He tried his best to stay focused on the reports throughout the day. desperately trying to ignore the way his best friend had cut off his side of their bond, nearly severing it completely. He didn't feel the way the force moved when Anakin would check up on him through the force. Nor did he feel the way Anakin would gently brush up against their bond, as if he was asking if his master was still alive and well.
He got none of that, instead, he would feel an overwhelming sense of sadness and betrayal when he brushed up against their bond. That was when Obi-wan knew he had broken his best friends' heart. When he could still feel the raw emotions of his best friend even though he had his shields up to the best of his abilities.
It was certainly a surprise when he had walked into the medical bay to see his former student laying in one of the beds, his flesh arm having an I.V line in it. It was even more of a surprise when he saw Ahsoka had Anakin's controller in her hands.
He furrowed his eyebrows at the thought of the remote. He remembers seeing his own master tuck it into his robes when they bought Anakin's freedom from Watto. And he remembers asking his master what he had done to the remote, he still remembers the pleased feeling he got when his master informed him that he had destroyed the remote the first chance he got. So, it didn't make sense that Ahsoka had found it when she had knocked over the box of his master's few belongings while in his quarters. If his master had truly destroyed the remote like he said he had, then why was it present in the ship?
He sighed loudly while ruffling his hair, allowing himself to have that slight undignified moment to himself. To make matters worse, Anakin had seen him holding the remote, falsely assuming that it was him who had reactivated his slave chip and that it was him who had allowed the chip to shock him like that.
"General Kenobi," his attention was caught with the arrival of Anakin's clone captain, who had appeared with a datapad in his hands.
"General Skywalker requests that you sign off on these reports." He didn't even listen to the rest of the sentence, latching on to the fact that Rex seemed to be the only person who knows where Anakin is. True to his teachings, Anakin was using every skill he knew to avoid his master. Had it been another situation, Obi-wan would have been impressed that he was able to avoid an entire ship full of clones along with a master Jedi and a padawan. But now, he just wanted to see Anakin, to try and repair their friendship.
"You know where Anakin is?" Rex stared at the Jedi, looking him up and down before slowly answering the question.
"Yes sir, however general Skywalker has requested that I tell no one of his current location." Obi-wan slightly deflated at that, slowly taking the datapad from the clone while running his hand through his hair again.
"How is he doing?" Rex looked conflicted for some time, his eyes drifting down to the floor.
"…permission to speak freely sir?"
"Yes." Obi-wan didn't hesitate, desperate to know how his padawan was doing.
"This is the first time I see Anakin so angry," he paused as he realized that he had used his general's first name, but continued once Obi-wan waved it off.
"But at the same time, this is the first time I see him so sad…may I asked what happened, sir?" Obi-wan let his shoulder slump for only a second before straightening back up, running his hands through his hair again.
"There was a gross misunderstanding, to say the least. Could you please pass a message to Anakin?" he continued as soon as he got a hesitant nod from the clone captain.
"He'll understand what I'm talking about, but Ahsoka had found the controller among my master's belongings. Master had told me that he destroyed the controller and I wasn't aware it existed until yesterday. And even if I did, I would never use something like that against him. "Rex nodded, relaying the message back to the master before taking his leave.
Kenobi could only watch as Rex left, staring at his back, hoping that his padawan would listen to his message, and hoping that Anakin would listen to reason.
He was in the middle of chewing on one of the ration bars when he felt Anakin slightly lift his shields, ever so hesitantly brushing against their bond. Obi-wan got a little bit too excited and accidentally inhaled some of his food. He felt his spirit lighten slightly when he could feel Anakin's amusement travel over their bond as he coughed out his lungs. Obi-wan didn't respond until he had finished coughing, sending feelings of relief and worry over their bond. He couldn't express how relieved he was that Anakin finally opened up his side of their bond. After many years of having Anakin's presence in the back of his mind, it felt wrong to suddenly have his mind void of his former students' presence. But now that Anakin had opened up their bond again, his feelings had finally somewhat settled after feeling that ever so familiar presence in the back of his mind again. Despite the fact that he wanted to keep Anakin's presence in there, he knew that he had to make things right between the two of them.
He felt some hope when he felt vague feelings of guilt and nervousness coming from Anakin, giving Obi-wan the inclination that Anakin had listened to his message and that he was at least somewhat willing to talk to his master.
"Anakin?" he tentatively reached out to his padawan through their bond. He felt Anakin jumped through their bond and Obi-wan felt his heart sink when he was able to sense Anakin's nervousness at the thought of confronting him. The last time Anakin was nervous like that, was when their training bond was a few days old and Anakin had accidentally dropped a glass of water. After living as a slave on a desert planet, Anakin had grown up with the knowledge that water was extremely valuable. While it was a simple accident to Obi-wan, it was a fatal mistake to Anakin. Obi-wan will never forget the way his padawan curled up in the corner, covering his head with his arms while furiously muttering apologies in both languages.
"please Anakin, please let me explain." Anakin hesitantly lowered his shields just a little bit more, reminding Obi-wan of a small child who was hiding under their blankets, showing only their eyes. It was very out of character for the Jedi knight to be acting that way, but Obi-wan couldn't fault him for it. The incident with the remote had reminded Anakin of a very oppressive period of his life. A period in his life where he got punished the same way for the smallest of things.
"I didn't know the remote was in the box," he waited for some sort of reaction from his padawan, but he continued when he didn't get one, assuming that Anakin was still listening.
"Master Qui-gon told me that he had destroyed the remote the first chance he got after we got it from Watto. The box Ahsoka found the remote in was a box of Master Qui-gon's belongings that I found recently, I was planning to look through the box as soon as we got back to Coruscant." Anakin lowered his shields further, letting Obi-wan sense his feelings of apprehensiveness and the effect his nerves were having on him. Much to his relief, he could feel Anakin's anxiousness slowly fading away.
"believe me Anakin, I wouldnever use something like that against you. I would never stoop as low to ever use as something as barbaric as that against you." Anakin was silent again, not saying anything through their bond again, but letting his emotions flow through the bond. There was an almost overwhelming sense of relief coming from Anakin, and Obi-wan let himself smile before feeling the heart-dropping sense of Anakin putting back up his shields.
His shoulders fell as he leaned his head against the wall he was next to. The small room he was in being especially loud. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. He only opened his eyes when he heard an odd noise above him. He opened his eyes just in time to see a vent cover opening up, a black figure falling out of the opening.
"A-Anakin! Wh- "he didn't have a chance to question just what in the world Anakin was doing in the vents before his former padawan pulled him into a tight hug. Obi-wan stiffened up at the sudden contact, his hands hovering over Anakin's back for a short second before returning the hug, melting into the embrace.
"…I'm sorry," Anakin curled his body, resting his chin on his master's shoulder, craning his back in an awkward way to accommodate for the height difference.
"I-I just thought…I don't know what I was thinking," Anakin's meek voice only reminded Obi-wan how young Anakin was, remembering that he was only 22.
"It just really freaked me out when I saw you holding the remote."
"Oh Ani," he used the nickname without thinking, only using it when the two of them were alone, "I'm sorry, I should have gotten your chip removed first chance we got." Surprisingly, Anakin laughed quietly at his words.
"You dork," Anakin sighed and tightened his hold," you don't remember how mad you got when the healers told you that it wasn't safe to remove my chip?"
"I did?"
"Yeah, you got the both of us in trouble…Obi-wan?"
"Yes, Anakin?"
"…you won't leave me, right?" although the words were vague, Obi-wan knew exactly what Anakin was asking.
"No, of course, I won't."
"…Thanks."
