Obi-Wan watched her leave for a moment more before getting in his car to drive to school. He wasn't quite looking forward to starting his internship today, but he didn't have a choice. The world turned on, and so must he, regardless of how badly he just wanted to go back to bed and never get out of it.
"Kenobi, cutting it a little close," Professor Windu commented as they both walked towards their classroom. "Are you ready for today?"
"Of course, Professor. I've been going over all the material you sent me. I'm confident that the transition will be fairly smooth," Obi-Wan replied.
Windu nodded. "Good, because there will be no hand-holding in this internship. Think of it as practice for the real world."
Obi-Wan forced himself to smile. He'd had enough of the real world for a lifetime. They parted ways and he slid into his seat for class.
Class dragged by at an insufferable pace. Today they were discussing murder charges. Obi-Wan wanted to laugh at it all. After class was over, he sped out of class and back to his car. He still had some time before his internship, and he knew the one place that might help him the most right now.
He parked his car in front of the Temple and got out, making his way into the building. It was unusually empty for a Monday, but Obi-Wan realized it was because he was a lot earlier than normal. He made his way towards the inner sanctum and sat down in front of Master Yoda.
"Heard about your father, I did," Master Yoda sighed. "Truly sorry, I am. Great man, he was."
"Thank you, Master," Obi-Wan said with a small smile.
"Close you and Skywalker have become. A wedge, this might be," Master Yoda replied.
"That's what I'm afraid of, Master. He needs a parental figure. I can't be that for him. I can be his brother, but nothing more," Obi-Wan replied.
"Shoulder all of this alone, you must not. Talk to someone, you should."
"I'm talking to you, Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said in confusion. His head rested in his hand as he leaned forward on his knee.
"A peer, perhaps? Miss Amidala, a good candidate would be," he chortled.
"Padmé has been helpful through all this. Although, I'm afraid I might have messed that up," Obi-Wan sighed.
"Highly doubt that, I do," Yoda replied as he hopped off his seat and poked Obi-Wan in the chest. "Seen how she looks at you, I have. Strong connection here, there is."
Obi-Wan blushed. "M-master Yoda, we're just friends."
"On a good foundation, a house must be built," Yoda shrugged, patting his shoulder. "Otherwise, it will crumple at the first sign of disaster."
Obi-Wan nodded. He had a fair point. However, he knew he'd have to work even harder to get back to where he and Padmé were.
"Stay here and meditate, you should," Master Yoda replied. "Peace of mind and clarity it may bring."
Obi-Wan moved to sit on the pedestal in the center of the room. He found himself in the Lotus pose. Carefully, he controlled his breathing as he closed his eyes. The sounds amplified as hearing became the dominant sense. As he breathed in and out, the sounds slowly became muffled until all he heard was silence. In his mind's eye, he tried to picture his happy place, the cottage in the woods he'd always wanted, but he couldn't. Instead, he just saw Padmé. Padmé smiling. Padmé in his arms. Padmé wrapped in the moonlight, looking like a serene angel. He reached out to touch her and heard a gunshot. His vision went black. His hands were red, they were covered in blood. Who's blood is it? He was panicking. Was it Qui-Gon's? That would make the most sense. His father's face appeared before him, frozen in pain and urgency. Do what is right, no matter what. His father's mantra was loud as it repeated in his head.
He gasped, opening his eyes, his meditative state broken. The sounds of the room came rushing back as his eyes refocused on his surroundings. He checked his watch to see that he had 15 minutes to get across town to Professor Windu's law firm and started to sprint. He really needed to work on being punctual.
Obi-Wan made it to the law office with minutes to spare. Professor Windu's assistant set him to work researching for a defense case for a money launderer. It made him sick, seeing people use legitimate businesses to legitimize their shady dealings. It made his stomach turn to knots as he realized that he was helping someone walk away free, but that was the job and he had to do it, didn't he? Oh, but morally he was struggling. He finished his internship hours and left, feeling drained.
Instead of going straight into his apartment, he stopped in the coffee shop. Ahsoka wordlessly placed the cup in front of him and waved him off when he went to go pay.
"It's on the house," she replied sadly.
"Rex told you?" Obi-Wan sighed.
"I caught the news," she said with a small shrug. She flicked the rag she had been cleaning the counter with over to hang on her shoulder. "How are you two holding up?"
Obi-Wan took a sip of his drink. "About as well as to be expected."
"Well, if either of you need anything, let me know," Ahsoka said, placing a comforting hand on Obi-Wan's arm.
"I appreciate that," he smiled. "I'll see you around."
She waved as he left.
He walked out of the shop and almost ran directly into Padmé.
"Oh! Sorry, Obi-Wan. I didn't see you," she replied apologetically.
"No worries," he said with a tired smile. All the energy that had been zapped from him started to slowly trickle back to him.
"How was your first day?" she asked as he held the door to their building open to her.
"It..." he trailed off and sighed. He could be honest with her. "It was challenging. I don't know how I can justify defending someone who's done something so wrong."
"Do you know if they actually did it?" she asked softly.
"Well... not exactly. I'm not given that information," he replied.
"You don't have to keep the internship if you feel like it's making you go against the things you stand for," she replied.
"I need the experience," he reasoned. "Besides, wouldn't the best way to fix a system be from within?"
"Just be careful that when it falls, it doesn't fall on top of you," she told him as they made their way to their front doors.
"Listen, Padmé..." he ventured.
"Obi-Wan, we're okay," she reassured with a soft smile. "I don't even know why you think we wouldn't be." She winked.
He let out a sigh of relief, pulling her into a hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you."
After a moment's hesitation she hugged him back, letting out a shaky breath. "You'll never have to find out. I promise."
Obi-Wan took a step back and nodded. He turned to go back to his apartment, his hand on the doorknob.
"Have you had dinner yet?" Padmé suddenly asked.
"No," he replied, "and I still don't know if i need to do a grocery run."
"All I'm hearing are more reasons why you should let me make you dinner," she smiled.
"Alright," he chuckled. "Let me just drop my things off and make Anakin a grocery list. Technically it's his turn anyway since I bought last week."
"See you in a bit," she winked before slipping into her apartment.
Obi-Wan entered his own abode and found it empty. He was a little shocked to find that Anakin still wasn't home. He just hoped his first day went better than his. He quickly made a list of things for Anakin to buy and placed it by the 'buy groceries, please' note from earlier. He dropped his books off in his room and freshened himself up a bit, even brushing his teeth to get rid of his coffee breath. When he was finished, he gave himself a once-over in the mirror, silently questioning why he felt the need to. It's just Padmé, he told himself with a shake of the head. He took a deep breath and then went to go and knock on her door.