It was nearly a full year, before Anakin was finally able to 'beat' Master Windu at that board game.

And that had only been achieved by endless hours of practice on the holo-net (once he discovered just what the game was actually called)

Before that, his days largely consisted of a well established, practiced routine.

He would wake up, attend his academic classes, have lunch with Aayla, and their friends, Darra Thel and Ferrus Olin.

Then they'd go back to class, finish class, and the rest of the evening he'd meet with Master Windu.

With Master Windu they would start out with the game… the damn game… if he never played another match in his life he could die a happy man.

Then, after he lost… again, they would start practicing his basic forms.

Frankly, he'd done the basic forms for the six lightsaber combat styles so much he was pretty sure if he ever did 'sleep walking' his body would just go through the motions out of habit.

But today. Today that would change.

Why?

Because yesterday he beat Master Windu…

Well… outlasted his pre-determined turn 'goal' for the matches. Either beat him or last sixty turns.

He'd finally made it to sixty… Then lost at sixty one.

But still, a deal was a deal and today they were going to practice something new.

And so, arriving ten minutes early, Anakin waited for his Master by the training rooms with giddy anticipation.

Master Windu arrived right on time.

"Anakin." He greeted with the smallest of smirks, looking for all the world as though he fully expected his consistently late going student to be early for once.

"Master." Anakin was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Windu opened the door, passing through with his hands clasped behind his back.

And there was the table… with the board game… waiting for him.

"Oh come on!" He groaned.

Master Windu looked insufferably pleased with himself. "What? You didn't think we'd finished did you? You haven't actually defeated me yet."

"You've gotta be kidding me. It's been a year. I'm never gonna beat you at this thing!" Skywalker bemoaned.

"Patience is a virtue Padawan." Master Windu drawled. "And don't even think about throwing this game to start your new training quickly. Do that and we'll start from scratch." He warned.

Anakin wanted to jump off the temple roof.

With great sufferance and saintly patience on his behalf, Anakin played the force cursed game again with all his accumulated skill.

He lasted til turn fifty six.

And, dutifully, Master Windu decided to stop torturing him. Carrying off the pieces, board and table with the Force as Anakin went to grab the training sabers off to the side.

"We won't be needing those today Padawan." He said, and Anakin felt dread rising up from his spine.

Please don't let added lessons be philosophy, or listening to dusty holocrons.

His fears were allayed however, as he saw Master Windu divest himself of the heavier outer robe, and boots, leaving himself in just a set of plain clothes that seemed fit for sparring.

With a gesture, Windu called Anakin over to stand beside him.

"Padawan, what is the primary unarmed combat practice utilized by the Jedi?"

Anakin thought for a moment. "Ummm- Teräs Käsi-" He recalled from his many nights in the library.

"Why?"

"Uh. Because… it was made to fight Jedi?" He half stated, half asked.

He could tell Master Windu wasn't pleased with his hesitation, but he nodded nevertheless. "Correct. Teräs Käsi can allow a non-force user to combat a force user in close range combat. It is taught, and learned, so that one may recognize and adopt methods of defending one's self against an attacker with this skill set, and to grant a Jedi another skill to utilize when the lightsaber isn't available, or an option. We will begin learning Teräs Käsi, to go with your basic forms."

"I thought we were going to learn more advanced forms." Anakin wasn't whining… he wasn't.

"You'll have to beat me at the game for that." Windu countered. "Now- move as I do please."

Anakin did so, learning the first form of a martial art he was certain he'd never really use.

(X)(X)(X)

"You're learning what?"

It seemed Aayla agreed with his assessment, snorting into her cup the next day as they sat together at the dining hall.

"Oh ha-ha!" He grumbled. "Your Master is already teaching you dual combat styles and I'm learning Teräs Käsi. You laugh now but I'll remember this Aayla." He warned.

"If Master Windu wants to teach you Teräs Käsi he must have a good reason." Ferrus Olin said from the other side of the table.

Anakin felt his lip curl a bit.

Ferrus Olin was, in Anakin's mind, a Padawan with a rod stuck so far up his ass you could see the shine when he spits.

In truth, he was more Aayla's friend than his, half the time he couldn't stand the order's 'perfect padawan'

"I'm sure he has a reason." Anakin shot back. "It's probably a very shitty reason, but it is there."

"What's a shitty reason?" Darra Thel called, marching over with her choice of food for the evening.

"Master Windu's reason for teaching Anakin Teräs Käsi." Aayla said between bites of her sandwich.

Darra's face said it all.

"See!" Anakin hissed. "Even Darra agrees with me!"

"It won't be so bad Anakin." She tried to reason.

"Shhh shh." Anakin joked. "Rewind to six seconds ago, back to the face you were making and just agree with me. Like I agree with you when you complain about your Master."

She laughed softly as she sat down.

Anakin shook his head. "This is so useless." He bemoaned a second later.

"That's what you said about the Library trips." Ferrus reminded him.

"Now you're our bookie." Aayla laughed.

Anakin ran a hand through his brown curls. "All of you shut up, be like Darra and just agree with me. Just agree. Say I'm right and be quiet."

"Your ego can't take any more inflation bookie." Aayla laughed.

(X)(X)(X)

As the days turned to weeks, and the weeks turned to months, Anakin's training settled into a new routine. While his mornings were unchanged, his evenings with Master Windu were far more comprehensive and far more exhausting.

Three days a week, Anakin would train in physically. Three others, he would practice and meditate on the force.

The last he would have for himself.

Then it'd start all over again.

As most things with Master Windu, this routine went off like clockwork day after day after day, without fail.

Which of course, left him rather surprised, when, one fine day he made his way to their usual practice room, only to find Obi-Wan Kenobi there instead.

"Ahh, Anakin." The, now bearded Jedi smiled in his direction.

"Hello Obi-Wan." He answered back, looking around for Master Windu.

"Master Windu has been called away on an urgent mission I'm afraid. He asked me to inform you of it." The Jedi Knight said.

"What?" The young man half shouted. "But- Padawan are supposed to follow their Masters on Missions aren't they? Why wouldn't he take me?"

"Padawan go on low risk missions, with their Masters, and even then, only after they've reached sixteen. You're still fifteen are you not?" Obi-Wan reasoned.

Anakin's mouth curled up in a frown at the man's calm evisceration of his outrage. "I still should have gone!"

He could practically feel Master Windu's disapproving look at the back of his head, preaching patience and calm.

He sighed. Then, he realized something.

"So…" He trailed off. "What am I supposed to do until he gets back?"

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Take the day off? Study? Join some of the other Padawans in their exercises?" He suggested. "I'm sure other Masters wouldn't mind helping with your training for a day or two, and as skilled as Master Windu is, it's always good to find different perspectives and teachers to learn from."

Anakin nodded. "Would you help teach me then?"

Obi-Wan smiled, but it was tinged with sadness. "Nothing would please me more, but I'll be heading offworld myself in just a few hours, I must finish making my last few preparations. Sorry Anakin."

Skywalker shrugged. "No big deal." It was true. While he did 'like' Kenobi in the general sense, knowing the man, along with Quigon was the reason he was here; he didn't really know him all that well. At least not well enough to be disappointed. If Kenobi was busy then he was busy.

The Jedi knight did seem genuinely apologetic to his credit. "When I return, if you still wish it, I will help."

With a pat over his shoulder Kenobi left the training room, Anakin following after him a moment later.

Marching down the hallways Anakin spread out his senses, wondering which Master he could approach for help. He knew most of them, or at least had met them. Many times his sessions with Master Windu were periodically interrupted when some Master or other had some kind of emergency they needed to discuss with Master Windu. But he couldn't say that he knew them enough to just walk up and say that he wanted to practice or learn from them til Master Windu came back.

Spreading out his senses, he discovered, a little surprised to be honest. That Darra and her Master Soara were actually in another of the training rooms nearby.

Shrugging to himself, he decided to hope for the best. Making his way over, he knocked politely on the training room door.

About six seconds later, it snapped open with a hydraulic hiss.

"Anakin?"

Darra looked up from her place sitting on the ground, blinking owlishly at him, the pieces of floating furniture around her slowly ceasing their spinning.

"Hey Darra. Hello Master Soara." He bowed a little.

"Skywalker." She greeted with a nod. "What do you need?"

She was always blunt.

He smiled a bit. "Master Windu is gone on a mission. Some kind of emergency. I was wondering-"

"If you could learn with me and Dara until he returns." She finished for him.

He shrugged. "Basically. Was wondering who I could ask and then I noticed you were in here." He could be blunt too.

The Jedi Master nodded. "Alright. Sit across from Darra, you see what she's doing?"

"Obviously she's trying to re-create the planetary exhibit down in the library." He joked.

She raised an eyebrow. "She is exercising her force abilities, while defending her mind from me."

"Ohhhh." He nodded.

"Start doing the same."

Anakin looked around the room, finding some more equipment and training gear Darra wasn't using yet before he brought it towards himself.

Darra had bigger pieces of furniture. But he had alot more smaller pieces, if she looked like an exhibit of planets in orbit around a star, he was a small asteroid field.

He waitch Darra, her face scrunched up in intense concentration, her brows furrowing as he felt Master Soara's power extend, reaching to brush across her shields.

Then, she pulled back, and Anakin could feel her ghostly touch across his own mind.

Anakin had never put much effort into training his mental shields. Always more drawn to the more 'practical' application of lightsaber combat. And his neglect was showing considerably.

He could tell Master Soara wasn't really trying but even so it took all of his will and know how to hold back even this tepid attempt at a breach.

"Your control is slipping Skywalker." Soara admonished.

Anakin opened his eyes, finding the field of floating training equipment around him was still, and wavering, whereas Darra's was still spinning lazily through the air.

He would definitely be practicing this more before Master Windu showed up again. This was just embarrassing.

It was roughly an hour later before Master Soara called an end to the session. He thought they'd devote themselves to Meditation or some other force exercise for the rest of the day, since that's what Master Windu did, devote one day to physical exercises or force exercises. But to his surprise, and immense elation, she used the force to drag over two Training Sabers, handing the Padawans the weapons.

"First contact wins." The rule is simple enough. The first to get a legitimate hit onto the other, wins. Normally a single lightsaber wound would cause enough sheer pain to disable anything short of an enraged wookiee.

"You're going down Skywalker." Darra grinned, twirling the saber into a ready stance he recognized as Niman.

"In your dreams." He teased back.

Master Soara rubbed the bridge of her nose; clearly disapproving of their lack of discipline. "Begin!"

And, immediately, Anakin realized how different this was in comparison to Master Windu.

Master Windu's forms were all but flawless, and any vulnerability was just a well disguised trap that would make Anakin over extend or make some other mistake. Master Windu would switch between being the aggressor and being on the defensive with a fluid, easy grace that was simply flawless in its transition.

Darra's form was solid… but hardly flawless, placing too much weight on her back leg, telegraphing her hesitation, her defensive mindset. She wanted him to attack first.

At this deduction, his mind warned him of an impending trap; telling him it's what Master Windu would do.

But the other part of him was too impatient to wait.

So he struck.

As he said, Darra's form was solid. But she was no Master Windu.

The blades clashed against each other with sharp-crack-snaps of striking sabers. Anakin, felt his body naturally moving into Form one, Shii-cho. Using quick acrobatics and fast blows to overwhelm the timid Niman.

Then, immediately, Darra switched to form five, Djem-So, the solid defenses of the form swinging the fight back into her own favor as she used his leaping acrobatics to seize openings and nearly take him out of the fight outright if not for a quick backstep that had him just narrowly escaping the reach of her saber swing across his gut.

She pressed the attack, switching to Shii-cho herself now that he was on the backfoot.

It was instinct, more than rational thought that guided his actions. Reflex and endless hours of practice with Master Windu.

His body slipped into the opening stance of the second form, Makashi.

The lightsaber combat discipline designed to combat lightsabers.

Darra either didn't recognize the form, or didn't recognize the danger. She pressed on, heedless.

Anakin may not have known the most advanced itterations of all forms. But after a year of practicing the basics of each with the battlemaster of the Jedi order, his dominance over those basics was undeniable.

Darra's attack was relentless, dancing around Anakin to try and strike him anywhere for the win.

With Anakin switching rapidly, as needed, between the Makashi, the Soresu and the Djem-So, however, she got nowhere.

Finally, he saw an opening.

One step, all it took was one step. He stepped towards her, watching her saber rise to block his strike only for him to abandon his hold on the weapon, gripping it with the Force to keep it moving as his hands were kept free.

Saber struck saber as he took another step, sliding inside of her guard. She was too startled to do much more than mentally fumble for an answer before his hands rose up grabbed her, twisting her Saber arm in the most basic disarming technique of the Teräs Käsi, hearing the weapon clatter to the floor before he shoulder tossed her, using the force to draw back his own saber into his hand and finishing the bout with a flourish by holding its point to her chest.

She blinked up at him, still dazed. "What in the correllian hell-"

"The match goes to Skywalker." Master Soara called. "Though, really, you must refrain from showing off."

Anakin grinned impishly, feeling his heart still pounding at the rush. He hadn't won a match since… ever really, just training with Master Windu. And to do it with Teräs Käsi was definitely a surprise.

"Lets go again!" He laughed, helping Darra up from the ground.

(X)(X)(X)

Well, this was fun. This will be one of the last chapters devoted to Anakin's 'formative' years. After this, we'll have, at most One more. More likely than not we'll be heading into the 'Episode 2' timeline. Things will be different here (as stated/implied) but the general timeline of when the 'war' breaks out will still be the same.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed :D