A/N: Another chapter! Kind of quickly? I don't know, but I'm trying to write more often! Getting back into daily life once more but hopefully this time I'll keep writing through it!

Wednesday 11:43am; Jedi Temple.

"Skywalker!"

Anakin turned, slowly and reluctantly. His efforts to remain unnoticed had done little good, and by his reckoning there would be a few minutes at least before Obi-Wan turned up. Which was both good and bad. Good because his Master would be able to rescue him from having to talk to the other Padawans, bad because Anakin feared that if Obi-Wan thought he was nervous then he wouldn't let him continue going to lessons.

"Y- yeah?" He asked, aiming for nonchalant but failing to hide the slight stutter in his voice. His breath hitched. It was someone he didn't know, a Zabrak girl with a pink tint to her skin. She certainly didn't look threatening, she was smiling and stood a fair distance from him. But Anakin immediately felt on edge, documenting the smallest things about her. The way she stood, her clothing, the colour of her eyes. It was a habit now, one he'd thought that he'd broken, not that he'd seen enough people to test this theory.

"Hey, so I just wanted to ask if you were okay." She said. Anakin tried to focus on finding an answer to her question, but his mind pulled a blank. He could see the girl's friends waiting a distance away, all looking in their direction. Come to think of it, Anakin was pretty sure that everyone was looking at them. A glance around proved his theory to be correct, and all but a few were now fully focused on the conversation between him and the Zabrak. His heart sped up even more.

"I'm... I'm... uh, good?" He stuttered. She looked at him, tilting her head sceptically, but still not overly threateningly.

"I just wondered because you've... been gone for so long."

"Yeah." Anakin replied. He didn't evaluate. He knew that the girl, and the rest of the Padawans, probably wanted him to. That was probably the purpose of sending the girl over to talk with him. But he didn't want to. So he wasn't going to.

"Okay. Cool. Uh. Nice talk."

She turned and walked away, back to her friends. Anakin twisted his fingers together nervously, not sure where to place them. His heart was in his throat, beating so fast he couldn't think straight. Maybe he'd made it through without much incident. Maybe he could make it through the next few minutes. Obi-Wan was close, he had to be. As long as he hadn't got sidetracked talking to someone, which Anakin doubted, but still. It could happen.

He was about to let some of his breath out in relief, hearing the talking start up again. But then another person called out, and he clenched his jaw, recognizing the voice.

"How come you missed so many classes?"

Anakin hugged his elbows to himself discreetly, a coping mechanism he hadn't used for a good few years. He did it instinctively, the memory of it comforting him coming back to him. He turned to face Vansic, trembling slightly, but not visibly. He just wanted the whole ordeal to be over, he found himself praying for someone to intervene.

"I was doing some other stuff." He said stubbornly, raising his chin. "What does it matter to you?"

The words tasted bitter in his mouth, a jarring memory resurfacing. He had thrown the exact same words at Marius countless times before.

"How come you got to do less work?"

"I- I have to catch up." Anakin replied. He was indeed miles behind, and would have to spend his free hours trying to keep up with all of the content. Especially with sparring, where he would have to relearn things too.

"What were you doing then?" Someone else asked. Anakin glanced in the direction of the voice, but could not see which one of the other Padawans had asked it. So he ended up addressing the room even louder, no choice but to draw more unwanted attention to himself.

"I wasn't doing anything. I was just... doing something else."

"How did you break your back then?"

"How did... what?" Anakin said, furrowing his eyebrows. It was one of the girls who had asked him this time. Great. So everyone was interested in what he had been doing. But why did she think that? "Who said I broke my back?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know. I thought you did."

There was a general murmur of assent. "So you didn't?" She continued.

Anakin shook his head, taken aback.

"No. That never happened."

"Why were you in the Halls of Healing last week then?" Another person asked.

"No, it was the week before- " Vansic interjected.

"How do you all know this?" Anakin asked. "And why is it all wrong?"

"Well, if you told us it wouldn't be wrong, would it?" Vansic pointed out, scowling at Anakin's interruption.

"And if I don't want to tell you?" Anakin snapped, equally annoyed. Still trembling, he realized that they wouldn't just leave him alone if he tried to ignore them. His only option was to try and make it clear that he wouldn't answer their questions.

"We were just asking. I don't see why you care so much."

"I don't see why you care so much either." Anakin replied coolly.

"Right -"

Vansic took a step forward and Anakin's heart leapt into his throat. Part of his mind screamed at him to hunch over to avoid any blows, the instinctive reaction. The other part forced his back to straighten, his chin point upwards. So while he felt his resistance crumbling inside, at least he looked as if he could hold himself.

"I don't want to answer your questions. I don't want to answer anyone's questions." He said loudly, addressing the whole group at the last sentence.

Vansic huffed, and looked like he was going to say more. But one of the girls spoke up from the half-circle that had formed about them.

"Maybe you should leave it Vansic..."

Anakin felt a wave of relief, so strong that he almost felt dizzy from it.

"Yeah just leave it."

"You don't want to get in trouble."

Even though not all of the warnings were for the sake of Anakin, but more for Vansic, he still felt extremely grateful. He was still standing straight, but his knees felt as if they might collapse under him. The two Padawans both glanced around warily. Anakin waited for someone to move, say something. He knew that their curiosity had not been diminished by his reluctance to answer. If anything, it had probably grown even stronger.

Locked in a stalemate, it was a few moments before anything happened, before anyone moved. But soon more voices could be heard, growing louder as they moved up the corridor. A mixture of relief and fear flooded Anakin. The next class. From the sounds of it, they were the older ones. Which could be both good or bad. If they managed to distract the others then he could slip away unnoticed. But if they took interest in him then it would be disastrous.

If only Obi-Wan could hurry up.

As the next class came around the corner, the circle which had formed around Anakin and Vansic began to hastily disband. Anakin leant against the cool marble wall, doing his part to try to hide the previous conflict. The light got in his eyes however, the sun having just managed to traverse to the top of the windows. He squinted at the incoming people, doing his best to see if their expressions were threatening or not.

Luckily, most seemed to ignore him and the rest of the Padawans his age completely, and he was consoled. Maybe he could make it through. Obi-Wan had to be close. He had to be.

It wasn't until he saw a figure begin to push through the teenagers surrounding him that he began to despair. He could not take anymore stress, not now. If he had to deal with more then his resilience would begin to crumble, and he might never leave Obi-Wan's apartment again. They were tall, towering over almost all of his classmates. But with the sun in his eyes he could not see any other details. Could only grit his teeth and wait.

"Right, what's going on here?"

All of the fear in Anakin evaporated, replaced with joy. Kyla. Of course it was her, she was only one year higher than him, it made sense that she would have a class. He waited hopefully, fidgeting as she took in the audience, and Vansic and himself in the middle. Raising an eyebrow, she stepped into the center, breaking the invisible wall which had seemed to surround the two while they had fought. She then stood between them.

"Y'all better move onto your next lesson. Get out of here. Go on, shoo!" She said. The others, not wishing to combat it, and probably not wishing for the argument to continue, trickled away slowly, grumbling but compliant. "You two? What's happening?"

The question was directed to them both, but she had turned her back to Anakin, instead facing Vansic, and Anakin knew that most of the heat was meant for him.

"Uh. We were just talking."

"Yeah? Talking?" Kyla asked sarcastically.

"Yes. We were talking." Vansic answered. Kyla sighed and turned to Anakin.

"Just talking?" She questioned, giving him a reassuring nod.

Anakin knew that she wanted him to tell her. So that she could lay into Vansic, or maybe just so that she could have the satisfaction of it. But when he opened his mouth he couldn't do it. His thoughts strayed to Obi-Wan. Kyla would definitely tell Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan would not react well in any of the scenarios Anakin imagined. He would lose this small freedom he has worked so hard for, and Vansic would get into huge trouble.

Anakin knew that if he was in Vansic's place he would have done the same. He had never been particularly kind or gentle towards any of the other Padawans, he knew what it was like to feel a burning curiosity, so strong that it overruled all logical thought. If Vansic had been the one who had gone missing, Anakin would have pressed him for answers. Teased him. The thought made him sick to his stomach. But the truth was, he would have, and had no regrets.

So he shut his mouth and nodded.

"Just talking."

Kyla tilted her head to one side in an inquiring manner. Thankfully not pressing it, she swung around and waved her hand at Vansic.

"Fine. Go on. Move. I want to talk to Anakin for a minute."

Vansic looked shaken, and with a last pleading glance at Anakin, scarped, hurrying after his friends.

Anakin knew that Vansic thought he would tell Kyla everything. But it was not in his plans. He knew that it would mean giving up his plans. He wasn't so petty as to give up a greater revenge for a smaller one.

Kyla quickly walked over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, you good? You look like you're about to pass out." She said, gently lifting his head. That was one thing Anakin had learned about being friends with a healer, they were always checking up on you.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"They didn't touch you or anything did they?" Nervous eyes searched his face.

"What? Oh, no. No I'm fine."

The worried expression disappeared almost completely, replaced by suspicion.

"What did he want then?"

"Nothing. We were just chatting. They wanted to catch up." Anakin replied, attempting to look her in the eyes to convey this truth. She looked at him contemplatively for a moment.

"I won't tell Obi-Wan if you want to tell me."

Anakin felt colour begin to creep up his cheeks.

"That's not the thing. That's not why I won't tell you. That's not... not what happened." He stuttered. She raised her eyebrows again.

"Sure kid." She answered. "Do you at least have somewhere you can rest now? I don't think it would be a good idea for you to go to your next lesson."

Anakin nodded.

"Yeah Obi-Wan is on his way. He should have been here ages ago though."

"Do you want me to start walking you back?"

At first Anakin refused, but Kyla was insistent that she should accompany him along. Once they'd started moving he was glad of the company, however. On his own he would have attracted stares, the Padawans were not the only curious ones. The whole Temple likely knew of his disappearance, and though the older ones were less likely to confront him about it, he still attracted many sidelong glances.

Kyla helped to distract him, and also to bring some minimal sense of normality back to his life. He was walking along a corridor with a friend. The most normal thing he had been able to do since what seemed like forever. As he'd slowly grown to know Kyla more and more, she being the only person besides Obi-Wan he really could see, he grew to appreciate the way she lead the conversation, how she talked the most and helped him to join in. Not pushing him to be social, but gently prompting him. She didn't mind that he was often lost in his own thoughts.

They had not got particularly far when Anakin saw Obi-Wan appear at the other side of the corridor. Kyla waved at him cheerfully, but Anakin could see even from a distance that his brows were furrowed and his shoulders were tense. He hurried over, while Kyla stopped Anakin, whose breathing was slightly laboured from so much walking. Not that it was really much walking. Just more compared to usual.

When Obi-Wan arrived he immediately put a hand on Anakin's arm gently, leaning over to look him in the eyes.

"Are you okay? Did anything happen?"

Anakin shook his head and smiled as best he could.

"Nothing happened. I was just tired. I need a break." Anakin answered.

Obi-Wan looked him over, his eyebrows lowered and worried. Anakin looked back earnestly, trying to prove that he was okay.

Finally Obi-Wan stopped searching him and smiled.

"As long as you're well Young One." He said softly. Then he turned to Kyla, who had been awkwardly hovering to the side of their encounter. "As long as Padawan Mai can confirm that you are telling the truth."

Anakin looked at her pleadingly from behind Obi-Wan. She glanced at him and sighed.

"Yes. No issues. I just wished to walk him along, he seemed tired. I advise you make him rest for a while."

"Of course. I can take it from here, if you wish to return to your studies."

Kyla bowed to him.

"Will do Master. Can I come see Anakin later?" She asked tentatively. Obi-Wan huffed exasperatedly, but Anakin could hear that his tone was light.

"If you must."

Grinning, Kyla gave Anakin a quick, and unexpected, hug. He was too surprised to react with more than raised eyebrows, and she hurried off before he had time to return it. Now he could add that as the first item on the list of proper physical contact he'd had, not including Obi-Wan of course. He looked down. Maybe he could get through this.

When he looked up again he saw Obi-Wan looking at him, brows raised. It took a second for him to understand what his Master was implying.

"Master! No! We're just friends." Anakin said. Obi-Wan held his hands up in defence.

"I said nothing. But then again. Remember the code." He teased.

"Don't worry Master. I won't be having any problems obeying the code in that respect."

Obi-Wan hummed in disbelief, and Anakin glared at him.

"Fine. What you say Young One." Obi-Wan replied. Anakin laughed. "But moving on. You look exhausted."

Anakin rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Yeah. I think I might want to have a rest when we get back if that's okay?"

"Of course it is okay Anakin! We'll get you back as quick as we can so that you can rest. And I'll get some food while you sleep, in case you want to eat something later on."

Anakin agreed, and leant on Obi-Wan as they started down the corridor. Oblivious to the staring now, tiredness encroaching on his senses, he barely registered them growing closer to home. Not, at least, until Obi-Wan said something which broke him out of it.

"I'm proud of you for attending classes today. You did well."

Anakin looked at him, an expression of glee and surprise mingling on his features.

He practically skipped all the way back.

A/N: Ani is slowly getting there! Also once more clarifying that this is not an OC romance based fic, I have no plans for Kyla and Anakin beyond friendship.

Feel free to review if you enjoyed! Have a lovely day/night!