Chapter 1: Skyfall

For this is the end

I've drowned and dreamt this moment

So overdue, I owe them

Swept away, I'm stolen

- Skyfall, Adele

Having finally dispatched General Grievous, Obi Wan Kenobi turned his Boga back to the landing zone and urged it into its awkward but efficient stride. He was eager to meet up with the 212th and the other primary attack squadrons landing on Utapau to fully begin their campaign for the planet. Above them, high in orbit, the rest of the Republic's attack force waited for their orders, meeting a weakened and thoroughly disorganised response from separatist's naval forces, sent scrambling with the loss of their general.

Still riding the swell of victory, Obi-Wan arrived with his usual flourish, and he had meant to exchange his customary banter with Captain Cody, pleased to see the clone waiting for him, his eyes warm and welcoming. Yet, even as he was handed his precious lightsaber back, the weight comforting and familiar in his hand, a smile forming on his face, Obi-Wan felt as though he had been struck over the head. His eyes fell closed and a pained gasp left his chest, as something tugged on his force signature, and pulled him away from Utapau, and transported him somewhere else. Somewhere that felt so familiar.

Past, future, present, Obi-Wan did not know, but it was dark, and a scared voice spoke into the eerie silence:"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?" The child's voice was familiar, and as suddenly as his vision went dark, it returned, showing him familiar windows and seats, a well-known view outside one of the Jedi temples towers – his home. The scene changed again, and the outside of the Jedi Temple came into focus, one second the serene building it always had been, a proud silhouette against the Coruscant skyline, the next, a smoking, g jagged tear against a blood red sky, the harmony of a lifetime lived within its walls gone, and a cold fear settling deep in Obi-Wan's chest instead.

Just as suddenly as he was taken away, Obi-Wan returned to Utapau and the cacophony of noise around him came rushing back, the jedi suddenly aware he was staring dumbly at his increasingly concerned captain, the lightsaber suddenly a cold weight in his hand.

"General, is something the matter?" Cody asked again, worry creasing his brow,

"I have to go," Obi-Wan replied instead, filled with a sudden sense of urgency. Without a second glance back, he turned his Boga around, and made haste towards his ship. Cody's alarmed cries faded into the distance, as an overwhelming impression of wrong and hurry and Anakin pulled him back - pulled him back to where he should have been all along.


With every minute that went by as the blue of hyperspace glittered around him, Obi-Wan's headache got steadily worse. What started as an irritating niggle after the vision had faded, built as he hurriedly stuffed himself into his small shuttle, and turned into a throbbing mass of pain as the journey continued. He had attempted meditation several times, trying to draw on the force and release his pain as was his custom, but every time he tried, anxiety rose in him so swiftly he had to break out of the trance. It was most troubling. Never had he had such trouble accessing the force before.

All he knew is that somehow, it was linked to Anakin.

A part of him wondered about the bond they still shared. Shrivelled and ignored, as Anakin had effectively started blocking Obi-Wan the closer he got to Padmé and Palpatine, Obi-Wan didn't have the heart to break his last tie to his padawan, though he had tried, force help him, he had tried to rid himself of this attachment.

Now, each time Obi-Wan tried to centre himself and reach for the bond and examine it, it had the approximate effect of sticking a sharp metal stick into an open blaster wound. It left him grasping his head in pain, the bond pulsing and angry, alive in a way it had not been since Anakin's youngest days.

The combined effect of the headache and the tumultuous bond left Obi-Wan wilting in exhaustion at the controls. He was running on pure willpower, and when he finally dropped out of hyperspace, the beautiful glow of Coruscant in its all its industrial splendour in front of him, he acted almost on autopilot.

He brought the ship down through the atmosphere with practiced ease, scanning the peaks of the temple and the Force around it for any disturbance, for the smoke and stench of death he had witnessed in the force vision – searching for some clue, some reason, as to why the Force had suddenly decided to break its tradition of silence. It had stayed silent when he had grieved, long and bitterly for the death of his own master, all those years ago. It had been silent when he struggled to release his anger and irritation he held towards a stubborn child whom he never wanted in the first place. It had remained silent when he desperately tried to rid himself of the attachment that he knew he had formed to that same child, the bright, brilliant, and handsome man whom his padawan had grown into. Something truly catastrophic must have happened for the force to be speaking to him now.

The Jedi hangar opened to his ship with the usual codes, no warnings coming through any of the emergency or normal frequencies, and was serene as Obi-Wan landed, the great grey pillars casting light that reflected off the few spacecraft that remained. Most of the Jedi were off world, their forces stretched thin across the galaxy. Obi-Wan felt a pang of guilt, remembering Cody's worried cry as he turned and ran, remembering the entire 212th, probably confused and betrayed by their general's retreat.

He could not worry about Cody now though; Anakin was a much more pressing concern. In a total change of pace for me, Obi-Wan thought to wryly himself, even managing a small smile. For more than a decade, Obi-Wan has spent every waking moment with his force-damned padawan and his first thought, his first worry, his first priority had been Anakin for so long, he's not even sure he feels anymore guilt for the one emotional connection he just can't seem to let go. For the first time, it seemed, the force agreed with him, Jedi code apparently be damned.

Powering the engines down and lowering the ramp, Obi-Wan hurried for the door, aiming to head straight for Anakin's quarters, and in his haste, nearly bowled a very pregnant senator over, who had clearly seen the ship land, and had run over to it.

"Obi-Wan!" she cried, half in shock and half in joy, "you're back!" she smiled at him, enveloping him into a quick hug. Letting go of Padmé and stepping back, suppressing the instinct that told him to keep walking and find Anakin, he forced a smile,

"Yes, I got a…message, I had to come back in a bit of a rush," he evaded, and before he could escape her altogether with a hastily made excuse, he noted the tightness in Padmé's shoulders, the redness of her eyes, and the tremble of her hands, visible despite the voluminous robes she wore. Once again unable to access the Force for the nauseating anxiety it threw back at him, he instead suppressed his impatience and fear and tempered his voice, "Is everything okay, Senator?" he asked.

It was as if his gentle words had cut the strings to a puppet.

Padmé suddenly fell to her knees, and alarmed, Obi-Wan tried to catch her, kneeling down on the durasteel ramp of the ship, "Padmé!" he called out, worried for her and the baby – Anakin's baby, his brain helpfully supplied, driving another knife through his heart as the old hurt (why did he never tell me) and fear (he's going to leave the order) reared their ugly heads,

"It's Anakin," Padmé said, breathlessly. Ever a pillar of control, Padmé closed her eyes and took a deep breath, which she held for a few moments before releasing. As if to steel herself, she reached out to hold Obi-Wan's hand, the warmth of her hand a sharp contrast to the cold of the durasteel seeping through their robes as they sat in their strange tableau. The orange rays of the setting sun cast long shadows around them as it dipped below the massive, ornate arches of the temple's landing bay's windows. Padmé opened her eyes, still holding Obi-Wan's hand, and bit her lip in an uncharacteristic show of nervousness, before she seemed to come to a decision. She started speaking,

"Anakin and I got married just after the clone wars had started, at Varynkino Lake, in Naboo's Lake Country. I know we never told you, I know we left you out of the loop, and I can't…" she broke off then, her eyes glassy with emotion as Obi-Wan could do nothing but stare back at her, "I can't imagine how that must feel, for you, as Anakin's master and…and his friend," Padmé swiped at her eyes quickly and carried on, as if now that she had started she had to keep going or never finish what she came here to achieve, "He loves you Obi-Wan, he always has, your opinion matters to him more than anything else. We hurt you, and I'm sorry, and I know I have no right to ask for your help now, but something is wrong, I can feel it,"

Finished, Padmé finally dropped her gaze to their joint hands.

Obi-Wan felt that he had been released from a spell that had been woven by her earnest gaze and let out a long breath. The jedi swallowed, feeling at once numb and emotionally overloaded. He had always suspected their relationship, knew it was serious and that Anakin was in love, but to have it confirmed as marriage felt like another nail in the coffin for his relationship with Anakin. More secrets. More lies. Obi-Wan took another breath, willing himself to remain in the present.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

Padmé looked back up at him, and continued, "Anakin came to me today, told me the council didn't trust him. His emotions felt wrong, his-his presence felt wrong, I-I don't know what it was exactly, but it felt different to my Ani. He spends so much time with the Chancellor these days, hours sometimes, in his office, and he doesn't tell me what they talk about. I don't know what he is doing anymore," she took a sharp breath, rubbing the tears out of her eyes almost angrily, "he had a dream I died," she added, almost too soft for Obi-Wan to hear over the gentle whistle of the wind through the hangar, cooling quickly now as the sun dropped below the horizon, and her grip tightened on his hand, "he had a dream, just like the one where his mother died, and he loves me, Obi-Wan. Jedi aren't supposed to love, he knows that, but he loves me, and I fear he's going to do something terrible,"

Obi-Wan could not bear to keep looking at the young woman, shrouded in black as if already in mourning, the setting sun casting golden rays off her finely crafted headband, her eyes sincere and sad. Even in her distress she was beautiful, and so strong to have come to him with all these secrets.

There is no emotion, there is peace.

Obi-Wan knew he would have to deal with what he was feeling later. Only so many emotions could be released to the force before you had little choice but to feel them. However, he has always chosen the order, chosen his duty over himself. Once again, there was no place for his own feelings, not now.

Realising the silence was getting heavier as Padmé projected her fear of his rejection outward, Obi-Wan squeezed her hand back, forcing himself to move, forcing himself to continue.

There is no chaos, there is harmony.

"Padmé, I will help him as much as I can," Obi-Wan had to close his eyes again as the young woman threw herself onto him, finally allowing herself to cry, shaking with the force of her sobs. He patted her on the back, even as his mind ran ahead, thinking about what he needed to do, whom he needed to contact,

"I came back because of him," Obi-Wan continued, proud his voice didn't crack, even as every heartbeat brought a new lance of pain through his head. It seems talk of Anakin only made things worse. Hardly a new occurrence, Obi-Wan thought with somewhat grim humour, "do you have any idea where he might be?" Padmé sat back on her haunches, struggling to balance with the weight of her abdomen,

"He said he was going back to the Chancellor, I don't know where he's going after that,"

"Alright, good, what I need you to do now, is get yourself to safety, Padmé," Obi-Wan paused as he weighed the risk of telling her everything, before deciding the more information she had, the safer she would be, "you're right, something is wrong. The force pulled me back here, and I intend to find Anakin and fix this. Can you find a way to Bail Organa? Tell him that I sent you, and that I told him to be prepared for anything. Tell him to pack for an evacuation and to have a shuttle ready for departure, just in case, and stay near it. Can you do that?"

Padmé nodded hurriedly. Obi-Wan helped her to her feet, wincing as his bruised body protested the movement. Force, he would give anything for a moment to actually rest, "Will you be okay?" Obi-Wan asked again, and Padmé wiped her face with her sleeve, a determined look settling on her face,

"I will be fine, go now, find him," she said, and Obi-Wan nodded.

After watching her return to the ship she arrived in and depart safely, Obi-Wan turned and hurried into the temple. There might still be a chance that he will be able to catch Anakin around Palpatine's office, and there was a fast skylane from the temple to the senate around the other side, in the speeder docking bay.

The temple was quiet around him as Obi-Wan hurried through, uncaring of dignity or pride as he all but sprinted towards Anakin's force signature, the urgency in the force spurring him onwards. Despite their distance these days, Obi-Wan had never had any trouble finding Anakin. He shone so brightly in the force, and Obi-Wan was so familiar with his force signature that no matter the distance, he could always locate his former padawan.

Just as Obi-Wan was rounding the corner to the speeder bays, he felt as if he had been struck in the chest as all the wind was taken out of him. Falling to his hands and knees, Obi-Wan gasped, registering a nearby death in the force – a death of a powerful force user, a familiar force user. Pushing through the nausea and pain, Obi-Wan reached for the bond, and was both pleased and terrified when it responded to his touch but reverberated with something. Something thick and cloying, threating to devour his soul alive. Horrified, Obi-Wan yanked his consciousness away and attempted to shield his mind.

Before Obi-Wan could even gather himself to get to his feet, another wave resounded through the force, darkness reaching its fingers into his very being, a terrible shift in the already unbalanced force. The stench of decay reached Obi-Wan and he feared he was late; he was too late to stop the vision he had seen. Feeling his grip on consciousness start to slip, the events of the day, the exhaustion post battle, and now the tumultuous force and poisonous bond draining his energy, the Jedi master tried, one last time to call out through the force.

Anakin!


Obi-Wan regained consciousness slowly, awareness of his aching body and his position, lying face first on the floor with a sharp pain in his hip from the lightsaber, coming back to him.

Then he shot up in fear, quickly climbing to his feet. He staggered as a wave of dizziness hit him, both from the sudden movement and the sheer darkness and pain and death in the force, echoing stronger and louder than before. Having little idea of how much time had passed, Obi Wan blinked at the sight in front of him – a speeder, a very familiar illegally modified speeder to be precise – was parked in a previously empty bay. Anakin was here. Obi-Wan's brow furrowed in confusion, his mind slow and unresponsive.

Why hadn't Anakin stopped to check on him? Why would Anakin walk past him?

Another wave of pain erupted in the force around him and Obi-Wan winced, clutching his chest.

Ow. Maybe that was why.

Reaching for his reserves, Obi-Wan forced himself to focus with the force, pushing through the nausea and the consistent echo of death, to focus on the one force signature he had come so far to find. With a sigh of relief Obi-Wan realised it was in the same building.

Igniting his sabre, Obi-Wan turned back out of the speeder bay, and hurried towards the front of the temple, aiming to reach the west wing, past the entrance hall, where he was sure Anakin was.

The sight that met him as he came around the corner to face the atrium and grand entrance hall of the temple nearly made him lose his footing.

Clones. Thousands of clones at the front entrance. Clones attacking in a formation, and the last of the jedi left at the temple forming a desperate line of defence at the front doors, the great wooden structures hanging limp and smoking, off their hinges, having clearly been blown apart. The jedi were somehow keeping the clones out of the temple, bodies of dead clones lying in heaped piles at the feet of their brothers. For four thousand years the temple had sheltered and protected the jedi within. Now there weren't enough jedi, and there were thousands of clones waiting behind their fallen brothers on the bridge leading out of the temple, stepping over their fallen comrades as if they didn't matter at all, marching with determination towards them.

Running forward with a cry he barely recognised as his own, Obi-Wan came to a stop beside Quinlan Vos, the jedi grinning manically at the new arrival, as Obi-Wan slotted himself into the defensive line, trying his hardest not to think of the master that lay at his feet, eyes open, staring unseeingly at the red coruscant sky visible outside, past the vaulted ceilings.

"Obi-Wan Kenobi, always late to the party, as usual!" Quinlan cried, deflecting bolt after bolt, even as a padawan Obi-Wan did not know went down with a cry next to them, and they closed their line to become tighter, smaller, less efficient,

"What is happening?" Obi-Wan cried, and felt Quinlan's sorrow in the force even as the young jedi responded,

"Looks like this is the end for us, brother," he replied, grimacing as a bolt got through his defence and hit him in the shoulder,

"We must retreat!" called the Jedi battle master Cin Drallig, from behind,

"Where to?" Quinlan growled, and Obi-Wan's sluggish mind finally responded to the situation rather than floundering in never before experienced panic,

"Down the back passage, the secret one we found when we were hiding from Qui-Gon and Master Bant when we were padawans!" Obi-Wan replied. Next to him, Quinlan laughed even as his force signature cried, as they were all forced another step backward, closing ranks to form a semi-circle around the doors, the pile of clone bodies growing by the second, but their tenuous grip on the entrance, and thereby the temple, our home, wavering, as a grenade exploded at their feet, showering them with pieces of flagstone, the worst of it held off with a fast force shield from Drallig,

"We have to move and move now, then!" Quinlan exclaimed, coughing in the dust, "A force push towards the front lines to buy us enough time, and then we have to run like Sith hounds are on us, to the left, and for the archives," Quinlan said, and the remaining ten jedi and padawans murmured their ascent, the smell of blood and death heavy around them,

"On the count of three," Obi- wan called,

"One," he deflected back two bolts and two clones died, two more faceless white soldiers stepping into the gap,

"Two," a pained cry next to him echoed around the cavernous entrance hall, as more blood was split onto the hallowed flagstones beneath them,

"Three!"

The jedi acted as one, and sent a massive force push out in front of them, sweeping the first hundred clones off their feet and into the soldiers behind them. Covering their retreat at the back, Quinlan and Obi-Wan kept their sabres lit and their senses on stray blaster shots as they turned tail and sprinted for the archives, using the force to speed their steps.

As they turned a corner, out of the line of fire, the sound of boots on tile echoed behind them, as the clones picked themselves up and quickly rallied to pursue them. Terror interlaced all their force signatures, desperation surrounded them, and they hurried onwards, taking the many turns and shortcuts that all of them knew. Obi-Wan reached out with the force, and found Anakin, one level away, somewhere nearby what felt like many children, their signatures smaller but cleaner somehow, less distorted than that of the young knight's.

"Go on without me!" Obi-Wan cried, his words uneven due to his stride, pain lancing through his side as recent injuries made themselves known. Quinlan looked at him quizzically before he rolled his eyes and frowned,

"I kept telling you that Skywalker was going to get you killed one day!" he shot back, no true vitriol in his words,

"And I kept telling you to kriff off, Vos, but here we are," Obi-Wan replied, fondness for his old friend warring with the need to get to Anakin,

"May the force be with you, Obi-Wan!" Vos panted as they reached the stairs leading down to the archive and he and Obi-Wan skidded to a stop, allowing the other jedi to continue downwards. The booted footsteps behind them were quieter now, getting lost in the multitude of turns and corridors of the temple as they chased their prey.

As the last of the jedi disappeared into the deep stairwell, ushered by the Drallig, Obi-Wan stopped for a moment to look at Quinlan. Then he reached out and pulled him into a quick hug, "and with you, my friend," he replied, meaning every word, fully aware that by choosing to go to Anakin, his last chance at escape might be lost.

They spent only a moment more looking at each other, brothers by choice and soldiers now, with scars on their souls, and pain all around them, before Quinlan nodded and took off down the stairs. Obi-Wan waited until his steps retreated, then hurried a little further along the corridor, before turning back to face the archive stairwell.

Reaching out with the force, Obi-Wan once again ignored the roiling nausea and anxiety that washed over him, long enough to bring the ceiling crashing down over the entrance to the archives, cutting off this corridor leading back to the entrance hall, and therefore the only way down to the archives, hopefully keeping his old friend and all the jedi down there safe for at least a little while longer.

Satisfied that he did all he could, Obi-Wan turned and ran, blinking sweat out of his eyes as he hurried up the stairs, forcing himself to stay calm, and to keep going, because Anakin was near. He stumbled out of the landing onto the first floor, and jogged more than ran, limping now as aches and pains from many battles, and new wounds from that last battle, overrode his ability to ignore them.

Finally, he came to the room where Anakin was, a meeting room similar to council chambers, and it opened with a hiss, revealing a tall hooded figure and eight children, one of whom was brave enough to approach the foreboding figure,

"Master Skywalker, there are too many of them, what are we going to do?" the child asked, and Obi-Wan once again felt a constriction over his chest as oily, thick darkness settled over the room, settled over Anakin, and Obi-Wan was suddenly very afraid.

"Anakin," he said, his voice barely a whisper, before he straightened and walked into the room, feeling as though in a daze, as Anakin lit his sabre and turned to face him, "Anakin," he said again, louder, as the young man he knew so well finally met his eyes.

Obi-Wan felt like his heart stopped. For a moment, the bright blue eyes flickered to a deep, sulfuric yellow. A yellow that the jedi master had never even once thought to see on his padawan's face,

"I thought you were dead in the speeder bay. What are you doing here?" Anakin barked in an unfamiliar and cold voice, the hood throwing his face into shadow, as around him the children scrambled away, to the other side of the room, behind Obi-Wan, recognising that something was wrong and this was perhaps not the Skywalker they've been following in every news holo and article,

"I-"Obi-Wan struggled with words, a fact not missed by his former student,

"Lost for words, Master?" the former honorific, which Anakin called him by long after he no longer had to, which Anakin had usually spoken with such affection and warmth, now sounded like he was spitting poison and it hit Obi-Wan just the same, "you always had enough words to chastise me at every turn, but now, you have nothing to say? Now, as the Jedi order dies, is there nothing you wish to tell me?"

The blue lightsaber blade shook, as Obi-Wan realised Anakin had a white-knuckle grip on it, still at his side, but as dangerous as ever. Aware that he had the children behind him, Obi-Wan gathered himself for a fight, for what felt like the hundredth time that day. He did not know how much more of this he could take. Building his shields around his heart, and his mind, Obi-Wan fixed his gaze back onto Anakin,

"What do you know of what is happening here, Anakin? What do you mean by your words?"

"IT'S OVER!" Anakin screamed, as if the simple challenge was too much, and he was suddenly right in front of Obi-Wan, the sabre held against the elder's neck, no sounds but the hum of the sabre, their breathing, and the children's quiet whimpers behind them.

"The jedi order is corrupt, it will destroy the galaxy and everything in it. It had to fall, and you will fall with it, Obi-Wan," Anakin growled, hatred and revulsion lacing the force around him. Obi-Wan had to look away as yellow flickered once more around Anakin's irises, threatening to overwhelm the blue altogether. Anakin pressed closer, the heat of the sabre so close Obi-Wan was scared to swallow, his breaths and Anakin's intermingling.

Anakin tilted his head to the side, as around him the force writhed, his soul seemingly caught in a maelstrom of emotion, "so many years I bore your precious council's ridicule and hatred," the young man whispered now, close enough that Obi-Wan could hear every confusing accusation,

"No, Ana-"

"SHUT UP!" the young man looked like he might press the sabre forward and Obi-Wan closed his mouth, his heart hammering in his chest. How did they get here, what could have made Anakin speak untruths?

"Keep your snake tongue in your mouth! What a fool you made of me, Obi-Wan, sitting in the council chambers and lying to me, manipulating me, using me, all the while pretending your sacred jedi oaths made you better than me, worthier than me," before Obi-Wan could answer, Anakin reached out with his left hand and yanked Obi-Wan's head back by his hair, exposing more of his throat, and Obi-Wan was utterly helpless. Drained of his energy, the bond between them roaring with darkness, the blackness almost alive and trying to seep into his consciousness, Obi-Wan could do nothing to defend himself physically, using the last of his reserves to protect his own light mentally,

"You wanted me to die, you wanted Padmé to die, I know you did, I know you'd take her from me! The Chancellor has shown me all the truths, he has helped me where none of you would, where you abandoned me! He has shown me what hypocrites you all are, and I will serve my master Sidious gladly!" Anakin exclaimed, still examining his former master's face as if he was seeing it for the first time. Letting go of Obi-Wan roughly he suddenly stepped back, and Obi-Wan took a deep breath, a hand coming up automatically to rub at his throat, where a fine red line had formed from the sabre, "what do you say in your defence, Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked, almost calmly this time, as if he hadn't just fallen to the dark, as if he hadn't betrayed the order, betrayed Obi-Wan, as if calling another person master didn't tear what was left of Obi-Wan's broken heart to pieces – as if he hadn't come here to where the younglings were hiding, with intent to harm.

Obi-Wan's heart stuttered at the very thought of his gentle padawan hurting the children with whom he had spent many hours a week playing with, before the war, before the force-damned mess they seem to have gotten into, "I say you're wrong Anakin," Obi-Wan said, looking up into a furious gaze, trying to keep the hurt and shock out of his expression, "the Chancellor has manipulated you, and he's lied to you." Obi-Wan's voice was tired, he could barely muster the next words, "I admit I lied to you once, with the Rako Hardeen incident, and I regret it deeply, but I have never used you, I have never manipulated you, Anakin, I –" love you. The words failed him and Obi-Wan dropped his gaze, folding his left arm across his chest, where a deep ache had settled, and resting his right over his eyes,

"My name is Lord Vader," Anakin spat back and Obi-Wan felt lightheaded, his eyes snapping back to Anakin's face even as joy flickered across it, clearly knowing he had struck another blow against his former master, revelling in the pain that Obi-Wan could not stop projecting across their still, somehow intact bond,

"Call yourself what you will, your mother named you Anakin," Obi-Wan hissed back, the hurt turning inwards and manifesting as anger, unable to stop his words even as he knew they were wrong, wrong, so wrong.

There was a moment of stillness, and then a wave of rage radiated outwards from the newly made sith, hitting Obi-Wan before he could reach for his sabre, and the children screamed as all the glass shattered around them, onto them, the cold evening air of Coruscant rushing into the room,

"HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF HER?" Anakin roared, throwing Obi-Wan back against the wall, as the children scurried into the other corner, their terror adding to the chaos in the force. Obi-Wan struggled weakly, his lightsaber fallen to the floor, himself, pinned against the wall by a crushing force, "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK OF HER WHEN YOU DIDN'T LIFT A FINGER TO HELP?"

Obi-Wan choked as the crushing pressure migrated upwards and settled around his throat. Behind him the children were screaming, but everything was getting fuzzier around the edges, his vision beginning to blur. Breaths were getting harder by the second, and Obi-Wan felt tears welling in his eyes as Anakin's face, full of pain and hate, and those glowing yellow eyes, filled his vision.

Having absolutely nothing left to lose, Obi-Wan brought down his mental shields, and opened the bond, immediately getting hit with tidal wave of emotions. Anger. Hate. Fear. Pain. Grief. Sorrow. Disgust. Regret.

As the life ebbed out of him, Obi-Wan projected outwards, trying to swim against the current of darkness that swamped his soul, the bond open and more communicative that it had been in years. He felt Anakin's force presence recoil from the light he brought with him, guilt and shame joining the emotional fray as his light searched for the light still with Anakin.

His chest was aching, his throat was closed.

He sent a final message outward.

I failed you Anakin. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. You have and always will be my deepest attachment.

Blackness.

A moment of stillness over the room.

Anakin stood at the centre of it all, his robes billowing backwards, an arm outstretched to where Obi-Wan was slumped against the wall. The children, huddled in a corner, opposite to where he stood. Glass and fragments of wood strewn across the floor. The carpet torn and dotted with blood.

Obi-Wan was dropped as suddenly as he had been pinned, landing flat on his chest and striking his forehead against the floor, gratefully taking in massive gulps of air as he lay unable to move, shaking from head to toe, his vision returning slowly.

A pained scream filled the room, and Obi-wan shakily raised his head, his eyes watering, coughing painfully, as a wind rushed through the room, though the weather outside was calm. Anakin had dropped his lightsaber in front of him, the metal glinting harmlessly in the low light, and the man himself was holding his head with both hands, writhing in pain, stumbling around the room. The force around him was so bright with conflict it felt like looking into the twin suns back on Tatooine.

"No!" Anakin cried as he fell to his knees, then onto all fours, his back arching, and twisting, his eyes screwed tightly shut, as a chair was hurled out the window and the children screamed as another part of the roof collapsed, closer to the door.

Obi-Wan struggled to sit up, managing to kneel with the aid of a nearby chair lying on its side, caught in the literal storm Anakin was creating, held in place by the winds of Anakin's struggle,

"Anakin!" he cried out, his voice hoarse and painful to use, a pain quickly forgotten as the younger man's eyes snapped open.

Obi-Wan could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Anakin's irises were flickering from blue to yellow every few seconds and Anakin's fingers scrabbled at his chest, as if trying to claw his own organs out.

"Obi-Wan," the younger man moaned, and this time, it was not Vader's voice, but Anakin's. Obi-Wan threw himself across the floor, crawling so that he was right in front of his former padawan,

"Anakin?" he asked, sitting on the floor with his back against a chair, as Anakin fell forwards, across his legs and into his lap, his entire body convulsing, "Anakin!" he cried again, reaching out and placing his hands on the boy's shoulder, fear making his hands shake as he brushed the younger man's hair off his face, soothing motions from a lifetime lived together.

Obi-Wan did not notice the wind die down, nor the passage of nearly ten minutes, as the children picked themselves up, calmed themselves down and checked each other over, ever the exemplary jedi initiates. He had eyes only for his padawan.

Anakin's eyes flickered open again, finally, blue as a summer sky this time, "Master…" he mumbled, his eyes unfocused and Obi-Wan's heart swelled, before crashing back down as Vader's hardness returned and the yellow seeped in around the edges like a toxic cloud, giving an odd green colour where it met, as Anakin battled with himself,

"I hate you," came the spiteful words Obi-Wan heard a thousand times through Anakin's teenage years, but never had they hit home so closely. Never had Obi-Wan been so vulnerable, "I hate you and I hate the Jedi," Anakin continued, in a whisper though, as his body shook.

Unable to take anymore, his own head pounding and every muscle and joint aching, Obi-Wan raised a bruised and bleeding hand to lay it on Anakin's temple. The young man attempted to jerk away from Obi-Wan but before he could, Obi-Wan reached back for their bond, and stole some of the corrupted, black force energy from Anakin. Before the darkness could get a grip on him, he commanded, "Sleep,"

And Anakin did, the force finally quieting down around them.

Obi-Wan looked up at the little circle of the last jedi younglings standing around, tear stains down their face, cuts from the glass leaving red marks over their once pristine robes. They were otherwise unharmed, and quiet now, looking at him with the same respectful silence they afforded every master during lesson time.

Before he could even muster a sentence of reassurance, the doors slid open, and Obi-Wan has his sabre in hand and lit before he could push Anakin off his lap and stand up, force shoving and pulling the children behind him, ready for whatever new terror the galaxy was going to throw his way. Kriff, he had just fought his own padawan and saved the children, nothing was going to touch them now, as long as he still drew breath, "Who goes there?" he called out, struggling to see through the dust and low light.

With a sense of calm settling over him, no doubt projected by the grandmaster in front of him, Obi-Wan recognised Master Yoda as he walked through the door, and heaved a sigh of relief, powered down his lightsaber and collapsed back down to the floor, against the chair. The sudden surge of adrenaline left him as shaky as Anakin, and he pulled the young man's head and shoulders off the floor and back onto his lap. The children ran up to Yoda, all of them talking a mile a minute, their voices clamouring over each other, as they tried to recount what happened, clearly deeming Masters Obi-Wan and Anakin a lost cause. Closing the doors behind him with a hiss and adding a layer of force shielding to the room, Yoda looked past the children and towards Obi-Wan and Anakin.

Obi-Wan felt a moment of shame. Anakin, his student, his failure. Their attachment, their bond, quiet now, but alive and raw, was plain to see for anyone with even a small connection to the force. Yoda seemed to be thinking, stooped and leaning on his stick, before he said,

"Good it is, the bond you didn't sever," and Obi-Wan deflated, letting his head thud back against the chair, "Children, good it is you are here, listen to you later I will. Prepare we must, to leave. Chancellor Palpatine a Sith Lord is," Obi-Wan's head snapped back up in shock,

"What?" he asked, eloquently, as Yoda waved the children back and stepped forward to sit on the floor opposite Obi-Wan, "Younglings, sit with us, you will," he said, and the children immediately obeyed, happy to have someone who was in control. Obi-Wan felt another wave of guilt, wishing he had some energy left to look after the children with whom they were entrusted,

"Listen Master Kenobi, you will," Yoda said, and Obi-Wan only nodded, keeping one small part of his mind on Anakin's state of consciousness, a hand in his hair, still making the soothing motions to encourage sleep,

"I think…I had better tell you-" Obi-Wan started, his throat tight and painful from the earlier abuse,

"To the dark side, has young Skywalker fallen," Yoda interrupted and Obi-Wan was grateful he didn't have to say it aloud. He was not truly ready yet. The youngling's murmured, alarmed that such a great jedi master could have fallen, 'many there are to blame, the time to talk about it now, it is not," Yoda added, as if guessing where Obi-Wan's thoughts had gone,

"Bail Organa, to us, will come in another minute, tracking device on me have I," Yoda continued and Obi-Wan felt a spike of alarm,

"Here? This is the worst place he could possibly be!" Obi-Wan exclaimed, his voice hoarse, tasting blood,

"The battle for the temple, over it is," Yoda said, his entire being infused with sadness, "Fallen, the Jedi Order has, on fire is most of the building. Gone is everything."

His words were met with a painful silence as all within the room realised that they were possibly the last remaining jedi,

"Do you know…if Quinlan and Master Drallig…led their group away?" Obi-Wan asked quietly, afraid of the answer,

"Safe, his group is, picked up by Bail Organa as they made their escape, they were" Yoda nodded and Obi-Wan breathed a sigh of relief. He was unsure how much more loss he could deal with in a single day, "shielded we are in this room for now. Find us, they will not," Yoda continued, his age showing in his eyes as he looked past Obi-Wan's shoulder and out into the unaffected Coruscant traffic, still travelling above and below them,

"Leave Coruscant we must. To another temple we will go. Old it is. Shield us from Palpatine, it will, few aware of it are," Obi-Wan frowned, concerned about being trapped in a place filled with the force with a very volatile Anakin for only the force knew how long,

"Master, is there…nowhere else?" he croaked out, pausing frequently as his throat burned, "Somewhere…less imbued with the force?"

"The force only protection we have now," Yoda said, his words slow, and resigned, "use it, we must. Teach the children and keep them safe, we must." He looked down at the sleeping former jedi in Obi-Wan's lap, his robes pooled around him, his face softer in the low light and freedom of unconsciousness, "in Skywalker, light there is still. You, his light have always been," Obi-Wan flushed a deep red, surprised at his own body's ability to still display embarrassment despite the bone deep exhaustion. Years of never speaking of any attachments of any sort have left him unable to express it even now though, even to the Grandmaster who already knew everything, "save him, you must," Yoda added.

The sounds of a large engine could be heard then, approaching them through the open windows and everyone's eyes shifted,

"Where are we going now, masters?' asked a little girl, Hautie, aged ten, Obi-Wan remembered, brought to them at two, she showed great promise. Master Windu had spent the last couple of years observing and training the girl to hopefully take her on as a padawan,

"We will leave…and we will heal," Obi-Wan said, at last finding the words that made other people feel better. There were few words left that might help him, though "we will not…let the dark side win, youngling,"

She smiled at him, her dimples and blonde hair one of the many things that endeared her to Anakin and himself, when they taught the little ones. Obi-Wan's heart ached once more for the simpler times.

"Master Yoda, are we really just going to leave this place? Don't they need us here?" one of the smaller boys piped up, Jayden, seven years old, and still shaking from his ordeal, though he controlled his emotions much better than Anakin ever did at ten. Yoda turned his large eyes on the young boy,

"No place here there is for Jedi, youngling," Yoda said, reaching out a gentle hand to run it through the little boy's hair, "go we must, strengthen ourselves we must,"

"Master…" Obi-Wan started, as the jets of a shuttle got even louder outside the windows, and Yoda reached out, and laid a hand over Obi-Wan's,

"Many questions you have, many losses we have. Leave now we must. Talk later, we must also," Yoda said and Obi-Wan nodded, acknowledging his master's words, but feeling cast adrift. The very foundations of his entire life had been shaken in the course of a couple of hours and nothing was ever going to be the same again.

A ship finally pulled up outside, the wind from its turbine's shaking the room, and causing the children to light up with excitement. Its ramp was open, a grim-faced Bail Organa standing there in his travelling cloak and boots, gesturing for them to hurry, no words audible over the might of the engines. Yoda rose to his feet gracefully, and reaching out an arm, he levitated Anakin up, and began to walk to the ship. Obi-Wan gestured for the younglings to follow him as Bail shouted something back into the ship, and the ship moved as close as it could to the building, the ramp just touching the frame where the glass had been.

Slower and much stiffer than Yoda had done, Obi-Wan managed to get himself to his feet. He felt weighed down as if by durasteel, his mind covered in a fog. Even quiet, his bond with Anakin felt almost infected – hot and painful, a constant ache in the back of his mind. Stumbling forward, Obi-Wan tripped and fell into Bail's arms, not hearing the older man's words, only slightly aware that he was carried into the ship as the ramp closed behind them, and the pilot shot up for space as ground forces noticed them and began shooting.

Around Obi-Wan, people moved. Voices cried, and there was a feeling of great loss in the air. Obi-Wan could not keep his eyes open. Hearing the voices around him grow more panicked, Obi-Wan felt himself fall again, and then the blackness of unconsciousness took him, into blissful peace.


So this is the first chapter! Tell me how you found it! Please also let me know if there are glaring inaccuracies regarding descriptions of places or characters, this universe is massive and I definitely struggled to find descriptions of all the things. I know Obi-Wan really needs a hug, and for that matter so does Anakin. The next chapter is already mostly written and I would love to say that things get better for the boys and their friends but it's Star Wars so here we are.

I will aim for fortnightly updates, but I'm in the writing mood, so it might go quicker. I don't see this going over 5 chapters, with what I have planned, but you know how it is haha.

Love you all, thank you for reading!