Author's Note: This is just some random and rather insane idea I had one day, but I decided to write it down. I don't know why I did it, as I've never written any fanfictions before, but then, I already said that this whole affair is a bit insane.

If you find any mistakes (spelling or otherwise) you may keep them. But only if you really like them because if you don't take proper care of them, I want them back!

Disclaimer: WOW, big surprise! They don't belong to me... yet. *mwhaha*

Warning: Anakin is slightly OOC... but only slightly

THE IMPORTANCE OF LETTING GO

It was quite a normal afternoon in Obi-Wan's and Anakin's quarters (well, as normal as they come, anyway). At least until Obi-Wan decided that he had to go. So he stood up and headed for the door. At once, Anakin jumped up.

Anakin looked pleadingly up… well, down at his master.

"Please, don't leave me!"

"All right, I think I can stay a little longer before I have to go", answered Obi-Wan reluctantly.

Anakin was content with this answer, and they went back to watching the holonet.

Some twenty minutes later, Obi-Wan tried to get up from the couch again. They had been watching meaningless stuff on the holonet, but now it was time for him to leave.

Almost at once, his padawan grabbed his sleeve. "Where are you going?", he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Anakin, you know I have to go…"

"No, master. Can't you just stay a little longer?" Huge, pleading eyes looked up at Obi-Wan (this time it IS up as Anakin is still sitting on the couch). "Please don't go now. Please?"

Exasperated, Obi-Wan sighed. "But Anakin, you know very well that I have to. I have already been delayed far too long."

Anakin grew nervous. He couldn't believe that Obi-Wan tired to leave him alone. The Force (which sounded suspiciously like the insane man in his mind, who in turn sounded suspiciously like the Chancellor) practically screamed at him that he mustn't allow this to happen. "No, don't go. I need you! You can't leave me. What if I need your guidance while you are gone? What if my very good friend the chancellor is in reality the dark Lord of the Sith and tries to pull me to the Dark Side while you are gone, and we end up battling each other on a fiery lava planet? You know very well that I am terrified of lava. You have to stay with me!"

Obi-Wan sighed… AGAIN. Why did he always get the insane padawan? He had already explained his reasons numerous times; it just seemed that the young man hadn't been listening AT ALL to what he had said. "But Anakin, we already went through this! I can't! I really have to go! You have to understand… And besides, don't you think that you are a little over the top? I mean it's not like I am gone for a very long time." Obi-Wan tried to reason with his distraught padawan.

Anakin started begging: "Then let me come with you! Don't do this to me. Don't go down a path were I can't follow!"

At these words from Anakin, the door swished open to reveal Padmé. She rushed through the room towards Anakin, screamed something that sounded suspiciously like "don't you dare steal my lines", punched him in the face and left.

Obi-Wan frowned. "Well, that was strange. What's she on about? And no, Anakin, you know very well that you can't come with me. It's just not right. And I admit, I wouldn't exactly want you to come with me… This is something I have to do myself."

At that, Anakin's desperate pleading suddenly turned to anger. "You don't want me to come with you? It's the Council, right? They told you to go and not take me with you! They always do this. You might think they were afraid we would turn gay if we spent too much time together. And of course that is completely impossible as this is a strictly non-slash story. You always do your duty when the council is concerned. Well, what about your duty to ME? You have to constantly entertain me and keep me occupied so that I can't fall to the Dark Side. They can't make you go, let someone else do it. Why is it always you? Why do you always have to go?"

"Padawan, you know that this is not about what the Council says. I really have no choice in that matter! And if you believe it or not, everyone on the Council has to go on this particular mission from time to time. It is vital not only for the Jedi as individuals and as a whole, but for the whole Galaxy. So I really must go now!"

"And of course, you can just abandon me like that, now can you? You only think of what you have to do, where you have to go, and never how I might feel, being left behind by the only one on the Council I might actually not despise! I can't deal with that! I am too weak. (At that, Palpatine storms the apartment, but seeing who stole his line, he flashed an evil grin and left quietly. Anakin simply ignored him and continued with his rant against his master) You don't care about me, you just care about being the perfect Jedi and I bet you don't even like me at all!" Anakin was now screaming at the top of his lungs.

Trying to at least calm him down a bit, Obi-Wan assured him: "But of course I like you. And I do care about you and don't take your concerns lightly. But not even you can keep me from going now!"

But Anakin got even more enraged: "LIAR! You are leaving and you don't want to take me with you! And I know how this is going to end when I am not there to protect you, you will die a horrible death and never come back to me. I will loose you like I lost my mother and Qui-Gon and will loose my wife, my children, my limbs and my master…"

"Anakin, you are NOT making any sense! And besides, it is not even slightly dangerous where I am going, and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself. So would you please be reasonable and let me go now?" At that point, Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan's leg and didn't want to let go. "Please let go of my leg! I really don't want to make you sad by leaving, but this is just the natural order of things. Sometimes you have to let go." Obi-Wan was concerned by how much his padawan seemed attached to him… well, his right leg, at the moment. He certainly had to talk to him about this attachment that bordered on obsession. No, it already WAS a full-blown obsession. Perhaps they should consult a mind healer about this…

"NO! I don't want to let you go! I will not allow you to leave! You can't! I will tell my mommy that you were mean to me if you go now. I mean not the nice one we left on Tattoine, but the fierce, bearded, dead one, and HE will make you stay!"

"I don't think Qui-Gon would do any such thing. He was very much aware of the Living Force and would clearly have seen the urgency of this matter. And I already told you he was NOT your mother! Okay, let's make a deal. You let me go, and when I come back we do something that's fun. We could go out for dinner, maybe to Dex's, and eat lots of unhealthy food. Or we could watch the Star Wars movies… yet again. The choice is yours. We could even go and annoy Yoda. We haven't done THAT in a long time. We could go tell him about some serious and tragic dreams that we made up and listen to his ramblings about… no wait, that's a bad idea, I already get enough of that. But we could frighten him a bit by always mentioning Sith Lords. That would be fun, wouldn't it, Anakin? Now we can do all that, if you just let me go…" Obi-Wan was slowly beginning to bargain with his stubborn padawan. (Isn't he always the negotiator…)

Still, none of the usual tactics seemed to work. Anakin was still clinging to his right leg, screaming. Well, he had only two choices now: Either burst into tears himself, but that would have been extremely out of character and only be used as a last resort, or…

After having tried everything, from reasoning with his padawan (as if reason wasn't completely lost with him anyway) to consoling him and making promises to almost pleading with him to understand, even Obi-Wan's patience snapped. His mouth flattened in annoyance, and he stared down at his screaming padawan with steely eyes. "You will let go of me this very instant!" he said in a quiet voice that didn't allow for any argument. He sounded positively dangerous.

Frightened at this rarely glimpsed side of his usually serene and kind master, Anakin stopped screaming, slowly let go of Obi-Wan's leg and stared at him with a wobbling chin and tears in his eyes. He was actually scared of this commanding and more than slightly frightening side of Obi-Wan. This was scarier than the Dark Side he could sometimes glimpse in Palpatine, and certainly more terrifying than the thought of letting go of his master… finally!

The sight of his miserable padawan almost made Obi-Wan cave in on his padawan's demands and stay with him, even if it meant disaster, but then his resolve hardened. This was the only possibility; not leaving was simply not an option. Anakin had to stop being so childish and at 16 he was old enough to survive for some time without his master.

Without another word, Obi-Wan turned around, left his still sobbing padawan sitting alone on the floor and finally walked through the door of the living room. He almost turned around once more to give in to Anakin's wishes, to protect him from that anger and desperation his protégé was feeling and make everything all right again. But he really had to go, otherwise the consequences would be severe. There really wasn't any other choice; he would do what he must…

And with that thought, he finally opened the door and walked through…

into the FRESHER!!!

A/N: Anyone still here? I hope I could fool you. I couldn't fool my sister, she guessed what this is about after the first three paragraphs.. I guess she just knows me too well.

Please let me know if you could guess it too or if I caught you by surprise!