Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters. No matter which fandom they came from. Also, the line "They break my heart" is from a Doctor Who episode.
Author's Note: The Doctor is the 10th Doctor. As for Star Wars, I imagined this to take place directly after The Phantom Menace, with Obi-Wan and Anakin heading back to the Jedi Temple from Naboo.
He looked around and was decidedly impressed, which did not happen often. There was a strange sound like the purr of an engine. A very strong engine. And the walls were made of metal.
He had been in places like this before. It was a spacecraft.
The man stepped out of his blue box to get a better look at his surroundings. He did not like the idea of being trapped inside another moving vehicle, and would have very well stepped back into the box to try and get to his original destination had his eyes not fell on the very young boy staring back at him.
"Well, aren't you a curious thing?" the man remarked.
"Who are you?" the boy asked. "I thought it was just my Master and I on this ship."
The man's face contorted into a frown. "Master?" he echoed. "Are you a slave?"
The boy took a defensive step back. "No," he said. "I'm Anakin Skywalker, soon-to-be Jedi knight. Who are you?"
The man rubbed his chin thoughtfully and gave the boy a long look. He always liked this moment, when he had to tell people who he was. Either they were extremely pleased to see him or extremely confused. Both were entertaining.
"I," he answered, "am the Doctor."
Anakin Skywalker was largely unimpressed. "We don't need one."
The Doctor's pleased expression was wiped clear off his face.
At the ship's controls was Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi, who had much on his mind and nothing more to occupy himself with than piloting the ship. That in itself was a rather easy job, since the ship was on autopilot.
His thoughts drifted towards his new apprentice, his padawan, Anakin. He knew that, by all standards, he was hardly ready to take on an apprentice. His former Master may have thought him ready to become a full Jedi knight, but taking on an apprentice was reserved for those who had experience, and he had only been a knight for a few days. In fact, he had decided to take on the job of training Anakin before he even became a knight.
He had been a padawan himself, his Master dying in his arms.
Obi-Wan sighed and leaned forward on the controls, trying to center his thoughts. He knew if he thought about his Master he would start to lose control of his emotions.
Master?
Obi-Wan straightened abruptly. It was Anakin, communicating tentatively through their still-forming bond. He sighed; it would take both of them time to get used to it.
Yes, Anakin? Is there a problem?
There was silence on the other end of the bond, but Obi-Wan could feel his apprentice trying to come up with an answer.
Finally, there came the thought, Yes, Master. I think…I have a man here who just suddenly appeared on the ship in a blue box thingy. He doesn't seem dangerous. I'm bringing him to you.
Very well. Obi-Wan stood to face the door, placing one hand on his lightsaber. No sooner had he done so than the door opened, and in stepped Anakin and the aforementioned man.
Obi-Wan frowned. The man was dressed in strange, unfamiliar clothing. He looked rather young, though older than himself. And there was a certain odd feeling about him that Obi-Wan felt through the Force, though he was certain that even non Force sensitive people would notice the aura of oddness that hung about this man.
"Here he is," Anakin said, rather unceremoniously.
"Thank you, Anakin," Obi-Wan said. Anakin took a seat next to his Master and waited. Obi-Wan returned his attention to the strange man. "Who are you?"
"I'm the Doctor," the man said, grinning. "Surely you've heard of me."
"We aren't in need of a doctor," Obi-Wan muttered. "What's your name?"
"I'm afraid that is my name," the man replied. "I'm sorry you haven't heard of me. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised, because I haven't heard of you two either." He gestured towards Anakin. "Nice apprentice you've got there."
"How did you get here?" Obi-Wan asked, the hand on his lightsaber tightening.
"Well, that's rather curious, actually," the Doctor said, frowning. "I don't really know. I was headed somewhere else and there was a glitch in the TARDIS and I suppose it redirected me here. Funny thing, that. I don't know where here is, and you should probably enlighten me. Although I really should get going, you know, because what I do is rather important."
"What do you do?" Anakin asked, his blue eyes wide and his whole body leaning forward.
"I'm a Time Lord." The Doctor liked the awe that made its way onto the apprentice's face, although his Master seemed rather unimpressed.
"If you have to leave," Obi-Wan said, "then please do so."
The Doctor sighed dramatically. "If I must." He frowned. "But I would very much like to know where we're going and who I'm talking to. I haven't learned your name."
"Oh, that's my Master, Obi-Wan Kenobi," Anakin supplied. "He actually is a Jedi Knight, but he just became one. He's very good, though. He killed a Sith Lord!"
The Master grimaced and the Doctor laughed. "I'm afraid I didn't understand anything you just said, which proves I've never been to this area of time and space before."
"I'm sure it would be very complicated for us to tell you everything we know about this universe in a short period of time," Obi-Wan pointed out. "So unless you really intend on spending a lot of time here…"
"But wait!" Anakin looked between his Master and the man who called himself the Doctor. "If he's not from here, then where is he from? There aren't any planets that you Jedi don't know about, right?"
"Well…" Obi-Wan looked thoughtful. "I wouldn't say that, but we do know of most. It is indeed strange." He paused and addressed the Doctor. "Did you say Time Lord?"
"I did, indeed," the Doctor nodded.
"Well, then, I'd guess he traveled through time as well as space. Which means that he could very well come from somewhere we don't know about, or somewhere we do know about but that would be unrecognizable in his time."
The Doctor nodded, but while Obi-Wan had been explaining these things to the young boy he had been watching them both instead of wondering about where he was. Here before him was a Jedi, whatever that was, and his apprentice. A Jedi Knight. His mind worked quickly. He knew knights were usually people who fought for something. Obi-Wan did indeed have the look of someone who would fight; there was some kind of weapon that he kept his hand on and he was tense, as though ready to do anything at any moment.
Anakin was his apprentice…
The Doctor shook his head as a rather unpleasant thought began to take shape regarding apprentices. "What is it that you Jedi do?"
"They keep the peace of the galaxy!" Anakin explained, still rather unfamiliar with being a Jedi himself. "They have to fight sometimes to do it, but it generally works." He turned to his Master. "Right?"
"More or less," Obi-Wan said. He glanced at the Doctor.
"And Anakin is your apprentice?" the Doctor asked.
"Yes."
"For how long?"
"Only for a few days now. He will be my apprentice until he becomes a Jedi Knight. It usually takes…a long time. He will be an adult by then." Obi-Wan sighed. "I myself just became a Jedi Knight. That's when I took Anakin as my apprentice."
The Doctor did not miss the look of slight guilt that crossed Anakin's face during his Master's explanation, though he had no idea why the boy should feel that way. He frowned. "Is it normal for someone who was recently an apprentice to take on an apprentice of their own?"
"It isn't unheard of," Obi-Wan replied, but he looked away. Anakin, beside him, glanced at the floor.
"And what happens to the Masters when their apprentices become knights. Do they just…go their separate ways?" This was something the Doctor was most curious about. The relationship between the Master and his apprentice reminded him somewhat of his own companions. Except his companions were neither so young nor did they need to be trained. In fact, they needed to be protected, if anything. A part of the Doctor wished he could train them instead of, well, just having them work for him. He wished they could get something out of it more than what they did.
"They might become a team, you know, working together," Obi-Wan said. His eyes looked distant. "I don't know. My Master…is dead."
"I'm so sorry," the Doctor murmured. He noticed that Obi-Wan was showing much more emotion now, at the mention of his Master, than he had been before. In fact, before he had been the picture of calmness. "You were close?"
"Masters and their apprentices always become close," Obi-Wan said. "You can't help it. You're both living together, training together, fighting together for years. My Master was like my father."
It was hard for Obi-Wan to tell it. It was hard for Anakin to hear it. The Doctor tried to stop memories of his own companions. He recalled something he had said once.
They break my heart.
The expression on Obi-Wan's face was one of grief. It hit a bit too close to home.
But he had Anakin now.
Suddenly the Doctor wanted nothing more than for these two to be safe and happy. Not just now, but for as long as they both lived. He wanted them to never have to deal with such heartbreak. He wanted to know that their future was good.
Sometimes he forgot that he was a Time Lord, in the same way that Anakin seemed to forget that he was now a part of the Jedi. The Doctor could very well see their future, if he wanted.
It was too much.
"I should go." The words came out slowly, as if he wasn't quite sure of them.
He turned around. Faintly, he heard Anakin say something. His Master said something too. They were both saying goodbye, he thought.
They didn't have a strong bond yet. They were new at this.
The Doctor turned around. "You know," he said, "I think you'll learn this later, but you ought to know it now. You two are the greatest thing you both have. Remember it and…don't do anything to mess it up."
The stray thought came into his head. Not like me. But he couldn't help it. He was a Time Lord. He would outlive all of them. These two were both the same. They both had the same sort of responsibility resting on their shoulders. If one died, the other would eventually follow.
The Doctor couldn't prevent death, only make it wait a little longer. And he couldn't die, not right away, only come back regenerated. Sometimes he wished he could die like humans died, rather than simply watching them die.
Taking on a companion was a cruel thing for him to do. He had always known it. They would die or they would be upset when he left them.
And they broke his heart as much as he broke theirs.
"Whatever you do," the Doctor murmured, "don't hurt each other. You won't want to go through life alone, trust me. It isn't very pleasant."
Then he made his way down the hallway, away from the Master and his apprentice.
Obi-Wan took a deep breath and turned to Anakin. He realized that he was, indeed, grateful for the young boy's presence. He knew that if Anakin weren't there, the pain of his former Master's death would have been too much for him to handle. With Anakin there was potential.
He could start all over again.
Anakin looked up at him. "Do you believe him?"
Obi-Wan frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Do you think the greatest thing we have is each other?" The apprentice's voice was soft, and it was the first time Obi-Wan had really heard Anakin sound truly timid.
"Yes." Obi-Wan gave Anakin a shaky smile. "We may not have a really strong bond yet, but we will. I'm not going to break my promise. You will become a Jedi Knight and…" He paused, wanting the words to sink in. "We will remain great friends even after."
Anakin grinned. "Even when you're old?" There was mischief in his voice.
Obi-Wan's blue eyes flashed. "I'll never get old."
Anakin laughed, and for the first time since before his Master died Obi-Wan felt sure that he was on the right path, and that the right path was also a good one.
The Doctor knew he shouldn't have looked, but he did. He went forward in time, just enough so that Anakin might have reached knighthood and Obi-Wan would be, well, older if anything. He had to know. He knew practically everything else.
He did not like what he saw.
There was so much darkness and death. Anakin had turned against his Master. The Doctor saw him do terrible things to other Jedi. He saw the fight the young man had with Obi-Wan, his weapon clashing down upon that of his former Master, the intent clearly to kill. He heard Obi-Wan scream at Anakin, telling him that he loved him. And he heard the equally passionate response.
I hate you.
The Doctor had met all sorts of intelligent beings, but it was humans who never failed to affect him the most. They were creatures to be revered…and to be condemned.
He tried to do everything he could to keep outside dangers at bay, but he could never prevent people from doing what they did to each other.
The Doctor soon found himself on a stranded desert of a planet. From the shadows he watched Obi-Wan try to get on with his life, even though all that he lived for was gone, destroyed by the one person he had loved. Obi-Wan was heartbroken.
The Doctor turned away. It was nothing new.
He had seen the same things happen in other places, felt the same way many times before.
Still, he lived.