Title: Offspring

Author: snootiegirl99

Summary: If Anakin had had a female Master, would his life have taken a different path?

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters and make no money on the writing or publishing of this story. Disney owns everything Star Wars now.

Author Note: I'm a little obsessed with the notion that Obi-Wan could have averted galaxy-wide disaster if he had just loosened up a bit and really listened to Anakin about his problems. Anakin needs a sympathetic ear and someone to be in his corner, to have a family-like connection. He thought that Obi-Wan wasn't that person; therefore, Palpatine was. How tragic can a case of miscommunication be?

Author Note #2: Thank you to my beta reader, Temple Mistress. Your notes on this one made it a stronger story with a more consistent theme. Thanks for wading through it!

Rating: M, for heterosexual sex

Chapter 1

On the planet of Tattooine, a young slave worked in his master's junk shop. Until one day, he was freed from his bonds by a man, a special man. This man promised the boy that he would receive an education and become a very important part of the galaxy. And the boy was so happy to be fulfilling his destiny as well as his dreams.

When it was time to leave the planet, the man introduced the boy to his apprentice. "You're a Jedi too?" asked the boy. "Pleased to meet you!" Now the boy was truly happy. He had a new Master and a new best friend.

After the tragic death of his Master, the boy was taken as apprentice to the newly-knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi. Obi-Wan promised to train the boy to be a Jedi and gave him a hug to seal the deal.

The boy missed his Master, but he knew that his new Master would fill places in his heart that had been empty since leaving his mother behind in slavery on Tattooine. His new Master was kind, gentle, thoughtful, and beautiful. Just like his mother. He knew she was the right teacher for him.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan yelled. "You are not concentrating!" And with a swift move, she dislodged the boy's lightsaber from his hand. "I have bested you all afternoon. Is this really all you are capable of?"

Anakin was astonished. He had never seen that move before. His Master now had her back turned to him, and she was examining his lightsaber hilt. Dressed in her customary wheat-colored tunics that defined the Jedi order, Anakin suddenly noticed as he gazed at her straight back that he was more than eye-to-eye with his slim Master. He would enjoy being taller than her, even if it meant nothing about the true stature between them. He was also starting to thicken a little-finally! People would be able to tell them apart from a distance by more than just their hair color.

"Master, will you show me how to do that too?" he asked in awe. This woman still had so much to teach him.

His auburn-haired Master shook her head. Her shoulder-length hair was pinned up in a twist to stay out of her face while she sparred, but several tendrils had escaped to fall softly around her face. "Not until you are ready, young one. And after this afternoon, I think you're farther away from that day than you thought," she replied.

"Now, hit the 'fresher. You stink," she smiled with the last statement as she ruffled his spiky hair and handed his lightsaber back to him. He's getting too tall, she thought. I won't be able to reach his head in another year, and he's only 14! She eyed his lanky frame. His shoulders are starting to broaden and his arms lengthen-his reach will be longer than mine, she noted for future sparring reference.

Anakin grabbed a towel and wiped the sweat from his face. He couldn't help being distracted. His mind was elsewhere. His Master just didn't understand what it was like to be him. To feel the swarming of his hormones and fondest desires. To be distracted like this.

The new starfighters were in the Temple hangar today, and Master Koon told him he could sit in the cockpit of his later. Anakin could hardly contain his excitement. He hoped to talk the Master into letting him take it out for a short spin too. It made him tingle from head to toe just thinking about the smooth lines and supple controls of the fighter.

Shouting a farewell to his Master, he raced to their shared quarters to shower and change his tunics. She shook her head at his enthusiasm, secretly hoping he never lost it.

"Do you ever wish for a family of your own, Master? Children?" Anakin asked Obi-Wan during their traditional birthday celebration for his fifteenth birth anniversary.

Obi-Wan snorted. "I think I've had almost the length and breadth of the parenting experience with you, Anakin. No biological parent could have worked harder, caught more flack, or failed as miserably as I did with you," she responded.

"Failed, Master?" Anakin asked, confused. He was doing well in his classes this term. And she had just told him that his lightsaber sparring was improving through his work with Master Soara Antana. What could she have failed in?

"Yes, Anakin. You are still so quick to anger and selfish desires, despite my best efforts to train you to control them," she replied. Obi-Wan sighed and wondered if he would ever learn these lessons. Perhaps they were the one thing beyond the Chosen One.

Anakin rolled his eyes. Oh, that. They had had conversations about his emotions more times than he cared to remember. "I do try, Master. I just don't always succeed. I guess that's just one of my innate weaknesses." Anakin scowled at the need to admit weakness.

"As it is one of mine, Padawan," she reminded him gently. "But you can acknowledge the weakness and then strive to better it." He knew she was right. He would work on it, for his Master. So that she wouldn't have to feel that he was another weakness of hers.

"Well," Anakin answered trying to effect an innocent look on his face, "With your own kid, at least you could blame some of his failures on the father."

Obi-Wan gave him a withering look that closed the discussion.