"How long does he intend to remain attached to Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked.
Han shrugged, "I dunno. Could be a long time. The kid's never had a dad before."
"A dad?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously, "Anakin isn't a father, much less Luke's."
"Hm," Han said vaguely.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Luke's always wanted to be a Jedi. Anakin has sort of accepted him. Luke's not used to being accepted like that."
"Strange. He seems so easy to become attached to."
"I thought Jedi weren't supposed to get attached."
"We're not, really. Technically we're not supposed to feel anything. In the end, it is far more something to strive for than anything we're truly expected to achieve. The Council is concerned by Anakin's lack of enthusiasm in trying."
"Does he bond like this much?" Han asked, his voice laced with poison.
"More than he should," Obi-Wan answered. But he thought, More than a Jedi should, but not as much as he needs to. When I met him on Tatooine, he was prone to becoming too close to people too quickly, but in the shock of Qui-Gon's death, it took him a long time to find the courage to make another friend. Our bond grew, but he didn't bond with anyone else for years. And just as he was learning to make friends again, he was assigned Ahsoka. If Luke hadn't come along, I imagine he might never have made another friend.
"Huh," Han said.
"You don't like him, do you?"
Han shook his head, "I don't trust him."
"His intentions are good, I'm sure."
"Luke deserves a lot more than good intentions. Do you have any idea what he's been through? Has he been willing to talk to you about it?"
"No, each time Anakin asks him about it he bursts into tears."
"Well, I guess you have an idea of what he's been through, then."
"I do. It's been nagging me, where did Luke get his lightsaber? He's never met a Jedi, has he?" Obi-Wan asked. It was true, the question had seemed too important to ask prematurely, but he felt it was something that needed to be asked as soon as it was not too huge a risk.
"Why didn't you take his weapon away?" Han asked, sounding frustrated, "You took my blaster."
"A lightsaber is a Jedi's life. If he was a Jedi I didn't want to take that away from him when he seemed so emotionally unstable already. Where did he get his lightsaber? He's not a Jedi, is he?"
"He wants to be a Jedi. He's been forced to live through a lot, and he's just taken that to wanting to keep anyone from living through it as well. He met a Jedi once, briefly, before he was killed. The Jedi gave him a lightsaber and taught him a little. But you had the right idea not bringing it up to Luke."
Obi-Wan nodded, "I thought so. I see now why he and Anakin get along so well. Anakin has come to this in almost the same way."
"Anakin?" Han asked incredulously, "Please, whatever he's been through, he's got nothing on Luke."
Obi-Wan opened his mouth to retort, but the ship landed with a long skid and he merely shook his head, "It seems we've arrived."
Han stood as well, "I guess we should get going then."
Obi-Wan took Han's blaster off his belt and passed it to the other man, "I assume you'll want this back."
"It'll help when I want to be shooting, yeah," Han answered as he took it.
Anakin raced into the corridor, looking harried. Luke followed, seeming downright frightened.
"Get moving," Anakin snapped at them, "This is personal."
Obi-Wan began to snap at him, but as Anakin slowed down, Luke had come right up into his shadow, practically clinging to him, and Obi-Wan lost his resolve. Deducting from the two men's reactions, he could only assume that the ship housed slaves.
Anakin returned to full speed, racing down the ramp, and Obi-Wan followed, Han close on his trail. As they entered the brightness of the hanger, Obi-Wan found that Anakin was leaping from battle droid to battle droid with speeds that passed most that he had ever attained. More surprising, however, was the fact that Luke had his own lightsaber out and was springing from one droid to another with almost equal speed.
"He must be a good student," Obi-Wan said.
"Attentive, for sure," Han answered, already shooting the droids that the two Jedi hadn't reached yet. Obi-Wan noted he had excellent aim before leaping into the fray himself.
As Anakin scattered the last droid across the hanger, Luke was already racing back towards him, as though he felt he needed to be close to Anakin so as to be protected from the slavers.
"Where is our next target?" Obi-Wan asked, watching as Anakin gently wrapped an arm around Luke, who seemed to have been calmed by the destruction of the several dozen droids which now littered the floor. He saw that Luke looked up into Anakin's eyes with exquisite trust, as though he knew somehow how great the care Anakin would take to protect him.
"This corridor," Anakin answered quickly, pointing down one and releasing Luke at the same time, "I've spent more than my fair share of time in these ships."
"Why do I feel that time didn't end when you were freed?"
Anakin snorted, "You think slaves are allowed on these levels?"
Obi-Wan shook his head, watching as the other three pelted off down the next corridor. He raced after them, and was close enough behind them to hear Han swear softly as he froze. As he caught up, he found Luke and Anakin already dispatching another group of battle droids. Han, however, just stood at the door and stared in horrified amazement at the slaves.
As Obi-Wan leapt into the fray, he heard Han finally manage words again, "Chewie!"
He turned to see the smuggler racing towards a wookiee who was carrying a good three hundred pound weight. The wookiee had turned to the smuggler in confusion, then he grunted something, which still sounded slightly bemused, but he put his load down and hugged the man.
Obi-Wan destroyed a droid who happened into his range of view and returned to the task at hand, but he was surprised by seeing that. It had been an unusually friendly action for the rough outlaw. The only other person he'd seen him care for so openly, or so deeply, was Luke, and they exuded a sense of having known one another for a long time.
Suddenly, friendly fire joined the chaos again, and Obi-Wan turned to see that Han had begun shooting again, and that he had somehow armed his wookiee friend as well.
As they wrecked the last of the droids, Obi-Wan saw Han and Chewie lower their weapons and begin to speak to the surrounding wookiees, calming them. Obi-Wan found Luke and Anakin standing together and joined them. Luke had a definite glow of one who didn't get many compliments, but had just received one.
"Do you know these wookiees?" Obi-Wan asked.
Luke looked around and saw the wookiee Han had greeted so enthusiastically and grinned in amazement, "That's Chewbacca! I never thought I'd see him again!"
"Why don't you go greet him, then?" Anakin asked when Luke didn't move.
"I—," Luke faltered, "He seems busy. I'll talk to him later. Where to next?" he asked, looking up at Anakin again, eager to keep going.
"We should stay together," Anakin said.
Usually, Obi-Wan would have agreed with him, but seeing the look on Luke's face, still a little bit scared, he got the impression that the boy was running to keep himself from panicking.
"You should go ahead. You seem very competent," he said, directing the compliment at Luke, who seemed to lift a couple of inches off the floor, "There's no reason to delay our rescue. If you would like to send the wookiees back to me at the shipaf, I'll arm them and they can come and assist you. I feel as though Han wouldn't mind a chance to fight with Chewbacca."
"I bet he's thrilled to see Chewie again," Luke said, smiling.
"He certainly seems to be. Go on," Obi-Wan said, "We have no reason to keep your rescue from those who need you."
Luke shook his head with great deliberation, "No, we definitely don't."
Anakin smiled, and led the way onwards. Obi-Wan watched the two run away, Luke struggling slightly to keep up with Anakin's longer strides. They certainly had become very close. Perhaps the Council would allow Anakin to train the boy. There was no denying that they needed more soldiers, and that Luke was practically trained already. It was only practical, after all, and they had stopped being idealistic peace keepers years ago. If they had lost so many morals already, what was one fewer?