Obi-Wan Kenobi found his Padawan standing in front of the med center's viewport, gazing out at Coruscant's neverending skyline. The young man was motionless but for the flexing of his new mechanical hand.
The sight of it pained Obi-Wan. He had suffered serious injury in his duel with Count Dooku, but it was nothing bacta and Jedi healers couldn't mend. Anakin, however, was not so fortunate. The healers had been unable to save his arm, so Anakin was fitted with a mechanical replacement. Even though Anakin accepted it stoically, Obi-Wan wondered what over the long term would be the consequences on Anakin's psyche.
"How are you doing, Padawan?" Obi-Wan asked, to break the silence. They hadn't had a chance to speak since their tense confrontation on Geonosis. Anakin had lost his focus and his control when Padme fell out of the gunship. He had been ready to sacrifice everything and defy anyone to go back for her. Not even Obi-Wan's warning of expulsion from the Jedi Order had been enough to sway him. Anakin did save Obi-Wan's life during the confrontation with Dooku -- at a cost -- but beyond that, Obi-Wan had no idea where he stood with his apprentice.
"What do you think? I lost my mother and I lost my arm," Anakin said, sounding more mournful than sullen.
"Your mother? Was that why you were on Tatooine?" Obi-Wan subdued the shock in his voice. After all the times he had reassured Anakin about those nightmares, only to now discover they had been premonotions...
Anakin nodded, still staring out the viewport. "Sorry I disobeyed you, Master, but I couldn't ignore my dreams any longer. She was in danger. Sand People had taken her. But I was too late." Obi-Wan could hear Anakin's voice waver and crack as he finished his sentence.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan said tenderly, moving close to the young man's side. "I'm so sorry." Compassion for his Padawan's pain overtook any feelings that Anakin did not follow strict orders. The Jedi Master wanted to add comforting words about how Shmi Skywalker was with the Force and not truly dead, but something warned him that those were precisely the words Anakin didn't want to hear. There was something else, too...but it was buried too deep within his Padawan's soul, locked in a place Anakin kept closed to others.
The younger man quickly regained his composure. "I don't know what I would have done without Padmé. She was with me the entire time. She was a great comfort and a source of strength when I needed it. She even came to see me right after they had this," Anakin said, indicating his mechanical arm, "put on."
Obi-Wan stroked his beard. "She has a very caring spirit. It's as you've said, she's not like other politicians."
Anakin turned to look at Obi-Wan, perplexed.
"Sometimes I can be wrong," Obi-Wan said, a glint of a smile in his eyes. "I certainly have greater respect for her after her actions at Geonosis."
Anakin nodded, clearly pleased. "She has asked me to accompany her home to Naboo," he said, all-business again. "I told her I would come to you first. Count Dooku and his minions are still out there and they still want her dead. She trusts me with her life, Master, and I have kept her from harm."
Obi-Wan studied his Padawan. Anakin's piercing blue eyes held Obi-Wan's grey-blue gaze. "I do not doubt your skills, Padawan, but are you sure you are ready to travel again?"
"Yes, Master. I am doing no one any good staying here when my help is needed."
"Perhaps then it would be wise for you to go. Some time away from here might be healing. It has come to war, Anakin. You will be needed more than ever."
"I know."
"I have only one concern. Your feelings for Senator Amidala. I know you care deeply for her, Anakin. Having those feelings isn't wrong. But you want to act on them and that is, for a Jedi, impossible. Passion is not the Jedi way. If you are to become the Jedi you want to be, then you must resolve those feelings and honor your commitment to the Order.
"You are a grown man, Padawan. I should start treating you like one and that means I am going to trust you to do what is right in this matter."
He said the latter with all the caring of a father, or the closest he had known to one. But Obi-Wan shielded himself for an argument. It was always Anakin's way to question and challenge. But none came. Anakin's face was as solemn as ever. "Yes, Master," he said. He even bowed his head in formal deference. Perhaps Anakin was learning his lesson after all.
"May the Force be with you, Anakin. I'll see you when you return."
"Thank you, Master," Anakin replied, affection -- and gratefulness -- reflected in his eyes.
