The Old Master

by Sage (greensage2@yahoo.com)

Archive: m_a, my site http://www.geocities.com/greensage2. All others, please ask.

Category: Alternate Universe, Pre-Slash

Rating: G

Warnings: None

Series: Part of my "Bonding Universe" collection of stories. Not exactly a series -- just a collection of episodes.

Summary: Obi-Wan makes a new friend.

Notes: This fic is the result of a plot bunny that attacked me when I reread Augusta Pembrooke's "Pleasure Boy." I threw it together in sort of a hurry, so it hasn't been beta'd. All mistakes are mine. Hope you all enjoy it! Thanks also to everyone who gave me feedback on Hugs, Kisses, and Bedtime Story -- your encouragement means more to me than I can express. I promise I'm working on the sequel to "A Place Among the Stones," really! This just happened to sprout first. Feedback: Oh please, oh please! Either on the list or by email would be fine; I'll take anything.

Disclaimers: Not mine. No money. All hail the mighty Lucas. Thanks and much praise to Anne Higgins for creating her wonderful Bonding Universe and allowing other authors to write in it.

Timeline -- Around the same time as "Hugs." Obi-Wan is three years old and living in the crèche.

"All right, children, time to get up!" Crèche Master Aronna briskly roused her young charges not long after dawn. Today was the first day of group classes for the three-year olds. Every other day, they'd have Saber Basics with Knight Ralla, and on alternate days, they'd have class in the crèche to learn their letters and numbers.

Twenty-five toddlers whined sleepily and protested the earliness of the hour.

"Come on, sleepyheads, you need to get up and have a good breakfast. You don't want to be late for your first day of lightsaber training, do you?"

THAT got a response. Lightsaber training was definitely an adventure one did not wish to be late for. Fifty little feet hit the floor and pattered dutifully off to the baths. Five minutes and three soap-and- water fights later, twenty-five dripping wet toddlers scurried back into the room. Master Aronna's staff chased them down, dried them off, and then bade them all to dress in clean tunics and leggings.

Twenty-five identically dressed children formed a neat line, and twenty-five expectant little faces regarded the Crèche Master as they waited to be led first to the dining hall, and then to one of the large drill halls for their very first saber lessons.

Aronna chuckled. "Well, maybe I should offer you lightsaber training every morning. I don't think you've ever been out of bed so fast." She led the orderly little line out of the crèche.

Obi-Wan was terribly excited. He was finally going to start learning how to be a Jedi. Just like Quigee. While he'd never seen his bondmate fight with a lightsaber in person, he really liked being along as a mental passenger when the young Jedi Master sparred with other Knights. It was very exciting to watch the green blade flicker and flash through the air.

The little boy ate his breakfast mechanically, too busy thinking about lightsabers to pay attention to what he was eating. He wondered what color his would be. The Knights Quigee sparred with had blades of all different colors. Obi-Wan decided that he wanted a green saber. Just like Quigee.

Breakfast dragged on interminably while Obi-Wan and his agemates fidgeted restlessly.

"Can we go now, pleeeeeeze, Master Aronna?" Garen Muln asked. Garen was one of the very first children Obi-Wan met when he came to the Temple, and the two had become fast friends.

Twenty-three other voices joined in the request to get going. Twenty- three because Obi-Wan was still thinking about green lightsabers.

Master Aronna looked first at the twenty-four, no, twenty-five clamoring youngsters, then at their half-empty cereal bowls. She sighed helplessly. "All right, all right! You're obviously not going to finish your breakfasts this morning, are you?" she asked rhetorically.

"YAY!!!!" the happy cry went up. Twenty-five trays were hastily shoved into the recycler, and the orderly line was reformed with uncharacteristic alacrity. Aronna led them to the drill hall, where she turned them over to Knight Ralla.

"Be warned," she said to the younger Knight, "they're tremendously excited this morning."

Ralla laughed. "So much the better. Eager students are fast learners." She addressed the toddlers next. "All right, children, sit down, and my helpers and I will teach you how to use a lightsaber."

There were twenty-five young Padawans seated in neat rows behind her, each holding a pair of flexible foam-rubber sticks. It was a long- standing tradition in the Temple for the newest Padawans to help the toddlers with their first few saber lessons. It was a good, non- taxing initial teaching responsibility for the young Padawans, and it kept the lessons from disintegrating into games of "club-the- crèchemate." Once the toddlers became more proficient with the training "sabers," the Padawans would be released from their teaching duties, and the children could spar with each other.

Ralla instructed the little ones that they were to listen very carefully to their older sparring partners and try to copy their actions.

Obi-Wan grinned happily. They played copy-cat games in the crèche all the time, and Obi-Wan was very good at it. He smiled sunnily at the older boy who approached him.

"Hi, I'm Raldan," the youth said by way of introduction. "What's your name?"

"I'm Obi-Wan."

"Glad to meet you, Obi-Wan. Here's your very first practice saber. I'll teach you how to use it." Raldan handed Obi-Wan a yellow rubber stick.

Obi-Wan took the stick and frowned at it. He wasn't exactly sure how to phrase his question, but decided he'd try to express his uncertainty anyhow. "Light?" he asked, hoping the older boy would understand.

"Huh?" Raldan asked, puzzled. "Oh, light! I understand. You don't get to use a real lightsaber until you get older. Lots older. I don't even have my own yet; I've only ever used the training lightsabers."

Obi-Wan pouted. What good was lightsaber training if he didn't even get to use a real lightsaber? He sighed. He supposed that if the teachers said he had to use a stick at first, he'd go along with it. Maybe if he was really good at using a stick, they'd give him a real lightsaber sooner. Just like Quigee's.

He looked up at Raldan. "Okay. Use stick for now."

The Padawan grinned. "Good. Now look here. This is how you hold it..."

Obi-Wan watched and copied as Raldan showed him the proper way to hold the stick and perform a couple rudimentary parries and lunges with it.

"Great!" Raldan praised the little boy as Obi-Wan demonstrated the maneuvers he'd been taught.

Obi-Wan puffed out his small chest proudly. He was very good at copy- cat games.

"Okay," Raldan said, "now we're going to try something different. You have to try to use your stick to make me drop mine while I try to knock yours out of your hands. Understand?"

Obi-Wan frowned again, puzzled. What good was a lightsaber if everyone was constantly trying to knock it out of your hands? He thought back to the times he'd ridden along while Quigee sparred. He tried to remember how they decided who won. Oh, yes. The person who knocked the lightsaber out of the other guy's hand usually won. So that was why Raldan had proposed the stick-knocking game.

Obi-Wan smiled again. "Okay," he chirped.

"Right. Now remember what I showed you."

Obi-Wan nodded.

"Ready, set, go!"

They knocked rubber sticks together a few times before Raldan sent Obi-Wan's practice saber flying.

Obi-Wan pouted as he watched it go.

"Hey, not bad, Obi-Wan! You're pretty good for a beginner." Raldan tousled the little boy's curly hair before trotting off to retrieve the practice saber.

Obi-Wan kept frowning as he considered the situation. Quigee almost never dropped his saber when he played the stick-knocking game with other Knights. Obi-Wan concentrated harder and tried to figure out why. Gradually, it dawned him. Quigee did a lot more than just a couple lunges and parries. He used a lot of different moves to make the other Knights drop their sabers. Obi-Wan pictured some of the sparring matches he'd witnessed, focusing on how Quigee's body felt during the matches, how it moved. He was pretty sure he could make his body move the same way. He decided to give it a try. Maybe he wouldn't drop his stick so quickly.

Raldan returned then and handed back the practice saber. "Okay, Obi- Wan. Let's try it again. This time, try to watch my stick more closely so that you can block it a little better. Ready?"

Obi-Wan nodded, his brow furrowed in concentration. This time when they knocked their sticks together, Obi-Wan tried copying one of Quigee's moves. Raldan's stick tumbled to the ground. A surprised grin spread across the little boy's face. That was better.

Raldan blinked. He recognized the maneuver Obi-Wan had used; he'd just learned it himself in Advanced Lightsaber Training last week. Sure, the toddler wasn't as graceful with it, but the technique was unmistakable. He picked up his stick.

"That was really good, Obi-Wan! But it won't be so easy this time."

They engaged again, and Raldan stepped up his technique a notch. They exchanged a few blows before Raldan's rubber stick was flying through the air again. On impulse, Obi-Wan copied another of Quigee's moves, swinging his rubber stick at the backs of Raldan's knees with all his tiny strength.

The blow caught the Padawan by surprise, and he lost his balance and went tumbling to the mats.

Obi-Wan giggled. This was such a fun game! He liked it even better than the copy-cat game. He waited for the Padawan to get up and retrieve his stick.

Knight Ralla approached the pair when she saw Raldan go down.

"What's going on over here?"

"You aren't going to believe this kid, Knight Ralla," Raldan said as he got up and dusted himself off. "He's really good! He's using moves that I'm just starting to learn, and I sure didn't show him how to do it."

Ralla frowned. It wasn't unheard of for one or two of the little ones to be good with a practice saber from the very beginning, but this business of using advanced techniques was another matter entirely.

"Has someone been teaching you to use a saber, Obi-Wan?" she asked the little boy, who was patiently waiting to get on with the game.

Obi-Wan looked up at his teacher, confused. "No."

Ralla tried again. "How do you know how to knock Raldan's stick out of his hand?"

Oh, that was easy. "Watch Quigee."

Ralla exchanged a quizzical glance with the Padawan. "What's a quigee?"

Obi-Wan sighed. He didn't really mind working with adults from time to time, but sometimes they just didn't have a clue. He tried to remember how to say Quigee's real name. Oh, yes. Now he remembered.

"Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan said proudly.

Ralla's eyes widened. "Qui-Gon? Master Jinn's been teaching you?" That didn't make any sense. Master Jinn was out of the Temple on missions more often than not.

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "No! Watch Qui-Gon."

Ralla frowned. That didn't make sense either. The boy had only been at the Temple for a few weeks, and she was sure the crèche children hadn't been to any demonstrations recently. Even if they had, there just hadn't been enough time for the little one to pick up the advanced maneuvers.

"Special, this boy is," a new voice rasped. "Spar with him, I will."

Obi-Wan peeked around Ralla's legs to see who the newcomer was. He stared. The owner of the new voice was very...green. And little -- just about Obi-Wan's size.

Ralla and Raldan recovered from their initial surprise and bowed respectfully. "Of course, Master Yoda," Ralla said. The two Jedi left the old Master and the crècheling to their amusements.

Obi-Wan stared at the little green troll for another minute while it stared silently back at him.

"What's your name?" Obi-Wan finally asked, remembering to be polite.

"Called Yoda, I am. And your name is what? Hmm?"

Obi-Wan blinked as he sorted out the unfamiliar syntax. "I'm Obi- Wan." He giggled. "You talk funny."

Yoda's ears twitched, and his eyes crinkled at the small boy. "Amusing, your speech is, too."

"Are you a new kid in the crèche?" This Yoda-creature was the right size to be a child, so it made sense to Obi-Wan that he therefore was a child.

Yoda cackled gleefully. "Child, I am not. Child, I have not been for many years now. But play your stick-knocking game with you, I will."

Obi-Wan beamed, pleased that somebody else used his name for the new game.

"'Kay! But you need a stick like this." Obi-Wan said importantly as he brandished his rubber practice saber.

"Need one of those, I do not. Have my own stick, I do." Yoda indicated his wooden gimer stick.

Obi-Wan eyed it uncertainly. It didn't look as soft as the rubber sabers. He was a bit nervous about being hit with the little troll's stick.

"Worry, you should not. Hurt you, I will not. Very good at stick- knocking game, I am."

Obi-Wan knew a challenge when he heard one. "Oh, yeah?" He drew himself up to his full height, all defiance.

Yoda cackled again and raised his stick.

Obi-Wan engaged him, using as many of Quigee's moves as he could remember. Yoda knocked his rubber stick to the ground and poked him gently in the ribs.

"Got you, I did." The ears wiggled again.

Obi-Wan pouted.

"Get stick," Yoda commanded. "Try again, we will."

Obi-Wan dutifully retrieved his practice saber.

"Watch more carefully, you should."

Obi-Wan wanted to say that he'd been watching carefully enough, thank you very much, but he knew from experience that talking back to his elders rarely furnished positive results. He gritted his teeth and focused all his attention on Yoda's stick and his own practice saber. They dueled briefly again, and Obi-Wan's stick found the floor once more.

"Got you again, I did," Yoda said. "Watching carefully you were not."

"I was, too," Obi-Wan sulked. The troll was much better at the stick- knocking game than Raldan.

Yoda cackled. "Only watching with your eyes, you were. Focused only on blades, you were. Get stick. Show you how to watch, I will."

Obi-Wan regarded Yoda dubiously, but obeyed.

When he returned, Yoda raised his stick. "Only watching my stick, you were, yes?"

"I have to watch the stick to hit it," Obi-Wan protested.

"Ah, but only thing to watch, it is not. Watch here," Yoda thumped the middle of his chest, "to see how body moves before hit you, I do." Yoda next pointed to his eyes. "Also watch here. Look for an open spot on your body, I must, before hit you, I do. Watch."

Yoda moved to poke Obi-Wan in the ribs again. Obi-Wan blocked the blow.

"Hah! See?"

Obi-Wan grinned and nodded. Yoda's eyes and the way he moved had telegraphed his target.

"Watch only with eyes, you should not."

Obi-Wan was confused. "What else do I watch with?"

There was a nudge in his mind not far from where Quigee's voice lived.

"Watch here, you should."

Obi-Wan was skeptical. "How do I watch with that?"

"Close eyes. Think hard."

Obi-Wan did.

Yoda swung his stick well away from Obi-Wan's body.

"Feel that, did you?"

"Nope."

There was another nudge. "Think with this, you should."

Yoda swung again. "Feel it this time, did you?"

"Um, kinda?"

"Hah! Good. Keep eyes closed."

Yoda moved to poke Obi-Wan in the ribs yet again. Eyes still closed, Obi-Wan sensed a vague...something. He swung wildly, missing Yoda's stick entirely.

"Owww!" Obi-Wan complained, rubbing his recently-jabbed side.

Yoda patted the boy's head. "Poked you, I did, but knew it was coming, you did. Even if missed it, you did. Again," Yoda ordered.

Obi-Wan closed his eyes again.

Yoda waited. And waited. Then suddenly poked again.

Obi-Wan sensed it coming in the part of his mind near where Quigee was and knocked the gimer stick away. His eyes flew open. "Wow!!"

Yoda's ears twitched madly. "See? Knew you could do it, I did. Very good, small one."

Obi-Wan beamed. If he practiced hard, he'd bet he could get just as good at this game as he was at the copy-cat games.

Knight Ralla had been watching off to one side for quite some time. This little one, whoever he was, was going to be a fantastic swordsman. Children usually didn't master the art of "watching" with the Force until they were old enough to be chosen as Padawans. And this little tyke had managed it at three! She nodded to Yoda, knowing that he had picked up on her musings since she hadn't really been shielding. She turned to the rest of the group and clapped her hands loudly, interrupting the basic saber drills.

"Okay, children. Time to line up and go back to the crèche," she called.

A universal chorus of groans went up. The kids were having way too much fun to stop now.

"It's time for lunch," Ralla added.

Now THAT was a different story. Growing Jedi Knights are always hungry. The kids scrambled to line up.

Obi-Wan waved goodbye to his new friend before leaving to join the line. "Bye-bye, Yoda."

"Wait," Yoda rasped. He turned to Knight Ralla. "Time for their lunch, it is, yes?"

Ralla nodded.

"Take Obi-Wan with me, I will. Have lunch with him, I will. Tell Master Aronna, you will, yes?"

Ralla bowed. "Yes, Master Yoda. May I tell her why?"

"Knows, she does, or guess, she will."

"Thank you, Master."

Yoda turned to the little boy. "With me, you will come. Lunch, we will have together, yes?"

Oh, goody. Obi-Wan loved making new friends. He bounced to Yoda's side. "'Kay!"

"To my quarters, we will go. Chairs in the dining room, too large, they are."

Obi-Wan giggled. "You could sit with us kids," he suggested. "At the small table with small chairs."

Yoda made a face. "Difficult, it is, to eat with so many children. Pull my ears, they always do. Come!" The wizened Master started shuffling towards the door. "Cookies I have for you, if eat all your lunch, you do."

Cookies? Oh, boy! Obi-Wan skipped alongside his new friend as they went slowly through the Temple halls. Obi-Wan was curious about the little green troll.

"Are you a Jedi?"

Yoda cackled. "Jedi Master, I am. Like your bondmate."

Obi-Wan goggled. "A Master? Really? Wow." He'd never seen such a small Jedi Master.

"My padawan, your bondmate was."

"Pad...pad...?"

"Padawan. Means student, it does. Qui-Gon's padawan, you will be someday. Your master, he will be. His master, I was. Good padawan, he was."

Yoda stopped in front of a door, and it opened before them. He led the way into his quarters. Obi-Wan looked around curiously.

"You have trees in your room?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously, looking at the gnarled swamp plants that crawled up Yoda's walls.

"Remind me of home, they do."

Obi-Wan grew somber. "D'you miss your home and your mommy and daddy, too?"

Yoda smiled gently and put one clawed hand on Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Seen my parents since I hatched, I have not. Very different from humans, my species is. Try not to miss your home, you must. Your family, the Jedi will become. Take care of you, we will."

Obi-Wan's attention wandered. "How old are you?" he asked suddenly.

"Many years, I have. How many have you?"

"I'm three," Obi-Wan said proudly.

Yoda's ears twitched. "Eight hundred years, I have." Obi-Wan looked confused. "Lots more than three, that is." Yoda sniffed the air. "Ah. Already brought our lunch, they have. Come! Sit and eat, we will." Two steaming trays waited on a low table. Obi-Wan sat in the small chair that was clearly meant for him.

"Wait for me, you will. Tea, I must get."

Tea? Yuck! Obi-Wan wanted to be polite, so he didn't protest.

Yoda picked up on the boy's thoughts and grinned. "Juice, I have for you. For me, the tea is."

"Oh, good. Don't like tea. Yucky!" Obi-Wan scowled.

"Acquired taste, it is."

Obi-Wan looked at him blankly.

"Like it when you are older, you might."

Obi-Wan was patently unconvinced. Yoda shuffled off and returned with a steaming mug for himself and a tall glass of chilled juice for the little boy. He took the lids off the trays.

Obi-Wan grimaced when he saw the vegetables heaped alongside a small meat sandwich. "Vegetables?" he whined. "Ick."

Yoda climbed onto a stump-like stool at the other end of the table. "Growing boy, you are. Vegetables, you need, to grow strong and healthy. Eat their vegetables, good Jedi Knights always do. Besides, cookies for you, I have, if eat all your vegetables, you do."

Oh, yeah. Cookies! Obi-Wan dug manfully into the vegetables, shoveling them down as quickly as he could to get it over with.

"Eat so quickly, you should not. Sick, you might become."

Obi-Wan gulped down the last mouthful of vegetables, then started in on his sandwich much more slowly. He liked sandwiches. Sometimes his hands got clumsy with forks and spoons, but sandwiches he could eat with his fingers. And that was a lot more fun, anyhow. He glanced curiously at Yoda's plate. It appeared to hold only vegetables.

"No sandwich for you? Were you bad?"

Yoda cackled, his ears wiggling rapidly. "Bad, I was not. Need meat, my body does not. Different from yours, it is."

"Oh. Think I'm glad I'm not a troll, then. I don't want to eat vegetables ALL the time."

Yoda's ears flattened. "Troll, I am not," he huffed indignantly. The message unit mounted low on the wall beeped suddenly. Yoda shuffled over to it and hit a button. He scanned the incoming missive rapidly.

"Ah. From your bondmate, it is. Returning to the Temple later, he is."

"Quigee's coming home? Yay!!"

"Like that, I thought you might." Yoda's eyes turned mischievous. "Pictures, I have, of Qui-Gon when he was very young. Want to see them, you do, yes?"

Obi-Wan nodded eagerly. "Cookies?" he reminded the Master. He'd cleaned his plate and emptied his glass. He was eager for the promised reward.

"Forgotten, I have not. Eat cookies, you can, while looking at old pictures."

Yoda floated a plate of cookies and a holo projector to the table. Obi-Wan snatched a cookie as the projector powered up. It flicked through several images of a gawky, too-tall, awkward-looking youth with a braid that got progressively longer as the pictures went on.

"Young, your bondmate was once. Like you. Many stories, I could tell you about him." Yoda's eyes twinkled. "Funny stories. Embarrassing to Qui-Gon, they are."

Stories? Obi-Wan liked listening to stories. Especially about Quigee. Quigee never told any funny stories about himself. Maybe Master Yoda would tell them, instead. "Would you tell me? About when Quigee was your Pad...Pad...um, student?"

Yoda cackled. "Tell you another time, I will. Come back to visit, you must. Think I have something more interesting for you today."

As if by magic, the door chime sounded. "Enter," Yoda called. The door opened to reveal...

"Quigee!!" Obi-Wan shot out of his chair and ran towards his bondmate.

The young Jedi Master swept the little boy up and into his arms as he stepped through the door. "Hello, Imp. What are you doing in here?" he asked with a smile.

"Quigee! I made a new friend, and his name is Yoda, and we played a game with sticks, but I really wanted to use a green lightsaber like yours, and I learned how to watch with my eyes closed, and Yoda and me had lunch, and I ate all my vegetables, and I had cookies, and Yoda said that he was your teacher, and he has lots of pictures of you when you were his Pad...Pad...um, student, and he promised to tell me lots of funny stories about you, and can I have a tree in the crèche?"

Qui-Gon laughed. "Sounds like you've had a very full morning, my imp."

"Uh-huh!"

"I don't think they'd let you have a tree in the crèche, though."

Obi-Wan pouted. "Why not?"

Qui-Gon fished for a suitable excuse.

It was Yoda who spoke up. "Have dirt in the crèche, they do not. A mess, the other children would make. Unhappy, the tree would be. Have one of mine, you can, and take care of it for you, I will. Visit it, you can, when come to see me, you do."

Obi-Wan brightened. That sounded like a good idea.

"'Kay! Thanks, Master Yoda!"

"Pick one now, you should. Sit with it, you will, and introduce yourself. Talk with your bondmate for a minute, I must, then have him, you can." Yoda's ears wiggled at the little boy.

Obi-Wan squirmed out of Qui-Gon's embrace and pattered over to one of the gnarled old plants. He plopped down among the roots.

Yoda nudged the little boy's mind again. "Talk to it with this, you should. Understand you better, it will."

Obi-Wan closed his eyes and scrunched his little face up in fierce concentration.

Yoda turned back to Qui-Gon.

"How did you manage to run into Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked his former master

"Dropped in on his saber lessons, I did." The gleam in Yoda's eyes made Qui-Gon think that his presence in the drill hall hadn't been a complete accident. "Sparred with him, I did. Very good with a lightsaber, he will be, when older, he gets. Use his Force sense already, he can. Learns from you always, he does. Watched him disarm a Padawan twice, I did. A handful, he will be," Yoda chortled.

"A handful, he already is," Qui-Gon said, grinning. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Yoda turned wise old eyes on the little boy trying to talk to one of his trees. "A very special little boy, he is. Good for each other, you are," the old Master said to his former student. "Take good care of him, Padawan mine."

"With my life," Qui-Gon said fervently. "We take care of each other. When I'm in-Temple, that is." He flicked a mildly accusatory glance at the Councilor.

"Wait, your report can," Yoda said imperturbably. "Spend time with your bondmate, you should. Talk to you tomorrow morning, I will."

"Thank you, Master." He paused. "What sort of stories were you going to tell him?"

Yoda cackled. "Tell you, I will not. My prerogative as his Grandmaster, it is."

Qui-Gon sighed resignedly. Meddling old troll, he groused silently

"Heard that, I did."

"Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon called.

Obi-Wan's eyes opened. "Yes, Quigee?"

"Would you like to go swim in the Water Gardens?"

Obi-Wan scrambled to his feet. "Yes, please!"

Qui-Gon picked the little boy up, and Obi-Wan snuggled in comfortably against his chest.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Master."

Yoda nodded and watched them go. He sighed happily, pleased that he had another little one to water. Perhaps he should water this one a bit less than he'd watered his last padawan. That one had grown entirely too tall. He stumped over to the tree Obi-Wan had chosen, sat down, and listened to its voice in the Force as it told him all the fascinating things the little boy had said. It only confirmed his opinion; Obi-Wan was a very special little boy, indeed.

Fin.