from Kent to Leeta, who were at opposite ends of the gathering, pointing to everyone as she did so. "Go far enough back, all Jedi are family."

"Padawan, do you want to Meditate with me?" Obi-Wan asked.

Anakin looked up, surprised. "But, I'm not a Padawan yet." Anakin pointed out.

"This time tomorrow, you will be," Obi-Wan reminded him. "I should get used to calling you Padawan Skywalker."

Anakin smiled a big smile. "Not you. You can call me Ani." Anakin said, walking towards their meditation space.

Obi-Wan smiled. He never really liked using nicknames, though there are a few of his friends, Siri included, who still call him Obi. But, he can recognize the meaning behind it. As he followed Anakin, he pulled out a surprise, a new cushion he'd gotten him for the occasion.

The next day Obi-Wan took special attention to making sure his and Anakin's Tabards were on straight, and their robes were clean. He didn't have to do any of this, just for the pledging. This first part of the ceremony, making a Pledge to train an Initiate, was more about himself as the Master, then Anakin's cleanliness. But he didn't want to be seen as negligent on his first day as a Master, either.

Anakin didn't seem to mind it. He stood straight and tall, as he walked up to Mace.

Normally, a pledge was heard by a council appointed Master, and several witnesses. But Mace seemed to have taken the opportunity to appoint himself, along with Depa, Plo, Yoda, and Ki-Adi-Mundi as Witnesses.

Mace Smiled, and he turned to Obi-Wan. "Knight Kenobi, do you pledge yourself to Initiate Skywalker's training? If you do, you will be responsible for his learning. His behavior in and outside of this Temple will be a reflection of your own."

"I do," Obi-Wan said.

"Do you pledge to Skywalker to put his training above all other goals, whether they be personal or public. You will not take on any other students while he is under your guardianship, and you will not let your attention be swayed by more apt learners."

"I do," Obi-Wan agreed.

"Do you pledge to teach and guide Skywalker with honor into becoming the being the Force wills him to be. Be it a Jedi or not?"

"I do."

"And do you pledge to train him until his Knighthood, no matter how long that should take?" Mace finished.

"Yes, I do." Obi-Wan affirmed.

And Anakin, should you accept this pledge, you will be bound to Knight Kenobi for the foreseeable future of your training. You will be known as Padawan Skywalker, and required to live up to the tenants of the code, as all Jedi do. Do you accept?"

"Yes!" Anakin enthusiastically replied.

Depa giggled.

Mace nodded, "Very good."

"We hear you." Their witnesses replied, except for one.

"Hear you, we do," Yoda said.

"Knight Kenobi, we accept your oath." Mace opened his hand to reveal an elastic band.

Obi-Wan reached up to Anakin's forehead. He took the moment to smooth the hair through his fingertips, then he parted it in three separate bands and he started to weave. As he did so, he spoke, "Three strands to represent you, young Jedi. One to represent your Initiate years, and everything that has gone into making you, you. One to represent the Force and its will for your future. And the last to represent me, for I will always be a part of you and who you become." When he finished weaving the length of hair, he reached out and took the band that Mace offered, and used it to tie the braid.

"Congratulations," Ki-Adi-Mundi said. "You will learn a lot from each other, I am sure."

"Thank you, now we go grab lunch." Obi-Wan said as he reached out to stop Anakin from picking at his new braid. He remembered how annoying it could be, those first few weeks until the hair grows out a bit and he adapts to it.

Anakin couldn't help but smile as he followed Obi-Wan and the procession of Jedi into the Cafeteria. He was so excited, it felt like his insides were stuffed with bang-corn and he was ready to pop. In the Cafeteria, Qui-Gon, Siri, and all of his friends sat waiting for them. Qui-Gon had even agreed to pick up his Mom and she would be sitting with them.

Mace said, in a Booming voice, "Presenting, Master Kenobi and Padawan Skywalker."

Obi-Wan grabbed Anakin's hand and held it up as their friends cheered. Anakin remembered when Obi-Wan had explained this to his Mom. It may seem very informal, but it was an important part of the ceremony. Being recognized as a team meant the Jedi community would know who his Master was. They'd also know to keep Obi-Wan accountable to his pledges. Even though he could hear his friends cheering in the crowd, he kept his head high and proud, as he followed Obi-Wan.

Hello everyone,

Even though I tried to look for inspiration online, Wookieepedia did not have any Canon mention of any type of ceremony for Padawanships. Because of this, most of the day is my own creation. I decided to base most of it on the Protestant version of an Infant Dedication. In churches where I've attended, even though they show a cute baby who gets the majority of the oohs and aahs of the crowd, the main focus of the event is the parents who are making a very public pledge in how they are to raise the baby. Thus, in this story, Anakin has only a single, "I do," while Obi-Wan has four. I also paraphrased Obi-Wan's vow to Anakin in chapter 4 a little. In my mind, at the time Obi-Wan was very surprised at what the Jedi were asking of him, and he didn't really know what to say, so he ad-libbed the Padawan pledge a bit. Though he only heard it once when he was about 13, so he can be excused for getting the words wrong at the time.

I also put the part about him being his only Padawan in there because I felt it would explain why the council was so against Qui-Gon taking Anakin when he already had a Padawan. I know they referenced the code when they objected to this, but… It would explain why breaking that tradition was a no go. And why Qui-Gon basically flopped when they said that, and offered Obi-Wan up for the trials, without a peep.

I hope you all liked Depa's story about her padawanship. I really enjoyed writing it. Most of this chapter was sweet, sweet, sweet. Next chapter I intend to have Anakin go out on his first mission. I don't have all my plot steps ironed out yet, so I don't know how many there will be. I may have an update on the Dooku/ master Jar Jar situation too, but if there is, I've probably decided to go super fast into the final story arc. Don't worry though, it will probably take several chapters to get through, even if that's the case.

The Padawan pairs are:

Anakin + Obi-Wan

Ramu + Poison Spitter

Leeta + Yaddle

Kent + Siri

Kate + Plo

Alex + Qui-Gon

Freya + Mace