Qui-Gon came awake all at once, knowing that someone was in his room who hadn't been there when he had fallen asleep. For a few moments he remained still on his bed, keeping his breathing even and his eyes closed.

A brief taste of the Force, however, revealed the intruder for who she was--and Qui-Gon sent a mental prayer of thanks to whoever was listening that he had been too tired to take his sleep pants off last night. There were certain things a thirteen year old girl probably shouldn't see--especially when those things belonged to her Master.

She was curled up in her blanket on the floor at the foot of his bed, eyes closed and chest rising and falling in a rhythmic fashion. She had obviously been there for a while, as she was already deeply asleep and oblivious to the world as Qui-Gon crawled softly to the foot of his bed to look at her.

"Siona, what am I going to do with you?" the Knight asked softly, staring down at the sleeping planes of his Padawan. This was the fourth night in a row he had woken up to find Siona curled up on the floor near his bed--and he was starting to feel slightly frustrated that he couldn't help her banish the dream that haunted her sleep and drove her to seek refuge in his room.

And Siona, thirteen and determined to think of herself as an adult, refused to just crawl into Qui-Gon's lap and cry, which was what Depa had informed Qui-Gon she needed to do. 'Cry, feel safe and loved--the reason she can't shake the dream is because she still feels that it threatens her. You need to make her feel safe.'

There was so much more to raising a child than Qui-Gon had ever dreamed.

As if feeling his eyes on her, Siona tossed restlessly, rolling over and sitting up sleepily. When her wide eyes fell on Qui-Gon, sitting at the end of the bed and watching her, she blushed furiously.

"I'm sorry, Master, but the dream--"

"It's all right, Padawan. You did nothing wrong." Qui-Gon reached out a hand to Siona, but she shied back, scrambling to her feet and gathering her blanket up.

"I'm sorry I disturbed your sleep, Master," Siona said, and Qui-Gon suppressed the urge to sigh. There was his main problem. What other thirteen year old apologized for 'disturbing your sleep' in that tone of voice? Siona was like a tiny woman trapped in a child's body sometimes--and Qui-Gon had to get himself to realize that no matter how intelligent and mature she seemed, she was a little girl whose closest thing to a family was him.

Ignoring her protests, Qui-Gon swept the tiny girl up into his arms and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, cradling her softly.

"Siona, you've been having a horrible nightmare. There is no shame in that, and no shame in the fear."

"But fear leads--"

"Stop spending so much time with Master Yoda," Qui-Gon teased gently. "Don't tell me what he says about fear. Tell me what you think."

Heavy philosophy for a thirteen year old who had just woken up from a nightmare, but Siona loved philosophy and debate, and could entertain Qui-Gon for hours with her quick witted comments and playful interpretation of the Code.

"I think fear is something we have to accept in ourselves," Siona said slowly, her eyes focused on something over Qui-Gon's shoulder. "Wouldn't fear of fear be worse than fear itself? Fear of something else--you can conquer that, make it part of you so that it can't affect you anymore. Fear of fear, however--that's the kind of thing that would eat you up from the inside."

Qui-Gon just stared at Siona. This was a thirteen year old? What would she be like when she was twenty, with training in diplomacy and comparative religions? Qui-Gon couldn't quite suppress the surge of possessive joy--this bright little mind was his!

Mistaking Qui-Gon's silence for disapproval, Siona tried to squirm out of his arms and retreat. "I'm sorry, Master--I shouldn't have presumed to interpret the Code like that."

"No, exactly the opposite my Padawan," Qui-Gon responded, pulling Siona back into his arms. "You must never, ever, accept anything blindly--not even the Code. Becoming complacent is only a step below ignorance, and blinds one to knowledge of the Force."

"Complac----what, Master?"

Thirteen, Qui-Gon. This is a thirteen year old. Do. Not. Forget. That.

"I'm sorry, Siona. What I meant to say was that if you accept anything as truth, it makes you ignorant."

"Because if that truth isn't really truth--and you don't see it because you've accepted it, then you become blind to what the truth might really be!" Siona's eyes were so bright that Qui-Gon couldn't suppress a smile at her enthusiasm. "So complac----complacent--does that mean accepting things as they are?"

"Mostly," Qui-Gon responded smiling. "But discussions of moral philosophy and linguistics are for when the sun is up, my Padawan. It's time you went back to sleep--we've got a busy day of lightsabre practice tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, Master," Siona said immediately, slithering out of Qui-Gon's arms and heading towards the door. "I won't disturb you again."

"No, Siona--that isn't what I want to hear."

Siona stopped at the doorway and turned around, her lower lip starting to tremble. "What did I say wrong, Master?" she asked in a tiny voice.

Qui-Gon slid to a kneeling position on the floor and opened his arms. "Siona, I want you to disturb me whenever something is wrong. You are my Padawan, I need to know when something is bothering you." Across their bond Qui-Gon sent a wash of reassurance, encouragement, and love.

Without saying another word Siona dove across the room and collapsed into Qui-Gon's arms, her face buried in his shoulder and her body wracked with sobs.

"Hush, Siona. You're safe now." Qui-Gon held the trembling girl long after her tears had finally stilled, held her on into the night until she finally slept--her dreams devoid of all fear.