Anakin had been behaving rather strangely over the past week. Obi-Wan frowned to himself as he walked down the silent temple halls. At first, he'd thought it was just the shock of becoming a Master. Mostly just a slip of the tongue here and there, no cause for alarm, but lately Anakin's strange behavior had escalated to concerning. He had become absent minded, constantly disappearing, and he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks, since the war ended. Something was wrong, but when he asked Anakin always replied with a laugh, "I'm fine master!" he'd say, "Don't worry so much"
But Obi-wan did worry Anakin was hiding something, something important. Perhaps, he thought, this was an inner battle that Anakin must solve on his own, something that could be resolved by meditation. After all, Anakin was no longer his Padawan. But despite whatever reassurances Obi-wan gave himself, the issue nagged at the corner of his conscience, refusing to go away.
He came to a stop at Anakin's chamber door and knocked softly "Anakin," he whispered, looking about him. It was early yet, many of the Jedi knights were most likely still asleep, or doing early morning meditation.
No answer.
"Anakin!" he tapped the door harder, "Anakin, get up, we're supposed to go meet—"
"Ahsoka!" a voice from behind him interjected loudly. Obi-wan whirled around to see his former-padawan tripping down the hall to meet him, robe only half on, and hair in a tussle, "Sorry Master," he panted, pulling on the oversized sleeve of his robe.
Obi-wan raised an eyebrow, "Where were you?" he asked as he looked Anakin over. It was evident by the bags under his eyes that he hadn't been in his room that night
"I was just-" Anakin rubbed his eyes vigorously, trying to brush off nerves as lack of sleep, "I woke up early to go for a drive," he shrugged, starting down the hall.
Obi-wan followed, with a reluctant and heavy sigh. Ordinarily he could see right through Anakin's fibs, and when he couldn't, it usually meant it was serious. Perhaps he'd been ignoring Anakin a little too much lately; apparently there were a lot of things he hadn't known previous to the war's ending. Looking back, he could see that something had been troubling his Padawan, a shadow had crept into the enthusiastic boy's soul. But Obi-wan had failed to notice up till now. Hopefully whatever it was had blown over, for Obi-wan no longer sensed a darkness; Anakin didn't seem angry, only preoccupied and nervous.
Anakin walked hurriedly ahead of his master, hoping that he didn't seem too out of sorts. Padme was leaving for Naboo later in the day, so he'd decided to spend the night. He should've come back to the temple earlier, but his wife's face glowing in the morning light had seemed almost too beautiful to leave her. And there were the twins, still so small, but growing fast. He was afraid that if he blinked an eye he'd miss it. It was hard to leave them behind, though they'd kept him up most of the night with their crying, by early morning they were sleeping like angels, light colored curls resting on their soft faces as he gazed over them to say goodbye.
He didn't know when he'd be able to join them on Naboo, but until he could he knew it would tug at his mind every waking moment. He only hoped he could hide it from Obi-wan, something he'd been unsuccessful with as of late. He didn't want to lie to Obi-wan, but after years of doing it, it just seemed to come naturally. In any other case he wouldn't mind coming clean sooner or later, but Obi-wan followed the code so strictly that he was afraid of what he might think. Of course Obi-wan would never report him to the Council, but he might not do him any favors. And even if he did approve, Anakin didn't want anyone else burdened with the secret. That was why Padme had to go away, for a while at least, and he didn't want anyone else to have to do that.
He sighed, it was probably best not to think of it just now, "Can't wait to catch up with Snips," he called out to Obi-wan in an attempt to lighten his thoughts. They'd been able to meet with Ahsoka briefly after she'd apprehended Mail and taken him to Coruscant, but everyone had been so caught up in the whirlwind the end of the war had caused that it had been difficult to catch up.
Obi-wan smiled, "Indeed," he nodded, "I can't wait to hear what trouble she's been getting into without us," he said it jokingly, but in truth he really was excited to have both his padawans with him again. It had been so long since the three of them had done anything together, and though the Jedi order forbade attachments, he couldn't help but feel that they were his family. He hoped that with Ahsoka back it would feel like old times, and perhaps Anakin would get some semblance of his old self back. Only time would tell.