Hey you all, last chapter before I'm off for the USA! Yay! But three weeks is a little bit long...I'm gonna miss my boyfriend so much :-( Well, at least I learn to sympathize with Anakin through this! Please send me a lot of reviews, I need something to cheer me up!

I let my hand run through the ginger hair, caressed his soft, bearded cheeks and crossed my fingers with his. He was in the Healers' Ward for a week now, but still he had not opened his eyes. They wouldn't tell me what exactly kept him unconscious, but they didn't send me away ,either, and I was grateful for that. I had not left Obi-Wan's side for more than five minutes since we had come here, I even slept there, next to him, ready to jerk up at the beep of one of the gadgets that kept him alive.

He looked so young in his slumber, so innocent and vulnerable, and his whole body was covered with bandages. Time went by, but it didn't matter to me. He was alive and I was with him. That was all I needed.

Suddenly, I had completely lost the track of time, the door opened and Bant slid in the room. I had the hunch that I had only been allowed to stay close to Obi-Wan because of her, the other healers all shot me with disapproving glances, but Bant only nodded sadly and brought me food or a cup of tea by times.

"How are you, Anakin?"

"I hadn't used my voice for a long time, so it sounded husky and low and peculiarly foreign to my ears.

"I'm fine. How is he?"

Her silver eyes darkened, and she tried to avoid my gaze.

"Tell me, Bant. Please."

She sat down next to me, one hand on my shoulder.

"Anakin, I…we don't know if he'll make it. He is so weak, and he has lost so much blood. The stab missed his heart merely by centimeters, and he suffers from a scull fracture. Truth to tell…it would be a miracle if he woke up again."

I couldn't think, I couldn't make sense of her words, and most of all, I couldn't cry anymore.

"But…but he was awake! He…he talked to me…"

I knew I sounded like a whining boy, but it didn't matter to me.

"Anakin…"

Her voice was soft.

"Anakin, are you sure that you have not just…well, imagined that? It's impossible that he could be conscious to that time."

"I'm not crazy, Bant! He talked to me! He told me he knew that I would come! This was real!"

Now a single tear escaped from her clouded eyes, and I was immediately sorry for having yelled at her. She had known Obi-Wan since before I was born, and she only tried to help.

"The thing is…we don't know how much his brain has suffered. Even if he woke up…"

She noticed the glimpse of hope in my eyes.

"…even if a miracle happened, he would probably not recognize you, Anakin. He would be confined to bed, unable to eat or drink or simply breath on his own. This…this is not what he wanted."

The lump in my throat choked me.

"He…he would have wanted to die fighting. He would…he wouldn't want to be a burden. I know, Bant, but…"

What were there 'buts', but my own childish wishes, no, needs?

"I know, Anakin, but…we think that it would probably make more sense to turn out the life-supporting system…he would feel no pain."

"Please…let me time…I need…"

I couldn't tell her what I wanted, what I needed, it was not rational, not the Jedi way, it was just that I knew I would die if he did.

She squeezed my arm sympathetically.

"Sure, Anakin. We give you time to…say good-bye."

"Ani? What the Force are you doing here?"

" I…I just wanted to say goodbye, Master."

I hung my head. It had been a stupid idea to skip my classes and come to the landing hangar, I should have known that Obi-Wan didn't want me here, a whining baby boy, a drag that never let him alone, but I was so afraid that he wouldn't come back, like Qui-Gon, like my mum, they all had left me, so why shouldn't he?

Strong hands gently squeezing me against a warm, of peppermint and honey smelling chest.

"Don't worry, Ani. I won't be away for long, I promise. And when I come back, I'll bring a HoloVid and we'll make popcorn, ok?"

I sniffled, but felt better now. He had actually never broken a promise.

"Ok, Master. Goodbye."

He ruffled my hair, then climbed the stairs into the spacecraft.

"Goodbye, Padawan."

I had followed the small, silver vessel with my eyes until they began to water a little, and as I twinkled, the spacecraft was gone.

I had been ten, and it had broken my heart, because one could never know if he really came back. But he did, he always did, and then he brought me beautiful pebbles or some foreign cookies or just a smile and a warm hug and the most amazing stories I'd ever heard. Nevertheless, it had always hurt when he left, although it was never for long.

But this time it would be forever.