After the Fight [backdated to before the Boys' Night Out] pt. 2

[Directly after this]

Anakin enters his quarters, strips off his ruined clothing, and throws it in the general direction of the waste bin. He then goes to the refresher and turns on the water in the shower as hot as he can stand and just stands under the spray for a long time before actually bathing. Once clean, he gets out, dries off, and hunts for and dons a relatively clean set of clothing.

Anakin is frustrated beyond belief at this point. Revan got away. Obi-Wan is injured again. He can't find his lightsaber. And he had to waste all that time with that alie-.... That's not right. He shouldn't be thinking of it as a waste of time, not if it helped someone. Frowning, he starts pacing around the small room. He had hoped that coming back here, Obi-Wan being back, getting settled in again would help, but things are different now. He's not sure how to fix them. Or if he can. He's not even entirely sure how or if the rift between himself and Obi-Wan could be mended. Maybe it never would be. And that's a thought he really hates.

So he switches gears, focuses on remembering his search for his 'saber and if there was anything he might've missed that he could look.

He's pacing for several long more minutes when it hits him. Idiot!

Pulling on his boots and grabbing his coat, Anakin races back out of the Temple, startling quite a few people on the way, and out into the night. He runs as quickly as he can back to the bridge's edge. It's been roped off by now, to prevent unwary passers from stepping out into oblivion, but Anakin ignores that, and instead pokes around corners and nooks and crannies. He'd looked under the bridge, but what if the 'saber had stayed up here? He searches and searches, but nothing, and with a heavy sigh, he returns to the Temple at a much more sedate pace.

Once back at his quarters, he flops onto his sleep couch, only to find himself landing squarely on a rather hard lump. "Ow!"

Grimacing, he sits up and looks at what he landed on, expecting it to be a droid part he must've left there. Instead, he finds himself looking down at a slightly banged-up looking silvery cylinder that looks very familiar. Anakin stares at it in wonder, then picks up the lightsaber and runs his fingers along its lines, disbelievingly. Only then does he realise a note was sitting underneath it, which he picks up and reads.

You should be more careful. A security officer brought this by after finding it near a collapsed skybridge.

Anakin doesn't recognize the handwriting, so he can't imagine who it is or how they knew the lightsaber was his, but he's grateful. At least now he knew it was back where it belonged.

Sparring with Master Windu

[Set the day after this]

Somehow, Anakin rises bright and early, even after the late night he had with Obi-Wan at the fair. He swiftly gets ready, grabs his lightsaber, and makes his way to the appointed training room where he is to meet Master Windu. Not too surprisingly, the formidable Jedi Master is already there, waiting for Anakin.

Anakin bows to the older man, "Master Windu."

Mace nods in return to Anakin. "Anakin." A pause. "Do you feel prepared?"

Anakin nods affirmatively. "I can do this."

Mace slips out of his outer cloak, "Then show me what she can do."

Anakin slips out of his cloak as well, then pauses. "I can't do some of the things she can. She uses a double-bladed lightsaber...but...I'll do my best." Mace simply nods his acceptance of this and they begin.

They fight, back and forth, for hours. Anakin showing Mace exactly how she fought, as best as he can remember. Explaining about her tendancy to make use of Force Lightning, describing how she turned out the lights and did something to give her presence echoes in the Force so Anakin couldn't find her. The whole time, they fight. Anakin is covered in sweat by the time Master Windu calls a halt to break for lunch.

Anakin welcomes the brief respite, savoring his food, enjoying the drink, the chance to sit and rest.

All too soon, it's over, and they begin again, but now Mace is trying the techniques on Anakin. Anakin finds himself disarmed and on the floor quite a bit. Every time he thinks he's getting somewhere, someone shows him how much further he has to go!

In the end, they break around sunset, both tired, though Anakin is more exhausted than tired. He doesn't even bother with the evening meal, just goes to his quarters, strips off his clothes, and drops onto the bed.

Even in his dreams, he's fighting Master Windu.