Touch Starved

Epilogue

Author's Note: Enjoy the epilogue! And thank you all so, so much for joining me on this journey. This fic was so much fun to write, and I've been so excited to share it with y'all. I'm so grateful to everyone who read, voted, and/or commented on this story! ^-^

For those of y'all who want to see more with Anakin and Obi-Wan, perhaps consider checking out our fic Fading. Obi-Wan time travels from right after the OWK series back to ROTS. It's very Anakin-Obi-Wan-centric like this fic. :D

~ Amina Gila

One year later

It took nearly a month before Padme located a suitable mind healer for Obi-Wan and Anakin, for all of them, actually. The sessions were intensive and emotionally draining, and after the first three, Obi-Wan almost wanted to stop. Anakin wanted to stop after the first one. It's hard to do something that leaves him feeling so raw and empty, and Anakin shared that sentiment. The therapist promised that they would see improvement in time, though it wouldn't happen immediately. Obi-Wan wanted to disbelieve it – Anakin did disbelieve it – but they persevered, probably primarily because Padme pushed them to.

And it did work, albeit slowly, though it took almost five months before Obi-Wan felt comfortable enough to be apart from Anakin for longer than a day at a time, and vice versa. The time travel is one of the main reasons that they became so codependent on each other, though it's not the only reason, by any means.

Losing everything they had in the future was hard on both of them, and it wasn't easy for Obi-Wan to admit that he was ignoring his grief over losing Luke and Leia so abruptly by hyper-focusing on Anakin. It didn't help that it felt so right to help Anakin, to give him what he needed, what he's always needed. And that trapped them both in the cycle; the more they fed into it, the more dependent on each other they became.

They didn't even want to break it until they started seeing how negatively it affected them. Being apart become so hard, that they became unreasonably anxious if the other merely went off world on a routine supply run that would only take until evening. It got ridiculous, especially when Anakin couldn't even bring himself to spent time alone with Padme.

And then, they had both reluctantly agreed that something needed to be done. Their mind healer talked to them both, separately and together, helping them work through their years and years suppressed traumas and griefs, and it helped them learn to adjust to living a more normal, healthy life. They're still close, obviously. They still spend hours together with only each other, but they're capable of interacting with Ahsoka or Padme or Lyla without panicking the moment the other leaves their line of sight.

Thinking about it, in retrospect, is almost embarrassing.

They both still have a long way to go, but Obi-Wan can finally see how they're beginning to heal. Anakin is happier; he has far fewer days where he struggles with depression and guilt, and he himself is the same. It's easier to look at the future and be optimistic. It's easier to look at what he has and feel grateful instead of regretting what's been lost.

Ahsoka is thriving in their new environment, though her mind healing sessions may have something to do with that. She should never have been a soldier, not while she was still a child. The war was hard on her in so many ways, and it hurt Obi-Wan to see all the effects once he actually started looking.

This kind of life is good for Padme, too. She's admitted how much stress she was under as a Senator and being under constant stress isn't good for anyone. Being able to settle down and live her dreams has helped her. She's happier here, Obi-Wan thinks, especially since she can still use her talents to help people. She went into politics, because the Nubian queen asked her to, and because she wanted to help her planet. But in her heart, Padme always wanted to help people first. That's how she got into politics in the first place.