A Room at the Arms Hotel, Saturday Morning

[saddeserthermit]

It had not been a restful night. Sleep had been hard to come by, despite the distractions Obi-Wan had attempted to mire himself in. Meditation had hardly been easier. Restless thoughts kept drifting out and into his mind; he had attempted to cast them out into the Force, and yet they persisted.

It frustrated him. He had thought he had released this part of himself, had at last been able to do what he had struggled to for years. Another lie I told myself. How many have I collected over the years?

Perhaps Qui-Gon had guided him here to expel his attachment to the Anakin that had been for good. To help him take that final step that would allow him to settle into his exile on Tatooine. But if that was the case, it was not working very well.

He had eventually given up on both sleep and meditation and settle in front of the window instead. That had helped some; he could look out over the plane of water before him and think about other matters. Such as Annileen, and her journeys. Had she seen her first ocean already? Had she marveled?

Slowly, his thoughts turned back to Tatooine, to the people he had met, and the people he was meant to guard. That, at least, settled him for a time, well past sunup and into the morning.

[[ for anakin. ]]

Comments

[sith_happened]

Anakin looked away. "It didn't exact come up in conversation."

[saddeserthermit]

He'd known, and yet the confirmation still made his heart drop several stories.

"How badly did I fail you?" Obi-Wan asked. "That I did not even see that?"

[sith_happened]

Anakin sighed heavily. "I was better at hiding things from you than you thought," he murmured. "This was my guilt, not yours, Master."

[saddeserthermit]

"This is why we cannot have small talk right now, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. His eyes flicked back towards Anakin. "Much as we might like to."

Anakin wasn't the only one who'd missed someone, here. He just hadn't spent as much time wallowing in the desert about the very notion.

[sith_happened]

Anakin stood up. "I'll leave you to your meditations, then," he said softly, heading for the door and lingering there for a moment.

[saddeserthermit]

"For what it is worth," Obi-Wan said quietly, "I am glad to have seen you like this."

If nothing else, it meant Anakin's burning red eyes and I hate you wasn't the last memory he'd have of the boy.

"May the Force be with you."

[sith_happened]

Anakin rested his hand on the doorjamb, mulling over his next words and chewing his lower lip.

"You were my brother too, Obi-Wan," he finally murmured before slipping away down the hallway.

[saddeserthermit]

Obi-Wan sank down on the bed, and reached up, and pinched the bridge of his nose very, very firmly. He had to, much like he had to sit there for several minutes - perhaps more - before the very idea of meditation became at all appealing again.