"family", 47/100
So...yeah. As always, I apologize for the long absence. All I have to offer is that things have been seriously fucked up since August. (Also, a couple of distracting video games came out. But mostly the fucked up part...and by things, I pretty much mean me.)
However! I'm tackling fanfic100 as my NaNoWriMo project again this year, so hopefully, the fic offerings will increase exponentially this month. (Unless, of course, I get stuck on a fic like I did last year. *kicks the "outsides" fic, which is still residing on her hard drive, even despite a crash, a computer switch, and a hard drive replacement*)
Title: Family
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Prompt: 24. Family
Rating: G.
Word Count: 1021.
Summary: Anakin is lonely; Obi-Wan tries his best to comfort him.
Author's Note: I hate to sound like a Mary Sue author, but I do suck at summaries. Also, I think this takes place fairly shortly after TPM.
The boy kept having nightmares. What was more, every time he had one, he somehow found it necessary to crawl into Obi-Wan’s bed. It was starting to get on his nerves. He knew he should feel sympathetic for Anakin - it couldn’t have been easy, being suddenly uprooted from one’s home, then saving an entire planet from the Trade Federation - but he was entirely too wrapped up in his own problems to care.
Obi-Wan was beginning to get used to waking up in the middle of the night with an extra occupant - two, if you counted the blasted stuffed bantha that the boy insisted on sleeping with - in his bed. He discouraged the practice whenever possible, but Anakin didn’t seem to listen at all. The boy never listened - Obi-Wan was beginning to learn that much. Or, rather, he listened when it was convenient. Anything that Obi-Wan wanted him to hear went in one ear and out the other.
And so, after a long discussion about how nightmares were just a creation of one’s subconscious, and that there was nothing to be afraid of (except for when one’s nightmares drew directly upon one’s memories, of course, but Obi-Wan wasn’t about to mention that particular problem), Obi-Wan wasn’t at all surprised to wake up to Anakin standing next to his bed.
He sighed, shielding his emotions a bit to keep from radiating exasperation to Anakin. “Well?”
“I had another nightmare, Master Obi-Wan.” Anakin looked ashamed; he clutched his bantha tightly in embarrassment.
“All right, you can stay with me.” He knew he should have discouraged it, but surely letting Anakin sleep in his bed one last time couldn’t hurt. Truth be told, even though being woken up in the middle of the night was irritating, he was starting to grow accustomed to Anakin’s presence. It was, in a strange way, almost comforting - at the very least, it staved off his own accursed bad dreams.
Anakin climbed up onto the bed, huddling underneath the thick blue comforter. Obi-Wan could tell that he wanted to snuggle up to him for warmth, but was too afraid to ask. Though Obi-Wan would have refused, he knew that, permission or no, when he woke up in the morning, Anakin would be curled up against him. Actually offering physical comfort to his apprentice, no matter how scared and alone he was, was out of the question - he was not going to get attached to the boy, no matter what he had promised his Master.
Obi-Wan suppressed a sigh as he felt Anakin wriggling around and tangling the sheets around his feet. “Is something the matter?” he asked.
“Do you ever miss your family, Master Obi-Wan?”
He shook his head. “I never knew my family. I came to the Temple when I was only a few months old.” Obi-Wan knew he had discussed this topic with Anakin before.
“Well…don’t you miss having a family, then?”
Obi-Wan frowned slightly. “A Jedi must avoid emotional attachments, Anakin. They can easily lead to the Dark Side.” He ignored the niggling feeling in a corner of his brain that said that lecturing Anakin on this particular aspect of the Code made him a hypocrite. “That is why most Jedi begin their training in infancy, so they don’t remember their families.”
“You must be awful lonely, then, not being allowed to have a family or anything.”
“The Order is all the family I need,” he explained wearily, briefly tempted to send Anakin to sleep with a Force-suggestion.
This clearly wasn’t the answer Anakin wanted; Obi-Wan could feel that he was still squirming restlessly. “What is it, Padawan?”
He felt a bit of shame radiating from the boy. “I miss my mom. But…I’m not allowed to miss her, you said.” Anakin sniffled.
“Well…no, technically not.” Obi-Wan felt a twinge of guilt; he reminded himself that he was the boy’s master, and that it was his duty to teach him these things. He couldn’t help but feel like a monster, though; he knew that Anakin was lonely, and that the other Initiates his age excluded him because he had come to the Temple so late in life. “Jedi are sometimes fated to walk a lonely path,” he offered. “But on the other hand, a Jedi is never really alone; the Force is always with you, Anakin.”
“But I don’t want the Force.” Anakin sounded petulant, a tone of voice Obi-Wan was rapidly growing accustomed to hearing from him. “I want my mom back.”
Obi-Wan was at a loss for words. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Anakin that he couldn’t have his mother back, nor could he offer comforting platitudes about the Force being all the family he needed. It just…didn’t seem right. He’d never felt the emotions Anakin was feeling right now; he didn’t know how to comfort him. He could sense Anakin’s misery over their shared training bond, and he wanted to help. He just…didn’t know how.
“I…will get to see her again someday, won’t I?” Anakin’s petulance had changed to sadness, and he was fairly radiating hopelessness.
Obi-Wan swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Perhaps.” He reached out to Anakin, laying a hand on his shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting fashion. “Once you’re far enough into your training.” He had a sneaking suspicion he would regret this later; the Council, he knew, would never let Anakin go visit his mother.
Anakin scooted closer to him, perhaps emboldened by the touch. “Will you be my family, Master Obi-Wan?”
He paused for a long moment, mulling this over. Obi-Wan really didn’t want to encourage the boy to become emotionally attached to him…but on the other hand, he felt sorry for him. Besides, when it came down to it, although he hated to admit it, now that Qui-Gon was gone, Anakin was really the only person Obi-Wan had left. And…well…the thought of having a Padawan did arouse a certain protective instinct in him.
Obi-Wan reached out and pulled Anakin close, spontaneously hugging him. “Of course I will, Anakin.”
However! I'm tackling fanfic100 as my NaNoWriMo project again this year, so hopefully, the fic offerings will increase exponentially this month. (Unless, of course, I get stuck on a fic like I did last year. *kicks the "outsides" fic, which is still residing on her hard drive, even despite a crash, a computer switch, and a hard drive replacement*)
Title: Family
Fandom: Star Wars
Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi
Prompt: 24. Family
Rating: G.
Word Count: 1021.
Summary: Anakin is lonely; Obi-Wan tries his best to comfort him.
Author's Note: I hate to sound like a Mary Sue author, but I do suck at summaries. Also, I think this takes place fairly shortly after TPM.
The boy kept having nightmares. What was more, every time he had one, he somehow found it necessary to crawl into Obi-Wan’s bed. It was starting to get on his nerves. He knew he should feel sympathetic for Anakin - it couldn’t have been easy, being suddenly uprooted from one’s home, then saving an entire planet from the Trade Federation - but he was entirely too wrapped up in his own problems to care.
Obi-Wan was beginning to get used to waking up in the middle of the night with an extra occupant - two, if you counted the blasted stuffed bantha that the boy insisted on sleeping with - in his bed. He discouraged the practice whenever possible, but Anakin didn’t seem to listen at all. The boy never listened - Obi-Wan was beginning to learn that much. Or, rather, he listened when it was convenient. Anything that Obi-Wan wanted him to hear went in one ear and out the other.
And so, after a long discussion about how nightmares were just a creation of one’s subconscious, and that there was nothing to be afraid of (except for when one’s nightmares drew directly upon one’s memories, of course, but Obi-Wan wasn’t about to mention that particular problem), Obi-Wan wasn’t at all surprised to wake up to Anakin standing next to his bed.
He sighed, shielding his emotions a bit to keep from radiating exasperation to Anakin. “Well?”
“I had another nightmare, Master Obi-Wan.” Anakin looked ashamed; he clutched his bantha tightly in embarrassment.
“All right, you can stay with me.” He knew he should have discouraged it, but surely letting Anakin sleep in his bed one last time couldn’t hurt. Truth be told, even though being woken up in the middle of the night was irritating, he was starting to grow accustomed to Anakin’s presence. It was, in a strange way, almost comforting - at the very least, it staved off his own accursed bad dreams.
Anakin climbed up onto the bed, huddling underneath the thick blue comforter. Obi-Wan could tell that he wanted to snuggle up to him for warmth, but was too afraid to ask. Though Obi-Wan would have refused, he knew that, permission or no, when he woke up in the morning, Anakin would be curled up against him. Actually offering physical comfort to his apprentice, no matter how scared and alone he was, was out of the question - he was not going to get attached to the boy, no matter what he had promised his Master.
Obi-Wan suppressed a sigh as he felt Anakin wriggling around and tangling the sheets around his feet. “Is something the matter?” he asked.
“Do you ever miss your family, Master Obi-Wan?”
He shook his head. “I never knew my family. I came to the Temple when I was only a few months old.” Obi-Wan knew he had discussed this topic with Anakin before.
“Well…don’t you miss having a family, then?”
Obi-Wan frowned slightly. “A Jedi must avoid emotional attachments, Anakin. They can easily lead to the Dark Side.” He ignored the niggling feeling in a corner of his brain that said that lecturing Anakin on this particular aspect of the Code made him a hypocrite. “That is why most Jedi begin their training in infancy, so they don’t remember their families.”
“You must be awful lonely, then, not being allowed to have a family or anything.”
“The Order is all the family I need,” he explained wearily, briefly tempted to send Anakin to sleep with a Force-suggestion.
This clearly wasn’t the answer Anakin wanted; Obi-Wan could feel that he was still squirming restlessly. “What is it, Padawan?”
He felt a bit of shame radiating from the boy. “I miss my mom. But…I’m not allowed to miss her, you said.” Anakin sniffled.
“Well…no, technically not.” Obi-Wan felt a twinge of guilt; he reminded himself that he was the boy’s master, and that it was his duty to teach him these things. He couldn’t help but feel like a monster, though; he knew that Anakin was lonely, and that the other Initiates his age excluded him because he had come to the Temple so late in life. “Jedi are sometimes fated to walk a lonely path,” he offered. “But on the other hand, a Jedi is never really alone; the Force is always with you, Anakin.”
“But I don’t want the Force.” Anakin sounded petulant, a tone of voice Obi-Wan was rapidly growing accustomed to hearing from him. “I want my mom back.”
Obi-Wan was at a loss for words. He couldn’t bring himself to tell Anakin that he couldn’t have his mother back, nor could he offer comforting platitudes about the Force being all the family he needed. It just…didn’t seem right. He’d never felt the emotions Anakin was feeling right now; he didn’t know how to comfort him. He could sense Anakin’s misery over their shared training bond, and he wanted to help. He just…didn’t know how.
“I…will get to see her again someday, won’t I?” Anakin’s petulance had changed to sadness, and he was fairly radiating hopelessness.
Obi-Wan swallowed past the lump in his throat. “Perhaps.” He reached out to Anakin, laying a hand on his shoulder in what was meant to be a comforting fashion. “Once you’re far enough into your training.” He had a sneaking suspicion he would regret this later; the Council, he knew, would never let Anakin go visit his mother.
Anakin scooted closer to him, perhaps emboldened by the touch. “Will you be my family, Master Obi-Wan?”
He paused for a long moment, mulling this over. Obi-Wan really didn’t want to encourage the boy to become emotionally attached to him…but on the other hand, he felt sorry for him. Besides, when it came down to it, although he hated to admit it, now that Qui-Gon was gone, Anakin was really the only person Obi-Wan had left. And…well…the thought of having a Padawan did arouse a certain protective instinct in him.
Obi-Wan reached out and pulled Anakin close, spontaneously hugging him. “Of course I will, Anakin.”