Mom and Dad

It was the night before his last trial so Obi Wan wasn't really asleep anyway when Honsu commed him from the nursery. Anakin awoke late at night with a nightmare. Distraught, the boy and snuck away in the Temple halls.

Only days on the planet, the former slave was still uncomfortable with this 'factory kid care', as Anakin would one day shun aloud. No one looked down on him for opinions in that regard. For one, no one here knew any different and intellectually accepted they had no other way of life with which to compare Anakin's grief. And for two, it was no one's place to correct the boy for his opinions, Honsu especially, and she coached young Obi Wan to do the same thing.

That night, Honsu focused her mind to track the boy through the Temple, unconcerned, for she knew he was safe as long as he remained within those vast walls. Anakin paused his feet in the great entrance hall and looked towards those looming windows and far away doors of escape with recognition of where he was. For a moment, the lad shuffled with indecision and then turned his feet towards the south wing quarters instead.

Honsu sounded pleased to report this with soft, friendly tones as though she were trying to keep all the other youngling's asleep despite the call. She didn't give Obi Wan a word of additional coaching before she clicked off, as he hoped she would. It left Obi Wan stiffly licking his lips to consider the best possible method to treat this problem. Knee deep in his own trials, where doctrine was fresh in his mind and the boundaries of the code were hard as stone, he had a thought to walk Anakin back down to the nursery and put him back to bed himself.

But Obi Wan's blue eyes glanced to the wall painting and remembered where he was.

This was Qui Gon's bedroom.

So much changed so fast and Obi Wan's mind still struggled to catch up. As much as he hated to hear them before, these rapid changes made him crave a soothing word from his Master. He ended up sleeping in Qui Gon's big empty bed for a couple of nights, using the fading image of the man as an anchor for his meditations.

It felt childish. Here he was, a full grown man, in the middle of his trials to become a full-fledged Jedi night, and he was sleeping in his master's bed.

He felt like an idiot.

The door chime beeped, bright and quiet. Obi Wan instantly knew what he had to do.

He opened the door and found Anakin standing there, looking forlorn and helpless. The boy had been crying, but wasn't now, and seemed a sudden loss for words now that he was faced with the man he was looking for. The youngling's lips quivered with uncertainty.

Obi Wan lowered to sit on one leg, draping his hand across the other upturned knee and looked the boy in the eye. He lifted a brow, grinned with friendly caring, and motioned the young man over.

Anakin threw his arms around his neck and promptly burst into tears. He wailed one single sentence, in one, single emotion, too strong for the child to handle on his own, the voice quivering between wailing words. "I... miss... my… mom."

Obi Wan held the lad and blindly smiled over his shoulder in an understanding Anakin would never truly realize: Obi Wan missed his dad.

That night, they both slept in Qui Gon's bed. Anakin settled in close beside him and sleepily inquired why Obi Wan remained sitting up. Obi Wan reached over and brushed the tiny, braided pigtail from the boy's neck. "I have to meditate for my trial tomorrow."

The touch relaxed the boy. Anakin was already half asleep. His face half-swallowed in Qui Gon's big pillow. His tears drying in the comfort of Obi Wan's care. Anakin yawned without covering his mouth and mumbled. "What's your trial about?"

Obi Wan's eyes shifted to the air, staring at his revelation when he realized his answer. "Compassion."