This fic is not really deserving of an M rating, but I figured that people looking for Ani/Obi slash are more likely to search under M, and this was swept away in the pages under T. SO...
A/N:: I've recently gotten more into Star Wars than ever before. I love Obi-Wan and Anakin and have found some fantastic fiction, and I thought i'd give it a go! I don't know very much about the Star Wars movies, other than was is explicity portrayed in the films, so if there are any factual falsehoods, well, let me know and i'll see if it's worth fixing. Or grammar errors--please bring them to my attention!
Reminder...This is SLASH. I'm not forcing you to read it. If you don't like it, don't read it. Your opinions will be of no importance to me so flaming is rather useless...
Also, if any of my readers from Veracity happen to see this...I haven't given up! My muse is just in a coma. Hopefully the new upcomming season will jog my brain! I won't abandon that story!
As the shuttle approached the smoldering hell of Mustafar, Obi-Wan was filled with emotions that he could not dispel into the Force as a Jedi should. His fear, grief, and despair ran through his blood, and it was everything he could do to remain in control of his own actions. He had seen the security tapes of Anakin murdering the young ones, but he refused to believe that which his eyes perceived. He knew logically that it had to have been Anakin, but his heart held no such conviction. It was obvious now that his boy had succumbed to the temptation offered by the wicked Sidious, but Obi-Wan thought he might be able to lure him back into the light; Sidious could offer the Dark Side, but Obi-Wan could offer Love, and perhaps Anakin's passion, the very device of his downfall, could be used to raise him up once more. He loved Anakin with more than he thought a heart could love, and Anakin had loved him too. The older Jedi refused to believe that even the Dark Side could have made the boy forget it.
Obi-Wan could sense Anakin's presence and guided the ship to the nearest landing pad. Stepping off the ramp, the Jedi saw a figure cloaked in black waiting for him. "I thought you might come," a cold raspy voice stated. The older man had been so preoccupied during his journey he had not planned anything at all to say to the one who held his heart.
"Anakin?" The name passed his lips as a question—for surely, this man could not be his boy. The figure in front of him had cold lifeless eyes situated on an even colder stern face. Red rings around these eyes matched the malicious glow of the horrid planet. The voice that came from the hard unwelcoming lips was cruel. The joy and perpetual yet benign mischief that normally surrounded his features was gone. The soft voice that once poured out of the formally plush lips was hardened. His presence in the Force was a cloud of chaos: fear, anger, grief, loss, and betrayal. Love had no place in his heart.
It was far worse than Obi-Wan had feared. Rather than take his boy away to fix what the wicked had wronged, he began to realize he might have to destroy what the wicked had created. Could he bring himself to do it? Could he end the life of one for whom he would gladly give up his own? And even if he found the strength to attempt it, could he physically defeat the Chosen One?
"Why have you come, Kenobi?" Anakin's cold use of his last name shook Obi-Wan, but he would not break, not yet, not while there was still a chance…
"I, I've come to save you, Ani." The older Jedi choked on his words.
"Save me from what, Old Man? I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire." He turned his back to his former Master.
"To save you from yourself, Anakin! You're 'new Empire'?" Obi-Wan was in disbelief that his precious Ani could have been so warped.
"Don't make me kill you." This threat filled the Master with hope; Anakin did not want to kill him. Perhaps there was still a chance to save him. Perhaps some tiny tendril of good held the boy above the sea of darkness.
"Anakin! My allegiance is to you, to us. Not to some Sithly Empire!" Obi-Wan shouted at Anakin's turned back. He seemed to ignore this statement.
"If you're not with me, you're my enemy." Anakin still stood with his back turned against the man he once loved with every fiber of his being. The other Jedi could not believe his ears. He could sense the conflict threatening to boil over, and he was about to reply when the full impact of Anakin's words sank into his conscience. 'You're my enemy.' It was too late. He was too late, he had failed his brother, his friend, his Padawan, and worst of all, he had failed his lover.
"Only a Sith deals in absolutes." Obi-Wan's own words hurt him, for he knew now what he had to do. "I will do what I must." It took every ounce of strength the older Jedi had not to cry. He could not let this shell of Anakin have that satisfaction.
"You will try."
And so it began.
Anakin leapt into the air and Obi-Wan rose his 'saber just in time to defend himself. The duel, had it been witnessed, would've been legendary. Never before had two forces with such skill battled to the death. Though it wasn't truly such a battle, for while Obi-Wan met Anakin's every blow, he had great difficulty bringing himself to mount many offensive sweeps. He just defended himself as the fight moved along the landing pad.
When the pair began to move through a narrow, triangular passage, their lightsabers cuts into the metal as they swung swiftly around, causing a rain of fiery sparks. As the little specks of light fell, the world seemed to stop, the fight moving in slow motion before the entire planet dissolved around Obi-Wan.
Suddenly, he was no longer engaged in the battle of a lifetime, but he was sitting in Qui-Gon's ship, gazing out the window before him. What had once been angry yellow sparks were now soft white lights of the stars, and before him stood an eager little boy, viewing the heavens from space for the first time. Obi-Wan reached down and quickly sat the child in his lap to prevent him from falling when the stars stretched into long lines, signifying their leap into hyperspace.
The older man looked down when the boy made a strange grunting noise, and saw that it was no boy at all, but rather a fully-grown mutation of what had once been a most passionate being. Anakin swung up with his lightsaber and duel waged on.
The battle was quicker than any fight the galaxy had seen. As the two blades of light collided over and over again, Obi-Wan's mind tried to comprehend how that innocent and eager little boy could have turned into this monster. The two Jedi, or, rather, the Jedi and the former Jedi moved into the control room for whatever station they were situated on. They broke apart for a moment to viciously swing their weapons around and around in order to gain momentum for an equally vicious attack. When this tactic proved useless, the two resorted to the Force. Neither could defeat the other in this way, however, and both ended up soaring through the air.
When Obi-Wan crashed down again, it was not on a cold metal floor, or a control system, but the floor of the Jedi Temple's training room. He looked up to see a boy standing in shock, unable to believe what he had just done. Obi-Wan himself was shocked that this boy, at such a young age, with such little training, could be so controlling of the Force. He was about to say so when the boy was suddenly charging him and a lightsaber he had not possessed a moment before cut through the world, dissolving the Temple and leaving behind an angry red room full of cold machinery. He quickly raised his weapon in defense and felt the station shudder as their blades collided with a control system.
Moving towards the door, Obi-Wan landed a kick on Anakin's chest, but it did little to the furious warrior who charged on as the two moved out of the room and outside onto a balcony. The blades swung once more, and then it was Anakin's turn to land a far more effective kick. The older man's head swung back, and when he looked straight again, it was to see a truly horrified teenager, one who was repulsed by what he had just done. The Master and his Padawan had been training, the battle becoming intense. When it was clear that Obi-Wan would win, however, Anakin got a little carried away and landed a hard blow on his Master's face. The nose was probably broken and he could feel blood already pouring from it. "I'm so sorry! Oh, Force! What have I done? I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" The teen was now crying and backing away from his Master, hating himself for losing control.
"It's alright Padawan, it was just a slip." He pulled the teen into an embrace, holding his head as he sobbed.
"I'll never hurt you again! Ever! I promise!" The entire room trembled and the walls and floors all fell away as the fiery landscape of Mustafar returned, and the teenager was gone.
Obi-Wan leapt backwards onto a small metal pipe, backing away from the object of his affection—no, not him. This is not Anakin. He backed away from this destroyed shell of Anakin. The two attempted to continue the battle, but to do so and to also maintain balance was impossible. They leapt down onto a thicker walkway. They resumed their fight, with lava and fire churning all around them. An explosion shook the walkway, but it was not lava or fire that erupted into the air, it was the light of fireworks at the Jedi Temple. Obi-Wan had known for some time about how he truly felt for his Padawan, but he daren't express his love for the boy because he knew it to be unrequited, and his passion for the Code forbade it. But when the pair strolled through the magnificent gardens in the Temple, meandering back to their apartment, both a little tipsy, Anakin suddenly pushed Obi-Wan against a hedge and his lips were suddenly pressed against those of a trembling teen. He could tell how nervous the boy was, unsure of his own actions. This deviation from his normally overconfident and cocky demeanor was all it took to weaken the man's resolve. He closed his eyes and leaned into the kiss, forgetting the Code, forgetting anything that wasn't this sweet pair of lips.
When those eyes opened, however, it was not to see a loving smile, but a look of pure disgust and hatred. Anakin pushed the two on as the duel continued. Obi-Wan began to put on a little bit of an offensive, aiming strikes to wound, but not to kill. It did not matter though, because Anakin blocked them all the same.
The movement of 'sabers ceased for a moment as both men observed waves of lava crash onto their walk way and they were both forced to seek shelter 'neath some appendage of the metal contraption. As Obi-Wan watched the flecks of fire rain down, they began to darken into water droplets, and soon he was standing in a rainstorm. Anakin was stood on the balcony of their apartment, on the rail actually, reaching towards the heavens, laughing hysterically. Even after all these years on Coruscant, Anakin's innate appreciation for water could not be calmed, and each fall of rain was like a shower of gold. "Anakin! Come down from there! You're going to get yourself killed!" Obi-Wan tried to reprimand him, but he knew he couldn't be stern with his boy. Anakin merely smiled at him. "Please Ani! Won't you come down for me?" Without hesitation, Anakin leapt from the rail landing directly in front of Obi-Wan.
"I would do anything for you Master, anything." Anakin grabbed his face and pulled Obi-Wan into a kiss so passionate that it banished the cold that had seeped into his body while standing in the rain, and filled him with warmth. A little too much warmth. The warmth became heat, almost unbearable heat, heat in the form of lava that splattered the ground in front of him, product of a recent explosion from below. The "walkway" suddenly began to tip upwards as that leg of the station drifted down towards the river of fire. After escaping the contraption, which fell over a cataract of lava, the duelers landed on some sort of lava platforms, floating on the hot river.
As their weapons collided once more, the buzzing sound their meeting made became a steady hum. A noise that washed over Obi-Wan. It became a lighter sounding hum, more fluid. It was the hum of the water, the waves of a sea on Naboo where a Jedi Master and his Padawan splashed each other. Anakin had never swum before, but he was quick to learn. Obi-Wan sputtered when a wave hit him from the side, giving him a mouthful of salty water. Anakin, who had ducked under the wave, emerged laughing. He brushed his Master's soaked hair out of his face and gently kissed him. Looking into the older man's steely blue eyes, he whispered. "You know, Obi-Wan, I think I'm in love with you." Before he could respond, Obi-Wan was hit with another wave…but this was one of heat, not water. He was hovering over liquid rock, not playful seas of some serene planet.
When they broke apart for a moment, panting, Obi-Wan had to speak. "I have failed you Anakin, I have failed you."
"I should've known you never loved me," Anakin shouted back. The comment rocked Obi-Wan to the core: how could Anakin believe that? How could he have been twisted so?
"Anakin! Chancellor Palpatine is evil! How could you let him blind you? You know that I love you, that I always will!" Obi-Wan exclaimed. Anakin scoffed.
"If you love me, why did you come here to kill me, just like he said you would?"
"I told you Anakin! I came to save you! I have hardly fought at all! You're trying to kill me!" A look crossed Anakin's face, as if Obi-Wan's words had reached the boy still inside, but it was only for a moment.
"Well I love you no longer." The comment hurt the Jedi like no other words could have ever done. But he still couldn't believe it. The two flew across the lava surface for several seconds, just staring into each other's eyes. Obi-Wan couldn't understand it. Anakin loved him. He, in turn, loved his Ani. They were inseparable. Anakin had sworn to love him for all time, to protect him from any kind of harm. And Obi-Wan had believed him. So how could, after all that, Anakin claim to no longer love him, and attempt to murder him? This man had sworn eternal devotion and was now delivering eternal damnation. How could it be? How could the Dark Side have twisted him so much? "It was all for you Master. I became this for you, to protect you, only to find out everything you said to me was a lie." Obi-Wan didn't try to make him see the truth. He knew Palpatine had already convinced him of the Jedi's supposed trickery. But he would still not strike Anakin down. He could not. "This is the end for you my Master."
They fought for only a little while longer before Obi-Wan was able to leap out of the fire onto solid ground.
"It's over Anakin, I have the high ground."
"You underestimate my power." It took only those four words to finally break Obi-Wan's heart. He knew what Anakin would do; he had trained the boy. He also knew what he himself would have to do, and Anakin would never forgive him. If any piece of the one he loves was still hidden away inside of that Vessel of Darkness, it would soon be destroyed.
"Don't try it." But, of course, he did. Anakin leapt into the air and all of time came to a stop as their life passed before Obi-Wan's eyes.
He was comforting a small confused boy, who had just been ripped from his home and thrown into an entirely new world.
He was holding a sobbing child in his arms, banishing the nightmares that visited each night.
He was trying awkwardly to explain to a young teenager what was happening to his body.
He was admiring a boy becoming a man, and finally admitting to himself his feelings for him.
He was holding a broken Jedi whose mother had been destroyed by Tusken Raiders.
He was standing in the Temple gardens, wondering if he was dreaming as his lips pressed against those of a suddenly shy Padawan—his Padawan!
He was panting in bed, Anakin lying beside him smiling stupidly as he leaned in to kiss his Master.
He was shocked. Anankin just told Obi-Wan that he loved him. The Force smiled around the two.
He was celebrating, Anakin had just been Knighted and the two shared a romantic evening involving much wine, fine foods, each other, and, well, a little more…
He was searching the Temple frantically. He couldn't find Anakin. Yoda showed him the security tapes.
He was heart-broken on a race to Mustafar.
He was standing on the top of a small hill with the one person he loved more than anything in the galaxy soaring above him.
He was swinging his blade up, removing the boy's lower limbs, and flinching as he saw him fall to the ground, slipping nearer to the river of death.
"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them!" He retreated up the hill, and picked up the lightsaber of Anakin Skywalker, and left "Darth Vader" on the hill.
"I hate you!" Such passion filled Vader's voice that Obi-Wan had to turn back.
"You were my lover! I loved you Anakin! I love you!" When the boy had reached the river, Obi-Wan had to look away as his terrible screams of unimaginable pain tore through the air. "I love you," he whispered, before leaving his heart to be captured by the torrent of flames. "I love you."