Keeping one eye on his sleeping former Padawan, Obi-Wan thoughtfully stroked his beard. Anakin had only allowed himself to relax enough to fall asleep again once Ahsoka had joined them. Anakin had his head pillowed on Ahsoka's lap as the young Padawan ran her fingers soothingly through his hair. Obi-Wan had positioned himself at the other end of the bed, as Anakin had helpfully tucked his legs up to give Obi-Wan room.

Obi-Wan had no doubt that Anakin believed everything he had said. After all these years Obi-Wan had gotten very good at telling when Anakin was lying, and Anakin had never been very good at lying to begin with. Apparently, simply omitting the truth and keeping secrets was another matter entirely, but that was an issue for another time.

Everything that Anakin had told him was swimming around in Obi-Wans head. Some of it seemed plausible…like Anakin and Padme's relationship, although Obi-Wan was surprised to learn that they were married. While it seemed something that Anakin would do, he though Padme was more cautious about these things. If it was discovered it wouldn't just be Anakin's career as a Jedi that would be put in Jeopardy, but Padme's career as a politician too. It would be seen as a massive conflict of interest, since technically the Jedi were under the jurisdiction of the Senate, which essentially meant that she was one of Anakin's bosses.

What seemed impossible to believe was Anakin's claims about the Chancellor. Now that Anakin was resting though, Obi-Wan was free to think about it a little more. The Chancellor had always shown an interest in Anakin, right from the beginning. There had been times in the first few years Anakin had been at the temple when Obi-Wan hadn't felt comfortable about letting Anakin go and meet with the Chancellor from time to time, but Anakin had come back each time unharmed and seemingly happy, so Obi-Wan hadn't let himself be overly bothered. Yes there had been times in more recent years that Anakin's thoughts had been a little more clouded after visiting the chancellor, or he'd been more prone to arguing or been cooler towards Obi-Wan, but not enough to be noticeable, or for any sort of connection to be made.

The Chancellor was extremely popular, both within the senate, and in the general population of systems within the republic. With each election he seemed to gain more and more supporters, and bills that he supported more often than not were voted in by the senate, however, Obi-Wan knew that there were some, Senator Amidala among them, who were beginning to become distrustful of the chancellor, concerned about the additional powers he had been granting himself since the outbreak of the Clone Wars, and how funding was being distributed in the Galaxy, with Military spending up at the expense of social support for the poor, disadvantaged and impoverished members of the republic. Food shortages in some systems were becoming increasingly frequent, and although the war was being blamed, some of the systems being affected were no-where near where the fighting was taking place. These systems, however, had leaders who were openly sceptical of the Chancellor.

Maybe it wasn't as unlikely as Obi-Wan had originally thought.

Of course, there was still the question of what they could do about it. The Chancellor had been right, a change of leadership in the Republic at this time, with War raging, would sure be detrimental, and could well tear the Galaxy apart. They were already embroiled in a vicious Civil War with the Separatists, they didn't need further divisions and fighting in the senate. Of course, if Anakin was right and the Chancellor was in league with Count Dooku, and had been leaking him information then things may work out better for the Jedi and the Clone army once the Chancellor had been removed from his position of power.

Another thought came to Obi-Wan. Anakin had come back approximately 27 years, meaning that he had 47 years of life experience behind him. Mentally at least that made Anakin older than Obi-Wan, by 12 years, a contrast to Obi-Wan being 16 years his Padawan's senior. What difference would that make to Anakin, especially given that over half of those years had been spent as a Sith Lord?

Obi-Wan knew that Anakin at times teetered a little too close to the Dark side. It wasn't surprising to learn that Anakin had fallen, especially if Palpatine had been manipulating him, and slowly weakening Anakin's connections with those he was close to…Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Padme on top of the list. Anakin had always had trouble with attachments. It was something that Obi-Wan had attributed to Anakin being older when he'd joined the Jedi. He'd had nine years of normal life, of being loved by his mother, and being allowed to love freely in return. It had been too hard to unlearn.

And, realistically, it hadn't been fair on anyone to force Anakin to go through his life without something like that when he'd always experienced it before. It was something that obi-Wan had always believed, but he'd felt bound by Qui-Gon's last words to take Anakin as his Padawan, and part of having a Padawan was teaching them to live by the code, which involved discarding attachments.

Obi-Wan knew he'd failed both Anakin and Qui-Gon in that regard, especially with this new bombshell of Anakin's, although the fact that Anakin was telling him anything was a positive sign. It meant that Anakin trusted him, if nothing else. Anakin was wary of those he did not trust, and the Jedi Council, especially Master Windu, were right on top of the list. Obi-Wan knew it was because the council had initially been so against Anakin being trained, although if Obi-Wan had to guess he would also put some of the blame on Anakin's past on Tattooine as a slave, and the inherit mistrust of authority figures that was sure to give you.

"Master Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan blinked, not realising that he'd fallen into a light meditation as he tried to work his way through his turbulent thoughts. Ahsoka was looking at him questioningly.

"Are you alright?"

"Just trying to puzzle my way through these things," Obi-Wan reassured with a smile.

"Is Skyguy going to be ok?"

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to immediately reassure Ahsoka, but then he thought about it. Already Ahsoka had proven herself loyal to Anakin, and she deserved to know the truth.

"I don't know," he admitted, "it is unlikely he will ever be the same. What he has been through…I do not think anyone would be able to go through what he has and be unchanged. All we can do for him is be there for him, listen if he needs to talk, and make sure that he knows the we're here for him."

"Master Obi-Wan…what has happened?" Ahsoka asked. Obi-Wan thought about replying, aware that Ahsoka hadn't been there for his and Anakin's conversation, but then decided that it was Anakin's story to tell. Anakin could tell her how much or how little he wanted. Ahsoka was his Padawan after all. Besides, Obi-Wan did want to damage what trust Anakin had in him by telling Ahsoka more than Anakin wanted her to know. Anakin had admitted that rifts had being distanced from Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had been part of what had contributed to his fall. There was no way that Obi-Wan was going to risk contributing to Anakin's isolation once again.

"Anakin has…been through something no Jedi has experienced before, to my knowledge. It's left him shaken…his beliefs shattered. It has left him with considerable knowledge…knowledge that will change the course of history."

"You mean…what he said about the Chancellor? Is it true?"

"Anakin certainly believes it is, and I believe him."

Ahsoka looked shocked, before she returned her attention back to Anakin, still sleeping, with his head resting peacefully in her lap, and she continued to stroke her fingers gently through her master's hair.

"I'll be here for him, whatever he needs," she promised solemnly. Obi-Wan smiled proudly. Anakin had a brilliant Padawan there, and Obi-Wan couldn't be prouder of both his Padawan, and his Grand Padawan.