Obi-Wan was on his way home from his internship at the law firm when Padmé called him. He put her on speaker as he drove.
"Hello, darling," Obi-Wan smiled. "Am I cooking tonight, or are you?"
"I'll cook tonight," she laughed. "But, that's not why I called."
"Oh? You've got my interest," he grinned.
"I talked to Anakin today."
His smile fell and he grew serious. "How did that go?"
"As well as it could have," she sighed. "He says he's just going out with his new friends and coworkers after work."
"Every night?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously.
"Obi-Wan, he lost his father. Everyone copes differently," she admonished. "You spend almost every day with me."
"Yes, but that's different, darling," he replied without missing a beat.
"How?" she challenged.
He didn't quite have an answer for her. She knew it. "Why are you always right?" he sighed.
Padmé laughed. "I'll see you soon. I'm making gnocchi for dinner."
"See you soon," he replied before hanging up.
Obi-Wan pulled into his usual parking spot. He sat in the car for a moment after he turned it off. He looked out at the road and groaned. If only he knew the type of people Anakin was hanging around with. That would worry him less, because he'd know. What troubled him the most was this not knowing. This hoping that Anakin wasn't being taken advantage of by people with poor habits and morals. He'd usually talk to Qui-Gon about anyone new he'd met, but with Qui-Gon gone, it became clear that his next inclination wasn't to come to Obi-Wan about it. That worried him. Not so much because he could be doing something bad, but because it hurt Obi-Wan that Anakin didn't feel like he could trust him like that. Sure, Obi-Wan hadn't been open with Anakin about everything over the years, or even recently when it came to Padmé, but he didn't want Anakin to feel like he couldn't come to him about the things that really mattered. He was his brother, and he loved him. He just wished Anakin would recognize that a little more often.
With a shake of his head, he got out of the car and made his way inside. He could smell the garlic in the hall from whatever Padmé was cooking, and it made his mouth water. He quickly dropped his things off in his house before going to knock on her door.
"It's open!" she called out.
He made his way in eagerly. "I could smell this from the hallway."
"Is that good or bad?" she grinned.
"Good. It smells amazing. What is your secret?" he asked as he settled down onto a stool at the island.
"Fresh garlic, some olive oil, and love," she teased.
"Ah, yes, more cooking with your soul, I presume?"
"You know me so well," she chuckled.
"Well, keep it up. If you keep going on at this rate, you may convert me," he grinned.
"I'll believe it when I see the measuring cups in the trash," she joked.
"Oh, darling, that's living too much on the edge. I'll estimate things, but I could never get rid of them outright," he said with wide eyes.
"You're making fun of me," she grinned as she finished sautéing the broccoli and chicken to go with the pasta.
"Only a little."
She rolled her eyes at him as she dished out two servings onto the plates. "You're lucky I like you."
"I know. If not, I may starve," he said in fake seriousness.
She playfully smacked his shoulder. "You're so bad."
"But for you, I'll be good," he grinned.
Padmé blushed scarlet at his words. She'd definitely thought of a few different meanings to them in contrast to what he actually meant.
Obi-Wan dug into his food, starving after the long day he had had.
"At least try to taste it," she said.
"I am tasting it, and it tastes delicious," he replied.
She shook her head as she ate her own dinner.
When they had finished, they sat in silence for a bit before Padmé finally spoke.
"I'll look into Mas Amedda tomorrow," she told him. "I can't promise I'll find anything, because I genuinely don't believe he's involved, but I'll do my best."
Obi-Wan nodded. "I have the day off from my internship tomorrow, so I'm going to look through the police section of the newspaper archives in the library to see if there's anything else on this Maul character. I don't know why, but I just feel like he's more important that I think."
"Is there anything in the case file at the law firm?" she asked.
"No. His current case is an assault charge. We're arguing that it was self defense, even though multiple witnesses said he instigated it," he sighed. He hated this. The man literally pushed his opponent's buttons verbally for ten minutes before the other man swung the first punch. Not that Obi-Wan condoned violence, quite the contrary. However, he thought of it like this: if you light your house on fire on purpose, then you shouldn't get the insurance money.
"He sounds like an upstanding citizen," Padmé rolled her eyes.
"Truly. Prime example of everything we should be," he replied sarcastically.
"I thought you normally cover white collar criminals," she commented.
"We do, but for some reason, we were asked to defend him. Clearly he must be important to someone," he sighed.
"There's a story there," she murmured.
An odd smile crossed his face.
"What is it?" she asked, tilting her head.
"It's nothing. It's just... my father used to say that all the time. You just reminded me of him," he said with a sad smile, looking down at his plate.
Padmé reached across the table to hold his hand. "No one's ever truly gone. We'll spend the rest of our lives seeing bits and pieces of them in the world around us. Fractures of their soul that's broken off like little pieces of treasure for us to collect over time."
"Master Yoda?" he asked with a smile.
"I did enjoy his class immensely. A lot of his teachings stuck with me," she replied shyly.
Obi-Wan chuckled, thinking about it. "You know, if you ever wanted a job at the Temple, I'm sure he'd hire you in a heartbeat. He seems to think we'd be unstoppable together. I'm sure he'd hire you just to help move that along."
She raised a brow at him, but her cheeks were pink. "Move it along?"
He cleared his throat and looked down. "I mean..."
"Obi-Wan, what path do you think we're on?" she asked softly.
"What do you mean?"
"Where are we headed?" she asked.
His eyes flicked up to hers. Her eyes were a rich brown as she stared at him intensely. He couldn't tell if he was holding his breath, or if he had just forgotten to breathe. What should he say? He couldn't tell her he liked her. Not after all the conversations they'd had recently about being friends. That would be confusing, and that would be cruel. Not to mention, it could be awkward if she didn't feel the same way. he wasn't quite ready to put himself out there just to get his heart broken right now. Not when he was still healing from the loss of his father. Words were failing him right now. Did he love her? Was he falling in love with her? Or was she just becoming such a fixture in his life that he simply couldn't imagine life without her? Friends could be like that, couldn't they? Something within him told him that they were soulmates. He just wasn't sure if they were romantic soulmates or platonic. He'd turn it back on her.
"Where do you want to go, darling?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head at him. "Obi-Wan, that's not fair."
"What's not fair?"
"You can't just turn that back on me because you're afraid to answer," she replied with a laugh, but it wasn't a joyous laugh. Oh, no, he had upset her.
"You know what, I am afraid," he replied honestly.
"Good," she shot back.
"Good? Darling, how is this possibly a good thing?"
"Because if you aren't afraid, then that means you've grown too comfortable. It means you don't care about whether or not your answer causes you to lose me," she replied.
"Padmé, what do you want from me?" he asked in exasperation.
"I don't want you to give anything unless you want to give it freely," she sighed. "What do you want, Obi-Wan?"
"Darling, I... I don't know," he replied with a sigh. "It's been a while since I've had any romantic relationship. They didn't end well. I don't know it I have the energy for anything more than friendship right now. There's so much on my plate. I've got school, two jobs, this investigation, not to mention dealing with Anakin and the death of my father."
He held her hand desperately like it was the only thing grounding him in that moment. "It's not that I wouldn't... or that I don't... I just... I just can't."
Padmé swallowed and looked down. He could tell she felt guilty for pushing too hard.
"Darling, I'm sorry," he sighed. "You deserve better."
Padmé placed her other hand on top of his. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."
"I should go. I have homework to do," he murmured.
She nodded as she let go. "I'll see you tomorrow. Good night, Obi-Wan."
When he got up, he paused. He squeezed his eyes shut before leaning down and kissing the top of her head. "You are everything to me. Please, don't ever doubt that."
I love you. The words were there on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't say them, because he didn't know in what way. She pulled him in tightly and he hugged her back just as hard. He didn't deserve her. She loved him. He knew that. He knew that in his soul. Their relationship flashed in front of his eyes, all the touches, the kind words, the kiss. She loved him. Damn it, why couldn't just just give in and allow himself to love her back just as fiercely? Instead, he kept breaking them both over and over again. He knew he was doing it, but he'd had these walls up for so long that he was afraid to let them down. Reluctantly, he took a step back.
"Good night, Padmé," he murmured before leaving. Obi-Wan Kenobi was an idiot.