A/N: Hey! A pretty quick update! I've been trying to get back into writing more, so hopefully I can keep it up! School starts again next week though, so we'll just have to see. I hope you enjoy!

One Week Later

Wednesday 8:20am; Jedi Temple.

Anakin rubbed the back of his neck, eyes flitting around nervously. A habit he was yet to be rid of. Every room he entered, even when back in the quarters, he couldn't help but immediately check for all the other doors, look at all of the other people who were present. And he didn't think it would go away any time soon, nor did he want it to. It made him feel safe. More in control.

He would've been more nervous had Obi-Wan not been there though. Having his presence there was comforting. Both the hand on his shoulder and the Force bond filling his mind.

It had been almost a week since their talk, and while Anakin was still maybe not as open as he could be, they were much more comfortable together. Even more so than before the incident. Obi-Wan was overprotective, and while previous Anakin would have found it much too overbearing, now he welcomed it. It felt nice to have someone looking out for him. He knew that Obi-Wan cared. They had always shied away from physical contact, but now Anakin went so far as to seek it out. Only from Obi-Wan of course.

He didn't quite know if he truly trusted anyone else yet.

The girl he'd met in the Halls of Healing, Kyla, had turned up once or twice, true to her word. While Obi-Wan turned her away the first time, Anakin told him that he wanted to speak with her, and eventually his Master had relented. Anakin held on to their meetings like a tether. She was something new, a part of his new life which hadn't been in the old. She hadn't known him before. She didn't see how truly damaged he was, how changed.

And Anakin held onto that lifeline.

He'd kept healing physically too, slowly building up his strength. He was able to move without crutches now, though Master Che warned that the trauma in his leg would probably never fully heal. Anakin did his best to push that thought out of the forefront of his mind most days. He didn't need more reminders, not when every misstep sent a jolt of pain up his bone. But he was getting there. Less coughing, less tiredness.

In fact, it had only been a few days after the talk that boredom had set in. Anakin had never thought that he'd get bored again. Boredom had become irrelevant. However, after a few days of laying doing nothing except talking, sleeping and eating, he began to feel the familiar numbness set in.

So he had begged Obi-Wan to be allowed to do something. Anything. And Obi-Wan, being Obi-Wan, had refused. He had insisted, much to Anakin's increasing annoyance, that rest was more important. Anakin disagreed, but knew that compliance was probably best. They were both struggling to navigate this new life. And while he struggled to not begin a fight, it was hard when he'd been cooped up for so long.

Most would think him strangely eager to get out again, especially after all that had happened. But Anakin wasn't eager. Just restless. Waiting for something to happen, doing nothing while Marius was still out there, while hundreds still suffered, while somewhere Mana was struggling, it just felt wrong. Anakin wanted to use his time wisely. It had become precious beyond measure. He viewed it in a new light. He viewed life in a new light.

So he'd let it rest. For a day. And then he'd asked again. And Obi-Wan had refused. Again. But Anakin had persisted, until finally Obi-Wan relented.

Now though he was beginning to wonder if that had been the best idea. He'd bitten his fingernails down almost to nothing, and he felt very jumpy. Obi-Wan was just as worried, Anakin watched him rub his forehead every few minutes. This would be the longest, in fact the only, separation they'd had since Anakin had come back. And Anakin couldn't exactly say he was looking forward to not having Obi-Wan constantly looking out for him. Though he'd done his very best to escape it in the past.

Anakin kept struggling to make the distinctions between his old and new self. It almost felt like he was a completely different person. He couldn't go back to his old life now. Forging a path would be difficult, but Anakin was determined. He had a newfound strength. An end goal.

Find Marius.

Finding Marius was his aim. He wouldn't shy away. He couldn't. If talking about his experiences had told him one thing, it was that he hated Marius with every fibre of his being. Yes he blamed himself. But he blamed Marius too.

Hate wasn't the Jedi way. But Anakin had never been a very good Jedi.

So, now he had finally convinced Obi-Wan to let him go back to his lessons, they were waiting outside one of the rooms commonly used for meditation. Obi-Wan had point-blank refused to let him do anything physical yet, so Anakin had to settle for what he could get. The other Padawans were going to arrive any minute, and each second heightened Anakin's nerves.

"Are you sure you're up for this?"

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan, the same worry mirrored in his Master's eyes.

"Yes. I think."

"You can always -"

"Always back out. Yes, I know Master." Anakin answered.

Obi-Wan sighed and looked away. Anakin could sense that he was beginning to regret letting him attend classes.

"I'll be fine. It's just classes. I can always call you if I need anything too."

"I know." Obi-Wan said, smiling gently at him. "Promise me you will."

"Sure."

Obi-Wan gave him a look, and Anakin grinned. "Fine, I promise."

"Thank you."

And while Anakin was still worried about how he'd react when faced with other people, people who'd known him before, people who would see him for how damaged he was, he couldn't help but feel a little bit more reassured.

"They're coming now I think." Obi-Wan pointed out. "I suppose I should leave to save you the embarassment of being seen with me."

The Padawans were indeed coming from their sparring class, the one Anakin had missed. They could hear the footsteps and noise from down the corridor. For a moment Obi-Wan didn't move. And Anakin didn't really want him to. But eventually he turned, a last reassuring squeeze on Anakin's shoulder, turning and walking away.

Anakin was so close to calling him back. It didn't seem like a good idea at all without Obi-Wan with him. Developing dependence on someone would never be good, but Anakin couldn't help it. He didn't feel safe without Obi-Wan around. It felt more like when he was lost, unable to contact anyone.

But that wasn't true. He kept reminding himself of the fact. The bond was still open, he could feel life flowing through it. Obi-Wan was with him in his mind. And could be with him physically if he but gave the call.

Forcing himself to breath deeply, he let Obi-Wan leave. He had to do this. Needed to. He needed to recover, to become better. He had to become string enough to be able to face the galaxy.

And, eventually, Marius.

Folding his arms nonchalantly, he rested again the wall, trying to hide his nerves. The first Padawans rounded the corner, and for a moment they didn't notice him. But Anakin watched the realisation dawn in their eyes, and then the shock. And he couldn't blame them. As far as they were concerned, he'd disappeared off of the face of the planet for weeks. Obi-Wan had told him how they'd not mentioned it to anyone unnecessary.

They all sectioned off into groups, as per usual. But they all gave Anakin a wide birth. Something which hadn't happened before. Anakin hadn't been the most popular by any lengths, but he'd never been unpopular either. People had never gone out of their way to avoid him. Yet he was left standing by himself against the wall. Which wasn't unwanted, given that Anakin felt moments away from bailing. The plan had seemed better in theory.

Blocking out the whispering, he tried to just focus on himself. It took him a minute to find something he wanted to think about, everything was harder now that he didn't really know who he was. Eventually he settled on ships, and spent the next five minutes daydreaming about flying. He hadn't been flying for months. And, at the rate Obi-Wan was forcing him to go, he wouldn't get to fly for a good few more.

Eventually the Master arrived, someone Anakin hadn't seen before. When he'd last been there it had been Master Mundi taking their classes. He supposed it must've swapped over while he'd been gone. Thankfully. Master Mundi had always made Anakin feel a bit off. He had a suspicion that the man didn't like him very much. Though he'd apparently helped a lot when Anakin hadn't been there. Obi-Wan had said that a least.

Waiting until most of the other teenagers had gone in first, he followed behind them. His eyes quickly took in the room, much unchanged from when he'd last been there, checking all the doors. Of which there was only one other. Both good and bad, less places for people to sneak up. But less places for him to get out.

He felt a little stupid for being so nervous. It shouldn't matter. It shouldn't be so important that he knew all of this. It was the Jedi Temple for Force sake, it wasn't like he was going to get attacked in there.

He still did it though.

Everyone took a seat on the floor, equidistant from each other. Anakin sat at the back, something which was unchanged from previously. The only thing that was different was the lack of people around him. Usually, although far from the center, he had a good amount of company. A few people. But now everyone sat a good three meters away.

Deciding not to dwell on it, he turned his head to face the front. When he'd sat he'd made sure that there was a wall behind him, so his back was to a surface. Anakin wanted to dedicate all attention to meditating. What had been trivial before could now prove vital to improving himself. Besides, anything would be better than doing nothing all day.

Breathing easily, relaxing now out of the scrutiny, he felt his heart slow. It would be okay. And Obi-Wan was near. Near enough. Anakin could feel his presence through their bond, it was dimmer, but bright. Almost as if Obi-Wan was focusing on it too. The feeling was comforting.

"Okay. So today we will be continuing to immerse ourselves in the Living Force, trying to detach ourselves from memory and focus on the greater picture." The teacher began. The Jedi Master was a tall Twi'Lek, and her robes were much darker than the usual. Anakin eyed them enviously. He'd always preferred darker colours, it was bad enough that he had to wear the beige ones, they reminded him of Tatooine.

But he brought his focus back to the lesson. It sounded like it would be good. Meditation usually tended to be boring, but if this truly was a way he could detach himself from memory then it would be a nice respite from thinking about everything for a while.

He was slowly starting to dwell on it less. He'd noticed that he was spending less and less time relieving what had happened, and was slowly starting to look to the future. A future which seemed grim, but surely so much better than the past. But still, a bit of meditation could go a long way, or at least it could as far as Obi-Wan was concerned.

After being instructed, the room fell into a peaceful silence as the Padawans all submerged themselves in the Force. The teacher walked around them, occasionally whispering a hushed tip to someone, but in general she remained quiet, observing them.

Anakin managed to get into the flow of things quite well. He let a small rush of pride engulf him, not worrying quite as much about the emotion now that he was less concerned with hiding them. It was nice to feel proud of himself. It was something the Jedi had done their best to squash out of him from a young age. Now, however, he wanted to be able to look at himself without feeling downcast. He needed to be able to do so. It was one of the few things keeping him tethered.

Additionally, he was overjoyed to find that his Force ability remained at a high level. He had been worried that such a long exposure of time disconnected from it might dampen his abilities, but it seemed that the rest and extensive conversations with Obi-Wan through their bond had strengthened it back to its original level.

At this thought Anakin shuffled, remembering he was supposed to be disconnecting himself. In his moment of pride he'd forgotten. So he returned to his attempts, doing his best to escape reality.

It was, however, much harder this time. A group of Padawans were whispering in the corner, and another was fidgeting, distracted. Waiting impatiently, Anakin sighed in exasperation. He too had used to find meditation to be one of the most boring things on the planet. He could emphasize. But he really wanted to disconnect again. And it was impossible with the others making a racket.

Though, in hindsight, he would've admitted that to be a very hypocritical statement. He himself had done far worse than that to try and get out of it. To be fair, he'd found all classes except sparring boring. And even then, sparring had been stressful in a way the other classes were never, because it was the only class where it was open to view. Which meant that Obi-Wan had often turned up and critiqued Anakin's form, even when he won.

Opening his eyes, he glanced at the general direction of the noise sceptically. He wasn't surprised that it was Vansic. Of course it was. He was the one who had caused the whole thing to start, the catalyst in a chain of events which might never have happened otherwise.

Before, Anakin might've said that he hated him. But the definition of hate had become very different. Hate was not a mild dislike. Not something which spawned petty arguments. Hate was something which came from hours of pain and terror. Hate was the only alternative Anakin had to fear. He channeled all of his fear into hate. For Marius. Not Vansic. Vansic was by no means someone Anakin hated. Yes, he may have started it, but it wasn't really his fault.

Vansic looked up and caught Anakin looking at him. He scowled, and Anakin glared back. Okay, he didn't hate him, but they definitely didn't get along. And Anakin doubted if that would change.

He eventually sank back into the meditation, breathing deeply and letting the time pass. At some points he really did feel disconnected from himself, so submerged in the matters of other lifeforms that he was able to forget. Occasionally sharp jolts of pain from his leg or shoulder brought him back to the present, but overall he managed to stay almost fully focused.

The hours of sitting with nothing to do had given him a good ability to stay concentrated on the littlest things. So instead of feeling bored and unsatisfied when they were eventually called out of it for the end of the lesson, Anakin instead felt calm on rested. Maybe he could finally see from Obi-Wan's point of view. He'd been much of the opinion that relaxing into the Force was a waste of time. But the rejuvenating quality of it couldn't be overlooked.

The teacher pointed out their general areas of success and failure, then dismissed them. Anakin took his time standing, a lot slower than the others. He had to turn and then lean against the wall to hoist himself up to his feet. It was a struggle, especially since he had only just stopped using the crutches. And he was used to having Obi-Wan next to him to lean upon. The road to independence would be harder than he'd first hoped, given that it took him twice the time as the others.

Once he was up, he quickly followed the footsteps of the others. He didn't want to be left behind. Though, he supposed he could just stop for the day. Obi-Wan had said he should probably only do one lesson, and that if he wanted to quit at any point he could just say. And all of Anakin's bones ached, despite the lack of physical exercise. He'd done nothing but sit. Yet still his eyelids were beginning to droop, and the pain in his leg was growing.

I think I might want to come back now Master.

He sent the thought through the bond, and he felt Obi-Wan's presence flicker up to life. So quickly that Anakin figured he'd probably been waiting for it. Trust Obi-Wan to have spent the entire two hours dwelling on him instead of doing something useful.

I'll come to get you. Are you okay? Did it go okay? How do you feel?

Obi-Wan's voice echoed in his head. Anakin smiled inwardly, looking to the floor so his classmates didn't think he was any more crazy than he actually was.

I'm fine Master! Just a bit tired.

Obi-Wan pressed him more, but then cut off the connection, saying he'd be there in a couple of minutes. So, with nothing else to do except wait, Anakin leant against the wall, putting most of his weight to one side. Then, from the corner of his eye, he studied the others.

They didn't disperse as he had expected them to. Instead they gathered in various groups, talking quietly. Anakin's heart dropped slightly when he realized that they weren't going anywhere. It was the break, the free time between the first two lessons and the last one. Of course they weren't going anywhere. Anakin looked away, attempting to fade into the background.

It was one thing waiting for Obi-Wan alone. It was another thing waiting for Obi-Wan when surrounded by people. People who would be curious. People who would be bold. All Anakin could think about was his desperation that they wouldn't talk to him. He didn't want to talk to them. He couldn't talk to them just yet.

He didn't want to talk to them about anything. Even something completely harmless. Force, he was even scared about talking of the weather.

Just please don't talk to me.

Anakin didn't think he could manage. He couldn't manage. Suddenly it all seemed like too much too soon. What if they came over. Talked to him. Or worse, asked him where he'd been. Asked him what had happened. What would he say? The truth? Did they know the truth? Obi-Wan had said that they didn't, but what if they did? What if somehow they had seen the messages? Or had figured it out by looking at him? Was it really that obvious?

Anakin hugged his arms around himself tightly. His heart dropped even lower, into his stomach, as he caught the flicker of a shadow coming up beside him. The hush of the talking.

Please don't talk to me. Please don't. Leave me alone.

"Skywalker!"

A/N: Feel free to review if you enjoyed!