Obi-Wan smiled as he watched the young eighteen years-old-boy, practice his Vaapad flawlessly, showing that his training sessions with Master Windu had bared fruit. Though calling him boy was not right anymore. Anakin had grown a lot in the last decade. He was now taller than Obi-Wan, his baby-fat was gone, leaving space to define muscles and refine-aristrocatical features. His golden skin, blond curls, and sky-blue eyes made him a beauty of no comparison.
He was still an angel. But unlike his past mischievous, yet angelic boy. He was now an arcangel, a warrior of justice.
One Obi-Wan could not take his eyes off him. His eyes especially lingered on the unique orange lightsaber, before going back to Anakin's face. There his padawan braid, caught Obi-Wan's attention. Another thing that showed how much Anakin had grown, was the number of beads in the braid. Yellow and green had joined the red, blue, and orange beads. Making Anakin the youngest padawan that has earned five beads, also the only padawan in over a century to have earned that many. Which beat Obi-Wan's record of being the only padawan to have earned four beads in over a century. Anakin had worked hard for them and even inspired his classmates to earn their yellow and orange beats. All of Anakin's friends were fluent in Basic, Binary, Huttese, Mandalorian, and Zygerrian. Not to mention, their native world's language.
Anakin himself now spoke eighteen languages, having added Zygerrian and Dathomiri to his repertoire.
"Are you going to keep on goaking or will you join me for a spar?" Anakin turned to Obi-Wan with a cocky smirk, that simply worked to make him look more irresistible.
"I wouldn't want to damage that pretty face before your knighting," Obi-Wan replied, coughing and trying to hide the blush of his cheeks, from Anakin's growing smirk he had not been very successful.
Another record beaten by Anakin, was his early knighting. There has never been a padawan that has achieved the rank of Jedi Knight at eighteen before. At least, during the Republic's Era. Back during the Old Republic, when the war against the Sith reigned, things were different.
Sometimes Obi-Wan thinks that Anakin made it his life objective to break every record set.
"Obi, you think I'm pretty?" Anakin teased, laughing when Obi-Wan's blush deepened. "It's ok, luckily for you I was already planning on going to visit the creche."
"Visiting the new initiates?" O-W asked, smiling softly.
By new initiates, he meant the rescued kids that had served as Anakin's knighting trials.
Anakin had been sent on his solo mission, at least first in this timeline. Anakin had been sent to look for possible Jedi initiates... what he had found had been horrible.
"Padawan Skywalker..." Master Windu looked at the normally untouched padawan in shocked.
Everyone in the Counsil did. They were having a routine Counsil session, when an emergency holocall from Padawan Skywalker came through. Master Plo, of course, accepted it before anyone could question the sudden call, he had been worried about his padawan's first solo mission. What they faced was not something they had been expecting. Anakin's tank-top was shreded in various places, he had a bandage peeking under his pants and was cradling a clearly distressed baby in his arms.
"Ani! What happened?!" Plo exclaimed, stunned and worried about his son.
No matter, how reckless Anakin's tactics may seem to many, they were always calculated and he had never gotten baddly hurt during a mission before. This is the worst Plo had seen Anakin been injured since... he had been a slave.
"Counsil, I bring dire news..." Anakin spoke with barely contained rage, taking many Counsil members, even those sceptical of him, by surprise. Where was the kind boy they knew? "During my search I came into some dark rumors. A child trafficking ring of force sensitive kids..."
"Impossible!" Many in the Counsil gasped.
"We would have noticed!" Mindu glared at Anakin's hologram.
"Truth, he speaks," Yoda's voice echoed in the room, as he banged his cane on the floor. "To the Force, you must listen."
"Oh, dear!" Shaak gasped, eyes watering as the Force showed the truth of Anakin's words.
"I did not want to confront them on my own, least they use the younglings against me," Anakin continued his report. "But while I was searching for more concrete proof to bring to the temple, I caught the attention of the wrong people," Anakin sighed. "They were too many and chased me, before shooting my ship. By the will of the Force, I landed nearby where they had the younglings."
"Why did you not send for help?" Master Depa asked, not unkindly, but confused. Anakin would always think his plans through, even the more reckless ones, especially when there were younglings in the line.
"Communication was a bust, even my com was lost in the crash," Anakin answered, to many winces. "My initial plan was to find a way to call for backup... but one of the kidnappers tried to... he tried too..."
"Breath, Padawan," Yoda ordered him gently, noticing how distraught Anakin was. "Breath."
"Thank you, grandmaster," Anakin took a deep breath, collecting himself. "He tried to rape a youngling... she is five."
"Kriffing Sith Spit!" Mace cursed, being followed by many other Counsil members. The Counsi Chamber has never been filled with so much rage. Even Yoda's ears were down, showing his distress. "Please tell me you got to her intime."
"I did," everyone sighed in relief. "But it ended up showing my location. I took the younglings and hid in the surrounding forest. I took the kidnappers out via a guerrilla style ambush. Took me almost two weeks, but I have them all contained. I need someone to come here and collect them, I can't travel with the younglings and criminals. Also, I can't stay in case reinforcement for them may come."
"Understandable," Fisto nodded his head. "Come home and bring the younglings, we will send Jedi to deal with the kidnappers."
"How many are there?" Plo asked his padawan gently, eyes filled with pride.
"A dozen, from recently born, to five years old," Anakin answered heart warm from the pride. "From what I gathered from them, their parents were all killed to take them."
"That's it," Mace stated. "I'll go."
"I'll join you," Depa agreed, a dangerous glint in her eyes, matched by her master's. "It will be like old times!"
"Agree, I do," Yoda nodded. "Family, home, here they will find. Anakin come home."
"I will, " Anakin sighed, gratefulness clear in his tone. "Also... I don't think this is over. There must be more out there."
More there was, but the Jedi Order did not stop until they were all down. This hunt was the main reason as to why Anakin's knighting had been postponed until everything had calmed down.
"I did promise I would visit and play with them," Anakin answered, taking his tunic off to change it with another one not covered with sweat.
"Is that a tattoo?" Obi-Wan asked surprised, having only then noticed the two orange suns on Anakin's right arm.
"The twin suns of Tatooine," Anakin smiled with pride. "When a freed slave reaches maturity, they earn their fate, a symbol of hard earned freedom. The fate is of our own choosing. Do you like it?"
"It's beautiful," Obi-Wan answered fondly. The "just like you" was left unsaid, but still heard.
"Come, we have younglings to meet," Anakin told him.
He would not push. Obi-Wan was not ready. Not yet. He will bide his time, Anakin has learned to be patient. Even if he does not like it.
But Anakin will have him. Obi-Wan was his after all.
-------------------------------
"Look at that!" Quinlan commented with amusement. "It seems that our kids decided to have some fun tonight!" Obi-Wan followed his finger to one of the tables of the shady nightclub in the lower levels they had just entered. On it Aayla and Anakin were dancing and having the time of their lives. "Then again, they are no longer kids. Force, when did my padawan get knighted and became a woman?"
Instead of teasing his bestfriend for being a nostalgic old man, for his uncharacteristical nostalgic comment. Obi-Wan swallowed hard.
The knight pair had just come back from their first mission as knights, and it had been a successful one. There was nothing wrong with them going out to celebrate. The issue, was that Obi-Wan can't handle how good Anakin looked.
With his braid off and being allowed to keep his hair as he wished, Obi-Wan had it hard keeping his hands from running through those golden curls. The metalic-blue mesh shirt, hugged Anakin's perfectly sculped body perfectly. And those leather pants! Force! They left nothing to imagine, as Obi-Wan swallowed hard.
Again.
The redhead had to get out, as he could no longer breath inside the nightclub. Not to mention, if he did not keep distance between them, Obi-Wan would end up doing something he'll regret.
"Fear is not the Jedi way," a velvety smooth voice, dripping in seduction, commented. Obi-Wan stiffened where he was leaning against the alley's wall. He slowly turned around to face the same devilish angel that has been invading in his dreams (wet dreams) for a long time. "You look good," Anakin smirked, not even trying hide how his eyes lingered on Obi-Wan's body, making the older man blush. "When will you stop running from me?"
Obi-Wan did not even try to refute Anakin's words. His dear heart deserved better than that. The red heal sighed. "I am much older than you, dear heart."
"I like them older," Anakin replied without missing beat, chuckling when Obi-Wan blinked in shock. "What? I have a type." Anakin smirked, as Obi-Wan blushed. Obi-Wan, Palme, Anakin really did dig older partners. "Do you wish to own me? To possess me? Is your love not pure?"
Not that Anakin would mind, as his love borderlined with obsession more than not. Being owned by Obi-Wan... now that's a thought I quite like, Anakin purred internally.
"It is," Obi-Wan sighed, smiling ruefully. He should have known there was no running away from this. Anakin always gets what he puts his mind on. No matter what. "I love you, my dear heart."
"I love you too, Obi," Anakin smiled, Force bursting in joy, like a supernova, leaving Obi-Wan breathless and in awe. He slowly leaned down to capture Obi-Wan's lips, when a sudden commotion by the entrance had them jumping away from each other. "What now?!"
Anakin fumed in anger at the interruption. Obi-Wan and Anakin rapidly turned around and saw a man being thrown against a wall, with Quinlan threating him with a dagger against his neck.
"What now?' Obi-Wan echoed, sounding more exasperated than angry.
"No, means no, get it?" Quinlan threatened with a low grow1.
"That is it, Master," Aayla appeared from the shadows, throwing Quinln back. "I have this," she then grabbed the collar of the man's shirt an smiled, a smile full of teeth, at him. "No means no, get it? " Anakin snickered as the man pissed himself and nodded his head in desesperation. "Good. Let's go Master, you owe me a drink."
"Would you look at that. He is a dad, who would have thought?" Obi-Wan smiled, as he saw Quinlan follow Aayla with a smile that was all pride.
"We better get going too," Anakin whispered in Obi-Wan's ear coyly, making the older man blush and shiver in pleasure. "We have a long night ahead us, and we better get to a bed before my patience is lost."