"Might say I'm thirteen. That's a cool number."

"Reasonable," Qui-Gon says.

Hee.

"So what next?"

"The formalities can wait until we reach Coruscant," Qui-Gon says.  "I'm happy to consider you my Padawan now.  I can even start your lessons, if you don't have anything else to attend to."

"I don't!"

He settles in, and they begin.

"When we first met I described the Force to you as a field of energy, thought, and intention," he says.  "It permeates the Galaxy and all living beings in it.  Anyone can hear it, or speak to it, and most people do, sometimes; but it takes training, usually within an existing tradition, to do much more than that.  Traditionally, the Jedi focus their efforts on cases of exceptional sensitivity, like yourself."

She hums. "Why not teach everyone? Or try to, eventually - even if teaching people's really hard, if every teacher teachers two future teachers, you could get really really big over time."

He smiles.  "In fact, the number of Jedi is growing, though not quite doubling with every generation.  But many Jedi feel it isn't wise to teach as many people as we possibly can."

"Why not?"

"In part, for the same reason we don't hand everyone in the Galaxy weapons, or warships.  The Force can be a powerful tool and a dangerous weapon.  It - is like a person, and I believe it wants good things.  But it's not perfectly good, and it can't turn its users to perfect goodness."

"Another reason is that the Force does not have just one nature.  Jedi have found within the force much light and goodness and healing; but in our studies and meditation we've also perceived darkness and pain, hatred and jealousy, and the desire to lash out and hurt.  It has what we call a Dark Side."

"Then you just fix stuff so people aren't hurting all the time, so it's safer for everyone to get trained."

His lips quirk into an affectionate smile.  "Is that all."

"There's some steps in between, of course."

"In between is precisely where we are."

"Then we'll have to keep working for a bit."

"I look forward to working alongside you."

She laughs. "Yeah, me too."

He chortles fondly.  "But in the meantime, it's important we're careful with ourselves and with the Force, as we learn to use it and to call on it.  This is why the Jedi order has a code of conduct, and why certain things are forbidden to us."

"Like what?"

"The Jedi code prohibits attachment, both to material things and to other people.  What exactly is meant by attachment is naturally a subject of some debate.  And attachment is not necessarily a negative emotional or cognitive force, in my opinion; but the Jedi tradition holds, and I don't disagree, that it's a vector by which the Dark Side of the Force can influence your thoughts and feelings, and a very dangerous one for Force-users.  My own interpretation is that attachment becomes dangerous, as a state of mind and as a vector for allowing the Dark Side to influence you, when it moves you to act and gain power primarily for the purpose of controlling the people and things to which you are attached."

She scrunches up her face a bit, like everyone involved in creating this entire philosophy has a brain she doesn't quite understand. 

"You can always feel free to say what you're thinking, Anakin."

"...What does attachment have to do with being a controlling jerk?"

"Attachment can be a motivator to take control of things or people, if you're afraid they'll leave you or disappear," Qui-Gon says.  "It doesn't have to be, but you might say it's a risk factor.  And the Jedi believe it's a much greater risk factor for people more in touch with the Force, and therefore more able to be swayed by the Dark Side."

Very slow, considering nod. "I guess some people are like that, yeah."