Therockyroad3

Title: The Rocky Road (Part Three)
Author: Angel5000

*****

Qui-Gon stood before the council members and waited. He had just told them all he knew about Obi-Wan and now he was waiting for their response.

    "What about the boy?" Mace Windu asked.

    Qui-Gon suppressed a sigh. He had hoped not to have to bring him up yet, "He is in my care. Before he left Obi-Wan appointed me as Anakin's temporary guardian and trainer. Tomorrow I will test him to see how far he had gotten in his training and I will continue from there." He said, purposely leaving out the child's disobedience.

    "Cure him of his habits have you?" Yoda asked, reading as usual Qui-Gon's thoughts.

    "Cure him of what habits?" Ki-Adi Mundi, another council member asked.

    "Anakin has been causing problems, mostly by disobeying orders. That's why Obi-Wan took his decided to take a 'break'. The problem is that his behavior problems have become a habit, a rather bad one at that. Twice today he has deliberately disobeyed me and challenged my authority. I am hoping that my response has cured him of these habits and he won't be as ignorant next time in choosing his actions." Qui-Gon replied.

    "Twice in one day? Is he looking for a one way ticket back to Tatooine?" Mace asked in disbelief.

    "No one is sending the boy home!" Qui-Gon replied hastily, "To send him home would be to send him back to a life of slavery. What would people say of the Jedi if we sent a ten-year-old boy to be a slave because of disobedience? He is after all just a boy. Not even Jedi are perfect."

    Ki-Adi nodded, "We won't send him back to be a slave but if he cannot behave he may be sent to Bandomeer."

    Qui-Gon opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it and closed it again. To argue would do no good.

    "Return to Anakin you should." Yoda said, dismissing him "Inform you I will if contact us Obi-Wan does."

    "Thank you my Master. Qui-Gon said as he bowed and left the room.

*            *            *            *            *            *

     When Qui-Gon returned to his quarters Anakin was nowhere in site. He set down the box that he was carrying and preceded to search for the boy. After looking for him in the main room, the kitchenette and refresher he began to wonder if the child had disobeyed him again. Quietly he went into the room that had been Obi-Wan�s and set down the box. As he turned to leave a slight movement caught his eye. Lying on the sleep couch was Anakin. The boy had become tired from crying and had fallen asleep right there.

     "Wake up Anakin." Qui-Gon said, shaking the boy gently.

     Anakin immediately jumped to his feet, wincing at the pain. "I'm sorry Master Jinn, I just fell asleep because I was so tired. I meant to be awake when you came back, honest I did!" The words poured out of his mouth and the boy kept rambling on. Qui-Gon didn't mind that he had fallen asleep but it seemed that Anakin was worried about getting into more trouble.

     "I brought in some of your things from your quarters." Qui-Gon said, pointing towards the box, "Obi-Wan must have packed them before he left because they were sitting by the front door along with a datapad for me listing where you were in each of you lessons. We'll go over it tonight so that we can begin training tomorrow. Right now you ought to take a shower and change into some clean clothes." Qui-Gon eyed the boy's tear streaked face and rumpled clothing. In any other situation he would have laughed outright but he decided against it.

     "Yes sir." Anakin hurried to the refresher. His whole backside hurt and the cool water felt good on the still sore skin. The ten year old let the water sooth his skin for thirty minutes before remembering that he was supposed to be cleaning up. Quickly he washed his face and stepped out of the shower. Surprisingly there was a tunic and a towel waiting for him. It only took him a minute to change before he stepped out of the refresher and into the main room.

     When Anakin stepped out of the refresher Qui-Gon looked up from the desk where he sat looking over some papers. Instead of a rebuke for spending so long in the shower the Jedi Master only motioned for Anakin to join him. The child stood next to the desk, choosing not to sit at the moment, and waited. He seemed to wait forever. Finally the boy decided to ask what it was that Qui-Gon needed, "Did you need something Master Jinn?" He asked, his voice hesitant. Instead of an answer Qui-Gon acted as if he hadn't even heard him. "Master Jinn? Master Jinn what is it you require of me?" Anakin tried again. When he didn't answer again he got frustrated, "Fine. Don't answer me. I don't give a ****." The boy stomped away angrily. What was that all about? Why did Master Jinn call him over there and then act as if he didn't exist?

     "Anakin come back here." Qui-Gon's voice was calm without the slightest trace of anger.

     The boy complied and waited again for Qui-Gon to speak. This time the Jedi Master didn't make him wait, "I want you to watch your language first of all. You don't need to swear to get your point across and I won't allow it. If you're going to swear you're going to wash your mouth out with soap. Understood?"

     "Yes sir." The boy said sulkily.

     "Second," He paused and looked at the boy's pouting face, "Anakin,"

     "What?"

     "Stop Pouting!" Qui-Gon said exasperated. Immediately he straightened up but the pout was still there in his mind if not on his face, "As I was saying. I did call you over for a reason. It was a lesson on patience and unfortunately you failed miserably. It took you less than a minute to blow up at me. So, as a result you have the privilege of spending the next two hours in meditation. But before you do that, the real reason I called you over. We are going to begin your lessons tomorrow as I have already told you and so I was going over this datapad but the information here disturbs me. How long have you been Obi-Wan's Padawan?" He asked.

     "For nearly a year." Was the immediate reply. And I've hated nearly every moment of it!

     "Well then if you've been with your Master for almost a year how is it that you haven't even progressed half way through the easiest beginners lessons? These should be far beyond your skill even if you weren't brought up at the temple. Also it doesn't say here anything about lightsaber lessons. What have you learned?" Anakin didn't answer right away and when Qui-Gon looked up the boy was blushing, "Well?" He prodded.

     "I haven't learned anything about lightsabers." Anakin said sheepishly.

     "Why not?" Qui-Gon was thoroughly surprised. He knew that Anakin was ready; everyone knew it.

     "Because of one little incident that went wrong. Another initiate and I got into a fight and I drew my lightsaber. He drew his at the same time but Obi-Wan...er...my Master blamed me and forbid me to use a lightsaber anymore. When I learn how to act responsibly he said he'd give it back, whatever that means. I don't see why I got all the blame and am the only one who got in trouble. The other kid broke just as many rules as I did and he's been here eight whole years!" Anakin spat out.

     "You drew your lightsaber on a younger initiate? Anakin! No wonder Obi-Wan said that. I would have done the very same thing, as would just about any other Master or Instructor in the Temple. Using your lightsaber is a last resort and should never be done unless there is no other way out, and it should never be drawn on an ally. Never!" Qui-Gon's voice was stern again.

     "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You don't have to give me a lecture on it. I've heard it all from both the Instructor and my Master at least twice." Anakin said spitefully.

     "I see." Qui-Gon was beginning to see. This boy was a holy terror to Obi-Wan, the Instructors, and other initiates. "Go meditate Anakin, I have a lot of work to do here in order to get you caught up." Qui-Gon pointed towards a corner of the room where the Meditation mat was. Anakin didn't want to meditate but he knew that if he didn't it would only result in possibly another painful round with the Jedi Master. So to protect his best interests, the boy obeyed, surprising both Qui-Gon and himself.

     It took the whole two hours for Qui-Gon to sort out the mess that was supposed to be his charges academic record. He was one-fourth of the way through one book and yet almost done with another book. In every single class he was far from being caught up to where he should be. Even for a first year student he was behind, not to mention a ten-year old. So as soon as Anakin was done meditating Qui-Gon called him back over. This time Anakin was fully prepared to wait however long it took but he was surprised. Qui-Gon didn't take time with another patience lesson. Instead he handed a datapad to the boy. "Read." He said.

     "What?"

     "Read it and make sure you read it thoroughly." Qui-Gon replied not looking up.

     "Why?"

     "Anakin if I were you I wouldn't question my orders. The next time could find you wishing you hadn't spoken at all." Qui-Gon was beginning to loose his patience, no matter how much he called on the force to help.

     "I'm sorry Master Jinn but I want to know why I have to read this." Anakin knew immediately that he just got himself into more trouble again.

     Qui-Gon looked up from the datapad he was looking at, "Anakin I told you to stop questioning me. Since talking seems to get into your way I don't want to hear your voice for at least 12 hours. Tomorrow after I give you leave you may talk again. If I hear your voice before then I will personally stick a bar of soap in it and make you keep it there for an hour." Qui-Gon threatened.

     The boy nodded, not daring to answer verbally, and went to sit down. How come Qui-Gon's so mean? I didn't do anything. Just asked a few questions! What a jerk!!

     The Jedi Master stared at the datapad in front of him and sighed. It was going to take a miracle to teach this boy anything, especially if he continued to act like a stuck up brat. The list of his...problems...was probably miles long. He swore, talked back, questioned orders, deliberately disobeyed orders, yelled and screamed at his Master, purposely brought harm against his Master, broke the code...the list went on and on. For the first time since meeting the boy Qui-Gon wondered if he had been smart to bring him here.

*        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *        *

     Qui-Gon looked up as the light on his communication console started to blink rapidly. He hurried over and pressed the button. Surprisingly a voice began to ask for a password. No one sent him password-protected communications unless it was a high priority. Quickly he typed in his password and the screen cleared to reveal Obi-Wan's figure. The holo-recording was clear and Qui-Gon could see that his former Padawan was tired yet at the same time he seemed much happier.

     "Good evening my Master." Obi-Wan's voice floated through the room and Anakin's head jerked up at the sound. Obi-Wan's figure bowed slightly before continuing, "I have contacted you because I don't want you to worry about me. Right now I am doing just fine. There have been no major problems on this mission; everything is going wonderfully. Hopefully the war will be ending soon and the mission complete. It has required me to use every bit of knowledge that I have but I am sure that this mission will be a success. How is Anakin doing? I sincerely hope that he has been behaving himself, as I don't want him causing you any trouble as he did me. If he has been disrespectful I apologize. The boy needs training and correction, training that I cannot adequately give him. I must go now Master. Negotiations begin early tomorrow and I need my rest as you have always told me. Good bye my Master," the image paused for a second before Obi-Wan's voice continued, "and good luck with Anakin. I hope he doesn't cause you the pain he has caused me." With those last words Obi-Wan bowed and the holograph disappeared.

A yellow light began to flash and the voice came back again, "Do you wish to send a response to this communication?"

Qui-Gon paused for a moment before pushing the button to reply. A green light came on, indicating the recording was beginning. Qui-Gon bowed slightly, "Hello Obi-Wan. I am glad to hear that all goes well with your mission. Anakin and I have had our differences and I am hoping that my...reaction...to his behavior will have cured him of his disrespectful attitude. Twice today he has incurred my wrath upon his rear. He would say something but right now he has lost all speaking privileges until further notice. We will begin his training tomorrow although I will refrain from lightsaber courses until I feel he has earned that right. I hope to see you soon my Padawan, and I look forward to your return. Goodbye for now." Qui-Gon bowed again slightly and pressed the send button, which deactivated the recorder and sent the message to the communication console where Obi-Wan's holo-letter was sent from.

Anakin just stared at Qui-Gon angrily. He didn't dare speak but he couldn't believe that the Jedi Master would be so mean as to tell about his actions. It didn't matter that Obi-Wan was his Master anyway it still made the boy extremely irritated.

     "I know you're angry but your Master deserves an update on your actions. Have you finished reading that datapad?" Qui-Gon asked. Anakin nodded. "Good. Now you can take the test." Qui-Gon handed him another datapad full of questions. "Answer them as best as you can. You won't be allowed to use the information so it must be answered completely from memory. In forty-five minutes I will take the test and grade it. If you receive a passing grade then you will be permitted to go on to the next lesson tomorrow. If not then tomorrow you get to reread the datapad and answer another test. Remember that the computer randomly selects twenty questions from a list of one-hundred and so memorizing the questions will do no good." Qui-Gon glanced at the ion clock to mark the time, "You may begin now."

     Anakin raced through the questions as quickly as he could. Anything that he didn't know right away he used the force to help him with. It was obvious that Qui-Gon wanted to get him caught up but the Jedi Master wasn't going to let him advance unless he knew the information. Thirty minutes later the boy handed the datapad to Qui-Gon and waited. Qui-Gon let the computer grade the test and thirty seconds later he had the results.

     "You have passed this test with an eighty percent." Qui-Gon said, looking at the scores. "It seems that you have a great memory Anakin. Your use of the force is good too. Tomorrow you will be able to move on to the next section. Because you passed this test you won't need to continue with this section of lessons. I hope to get you completely caught up in all of your subjects. If not to the level you should be in then at least I want you in the same levels in each class."

     Anakin opened his mouth to say something but stopped himself in time. There wasn't any way he was speaking. No way, no how. Qui-Gon smiled slightly, "Use the Force to communicate. You cannot send me words or complete sentences but you can project feelings, emotions and images. Try it." This was working out better than he thought. Instead of just a punishment this was working out as a wonderful lesson on using the force.

     The Padawan closed his eyes and drew upon the force, pulling it in close to him. It took plenty of concentration but eventually he was able to project his feelings through the force. Qui-Gon reached out and felt weariness and fatigue. Anakin was excessively tired. The boy needed sleep immediately.

     "It's okay Anakin. You may go to bed. I'll wake you up tomorrow-in time for the morning meal. Goodnight Child." Qui-Gon said fondly. He used the term Child as he would Padawan, as a term of affection and as a title.

     Anakin bowed and headed into "his" room. Changing his clothes was no problem but when he looked at the sleep couch he moaned. It was painful enough just to walk but now he had to lie down! It wasn't easy for him to sleep on his stomach but it looked like that was how he was going to have to sleep for the next couple of days because he wasn't going to be "healed" for at least two more days. Carefully he eased onto the sleep couch, wincing at the pain it caused. Finally he lay down completely and his muscles could relax. How am I going to survive until Obi-Wan returns? Master Jinn is going to run me ragged I'm sure of it! I wish that I had never said those things to Master. Anakins thoughts swirled around in his mind for hours, keeping him awake while he wished he could go back in time. Eventually his body exhausted his mind and the boy fell into a troubled sleep.

***End Part Three***