Explosions. Cries of terror, sobs of the dying and those left behind. Blood, so much blood.
The battlefield wasn't as glorious as he thought it would be. There were no heroic acts of valour. There was only pain and suffering and lives lost too soon.
"We'll get out of this one," Ben assured him, his accent comforting Anakin.
The older man was from the British division, but he had been assigned to their squadron. He was ranks above Anakin, but he had taken a liking to the younger man and took him under his wing. In a sense, Ben was the closest thing to a friend Anakin had in the god-forsaken place.
Anakin trusted him.
They crawled to find shelter. The call for retreat had been sounded by their enemy. They had won, but there were still enemies shooting at them.
Anakin had a bullet in his thigh. It was a painful crawl, but he dragged himself along. He knew that Ben wouldn't leave him behind. He'd rather suffer in pain than be the reason why they both died that day.
"Almost there Anakin," Ben urged. "Just a little more."
Anakin.
None of their other comrades called him that. It was either Skywalker or Ani, depending on how close to him the person was. No one was as close to him as Ben, but the older man insisted on calling him by his full name.
"Come on Anakin!" Ben said, pulling him along. "Only a few more feet."
"Go on," he said, panting with exertion. "I'll be right behind you."
"I am not leaving you behind!"
"I'll catch up, I promise," Anakin swore. "I won't let you get hurt because of me."
Ben shot him a concerned look and nodded. Before he got up, he patted Anakin's shoulder.
"I'll lay some cover fire when I get there."
And he was off. Anakin kept up his slow pace, watching Ben as the other man made his way to the shed that was going to be their salvation. There was a short gap between the shed and the trench he was in that wasn't covered. Ben was going to make sure that Anakin could cross that gap.
Anakin watched as Ben crouched down inside the shed and started firing at the enemy. He was close to the edge of the gap. They were both going to make it.
Ben was important to Anakin. He hoped that after the war, they would remain friends. Anakin especially hoped that after the war, they could be something more. Ben was a stickler for rules. He wasn't one to fraternize, in that way, with his subordinates.
Anakin knew that Ben was open-minded. He didn't bat an eyelash when he saw two of their comrades be affectionate with each other. Society would ridicule the two men, but Ben didn't. When Anakin raised an eyebrow at Ben's non-reaction, the older man just shrugged.
"We're at war Anakin," Ben lectured. "If they found something that would help them survive this hellhole then I won't begrudge their happiness."
Anakin wondered if he made a move on Ben, would the other man accept him, or would he be turned away? Since his subtle hints were brushed off, Anakin figured that it was because of Ben's morals regarding their respective ranks. Maybe after the war…
An explosion brought Anakin back to the trench he was in. He was only a few crawls away from the gap. His leg still pained him, but he ignored it. He was so close to Ben. So close.
Ben stopped firing for a moment and gestured for Anakin to hurry along. Anakin smiled through clenched teeth.
He was going to ask Ben to stay with him after the war. That was something to look forward to. Something to live for. Society be damned.
Anakin set his eyes on Ben, his goal.
Then the shed exploded.
Anakin bolted upright in his bed, panting heavily. The war had been decades ago. A lifetime really.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead with the blanket and stared at his reflection in the mirror.
He was old. His blond hair had been streaked with white for a while now. His forehead had wrinkles, and so did the corners of his eyes and mouth. He was a far cry from that youth on the battlefield with a crush on his commanding officer.
Anakin took a sip from the glass of water on his bedside and reflected on his dream.
In reality they had both survived that day. The shed hadn't exploded and Ben hadn't been killed. When the shooting had stopped, Ben had rushed him to the medic tent to have his leg seen to.
"I did not save you on the battlefield to lose you to an infection," Ben chided. "The medics will make sure you survive."
Ben had visited him whenever the older man could. But Anakin had been deemed unfit for further deployment. He was going to be sent away from the front lines, away from Ben. When he protested against this, Ben just shook his head.
"It's better this way," Ben explained, patting Anakin's hand. "We both know you can't do much on that leg."
"I won't leave," Anakin stubbornly refused as only an 18 year old could. "I won't leave without you."
"Anakin," Ben's voice took on his lecturing tone. "You know that you should go so you could heal."
"I can heal here," Anakin argued. "I don't want to be away from you."
"That's another reason you should go," Ben said, letting go of Anakin's hand.
"What?" Anakin exclaimed. "What are you saying Obi-Wan?"
"You're too attached to me," Ben pointed out. "It's inappropriate. Time away from each other would be best for the both of us."
"But you didn't mind Rex and Cody," Anakin whispered furiously. "You said that we should take what happiness we could find in war."
"I did," Ben nodded. "But those two are different."
"Why?"
"They're of the same rank, nearly the same age," Ben rationalised.
"What's a five year difference?" Anakin asked, on the verge of tears.
He couldn't believe what was happening. He couldn't believe that he survived that trench only to have his heart ripped out right afterwards. He thought Ben had wanted the same thing that he did.
"Anakin," Ben said in a soothing voice. "It's for the best."
The finality in his voice was what broke Anakin. He didn't even try to restrain his sobs. The other people in the medic tent all thought the he was crying because he was being decommissioned. Only Ben knew the truth. The man sat there until Anakin had fallen asleep, exhausted from his injuries, both physical and emotional.
It was the last time Anakin ever saw Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Remembering the man's full name made him shiver. In all his stories, he only called the man 'Ben'. His daughter even named his grandson after the man. Anakin sighed. It was easier to think of him as Ben Kenobi. Ben Kenobi belonged to everyone. Obi-Wan was his. Or so Anakin thought.
After that, he was shipped back home and sent to a district hospital where he met Padme. She was a volunteer nurse. He considered her an angel for putting up with him. They fell in love and the rest was history. They had two beautiful children, Luke and Leia, and were married for 34 years, until she died from cancer six years ago.
It was a good life.
A knock sounded on the door. Leia peeked her head in and smiled at him.
"Dad, you're awake!" she greeted. "Our flight is at ten, we have to leave for the airport in an hour."
"I know Leia," he replied. "I'm all packed up. I just need to take a shower."
"Good," Leia said. "I can't wait for you to meet Rey. She's wonderful."
When Leia left his room he shook his head. He knew he got married too young, but it was a bit of a shotgun wedding. The same thing happened to Leia and Han. But he couldn't for the life of him understand why his grandson would choose to marry young either.
Then again, from what he heard from Leia and Ben, this Rey of his was something special. Smart, talented, British. Anakin wondered if it was a curse on the men of the Skywalker line to love someone British at least once in their lives. Anakin had Obi-Wan, Luke had Mara, and now Ben had Rey. At least one of them would have a happy ending.
He could think more on that later. He had to get ready to leave.
He had a wedding to get to.
Obi-Wan sighed as he packed his suitcase for his granddaughter's wedding. He was old and he was in no mood for a long plane ride, but for Rey, he would do anything. She was the only family he had left, and he was hers. For now at least.
Her parents, his daughter and son-in-law, died in a boating accident when she was just a child. Rey came to live with him after that.
Obi-Wan didn't really know how to raise his granddaughter. His ex-wife, rest her soul, had been the one to raise their daughter May. Obi-Wan had only been around for holidays or birthdays, at least when he wasn't off doing his duty to the military.
His ex-wife did say he was married to his job.
He tried his best with Rey, he really did. And Rey assured him that she grew up loved. He knew why she wanted to get married as young as she was. She had explained it to him, not for authorisation since she was of legal age, but because she wanted his approval.
"Grandfather," she had said over the video chat. "I know you understand. After all, you were the one who taught me that we should cherish love when we find it."
"Please," Obi-Wan scoffed. "You're just using that as an excuse."
"But it works," Rey pointed out.
"You're too much like your mother," Obi-Wan complained. "Always trying to use my words against me."
"Oh please," it was Rey's turn to scoff. "I barely remember my mother. All I know, I learned from you."
Obi-Wan waited for her to tear up, he was already feeling choked up himself. It was a hard thing, being an orphan. But it was even harder to live after your child died. It was their shared pain.
"I miss her," Rey admitted in a small voice. "Even though I don't remember her much. I miss her."
"I miss her too, dear one," Obi-Wan admitted.
"But I'm glad I had you Grandfather," she smiled.
"And I'm glad for you, Rey."
"So I have your blessing?"
"You always have," Obi-Wan said. "You have a good head on your shoulders. And Ben Solo is a good man."
Obi-Wan had met him before. Several times, in fact. He and Rey had been together for a few years. Ben also, and Obi-Wan didn't tell Rey this, asked for Obi-Wan's permission to marry her.
The young man had flown to England and knocked on Obi-Wan's door and pled his case on why he should be allowed to marry Rey. Obi-Wan would have agreed via a phone call because Ben made Rey so happy. That he had gone the extra mile, literally, cemented Obi-Wan's impression that he was a good man.
"Thank you Grandfather," Rey replied. "You are flying in, aren't you?"
"I wouldn't miss it for the world."
And he meant it. That conversation had taken place almost a year to the day.
Obi-Wan took a look around his room, wondering if he was missing something. His flight wasn't for a few hours yet, so he peeked into his closet and pulled out an old album when a loose picture fell on the floor. He had intended to look at pictures of when Rey was young, but when he picked up the fallen picture, he saw that it was one from back in the war.
Obi-Wan was smiling at the camera, standing next to a fighter plane. Beside him was a young man, Anakin Skywalker, as the writing on the back of the picture indicated. They both looked happy.
Obi-Wan wondered what had happened to his young friend. He knew that they had held affection for each other, but he had chalked it up to being in consistent close contact with each other. He would have given it a chance, if Anakin had contacted him after the war. But he never heard from the other man again.
He wondered what life would have been like if he did end up with Anakin, but he shook his head snorted.
He would never give up his granddaughter for a 'might have been.' He was happy with his life. Obi-Wan hoped that Anakin was happy with his.
Still Obi-Wan held on to the old picture instead of putting back in his closet. He hated flying. The only time he felt safe in a plane was when he had been practising being a gunner with Anakin as the pilot. They had never crashed when they were together in a plane.
Anakin promised him that he wouldn't let them die in the air.
"Come on Obi-Wan," Anakin said as he pulled the older man towards the hangar. "Flight practice for me, gunnery practice for you!"
"Anakin stop pulling," he had replied.
"Come on," Anakin shot him a smile. Anakin's smile were always brilliant. "This'll be fun."
"Your definition of fun and my definition of fun are two very different things."
"We won't crash," Anakin promised, knowing where Obi-Wan's reluctance stemmed from. "I promise."
Obi-Wan snickered as he recalled that promise. They never did crash. He stroked Anakin's face on the photo. How different his life would have been if he took the younger man up on his offer.
He chided himself for being sentimental, but tucked the picture into his carry-on anyway. Call him superstitious, but Obi-Wan felt safer with the picture in his case.
Obi-Wan set aside memories and gathered his things. He had a wedding to attend.
"We're really getting married?" Rey asked as she leaned against the door to her and Ben's shared room.
"Having second thoughts already?" Ben teased, zipping up his bag.
"Never," Rey assured him. "It's just… is this really going to happen?"
"Only if you want it," he said, rising from the bed and enveloping her in a hug. "We could always wait a few years if you want?"
"No," Rey shook her head. "I'm sure about this. How about you? Do you have any doubts about this?"
"Never," Ben said, giving her a quick kiss. "Besides, Mom would be so disappointed if I let you get away."
Rey laughed. Ben smiled down at her and wondered how he could have ever been so lucky. He stepped away from her to pick up his bag and grabbed hers from the floor.
"Shall we go?"
Rey nodded. They had a long drive ahead of them.
A long drive, a wedding, and, hopefully, a whole life ahead of them.
Here it is, my first posted Obikin work. I might be using Reylo as a crutch, but it's a very good crutch, if I do say so myself.
Anyway, this will have 5-ish chapters (I hope). There will be feels.