"I still say you fell in after me Anakin."
"No you fell in. I jumped purposefully in to rescue you remember! I wouldn't be stupid enough to fall into a nest full of ravaging beasts without a good reason!"
"Except you did just that!"
"No I didn't!"
I laugh as I hear his old whining tone return to his voice, and am glad that I am succeeding in taking his mind off the IV placed in the back of his hand, and the pain that is shooting through his legs as Bant and Padme work some slight physiotherapy on them to loosen up the muscles. How do I know about the pain he's going through? Well, let's just say that if someone pinched Anakin when he was over the other side of the galaxy, I would feel it as though it were being done to me. The point is I can block out the pain, Anakin on the other hand needs a distraction. The only way to distract him? Well, by doing what we do best…arguing.
"Alright, if you say that us both falling into the nest of gundarks was my fault, then I say that us ending up surrounded by angry Nemodians in a bar was your fault."
"How can that be my fault! You were the one who needed a drink!"
"Yes Anakin and why did I need that drink?"
He breaks out into a huge grin as he remembers exactly the reason why.
"Because I'd just driven speedily through heavy on-coming traffic without the lights of the speeder on."
I hear Bant and Padme burst out laughing, and I can't help but join in.
"Now you see why I have so many grey hairs."
"Point conceded Master."
Another evening had passed without event, Anakin's health keeping at a steady level, with only slight instances of him finding it difficult to breathe. I tried unsuccessfully this morning to find out what he was dreaming about, but he kept rapidly changing the subject. Eventually I just gave up, and Bant and Padme had come round later to start some Physiotherapy with him, Padme insisting that she be allowed to help.
As Bant crosses over to me and takes me to the other side of the room, out of Anakin's ear shot, I feel the pain in my legs subside to a dull throbbing, and look over at Anakin, who has his arm wrapped firmly around Padme. I frown as the picture meets my eyes and those old words spring up to accompany it.
I'd much rather dream about Padme….just being around her again is….intoxicating.
"Obi-Wan! Will you please stop making ogle eyes at those two and listen! For force sake, anyone would think you hadn't seen two friends share a cuddle before."
I smile and turn to a rather impatient Bant, who looks thoroughly irritated with my Jar-Jar Binks like attention span.
"I'm sorry Bant…its just…I'm concerned it may be something more. There are things Anakin has said that make me wonder."
"Oh Obi, will you wake up and come back to this planet! Do you really think Padme would jeopardize her career for some…padawan crush? Now Anakin I wouldn't put it past….but Padme! You know her better than I do, but even I can see that!"
It sounds so wonderfully believable, Padme is the sensible one out of the two, whilst I have had to tell Anakin off copious times for bringing girlfriends back to the temple from drunken nights out. Padme, as far as I know, hasn't dated anyone since she started politics. I slowly sigh and give in to Bant's logic.
"I guess your right. I'm sorry its just….I care about him, I don't want to lose him."
"I know, but hey, you've got nothing to worry about. Anakin's a big boy, not a 9 year old anymore. Now, let's see about getting this mechanical arm moving then shall we."
"I thought you said nothing strenuous for today."
"I did…that was until Anakin gave me a hefty kick to the shins and blamed it on reflexes."
I burst out laughing as past instances of Anakin's 'reflex actions' as he calls them, flood my memories, but I quickly suppress it as Bant's face creases into a playful frown.
"Well, I didn't find it that funny, but obviously you enjoy seeing me in pain."
"Not at all, I've been on the receiving end of Anakin's so called reflex actions before. So how do you intend to get this moving then?"
"Well you see, that's the problem. To get it moving with as little pain as possible….would require Anakin to move it without thinking about it."
"Without thinking about it? And how exactly do you intend to do that?"
"Basically it's just like you or I moving our arms now. We don't need to think about doing it and this is what Anakin needs to achieve. The more he thinks about moving it the more painful it will be when it happens. The easiest way to achieve this is…to put him in a situation where he has no choice but to move it."
"You don't mean…Bant no! You can't put him through anything else. Don't you think he's dealing with enough at the moment."
"Yes and moving this cursed arm is what his anxieties are all focused on!"
I sigh and pinch the bridge of my nose, screwing up my eyes, trying to sort out the conflict that battles in my head. Bant is only trying to help and I should trust her judgment….but I've only just got Anakin to trust me again, I don't want to jeopardize this new trust, the thing that strengthens our bond with each passing hour, and besides, I'm not entirely sure Anakin trusts Bant completely either.
"Master….what's bothering you?"
His breathing has improved further since the IV was inserted. He no longer seems to be struggling for breath, though an oxygen mask and tank stands close by in case. I turn to him as his steady voice that only 24 hours ago quivered with fear and pain, rings through the now silent apartment. I give Bant a quick glance, before shaking my head and kneeling next to Anakin's bed.
"It's nothing Padawan….just a slight headache."
Technically I'm not lying, I do have a headache…but it is anything but slight. More like the whole Naboo victory procession running through my head, drums pounding and all. But Anakin doesn't think technically, and he frowns at me disapprovingly, probing my feelings to try and find the source of my conflict, although the restraint I have on his force powers prevent him from seeing anything.
"What aren't you telling me Master."
If only he knew the secrets I'm keeping from him at the moment, the things I don't want to tell him. I could tell him anything and it would probably be true. So I tell him the thing that would hurt me the least.
"I'm just…concerned for you Anakin. You gave me one good scare yesterday and I just cant help thinking that…if I leave you for one second it could happen again."
I know he senses more, and I silently plead with him not to inquire further. I hate myself for keeping things from him….especially the fact that in a few months he could be taking his Jedi Trials…leaving me.
He quietly slips his hand out of Padme's and into mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. I look down at it and swallow as I am forcefully reminded of Anakin's condition. I run a finger gently over the bandage that covers his wrist and watch as he winces ever so slightly.
"These need to be changed…"
I go to collect the bandages and bacta from the 'fresher but I am stopped as Anakin keeps a weak hold on my hand. I turn back to him, sitting on the edge of the bed this time, next to Padme who has a hand placed gently on Anakin's bare abdomen, rubbing it soothingly as Bant showed her to relieve Anakin of the cramping pains he complains of.
"Master…you need to rest. All you've done is run around after me ever since we arrived back. I won't have a Master left by the end of all this if you carry on the way you are."
"And you presume that to be a bad thing?"
He grins at me and my insides squirm with joy when I see him do so.
"Well if I didn't have one, I'd have no one to catch my lightsabre when I conveniently decide to throw it somewhere will I?"
I smile wearily back at him, rubbing my eyes with my free hand, the thought running constantly through my head that very soon, Anakin isn't going to need a Master anyway, regardless of where I am in the picture.
"Go Master…I'll be alright here with Bant and Padme. Go meditate in the Thousand Fountains….or you could go get totally hammered."
I instantly snap upright as Bant's surprised look meets the corner of my eye. I glare at Anakin.
"Anakin, that was one time that happened!"
"True…one very funny time! Long long ago when Obi-Wan was not as uptight as he is now….boy that was a long time ago."
"Alright Anakin! I get the point I'm going."
"Meditating…or getting hammered?"
"Right that's it!"
Standing up I use the force to call a pillow to me and I hurl it in Anakin's direction. I laugh as Anakin catches it, until he lifts it above his head.
"Oh too slow old man! I…"
I smile as he stops and looks up…to see his gold gleaming hand holding the pillow high above his head.