A/N: Alright, so it's August, and nowhere close to Boxing Day, but this hit me the other day, and I was bored anyway. And I don't own Anakin, Obi-Wan, the Jedi Temple, or even Ki-Adi-Mundi. Sadness...

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"Next time," Anakin groaned as he flopped heavily onto the couch. "We're going to tell the Council that the galaxy can save itself."

"Boots off the couch, Padawan," Obi-Wan chided absently, scrolling through the holocom messages.

Anakin muttered something that Obi-Wan chose not to hear, and the offending objects thudded loudly to the floor. "Repeat after me, Master: 'The galaxy can save itself.'"

Obi-Wan didn't respond, watching a holographic recording of Master Ki-Adi-Mundi blather on about something that was undoubtedly vital to the survival of all sentient life. He shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose and releasing his annoyance into the Force, and attempted once more to focus on the message.

"Come on, Master. You can do it. 'The gala-'"

"Anakin, have you eaten?"

Anakin twisted his head back to look at Obi-Wan. "Unless you're counting ship meals as food, when would I have had the time to eat?"

"Food would be an excellent idea," observed Obi-Wan.

"Are you volunteering to cook?"

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows. "My dear Padawan, you have much to learn, specifically about the properties of matter. If I could somehow conjure up raw materials to work with, I could indeed cook. As it is, matter cannot be created or destroyed." He paused, smiling wryly. "And neither can energy, for that matter. I am, quite simply, too tired to cook."

"And I am too tired to listen to and comprehend another one of your educational lectures." Anakin sighed, lifting the pillow from the other end of the couch with the Force and balancing it just below the ceiling. "I suppose what you're actually saying with all that is that you want me to go down to the dining hall and bring back some food."

Obi-Wan grinned wearily. "You catch on quickly, my young apprentice."

Anakin groaned loudly and let the pillow fall down on his face. "All right, I'll go," he said, swinging his feet off the couch and back into his boots. "But ONLY because you convinced the Council to give us an extra two week's vacation."

"Thank you, Anakin," replied Obi-Wan as the door hissed shut. The mission from which they had just returned had been stressful for both of them. It was a simple negotiations mission, between two tribes on one of the moons of Liordon XII, but neither the Council nor Obi-Wan had taken into account the natural stubbornness of the race. They had sat for weeks, finding new compromises to satisfy the unshakable demands of both parties. By the end, Anakin was a centimeter away from admitting defeat and crawling under his chair to hide, and Obi-Wan was giving serious consideration to Force-suggesting them all into compliance and making an escape before the effects wore off.

He rewound Ki-Adi-Mundi's message. Stars, was he still talking? This had better be important… He pushed the 'play' button on the holocom again.

The message was evidently a Temple-wide announcement, not specifically for him. Obi-wan grimaced in irritation and prepared to tune out the message while he set the table.

There is much that we can learn from children. It is a humbling realization for the best of us, but not shaming, for younglings are the heart of innocence and purity in the galaxy.

"Mm-hmm, and who have you been talking to?" Obi-Wan muttered, thinking of Anakin in the early years of his apprenticeship.

Ki-Adi-Mundi continued undeterred. No organization knows this better than the Jedi Council. That is why we have chosen this coming Fifthday to celebrate what our Padawans can teach us.

Obi-Wan suddenly had a very bad feeling about this. He paused by the counter with a handful of utensils to pay closer attention.

All day Fifthday, every Master and Padawan team at the Temple will be required to switch places.

Obi-Wan dropped the utensils. The resounding clatter barely registered on the edges of his senses as he crossed the kitchen to the holocom in two long steps.

The Master will, for the day, take the place of the Padawan learner, and will accept instruction from his or her temporary Master.The switch will be effective from 0600 to 2400. The Jedi Council encourages all Masters present to enjoy this opportunity to experience a unique form of education, and to apply any valuable lessons learned. Thank you for your time.

The message ended, the hologram of Ki-Adi-Mundi disappearing to be replaced by the company logo of the holocam's manufactuers, but Obi-Wan still stared at it blankly.

-Master?!- Anakin sent along the training bond, the thought following a pulse of alarm. -Is something wrong? Are you all right?-

Obi-Wan groaned, berating himself silently. He'd been standing in slack-jawed amazement, unconsciously allowing his shock and bewilderment to fly along the unshielded bond directly to his padawan, the very LAST person who needed to know about this. -Ah. . .Yes! Yes, I'm fine! I just. . .ah, found some rotten fruit in the cupboard, and it surprised me. I didn't know anything could get that furry, ha ha.-

On the other end of the bond, Anakin was relieved, but unimpressed. -Really.-

-Yes…- Obi-Wan sent back, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

-Master, you're a terrible liar, you know that?-

To Obi-Wan's relief, his apprentice did not press the issue, apparently distracted by more important matters. He only hoped it was the food, not another padawan learner telling him about Fifthday's event.

Exhaustion forgotten, he shielded the link and bent to pick up the utensils, thinking furiously. He needed a plan, and he needed it now, before Anakin got back. Maybe they could be conveniently off-world… no, they had two weeks of vacation before them, thanks to him. If off-world wouldn't work, maybe simply leaving the Temple would be sufficient… but no, that wouldn't do either. They did not leave the Temple without a reason, and Anakin would become very suspicious if they started now. The only option would be to stick around the Temple and hope that Anakin remained oblivious. Fifthday was tomorrow, after all. It was quite possible that Anakin wouldn't find out…

First things first. Obi-Wan furtively checked on his Padawan's progress - he was just leaving the dining hall - and deleted the announcement from Ki-Adi-Mundi. That was all he could do - and really, he didn't think it would matter; Anakin couldn't care less about holocom calls - but just in case. . .

This done, he finished setting the table and sat down with a datapad to read the news. It wasn't long before Anakin entered with a tray of food piled with twice as much food as it was meant to carry and a small pitcher of citrus juice.

"Anything interesting?" he inquired, deftly unloading the contents of the tray onto the plates.

"Mmm. Doom and gloom." Obi-Wan replied distantly.

Anakin fell to with an enthusiasm hardly warranted by the Temple food. "Mph mmm mmpha mmph, Maphr?"

Obi-Wan set the datapad down, arching an eyebrow. "Anakin, if I wish to be mumbled at, I will hire a Hutt translator."

"Phorry, Maphr." Anakin swallowed hastily, taking a swig of his citrus juice. "I said, are you gonna eat? 'Cause if not. . ." he trailed off, eyeing Obi-Wan's portion with something that could only be described as malevolent intent.

Obi-Wan caught the expression. "Ah-hahaha, no. No, no, no, no, no. This food belongs to me, it was brought to me by my padawan, and I am going to eat it." To emphasize this statement, he pulled his plate closer and took an enormous bite of mashed vegetable.

Anakin watched the expressions crossing his master's face with growing interest. "Something wrong, Master?"

Obi-Wan finally managed to swallow the revolting mess. He sputtered and coughed, downing most of his citrus juice in an attempt to remove the foul taste from his mouth. "On second thought, you may have the vegetable."

Anakin grinned broadly, accepting the food with satisfaction.

Obi-Wan regarded his apprentice suspiciously. "You did that on purpose," he accused.

Anakin blinked at him with rather too much innocence. "M-me, Master?"

"Yes, you. You took advantage of one of my few dislikes to get more than you share of food."

"Paranoid much, Master?" Anakin grinned. "Next time, you can get the food, and I'll sit up here and read the news."

Obi-Wan just managed to keep from looking guilty. "Whatever you say, my very young apprentice."

Anakin smirked. "Which, of course, is your way of saying 'In your dreams.'" He took another bite of his food, chewed, and swallowed. "We shall see."

He knows! Obi-Wan realized with a rush of panic, looking at Anakin out of the corner of his eye. Or suspects something, at the very least. He gave a non-committal grunt and resumed eating.

After supper, Anakin flopped back onto the couch, taking off his boots for the second time that day and using the Force to send them gliding across the room to their place by the door. Obi-Wan, distracted from the dishes by the flying boots, peered out at his apprentice disapprovingly.

"Yes, Master," said Anakin without looking. "I'm very sorry, Master. I won't do it again, Master."

"Of course you won't," retorted Obi-Wan, rolling his eyes and returning to the dishes. Frivolous Force-use was an ongoing battle between the two, as Anakin had yet to accept the fact that it was unhealthy for a Jedi to get into the habit of using the Force to do what could be done just as easily by hand.

When he exited the kitchen, drying his hands on his tunic, Anakin was playing with a small, flat object, turning it over and over in his hands. Feeling a strange foreboding, Obi-Wan tried to get a better look at it without being obvious.

"Give up yet?" Anakin asked with an infuriating smugness.

"What is it?"

"You know," Anakin said, sitting up and setting the object on the caf table, "I was hoping that you could tell me." He pressed a button on the disc and leaned back.

A tiny, holographic figure of Ki-Adi-Mundi appeared, giving an abbreviated version of the comm message of earlier.

"They were handing them out to all the padawans in the dining hall," said Anakin after the message was finished. "Apparently," he continued, inspecting a small scratch on his thumb. "Some of the Masters failed to notify their Padawans of this turn of events."

"I'm sure I don't know anything about it," Obi-Wan shrugged, plastering on his best Don't-Blame-Me face.

"As I said before, Master, you're a terrible liar. And none of the cupboards smell of rotten, furry fruit."

Obi-Wan muttered something about anti-bacterial spray as the deepest shade of red Anakin had ever seen on his distinguished Master spread from his nose to his ears.

And as Anakin watched Obi-Wan squirm, he did the unforgivable.

He snickered.

All things considered, Obi-Wan was a remarkably patient Jedi. A few snickers from an insolent padawan might have been forgiven and forgotten. But snickers from an insolent padawan have a way of multiplying into snorts and wheezes and full-fledged howls of laughter, and that is hardly to be borne.

Miffed, Obi-Wan drew himself up, trying to maintain some semblance of dignity. "It wasn't that funny."

"Yes, it was!" insisted Anakin, gasping for breath. "You have no idea what you looked like just there!"

"I could hazard a guess," replied Obi-Wan dryly. This only served to fuel Anakin's mirth, and he collapsed back into helpless laughter, holding his side while his master alternately rolled his eyes, sighed impatiently, and glared at the chrono on the wall.

"Are you finished yet?" Obi-Wan finally snapped, patience pushed to the limit.

Anakin sat up straight, still chortling, but with a sheepish, apologetic air. "Sorry, Master."

Obi-Wan shot him a death-glare, then took a deep breath. "Now. It appears that we shall be participating in this… event." He shot a sudden glance at his apprentice. "Unless," he said hopefully, "you'd rather not… ?"

Anakin snorted. "Please, Master. Do you think me so foolish as that? The one chance I get to boss you around, and you think I would give it up?"

His Master ignored him. "I shall be turning in early," he said stiffly. "I do, after all, wish to be a good student tomorrow. I suggest you do the same."

Oblivious to the jab, Anakin nodded absently – Probably already thinking up tortures for tomorrow, Obi-Wan thought grimly – and pocketed the disc. "I agree, Master. I'll see you in the morning."

Obi-Wan stared in growing alarm as his Padawan, following his orders, walked down the hall and disappeared into his room. Anakin was actually going to bed early to prepare for tomorrow…

Sithspit.

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Reviews keep me writing! And I'm not finished with the second part yet. Evilgrin.

Thankee!