My first really long SW fic. Obi Wan is in love…will he be able to keep this a secret from Anakin…much less the Jedi Council????? With out further ado I give you:

Forever and Always: Chapter One

Jedi were not supposed to have attachments. But he couldn't help it. She was beautiful, small and short…he needed to stop thinking of her and actually pay attention to the rather boring new Senator from Krant. He looked over to his left, and Anakin wasn't even making an attempt to conceal the fact he was napping during the Senate meeting. They were listening because the fate of their mission was being determined. It drove Obi-Wan insane that something this simple was no longer decided by the Jedi Council; it had to run through the lawmakers.

"Anakin." He nudged his Padawan. "She's finishing her speech."

"Yay." He said sarcastically.

"Would you prefer for her to continue?"

At that moment, the Senator stepped down from the platform. The applause was deafening. Anakin reached out with the Force and discovered, to his amusement, most were clapping merely because the speech was over. Senator Chanfaa beamed, presuming that the applause was in favor of her speech.

"There is an issue I need to put up to for a vote. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker were nominated by the Jedi Council to settle the Outer Rim disputes with the aid of the Republic's army. All in favor?"

The half-asleep Senators all voted in favor, and Palpatine dismissed the Senate.

"The Senate has too much control over the Jedi." Obi-Wan remarked.

"I agree."

"They just voted on whether or not we could go on a mission! When I was a Padawan, the Jedi Council took care of this!"

"Here we go again."

"What? Again?"

"You always talk about when you were a Padawan, how things were different."

"What's wrong with different, my Padawan?" He stressed "my Padawan".

"Nothing. I'd just prefer to focus on the present."

"Preference understood." An uncomfortable silence dominated for a moment as Master and Padawan walked together down the hallway.

"Excuse me, Master, I have a meeting with the Chancellor. He wanted to speak to me after the media settled down a little bit."

"Understandable." He began to walk away, but he paused. "Anakin?"

"Yes Master?"

"Be wary of the Chancellor. I don't think his motives are entirely pure."

"How can you say that? He is the only one who accepted me when I came to Coruscant!"

"I am sorry, Anakin. I know you are extremely close to the Chancellor, but I am not the only one to question his motives. The entire Council wonders about him."

"He has done only good for the galaxy! Is this how they will pay him back?!" Anakin's temper raged.

Making direct eye contact with Anakin, Obi-Wan straightened up, since Anakin towered over him, and said, "May the Force be with you. I hope you make the correct decision for yourself."

Anakin silently fumed. He screwed up his face, his eyes burning with all the rage slowly boiling deep inside of him.

"May the Force be with you as well, Master." He added on the term of respect with a twinge of disdain. He turned and walked away, swaggering haughtily in his usual manner.

"In him, a fragment of the Dark Side I sense." Yoda commented solemnly.

"I know, Master Yoda." Obi-Wan sighed. "I know." His thoughts drifted from the commotion at hand to Annera. She was the new bartender that he secretly visited. Jedi were not told exactly that they were forbidden to drink, but it was implied. He didn't care. He wasn't an alcoholic by any means; he just enjoyed a casual drink now and then.

"I didn't think Jedi were allowed to drink." She said, making small talk as she mixed his drink.

"Well…they never exactly told us not to…" He sipped his drink. "Excellent."

"But they never said you could."

"But it was never said we couldn't." He smiled.

She gave him a light smile. Her beauty outshone the brightest sun he had ever seen. Quickly, he examined her. She was about five feet high, long, shiny blonde hair, a perfect body, and the face of an angel.

"Distracted, you are." Yoda said. "Tell me something, you want to, Master Kenobi?"

"It's nothing Master Yoda. I was just thinking about Anakin's current dilemma." He lied through his teeth.

"May the Force be with you." Yoda left, and hobbled off towards the Jedi library.

"May the Force be with you as well, Master Yoda." His thoughts drifted away before the word "Yoda" was completely out of his mouth. He decided he would go back to the bar tonight.