A/N: Now that Nano is over, I'll start posting up chapters of this fic every few days or so. Hopefully that'll rangle me in at least one comment.
-poplitealqueen
The revelation hung in the air like a planetoid above their heads, and Obi-Wan only continued to listen to Padmé desultorily, mind wandering.
Twins.He wondered what had become of them. Whatever reason Anakin had to keep them away from her, Obi-Wan could understand why Padmé treated him with such disdain now.
What mother wouldn't?
His head ached. It felt like a balloon about to burst; had for quite some time now. No amount of meditation nor sleep seemed able to help. He considered asking Padmé for something- any kind- of medication, but thought better on it. Anakin wouldn't make it that simple. He wouldn't be able to just ask.
So he gritted his teeth, and prayed that the feeling would fade.
'''
Early the next morning, Obi-Wan woke with the gnawing urge to find a way out. Balancing himself carefully against the wall, mattress creaking ominously beneath him, he stood and reached for the window, peering into the spaces between the metal slats.
He needed to stretch on the tips of his toes just to get a clear view. He wasn't short, by any means, but a few extra centimetres would have been rather nice at that particular moment.
Outside, beyond the thick transparisteel, was a wall. Silver and glimmering. That was it. If he moved to the corner and strained his eyes just so, he could make out the distinct sunglint of Skylane traffic as it flashed along nearby like a never-ending river.
He couldn't figure out where they were exactly just from here, but at least they were being kept far enough uplevels to see the traffic. At one time, the realization would have left him feeling hopeful. It would have been a simple task to break out once his strength returned, and made a mad dash for the Jedi Temple.
The idea that it was nothing more than a glorified graveyard now nearly sent him keeling over in grief. What had they done with the bodies, a more morose side of his mind wondered. Had they been given an honorable funeral by pyre? Had their corpses been sent back to what families remained for them? Or had they been left to rot- a testament to the sadism of the Sith? Obi-Wan found he didn't particularly wish to know.
He instead mulled over what the best course of action would be if he and Padmé escaped (not if, he had to remind himself. When) as he sat back down on his bed, and moved off of it toward the living room.
The babies were their immediate concern.
"We can't just abandon them." Padmé said desperately. They sat talking in hushed tones, their backs to the only security holorecorder Obi-Wan had sensed - or at least, hoped he had sensed - in the room. It had been the only one Padmé had found, but she was convinced there were more.
Obi-Wan's connection to the Force was still feeble at best, and he didn't dare risk putting more strength into it, lest he alert Anakin. As long as they kept their voices low, he decided, it would just look as if they were having a chat on the couch. If Anakin grew suspicious, they could always lie.
Obi-Wan rubbed at his mouth thoughtfully. "I agree, but we have no idea where they're being kept, nor if they are even in a state fit to travel."
"Are you honestly suggesting we leave them behind?" Padmé asked, with a protective, parental rage.
"No. But do you have any reason to suspect Anakin would hurt them?"
Padmé blinked furiously. "I don't know what he's capable of anymore."
Obi-Wan knew the feeling too well. He was a testament to what Anakin was capable of now, after all.
"We're still planning, Padmé. Nothing is certain. We may yet learn their whereabouts."
His words had their intended effect. She took a steadying breath, offering him a tight smile. "You're right, of course." she shut her eyes and took another breath, before opening them again with clear determination.
"We'll also need to get your lightsaber back."
Obi-Wan didn't bother to hide his surprise. "Do you really think Anakin kept it?"
Padmé smirked at him slyly. "I know he did," she said. "I've seen it hanging from his belt when he's come back here. He always takes it off before he goes to see you."
Obi-Wan was impressed. Not many non-Jedi could tell the difference between two lightsabers, least of all one as undecorated as Obi-Wan's. But then again, Padmé Amidala wasn't just any Force null.
'''
Anakin returned the next day.
A deep thrum in Obi-Wan's headache preceded him, a steady ringing deep in his ears. Obi-Wan sat on the couch attempting to read, and so was the first to meet him as Anakin entered the apartment. Anakin gave him a passive look, then immediately dragged him back to his bed, restraining him with a new, though thankfully longer, energy cuff.
"My wife won't be able to pick that one," Anakin said, though the smile in his voice belied the true menace behind his words. He moved over and sat at the edge of Obi-Wan's bed, the mattress sagging under the added weight and bringing Obi-Wan slightly closer.
"How are you feeling, Obi-Wan?"
Obi-Wan didn't look up when he answered, keeping his nose pointedly down in the datapad he'd managed to keep with him. Some mundane service manual that he could barely understand. Even then, he still had to fight to keep his voice level. "I'm fine."
Anakin leaned back, and with a hum the datapad was plucked from Obi-Wan's hand. Anakin glanced at it to see what he'd been reading, before placing it on the bedside table.
"Don't lie to me." Annoyance sparked behind each word.
Obi-Wan moved back against his pillows, looking across the room at the blank holovision screen. He could see himself reflected in it; he looked old.
"I'm not, I promise you. I'm fine."
Look at me, Master.
Anakin said the words with his voice, but they echoed through their pairbond so much louder. Obi-Wan couldn't help the light gasp that escaped him as they reverberated in his mind. His eyes flickered up of their own accord, and he saw how Anakin leaned toward him with a strangely serene smile.
"Good." Good.
Obi-Wan rubbed a knuckle against his temple. "Stop that."
Anakin continued to smile. "No." No.
Obi-Wan attempted to pull his shields up around him, but it was like closing curtains against a typhoon. Anakin easily pulled them aside.
"Don't you like it, Master?" Don't you like it, Master?
"Being this close to the Force again?" Being this close to the Force again?
"I said stop!" Obi-Wan roared, and pushed Anakin away from him with as much strength as he could muster. Shock and anger passed across his former Padawan's features as he barely caught himself from tumbling completely onto the floor.
"Don't push me again, Master." Anakin growled, thankfully with just his physical voice this time.
"Then don't abuse our bond in such a fashion," Obi-Wan hissed back, pent-up rage beginning to seethe towards the surface. "Hells, Anakin, why must you always be so juvenile?!"
Anakin smirked cruelly up at him as he lifted himself back onto his original position on the bed.
"Funny how the Jedi have been gone all of a month, and already you abandon their teachings. So much for 'there is no emotion', huh?"
Obi-Wan glared at him, but felt the fight already starting to drain out of him. Loathe though he was to admit it, Anakin was right. In a sense. Even if his link to the Force was unreliable, that didn't mean he couldn't control himself. Willing himself not to push Anakin away again, Obi-Wan carefully began to let his anger go through his fragile connection.
Anakin sensed it, and his face twisted in a rictus of fury.
"I didn't say you could meditate," he snapped. "Stop, right now."
Regretfully, Obi-Wan pulled himself free of the trance he'd begun to fall into. The small moment had been enough, however; he no longer had the burning desire to cave his former apprentice's teeth in.
"Get out." Obi-Wan said coldly, just as Anakin stood.
"I'm trying to help you, Obi-Wan. Clinging to those decrepit teachings does nothing but weaken you."
"And yet, you're the only one still angry, Anakin." Obi-Wan pointed out.
"Anger makes you strong, not...compliant."
"I am what I must be to see myself through this."
Anakin scoffed. "Is being near me truly that painful for you, Master?"
"To what you have become; yes."
"This is always who I've been. You and the other Jedi were simply too blind to see it."
"To our eternal regret."
Anakin frowned. "And what is it that you regret exactly? That you never understood me, or that you trained me in the first place?"
Obi-Wan shrugged, purposefully acting as if it wasn't worth his time to figure out. In reality, it had been something he'd contemplated more times than he could count. Especially since seeing the security holotapes of the Temple, and learning beyond a doubt that his friend had truly Fallen.
"What do you think?" he asked instead.
Anakin's frustration finally reached a tipping point, and he turned on his heel to stalk out of the room. Just as he palmed open the door, he looked over his shoulder at Obi-Wan. Specks of yellow infected his otherwise clear gaze.
"You will not meditate," he ordered harshly. "I'll be able to tell if you do."
Obi-Wan didn't answer him, and Anakin soon left. He made a point of not letting the door panel slide shut behind him, leaving Obi-Wan next to no privacy.
Snatching up the datapad he'd been reading again, Obi-Wan began to feverishly scan the words to get his mind off of the sinking weight taking hold of his chest. The symbols began to lose meaning as he read them, but he didn't pause. If he paused, he'd begin to dwell, and if he began to dwell, well...There were many things he regretted in his life; many times he'd felt unbearably, obscenely helpless, and for good reason. He would not let that happen now. He couldn't.
Obi-Wan sensed his exasperation beginning to build itself up again, until he felt as if he would crack in two from the strain. His hand shook as he dropped the datapad on the floor; most of him wanted to hurl it across the room, and settled on his side in the bed.
His mind supplied him with a Mandalorian curse Satine had taught him once, a lifetime ago. He was surprised he still recalled it at all, but of course, it had been her favorite thing to say when she'd been annoyed. And she'd been annoyed rather often in his and Qui-Gon's charge.
Sighing, Obi-Wan turned his face into the soft material of a pillow.
"Phwoar." he growled, and liked the way it felt to say it.
'''
It was nighttime before Anakin walked in again - as seemed to be the norm - without Obi-Wan's consent. He flopped down heavily at the foot of Obi-Wan's bed and covered his face with his hand.
"Sorry about what happened earlier." he said, peeking up at Obi-Wan. "It's been a long few days, and I missed you two."
"Oh, how horrid for you," Obi-Wan replied, with mock sincerity.
Anakin grunted and pushed himself off the bed.
"Take or leave my apology, Obi-Wan, but it's time to get up."
Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes at him, "Excuse me?"
"For dinner," Anakin clarified. "You're eating with us tonight, in a faraway land known as The Kitchen."
Obi-Wan shook his head. The single chance he'd had to walk on his own, before he'd been cuffed a second time to his bed, had ended with a wobbly legged fall. He didn't wish for a repeat, least of all in front of Anakin.
"I'm not hungry," he said.
Anakin's eyebrows rose and he placed his hands on his hips.
"Then just come sit with us then. Padmé will be glad for the company, and so will I."
That caught him. He wouldn't do it for Anakin, but he owed it to Padmé to at least try.
"Fine," he said sourly. "Uncuff me."
Anakin grinned and produced a thin sliver of a key from a pouch on his utility belt. He knelt down, lifting up Obi-Wan's wrist before fitting it into the single hole on the cuff. It slid into place easily, and the constant electrical buzz it gave off went out. The ring itself snapped open not a moment later.
Obi-Wan pulled his hand to his chest as soon as Anakin let go, sorely wishing he could rub the feeling back into it. "Go on ahead." he said. "I'll be out in a moment."
Anakin crossed his arms. "I can wait."
Rolling his eyes, Obi-Wan steeled himself and threw back the covers. His toes immediately curled against the cold. Next, he carefully brought his legs over the bed and let his feet rest against the plush carpet.
He kept repeating the same mantra in his head as he pushed himself to standing. Don't fall over, don't fall over, don't fall over.
He took one shaky step, and fell over.
Nerves, he decided. Bloody nerves.
He would have landed directly on his face if Anakin hadn't caught him at the last moment.
"You should have more patience, Master," he teased playfully as he hauled Obi-Wan back up. "Am I gonna have to carry you?"
"Certainly not!" Obi-Wan grumbled back, and gently nudged at Anakin's shoulder to get him to let go. Anakin did, though it took a few moments longer than necessary.
Obi-Wan centered himself and took a step forward. He didn't fall this time, much to his inner delight. "You of all people should know how difficult it is to keep one's balance after you've just lost an arm."
Anakin eyed Obi-Wan's missing appendage with a neutral expression.
"We could get you a new one, just like mine." he said.
"I don't want another one."
Anakin shrugged. "That's too bad, Master. It might help you keep your footing a little better.
"As would the Force." muttered Obi-Wan
Anakin hummed in agreement, keeping surprisingly quiet as Obi-Wan took another careful step.
"At this rate, we'll be just in time for breakfast tomorrow." Anakin said impatiently.
Obi-Wan took another step. He never thought he'd be so proud to not need a wall to keep him upright. "No one said you had to wait up."
"You're just going to fall again."
"I can assure you that I won't."
He felt annoyance grow into anger along their link, then into a strange type of amusement. If Obi-Wan had to put a description to it, he'd have called it impish.
Sith-fucking-hells.
"What's so funny?" Obi-Wan demanded harshly.
Anakin hid a smile behind his knuckles. "Nothing. You just keep walking."
Was Anakin mocking him? Obi-Wan knew the Dark Side warped the minds of those who used it, but it didn't erase experiences. Anakin knew how this felt!
Frustrated, Obi-Wan increased the speed of his steps. If for nothing more than the illusion of getting himself as far away from Anakin as he possibly could. So he didn't sense the tiny thread of the Force next to his ankle until it was too late.
Obi-Wan fell forward, and this time nothing caught him. He hit the floor and ended up with a mouthful of carpet.
Above him, Anakin roared with laughter.
"I told you that you'd fall again, Master!." he snickered and knelt down to pull Obi-Wan back up. The older man batted his hand away angrily.
"That was not funny, Anakin."
Anakin's face drooped in a disappointment. "I did it all the time as a kid. You didn't mind then."
"You were a youngling then, and I most certainly didmind." Obi-Wan shook his head. He wasn't about to let Anakin manipulate him with old memories again. He was no longer a child; Obi-Wan was no longer his Master; and the Jedi Order was no longer a home for either of them.
'''
Obi-Wan trailed behind Anakin into the kitchen, where Padmé was busy pulling things out of drawers and shelves. She was trying to remain as busy as possible, and acted like she hadn't even noticed them come in.
She strained to reach something on a high shelf, but her tiny hand didn't even come close to reaching it.
Sighing with an affectionate smile, Anakin stepped over to grab it for her.
"Here, I"ve got it." he said.
Padmé took it silently.
Anakin smiled at her, and something in her expression snapped.
"You seem in a good mood. Is the death of democracy going that well?" Padmé asked deadpan, tilting her face up towards his.
Anakin took the question at face value. He leaned against the counter next to her, laughing softly.
"It goes apace," he answered. "Though I'd much rather be at home with my wife." He moved in as if to embrace her, but Padmé moved out of reach of his encircling arms, and stomped over to the table. She slammed the bowl she'd been holding down hard enough to make the pleekwood jolt, and didn't acknowledge Anakin.
Obi-Wan wondered just how many people could get away with that now and live.
Anakin pursed his lips at Padmé's back as she sat down across from Obi-Wan. "Oh c'mon, don't be like that in front of a guest."
"Guests are free to leave. Prisoners are not." Padmé said calmly, before spearing a leafy green on the end of her fork like it had personally offended her. Her eyes were trained intently upon it.
Anakin sighed and pushed himself away from the counter. He stepped up behind Padmé, and Obi-Wan noticed the way she stiffened at his approach.
"Can we discuss this later, please?" Anakin asked in a worn-out tone, as if this was something that they'd argued about before. "Let's just enjoy dinner, okay-" He placed his hands on Padme's thin shoulders, and the senator jerked away like she'd just been electrocuted.
"Don't touch me, Anakin." Her voice was sharp yet quiet, like a lake of ice, brooking no argument.
Anakin actually flinched back, hovering his hands over her shoulders before pulling them away. Obi-Wan was the only one able to see the sulfuric red flash in his former Padawan's eyes.
"Maybe you should eat in the bedroom." he said.
A terribly sad look crossed Padmé's face, but it was quickly replaced by a blank politician's mask. Without warning, she scraped back her chair, causing Anakin to skip back a few steps, and stood. "Perhaps I should."
After she'd left the kitchen, with Anakin's eyes trailing after her even once the door panel had slid closed, the Sith Lord turned his attention to Obi-Wan. He shrugged awkwardly as he took Padmé's empty seat.
"Sorry you had to see that." he said, scooting his chair in. He planted his elbows firmly on the tabletop as he began to eat, a habit Obi-Wan had tried and failed multiple times to teach out of him over the years.
"Elbows." he muttered without really thinking about it, and froze with his spoon halfway to his mouth. He looked up, expecting to see those Sith eyes once again...
...but he was only met with a bright, boyish grin. He blinked just to make sure it wasn't an illusion.
Anakin did what he always had when Obi-Wan mentioned his table manners. He tapped his elbows once against the wooden surface, then pulled them off. "Yes, Master." he said, still grinning.
A/N: Phwoar is a Mandalorian curse word meaning 'fuck'. I think it's pretty fun, don't you?
