One Path Chapter 38--Luminous Moments
Title: Luminous Moments
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: Where else could a boy who spent much of his time in Naboo's lake country race his speeder boats?
Rating: PG
Length: Around 2400 words
Category:Gen
Pairings/Characters: Obidala, heavy on the Obi/Little Anakin cuteness
A/N: One Path Chapter 38. Set during an alternate RotS.
Luminous Moments
Like most of the apartments at 500 Republica, the Kenobis' 'fresher was outfitted with a sonic shower, which was both more efficient than a water bath and far more revitalizing. For Ani, however, a water bath was an absolute necessity. Where else could a boy who spent much of his time in Naboo's lake country race his speeder boats? There was a collection of them arranged on the shelves beside the tub, where they would be easily within reach. Ani was notorious for being more interested in the boats than in the removal of dirt from his body.
So, after drawing the water, Obi Wan remained to supervise the affair. He was surprised to find, however, that his son offered little resistance once he made it clear that there would be no speeder boat races until the boy was clean. He assumed that the unexpected compliance was due to the fact that his presence at bath time was still a novelty and decided that the best thing for him to do under the circumstances was to enjoy it while it lasted.
Hair washing, it seemed, had become a ritual of epic proportions. A washcloth must be held strategically over Ani's face, tightly enough to prevent even a trace of clean water to sting his eyes. If a bit of water did manage to reach his closed eyelids, a towel must quickly be produced. Ani would then trade the washcloth for a section of towel--which must be completely dry in order for him to mop his face sufficiently enough that he could see. Obi Wan didn't bother trying to point out that, since his eyes had been closed underneath the washcloth, he wouldn't have been able to see anyway. Once his hair was sufficiently wet, shampoo could not be administered until it had been warmed in his father's hand for at least fifteen seconds. Then, Ani must be allowed to test it by dipping a finger into the waiting gel to make sure that it was warm enough. When Obi Wan made the mistake of asking why, Ani's response was a dramatic shudder which splashed bath water on both the beleaguered father and the floor around them.
"Otherwise it's cold!" Ani explained. "Makes me shiver."
"Oh," nodded Obi Wan, casting an amused look at the wet floor and then at his own drenched clothing. "Can't have that, can we?"
Ani shook his head, then touched the shampoo in his father's palm experimentally. He gave a ponderous frown and then finally nodded. "I think it's good, Dad."
"All right," Obi Wan said. "Close your eyes again."
Ani obediently squeezed his eyes shut and groped for the washcloth, which he pressed over his face again. "Ready," he announced, his voice muffled behind the wet cloth.
Obi Wan managed to finish the job of shampooing and rinsing his son's hair with only a half dozen "towel breaks," which Ani informed him quite seriously was an impressively small number for a first-time hair washer. He wasn't at all surprised to discover that the painful sting of shampoo in the boy's eyes did not bring about any screaming or whining. It hurt, of course, but Ani was far more concerned with his inability to see with soap in his eyes than he was with the fact that it felt uncomfortable.
By the time it was done, naturally, the bath was getting cold. Ani had to get out while his father emptied it and added fresh water. Then, before he could climb back in, he had to be allowed to test the temperature in order to prevent shivering in the event that it was too cold. Obi Wan decided that it would simply be better not to mention that the boy had been standing stark naked beside him--dripping wet, no less, because he had been too concerned with the faucet and the water temperature to think about drying himself--for more than a minute without shivering at all.
Once the water was deemed warm enough, he splashed his way back in, this time managing to drench not only Obi Wan's clothes but his face as well. How this feat had been accomplished, the general was honestly not sure. One moment, he had been calmly sitting on the side of the tub, and the next there was bath water splattering his face.
"Oops," giggled his son.
"You know," he remarked conversationally as he wiped his face. "The last time I gave you a bath, you were so small that you could fit in the sink in Grandma Jobal's kitchen."
"How old was I?" asked Ani, who was busily engaged in scrubbing his elbow.
"I think you were about a week old," Obi Wan replied.
"Oh. How's this?" Ani asked, holding up his elbow for inspection.
"Good. Do the other one," his father told him.
"Okay," the boy nodded. He finished his arms, then moved on to his chest, whistling contentedly to himself as he soaped and rinsed. When he was finished, he looked up at his father and frowned. "Why was Uncle Anakin so mad at you?"
"He wasn't. He was worried about Mommy," Obi Wan replied, mildly surprised at the turn of the conversation. "Lean forward, let me get your back."
"He seemed mad to me," Ani said, bending forward to allow his father enough room to scrub his back.
"Sometimes when people are worried, they allow their fear to make them angry. Uncle Anakin wasn't upset with me. I was just…a convenient target," sighed Obi Wan.
"Master Yoda says Jedi aren't s'posed to let fear control what they do," Ani told him.
"Master Yoda is right. But, the path of the Jedi is not easy. No one is able to follow it perfectly," said Obi Wan.
"I thought Uncle Anakin wasn't afraid of anything," Ani said.
"Everyone is afraid sometimes," smiled Obi Wan.
"How can The Hero With No Fear be afraid?" questioned Ani.
"That's just a name given to him by reporters," his father explained with a shrug. "They don't know him as well as we do."
"He is a hero!" Ani declared.
"Of course he is. Your Uncle Anakin has saved millions of lives. He's saved your life. And mine--more times than I can even remember. Even if he has been afraid, Ani, he has never let me down," Obi Wan replied, then absently waved a hand, warning, "Water on your back."
Ani twisted his head in time to see a small fount of bath water rise behind him. His eyes widened at the sight of it, then his mouth popped open as the stream arched and poured itself down over his back. He wriggled under it but didn't try to escape.
"Mom uses a cup for that, you know," he said.
"I know," Obi Wan winked.
"C'n I have my race now, Dad?" Ani asked.
"Yes," grinned Obi Wan. He watched as Ani dove for the boats and carefully set them in a row in front of him. He gave each of them a flick to send them to the other end of the tub, then dragged his hand through the water to bring them back again. When he had them, he repeated the process several more times, alternating which boat he launched first, but invariably the one that started first was the one that reached the other end of the tub first. He didn't seem disappointed by this, but Obi Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully and murmured, "You know, son, there's another way to do that."
"What do you mean?" asked Ani.
Obi Wan stood up, his fingers still moving unconsciously over the whiskers on his chin. Padme's objection had always been that she didn't want their son sent to the temple. Obi Wan had resisted the idea of training the boy himself because he hadn't wanted to risk creating a dynamic with him that was as fraught with tension and conflict as the one that he had shared with Anakin. Ani's temperament was quite different from his namesake's, though, and Qui-Gon had effectively taken the decision of whether he should learn the ways of the Force out of his parents' hands. In some mysterious way that Obi Wan did not yet understand, Qui-Gon was also one with the Force despite the fact that he retained an individual consciousness. Therefore, if Qui-Gon was willing to initiate the process of training Ani, then there could be no question that it was the will of the Force for the boy to learn. Jedi or not, Obi Wan Kenobi served the Force, and though he would do nothing to take away from the relationship that Ani had developed with Qui-Gon, he wanted--had always wanted--to share that aspect of himself with his son.
"Come out here and put your pajamas on, and I'll show you," he murmured, calling a towel absently to his hand and using it to mop up the water in front of the tub.
"Okay, Dad," Ani agreed eagerly.
Obi Wan could tell that he either knew or strongly suspected what it was that they were about to do. He scrambled out of the tub, further splashing water everywhere, and could hardly be concerned with drying himself off. As such, there were several places in which the fabric of his pajamas wound up sticking to his still-damp skin. Wet clothes didn't bother him though, and Obi Wan resisted another grin, gesturing toward the tub, where the toy boats were now lazily floating through the soapy water. Both of them knelt in front of it, Ani laid his chin atop his hands, idly studying the bobbing watercraft.
"The Force," said Obi Wan, drawing a hand gently through the water, "is like this."
"Like the water?" Ani asked, glancing curiously at him as the boats swirled in the current that his hand had just created.
"Mmm-hmm. It is also in the water. And the boats. They are part of it, just as you are. You can use the Force to move the boats the same way that you used the water to move them a moment ago," explained Obi Wan. He waited until the motion of the toys had settled and reached out through the Force, casually arranging them in readiness for another race.
Ani looked on, and Obi Wan could sense him not only watching but stretching out, following his actions through the Force. He shifted his gaze to take in the boy and smiled approvingly. "Now you launch them," he instructed.
Ani nodded and closed his eyes, wetting his lips with his tongue as he concentrated. Obi Wan felt him moving deeper into the current around them, exploring it, feeling for the boats and the warmth of the water. He didn't speak for some time, allowing the boy the freedom to simply touch the Force, to discover his own connection with it, that he and his toy speeder boats and the water in which they were floating were, in fact, all parts of the same limitless flow of energy.
"Good. Feel the Force around you," he encouraged softly. "Let it flow through you, Ani. Feel the water?"
"Mmm-hmm," the boy nodded, still keeping his eyes closed.
"Good," said Obi Wan again. "Now, give it a push. Just like moving your hand through before."
It was several long moments before a little swell rose behind the waiting boats then broke again, propelling them across the water's surface to the other end of the tub. Ani opened his eyes to watch them and grinned delightedly. Obi Wan slipped an arm around him, letting his hand come lightly to rest on the boy's shoulder.
"Now the Force decides which one wins," Ani observed thoughtfully.
"Exactly," Obi Wan nodded.
***
They ran speeder boat races until the water had turned icy, then ran a few more for good measure. Finally, though, Obi Wan reluctantly helped him put the boats away and drained the bath. Then, Ani followed him out to the living room and climbed up on the couch beside him. He squirmed closer and settled his head on Obi Wan's chest, his gaze drifting thoughtfully toward his parents' bedroom door.
"Dad?"
"Mmm?"
"Maybe Uncle Anakin wouldn't worry about Mom so much if he knew about the twins?" his voice rose at the end, turning it into a question, and he tilted his face uncertainly up at his father.
"I don't think so, Ani," Obi Wan shook his head sadly.
"He'd be scareder then?" Ani asked, though his father could tell that the answer to the question already rested heavily on the boy's heart.
"I'm afraid he would," nodded Obi Wan.
"Scared she'll die?" his voice was tiny and strained, and Obi Wan closed his eyes at the sound of it.
"Yes, son," he said softly.
"She won't," Ani told him, his tone shifting to something harder--a certainty which alarmed rather than reassured Obi Wan.
"Ani, we must both accept the possibility that your mother may die," he said, fighting to keep his voice even as he spoke the words. "To do less is…"
"The Dark Side," Ani cut him off. "I know."
Obi Wan frowned. "How do you know?"
"Master Yoda," said Ani quietly.
Closing his eyes again, Obi Wan let out a slow, heavy sigh. "There are so many things on your mind that a little boy should never have to worry about. I'm sorry for that, Anakin."
"She'll be okay, Dad," Ani replied. His eyes had drifted back to the bedroom where Padme lay sleeping, and he held his gaze there, but his arm wound its way around his father's torso. "So will you. Long as we all stay together."
"You sound like your mother," Obi Wan forced a laugh to cover the onset of tears.
"You told it to her first," Ani shrugged.
"I did?" Obi Wan frowned.
"She tells me all the time. In the Lake Country before I was born, you said it. Before Uncle Bail came to say they wanted you to be in the army, remember?"
"Yes," Obi Wan replied faintly.
My feelings tell me that no matter what happens tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or five years from now, you and I will be together. And as long as we are together, we have nothing to fear…
Author: Lionchilde
Summary: Where else could a boy who spent much of his time in Naboo's lake country race his speeder boats?
Rating: PG
Length: Around 2400 words
Category:Gen
Pairings/Characters: Obidala, heavy on the Obi/Little Anakin cuteness
A/N: One Path Chapter 38. Set during an alternate RotS.
Luminous Moments
Like most of the apartments at 500 Republica, the Kenobis' 'fresher was outfitted with a sonic shower, which was both more efficient than a water bath and far more revitalizing. For Ani, however, a water bath was an absolute necessity. Where else could a boy who spent much of his time in Naboo's lake country race his speeder boats? There was a collection of them arranged on the shelves beside the tub, where they would be easily within reach. Ani was notorious for being more interested in the boats than in the removal of dirt from his body.
So, after drawing the water, Obi Wan remained to supervise the affair. He was surprised to find, however, that his son offered little resistance once he made it clear that there would be no speeder boat races until the boy was clean. He assumed that the unexpected compliance was due to the fact that his presence at bath time was still a novelty and decided that the best thing for him to do under the circumstances was to enjoy it while it lasted.
Hair washing, it seemed, had become a ritual of epic proportions. A washcloth must be held strategically over Ani's face, tightly enough to prevent even a trace of clean water to sting his eyes. If a bit of water did manage to reach his closed eyelids, a towel must quickly be produced. Ani would then trade the washcloth for a section of towel--which must be completely dry in order for him to mop his face sufficiently enough that he could see. Obi Wan didn't bother trying to point out that, since his eyes had been closed underneath the washcloth, he wouldn't have been able to see anyway. Once his hair was sufficiently wet, shampoo could not be administered until it had been warmed in his father's hand for at least fifteen seconds. Then, Ani must be allowed to test it by dipping a finger into the waiting gel to make sure that it was warm enough. When Obi Wan made the mistake of asking why, Ani's response was a dramatic shudder which splashed bath water on both the beleaguered father and the floor around them.
"Otherwise it's cold!" Ani explained. "Makes me shiver."
"Oh," nodded Obi Wan, casting an amused look at the wet floor and then at his own drenched clothing. "Can't have that, can we?"
Ani shook his head, then touched the shampoo in his father's palm experimentally. He gave a ponderous frown and then finally nodded. "I think it's good, Dad."
"All right," Obi Wan said. "Close your eyes again."
Ani obediently squeezed his eyes shut and groped for the washcloth, which he pressed over his face again. "Ready," he announced, his voice muffled behind the wet cloth.
Obi Wan managed to finish the job of shampooing and rinsing his son's hair with only a half dozen "towel breaks," which Ani informed him quite seriously was an impressively small number for a first-time hair washer. He wasn't at all surprised to discover that the painful sting of shampoo in the boy's eyes did not bring about any screaming or whining. It hurt, of course, but Ani was far more concerned with his inability to see with soap in his eyes than he was with the fact that it felt uncomfortable.
By the time it was done, naturally, the bath was getting cold. Ani had to get out while his father emptied it and added fresh water. Then, before he could climb back in, he had to be allowed to test the temperature in order to prevent shivering in the event that it was too cold. Obi Wan decided that it would simply be better not to mention that the boy had been standing stark naked beside him--dripping wet, no less, because he had been too concerned with the faucet and the water temperature to think about drying himself--for more than a minute without shivering at all.
Once the water was deemed warm enough, he splashed his way back in, this time managing to drench not only Obi Wan's clothes but his face as well. How this feat had been accomplished, the general was honestly not sure. One moment, he had been calmly sitting on the side of the tub, and the next there was bath water splattering his face.
"Oops," giggled his son.
"You know," he remarked conversationally as he wiped his face. "The last time I gave you a bath, you were so small that you could fit in the sink in Grandma Jobal's kitchen."
"How old was I?" asked Ani, who was busily engaged in scrubbing his elbow.
"I think you were about a week old," Obi Wan replied.
"Oh. How's this?" Ani asked, holding up his elbow for inspection.
"Good. Do the other one," his father told him.
"Okay," the boy nodded. He finished his arms, then moved on to his chest, whistling contentedly to himself as he soaped and rinsed. When he was finished, he looked up at his father and frowned. "Why was Uncle Anakin so mad at you?"
"He wasn't. He was worried about Mommy," Obi Wan replied, mildly surprised at the turn of the conversation. "Lean forward, let me get your back."
"He seemed mad to me," Ani said, bending forward to allow his father enough room to scrub his back.
"Sometimes when people are worried, they allow their fear to make them angry. Uncle Anakin wasn't upset with me. I was just…a convenient target," sighed Obi Wan.
"Master Yoda says Jedi aren't s'posed to let fear control what they do," Ani told him.
"Master Yoda is right. But, the path of the Jedi is not easy. No one is able to follow it perfectly," said Obi Wan.
"I thought Uncle Anakin wasn't afraid of anything," Ani said.
"Everyone is afraid sometimes," smiled Obi Wan.
"How can The Hero With No Fear be afraid?" questioned Ani.
"That's just a name given to him by reporters," his father explained with a shrug. "They don't know him as well as we do."
"He is a hero!" Ani declared.
"Of course he is. Your Uncle Anakin has saved millions of lives. He's saved your life. And mine--more times than I can even remember. Even if he has been afraid, Ani, he has never let me down," Obi Wan replied, then absently waved a hand, warning, "Water on your back."
Ani twisted his head in time to see a small fount of bath water rise behind him. His eyes widened at the sight of it, then his mouth popped open as the stream arched and poured itself down over his back. He wriggled under it but didn't try to escape.
"Mom uses a cup for that, you know," he said.
"I know," Obi Wan winked.
"C'n I have my race now, Dad?" Ani asked.
"Yes," grinned Obi Wan. He watched as Ani dove for the boats and carefully set them in a row in front of him. He gave each of them a flick to send them to the other end of the tub, then dragged his hand through the water to bring them back again. When he had them, he repeated the process several more times, alternating which boat he launched first, but invariably the one that started first was the one that reached the other end of the tub first. He didn't seem disappointed by this, but Obi Wan stroked his beard thoughtfully and murmured, "You know, son, there's another way to do that."
"What do you mean?" asked Ani.
Obi Wan stood up, his fingers still moving unconsciously over the whiskers on his chin. Padme's objection had always been that she didn't want their son sent to the temple. Obi Wan had resisted the idea of training the boy himself because he hadn't wanted to risk creating a dynamic with him that was as fraught with tension and conflict as the one that he had shared with Anakin. Ani's temperament was quite different from his namesake's, though, and Qui-Gon had effectively taken the decision of whether he should learn the ways of the Force out of his parents' hands. In some mysterious way that Obi Wan did not yet understand, Qui-Gon was also one with the Force despite the fact that he retained an individual consciousness. Therefore, if Qui-Gon was willing to initiate the process of training Ani, then there could be no question that it was the will of the Force for the boy to learn. Jedi or not, Obi Wan Kenobi served the Force, and though he would do nothing to take away from the relationship that Ani had developed with Qui-Gon, he wanted--had always wanted--to share that aspect of himself with his son.
"Come out here and put your pajamas on, and I'll show you," he murmured, calling a towel absently to his hand and using it to mop up the water in front of the tub.
"Okay, Dad," Ani agreed eagerly.
Obi Wan could tell that he either knew or strongly suspected what it was that they were about to do. He scrambled out of the tub, further splashing water everywhere, and could hardly be concerned with drying himself off. As such, there were several places in which the fabric of his pajamas wound up sticking to his still-damp skin. Wet clothes didn't bother him though, and Obi Wan resisted another grin, gesturing toward the tub, where the toy boats were now lazily floating through the soapy water. Both of them knelt in front of it, Ani laid his chin atop his hands, idly studying the bobbing watercraft.
"The Force," said Obi Wan, drawing a hand gently through the water, "is like this."
"Like the water?" Ani asked, glancing curiously at him as the boats swirled in the current that his hand had just created.
"Mmm-hmm. It is also in the water. And the boats. They are part of it, just as you are. You can use the Force to move the boats the same way that you used the water to move them a moment ago," explained Obi Wan. He waited until the motion of the toys had settled and reached out through the Force, casually arranging them in readiness for another race.
Ani looked on, and Obi Wan could sense him not only watching but stretching out, following his actions through the Force. He shifted his gaze to take in the boy and smiled approvingly. "Now you launch them," he instructed.
Ani nodded and closed his eyes, wetting his lips with his tongue as he concentrated. Obi Wan felt him moving deeper into the current around them, exploring it, feeling for the boats and the warmth of the water. He didn't speak for some time, allowing the boy the freedom to simply touch the Force, to discover his own connection with it, that he and his toy speeder boats and the water in which they were floating were, in fact, all parts of the same limitless flow of energy.
"Good. Feel the Force around you," he encouraged softly. "Let it flow through you, Ani. Feel the water?"
"Mmm-hmm," the boy nodded, still keeping his eyes closed.
"Good," said Obi Wan again. "Now, give it a push. Just like moving your hand through before."
It was several long moments before a little swell rose behind the waiting boats then broke again, propelling them across the water's surface to the other end of the tub. Ani opened his eyes to watch them and grinned delightedly. Obi Wan slipped an arm around him, letting his hand come lightly to rest on the boy's shoulder.
"Now the Force decides which one wins," Ani observed thoughtfully.
"Exactly," Obi Wan nodded.
***
They ran speeder boat races until the water had turned icy, then ran a few more for good measure. Finally, though, Obi Wan reluctantly helped him put the boats away and drained the bath. Then, Ani followed him out to the living room and climbed up on the couch beside him. He squirmed closer and settled his head on Obi Wan's chest, his gaze drifting thoughtfully toward his parents' bedroom door.
"Dad?"
"Mmm?"
"Maybe Uncle Anakin wouldn't worry about Mom so much if he knew about the twins?" his voice rose at the end, turning it into a question, and he tilted his face uncertainly up at his father.
"I don't think so, Ani," Obi Wan shook his head sadly.
"He'd be scareder then?" Ani asked, though his father could tell that the answer to the question already rested heavily on the boy's heart.
"I'm afraid he would," nodded Obi Wan.
"Scared she'll die?" his voice was tiny and strained, and Obi Wan closed his eyes at the sound of it.
"Yes, son," he said softly.
"She won't," Ani told him, his tone shifting to something harder--a certainty which alarmed rather than reassured Obi Wan.
"Ani, we must both accept the possibility that your mother may die," he said, fighting to keep his voice even as he spoke the words. "To do less is…"
"The Dark Side," Ani cut him off. "I know."
Obi Wan frowned. "How do you know?"
"Master Yoda," said Ani quietly.
Closing his eyes again, Obi Wan let out a slow, heavy sigh. "There are so many things on your mind that a little boy should never have to worry about. I'm sorry for that, Anakin."
"She'll be okay, Dad," Ani replied. His eyes had drifted back to the bedroom where Padme lay sleeping, and he held his gaze there, but his arm wound its way around his father's torso. "So will you. Long as we all stay together."
"You sound like your mother," Obi Wan forced a laugh to cover the onset of tears.
"You told it to her first," Ani shrugged.
"I did?" Obi Wan frowned.
"She tells me all the time. In the Lake Country before I was born, you said it. Before Uncle Bail came to say they wanted you to be in the army, remember?"
"Yes," Obi Wan replied faintly.
My feelings tell me that no matter what happens tomorrow, or next week, or next month, or five years from now, you and I will be together. And as long as we are together, we have nothing to fear…