"Master!" Obi-Wan called from the refresher.

Qui-Gon sighed and set aside his datapad. It seemed he was not fated to be able to finish reading the report until Obi-Wan was in bed. "What do you need this time, Padawan?" he asked as he stood from his desk and walked to the refresher.

"Something's wrong with my tooth." The small boy sounded genuinely concerned and Qui-Gon increased his pace to the small room.

"Let me see." He knelt next to the small boy and gently held Obi-Wan's chin in his hand. "Which one is it?"

"This one. Look, it moves. It shouldn't move, why's it doing that?" Obi-Wan seemed ready to work himself into state of panic and Qui-Gon moved in quickly to head it off.

"It's okay, Obi-Wan. It's just loose. You're fine." He looked at the front tooth as little as possible, the wobbly nature of the tooth making him a little ill. "Haven't you ever lost a tooth before?"

"No." Obi-Wan said indignantly. "When will it get better?" He poked at the tooth and Qui-Gon looked away.

"It won't get better, Obi-Wan, it's going to fall out and you'll get a new one in its place. That's how it works." He waited, expecting Obi-Wan to become very upset at the thought of his teeth falling out.

"They fall out? All of them?" The little boy continued to poke at the tooth.

"Not all of them, just the ones in the front." Qui-Gon answered trying to avoid watching the child as he played with the tooth.

"What do I do with them when they come out?" The boy seemed more fascinated by the prospect of loosing his teeth than concerned, for which Qui-Gon was grateful.

"You can do whatever you want with them, they're your teeth." Qui-Gon thought for a moment of spinning the same story his Creche Master had told him when he had begun to loose his teeth. He was certain nearly every child in the Temple had been told of the Jedi Fairy who would leave presents when lost teeth were placed in a small box by the bedside of said child while sleeping. However, Qui-Gon had deep seated issues with deceiving Obi-Wan into believing in something that wasn't real. If he felt the need to get the boy presents, he could do it without having to sneak into the child's room to collect disgusting teeth with flesh still attached to them.

"Are you ready for bed now, Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon said turning his attention back to the boy who was enthralled with his new toy.

Obi-Wan nodded and began to walk out of the room, a finger still in his mouth. "Will you read to me?"

"You want a story tonight? Not a song?" Qui-Gon asked as he directed the boy to his room.

"Maybe both." Obi-Wan said thoughtfully as he climbed into his bed.

"Oh, really? Why don't we work our way through the story first and see." Qui-Gon said retrieving the oversized datapad from the boy's shelf. "What story do you want to hear tonight?"

"Um, the one, um, The Bravest Jawa."

"Okay, I think we can manage that one." Qui-Gon said as he sat on the edge of Obi-Wan's bed. "Are you settled?" He waited for the boy's affirmative nod before he began to read, showing the large words and pictures to his Padawan as he spoke.

When he finished the story of the young and misunderstood Jawa, Obi-Wan was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. Qui-Gon brushed a hand over his Padawan's short hair and smiled at the sleepy boy.

"Good night, Little One." He stood and turned on Obi-Wan's fish lamp before dimming the main light in the room.

"Master?" Obi-Wan's soft voice floated through the room.

"Yes?"

"Aren't you going to sing to me?"

Qui-Gon sighed. He'd thought he had managed to escape his nightly serenade with the story. "I suppose I am, but just one. And I get to choose."

* * *

"So, today we are going to start our in-class labs. I will assign you a lab partner and each pair will be working together for the rest of the term. I suggest you all try to get along." Teacher Bel-San stood before the class, a datapad in hand as he began calling off pairs of names.

Obi-Wan sat quietly at his desk privately relieved that the Teacher was assigning them partners and not letting them choose. He still didn't know anyone in the class and knew he would be the last picked if it had been left to the class.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi and Slade Wymer. . ." Obi-Wan looked up at the sound of his name and quickly scanned the room, looking for his lab partner. Although he had been in the class for almost a month now, he still didn't know the names of very many of the other kids. He hoped his lab partner knew who he was.

"All right, that's everyone. Please find your partners and go to a lab table." Teacher Bel-San waved at them and the other students stood. Obi-Wan watched as everyone else quickly moved into their assigned pairs, but he still didn't know who his partner was.

"You're Obi-Wan, right?"

Obi-Wan turned at the question and found a taller, older boy standing behind him. They boy's were bright purple and his skin was covered in shiny silver scales.

"I'm Obi-Wan. Are you Slade?" He asked hesitantly, unsure what the other boy's reaction would be to him.

"That's me. Come on, let's find a table before all the good ones are taken." The older boy turned and walked to the lab tables in the back of the class, his long, reptilian tale balanced out behind him.

Obi-Wan followed Slade to a table near the front of the class and sat beside him. He looked at the other boy out of the corner of his eye, wanting to be friendly, but not sure how to start a conversation. He didn't even know if the other boy was interested in talking to him.

"So you're a Padawan, huh?" Slade asked him as they waited for the other students to settle in.

"Yes, my Master is Qui-Gon Jinn. Are you?" Obi-Wan couldn't tell because the boy didn't have hair.

"Not yet, but I think I will be soon. I'm not worried, I'm only eight so I have plenty of time. What's it like?"

Obi-Wan shrugged. "I don't know. It isn't much different, but I get my own room and it's just me and my Master and we have our own apartment and my um, name is on the door plate." Before Slade could reply, Teacher Bel-San spoke to them again.

"Now, if everyone is settled, I think we can begin." He said as he moved to stand before the lab tables. "If you will all turn on your datapads, you will see there is an experiment listed out for you to try. All the equipment and supplies you will need can be found in the drawers of the tables. If you need any help, just raise your hand and I'll come over."

"So you must be pretty good at this stuff to be in this class so young, right?" Slade asked as he pulled out his datapad and keyed up the lab assignment.

Obi-Wan just shrugged as he did the same.

The two boys read over the lab quickly and began to pull the things they would need from the drawers. Obi-Wan didn't think the lab would be too hard; the present he'd made for his Master had been more difficult.

"So what do you think?" Slade asked him as they began to assemble the basic pieces.

"It shouldn't be hard, all we have to do is um, put this piece here with that one and then hook them up. Then we can, um, we can take the modifier and put it here," Obi-Wan pointed out what they would have to do to make the experiment work. "And that will make it start, but then we have to use this to keep the power level even or um, it would overheat and that would be bad." He looked up at Slade who was smiling.

"I guess you do know your stuff."

* * *

Obi-Wan was laying face down on the floor of the common room of the apartment he shared with his master reading his homework for his class on Coruscant history when the comlink sounded. As his Master stood from his place at his desk and answered the wall unit, Obi-Wan turned his attention back to his reading. It was never for him.

"Obi-Wan. It's for you."

Obi-Wan looked up in surprise. His Master was smiling at him as he handed over the portable comlink. Obi-Wan took the unit and looked at it for a little bit before he spoke; he had no idea who would want to call him.

"Hello?" he asked tentatively.

"Hi, Obi-Wan. It's Slade."

Obi-Wan smiled. Since Teacher Bel-San had assigned them as lab partners, they had become pretty good friends. But this was the first time they had talked outside of class. "Um, hi."

"So I was wondering if you wanted to come over and play? If it's okay with your Master."

Obi-Wan looked up at his Master. "Can I go over and play at Slade's?" He hoped it would be all right. While he and Slade had been friendly in their class, they hadn't spent any time outside of class together.

His Master looked at him thoughtfully and for a horrible moment, Obi-Wan thought he would refuse. "Slade is in the Creche, right?"

"Yes."

"It might be less crowded for everyone if he came over here to play. As long as his Creche Master says it's okay."

"Oh, okay. I'll ask." He turned back to the comlink. "My Master thinks it would be better if you came over here."

"Really? That would be great, let me ask Master Dermin."

Obi-Wan waited impatiently for the other boy to come back to the comlink with an answer.

"Obi-Wan? Master Dermin says it's okay. So, all I need to know is where you are and I'll be over in a little bit."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, trying to remember the information of his location. "We're in the um, east section of the Temple, level um, 325, room 687." He glanced at his Master who nodded.

"Okay, I'll see you in a while. Bye."

"Bye." Obi-Wan hopped up from his place on the floor and gave the comlink back to his Master.

* * *

Another shout from Obi-Wan's room followed by laughter caused Qui-Gon to look up in amusement. He was pleased to know that Obi-Wan was finally making some friends in his technical sciences class, but he'd forgotten how loud two little boys could be. Still he was reluctant to ask them to quiet down, it seemed to him that Obi-Wan didn't spend enough time with people his own age.

Qui-Gon turned back to the paper he was writing on intergalactic diplomacy for the next Temple newsletter, looking over what he'd already written. He reread what he'd already put down in his datapad before setting to work on the next section of the paper. While the newsletter staff had asked him to contribute to the publication, he didn't think they would be all that amused if he used the opportunity to speak out on one of the many issues he thought were important and others considered controversial.

The door chime sounded several minutes later, breaking his concentration once again. Just as he was rising from his chair, Obi-Wan raced out of his room, followed closely by Slade.

"I'll get it!" His Padawan shouted as he skidded to a halt in front of the door. He keyed the door open and Bel-San stepped inside.

"Obi-Wan, Slade. How are you?" The Teacher asked as he glanced quickly over at Qui-Gon.

The boys, both suddenly subdued by the appearance of their Teacher murmured affirmatives before turning and walking sedately back to Obi-Wan's room. Although they tried to be discreet, the two Jedi could hear their conversation.

"How come Teacher Bel-San's in your apartment?" Slade asked quietly.

"He's friends with my Master. They spend lots of time together." Obi-Wan replied equally hushed.

"What do they do?"

"Well, there was one time . . ."

"There goes my reputation." Bel-San said as he took a seat next to Qui-Gon.

"I didn't know you had a reputation to maintain." Qui-Gon smirked.

"With the kids, I do. I've pretty much given up on regaining any kind of respect after my years of associating with you."

"It isn't like most of the things we did weren't your idea in the first place." Qui-Gon said pointedly. "Don't blame me."

"Oh, well." Bel-San sighed. "So I see Obi-Wan's made a new friend. It's good to see he's getting along with Slade so well. I put them together with the hope they might be friends, but I wasn't sure."

"You put them together on purpose?" Qui-Gon asked, surprised his friend had been keeping such a close eye on his Padawan. "Do you want some tea?"

"That would be nice." Bel-San answered his last question first, following him into the kitchen. "I noticed Obi-Wan was having some trouble relating to the older kids. He tends to be a little on the shy side and Slade, well Slade's very outgoing. I thought if anyone could draw him out it would be him. It's good to know I was right."

Qui-Gon set some water on to boil while he pulled out the other necessary items for tea. "Thank you for looking out for him." He said gratefully.

Shrugging, Bel-San leaned against a counter. "It's the least I could do. Besides, I like Obi-Wan too."

"Master!" Obi-Wan called from the common room.

Qui-Gon rolled his eyes at Bel-San before walking out to the other room. "What have I told you about yelling in the apartment?"

Obi-Wan looked at him for a moment. "Um, not to?"

"Please, don't yell." He waited for the boy to nod. "Now, what did you need?"

"Can me and Slade play in here?"

"Can Slade and I play in here." Qui-Gon corrected the boy almost absently. "You have a perfectly good room, Obi-Wan."

"I know, but we want to play out here."

Qui-Gon looked back over his shoulder at Bel-San who shrugged.

"I'm happy in the kitchen." He said affably.

Qui-Gon looked down at the two hopeful boys for a long moment. "If you promise to clean up any of your messes, you can stay out here." The boys cheered and ran back to Obi-Wan's room to collect whatever they needed for their move to a new room.

He turned his back and walked to the kitchen, not willing to look at what the boys were dragging into the common room. He poured the waiting tea into two mugs and sat at the table with Bel-San, half-listening to the sounds of destruction coming from his common room.

"Aren't you glad you have a five-year-old living with you?" Bel-San asked with a bright grin.

* * *

"Are you going to stay for dinner?" Qui-Gon asked Bel-San when he checked his chrono.

The other man sighed and looked at him closely for a moment.

Qui-Gon made a disgusted sound. "I promise not to poison you." He shook his head. He had no idea how he'd developed such a reputation.

"Well, I suppose if Obi-Wan can survive, I can too. Sure, why not."

Rising, Qui-Gon set his empty tea cup on the counter and turned to the common room. The wreck that had been his peaceful common room looked back at him. Not noticing his presence, the two boys continued playing.

Obi-Wan held a glow rod firmly in one hand and stood facing Slade who held another fake weapon. His Padawan was firmly planted in his place, with his small shoulders thrown back and his chin high.

"I'm Qui-Gon Jinn, and you won't escape." He declared in a deep voice, facing off against his opponent.

"That's what you think." Slade said with a sneer as he approached Obi-Wan.

"I hate to interrupt, but I wanted to know if you were going to stay and have dinner with us, Slade?" Qui-Gon said hiding his grin at the boys' play.

"Oh, I don't know, I'd have to ask Master Dermin." The boy said, obviously hoping he could stay.

"The comm unit is over there." He pointed out.

As the older boy walked to the wall, Qui-Gon turned to his Padawan. "Are you having fun?"

The boy nodded enthusiastically. "We've been playing Jedi and before um, we built a fort." he pointed to the mass of cushions and blankets that used to be the couch. "Is that what that is? You are going to clean that up, right?"

Obi-Wan sighed theatrically and rolled his eyes. "Yes."

Qui-Gon merely raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Master." The boy repeated contritely.

"Master Dermin says I can stay as long as it's okay with you, Master Qui-Gon." Slade said as he walked back to stand beside Obi-Wan.

"Good. Now you have a choice. You can either clean up this mess together, or you can help with dinner and I will help you pick up in here." The two boys looked at each other for a moment before Obi-Wan spoke.

"We'll help with dinner."

Within moments, Qui-Gon had both boys seated on the counter holding mixing bowls and stirring the ingredients for dinner enthusiastically. While they did manage to get some mixing done, they mostly sloshed the mixture onto themselves, the counter and the floor.

Bel-San sat at the kitchen table shaking his head. "I have a feeling this is going to be a popular place to hang out for the Padawans. You know most Jedi in this temple would have some sort of fit at the thought of the messes you are encouraging." His voice was pitched low enough for the boys not to hear.

"They're children, Bel-San, as you are so fond of reminding me. Besides, it isn't anything that can't be cleaned. What's the harm?" He looked over his shoulder at his friend. "Now, do you think you could lend a hand?"

"Me? No I don't think so. You invited me for dinner. That automatically excludes me from doing any work."

"Oh really?"

Bel-San nodded. "I'm pretty sure it's in the rule book somewhere."

"And what rule book would that be? How to effectively sponge off of Qui-Gon?"

Dropping a wink to the boys who were listening to the conversation avidly the Teacher leaned back in his chair and smiled. "You'd be surprised what gets published these days."

* * *

"Good bye, Obi-Wan, goodbye, Master Qui-Gon. Thank you for letting me come over." Slade said politely as he stood by the door.

"You're welcome, Slade. Feel free to come back anytime." Qui-Gon said as he keyed the door to slide open.

"I need to head on out, too, Qui-Gon. I have some reports to grade for one of my classes. The kids get a little upset when you don't give them back their paper for a couple of weeks. I can't imagine why." He ruffled Obi-Wan's short hair as he walked by. "Good night Obi-Wan. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

"Good night."

When all of their company had left, Qui-Gon turned to his Padawan. "Did you have a good day, Obi-Wan?"

The small boy's elfin face lit with a smile. "Yes."

"That's really good, Obi-Wan, I'm happy. Now, I think you have some homework left to do."

"Yes, Master." Obi-Wan said, with not nearly as much enthusiasm. The small boy laid back down on the floor of the common room with his datapad and began to read, a single finger poking at his tooth.

"How's your tooth, Obi-Wan?"

"It's really loose, see?" He turned and faced Qui-Gon, his mouth open rocking his tooth for effect.

Qui-Gon closed his eyes. "Please don't do that Obi-Wan." The sight of the boy's rocking tooth turning his stomach. When he had lost his own teeth, it had been sheer torture and he'd made every effort to make certain they were out of his mouth as soon as possible. "Do you think it's loose enough to pull?" He hoped he would be able to pull the tooth for the child, and not have to call on someone else to do it.

"Pull it out!" Obi-Wan covered his mouth with both hands, his eyes wide. "No!"

"It won't hurt, Obi-Wan."

The boy shook his head and backed away.

"You just want to leave it in until it falls out on its own?" Qui-Gon asked, afraid of the answer.

Obi-Wan nodded his mouth still covered.

Qui-Gon shuddered, visions of the horrible little tooth hanging on by a thread of flesh from his Padawan's mouth for days. And he still had a mouthful of teeth left to loose. Now he knew why most masters waited until the children were older before choosing them as padawans.

"All right, Obi-Wan. We'll do it your way."

* * *

Obi-Wan walked down the halls of the Jedi Temple to his classroom. He still had lots of time before his technical sciences class started and so he didn't have to hurry today. He turned a corner that led to the Creche were the classrooms were located and saw Slade up ahead of him.

He was about to call out to the boy to wait for him when he saw two other boys from his class join with his friend. He didn't know the other two very well, so he stayed back, unsure of his welcome. Keeping a careful distance, Obi-Wan watched the three older boys walk to class for a few moments. Deciding to take the chance, he was steeling himself to call out to them when he heard their conversation.

"So what's it like have that little kid as your lab partner?" One of the boys asked Slade.

Obi-Wan stilled, listening hard for his friend's answer.

"Obi-Wan? He's a great lab partner. He knows way more about this stuff than I do."

"Yeah, but isn't he kind of little? I mean who want to hang out with a baby?" The other boy asked.

Obi-Wan's steps slowed. He'd thought Slade was his friend, but apparently the older boy had just wanted his help on the labs they'd been doing in class.

"Isn't he kind of weird? He never talks to anyone, what's wrong with him?" The first boy was speaking again.

"Hey, you don't know anything about it, Nequan. Obi-Wan's not weird, he just doesn't want to talk to people like you." Slade stopped in the middle of the hall and drew himself up to his full height, facing off against the two other boys. "I don't want to hear you say anything bad about him, he's my friend. Do you understand?"

The two boys nodded quickly.

"Good." Slade jerked his head and the two walked off ahead of him.

Obi-Wan smiled at the words he had heard. Slade really was his friend and the older boy was willing to protect him. Hesitating for just a second longer, Obi-Wan called out. "Hey, Slade, wait up."

The older boy turned in the hall and smiled at Obi-Wan. He waved at Obi-Wan to hurry and when he reached the older boy's side, Slade threw an arm across his shoulders.

"So I was thinking that maybe today you could come over to my room and we could play there." Slade said as they walked down the corridor.

"That would be good."