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As balance returned to the Force, a wave of peace rippled throughout the galaxy as it finally shrugged off the pervasive darkness that had hung over it, suffocating life for decades. Perhaps his old Master had been right about that prophecy all those years ago.
The murkiness abated, allowing Obi-Wan’s senses to hone in on something else: a star on the brink of death, its familiar, brilliant light flickering as final breaths were drawn into weary lungs. He knew there wouldn’t be much time once Anakin’s life force left his body. There was only one chance at this, but if anyone could do in minutes what it had taken Obi-Wan nearly the entirety of his exile on Tatooine to learn, it was Anakin Skywalker.
When the moment was upon them, Obi-Wan reached out to Anakin as he began to drift away. He grasped at the remnants of the bond that so intricately wove their lives together and cradled the scattering pieces of Anakin’s life force that sought to return from whence they came. There was a tenor of urgency despite the newfound peace of the Force, but Obi-Wan’s implicit trust and belief in Anakin persisted, even after all that time and all of the darkness that had separated them. That same sentiment had carried them through the trials of the Clone Wars, and Obi-Wan had no doubt it could get them through this as well.
“Anakin.”
Obi-Wan called out to him, coaxing the fleeting fragments of light together in the netherworld of the Force. Relief softened the edge of his anxieties as the wisps easily followed his guidance, gathering into a brilliant, radiant form not unlike a nebula full of stars. It was as though his wish aligned with the will of the Force itself.
“Obi-Wan? Master? I’m so sorry—” Merely the sound of the soft tones of that voice caused Obi-Wan’s heart to lodge in his throat. They needed to act quickly, or this was the last he would hear of it for the rest of his eternal existence.
“Anakin, you must listen to me carefully.” The cluster of light jumped at Obi-Wan’s interruption, nearly scattering apart, and he wished this could be achieved by simply holding onto every piece as tightly as possible. No, he must impart this final lesson to Anakin. “If you choose the path to immortality, there is one last thing I need to teach you.”
Anakin’s next words wavered, shaken by the magnitude of Obi-Wan’s offering. “But… Why me? After everything I’ve done?”
Anakin need not remind Obi-Wan of all of the destruction and suffering wrought by his beloved’s own hands. Obi-Wan knew it all too well. But he also knew that it would have continued far past Anakin’s lifetime if he had not brought the horrors to an end through his final act of sacrifice.
“Because you chose to end the reign of Darkness.” Obi-Wan reached out to caress the gathered light before him, though his hand simply passed through unhindered. But warmth washed across his fingers, and the pride spreading through his chest brought a smile to his face. “You came back to the Light.”
He couldn’t help but to be proud of Anakin. The terror he had carved throughout the galaxy could never erase what Obi-Wan knew Anakin to be truly capable of—the compassion that refused to be smothered by the darkness. Although it had admittedly wavered at moments, there was a part of Obi-Wan that had never abandoned the hope that one day Anakin would allow that light to shine through him once again.
They couldn’t waste any more time. Obi-Wan imparted his knowledge to his former student swiftly, falling back into their old routine of Master and Padawan without hesitation. Somehow, the moments seemed to stretch on for an eternity as the form became more realized—brighter as the particles came together into something resembling the shape of a person.
And then Anakin was before him—he appeared the same as decades ago, before he had been marred on Mustafar, as though none of the pain and suffering between them had ever occurred. Those familiar, unruly curls framed Anakin’s youthful face, just like they had at the end of the Clone Wars. He was no longer the formidable, looming height of Darth Vader augmented by cybernetic legs, but now returned to having merely a few inches over his former Master again—barely enough to fuel teasing jibes as they had after Anakin’s growth spurt during his later Padawan years. To Obi-Wan, it had always meant they were just different enough to fit together perfectly, and it gave him quite a fine vantage point to gaze directly into Anakin’s clear blue eyes.
Though, one thing was different: Anakin was not clad in the dark colors he had favored since his apprenticeship. Instead, cream Jedi robes matching Obi-Wan’s own softly draped over his broad shoulders, a representation of their rediscovered unity.
Obi-Wan couldn’t contain the choked sob that burst forth from the very depths of his chest. The swell of joy and relief pushed it clear past the wavering control he held over his emotions. Simply gazing upon Anakin—somehow even more luminous in this new form than as a nebula of life force—was overwhelming in a way Obi-Wan could have never foreseen after deciding to impart this gift of eternity. Anakin was absolutely ethereal, looking every part the child of the Force he was believed to be.
Anakin fell to his knees before Obi-Wan, though whether unsure on his feet in this new existence or unused to using his own legs returned to him was not clear to Obi-Wan. But what was apparent to him was the whirlwind of emotions playing across Anakin’s face as he shakily grabbed onto the sleeves of Obi-Wan’s cloak and held on tightly as he began sobbing. Tears traced down the curves of Anakin’s cheeks, streaking his bronzed skin, even its coloring restored after years hidden away from the warm kiss of sunlight.
Obi-Wan knelt and pulled Anakin into his arms as his own eyes began to water with unshed tears. He hadn’t known he could still cry in this form. Of course Anakin would find something new to teach him, just as he always had.
Warm and heavy in Obi-Wan’s arms, Anakin was that same grounding weight he had sometimes sought after hard-fought missions that left him unbalanced and off-kilter. After all these years, the press of Anakin against his own body gave him stability against the surge of emotions that strove to sweep Obi-Wan off his feet. He felt alive again, perhaps more alive now than he had ever been.
Desperate fingers dug into the fabrics of Obi-Wan’s robes as Anakin buried his face into his chest, his sobs so powerful that they even shook Obi-Wan’s core. Gently, he threaded his fingers through the soft curls of Anakin’s hair and was nearly overcome as the simple action rekindled waves of yearning for moments of the past. He held Anakin closely, petting his hair as he sobbed an endless stream of apologies.
So overcome with pride, Obi-Wan leaned down and placed a kiss to Anakin’s forehead like a benediction. This was his Anakin, the one who never let him down, and he had finally brought an end to the horrors.
At his gentle touch, an absolutely heartrending sob burst from Anakin’s lungs, sounding as though it was dredged up from the depths of his very soul. Without hesitation, Obi-Wan shifted to pepper kisses down Anakin’s face, kissing away the trails of tears that streaked down his cheeks. With each press of his lips, Anakin shook harder and he clung to Obi-Wan’s robes tighter, as if he meant to merge his newfound netherworld existence into Obi-Wan’s, to sink into him until they became one being.
Obi-Wan found he wasn’t altogether opposed to such a notion, if that was to be the culmination of this endeavor.
Abruptly, Anakin pulled away from Obi-Wan’s embrace and clambered to a standing position, but he didn’t release his hold on Obi-Wan. Anakin pulled him up as he stood, grasping tightly enough it would hurt if he were alive, as if spurred on by the fear that Obi-Wan might vanish and leave him truly alone in this new existence after death. He relented just enough to allow his hands to forge a path up Obi-Wan’s arms and across his chest, pausing only to rest for a moment over his heart. Obi-Wan realized suddenly that he knew not if he had a heartbeat in this form, but what did it matter when his heart now existed in front of him?
Eventually, Anakin’s hands settled on Obi-Wan’s face, cradling him in a way he wasn’t sure if he had ever been held before—not even by the man in front of him now—like something precious, something meant to be cherished and treated with the utmost care.
Anakin met his gaze, the swollen redness from his tears making his brilliant blue eyes even more striking, and Obi-Wan found himself faced with the intensity of being the sole focus of Anakin Skywalker. It was as though the entire galaxy, perhaps the universe, narrowed down to just the two of them.
"I love you."
The words were spoken softly, but with more conviction than anything that had been said before between them, and they drove Obi-Wan to action again. There had been enough hesitation, they had spent their lifetimes skirting around this inevitability. He fisted his hands in those cream robes and yanked Anakin closer, finally bringing their lips together in a kiss.
One kiss turned into two, into five, and then Obi-Wan lost count, not that it mattered when he was more intent on memorizing the feeling of Anakin’s soft mouth against his own. Something he hoped they would have plenty of time for in this eternal existence together.
“I love you,” Anakin gasped out again, breathless in between increasingly desperate kisses. “I never stopped loving you, Obi-Wan.”
“I know.” Obi-Wan pulled away just enough to properly look into Anakin’s eyes as he rubbed his thumb soothingly over the curve of Anakin’s cheek. “You wouldn’t have hated me so deeply if that were not true.”
The shadow of regret darkened those beautiful eyes at Obi-Wan’s words, but it was not something they could simply pretend hadn’t existed between them, for all the hatred had been one-sided. Anakin’s desperate grasping turned gentler, and the light returned to his eyes—this time with that oh-so-familiar glint of determination that made Obi-Wan’s heart seize with nostalgia. There was no denying Anakin’s failures, his misdeeds, the way he had purposefully mangled the bond between them; but that was not going to dissuade Anakin from rekindling and reforging their connection into something stronger, something pure and uncomplicated.
There was a reverence to Anakin’s touches as love poured unhindered into their renewed bond, golden and soothing over the scars left behind by darkness and hatred. It seemed to be Obi-Wan’s turn for his tears long withheld to finally spill over as he could feel Anakin’s love change the Force around them, filling the netherworld with warmth and hope. It surrounded Obi-Wan, existing all around and within him, reaching straight into his ribcage to tenderly caress his heart.
It would take nothing for Obi-Wan to simply close his eyes and melt into that love, allowing his own to coalesce with Anakin’s until they became one and the same. Obi-Wan knew balance in the Force, but he had not known wholeness such as this before as their complementary halves came together in perfect unity.
It was the closing of one chapter and the beginning of a new one; their pain not forgotten, but no longer a gaping wound tearing them asunder. There was no suffering; only the Force. Only Obi-Wan and Anakin.
Only two.