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“It’s wonderful to see you again, Senator,” Obi-Wan said. Padmé pushed a smile to her face and returned the sentiment, but could not help but keenly feel the absence at Obi-Wan’s shoulder. Perhaps sensing her heartache, Obi-Wan continued, “Anakin and I were pleased to receive your invitation to speak at your event about the needs of our troops. Unfortunately, Anakin was called away at the last moment for a mission. Special request by the Chancellor, I’m afraid, so it could not be ignored. He sends his regrets that he cannot attend. I know he was quite looking forward to the opportunity.”
Padmé was reluctantly impressed. Only the slightest twist of his lips when he spoke of the “special request” betrayed Obi-Wan’s true feelings at Anakin being at the beck-and-call of Chancellor Palpatine, and she might have missed it had she not shared that annoyance at the moment. And, of course, the slightest inflection on the word “opportunity”, hinting towards him meaning, very possibly, something else entirely, buried under a thick veneer of plausible deniability.
Padmé was happy to maintain it.
“Of course,” she said. “I could not ask General Skywalker to abandon his duties.”
“Indeed,” Obi-Wan said. “As he might very well take you up on it if you did.” Before Padmé could carefully weigh her response, Obi-Wan cracked a smile. “After all, any of us would be glad to take a break from this war, wouldn’t we?”
“There is so much fatigue even here on Coruscant,” she agreed, relieved at the turn that had taken, “I can only imagine how exhausting it must be on the front lines.”
“It wears on us all. But such a commitment cannot be made half-heartedly.”
Or perhaps the conversation had not turned as much as she’d thought.
“Surely, seeking a few moments of respite hardly makes the commitment half-hearted?” Padmé ventured.
She’d framed a lie with that hypothetical. There had been vows. But Obi-Wan didn’t need to know that.
“No,” he agreed. “If one’s commitment is not compromised, then I will not fault that. As long as it remains such.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” she said, because she could pretend that was the case.