Spoilers: None, unless you haven't seen TPM, which, at this juncture, is really a moot point and you're a monkey. Oh, and The JA series, now. If you haven't read the books, don't blame me if you end up spoiled.
Warnings: None
Archive: My Site; FF.N; Please Ask
Disclaimer: To George Lucas, they belong. Nothing do I own. To Lucasfilms my money goes anyway. Sue me, you will not.
A/N: The idea of Dark!Obi has been banging around my head for a while now. If you can't abide by the Jedi's Sweetheart descending into darkness and believe he can do no wrong, turn away, now.
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Qui-Gon Jinn was dead, and with him the hopes of a nine-year-old boy.
Anakin still couldn't believe that the Jedi Master was gone; still expected his naïve assertion to be true, that one couldn't just kill a Jedi. He watched the flames lick at Qui-Gon's body, letting his childish whim super-impose the Master sitting up amidst the pyre, shaking soot from his hair. And then the Master would come and claim Anakin as his Padawan...
Anakin sighed. His dream to be a Jedi lay within the breast of the corpse in the middle of the room. He felt eyes upon him and turned to see the icy blue gaze of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The boy tried not to shudder at the haunted look in Obi-Wan's eyes. Anakin had only known the other man a short while, but he could sense that something had changed within the Jedi - something fundamental had shifted and Obi-Wan was no longer the same, exuberant Padawan that Anakin had come to respect.
Anakin was no fool. He may have had an innocent heart, but the slave's instinct imbedded in him gave him a maturity that he had no right to have at his age. And that instinct - forget the Force - had told him that Obi-Wan would be his chief rival for Qui-Gon's affections.
But through that same maturity he still found the means to realize that, though Obi-Wan resented him, the Padawan was dedicated to his Master and Anakin could certainly respect him for that, for it meant that, in the end, Obi-Wan would champion the cause of his master and that meant Anakin had half a chance; a half a chance that had perished with his Jedi Rescuer.
The plaintive words rose, unbidden, to the youth's lips, "What'll happen to me now?"
Anakin felt his face flush. He sounded so pathetic! And Obi-Wan would certainly relish telling the young upstart to go back to the slave shop where they'd found him. Anakin knew those words were coming. He mentally braced himself for them...
"The Council has granted me permission to train you. You will be a Jedi, I promise."
Anakin's mouth worked for a few moments, but he said nothing. Instead, he turned back to watch the crackling fire. With those words hanging between them, the fate of Anakin Skywalker - former slave and newly minted Jedi Padawan - was sealed.