Archive of Our Own

The Jedi waited, and considered his unlikely situation.

He didn't have much else to do, after all.

In an idiotic move, he'd been captured by the very people he'd been sent to investigate on the planet Geonosis. 

Jango Fett, a Mandalorian bounty hunter who had been trying to get Senator Amidala of Naboo assassinated, had led him here on purpose. Fett had been living on nearby Kamino, where there was a quite impressive cloning facility, all of the clones designed after him. The purpose of the clones? An army for the Galactic Republic, ten years in the making. Somehow Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas had known (or at least thought) they would need it, although since he had disappeared not long after and was presumed dead, he couldn't very well be asked about all this, not to mention the current Jedi in charge all claimed ignorance of this. 

The four clones the Jedi had met, apart from the oddity of looking just alike, had been otherwise nice. If he had the chance he would like to know them better, but since he didn't know their names and they each had a thousand look-alikes it would be hard. 

Oh, wait. The clones didn't have names. They had identification numbers. That would probably need to be redressed, or things would get very confusing. It was hard enough to remember someone's name, much less a four-digit number that only meant something to the Kaminoan cloners. There were going to be many things that needed to be addressed in this situation, including the fact that the Republic now had a few million new citizens it didn't even know about. 

He'd known for years there were planet systems that wished to be independent from the Galactic Republic. Some of their representatives had even publicly announced as much in the Senate. But what he hadn't realized was that they had organized into a movement, with Count Dooku leading it, a former Jedi who had just left one day around a decade ago. If they declared war, the Republic would need that army.

It was strange, because here he was, in their meeting place, and there was a droid factory in the same building. Hundreds of battle droids, like the ones from the Naboo liberation. Not terribly hard to destroy, but they were quite easy to manufacture (meaning they were cheap and poorly designed), so they had strength in numbers. 

He wondered if the Jedi Order would come for him, or if his captors would have him executed first. In any case, the longer he waited, the more the latter seemed likely. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi. Jedi Knight. Diplomat. Prisoner.

Perturbed.

The electric restraints around his wrists and ankles, which kept him levitating above the floor, crackled unpleasantly. Obi-Wan frowned at them, but the Force was not being helpful. 

Silence. 

Obi-Wan listened hard. 

Nothing. 

Patience, he reminded himself. 

Crackle.

Or...not. He winced for what felt like the millionth time as electricity crackled down his body.

Just minutes ago Count Dooku had been in here, and Obi-Wan had the unpleasant experience of realizing his own pleasant master had been taught by this man. Obi-Wan had instantly called him a traitor, but Dooku had taken almost no notice of it. He'd seemed outraged at what they'd done to Obi-Wan, considering he was his grandpadawan, but of course when he decided Obi-Wan was not going to be of any use he quickly changed his mind. Obi-Wan didn't care. He would wait to be released by allies, not Dooku. Although this did make him wonder what had made Dooku leave the Jedi Order in the first place. It was strange that Dooku had behaved as if he had cared about Qui-Gon Jinn, and that Qui-Gon had ever been proud enough of Obi-Wan to speak of him, but Dooku had never once sought him out, not even after Qui-Gon was dead-

That was the reason. It had to be. If he thought hard enough Obi-Wan remembered that the Jedi had been talking about how Dooku had left just weeks after Qui-Gon's death. Perhaps he'd felt he wasn't able to grieve properly, or had just given up. Either way, that must have been why.

Once more Obi-Wan thought about where he might have gone or what he might've done if he hadn't had a padawan to raise when his master had died. Thanks to his master. It was extremely possible he too would have eventually denied his Jedi teaching. But he had no indecision in that area of his life anymore. He was entirely too busy to worry about that.

+

After Obi-Wan had given up trying to figure out how long, exactly, he'd been there, he heard sounds nearby, including the familiar hum of a lightsaber. 

Someone had come. Obi-Wan did his best not to think it's about time. 

He started to call out but thought better of it. If there was a Jedi looking for him, they would sense him in here; so, no need to shout. 

"In here," called a voice. A familiar voice.

What's...oh, no.

The door opened. 

Anakin Skywalker walked in, lightsaber burning. 

"Hey. You okay?"

Obi-Wan blinked. "Um."

"I'll take that as yes," said Anakin absently, studying the control panel in the wall. He smiled a little for who knew what reason.

 "Hurry up," came a new voice. Padmé Amidala.

Obi-Wan recovered enough to demand, "What are you doing here?" His Padawan was supposed to be on Naboo, serving as Padmé's bodyguard, but after a recent detour to Tatooine doing Force knew what, of course he was here.

"Well..." Anakin squinted at something. "Ah...this one." He pressed a button. 

"-Whoa-!"

Obi-Wan promptly fell on his face.

"Anakin," he said, voice muffled, "help your poor master up off the floor." 

"Sorry," Anakin said, although he was still smiling a little. Obi-Wan frowned at him. "Better?"

"Marginally."

They started towards the door...and came face to face with at least ten battle droids.

Instantly Anakin stood in front, lightsaber ready. 

Obi-Wan was pretty sure Anakin could handle this, but that didn't make him any more comfortable with him being in combat. Force knew he'd seen too much of it as a padawan himself, so that made him keep Anakin as far away from it as possible.

Count Dooku walked up behind the droids, in a slow, measured pace. As if he had all the time in the galaxy. 

Obi-Wan laid a hand on Anakin's shoulder immediately, sensing Anakin's recklessness about to make an appearance. Don't, he said carefully down their Force bond, not scolding. Wait a moment.

Anakin scowled. Fine. Although he didn't move; he still looked ready for a fight.

"Hm, I don't think we've met," said Count Dooku in Anakin's direction. "Won't you introduce me, Obi-Wan?"

"He won't," Anakin snapped before Obi-Wan opened his mouth.

Dooku pretended not to hear. "No, don't tell me, Obi-Wan. This is Skywalker, your Padawan. How...predictable."

Obi-Wan sensed something at the edge of Anakin's mind, something foreign. Anakin- he started to warn.

Anakin shoved it, and it was gone.

Dooku laughed quietly. "Your shields are stronger than expected, young one. But not as strong as you think."

Before he knew what was happening, Obi-Wan was pushed out of Anakin's consciousness. Anakin shouted as his mental shields were penetrated. He stumbled back, having just enough presence of mind to deactivate his lightsaber before he crumpled against Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan himself nearly panicked when Anakin cried out, but he made himself focus.

Obi-Wan forced his way back into Anakin's mind, something he had never done, out of respect for Anakin's privacy. But now it had to be.

Count Dooku smiled cruelly. Anakin howled.

Get out. 

Padmé broke her silence. "What's wrong with him?"

"He'll be fine," Obi-Wan said distractedly.

Finally Anakin relaxed, breathing heavily. He straightened almost immediately, his lightsaber coming to life with a hiss.

Anakin, come now. You're the only one of us with a weapon. 

"Seize them." 

Anakin raised his lightsaber. But every blaster turned to Obi-Wan and Padmé.

"Don't you dare," Anakin said through closed teeth. 

"Come quietly, and no one gets hurt," Dooku replied.

Anakin looked back at them, considering his options.

Then before Obi-Wan could speak he turned back and cut four droids into spare parts with one cut. Obi-Wan and Padmé stepped back quickly. 

He had the element of surprise, but there was still many droids, and now he was blocking blaster fire. Bolts ricocheted off his blade and returned to hit droids, but it wasn't going to be enough.

Anakin saw this. After cutting down two more, he spun around. "Go!" 

They turned the other way, and came face to face with another group of droids. Surrounded.

Anakin had done his best, but he was hopelessly outnumbered. He set loose a string of curses in mixed Basic and Huttese. Obi-Wan was surprised. Rarely did Anakin forget to speak Basic all the time, but when he did he had good reason. His recent trip to his home planet might've been part of it. Of course, the--quite colorful--cursing itself didn't come as much of a surprise, all things considered.

Handcuffs were produced. Anakin's lightsaber was taken. They were led away, where, none of them knew.

+

The answer came soon enough.

The arena was huge. Geonosians filled the stands, come to witness his, Anakin's, and Padmé's execution.

Standing in the box obviously meant for important guests, was Count Dooku, Jango Fett, and several leaders of the Trade Federation and the Banking Clan. Anakin scowled in its direction. Obi-Wan didn't blame him.

Their hands were chained above their heads to individual stone pillars, set a few feet apart. At an announcement made in Geonosian, three doors opposite them opened, and out walked a Reek, an Acklay, and a Nexus. The Reek was a big, horned thing, making deep, angry noises at the Geonosian guards near it, while the green, spindly Acklay poked its way along. The Nexus was a cat with huge claws, hissing and spitting. 

Obi-Wan turned toward stiff Anakin. "Just relax. Concentrate."

"What about Padmé?"

"She seems to be on top of things."

Anakin looked. Padmé had somehow gotten free and climbed on top of her pillar, so she could see the Nexus targeting her.

The Reek charged toward Anakin. At the last second, he jumped, twisting to land on the Reek's back. He wrapped his chains around the its horn, snapping them.

Obi-Wan ducked out of the way of the Acklay at the last second, and it stabbed the pillar above his head, along with his chains. He dodged away, freed. For a long moment he lost track of Anakin, but then he was behind him, still riding the Reek, Padmé seated behind him. Obi-Wan ducked again and ran forward, jumping up behind Padmé.

Outraged noises rose from the stands. 

But then...lightsabers everywhere. The Jedi had come. Just a little late, but there all the same.

Obi-Wan could hear a faint conversation going on in the box above him, but he couldn't understand it.

Then came the droids. Rows and rows of battle droids came marching in the arena. 

"Oh, no," said Obi-Wan quietly.

The fight exploded.

Anakin wished he had his lightsaber. That would've made this much, much easier. Thankfully someone threw him and Obi-Wan a lightsaber each, and Padmé a blaster, so Anakin started chopping up droids. Deflect, slice, deflect. Again and again. He settled into the motion, his movements almost fluid. Nothing else mattered in these moments. The seconds bled together until they felt longer than they should have. First his master, then Padmé drifted from his side, not that that mattered. He didn't need protecting at all. He could hold his own in battle. This pleased him, since he'd never been tried this way. His training consisted of sparring with an opponent or two, and sometimes against a remote, but that had apparently prepared him well enough.

All this ran through his mind at random intervals, because motion for him was like meditation and his mind would just go blank sometimes, and then something would snap him back into conscious thinking. It seemed to work pretty well, he thought.

Until he felt white hot agony. Anakin stumbled in place, unsure what was wrong for a few moments, then looking down in detached shock at the spreading, dark red stain on his chest.

Shot.

Every sound felt distant, echoing in his ears. He felt rather than heard his lightsaber deactivate.

He sank to his knees. The Force wrapped around him, strong as usual, but it couldn't help him.

Anakin bent forward, pressing a hand against his wound, bracing the other against the ground to keep from collapsing completely. The hand on his wound felt hot, and it slowly grew wet as blood ran through his fingers.

He dug into his strength, trying to cry out, to call for help, but only one option presented itself.

Master.

Obi-Wan looked up. 

What is it? he asked instinctively, before he even understood.

He could've sworn he heard Anakin calling down the bond, but it was quiet. So quiet. As if he were a great distance away, but he couldn't possibly be.

Something wasn't right. He stepped back, looked around, searching for that dark set of robes which made his apprentice stick out a bit among other Jedi, even though he didn't seem to be aware of it.

Master....

Obi-Wan started to worry. Why couldn't he hear Anakin? He made his way quickly through the melee, playing defense and trying to find him. In this crowd of Force-sensitives, it was possible the bond was being unconsciously clouded, but-

He nearly tripped. When he looked back, he saw a boot. 

Anakin was on hands and knees in the sand. Blood dripped under him.

Anakin tried one more time. Master...

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan went down by him. "Anakin-"

Anakin just blinked at him.

Obi-Wan pulled him into his arms, holding him close. "It's all right, love, I've got you-"

Anakin coughed wetly, clinging to him. "Obi-Wan," he whispered.

"I'm right here." Obi-Wan squeezed his hand hard, resisting the urge to speak nonsense reassurances. 

Anakin felt so fragile, but he was already broken. 

Obi-Wan had let his padawan get shot. 

Right in his chest, and if he looked harder--he didn't want to look, but he did--the shot had gone just off center, to the left. Directly finding its mark. And if Obi-Wan felt his padawan's wrist he couldn't find his pulse. Wouldn't find it. His heart wasn't beating. He should have been gone, but Obi-Wan watched his youth fade away, the last barrier that kept him from death.

Red laser walls. 

Obi-Wan on one side, his master and a Sith on the other.

His own master, dying in his arms. 

Too late to save him.

He thought it--remembered it--Anakin's trembling hands went slack. His frightened gaze drifted above Obi-Wan toward the sky, and his eyes dropped closed. Obi-Wan stared in disbelief.

Then he was screaming. Loud enough so that people nearby who were deep in battle turned around to find the source of it. 

"No. Look at me. Look at me! Anakin, stay with me!" He sobbed, harder than he could remember ever crying. Except the night his master died. "Come back. I love you." He bent down and kissed Anakin's face, stroking his hair. "I'm right here. Come back."

It wasn't right that Anakin wasn't breathing. The empty silence it should have filled was horrible.

He remembered bending down just this way ten years ago, but a different person had been there.

He wouldn't say goodbye. This was just a bad dream. Soon he'd wake up and find Anakin asleep in his room. Safe and undisturbed. He would lay his head beside Anakin's, just for a minute, just because he was there. And then, how childish he'd feel. Enough so that he wouldn't mention this to Anakin. By the end of the day he wouldn't even remember he'd even had a nightmare.

Obi-Wan wanted to wake up now.

Anakin was dead. He knew it, the way he'd known he was alive. 

Anakin. 

The Force was so clear here, far clearer than he could remember it being.

"Um, hello." As he spoke, the white emptiness around him materialized into familiarity. His own bedroom, down to the last detail. He sat down on his bed.

He remembered dying, unpleasantly. He wondered if his master would cry. He hoped he would. Hoped he wouldn't. 

There is something you must know. 

 "Okay." Anakin waited without really waiting. He had eternity now, didn't he?

He felt ageless, like nothing would affect him ever again, not even his own feelings.

A series of images drifted through his head, each more disturbing than the last.

A faceless Jedi. Destroying the Republic. The Jedi Order. Everything Anakin had ever stood for.The vision continued on to show the same fallen Jedi raising an empire. Destroying entire planets with a planet-sized battle station.

This looked bad. Although it wasn't going to affect him. This thought kept circling around his mind, but even that didn't bother him.

He saw a group of rebels slowly rise, but one of them stuck out to him. A young man, who couldn't be much older than he was now, fighting this empire's cruelty. He was obviously a Force-sensitive, and a good one, too. The Order would've been glad to have him, had it existed.

He destroyed the battle station. Then he helped restore peace, by showing the fallen Jedi the way back to the light.

He was nice, it seemed. Just about the same age Anakin had been, and just as stupid. But nice. Anakin would have liked to have been his friend if he'd lived in the same time.

Anakin watched all this with odd fascination.

"What does this have to do with me?"

The faceless, destroying Jedi turned to him. And he saw his own face.

"What? No! There's no way!"

Yes, there is. 

If he was dead, then he'd probably already solved this problem. Good. His death had served some purpose. 

You have two choices. Stay here in the Force. Avoid this fate. Or return to your life, and do your best to avoid it. Know that if you return, you may bring all this to pass.

Why would he need to go back? If this was all that awaited, well...but did everyone get the option of life after they were dead? Surely not. But now that he had the opportunity, he was sure he shouldn't take it, considering he might end the world all by himself.

Even though he had liked his life very much. There were good reasons. He just couldn't think of them right that second. 

But it may not be.

"Yes, I know," said Anakin slowly. He thought of the young man he'd seen. Where would he end up if he didn't live through the things Anakin had seen? 

That is not for you to consider.

Anakin scoffed silently and decided to act petulant. "Why?"

He is nothing to you.

But Anakin thought he was. The Force might be all knowing, but he had intuition and it was telling him this meant something.

He made up his mind firmly. "Send me back, please." Better or worse, he wasn't done yet.

As you wish, young one. Good luck.

Anakin's vision tilted crazily, and went black.

Obi-Wan lost track of time. At some point he heard brief silence, and then transports circling above him, and even more blasterfire. Then someone was shaking his shoulder. "Master."

He looked up blearily, not caring what it was.

A Twi'lek girl stood over him, gently shaking his shoulder. Aayla Secura. Quinlan's padawan. Anakin knew her. Obi-Wan ran through these simple things he knew as if they were quite complicated. 

"We have to go. Come on."

Go? Why did they need to leave? That didn't matter, not now- 

"Please, Master. He wouldn't have wanted you to get killed over him." 

This sounded about as sensible as Obi-Wan was willing to be right then. He nodded a little, slowly, and got his arms under Anakin's knees and back, lifting his body.

"Oh," said Aayla softly, understandingly. Obi-Wan followed her to the transport.

Obi-Wan watched Padmé's face turn from confusion to shock. "Obi-Wan?"

Obi-Wan shook his head. Words were far beyond him. She gasped and covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes welling up. Her reaction was strong for someone who hadn't seen Anakin in a decade, but maybe their friendship had grown since they'd been to Naboo. 

Obi-Wan settled on the floor of the transport, Anakin in his lap, so still. Still as death. This was strange, but it was true.

He rode quietly, not caring where they were going, what they were doing. The ride was apparently a long one. No one approached him, and he wasn't sure whether he wouldn't have screamed at them to go away, just leave him. When they got back they could burn him too. Alive.

They were obviously still in combat, but none of them were required to do much except try not to fall out the open side doors. The gunship they were on was called so for a reason.

He held Anakin's hand pointlessly, as it was already turning cold, bowing his head. 

This is all my fault. 

I'm so sorry, he said to the raw place where his and Anakin's bond had been. Another training bond broken. 

Anakin was rising, somewhere deep. He thought he could be underwater, from the rushing sound he heard, but he didn't know...

I'm so sorry.

He could feel and hear everything, and oh, his chest hurt. He arched his back, trying and failing to relieve it.

Anakin was gone. Still. Cold.

He was twisting upward, and gasping for air, wheezing a little.

Obi-Wan stared down at the miracle happening on his lap.

He slid his hand to Anakin's wrist. A pulse fluttered to a start under Anakin's skin and he became warm again. There was no longer a burned hole in his heart, just a small white scar.

Anakin's eyes opened. He tilted his head, puzzled until he saw his master. 

It was a wonder Obi-Wan's system hadn't shut down already. He was completely in shock as he opened his mouth, closed it again. Finally, in a rather high voice, he said, "Anakin?" 

Anakin nodded, smiling weakly. "Hey. Don't be sorry. It's okay."

Obi-Wan stared--and crushed Anakin in a hug, no longer cradling him. 

"Oh!" Anakin wriggled a little. "Master, you're hurting me."

"I've got you." Obi-Wan sobbed into his shoulder, squeezing him harder. Surrounded by others he wept openly. "You're okay."

Anakin relaxed, panting a little. "Take it easy, Master," he said softly. "You're right, I'm okay."

"I love you," managed to make it through. 

Anakin stiffened. "You do?" 

Had Anakin died without knowing it? Stars above. 

Obi-Wan laughed, still crying. "Of course." 

"Then...I love you too." He sounded odd, the way he sometimes did speaking Basic as his second language.

Obi-Wan exhaled unsteadily, trying to calm down. "Dearest, if you ever do that again, I will kill you myself."

He was being serious but Anakin smiled anyway. "Right."

"Sir," said a new voice, tentatively but solidly. Obi-Wan turned his head at last. All of the soldiers wore white armor and helmets with blacked-out visors, and they all looked the same height. Identical. One of them was standing nearby, addressing him. "There's something you might want to see." He gestured outside.

They looked. Count Dooku was on a speeder not far from them, obviously trying to escape.

"Follow him," Anakin said.

"Yes," Obi-Wan agreed, stunned at his quick recovery.

"Aye, sirs," the clone replied. 

"Shouldn't we go get help?" Padmé piped up.

Obi-Wan considered. 

"That would take too long," Anakin pointed out, again thinking fast.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said. "Anakin and I can handle this." Not Anakin. He would rather die than see him fight ever again, even just a pretend sparring match. Perhaps he'd tie Anakin to the ship.

But then something hit the ship, and everybody lost their footing to some degree. One unprepared clone landed squarely in the lap of one of his comrades who'd been already seated, while others balanced more precariously laughed, not too loudly. 

Padmé fell off the side of the transport, landing and rolling down the sand.

"Padmé!" Anakin shouted, picking himself up.

As she got farther away, they distantly saw her sit up gingerly and raise a hand in a way that meant go on.

Anakin looked like he wanted to go back, but he kept quiet, because now they could see where their destination would be: a hangar bay, which probably had Count Dooku's ship waiting in it.

Obi-Wan didn't doubt now that there would be a fight. He just hoped it would be over with quickly. And that he could put his padawan somewhere far away from it.

The ship landed. Anakin already had his lightsaber out, and Obi-Wan felt sick.

Anakin glanced over at him, and paused. "You okay?"

Obi-Wan shivered despite the heat. "No."

"Why not?"

Obi-Wan sighed just a bit. "I'm worried about you."

"Oh. Don't, then. Be...detached, like the Jedi say."

"You better not start taking that to heart," Obi-Wan warned. "You never have, and now you want to tell me about it?"

Anakin raised his eyebrows. "Fine. Enjoy your anxiety attack."

There was his snarky padawan. Obi-Wan couldn't have been happier. He was going crazy. "Okay."

Anakin's brow went even higher. "You need a break."

"I'll take that into consideration, dear."

"Oh, boy," Anakin muttered under his breath, stepping off the ship gracefully. Impressive since the ship was still moving and three feet off the ground.

Obi-Wan followed him, less smoothly, but he had other problems.

Anakin immediately threw himself into combat, and was immediately electrocuted. Despite Obi-Wan's protests for him to wait. Headstrong, reckless boy. Now Obi-Wan had to deal with this himself.

Less than five minutes full of taunting later he was crumpled on the floor, bleeding from his left arm and knee where he'd been cut. How careless his tiredness made him.

He saw the red blade rise, and his last thought went to Anakin. Run.

Green crossed the red without an inch to spare. Anakin was standing over him, angry.

"Brave of you, boy. But haven't you learned? You can't win."

"I am a slow learner." Anakin pushed him away. 

Obi-Wan threw his lightsaber at him, calling his name. He knew the only way Anakin stood a chance was if he had both of them.  

Obi-Wan thought he was blacking out, but the lights were flickering. One of them had cut the wiring. 

Soon Anakin lost one of his lightsabers, dual wielding not being his strongest suit. 

Then Obi-Wan did black out for a few seconds, and when he came back he was just in time to watch Anakin lose his arm. 

Anakin was pushed by the Force, and he fell back, unconscious for the moment. His head mercifully hit Obi-Wan's ankle, rather than the floor. Obi-Wan stared at him in horror, at the open wound that would be bleeding uncontrollably within minutes. The severed hand wrapped in the fabric of his sleeve not far away, pale on the floor. He'd never felt so helpless.

This was when Yoda decided to make an appearance. He resumed the duel with Count Dooku, and he would've won, too. But there happened to be a pillar near to where Obi-Wan was currently desperately trying to reach Anakin, and Dooku sent it falling.

Obi-Wan knew he couldn't stop it.

"Master?" Anakin whispered.

"Don't panic." That was the last thing he should do.

"But..." Anakin's wide eyes watched the pillar coming closer to the ground. Obi-Wan could see him calculating whether he had the strength to try to stop it.

"You can't." Obi-Wan was gentle. "You know so." 

Even if it meant they both died right there. "Close your eyes."

The pillar halted. Directly parallel to the floor. 

"...you can panic now," Obi-Wan murmured.

There it hovered for just a moment, and it drifted back and landed harmlessly. 

Anakin moaned like he was trying not to. Obi-Wan turned his attention back to him and didn't like what he saw. He was bleeding, and badly. His bloodless face was beaded with sweat. "Hold on," Obi-Wan said quietly, raising up on one elbow, dizzy.

Anakin looked as though he would pass out again, and likely it would've been a mercy if he had. How many times was he going to be hurt today?

Obi-Wan sat upright at last, and bent down over Anakin once again. "Let me see."

Anakin was silent, besides his rattling breath. 

Instantly Obi-Wan thought, Not again. He wouldn't go through this. "You're going to be just fine."

"Liar." Anakin was suffering. Just his expression told of it all, and he believed what he'd said. Yet he could still accuse his master of lying, so he had his wits.

"You don't have to say anything. Just hang on a few more minutes, all right?"

Anakin appeared dubious about this plan. "...you say so."

He didn't have to wait very long. The clone soldiers showed up very quickly after that, and one of then performed some impressive first aid that soon had Anakin almost comfortable but no longer bleeding and very ready to go home.

Later on Obi-Wan was actually able to find and thank him, and was rewarded by learning his name, Kix.

+

Almost two weeks later, they were back at the temple. Things were...not good. Count Dooku had escaped. The Galactic Republic was on the verge of war.

And Anakin...Anakin hadn't emerged from his room in almost two days. Obi-Wan was starting to worry. After losing his arm, Anakin had been awfully quiet as he had patiently lain in the hospital ward. His patience had been uncharacteristic, but maybe he had just been in pain.

On the second day when Obi-Wan was on his--all right, so he'd lost count--cup of tea he heard a door open and close. He sat up and peered down the darkened hallway.

Another door opened and closed. The toilet flushed, rather loudly, since the whole apartment was completely quiet. 

Anakin came down the hall. "Morning."

Obi-Wan was puzzled. "It's the middle of the afternoon."

"Oh. That's why you're so awake."

Obi-Wan ignored this, following Anakin into the kitchen, where he started making caf.

With both hands.

"What--Anakin?"

Anakin smiled. "Like it?" He twisted his wrist, showing off the craftsmanship of his new metal arm. 

Intricate. Obi-Wan took his hand and turned it slowly, watching in fascination as each gear functioned perfectly. "It's wonderful."

Anakin smiled shyly. "Thanks."

"You made this?" Obi-Wan truly still didn't believe it.

"Yes. But I'll spare you the details. I did make it."

A short beat in which they must have both been thinking their own thoughts. Anakin didn't put anything in his caf. That was new. Usually he put more sweetener than caf in his. If he had just forgotten he was in for a rude reminder.

"I'm still sorry you had to have it, though."

Anakin's face darkened momentarily as he studied his black caf. Obi-Wan was sure he'd said the wrong thing, he should have just praised his work and left it alone. Obviously his padawan did not want to talk about it.

"It'll be okay." Just slightly dismissively, he said it. Not pushing him away completely, but making his feelings clear.

Apparently he had matured some in the past few days. Subtlety was never easy for him. Obi-Wan wondered what had changed.

"There was something I've been meaning to ask you about."

Anakin looked like he knew what was coming. "Yes."

"How did you end up on Tatooine?"

Anakin took a long, long pull of bitter caf, eyes closed. Then he set the mug down hard. "My mother is dead."

Obi-Wan was sent reeling. A thousand responses flooded his head.

"Are you okay?"

"Obviously not," Anakin said scornfully. 

"...I'm sorry. So sorry." Of that he was sure.

Anakin's hard expression softened slightly. "It's not your grief. It'll be okay." He didn't want comfort.

Obi-Wan pulled him close. 

It would be. One day.