TexasDreamer01

He sighed, hand resting wearily atop his padawan’s head. The long hours it took to coax the boy to sleep had sapped his own strength, dipping into tarnished reserves as they were. It was only the mindless drone of Naboo floriography that lulled Anakin to sleep, and he was loathe to move from his cramped position upon the bench, lest all his efforts be for naught.

Listening to the quiet breathing of the slumbering, Obi-Wan was reminded of the datapad tucked into his tunic. It contained only a forwarded missive, one that he had quickly closed after skimming the beginning.

“Master Jinn.”

The pain still jabbed deep into the fresh wounds, and his was unwilling to push the pins further. But the tiny head on his lap, the hand curling at his knee, convinced him of the strength he would need to finish reading his old master’s correspondence.

It was deceptively light, this message from Anakin’s mother.

“Master Jinn.

I don’t know how the Jedi do things, but on Tatooine family is deep and by choice. That includes you, if you didn’t know, and your own son. Take care of my Ani, and have faith that you can always find me. He is your Ani, now, but now you are my family.

- Shmi S.”

His fingers drifted over the words, wondering at this woman who so willingly gave up her only child. If she was anything like Anakin, so earnest and effervescent, then age must have tempered her into something formidable.

Obi-Wan still wasn’t sure how she managed to pass a message along to Qui-Gon, but it spoke of an ingenuity he could easily admire. Her dedication to her son, even light-years away and cobbled by the chains of slavery that Anakin didn’t need to speak of for him to know, made for a combination that had him drafting a reply.

“Shmi,

This is Obi-Wan Kenobi, padawan to Master Jinn. He died in battle shortly after introducing Anakin to me, and Anakin is now my own padawan.”

He paused, considering his next words. It was an unexpected intimacy, to be offered the gift of childrearing help. Anakin had already done much, and was weighted with the heavy burden of prophecy – in light of that, the ear of what must be a striking woman would be wise to have.

“Anakin is a child who is easy to love, and I suspect a great deal of that comes from you. He is determined to be the best Jedi ever, an aspiration of which I think he is capable of reaching, so ravenous is he for knowledge.

I, and the rest of the Jedi, shall care for him as if he were our own. Though, your wisdom on this matter would be greatly appreciated.”

Obi-Wan signed off on the message, adding in a post-script to the best method for reaching him from distant Tatooine, and saved the draft for until they returned to the Temple.

He was immensely curious the woman that stood so unwaveringly and unafraid in the fabric of his padawan’s stories.