Anakin woke with a cry, sitting bolt upright in bed.

No.

No, no, no.

It had to be dream. It couldn't be real.

But it felt so real. He could still feel Obi-wan's hot, sticky blood on his hands. Was it a vision, or just nightmare? It felt too real to be an ordinary dream.

Anakin staggered out of bed and across the hall to Obi-wan's rooms. He pushed the door open and crept inside, terrified of what he might find. He didn't turn on the lights. He stood frozen, too scared to go any further.

His breath came in sharp pants. He was trembling violently. If Obi-wan was dead, Anakin would die too, he had no doubt of that.

"Anakin?" Obi-wan sat up in bed, turning the lights on.

Anakin's legs collapsed as wave of powerful relief when through him.

"Anakin!"

Obi-wan was at his side in an instant. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Anakin, talk to me."

Anakin reached for Obi-wan's sleeping shirt, clutching it in a death grip.

He couldn't breathe. It was alright. Obi-wan was ok. It was just a stupid nightmare.

Somehow, his body wasn't getting the memo.

Anakin gasped desperately as tears fell from his eyes. Obi-wan was ok, so why was he still panicking? The images of the dream flashed through his mind. Obi-wan's dead eyes staring blankly. Obi-wan's blood covering Anakin's hands. Obi-wan's stiff, cold body on the floor.

"ANAKIN!" Obi-wan shook him so hard that Anakin's head whipped back and forth on his shoulders. He forced himself to focus on Obi-wan, who was alive and real right in front of him. "Talk to me, Anakin," Obi-wan said urgently. "What's wrong?"

"I can't – Obi-wan, I can't – you –" Anakin clutched at his throat, gasping for breath. "Can't breathe," he gasped.

Obi-wan was already reaching for the medical kit, running the scanner over Anakin's body, searching for the source of his distress.

Anakin knew he wouldn't find anything. He knew very well that he was having a panic attack, but he couldn't seem to communicate that to Obi-wan, not when he was struggling to take in enough oxygen to stay conscious, let alone talk.

Obi-wan frowned at the scanner for a moment before setting it aside. He pulled Anakin into his arms, pressing Anakin's back up against his chest.

"Shh, Ani, you're alright. There's nothing physically wrong with you. You're just panicking. It's ok, sweetheart. Just breathe slowly."

Breathing slowly was easier said than done. Anakin tried, he really did, but was it his fault that the oxygen in the room was disappearing and he had to gasp frantically to get enough of it?

"Tell me what's wrong," Obi-wan murmured into his ear. "I promise, you can breathe. You're ok."

"You – you d-died, Obi-wan," Anakin sobbed.

"You had a nightmare?" Obi-wan guessed.

Anakin nodded, still struggling to get enough air.

"Dearest, I'm right here. I'm fine, I promise you. Just try to relax. Everything is ok," Obi-wan soothed, still holding Anakin against his chest.

Anakin clutched Obi-wan's sleeping shirt, listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat. He was alive, and he wash here.

"I'm not going anywhere," Obi-wan murmured. "I'm right here with you, Anakin. Just listen to the sound of my voice. You're ok. You can breathe, sweetheart, just trust me."

Slowly, Anakin's breathing settled. His tears slowed and he closed his eyes in relief as the blind panic left him. He slumped in Obi-wan's arms, exhausted. "I'm sorry," Anakin muttered, embarrassed by his outburst but too weak to move just yet.

"You don't need to apologize. I'm always here for you, Anakin."

It had been many years since he'd run to his master's rooms because of a nightmare. Anakin wasn't a child anymore. Shame filled him as he pulled away from Obi-wan.

"Don't, Anakin. You are still upset, it's as clear as day. Come, lie down."

As childish as it was, Anakin couldn't resist the lure of Obi-wan's offer. He let Obi-wan lead him to bed and snuggled in next to him. He couldn't remember the last time he'd fallen asleep in his master's bed, but he remembered the feeling of safety he got when Obi-wan's arms wrapped around him.

Obi-wan cooed sweet, soothing words into Anakin's ear and Anakin slowly relaxed. He breathed deeply, trying to shake off the nightmare.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Obi-wan asked gently.

Anakin shook his head. He just wanted to pretend the nightmare had never happened.

Still, there was one thing that he couldn't quite let go. "What if it was a vision, Obi-wan? What if was really seeing the future?"

"You weren't."

"How can you know?" Hysteria started to creep back into Anakin's voice and his breathing hitched. "Jedi sometimes get visions, Obi-wan! It could be true! If it is, I – I can't – I can't lose you!"

"Shh, you won't lose me, I promise. I'm not going to leave you, dearest, no matter what happens."

"You can't promise that! No one gets to choose when they die, Obi-wan!"

"I will not leave you," Obi-wan said steadily. "Listen to me, Anakin. Do you really think the force would have brought us together, have fostered a bond as strong as ours only to let it shatter apart? Put your faith in the force, dearest. It will not take me from you. I am sure of it."

Could he be right? What if he wasn't? "How do you know?"

Maybe it was just the dim light, but Anakin could have sworn that Obi-wan was blushing. "Obi-wan?"

"I… I may have talked to master Yoda on the matter. He assures me that a force bond as strong as ours is destined to last. When we go out, we will go out fighting together, Anakin. He wouldn't tell me more than that, but he assured me that we will never be without each other."

"He really said that?"

Obi-wan rolled his eyes. "Then he went on to lecture me about the dangers of attachments. As if anything could change the way I feel about you."

Anakin's heart was in his throat. Could Obi-wan possibly be implying what Anakin hoped he was? "The way you feel?"

Obi-wan frowned. "Anakin, you do know, don't you?"

"Know what?"

"That I love you. That I'm in love with you."

Just like that, Anakin's world came to a screeching halt.

Obi-wan loved him back?

No, it was impossible. Why would he? What would someone like Obi-wan ever see in him?

But Obi-wan was staring seriously at him, not giving any hint that he was joking or wanted to take back his declaration.

"I – I didn't know," Anakin whispered through numb lips. "I – I love you too."

Obi-wan nodded, as though this was the most obvious thing in the world. "I know that. Anakin, if I had realized you didn't know, I would have said something a long time ago. I thought it was clear from the start that you were always more to me than just another Jedi.

"At first, when you were my padawan, I thought it was nothing more than the master-padawan bond, but after you became a Jedi Knight, my feelings started to change, to become deeper. You weren't the little boy I raised anymore. You were – are – the man I love."

"But – attachments…"

Obi-wan grimaced. "I know it is not the Jedi way. I thought that's why we were refraining from being intimate with each other, because we were dancing the line of what was acceptable anyway. But if you never knew… by the force, I am sorry I never said anything, Ani. I love you so much. I never want you to doubt that."

Anakin wrapped his arms around Obi-wan, pressing their bodies tightly together. He tilted his head up, his lips finding Obi-wan's.

Anakin groaned as the two of them kissed, lightly at first, but then with increasing fervor.

When they broke away, Obi-wan's eyes were dark with lust and Anakin could feel his master's cock hardening against his thigh.

"Anakin, are you sure? It's against the code."

"To hell with the code." Anakin stole another kiss. "I want you. I just found out that you love me back. Nothing is going to keep my hands off you ever again."

Obi-wan moaned and dove in for another kiss.

As the night wore on, the two of them made sweet, tender love to each other, and when they finally drifted off in each other's arms, Anakin's dreams were free of nightmares.