Ass Cover: They belong to Lucasfilm, and the Bearded One. I'm just borrowing them for a spell. That said, I'll warn you that I'm a slashwriter, first and foremost. I just felt I needed to have this lovely trio of stories. I've got Obi-Wan/Anakin, so why not Obi-Wan/Padme? Anyway, this takes place in the Attack of the Clones time frame, but the events are going to be drastically different. Like, no Anakin-and-Padme smoochies, for one. Yeah!
Darker Paths
Void
A tremor in the Force shook Obi-Wan from sleep. He sat up in bed, blinking, feeling strangely disoriented. That bothered him more than the change in the Force. He felt as though something was missing.
Something was wrong.
He slid from the bed, leaning over once and kissing Padme's cheek, before pulling on his leggings and under-tunic and stepping onto the barely lit balcony that faced the east. The sun was rising over the lake and he walked over to the railing and leaned against it. The reason for his uneasiness eluded him as he stared at the light creeping over the calm surface of the water. He slid absently into meditation, letting his thoughts drift away and the Force rush into him.
Pain coursed through his entire body as the Force flowed in, and he understood the feeling of absence, and the uneasiness in the Force.
Obi-Wan Kenobi no longer had a Padawan.
When he'd woken, that must have been the moment Anakin had broken their training bond. And for that, Anakin would have had to…
Obi-Wan reached into the Force, opened himself and let it take him over, along with the pain the newly severed training bond brought. But eventually, it faded, and nothing was left but a void where his and Anakin's minds had once connected within the Force. But that was not the only thing that was painful.
The Dark Side clouded anything that he might have seen. He sat there for a long while, waiting for the shadows to part and the Force to show him what it would. He did not move until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Obi-Wan?" Padme asked. Her voice was filled with worry.
"Something has happened," Obi-Wan told her. "I have to return to Coruscant."
"No!" Padme cried, exasperated. "We have just gotten here, and if you intend to leave, I am going with you."
"No," Obi-Wan said. "Stay here. This is an affair of the Jedi, and not for you."
Padme frowned, her face flushing as she stood and clasped her robes more tightly about her. "I may be your wife but I am not yours to order about!" she cried. "I am still a Senator, and if there is a problem within the Republic then it is my business also!"
"I will not argue this with you," Obi-Wan said, turning and going back into their rooms. Padme followed him.
"Do not turn and walk away from me," Padme said. "You have your calm Jedi ways for every being I the galaxy, yet when it comes to a disagreement with your wife—you wife" she cried "you will walk away."
"You do not understand," Obi-Wan said, his teeth clenched.
"No, I cannot understand because you do so much to hide your emotions from me." Padme cried. "And why? Because I am not a Jedi? Something has happened, and you will tell me."
Obi-Wan froze. Then he sat on the end of the bed, one boot in his hands. "He has… he…" he did not want to think about it.
"He? Who?" Padme sat beside him. "Tell me?"
"I do not know exactly what happened," Obi-Wan said. "I woke this morning, feeling as though something was wrong. Something I could feel in the force. I went onto the balcony, to try and get a better grip on what I felt, and…"
Padme looked at him expectantly. He began pulling on his boots.
"How soon do you think I could get back to Coruscant?" he asked. Padme sighed, annoyed.
"What happened. You left something out, and there is no way that you can think I do not know." She said.
"Anakin… destroyed our training bond," Obi-Wan told her. "That's why I was… on the ground. It hurt so much, when I opened up to the Force. He's not there. Nothing's there."
Padme reached out and hugged him tightly to her for a moment. He sounded so shocked, so stunned, almost scared. "I'm going with you," she told him.
"No, I want you to stay here, to stay safe, should anything happen," Obi-Wan told her. "There's only one thing that will make a Jedi sever his training bond like that."
"He knows about this place, Obi-Wan. I would be safer with you." Padme said. She realized that they were both speaking as though Anakin would be coming for her.
"I cannot take you into the council chamber. It is a place for Jedi, or prospective Jedi." Obi-Wan said. "And I would not leave you away from me inside the Temple, because it will be the first place he goes, I think."
"Then dress me as a Jedi and wrap me in a cloak so that they cannot see my face," she said. She was scared now, both by the possibilities that Obi-Wan was leaving unspoken, yet hinting at, and that something could happen to him while he was away. She did not want them to be apart.
Obi-Wan sighed. "They will know that you are not a Jedi, but I suppose that we have to do something."
She nodded and they dressed her as a Jedi.
~`~
Obi-Wan strode to the doors of the Council chamber and Forced them open, then walked inside. Half of the council was inside, including Mace Windu, and Yoda. They all turned when Obi-Wan came into the room.
"Jedi conduct, this is not!" Master Yoda said, beating his stick on the floor. He eyed Obi-Wan's cloaked companion. "A Padawan you have, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"That is no Padawan, if the Force tells me correctly," Master Windu said. "Nor a Jedi at all."
"It is forbidden among the Jedi to bring one that does not have the skill in the Force into the Council chamber," Master Ki-Adi-Mundi said.
"I will apologize for my rule breaking later," Obi-Wan said.
"Speaking this way, never have I heard you," Yoda said. "Something troubles you deeply, Knight Kenobi. Unbecoming of you, this trouble is."
"And whether you are troubled or not does not justify your bringing of this person into the chamber," Master Windu said.
Padme tossed back the hood of her cloak and looked directly at Master Yoda. "Can you sense nothing? For all your talk of your abilities in the Force, do you not know what is happening around you?" She was angry.
"You have taken to breaking many rules, Obi-Wan. First you marry, then you bring her into the council chamber. What will you do next?" Master Windu was frowning.
Obi-Wan looked up, directly into the Jedi Master's eyes. Had Mace not been the head of the council, or had he been a Padawan, he would have recoiled at the pain he saw in Obi-Wan's eyes.
"Anakin has destroyed our traning bond," Obi-Wan said softly. The moment he had looked up, all other conversation in the chamber had stopped. Every Jedi in the room heard those words.
"You know this for sure?" Master Windu said, his voice softer.
"There is a void within me where he once was," Obi-Wan said. "I am positive."
"Clouded, his future always was," Master Yoda said. "Listen to us, Qui-Gon would not." He stood and hobbled slowly across the room to Obi-Wan and Padme. "Much like your master, you are."
"There must be something you can do!" Padme cried.
"If Anakin has turned to the Dark Side, then there is nothing, nothing that we know of." Master Windu said.
The door opened and a young Padawan stumbled inside. "There are droids attacking the temple!" she cried.
"Where is your master," Master Yoda asked the girl.
"She is fighting them, sir! Master, they are not all droids!" the girl said.
All the masters rose to their feet. "Then who are they?" Master Windu asked.
"I don't know sir," the girl said, looking toward the door. "I don't know. They wear Jedi cloaks, but they're attacking the Jedi, sir."
There were cries from outside the Council chamber and the girl rushed out. Obi-Wan watched the Jedi Masters.
"Take her from the temple, I will." Master Yoda finally said. He started hobbling toward the doors. "Come with me, you will, Senator Amidala."
"I can fight, Master Yoda. If I have a blaster—" Padme began.
"Come with me, you will." Yoda repeated. Padme looked at Obi-Wan.
"Go," he said. "I do not want to see you hurt."
"So you will have me leave, yet you will stay here and YOU will be hurt?" she asked.
"I will not be hurt," Obi-Wan said. "Please, just go with Master Yoda."
Padme turned angrily and followed Master Yoda as he hobbled from the room. Obi-Wan watched her walking away. He sighed and turned to Master Windu.
Padme came running back through the doors and wrapped her arms around her husband. "I love you," she told him. "And I will see you again." She kissed him, and he put one arm around her waist and held her against him.
"You will, love, I promise you that," Obi-Wan said.
"Senator Amidala!" Master Yoda said.
"I love you," she repeated, then turned and followed the aged Jedi Master. Obi-Wan smiled when he heard her correcting Master Yoda. "It's Senator Kenobi, Master, you know that."
Master Windu watched the Jedi Knight that stood beside him. "Love is incentive to survive. I'll have to remember that." He said. "But now, we must face your Padawan."
"He is no longer my Padawan." Obi-Wan said, and took his lightsabre from his belt. "Both you and I know this, Master. He is no one's Padawan, and beyond saving."
"I know how it must hurt you to say that, Obi-Wan." Master Windu said. For the first time, he looked upon the Knight as his equal. "You did all that you could, and I am sorry that you could not fulfill Qui-Gon's wishes."
Both Jedi walked from the council room, the remainder of the assembled Jedi at their back.
~`~
Obi-Wan sliced his lightsabre through droid after droid. They didn't stop coming, as though there was an unlimited supply. Which, he was sure, there was, given that there were so few Jedi and the senate would never dare send the Clone Army of the Republic into the Jedi Temple.
Of course, Obi-Wan thought as another droid fell in two melted pieces at his feet, the Jedi had always assumed no one would dare attack the temple.
"Hello Master," A voice said behind him, cold, calm, and… different. Obi-Wan turned.
"Anakin," he said. Though Anakin was not holding a lightsabre, Obi-Wan did not deactivate his own. He could no longer touch his former Padawan's mind, and therefore couldn't predict anything the boy would do.
"Where is she," Anakin asked.
"I don't know," Obi-Wan told him. It was the truth, mostly. He had an idea where Master Yoda might have taken his wife, but he did not know for sure. Even if he had known, he was sure he would have lied to Anakin.
"You are lying," Anakin said. He did not move.
"I do not know where she is," Obi-Wan said. Anakin tried pulling the lightsabre from his former master's hand. Obi-Wan held onto it, but barely.
"How can you not know where your lover is?" Anakin asked. "Tell me, and your death will be that much quicker."
"I'm not going to die today," Obi-Wan said. "Nor any day soon after. I promised my wife that I would return to her, and I will."
Rage was emanating from Anakin in waves. He rushed at Obi-Wan, but the Jedi Knight did not back down. A red lightsabre surged to life in Anakin's hands as he attacked his former Master. Obi-Wan blocked every slash easily, but he was tired. Anakin's blows were falling harder and harder upon him.
"Padawan Skywalker," Master Windu said from behind them. Anakin stopped his merciless beating at Obi-Wan to turn to the head of the Council of the Jedi.
"I'm not a Padawan anymore, Windu," He said. "I don't answer to you."
"You answer to what justice there is left in this temple, Anakin." Master Windu said. Anakin stepped toward him. "Go, Obi-Wan. Follow your heart, you know where she is."
Obi-Wan watched the Jedi Master. "I can't," he said.
"Go! That's an order, Obi-Wan," Master Windu shouted. He blocked Anakin's slash.
Obi-Wan watched them for a few moments more, then turned and fought his way from the temple.
~`~
Padme stared out across the water. They had returned to Naboo and to the Lake House, the safest place she could think of. Master Yoda was sitting nearby, his eyes closed in meditation. He had told her things, things that he could tell just from being in touch with the Force. Things about herself and her husband and the future, things that she wanted to hear, and some things that she didn't.
A tear slipped down her cheek and dropped into the water below. A hand came to rest on her back and she jumped. She turned and looked up at Obi-Wan.
His face was dirty, and there was oil on his clothing and his hands. Dirty and sweaty though he was, Padme did not hesitate to throw her arms around Obi-Wan.
"I promised you you'd see me again," He said, and he hugged her tightly to him. "And here I am."
She kissed him frantically, her lips flying all across his face. "I was so scared, when we were leaving, and people were dying…" She was crying as she spoke, and her words broke off in a sob. He hugged her tightly.
"I told him that I wasn't going to die today, because I had to come back to you." Obi-Wan said. "And I meant it."
"I love you," Padme told him.
"I know," Obi-Wan said, reaching out dirty fingers and wiping away the tears. "and I love you, and that's why I had to come back."
Watching them, Master Yoda smiled.