Obi-Wan stared at the boy in front of him – trying not to make it obvious – but stared all the same. Anakin didn't seem to notice this as he dug into the food that Obi-Wan had quickly cooked up for him. It had been a few weeks since Qui-Gon died and Anakin and Obi-Wan were just starting to get settled down. It was hard, taking on a padawan when he was barely old enough to be a knight himself, but Anakin didn't seem to mind.

Well, Anakin didn't seem to mind a lot of things. Like the first few days Obi-Wan had almost completely ignored Anakin, and didn't register that he was even there until Anakin came to him. Obi-Wan wondered how the boy even lasted that long without Obi-Wan caring for him. Obi-Wan had mentally cursed himself, but Anakin was used to being deprived. He wasn't sure if this was Obi-Wan's way of punishing him, or if Obi-Wan just wasn't ready to be a master, but Anakin decided to excuse his behavior (mentally of course). Obi-Wan might have taken offense to Anakin straight up telling him he didn't mind that he was behaving this way, like a little boy.

Obi-Wan stared down at his own food, surprised that any living being could eat that quickly. He wondered just how long Anakin had gone without food in his care, and felt a sinking feeling in his gut. He was a bad master. He wasn't ready. But he gave Qui-Gon his word, and that was enough.

Obi-Wan couldn't say it was a comfortable silence, but it wasn't awkward and tense either. It was just… in between.

Anakin broke the silence first. "This was really good sir – master, thank you."

Obi-Wan gave him a small smile, "You're welcome, young one."

Am I saying the right things? Am I doing this right? Should I have called him a young one or is that acting like a hypocrite? Obi-Wan mentally winced, hoping that he wasn't unintentionally abusing his power. Anakin didn't seem fazed though, he simply smiled back.

There was another moment, when Obi-Wan broke the silence. "Anakin, when was the last time you ate?"

"Ehmm… last night… I think."

Obi-Wan automatically felt a million times worse. "I'm sorry padawan, why didn't you come to me?"

Anakin suddenly looked very meek and squirmy. Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows when Anakin didn't answer.

"Padawan, you know you can come to me with anything, right?"

"Yes sir – yes master," Sir. That was a habit Anakin was going to have to break. "I just… everything is so different here," he said truthfully. "I didn't really know to come to you."

Obi-Wan frowned, scrunching his eyebrows in confusion. "Well, who else would you go to?"

Anakin shrugged, "I don't know. Nobody maybe. Nobody really cared back on Tatooine, except my mom of course…" Anakin trailed off, memories of his mother swimming in front of him. He didn't really remember being a slave to Jabba, but his mom told him about it, and how Watto was actually decent for a slaver.

Obi-Wan seemed to sense the turmoil in Anakin. "Don't feel like that, you can come to me," he said in a firm but hopefully kind voice. Anakin looked at him for a moment, those blue eyes searching his, before nodding slowly.

"Alright, I will Obi-Wan."

"Master." Obi-Wan corrected.

"Master."

Obi-Wan nodded in approval. "So what's different from here and Tatooine?" he already knew most of the answers, but he wanted to hear it from the boy himself.

"Well," Anakin started, tilting his head in thought. "There's the water. Water is really expensive on Tatooine, so we always got something cheaper…"

Obi-Wan nodded and Anakin continued. "The whole planet was covered in sand, but here… it's like…" he trailed off, his eyes glistening. "It's wonderful."

Obi-Wan let out a chuckle, "Yes, I felt the same when I first came here."

Anakin turned to look at him, still looking thoughtful. "What planet did you come from?"

"Stewjon. Imagine the exact opposite from Tatooine. Closer to what Naboo is like."

"Oh… it sounds nice."

Obi-Wan dipped his head in agreement, "It was… but I much prefer the jedi temple."

"Do you… miss your parents?"

Obi-Wan paused… how was he supposed to answer that? "No, I don't remember my parents. Qui-Gon was the only…"

"I'm sorry," said Anakin quickly, "that was a rude question, I –"

"Don't apologize, Anakin. You did nothing wrong."

Anakin nodded and glanced back down at the demolished food.

"Luxury."

"What?" asked Obi-Wan, confused and wondering what parts of the conversation he must have missed.

"Luxury. That's another thing I like here that we don't have on Tatooine."

Obi-Wan bit his lip… it would be cruel to take that information…

"Oh yes? Why not?"

"Slaves don't get that stuff," said Anakin without missing a beat, looking closely at Obi-Wan's reaction. Obi-Wan blinked, surprised that he had admitted that so freely, but also a little bit concerned at the calculating look Anakin was currently giving him.

"I – oh – that –" blast it!

Anakin watched as his master stuttered, trying to find the correct wording without making himself look like a fool or worse. He decided to spare his new master the embarrassment. "It's okay, Master," he said calmly, looking rather worriedly at his master, because he was now appearing very stressed.

"It's just… why do you ask such awkward questions?"

Anakin hid a smile at that, sensing Obi-Wan's embarrassment through their weak bond. "I don't mind it."

Obi-Wan muttered something unintelligible, but Anakin found that he didn't really care. He'd rather enjoyed the little show he'd just had, but at the same time was appalled at himself for thinking like that.

"Good masters," Anakin concluded, watching Obi-Wan turn to him with the same confusion he had before.

"Excuse me?"

"Good masters," Anakin repeated firmly. "Qui-Gon seemed like he would have made a good master… and you seem like you make a good one."

Obi-Wan blinked.

"I – thank you?"

Anakin beamed at him, making Obi-Wan feel uncomfortable again. "So… you had bad masters before?" Obi-Wan mentally cursed himself as Anakin's face shadowed over.

"I guess."

"You guess?" Oh why, oh why was he pushing this?

Anakin frowned slightly. "My first master – owner – was Jabba the Hutt."

Qui-Gon hadn't told Obi-Wan that…

"Then me and my mom got sold to Watto. He was pretty nice for a slaver, only hit the slaves if they really deserved it, and he didn't whip them like most slavers would."

Obi-Wan had to fight the urge to drop his jaw. He remained composed on the outside, but on the inside he was freaking out. "Did… did he ever hit you?"

"Yeah," Anakin said this in a slow voice, as though talking to a child. Obi-Wan frowned at the tone, but was too upset over the fact that someone had hit his padawan… and oh, was he already getting possessive? Was that even allowed? Wasn't that considered attachment?

He blamed it on the growing padawan/master bond. It was making him feel unnaturally protective, but would go away once the bond got stronger.

"I'm… sorry to hear that…" Obi-Wan trailed off, feeling incredibly awkward. He heard a snicker and turned to see Anakin grinning at the ground.

"Something funny?" asked Obi-Wan, not seeing the humor in any of this. Anakin abruptly stopped laughing, but there was still the ghost of humor in his eyes. "It's just, I wasn't really expecting that reaction from you."

"What reaction were you expecting?" Obi-Wan asked, not sure if he should be insulted or not.

"Well… you probably don't want to know."

"Yes I do."

Anakin tilted his head, studying him closely… "No, you wouldn't."

"Yes I would," said Obi-Wan stubbornly, and Anakin started looking uncomfortable again.

"I was worried you'd start acting like Watto does whenever I tell him something."

Obi-Wan stared at Anakin. "You don't think I'd ever hit you, do you?"

Anakin shrugged, "How am I supposed to know? I don't think you would, it was my test."

Oh the mind of a nine year old…

"I wouldn't hit you," Obi-Wan said in a firm voice, freaking out slightly at the thought that Anakin could ever think that.

Anakin smiled at him. "I think I might just like you."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, smiling back. "I think I might just like you too."

Okay, I was really bored, so I decided to write, and this is the product. Tad-ah! I'm going to go hide now from the flames or no reviews that will be on the way.