Title-Pushing Limits

Author-Zoey Skywalker 11

Summary-How far can one Jedi Padawan push before he can't go anymore?

Rating-PG

Time Frame-JA-Obi-wan is 14.

Spoilers- I don't think so.

Reviews- Love them! But please be nice.

Disclaimer-The world of Star Wars belongs to the God known as George Lucas. I only live in the world, I don't own it.

Author's Note #1-Thanks to my beta, dragonslore1988.

A/N #2-This chapter is a little short for my tastes, but it is just the set-up. They will get longer, I promise.

Pushing Limits

Chapter 1-The Hidden Suffering

Obi-Wan Kenobi was tired. More than tired, he was exhausted. As a Jedi Padawan, this was nothing new. He was used to having to miss a night of sleep or two on a mission. But this was different: he was at home. This was supposed to be a time of rest and relaxation for him and his Master, Qui-Gon Jinn.

'Relaxation? Yeah, right. A battlefield is more relaxing,' the Padawan thought.

The team of Jinn and Kenobi had been back at the Jedi Temple for just over a week. The two had been on back-to-back missions for over four months, which was much longer than what was customary for a team so young. Generally Padawans who were Obi-Wan's age never spent more than two months at a time out in the field. Unfortunately for Obi-Wan that was one of the downsides of having one of the greatest living Jedi as your Master: a lot of field work.

The other problem with having a Master of Jinn's caliber was what was plaguing Obi-Wan right now. The fourteen-year old Padawan had a reputation that he had to live up to. All of his superiors held him to the high standard that his Master had established for himself. It was not fair. Obi-Wan had only been a Padawan for a year and a half. That was really enough time for Qui-Gon's teachings to make him stronger and better than the initiates he had worked side-by-side with for over ten years. Sure, Obi-Wan was probably above-average in his age group in many subjects, but he was not a smaller version of his Master.

Unfortunately, that was not what many of his teachers thought. He was often graded more critically than the other Padawans. And then there were the extra things to do. Teachers were constantly "strongly encouraging" Obi-Wan to take extra enrichment classes and seminars, become a teacher's assistant and the list went on. The problem was that these "requests" could almost never be refused. For many teachers, saying no to these without his Master's signature would mean harsher standards and requirements that would make good grades almost unattainable.

Besides, turning these extra things down could disappoint his Master. Obi-Wan loved Qui-Gon more than anyone else in the world and would never do anything to hurt him or his reputation. A part of Obi-Wan kept saying that this was the real reason he kept doing all of this. After all if it wasn't, then why hadn't he told his Master? Qui-Gon was still unaware of the corner that his Padawan felt trapped in. And so Obi-Wan went on.

Today Obi-Wan was listening to a lecture on the complexities of weaving the Living Force and the Unifying Force together. Lectures were Obi-Wan's least favorite part of classes. He had always suspected that he was slightly hyperactive and speeches just tended to bring it out. Obi-Wan had gotten much better at managing his hyperactivity since he became an apprentice, but he still had occasional problems. Especially in a boring lecture that he did not care about. The worst part was that he could not even zone out, as his Theory of the Force teacher wanted a 2500 word essay on the lecture.

That was just another thing to add to the list of papers and projects to complete. Obi-Wan already had four papers and five tests this week and eight papers, three tests and a presentation next week. And, of course, these things were on top of the normal readings and research that he had to do. With classes, training, teaching and seminars that he had to attend, the teen had very little time to do any work during the day. As a result, Obi-Wan had resorted to working at night while pretending to be asleep, so his Master would not worry about him. Consequently, Obi-Wan had gotten less than 15 hours of sleep since he resumed classes six days ago. And he was still barely ahead of his work. If he kept spending his nighttime hours doing homework, then he should get it all done. The problem was that Obi-Wan was not sure if he could keep going like this much longer… No. He must stay awake.

Looking at the clock, he was relieved to see that he had less than ten minutes to go before the lecture ended. Thank the Force! He really did not care about the connections between the two sides of the Force. He knew that he should, but he didn't. All he cared about what crawling into bed and sleeping for the next year. Listening to the closing remarks, the Padawan finished scrawling notes on his datapad. Cramming his stuff in his bag, Obi-Wan was out the door a few seconds after the applause started, beating out the 20-year old Padawans who made up the majority of the audience.

Walking through the Temple halls, Obi-Wan moved to his next destination: a mandatory class study session for Astrophysics. This was actually one of Obi-Wan's better subjects. He just seemed to have a knack for finding the path that led to the correct answer. The Padawan knew that his time was better spent working on his papers, but since it was mandatory he did not have a choice. At least if he sat in the back and kept a part of his focus on the class, then maybe he could start studying for the test that he had the day after next.

Obi-Wan got to his class with about 20 seconds to spare. Taking a seat in the back, Obi-Wan watched as the day's problems were handed out. Jinn's Padawan made quick work of the problems, careful to show his work. He knew that the class as a whole would go over the procedure and then he would have to turn in the answers to show that he understood the concepts. The work took about ten minutes to do, but that was out of the mandatory hour that he had to be there. Obi-Wan decided to continue reading Lamhet, a 209-page novel that he was going to have a comprehensive quiz on in tomorrow. He was on page 13. Keeping part of his attention on the instructor, the teen started reading, careful to make it look like he was working on the Astrophysics problems.

The rest of the hour passed and it had been somewhat productive for the Padawan. He had been called on a few times, but he was able to answer the questions and was now on page 86. With the end of that session, Obi-Wan was finally done with classes for the day. He also had high hopes for getting a lot of work done tonight and maybe even get an hour or two of sleep before his class at seven the next morning.

Walking home, Obi-Wan mentally made a list of things that he wanted to do tonight. 'It is a long list,' the apprentice thought as he walked through the main door of the apartment that he shared with his Master. Looking around, Obi-Wan did not see his Master, which was odd since the elder should have been making dinner in the kitchen. As he put his bag by the couch, Obi-Wan heard his Master in the bedroom.

"Obi-Wan? Is that you?"

"Yes, Master," the apprentice said as he walked through his Master's open bedroom door. The teen was quite surprised to see his mentor in his best dress clothes.

"Excellent, Padawan. We have been called to represent the Jedi at a Senate function this evening. There is a banquet in honor of the new Constancian senator. Go get dressed in your best clothes. We will be eating there and hurry up. We have to be there in less than an hour."

Nodding his understanding, Obi-Wan went into his room to change. As soon as the door shut behind him, Obi-Wan's face fell as he slid to the floor. How was he going to do this? He had to finish Lamhet and write two papers by tomorrow. And he was already so tired! Knowing that there was nothing to do, Obi-Wan forced himself up before he got any more exhausted or any more obsessive about all the work that he had to do.

Ten minutes later, Obi-Wan was dressed just like his Master, with perfectly pressed clothes and freshly-combed hair. Walking of his room, the Padawan met his Master in the common room, before walking to the hanger to get a landspeeder. On the way there, while Qui-Gon drove, Obi-Wan felt his mind and focus slipping. He hadn't had a good night's sleep in a long time and he was beyond tired. Senate functions put him to sleep on a good day, so the idea of going to one now was pure torture. The worst part was that he was going to be up until at least six in the morning doing work and he had a class a seven. Life was getting too complicated.

Obi-Wan spent the entire night in a trance. He ate a dinner, but could not remember what he ate. He listened to the speeches, but he had no idea what was said. Of course, having been a student for 12 years, Obi-Wan was very good at looking like he was paying attention when he really wasn't. Unfortunately, the Padawan had a feeling that Qui-Gon did know of his charge's lack of focus. But Obi-Wan just did not have the energy to pay attention, so he just kept going on, mentally preparing for the lecture that would come later.

The Master-Padawan team finally left to go back to the Temple at about one in the morning. This was well past the teen's normal bedtime, but sleep would not be something that the teen could indulge in tonight. Resuming his seat in the passenger seat at the front of the landspeeder, he watched as his Master paid the clerk at the parking deck. Obi-Wan just leaned his head back and waited for his Master to take him home. It took almost ten minutes, but Qui-Gon eventually hopped into the driver's seat and started the drive home. By this time, Obi-Wan was one step away from sleep with only the thought of homework keeping him awake.

A few minutes into the drive, the questioning that he knew was coming came. "Obi-Wan? Padawan, are you alright? You seemed off at the function."

The Padawan did not know how to answer that. Of course he was not alright! Just the opposite, in fact. But he did not want his Master to know that. Nor could he lie. So he decided that it would be best to not say anything, praying that his Master would let the subject drop. He should have known better.

"Padawan? What is wrong."

Damn. Well, the silent answer obviously did not work, because now the question of ok, was now a statement. Thinking fast, Obi-Wan gave the best, most truthful answer that he could give without telling Qui-Gon everything.

"I just need a good night's sleep, Master."

"Well, it is quite late, so I think that that can be arranged. Are you sure that everything is okay? You have been somewhat tense lately."

"My classes have been a little more intense than the last term, but it is nothing that I cannot handle."

"Are you sure, Padawan? I know that your studies are important, but this is also an important time for you to relax."

"I know, Master." Even as he said that, the Padawan cringed. He sounded beyond exhausted and he knew it. Obviously Qui-Gon did too because the conversation ended. Obi-Wan turned his thoughts back to the work that he was to do. He was focusing so hard, that he did not feel the subtle Force suggestion that his Master was sending him until it was too late. And the apprentice slept.

To Be Continued…

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