Work Text:
1/?
“Look at me Anakin!” Obi-Wan cried out. His voice echoed into silence, the sound failing to reach the ears of the man facing away from him. They were ghosts, the both of them. Their pale, transparent figures gave no illusion of life or of substance - it was no wonder Obi-Wan sounded so weak. Anakin would not turn to face him, too much had passed between them for this to be an easy reunion.
Upon his death, Obi-Wan had surrendered himself to the knowledge that he would never seen Anakin again, ghost or no, and yet here they were. Thrown together in the void. The atmosphere mirrored that of ex-lovers meeting again, and maybe that’s what it was. Obi-Wan had loved…no, he still loved Anakin, and if he had a heart that still beat, by now it would be broken on the floor.
He tried once more, voice pitiful and frail, nothing compared to what echoed from his throat when he was alive. This time he pleaded, pleaded for Anakin to at least acknowledge him.
“Anakin…please…” His old Padawan turned, his face soft and young. Not ravaged by the fires of Mustafar, not spitting hatred and anger - it was young, peaceful almost. Obi-Wan’s eyes burned with tears he could not shed, so much had happened, so much had changed. But here they were.
Anakin spoke, finally, the same slightly awkward tone fell from his lips, the same vaguely disjointed speech, and the words spoken were surprising.
“Hello Master.” The older man tugged at his beard, painfully unsure of what to say, what to do. He was unsure of how to reply, what to say, asking simply ‘how are you’ seemed pointless, so all he could settle on was;
“I’m sorry…” Anakin’s screams of rage echoed in his head, and Obi-Wan closed his eyes, trying to push it all away. He had made his peace with the choices he made that day, and yet here it was, dragged back again and the Jedi could not cope. Anakin simply stared, offering no words, no opinion, no apology of his own, he simply stared and, after a moment that seemed to stretch a millennia - he smiled. The same slightly lopsided smile that the elder man knew so well.
It took a moment, it took strength - but Obi-Wan returned a smile of his own, and for a moment…for a single moment, all was as it should have been. The two looked upon each other as brothers. As family. But most importantly of all;
As friends.