Anakin accepted his punishment without complaining. After lessons, he went to the archives. He had to register new data and check over older datasticks. He had to sit much but when Madam Nu registered that he became restless, she ordered him to walk through the shelves looking if every datastick and book were where they belonged.
Anakin couldn't make sense of Madam Nu. She had a stern face, making it clear, that he was there as a punishment but when she ordered something, she did it gentle. She never barked at him. Didn't comment when he was reading slow or fidgeting with something. She told him to take breaks, when needed and come to her, when he was in pain or had questions.
Anakin wasn't sure if she was sincere and decided not to bother her. He knew that some masters used that to punish slaves further.

Since his disturbing dream, which tended to come back nearly every night, and his fight with his classmate, he wasn't sure anymore, if he really was free. If he was free, he wouldn't get punished for no reason. He could understand, if he would be punished for hurting his classmate, while defending himself, but he was punished for the act of defending himself. And as he knew, defending oneself was a right of a free person.
What Anakin didn't know was, that his understanding of self-defense was different, than the understanding the Jedi had. Neither he nor the Jedi realized the misunderstanding.

Despite not speaking up, when he was restless or in pain, Madam Nu somehow knew it. And instead of ignoring it or chastising him, she gave him work, where he walked around, when he was restless or let him leave earlier, when he was in pain.

But even when he left earlier, his punishment wasn't over. Obi-Wan had added to read two books about peaceful problem-solving, and he had to meditate every day one hour more than usual.
Even being freed from homework, due to his injury, he had not enough free time to visit the clones again. He had only enough time to read in the books, Master Che wanted him before sleeping.


Obi-Wan noticed the change in his Padawan. Anakin was much quieter and smiled less. He asked himself if the punishment was too harsh, but attacking a classmate without realizing doing something wrong, was no small deal. Especially for a Jedi. So to lessen the punishment was no option, but Obi-Wan decided to reward him for not complaining about everything.

Anakin came back late, this day. He had lesson till afternoon and then duty in the archives.
It was early in the evening as he entered the quarters. Obi-Wan was sitting at the dining table. A cup set before him and another at the empty place across from him. Both were still steaming, probably with tea.
"Come and sit down. I made hot chocolate for you. Thought you might like some after such a long day," Obi-Wan said with a little smile.
Anakin's eyes got a little bigger. He hurried to the chair, sat down and drunk the hot chocolate. He smiled a bit.

"I thought about something. Padawan learner get pocket money when their Master thinks that they are ready to learn to handle money. The most get pocket money when they get thirteen or older. But I thought since you already know how to handle money, at least at the Outer Rim, you are ready to learn how to handle money in the Inner Rim," Obi-Wan begun to explain.
Anakin's eyes lit up. With money, one could get relative far. Maybe he could save enough to free his mother.

Obi-Wan placed some credits in front of him and even a credit chip.
"I made you a bank account, like every Jedi has. You will not have full access right away, and I can control your account but when you prove yourself, you get more rights for it and when you become a Knight, I will have no access anymore. First you get five credits a month, but it can increase, when I see that you handle your money responsibly. You can make with it, what you want, as long as it is legal, of course," he ended his explanation.
Anakin took the credit chip and the money. "Thank you, Master. I will not make you regret it," he said and bowed his head, smiling.

"I don't doubt that. And since you have much experience how much things should cost on Tatooine, but no such experience for Coruscant, I thought we could get those experience together tomorrow. We could buy some ingredients to cook. Some things the temple may not provide, or maybe some sweets. I could show you, where to get some droid parts for you to tinker with. How does that sound?" Obi-Wan asked.
"That sounds great, Master. Thank you," Anakin answered now smiling pretty bride.
Obi-Wan smiled too. "Then tomorrow after your archive duty," he said before drinking his tea. Anakin just beamed at him.


The next day, Anakin was in a good mood. He couldn't wait for his lessons and his duty in the archives to end. And maybe, just maybe, he was freer than he thought.
Madame Nu noticed that his temporary substitute was pretty jittery that day and after letting him work for two hours, she let him leave early. She watched how Anakin raced out of the archives, not bothering to tell him not to run.

"I'm back, Master!" Anakin called, while entering their quarters. "Madam Nu was so nice, to let me go earlier," he added while putting his backpack next to the door to his bedroom.
There was no answer.
Anakin frowned and looked through the kitchen, the living room and the fresher, but Obi-Wan was not there.
He asked himself if Obi-Wan had forgotten it, but then he remembered being back earlier. Maybe Obi-Wan hadn't planned that he could come back earlier and had still things to do. Anakin nodded to himself. His Master would come later.
He decided to wait patiently, got himself something to drink, his datapad and sat on the couch in the living room. Anakin could use the time to read into a book about force healing, Vokara Che had recommended.


It was getting later and later, but Obi-Wan didn't come. Disappointment but also concern came up in him. Anakin decided to look in Obi-Wan's bedroom. He was only allowed to go in there, when his Master said it, but maybe something happened.
Anakin knocked, but he didn't receive an answer. Not that he expected something else.
So he took a deep breath and entered. Obi-Wan wasn't there, but what surprised him was the mess in his bedroom. Every time Anakin was in this room, it was cleaned up. But now there were robes on the floor, the bed wasn't made, and even the desk was in disorder.
"Did something hap…" Anakin murmured but stopped as he saw something, or more accurate didn't see. The backpack Obi-Wan always used when he went on missions was gone.

Anakin sighed. His Master was on a mission. He was glad, that nothing happened to his master, and he knew, that Obi-Wan wasn't at fault for getting a mission, but Anakin was disappointed nonetheless. Obi-Wan could have left a note, at least. But there wasn't any.
It was also strange that he wasn't put in the crèche, like the other times, when Obi-Wan had to go on a mission. Not that Anakin thought of needing a caretaker. He could take care of himself pretty well.
Still, it felt like Obi-Wan didn't care about Anakin.
"Since when does a master care about their slave?", a voice, which sounded very much like Watto's, said in his head.
Anakin shook his head. There was no use in thinking like this. Obi-Wan was gone and he still here. He still had classes, his archive duty, he still wanted to learn force healing and added to this he now had to take care of himself and do all the chores. There was no time to question why Obi-Wan had left without telling him.
And he wanted to make sure, that Obi-Wan would have nothing to complain about. Maybe he would be proud of him and wouldn't leave like this again.


Anakin's daily routine didn't change much, but it definitely had gotten more stressful.
He had to make himself breakfast, which he would even do, when Obi-Wan was there, if he didn't have only one hand. But after some trying, he was able to make himself breakfast every day. Classes and archive duty didn't change. He still hadn't any homework and no physical strenuous lessons. But after archive duty, he had to do all the chores.
In the past, Obi-Wan and Anakin split the chores among themselves, and after Anakin's injury, Obi-Wan did everything on his own. Now Anakin had to do it on his own.
With only one hand, it took a long time. It took until late in the evening, before making a light meal and go to bed.

Anakin didn't get much rest in this time. He woke up early, had no time for a break during the day, and went to bed late. The young Jedi didn't want to leave any chores out, and he still tried to learn as much as possible about force healing.
Somehow, he managed to get through the week.

Halfway through the next week, he got a message about his surgery date. In three days he would get his prosthetic.
He informed his teachers and Madam Nu about it. Madam Nu even ended his archive duty three days earlier than planned, so that he had the day before the surgery free.


The surgery went without any problems. Still, Anakin had to stay in the healing halls for three days. They wanted to make sure that nothing happened in the aftermath. And for once Anakin was glad about it. The phantom pain began to lessen, but the new connection between the prosthetic and his nervous system hurt extremely. The healer said that it was normal and would stop completely after a little while. Until then, he got strong painkillers.
During his stay in the healing halls, Anakin learned much about his prosthetics. They taught him how to fix little issues, which could occur but didn't need an expert to solve. And they trained his motor skills with his new arm. It was frustrating that he had to learn how to grab again.
Still, he was determined to be able to use his prosthetic like a real hand, as fast as possible. Despite that the most things are easier, with two hands and him being able to catch up to his peers in theoretical and practical courses, he also wanted to make sure that the Jedi would keep him.

More frequently doubts came in his mind, whether he was truly free, or just the Jedi's slave. Sure, they treated him better than even Watto did, but they didn't free him either. They won him. They decided for him to be a Jedi. Qui-Gon said that he is free, but since he was part of the Jedi Order, only what the council said was important.
Yes he wanted to be a Jedi, he wanted to be strong enough to free slaves, but how can he do that, if he isn't free himself. They never had let him decide. He never had a choice.
Obi-Wan gives him sometimes a choice about which tea he would like to drink or what to eat, but maybe these are just an illusion of free will. When he wants more dessert, Obi-Wan often says that he can't have more. In the end, Obi-Wan decides no matter what Anakin's choice is or what he wants. And he always takes the right to oppose Anakin's decision.
In the end, the most significant indicator of him being still a slave, is his slave chip. He knew it still was there.