Part Four
Anakin bolted up in bed, sweating and panting heavily. A nightmare. It had to be a nightmare. Obi-Wan wouldn't have really lied and gone back to the Jedi, glad to be rid of a slave who would no doubt be a lot of work to train because he didn't really know anything because Watto and other owners didn't let them get schooled beyond basics and he was such a disappointment because he couldn't help save Qui-Gon from that monster in black and red. No, Obi-Wan wouldn't have abandoned him.
Right?
Because he'd promised Qui-Gon he'd train him. And Obi-Wan, from what Anakin had seen over the past few days, always kept his promises.
Except when he didn't.
Because Obi-Wan didn't come back the previous night like he said he would.
Tears welled up for Anakin again. He'd been up and worried and upset all night. He knew that Obi-Wan had promised to train him. But was that all Anakin was? A last promise to their father-figure that a responsible guy like Obi-Wan would put the effort into? Anakin shook his head, holding down a sob. Obi-Wan liked him. They'd just gotten off on the wrong foot. They were already doing better. Obi-Wan paid attention to him and answered his never-ending questions. He was gentle, patient, attentive, and he never did the stuff that Watto did when Anakin got annoying.
Obi-Wan wouldn't abandon him.
Anakin took in a shuddering breath as he scraped tears from his eyes, striving to be as quiet as possible.
It was just a dream.
A nightmare.
It wouldn't happen.
It couldn't. Because then, what would Anakin have?
He'd already given up his mother and his life on Tatooine. He'd done that because he'd thought he was going to be a Jedi. But the Jedi had said no. Except for Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan had said yes. And he was doing it anyway. Anakin would be a Jedi. In all but name, just like Obi-Wan said.
But Obi-Wan wasn't there. He didn't come back. And Qui-Gon was gone. Anakin just didn't know what to do. Padme would help him, he knew that. But he didn't want to always go to her. He wanted her to be able to come to him. He was going to marry her one day, so he had to be able to do stuff for her. Not the other way around. Obi-Wan said a Jedi was self-sufficient, able to take care of themselves, and Anakin agreed that this was important. He needed to be able to take care of things to hopefully impress Padme one day. Yet Anakin understood he was a child. He needed help from someone. Qui-Gon was supposed to be that someone, but he was dead.
Obi-Wan had started to be that someone, but he wasn't there.
Still shaking, Anakin crawled out of his bed, furiously trying to swipe tears away as they continued to leak from his eyes.
Obi-Wan wasn't there. No one was there.
...Anakin wanted someone there to hug.
...He needed a hug.
Not even his mother was there.
He was alone.
And he hated it.
He wiped his eyes again, intent on getting to the bathroom when he paused. Between his haggard breaths, he thought he'd heard voices. One of them sounded like Padme. She'd been there to try and comfort him, despite her busy schedule, when she learned that Obi-Wan hadn't returned. But Anakin hadn't exactly been consolable. The last thing he remembered was sitting on the sofa worrying. That meant she'd put him to bed.
She really was so kind. Despite his bleak outlook on things, the fact that she cared enough to do something like that for him lifted his heart a tiny bit. Had she stayed through the night?
The other voice, however, was what really caught his ear.
"Obi-Wan!"
Physical needs completely forgotten, Anakin raced into the sitting area, saw his new brother leaning back in a cushy armchair, and jumped into his lap, latching his arms around Obi-Wan's neck as tightly as he could. Tears started anew, but he no longer felt the need to hold them back. Obi-Wan was there and Anakin finally had someone to lean on.
"Obi-Wan! You're back! I was so scared and worried! I thought you'd left to go be with the Jedi and that I was useless to you and that I was all alone because I don't even have Mom here anymore and I didn't know what to do and it was either that or you'd been killed or hurt or kidnapped and I wasn't there and I couldn't help you just like I couldn't help Qui-Gon and-"
Anakin's new brother seemed to be uncertain of hugs. There were times, usually when Qui-Gon was mentioned by the Jedi who'd been there, that Obi-Wan held him tight and wouldn't let go. Other times, he seemed utterly clueless on the fact that a hug was needed and completely uncertain on how to even give a good hug.
Arms tentatively came up and Anakin squeezed all the harder, hoping it encouraged Obi-Wan that hugging was okay and that he really needed a hug at this particular time.
"Hush, Padawan," Obi-Wan whispered, finally holding him close. Anakin didn't care that Obi-Wan was all sweaty and dirty and grimy. He just squeezed his hug with all his might and Obi-Wan tentatively ran a hand through his hair. Anakin gave a happy little sigh through his sobs.
"As you can see," Padme said with a large smile in her voice, "Ani was quite worried about you."
Anakin tilted his head long enough to see her out of the corner of his eye, dressed as a handmaiden, before snuggling back into Obi-Wan's embrace.
"I'm sorry for worrying you," Obi-Wan whispered into Anakin's ear. "I did try to be back by nightfall. I wasn't expecting complications."
Anakin leaned back and scowled up to his new brother. "You could have called. My mom always makes me call her when I was going to be late coming back from Watto."
Obi-Wan blinked, then gave a wan smile. "I admit, it never occurred to me."
Anakin wiped his eyes again and then wiped away the words. "'s okay. Now you know, so there won't be a problem next time." Anakin looked down, suddenly very quiet. "Right?" he asked tentatively. He was a priority for Obi-Wan right? Not just an afterthought?
Obi-Wan's smile was a bit more genuine. "No, there won't be a problem."
Anakin smiled brightly.
"So what kept you?" Padme asked, bringing in a tray of tea from the small kitchen their borrowed rooms had.
"I was on my way to secure lodgings for myself and Anakin when a security guard told me it was past curfew." Obi-Wan shifted Anakin, clearly wanting to get to his tea. Anakin easily moved, but didn't get out of Obi-Wan's lap. He reached for juice for himself.
"Curfew?" Anakin asked. "Like when my mom told me to be home by a certain time?"
"Yes, Ani," Padme nodded. "I installed it so that there wouldn't be looters or other trouble at night while we're sorting through everything. As we sort through things and get stability again, the curfew will be one of the first things to go."
"A wise decision, though I was caught unawares," Obi-Wan agreed, sipping his tea.
Padme bowed her head. "I apologize. I thought you knew."
Obi-Wan waved the apology aside, much as Anakin had done moments ago. (This made Anakin smile as he realized he had more common ground with his new brother.) "You need not apologize, milady. I should have realized you'd take such preventative measures." He took another sip of tea. "I asked to be taken to where I was hoping to get a room, but instead I was taken to a refugee camp."
Padme frowned.
"Milady, did you know that refugees are locked in their camps at night?"
Her frown deepened. "I was not aware of this," she said in her queen voice. "This is unacceptable. My people have suffered enough imprisonment. I will not have my own Security Forces imitating such conditions." She took a sip of her own tea. "I take it you didn't have bathing facilities either. Or even a sonic shower?"
Obi-Wan shrugged, looking rather embarrassed at his current less-than-clean condition. Anakin grinned, finding that amusing. "We never got showers or baths much back on Tatooine," he said. "Obi-Wan actually looks really clean to me."
"Well, Anakin," Obi-Wan replied, a grin threatening, "We need to redefine 'clean' for you."
Anakin shrugged, not caring one way or the other. "Long as it doesn't waste water."
His new brother gave him a thorough once-over. "Our initial scrubbing might use more water than you're comfortable with, but subsequent washes shouldn't be such an issue. Unless you decide to get filthy again."
"It's kinda hard not to when working on engines," he said brightly.
Obi-Wan frowned. "Anakin, you are not a slave anymore. You don't have to work every day like that. You haven't had much of a childhood and while a Jedi's training will be hard work, I won't steal what remains of your younger years. I want you to be in school and have fun like any other youngling."
Anakin's jaw dropped. He'd meant his comment in jest, but Obi-Wan had clearly been putting a lot of thought into this. He was committed and that just made Anakin happy in a way he hadn't been since he decided to leave his mother behind.
"I get to go to school? Really?" Slaves were never allowed much education.
"Yes, Anakin. Really. Though we may not be able to enroll you for a day or two. We need to get settled into our new room, I need to find a good school and get all the filework for that started..."
Padme interjected. "Don't worry about that," she said. "A good social worker can help handle all of that and get you settled."
Anakin turned. "What's a social worker?"
"Someone who is supposed to help people in trouble," she replied.
"Like a Jedi?" Anakin asked excitedly.
"Not quite," Obi-Wan replied. "They work in more individual concerns while Jedi deal with broader conflicts."
Padme agreed. "Especially where the two of you are setting up a new life here, she'll help you get settled and filed and get through the red tape of getting started."
"Anakin and I can handle-"
Padme gave the Look. The same Look Anakin's mother gave whenever he was doing something stupid.
Obi-Wan looked stubborn for a moment before just sighing tiredly. "As you wish, milady."
Anakin decided he didn't like Obi-Wan looking so tired. He peeked into his new brother's eyes and smiled. "So do we get training now?"
Obi-Wan smiled. "That sounds like a wonderful idea. After that, I can show you our new accommodations. I'm afraid you'll have to entertain yourself here at the Palace again while I'm at work and until we can get you into school."
"Not a problem!" Anakin jumped off of Obi-Wan's lap. "Padme's been real nice and letting me visit her when she has a few minutes and her handmaidens are already teaching me a lot of stuff I never knew before!" he called as he raced to his room to change.
"And no doubt assessing where you'd be placed in whatever school you end up in," Obi-Wan muttered, glancing at the Queen.
Anakin hurried back once he'd changed. "Let's go!" he grabbed Obi-Wan's hand. "We gonna train in that place again? You gonna show me more of that lightsaber form thing we were doing yesterday?"
Obi-Wan, as always, answered every question Anakin asked.
Anakin stood, looking at the room that Obi-Wan said was theirs now. Anakin was used to a small place. He and his mother's rooms were small and compacted. His own room had doubled as a workshop as well that easily spilled into their living area until his mother made him clean up. It hadn't been much. On the way to Coruscant, he'd had some cushions from benches in the hanger and actually on Coruscant, Padme had made sure that he'd had a room that had seemed like a palace compared to the hovel he'd lived in. The one night he'd stayed at the Temple with Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan he'd stayed in their modest quarters on a couch that had been more comfortable than anything he'd slept on to date. Once they'd gotten to Naboo and the chaos of the battle had finished, Padme had again made sure they'd had the best, with a set of rooms that would have fit three of the hovels he and his mother lived in.
This room... was... tiny. It wasn't a set of rooms, like even the hovel he grew up in with his mother. It was just a room.
One room.
One corner had a tiny kitchenette, there was a door to a miniscule fresher, and the main living area. That was it. Folded in the corner were two mats that looked like they could unfold to bed-sizes and along a wall were a small table and a pair of chairs. A different wall was completely storage and that was it. This was really it. A one-room apartment.
This... wasn't what he expected when Obi-Wan said he'd get some kind of lodging for them. Granted, Anakin didn't know what he was expecting but... something more than this... certainly something more than this...
Obi-Wan's hands tightened on his shoulders. "I... I know this isn't much," he said quietly. "Especially after the extravagance of the Palace, this must seem particularly... dismal. I... It was short notice... This will only be temporary... just... Just till we can get a solid idea of finances... how much my new job will pay, what our expenses will be... There are a lot of initial purchases we need to make," Obi-Wan was talking faster now. "Clothes, blankets, cutlery, basic supplies and such. Credits will be tight for a while as we get some basics, but once we can start saving, we'll be able to look for..." Obi-Wan sounded hesitant again. "...better accommodations..."
Anakin's new brother sighed. "I hope this is satisfactory for now," he said so quietly Anakin wasn't sure he'd heard him. He looked around their small room again. Obi-Wan sounded so unsure of himself. Anakin could relate to that. This was all new to him as well.
"You know, I never had to worry about stuff like credits before," he said, pulling away to poke around the storage wall and peek inside. "Mom managed Watto's finances, but slaves aren't allowed money. The owner had to provide and whenever Watto was having bad times, we always seemed to feel the pinch."
Anakin looked back to Obi-Wan, whose eyes darted around the room before resting on him again. Anakin smiled. "The only way to go from here is up!" He went over to the folded up beds. "You know, this looks more comfortable than what we had on Tatooine."
Behind him, Obi-Wan let out a quiet, relieved sigh.
That made Anakin feel good. Obi-Wan was clearly new to this whole family-idea, even though Qui-Gon was kinda his father. That was fine, since Anakin had never had a big brother before, so that made them even. Anakin had at least seen brothers before, so he knew that they supported each other and teased each other. Anakin was, admittedly, looking forward to the teasing, but Obi-Wan needed to relax for that to happen and since Qui-Gon was dead, he doubted that a relaxed-Obi-Wan was going to happen for a while. That was fine. Anakin had supported his mother when she needed it and he kinda knew what to do. Hugs would be paramount, once Obi-Wan got used to them, as was helping out in any way he could.
And reassurance. His mother was always reassuring him when things happened, and it looked like he was the only one who could give that to Obi-Wan at the moment, since he wasn't taking help from anyone else.
That made Anakin feel needed and wanted. He smiled, looking up to his new brother as Obi-Wan put down his pack and started pulling things out. Obi-Wan was going to be his new project! He was going to help set up their new life together and turn Obi-Wan into the best brother anyone ever had!
They only had a little more time before Obi-Wan had to go to his new job, so Anakin rushed over to help Obi-Wan unpack.
"Hey, Obi-Wan?"
"Yes, Padawan?"
"Does that kata-stuff always make you feel like this when you're done?"
Obi-Wan glanced at him with a smile. "Feel like what?"
Anakin pulled out the blanket he'd borrowed (stolen) from the Nabooan cruiser on the way to Coruscant that was extra thick. "Feel so... grancha grancha inkabunga! Errr, I'm not sure the Basic word for it."
Obi-Wan nodded, pulling out Anakin's toolkit that he's brought from Tatooine. "From my understanding of Huttese, I think you're talking about feeling incredible at the moment?"
He nodded, putting his blanket on the folded-bed he decided to claim as his own. "Sort of. It's really hard to explain."
His new brother laughed. "A Jedi feels like that all the time, because we spend so much time dedicated to the Force. You're just starting, but the fact that you can still feel the Force, even after our morning training, is a good sign."
"Wizard," Anakin grinned, coming back to their pack and reaching in as Obi-Wan opened a lower cabinet of their storage wall to put the tools away. Rummaging through the spare clothes he'd brought with him, his hand found something smooth and cool that he brought out.
His face fell, as did Obi-Wan's when he turned around.
It was Qui-Gon's lightsaber.
Anakin stared at it for a moment, sorrow and sadness welling up in him. Obi-Wan came over and knelt down. Both looked at the lightsaber for a few moments as grief swelled around them. With a sniff, Anakin wiped his eyes with a sleeve before going over to the shelving unit and finding an open shelf where he reverently placed the small cylinder. He stepped back, then adjusted the lightsaber so that it was properly centered.
Obi-Wan's hand was on his shoulder and he said quietly, "I think a potted plant. My master always loved feeling the life around him. I'll see if I can find something on the way back from work."
Anakin nodded. Time to change topic.
"Say Obi-Wan?" he asked, turning. "Where's your braid go?" Anakin had missed it that morning, since whenever he was hugging his new brother, his hands found the braid a good thing to grasp.
Obi-Wan stiffened, a hand going up automatically to his ear. "I... didn't need it any more."
Anakin blinked. "Didn't need it? But what does a braid do?"
Obi-Wan sat down on the floor in front of Anakin. "A braid is a symbol, for a Padawan Learner. It is a measuring of progress. It grows with each year that Master and Apprentice spend learning together, and for each trial that is passed, a bead is added to show the Padawan's success."
"Wizard! Your braid was super-long! You must've been with Qui-Gon forever!" Anakin was faintly jealous of that, but he squashed that feeling mercilessly.
"Since I was thirteen years old."
"Neat! And 'cause you're a Knight now you cut it off?"
"Yes," Obi-Wan glanced away. "There's usually a ceremony, but..." he trailed off.
But the Jedi didn't accept his leaving. That made Anakin angry at the Jedi, but he knew that wouldn't do anything right now. He's promised himself that he'd help Obi-Wan, and getting mad at the Jedi that Obi-Wan still respected wouldn't do anything.
"So will I be getting a braid?" he asked, shifting the focus. "Is my hair even long enough for a braid?" He ran a hand through his short blond locks. "Do you wanna grow a new braid? One for how long the two of us will be together?"
Obi-Wan leaned back, eyebrows raised. "I haven't considered it. We can talk about it more this evening. I really must be getting to work. You can go back to the Palace and keep busy. I'll pick you up after my shift."
Anakin frowned. "And call if you can't?"
"Yes, Padawan," Obi-Wan smiled. "I'll call if I can't make it. Though if I can't, I expect Her Majesty might send someone out to get me."
Anakin giggled.
Author's Notes: Not much to say about this chapter other than set up. If you've ever seen pictures, the apartment it based loosely on a Japanese one-room apartment. They are SMALL. It was really tempting to give them a kotetsu (a low table with a heater underneath to keep people warm) but this is a galaxy far, far away, not a Japan far, far away.
Without the temple batting him over the head, Anakin is free to think of Obi-Wan as whatever he wants, and so he's come to the conclusion of "brother," and he will call him that for the rest of the fic. Obi-Wan's not in a frame of mind yet to correct that yet. While the idea of him being only "a promise" to Obi-Wan is there, it's quickly going to get overwritten as Anakin comes to see just how much Obi-Wan gave up for him, and thus one of the critical problems in their relationship doesn't even start.
More angst with Qui-Gon's lightsaber, but making a shrine seemed appropriate.
Next chapter: Survivors.