Anakin had made it a priority to find his master after he had heard the traffic from the clones. A jedi was hurt and Anakin knew that the only other jedi on this side of the planet was Obi-wan. In a vain attempt to locate Obi-wan, Anakin had sent out a ping to his communicator. He counted the seconds as he waited for the ping to return to his communicator. It took far too long meaning that the distance between them was great. Not a good thing.
"Have you seen General Kenobi?" Anakin asked as he slid to a stop next to a small group of clones. They pointed. Anakin took off as fast as he could, the sound of his boots hitting the marble floor ringing in his ears. There was no peace. He had to find Obi-wan.
As he rounded a corner, a long hallway stretched before him and at the end, he saw a crumpled form against the far wall. Anakin's blood rushed into his ears and he moved quickly towards the form. He could sense that it was not good.
"Master," Anakin said his chest heaving from the pace he had kept in finding Obi-wan. He leaned over to look into his eyes, just to see where they were in the fight to keep him alive. It didn't look as though things would turn out as Anakin hoped. Medics were still pretty far out and Obi-wan had been shot through by a blaster. Fear crept inside of him and Anakin could feel it gripping his soul.
He opened his mouth to say something, but Obi-wan shook his head. Anakin knelt facing him, waiting, to hear his voice. There was something that he wanted to tell the younger jedi, that was clear, but what could be so important that it couldn't wait until the medics had treated his wounds or when he was healed from the bacta tanks?
Maybe, Anakin thought, Obi-wan didn't think that he would make it that long.
"Yes Master," Anakin said to his request that the younger jedi listen to what he was telling him. Anakin leaned against the wall and close to Obi-wan so that he could hear what he was saying. His voice was rough, almost hoarse to the point of being silent. That was a bad sign, Anakin knew from dealing with death so much these days.
You are enough.
The sentiment hit Anakin like a ton of duracrete. Why was he doing this? Anakin always knew that sometimes Obi-wan had been disappointed in what he had become and the lack of skills that he had, but why was he trying to tell the younger jedi now that he had always been enough.
Anakin didn't dare ask, but waited until Obi-wan spoke more. Maybe he would explain, but it wrenched his heart to think that Obi-wan was saying his goodbyes. That wasn't what he wanted him to do at all. He should stay here with Anakin. Anakin needed him.
Tears began to run down his face and he didn't want to wipe them away because he needed to feel something for what was happening to Obi-wan. Not what the jedi always told him about being cold and detached. He wanted Obi-wan to know that he would miss him.
You kept me alive.
In all the time he had known Obi-wan, this was something that he had never heard from the older jedi. It was confirmation that Obi-wan had hurt so badly after Master Jinn had been killed that he wasn't even sure if he wanted to continue. Anakin knew that Obi-wan often disagreed with his master, but there was a love there, between father and son, that Anakin never really got to witness fully. He wished he would've been able to see them together and he wished that Obi-wan would've never had to hurt in the way he did after Qui-gon was gone. That was a pain that he feared he would soon be learning about from his own loss.
He was thankful that he was the reason that Obi-wan continued to live, but it was breaking his heart now to know there would be no one to keep him alive when the older jedi was gone. He would be an orphan of sorts, just like he had been many times before.
Don't be tempted.
Anakin had been tempted many times, Obi-wan knew that, but it would be hard to walk that fine line without the guiding light that was his master. No he wouldn't let himself think that way because Obi-wan was going to live. He was going to make it out of here and they would laugh later at how much he hated bacta and the medical ward. It was what they had always done.
There is no way Anakin would let the force claim his friend, his father. He didn't want him to go. Anakin wanted to be selfish.
Anakin opened his mouth to speak, but Obi-wan shook his head no indicating that there were more things he wanted to say to him. Why would he be giving such a speech when he should be saving his energy to keep himself alive? Anakin wanted to shake him, to warn him that if he kept this up, the medics wouldn't arrive soon enough. He knew though that they would not make it soon enough at all.
You are my son, my brother, my rival and my life.
The choking feeling in Anakin's throat threatened to cut the oxygen off from his brain. He felt light headed and the floor began to tilt under him. He couldn't tell if the ground was actually giving way or if his body had finally given up fighting the clenching feeling around his heart.
Obi-wan was still the consummate jedi until the end, Anakin noted. He didn't look as though he was frightened, but there was something about the look in his eyes that pained Anakin. It was a desperation to make sure that Anakin was alright. That there was no unfinished business left between them. That he would be able to slip into the other realm easily knowing that Anakin would be okay.
"I'll be fine master," Anakin whispered quietly. He was lying, but it didn't matter.
The older jedi clasped at his tunic and pulled Anakin closer. In the pit of his stomach, Anakin knew the time was approaching when Obi-wan would slip into the force and be met there by so many of his contemporaries. Qui-gon would surely be waiting just on the other side for the padawan that he never got to see become such an extraordinary example of what a jedi should be.
Anakin's master was almost home.
I love you son.
The hand released his tunic and fell to the floor. Anakin couldn't move, his body frozen in complete anguish. Sobs began to rack his body, although he didn't want to let them happen. He was supposed to be stronger and not attached, but he was. There was nothing in life that prepared you for losing someone who was so important to you. It never got easier.
Anakin wrapped his arms around Obi-wan's body and snuggled close to it, just as he had all those times he had such terrible nightmares, and let the tears flow down his cheeks. It was comforting, but also heartbreaking to know that he would never speak to his mentor again. He was now orphaned, his mother having died and now the one person he could call his father, gone.
Alone. It was a word which haunted Anakin when he was a child and no returned to laugh at him again.
"General," a clone's voice called from over Anakin's shoulder. "Let me get a good look at him."
Anakin shook his head no, not wanting to release Obi-wan. If he let go, then it really was the end.
"There might be something I can do," the voice said again in desperation.
"Nothing will bring him back," Anakin hissed and looked down at the face which was now growing ashen as the blood no longer circulated to pinken the skin. Obi-wan was soaring somewhere in the force, to touch it, would be to touch a part of his former master.
"At least let us remove his body," the voice said more persistent now and Anakin felt a gloved hand on his shoulder, urging him to release the older jedi.
Did clones feel sadness? Anakin wondered as the faceless helmets of several men came and hoisted Obi-wan onto a stretcher for removal.
They couldn't know what he was feeling. He wasn't sure he knew, but he knew someone would pay.