"All right, children, I think that's about all for today. Are there any questions?" Teacher Bel-San asked as he looked around the class.

Obi-Wan sat at his desk and thought about what his Teacher had been discussing. He thought the lesson had been clear and looked around his class as the group of slightly older children shook their heads. His Master had enrolled him in a higher level technical science class because he had been so bored in the ones for his age. This one was better, but it still seemed easy most of the time.

"All right then, you can go. Please remember your projects are due next week. It would be a good idea to start on them now if you haven't already."

The Teacher began to gather his things and Obi-Wan stood, collecting his own belongings. A few of the other children gathered in pairs or groups as they exited the class, but none stopped to talk with Obi-Wan. He was several years younger than them and had little in common with them. While he liked the challenge of the new class, he liked to be with his friends in his regular classes.

"Obi-Wan, can I speak with you for a moment, please?" Obi-Wan looked up and saw Teacher Bel-San sitting on the edge of his desk.

"Okay." He shrugged and stopped near the Teacher.

"I was wondering how you were doing in the class? Have you been having any problems?" Bel-San asked in a kind voice.

"No." Obi-Wan shook his head.

"I'm only concerned because some of the other students are finding this section of the class to be particularly difficult, and you're a little bit younger. Are you sure you're not having problems? It's okay if you are, I can help." Bel-San assured him.

"No, I'm okay. I understand what we're doing." Obi-Wan said.

Bel-San looked at him for a long moment and Obi-Wan felt like the Teacher didn't believe what he was saying. "Okay, well just know that if you do have problems you can come to me and I can help you."

Obi-Wan nodded. He thought they had covered that already.

"There was one other thing that I wanted to talk to you about but it isn't about the class. Did you know that your Master's birthday is coming up soon?" The Teacher smiled as though he were sharing a secret.

"No. He didn't tell me. Are we going to have a party? I should get him a present, what should I get him? What does he like? Will there be lots of people like there were at mine? Can I--" Obi-Wan stopped as Bel-San held up a hand.

"Slowly, Padawan. Your Master doesn't like a lot of attention to be drawn to himself on his birthday, especially in the last few years. A few of his friends are setting something up and we would like you to help if you think you can keep it a secret?"

Obi-Wan began to nod but then paused. "Oh, um I don't know, Master said I shouldn't keep secrets from him." He looked at the Teacher worriedly. He really wanted to help, but didn't want to disobey his Master.

Bel-San grinned at him and ruffled his short hair. "I think that in this case you can keep a secret. It isn't anything bad or that will hurt anyone, we just want him to be happy on his birthday. I think it would be just fine if you helped and kept it a secret. So what do you say?"

Obi-Wan bit his lip thinking about the Teacher's words. Finally he nodded. "If you think it's okay."

"Good boy. Now, we're having a meeting tomorrow about what we're going to do. I'll tell your Master that you want a little extra help for your project and that will give you the excuse to be with me for a little while while we plan." Bel-San stood.

"But wait, that won't work." Obi-Wan said, thinking about his project. "I already finished the project, days ago."

Bel-San looked at him strangely again. "Oh. Well, then I'll tell him that you wanted to see about doing some extra work, since you're so well adapted to my class. How does that sound?"

"Okay."

"All right, then I will see you tomorrow."

* * *

Obi-Wan stood up on his tip-toes and reached to touched the panel to open the door to his new home. It was almost out of his reach, but if he jumped just a little he could get it almost every time. It made him feel good to have a home that wasn't in the Creche and see "Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi" on the panel by the door.

"I'm home." He called out as he entered the apartment, knowing that his Master was inside. He could feel him through their newly reestablished bond.

"Hello, Obi-Wan. How was your class?" His Master was sitting at his desk in the common room reading. He looked up from his work as Obi-Wan came closer and smiled.

"Good. Teacher Bel-San thought I was having trouble and when I said I wasn't I don't think he believed me even though I'm not and um, when I told him I really wasn't he asked about my project, the um one that I've been doing, you know the one with the circuits for the um, ship that you had to help me with cause you said I shouldn't work with that kind of thing by myself because I could get hurt and um, I told him I was done and so he wants to meet with me to see if I could do extra work and that he would um, call to tell you." Obi-Wan pulled at the edge of his tunic and tried not to think about the secret he had with Teacher Bel-San even though he really really wanted to tell. It was such a wonderful surprise, but he knew it would be better if his Master didn't find out.

"Hm," His Master said thoughtfully. "I thought that class would be enough of a challenge for you. Maybe we should look into the next level. How are you getting along with the other students?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "Okay I guess. They don't talk to me much."

His Master's forehead crinkled. "Have any of them been mean to you?" He asked slowly.

Obi-Wan shook his head. "No, mostly they already have their friends and I'm too little." He looked at his tall Master as the man stood. "Will I ever grow? I want to be as tall as you."

Qui-Gon smiled. "Of course you'll grow. Give it some time, you're only five. As for how tall you'll be, we'll see." He placed a hand on Obi-Wan's head and steered him in the direction of his room. "Now, since you seem to have some free time, I thought we might have a little discussion."

"'Bout what?"

"I know this is your room, and I told you you could do with it as you chose, but this is a little ridiculous. I expect you to keep some level of cleanliness. I can't even see the floor."

Obi-Wan looked around his room and couldn't see what his Master was talking about. He maybe had a few things on the floor, but it looked clean to him. "There's the floor over there, and here." He pointed and looked up at the tall man.

His Master took in a deep breath and didn't speak for a moment. "Clean your room, Obi-Wan. You may not go out or play until it is done and I approve."

* * *

Obi-Wan held onto Teacher Bel-San's hand as they walked through the corridors of the Jedi Temple. They slowed as they neared their destination and Obi-Wan followed Bel-San into the other man's apartment. Inside, Master Mace and a furry Jedi with big teeth he didn't know sitting waiting for them. He gripped Bel-San's hand tightly for a moment before smiling hesitantly to the Jedi.

"We have our final partner in crime, gentlemen, I think we can start now. Obi-Wan, I think you know Mace, this is Payter. We were all friends of your Master when we were younger." Bel-San led the boy to the couch in the common room.

"Hi." Obi-Wan said hesitantly.

"So you're the boy that all the fuss is about. You look good enough to eat." Payter said flashing his teeth at Obi-Wan.

The small boy back away from the Jedi uncertainly, shooting a worried glance in Bel-San's direction.

"Payter, Force. And you wonder why they don't want you to leave the Temple." Bel-San turned his attention to Obi-Wan. "Don't worry about Payter, he just thinks he's being funny."

"I apologize, Obi-Wan. It's very nice to meet you." Payter said extending a fur covered and clawed hand in Obi-Wan's direction.

The boy looked at the offered hand for a moment. He swallowed and bravely extended his own to shake the Jedi's hand. He was almost surprised he had all of his fingers when he pulled his hand back.

"See that wasn't so bad." Payter said settling back into his seat.

"All right, so we have one week to plan this party, and it has to be good. Qui-Gon hasn't been in the Temple for a birthday in years." Bel-San looked at Obi-Wan. "He is also the first of us to turn forty, so of course we have to make a big deal out of it."

"Forty? He's so old." Obi-Wan said in shock. He'd known his Master was old but he didn't think the Jedi was ancient.

"Watch it kid, none of us are that far off from that age." Payter warned him, his long teeth gleaming in the light.

"Jedi don't age quite like normal people Obi-Wan. It has to do with our connection to the Force. While your master is going to be forty, physically he's more like a man ten years younger. It will be the same for you when you grow up."

"Thirty? That's still really old." Obi-Wan pointed out, disturbed at the thought of his Master's advanced age. Maybe he should try to be better, so he didn't tire his Master out.

Mace shook his head. "Yeah, I remember when twenty looked old. Just remember this little chat when you turn forty Obi-Wan."

"All right, guys we're getting a little far afield here. The point is what do we want to do and who should we invite?"

Obi-Wan sat quietly as the adults in the room did most of the planning. It seemed they had a very good idea of what they wanted to happen and Obi-Wan was beginning to wonder why he'd been included at all. All they were doing was talking and he was getting bored.

"So what do you think, Obi-Wan. Are we missing anyone?" Payter asked him.

"Um, what about Knight Alla? Shouldn't she come?"

"Obi-Wan, you're brilliant, I can't believe we forgot about Alla." Bel-San reached out and patted his shoulder. "I think she's due back in the Temple some time soon. If we can contact her, she should be able to be here." The Teacher looked at his chrono. "Okay, guys we need to wrap this up because I need to get Obi-Wan back to Qui-Gon soon. Can you think of anything we left out?"

"What about presents?" Obi-Wan asked, he'd been thinking since he found out it was Qui-Gon's birthday and he hadn't come up with anything to give his new Master.

"I think we've got that covered Obi-Wan, don't worry. I thought of something we can build together that you can give him, we can start working on it tomorrow." Bel-San assured him as he stood. "Come on, I need to get you home. Say good night to the others."

"Good night." Obi-Wan said obediently, though he didn't want to go near Payter again.

* * *

"No, no this one goes here, that one goes there, got it?" Bel-San asked as he showed Obi-Wan how the circuits connected in the small device.

"Oh, yeah, cause the wires are opposite." Obi-Wan said seeing what the problem would have been.

The two had been working on the present for his Master for days and it was nearing competition. While Bel-San had to do most of the detail work, Obi-Wan had helped in the construction of the present a great deal, as well as what was to go inside the device.

It was now only one day away from the surprise party and everyone had been alerted. Obi-Wan had found he was a great help to the party as he was often sent on errands that would attract attention if one of the adults had done it, but he was able to accomplish with little difficulty. Nearly everything was set up and all that was left was to finish the present.

"Okay, I think that about does it. Close the case and we'll see if it works." Bel-San said, stepping back and letting Obi-Wan close the device.

With a quick look at the Teacher, Obi-Wan flipped the switch and waited. And waited, but nothing happened.

"It didn't work." He said miserably. "Now what? We don't have time to do anything else and it doesn't work and now everything is ruined." The small boy fought back tears as he looked at the failed project.

"Don't worry, don't worry." Bel-San said immediately, rubbing his back comfortingly. "It's okay, I'm sure it's just a small thing we can fix. Let me see." The Teacher picked up the device and carefully turned off the switch and opened the casing. He poked at the inside circuitry for a moment before he made a triumphant sound. He showed the inside to Obi-Wan pointing out some wires. "Here's the problem, see, these wires weren't connected. That's all, nothing to worry about." He fixed the problem and set the device before Obi-Wan. "There, now try it."

Obi-Wan reached out and flipped the switch with closed eyes. He opened them slowly to see the device was actually working. He grinned and looked up at his Teacher. "It's perfect."

"That it is, now, you need to get home before your Master misses you. Remember, not a word, we're in the home stretch now."

* * *

Qui-Gon watched in amusement as Obi-Wan ran around their apartment screeching and laughing as Payter chased the small boy. The two seemed to be getting along rather well, better than he'd expected. Payter seemed to find it amusing to terrorize small children with he ferocious appearance.

Obi-Wan ran behind him and clutched his led tightly. "No." He said with all the authority he could muster and thrust out a hand palm outward facing Payter. He laughed nervously as the Jedi advanced slowly and clutched tighter at Qui-Gon's leg. "Master?" He asked.

"Stand back, I will defend my Padawan to the death, foul nave." Qui-Gon said placing his hands on his hips and straitening to his full height.

"Foul? Nave? Where did you hear such things?" Payter asked as he straightened, flashing his teeth once more in Obi-Wan's direction.

"I didn't have to hear them, I know you." Qui-Gon answered as the other man went into the kitchen to get some water.

"Master? Can we go to the Gardens?" Obi-Wan asked tugging at his pant leg. The boy had moved out from behind him but was still close to his side.

"I don't know Obi-Wan, we were just there yesterday. Besides you have homework to do." Qui-Gon said as he sat back in his chair.

"Please? I did my homework already and I really really really want to go."

"Really?" Qui-Gon asked, amused at the boy's insistence.

The child nodded.

"Well . . ."

"Oh, come on, Qui-Gon, humor the kid. I'll come along." Payter offered as he returned to the room taking a seat opposite Obi-Wan. "It's hard to chase him properly in this room."

"Humor him? Sometimes it seems that's about all I do." He looked at the pleading faces of his Padawan and his friend and sighed. "All right, but just for a little while."

As he followed the two down the corridors of the Jedi Temple, Qui-Gon thought they both seemed a little too excited for a mere trip to the Gardens. His Padawan had been excited and hyperactive nearly all week, though he couldn't pin down a cause. As they neared the Gardens, Qui-Gon noted that Obi-Wan was practically jumping in place to get inside the area. He felt a large number of Force signatures already present in the Gardens and looked at Payter who met his gaze quizzically.

"Is there something going on today?" The Shistavanen asked.

"Not that I know of."

"Well, let's go see."

The three walked into the garden and as soon as they reached the main clearing, shouts of surprise rang through the open area. Qui-Gon looked quickly at Payter who was grinning like an idiot and Obi-Wan who was laughing out loud. He looked around at the faces of so many of his friends and wondered how they had managed to pull everything off.

"Happy birthday, Qui-Gon." Bel-San said as he made his way to his side.

"Thanks, how did you manage this?" He watched as the group began to break up and mingle.

Bel-San pointed to Obi-Wan. "You should watch that one, he's sneaky."

"You're corrupting my Padawan?" He asked in mock outrage.

"Well it isn't like we had to try all that hard. Besides it was for a good cause. Come on, go talk to your adoring public." Bel-San pushed him toward the gathering of people.

* * *

"So then she says, 'Why don't we just ask them if they will share?' like we aren't in the middle of a major war. Was I ever that innocent?" Alla asked. She was sitting next to Qui-Gon beneath one of the larger trees in the Gardens talking about her new Padawan, Keleran.

"I think we all were at one point. Remember that time you wanted to play with the Ashermans because they looked like giant puppies. It's a good thing they weren't offended when you threw that ball and told them to fetch." Qui-Gon laughed. He was pleased Alla had taken a Padawan and especially happy that the young woman seemed to be doing so well with her charge.

"I hear your boy had quite a bit to do with putting this whole thing together. Very ambitious of him."

Qui-Gon drew a breath and crossed his arms across his chest finding the young boy with his eyes chasing something across the clearing. "Who knew he could be so devious? He kept this whole thing a secret from me all week long, though Bel-San did tell me he had some moral issues with the idea at first." He smiled.

"I was pleased to hear you ended up with him. I'm just so sorry that you had to go though everything with Guod first. That's such a shame. How are you now?"

"Oh, you know me, it takes more than that to keep me down." His eyes followed Obi-Wan as the boy stopped to talk with Payter, noting that his Padawan kept a safe distance from the Jedi. "I think it was harder on Obi-Wan, he's so young and the Creche children just aren't exposed to that sort of anger and violence at such a young age. We had him talk about it with La'Re and a few others and he seems better now, though he still has nightmares."

"Hey, I think it's time for presents." Mace called from across the clearing breaking into their conversation.

Qui-Gon and his former Padawan stood from their place and walked across the clearing to where the others had gathered. The Jedi looked with some amusement of the modest pile of gifts and shook his head.

"You didn't have to do this." He told the gathered people.

"Yes, actually I think we did." Bel-San said seriously.

"Yeah, who knows, at your age you might not be able to remember any birthdays after this one, we had to make it count." Payter said, nudging Qui-Gon's ribs.

"Here, this one's from me." Alla said, holding out a brightly package.

The unwrapping of the gifts took the better part of half an hour as Qui-Gon worked his way through the pile of packages. He unwrapped each with great care, much the to irritation of Payter and Bel-San, and thanked each person in turn. When he had unwrapped his last gift, one from Mace, he placed the rock on the ground next to him.

"Thank you all very much. I don't think I'll ever forget this birthday." Qui-Gon said warmly, meaning every word.

"Wait, you aren't done yet. Obi-Wan has something for you." Bel-San said, his hands on the boy's shoulders.

Obi-Wan looked at him shyly, his blue eyes wide with trepidation as he held out a small box. Qui-Gon took the box from the boy with great care and smiled at his Padawan.

"I made it, but Teacher Bel-San had to help some." He announced as he waited for Qui-Gon to open the package. Qui-Gon pulled out a half sphere with a bright blue switch and a slight indentation at the top.

"You have to turn the switch." Obi-Wan said helpfully as he inched forward, his small hands twitching toward the device.

"Oh, thank you." Qui-Gon said, smiling slightly at his Padawan. He flipped the small switch and gasped as a holographic image of Alla appeared about the device. A few seconds later, another image appeared this time of Bel-San, Mace and Payter gathered in Bel-San's apartment. Qui-Gon watched in amazement and the pictures cycled through all of his friends in the Temple. The last was of Obi-Wan, his small smiling face bright with excitement and joy. "I, I don't know what to say. This perfect Obi-Wan."

"You like it? I took the pictures." He said proudly, smiling at his master's complement.

"It's the best present I've ever been given." Qui-Gon said truthfully, pulling the boy into a tight hug. "Thank you, Padawan."

"You're welcome, Master."