Author's Note: Here's the quick update I promised. Thanks again for your nice reviews! Some of the dialogue in this chapter is taken from ROTS. You'll see what I mean... I hope you like it.

After two more days, the troops returned. They had been successful again, thanks to Anakin's fine leadership qualities, as Obi-Wan was told when he treated wounded soldiers in the military medcenter again. There had been few losses in the clone army but, alas, many Praesitlyn inhabitants had lost their lives. Tomorrow, some final negotiations would take place and then, hopefully, this mission would be over. Being on a mission with Anakin was not nearly as heroic and exciting as the media told you everyday. The allovershadowing impression Obi-Wan had got here on Praesitlyn was dust, dust, dust, blood and endless hours of worrying.

In the early morning hours, when he had finished his work in the medcenter, he went back to his tent in order to get a few hours of sleep. Anakin was already there, he was sprawled over his and Obi-Wan's sleeping mats as if he had just fallen down there. He still had his boots and cloak on. And he was snoring very loudly. Obi-Wan stopped dead, frowning slightly to himself. He did not know what to make of this situation. But then he could not fight back the broad grin any longer. It was just great: The Chosen One, the Hero With No Fear and heart-throb snore as loudly as an old bantha. If the media knew of that...

Still grinning, Obi-Wan pulled off Anakin's dusty boots. He wrinkled his nose. Anakin probably had not gotten out of his boots for a week. Or even longer. So you have smelly feet on top of everything, Chosen One. Perhaps you even have warts on your feet. But Obi-Wan did not feel like checking if there were really warts. He pulled a blanket over Anakin and then sat down in the chair in front of the little table. Anakin's datapad was still running and a file containing the mission report was open. Obi-Wan skimmed it through. Anakin had rewritten the first draft but he had stopped somewhere close to the end. Shaking his head, Obi-Wan turned to look at Anakin's sleeping figure. His mouth was hanging wide open and he had not moved a bit since Obi-Wan had enwrapped him into the blanket. He was still snoring loudly. If you go on like this, you will break down at some point, Obi-Wan thought, concerned. He turned his attention back to the mission report on the datapad. It was full of spelling mistakes and faulty syntax, some words were doubled, others were missing... As Obi-Wan would not be able to sleep with Anakin's loud snoring anyway, he started correcting the mission report. He even finished the last part which Anakin had not written out yet. Sometimes, when he had been on a mission with his Master, he had been responsible for writing the mission report, so he knew how to do it.

Shortly before midday, the alarm clock rang. Groaning, Anakin woke up and muttered some very un-jedi-like curses.

"Good morning," Obi-Wan said, smiling.

"Morning..." Anakin laboriously propped himself up and yawned again and again. "Shit, where did I put my boots...?"

"I put them outside," Obi-Wan informed him. "They stink."

"Ah. Sorry for that."

"I made me some stimcaf. It's still warm. Would you like some?"

"Yeah, that would be great." Obi-Wan poured him a mug of stimcaf and Anakin sat down at the little table, drinking it in silence. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his eyes still looked small, tired and bleary. He was still in his dirty, sweaty and bloodstained tunic. Anakin noticed his glance. "I guess I should change my clothes before I go to the negotiations today," he said, warming his hands at his mug of stimcaf.

"The negotiations shouldn't be a problem, right?" Obi-Wan said. "I read your mission report," he explained, "and it sounds like you expect this to be the end of the mission."

"Yes, I hope so. Then we can go back home." Anakin took another sip of his stimcaf. Then he looked up at Obi-Wan. "Was it very bad for you?"

"Uh, what do you mean?" Obi-Wan asked, confused.

"Well, I kind of forced you into this, and I know you didn't want to come with me and things..."

"I..." Obi-Wan awkwardly toyed with his Padawan-braid in his fingers. "You see, of course I don't enjoy battles and people getting injured. But apart from that, it was okay."

"Good. You sure your Master is still alive?"

The question came unexpected. "Yes," Obi-Wan said defiantly. He did not know where Anakin was getting at.

"If it helps you I could – if you don't mind – I could ask the Council to give you permission to search for Master Dooku, or I could ask them to send search troops again..."

"They will not send new search troops. They've already held a symbolic funeral," Obi-Wan said bitterly. "Weren't you there?"

"No," Anakin said simply. "I guess I was on Thule then. I think... if you are so sure that he's still alive... I think they should trust in your intuition. As his Padawan, you are certainly the one closest to Dooku. If you say you still feel him through the bond you share..."

"We never shared a strong bond," Obi-Wan said sadly. "We were never as close as you and Qui-Gon. I don't feel any connection to him anymore. It's just... it feels as if the Force tells me to..." He trailed off. He felt extremely stupid saying this. He already regretted what he had admitted about the lacking of a bond between him and his Master.

"The Force tells you to go looking for him?" Anakin prodded.

Obi-Wan shrugged. "I don't really know. Maybe I just misinterpreted it." He swallowed. "It's the last... hope I have."

"You mustn't give up hope, Obi-Wan," Anakin said insistently. "Go looking for him or else you might regret it for the rest of your life."

"A Jedi must not feel regret," Obi-Wan insisted, staring down at his hands.

"I do," Anakin said quietly.

Obi-Wan perfectly understood: Anakin still had not got over Qui-Gon's death and the circumstances. They both were silent for some time, Obi-Wan was staring at his hands, Anakin was drinking a new mug of stimcaf.

"If you need, no, if you want...," Anakin said uncertainly. "I mean, if you go looking for Master Dooku... I want you to know that, if you ever feel like it, if you want some help, you can always ask me."

Surprised, Obi-Wan looked up at Anakin. Sure, Anakin had offered his help before but under the current circumstances, it was something else. The fact that Anakin, who was involved in important battles throughout the galaxy, wanted to help Obi-Wan on his minor quest, an almost hopeless search for his Master, touched Obi-Wan deeply. "Thank you, Ana – um, Master Skywalker."

"It's 'Anakin', please," Anakin said, clearly embarrassed.

"Ah. Alright."

"It's really ridiculous that, after calling me 'Anakin' for twenty years, you should suddenly start calling me 'Master Skywalker'."

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows. "I was not the one who came up with that idea."

"I know, I know." Anakin forced an apologetic grin. "I'm sorry for that. It was really inappropriate. I said it because I was angry and... most of the times I just don't act like a Jedi Master should act."

"I think you do," Obi-Wan said honestly.

Now it was Anakin's turn to be surprised. "You mean it?"

"Um, yes. I think you do fine," Obi-Wan said awkwardly. It was a bit difficult for him to acknowledge that.

"That's nice of you to say, thank you," Anakin said sincerely. "Erm, I hope this doesn't sound arrogant now, but I've still got some work to do – take part in the negotiations, finish the mission report... And I really should start now. What I'd like to ask you is: Could you contact the Council while I'm at the negotiations and tell them we'll presumably be back in three days? They need to know that because thus they can better plan where they can deploy the armies, how much supplies they need and so on. It would be really nice if you could do that."

"That's not a problem," Obi-Wan assured him. "And I've already finished the mission report. But you should better check the last passage once again, I'm not so sure if I got that right just from your notes."

"You already..." Anakin blinked a few times. "You did that?"

"Well, yes," Obi-Wan said a tad uncomfortably. "Here." He handed Anakin the datapad. "I really hope I got that right."

Anakin read the file, his brow in furrows. Obi-Wan waited nervously. Finally, Anakin put the datapad down again. "I don't know what to say..."

"Is it okay?"

"It's perfect." Anakin threw Obi-Wan a brief glance. "Really, it's... perfect. Thank you for that. Thank you very much."

"It's the least I can do," Obi-Wan said, feeling slightly self-conscious.

"The least you can do?! Honestly, Obi-Wan, you saved my life by doing that!"

"Ah, well, you're welcome." Obi-Wan grinned a little bit. "I couldn't sleep anyway with your loud snoring."

"I snore?" Anakin said interestedly.

"You definitely do. Like a... oh, I better don't say this."

"I didn't know I snore. Gee, this is really embarrassing." For the first time on this mission, there was a trace of a smile on Anakin's lips. "You could have just given me a hard kick."

"No, no, no, I'm not that inhuman," Obi-Wan protested, grinning. "Another thing you probably don't know about yourself: Your orthography is pure horror."

"I know that. Normally, I could be better. But at 2 am, orthography is a really complicated thing. Sometimes I tend to write the same sentence three times in a row."

"I only found doubled words so far."

"Thank you so much," Anakin said again. "I really appreciate what you did. It means –", he checked the chrono display on his datapad, "it means I've got still half an hour where I can do nothing, and I don't have to hurry to get to the negotiations in time." He stretched thoroughly, and grimaced when his back and shoulders cracked loudly. "We could start striking our tent."

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "You are incapable of resting, aren't you?"

"That's not the point. I just want to leave this planet. The earlier we get back to Coruscant, the better."

"Okay. I suggest you eat something now. I can strike the tent when you're at the negotiations."

"No, really, I don't want that. It's as if you're my secretary or something like that. I don't want to push off the, um, unimportant tasks upon you. We can clean up here together now."

Obi-Wan blushed a little bit. "Don't be stupid, Anakin. It's really alright for me to do these sorts of tasks." He meant it. It was alright because it had been his decision to do them. "It's the reasonable thing to do. You're better at battles and negotiations than me, that's not a big secret. So you do this and I can do the other things. It's not a problem."

Anakin nodded. "So it's half an hour doing nothing except for eating, I guess."

"I'd highly recommend that."

"Have you heard of Reeft recently? He was the one who was always hungry, wasn't he?"

"Yeah, that's him. I've seen him only briefly one year ago. I had returned from a mission and he had just taken his trials."

"Successful?"

"Yes. He said he wanted to train a Padawan now. Maybe one of those young ones who lost their Masters on Geonosis."

"And Siri? Has she already been knighted too?"

"Yes, almost two years ago. She already has a Padawan. Master Dooku said he is a very talented boy. I think his name was Ferus Olin."

"Never heard of him before..."

And so it went on: Obi-Wan informed Anakin about everything which had happened in the Temple during the last years. Anakin, who had been in the Temple only to be called before the Council and given a new assignment, had a lot to catch up with. It was a relaxed conversation. In the past, it had mostly been Anakin who had done the talking. Now it was Obi-Wan's turn. Time passed much too quickly and soon Anakin had to leave for the negotiations. Obi-Wan then contacted the Council (only Mace Windu, Kit Fisto and Saesee Tiin were present) and sent them the mission report.

"And we should be back in three days," he concluded.

"There's no need to come back," Master Fisto said. "We have a new mission for Master Skywalker. He must go to Senali. If you come back to Coruscant and then go to Senali, it's a detour. You can rather use the direct route to Senali."

Obi-Wan nodded gravely, feeling thoroughly bad for Anakin, who had been looking forward so much to returning home. "Masters, when you say 'you', does that include me too?"

"Yes," Master Tiin said. "Master Skywalker does not have many starfighters with him. He cannot afford spending one starfighter for you to simply return to the Temple."

Sithhell, I'm not even worth the effort to be sent away. So I must stay as the fifth wheel. "I understand, Masters," Obi-Wan said dully.

"Is Master Skywalker somewhere near you at the moment?" Master Windu asked.

"No, I'm sorry, he is taking part in the negotiations right now," Obi-Wan replied. "Is there something I can tell him?"

"No." Master Windu waved it off. "No, no, we will send him the information he needs for his new mission and maybe we will speak to him later." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Have you heard about the rumours concerning Master Skywalker and Senator Amidala?"

"Senator Amidala? The former Queen of Naboo? I, well... I think Holonet suggested once that there's a love affair between the two of them." Obi-Wan reddened slightly. He felt very stupid saying it. "But that's probably not the rumour you're speaking of," he quickly added, feeling more and more stupid with each passing second. A Jedi certainly should not read about such rumours.

"In fact, that is the rumour we are speaking of," Master Windu said severely.

"Ah," was all Obi-Wan could say to that. He did not understand why the Council members would suddenly be interested in tabloids.

"What we would like to know is: Did you find any evidence that those rumours could be more than just rumours?" Master Fisto asked.

"No!" Obi-Wan said, shocked the Council suggested such a thing.

"Are you sure?" Master Fisto prodded. "Think again. In the time you spent with him – did he say something suspicious?"

"He never mentioned her," Obi-Wan stated firmly.

"Of course he didn't. He would not be that stupid as to openly admit it," Master Tiin said, slightly annoyed with Obi-Wan as it seemed. "The question is: Did he show some curious or strange attitudes which might suggest such a thing as an affair between him and Senator Amidala?"

Obi-Wan rethought the previous days. "Well, he mentioned once that he wanted to get back to Coruscant as quickly as possible," he said uneasily. "But surely that's not –"

"Indeed." The Masters exchanged dark looks. "Thank you for that bit of information, Padawan Kenobi," Master Windu said. "It helps us a lot."

"But he could have had any reason to want to return to the Temple," Obi-Wan protested. "It sounded mostly as if he just wanted to get back home and rest for a few days."

"Padawan Kenobi," Master Windu said in a very strict voice, "do you really think we only build our suspicion on your bit of information? We've heard and seen enough before, alas."

"But he's a Jedi Master," Obi-Wan said. "He wouldn't form an attachment, would he? I mean, you elected him on the Council."

"The only reason why we elected him on the Council is that we hope to be able to keep a closer eye on him like that," Master Tiin stated it as if it was self-evident.

Obi-Wan swallowed. He could not believe that. He had always thought the Masters only chose those with amazing abilities, those worthy of being a Master. This revelation shattered Obi-Wan's belief in that institution.

"Well, alright, now that we're talking plain language..." Master Windu grimaced uncomfortably. "The only reason why we allow you to accompany Skywalker is that we hope to gain some more information from you."

"You want me to spy on him?" Obi-Wan asked incredulously. "That's treason!"

"We're at war, Padawan Kenobi," Master Windu barked. "I don't like it either but it is for his best."

"I don't understand," Obi-Wan said weakly.

"We wouldn't be so concerned if it was only because of some philandering between him and a certain Senator," Master Fisto explained. "Many Padawans or Knights his age develop a crush on someone. It comes and goes. In addition to that, Senator Amidala is a handsome woman in human standard, isn't she?" He threw Master Windu a questioning glance.

"Yes, she is," he confirmed grimly. "And she's young, intelligent and idealistic and was once a queen. It's easy for a young man to fall in love with her."

"But you said his relationship with her is not the reason you are worried about him," Obi-Wan said cautiously.

Everyone nodded in grim silence until it was finally Master Windu, who spoke again. "We have traced his outgoing and, indeed, he meets Senator Amidala every time he is on Coruscant. He also sees Chancellor Palpatine regularly."

"And, um, what is bad about that?" Obi-Wan asked, clearly confused by now. They certainly would not impute something to the Supreme Chancellor?

"Chancellor Palpatine is a very clever politician, who has managed to stay in office long after his term has expired. We fear that, by establishing some sort of friendship towards Skywalker, he wants to gain control within the Jedi Council as well."

Obi-Wan was lost for words. Each word by the Masters shattered his belief in the Jedi Order and the Republic. Was everything just political games and intrigues? He could not believe that. He desperately wanted to speak to Master Yoda. He was the only person Obi-Wan fully and whole-heartedly trusted. He was sure Master Yoda would somehow be able to bring light into this matter. He could make Obi-Wan understand what was going on. But now, Obi-Wan was just confused and did not know what to believe and who to trust anymore.

"Surely you have heard the story about his mother," Master Windu continued. "Qui-Gon Jinn brought him to meet his mother without the Council's agreement. We fear Skywalker has an emotional attachment to her as well. And..." Master Windu paused and looked at the other two Masters as if to seek their agreement. No one looked at Obi-Wan when Master Windu continued explaining things to him. "We fear that he sympathises with the Separatists."

"What?!" Obi-Wan could not believe his ears. How could they say that? After everything Anakin had done for the Jedi Order and the Republic, battling on many different planets, fighting to exhaustion... How could they come up with an idea such as this one? How could they suspect Anakin to be in league with the Separatists?

"I know this sounds hard," Master Fisto said, "we don't like to suspect him either. But, alas, the signs indicate it. We know there are things he is hiding from us. It has been a long time since he has last sought to speak to any Master."

"I just don't sense any betrayal in Master Skywalker," Obi-Wan said weakly.

"You must search your feelings, Padawan Kenobi," Master Windu said insistently. "You know there is something wrong, don't you?"

Obi-Wan was silent for some time. "He mentioned some things", he finally said reluctantly.

Master Tiin inhaled sharply. "What things?"

"I don't know anymore," Obi-Wan said helplessly. "Just... things. He said something like you cannot say for sure which side is the good one and which is the bad one. It confused me a bit. But I think he was just in a strange mood. He was exhausted from a long battle."

"Yes," Master Fisto said thoughtfully, "and he did not heed his words. You must use such situations, they can tell you much about him."

"But why me?" Obi-Wan asked desperately. "We... Couldn't someone else do this?"

"You are the one closest to him," Master Windu replied. "Try to watch him during your new mission. You now know what to look for. Tell us of any suspicious things he says or does."

"I'm not close to him or anything," Obi-Wan argued. "I hardly know him. I haven't seen him for more than three years. Today we had the first conversation which was longer than three sentences on this mission."

"And that already means a lot," Master Windu said darkly. "He doesn't have such long conversations with anyone else at all. He's growing more and more distant, avoiding people,

especially the Jedi Masters. He has changed very much since Qui-Gon's death."

"I can't do this. Don't ask that of me," Obi-Wan pleaded.

"Padawan Kenobi, must I remind you that your allegiance is to the Jedi Order?" Master Tiin said strictly.

"We know it is much to ask of you," Master Windu said surprisingly kindly. "I would be more than relieved if you found out that these rumours are really nothing more but rumours. And if not, we will have to act. He needs help. I'm only worried about him, that's why I'm asking that of you."

Obi-Wan knew there was nothing he could say against it. It was an indirect order from the Council and, as Master Tiin had pointed out to him, his allegiance must be to the Jedi Order. He wished Master Dooku was here, someone to guide him. But he knew he must do this alone. And now he could not even rely on Anakin anymore.