'I brought shame upon the order and the Temple,' Anakin responded quickly now, his voice high and soft.
'That is hardly precise. Again, your error?'
'To break the laws of the municipality, and. . and…'
'No!' Mace declared, and his smile vanished, replaced by a stern expression, like the dark underside of a cloud heretofore painted by sun.
Anakin flinched.
'Obi-Wan, explain to your Padawan his error. It does, after all, arise from the same roots as your own.' Mace regarded Obi-Wan with a lifted brow.
Obi-Wan considered this intently for a long moment before answering. Nobody tried to rush him. Inner truth was a perilous journey, even for a Jedi.
'I see it,' he said. 'We both want certainty.'
Anakin stared at his master with a puzzled frown.
'Explain to us all how you have failed your Padawan,' Mace said, gently enough, considering the turnabout in the proceedings.
'He and I are far too young for the luxury of certainty,' Obi-Wan began. 'Our experience is insufficient to earn us even momentary peace. As well, I have been more concerned with his growth than my own, distracted by his obvious flaws, rather than using his mirror to guide me, so that I may in turn guide him.'
'A good beginning,' Mace allowed. 'Now, young Skywalker, explain to the Council how you can find peace by seeking cheap thrills among the most deluded occupants of this planet.'
Anakin's frown deepened.
'You are defensive,' Mace warned.
'What I did, I did to fill a lack in my training,' Anakin shot back testily.
Mace's expression turned stolid, and his eyes became heavy lidded, languid, as he placed his arms behind his back. 'And who is responsible for this lack?'
'I am, Master.'
Mace nodded, his rugged face like ancient hewn stone. No trickster here, no humor now. Behind that face, if one knew how to sense it, burned an unbearably brilliant flame of concentration, easily worthy of the legendary Masters of past millennia.
'I seek to escape pain,' Anakin said. 'My mother-'
Mace lifted his hand, and Anakin instantly fell silent. 'Pain can be our greatest teacher,' Mace said, barely above a whisper. 'Why turn away from pain?'
'It… it is my strength. This I see.'
'That is not correct,' Obi-Wan said, placing his hand on Anakin's shoulder. The boy looked between them, confused.
'How is it wrong, teacher?' Mace asked Obi-Wan.
'Lean upon pain like a crutch and you create anger and a dark fear of truth,' Obi-Wan said. 'Pain guides, but it does not support.'
Anakin cocked his head to one side. He seemed slight and even insubstantial among these Jedi Knights, all this overwhelming experience. His face collapsed in misery. 'My most useful talents are not those of a Jedi.'
'Indeed, you throw your spirit and your anguish into ma chines and useless competitions, rather than directly confronting your feelings,' Mace said. 'You have cluttered our Temple halls with droids. I stumble over them. But we are away from the crux of our present matter. Try again to explain your error.'
Anakin shook his head, caught between stubbornness and tears. 'I don't know what you want me to say.'
Mace took a shallow breath and closed his eyes. 'Look inward, Anakin.'
'I don't want to,' Anakin said breathlessly, his voice jerking. 'I don't like what I see.'
'Is it possible you see nothing more than the tensions of approaching adulthood?' Mace asked.
'No!' Anakin cried. 'I see… too much, too much.'
'Too much what?'
'I burn like a sun inside!' The boy's voice rang out in the chamber like a bell.
A moment of silence.
'Remarkable,' Mace Windu admitted. Curiously, a smile flickered on his lips. 'And?'
'And I don't know what to do with it. I want to run. It makes me reckless, so I seek sensation. I don't blame any of you for-' He could not finish that sentence.
Obi-Wan felt the boy's anguish like a small knife in his own gut.
'My own mother didn't know what to do with me,' Anakin murmured.
The door in the far wall swung open slowly. Mace and Obi- Wan looked up to see who was there.
A small female figure clad in Temple robes stepped into the circle, and a clear voice sang through the
