Work Text:
“I’m pregnant.”
“What? Anakin--”
“I’m pregnant! I mean, I’m expecting! I mean--” Anakin groaned and tried one last time. “Padmé’s gonna have a baby!”
Obi-Wan stood up from his desk and stared at Anakin, who was hyperventilating just a few feet inside his apartment door. The poor man was red-faced and sweating, his hands locked behind his head as he tried to breathe. After a moment Obi-Wan sighed and shook his head. “All right, come inside Anakin, and try to calm down.”
Anakin crossed in long strides to the couch, sat down, and held his face in his hands. “I don’t know what I’m going to do, I can’t-- And she--! This is ridiculous! How am I supposed to--?”
He turned off his holopad and went to sit beside his poor, frightened padawan. “It’s going to be all right.”
“You aren’t even surprised,” Anakin accused as he looked up from his palms. He took a long moment to search Obi-Wan’s face. “How long have you known? No, don’t laugh!”
“I’m sorry, Anakin, don’t get angry. It’s just that, no matter how hard you try, you always wear your heart on your sleeve. It was only a matter of time, really; the only question was when you would tell me.” Obi-Wan nudged Anakin with his shoulder and grinned. “You’re in quite a state - you’ve loved her since you first laid eyes on her in that junk shop on Tatooine.”
“I suppose I have.” Finally a smile broke through all the tears. It quickly disappeared into a grimace and Anakin admitted, “I had a dream, Master.”
The ventilation system whirred quietly, filling the silence as Obi-Wan remained quiet. It wasn’t often Anakin would even tell him this much these days, and he didn’t want to risk saying anything to make him close back up. Even if it was painful news he couldn’t help but be grateful Anakin would confide in him again.
“She was in pain,” he whispered. “There was… So much pain. And a baby, crying.” His face contorted into a grimace again as he tried to keep from weeping. “I’m afraid, Master. I know this is coming but I don’t know how to protect her. What’s the point in being a Jedi if you can’t protect the ones you love?”
Obi-Wan’s heart sank into his stomach. How indeed. He’d done a poor job of it so far as well; he’d watched this pod-wreck happen, he’d known it was coming, and yet here he sat in front of the smoldering wreckage. His heart broke, seeing Anakin so anxious. No matter how many times he’d parroted the Council’s words to Anakin, he hadn’t been able to make them stick in his own heart. Perhaps that was why the pleas to his padawan had gone unheeded.
“Anakin…” His voice was weaker than he’d intended. He repeated, “Anakin. The Council--”
“Forget the Council!” he growled. “They’re just going to throw me out, just like they’ve always wanted. And then what?”
A voice whispered in Obi-Wan’s ear. Anakin was right. “We’ll go to Naboo,” he blurted.
“We? Master…”
“All three of us. It makes sense for Padmé to return home, no one will question that.”
Anakin scoffed. “Yes, but what about us? We have no reason to be out there.”
“We’ll find one. I’ll find one. I’m not leaving you alone.”
The angry wrinkles between Anakin’s eyebrows softened and he ducked his head. When he looked up he gave Obi-Wan a shy smile. “Really?”
Obi-Wan might not have been able to control his heart, nor been able to protect Anakin from his own, but he could do this. He could help him keep her safe, and their child. He could find happiness in Anakin’s happiness. He could.
So he swallowed the tight lump in his throat and made himself smile.
“Really.”