When You Come Home

-47-

"Anakin? Is that you?"

Anakin jumped spectacularly, his heart rate leaping twice as high. "Who's there?" Adrenaline made his hand shake as he reached for the gun at his hip ... which was unfortunately somewhere inside this warehouse.

A figure emerged from the shadowy lighting, a white blouse and beige pants contrasting the darkness. Bright blue eyes shone in the streetlights with neither excitement nor pleasure but perhaps relief? Tala stepped forwards to grasp Anakin's hand and pull him inside. She cast a quick glance to either side, then pushed the door shut silently. Tugging him away from the door, she waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. "Are you alright?" Her question was firm, demanding an answer, but it was undermined with a concern Anakin hadn't yet seen in Obi-Wan's wife.

He nodded, still calming from his fright. "I didn't think you'd still be here."

Her stern features twisted almost comically. "You think I'd be so neglectful of my guests? This isn't Coruscant."

Anakin wasn't sure what was in Coruscant that it should be scorned such, but he wisely refrained from responding. "Thank you for looking after my men. You don't know how much it means to us ... to me."

She nodded briskly, then grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders, fussing a little. "You may be soldiers, but you're still people. Besides, I know what you suffered to protect my—uh, this people."

"It's fine — wait, how do you know what happened?" Anakin didn't realize his work had been so public.

"Rako told me," she responded simply. A warmth softened her face at the mention of his name. She waved for him to sit, perching herself on a crate opposite.

Anakin wasn't sure whether to be flattered or embarrassed, so he sat quickly then diverted by saying the first thing on his mind. "Did you know that he's a —?" He stopped himself just in time, panicked that he had nearly blown his brother's cover. He could have been wrong, anyway. Obi-Wan couldn't be a Jedi. He just couldn't.

"That he's a Jedi? Yes, I did," she finished offhandedly. As though she hadn't just spilled one of the biggest state secrets. "Don't look so shocked. The Jedi are too precious about their secrets anyway. And no, Rako won't mind if I tell you; he feels the same way."

Anakin was speechless. A storm of unlabeled emotions flooded his mind, each flying past his eyes too quickly for him to catch them. Obi-Wan actually was a Jedi? Was that a good thing? For how long? Why? And why hadn't he told him?

"You must have a lot of questions," Tala nodded wisely. "I'll answer a few, but you have to sleep soon. You have a big day tomorrow."

Anakin cast her a sideways glance. "How did you know I was planning on leaving for Coruscant then?"

"I can see it in your eyes," she said simply.

Anakin didn't know if this was a good or bad thing, so he threw out his first question. "How long has he been a Jedi?"

Tala sat back to think, resting against a crate of canned foods. "Two and a half years, I think. Just before moving to Mandalore, he wanted to become one. Ahsoka actually sought him out –"

"Ahsoka? She was a Jedi then? She must have been about twelve!"

Tala laughed. "She was young, but she's not that much younger than you, you know. Ahsoka approached him and offered him to start training right away. Rako wasn't your usual Jedi case, though. They usually start them younger than even than Ahsoka, and Rako refused to join if he couldn't marry me. This came with two issues: firstly, they don't usually allow for marriage when you're a Jedi as it complicates everything too much, and secondly, he was going to become a Mandalorian citizen, which, as you know, is not part of the Republic. But after a bit of push-back, we were both delighted when Ahsoka told us that the issues had been resolved and he was welcome to join. So, he's been training harder than any other Jedi to catch up. He's becoming one of the best. But that's just my opinion," she tacked on thoughtfully. "And I'm biased, of course. He's the best at anything he does."