Disclaimer: The characters, situations, etc. belong to George. I just decided to treat Jar Jar like a person for once.

Reviews appreciated, as always.

Pathetic Lifeforms

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

--Eleanor Roosevelt

1, Obi-Wan Kenobi

The slave boy is watching him again. His eyes are big and round, full of wonder. Obi-Wan knows that he is about to ask yet another question.

"Obi-Wan, sir?" the boy says tentatively. "Could you…could you show me how to do that?"

Across the room, Obi-Wan catches a glimpse of Qui-Gon's proud smile. He can't remember the last time that smile was directed at him.

He resists a sudden strong temptation to tell the boy that all the Temple children have been performing this simple exercise since they were two years old. Instead he says, "I'm sorry, Anakin. The Council has said we're not permitted to train you." He hopes that he sounds sincere.

But there is Qui-Gon's frown, and the momentary surge of annoyance and disappointment through their bond. "Oh," Anakin says in a small voice, and he watches the boy fiddle with his sleeves and look down at his feet, as though embarrassed that he had even asked. Obi-Wan feels almost guilty.

And then he hears Qui-Gon say, "It's all right, Ani. You're a bright boy. Watch Obi-Wan again, carefully this time, and perhaps you'll see how he does it." He motions impatiently at Obi-Wan to do the exercise again.

The guilt disappears. Obi-Wan closes his eyes and concentrates on making his actions as difficult as possible to follow.

2, Anakin Skywalker

The younger Jedi fascinates Anakin. He has an air of seriousness about him, a solemnity even to his smile, that makes Anakin think he must be someone very important. And yet, just yesterday, he caught a glimpse of Obi-Wan laughing with one of the pilots. He doesn't know what they were talking about, but he supposes that anyone who can laugh like that must be a nice person, even if he is terribly important.

Anakin wishes that the younger Jedi would notice him. Maybe even talk with him. He hasn't really talked with anyone but Jar Jar since they left Coruscant. Padmé has been busy with the Queen, and the Jedi have been occupied with a great deal of talking. He supposes they must be planning something, but he doesn't know what it might be.

He is glad that Jar Jar is there. He has overheard enough to realize that the Queen is planning to retake the planet, and that she is counting on Jar Jar to rally the Gungans to her cause. He supposes that makes Jar Jar pretty important, too. But Jar Jar always has time to talk to him.

He spends a little while trying to figure out how Obi-Wan is making the objects float, but soon he gets bored. He wasn't really that interested in how to make things float, anyway.

What he really wanted was someone to talk to. He'd spent hours thinking of just how he should approach Obi-Wan. He wanted Obi-Wan to like him, and he'd been so sure this would work.

But for some reason, it didn't work the way he'd hoped it would. He is afraid that Obi-Wan doesn't like him very much. He almost seems angry.

Anakin wipes his sleeve across his nose, hiding a sniffle, and goes to find Jar Jar.

3, Jar Jar Binks

Ani looks sad. His eyes are red and a little puffy around the edges. He is sniffling quietly into his sleeve, and for some reason, Jar Jar is certain that Ani does not know he is there.

The first time Jar Jar saw him this way was after they left Tatooine. He wasn't sure what it meant then, the rawness around the eyes and the sniffling. He'd had very little contact with humans in his life, and their expressions were new to him. So he'd asked Padmé.

Jar Jar likes Padmé. She never treats him like an inferior, the way the Jedi often do. He thinks that maybe Ani likes her for the same reason.

He shuffles his feet slightly to catch the boy's attention and says, "Heyho der, Ani!"

Ani gives him a tremulous little smile and says, "Hi, Jar Jar."

"All dis waiting making mesa nervous," he tells Ani, heaving a big sigh. He sees Ani bite his lip and nod, so he supposes that means the boy is nervous, too.

"Oh!" he cries suddenly, his bill breaking into a large grin. "Mesa having a grand idea! Mesa teaching you to play toomba. It'sa fun game! See, mesa show you!"

Ani gives him a genuine smile this time, his eyes bright as he eagerly examines the small round shells Jar Jar has pulled from his pocket.

They sit on the floor, arranging themselves in a rough imitation of a circle, Jar Jar showing Ani how to arrange the shells, describing each of the game's rules to him. Ani catches on quickly. By the fourth match, he is beating Jar Jar.

Jar Jar smiles to himself. He will let the Jedi worry about protocol and mandates and the senate. He has a feeling that what he is doing now, playing this game with Ani, is far more important.

They are on to the sixth match when Padmé arrives. She asks what they are doing, and Ani tells her about the wizard new game that Jar Jar has been teaching him. She laughs and says she would like to learn, too.

Jar Jar spends the next several hours teaching Ani and Padmé to play toomba. It is good, he thinks, to have friends.