"You can't always have the things you want, young Padawan."

"Must everything become a lesson, Master?"

Anakin didn't look up from his breakfast for a response.

"It just seems that you can't always teach the things you want,"he continued whilst twirling his spoon.

"You'd better be careful who hears you say such things Anakin. It isn't only me that is concerned in your education. You are the Chosen One."

"Really,"he muttered in mock surprise.

"The walls have ears, Anakin."

Setting his spoon down in a huff he pushed his chair back from the table.

"You sound like Kitster and my father combined."

Upon saying it he began to regret losing his temper. He wondered if Obi Wan would ask.

"Then they sound very wise," Master Kenobi sipped from his cup and rose from the table to look out the window of their quarters. They were invited to dine with others at breakfast but often Obi Wan refused, preferring their private quarters. It was only now that Anakin was older he began to understand why Obi Wan required so much solace.

"Did you have friends, Master? Where you came from?"

His soul lifted a little when he turned to give him his full attention. However his master seemed...sad.

"Anakin."

"I had a best friend. The one you sound like," he went on excitedly. "Boy, master, if you knew me then and the trouble we caused you never would have taken me as your Padawan" he said with a charming smile as he lifted the small kettle to refill Obi Wan's cup.

"Don't you ever find it strange, there we both were. Both born as nothing in the dirt and now here I am. He was a slave, you know. Master, how does the force come to be? In me and not- not him. Isn't it strange that it could have been and he would have been your Padawan i stead-"

"STOP THIS, ANAKIN!"

Anakin couldn't help but physically recoil, spilling hot tea across his hand. He gasped when Obi Wan took a firm grasp of the injured hand.

"You are not a random mishap, scraped from the waste of those deserts. You are the Chosen One. How can you be so ignorant? Everything is a lesson because you must be the fastest, the wisest and the most true. Put the kettle down."

Anakin tried to mask the slight tremble to his fingers as he set the tea upon the table once more.

"And no. I didn't. I was six months old when I was taken from my home. The Jedi Temple became my home, my family. You exist to bring balance to the Force, you are my family Anakin."

In a rush of affection Anakin saw the doorway of their connection and reached forward like vines creeping through a keyhole. The lock gave way and all of the emotions hidden inside flooded his soul, never matching the images in his mind's eye.

"Master," he called out into the void from which he couldn't find his bearings.

"Anakin!"

There was a cold all around him. It became unbearably bright.

"Anakin, can you hear me?"

The comfort of Obi Wan's voice blanketed him as he came to, laying on the hard floor of their rooms.

"I'm sorry," Anakin said softly when he realised what he had done. The line he had not just crossed, the line he had burned to ash.

"You have grown stronger," Obi Wan said with a mixture of pride and concern.

"I never meant to-"

"I understand."

"About your home, I upset you. I only asked because-"

"I know. Hush child, perhaps you should return to bed."

Master Kenobi aided him to his feet and watched him take the last few shaky steps to his bed, falling asleep almost instantly. Only when he was sure of sleep did Obi Wan reach out with gentle tendrils of energy; scoping and trying to understand. He had been weak, his defences low in a moment of emotion regarding his past. But no one Anakin's age, even with his level of training should have been able to reach him so deeply. This would require further thought. He considered his Padawan carefully as he lifted the small kettle.