Obi-Wan didn't know why he thought this would work. He could hardly get Anakin to meditate during the day, let alone in the evening. But he had thought it was worth a shot—his young Padawan had already taken to a habit of being particularly restless during the night hours anyways. Perhaps this would settle him down enough.

But sitting in the courtyard, Obi-Wan could tell that the meditation wasn't helping. He could hardly stay focused, he found, because Anakin was shifting and squirming too much.

"You'll never be able to meditate like that," Obi-Wan said, keeping his eyes closed.

Anakin stilled.

But a moment later, Anakin sighed loudly.

Obi-Wan was tempted to do the same.

"I'm sorry," Anakin said after a little while. "I'm trying, but it's hard."

Obi-Wan opened his eyes. Anakin's eyes were closed tight, a little line appearing between his furrowed brows. His hands were clasped tightly over his knees, his back straighter than it had been in the earlier days. There was at least some progress there, though Obi-Wan knew better than anyone that this had only come with many, many weeks of struggle. The earnestness on the boy's face now was mildly amusing, but then Anakin opened his eyes.

"Hey!" Anakin said. "I thought you said eyes closed!"

"I did," Obi-Wan replied, closing his eyes. "I was only checking."

Anakin sighed, but when Obi-Wan looked again, the boy had his eyes closed again.

They sat in some silence before Anakin started shifting again. Obi-Wan swallowed down his annoyance. He couldn't remember if he had been this impatient with meditation—but after a sobering moment, he realized that he probably was.

Perhaps that was why Obi-Wan didn't say anything. At least, not right away. A part of him still hoped that Anakin would eventually settle down, or maybe he would realize that squirming around would do nothing to meditate properly.

That's only assuming if he wants to meditate in the first place, Obi-Wan thought.

But then Anakin stilled, and Obi-Wan was wondering if perhaps the boy had somehow read his mind when he heard a quiet "wow".

Obi-Wan opened his eyes.

Anakin wasn't looking at Obi-Wan. His hands, now no longer at his knees, were cupped in front of his face, and there, in the center of his palms, Obi-Wan saw a firefly. He hadn't thought that they would come out this time of year, but then again, the courtyard was kept warm enough that perhaps that was why they were still out during this hour.

The firefly glowed in Anakin's palms, lighting up the boy's face briefly. "Master," Anakin whispered. "What…"

"They're fireflies," Obi-Wan replied. Just as he said that, another firefly floated in the air between them. It glowed once, landed on Obi-Wan's hand. Despite himself, he turned over his palm, watched the bug crawl across his knuckles and then slip onto his palm. "They come out at night, usually."

"Fireflies," Anakin repeated. He smiled down at the bug in his hands. "Cool."

Obi-Wan watched the boy look at the bug for a little while longer, then the bug, as though sensing its new audience, glowed a few more times. A pulse, really—one, two, three flashes of light, and then the bug flew lazily out of Anakin's hands.

Anakin's bright eyes followed the bug. "Cool," he repeated.

Obi-Wan looked down at the firefly on his own hand. He let it go, watched it float towards Anakin. The boy's face lit up—literally, as the bug flew close to him.

"We would catch them," Obi-Wan said after a while. "As younglings."

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan.

Obi-Wan held up his hand, let another firefly land in his palm. "Just for a little while," he said as the bug glowed. "And then…"

He spread out his hand a little wider, and after a few tentative beats of its wings, the firefly flew away. "We let them go."

Anakin tilted his head back to watch the firefly leave. Obi-Wan looked up too—and above them, he could see some of the other fireflies drifting clumsily around each other. Every once in a while, one would glow—or two or three would glow at a time. Each time they did, Obi-Wan saw Anakin's eyes widen just a little more. The boy's lips were parted in awe as the firefly drifted between them.

"Well," Obi-Wan said, standing up. "I think this is where we conclude our meditation session."

Anakin blinked. "Already?"

"Yes, Padawan," Obi-Wan said. He looked up at the bugs still floating above them. "After all, I think we have some friends to entertain now." With that, he reached up, let a firefly sit on the tip of his finger.

He brought his hand down to Anakin, who reached out. The firefly floated from Obi-Wan's hand and onto Anakin's, and the boy's face brightened along with the bug's glow.

"Really?" he asked, looking up at Obi-Wan.

"Well," Obi-Wan said, "I'll admit that it's been some time since I've last caught fireflies, but…"

"It's okay," Anakin said cheerfully. He bounced to his feet, looking up at Obi-Wan with newfound energy. "I'll take it easy on you."

"Is that a promise?" Obi-Wan asked, biting back his own smile.

"Not really," Anakin replied. He opened his hands, and the firefly flew away. "We'll count that one for both of us."

"Generous."

Anakin smiled again. "I'm catching the next one!"

And then he was jumping up in the air, bringing another firefly with him. Obi-Wan watched him for a while, noticed that sudden energy and light that glowed around Anakin, and not just because the other fireflies had somehow drawn themselves to their enthusiastic friend.

Anakin looked up again, his bright eyes dancing in the glow of the bugs around him. "Come on, Master!" he said. "I'm gonna win if you just stand there!"

Obi-Wan smiled. "Coming, Padawan."

By the end of it all, Obi-Wan's stomach hurt a little from laughing as much as he had—and that was something in itself that he was surprised about. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed that much.

Now Obi-Wan leaned against a tree trunk with Anakin, breathing hard and watching the last of the fireflies fly to the other side of the courtyard.

"That was fun," Anakin said. His cheeks were flushed, and his hair stuck a little to his forehead. He slipped a little lower from the tree trunk, his eyes fluttering closed. "Can we—" Anakin's breath stuttered as he yawned. "Can we do that again?"

Obi-Wan smiled, tilting his head back. "Perhaps another night," he said. He glanced back down at Anakin. "We can't sleep here."

"Why not?" Anakin asked, his eyes still closed. "'s nice."

"I think your bed will be more comfortable," Obi-Wan replied. He reached over, gently shaking Anakin awake. The boy mumbled something Obi-Wan didn't hear, but Anakin eventually opened his eyes. "Come along, before you fall asleep."

"Mm-hm." Anakin stood up, rubbing a fist over his eyes.

Obi-Wan stood up too, ignoring the protest in his own limbs at the sudden movement. He set a hand on Anakin's shoulder, guided him back inside.

Save for a few older masters, the halls were empty. The others nodded once to Obi-Wan, the expressions on their faces a mix of amusement and slight bewilderment at how the two must have been outside this late. Obi-Wan just nodded back to them, subtly brushing the grass off his own robes and Anakin's hair.

They made it down one hallway before Anakin bumped into Obi-Wan's side, his head bowed.

Obi-Wan glanced down at him. Anakin's eyes were drifting closed again, his steps more like trudges than anything else. Anakin blinked again, startled. "Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's alright," Obi-Wan replied. "We're almost there."

Anakin nodded distantly. He yawned again, his eyes half-closed. One hand rubbed at his eyes again, but the other reached for the corner of Obi-Wan's sleeve. Obi-Wan paused, but Anakin didn't seem to notice. "I think meditation makes me sleepy," he said.

"Not the exercise?" Obi-Wan asked, glancing down at Anakin.

Anakin shook his head. "Nope."

"Strange how that works," Obi-Wan commented. He didn't get a response from Anakin at that—just another half-sigh, half-yawn as the two reached their door at last.

Obi-Wan opened the door. "Come along," he said, although Anakin stumbled in after him anyways, hand still gripping Obi-Wan's sleeve. "Careful."

Anakin nodded as Obi-Wan opened the door to his apprentice's room. "Here we are," he said, pulling back the covers.

Anakin let go of Obi-Wan's sleeve, climbed into the bed. "Thanks," he mumbled, his face already half-buried in the pillow.

"You're welcome," Obi-Wan said, throwing the covers back over Anakin. "Sleep well."

"Mm." Anakin turned his face over, his blue eyes blinking lazily in the half-light. "'wan?"

"Yes, Anakin?"

"You kinda glow, did you know?" Anakin's eyes were already closing. "Like the fireflies."

Obi-Wan paused. Anakin rolled over on his back, his eyes closed and chest already rising and falling in deep breaths.

Obi-Wan tugged the cover up to Anakin's chin.

Anakin hummed a little, sinking deeper into the bed. He looked content.

Obi-Wan smiled. "You do too," he whispered.

He walked out of the room.

A/N: so this fic was the result of an ask on tumblr from pandora15 (she can be found at pandora151 on ao3!). it's been a hot second since i've written about anything related to obi-wan and anakin after tpm, but. ah. i just loved this idea, and apparently, anakin describes obi-wan's presence in the force as 'golden' and 'warm', which. makes me feel things!

as always, reviews/favorites are greatly appreciated!