arlo's adventures // a 'sparky' anthology

dad (one-shot).

honestly this could take place at any given point in the book but i'd say it's before the mortis arc

My eyes slowly open as I'm woken up by the sound of knocking at my door. 

"Arlo," I hear Obi-Wan call from the other side of my door. "Arlo! Wake up!"

I grumble in annoyance as I open the door with the Force and prop myself up on an elbow. "What?"

"Good morning to you, too," he says sarcastically as he walks in and over to the side of my bed. "You have class today, and you need to eat breakfast, because I know you skipped dinner last night. Please don't do that again, by the way."

"Sorry, Master. Wasn't hungry. Tired, too."

"That could be because you have the worst sleep schedule out of everyone I've ever met. Now come along, I just heard Ahsoka and Anakin a few minutes ago excitedly yelling about how they're serving waffles this morning," Obi-Wan tells me. I nod as I stand up from bed, immediately feeling nauseous. I lean a hand up against my bed for balance, trying to brush it off, but Obi-Wan gives me a concerned look. "Are you all right, Arlo?"

"M'okay. Still a little sleepy," I lie. 

Obi-Wan looks at me skeptically, then nods. "Okay. Come along, then, you don't have much time to eat." As my balance goes back to somewhat normal, I grab my boots and slip them on quickly, not having to change since I fell asleep in my normal clothes. I then follow him out the door and to the cafeteria. We go through the line and get our food, then sit across from each other at a smaller table. I love the waffles that the temple makes, but just looking at them right now makes me feel sick. My stomach hurts really bad.

"Now that I think about it, I'm really not that hungry, Master," I tell him. 

He gives me yet another concerned look. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just not hungry."

"You didn't eat dinner, Arlo. Eat."

"But—"

"You're gonna make yourself sick if you don't, so please at least take a few bites." I sigh and comply, not wanting to worry Obi-Wan any more than I already have. I slowly eat about half of the waffle before sitting my fork down. Obi-Wan gives me a small smile. "Thank you. Now get to your lesson, I'll see you after."

"See you, Master," I say as I stand up from my seat. I feel dizzy again, but play it off by grabbing my cup for a quick sip of water before I walk off towards my Force Theory lesson. I sit down cross-cross towards the back of the circle.

"Good morning, Padawan Arlo," Master Yoda greets. I give him a small smile in return as he begins his lecture. I rest my head in the palm of one of my hands, elbow resting on my knee. I feel myself begin to grow more and more lightheaded as my stomach begins to churn. I'm gonna get sick.

My hand shoots up, getting Master Yoda's attention as I frantically point towards the door and my hand flies over my mouth. He motions for me to tell me I can leave as I stand up, almost lose my balance, and make a run for a bathroom. Obi-Wan's room is far closer than mine, so that's where I go. I enter without knocking and see Obi-Wan reading a book on his couch as I run to his bathroom.

He gets up quickly and follows me into his bathroom as I kneel by the toilet and throw up. "Arlo? Are you— oh, dear." He's by my side in an instant, kneeling next to me and brushing the stray hairs away from my face as he holds my padawan braid out of the way. I sit back down on my bottom once I'm done and look at my master apologetically.

"M'sorry, Obi, your room was closer than mine—"

"I'm not worried about that, little one," he tells me as he rests the back of his hand against my forehead, then my cheek. He frowns. "You've certainly got a temperature. Have you not been feeling well all day?" I sigh and look away, and Obi-Wan crosses his arms. "Arlo. You have to tell me these kind of things, you know that," he scolds. 

"I know," I mutter. "But I'm fine now, I can go back to class—" I cut myself off by losing my balance as I stand up, grabbing onto the sink counter for balance. Obi-Wan gets up quickly and helps me stay upright. 

"You are absolutely not going back to class. You're sick, Arlo." He lifts me up and sits me on the bathroom counter, then takes a wash rag, wets it under the sink, and pats down my sweaty face with the cool towel. "Stay right there, I'll be right back," he tells me as he flushes my puke down the toilet and exits the bathroom. He returns in a minute, holding a pair of pajama pants and a brown sweater that I recognize as one of the ones that he wears under his robes. He sits it on my lap. "Change into these clean clothes. I'll make tea and get you some medicine." 

He helps me down from the counter as he exits and closes the bathroom door behind him. I change into the clothes he gave me, which were entirely too big for me. The pant legs covered my feet completely, and the sleeves of the sweater almost went down to my knees. I take down my ponytail as I walk out of the bathroom, and Obi-Wan laughs at me as he pours the tea into one of his cups.

"I think your clothes are just a little big on me, Obi," I tell him as I sit down on his couch, resting my feet up on the coffee table. 

"I can see that," Obi-Wan chuckles, bringing the cup of tea over and placing it on the table near my feet. He grabs his good blanket, the brown fuzzy one, from the side of the couch and places it over my lap, then hands me my tea. Then he walks back to the kitchen and grabs a bottle of medicine, handing me two pills. I take them and wash them down quickly with my tea as he takes a seat next to me and tugs part of the blanket over to him and puts his feet up on the coffee table next to mine. "Feel any better?"

"Not really. But a little."

"I'm sure you'll be just fine after a couple of days. Seems like it's just a stomach bug, wouldn't you say?" he asks. I nod in agreement. "You should've told me, Arlo. You didn't think I'd be mad, or not believe you, right?"

"No, no, it's just... I've never really had anyone to tell before. I've always just dealt with it on my own. And I don't want you to worry about me because my stomach hurts."

"But what if you were seriously sick? I know you're very independent, Arlo, but part of independence is taking care of yourself, and you don't do that. And sometimes taking care of yourself requires you to ask for help. As for worrying, I am always going to worry about you. No matter what. And sometimes, you are absolutely no help with it, you know."

I smile a little at that. "I know."

"It would help me worry less, though, if you'd just let me take care of you for a few days. Until you're better."

"But you've already done enough. You let me throw up in your toilet and you gave me clothes and tea and medicine. I'll be fine on my—"

"Arlo."

"But I feel bad—"

"For the love of the stars, Arlo, you're sick, and you should have someone take care of you. You're not a burden, I promise you."

I roll my eyes as I rest my head against his shoulder with a huff. "Fine."

Obi-Wan laughs softly as he wraps a secure arm around me. "Just let me know if you need anything at all, okay?"

"M'kay," I murmur as I fight to keep my eyes open. Obi-Wan takes notice and uses the Force to place my tea back on the table so he doesn't have to move his arm away from me. 

"Get some rest, dear," Obi-Wan says softly.

"But I don't wanna get sick again," I slur out tiredly.

"I won't let you. Now, for once in your life, relax." I feel him send calming echoes to me through the Force. Each echo feels as if it's wrapping me in a hug, starting to lull me to sleep. "Goodnight, little one."

I feel myself drift away as I reply. "G'night, dad..."

—

My eyes widen as I look down at the girl resting on my shoulder, her soft snores filling up the silence in the room.
Did she just call me dad?

Given, she's exhausted, probably didn't mean to, and definitely won't remember when she wakes up, but I know she really felt that. I've come to learn that Arlo's a bit more honest when she's tired. Brutally honest, sometimes. Even if she doesn't know it.

I pull her a bit closer to me, her head now falling onto my chest. I can't help but smile to myself.

"Sweet dreams, my daughter."