Summary: My version of how the guys met. Written before I read
the Jedi Apprentice books so it's an AU
Feedback: Yes please
You have some question for me, I think.
Yes Master.
Go and ask it then.
How did you and your master meet?
I first saw him when I was a small boy. I was living in the
CrËche at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.
The CrËche?
Sometimes children with potential are brought to the Temple
very young, before they are really ready to begin their
training. They live in the CrËche and are taken care of
until they are ready to become padawans.
How old were you when you went there?
Not even a year old, just a baby really.
And you met your master there?
I met most of the Jedi knights and masters there. They would
come down to watch us play. Then, when we began our studies and
our formal training, they would come often to monitor and to
help train us.
But, how did he pick you to be his apprentice?
That is a long story.
Please?
Very well. As I said, I was just a baby when I arrived on
Coruscant. For the first few years I ran and played with the
other children. There were lessons of a sort. How to get along
with others, how to share, how to make one's bed and fold one's
clothes. Nothing unusual. The masters would come and watch us
playing. Some would even come and play with us.
What did you play?
Just games like any child might play. Tag, Qwi Qwi, Toss &
Catch, Pizz and such. Master Yoda would play Toss-Stones with
us sometimes. There were toys of all sorts and a great many
books and puzzles. We didn't know that our training had begun.
We were being taught, very painlessly, things that we would
need to know later in our life.
When I was five the formal training began and we saw the
knights and the masters much more often. They would still come
and play with us after lessons were done and on our holidays
and they were often giving us our other lesson. Some of them
would come and help us with our practices and studies.
Did your master come?
Yes. The first time I remember seeing him was that year.
Lessons were done and we were free until it was time to wash
for supper. Most of my age-group and some of the others were
playing Zip Zhoup in the garden when he came with Master Yoda.
They sat on one of the stone benches under the old mandrel tree
and watched us.
He didn't play with you?
Not that time. He sat and watched with Master Yoda. Two others
came down and joined them, Pwondo and his padawan, Mikka. She
was getting ready for her trail then. They sat under the tree
and watched us play and talked among themselves. Then the bell
rang and we went in to wash up for supper and they left for
their meal.
He didn't even talk to you?
No, but I knew he was to be my master.
How did you know?
It's hard to explain. I just knew somehow. You might say that
the Force told me. And that night I dreamed about him training
me.
What was in the dream?
He and I together practicing. He was showing me how to use my
light saber. Every night for a week or two I dreamed of him.
When did you talk to him?
Not for nearly three years.
What? Why not?
Remember, he was not always there. He would go and come back
but most of the time he was away. I made sure I knew all I
could about him and kept track of his comings and goings, but I
didn't really see him often. When he did come back he did not
spend all his time with the students. He had his own studies
and meditations. Every day he had to practice and train like we
do so that he would always be ready if he were needed.
Still, he must have come sometimes.
He did, but fate seemed to be against me. When he played with
the students it was always when I had chores. When he taught a
class, I was always in another. When I needed help during
practice it was always another master who came over first. If I
were away on some excursion or another, he would come down to
visit. But, I knew that he would be my master someday. Every
time I saw him I would have dreams about us together So I
decided to bide my time.
Was it hard, waiting like that?
Sometimes, but I had become so absolutely certain of what was
to be that I tried not to worry about it too much. When I was
nearly eight, it came time for us to become true padawans. The
Jedis would come more often. Sometimes they would ask us to
come with them on a trip.
Did you go on any?
Two, one to Alderaan and one to Pasdi.
Did your master ask you to go?
No. I went to Alderaan with Lall Tarrenne and to Pasdi with
Neaill Veskin. While I was away he took two others in my
age-group on trips with him.
Fate really was against you.
I thought so. One by one my age-group was matched up with their
masters. Until I was the last one left.
Didn't anyone else want you for their apprentice?
Oh yes. I was asked eight times by eight different Jedis and
said no to them all.
Eight? Were they angry?
No, but they were surprised I think. In the whole history of
the Jedi no student had ever turned down that many masters. It
caused a huge stir. All the other children thought I was
insane. There were even rumors that the council was going to
send me away. Everyone kept taking me aside and asking what was
wrong? Why didn't I want to be matched with a master?
What did you tell them?
I said that none of them were meant to be my master. But, by
then I was beginning to doubt my own conviction. I kept waiting
and hoping for my master to come and notice me but hadn't. I
didn't know what to do. When I heard he was back, I decided
that the next time he came down I would ignore all the rules
and conventions and just march up and introduce myself.
Did you?
No, I didn't get the chance. The very next day after lessons,
we were playing indoors because it was raining, I overheard
Master Yoda tell one of the teachers over the com that my
master was leaving and could not teach a class the next day as
planned.
Oh no. I bet you were upset.
Very much so. I burst into tears and ran out of the building
sobbing like a baby. I'm told it caused quite a stir. No one
knew what had happened. One minute I was fine, the next I was
hysterical.
Where did you run to?
I had a little hidey hole. A lot of the children did. There was
no real privacy in the CrËche so we would find our own
spots to go and be alone. I'm sure the teachers knew where most
of them were. But, as long as we showed up on time for lessons,
no one said anything.
Did they know where yours was?
I didn't think so at the time. It was hard to get to unless you
were a child or someone Master Yoda's size. There was a service
tunnel you had to crawl through. I could walk, as long as I
kept my head down. There was a little room, not much bigger
then a closet at the end. I think it must have once held some
scanning equipment or something. It had a window that had never
been sealed and a little cupboard that I kept my treasures in.
Treasures?
Not really treasures. A drib's collection mostly. Some pretty
rocks, a few feathers, shells that I'd picked up on holiday's
to the shore over the years. A stone jar that I had found half
buried under a bush. I had a journal that I kept hidden there
and a few pictures I had drawn. I also had a couple of blankets
that I scavenged after they had thrown them out and a couple of
pieces of candy that I'd hoarded. Anyhow, I wrapped myself in
the blankets and cried myself to sleep.
Did you really cry that much?
I'm afraid so. I was inconsolable. I had turned away eight good
masters for the sake of one who didn't even know I existed. I
was the oldest child in the CrËche and everyone thought I
was a fool. I would never be a Jedi and all my conviction and
all my dreams were just childish stupidity and not sent to me
from the Force at all. I would be sent away is disgrace and
everyone would laugh at me.
But that didn't happen.
No. When I awoke, I realized that there was someone there with
me. He was sitting there, quite serene, watching me.
Your master?
Yes.
I knew it! What did he say?
//Do you know, I used to come here when I was your age? Though
I would swear it was bigger then. You have caused quite a stir
young one.//
//Oh, are they mad at me?//
//They are worried about you, I think. I do not know what has
happened that could make you so unhappy little one, but, if you
can tell me, perhaps I may be of service?//
//It's just--you're going away.//
What did he say?
Nothing. He was so completely surprised. It was the last thing
he would have expected you see. He thought I would say that
someone had been mean to me, or that I had failed some test,
maybe that I had bad news from home. Something like that.
//What? You're unhappy because I am leaving?//
//Yes.//
//But why? Why should my leaving mean anything to you?//
I told him everything, about the day I first saw him, how I
knew he would be my master, my dreams, everything. He sat there
an listened, looking very confused. When I was done, he sat
there for a moment looking at me as if he could not think of
what to say. Finally he asked me if I wanted to bring any of my
things with me. I took my journal and the pictures and followed
him back down the tunnel.
Did he take you back to the CrËche?
No, when we crawled out of the tunnel, he took me to his rooms.
By then my head was aching and I was hungry, thirsty and worn
out from all my tears. He had me take a bath and, when I was
done, he dressed me in one of his shirts. There was a bowl of
soup and some bread waiting in the main room and when I was
finished. He tucked me into the spare bed and rubbed my back
until I was asleep.
And the next morning he told you that you'd be his padawan.
Yes. Although, it wasn't quite that easy. I'd caused a
considerable fuss by running away and crying and he didn't help
by forgetting to let anyone know that he had found me until the
next morning. We both got scolded several times and we had to
go before the council.
But, it all worked out in the end.
Yes, it did. And now, I think it's time for you to be in bed.
Go and take your shower.
I took a shower yesterday.
And you'll take one tomorrow.
You're wasting water.
This isn't Tatooine, Anakin. There is plenty of water.
Master Obi-Wan?
Yes Anakin?
Where did you and Master Qui-Gon go when you first became his
padawan?
That's a story for another night. Now into the shower with you,
and this time use soap.
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