A/N:This is a very sombre authors note. On Sunday 13th November, a WWE wrestler Eddie Gurrerro passed away at the age of 37 of heart faliure. He was loved by all superstars in the WWE and of course by his family, but also by his fans, me included. It is a tragic loss and he will be sorly missed by many people. Viva la Raza Eddie, this chapter is dedicated to you. xxxx

Elizabeth - This is a 3 way story with the focus on Ani, Padme and Obi-Wan but i am pleased you are enjoying the growing relationship between Ani and Obi. I hope you continue to like what you read and you leave me more gr8 reveiws. xx

sewardsfolly - The healers working for Palpatine? Maybe, I wasnt intending to refer to them again but I may do now that you said that. What do you and anyone else think? Glad you liked the last chapter, and that you liked Obi protecting Ani. I thought he might be a bit out of character but i havent heard that yet. Enjoy this chapter. xx

WoketteUK - Well the angst on Anakin is coming to an end... and i refuse to say anymore. lol. Obi has finally got through to him, it was a relief to stop making Anakin so stupid. :-p Hope you enjoy this chapter.

Hieiko - Again wasn't actually going to mention the healers again but hey, maybe I will change my mind now. And actually it wasnt the healers that were violent it was the the guards. Did that not come across very well? Enjoy! xx

Poet317 - Well i didnt get your reveiw for last chapter, and yes Anakin's force dampner is first mentioned in Chapter 7 i think. It is definatly mentioned before cause I remember putting it in there somewhere.

Ewan007 - So Anakin finally got to you then! I sent him round ages ago to have some tea with you! lol. Glad you liked this chapter and hey, if you have an idea for a story I could write, look on my profile and email it to me as a challenge! I would love to hear some cause I am at a loss as to what to do after this is finished.

Hopeless4life - You love all my chapters! lol. What's ur fave so far?

I'm starting to get more reveiws now its gr8, thanks so much guys. I really want to get over the 100 mark on this one. anyways enjoy this chapter all. xx

I slip silently into the apartment, and instantly notice a still, silent figure laying in the dark on a small sofa. The rain outside still pounds against the windows, and the lightning still illuminates the once beautiful Coruscant sky. But none of that matters as my heartbeat thumps loudly in my ears, and my heart itself leaps at the thought that it may be Anakin sleeping so soundly. I step cautiously to the sofa, but sigh as I discover it is Obi-Wan that lies so peaceful. However, Anakin's unmistakable rasps of breath haunt the apartment, giving me a clear signal as to where he is. I follow the sound down the hallway and into a small room, where I find my Ani sleeping in the bed.

I stop by his side, sighing softly. He looks so….young and….vulnerable. His eyes are closed, not even flickering with dreams, hiding his heart-wrenching, pain-filled gaze. His mechanical arm rests beneath the quilt, defensively covered even in sleep, and the other is…bandaged? I feel the frown creep onto my face as worry and confusion direct my emotions. Who could have done this to him? But the sad whispered words hiss in my ear and the hollow look in Anakin's eyes asObi-wan and Ileft the healer's before he went 'missing' invade my mind. The question soon changes frighteningly to What has he done to himself?

I reach out and gingerly stroke a gentle finger over the bandage, concerned despite myself. He groans and stirs, trying to tug his injury sleepily away from me. I take his hand and upper arm, gripping it slightly in reassurance, but instantly know I've done the wrong thing. A terrifying yell of 'Get away from me!' rings in my ears as I am slammed against the opposite wall by some invisible force. That couldn't have been Anakin...could it? I lean shakily on the wall and gaze worriedly over at him as he thrashes around, mumbling incoherent words.

I so desperately want to help him, but fear and pain keep me rooted to the spot, not that it really mattered as Obi-Wan came rushing in almost immediately after the incident, grasping Anakin's arms as he flails about, pulling him upright and wrapping loving, comforting arms around him. Arms that I can't help but feel should be mine. I push myself silently off the wall, holding my side as pain spasms through it. Obi-Wan is gently lowering Anakin back into soft pillows, whispering promises of protection and comfort. It hurts when I think of the trust that Anakin has in Obi-Wan, that he trusts Obi-Wan to protect him. It hurts even more because I know its true.

I limp out of the room, saddened by these thoughts and the realization that the manwho loves mehadn't been able to sense my presence. Or does he love me? Is it possible that so soon after I lose my senses he has regained his and realized that our love is something that can never blossom, can never have a happy ending? I sit tearfully on the sofa, still warm from Obi-Wan's heat, wincing as the bruises start to appear, and my arm gives slow painful throbs. I rub it gently, wishing that Anakin would come and wrap warm, loving arms around my shoulders, whisper sweet words in my ear that make me tingle, hold me close and kiss the life out of me.

Eventually Obi-Wan steps silently from the room, shutting the door carefully behind him, as though a child rests in there and the slightest noise could wake him. I can see the anguish and weariness in his eyes, and I don't expect him to be entirely sympathetic to my partly self-inflicted pain, but nothing prepares me for what he is like.

"What did you think you were doing in there?" He sighs as he walks to the living area and leans on a windowsill, gazing out at Coruscant's stormy skyline. It causes me to blink and frown in surprise. Although it isn't obvious in his weary, dejected frame, his tightly controlled voice conveys contained anger, leashed in by years of Jedi teachings and restraint. But even I can tell that he is at breaking point, and anything that I say, or don't say, will push it over the limit. I brace myself, and give my explanation.

"I just…wanted to see him." I whisper softly, trying to ease the tension I can see building in Obi-Wan's twitching muscles. "Anakin is my friend, I am entitled to worry about him."

He swings round from the window and I can see him growing steadily angrier, although he still tries to contain it.

"So you sneak up on him, startling him while he is sleeping and at the lowest point a person can ever get in life, never mind 19 year old!" He growls back, his anger bleeding through, scaring me to the very pits of my stomach. I've never seen Obi-Wan so tense and angry, and it is now that I realize that something must have happened to shake Obi-Wan's already fraying nerves. But still I can't help but feel angry with him. I snap my reply back, instantly feeling terrible for doing so, but soon finding out a lot more than I intended to.

"Anakin is my friend too Obi-Wan! We just spent a couple of months on Naboo together and seeing him like this after the happiest days of my life worries me! This is not an Anakin I am used to seeing and I'll die before I stop caring about him. He's not just yours to worry and care about!"

"YES HE IS!"

My breath catches as an eerie, unnatural silence descends upon the room.. Finally I am able to choke one word from my throat.

"What?"

He looks just as startled as I feel, and he sinks beside me on the sofa, the oddest of looks on his face. One of…..confusion but at the same time….realization, as though something that he had been denying for so long has finally come true. He speaks softly now, all traces of the unnatural anger that surged his thoughts evaporated from his mind.

"Anakin…is mine Padme. Yes he's my Padawan but….its not like that anymore, it never really has been. He's like….He ismy son. I couldn't see it before but he could and now….now he needs me as a father more than anyone else and it doesn't seem like anyone really understands that. Everyone thinks they know him, everyone thinks they know what's best for him….but they only succeed in making things worse. They don't understand what has happened to him, only I know exactly how he feels….no-one else knows the suffering he has and is going through. They think they know but they just….don't."

He looks down at the floor, filled with pain, his eyes watering with tears he refuses to let fall. But I continue to press the issue, I need to know what happened. It soothes me to know, so I can help get one step further in getting the old Anakin back, the one that held me so closely on Naboo, not the one that lays broken in the other room.

"Obi-wan? What happened….why is Anakin like this? Why are you so shaken?"

He shudders beside me, rubbing his temple which I now notice has a large bruise appearing on it. He looks to me, obviously trying to figure out why it is I am so concerned. I silently pray that he takes it to be a concerned friend rather than a hysterical girlfriend.

"They tried…to…to take him back to the medical wing. He was terrified Padme. I tried to stop them but, they overpowered me and when he heard them attack me, he tried to fight them off…..needless to say it wasn't hard for them to get him too. They held him down and came at him with a Hypo-Spray…the look on his face….I couldn't handle it. I used the force to pull them all away from him, and sent them packing. He's still suffering psychologically from the attack…..when you held his arm it scared him, he's venerable and only just getting used to having his force powers back. He reacted instinctively to the 'attack' which is why he did what he did to you. He didn't know who you were….he thought you were them coming to take him back."

I sit shaken and frightened for Ani, taking in the gravity of the situation.

"But why…why couldn't he sense my presence in the force? He usually can…"

"I haven't given him full control over it yet. Giving the full power back would have shocked the medi-chlorins and possibly put him into a coma….not something I want to risk right now."

I nod, not really understanding but understanding enough to get the gist of the answer to my question.

"What happened to his wrist? They didn't do that to him did they!"

"No, he tried to rip the force dampener off. Needless to say he only succeeded in hurting himself further. It was just before he tried to fight off the healers I should imagine…..I don't really know I wasn't there when he did it. I was too busy arguing out here, trying to stop them."

He sighs and puts his head in his hands, drained and exhausted. I place a comforting hand on his shoulder but, surprisingly, we both seem to feel better.

"Obi-Wan….I'm sorry I wasn't here. The Jedi brought me here to the temple just after you reported that Ani was missing. They were concerned for my safety and wouldn't let me out until they found him. I came up here as soon as they released me."

I know I didn't really need to give an explanation as to why I wasn't here, but it was something that I needed him to know, that I needed to get off my chest.

"It is good that you are here now. He seems to be calmer when he is around you. Just…go easy with him….he has a long way to go before you can whisk him back to paradise."

We share a wan smile at this, before Obi-wan finally suggests sleep. He invites me to stay at Anakin's side with him tonight, an offer I don't refuse. As I drift silently into sleep, I pray silently that things will now get better, that not only Anakin, but Obi-Wan too,can finally begin to heal.