The Clone Wars: One-Shots

Small Comforts

Tumblr prompt: "I didn't want you to see me like this" with Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi
Request by coalmine301

Obi-Wan stood emotionlessly behind his padawan as he numbly watched a blaze of light ignite from the tomb in front of them, feeling the heat wave onto his face.

It was the sign of a new beginning. The end of a chapter. A chasm he didn't want to cross, even when the Force obviously set his path for him.

His vision blurred as a tear slipped out of his eye, his emotions hidden behind high fractured shields. he clenched his fists, not caring for the small crescent shapes forming on his hand, just wishing everything would stop. He wished his master was back. He wished everything was normal.

But nothing was ever normal in the first place, was it?

Death was normal, but he didn't want it to be like this. The passing of his apprenticeship, the end of his master, how he wished it would all stop.

His gaze fell from their steady unseeing gaze to the back of Anakin's head, spotting a small section behind his right ear already left longer than the rest. A strand was starting to form, and he tried to imagine braiding his padawan's hair, only to remember that Qui-Gon was the one who had tied his.

Flashback

"Padawan, you separate the hair sections into three parts, not two. Two is for cooking those twists from that recipe your friend gave you!"

Obi-Wan sat behind his master, fumbling to even out the silver-grey sections of hair he was holding. He pulled too hard on one strand and winced as his master's shoulders tensed up in a flare of pain before relaxing again.

"Sorry!"

Qui-Gon waved it off, still holding the mirror up as he examined his student's progress.

"It's alright, no damage done."

After a lot of attempts, Obi-Wan had woven a semi-decent braid, loose hair pieces sticking out with a black hair tie strapped at the end. He remembered how joyful he was at his success, and how his master smiled at him, a small prideful grin adorning his face.

"One day you'll have to teach this to your padawan, and just hope that you don't have them braiding your hair; you'll be yanked every thirty seconds!"

End flashback

Oh how he missed the good days.

"Master?"

Obi-Wan blinked back to reality, his eyes falling to the person who called him.

"Do you want me to go?"

"What?"

He was skeptical until he finally saw that the room was empty, them being the only two people there. Oh. The ceremony was done.

"Y-You can stay here."

Those words came out much thicker than he intended him to be.

The force crushed him back to reality, and another tear fell from his cheek. He inwardly cursed out his display of emotions, shaking his head rapidly, trying to just be calm.

As he reached one hand to wipe his face, he waterly smiled at Anakin. The padawan stared back, studying him intensely, reminding him of his ma-

A sob ripped out of him before he could contain it. He slapped his hand over his mouth but it was useless as waves of anguish finally caused his cracks to give out, shattered. The whirlwind of his presence was filled with so much pain and Anakin froze in his spot, not sure what to do and if he did something wrong. His slave masters never cried, and even if they did, he wouldn't feel any pity for them. But looking at his new master in front of him, he felt...something. Similar to the feeling that came up when he saw his mother crying, where he just wanted to make her smile.

Obi-Wan was now kneeling on the ground, his head bent over his knees as he tried to get himself back together. He didn't want to look like this in front of Anakin, but it was like life had finally weighed him down too much.

The boy never knew what Obi-Wan felt like, but he had seen it happen to other people. And like Qui-Gon had explained to him; master in Jedi terms wasn't a slave master, but a teacher, a family member. So he tried to do what he did best.

He knelt down, and at first, he awkwardly patted his master's back, stopping as Obi-Wan tensed under his hand. His master looked up and Anakin leaped forward out of instinct, praying that it would help.

Obi-Wan couldn't believe it. A recently freed nine-year-old slave, being the one to comfort him. A man who didn't know what waited for him and a boy who lost so much innocence at such a young age. They were similar in a way, and he knew that they would get along, no matter how bumpy their road would become.

His padawan's arms tightened around his neck and he hugged, crouching on his legs so he didn't collapse on the boy. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and let himself take what was given, breathing slowly and exhaling. They could only stay like this for a few minutes, then their small moment would have to end.

It wasn't a few minutes as they stayed hugging, the little boy's arms wrapped around Obi-Wan's shoulders, and neither of them let go for a long time.