"There are many that have tried to nail down exactly who Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn was, which is made all the more difficult due to the fact that, due to his untimely death, it is seen as sinful and disgraceful to talk ill of him. After all, he can be counted as the first causality of the return of the Sith.

Yet is it fair to history to hold him in high regard and look at only his virtues, rather than examine his failings? Do we not do the man injustice by deifying him rather than treat him as someone of flesh and blood? A man that strove to do good but also caused much harm to the galaxy?

Qui Gon Jinn was a man who believed that the rules were meant for others. Who judged others, often quite rashly, but then bristled when he was at all looked upon with anything but love and adoration. A gambler, a cheat, and someone utterly headstrong. This does not, of course, take away from all the good he did but rather makes him human. Something that we are all quick to forget. While even Captain Kenobi was the first to jump to his defense we can not allow that to color our judgement of this most interesting man.

He is not Whitebeard or even Shanks come again. He is Monkey D. Garp. A man who sought to bring peace and justice… but was deeply flawed. Which makes what he managed to do, the lives he saved and the deeds done, all the more compelling"

-"Jedi Of The Modern Age", page 247, "Qui-Gon Jinn", by Onu Molonk, published 134 AOP

"A question asked by many is if Captain Kenobi would have been the man he was if it weren't for Qui Gon. Would he have learned to distrust authority, to dedicate himself fully to his tasks, to be more open and forgiving, had he not learned from such a horrible master? Would he have been able to handle the events of Mon Calamari as he did had he not been abandoned by Qui Gon Jinn multiple times, learning to fend for himself with little to no aid? Would he have been the loving husband and father had he not seen what not to do by his, all at once, emotionally stunted and quick to grudge-holding Master?

The best that can be said about him is that he only had 12 years to torment Jedi Padawan Obi Wan Kenobi and many times this was broken up by periods of utter abandonment."

-"The Solar Dragon: The Life Of Pirate Emperor Obi Wan Kenobi" by Sarina Organa-Fett, published 467 AOP

"This spot marks the place where Jedi Master Qui Gon Jinn demanded the lightsaber of future Pirate Emperor Obi Wan Kenobi before abandoning his Padawan."

-Plaque upon a statue, found on Melida/Daan, depicting a defiant Obi Wan Kenobi handing over his lightsaber to a figure that, perhaps, might have been Qui Gon Jinn; latter scholars would debate if he were truly that ugly, had a hump, and such beady eyes

"An idiot, my Qui Gon was not. A liar, he may be; a pig, an asshole, an idiot. A porn star, he was not!"

-A quote attributed to Jedi Grand Master Yoda, from The Testimony of Stinky

"…at least he's pretty?"

-From the Diary of Jedi Master Tahl, page 145, after a long run down of Qui Gon Jinn's MANY failings as a boyfriend

"You've got to remember that Qui Gon Jinn was a Jedi. A person of the Force. The common clay of the Republic. You know... a moron."

-"I am the Senate! And So Can You!" by Jacobo D. Mars

~MC~MC~MC~

"So," Aayla said, plopping down next to Anakin in the mess hall, "can we talk?"

Anakin frowned as he looked up from the mush he was eating. Literally, that was what it was: mush. Delicious mush… honestly better than what the temple gave them some days for breakfast. Of course Anakin had spent the first ten years of his life celebrating if he managed to snag one of the desert ants that loved to skitter away from him when spotted, as they tasted as sweet as candy to him, so he knew that others might not agree with him when it came to tastes and desires with food stuffs. Still, the mush was rather good.

Because they were pretending to be pirates they needed to act the part, so that no one, including the One Piece (assuming the mythical treasure could sense things), would ever assume that they weren't actually pirates. That meant avoiding the normal spaceports where one could restock on food and supplies and instead going to the black markets. Anakin had to admit it was… rather fun doing that. His master had gotten into swaggering about, making clear that he would pay a fair amount for goods but if you tried to trick him he would take everything you had and leave you only with a wink and a smile.

The others had also really gotten into shopping for supplies. They had plenty of money; not just credit ingots but also Peggats, wuipiupi, and truguts. But while it would have been fun just to go on spending sprees all of them had delighted in bargain hunting. It became a game, to see who could get the most with as little spent as possible. Anakin naturally was the best when it came to getting parts, as he was able to see two broken pieces of machinery and realize that between them there was enough to repair one of them. Then he would rip apart what remained of the broken one and either use that for further spare parts or trade it in for other goods, services, or money. But he'd also found that he was rather good at helping with the foodstuff, with only Reeft managing to beat him. Which was fitting considering he was their cook.

The result was that Anakin and Reeft had begun expanding everyone's palletes with all manner of food stuffs. Anakin had been the one to suggest the mush and while it was slow to grow on the others it was becoming his favorite meal no matter when he had it.

"Sure," he said to Aayla with a grin. Normally he got a bit tongue-tied around women but Aayla was different. Maybe it was because she so openly flaunted her body, leaving so little to the imagination that there was no desire there. Maybe it was because she was a Padawan like him not just in terms of age but also attitude and willingness to bend the rules. Maybe they were just destined to be Sand Storm Siblings; those that would weather the storm together. Whatever it was he felt rather comfortable with Aayla; she was like the sister he had always wanted but never gotten.

"So I wanted to talk about last week."

"Last week?" Anakin said, confused.

"The fight you had with the captain?" she asked.

"Oh." Anakin shifted in his seat. "You, uh, heard that?"

"I think everyone heard that," Aayla said dryly and Anakin wiggled a bit in his chair.

The fight had been one of their louder ones, and the first for them since they had taken the ship and begun to Pirate. Anakin had gotten rather loud but, much to his surprise, Obi Wan had for once actually matched him in terms of bellowing. That had startled Anakin at first but led him to getting even louder, the two of them snapping at each other within the hallway just outside of Obi Wan's chambers before Anakin had finally left in a huff.

"So," Aayla said, "what exactly was that about?"

Anakin sighed. "I suppose there is no way I am going to get out of this with just a shrug and telling you its nothing?"

"Not on your life, Skywalker," she teased.

"Thought so…"

~One Week Earlier~

Anakin looked over the datapad as he walked the halls of the ship. The Starsaber was one of the most advanced star ships he had ever seen, which made sense considering how many credits the Jedi Council had spent in developing it. A massive transport vessel, it could hold up to 200 people easily, as well as 10 single man fighters in the main hanger bay. But what made it so impressive was that it needed so few people to run it. Designed originally to help with getting refuges out of war zones, only four Jedi were needed to fly it, allowing the rest of the occupants to be mere passengers. The original intention, to help with moving people out of dangerous areas, also explained why it was so well armed; there were a multitude of unmanned and manned weapons systems that Quinlan had told him were going to do them very nicely when they got into the 'wilds' of the galaxy.

"Not every pirate is as kind as us," Quinlan had told him with a laugh and a slap on the back that had made Anakin's teeth rattle.

It was that worry that had led the teen to begin work on upgrading what he could. After all, while the ship was currently one of the best vessels the Jedi had made that didn't mean that it would remain the best. Nor did it mean that it was the best out there. At least not yet, anyway.

His current project was setting up secondary wiring throughout the ship, in case something happened that damaged their systems. Eventually he wanted to wire in security systems that would be accessed from certain sections of the ship, in case they were ever boarded and needed to deal with the intruders. Being able to, with a few buttons and the right control commands, reroute all control of the ship to one of the senior crew's cabins.

But before he could do any of that he needed to make sure that the walls would have enough space for him to fit in the needed wiring.

"Alright," he muttered to himself without thought as he opened Obi Wan's door, "I need to-"

He heard shifting, heaving breathing, and suddenly looked up… and Anakin's eyes went wide.

There, half dressed, were his Master and Siri.

And there was no way one could argue that they were just "playing around".

~MC~MC~MC~

"Oh by the Force!" Aayla declared, fighting back a snicker.

"Its not funny!" Anakin declared.

"Yes it is."

Anakin glowered at her.

"And wipe that look off your face, Skywalker," she commanded with a roll of her eyes. "I don't let my master look at me like that, you think I'm going to let you?" Anakin grimaced at that but toned down his anger at her; while she was still a padawan he needed to remember that Aayla was only a year or so away from being made a knight, while Anakin still working on achieving the rank of Senior Padawan. "And it will be funny later on, when you have a chance to actually think about it."

"I doubt that," Anakin mumbled.

"Alright, so you caught the Captain and Siri getting a bit familiar with each other."

"Any more familiar and Siri would be pregnant," Anakin muttered, earning a snort from Aayla.

"I am going to tell them that one." She leaned forward, resting her chin on her open palm. "So… what exactly has you so upset, Skywalker?"

Anakin stared at her for a moment, wondering if he had heard her right. "What… you know what's upset me!"

"That?" Aayla said. "Huh, didn't take you to be a prude."

"I'm not a prude," Anakin grumped. "But that's not the point! Obi Wan… he and Siri broke the code!"

"Uh, we've broken a lot of the code," Aayla said. "I think leaving the order means that's pretty much null and void."

Anakin shook his head. "I get that we are pretending to leave the order and that means doing things that normally would be frowned upon but I doubt the jedi are going to look favorably on Obi Wan allowing himself to grow attached to a fellow Jedi." He sighed, looking away from her. "I know he joked that he was going to marry her but I thought that was all just bluster. I didn't think he would allow himself to be compromised like that."

"Compromised? For loving someone?"

That made the young man frown. "Okay… I get that the Jedi are encouraged to love. That its… part of the code. But we are to love all equally. Obi Wan… he and Siri…"

Aayla tutted at that. "You really are bugged by Obi Wan and Siri sneaking in a quicky, aren't you?"

"Yes!" Anakin proclaimed. "And I don't get how the rest of you are fine with this!"

"…Anakin," Aayla said slowly. "You do realize that everyone on this ship, other than you I am slowly coming to realize and the two younglings, aren't virgins… right?"

The stare he gave her was lasting too long. Even Anakin realized that.

Finally he managed to croak out, "What?"

"The Jedi aren't stopped from getting physical with someone. There is nothing in the code about that. Its attachment that it worries about. But plenty of Jedi have sought out casual flings with each other, with locals… it's a way to burn off steam and relax." She paused. "Plus if you find the right partner it feels REALLY good."

Anakin's jaw dropped before he quickly got a hold of himself.

"Alright… alright," he said, deciding that it might be wise to just talk out what he was thinking, rather than letting it fester. That had been his approach in the past when it was just him and Obi Wan but now he had friends, a crew, that could help him work out his issues? 'After all,' he thought, 'secrets and bottling stuff up never helps. That is what led to so much grief for Nami. For Sanji. For Robin. Its better to admit what is troubling you and try and work it out with others, vocalizing it and seeing if they can spot any mistakes you might have made.'

He took a deep breath and decided to begin small. It was no different than trying to fix an engine: you had to start small and work your way through the guts until you got where you wanted to be. Or… not. Actually when he thought of it that wasn't-

Anakin cut himself off. No. He needed to focus.

"Alright… so Jedi can…"

"Have sex," Aayla said, deciding not to be cute about things.

"Right," Anakin stated. "That… makes sense. Its just a natural thing. A bodily thing. Sure, there are some Jedi who don't have sex…"

"Not that many," Aayla stated. "A few from species that don't reproduce that way, of course, so there would be nothing pleasurable about it, and a couple of the older one who no longer have the drive. And I suppose the ones that don't have a partner of their own species. But all the humanoids do."

Anakin though shook his head. "No… there are some Jedi who are able to resist that urge." He winced as he heard how judgmental his tone was when he said that.

"Oh?" Aayla said. "And just who are you thinking of?"

He thought about avoiding it, saying it was fine, that he didn't need to talk about it anymore. But he once more caught himself and realized he was making the same mistake again. Trying to bottle things up. So… he spoke.

"Qui Gon."

He hadn't been expecting the laughter.

It wasn't giggling. Or tittering. No, Aayla was letting loose full on belly laughter. She clutched her sides and threw back her head and laughed so hard Anakin was afraid it would bring the rest of the crew into the mess hall.

"Would you stop?!" he hissed even as Aayla rocked from side to side.

"I'm… I'm trying!" she exclaimed. "Oh, I think I'm going to pee!"

"Knock it off!" Anakin exclaimed, looking at the doorway, sure at any moment someone was going to come in and wonder just what was going on.

"You… you think…" Aayla gasped, tears rolling down her cheeks. "You think… Qui Gon Jinn… was a virgin?"

Anakin bristled at that. "He was."

Aayla sucked in a breath, clearly trying to calm herself. "Qui Gon Jinn… okay… okay…" She held out her hands, moving them through the air like she was trying to push down all her amusement. "Okay. So he wasn't a slut like Kit Fisto or Shaak Ti-"

"What?!" Anakin exclaimed.

"Oh yeah, those two are real bad. But in the best way. If you need to blow off some steam, work off some tension and energy, they are the two you want to go see. I know some claim Luminara is best bet, as while she looks all reserved she is someone that is willing to try anything in the name of bringing 'balance to one's emotions' but she isn't always in the mood and sometimes you just want something simple and quick…"

Anakin stared at Aayla in horror… before he frowned.

"You're lying to me."

"Maybe a little, though there is some truth to it," she said with a chuckle. "Those three are the ones most willing to accept a casual fling. Most other Jedi have one or two favorites and that's about it. Like Qui Gon."

"Qui Gon would never-"

"He did," Aayla said, her smile turning to a frown. "Anakin… has no one talked to you about Master Tahl?"

Anakin frowned, searching his memories for the Jedi in question. "Uh… she died when Obi Wan was a padawan. And she was Quin Gon's partner on a lot of missions-" He cut himself off, eyes going wide. "Wait… you mean…"

"Oh yes," Aayla said. "Those two were dangerously close."

"How… how close?" Anakin said, not sure if he was going to like the answer.

That caused the Twi'lek woman to let out a sigh. The laughter and smiles had completely left her now and she had grown solemn. "To the point that their connection makes what Obi Wan and Siri have look like a quickie."

"I… but you just said that Jedi have flings all the time. That was what Obi Wan and Siri were doing." He wasn't sure he liked the idea; Anakin thought Siri was a good enough woman, a bit closed off at times but he knew that came from the undercover work she had done early in her knighthood. He had heard from his Master that at one time Siri had been far more stubborn and self-determined but those traits had been softened by age, something Obi Wan said would happen to Anakin as well when the teen had grown upset after a fight, worrying that he would never be a proper Jedi. But he did like Siri… he just wasn't for sure he liked the idea of her being with his master. In… that way, at least.

"Oh, they had a few flings early on," Aayla said. "Just like Obi Wan did with Luminara and with Quinlan."

Anakin's eyes widened at that. "My master…"

"Obi Wan is willing to explore," was Aayla's only response to that. "But with Siri… well, other than the Duchess of Mandalore those two always held a deep connection. They were never able to remove the longing for each other. They knew it would be frowned upon so they did their best to moderate it… to make moments with each other short and sweet. That's why you stopped coming over to spend the night with Quinlan and me."

Anakin had always wondered about that. Every few weeks he would be sent for a 'sleep over' in Quinlan's chambers. Just like Aayla would be sent to theirs. He had assumed it was just his master needing to get paperwork done. Not that he and Siri were… well…

"But it was always there. And now with us being pirates…" She trailed off.

"But… but that's attachment!"

"It is," Aayla said.

"But that's against the Jedi Code!"

"It is."

"…and?"

"And the code is wrong."

Anakin nearly leapt up from the table. It was only Aayla grabbing his hand that stopped him.

"Okay… you have built up the Order really bad if just saying the code is wrong is upsetting you." She sighed. "Kark, I should not be the one explaining this to you. Maybe I can get Bant…"

"The Code… it is the way of the Jedi!" Anakin exclaimed.

"It is. But it is also something that changes and grows and is altered."

Anakin paused at that. "I… I do remember reading that the code has changed several times…"

"Yeah. After the last Sith War the Jedi grew worried about how many of them had fallen to the dark side. They decided to do something about it and reforms were put in. One was about attachment. But there has always been arguments about if it went too far. You'd have to ask Feemor about it, that's more his area of expertise, considering he's our historian."

"But… the code…"

"Alright, gonna stop you right there because I guess Obi Wan never really got you to understand this but the code is more… guidelines than actual rules." Anakin frowned at that, trying to come to grips with just what she was suggesting. "Listen… the code is important, it truly is. But you can't read it as firm law. There is wiggle room. It is up to each Jedi to find where that wiggle room is. And you DO need to find the wiggle room because let me be clear: if you don't? You'll break. And when you do break that is going to lead you to falling."

"Falling… for following the code?" Anakin asked, not getting at all what she was saying.

"Falling because the code was written to present the perfect Jedi. But its impossible to do that. If we had no possessions, we'd all walk around naked!" She paused. "Admittedly Luminara suggested that once but I think that was just pillow talk-"

Anakin though shook his head. "Qui Gon lived by the code."

"Qui Gon was the greatest rule breaker there was."

Anakin frowned at that. "Well… okay, yeah." He shook his head; he knew that Qui Gon broke the rules. After all, Anakin wouldn't have been at the temple if he hadn't. Yet he also knew that Qui Gon was the greatest Jedi ever. Perhaps the only one that actually followed the Will of the Force. He… he didn't understand how to… it didn't-

"Its called cognitive dissonance," Aayla told him gently. "The mind healers look out for it. You have two different beliefs that conflict with one another. In this case that Qui Gon was a rebel who did what he had to and that he was the perfect Jedi. The former is probably the most true, though it isn't the complete story. From what my Master has told me Qui Gon could get stuck on the code very easily. Was convinced that Obi Wan was going to turn to the dark side for the slightest mistake. And for the latter-"

Anakin cut her off again. "Qui Gon… though Obi Wan would turn?"

Aayla sighed. "Oh boy."

"No… no, he would never think that!" Anakin declared.

"Anakin. Feemor was a knight and Qui Gon railed against him, sure he would turn. Almost all of Obi Wan's apprenticeship was spent with Qui Gon looking for any reason to cast him out of the Order."

Anakin felt like the world was spinning.

"…no one's told you about Melida/Daan, have they?"

"The… planet?" Anakin asked. He vaguely remembered it from some of the star charts he'd studied. "What about it?"

Aayla sighed. "Remember Master Tahl? Qui Gon's true love?" Anakin didn't like her calling Tahl Qui Gon's 'true love' but he didn't argue the point. "She was sent there. Its… complicated but it was a civil war that had lasted for centuries. The Melida, the Daan, and a third faction called The Young, the children of the first two who wanted the fighting to just stop. Tahl was hurt and Qui Gon and Obi Wan arrived to rescue her. When they did Qui Gon only cared about getting Tahl back to Coruscant. That was all that mattered. Obi Wan saw the children who were suffering, who were dying, and felt they needed to stay there. Qui Gon refused. Obi Wan knew if they left, with a Jedi Master injured, the Council would turn a blind eye to the suffering of those children."

That point… well, that point Anakin didn't argue. He knew she was right. He had argued about it much himself, that the Jedi no longer cared about the little people and were only concerned with the rich and powerful that would give the Senate kickbacks.

"Qui Gon could have sent Obi Wan with Master Tahl. With him still there the Council would have needed to send more Jedi to assist. Qui Gon was a rebel but he was popular amongst the likes of Master Windu so they would have moved to help him. But Qu Gon couldn't stand the idea of leaving the woman he loved when she was injured so he told Obi Wan they had to go. When Obi Wan refused… Qui Gon abandoned him."

"A…abandoned him?" Anakin said, startled.

"Abandoned him. Obi Wan fought to save the lives of the children all on his own, without even his lightsaber, while Qui Gon sat in the Jedi Temple and brooded. He lied about what Obi Wan said; Quinlan hacked the records and saw it for himself. He only cared about Master Tahl."

"How… how could he-"

"Because he was attached," Aayla told him softly. "So much so that when she died… he nearly fell to the dark side."

It was only Aayla's hand, which he had forgotten was still clasped upon his wrist, that kept Anakin from leaping to his feet.

"Liar," he hissed all the same.

"No," Aayla said gently. "He loved Tahl. Too much. He couldn't let her go and that caused him to nearly kill a man in cold blood. It was only seeing Obi Wan that brought him back and it was a long journey to repair the damage he caused within himself." Then, at last, Aayla let go of his wrist. "You have to see that… he wasn't the shining example of what it is like to be a Jedi."

"No… no, you're wrong…" But even to Anakin his words sounded false. Hollow. Like the pleas of a willful child that knew that they weren't going to get what they wanted. "Why did he never save my mother?" he suddenly asked, looking at Aayla. "Why didn't he tell the Jedi about her? He… he had to have been able to access the money. He could have asked someone to go and retrieve her. Obi Wan never did…"

"Did Obi Wan know the whole story?" Aayla asked. "I don't know… I don't know why he didn't. Maybe he believes your mother is free. Maybe Qui Gon DID free her but something else kept her from ever reaching out to her. I… don't know." She sighed. "Qui Gon was a man that wanted to do good things. And he did do good things. But he also made mistakes. Stop holding Obi Wan up to a man that never existed, Anakin. Be happy for him that he can be happy."

And with that she left.

Anakin knew he would talk with his master. He would apologize for being so cold to him. And… he would ask about the Code. About it being 'guidelines'. About Obi Wan's view on it. Anakin would also reach out to Siri and apologize. He didn't know quite how to feel about her yet but… he knew she deserved at least an apology.

And then… he would ask about Qui Gon Jinn.

~MC~MC~MC~

"My master is the reason I am as I am. For good and for ill. I can only hope wherever he is he is proud of me."

-Supposed statement by Pirate Emperor Obi Wan Kenobi, 14 AOP

"No man is able to say he got everything right. Anyone that does is a liar."

-Quote attributed to Anakin Skywalker, 9 AOP