Clone Wars: Death (Part 1)
There was mud everywhere, on the sole of her boots, splashed over her tunics and robes, Obi-Wan could even swear there were pieces of rock incrusted and dirt dried over her scalp and threads of her hair. She has never been this filthy in her twenty seven years of existence. The female Knight was already tired of the war, and the whole thing had only just begun. She felt suddenly too self-aware, things that she didn´t pay much attention during normal circumstances started to make more sense and gain more importance on her life the more and more she lacked them. Like the need of a good bath and a long night of sleep. But, as usual, there was nothing that could be done on the matter.
The Jedi was carefully and patiently re-arranging the thick leather gloves that covered both her hands; it was growing late and she has been stationed on the surface of Jabiim for far too much for her liking, it was raining season in the planet and her skin has grown pale at the absence of the warm sun. Her hair, not only mudded but also constantly wet, was glued to her face and neck at all hours and she was sure she couldn´t keep the strands of her auburn locks in place not even with the help of her characteristic braids. Maybe she would have to be obligated to cut it short, after all, something she´s being trying to avoid, she liked her hair long, but it was totally impractical for the battlefield, even though she already knew that if she dared to attempt to do something like that there would be a certain someone who would protest almost immediately.
"Alpha!" she called across the camp while finally, removing the damn gloves, decorum and presentation be damned.
"Yes, sir?" was the immediate response of Obi-Wan´s second in command, Clone Commander Alpha, who came running directly straight to her, it was the closest thing that Obi-Wan had to a friend out here in the battlefield and she was grateful for his assistance and firm leadership. The man was a clear headman and knew how to do his job properly.
"I think I´m going to retire for the night. I´m far too tired for formalities…" she excused herself while giving Alpha a funny look "I trust you are capable enough to receive the reinforcements on your own?"
"Of course, General" he said, almost with a salute.
The "reinforcements" were a whole new legion of troopers that were sent to their aid alongside with a group of Jedi. Obi-Wan would be usually too weary to receive such a big help when so many other planets needed the presence of the Republic Army and the Jedi, but Jabiim was proving to be a true disaster. No matter how she tried to approach the conflict, either with peaceful negotiations or brute force, she was incapable of moving forward and accomplish anything.
"Tell your men to clear the zone and to start to build the necessary camps to accommodate the new troops, I want those men well rested for whatever it is to come tomorrow, they shouldn´t take long to arrive" she instructed while finally getting her other hand free of the leather prison of her military glove.
Alpha nodded with a ´yes, sir´ and move to follow the command, Obi-Wan started to walk to her own tent, glad to finally be able to rest after a long day of planning and of securing the edges of her camp and newly gained territory. She directed herself right to the mobile fresher that the soldiers had been too kind to install beside her tent. Maybe Alpha has noticed that she had a tendency to grow grumpy after a couple of days without a good shower. She got rid of her dirty tunics and got herself inside the warm spray of water.
She took her time to enjoy the feeling of hot water traveling down her body and skin after the cold rain that plagued this planet ended up freezing her to the bone; she washed her hair with diligence, making sure that whatever had found its way there was utterly gone by the time she'd make it out of the excuse of a bathroom. When she was finally done, she grabbed what it was functioning as her sleeping clothes for the time being: a couple of loose inner tunics; her usual pajamas, which were simply either a night thin robe or a camisole, were a no-no inside her current situation. This was war, she had to be prepared for the battle whenever it came her way, she could be peacefully sleeping one minute and the next she will be needed with lightsaber grasped in her hand and boots on her feet, so she needed to be practical above all.
She went back to her comfortable tent, brushing her long, slightly curled hair and letting it down to run free over her back, her newly made lightsaber, which she took time to make after losing her own in Geonosis, was secured next to her cot, over a small table that also had a small light for her personal use. After washing her teeth, she took the time to read a couple of reports from the Council and the state of things in the rest of the galaxy, as well as quickly issue a small report of her own just so the Council knew she was still alive.
When all was done, Obi-Wan was sure she would finally take a well-deserved rest, and quickly made her way to her bed. She laid over the comfortable surface, even with the thing not being as good as her own bed back at the Temple, it was the closest thing to perfection she would get out here, and she was grateful enough to not have to sleep on the ground or in a piece of rock. She laid there for a minute, enjoying the warmth of the blankets when she was able to hear the sound of engines landing close and the flying noise of shuttles coming down to the ground. Right, the reinforcements. So, they were now here, then.
Trusting that Alpha was able and capable of taking things on his own hands, as he has promise he would, she trailed her thoughts back to the sleepy trance she was about to be captured in.
Obi-Wan was half way into dreaming, as much as a Jedi could ´dream´ without actually be having premonitions or memories of the past of course, when a soft ruffling of her tent almost woke her up, she was about to reach for her lightsaber in an unconscious move of her mind, but she was too sleepy to care and she didn´t sense any sign of danger coming from the Force. Her brain assured her that it was probably just the wind, which was not rare, the planet was as wild as it can be, and strong winds and storms were not a rare occurrence.
But before she could fall back into her sleep, a couple of strong arms enclosed her waist from her back and a sudden heavy weight invaded her cot, settling next to her, followed by the warm puff of breaths over the sensible skin of the back of her neck.
"Master…" a deep masculine voice murmured on her ear.
"For Force sake, Anakin!" she whispered with an angry tone and a harsh hiss under her breath. Left hand gripping her lightsaber and almost turning it on, impaling the body of her unexpected intruder.
Anakin´s response was a loud laugh and a tight hug followed by a kiss to her exposed neck.
"I missed you too" he said in a breath, then he moved her on her back to properly ravish her mouth.
His lips were warm and soft, moving expertly over her own chapped ones. Since Anakin and Obi-Wan had gotten married, the young man has made an effort to get into heavy kissing sessions more often than not. She didn´t know if the Padawan had any experience beforehand but she was sure he was way better than her at it, at least at sheer enthusiasm. Anakin´s hands started roaming the soft curves of her waist, and his tongue requested entrance inside her mouth, which she granted. Obi-Wan was not as passionate as Anakin was, but he was right, she has missed him; they have never been separated for such a big length of time before, it felt strange to fight battles without him by her side, and to go back to bed without sensing Anakin´s presence close by.
Before things could get any more heated, she separated their lips and nuzzled his cheek with a small smile.
"Yes, I missed you" she accepted.
"I dreamed of you…" Anakin confessed while touching her face with his robotic hand. "All the way here, the only thing in my mind was you."
Obi-Wan didn´t say anything but only managed to smile. The female Knight moved to re-place her lightsaber back on the night table. Anakin followed the movement of her arm and smiled at the action.
"I should have known that the Council was planning to send you to my aid" Obi-Wan growled while she got back under the warm covers.
"A Padawan shouldn´t be away from his Master" Anakin commented with a slight smile.
"Indeed. I thought you were busy commanding the star forces?" she teased.
"Oh, I was. But I won. So I found my way back to you, where I belong." He shrugged with a soft movement of his shoulders.
Anakin had the talent to make bold deep statements of love in between senseless commentary of war and missions. Obi-Wan almost rolled her eyes at the petulant sound of his voice.
"And even if they didn´t have the sense to send me back to you, I would have come anyway."
"Don´t say that" Obi-Wan chastised him with a disapproving look "Don´t defy the Council, Anakin. It´s unbecoming."
Anakin snorted while embracing her, bringing her closer to him until there was nothing but clothes separating them, Obi-Wan could feel the passion that only Anakin could laid out through their bond, it made her shiver from time to time.
"I don´t care what they say. I won´t leave my wife in this junk of a planet" he boldly stated.
My wife. The title still sounded too foreign to Obi-Wan´s ears. It was the only title she has received so far that she couldn´t show off, not that she did with any of the ones she already had, but it was the only one that made her heart beat faster and her face grow hotter. The possession of the name tasted bittersweet in her mouth, she was happy to be with Anakin, to truly prove herself to him by having this thing between them, something real. But at the same time it was the reminder of her guilt. She was a Jedi, that title symbolized her attachment to Anakin, her undeniable deceit and hypocrisy; sometimes she found herself wanting to vomit when she was called to stay in front of the Council or was simply in the presence of Master Windu or Master Yoda. The guilt of her actions and secrets eating her out. But what was done was done, and for all her contradicting feelings about it, her love for Anakin will always ultimately win.
"Anakin, please do not antagonize the Council" she requested, suddenly more tired than before "and go back to your own bed." She whined.
Anakin´s response was to adjust his grip on her waist and kiss her brow.
"I much rather prefer to sleep with you."
"I can see that" she said with a low hum "but, alas, you have your own tent. It´s expected of you to rest close to your troops, Commander." She informed him, using the military title that it was given to all Padawans, it still sit ill with the Jedi to be called by such ranks. Jedi were peacemakers not warmongers. It sounded completely wrong.
"I don´t care" it was his only response.
"Anakin…" Obi-Wan´s voice was done with being playful, now it was a low mumble, alerting the Padawan that she was giving him an order, not a request.
"I want to be with you, we´ve been apart for almost a month now, Master" Anakin started, finally letting her waist go in order to accommodate himself, staring at Obi-Wan with his blue eyes. "After you went to that mission with Master Fisto to Ord Cestus I´ve been dying to kiss you" he said with a small smile forming over his lips.
"Oh, I´m sure" Obi-Wan teased for a moment, before regaining her seriousness back "but, my young Padawan, I think you already have, so now, go to rest. You will need it for tomorrow."
"Obi-Wan, can you just be glad to see me…?" Anakin complained with some annoyance palpable in his tight voice.
"What are you talking about, Anakin?" she frowned, suddenly apprehensive of her husband´s attitude. "I´m very glad to see you."
"Then what are you pushing me away?" he questioned.
"I´m not pushing you away. I´m just telling you that we both need to rest, and that you have your own tent" she said with confusion, trying to understand why her apprentice was being particularly thick.
"I can very well rest here." Anakin clarified, while moving under the covers as if to prove his point.
"No, you can´t. Anakin, don´t be troublesome, we are not at the Temple, we are on duty, we cannot partake into this careless demonstration of affection, there are stakes out here" Obi-Wan announces, a little bit annoyed by the fact that she has to explain this to the young Jedi in the first place. He should already know.
"There is no one here that can see us, it´s just you and me. Stop treating me like your underling." Anakin growled, Obi-Wan rounded her eyes in surprise by his defiance and his menacing tone.
"Padawan…" she dangerously called, eyes sharp like daggers "To your tent. Now."
Anakin was about to protest again, she could feel it, but the man seemed to re-think his strategy and simply frowned giving her an angry glance, he made a small flick with his tongue in a sign of bedevilment and pulled the covers off him with a fast move of his mechanic arm. Obi-Wan could see through the darkness of the night that he was dressed in his usual Jedi attire, from his tabard to his boots, he didn´t even bothered to change his clothes before coming to invade her bed. Obi-Wan almost thought that he would simply walked away without a pause, unbelievably angry and quiet, but, at the last minute, Anakin managed to turn around and come close to her face once more. A sudden soft kiss was being press to her lips, follow by a rapid succession of two or three pecks before he straighten himself beside the bed.
"As you command, General" the Padawan muttered, voice tight and impersonal. He finally managed to walk away to the entrance of the tent and before leaving, he turned his head to give a last stare and say "I love you."
Obi-Wan smiled sadly.
"I love you too" she said with honesty. With that, Anakin finally disappeared.
Obi-Wan could hardly sleep through the duration of the night.
Obi-Wan stared out the big window of the ship, the immensity of the universe before her. This was a sight that the Jedi has seen almost a thousand times before, but it never ceased to strike her with wonder, one could hardly grow tired to stare at the infinity of space, there was always something new to see. From her position, she could hardly see Naboo anymore, after the ´wedding´, Padmé has insisted for them to eat something before leaving to Coruscant; she wanted them to spend the night there as well and to part until the morning found them but the Council requested the presence of all Jedi back at the Temple as soon as possible, wanting to re-group and to keep them all safe from Separatist forces. So, Obi-Wan could only accept the hospitality of a last meal in celebration of her union with Anakin.
The rebellious Padawan wanted to stay, of course, saying something of ´don´t newlywed couples have a honeymoon?´ but he knew better than trying to push the issue, Obi-Wan has already given way too much by accepting to partake into this terrible disregard of the Code by agreeing to marry him, it wouldn´t be wise of him to demand more from her than he already has.
They had a delicious dish and talked and laugh with Senator Amidala a little more, finally saying their goodbyes, Obi-Wan tried to take the ridiculous expensive dress off from her the minute the whole thing was over, she was too unused to wear such kind of clothes, especially fancy gowns. If she has to be honest she liked the design, it was lovely, but that didn´t mean she felt comfortable looking the way she did. But Padmé has insisted for Obi-Wan to take the dress along with her, saying that it wasn´t even Padmé´s, the ex-monarch just quickly went through a new collection of dresses made by some local famous designers of Naboo that she likes, just bothering to add some details here in there to, in Padmé´s own words, incorporate some of Obi-Wan´s personality into it, so it wouldn´t be proper for the Senator to keep it. Obi-Wan immediately refused the offer though, Jedi were forbidden possessions, and it´s not like she was going to be able to wear it again. Still, Padmé managed for her to leave the blue planet with the dress still on, from the veil to the uncomfortable heels. Obi-Wan guessed that she could always dress herself into her usual Jedi robes once she was inside the ship.
"You look lovely"
The soft voice of Anakin awaked her from her daydreaming at the tall window, she turned to see her new husband staring back from the entrance of the room with adoration on his blue eyes, the same shade of the water of Naboo.
"Thank you" she said with honesty. For all her discomfort with her state of dress, she was, at least, glad that Anakin was enjoying the view.
"You are surely the most beautiful woman I have ever seen" he confessed while walking to her in a straight line, focused on her white-lace covered body.
"I think you hardly have seen all of the female population of the galaxy, Anakin" she snorted with a slight smile on her pink lips. Anakin´s hand enclosed her tiny waist and pulled her full against his firm chest.
"My point still stands" he remarked while lowering his head to nuzzled the skin of her exposed neck, for all the heavy length of the fabric of the gown, the dress exposed her shoulders completely, allowing her skin to feel the cold air of space.
Anakin was kissing down her neck now, Obi-Wan tried to make it easier to him by tilting her head to the back, presenting more of her throat for him to kiss away. But Anakin had other plans, for he started to walk backwards, dragging her alongside with him to the bed.
They were enclosed inside the safety of a private room, again, courtesy of Padmé, who had convinced them to take their leave in one of her private Naboo cruisers, instead of just flying back in one of the Jedi shuttles provided by the Republic. Obi-Wan didn´t object much, not seeing much of a deal in accepting the favor, but now it seemed clear the reason behind the offer. The politician wanted to give them some sort of privacy and intimacy while they made their way back to the mess and chaos of the incoming war.
Before Obi-Wan could put two and two together though, she was being, delicately, thrown onto the soft spacious bed, with Anakin hovering over her with a strange gleam on his eyes. Quicker than she could react, the Jedi Apprentice was back at kissing her exposing skin, but now the sweet touches were follow by a wet warm tongue that trailed down her throat and over her neckline, his hands were touching her over the fabric of her dress, caressing the curves of her waist and hips; Obi-Wan could feel a sudden explosion of passion and desire coming from their bond. And the Jedi Knight shivered finally understanding the meaning behind all of this.
"You are so beautiful, so beautiful…" Anakin murmured over his breath, taking back her lips in the most sensual kiss that Obi-Wan has ever encountered.
She didn´t know if Anakin had any experience in the realms of pleasure, but the man was certainly natural at it. He moved like an expert, so sure of himself, so softly and yet so desperately, and Obi-Wan found herself blushing at his equally innocent yet lecherous touches. She knew very well how to kiss, she did it before with Quinlan as well as with Satine, Anakin was hardly her first go at it but she has never done anything more beyond making out or heavy petting, this was something entirely new to her.
Anakin continued to kiss, lick and nip her skin with small touches and Obi-Wan found herself lost to the feeling of such movements but she finally got out of her trance when the young man attempted to pull at the laces on the back of her dress, trying to free her of the prison of her gown. Obi-Wan suddenly pulled away when a quick vision of Anakin´s face when he was still a young child appeared behind her eye lids, smiling and innocent, so different and similar from the man above her, pulling at her clothes.
"Anakin, stop…" she didn´t demand, she just asked him softly, pushing against his chest with a delicate move.
"What´s wrong?" Anakin asked, suddenly mortified of the possibility of making a mistake.
"I don´t think this is right..." She said.
Anakin lifted an eyebrow, clearly confused with the change of atmosphere. Obi-Wan felt the need to clarify the situation.
"I know this is, well, I guess that´s expected…" she said a little unsure "…but I don´t think we should go any further until you reach your Knighthood. It´s not right." She finalized, now more confident on her words. The image of a young Anakin still running through her mind like a cruel joke, reminding her of her sins, punishing her for her transgressions.
Anakin stared at her for a couple of moments, a collection of different emotions showing over his face. A combination of confusion, surprise, worry, nuisance and sadness took over his features in a flash and his mouth started gaping like a fish.
"What!?" he almost screamed, loud enough for all the crew to hear him.
"It´s just that I´m your Master, Anakin. It´s not right for me to take advantage of that." Obi-Wan tried to reason, and a part of her was pushing against her conscience, fighting her own desire with her integrity.
"I can´t fucking believe it!" Anakin spat like a curse, and, in any other day, Obi-Wan would feel obligated to scold him for his language, but even she considered that he was justified in his reaction.
"We just got married and you are going to pull the ´hierarchy´ card? On our own kriffing bed!?" Anakin was yelling now, completely furious with her, he stood from the bed and started pacing like a mad man. Obi-Wan pulled herself up until she was seated over the bedding, staring at her husband with rounded eyes.
"Anakin, please, calm down…" she begged, raising her hands in front of her in a reassuring manner.
"I just can´t believe you, Obi-Wan" the Padawan confessed, stopping to look at her horrified. "We just got married, we just swore love to each other, and you don´t want to have sex with me because you think you will be taking advantage? Give me a break!"
Obi-Wan could find some sense into the words muttered by the young man; it was true. They were married, it hardly matter what they did. And Anakin, even when he was younger than her, was not a child, he was not the young Padawan she just saw inside her mind. He was a man, young perhaps, but obviously a man, capable to form his own decisions. He wasn´t being coerced either, she had no reason to be ashamed of her desire, to want to be close to him in this way or in any other, but Obi-Wan felt guilty anyway, guilty for so many things now that she couldn´t take one more stain in her record, and a sexual relationship between a Master and an Apprentice, which was highly forbidden, it would surely be the last nail on her coffin.
"Don´t you want to be with me?" Anakin asked, suddenly defeated and utterly tired "Is that what this is? Am I not… attractive enough?"
Obi-Wan has seen Anakin being too many things at the course of their relationship and time together, insecure of his looks wasn´t one of them.
"Anakin, of course it´s not that!" she said, reaching out with her hands to touch his arms "You are handsome, incredibly so. And I love you, of course I want to be with you."
"Then?"
"It´s not lack of desire what it´s stopping me, but I cannot, in good conscience, be your Master, your superior, and also have sex with you…" she explained with a painful expression. Obi-Wan omitted the fact that she just imagined him as a nine-year old, she imagined that: ´I saw you as a little kid when you were kissing my neck and about to undress me´ wasn´t going to go too well either.
"You think that because we have sex I will stop obeying you?" Anakin lifted his eyebrow with incredulity.
"Anakin, you are already a difficult student in a daily basis" she said with a significant look "you struggle to respect my authority in the simplest of tasks, I don´t think you can keep following my lead after you´ve see me naked" she states without mercy, giving him a side-eye.
Anakin almost feels offended by the wording of her statement but he knows that what she is saying holds some truth. He knows he was a difficult Padawan, countless Masters have let him know he has been one off their worse students, not that he wasn´t good at the tasks they ask him to preform or learn, they just keep saying that he was undisciplined and arrogant. Obi-Wan was one of the only few who actually appreciated him for what he was, she has voiced her concerns over his attitude at multiple stances, but she has never judge him for it. He only thought she wouldn´t bring that to their bedroom.
"Obi-Wan, you can´t be serious… who knows how long the Council will take to make me a Knight! And at this rate that it´s really not going to happen…" he complained. "Just let this one go, Obi-Wan. Don´t fight it." He requested, reaching out for her gown´s laces once more. Kenobi tensed immediately and slapped his hand away.
"I already said no, Anakin" she growled with a deep frown.
The young Padawan was about to burst with anger, he felt his blood boiling and a ferocious growl was making its way out of his throat. He has had enough of this, of this pretending and this suffering, he thought he had finally accomplished one of his biggest dreams, he got together with the person he has loved the most in his entire life, but when the time came, he was going to be denied again. As if those wedding vows meant nothing, as if all the words of love she said, the feelings she promised were meaningless and cheap. Anakin could feel a dragon roaring inside his chest, threatening to emerge and burst everything into flames.
"I´m your husband" he snarled, baring his teeth is if ready to bite "If I want to kiss you, I kiss you. If I want to lay with you…"
Obi-Wan grew cold.
She felt as if she was going to vomit any minute now, because no matter what Anakin was capable of doing, of how obnoxious he could get, how childish his whining could turn out to be and how bad of a temper he tends to have, he could have never, never, said something like that to her. Obi-Wan would stand in front of the Council and defend Anakin until she was out of breath, she would walk away of the Order itself if they ever dare to kick him out, she would have done anything and everything just to make the world see that Anakin was good. But nothing, in this galaxy or the next, could have prepare her for this.
The minute of silence that remained between them seemed to made Anakin catch up to the horror on Obi-Wan´s face and the sickly intent behind his revolting words. In an instant, the young man gasped in terror and raised his hands trying to embrace Obi-Wan in a tight hug.
But the woman moved before he could touch her, she climbed the bed backwards, away from him and almost crashed herself against the headboard. She quickly schooled her disgusted expression into one of seriousness, like a good Jedi, pretending that she had control of whatever it was going on inside the room.
"I´m sorry, I´m sorry!" Anakin begged, eyes suddenly red with unshaded tears, the dragon gone and just a pitiful ashamed boy left behind "I can´t believe I´ve said that, I won´t hurt you, I promise, please Obi-Wan…"
She wanted to listen, she really did, but all that she could hear now was Anakin´s voice, threatening her, demanding things and looming over her like a dark cloud. In any other situation, she wouldn´t react in such a way, Jedi were impassive against insults or demands, she would have never given importance to nasty words, even when they promised violence. But this wasn´t a mission, this wasn´t a stranger talking her down and making threats, this was Anakin. Her Padawan. Her Partner. Her Husband. She couldn´t pretend it didn´t frighten her. That it didn´t shake her from body to soul.
"I won´t touch you until you want me too, I swear, I won´t ever say anything rude or disrespecting against you ever again, I will follow every order, every command you give me… just, please, please…" he was crying now, there were tears in his eyes, like a child scared from a monster, in this case though, from his own words.
She believe him, when he says he didn´t mean it. But that doesn´t mean he didn´t say it. That didn´t mean it wasn´t the only thing she would be able to see for a while when she sends a look his way.
She was too stunned to move when Anakin approached her quietly, he was still sobbing and pleading apologies but she felt as if she was underwater, she could barely hear a thing, two warm hands enclosed her arms, they were soft and moved slowly, the way that one would approach a frighten animal. There were Anakin´s. She let him touch her, she let him bring her closer to him until her head rested on his chest, she let him kiss her brow and head, she let him whisper promises and apologizes to her ear. She let him. She needed comfort, even if it was only from the man who had provoked her fear, but the problem was that it was the same man that she loved. She wanted to run to the arms of the person she has identified as her true home. So bad that those same arms belonged to the one who has given her grief.
"I won´t do it again, I won´t…" he said, face still wet from his own tears. "Force… Do you want me to go?" he asked, looking down at her with uncertainty.
Obi-Wan stared at him with a silent question in her own eyes, suddenly getting out of her trance.
"I mean, you need to rest, of course. I can leave you to it, if you don´t want me close, I understand, believe me, I do…" he rushed with renewed apprehension.
Obi-Wan meditate it for a moment, unsure if she wanted to do just so. The fear has already disappeared, she was back at her senses, back at the coldness she has grown used to, and she was no longer confuse either and not so much as scared than angry. Now that the impression has vanished, all that remained was indignation.
"No" she declared, voice tough and clear, like a seasoned soldier in the middle of the war. "I want to rest but you don´t have to go anywhere."
Anakin released a long deep breath he didn´t know he was holding.
"But if you ever say something like that to me again, or try to touch me in an intimate manner, Anakin, I swear by the Force, I´m going to punch you in the face" she menaced with a passion, eyes filled with fury and so much promise.
"Yes, you can do whatever you want, punch me, kick me, report me to the Council if that it´s what it takes…"
Obi-Wan almost narrowed her grey eyes at Anakin´s words, he must really feel sorry if he was willing to bring the Council into this. Good.
"I don´t need your permission to put you in your place" Obi-Wan explained to him with a slight look, before moving her hands back to her head, taking the veil off her hair. "Nor the help of the Council to kick your ass…" she added, in any other time the phrase would have come as a joke, but in that instant it was dead serious.
Anakin nodded with solemnity, still feeling too unsure of where they were standing. To be honest, Obi-Wan felt uncomfortable too, but the sooner they move past this episode, the better.
"Now, I´m going to take off this dress and get back to my robes and you are going to check the coordinates and notify the Council we are on our way, is that clear?" she asked. Anakin nodded and got up from the bed where he was sitting.
When the Padawan got through the door, Obi-Wan release a deep breath with sudden tiredness. She knew that whatever this was between them was far from over, there were things left to discuss but she thought that Anakin wasn´t in any shape nor form to talk things through, she would wait until things have cool down and he didn´t feel exposed and guilty.
"What a way to start a marriage…" Obi-Wan thought, taking one last big breath before reaching behind her to undo the laces of her dress.
It was the early morning next time Obi-Wan regained her conscience, she felt tired and not at all well rested, not after sending Anakin away leaving things the way she did. Thing have being getting better between them, and she felt guilty for having to start a fight after such a good period of time.
The female Knight was busy dressing herself in her new robes. She has dressed herself in a multitude of ways through the years, but this style was really growing on her. Because Obi-Wan has to start wearing armor over her robes to protect her from blaster shots, she has taken into fashion herself with fabrics that held tightly to her figure. She wore two inner tunics to keep her warmed, and her exterior robe was fashioned in the nature of a dress. It was opened on her sides to allow her legs to move without material getting in the way even when the fabric of the outer tunic reached just below her knees, bellowed her semi-dress she wore the Jedi´s characteristic light brown leggings and her reddish brown high boots. When she was content with her appearance, she reached for her obi and belt, clasping it tight against her waist. She had to admit that she looked good, even when it wasn´t the intention.
She was pulling at her hair next, clasping two braids over the sides of her head to reach in a small crown in the top of her head from which a high long ponytail fell down and onto her back. This hairstyle was one of the simplest she has ever worn, but she felt inclined to be practical and not waste more time in fashioning her looks as she would in any other circumstance.
Her concentration was suddenly interrupted by the sound of her carp´s entrance being pulled. One fast glance to her mirror informed her that it was Anakin.
"Well…" the man almost whistled, eyes inspecting and analyzing her figure. "Isn´t this a new look?" he teased.
Obi-Wan turned with a small smile.
"I felt like changing a bit" she let him know, returning to appreciate herself in the reflection of the tall mirror installed inside the tent by the clones, searching for any imperfection left by her carelessness.
Anakin walked to her, shorting the distance until he was behind her, his strong arms enclosed her waist and his chin rested over her right shoulder, looking at her with intense eyes through the mirror.
"I like it" he confessed "You look lovely. But then again, you always do."
Obi-Wan smiled in response.
"I have a feeling your judgment cannot be trusted with these things."
"You look amazing, for real" he promised.
Obi-Wan reached to her waist, clasping his hands with hers, turning to deliver a small kiss to his nose in a tender gesture.
"I´m sorry" she said.
"For what?" Anakin frowned.
"For kicking you out last night. It wasn´t right." She said. Anakin smile sadly, turning her around to kiss her in the mouth with so much love than Obi-Wan felt her own head spin and her eyes almost prickling with happy tears.
"Don´t be" he requested, smile showing on his face "I deserved it. I was being difficult for no good reason."
"You just wanted to be with me, I can hardly blame you for that. I missed you too." She retaliate with a softness that not even Obi-Wan knew she possessed, there was something more, she knew, a bad feeling that it has been brewing inside her gut since she woke up in the morning. And her consciousness was asking her to make peace with her husband before doing anything else.
"Obi-Wan" Anakin whispered, her name has never sounded so good in any other mouth, it made her blush "I love you."
Obi-Wan took his chin with her right hand and pulled him to her, devouring his mouth in a passionate kiss that talked about intensity, desire and love, so much love. Her arms snaked behind Anakin´s head, fingers playing with the short strands of hair that remained despite his Padawan hairstyle. Anakin kissed back with equal enthusiasm, not missing a beat or getting behind. They were perfect, Obi-Wan decided. They were lethal in the battlefield and they were so consuming in each other´s arms, there couldn´t be a more perfect match in the entire galaxy, even when the affirmation sounded way too arrogant and biased.
"I love you too, Anakin" she said with a happy smile, separating their lips and leaving behind the nasty feeling that was making its way down her spine.
There was the sound of heavy boots outside her tent, they both turned, almost separating as if the other was on fire. A habit taken after the constant fear of being discovered by praying eyes.
"General…" Alpha´s voice sounded loud and clear outside of her tent, waiting for her acknowledgement to respond.
"Yes?" she asked, giving Anakin a meaningful look while the young man took a seat on her cot. Grinning as if the sudden situation was hilarious.
"The troops are ready for your orders, Sir" he said with his usual formality.
"Of course. Re-group them all in a battalion on the center of the camp, I will be there shortly." Her voice was the one of a commander, gone was her tenderness and the softness only present when she talked with Anakin.
Obi-Wan turned at the sudden noise coming from her cot, watching her husband whispering ´I love you´ from his seat. Obi-Wan blushed and made a gesture of dismissal, Anakin chuckled at her obvious embarrassment.
"Very well, Sir" Alpha answered from the outside, walking away.
Obi-Wan glared at the man currently seated on the comfort of her beddings.
"You are worse than a child, Anakin" she scolded, grabbing her lightsaber and clasping it on her belt.
"And you love me just like that" he said while standing up and kissing her brow before leaving her tent.
Obi-Wan looked at him until he disappeared from her sight, releasing a deep breath from the confines of her lungs, with an instant feeling of both comfort at his words and the still too shaky premonition of bad bearings, she whispered:
"That I do…"
It has been almost two weeks since their return to the Temple, and Anakin still felt insecure on how to proceed. Obi-Wan acted as if nothing had happened, she smiled a bit more now that they were married and seemed to be infinitely more comfortable in his presence, as if something heavy have been lifted from her shoulders. But even after all these good signs he still felt too guilty to enjoy any of it.
Obi-Wan went on her life as if she had forgotten the incident back at the ship, but the memory of his words and implications still lingered deep inside Anakin´s mind for him to give them rest. He didn´t know what came over him when he said those awful words. How could he be so utterly idiotic and stupid to even consider say something so monstrous? All his life, all he ever wanted was to be with Obi-Wan, to love her and to be loved by her, and the first thing he does when he finally gets his way is to scare and threatened her. He felt like the worse scum of the universe.
Just when he almost finished to sink himself down in his own self-loathing, the door of their quarters hissed open to reveal Obi-Wan coming in with a tired expression on her face.
Anakin, who is seated in the couch at the communal area of their apartment, looks at her with a mix of apprehension and intrigue, but the sight of her beautiful face with such an exhausted expression almost sends him back into depression.
"Anakin" Obi-Wan calls in a manner of salute. Giving him a small smile from the entrance and coming closer to him to rest a kiss on his forehead before moving to the kitchen.
"You look tired…" he points out, wincing at the pale color of her skin.
She hummed in agreement.
"The Senators don´t stop coming and requesting meetings with the Council" she excuses, filling a kettle with water "and the Council doesn´t stop asking for my presence in every single one of them. It´s mad."
Anakin curses under his breath, kriff all those so called Masters of the Council who doesn´t even seem to be able to handle simple diplomatic meetings with the Republic without having to call for his Master´s presence.
Obi-Wan comes back with a smile on her lips and manages to take a seat in one of the chairs of the living room. Her hair is a slight mess, with threats of hair escaping the confines of the usually secured braids, if the Padawan wasn´t feeling so blue the sight would almost make Anakin chuckle.
"How was your day?" she asks sweetly.
"More of the same" he shrugs, resting importance to his not so overly complicated agenda. "A little bit of training, fixing some ships and having some lectures about being ready for the wars to come."
"Oh, I bet" she chuckles with easiness, getting back up at the noise coming from the kitchen, warning her that the water for Obi-Wan´s tea was more than ready.
While Obi-Wan takes her time preparing her soothing tea, Anakin takes to watch her from his position. Her soft movements and grace, even when completely drained of energy, conserve their usual elegance and Anakin remembers himself, only younger, trying to imitate his Master´s mannerisms and even fancy accent, feeling every impulse to be closer to her, thinking that he would eventually achieve such a thing with just being like her. For him, she was the epitome of a perfect Jedi, and his younger self wanted to be just that.
Halting his thoughts and inspection, Obi-Wan returned to the living room with a cup of her tea, but managed to surprise Anakin with a second cup that she put in front of him, presenting it as a present.
"There you go" she whispered softly. He hadn´t ask for a drink, but Obi-Wan always seemed to want to cheer him up.
"You are awfully quiet, Padawan" the female Knight mentioned taking back her seat and taking a soft sip from her own cup.
Anakin meditated the sentence before doing anything, but failing with coming with an explanation he only took his drink and drove it to his mouth, enjoying the hot beverage.
"Anakin…" she called, lifting her beautiful grey eyes to look at him with sudden concern.
"I´m tired" Anakin lied, drinking the whole thing even when the temperature was too high and it ended up scolding his tongue, just so he could run away to hide inside his bedroom.
Anakin bowed with respect and rush to the kitchen to leave the cup into the sink and almost made his escape a success if it wasn´t because a delicate hand grabbed his shoulder and stop him right in front of his door.
"Is there something wrong?" the voice of Obi-Wan questioned.
Anakin turned to look at her, but immediately recognized the movement as a terrible mistake, for he got lost inside the orbs of his Master´s eyes. They were pits of profound consuming peace, and he felt himself drift into the depths of their color. His ability to speak got lost somewhere inside his throat and the reminder of his past actions came to haunt him like a ghost.
Two warm hands enclosed the frame of his face, and Anakin wanted so bad to tilt his face and close his eyes, lose himself forever into the loving touch, but he recollected himself in time to recognize he wasn´t worthy of such sympathies and affection. With a smooth pull, he disengage himself from the soft hands of his Master.
"Anakin?" Obi-Wan inquired with thick concern on her voice, a deep frown present on her face.
"I´m sorry, Master. I just don´t deserve your concern, please, forget about it." He requested.
Obi-Wan almost gasped at the declaration.
"Anakin, what are you talking about?" she questioned.
The Padawan only made a pained expression.
"It´s just… that night, in the cruiser, I…" Anakin mumbled, not really managing to say anything at all.
Obi-Wan´s eyes spread out in recognition.
"Are you talking about the incident… after we got married…?" the Jedi inquired once more, catching up with his words.
Anakin nodded pathetically, refusing to look at his wife to her eyes. Shame consuming him from every direction.
"Anakin…" she started "…talk to me. Please?"
The Padawan learner seemed to lose himself inside his own thoughts. Not knowing if he wanted to share his mind.
"What I did to you…" he muttered, words tangling between his teeth.
"You did nothing to me" Obi-Wan corrected him.
Anakin suddenly seemed alarmed at the affirmation.
"How can you say that?! I almost… I almost…"
"No, you didn´t." She exhaled in a long breath "You said something terrible, you feel awful about it, you should." She told him with a pointed look at him.
Anakin listened with confused and surprised eyes but remain silent, sensing Obi-Wan wasn´t done.
"But you never did something to me. You didn´t hurt me. You didn´t force me into anything. You were being an idiot, which it´s different, and you stopped before doing something even more awful. And then you felt so bad about it that apparently you have been punishing yourself ever since." She finished with a soft look of compassion.
"Maybe you are right" he mumbled not too content "but I still feel guilty…"
Obi-Wan´s response was to smile in return.
"Take your time if that it's what you need" she said kindly "but just know that I don´t feel bad about it anymore…"
In an unexpected move, she grabbed his robotic hand, that was now covered with a thick glove, and pulled him alongside with her while she directed him to follow her inside her bedroom.
"Obi-Wan, what the brix are you doing?" he asked, confused and somewhat alarmed.
She smiled without looking at him.
"I´m taking you to bed" she almost chuckled, Anakin felt the blood being drained from his face "To sleep." She immediately added as she felt him tense in her grasp.
"No!" Anakin roared.
Obi-Wan paused to look at him from the door of her bedroom lifting an eyebrow at him.
"Are you honestly going to tell me you haven´t been thinking about this since before we got married, Anakin?" Obi-Wan asked him with a slight tease.
"Of course, I have" he agreed "but…"
"Then stop pretending you don´t" she said with a tired buff.
Obi-Wan finally let go of his hand and entered her room. Anakin has seen it before, it wasn´t a sacred place or even a private one for Obi-Wan. When he was little and used to suffer terrible nightmares he used to run here, scared out of his mind and seeking the comfort of Obi-Wan´s arms. His Master wasn´t really big into giving such affections, as many Jedi rarely did, but she at least calmed him down every time and made sure he went back to bed relieved and soothed. The familiar sight of Obi-Wan´s bed sent shivers down his spine. He used to imagine himself lying there one day, tangled in the white soft sheets of Obi-Wan´s mattress that was bigger than his own, he used to think of passionate nights of making love and peaceful mornings of waking up next to the object of his desires. But now it seemed less than a resting place and more of a trap.
"Obi-Wan, I don´t think this is wise" he confessed with a pained expression on his face.
"Nonsense" the female Jedi replied, losing the already disheveled braids of her hair and allowing her falling locks to run free down the length of her back.
Anakin stood at the entrance, appreciating his Master movements while she took off parts and pieces of her clothing, her brown boots were the first to be tossed aside with a lazy move of her wrists, followed by her outer tunics, before showing too much skin, the grey-eyed woman walked to her walk-in closet to hide herself away from his eyes and get her sleeping garments.
When she was finally out of sight, Anakin inspected every corner of the room carefully. As expected, very little has change inside the bedroom. Anakin still recognized the light brown rub that covered every inch of the floor, the creamy soft color of the walls that reminded him a little to the sands of Tatooine. The big bed positioned at the left side of the room, alongside two small tables at every side of the bed, a window that allowed some illusion of illumination, some plants, a tiny personal library with holobooks with a comfortable chair on the side, a desk, the walk-in closet and a private fresher. Anakin felt the memories of his own presence inside this private space, the bed that he spent some nights when his dreams were too ugly even for Obi-Wan´s nicest words to comfort, the rug where he laid down a couple of times while he talked and played with some droids spare parts while Obi-Wan read on her chair when they had free time. But before he could sneak out of the room and lock himself away inside his own, trying to gain his time while Obi-Wan was too busy changing her clothes to notice him, something caught up his eyes.
There it was, standing alone and glorious, the sight of the Nubian Mists that he had gifted Obi-Wan during the first weeks of his stay at the Temple. They weren´t fully flowered yet but they were, without a doubt, beautiful already. Their blue color contrasting with the brown and white tones of the room, coloring an impersonal place, that even though safe and familiar, it was too detached of personality.
Before he could stop himself, he was in front of the plant, holding some petals with his flesh hand, allowing the soft texture of the blooms to caress the skin of his limb. Obi-Wan has surely water them regularly and has kept the present in pristine condition, apparently taking her time to care and love the arrangement the same way she took her time to secure her large complicated braids on her head. He smiled at the thought.
"So, you have found them, then…"
Obi-Wan´s voice took him out of his daydreaming. She was dressed down in a nightgown that reached her knees, black and soft in appearance, it might occurred to Anakin that this might very well be the only dark piece of clothing that Obi-Wan possessed, and the thought sent pictures to Anakin´s head of the female Knight wearing obscure dresses and perfectly tailored dark gowns.
"You still have it" he remarked, trying to return his eyes to the flowers, avoiding any eye contact with the beautiful and tempting figure of his wife. "I wasn´t sure. I haven´t seen them in a while."
"I did" she answered, positioning herself next to the vase of flowers. "It´s funny how a flower from Naboo can live so long without much sunlight. But then again, they are called Morning Mists for a reason, I guess."
A silence came between them and apparently it wasn´t as uncomfortable as the Padawan would expect it to be, it was, in fact, appeasing. He didn´t know if it was the flowers and the many memories they shared over them, he didn´t know if it was her words, always clever and certain. He didn´t know if it was her nightgown either. But the storm inside his mind has eased, as Obi-Wan always tells him to do when he gets overly emotional. What she didn´t see, and now he does, it´s that it always comes down to her for him. Anakin has always known he was never going to be a good Jedi. He knew it form the bottom of his heart. Every trial that the members of the Council had put him through, he has failed. At least every trial that mattered. He was too fearful, he was too angry, he was too hateful, he was too afflicted. But every time he wanted to quit, to walk away, to hide and run from his issues, it was Obi-Wan who always brought him back to his senses. Be it with calming words or firm demands, she always found a way for him to pull himself together. Even in moments like this, when his guilt was eating him from the inside, and the person he has wronged stood beside him, forgiving him with such simplicity, in a much more profound way that he could ever forgive himself. That was the moment he understood that she was right, in this, like with all the other things before; she has found the way to bring him back again, he realized. He found himself grateful, with this life, with the Force, with Qui-Gon, to have found him and to put him here where he was now. Much like these flowers, they were away from the sun. Tucked in a corner of a dark room inside a big castle of secrets. But that room was their home, he mused. It was where they belonged. Both the flowers and them. And much like the blooms, he noted happily, they will eventually flower. In time. Without the light of the day, without the company of others, but as strong and as beautiful as they would have bloomed in the openness of the fields. And that was enough, enough for them both.
"Obi-Wan…"
"Yeah?"
"Let´s go to bed." He smiled. It took Anakin just one glance to see that Obi-Wan was smiling too.
"Troops, I want you moving to block those cannons, I don´t want them to cross the eastern border!"
Obi-Wan was shouting, giving orders left and right and Anakin couldn´t help but admire her determination and ability to command. It seemed like her second nature already, as if she has live a lifetime of wars and conflicts, and not just a few months. He wouldn´t have thought that something as pacific as a Jedi would embrace her role as a General with so much easiness. He couldn´t, and, he guessed, that was why he was the Apprentice rather than the Master.
"Alpha! By my side!" she ordered with a movement of her hand, the clone commander followed her without questioning. Anakin was weary to let her out of his sight, but he couldn´t even dream to say such unthinkable things out loud. In the privacy of their rooms they were married, they were justified to worry about each other. But here, in the battlefield, during missions, he was but the student while she was the General, and he was expected to follow her every command, and he would, not because of decorum, but because he has promised he would.
Obi-Wan ran alongside Alpha, slashing the battle droids of their enemies with her lightsaber, and the blue plasma was the only light that let Anakin follow her direction while he busied himself with some droids of his own. He was getting tired. The muscles on his back felt strained by his constant pulling and his arms felt heavy, the wild rain that invaded the field and made sight difficult wasn´t helping either. But he continued, either way, knowing that this battle was important for the Republic. That they must win or carry with the heavy consequences of failure.
So Anakin concentrated in his duty like only a few times before. He was surrounded by clones, they were designed to follow his lead as much as to protect him, always taking care of giving their lives in place of his if the need arise, considering that the only Jedi available right now were Anakin and Obi-Wan; special reinforcements were not expected to arrive for at least another week, waiting for the call if needed too, but their forces were small if they considered the ones led by the Separatist, and there were no Jedi to spare in such a great war.
Overtime, the rain grew even worse, and, contrary to the heat of blaster fire and the warmth of his body by so much activity at the time of fighting, the water falling from the sky was freezing cold. The young Padawan started to fear that they will be beaten, not by the enemy´s forces, but by the terrible weather of the insufferable planet alone. The loyalist of Jabiim were trying to aid them, joining their forces with the ones of the Republic, and since they were already used to this environment, their help provided to be most helpful, even when they didn´t really have much training.
Anakin had controlled the eastern side of the field, protecting the canons and heavy artillery from the treacherous deactivating droids of the Separatist, smirking as he thought that he finally found a way to please his Master, before she ran away with her own group of clones to face battle and search for Alto Stratus, the leader of the Jabiim Nationalist Army, to end the battle and disperse the opponent legion with confusion and anarchy, she was worried about the enemy´s forces breaching their eastern border, damaging their weapons and forcing them to lose some ground.
"Well, problem solved", Anakin thought smugly.
"Trooper!" he called one of the few clones that were around, and by the looks of it, the leader of the current group that were charged with the weaponry.
"Yes, Sir?" the soldier asked respectfully, placing both of his hands behind the small of his back.
"I´ve already cleaned the field" he said with a playful smirk, proud of his own labor, "I trust you and your men will be able to keep it that way. I think I´m going to follow General Kenobi and try to help her out."
"Of course, Sir!"
Anakin takes his leave then, running after his Master, sensing her Force signature ahead in the battlefield. Before he can go very far, though, there is ripple coming from the Force itself, telling him that Obi-Wan needed him close to her, so he started to run like a madman. The Force never lied, it could be vague, it could be confusing, but never a liar. And if there was something that Obi-Wan has taught him was that a ´bad feeling´, especially one that came from the Force, was not something to be ignored.
He ran for a while, slashing his lightsaber a couple of times, re-directing blaster bolts and destroying some rogue droids and Separatist rebels that dare to get in the middle of the way. He felt out of breath, but not for the running, not for the tiredness of the grand battle, but for the sole worry he felt for his Master´s sake. Anakin wasn´t lying when he said she was the most important thing in his life. That he loved her more than anybody and any other blasted being in this universe. But despite his fatigue, he kept going, running through the mudded field, between the multitude of clones that were busy shooting and fighting back the droids, through the Jabiim loyalist that joined them in the defense of their planet. His blue eyes searching for the fierce auburn hair of his master and her enchanting piercing grey eyes that changed color depending of her wild emotions. "They must be green now", Anakin thought. The color they adopted while the female Jedi was angry or consume by battle.
He saw her then. In the middle of what it seemed an intense fight, her long Jedi robe was all splashed with mud and the fabric has turned ragged and soiled. Her long hair was still held by her ponytail even when some threads of it had escaped some parts of her braids. Anakin felt relief at the knowledge that she was apparently well, and ached to be close to her, helping her. He wanted so bad to approached her, but he instantly knew that his journey has being in vain, his Master would never allow him to stay close to her for much, not when he was needed supervising the far ends of the battlefield, keeping the lines of the clones steady and moving, making sure that the supervision was as good and perfect as it would be as if Obi-Wan was the one doing it, keeping it the way he knew she liked it, but the sudden desire to be close to her, the powerful Force continuing with its whispers inside his mind, was alerting him of his need to be close, to recognize that there was danger.
Suddenly there were explosions everywhere, big, colossal balls of blasting burning fire coming from different sectors of the field. Incredibly terrified and confused, the young Padawan sent glances to all directions, trying to identify the source of such impressive and boisterous flames that left his ears almost deaf and burned the retinas of his globes. With one quick look at his back he realized that the heavy weaponry he saved moments ago were still standing, so they weren´t the ones exploding.
"Mines!" some people started to shout between the tumults. Anakin felt like losing his grip, unexpectedly confused and insecure on how to proceed.
The explosions continued and screams of agony accompanied every loud blast, making the apprentice feel terrified and, for what it felt like the first time, conscious that he was in a war. His eyes flied back in front, forcing himself to ignore the dreadful sounds and pleas of the dying troopers and loyalist close to him, to concentrate in finding his Master, making sure that she was still untouched. He could see her lightsaber still, but she was too far away now, and the whole place was too crowded to just run and approach her. There were several AT-AT around the field as well, but the metallic giants were also falling by the powerful mines of the Separatist, crashing down over what it seemed their own army. It was a nightmare.
Before long, there was smoke around him, thick veils of fume that made impossible to see anything beyond a couple of meters from where he stood. The panic surrounding the area was palpable, and in a fast thought, he knew that the only solution available for them all was to withdraw from the battle and escape to their camp, regrouping and lick their wounds, the Force knew that Anakin was the last person prone to retire during a battle, but remaining here was suicide.
"Raid!" he called from his commlink, communicating with one of the clone Commanders in the battlefield.
"Yes, sir?" came the answer from the other end of the line. He could hear the trooper´s voice being out of breath.
"I need you to send in the air transport! I want you to evacuate the field and take out as many men as you can! I want them all out and back to the base!"
"Yes, sir!" came the swift response.
The blond warrior stood from the mudded ground, his own tunics splashed by dirt and stinking of gunpowder, the smoke had cleared a bit, allowing him to see around the field openly. His blue yes search for the form of his wife, seeking her hair, her eyes, her womanly figure, her lightsaber, anything. But there was nothing in sight but fallen soldiers and wreck.
"Sir!" a sudden shout made him turn to his back, a clone trooper coming closer to him with a couple following behind. The sudden sound of shuttles flying made him sigh with relief. Help was close.
"The shuttles are ready, Sir. We must evacuate."
"I need you to locate General Kenobi" Anakin instructed, trying to keep his voice tight and professional, not allowing to show his worry and fears.
"Right Away, Sir!" the clone Commander saluted, giving a coded order to his fellow soldiers. Before Anakin could join the search, the clone Commander turned to him once again. "Sir, I must insist for you to evacuate and get into one of the shuttles."
"I´m not going anywhere until I find my Master, trooper"
"Sir, please, I promise you my men will find her and make sure she is safe, but we need you to evacuate now, before any other mine explodes…"
The soldier was all covered in thick with armor, including his head, so it was impossible for Anakin to actually see his face, but if he could, he swears the man would be frowning. The Jedi Padawan is used to be difficult, to follow his own path, it was the reason behind many of the Council headaches and Obi-Wan´s too, even Anakin could admit that sometimes he was being particularly problematic for no good reason. But this time, he needed to find Obi-Wan, this time he will not stop until he has her secure in his arms.
The Commander, sensing the young man´s resolution and devotion to his Master, instantly offered a second opinion before the Padawan could refute him.
"Maybe if I give you a shuttle with clones to patrol the area and find the General much faster, Sir?"
Anakin´s eyes widen and he started nodding like a madman.
"Let´s go."
One Republic shuttle landed close to them, the vessel was full with clone troopers ready to guard him and protect him, Anakin climbed the ship in a swift motion, not even waiting for it to hover the ground, the clone Commander quick following his steps. The Ship roared with the movement of the engines, getting higher and higher until it was flying through the air, there, in this gifted position, Anakin started looking down at the ground, searching or any signs of Obi-Wan´s presence.
The wreck was even worse than the young apprentice could have imagined. Dead loyalist and fallen soldiers covered the ground as if they were grass, the rain falling over their bodies and covering them with mud, his blue eyes moved almost erratically, trying to find clues of his Master whereabouts, even when he silently pray to the Force to not found her there, fallen and broken on the ground, as helpless as their forces.
"Sir, right there!" Clone Commander Raid shouted, pointing at one direction ahead of them, Anakin turn to see just to witness Alpha and Obi-Wan crouched on the field, trying to hold their ground but perfectly, beautifully alive.
"Go there, pilot!" Anakin ordered, finally gaining some breath.
When they approached and lower closer to the ground, trying to dodge possible attack at the same time that they intended to rescue their allies, Anakin held to one handle close to the open shuttle´s side door.
"Master!" he screamed.
Obi-Wan, who had one knee prostrated on the dirt, raised her head to look at the sudden sound of a voice she knew only too well. Her beautiful eyes seemed to recognize the message, and with a signal to Alpha she started running towards the shuttle.
Anakin barked a laughter at the image of his beloved, safe and sound if only a little dirty and disheveled, he could almost imagine the feel of her strong arms around his body once more, and he found himself aching for her embrace.
"Will every morning be like this?"
Obi-Wan turned her sleepy head to look up at her husband´s equally tired face. They have just awaken, raised by the sudden soft rays of sun that appeared from her window, she was laid across his chest, feeling the softness of his golden skin on her right cheek, before doing anything else she found herself smiling up at him.
"If you want to." She offered.
"Oh, I want to, Master." He swore, chuckling while his arms found their way to her waist, pulling her against him with renew purpose. Obi-Wan has never felt so loved in her entire life.
"Funny…" she recalled, planting a small kiss over his firm chest "So do I."
She was so close now, running as fast as her slender but athletic legs allowed her, there were fallen warrior at every step, blasters thrown onto the ground, rest of droids and even a couple of AT-AT along the way, but her eyes were only focus on Anakin. Anakin who was currently extending his hand to her, Anakin who has come to her rescue once more, Anakin who was uninjured and handsome and perfect. She could hear Alpha´s heavy steps behind her, trailing her down and protecting her back like he always does, and she found herself grateful, she didn´t want to lose any soldier if it was her choice, but so was the nature of war to lose people one cares about, but if she had her pick, she was glad he was the one who made it out of another fight to stand beside her. With one look ahead she saw Anakin´s hand, extended still, inviting her close.
She was so close now, just so close.
"Do you really have to go?"
"I think you already know the answer to that, Anakin" she said without taking her eyes away from her boots, she was setting the straps just the right way, tight against her leg.
"Yeah, I know, but I mean, why am I not going with you?" he inquired, insulted by the mere possibility of separation between them. She couldn´t really blame him for that.
"We both knew this was going to happen" she reminded him, finally turning to see him sitting on her bed, brooding like a moody teenager. "You shouldn´t act so surprised."
He buffed.
"I am not" he said like a curse. "I would just prefer it if the mighty Council wouldn´t try to set us apart every chance they get."
"Anakin, they are not trying to set us apart. Stop imagining plots inside your head, you are the only one who thinks that."
"That´s not true. They don´t trust me, Master. They never have."
Obi-Wan wanted to refute the statement, but felt that it was actually true. Yes, the Council was weary of Anakin´s motives and intentions at every single turn, she understood why the Padawan would be upset, but the young man didn´t really fight to earn the trust either, so he wasn´t in a position to complain.
"This will pass" she said, smiling and coming up to him, bending forward to kiss him on the center of his forehead.
Anakin closed his eyes for a moment just to open them back at the feeling of her lips separating from his face.
"I will go and do my duty. You will go and do yours. And at the end of the day, tired and victorious for our own missions, we will meet again. And it will be even better, because I will miss you and you will miss me and falling back onto this bed will feel like we are coming back home." She finished, touching his right cheek tenderly, caressing his soft features. Anakin finally allowed himself to smile.
"I will hold you to that."
His arms hurt by the pulling of his muscles, by the aching of his bones, Obi-Wan was so close to him now, and as tired and stubborn as his limb was he would not retreat it. His body wanted his Master´s touch more than it needed the rest. The sole thought of having her back into his arms made his heart beat faster and faster against the confines of his chest.
Just when he had her, when she was a mere couple of meters away from his hand, a terrible loud sound came from the right side of the shuttle, unbalancing the ship and making it fly widely to one side, taking them away from his Master. It took the clone a couple of seconds to regain control over the vessel, and Anakin almost wanted to rip his head off for the carelessness and incompetence, he just was about to save her when he manages to tear them apart once more.
"Pilot! Get to the General!"
"It´s too dangerous, Commander!" the trooper dares to respond "We will be hit by the enemy!"
"I don't care! You need to get close to Obi-Wan now! It´s an order, soldier!"
The pilot moved the shuttle forward once more, closing the distance between them again. Obi-Wan was still on the mud, she had fallen by the sudden violent movement from the ship when they were sent backwards, but she was standing once more, trying to approach them.
Anakin extended his hand once again, inviting her to take his hand.
"I love you…"
"Force, Anakin. What if somebody hears you?!" she scolds in whispers from her commlink. They have been apart for some time now, not much, but the Padawan had grown restless and has found some time to contact her. Obi-Wan missed him terribly, but she was so immerse with the planning of her attack that she hadn´t have room to think of anything else.
"I´m in my quarters, no one would hear me" he explained, rearranging himself at the end of his bunk inside his assigned room, he was inside a Republic cruiser, resting after fighting, and winning, a battle in the middle of space, trying to free some intergalactic routes from the Separatist grasps.
"Still, you need to be more careful."
"Would it kill you to just tell me you love me too?" Anakin questioned, suddenly upset by her indifference.
Obi-Wan looks as if she was about retorting with some of her witty remarks, but stops just in time and seems to re-think her approach.
"I love you too" she finally settles.
"Much better" Anakin smiles.
"Anyway, are you sure this line it´s secure? I don´t want to get angry calls in the middle of the night from Master Windu…" Obi-Wan tells him, one eyebrow lifted in an obstinate manner.
"Oh, I´m sure, Master. Who do you think you are talking to?"
"Oh, I don´t know…" she playfully comments, sarcasm showing on every word. "I´m pretty sure I´m talking with the same boy who once blew up the entire emergency line from the Temple just because he was curious about the programming of the Archives computer system…"
"That was hundred years ago! I was eleven!" Anakin protested, hands flying up the air as if exaggerating his anger. "And I fixed it, remember?"
Obi-Wan chuckled under her breath, folding her arms over her chest.
"Oh, yeah, fixed it all right. Though not before Master Windu called you in front of the Council to yell at you for your antics. Really, Anakin. You left more than a hundred Jedi without communication to the Temple for almost four hours…" she rolled her eyes.
"Who programs the emergency line from the Archive´s central computer anyway?" Anakin complains.
Obi-Wan laughs lightly and Anakin is suddenly lost at the sound.
"Speaking of which, how did you get this comm-number? Quinlan gave this new one to me just a couple of days ago, the old ones were compromised…"
Anakin grinned like a naughty Nexu.
"Oh, Master. I´m pretty resourceful, you would be impressed…" he teased, showing his teeth with apparent mischief.
"Something inside my head it´s telling me I don´t want to know…" she declares, huffing with easiness and blowing some rebel tuft of hair that has fallen over her face.
"But you love me anyways."
"I do, Anakin." She says, smile truthful, wide and radiant. Anakin blushes. "I certainly do."
There is an explosion, an AT-AT burst in a blaze of flames and fills Anakin´s entire vision all of a sudden, pulling his arm back to his chest in a quick movement of his self-preservation needs, his eyes are wide. There is only fire and then nothing.
The shuttles it´s pulled backwards once again, the force of the explosion taking them all for surprise and making the vessel almost falling down to the ground. Some clones are pulling at him, securing him against the floor of the ship and away from the open door, but he is not feeling, he is not paying attention to anything they might be saying or doing or trying or whatever, because his eyes are staring straight ahead, at the nothingness.
When the fire dies out, when the smoke dissipates enough for his blue orbs to see, the field is clean, bare, only burned ground and roasted pieces of metal. There is not red hair, there is no green eyes, there is no delicate, slim arm reached out to him. There is nothing where Obi-Wan should be.
For the first time in his life, Anakin doesn´t feel anything inside his chest. There is emptiness where a powerful strong bond must have been. And he cannot sense the familiar presence of another inside his chest. The presence he knew and accompanied him since he was nine years old.
"I had a nightmare again…"
"Anakin…"
"I know how it sounds, but you said the same when I dream about my mother and that too became true… so, please, don´t say that this too will pass…" he implores, he cannot see her face this time, they only settle with hearing each other voices through the darkness of the room, the small green light of the activated device the only reassurance of their communication.
"What did you dream about?" she asks, voice tired.
"…Nothing. Just darkness. Emptiness. Pain…"
"Anakin, it´s late. I should be sleeping, so should you…"
"It was different, and I didn´t really see anything, Master" he continues, ignoring her plea "But I knew, I just knew it was about you, so, just, please… be careful…"
"Always." She swears.
There was a silence between the comm-lines.
"Is there anything else you wanted to tell me, Anakin?"
Anakin can feel his heart beating against his chest. One beat. Two beats. Three beats.
"When you are done doing what you are doing. And I´m done doing with I´m doing. And we both win our battles and I return back to the Temple. When I finally fall back onto the bed we both call home…" he trails off.
Four beats. Five beats. Six beats.
"… Yes?"
"…Will you be there too?"
There is an extended silence. And Anakin almost fears that the connection has being cut or the device has run out of charge when there is a small breath on the other end of the line.
"I promise."
She whispers through the night.
"I promise I will always come back to you."
Nothigness. Darkness. Emptiness.
Obi-Wan was dead. Anakin wanted to be too.
So I went there, sue me. changingdestiny40 I decided to go full Jabiim in the end, lol! So, yeah, this is a turn of events, but I´m back with the longest chapter I´ve written so far, I´m sorry for my delay but I was busy sorting some school stuff, but I expect to update faster now with shorter chapters, we are now covering the clone wars, and there would be so much angst people, so be ready. We will be covering the story by stages. The first one being: Death. Hope you liked it :)