I left Obi-Wan sleeping peacefully and went in search of Anakin. He was talking to Padme, once again. She was a kind young woman, willing to spend time listening to a young boy, and I deeply appreciated her consideration. I tousled the boy's hair as I slid into a seat next to him and greeted Padme with a quick hello.

"Were you two separated long? You've been holed up with him for hours," Padme asked, a twinkle in her eye. "Or is it Jedi business?"

"Yes, yes, and yes," I said. How could I explain the five years separation? I would not speak of his slavery either, for that part of his life was for him to speak of or not. Padme seemed to know there was something left unspoken, but she didn't press me. Once again, I thought she was a wise woman. The Queen was a smart woman, if she surrounded herself with such wise handmaidens.

I looked at Anakin. He looked like he wanted to speak, perhaps to tell Padme about Obi-Wan, perhaps that I had not thought to free his mother. I shook my head at him, and he pursed his lips but remained silent.

Padme excused herself. I think she knew I wanted to speak to Anakin. I waited until she left the room and then I leaned forward and tried to catch Anakin's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Ani," I said softly. I waited for him to look at me. He had such beautiful blue eyes. They weren't near as wise as Obi-Wan's, or as quick, but they were just as important to me.

"I truly am sorry, Ani. It was my fault I never thought of your mother. Don't blame Obi-Wan for that. You know how much you miss your mother; well I missed Obi-Wan just as much and we'd been parted much longer. Not just that, but I didn't even know if he was alive or dead for so long. Every thing in me was focused on rescuing him. I am so sorry, Ani. Forgive me?"

He stared at me, before swallowing hard and nodding. "What happens if they agree to let me be trained, and he's not allowed to advance? Which one of us will be your padawan? You said I'd be. You promised."

I had only promised him he'd be a Jedi. I never promised he'd be my padawan, despite my offer to take him on, but he would see it as a betrayal if I denied that. The other choice was to betray Obi-Wan. I couldn't do that to him, either. I saw no easy answer, only hard questions. I was trapped, and the only escape was for the Council to agree with my assessment of Obi-Wan's abilities.

"You should go to bed, Ani," I said. "It's been a rather long day. I'll come along later. Go." I shooed him away, and sat with my head in my hands. It had been a long, emotional day and I was exhausted and worried.

I followed shortly after, for the Queen had given the Jedi use of one four-person stateroom. I paused in the doorway between the sleeping and the sitting area as I heard soft whispers. Anakin was speaking, and I was curious if he was talking in his sleep, to Obi-Wan, or with Obi-Wan.

I wanted those two to get along, for they were the two most important people in my life and I was afraid circumstances would keep them wary of each other. I could blame neither if that were so.

"Yes, maybe it was stupid of me not to scream when he beat me. That's what he wanted, I know. I guess I'm just too stubborn to have given him that satisfaction. I accepted it, for I had no way of fighting back, except by keeping silent. So I won, in a way – what – well, yes, perhaps I won a few extra bruises, too. Maybe I was stupid," and I heard a low chuckle.

Anakin murmured something again. Even straining to hear, I couldn't hear his words.

"No, Anakin, I don't resent you," I heard Obi-Wan say softly. The bunk creaked slightly and I could almost see him shift within it. "Why should I? Qui-Gon did the right thing by freeing you when he did. I know it wasn't easy for him, but it was the right decision."

I heard the sincerity in his tone, and hoped Anakin did, too. My heart swelled with pride. I wouldn't have blamed Obi-Wan at all should he have been even a small bit hurt at my decision. Perhaps he had been, but had too quickly released it for me to catch.

Another low murmur from Anakin that I couldn't catch

"I'm so sorry about your mother. If I had known, I would have asked Qui-Gon to save her before me. I could have survived there. I would have been okay."

I had to close my eyes at that. Obi-Wan hadn't known about Anakin's mother. He had known so little, really, only that I believed in this boy and that he was the prophesized Chosen One. Obi-Wan had trusted me, believed in me. It was that simple.

He had always trusted me. He hadn't always agreed with me, and I hadn't always trusted him. But his trust and his love were gifts of the Force. I felt tears come to my eyes.

How I had missed him. Even when he was gone from my care, should Anakin be my padawan, Obi-Wan would always be foremost in my heart, for it was he who had allowed me to love again. To trust again.

I suddenly felt a smile through the bond. Obi-Wan had just realized I was standing in the doorway. His next words were as much for me as Anakin.

"If Qui-Gon says you'll be a Jedi, you will be. You can trust him, if he says something will be, it will. If he says he believes in you, he does. If he says he loves you, he does. He's the best Jedi in the Order."

"Yes, Master Yoda is," I said lightly. "Okay, boys, I said time to sleep, not to talk."

Thank you, Obi-Wan.

I sat outside in the small seating area, somehow knowing that once Anakin fell asleep, Obi-Wan would join me, unless he, too, fell asleep. I could feel the weariness within him, but soon he padded out and sat by my side, his cloak pulled around for warmth. He shivered, and I offered my cloak to supplement his. He shook his head, as if what chilled him was something else.

"Come here, you're never too old for my arms," I said gently, as I pulled him against me. He relaxed and his head rolled back against my shoulder and we sat there comfortably, my arm around his shoulder.

How I had grieved for the loss of such simple moments as this – fleeting and precious.

After the most disquieting of missions, the heartbreak or the horrors we'd seen, always, sitting with my padawan's head resting against my shoulder and my head against his – somehow – this connection had brought peace and healing to minds fatigued and shaken.

I had been slow to accept this comfort, and offer it in return, in the beginning. After one particularly harrowing mission, I had sat exhausted and dispirited, too tired to object when Obi-Wan quietly sat next to me and leaned his head against me. Without thinking, my arm had gone around his shoulders and he sighed softly, his own anguish eased. In that same moment, when I saw the peace on his face, I felt it in my heart.

I had never objected again – and accepted it as a blessing of the Force.

"I missed our sunsets," Obi-Wan suddenly said.

I almost frowned, and then I smiled. He remembered our habit of watching the sunset together, when we were at the Temple between missions.

"Tatooine had pretty sunsets, but they weren't the same, without you. Somehow, they were lonely, and hinting of things I couldn't remember, but missed." His tone was wistful, and I wished we were on a planet, where we could share a sunset side by side as we had so often done in the past.

I felt a pang as I realized how he must have stared at the sunsets, longing for something he sensed was absent, even as I had turned away from them, denying that anything was absent.

So I spoke softly into his ear, describing the most beautiful sunset I could imagine, painting a sunset that only we could see, as we sat together watching it in our mind. I filled our bond with colors, every color I could describe and more, and I felt Obi-Wan relax even more. His happiness was so tangible I wanted to cry, but I stuffed it down. That could wait for the dark hours of the night, when all around me was peaceful.

This time was for Obi-Wan, and I would make it as joyful and happy as I could, to make up for the five years alone. That was a glorious sunset, that one I spun for us both, and the longest one in the history of the universe, for it lasted until I felt Obi-Wan fall asleep against me.

I had chosen my seat wisely, for I was able to lean into a corner and make him comfortable against me. I hadn't held him in so long and I wasn't about to let him go. Ever again.

I had never been a particularly demonstrative man, so this need to touch, to hold onto my padawan surprised me. I studied his face in the dim light.

He had grown up; his was the face of a man, now, the soft roundness of his cheeks turned hollow these last years. He had hardened, if that was the word I wanted, from a young man to an adult, and I could see the beginnings of stubble on his face. There were lines there, too, softer in his sleep, which had not been there years before.

He had grown up without me, and had remained true to who he was. I hoped life would forever be kind to him for the rest of his days.

"Force, how I missed you, Obi-Wan," I said, choking a little. He stirred and opened his eyes and smiled at me. "Brat, you were faking," I shook him.

"No," he said, with an infuriating grin and a yawn both vying to control his mouth. "You were speaking. You know I always listen to what my master says."

"Oh, Force, Obi-Wan, I'm so, so sorry," I whispered, gathering him to me, practically choking the breath out of him. He put a finger over my lips and shook his head.

"A Jedi never looks back, only forward. One can only do what one thinks is right at each moment, and move forward. So you taught me. My master is a wise man." He sat up and leaned against my shoulder and this time his comforting arm went around my shoulders. I had almost to laugh, for I'm a much bigger man than he, and his hand finally had to rest on my neck, for it couldn't reach my arm.

"Teach me, Master. What have I missed these past years?"

I had an easy answer to that.

"You already had the skills you need, Obi-Wan. What you would have learned these last years would have been deepening your control and refining those skills you already possess. You would have learned a deeper understanding of yourself and others, wisdom, the harnessing of your feelings and self-knowledge so that you could continue to guide yourself on the path. I believe you have learned these things on your own. The trials are nothing but the test of your self-knowledge, more than your skills. Remember when I took you to Ilum and you constructed your lightsaber, and the fears you had to face? That was but a small part of the trials you face when you become a knight."

I could sense him trying to absorb all this, for such lessons usually came after one passed the trials and was formally knighted. Each padawan feared the trials, and each knight found out he or she had passed tests they hadn't even been aware of taking.

I didn't dare say too much, for it was not my place, but something told me I needed to tell Obi-Wan some things I would not have otherwise.

"That calm center I always told you to find – it's the core of a Jedi, for we feel fear, anger and pain." I had struggled with all these after Obi-Wan's loss; I knew what I spoke of. My voice got a bit raspy, and I think Obi-Wan realized, for his arm tightened around me.

"We can't let those emotions guide us, especially in battle, so we have to find a way to control them. You used to have such trouble finding that, but I sense you have finally found it within you. When you told me to take Anakin away, there was no pain, or fear, or anger in you. Only acceptance."

"It did hurt, Master," he whispered, afraid he was disappointing me. His deepest fear was of disappointing me. He turned to look at me, and his eyes seemed to search mine for forgiveness and understanding. "It did, but I understood. It was right."

Understanding I could give him, but forgiveness? How could I tell him I didn't forgive him, that there was nothing he needed to be forgiven for? He had done nothing wrong, felt nothing he should not have. I had told him many times that emotions were not wrong, never wrong, all that was important was how we acted on them.

"No, Obi-Wan, it was both right and it was wrong, but sometimes we have to face hard choices. I was angry, oh Force, I was so angry I could hardly control myself, but I had to. If you were hurting, you controlled it well. Like a Jedi. You had found your calm center, and you acted from a position of strength and goodness. That helped me find mine; it was your strength that allowed me to find mine. And I had to leave you behind a second time. Gods, how that hurt. I left you, twice."

My breath caught in my throat, and I found Obi-Wan holding my head and forcing me to look at him.

"It's all right, Master, it's all right. You acted as a Jedi," he said gently. He opened his heart to me, through our bond, and there was nothing there but love and understanding. I wrapped that around me, a veil that sealed my own hurting heart until I thought that his heart was beating for us both. "Accept it, Master, don't look back. Never look back."

"When did you get so wise, padawan mine?" My voice was cracked and hoarse.

"When I listened to my master," he said. I knuckled my eyes to wipe a tear away and took a shaky breath.

"Padawan, you will make a very good master someday. Now, I think we both should go to bed. It's been a very, wet-," I saw his smile and I grinned back at him, "very wet day for us both. We need our sleep, so we can stop this insane crying."

"Yes, Master," he said serenely, and offered me a hand up. We were both in our bunks, when he sent a mental picture of a sunset at me.

Goodnight, Obi-Wan," I said and fell asleep with a smile on my face.