Chapter Six – Long time no see

Obi-Wan effectively knocked Anakin's light sabre out of the young man's hand and held his own light sabre dangerously close to Anakin's neck before disengaging the weapon.

"You must pay attention, Padawan! Since the Council has given us our new assignment, you have seemed…distracted. What troubles you so?"

Anakin picked up his light sabre and sat down next to Obi-Wan on the floor. He wasn't really one for talking about what was bothering him, especially to Obi-Wan, but this had been on his mind for two whole days now. He hadn't been able to sleep, thinking about it, and he suddenly felt that if he didn't talk to someone that he would burst.

"It's just…it has been three years. Three whole years! I convinced myself, at some point, that I would never see him again and now…I have so many questions. Why did he stay? And why is he coming back? How long will he stay?"

Obi-Wan chuckled.

"My, so many questions indeed. Well, I can answer some of them for you. He's coming back because he has finished the second stage of his Werin training, which I think has something to do with his empathic skills. First, he is going to the Senate to discuss some things on behalf of his planet. Then he will rejoin the Order to finish his Padawan training."

"What does he have to discuss with the Senate?" Anakin's heart jumped when he heard that Taro would return to the Order to finish his training, yet another confirmation for him that his feelings for the Werin were still there.

Obi-Wan shrugged and got up from the floor. Anakin followed his example.

"I don't know, Padawan, I did not ask. Politics are not half as interesting as light sabre practice, don't you agree?"

Obi-Wan ignited his light sabre and Anakin got the hint. He ignited his own light sabre, hoping to concentrate enough to get Obi-Wan off of his back. Though he already knew that wasn't going to happen.

Anakin sighed as he put down the microspanner that he was using. He had managed to convince both Obi-Wan and the captain of the ship they had used to travel to Aravane to let him help get the ship perfectly tuned again to travel back to Coruscant.

He wasn't so much concerned with the ship, but he just couldn't face seeing Taro yet. Even his conversation with Obi-Wan on their way to Aravane did not help. He was afraid of what would happen when he saw the Werin again.

On the one hand, he was afraid that Taro would ignore the feelings he had laid bare on Jendri's ship three years ago. He didn't think he could face it should the Werin act as if nothing had happened. But on the other hand, he was mortified that the Werin would say that he didn't feel the same way.

So he had chosen this. He was only delaying the inevitable, but he needed the time to collect his thoughts and feelings. Anakin had finished the repairs and fine-tuning he had been assigned hours ago, and the ship had already taken off.

Anakin had known that he couldn't hide forever, but he still started when he felt a familiar presence approaching. He wondered briefly how it was that Taro always brought this soft, emotional side of him to the surface. But he didn't have time to dwell on it for too long.

"Have I wronged you so that you would not come to greet me?" Anakin recognized the soft tenor voice immediately, but was still surprised at the gentleness in it. He resisted the urge to turn around and hug Taro.

"That depends," Anakin answered, his feelings for the Werin threatening to overwhelm him.

"On what?"

Now Anakin turned around and looked at Taro. The Werin's eyes seemed to have grown even brighter than Anakin remembered them and his presence in the Force felt somewhat odd compared to what it had been in the past, but other than that Taro had not changed one bit.

"On why you stayed on Aravane three years ago without telling me why. On why you're coming back now. On...on...," Anakin couldn't finish the sentence, but he didn´t have to.

"I understand that my decision to stay and finish my training then has left you with many questions, and I give you my word as the Rezai of the Werin that each and every one of them shall be answered...in due course," Taro said softly and he looked Anakin in the eye.

"That's not good enough," Anakin had feared that his mouth would betray him and agree with Taro, but it did not. The green-eyed boy looked as if he had expected Anakin to say that.

"I thought so...In matters of the heart, nobody wishes to be kept waiting. And you have waited long enough. But even though you want these answers most, you have left the questions unspoken."

"Actions speak louder than words, one picture is worth a thousand words...I gave you the picture three years ago..."

"Do you still feel the same?"

The question caught Anakin slightly off guard, but he recovered quickly and nodded. Taro closed his eyes, preparing to have a difficult conversation, and Anakin's heart fell.

"I do too."

The rest of Anakin fell as his knees gave out under him.

"Three years ago I realized that my feelings for you ran deeper than I knew. How deep they ran, I did not know. For that reason I entered the second stage of my Werin training, to find that out. I have now completed that stage, and I feel the same as you do."

Having tried to convince himself for years that he and Taro did not have a romantic future ahead of them, Anakin waited for the but to come. He was so focused on his conversation with Taro that he didn´t sense the very subtle change in the Force on the edge of his consciousness. Taro, however, did.

He grabbed Anakin's arm and turned around, dragging the taller Padawan with him.

"What's wrong?"

"I sense the Dark Side," Taro answered as he looked reached one of the gun-seats and looked at a planet they were passing. Just then, Anakin sensed it too and suddenly Obi-Wan emerged from the gun-seat next to where they were.

"Looks like we'll be making a stop here."

T.B.C.