Series Title: The Conversation
Title: Part Three
Rating: G.
Genre: angsty/humor.
Disclaimer: All George Lucas'. I'm just playing here.
Pairing: Obi/Ani. Mentions of Padmé/Anakin.
Warnings: Vaguely hints about the Yuuzhan Vong but never outright says that is who they are. SLASH story, obviously. A bit of Qui-Gon's desire towards Obi-Wan creeps in at the end.
Summary: This is another conversation between Ani and Obi in the Force's glow zone. Obi went ahead and visited Luke-sans Anakin. Suffice it to say, Ani hears about it and is not too pleased with Obi-Wan for doing this. Nor is Qui-Gon.
Author's Notes: They are not to be taken seriously. I mean it. There is absolutely nothing serious about these stories, for all that they have somber moments. They are linked tenuously to the series I wrote which I called "Deconstructing Skywalker and Kenobi". You don't have to have a working knowledge of them to enjoy this piece. Obi wears glasses b/c I saw a picture of Ewan McGregor in glasses and he's dang hot in them. (He's hot without them but that's not the point.) Besides, I like having the image of flawed humanity still existing within the Force, though I suppose they'd all be perfect there. I mean, Anakin was at the end . Glad you are enjoying this story, Pronker.
654321
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin hollered, going into their bedroom.
Obi-Wan glanced up from his reading, the glasses perched on the end of his nose. "Yes?" he asked, noting the expression of displeasure on Ani's face as he stood in front of him.
"You went down without me," he accused him without preamble.
"And?" he queried, not bothered by the look. He was practically inured to his angry looks by now.
"You weren't…" he sighed in exasperation and pushed the glasses back up, "supposed to."
"Thank you," he smiled, returning his gaze to his book even as he asked. "Why not?"
"We had this talk before. And you know it," Anakin accused him, taking away his book, wanting him to focus on the matter at hand.
"So we did," he nodded, looking up at him blandly, as though he didn't know quite what Anakin's problem was. "But as I told you then, he needed to hear the story from me. For it was through my actions, my failing you, that you fell prey to Palpatine's lies."
"Are you always this thick? Or is it just for me?" he asked, exasperated.
Obi-Wan pretended to think, resting his head on his hand. "Oh, its definitely all for you. Self-preservation, I have come to realize, is something I should have tried years ago when dealing with you. It certainly would've helped me out while you were driving-and jumping over the side of open air cruisers. Or baiting the Jedi Council because of something they failed to do that you felt they should have. Or attempting to rescue me from some danger you tricked me into being bait for. Or…"
Kissing him to shut him up, Anakin lingered for just a moment longer than was probably necessary. But neither cared. "You drive me crazy, Master." He wished that he'd known in life that this was the best way to get his Master to pay attention to him. He'd have tried it back then. Things would've gone much better for the both of them if he'd just approached him then instead of chasing Padmé around.
But, nooo . He just had to be honorable, had to do the decent thing and wait until he had died to make a move on his Master.
What an absolute idiot he'd been.
"The feeling, I assure you, is more than mutual. I have come to the conclusion that I must remain slightly off-kilter in order to keep up with you, young one." He quirked an eyebrow at his friend, "And did I say you could stop?"
Grinning down at him, he cheekily said, "You didn't even say I could start."
"And when has that ever stopped you?" he asked, reaching forward to cup Anakin's face in his hand. His thumb rubbed over the full lower lip softly. "Come down here. You're making my neck ache"
Moving to sit in his lap with little complaint, Anakin rested his head on Obi-Wan's shoulder. His hand rubbed his neck soothingly, "Sorry, Master. You still shouldn't have done it without me. Now my boy is going to be blaming you for what happened to me."
"Well," he said comfortingly, "You blamed me from the start. It doesn't make that much of a difference to me to have your son do it now."
"Oh, yes," he sarcastically said. "That makes me feel so much better."
"I thought it would."
"Are the two of you ever going to grow up?" Qui-Gon asked, walking into their room.
"Was there something you wanted, Master Jinn?" Anakin pointedly asked him, making it clear that his presence was not required-nor was it desired.
"Well, I would like to speak to Obi-Wan in private for a moment," he started to say, noticing the darkening of the blue in the eye before him. The danger, he idly thought, is not from Anakin's attraction to the dark side, great though that had been-and still was. It's his absolute possessiveness of Obi-Wan, even in death. His absolute need-craving that security-to know that Obi-Wan would never desert him. Never leave him to face the darkness alone again. Did he not understand yet that Obi-Wan would always be his? That he needn't fear to lose him to prior bonds of affiliation?
"No," Anakin firmly said, well knowing what Qui-Gon was thinking. It didn't bother him. The thing that bothered him was the careful way every Jedi within the Force was trying to encroach upon the one time he had to himself with Obi-Wan. Or rather, the one time he was supposed to have with Obi-Wan.
"Anakin," Obi-Wan began, not at all sure where to begin. Of course, he was aware that he should berate him for his foolishness in this matter. That there was nothing anyone could say to him that would separate the two of them ever again. But in death, as in life, he could not bring himself to even attempt such a thing.
Anakin was the same in death as he had been in life-and he loved him for it. The same willful, loving man he'd always been, even if he was a tad possessive at times. To try and stop the possessive feelings his former apprentice had about him would have been a waste of time.
Besides, it didn't really hurt anyone.
"Master, when you are in here, they are not allowed to disturb us. And they know it. You promised that we would have a place that was just for us," he slightly whined, hating the sound of it but unable to hold back. It felt like he was alone in this fight against allowing others to disturb their time together. They had so little of it because his Master was very popular. First his son would call anytime he felt like, and now Qui-Gon came bursting into their room.
Who next? Master Windu?
Anakin just wished that his Master felt the same way he did about protecting what was a haven of their own. He wondered if they would ever stand united when it came to their partnership. Of course, they had always stood united on the battlefield or on missions, he just wished that it would be so here.
He wished that he could honestly feel that he was not to stand forever behind the Jedi Order's wishes. Or the wishes of those who dwelt in the mortal plain who had some claim upon Obi-Wan.
Rolling his eyes, he stroked Anakin's back absently. "What is it, Master?" he asked, ignoring the unhappy mutterings of the man in his lap. He knew what Anakin was thinking, he felt the same way about all those who consistently interrupted them. But fighting against them was useless.
And he would not waste his energy fighting a losing battle.
"Your meeting with the young Skywalker," Qui-Gon bluntly said. "I thought we had firmly established that we no longer have a place in the Galaxy. That our voice would do more damage than good in the construction of the New Jedi Order. You were told to tell him that contact with us was not an option any longer-which you did. That he needed to find his way through the world on his own. Why did you break down and see him after keeping silent for so long?"
"I've been spending to much time with rebellious Jedi." His answer was flippant for all the seriousness of his expression. "Their ways have finally rubbed off on me."
Anakin stifled a laugh, hiding his face in Obi-Wan's neck. He couldn't believe he'd just heard Obi-Wan say that to his Master-and so gravely. The words-and the truthful meaning behind them-was anything but.
"Obi-Wan, this is no time for levity. What you have done is an offense against the Force."
"I didn't do anything wrong, Master Jinn," Obi-Wan quietly defended his actions. "Luke asked me some very specific questions about why Anakin fell. Why I did nothing to stop it. I went to answer them so that he may pass those lessons on to the Jedi he teaches now. They need to learn the lessons of the past if they are to apply them in their lives."
"No matter your reasons for doing so, you should not have. You were in the wrong to disobey the orders you were given," Qui-Gon sternly said. "The rules we have in place are there for a specific reason. We do not interfere in the matters of mortals any longer."
"Oh, you're a fine one to talk. You who directly opposed the Jedi Council on many occasions, for all that you were successful in your endeavors. Who risked the life of the Queen and the people of Naboo by taking a chance on me. You risked the lives of many on the chance that I would win the race. If the outcome had been different, the losses would have been tremendous," Anakin burst out. He was offended by this hypocritical reprimand his Master was being given, even if Obi-Wan obviously felt that he deserved it.
The complacency of his Master had often annoyed him. It was no different this time-because Obi-Wan had been right to do what he did. More than anything, he wished his Master's sense of honor had not made him feel that he should bear the burden of the past alone. They should have been together. This was not his burden alone, even if he wished to carry it alone.
It was theirs for they were in it together, entwined now as firmly as they had been then. "Obi-Wan is right, he did nothing wrong. Your rules do not apply here."
"An exception should not be made, no matter the circumstances."
Anakin scoffed his attitude, "Just stop it with the sanctimonious act. It is because of such a blind and unflinching set of rules that I fell prey to the seduction of Sidious that promised me that there would be no rules, no senseless restrictions to hold me back. That is the same attitude that caused many good Jedi to became Dark Jedi for they could not exist under such unbending rules. How many innocents died because of the unyielding ways that the Jedi Council clung to? What Obi-Wan did for Luke, he had to for the good of all, and you should not take him to task for it. Remember, Master Jinn, you always said that to do one's duty was not always to do right. Get out. You have no place here."
"Anakin, something else is at work here," Obi-Wan quietly said before Qui-Gon had moved. His iron hard gaze pinned his Master in place, the authority he held was in the question he asked. "What is it?"
"It is not our concern," Qui-Gon sternly replied, looking away from them.
"If it was not our concern, you would not be here," Obi-Wan pointed out. Though he knew his Master would not care to see it, he allowed his hand to travel up into Anakin's hair and wind about the strands to pull him closer. His other arm surrounded his waist and he held him to his warmth, ignoring the uncomfortable looks he was getting.
Right now, Anakin needed his attention. Once he was soothed and comfortable in his arms, "What is going on, Qui-Gon ?" He addressed him as an equal, not allowing for further evasion. It was a hard and fast way of making sure that he got his attention for he, like Anakin, rarely felt comfortable addressing his former Master by his given name.
Anakin was shocked, not ever expecting to hear Obi-Wan refer to his Master in that way. It went a long way to reveal to him just how much was going on beneath the surface that he had not attempted to probe because he'd been so upset. All he had focused on was the offense given to his Master. He ruefully acknowledged that there was much he still had to learn for all his innate abilities.
Turning about, Qui-Gon closed the door and sat on the bed, not meeting either man's look. He especially avoided Obi-Wan's searching one, feeling uncomfortable under it. "A new enemy has begun to encroach upon our Galaxy. One none of us recognize or can gain an understanding of. They are stranger than any being we've ever encountered before and seem to be utterly ignorant of the Force. Utterly unreachable by those who are Force sensitive. We do not know what this means for the New Republic or the Jedi Order. But we do know that we cannot enter. We must allow them to rise or fall on their own merits."
From the sound of things, Anakin and Obi-Wan knew that life in the Galaxy was going to get very hot and very dangerous. And that it was going to happen very soon, with an enemy they would not be able to sense coming. Anakin felt an added sense of fear. His children were going to be in grave danger.
Graver danger than they had ever been in, even while living under the oppressing hand of the Empire.
Anakin was torn between the desire to rush from the room to warn Luke-and hide away in Obi-Wan's arms until the danger had passed. He knew that neither option was open to him-though he desperately wished he could get away with the second. Being in Obi-Wan's arms provided the safe haven he'd longed for in life and had always been denied. Partly because of Obi-Wan but mostly because he had not known that this is where he longed to be.
"Who are they?" he asked, voice only trembling slightly.
"It does not matter for they are not here yet. Even if they were, it would not matter. They are a threat to the living, not to us. Whatever happens, you must not interfere." There was steel in his voice and they nodded, signaling that they agreed.
"But," Anakin said, almost as though bargaining with him. "I intend to warn my children of them. Well, I'll warn Luke. Leia, though I love her and know that she has forgiven me, will not listen to me. I hurt her too badly."
"I shall tell her," Obi-Wan offered, pressing a kiss upon his bowed head. Challengingly, he looked at his former Master, "And you won't stop us."
"No," he sighed and left, watching them for a moment in the doorway before he closed it. What they did in there was not for his eyes. But he envied the two of them and wished, for just a moment, that he had had the courage Anakin had shown. That he had just gone after what he wanted.
But as he thought about how complete the two were even when they were separated by a Galaxy, he knew that it was a futile hope.
Obi-Wan could never be anyone's but Anakin's.
