"Ahsoka! Behind you!" Anakin shouted as a stray blaster bolt shot straight at his young padawan. She whipped around and deflected the blast back just moments before it would have fatally contacted with her head. The red flame hit the last battle droid and it fell, smoking, in pieces to the ground.

"Well Master, that's the last one." Ahsoka declared, wiping a drop of sweat from her forehead.

"Don't get your hopes up, Snips. Dooku is bound to have more coming soon. Rex," Anakin called to the nearby clone who was talking with the remaining members of his squadron. At the call, Rex turned and walked towards Anakin, helmet masking any trace of question on his face.

"Yes sir?"

"Has there been any word from Obi-Wan yet? He never returned from their scouting and we could really use the support."

"We have not received any word from him yet. Shall I try to contact him again?"

"Yes Rex, thank you."

There was a pause as Rex retrieved his comm from his belt and then a series of beeps as he inputted the correct code to reach General Kenobi. No response.

"Typical. The one time we need Obi-Wan he's nowhere to be found. Try reaching Cody instead."

Rex simply nodded and tried the call once more. Again, no response.

Ahsoka spoke up behind the two men, "Master, do you feel that?"

"Feel what, Ahsoka?"

And then all Anakin felt was pain. Flaming, burning, torturing, excruciating pain. He fell to his knees, screaming before the world went black and his head hit the ground.

"...aster….can ou… ear us… nakin… aster…"

Anakin groaned as he sat up and waited for the world to stop spinning.

"Master, can you hear us? Are you alright?"

He blinked multiple times and raised a hand to cradle his head.

"... What happened? I feel like I got run over by a herd of bantha."

"Well… we don't really know. We were trying to contact Obi-Wan and I felt this little flare in the Force like when you burn yourself on a hot mug, and then you starting screaming and just, sort of, collapsed."

Obi-Wan… Obi-Wan… OBI-WAN…

"Where's Obi-Wan? Something's happened to him." Anakin shouted as he started suddenly and grabbed Ahsoka's arm tightly.

"We don't know. We've been trying to contact him for almost an hour. No word from Cody or the gunner pilot either."

Anakin frowned, deep lines of sorrow and worry etching themselves on his face.

What in the galaxy has Obi-Wan gotten himself into?

Flashes. Flashes of images, visions. Too many, too fast to put them together.

… Clones. Betrayal. Death. 66…

… Qui-Gon. Bant. Joy. …

… Sith. Maul. Dark. 66…

… Tahl. Happiness. Braids. …

… Dark. Dying. Can't breathe. 66…

… Anakin. Vader. Padme… 66…

… Rebels. Ghosts. Rogues…

… Hope. Child of the Stars. Brilliance. …

… Thousands die. Terror. Silence… 66…

… 66… 66… 66… It's all my fault…

Obi-Wan… let go… Take the red crystal, and all will be okay.

That voice… that beautiful voice is so familiar.

"Master? Is that you? How are you here? Master?"

Embrace the dark and you will learn. Everything will be okay.

"But master, I'm so scared. I know I shouldn't be but I am. I'm so scared."

Shh… my dear Obi-Wan. Just take the crystal… you will be okay. Everybody will be okay.

"Yes, Master."

Obi-Wan reached out a shaking hand and grasped the scarlet crystal. It was warm and seemed to hum like a ship's hyperdrive. A small grin fell upon his face and he closed his eyes. The Force around him murmured with Qui-Gon's force signature. Obi-Wan could even smell the hints of lemongrass and tea, an earthy oaky scent that always made Obi-Wan feel at home and safe.

… Obi-Wan, my dear Obi-Wan, you must care for your friends. You must care for Anakin and his padawan, and the clones. You must protect them at all costs. If you do, the events you have seen will never come to pass. Do not let anyone harm them and the future will not be as you have seen it. You made me a promise that you would train the boy and you did. For that, I am forever grateful. But now I must ask of you another favour. You must protect and care for them. You must be the one to defeat the Sith. Promise me, little one, promise me that…

"I promise, Master."

… As it should be. You were always such a loyal padawan. Goodbye, dear Obi-Wan. I shall speak to you again…

Qui-Gon's signature began to fade and that smell, that strong, comforting smell began to vanish.

"No, Master. Come back! Come back, I need you! No! Please don't leave me again!"

But his pleas went unanswered.

Obi-Wan was released from his invisible hold and dropped to the ground with a smack and a hiss of pain. Little Gods, Qui-Gon, could you have at least let me down gently?

Slowly, as to not jar his dislocated shoulder he stood up and approached a stone column along the wall. Taking a deep breath and reaching out for the Force, he leaned back and then whipped forward slamming into the wall and painfully popping his shoulder back into place. He cried out in pain, before resting his forehead against the cool stone for a moment.

Sith's Hell, remind me not to dislocate my shoulder again. And if I do, make sure I'm sedated first.

Cody knew something was happening the moment he heard Obi-Wan cry out from within the Temple. Resisting the urge to charge forward, remembering his general's previous orders, the clone waited with baited breath. And then that noise began again. The screeching noise, as the walls began to open. They only opened a metre, the blinding light from within the temple making it impossible to see who or what was walking out. He heard footsteps and then a few seconds of the screeching, and then silence. Blinking rapidly, Cody, Waxer, and Boil looked up to see their general standing ahead of them, in perfect shape. Not a scratch, burn, cut, or stain on either his tunics or his armour. Quick, light footsteps carried the general to the clones where he began, what could best be described as mothering?

"Cody, I am so sorry to have kept you waiting. Are you okay? Did anything happen? Oh, look at you you're exhausted! I am so sorry. I just got caught up in everything. And your armour is filthy! You really ought to clean that! We have to have our troops looking their best!" And then the General did something nobody had ever expected in a million years. He removed his glove, licked his thumb and rubbed at a scratch on Waxer's helmet.

Cody opened his mouth to speak but before a single sound could escape his mouth, the comlink mounted on his wrist began to beep incessantly. General Kenobi turned and made eye contact with the clone. His normal blue eyes that were daggers of strength and stability were now ochre.

The Sith's colour. No. Not to our General. Not to General Kenobi. No. They taught about this in training. Force users with amber or yellow eyes are evil. They've been corrupted with the Dark Side and are not safe. But this is General Kenobi, the general Kenobi who would not harm a soul unless he absolutely has to. He cannot have gone Dark. No. It's not possible. He is my general and my friend. I will not leave him. I will not abandon him.

"Well, aren't you going to answer that, Cody? It's rude to keep a caller waiting!"

Cody, still maintaining eye contact with the general, pressed the 'accept' button on his commlink.

"Cody here."

"Oh thank the Force. Cody, what happened? Where's Obi-Wan? I felt something happen. It felt like a Sith. Is Obi-Wan okay? Did you guys find a Sith? Do you need assistance?"

"Everything's fine, General Skywalker sir. No Sith, just General Kenobi." Cody's voice dropped down to a whisper as Kenobi continued to fuss with the other clones. "Something happened to him, Sir. General Kenobi's eyes, sir. They're not blue anymore. They're yellow."

"What? They're what?" Skywalker yelled through the commlink. The sudden change in volume attracted the attention of Kenobi but the string of Huttese curses that that followed Skywalker's shouts pulled the Lost Jedi over like a pod racer to a winner's purse.

"Tsk tsk, Anakin. It's very impolite to swear in front of others. Didn't I teach you better?"

After his scold, Obi-Wan turned back around and continued to clean the clones' armour using the front of his tunics.

"Obi-Wan? Is that you? Cody, what is going on? If the temple caused Obi-Wan to turn to the Dark Side, he should be trying to kill you right now. And as much as I really don't want to believe it, you must assume that Obi-Wan is not himself and that he is dangerous. Bring him back to base immediately. There's a break in the battle right now but the Separatists are coming back. Get back here now."

"Right away sir."

"And Cody, if it becomes apparent that Obi-Wan may be dangerous, subdue him immediately. The Dark Side of the Force is powerful. I hope it doesn't come to that and I can't think of what would happen should that situation arise. Be careful."

"Yes, sir."

Cody shut off the commlink and straightened up.

"General Kenobi, Skywalker is in need of our assistance. We must leave immediately."

"Well let's get going. I have a promise to my Master to keep and I must see it fulfilled."