Chapter 24

Sheev Palpatine sat back in his office chair and considered. He had almost given up on young Skywalker after he rejected his proposal to tell the Council to send him on a mission. Then suddenly he had felt a white hot rage almost consuming the boy. He guessed that he had stumbled onto the state of Kenobi and that made him smile. There was hope after all. Now, Obi-Wan Kenobi. There was something strange about the man. Something had changed in the Force around him after Qui-Gon Jinn's funeral and he wasn't sure quite what. He disliked not knowing. Still, Anakin was finally showing some promise. It was a shame that Maul was dead quite so soon, he had had plans for the vicious killing machine. He had been a useful servant, especially given his desire to kill Kenobi. The death of the Jedi would solve whatever issue surrounded him in the Force and would send Anakin into a rage driven madness., straight to him. Now Maul was dead and Dooku was oddly sentimental about Kenobi, having taught Jinn. He sniffed disapprovingly. He disliked sentimentality and was looking forward to when Anakin would kill Dooku to take his place.

Then there had been Malastare. That Zillo beast was a wondrous prospect and then Anakin had questioned him about bringing it to Coruscant. Questioned him! That had definitely rankled but he decided to let the boy have his way to gain his trust, given that he now knew there was definitely some hope for his eventual fall. His pondering was cut short by a visit from Senator Amidala. How wonderful. He put on his gentle smile and greeted her warmly.

When Obi-Wan woke it felt like he had been trampled by a Rancour. Every part of him ached but thankfully there was no longer any burning pain. He slowly opened his eyes, blinking rapidly as the harsh whiteness of a medbay almost blinded him. He hated med bays. There was a strange smell around the place that he couldn't quite recognise.

"You're awake!" Came an excited voice from his right. Sadly it wasn't Anakin's. He felt a flare of panic. Was Anakin still not back? How long had he been asleep this time?

"Master Kenobi? What's the matter?" Ahsoka's voice sounded as panicked as he felt.

"An'kin?" He asked fearfully, though his throat was still sore. There was a sigh of relief.

"He's fine." Obi-Wan let out a breath. Then another thought struck him. If Anakin was fine, then where was he? Why wasn't he here? He turned to face Ahsoka who was biting her lip and looking sad. That didn't look promising. "He desperately wanted to be here when you woke up but the Council assigned him on an immediate mission with Master Windu as punishment for disobeying orders." She explained. Anakin? On a mission with Windu? Poor Anakin, he thought. Then he felt a pang of betrayal and sadness. The Council were punishing Anakin for saving his life because it had taken a couple of days longer than they had given him.

"But he's ok?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Not a scratch on him." Ashoka assured him. "They also threatened to reassign me, saying he isn't mature enough to teach. They didn't do it." She hastened to add, seeing the darkening expression on his face. "But we're both on probation." Obi-Wan was nearly blind with anger. To be stripped of a Padwan was a great punishment indeed. They would do that for disobeying orders that saved his life? They hadn't been so harsh when he had saved Plo Koon. Maybe this was retribution because they disliked how close Anakin and Obi-Wan were. If only they knew, Obi-Wan thought with a grim chuckle. Still, it was rather hurtful to know that they had condemned him to death by torture, simply because finding him took too long. He took a deep breath and released him emotions to the Force.

Then Ahsoka held out his lightsaber to him. "Anakin told me that he killed Maul with your lightsaber as you couldn't do it yourself." Obi-Wan felt his throat tighten as a swell of love washed over him for the ridiculous young Jedi. The thought was weirdly lovely of him. He knew he really shouldn't be happy about someone killing in his name, let alone with his weapon, but Maul deserved it. He took the lightsaber reverently and smiled at Ahsoka who grinned back in relief.

"What about Ventress?" He asked.

"She lived. It was weird but apparently she let us escape because she wanted Maul to fail in his mission, allowing her to look better to Dooku. She didn't stop Anakin killing Maul and then let him go. Anakin chose to come and find us instead of killing her too." Ahsoka frowned, apparently still confused about that. Obi-Wan was also slightly confused about it all but he put that down to not being able to think properly.

"Where was Anakin assigned?"

"Malastare." Ah. If he was correct in his timeline then they had probably discovered the Zillo beast. He was not looking forward to that getting loose on Coruscant. Still, there wasn't much he could do now.

"What state am I in?" He asked, dreading the answer.

"Well, it could be worse." Ahsoka shrugged, giving him a sheepish grin. "You'll make a full recovery at any rate." Well that was definitely good news. "You'll also have to be on a liquid diet for at least another week." That was definitely less good. Ration bars were bad enough solid, let alone in liquid form. He had tried it once, not an experience he was excited to try again.

"Urgh." He groaned.

"Anakin saved your life with all those injections and stuff. The droids did the rest. You were in a bacta tank for over a day." That explained the smell. He wondered where in the Force Anakin had gotten such stuff from. The cure for Lava extract alone was illegal, stupidly rare and very expensive. Let alone whatever else he had been poisoned with. Then he also recalled that Anakin seemed to carry bacta around, having had some when he had let himself get captured by Dooku. It was definitely something to bring up when he next saw him. "But given the damage to your organs, it'll be another day before you're safe to travel and another week before you can even try to get confirmed fit enough for active duty." Ahsoka continued.

"So Anakin got assigned to Malastare and you got babysitting duty?" He asked, trying to lighten the mood. Ahsoka gave him a small grin.

"At least I don't have Master Windu watching over my shoulder all the time." She shrugged.

"Yes. I shall be rather surprised if they both make it back in one piece." Obi-Wan winced. Ahsoka laughed. The time passed rather quickly after that but he missed Anakin desperately. Soon he was cleared to fly and immediately got himself ready to leave. The food here was disgusting. At least on Coruscant he had better options for a liquid diet. Ahsoka took the piloting seat and flew them back to the Capital. Once they had arrived, she made herself scarce, not wanting to see the Council again. Obi-Wan knew the feeling but he intended to speak with them about Anakin's punishment. He would certainly not stand for him and Ahsoka to spend the next however long being worried about Ahsoka being reassigned. Thankfully the Council was in session when he arrived and walked straight in.

"Master Kenobi." Ki-Adi Mundi greeted him. "Master Yoda was just filling us in that you had been rescued. Shouldn't you be in the med bay?" He gave Obi-Wan a look of concern. Yoda was only just filling them in? Then the whole Council had not agreed on Anakin's punishment. That could work in his favour.

"I'll go later." He said dismissively, though he sent a grateful look for the concern.

"Pleased, we are, to see you well." Yoda stated. Well there went his attempt to completely hide his temper.

"Are you? So why did you tell Anakin to stop looking for me? Why have you put him and Padawan Tano on probation for saving my life!?" He asked angrily. Then he took a second to calm himself as a ripple of disapproval ran around the room.

"You put Knight Skywalker and Padawan Tano on probation?" Saesee Tiin questioned.

"Skywalker disobeyed a direct order!" The holographic image of Windu scowled ferociously. Eeth Koth and Adi Gallia seemed to agree with him.

"Anakin had found my trail when you told him to stop looking." Obi-Wan pointed out.

"We needed him back on the war front." Windu growled.

"You told Knight Skywalker to stop looking for Master Kenobi, when he possibly knew where he was?" Plo Koon asked gravely. "Why were the Council not consulted about this?"

"A choice, I made. For the best, I thought it was." Yoda told them all sternly.

"You thought it best, to abandon Master Kenobi to be tortured to death?" Shaak Ti asked in astonishment. "We may teach against attachment, but we don't leave our own to die if it can be helped." Obi-Wan felt a flood of gratitude and relief that it wasn't the entire Council who had condemned him to die. He felt like a great weight had been lifted from his chest. Then his heart sank right back down as he realised that only Yoda and Windu had given the orders. Yoda had chosen to let him die and punish Anakin for saving him. What the kriffing hell was that about? Maybe they had sensed he was from the future and thought him too dangerous? No, surely they would then have realised that if Maul got that information out of him it would be deadly to them all.

"You weren't so against it when Knight Skywalker disobeyed orders to rescue me." Plo Koon pointed out. "At least two of our Council personally owe Skywalker our lives, plus Knight Secura. And that's just since these wars began." Windu scowled before regaining his composure.

"I vote to rescind Skywalker and Padawan Tano's probation." Stass Allie spoke up for the first time.

"Seconded." Kit Fisto said.

"Agreed." Saesee Tiin nodded. Plo Koon and Shaak Ti also expressed their agreement. Obi-Wan knew that he technically had a vote but he was rather biased so kept quiet. His heart leapt when Yoda agreed to rescind the probation. That was one problem taken care of.

"Padawan Tano informs me that Anakin also has killed the creature known as Darth Maul." Obi-Wan spoke up. There was loud approval from the Council at this news. "However Ventress escaped."

"It's definitely better than we could have hoped for." Stass Allie gave a half smile. "With Grievous and Maul gone so soon after each other, that will strike a mighty blow to the Separatists."

"Indeed. Skywalker has done very well." Shaak Ti said.

"If only he could work on obeying direct orders." Windu muttered.

"Has he given you any trouble on Malastare?" Obi-Wan asked politely. Windu sighed.

"No." He admitted grudgingly. Obi-Wan felt a flash of pride for the young man. He knew it must have been incredibly hard for him to be on his best behaviour in front of Windu. Then Windu continued to give his full report and Obi-Wan was delighted that Anakin had managed to convince Palpatine to put the Zillo beast on Dagobah, rather than Coruscant. Anakin had achieved so much in the last few days that Obi-Wan was bursting with pride. Even better was the news that Windu and Anakin should be returning within the next few hours.

Once the meeting was dismissed he started to make his way towards Ahsoka's apartment to give her the good news when he was stopped by Plo Koon. The Jedi Master expressed his pleasure that Obi-Wan had returned mostly in good health and asked him to pass on his congratulations to Ahsoka for her contribution. Obi-Wan smiled and promised that he would. He continued on his way, glad to find the young Togruta at home.

"How did the meeting go?" She asked.

"It turns out that only Master Yoda and Master Windu recalled your mission to find me and punished you for continuing to save my life."

"Yeah, we only spoke to Master Yoda when he told us the Council had recalled us." Ahsoka frowned. "So?"

"The rest of the Council hadn't been informed. Yoda has only just told them and they weren't overly happy. It has been voted that your probation has been rescinded. You won't be reassigned." He told her, smiling. Ahsoka looked like she was about to pull him into a hug but then seemed to think better of it. He was rather grateful, his chest was still slightly sore.

"Thank you, Master." She beamed at him.

"Well, you did save my life." Obi-Wan shrugged. The two of them chatted until they received word from Rex that Anakin had just landed. He just remembered to pass on Plo's message before taking his leave. Ahsoka beamed. Obi-Wan decided he should go to their quarters as he didn't want their reunion to be public. He only made it a few minutes before Anakin, who came bursting looking rather anxious. When he spotted Obi-Wan he stopped for a second before charging forwards and pulling him into a hug. It was so gentle and yet so strong. Anakin was clearly making every effort not to aggravate his injuries, although all the remaining ones were internal.

"Obi-Wan." Came the muffled sound from somewhere by his shoulder.

"Oh, Ani. It's so good to see you." He whispered back. Together, they carefully sank onto the couch, still clinging to each other. Anakin carefully altering their positions and guiding Obi-Wan to lean against him. Obi-Wan wrapped his arm around Anakin's waist and held on tightly. There was absolutely no way they were moving for a very long time. He felt a gentle pressure on his head as Anakin kissed his hair and then ran his fingers over his scalp gently.

"Force, I missed you. I'm so sorry I couldn't be there when you woke up." Anakin choked out.

"It's alright. I missed you too but Ahsoka explained everything." He assured the younger man. Anakin let out a sigh of relief. Obi-Wan shifted slightly and looked up into the face he loved so much. It was amazing to finally be able to look at him properly, not through blurred vision and brain fog. He stretched up but the movement jostled his delicate ribs and he groaned. Anakin immediately settled him back down.

"Obi-Wan? Where does it hurt? Do you need some painkillers?" He asked frantically, hands lightly dancing over his body to check for more injuries.

"No, I just want to kiss you, dammit." Obi-Wan complained. Anakin let out a relieved half laugh.

"You should have just said so." Then he maneuvered them so he could lean down and press his lips to Obi-Wan's. It was heavenly. It had also been far too long. Eventually Anakin pulled back and clutched him tighter to his side. Obi-Wan let his head rest on his chest, listening to the, slightly raised, heartbeat that proved Anakin was alive and right beside him. They stayed like that for a while until Obi-Wan's stomach grumbled.

"You hungry? What do you want? I'll fix anything you fancy." Anakin promised. Obi-Wan sighed sadly.

"I'm on a liquid diet for the next week. I'd better get to the medbay so they can make me something." He admitted. Anakin growled slightly before grabbing his comm and calling Ahsoka.

"Ahsoka, I need you."

"Coming, Master." She said. They shifted into a less compromising position and Obi-Wan nearly whined at the loss of contact until Anakin moved to rest their legs against each other. Ahsoka came running in. "What is it, Master?" She asked. He handed her some money and listed off a bunch of parts that he required. Ahsoka looked very confused but asked no questions, promising to return as quickly as possible. Once she was gone, Obi-Wan frowned at Anakin.

"What was all that about?"

"I need parts. How else am I going to build a blender to get you liquid food?" Anakin gave him a puzzled frown. "And I'm not going out myself, I'd have to leave you here and that's not happening."

"You're going to build a blender?" Obi-Wan asked in astonishment.

"Unless you want to go to the med bay every time you want a meal?" Anakin quirked a brow at him.

"No, of course not." It hadn't even occured to him to do anything else. Anakin then got up and began preparing an awful lot of food. "What are you doing now? I want a hug." Obi-Wan pouted. Anakin gave a laugh and came over, bending down to hug him.

"I'm making all your favourite meals. Once I build the blender, I'll make them all into liquid form and store them so you can grab whatever you feel like if I get assigned on another mission." Anakin shrugged. Obi-Wan looked at him open mouthed. The gesture was so sweet that he was rendered speechless. Then Anakin went back to the kitchenette and rummaged through the cupboards."I've got the ingredients for: a few batches of pancakes; a few batches of waffles; some bantha burgers; deep fried Nuna legs; some roast porg; a few fruits I can make a shake with; some Keela and some nerf casserole. That should keep you going for a week, at least breakfast and dinners. I'll need to think on lunches." Anakin was clearly talking to himself by the end but Obi-Wan was so overwhelmed he almost cried.

"How in the Force do we have so much food?" Was the only thing he could think to ask. Anakin gave him a sheepish grin.

"I like to stock up on your favourites."

"That's very sweet of you but how did you afford all that? Plus that medicine you used to save my life. I know that stuff is ridiculously expensive. Jedi don't get paid that much." Anakin glanced at him, clearly nervous. Then he came and sat down beside Obi-Wan, biting his lip.

"After Geonosis, I realised how useful it was to have that Bacta in my pocket that I'd accidentally brought from Tatooine. I figured if I kept a stash of medicine then it might be able to save your life one day. So…" Here he paused and glanced up at Obi-Wan nervously. It was making him quite concerned. What had Anakin done? "Once we got back to Coruscant, I started going to the undercity and taking on mechanical jobs. Ones in the undercity pay pretty well. I disguised myself and everything, none of them knew I was a Jedi, let alone me." He hastened to add. "Then I used any contacts I made to get my hands on some of the rarer stuff. Just in case." Anakin was eyeing him nervously.

"You went down to the most dangerous part of the city, to get a job, to pay for medicine on the off chance it could save my life?" Obi-Wan asked, hoping he had got that correct. He couldn't quite process the fact that someone cared enough about him to do that kind of stuff. Anakin nodded. "You are...Anakin Skywalker, you are absolutely incredible." Anakin's eyes widened and then he grinned. Obi-Wan leant forwards and kissed him soundly.

"I love you, Obi-Wan. You're not dying on my watch." Anakin stated firmly, once they pulled apart.

"I see that." He laughed lightly. "I love you too." They embraced for a long time before Anakin got up to continue cooking. He had as many things on the go as the small kitchenette would allow. Then Ahsoka arrived back with everything.

"What's this about?" She asked.

"I need a blender to make liquid food for Obi-Wan." Anakin told her absently. Once he had finished what he was doing, he came over and took the parts off of his Padawan. Ahsoka looked at him in surprise.

"He can't just eat in the medbay?"

"Have you tasted medbay food?" Anakin frowned in distaste. He began arranging the parts and was soon busy fiddling with various bits. Every so often he would get up to sort the food out. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan watched him in fascination. It was an hour or so before Anakin finished. In front of him was a seemingly working blender. He went to try it out but forgot to put the lid on so he got completely covered in bantha meat. Ahsoka and Obi-Wan burst out laughing and he scowled at both of them before going to get changed. When he came back out, he tried again and then successfully made several large flasks of meals which he neatly labelled and stored.

"There. Now you can help yourself if you get hungry." He announced, looking very pleased with himself.

"Can I have some nuna legs?" Obi-Wan asked. Immediately Anakin grabbed the correct flask and brought it over to him. He eyed it warily, not sure that liquified nuna legs were going to taste at all good. He gave it a tentative sniff and it smelt alright. Then he drank some and to his surprise it was incredible. Not quite as good as the solid version but definitely better than liquid ration bars. "That's brilliant." He exclaimed. Anakin preened happily.

"So you going to explain where you got that money from, and how you know that Skarsuk guy?" Ahsoka asked. Skarsuk? Who was that? Anakin threw him a sheepish glance and then recounted what he had told Obi-Wan about his jobs. Then he admitted that he had known Skarsuk since he was sixteen. He had needed something from the undercity and Skarsuk had sort of taken him under his wing and helped him deal with the right people.

"You were down there at sixteen?" Obi-Wan asked. "How did I not notice?" He berated himself.

"I was careful." Anakin said carefully. He looked like he was waiting for a scolding.

"Oh don't look so worried." Obi-Wan smiled slightly. "I'm a little concerned about you dealing with those people at sixteen but clearly you're fine so there is nothing I can do about it now. Besides, it clearly came in handy." He shrugged. Anakin grinned happily.

"That's so cool!" Ahsoka exclaimed.

"How about I get you a belt like mine and some basic medical supplies for your life day next week?" Anakin offered to Ahsoka. She squealed her delight.

"What's so strange about your belt?" Obi-Wan asked.

"It has way more compartments and most of them only open to me or people I key into them. Me, you and Ahsoka are the only people who can access them so nobody else can find out what I carry with me." Anakin told them.

"I definitely want one." Ahsoka told him. He grinned and promised to procure one for her. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's not your life day coming up." Anakin told him with a smirk. Obi-Wan pouted. Ahsoka stuck her tongue out smugly and then took her leave to return to the studying she had been doing. Obi-Wan then realised he hadn't told Anakin about the Council meeting. He told him what had happened and he admitted that Windu had informed him already. Then he promised to get Obi-Wan a belt and some supplies, more advanced than the ones he was going to be giving Ahsoka.

"How much money do you make from these jobs of yours?" Obi-Wan asked in astonishment.

"Enough." Anakin shrugged. "Besides, I learnt from when you and Master Qui-Gon landed on Tatooine that money comes in handy in many situations."

"That's true." Obi-Wan admitted. "Still, if we'd had the money, I wouldn't have met you." Anakin smiled. Then he pulled Obi-Wan back into their earlier position, with Obi-Wan resting against him. Obi-Wan felt another kiss pressed to his hair and smiled to himself. Everything felt right again. Maul was dead and Anakin was safe. They spent a while cuddling on the couch, just taking in being with each other in peace. Then Anakin put on a documentary about unique flora in the mid rim systems, though he looked somewhat bored by the prospect. Obi-Wan felt yet another wave of love for the young man beside him as he made himself more comfortable.

Once it was over it was quite late so Obi-Wan suggested they head to bed. Anakin easily agreed and then moved so quickly, he couldn't quite register what happened. Suddenly he was being carried towards his bedroom.

"Ani! I can walk you know." He pointed out.

"I know you can. But you're still injured so you shouldn't have to." Anakin responded as he put Obi-Wan down gently onto his bed. The covers had already been pulled back.

"Am I allowed to change by myself or are you going to help with that too?" He asked sarcastically, then he paused and realised what he had just implied. Anakin gave him a delighted smirk and he felt himself go red.

"By all means, I can help if you so desire." He said, voice dropping an octave. It was quite unfair that he managed to sound so sexy when Obi-Wan was so flustered. Still, it wasn't an unpleasant thought.

"Sure. As you're so willing to make yourself useful." He replied as he tried to regain his composure. It didn't quite work as Anakin's grin turned positively devilish. Slowly, and oh so gently, Anakin helped him out of his tunic. It turned out to actually be a good thing as he wasn't quite sure he would have managed by himself without a great deal of pain. Once he was in nothing but his underclothes, he felt his face grow even hotter. Anakin, thankfully, made no comment on this and simply helped him back into his sleepwear. Then he got himself changed and Obi-Wan stared at his muscular back quite openly. Anakin's frame was quite thin but very much muscle. Given how tall he was, it made him look quite gangly.

"Are you done oogling me or shall I leave the shirt off?" Anakin asked him and he was jolted from quite an indecent fantasy. He wasn't sure it was possible for his face to get any redder and Anakin's smirk was not helping.

"I...well...I mean...oh, just leave the kriffing thing off." Obi-Wan said, flustered. Anakin laughed slightly, giving him a warm look that told him Anakin wasn't laughing at him in a mean way.

"Well then, I think we should even it back up." Anakin stated slyly. Obi-Wan frowned in confusion. Then he realised what Anakin meant and froze. Slowly he began taking his sleep shirt back off. It hurt getting it over his head, which Anakin seemed to sense because he stepped in to help. Once they were both shirtless, Anakin climbed into the bed next to him and pulled Obi-Wan's head back to his chest. One arm wrapped around his shoulders again and the other behind his head. Obi-Wan put his arm over the wiry chest and sighed in contentment. As it had been a week since he had slept properly without being knocked out by drugs, Obi-Wan was fast asleep in moments, despite his desire to stay awake and enjoy the sensation of lying next to Anakin for a while longer.