An evening with Obi-Wan and Anakin
Anakin was bored. He was supposed to be studying, but he couldn’t concentrate anymore. He was trying, really, but his mind kept getting distracted by everything. First, it was his Master’s frown as he read one of his many holobooks, then it was the unusually repetitive noises coming from outside, after that, it would be fleeting thoughts about Padme or his mother. But whatever it was that drew his attention, it was definitely not his essay about the history of the Senate. But he knew he couldn’t postpone the thing, as it was due for the end of the next day. Trying, once again, to turn his focus on his work, Anakin let out a loud sigh which made Obi-Wan turn his head in his direction.
“You seem to be elsewhere tonight. What’s on your mind, Padawan?” frowning at the title, Anakin turned toward his Master. He didn’t like being called ‘Padawan’ like that by Obi-Wan, it felt wrong and demeaning.
“I can’t concentrate with the noise from outside.” he admitted. As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Obi-Wan would only berate him for his lack of focus and he would be forced to meditate or something like that, which he hated to do.
“Really? I thought you were accustomed to the Coruscant traffic noises?” Anakin almost facepalmed at his Master’s naivety. How could he not hear the loud ‘booms’ overlapping the traffic buzz? It was almost deafening by its intensity.
“Not the traffic, the other thing. You know, the loud booms?” at once, Obi-Wan’s expression lightened, as if Anakin had answered all the questions of the universe. He quickly darted a look outside before turning to Anakin, smiling slightly.
“You mean the fireworks? I get so used to them, I didn’t even notice.” but Anakin didn’t seem to understand what his Master was talking about as his brows furrowed even more. Realizing that his Padawan didn’t understand, Obi-Wan tried to explain himself. “Each year, on this day, they use fireworks as a way to celebrate the birth of the Republic. They fire them all around the Inner Rim, and maybe in some Mid Rim worlds. I should have known that you had no idea about that, it hasn’t come up in your curricular yet.”
With this explanation, Obi-Wan thought that Anakin would understand what was happening and would be able to focus back on his work, however, it didn’t seem the case as he quietly uttered the word “Fireworks?” multiple times to himself. Then, as he realized that his Master had no intention to explain what it meant, Anakin finally uttered the courage to ask the question that plagued him ever since his Master had said the word for the first time. “What are fireworks?”
Obi-Wan looked at him in surprise, as though he didn’t expect that the young boy would ask this question. But the man mentally berated himself. Anakin was a slave boy on Tatooine for the entirety of his life, of course he wouldn’t know what fireworks are. The Master tried to come up with an explanation of what fireworks were, but he couldn’t come up with one which could be understood without having ever seen them. Looking at the time, he quickly made a decision.
“Would you like to see them? It’s not that late, we could catch the end of it.” at his Padawan’s hesitant nod, he stood up and went to the door. “Well, let’s go then.”
He left the room silently, followed by his curious Padawan, and together, they walked to the turbolift at the end of the corridor. Once inside, the young man chose to lead them to the hangar, where they could get a speeder to get them closer to the performance. At the hangar, he asked one of the pilots which speeder they could take for the evening. It was only when the were already in the air that Anakin spoke again.
“By the way, Master… I didn’t really finish my essay, you know…” Obi-Wan resisted the urge to sigh at his student’s words. Of course, he hadn’t finished his assignment.
“For when is it due?” he was calm as he asked the question, but seeing Anakin’s hesitation, his calm suddenly vanished as he arrived to the obvious conclusion. He took a deep breath to stay calm and to remind himself that he was still flying a speeder. “I’ll help you finish it once we return.” as he spoke, he saw the instant relief washing over his Padawan’s face, and a genuine smile replace his anxious expression. Quickly, he added: “But you should know better than to do an assignment the day before it is due.” he scolded, lightly. He didn’t want to ruin the good mood of his student when their relation was still so shaky. Obi-Wan wasn’t prepared to get a Padawan so soon in his life, and certainly not just after losing his Master. That was why he had allowed the boy to sleep in his room, and sometimes even in his bed. He didn’t want the boy to think he is a burden or in danger, even if he wasn’t prepared to welcome him into his life.
“It’s not my fault! It was a research assignment, and we only had a week to do it! I finished my researches only yesterday and I’ve been struggling with writing the essay ever since.” Anakin’s complaints brought him back to the present, but despite the apparent dismay in his words, the boy was still smiling, meaning he wasn’t really upset about his Master’s words.
As another detonation echoed into the chaos that was Coruscant, Anakin turned his gaze toward the noise, his eyes widening upon seeing the first fireworks of his life. Obi-wan hadn’t noticed that they had gotten close enough to the show that it was slightly visible, but upon seeing his Padawan’s expression, he took it upon himself to find a good place for them to watch the fireworks from.
As he kept flying, he saw an empty roof not far from where they were on which it would be easy to see the entirety of the show. Exiting the traffic lane, he slowly approached the building, looking around to make sure that it wasn’t forbidden to do so. Once he got close enough, he landed with only a slight shake of the speeder before stopping the engines. He wasn’t even out of the speeder that Anakin was already perched near the edge, eyes wide and mouth agape. The utter wonder in this face made him smile as he joined his Padawan’s side.
From where they were, they had a wide view of one of the rare plane on the planet, from where they were firing the fireworks. The place was usually used as a landing platform, but it had been reserved and deserted for the occasion. As another spark of color was fired in the sky, Anakin expressed his awe with a quiet ‘whoa’ of amazement. The bang was louder this close to the performance, but this didn’t seem to bother the young boy who was completely absorbed by the beauty of the spectacle in front of him.
Obi-Wan, used to the sight of this show which he was forced to attend each year when he was younger, simply enjoyed the sight of his Padawan, eyes wide from astonishment and happiness. Another gasp was torn from Anakin’s mouth as the sparks exploded into a multitude of other, smaller, sparks, which made Obi-Wan turn back toward the show.
They stayed there, enjoying the view, for a few more minutes before the older man’s gaze was suddenly torn from the spectacle as he heard little sniffles coming from his Padawan. Worried that the sound might have been too loud for him, he quickly bent down to the boy’s side to check on him. But as he tried to turn Anakin’s head in his direction, blue eyes full of tears turned to him in complete awe.
“Master, that’s amazing! It’s so beautiful! And have you seen all the colors?” as the tears quietly rolled down the young one’s cheeks, Obi-Wan felt a great relief at the words. Those were happy tears, not ones full of pain or sorrow. He smiled back to the boy before wiping his cheeks clean of the clear liquid. They both turned back toward the show, silently enjoying the pyrotechnics.
As the spectacle was wearing down, nearing its end, the Master felt a presence behind them just as the door linking the building to the roof was thrown open. A burly man appeared, his expression thunderous fixated on them. He started to shout curse words at them, which forced Obi-Wan to quickly muffle the sounds with his hands on Anakin’s ears. Among the angry tirade, the Master discerned some words telling them to ‘get away’, and that his roof ‘wasn’t a stupid tourist attraction’. Understanding that they had to get out of here, Obi-Wan attempted to calm the man to explain their situation, but he wasn’t having it and cut him off as soon as he opened his mouth.
But before the young man could come up with a pacific and diplomatic solution, Anakin escaped his hold and went, running to the speeder. Obi-Wan, worried that his Padawan would get caught in the man’s angry explanation, followed him until they were both seated in the speeder, which he quickly turned on before taking off in a hurry, the man’s still ongoing tirade accompanying them until they were in the busy traffic lane of Coruscant. Then, they both promptly started laughing to tears at what had just happened.
“Master, why did you take us there if it was forbidden?” they were still laughing as Anakin asked this question, and Obi-Wan had a hard time answering him in between chuckles.
“I didn’t know!” their good mood continued onto the rest of the evening, as they went to eat at Dex’s Diner and then as they returned to the temple and finished writing Anakin’s essay together.
They went to sleep pretty late, and Obi-Wan allowed Anakin to sleep with him, for this reassured the boy that he wasn’t alone, and that Obi-Wan would stay with him, that he wouldn’t leave him.