Qui-Gon would have been relieved to know that Obi-Wan and Anakin had not needed to ward off any further assassination attempts against Padmé since their departure from Coruscant. Their journey to Naboo had been quite uneventful, although Anakin had enjoyed the voyage a good deal more than Obi-Wan did. Obi-Wan would often wander off on his own to "secure the ship," leaving Anakin and Padmé alone together. Anakin had found it strange that Obi-Wan so often felt the need to check the ship for security breaches, but he would never protest or offer to go instead because he was glad to have the time with Padmé. Obi-Wan for his part was happy to give Anakin space to get to know Padmé better. He knew great care would have to be taken in the near future as the budding relationship between Anakin and Padmé began to blossom, but for now it pleased Obi-Wan to see the look in Anakin's eyes whenever Padmé was around. He wanted his friend to enjoy this time before things became much more serious. Besides, there would be plenty of time to guide Anakin once they reached Naboo.
When they finally did reach Naboo, it was quickly decided that they should lay low with Padmé's parents. Padmé wished to see her family, and Obi-Wan had observed that the familiar surroundings could make escaping any future attacks easier. Anakin readily agreed to the plan, and so mere hours after landing on Naboo, they were making their way to Padmé's old home.
Padmé's parents lived in the wealthiest district of Theed, which was saying something since Theed was an abundantly prosperous city. Anakin was impressed by his surroundings as the group drew closer to their destination. It was not as luxurious as Theed Palace, but there was a natural beauty to the place thanks to the vibrant plant life and gracefully simple architecture of the various estates they passed by. If he were to ever settle down somewhere, Anakin felt this would be a wonderful place to do so. This was in no small part due to the fact that the place also had significance for Padmé, but he would never admit that to anyone except perhaps Padmé herself.
They continued walking until they arrived at one of the more modest estates they had seen thus far. "We're here," Padmé said as she led them up to the front door.
They were only a few paces away from the door when the door swung open and two small girls sprung from inside, their faces beaming with wide smiles. "Aunt Padmé!" they squealed as they ran into Padmé's arms.
"Ryoo! Pooja!" Padmé exclaimed as she embraced the girls. "Oh, I've missed you both so much!"
"Who's that?" the younger one asked skeptically when she noticed the two Jedi standing behind her aunt.
"Oh, it's alright, Pooja," Padmé reassured the girl. "They're friends."
Anakin and Obi-Wan smiled at the children and approached them. Anakin knelt down beside Padmé and said, "Hello. I'm Anakin."
Padmé let out a smile at this, which prompted Ryoo, who was old enough to notice, to approach Anakin and look him quizzically in the eye. After studying him for a moment, she turned to Padmé and said, "I like him," before taking her little sister by the hand and running off.
Once the children had taken off, Anakin and Padmé stood up. "Those were my sister's daughters," Padmé explained. "They all live here with my parents. Come on. At least some of the others must be home as well."
Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan and smiled as they followed Padmé inside. Obi-Wan managed a smile in return as his mind began to race. Anakin was clearly becoming more invested in his relationship with Padmé, which meant Obi-Wan likely was not going to be able to put off speaking with Anakin about it for much longer. As they walked through the estate, Obi-Wan's heart became troubled. He still wasn't certain how he was going to approach this subject with Anakin, and that made him nervous about bringing it up at all. But he knew he must, so he promised himself that at the first opportunity to speak with Anakin privately, he would take it.
Padmé led them through the estate until they reached a drawing room where they found a young woman who looked to be slightly older than Padmé sitting with a book. When they entered the room, she looked up and instantly jumped out of her seat to rush over to Padmé. "Padmé!" she exclaimed as they embraced.
While the women exchanged greetings, Obi-Wan wandered over to the window on the far side of the room. Since it would take time to scope out possible security risks here and he did not want to burden Anakin with that task, Obi-Wan figured he had better get started on that straight away. Because he had done this, however, when Padmé turned back toward the doorway to introduce the woman to the Jedi, she only found Anakin standing behind her. Ever the public figure with the ability to stay collected, Padmé hid her surprise and simply said, "Anakin, this is my sister Sola."
"Hello," Anakin smiled nervously.
Sola picked up on Anakin's nervousness and got a mischievous look in her eyes. "You must be really special, Anakin," she said. "You're the first boyfriend my sister has ever brought home."
"Oh, he's not my boyfriend," Padmé said hastily. "He's one of the Jedi assigned to protect me."
"Jedi?" an older woman's voice came from the doorway. Anakin turned and saw a man and a woman who must have been Padmé's parents standing in the doorway. "Oh, Padmé," the woman said, "they didn't tell us it was that serious."
"It's not, I promise," Padmé said. "I'm not in any danger, Mom."
"Is she?" the man addressed Anakin.
"Yes, I'm afraid she is," Anakin replied.
"We will need to survey the premises," Obi-Wan said as he returned to the group. "We need to know all possible places an assassin might attack from."
"Of course," the man nodded. "Come, let me show you around."
Anakin and Obi-Wan nodded in return and followed the man out of the drawing room. Once the men were gone, Sola turned to Padmé. "So, tell me about him," she said.
"Who?" Padmé asked.
"Why Anakin, of course," Sola said.
"What is there to talk about?" Padmé evaded.
"Oh, I don't know, just the fact that he clearly has feelings for you," Sola replied. "Have you seen the way he looks at you?"
"We're just friends, Sola. That's it," Padmé said with a dismissive gesture.
"Just friends?" Sola pressed.
"Yes," Padmé nodded. "Our relationship is strictly professional."
"Mm-hmm," Sola smirked as she turned and walked away.
In spite of herself, Padmé couldn't resist pursing her lips in annoyance. That was the moment she made the mistake of turning to face her mother. Naturally, her mother was able to instantly read Padmé and gave her a knowing smile. Padmé quickly turned away, frustrated that her mother and sister had so easily uncovered the truth: she had somehow developed her own feelings for Anakin. Of course she knew it was foolish. They could never be together. And yet, at some point that she could not recall, she had let her guard down just enough to allow herself to have feelings that she ought not indulge or entertain.
Unbeknownst to her, Anakin had been wrestling with similar thoughts for some time. It technically was not wrong for him to feel the way that he did, Anakin knew that. At the same time, it was difficult to see how it could ever be deemed acceptable, and even more difficult to see how he could love Padmé well without crossing into territory some might consider to be inappropriate for someone in his position.
It was these thoughts that were running through Anakin's mind later that night as he prepared himself for bed. He was suddenly pulled from his thoughts, however, by a knock at his door. Anakin opened the door and found Obi-Wan standing on the other side.
"Obi-Wan," Anakin said, "is everything alright?"
"Yes, all is well," Obi-Wan replied. "I was wondering if I might have a word with you?"
"Of course," Anakin nodded. "Come in."
Obi-Wan stepped into the room and Anakin shut the door behind him. "What's on your mind?" Anakin asked.
"I wanted to talk to you about Padmé," Obi-Wan answered.
"What about her?"
Obi-Wan hesitated before answering, "Your feelings for her."
Anakin's face grew much more serious at this. "What of them? Master Qui-Gon sees no problem with them," he said.
"And he is right to think that," Obi-Wan nodded. "I'm not here to dissuade you. I'm here to warn you."
"Warn me?"
"Yes. Love is a powerful thing, Anakin, and when it is held properly can bring about joy and life unlike anything else. But held too tightly or too loosely, it can cause untold pain and misery. It, like the Force, must be brought into balance. Cling to your love too tightly, and you will become selfish and obsessed. Keep too loose a grasp on it, and you will leave the people you love feeling neglected. You must find the center, the place where love can flourish unimpeded by pride or fear."
"I know, Obi-Wan. I just… don't know how to do that."
"You have to decide how best to love her. Do what is best for her, not what you want the most. If she needs you, be there for her. If not, let her go."
"Let her go? I can't let her go. She's the most important person in my life. You don't know what it's like to feel the way I do, and not be able to tell her. You don't know how much it hurts to have someone be the reason you get out of bed in the morning, knowing that you can never be with her."
Obi-Wan bowed his head. Anakin saw the sadness in his eyes, and suddenly all of the things he had sensed from Obi-Wan since they had been assigned with protecting Padmé made sense. "You do understand, don't you?" Anakin asked.
"Yes, Anakin, I understand," Obi-Wan said quietly.
"Who was she?"
"Her name is Satine," Obi-Wan said. Even in his sadness, Anakin could detect a fondness in Obi-Wan's voice as he continued, "She's the Duchess of Mandalore. Master Qui-Gon and I spent a year protecting her from insurgents when I was still a Padawan. I loved her, still do. If she had asked me to leave the Jedi Order for her, I would have done it. But she was where she needed to be, and we both knew I was where I needed to be. So I let her go."
"But now that you know what we discovered on Ahch-To, surely you could go back to her."
Obi-Wan shook his head dejectedly. "Anakin, if that were true, you would not now be having the same struggle I had. The fact of the matter is that attachments are still forbidden among the Jedi."
"There must be a way."
"There might be, but it will not be easy. The sad truth is that what our minds know to be true is not always in line with what our hearts desire. The odds are greatly against us here," Obi-Wan's voice trailed off as he stroked his beard thoughtfully.
"Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan collected himself and said, "I don't know what chance there is, but if there is a way for you and Padmé, I promise I will help you find it."
"Thank you, Obi-Wan."
Obi-Wan smiled and put his hand on Anakin's shoulder. "Remember, Anakin, if you seek this out, it must result in you and Padmé being able to help and support each other. If that cannot be, you must step away and move on."
"Yes, of course," Anakin nodded.
Obi-Wan nodded in return and turned to walk toward the door. "Obi-Wan," Anakin stopped him.
Obi-Wan turned back and said, "Yes?"
"If there is any way I can help you find your way back to Satine, I will."
"Thank you, Anakin," Obi-Wan smiled.
As Obi-Wan left the room, Anakin felt at peace for the first time in awhile. Knowing that his best friend understood exactly what he was going through somehow made everything feel better. Likewise Obi-Wan, though he and Anakin had not come up with a solution for their respective dilemmas, felt something he had not felt for many years: hope.