I know I said that this would be updated last Monday... (eep) so I'm sorry that it's late! I've been moving back to university and starting classes and all that crazy stuff. Lame excuse though it may be, excuse it is, hahaha.

I hope you enjoy the chapter!

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Chapter 1

Obi-Wan wondered if he would ever be able to sleep again. Ever since his return to Coruscant with his new charge in tow, it seemed like he hadn't managed once to close his eyes. Everything was moving far too quickly. Not one week ago he had been content to be a Padawan to the greatest Jedi Master in the Temple. Suddenly, he was a Knight with a Padawan of his own, and with absolutely no idea what he should be doing.

Nights were the worst. During the day he could lose himself in the mountains of responsibility required to train Anakin. At night, curled up tightly from long acclimation to a much smaller bed, he was regretfully able to think. Which was something that he didn't want to do; not yet.

So he lay staring bleakly out the window every night, trying in vain to relax on a mattress that still resonated with Qui-Gon's Force-signature. While he had always found the presence of his Master to be soothing, now it distracted him. Whenever he managed to close his eyes, he could almost hear his Master's voice. It would startle him awake, making him look around the room in vain for the man he missed more than anything.

So instead of sleep, he drifted in a vague sense of unreality, eyes open but unseeing. The lights of the Coruscanti traffic slid in lazy lines across his ceiling, flickering against the constant glow of the skyscrapers beyond.

It had started raining at some point. Obi-Wan wasn't sure when the clouds had rolled in over the star-strewn sky, but he had been listening to the hissing splash of the drops against his windowpane for quite some time without registering the sound.

It was an abrupt crashing sound that broke him from his reverie. He sat up, heart pounding and sheets tangled about his legs. For a second, he thought it was thunder, but then a louder crash followed, accompanied with a dismayed cry that was unmistakably Anakin's voice.

Instantly, Obi-Wan snatched his lightsabre into one hand and raced out into the common room, alert for any dangers.

But instead of Trade Federation droids or legions of tattooed Sith Lords or any of the other enemies that he feared to find, there was only his young Padawan standing in the small kitchen. Anakin's hair was plastered against his head, his clothes soaked through. Small puddles of water were collected at his feet on the floor, and he was limply clutching a pot in each hand. His blue eyes were wide; he obviously hadn't expected Obi-Wan's intrusion.

Obi-Wan blinked sleepily, pushing one hand through his rumpled hair. He was trying to wake up fully and make sense of the strange sight before him all at the same time, and his sluggish brain was refusing to respond quickly enough. "Anakin… what in the Sith are you…?"

Anakin grinned hugely, dropping one pot with a loud clang that made the Jedi Knight wince. When Anakin snatched Obi-Wan's hand with damp fingers, he wearily allowed himself to be dragged towards the balcony, where Anakin gestured excitedly at the stormy weather.

"Master Obi-Wan, sir, look!" Anakin squeaked, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. "There's actual water falling from the sky!" As he spoke, Anakin carefully placed the pot out on the balcony. It pinged softly as raindrops splattered against its metal surface. Obi-Wan noted with some bemusement the collection of similar kitchen vessels, already half full of water.

"This is absolutely wizard, Master! I wish that mom could be here to see this!"

"Anakin," Obi-Wan cut in with a small smile, enjoying Anakin's wide-eyed delight at something so mundane to anyone who hadn't lived on a desert planet, "rain is hardly an unusual phenomenon on Coruscant." As he spoke, Obi-Wan stretched out one hand, catching the cool drops of water against his skin.

On planets like Tatooine, it would be like millions of credits falling from the sky. No wonder his Padawan had thought to instantly set out as many containers as possible to capture the valuable commodity. Funny how the same phenomenon could be counted as a miracle or merely as a minor irritation, depending on one's upbringing and point of view.

"The air purifiers in the upper atmosphere of Coruscant produce hydrogen as a by-product," Obi-Wan began to explain to his wide-eyed Padawan. "The hydrogen mixes with the oxygen in the air, before condensing into precipitation –" he trailed off at Anakin's frown of consternation, shrugging dismissively.

"Never mind Padawan, the how in this case is not important." Obi-Wan took Anakin's hand and tugged him back inside. But he stopped the boy before Anakin could retrace his damp steps over the carpet, dashing into the fresher to grab a dry towel.

Anakin's eyes were still fixed on the window, Obi-Wan noted as he gruffly stripped off his Padawan's soaked-through sleep shirt and rubbed him dry. He should have known that the boy would be so fascinated with water. He obviously hadn't been making an effort to know his Padawan at all, if he had failed to realise that obvious fact. Obi-Wan had been too wrapped up in the changes in his own life to consider that Anakin was every bit as lost as he was.

Obi-Wan made a note to take his Padawan down to the Room of a Thousand Fountains as soon as possible. It would be a way of forming a connection between them. Maybe he could even teach Anakin how to swim, just as Qui-Gon had taught him once upon a time.

But for now….

"There will be plenty of other rainstorms, Padawan," Obi-Wan laughed, teasingly tossing the towel over Anakin's head, "but for the moment, you should get back to sleep."

Anakin tugged away the fabric with a mock-scowl, somewhat diminished by his smiling blue eyes.

Obi-Wan tugged lightly on Anakin's braid. "Goodnight, Padawan." He gave the boy a small push in the direction of his room. Anakin scampered down the hallway quickly, pausing in the doorway to shoot Obi-Wan a grin.

"Sleep well, Master."

And for the first time in almost a week, he actually did.

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