Obi-Wan's promise turned out to be a broken one.

Anakin reported for duty and discovered that his duty was to search several sets of coordinates provided by Councilor Reeve for Separatist communication outposts and informants. Most were on-planet, but two weren't, though they were nearby in the same system. It was a pretty basic mop-up job, but Ahsoka was champing at the bit to tackle the assignment after being left out of the manhunt earlier that day.

"Where have you been, Master?" she asked, less to actually hear the answer than to express her displeasure at his absence.

Anakin's flippant answer of "shopping," was treated with the respect it deserved.

They knocked over four Separatist outposts in record time. For once in his life, Anakin didn't have much time for banter or showmanship. While his body was occupied capturing prisoners and confiscating Sep equipment, his mind was on a little apartment on the outskirts of the city.

"What do you think, Master? This guy's going to do fine in GAR detention, right?" Ahsoka joked, threatening a particularly sullen-looking prisoner with magnacuffs.

"Is it too much to ask for some focus here, Padawan?" he asked for probably the eighth time that day. Taking the cuffs from Ahsoka, Anakin clipped them on their latest prisoner himself. He ordered them back to the Rotunda, ignoring Ahsoka's subdued silence and distance in the Force.

It had been fully dark for over two hours by the time they reported back, and they still hadn't even been off-planet yet. Anakin waged a war within himself, submitting his distraction and longing to the demands of his duty with a feat of sheer strength greater than it would have taken him to overpower a legion of physical opponents. Reporting to Master Plo, he expected to immediately turn around and take the fighter squadron out above the planet. Instead, he was granted a surprise reprieve. He almost couldn't contain his relief, but managed to say "yes, sir" to Master Plo, rather than leap two stories into the air and punch the ceiling like he wanted to.

He'd already made it back to the hallway outside their temporarily assigned quarters when Ahsoka caught up with him. "Are we heading out to the other bases, Master?"

He'd stripped out of his armor, OEI scanner secured in a pouch on his belt, and changed into the full array of dark-brown-and-black multilayered Jedi robes that he often didn't bother with while in the field on active duty. She paused to frown at him, confusion flickering in the Force.

"Nope. Master Plo pushed it back until tomorrow. There's a chance we'll catch more if we give them time to get worried - send someone to investigate their planetary people's radio silence," he said. "You're dismissed, until the alert tomorrow morning. I'm heading out. May or may not be back tonight. Try not to have too much fun without me." Anakin caught at her padawan beads, giving the strand a quick tug.

"Master..."

He hesitated, finally turning to fully face her. "Ahsoka?"

"I - did I do something wrong?" She squared her shoulders, looking up at him with a wince.

"What? No, not that I know of."

"I know you were disappointed in me out there-"

"Snips..." Anakin rocked back on his heels, biting his lip. He'd assumed Ahsoka was irritated at his preoccupation and lack of patience; apparently her silence had been something else. "I wasn't disappointed in you, believe me. Look, I shouldn't have snapped at you. Your performance was solid, and I wouldn't have been irritated under any other circumstances, I'm sorry. I'm just... a little distracted, right now. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Ahsoka nodded and ducked her head, her relief a quick rush in the Force. "Can I ask what's going on? Unless you're actually out shopping, then I don't care."

Anakin laughed. "You'll find out soon enough, Snips."

"I can promise to exercise discretion!"

"Can you? How about some patience, instead?" said Anakin, feeling like Obi-Wan as he raised his eyebrows.

"Yes, Master," Ahsoka sighed.

"'Night, Snips."

Anakin probably broke a few traffic regulations on his way through the city, but that was because he was mostly feeling his way back to Obi-Wan's house on instinct and had to make some last-minute course corrections. When he finally arrived, he slid his speeder bike to idle in front of the building and glared at the spot where Obi-Wan's speeder should have been. It was empty, and a quick check in the Force revealed that it had been empty for hours. So much for 'I promise.'

Though he couldn't deny that finding Obi-Wan absent lodged a knot of unease in his gut, Anakin knew his master, and he'd be lying if he said he hadn't half-expected this. Thank the Force for contingency planning, he thought. What could have been something to full-on panic about was instead something temporarily anxiety-inducing.

Led by the guiding hand of his contingency planning to a long, low building several miles away, Anakin strongly suspected that this was "the clinic" Obi-Wan had spoken of. Though the streets outside were dark and mostly deserted, inside the place was warmly colored and brightly lit. It was probably some kind of free or charity clinic, based on the overwhelming atmosphere of steely determination and righteousness. Almost like walking into Padme's office, Anakin thought.

The guy at the front desk was young and half asleep, but tried to dredge up something like cheerfulness when Anakin walked in. "Hello. What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for a man who goes by the name Alpha. Is he here, by any chance?"

"Who's asking?"

"Anakin Skywalker."

"Gimme a sec." The boy yawned.

Patience, Anakin thought wryly. It would be helpful if Obi-Wan weren't strangely suppressed in the Force somehow. He wasn't used to having to rely on technology and a sleepy boy with a desk intercom to locate his master. As it was, he waited, hands behind his back, with a reasonable facsimile of detached composure until Obi-Wan appeared.

His heart skipped a beat. Holy kriff. Obi-Wan.

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan said, face lighting up. "Sorry, something came up and I got a little sidetracked here."

"I noticed that. No worries. Are you still busy?"

"I've finished everything I'm working on. Just waiting on Irenia, now."

Who the hells was Irenia, Anakin wondered. He didn't ask, choosing instead to follow Obi-Wan behind the desk and down a back hallway. "How did you find the place?" asked Obi-Wan, over his shoulder as he pushed open a door and led Anakin through.

"I lojacked your speeder," said Anakin absently. One wall of the room they'd entered was lined with databanks, and the corner across from them was outfitted with what looked like a universal control panel apparatus. Interesting.

"Ah." Obi-Wan was frowning to himself. "Should I be surprised? Because I don't think I am."

"Nah. What is this place? Server room?"

"And comm center, and security system hub. Soon, it'll hopefully also have an emergency vehicle response relay."

"Is this what you work on?"

"Most of the time. I noticed the clinic's automated security system was very inefficient while they were holding me here for treatment-"

"You-" Anakin took a quick look at the control panels. "You rewrote their alarm programming while you were laid up with a wasting muscle disease?"

"I didn't completely rewrite it from scratch. That would be quite beyond my skill set. I used a kernel-" He stopped, and narrowed his eyes at Anakin. "You're just making fun of me, aren't you."

"No, I'm not making fun of you," Anakin laughed. I just love you a lot, were the next words on his tongue, but even if Obi-Wan had all his memories that would be unlikely to go over well. I just can't believe I lived without you for a whole year. Still too much. Finally, Anakin settled on a feeble, "I promise."

Obi-Wan raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, and another giddy laugh bubbled its way out of Anakin's chest. How long had it been since he'd seen that expression? Oh Force.

"Don't worry, I am going to ride you about this as soon as you have the context to understand, though," he added, then sighed when Obi-Wan's face fell.

"Anakin..."

"Don't worry about it, Obi-Wan." Anakin smiled, delight filling his chest. The lift of Obi-Wan's eyebrows plus that concerned divot between them - he knew what that meant. "I promise, you don't need to be concerned that I'm setting myself up for a fall by committing to an outcome that's not certain. I'm prepared to accept whatev- whatever I'm granted."

He should have said whatever the Force grants me, but for some reason felt it best not to. Obi-Wan looked faintly bemused, but Anakin just shrugged.

"What? I know you were concerned about my state of mind. Are you tired? You look tired."

"I'm fine." Obi-Wan crossed his arms. Anakin squinted, suspicious, but in the absence of his ability to sense Obi-Wan in the Force, he couldn't contradict him with certainty. He did look tired, though. Anakin hadn't noticed as much earlier, but there were more lines under his eyes than Anakin remembered, and seeing Obi-Wan trapped without the Force, curiously self-contained and small, was still wrong.

Cheerfully, Anakin reached to pat his belt pouch. "I brought the OEI mapper."

"Well don't use it in here."

Widening his eyes, Anakin said, "Aw, too bad. I was planning on firing it up amid all this tech and completely frying its sensor because I'm an idiot... but if you say so..."

"Who's an idiot?"

They had left the door open, and now a tall woman in a crisply-cut medical tunic stood leaning against the doorframe. Her blonde hair was knotted securely in a braid around her head, and the look in her dark eyes was one of curiosity and concern.

"Irenia!" said Obi-Wan, smiling. "This is Anakin."

Anakin gave her a short bow and a winning smile, and Irenia came forward to shake his hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Anakin." She smiled, but Anakin could still sense her unwavering concern. "Alpha told me that you know him, from his previous life!"

"I do."

"That's wonderful. We thought someone or something familiar might begin to break through the amnesia, but had no idea where to start looking-" Breaking off, she shrugged and gave Obi-Wan an apologetic smile. "Were you searching for him?"

"No. I should have been, but- I- it was actually mostly chance that I happened to be in the right place at the right time." Chance and luck were not something Jedi believed in, as a general rule. Thinking about how easily he could have missed Obi-Wan entirely had his fugitive's flight taken a different direction that morning chilled Anakin to the bone; the certainty deep inside him that the Force had led him here, had meant for him to find his master, was a grounding comfort.

"What brings you to Centares?"

"Um, business. I'm with the Republic delegation quartered at the Rotunda."

"Are you-"

"Irenia," Obi-Wan interrupted, eyes alight with humor, "if you've finished up for the night, we could adjourn to the house. Anakin has already promised to answer all our questions."

Anakin recalled making no such promise, and couldn't say he was particularly pleased with how often the words we and our were suddenly being used.

"Oh, right." She gave Obi-Wan a wry smile. "I'm done. I just need to change."

"We'll meet you in the lobby, then." Obi-Wan's hand fell easily onto Anakin's shoulder, warm and strong as he pushed Anakin to follow Irenia out the door. "And you're just going to change. Not go back into the lab," he told her sternly.

"One stop at my office, first."

"Irenia."

"Just one!"

Obi-Wan looked dubious, but at least he and Anakin made it to the lobby. The boy at the desk perked up when he saw Obi-Wan and cheerfully said, "Evening, Mr. Alpha."

"Hello, Lesk. What are you still doing here?"

"I'm here until my dad is. He and Doctor Mazaar came in at four and have been here ever since."

Leaning against the desk briefly, Obi-Wan laughed. "Oh, I am very aware of that - I was called in at the same time. If the fates are at all kind we'll be leaving soon, so hopefully you will as well."

"Yes please," said Lesk with a tired grin.

Anakin was more than used to standing quietly at his master's shoulder while Obi-Wan talked - seriously, or ingratiatingly, or casually, to any number of beings - but he wasn't used to being ignored during the process. Even now, with no Force-bond permanently tying their thoughts together, it only took a minute or two before Obi-Wan was turning and sitting back against the desk; he looked up at Anakin, loose and relaxed, and his eyes were bright and smiling.

"So, how did your business this afternoon turn out?"

"All right." Anakin tried to bite down on a grin, but only half succeeded. "Fine, for the most part, but we didn't finish everything. It'll mean a very early morning tomorrow."

"We'll try not to keep you too long tonight, then," said Obi-Wan. He was tired, Anakin knew, from the lines at the corners of his eyes and the heaviness of his limbs, but he looked... happy. Content.

"No worries. I don't need that much sleep," said Anakin, shrugging, only to be confronted with Obi-Wan's most unimpressed eyebrow arch. "I don't." Obi-Wan had no business taking him to task over this particular point, especially. Only he didn't remember all the past examples of times he'd pushed himself to the brink of exhausted collapse, so he was tragically immune to retort.

Instead, Anakin tried for disarming. "And besides, this is too important."

Success. Obi-Wan's skeptical frown faded into something softer. "Oh, very smooth," he drawled, and Anakin preened slightly.

"I learned from the best."