I'm not sure close is the word some of them would have used. We did not always see eye to eye. Obi-Wan - Anakin's Master - is a good friend, though. We fought together during the Occupation of Naboo many years ago now. [ As dangerous as that was, it still seems like a simpler time now. ] The Jedi were protectors of the Republic, and as a Senator death threats to myself were sometimes handled by them in conjunction with my personal security detail.

[ A pause, and then, quiet and torn. ] Anakin is here, then?