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Ever since Anakin was a little boy, he has always seemed to light up whenever it rains. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Anakin came from a desert planet; plagued with heat, suns and sand. Being deprived of rainfall for the majority of his young life.
Or maybe it has something to do with a completely different reason. Obi-Wan isn’t sure.
The first time Anakin experienced rain on Coruscant—or the first time he had ever experienced rain for that matter—Obi-Wan had seen the look of awe and wonder spark within his eyes, felt the pure radiant joy glimmering from his force-presence as the rain soaked through his buzzed blonde hair, dripping down his face, into his mouth, forming into a smile as wide as he had ever seen it. He was so over-joyously happy. You wouldn’t need to have been force-sensitive to know what the boy was feeling.
And ever since then, every time the heavens open up it’s like someone’s flicked an invisible switch within Anakin. When the rain starts falling down from the sky, no matter what kind of mood he was in before, wether it be happy or sad; he instantly seems to fill with this pure unadulterated joy.
Now, Obi-Wan and his former padawan are walking through the temple grounds, side-by-side, as they pass padawans and masters meditating amongst the grass, younglings playing and chasing each other through the trees which leaves are blowing in the soft spring breeze.
They haven't been on a walk together like this for a long time—not since Anakin was still a padawan. But today is their final day of leave before they ship off tomorrow morning; back to the responsibilities of war. Where Obi-Wan Kenobi will resume the position of General Kenobi: the famed Negotiator with a silver tongue. And Anakin Skywalker will resume the position of General Skywalker: the Hero With No Fear.
But right now, they are just Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker; former Master and Padawan.
The two Jedi in question made plans with Ahsoka to go out for dinner at Dex's tonight. But seeing as there's about an hour left before their padawan's last class finishes, Anakin and Obi-Wan decided to kill the time by going for a walk around the temple together.
A sweet, floral aroma infiltrates Obi-Wan's senses as the two Jedi pass a large blossom tree at the side of the path. Obi-Wan reaches out with his hand and catches a few falling blossom petals that have been blown into the air from the light breeze that flows past. The blossom petals swirl and tumble gracefully through the air, some of the petals collide with each other and continue their descent intertwining with one another like two lovers dancing to a melody Obi-Wan cannot hear.
Or maybe he can hear it. Obi-Wan closes his eyes and listens to the soothing sound of the birds chirping amongst the trees. It’s peaceful. Melodic.
Suddenly, Obi-Wan feels Anakin's force-presence light up, shining bright—even through his carefully crafted mental shields.
“Do you feel that, Master?”
Obi-Wan opens his eyes to see his former padawan smiling, eyes wide. The young man looks up to the sky and raises the palm of his flesh hand, as if feeling for something.
To answer Anakin’s question; Obi-Wan does feel it. There’s a distant buzz in the air, the sudden shift in humidity that always seems to be accompanied by rainfall.
“Yes,” he replies.
Suddenly, a raindrop lands on Obi-Wan's shoulder. Then another. And another. A thundering sound as a blanket of rain percolates towards the surface, first hitting the temple spires, then the roof of the temple building, before hitting the ground itself.
Without wasting another second, Obi-Wan pulls his cloak tightly around himself and sprints towards the blossom tree at the side of the path to seek shelter from the rain, which is now bucketing down, creating little splashes on the ground as each raindrop hits the surface.
From his little sheltered spot under the blossom tree, Obi-Wan looks out to see that not only has Anakin not made any attempt to shield himself from the rain, but he is now twirling around, gawking up at the sky. His cloak is drenched and there's rainwater soaking his hair, dripping down his face—but he doesn't seem to care. His presence in the force feels so blazingly bright as he spins and gracelessly twirls about in the rain.
Anakin pauses for a moment, mid spin, and looks at Obi-Wan with the biggest smile Obi-Wan has seen from his former padawan in a long time.
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin shouts, gesturing for Obi-Wan to come to him. "Come!"
Obi-Wan pulls his cloak a little tighter and shakes his head. "I don't want to."
"What? Are you scared of a little rain?!"
"No. This is not just a little rain, Anakin!"
"Come on, old man," Anakin quips, rolling his eyes, but smiling all the same. "A little rain won't hurt you!"
Obi-Wan lets out an exasperated sigh but still can't help but smile as the younger Jedi races towards him and grabs hold of his hand.
"Anakin..."
"Come on. It'll be fun, Master!"
Obi-Wan hesitates as he looks around the grounds, seeing that the other masters and padawans are hurrying indoors as the rain plummets down, crèchemasters rounding up a group of younglings before rushing inside the temple to escape the downpour.
But when he looks at his former padawan again, seeing the joy in his eyes, Obi-Wan finds he can’t refuse.
“Alright,” he says, adorning a smile as Anakin drags him out from under the blossom tree.
Obi-Wan is immediately pelted with rain. Hundreds of tiny droplets soak into his hair and seep into his cloak as Anakin leads them out into the middle of the clearing. Anakin stops, lifts a hand and pushes the stray clump of soggy hair out of his face before he grabs hold of both of Obi-Wan’s hands and begins spinning them both round in a circle.
“Wooooooh!” Anakin shouts, staring up at the sky as they spin round and round, erupting into joyous laughter as the rain thunders down.
Obi-Wan feels so warm and happy, even though it’s raining and oh force he’s wet—he’s just so glad that he’s experiencing this moment as it’s not often he gets to see Anakin so happy. So carefree.
And though in just under a day’s time the two of them will be once again thrust back into the harsh responsibilities of war, under the pretences of The Negotiator and The Hero With No Fear, for now Obi-Wan pushes the future aside and grounds himself in the present.
Seeing the way Anakin laughs as the rain drenches his skin. As he sticks out his tongue trying to catch the raindrops in his mouth. Feeling the unbridled joy radiating from his presence.
Obi-Wan savours this moment, as it’s the little moments like these that are the most precious.