Beep beep beep bee- Ashoka rolled over and grabbed her comlink that was laying next to her bed. A sliver of sun decided to blind her temporarily, causing her to groan in annoyance. She clicked the flashing green button and yawned, "Ashoka here," she said sleepily. She had hoped she could sleep in at least a little bit longer than usual. The last few months had been especially hard on her physical and mental well-being. She had been to the infirmary more times than she could count and she could still hear the painful cries of soldiers in pain when she went to sleep.
Unfortunately, Anakin had been on a mission that he deemed 'too dangerous for his young padawan.' Ashoka had begged to go with him, hoping he could help her with her troubles. "I'm sorry Ashoka," he had shaken his head, "I've noticed lately that you haven't been in the best shape. You need some rest, that's an order!"
"But master-" she had protested.
"No excuses!" He had laid a hand on her shoulder, "Obi-wan will be in the temple if you need anything. I told him to keep an eye on you. Who knows, maybe you two will grow closer," he had smiled at her.
However, she and Obi-wan hadn't interacted much during Anakin's leave. There were only about two weeks until he got back and she had only asked her grandmaster a few questions regarding the Jedi Code. He had tried to reach out to her, always asking if she needed help meditating. She had always replied that she was fine, but she found that it was getting more difficult keeping her emotions inside. She had mostly stayed locked up in her quarters, waiting for her master to return. She hadn't gotten a good sleep last night, so she was hoping she didn't have any calls from a certain Jedi Master.
However, her wishes were crushed as she heard the deep accented voice of Obi-wan on the other side of the com-link. "Ashoka this is Kenobi," he said, "sorry if I woke you."
Ashoka tried to cover up a yawn, "No I've been awake for a little while." It wasn't quite a lie, she had been up most of the night.
"I have a mission for you Ashoka," he said almost cheerily, which she thought was weird. "Meet me in the sparring room as soon as you can please," and with that he hung up.
Ashoka stared at the com-link, waiting for Obi-wan to explain himself but no such reply came. "I better go see what he wants," she said to herself. She clipped her lightsabers to her belt and started walking to the sparring room. She bowed her head to several masters as they passed her. She smiled and waved at Barris as she walked past with Master Luminara. Finally, she came to the sparring room and, as he said he would be, Obi-wan was waiting patiently. Ashoka walked up to him with a slight smile and bow, "good morning Master Kenobi."
"Good morning Ashoka," he greeted her with a small bow.
Ashoka decided to get right to the point, "you said you had a mission for me?"
"Yes," he hesitated for a moment, "before we get to that, though, I want to have a quick spar session with you."
The young Togruta suppressed a groan. She usually didn't mind sparring, but she had no energy and truthfully didn't feel like it today. Instead, she pushed her feelings down and nodded.
"However, I want you to try to use just one of your lightsabers," he looked at her in her light blue eyes. He was hoping for some sort of reaction from her, but all he got was a small, stiff nod. They both went to the opposite sides of the room and set their lightsabers on the lowest setting. Ashoka bowed, as per tradition, and ignited her green lightsaber. Obi-wan used his signature Soresu stance and waited. The tension in the air was thick, both Jedi waiting for the other to move. Finally, Ashoka couldn't handle it anymore and ran towards Obi-wan.
They both knew her form was sloppy, so all Obi-wan had to do was side-step away from her to avoid her attack. Ashoka almost ran into the wall and she fought to hide an embarrassed blush that was slowly creeping up her neck. Obi-wan let a small amused smile cross his lips, but he dismissed it quickly. If Ashoka wouldn't let him help her, then this was the only way to do it.
Ashoka switched to a reverse grip and took a deep breath. She needed to focus if she was going to spar against Obi-wan. He was a very skilled fighter. She came at him again, but jumped at the last second to propel herself forward a little bit. Obi-wan blocked her attack and locked his lightsaber against hers. He pushed down until Ashoka was close to doing a backbend. Thinking quickly, she reached out her hand and force-pushed him. It didn't do much, but it gave her a chance to get out of the block she was in.
She back-flipped onto her feet and prepared to attack again, but she didn't sense her grandmaster coming up behind her. He used the force to push her off her feet and she fell unceremoniously in a heap on the ground. Her frustration boiled over and (very un-Jedi like) screamed and threw her lightsaber a few feet away from her. Tears threatened to spill out and she tried so hard to keep them in, but all her emotions came bubbling up to the surface. She sat against the wall and hugged her knees close to her chest.
She sensed Obi-wan's force presence through their small bond, poking at her mind barrier tentatively. She sighed and rested her head on her knees, "I'm sorry Master Kenobi, I just can't seem to focus today."
"I know," he said quietly, "that's why I wanted to spar with you."
She looked up at him in confusion. He slid down against the wall next to the young padawan. He chose his next words carefully, "I knew you weren't at your best. I can sense your emotions from my quarters," she winced at that.
"I knew you would eventually get frustrated," he continued, "Ashoka you must understand that I am here to help you. Anakin trusts me to take care of you and that's what I'm here to do. I can not only help you control your emotions, but you can talk to me about them as well. I promise you can trust me," he laid a gentle hand on her arm and smiled at her.
Ashoka searched his grey-blue eyes, but found no anger or lies in them. A few tears leaked out of her eyes and she wiped them away quickly. She sniffed lightly and trained her eyes on the ground. For a moment, Obi-wan thought his efforts were futile, but she finally began to talk to him. "Thank you master," she said quietly, "I guess I have been distant from you and I'm sorry about that. I just thought that if I ignored my feelings then they would go away over time. I guess that's not how it works though," she laughed dryly.
Obi-wan smiled, "I had trouble with my emotions too when I was younger."
Ashoka snapped her head up towards him, "you did? I had no idea!"
Obi-wan just chuckled, "my master told me never to bottle up your feelings. We used to sit down with each other and just talk about anything. That helped me a lot with my teenage hormones."
Ashoka slightly laughed at that, "I guess even great Jedi masters have trouble sometimes too." She frowned and looked at Obi-wan, "I'm sorry I didn't come to you in the first place, master. I guess I thought I could handle things by myself." She teared up again as she looked away in shame. She hated how she was so vulnerable. Everything was silent for a few moments, except for her silent sobs and occasional sniffles.
Suddenly, she felt a pair of strong arms pull her towards a warm body. She opened her eyes, revealing the person who was hugging her tightly to be none other than Obi-wan Kenobi. The Jedi everyone assumed to be emotionless was hugging her close as if she were his own daughter. Ashoka was frozen stiff, not sure what to do at first to this new experience. She didn't want to offend him, so she decided to curl into him and enjoyed the warmth that radiated off of him.
She realized that she liked being hugged and it seemed Obi-wan enjoyed it as well since he was the one to initiate the hug. They stayed like that for a little while longer, Obi-wan soothing her quiet sniffles and Ashoka wrapping her arms around his torso, seeking comfort. Finally, after her sobs quieted down, Obi-wan pulled away and let her compose herself before they both walked out of the sparring room. For the next two weeks while Anakin was gone, Ashoka visited Obi-wan every day and just talked.
She told him everything, even about the nightmares she got once in a while. He did everything he could to help her. He meditated with her, taught her more about how to release her emotions into the force, and even took her out to Dex's diner one day. Just in those two weeks, they became closer. Their bond grew stronger and when she needed help, she just reached out for him through their ever growing bond. She wasn't as close to him as she was with Anakin, but she was ready to trust him fully.
When her master did finally return from his long mission, he was surprised to see Obi-wan in his quarters with Ashoka. They weren't just talking with each other, but they would laugh occasionally, even Obi-wan! "Did I miss something here?" Anakin asked when they didn't notice him in the doorway.
Ashoka's face lit up, "master you're back!" She ran to him and hugged him quickly but tightly. Anakin was completely taken aback and turned to Obi-wan for an explanation.
"What in the world did you guys do while I was gone?" He put his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow, demanding an answer.
"Nothing much," Ashoka answered, "Obi-wan has helped me a lot while you were gone. Thanks for having him take care of me master. I've got to go now, I promised to meet Barris so we could spar together!" She grinned at him and turned to Obi-wan, "see you later master Kenobi!" Then, she did something that made Anakin drop his jaw to the floor. Ashoka hugged Obi-wan and he actually hugged her back! He even smiled in what looked like affection.
Ashoka waved to them both one last time and ran out the door excitedly. After she left, Anakin pointed a finger at Obi-wan accusingly. "Who are you and what have you done to Obi-wan?"
The Jedi master merely smiled, "It seems I have fixed your padawan. You're welcome, now stop gaping at me like a fish."
"She's like a different person," he exclaimed, "what did you do?"
"I did nothing," Obi-wan said innocently, "I just gave her what she needed."
"Which was?" Anakin prompted.
Obi-wan started walking out of the door, but stopped to look at his friend, "all she needed was to talk," he paused, "and some much needed hugs." Without a further explanation, he left Anakin with his thoughts. It took a minute for Anakin to snap out of his trance, but when he did he chuckled. Apparently there was more to his master than meets the eye.