“You’re here early so I imagine that means you’re ready to begin” Obi-Wan Kenobi greeted his padawan. “I’m ready to show you that I’ve completed my training; prepare to lose, master” Anakin Skywalker greeted with a sly, cheeky smirk before the older jedi handed him his lightsaber. “Arrogant today, aren’t we? I wouldn’t celebrate a victory before the battle” Obi-Wan pointed out with his usual wisdom but the confident 22 year old wasn’t interested in modesty, firing up his saber as his mentor stood opposite him. 

“Ready?” Kenobi asked. “Are you?” Anakin challenged before they sprang into action like they had so many times before. The blue sabers clashed against each other and swung back and forth as Obi-Wan fell to a more defensive position and Anakin pushed to keep a strong upper hand. One swing nearly caught Kenobi but he dodged it and Anakin quickly jumped back into action, never backing down or entertaining anything but the offense until he had his master backed into a corner with his saber struggling to hold Anakin’s back. 

“Admit you’ve lost, Obi-Wan! It’s over! There’s nowhere to go!” Anakin encouraged with a cocky smile behind the blue glare of his saber but Kenobi wasn’t surrendering. Obi-Wan proved his skill by slipping out from the position and starting back with him again but Anakin was even more determined to beat him now, swinging his lightsaber faster and harder until he knocked Obi-Wan’s from his hand. “There…you don’t have a weapon now…I won” Anakin declared with an almost smug grin like Obi-Wan’s resistance was pointless but Kenobi suddenly took him by surprise and used the force to rip the saber from Anakin’s hand, leaving him defenseless. 

Anakin turned around to face his master with a stunned, frustrated face, unsure how he lost the sparring match but Obi-Wan didn’t gloat or even seem happy to have won. “Your need for victory hinders your ability to think clearly; it blinds you, Anakin” “Why is it wrong to want to win? Should a jedi just expect defeat??” “Being a jedi is about protecting people, not defeating anyone. Here, drink some water before we start again, take a few minutes to settle your mind back down” Obi-Wan suggested while handing him the container of water and Anakin downed nearly half of it.

Anakin sulked a bit during the brief break and took off his heavier tunic layer like he was too warm for it, obviously still sore about losing but Obi-Wan was already a few steps ahead of him. “Anakin, how far is your reach?” “My reach? What do you mean?” “How far above your head can you reach, really stretch your arms if you had to?” “Haha I think you might be losing it, old man” Anakin laughed but complied as he stretched his arms above his head while looking forward to see if Obi-Wan was satisfied but he didn’t realize something else was going on until he heard two clicks above him. “What was that?” he looked up to see two square pieces of metal around his wrists. 

Anakin tried to pull his arms down but they seemed to be stuck somehow, locked in place above his head. “What is this?! Obi-Wan, tell me what’s going on!” Skywalker tried to figure out before another two clicks caught his attention and he felt himself starting to lift off the ground. “Hey! Obi-Wan, this isn’t funny!” Anakin protested while fighting to get free but the squares around his ankles began to pull his legs apart and the wrist pieces followed until he was in a vertical spread eagle position, hovering almost a foot off the ground. 

“You have the potential to be a truly great jedi, Anakin…but your arrogance and desire for conquest stands in your way. A real jedi must not fight for themselves but for others; there’s no room for pride” Obi-Wan explained. “This is ridiculous!” Anakin argued and attempted to break free of the devices only to realize he couldn’t. “What’s…what’s going on?? Why can’t I use the force?!” “That water you drank so much of earlier wasn’t just water; I put something in there to interfere with your use of the force temporarily so this lesson could be more effective” “Are you serious?! What lesson??” Anakin fired back like he wasn’t comfortable being so vulnerable and powerless. 

“This is a lesson in humility, Anakin…something I fear you greatly lack” Kenobi elaborated before moving closer to his angry padawan and reaching his own arms out this time, earning another flash of momentary confusion before Obi-Wan landed on his sides with wiggling fingers. “HahANnoAOH! WhHATtAARreeYYOoUAhhADdOOoIinNG?!” Anakin asked through the rush of giggles as he squirmed in the air. “You forget how many weaknesses we truly have, Anakin” Kenobi answered as he moved up and down both sides and watched Anakin realize his situation. “NoOoHO! TThhAATtsSSoOoIImMmAATtuURRrEE!!” Anakin argued as his smile and bubbly laughter told Obi-Wan he’d made the right choice, easily getting to his overconfident mentee with such a simple approach. 

“TThHIiiSSIiSSiILlLLLY! SstTToHOP! EENnOOuGh!” “Enough? We’re just getting started” Obi-Wan assured with a playfully sinister smile before his wandering hands landed on Anakin’s ribs, immediately adding a new twinge of concern on his handsome face before the same wiggling fingers started plaguing both sides of his ribs. “NnooAOhA! OOBbiIiWWAAhAnN!” Anakin let out with increased distress as the tickling ramped up, with every poke and prod between his ribs fueling the reluctant laughter spilling out of the jedi in training. 

“I didn’t even know if this would work on you, Anakin but it appears my hunch was right on target this time” Kenobi teased while working up and down the tender ribs and eliciting a steady stream of laughter that Anakin couldn’t get ahold of no matter how much his pride wanted him to. “TThhIiISSIiSSnNTtFfAAAiIiRRAhA!” “Not every lesson a padawan learns is based in total fairness, Anakin…some are tougher to learn than others” Obi-Wan assured as Skywalker’s arms strained against the devices holding them above his head and he tried to access the force again to help himself out but whatever he’d drank earlier really had neutralized his force connection, leaving him uncharacteristically helpless. 

“This could also be a good time to demonstrate the importance of multitasking. As you know, sometimes there may be more than one threat to handle at one time…sometimes a jedi must divide his attention adequately to successfully win a fight” Obi-Wan explained before letting one hand sneak under Anakin’s shirt and go after his stomach with claw-like, probing fingers while his other continued drilling into the ribs. “AhAHhAHA!! NNoOAHoAHA!! IIknNoOoHhoOWWtToOo MMuUULLTTiITTAhAHASSkKK!” Anakin shouted as the dual tickling got him even worse, no match for one hand attacking his belly and another simultaneously going at his ribs on a loop. “You let me steal your lightsaber earlier when you should’ve been keeping an eye on your weapon and your opponent instead of gloating” Obi-Wan reminded while keeping his apprentice floundering in place and consumed with his warm, boyish laughter. 

“TThhAAhATttSSnNoOoTTHhEESSAAmMEE TThHiINnnGG!!” “I beg to differ” Obi-Wan answered with a satisfied grin at how well this tactic was working on Anakin. He could almost see the arrogance leaving him the more he struggled against how ticklish he was and how little he could do to stop from laughing under his mentor’s fingers. In an abrupt shift, the hand on Anakin’s toned stomach became a single finger that dipped into his bellybutton and began swirling around, catching him off guard and sparking a particularly high-pitched laughter. “WwoHAOhAAHA!! NNoAOhA!! TTHhAAHTtSSSOOoWweEiIRRDAhAHA!!” “My, Anakin, you are ticklish, aren’t you?” Obi-Wan taunted with the simple swirling finger tickling his navel with incredible ease and his other hand jumping down to his thigh, planting on the right leg and squeezing up and down a few inches to inflame Anakin’s laughter even more. 

“NOOAohAohAOhAAhAOHA!! SSTToHOHOPP! NNOOMmOOOrREAAHA!!” “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that was awfully close to an admission of defeat” Kenobi pointed out. “NoAohAO!! IiIttsSNNnoOoHTT!!” “I guess we’ll have to proceed onward then” Obi-Wan answered as the chomping into Anakin’s thigh and bellybutton teasing worked in torturous harmony to drive the cocky blonde mad, making him lose all control over himself in a way he’d never experienced. He’d been so focused on learning to wield the force as he wanted and mastering his lightsaber skills that having so little control over the current situation messed with his mind as much as his body. 

Obi-Wan looked anything but concerned that Anakin hadn’t admitted he couldn’t take anymore yet or yielded to him, like he’d expected such resistance, but he knew there were still more ways to sufficiently humble Anakin that hadn’t been executed quite yet. With another sudden change of pace, Obi-Wan stopped tickling him out of nowhere and waved his hand a few times to unlock the metal braces around Anakin’s ankles. “Are we done now??” “When we finish is up to you” Obi-Wan answered as he used the force to yank the boots and socks right off of Anakin’s feet, surprising him yet again. “Obi-Wan, you can’t be serious…this is pointless!” “You sound worried” Kenobi answered with another smirk as the metal braces returned to Anakin’s ankles just above his now bare feet. It was around this point that Anakin realized the metal pieces were what Obi-Wan was focusing his force powers on, not actually Anakin himself, almost acting as anchors to keep him in place. 

A curious Anakin watched to see what would happen next as Obi-Wan reached into his pocket and pulled out two feathers, earning a skeptical look from his padawan. “Since when do you carry around feathers??” “They’re something of a good luck charm for me. I’m not usually one for superstitions but I like to think they help me from time to time. But today, they’re going to do more than bring me luck” Obi-Wan explained as he used his force to control the white feathers, making them stand up right and float down below Anakin’s naked feet. “Obi-Wan, come on! You can’t be serious!” “Oh, I am always serious about my padawan’s training…especially when it comes to him not being too full of himself” Obi-Wan answered before manipulating the feathers to start swishing across the soles of both size 12s, instantly cracking Anakin’s frustrated face with a reluctant grin and slowly prying his lips looser with each stroke across the fresh feet. 

Obi-Wan watched with humored patience as Anakin quickly lost his grip on his restraint, his hands becoming fists of concentration and his face tightening with resistance to the laughter on the brink of bursting out of him as the gentle tips of the feathers slinked in long lines up and down the incredibly smooth soles over and over. “We can always speed this up…” Obi-Wan soon added before making the feathers move faster and watched the damn break that was Anakin’s attempt to fight the feathers. “AAhaoOHANNOO! AohAOhAAohEEnNOoOUuUGGhAH! aoHAOAHCCoOmMeEoOONN!” Skywalker couldn’t help but crumble as his long toes flared and his pink soles suffered the full focus of both lucky feathers. 

But, Obi-Wan didn’t let the feathers do all the work, soon walking around so he was behind Anakin. “HhEEyY! WWhHAhAaTTARREEyYOouU DDOoiiIINNGG?!” “Well, I haven’t heard any admission of defeat yet…” Obi-Wan answered before sinking into Anakin’s armpits and lighting young Skywalker up with a fresh surge of stimulation. “NNOOAOhAohAOAAOHAOhA!!! OOOOBbbIIIWWAHAHAANNN!!” Anakin shrieked with a tone of overwhelmed disbelief in his voice and jerked around in place as much as he could while trying to pull his arms down but couldn’t protect himself at all from the devastating fingers digging away into his pits. 

“Just as I suspected…” Obi-Wan teased some more as he burrowed into both armpits with a perfect finesse to drive Anakin the kind of crazy only tickling could. The feathers were helping wreck him just the same, now upside down so the stiff ends were dragging across the buttery bottoms of Anakin’s feet and making Skywalker howl even harder. His big feet made for large canvases for the feather points to graze across at Obi-Wan’s behest, subjecting them to the most tickling they’d ever experienced and it showed. Anakin’s pits were just as reactive, with every movement Obi-Wan made in them, subtle or not, too ticklish for Anakin to ignore and not make him go a little crazier. 

“SSTToHoHoPPP! AohAOHOooHOOOBBIIWWAhhANNSSTToHOHOPP!” Anakin shouted, nearly squealed, as his laughter raged on and his endurance waned. “I don’t believe that’s a surrender, Anakin” Obi-Wan pointed out, knowing Anakin wouldn’t want to admit he’d been beaten. “TThHiIiSsSDoOoEESSnNTTAhAHACCoOuUNnTT!!” Anakin argued with a giggly break of his voice. “This isn’t a duel, Anakin. This isn’t a win or loss you put under your belt” Kenobi reminded before shifting his technique again, suddenly tickling him from the pits to the hips and everywhere in between while the feathers started weaving between his soft, unsuspecting toes. 

“AAGGhAHAHAH!!! NNOOAOhA!! NNOoOHAOhAOHA!!!” Anakin burst with a nuanced horror to his laughter as Obi-Wan wiggled into and squeezed his hips, ribs, sides, and pits with random controlled chaos and the gentility of the feathers were weaponized to floss between his toes and introduce them to a new kind of sinister tickling. Skywalker’s head shook with his braid flying around and his whole body vibrated with the aching desire to escape the powerless, humiliating situation he’d found himself in. His laughter had been forced into over-the-top roaring and shrieks of sensory overload as Obi-Wan dominated his upper body with an unending tickling and the pair of feathers conquered his peachy toes. 

“OoKHOOHOOKOOhOHOOKK!!” “Ok, what?” “AHoAHOAIiiGGgiIIVVEEUUUPP!! aOhAOHAYYOouUuUWWIIINNN!!” Anakin submitted the best he could, having to focus just to form words and steal enough of his laughter’s air to surrender. “Are you sure you’ve learned your lesson?” “YYEEAHAHEESSSS!! YyEESS!! PPLLLEeAAsSEE!!” Anakin shouted with sincere defeat in his voice and Obi-Wan accepted his admission, pulling away from his upper body and bringing the feathers back to him before releasing the metal pieces holding Anakin prisoner. 

Anakin landed on the ground with help from Obi-Wan and quickly grabbed his boots and socks as if he didn’t like the idea of having his bare feet so exposed. “I hope you remember this lesson in the future. Ego offers nothing but trouble for a jedi” Obi-Wan added. “I don’t think I have a choice but to remember it” Anakin answered with a bit of attitude as he stood up. “Well, I think we can call an end to our training for today after that” Kenobi decided as he turned away from Anakin, not paying attention to him realizing the temporary force inhibitor was leaving his apprentice. “Maybe not just yet, Obi-Wan” Anakin added before making Obi-Wan’s belt slip off and using it to wrap around his legs. 

“Anakin?!” Obi-Wan questioned just as Anakin tried to use the force to make Kenobi’s arms stretch above his head. “I bet I’m not the only ticklish jedi on this balcony right now…” Anakin proposed as he walked closer to him with a new confident grin. “I assure you, this is a mistake” Obi-Wan answered as he struggled in place a little. “I beg to differ” Anakin disagreed with Obi-Wan’s own line from earlier just before he was reminded that his mentor was indeed more skilled than him in the force. Obi-Wan overpowered Anakin’s influence and turned the tables on him by using the same belt to tie up his legs and force him against the nearest pillar with his arms over his head while Anakin squirmed against his control. “Ugh! I almost had you!” “If you wanted more, you could’ve just asked but please tell me how that ‘almost’ retaliation comforts you when you’re laughing like a mad man again” Obi-Wan answered as he prepared to make sure the sore loser and arrogant winner in Anakin was tickled out of him for good this time.