Title: Silent Reverie

Timeframe: Ep III AU

Characters: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padmé Skywalker, Jedi in general.

Genre: AU Ep III, Ani Rehab

Keywords: Anakin, Obi-Wan, AU, Episode III, Rehabilitation

Summary: Palpatine is dead, killed by his servant finally seeing who he was, but now Anakin has to deal with his being world in pieces.

Notes: This is a Rehab fic, and I'm sure people will agree with me if I say Anakin is not in the best of places, so it does get quite angsty. Obi-Wan will be in this quite a bit, and fans of the Master/Padawan relationship are in for a treat. This is pre-dual, so Anakin hasn't gone all snap hiss like. There will be young Luke & Leia appearing in this, at several points.

-----

ONE

-----

He'd been there a while.

He wasn't sure exactly how long, time didn't seem to have much effect anymore, but it wasn't a short time. He'd been staring at each of the little cracks in the wall. They looked like black tears. He'd been rocking at some point, when had he stopped? He couldn't remember. Memory wasn't what it used to be.

His head hurt, and he reached up to feel the blood as it fell from his forehead. He just stared at it on his fingers, like it was abstract, unreal -

//Flames and fire .Screaming as they engulfed him.the former master.this was right.it had to be.//

He shut his eyes, and flinched at the darkness. Tears were falling down his cheeks now, falling on to the clean white untainted bedspread, and he began to shiver. It was very cold inside.

Why was there a piece of plastic on his wrist? He began to pull at it, wanting the restraints to leave.

Pulling it off, he flung it towards the door on the wall a few meters in front, and laid back against the cold white wall behind, his tears marking the wall.

----

Obi-Wan did not like waiting.

In principle, Jedi should be comfortable with waiting, but unfortunately, principle is not always true to life. He'd been standing in the waiting area of the newly rebuilt med centre, but it had been almost three hours since any of the healers had talked to him.

Three hours since he'd left the shaking figure of his - former? - apprentice in their more than capable hands. In retrospect, three hours of pacing, 'hmmm'-ing and in general worrying was not a good thing. He was getting tired.

There was nothing he could do until they said he could. He felt helpless, and it was not a feeling he enjoyed at all.

Finally, after a lifetime or twenty, a young healer came into the room. She wasn't human, but humanoid, a Vorzydiak, if his eyes weren't deceiving him from lack of sleep. He wasn't used to seeing them at the Temple, they were a very keep-yourself-to-yourself kind of people. She looked at him, and he signalled her to sit down on the empty chair opposite.

"Physically? He could be better, but the treatments seem to going well. We are confident that they will be successful."

But Obi-Wan knew that tone of voice, he heard it far too much these days. "And the bad news?"

The healer rubbed her eyes, and sighed heavily. "The kind of emotional impact something like this makes is.incredible. The physical side, given enough time and physiotherapy, could get better, but I honestly don't know what kind of effect this will have on his mind, or personality."

"Well, how does he seem?"

"I'd say he's in shock, he hasn't quite realised what's happened yet," she said. "He's quiet."

'That'll be a first.' Obi-Wan thought ruefully.

"May I see him?"

She nodded and motioned for him to follow her. They walked past a few of the wards, till they came to the private rooms. These where kept for patients in critical condition, or ones of a dangerous nature. They stopped out side a small room to the left, and he breathed heavily, abut to enter.

He felt her slip something into his hand, and he barely noticed it for a moment, and when he looked down he was quite upset to see a panic button.

"Regulations," was the only answer she gave to his disapproving glare.

He braced himself and entered the room.

It was a small, Spartan room, with one window, heavily barred, but it let the sun in none the less. There was a bed next to the wall on the right side, and next to that a bedside table with a plastic jug of water and 3 beakers.

Lying against the wall, eyes closed and head leaning on his shoulder, was the shell of a human being that used to be called Anakin Skywalker. He still looked like Anakin, same blonde hair albeit singed, the same eyes albeit sadder. He had a few scars from the fight with Sidious, a heavily wounded right foot, and a bloody scar down his forehead cheek, which was still bleeding.

Obi-Wan smiled sadly. He needed to be taken care of, as always.

He sat down on the bed gently, which must have startled Anakin, as he jumped and pulled back, but once he'd seen Obi-Wan, he seemed to calm down.

"Hey," he spoke gently, "How are you?"

Anakin just continued to stare.

Obi-Wan took a handkerchief from his pocket, and reached over to clean the gash on Anakins forehead. But apparently, he didn't want that either, as he pushed himself on to the top of the bed.

"Come on, Anakin. You don't want to stay all bloody, do you?" he said, gently. Anakin looked from the handkerchief to his master a few times, and then shook his head.

Smiling a little, Obi-Wan took the handkerchief and began to dab the flinching twenty -three year olds' head. "You just don't feel like talking to me, do you? You know you'll have to sometime, don't you, hmm?" He finished dabbing, and tried to get the young man to face him, "Anakin.Anakin, come on, stop it." He took the bottom of his chin, and moved it gently into view, only to be hit in the heart by the image in front of him.

Tears were strolling down the young mans face, gathered with a soft sniffing that threatened to blow into a full tear-fest. But it didn't. The tears kept coming but it was like he wouldn't acknowledge them, so they just fell.

Obi-Wan sighed and looked away for just a moment. Something shone in the Coruscant sun light that caught his eyes. The plastic medical band was lying on the floor. He got up for a moment to pick it up, and then sat back on the bed.

"Anakin, you mustn't take this off, alright? You must keep it on." He took Anakins wrist, and tried to reattach the band, but Anakin constantly squirmed and tried to pull away.

"What's the matter? Why don't you want this on you?" The only reply he got was more squirming, and moaning. "Anakin, you stop this and you talk to me. Understand? Stop it."

The young mans arm went limp, in Obi-Wans' hand, and he whimpering stopped. Even the tears stopped flowing, but his eyes looked like glass, threatening to break any moment.

Obi-Wan reattached the band, then sat opposite the young man. "Come on, please? Talk to me? Tell me what's wrong?"

Anakin started to play with the band, tugging at it, and started to whisper, ".is chains.chains and never ever free.never leave.he just.won't leave." The glass broke, and the tears came hot and heavy. ".Never.ever free.want.come.home."

"You're afraid he'll come back." Obi-Wan stated. "He's not, and you're home and thing's will be alright. Alright? Things will be fine."

Anakin just shook his head, over and over again.

"Master Kenobi?"

Obi-Wan looked around to see the young healer standing in the doorway.

"He should rest now."

Obi-Wan nodded, and whispered gently to Anakin. "I'll come and see you in the morning, all right? Some of the other masters want to see you too, do you want them to come?"

If Anakin heard him, he gave no sign of it, he just kept crying and rocking. Obi-Wan gently smoothed his hair, like he did when Anakin was young, and said gently, "Sweet dreams."

As he left the room, he doubted that Anakin would have.

----

Questions? Comments?