Protégé: Chosen - Chapter 3 (Star Wars, PG, Anakin and Dooku)
Title: Protégé: Chosen
Authors: Persephone_Kore and Dreagoddess
Timeframe: Starting in The Phantom Menace
Characters: Anakin, Dooku, others
Genre: AU
Keywords: Dooku, Anakin, training
Summary: Master Dooku steps in to offer to train Anakin Skywalker.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Boots thumped rhythmically against the marble floors of the Temple, with the faint shushing of cloaks against the floor. One set of footsteps was lighter than the others, faster but more uncertain at the same time. Anakin trailed behind Dooku and Qui-Gon, trying to look like a proper Jedi Padawan, even if he had no idea what that meant, while he kept his ears open for the older Jedi's conversation.
"Let me guess," Dooku said after a few moments of silence. His face held a very faint smile. "They don't believe you about the Sith?"
Qui-Gon's mouth tightened. "Let's just say they think I'm mistaken in my interpretation of several matters lately."
Dooku glanced back at Anakin, who ducked his head and tried to pretend he wasn't listening. "I'm ...withholding judgment on the question of the Chosen One, at the moment. But a Sith threat is not something to take half-seriously."
"I assure you, I am taking it completely seriously. Obi-Wan and I can handle it. Not to say we won't appreciate your assistance. And your company."
Dooku hesitated minutely at that. "I believe you are taking it seriously," he said. "I don't believe the Council is."
"Judging by their not bringing you in to consult?" Qui-Gon asked with a grin, then threw up his hands at the look Dooku gave him. "I don't deny you're the undeniable expert, Master!"
"It might have been a good idea if they had," Dooku said somewhat sourly. "But somehow I suspect they think they are humoring you."
"Well, if so, we'll have a boring time watching Queen Amidala resolve a trade dispute. But a Sith's involvement would explain why the Trade Federation took such an extreme step as to blockade the planet militarily."
"Incidentally, is anyone doing something about that? We are not a military fleet."
"The Trade Federation maintains that their blockade is legal. While I cannot imagine this is within the intended spirit of the law -- unless they had a hand in it, I suppose -- I'm told they are technically correct, at least on the surface of things." Qui-Gon shrugged. "We are to protect the queen. She wishes to return to the planet, and she says she has a plan. That is up to her."
"Politicians!" Dooku sighed.
"Be nice," Qui-Gon chided. "Here we are." They exited onto a landing pad where a sleek ship was waiting.
Anakin bounced a little on his toes and said, "I'm going to say hi to Padmé!" before he ran ahead.
Dooku's eyes narrowed slightly, but he held his tongue. He would have to talk to Anakin about appropriate conduct, but -- he reminded himself -- it was only the boy's first day as a Jedi, never mind a Padawan, and this seemed to be more a case of exuberance than attempting to test his limits. At least the handmaiden he'd charged up to was either pleased to see him, or too kind to show she wasn't.
Qui-Gon conducted the necessary introductions. Obi-Wan lifted an eyebrow at seeing Dooku and Anakin joining them again, but he seemed amused. After they'd taken off, settled in, and had a brief war council with the queen, during which the Jedi politely ignored her reasonably subtle communication with the handmaidens, Dooku found himself alone with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, feeling vaguely unsettled. Not quite as if something was wrong, but more as if everything had suddenly been lifted out of his hands, given a good shake, and then handed back to him.
"I wonder," he murmured, "if I shall still have a padawan at the end of this, or if that... handmaiden is planning on carrying him away. I don't think he'd struggle very hard."
"They do seem to have become good friends," Qui-Gon said.
"However did they meet?" Dooku suddenly frowned, anger swirling around him almost palpably before he released it into the Force. "For that matter, how did you meet? He said you won him."
Qui-Gon blinked. Barely. "We were trying to buy parts to repair the queen's ship from a junk dealer who, as it turned out, owned Anakin and his mother. He wasn't willing to take Republic credits--"
"Of course not--" Dooku said.
"Yes, well. That was unsuccessful. Padmé first encountered Anakin during those, ah, negotiations. We were about to return to the ship when we received warning of a sandstorm, and Anakin kindly invited us to his home on the grounds that we wouldn't have time to reach the ship before it struck."
"Hrm. You said it was Tatooine? The Hutts." Dooku's mouth twisted. "Every time we think we've made progress on the slave trade...." He sighed.
"Yes." Qui-Gon grimaced.
Dooku sighed. "So. This... winning?"
"Anakin had built his own pod -- without Watto's knowledge. He suggested that I pass it off as mine so that he could use it in the next race, and to use the winnings for ship repair so we could get off the planet. The wager with Watto was that he would front the entrance fee, and would keep the ship if Anakin lost. If he won... Watto would keep the winnings, less the cost of repairs, and release Anakin to us." He paused. "I had hoped to free Shmi as well. His mother. But Watto wouldn't agree to both."
"...Perhaps something could still be arranged," Dooku murmured. The hereditary wealth of Serenno was not something he considered his, as a Jedi, but his relatives there did not consider him disinherited. They had appointed one of their number as a steward, who might listen to a word floated in the correct direction. "Still, betting all your hopes on a race." Dooku smiled suddenly. "I taught you well."
Qui-Gon broke into a grin. Obi-Wan looked rather as if Dooku had just reached over and squeezed his throat, though the only audible reaction was a slight cough. "I followed the guidance of the Living Force, Master," Qui-Gon said, his voice solemn but his eyes very bright. "Although despite Anakin's confidence, I do not believe Padmé approved of my wagering the ship."
"I doubt she relished the thought of telling her mistress she had allowed a crazy Jedi to gamble away her only means of transport."
"I imagine it could have been an unpleasant conversation, had it come up."
Obi-Wan made a muttered noise of agreement. Dooku looked over at him in amusement. "The Force provides, Obi-Wan. You just have to trust it."
Qui-Gon chuckled. "Obi-Wan keeps lecturing me on something called 'prudence'."
"An excellent quality," Dooku said cheerfully, "but what could be more prudent than to walk in the way the galaxy operates?"
Qui-Gon laughed. "It's good to have your company again, Master. I've missed it."
Dooku paused for a long moment before saying quietly, "I've missed you too."
Qui-Gon smiled very warmly and covered one of Dooku's hands briefly with his own. "Well, perhaps we'll be able to renew the relationship now. I have a new little brother to instruct on the proper care and feeding of a Dooku, after all!"
Dooku's small smile turned into a wince at this last, and Obi-Wan choked out, "The what?"
Qui-Gon laughed again. "Just a joke among former Dooku padawans, Obi-Wan. We like to make sure new padawans know how to do their job properly. Although I suppose technically it's Ilena's job to deliver the Talk this time."
Dooku sighed and leaned back, giving Qui-Gon a wry look before putting his attention on Obi-Wan. "Evidently I was a very trying Master, and future victims must be systematically warned."
And of course, then he noticed that the bright whirlpool in the Force that was Anakin was just at the door.
He didn't wince. Quite. He turned his attention to Anakin and beckoned him over. "Good day, Padawan. Are you finished visiting with the handmaidens?"
"Yes," Anakin said, "Master. " He was glittering with curiosity. Dooku blinked.
"Then come join us," Qui-Gon said easily. "I think we were about to start telling Obi-Wan stories on my apprentice days, so we might as well include you."
"Wizard!" Anakin grinned at him quickly. "I hope they make more sense than Padmé's," he said. "She told me Naboo's got so much water it goes right through the planet's core."
"That it does," Obi-Wan told him with a quick smile. "Qui-Gon and I piloted a ship right through it, and were nearly eaten in the process."
Dooku raised his eyebrows. "Clearly, I still haven't caught up on this story either. I knew about the core, but I was under the impression going through it was... not generally advisable."
"You were under the right impression," Obi-Wan said.
"It was the fastest way, and we needed to reach the capital," Qui-Gon explained with a shrug. "The Gungans provided us with a guide and a ship, and the Force guided us."
"And he's not mentioning that he had to sedate the Gungan guide halfway through the trip!" Obi-Wan said. "I think they just wanted to be rid of him."
"He has his uses," Qui-Gon murmured. "That would be the Gungan I introduced you to, Master. Jar Jar Binks."
"Ah. Yes. Is courtesy likely to require mimicking his variant of Basic?"
"If so, I have been extremely discourteous."
"I'm sure some leniency would be extended during a learning period. He seemed fairly good-natured." Perhaps a little too much so.
"That he is." Qui-Gon's mouth was twitching as he looked at Obi-Wan. "Very much so."
"You might say that," Obi-Wan admitted. "Ah, you suggested stories from your apprenticeship, Master?"
"No scaring Anakin off," Dooku warned, not entirely teasing.
"Hey!"
Qui-Gon smiled. "I hardly think that's likely."
"I don't scare easily," Anakin said bravely, lifting his chin.
Dooku almost smiled as he looked at the boy. "Good. That will come in handy."
"And you tell me not to scare him," Qui-Gon said with amusement. "Now, where shall I start...."
"Perhaps the time you nearly ended up married to the queen of Kenyon," Dooku suggested, his dark eyes glinting.
Obi-Wan choked. "What -- how --"
"That's what I'm going to tell you," Qui-Gon said.
"You've been remiss, Qui-Gon," Dooku chided, leaning back slightly. "He should've heard this long ago. I thought Mace told more stories on you than that."
"What's so bad about almost marrying the queen of Kenyon?" Anakin asked.
"For one thing, losing my first padawan to an accidental marriage would have been very embarrassing! For another, local customs are...interesting with regards to marriage. Qui-Gon would rather live a long life than a royal one, I think."
"Ooh," Anakin said. "Okay, that would be a problem."
"Yes, well, not all of us are born to royalty," Qui-Gon said dryly. Then he launched into the story with great animation.
Anakin was, Dooku noticed, a very responsive listener when he chose to be. Qui-Gon seemed to be playing off him, becoming more expressive as a storyteller than usual.
Dooku couldn't quite help analyzing the story for how it presented him. Not too unkindly, really. A trifle stern, perhaps, but the lecture Qui-Gon received on their way off the planet had been richly deserved, Dooku felt to this day. And Qui-Gon seemed to acknowledge that in the telling, his voice full of self-deprecating humor. Besides, it wasn't a bad thing for the boy to learn his new Master expected him to toe the line...when he wasn't leading the charge over the line himself, at least.
Even Obi-Wan was laughing by the end of the tale, if only a bit, and he'd seemed unsure at the start whether to respond to the comic aspects or not. (Granted, some were comic only in retrospect and wouldn't have been the slightest bit funny if Qui-Gon had not survived, but that was always the way.) "It's a good thing he rescued you, Master."
"Well, if not, there'd be a great many little Jinns running around Kenyon now, but I think I prefer my life the way it is, thank you." Qui-Gon cast Obi-Wan an amused look. "I'd been saving that story for after your Knighting, actually. Ah well. I have enough stored up."
"I agree. You're hardly likely to run out." Dooku shook his head. "Whyever were you saving that one? It's hardly as if the subject matter is inappropriate for a Padawan's knowledge." His eyes glinted. "Fair warning, perhaps...."
Qui-Gon grinned. "Mostly because we visited Kenyon about a year into training Obi-Wan, and we've been invited back several times since. I was afraid that if Obi-Wan knew the whole story, he would make me accept!"
"I wouldn't dream of it," Obi-Wan murmured.
"Hah. You would have when you were sixteen, Padawan, and don't try denying it."
Obi-Wan looked as if he would very much like to deny it, but wasn't quite willing to do it right after being ordered not to.
Dooku arched an eyebrow. "Stars. Don't tell me the, er, invitation still stands?"
"I seem to have made a very good impression."
"I'm not entirely sure whether to be proud of you or deeply embarrassed."
Qui-Gon laughed. "I've fulfilled my duty as a padawan, at last."
Anakin looked confused. "You're supposed to embarrass your master?" He cast Dooku a wary look, as if he wasn't sure if the stern-looking man could be embarrassed.
"What did I tell you about teaching him bad habits, Qui-Gon?" Dooku murmured.
Qui-Gon smiled and shook his head. "You are not, strictly speaking, supposed to embarrass him. But it usually seems to happen. I seem to recall mine suggesting it was a necessary lesson in humility."
Dooku sighed. "I never should have let you speak to him. I shudder to think what I'm in for now."
Qui-Gon laughed. "I beg your pardon. I spoke to him before you did."
"That's true. I suppose there's no hope now."
Anakin tensed. "You're not going to say I can't talk to him now, are you?"
"What? ...No." Dooku turned to look fully at the boy. "It was a joke, Padawan. Qui-Gon would no more intentionally give you bad advice than I would." He wasn't sure what advice Qui-Gon would give, especially about him; it troubled him that this 'care and feeding' talk was surrounded by so much (presumably humorous) secrecy.
"...Oh." The tension eased minutely. "Okay. I just wanted to make sure."
"You may find," Dooku said, "that you don't always have the opportunity -- between our duties, and his -- to speak to someone as much as you would like. There will probably be times on missions when we will need to give close attention to privacy, even secrecy, or when the need for diplomacy or complex etiquette will be far enough beyond your training at that point that it's simpler to remain quiet. But apart from those concerns, I'm not planning to restrict you from making friends or speaking with them." He glanced wryly over at his first Padawan. "There were missions where I barely had a chance to talk to Qui-Gon for how many new friends he was making."
Obi-Wan snorted. "I know the feeling."
Dooku flickered a smile at him. "I think Qui-Gon has heard life stories from enough people he's never seen again to populate a planet."
"I don't know," Qui-Gon said. "You might be surprised how many I've run across again unexpectedly."
"And he remembers all of them," Obi-Wan sighed. "But then, if he didn't make a habit of picking up strays, you wouldn't have your padawan." He smiled over at Anakin, easier with the boy now that it wasn't his Master taking charge of him.
Anakin grinned. "Hey," he said. "Who's the stray here? I was at home!"
"He has you there, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon laughed. "And I picked you up as well, a long time ago, so I wouldn't think you'd complain."
Obi-Wan colored, very faintly, and Dooku sensed that he wanted to protest but there was something he didn't want to say in front of... it was either him or Anakin, presumably. Dooku suspected he knew what. "Actually, I heard you had to ask for him, in the end, Padawan Kenobi." He smiled faintly. "I admired your initiative."
Obi-Wan colored a bit more. "Er, thank you, Master Dooku."
Qui-Gon looked embarrassed now. "Well, I shouldn't have let it get to that point. Perhaps I should say he adopted me."
Dooku's mouth quirked. "It worked out in the end."
"Mm. Very well. I'm sure you and Anakin will work out just as well."
Dooku bowed slightly. "I sincerely hope so." A wry look at Anakin. "I had not actually planned to take another Padawan. I was somewhat surprised that the Council didn't bring that up as an argument."
"Probably because no one believed you'd stick to that for more than a year, given your history," Qui-Gon murmured.
Anakin blinked at them both. "Why didn't you want to? And why did you if you didn't want to?"
Dooku suppressed the impulse to flinch. True, he hadn't really wanted to discuss this -- with Anakin or anyone else -- and was as surprised by the Council not bringing up the reason as by their not bringing up his intention. But it was fair for his new Padawan to have the information, even if it felt like prodding at an infected and open wound.
"It was not," Dooku said slowly, "exactly a case of not wanting to. I have always enjoyed teaching. One-on-one, as with a padawan learner, by preference. I felt drawn to you, most insistently, by the promptings of the Force -- which it is best to follow when one perceives them." He sighed. "I took you unexpectedly, but not unwillingly, understand that. The reason I had not planned to train another Padawan is that... I have had four, before you; three are Masters now in their own right, but the last one I failed, very severely. I found that I could not persuade her to take an interest in... ruling herself, in releasing her passions, rather than being ruled by them. I told the Council at last that I could not recommend her for the Trials, the transition from Padawan to Knight." He bowed his head. "And if that were not failure enough -- do you know of the Bando Gora?"
"Yeah," Anakin said, quietly. "Drug cult. Jabba doesn't like them, they've got something that hooks worse than anything he sells and turns people nasty. They've gotten a lot worse lately."
"They...ambushed a small group of Jedi who had been sent on a mission to deal with them. Komari...had somehow convinced them -- the Jedi, I mean -- to let her go with them. Possibly she told them the mission was to be her Trial. I don't know." He should know. He should have kept watch, should have been prepared for her to do something irrational when he'd just taken away all her dreams. He bowed his head. "The mission was a complete loss. Everyone was killed."
Anakin, when Dooku raised his eyes again, had gone pale. "Master Dooku," he whispered, "she might -- I mean, they -- their new leader --" He winced. "Her last name wasn't Vosa was it?"
*****
Chapter 4
Authors: Persephone_Kore and Dreagoddess
Timeframe: Starting in The Phantom Menace
Characters: Anakin, Dooku, others
Genre: AU
Keywords: Dooku, Anakin, training
Summary: Master Dooku steps in to offer to train Anakin Skywalker.
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Boots thumped rhythmically against the marble floors of the Temple, with the faint shushing of cloaks against the floor. One set of footsteps was lighter than the others, faster but more uncertain at the same time. Anakin trailed behind Dooku and Qui-Gon, trying to look like a proper Jedi Padawan, even if he had no idea what that meant, while he kept his ears open for the older Jedi's conversation.
"Let me guess," Dooku said after a few moments of silence. His face held a very faint smile. "They don't believe you about the Sith?"
Qui-Gon's mouth tightened. "Let's just say they think I'm mistaken in my interpretation of several matters lately."
Dooku glanced back at Anakin, who ducked his head and tried to pretend he wasn't listening. "I'm ...withholding judgment on the question of the Chosen One, at the moment. But a Sith threat is not something to take half-seriously."
"I assure you, I am taking it completely seriously. Obi-Wan and I can handle it. Not to say we won't appreciate your assistance. And your company."
Dooku hesitated minutely at that. "I believe you are taking it seriously," he said. "I don't believe the Council is."
"Judging by their not bringing you in to consult?" Qui-Gon asked with a grin, then threw up his hands at the look Dooku gave him. "I don't deny you're the undeniable expert, Master!"
"It might have been a good idea if they had," Dooku said somewhat sourly. "But somehow I suspect they think they are humoring you."
"Well, if so, we'll have a boring time watching Queen Amidala resolve a trade dispute. But a Sith's involvement would explain why the Trade Federation took such an extreme step as to blockade the planet militarily."
"Incidentally, is anyone doing something about that? We are not a military fleet."
"The Trade Federation maintains that their blockade is legal. While I cannot imagine this is within the intended spirit of the law -- unless they had a hand in it, I suppose -- I'm told they are technically correct, at least on the surface of things." Qui-Gon shrugged. "We are to protect the queen. She wishes to return to the planet, and she says she has a plan. That is up to her."
"Politicians!" Dooku sighed.
"Be nice," Qui-Gon chided. "Here we are." They exited onto a landing pad where a sleek ship was waiting.
Anakin bounced a little on his toes and said, "I'm going to say hi to Padmé!" before he ran ahead.
Dooku's eyes narrowed slightly, but he held his tongue. He would have to talk to Anakin about appropriate conduct, but -- he reminded himself -- it was only the boy's first day as a Jedi, never mind a Padawan, and this seemed to be more a case of exuberance than attempting to test his limits. At least the handmaiden he'd charged up to was either pleased to see him, or too kind to show she wasn't.
Qui-Gon conducted the necessary introductions. Obi-Wan lifted an eyebrow at seeing Dooku and Anakin joining them again, but he seemed amused. After they'd taken off, settled in, and had a brief war council with the queen, during which the Jedi politely ignored her reasonably subtle communication with the handmaidens, Dooku found himself alone with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, feeling vaguely unsettled. Not quite as if something was wrong, but more as if everything had suddenly been lifted out of his hands, given a good shake, and then handed back to him.
"I wonder," he murmured, "if I shall still have a padawan at the end of this, or if that... handmaiden is planning on carrying him away. I don't think he'd struggle very hard."
"They do seem to have become good friends," Qui-Gon said.
"However did they meet?" Dooku suddenly frowned, anger swirling around him almost palpably before he released it into the Force. "For that matter, how did you meet? He said you won him."
Qui-Gon blinked. Barely. "We were trying to buy parts to repair the queen's ship from a junk dealer who, as it turned out, owned Anakin and his mother. He wasn't willing to take Republic credits--"
"Of course not--" Dooku said.
"Yes, well. That was unsuccessful. Padmé first encountered Anakin during those, ah, negotiations. We were about to return to the ship when we received warning of a sandstorm, and Anakin kindly invited us to his home on the grounds that we wouldn't have time to reach the ship before it struck."
"Hrm. You said it was Tatooine? The Hutts." Dooku's mouth twisted. "Every time we think we've made progress on the slave trade...." He sighed.
"Yes." Qui-Gon grimaced.
Dooku sighed. "So. This... winning?"
"Anakin had built his own pod -- without Watto's knowledge. He suggested that I pass it off as mine so that he could use it in the next race, and to use the winnings for ship repair so we could get off the planet. The wager with Watto was that he would front the entrance fee, and would keep the ship if Anakin lost. If he won... Watto would keep the winnings, less the cost of repairs, and release Anakin to us." He paused. "I had hoped to free Shmi as well. His mother. But Watto wouldn't agree to both."
"...Perhaps something could still be arranged," Dooku murmured. The hereditary wealth of Serenno was not something he considered his, as a Jedi, but his relatives there did not consider him disinherited. They had appointed one of their number as a steward, who might listen to a word floated in the correct direction. "Still, betting all your hopes on a race." Dooku smiled suddenly. "I taught you well."
Qui-Gon broke into a grin. Obi-Wan looked rather as if Dooku had just reached over and squeezed his throat, though the only audible reaction was a slight cough. "I followed the guidance of the Living Force, Master," Qui-Gon said, his voice solemn but his eyes very bright. "Although despite Anakin's confidence, I do not believe Padmé approved of my wagering the ship."
"I doubt she relished the thought of telling her mistress she had allowed a crazy Jedi to gamble away her only means of transport."
"I imagine it could have been an unpleasant conversation, had it come up."
Obi-Wan made a muttered noise of agreement. Dooku looked over at him in amusement. "The Force provides, Obi-Wan. You just have to trust it."
Qui-Gon chuckled. "Obi-Wan keeps lecturing me on something called 'prudence'."
"An excellent quality," Dooku said cheerfully, "but what could be more prudent than to walk in the way the galaxy operates?"
Qui-Gon laughed. "It's good to have your company again, Master. I've missed it."
Dooku paused for a long moment before saying quietly, "I've missed you too."
Qui-Gon smiled very warmly and covered one of Dooku's hands briefly with his own. "Well, perhaps we'll be able to renew the relationship now. I have a new little brother to instruct on the proper care and feeding of a Dooku, after all!"
Dooku's small smile turned into a wince at this last, and Obi-Wan choked out, "The what?"
Qui-Gon laughed again. "Just a joke among former Dooku padawans, Obi-Wan. We like to make sure new padawans know how to do their job properly. Although I suppose technically it's Ilena's job to deliver the Talk this time."
Dooku sighed and leaned back, giving Qui-Gon a wry look before putting his attention on Obi-Wan. "Evidently I was a very trying Master, and future victims must be systematically warned."
And of course, then he noticed that the bright whirlpool in the Force that was Anakin was just at the door.
He didn't wince. Quite. He turned his attention to Anakin and beckoned him over. "Good day, Padawan. Are you finished visiting with the handmaidens?"
"Yes," Anakin said, "Master. " He was glittering with curiosity. Dooku blinked.
"Then come join us," Qui-Gon said easily. "I think we were about to start telling Obi-Wan stories on my apprentice days, so we might as well include you."
"Wizard!" Anakin grinned at him quickly. "I hope they make more sense than Padmé's," he said. "She told me Naboo's got so much water it goes right through the planet's core."
"That it does," Obi-Wan told him with a quick smile. "Qui-Gon and I piloted a ship right through it, and were nearly eaten in the process."
Dooku raised his eyebrows. "Clearly, I still haven't caught up on this story either. I knew about the core, but I was under the impression going through it was... not generally advisable."
"You were under the right impression," Obi-Wan said.
"It was the fastest way, and we needed to reach the capital," Qui-Gon explained with a shrug. "The Gungans provided us with a guide and a ship, and the Force guided us."
"And he's not mentioning that he had to sedate the Gungan guide halfway through the trip!" Obi-Wan said. "I think they just wanted to be rid of him."
"He has his uses," Qui-Gon murmured. "That would be the Gungan I introduced you to, Master. Jar Jar Binks."
"Ah. Yes. Is courtesy likely to require mimicking his variant of Basic?"
"If so, I have been extremely discourteous."
"I'm sure some leniency would be extended during a learning period. He seemed fairly good-natured." Perhaps a little too much so.
"That he is." Qui-Gon's mouth was twitching as he looked at Obi-Wan. "Very much so."
"You might say that," Obi-Wan admitted. "Ah, you suggested stories from your apprenticeship, Master?"
"No scaring Anakin off," Dooku warned, not entirely teasing.
"Hey!"
Qui-Gon smiled. "I hardly think that's likely."
"I don't scare easily," Anakin said bravely, lifting his chin.
Dooku almost smiled as he looked at the boy. "Good. That will come in handy."
"And you tell me not to scare him," Qui-Gon said with amusement. "Now, where shall I start...."
"Perhaps the time you nearly ended up married to the queen of Kenyon," Dooku suggested, his dark eyes glinting.
Obi-Wan choked. "What -- how --"
"That's what I'm going to tell you," Qui-Gon said.
"You've been remiss, Qui-Gon," Dooku chided, leaning back slightly. "He should've heard this long ago. I thought Mace told more stories on you than that."
"What's so bad about almost marrying the queen of Kenyon?" Anakin asked.
"For one thing, losing my first padawan to an accidental marriage would have been very embarrassing! For another, local customs are...interesting with regards to marriage. Qui-Gon would rather live a long life than a royal one, I think."
"Ooh," Anakin said. "Okay, that would be a problem."
"Yes, well, not all of us are born to royalty," Qui-Gon said dryly. Then he launched into the story with great animation.
Anakin was, Dooku noticed, a very responsive listener when he chose to be. Qui-Gon seemed to be playing off him, becoming more expressive as a storyteller than usual.
Dooku couldn't quite help analyzing the story for how it presented him. Not too unkindly, really. A trifle stern, perhaps, but the lecture Qui-Gon received on their way off the planet had been richly deserved, Dooku felt to this day. And Qui-Gon seemed to acknowledge that in the telling, his voice full of self-deprecating humor. Besides, it wasn't a bad thing for the boy to learn his new Master expected him to toe the line...when he wasn't leading the charge over the line himself, at least.
Even Obi-Wan was laughing by the end of the tale, if only a bit, and he'd seemed unsure at the start whether to respond to the comic aspects or not. (Granted, some were comic only in retrospect and wouldn't have been the slightest bit funny if Qui-Gon had not survived, but that was always the way.) "It's a good thing he rescued you, Master."
"Well, if not, there'd be a great many little Jinns running around Kenyon now, but I think I prefer my life the way it is, thank you." Qui-Gon cast Obi-Wan an amused look. "I'd been saving that story for after your Knighting, actually. Ah well. I have enough stored up."
"I agree. You're hardly likely to run out." Dooku shook his head. "Whyever were you saving that one? It's hardly as if the subject matter is inappropriate for a Padawan's knowledge." His eyes glinted. "Fair warning, perhaps...."
Qui-Gon grinned. "Mostly because we visited Kenyon about a year into training Obi-Wan, and we've been invited back several times since. I was afraid that if Obi-Wan knew the whole story, he would make me accept!"
"I wouldn't dream of it," Obi-Wan murmured.
"Hah. You would have when you were sixteen, Padawan, and don't try denying it."
Obi-Wan looked as if he would very much like to deny it, but wasn't quite willing to do it right after being ordered not to.
Dooku arched an eyebrow. "Stars. Don't tell me the, er, invitation still stands?"
"I seem to have made a very good impression."
"I'm not entirely sure whether to be proud of you or deeply embarrassed."
Qui-Gon laughed. "I've fulfilled my duty as a padawan, at last."
Anakin looked confused. "You're supposed to embarrass your master?" He cast Dooku a wary look, as if he wasn't sure if the stern-looking man could be embarrassed.
"What did I tell you about teaching him bad habits, Qui-Gon?" Dooku murmured.
Qui-Gon smiled and shook his head. "You are not, strictly speaking, supposed to embarrass him. But it usually seems to happen. I seem to recall mine suggesting it was a necessary lesson in humility."
Dooku sighed. "I never should have let you speak to him. I shudder to think what I'm in for now."
Qui-Gon laughed. "I beg your pardon. I spoke to him before you did."
"That's true. I suppose there's no hope now."
Anakin tensed. "You're not going to say I can't talk to him now, are you?"
"What? ...No." Dooku turned to look fully at the boy. "It was a joke, Padawan. Qui-Gon would no more intentionally give you bad advice than I would." He wasn't sure what advice Qui-Gon would give, especially about him; it troubled him that this 'care and feeding' talk was surrounded by so much (presumably humorous) secrecy.
"...Oh." The tension eased minutely. "Okay. I just wanted to make sure."
"You may find," Dooku said, "that you don't always have the opportunity -- between our duties, and his -- to speak to someone as much as you would like. There will probably be times on missions when we will need to give close attention to privacy, even secrecy, or when the need for diplomacy or complex etiquette will be far enough beyond your training at that point that it's simpler to remain quiet. But apart from those concerns, I'm not planning to restrict you from making friends or speaking with them." He glanced wryly over at his first Padawan. "There were missions where I barely had a chance to talk to Qui-Gon for how many new friends he was making."
Obi-Wan snorted. "I know the feeling."
Dooku flickered a smile at him. "I think Qui-Gon has heard life stories from enough people he's never seen again to populate a planet."
"I don't know," Qui-Gon said. "You might be surprised how many I've run across again unexpectedly."
"And he remembers all of them," Obi-Wan sighed. "But then, if he didn't make a habit of picking up strays, you wouldn't have your padawan." He smiled over at Anakin, easier with the boy now that it wasn't his Master taking charge of him.
Anakin grinned. "Hey," he said. "Who's the stray here? I was at home!"
"He has you there, Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon laughed. "And I picked you up as well, a long time ago, so I wouldn't think you'd complain."
Obi-Wan colored, very faintly, and Dooku sensed that he wanted to protest but there was something he didn't want to say in front of... it was either him or Anakin, presumably. Dooku suspected he knew what. "Actually, I heard you had to ask for him, in the end, Padawan Kenobi." He smiled faintly. "I admired your initiative."
Obi-Wan colored a bit more. "Er, thank you, Master Dooku."
Qui-Gon looked embarrassed now. "Well, I shouldn't have let it get to that point. Perhaps I should say he adopted me."
Dooku's mouth quirked. "It worked out in the end."
"Mm. Very well. I'm sure you and Anakin will work out just as well."
Dooku bowed slightly. "I sincerely hope so." A wry look at Anakin. "I had not actually planned to take another Padawan. I was somewhat surprised that the Council didn't bring that up as an argument."
"Probably because no one believed you'd stick to that for more than a year, given your history," Qui-Gon murmured.
Anakin blinked at them both. "Why didn't you want to? And why did you if you didn't want to?"
Dooku suppressed the impulse to flinch. True, he hadn't really wanted to discuss this -- with Anakin or anyone else -- and was as surprised by the Council not bringing up the reason as by their not bringing up his intention. But it was fair for his new Padawan to have the information, even if it felt like prodding at an infected and open wound.
"It was not," Dooku said slowly, "exactly a case of not wanting to. I have always enjoyed teaching. One-on-one, as with a padawan learner, by preference. I felt drawn to you, most insistently, by the promptings of the Force -- which it is best to follow when one perceives them." He sighed. "I took you unexpectedly, but not unwillingly, understand that. The reason I had not planned to train another Padawan is that... I have had four, before you; three are Masters now in their own right, but the last one I failed, very severely. I found that I could not persuade her to take an interest in... ruling herself, in releasing her passions, rather than being ruled by them. I told the Council at last that I could not recommend her for the Trials, the transition from Padawan to Knight." He bowed his head. "And if that were not failure enough -- do you know of the Bando Gora?"
"Yeah," Anakin said, quietly. "Drug cult. Jabba doesn't like them, they've got something that hooks worse than anything he sells and turns people nasty. They've gotten a lot worse lately."
"They...ambushed a small group of Jedi who had been sent on a mission to deal with them. Komari...had somehow convinced them -- the Jedi, I mean -- to let her go with them. Possibly she told them the mission was to be her Trial. I don't know." He should know. He should have kept watch, should have been prepared for her to do something irrational when he'd just taken away all her dreams. He bowed his head. "The mission was a complete loss. Everyone was killed."
Anakin, when Dooku raised his eyes again, had gone pale. "Master Dooku," he whispered, "she might -- I mean, they -- their new leader --" He winced. "Her last name wasn't Vosa was it?"
*****
Chapter 4