Author's note: this chapter has been edited to erase some grammar and spelling mistakes

~ 8 ~

Course to Giju

- Nothing has a greater reach than the past -

Despite a few interesting weeks, temple routine and boredom soon settled back into Anakin's mind, making themselves uncomfortably at home. He was relieved when a call summoned him to one of the tactical planning rooms. This could only mean another mission! Ranakos and Tesha were already waiting. The Padawan wondered if or when his own Master would join. Kenshin had been gone for several days now, leaving Anakin behind at the temple without explanation. How he hated that! Finally, after more than an hour of waiting, the door opened and Kenshin appeared, a bruise on his cheek, scorch marks and dirt on his tunic, looking like a hot mess. More so than usual, Anakin thought. He couldn't muster much empathy for his Master right now. Another solo mission, another abandonment. Kenshin hadn't even filled him in on the mission or why he went alone. So much for building trust between Master and Padawan.

Whenever Kenshin disappeared on his own, it was never for very long, but it was enough to make Anakin feel left out and alone. He wanted to be part of the team, fight battles, and prove to himself and others how great a Jedi and warrior he had already become. He was talented, skilled; he wanted to DO something. He was ready! Maybe not yet for the trials (though he still disagreed with that), but at least to be of valuable help in the field. He felt terribly excluded.

It had been about three months now that he'd been training with Kenshin. Anakin was increasingly frustrated with the Nantoan Jedi. On one hand, he started to realize that he had progressed astonishingly in his skills. The training sessions were intense and brutal, but he saw how he started besting opponents he had previously struggled with. Noticing these positive effects, he complained less and less about the sessions or how tired he was. Fellow Padawans and many knights became increasingly reluctant to face him.

His new Master was also very lenient concerning his various ventures outside the temple and the many rules he broke on a daily basis. He definitely appreciated how Kenshin was not afraid to question the Council or the Code, which often appeared more like a cryptic prison than a guideline to the young Padawan. In a way, Kenshin treated him more respectfully, not as condescendingly as his previous superiors. It was as if the young Master at least tried to understand him. Despite all that, their relationship had not developed well. It felt as if there was a wall between them. Kenshin was incredibly reserved and sealed up. The lectures he gave seemed endless, but he never opened up about himself, never told stories about past adventures or missions, never spoke about personal things. The few times Anakin had dared to ask, Kenshin had either not reacted at all or snapped at him to leave him alone. In the short time he knew his new Master, he had never seen him truly smile, not even once. The grim Nantoan remained cryptic and hard to figure out, and Anakin imagined he would probably never know who his Master was as a person. Anakin couldn't even sense his Force signature, which disconcerted him a lot. It seemed like his Master truly was a shadow, not only serving as one. The Council had sent them on a few smaller missions, and while they always got the job done, their differing views on what Anakin could or should do (and Anakin's frequent disobedience to instructions) often led to heated arguments, which did not help them get on better terms with each other. As for the mysterious holocron they'd found on their first mission, his Master had never mentioned it again.

"The meeting was scheduled to begin an hour ago," Ranakos greeted him.

"I apologize that the bounty hunter lowlife involving me in a dogfight and nearly blowing me out of the sky doesn't share your sense of punctuality. What's the matter anyway? Did you just summon me for a lecture? You have your Padawan learner for that, no need to torture me!"

"On a short fuse today, I see!" Ranakos laughed.

"Not only today," Anakin muttered to himself, which once again earned him a condemning look from Kenshin. Of course the grim gundark, as he secretly called his Master, had heard it. Ranakos, actively ignoring the rising tension, began briefing them on the reason for their meeting.

"Where has he been that involves dog fights with bounty hunters?" Tesha whispered to Anakin.

"No idea, it's not like my Master cares to tell me anything," he replied. At least, with Tesha, he had another Padawan by his side.

The principle of the mission was simple. A major settlement on the planet Giju had run out of a crucial medication. However, an on-planet trade blockade—formed by members of a separatist movement trying to split from the Republic—prevented supply ships from landing and providing replenishments of the depleted resources. The Republic Senate - fearing diplomatic repercussions - didn't dare to openly address the matter but allowed the Jedi Council to send a team to at least provide the local population with the most necessary supplies. The plan was to travel as unlisted passengers on a small freighter to a separatist spaceport, sneak off board, and secretly travel by foot to carry the medical supplies to where they were needed.

"The plan considers a team of three Jedi, but we are four people," Kenshin commented.

"I'm not coming. I have to take care of a conflict on Aeos Prime, so it has been decided to send you to lead the operation, with the help of both our Padawans," Ranakos explained.

"Wait a minute! I can't even manage my own apprentice, and now I'm to watch out for two? Brilliant idea!" the Nantoan said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I believe in you, Kenshin," the older Jedi replied with a smile and patted him on the back. "Tesha, Anakin, I need to have a word with Kenshin in private. We're done with the briefing anyway, so why don't you two go and get ready for the mission."

Once outside, Tesha asked, "What is it with your Master? Is he always like that?"

"You mean, moody and grumpy? Yep!"

"It's gonna be a fun mission then, huh?"

"Don't worry, unless he's lecturing me, he doesn't talk."

"So, is it true what they say about him?"

"What do they say?"

"Since he roasted Windu's ass, he's a legend at the temple. I went a few times to watch him train. It's insane how he fights! He sure creeps me out! But I have to admit, I'm excited to be on a mission with a real battle hero. That Gentora story... Rumor has it that he's a Jedi Shadow and the best and deadliest lightsaber duelist in the entire Jedi Order. Some even say he's killed a Sith Lord, but nobody knows details. He's the top of my list of Jedi Masters, even above Windu!"

"At least someone's looking forward to it. Little warning though: Whatever you say, don't mention the Battle of Gentora!"

"Why not?"

"Wish I could tell you. When I asked him about it, he wouldn't tell me anything. Instead, he got mad at me. You don't want to be on his bad side, although the more I think of it, I don't think he even has a good side."

"Whoa, you really don't like him, do you?"

"Meh, I don't know. I have a feeling he's the one who doesn't like me! Sure, he's the best fighter I've ever seen, and it doesn't faze him when I sneak out of the temple at night and stuff like that. But he's grimmer than Windu and usually makes about as much sense as Yoda, which means none at all."

"You know that Ranakos was on Gentora, too, right?"

"He was? No, I had no idea!"

"Just a thought, but you could ask him what it was all about if Kenshin won't talk about it."

"Something's not right. What is it?" Ranakos adressed Kenshin after Tesha and Anakin had left the room. The younger Jedi angrily fixated the tips of his boots and crossed his arms over his chest.

"I could give you an extensive list of things, but none of them would be new to you, so what do you mean?"

"Let me be more specific. I've known both you and Anakin for a while. You're a good person, even though you make a great effort to hide it. Since you've come back to Coruscant... I've read a few reports, I've talked to a few people, I've observed a few things, and I've noticed that the relationship between you and your Padawan is troubled. What's your problem with Anakin?"

"Me. The problem is me!"

"You? Now why would that be?"

"I never wanted a Padawan! I'm not made for teaching. No matter how often I try to talk some sense into Yoda to reassign the boy to someone suitable, he never concedes!"

"The task of training a Padawan is sacred. It is an honor. And Yoda is wise. He made that choice for a reason, and if he thinks you're capable, you are! You should not question him in that regard."

"Really, Ranakos? They ask me to make a Jedi out of that boy, all while half of the Council considers me either a disgrace or a danger to the Jedi Order. So, it's a stupid idea to begin with, but I try anyway, out of respect for Yoda. Surprisingly, it turns out I'm anything but capable of training Anakin. He hates me! Not that I blame him, but he doesn't respect me either, and that's a bit of a problem. He won't listen to anything I say!"

"You're a troublemaker, yes. You always have been. Much like your friend Quinlan. But you've done great deeds for the Jedi and the galaxy. And the Council knows that. Anakin is, so to say, your next quest, a seemingly hopeless case that maybe only you can save. Call it the will of the Force if you want."

"Will of the Force, my ass! I'm a spy, a tracker, an assassin. This word may be considered heresy in the Jedi Order, but that is what I am! I'm not... I can't be a Master for a Padawan! I'm not sure if Yoda has become senile or insane or both, but what the blazes was he thinking! I'm good with a sword and good at finding things. Other than that, I'm a mess and a lunatic, and I know it. What I don't know is how to deal with people, let alone someone who's as much of a disaster as I am. Why does nobody see it? And how did the Council not intervene with Yoda's decision? It would have surprised me less if they had expelled me from the Jedi Order. Instead, they force a Padawan upon me? The Council has never made much sense, but that? That is madness!"

"You're both a mess, you say? Then you can teach him how to be a better mess. Kenshin! It's about time you get a hold of yourself! You are very well capable of training Anakin, even if you don't see it. Yoda would not have brought the two of you together had he not seen a deeper reason to do so. Accept it and stop rejecting Anakin!"

"I'm not rejecting him, it's that..."

"Yes, you do! He may not listen, he may act weird, what do you expect? He's a teenager, lonely and misunderstood by almost everyone, and his path was probably just as difficult as yours was. You're both very talented mavericks; don't tell me you don't know that. You two have more in common than you think, and it's your job to help him find his way. You're his Master now. Force knows he needs a mentor, and a friend, and that person he needs is you!"

Kenshin's dark, intense gaze pensively followed Ranakos as he left the room.

Later that evening, Ranakos heard someone knocking on the door to his quarters.

"Anakin! I didn't expect you here, is everything okay?"

The Padawan was shifting his weight from one foot to the other, his hands fidgeting, until he eventually collected himself enough to speak. "Can I ask you a question, Master Ranakos?"

"Of course! What is it?"

Anakin told Ranakos about Kenshin's reaction to him inquiring about Gentora. Ranakos looked at the ceiling, pondering his words.

"How do I put this... Your Master is not one to brag, there is that. But this goes deeper. Gentora might indeed not be the best subject to talk to him about. You probably read what is available in the archives. I was part of that mission, along with my former and newly knighted Padawan, Makiri. Our situation on the planet was more than dire, and it took the Council a while to convince the Senate to allow them to send reinforcements. And then things took a turn for the even worse. Makiri made a run for one of the few remaining communication towers to set off another distress call. Kenshin wasn't part of the Gentora mission; he just happened to be in the sector and picked up on the call. He responded immediately, but by the time he landed, the tower had been attacked and destroyed. All he found was Makiri's dead body. It was too late.

Kenshin had been brought to the Temple when he was 13; I've known him since then. He had very few friends; he didn't let anyone near him. He even mistrusted Yoda, who was his Master during his final Padawan years. There were only two people he tolerated and became close with: Quinlan Vos and Makiri. Makiri had been Kenshin's best friend."

Meeting in the first hours of the morning, they boarded the small freighter meant to bring them to Giju undercover. Kenshin had not spoken a word to anyone and settled straight into a corner between two crates, leaving Anakin with Tesha and the two pilots as companions. The ship was small, and there was not much to do, so the girl finished her third trip around the little space freighter and sat down next to Anakin, who was thoughtlessly playing around on a datapad.

"Having you as a Padawan must be really tiring."

"Why?"

"Look at your Master. We've boarded the ship, like, 10 hours ago? And he's been sleeping the entire time. Shouldn't we get him some water or something to eat?"

"Don't wake him up! He's so much nicer when he's asleep!"

"By the Force, you're as charming as he is!"

"At least I sometimes talk to people. Can't say the same about him. I have no idea where he's been or what's wrong with him."

Tesha shrieked as something whizzed through the air past her and came to a stop, stuck in a crate next to Anakin. It was a shuriken, a very sharp and lethal little weapon.

"Talk behind my back all you want, but do it quietly!" A pair of dark brown eyes glared at Anakin.

"KENSHIN!" a startled Anakin yelled. "Blasts, kriffin' sake, use your mouth if you want to say something! You should really work on your people skills, Master."

"People skills? Now that's something I don't have. Thought you knew that by now!" Kenshin retrieved his shuriken with the Force and closed his eyes to go back to sleep.

"Fuckin' maniac!" Anakin mumbled. Tesha, observing the two bickering, chuckled nervously – the dynamic between her friend and his Master had something comical about it, at the same time she felt somewhat shocked. Sending a throw knife someone's way instead of communicating with words was not only un-Jedi-like but also on the more unhinged side of how someone might act.

"Tesha, would you please not laugh at me," Anakin protested.

"Shhh, didn't you hear? He told us to be quiet."

A few more hours later, after an overall uneventful journey, the small freighter landed on Giju. They each charged themselves with a medical supply container and the supplies needed for marching through the wilderness and hid in an empty storage building until darkness set in. The challenge began.