"How far behind is he?" Obi-Wan asked, looking over his shoulder toward the classroom door, toward where Anakin was sitting in the corridor, looking at the toes of his boots. "I knew he'd had no training in the Force, or in lightsaber drills, but --"
"His math is fine, and he knows more about engineering than I do," Master Ismana said. "But he's never had a history lesson, except for some haphazard stories about his mother's homeworld. He has no idea what the structure of the government is, except for a notion that Tatooine is outside of its jurisdiction. He doesn't know where one world is in relation to another. He's never used a starmap. He's never used a library. And he hasn't the faintest idea how to question a text. He's baffled by the idea of doing so. He reads quickly and accurately -- I can't imagine how he taught himself in that environment, and I must assume his native intelligence is rather impressive -- but he has the responses of a Temple five-year-old, looking only at the absolute, concrete reality of the text."
"But I know he has an active imagination," Obi-Wan said.
"But a very literal one." Master Ismana sighed. "I have no choice, Master Kenobi. I'm going to have to place Anakin with younger students for his school lessons."
"I could work with him."
"Exactly how quickly do you believe you can make up for nine years with no education whatsoever?"
"Yes, of course." Obi-Wan muttered a farewell and went out to his padawan.
Anakin didn't look up. "I'm sorry," he muttered.
"What are you sorry for?"
"Embarrassing you."
Obi-Wan waved this off and sat down beside his padawan. "Why didn't you tell me that you'd never been to school?"
"I didn't think it mattered." He looked in the other direction, toward the far end of the non-descript hallway. "I met someone who went to school once, and he didn't know that much more than me. And my mom taught me reading and math, and Watto taught me machines. I bet I know more about engines than any of them."
"Of that, I have no doubt," Obi-Wan said. "But there are other things in the galaxy to know. A Jedi needs to have a grounding in history and politics, and a knowledge of culture. You never know what you'll need to know, so you have to make it your business to learn as much as you can."
"I know. I'll try harder."
"Master Ismana is going to put you with the younger students."
Anakin finally looked at him, something like horror in his eyes. "Master, I can do it!" he said. "Honest. I'll...I'll read more at night. I can learn anything. I memorized Watto's whole inventory in an afternoon. I --"
"It's not about memorizing. You simply need to become more grounded in your studies. And I thought you liked talking with the younger children. They certainly like you."
"I like telling them stories, not working on the same stuff they are."
"Well, I'm sure you'll catch up quickly. You just need to get some grounding."
Anakin swallowed hard. "Yes, Master."
They didn't talk at all while they ate, and Anakin excused himself before he finished his second helping. The light went on in his cell, and Obi-Wan heard him rummaging for datachips. "Anakin?"
"I'm studying."
Obi-Wan looked in on him. He had one scanner laid out on his preternaturally neat desk (once out of Watto's junk shop, Anakin had become a bit fanatical about keeping his things in order), and a second one in his hand. The one on his desk displayed his history text; in his hand was a series of questions, over which he frowned. As Obi-Wan watched, he entered an answer. The scan light went green, and Anakin sighed with relief.
For the next two weeks, the routine remained the same -- in the mornings, Anakin went to his studies while Obi-Wan performed his duties in the Temple, in the afternoons, they trained together, and in the evenings, Anakin shut himself away with a pile of simple books, and came out to wish Obi-Wan good night several hours later, looking drawn and weary. Obi-Wan began to wish that the Council would, in its wisdom, send them on a dangerous mission. Anything to break the routine.
But he could hardly complain about too much study, could he? Anakin had devoted himself to the problem and he was making headway. Ismana had reservations -- he believed that Anakin didn't really understand the correct answers he was giving -- but he did move Anakin up from the five-year-olds' class to the seven-year-olds'. Anakin responded to this by doubling his efforts, until Obi-Wan did have to put his foot down and insist that the boy get more sleep at night.
Three weeks after he'd been moved to the younger groups, he didn't appear in the meditation room for his daily training. It was the first time he'd missed an opportunity to handle a practice lightsaber. Obi-Wan went to Ismana's classroom, assuming that the lesson had simply gone on longer than anticipated, but Ismana told him that Anakin had never arrived.
Obi-Wan reached out with his senses, seeking out Anakin's dynamic presence in the Force. He was not, generally speaking, a difficult person to locate.
He found him in the Temple library, staring intently at a holoprojection of one ancient Senate proceeding or another.
"Anakin?"
He turned his head slowly.
"You missed your class this morning, and are late for training."
"I'm sorry."
"Explain yourself."
Anakin's gaze drifted back to the holo, where a pretty young woman was making grand gestures from her Senate box. "This is when they outlawed slavery," he said. "I read about it last night. I wanted to hear her say it. I only meant to come down before class."
"But?"
Anakin looked at him with wounded eyes. "They argued," he said. "They argued about it for hours. They're still arguing here." He pointed at the holo.
"It was more than hours. This was the culmination of years of arguments."
"They talked about people being born to be slaves, and about compensating owners for losing money, and...all kinds of stuff."
"Yes. But they did ultimately abolish it."
A pained frown creased Anakin's face. "But then, look." He switched the projection to another Senate meeting. By the clothing, Obi-Wan deduced that it was several hundred years later. "They're arguing again," Anakin said. "People are being taken as slaves on the trade routes, and there were people saying that the Senate shouldn't do anything about it."
"There were questions of jurisdiction, as I recall..."
"My mom was taken on a trade route. By pirates. They killed the rest of her family." He glared at the holo. "If they'd just done it..."
"It might have caused a civil war."
"They'd have gotten used to it. The other guys, I mean." He pointed to to a man now standing up to make an argument. "I mean, they're wrong, right? If the Senate had gone ahead and been right, they'd have had to see it, wouldn't they?"
"The Senate, quite unfortunately, is not often populated by altruists and idealists, and when it is, their altruism and idealism aren't always in the best interest of the galaxy."
"Stupid system," Anakin muttered.
Obi-Wan smiled. That, if nothing else, was a questioning of a text. He'd learn.
