"You look tired," Obi-Wan said, looking across at his Padawan.

"I don't sleep well, any more," Anakin admitted.

Obi-Wan considered, thinking about what could have caused that.

"Because of your mother?" he guessed.

"I don't know why I keep dreaming about her," Anakin shrugged. "I haven't seen her since I was little."

"Dreams pass, in time," Obi-Wan assured him. "Sometimes our minds are strange."

"I'd rather dream about Padme," Anakin said, his attention drifting slightly. "Just being around her again is… intoxicating."

Obi-Wan blinked.

"...Anakin?" he said, carefully. "What kind of dreams are you having about your mother?"

"She's in pain, and dying," Anakin answered. "My dreams of Padme are more like… about her, not about her suffering-"

Obi-Wan was halfway through a sigh of relief that at least his closest friend half-brother half-son wasn't having a particularly awkward kind of dream about his mother, when suddenly he processed what Anakin had actually said.

"You're having dreams about your mother suffering?" he said. "You didn't mention that."

"I said I couldn't sleep!" Anakin defended himself.

"I thought you meant you were homesick, not-" Obi-Wan cut himself off, and shook his head.

"What is it, Master?" Anakin said.

Obi-Wan rubbed his temples.

"Anakin, there is a difference between simply dreaming of your mother, and dreaming of your mother in trouble," he replied. "The former – is likely to just be a dream, because minds do strange things. The latter – could be the same, or it could be that the Force is trying to send you a message. Qui-gon told me that she was sensitive to the Force herself."

"You mean we might need to go and help her?" Anakin said. "She might be in trouble?"

"Not the same things, but yes to the second," Obi-Wan answered. "I'll submit it to the general request pool – a Knight with a young Padawan can take it on, since it shouldn't be very dangerous."

He looked up. "Did you feel that?"

"I sense it too!" Anakin replied, running for the door.

AN:

Short one, naturally, but it's got the potential for substantial ripple effects.