Work Text:
Obi-Wan drove the car as far as it would go, until the gas finally ran out and the car sputtered and coasted to a stop along a remote stretch of highway, surrounded by trees on either side.
From there, he and Ahsoka gathered their limited supplies from the backseat and hiked into the wilderness.
Her hands were still shaking.
Obi-Wan couldn’t muster up any words to comfort her. How could he? He should have been the one to pull the trigger, not her. But even though he knew how the infection worked, knew that Anakin was gone, in the critical moment he had looked into his former friend’s face and the strength of Obi-Wan’s resolve had crumbled, and his hands faltered.
But Ahsoka’s hadn’t.
She shouldn’t have had to bear that burden, and it was Obi-Wan’s fault that she did.
They hiked for a while, until they were far from any signs of civilization. They found a decent spot to camp, with level ground and close enough to a stream to have ready access to fresh water, but far enough away not to fear it flooding. There was even a small waterfall, just big enough to stand under, that would make staying clean a bit easier.
It was as good of a place as they could ask for. It was unlikely that the shambling dead would wander out this far, so it was safe, in that regard, at least. There were still many other dangers in the wilderness, and Obi-Wan worried how they would manage when winter arrived, but that was many months off, yet.
He set up the tent, while Ahsoka grabbed a pot and headed for the stream. But when the tent was up and Ahsoka had still not returned, Obi-Wan went looking for her.
She was crouched by the stream, the pot set forgotten off to the side and her hands pressed flat under the water. She stared blankly at them, watching the stream run over top.
“That must be getting cold,” Obi-Wan said, and the sound of his voice startled them both. Neither of them had spoken since… Anakin.
Ahsoka shook her head, but withdrew her hands anyway, shaking them off and brushing them against her sides.
“…I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t,” Ahsoka said hoarsely. “You would have gotten infected too.”
That it was true didn’t make it any better.
“We should keep setting up camp,” she said, picking up the pot and brushing past the subject in a painfully familiar way.
She had learned a lot from Anakin, after all.
