"Night Visitor"
Rating: PG
Lil' Anakin seeks comfort from a nightmare with Obi-Wan, but finds someone has beaten him to his Master's bed.
Of course, Anakin was almost ten, far too old to keep creeping into his Master's bed like a little boy, but he wasn't ready to stop yet, and Obi-Wan hadn't told him no. In so many ways Anakin was expected to be a grown-up now that he was a Jedi Padawan, and he doubted the other Masters would approve, but Obi-Wan didn't seem to mind, ever since that first time on Alderaan. They were still getting to know each other then, and Obi-Wan had seemed so stern and forbidding, yet when Anakin had gone to him for comfort, Obi-Wan had welcomed him into his arms with scarcely a word, and Anakin had felt so safe, safer than he had ever felt, even with his mother.
Maybe that's why the Prince spent the night with them on occasion. He must miss his mother, too. After all, he stayed with them far too often for a sleepover. Anakin remembered sleepovers on Tatooine as very rare and wonderful occasions when he and Kitster would get together and stay up all night, huddled on the floor playing games and whispering ghost stories to each other. They slept on the floor because their beds were hardly big enough for two, unlike his Master's bed.
Which no doubt explained why the Prince slept in his Master's bed on these sleepovers.
Either that, or the Prince had his own nightmares to overcome. Anakin could certainly understand that. He just hoped the bed would be big enough for three. But then, he was still pretty small. He wouldn't take up much space.
Anakin cautiously crept across the room, not needing the faint light from the window to see. He'd made this journey enough times to do it in complete darkness. When he reached the bed, he stopped and surveyed the situation. The Prince was on the side of the bed next to him, and Obi-Wan lay pressed up against the Prince's back, his arm around him. Anakin didn't understand why they were crowded together so tightly. There was plenty of room for them to spread out. It was going to be hard for him to wake Obi-Wan without also waking the Prince.
He moved to the foot of the bed and crept up the length of it, along the side next to the wall, until he reached the head of the bed. He lay a hand on Obi-Wan's bare shoulder. "Master?" he whispered.
Obi-Wan shot instantly awake, jerking half upright and startling Anakin. He was accustomed by now to being woken up in the middle of the night by his Padawan, but something was different this time. A warm body stirred next to him, too large to be Anakin.
Bail.
Oh, shit.
He hastily suppressed his embarrassment so as not to alarm Anakin. But honestly, didn't the child have any sense? Didn't he know what grown-ups did in bed? Anakin couldn't possibly have come here to sleep with him tonight. The sheets positively reeked of sex, and he and Bail were naked, for Force's sake. What was he supposed to do? This was almost as bad as if Anakin had caught them in the act.
Well, the oversight was his own fault. If Anakin had been raised at the Temple, he would have already been taught about such things as an initiate, but this was just one more example of the boy's woeful lack of education, and so far Obi-Wan had not felt up to the task of correcting the error. At any rate, he couldn't exactly kick the boy out now. Running a hand through his sleep-tousled hair, Obi-Wan gently disentangled himself from Bail, hoping not to wake him, and sat up. Bail nestled deeper into the covers, but showed no other sign of disturbance. Good. Clutching the blankets tightly around his waist, Obi-Wan turned to his nervous Padawan. "What is it, Anakin?" he asked softly. "Another dream?"
The boy nodded wordlessly, sensing Obi-Wan's discomfort but not understanding it. After all, if the Prince wasn't too old to sleep with Obi-Wan, why should he be?
With a sigh of resignation, Obi-Wan opened his arms, and Anakin gratefully climbed into his lap, burrowing into his chest. Just don't get under the covers with me, Obi-Wan pled silently.
At least Anakin didn't cry anymore what he came to Obi-Wan from his dreams. Obi-Wan hoped he could take that as a good sign. He had had nightmares in his own day -- still did, in fact, but they were inspired by actual events, by missions that had gone wrong. He still dreamed about the mission that had left Anakin as his Padawan. But Anakin's dreams were different. They were not based on actual events, nor did they appear to be visions. Rather they seemed to spawn from unknown terrors lurking deep within his Padawan's heart. Anakin might no longer cry, but he came to Obi-Wan with a weariness in his soul that troubled Obi-Wan more than tears. He could only pray that the comfort he gave his Padawan was somehow healing those psychic wounds.
Which was why Obi-Wan never seriously considered the option of sending Anakin off to sleep with a Force nudge and returning him to his own bed. If Anakin chose to return to his own bed (and Obi-Wan sincerely hoped that tonight of all nights he would) then that was fine, but Obi-Wan would not abandon him. The boy had had enough abandonment for one lifetime already.
So Obi-Wan held his Padawan, rubbing soothing circles on his back, pressing his cheek against Anakin's spiky hair, rocking him gently until some of the tension eased. He became aware of the fact that Bail had woken and was lying silently on his side, pretending to be asleep.
At last Anakin raised his head to look at Obi-Wan in curiosity. "Does the Prince have nightmares, too?"
Is that what Anakin thought Bail's visits were all about? "Um, not really."
"He just misses his mom?"
"Yes, I suppose he does." It was true enough, from a certain point of view: Bail was fond of his parents.
Anakin contemplated this. "He gets lonely a lot, doesn't he?"
Obi-Wan struggled desperately not to smile. "Yes." On a weekly basis. He saw Bail's shoulders twitch before falling still once more. "Now, are you ready to go back to bed?" he asked hopefully.
"Can't I stay here?" Anakin asked, looking at him with those soulful eyes.
Within an inward sigh of resignation, Obi-Wan answered, "Yes, you may." He had no one to blame but himself. He thought it was still too early for him to spend too many nights away from Anakin, which was why Bail tended to come to him rather than the other way around. But sharing his bed with his lover while his young Padawan was in the next room presented its own problems. He didn't think they were going to be able to manage it much longer. He supposed he had neglected Anakin's education long enough.
Anakin climbed off his lap and made as if to slide under the covers between the two men, but Obi-Wan rather hastily seized the boy's waist. "Why don't you sleep on the side next to the wall?" he offered. "I'd hate for you to get squashed." Besides, it wouldn't do for Anakin to discover that someone had wet the bed.
"Okay." Anakin willingly scrambled back across Obi-Wan to the other side and crawled under the covers. Obi-Wan settled carefully next to him, hoping Anakin wouldn't comment on the fact that he was naked. He had no idea how they would face that issue in the morning. If the Force was with him, Anakin would wake early and get up on his own.
Anakin curled up on his side, snuggling against Obi-Wan's chest, and Obi-Wan put his arms protectively around the boy. Behind him, he heard a rustle of sheets as Bail rolled over to spoon against his back. He felt the Prince smile against his shoulder as he pressed a kiss into his skin. Then he settled down, and before any of them knew it, they all three fell into a deep, satisfied sleep.
~ fin ~