AUTHOR NOTE: Hey so apparently I somehow put Chapter 9 where Chapter 12 was supposed to be and completely failed to notice. (Thank you asgo03 for letting me know!) Chapter 12 is now where it belongs, so please go back and read it before continuing! I hope it makes sense now. Sorry guys! Also, to everyone who has been following and leaving reviews, you brighten my day! :D
That evening they were called to stand before members of the Jedi Council. There were only a few of them, the rest of the masters were off world. Obi-Wan stood beside Anakin in the center of the chamber facing Master Yoda, Master Windu, Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, and Master Plo Koon.
Mace Windu began. "We're here to address what happened between you both today."
"It is very serious," Master Mundi said softly, "when two Jedi are in conflict. Particularly between Master and Apprentice."
"Attachment to someone is the source of this conflict, we understand," Yoda was looking at Obi-Wan, disappointment set deep in the wrinkles of his face. Such a look from his own mentor felt lethal.
Mace Windu was sitting straight in his chair, his fingers steepled in their usual way. To look at him, it would appear to be any other council meeting, were it not for the intensity in his eyes. "As Jedi, we uphold the laws of avoiding attachments for this very reason. Forming attachments and allowing emotions to control us makes us vulnerable to the Dark Side. It blinds our path in the Force. As Jedi, we must be above these petty feelings. Skywalker has struggled with this ever since Master Qui-Gon Jinn brought him into this chamber. We knew from the start that he was too old to be able to rid himself of these ingrained emotional reactions. But you, Master Kenobi…"
Obi-Wan focused on breathing, tried not to think about the sensation of the floor caving in beneath him.
"Greater expectations, we had," Yoda said sadly. "The perfect example of Jedi, you have always been, Master Kenobi. The right choice always you have made. Your account of the situation first, the Council wishes to hear."
"There is nothing I could say that would free me of any fault…" He spoke calmly, humbly. "Yes, I had allowed myself to develop feelings. When I could no longer deny them, I cut off all ties and devoted myself entirely to the Jedi Order, as I always have. In spite of my efforts… I have not been able to cut my attachments… Anakin had feelings for her as well... As his master I should have guided him away from it, I am well aware of this. But I could not deny the sense of balance in him to be able to love her. It is as you said, Master Windu… Anakin was not raised without emotional ties, as I was. It is my failure that I did not know how to guide him. And it is my fault that I had become attached."
"You lied about everything," Anakin said sharply under his breath.
"The council has not called upon you to speak, Skywalker." Mace Windu's voice cut through the chamber.
"He is right, Master," Obi-Wan looked to his former apprentice, without malice or regret. "I lied to him and to you. And I lied to myself." And to her. "I am prepared for whatever punishment the council sees fit."
"Get to that later, we will…" Yoda squinted at Anakin, his small clawed hand on his chin. "Have something to say, do you, Young Skywalker?"
"No."
Anakin was teeming with anxiety and anger, and now that the floor was his, he was stubborn and difficult. Obi-Wan had to refrain from rolling his eyes or shaking his head.
"Hm," Yoda stared at him. "Much pain, I sense in you. Betrayal, you feel. Heartbreak. Ended, is this relationship?"
Anakin's face was towards the floor. After a pause, he nodded.
"Involved now are either of you, with this person?" Yoda was very careful not to name Padme, for which Obi-Wan was grateful.
"No, Master Yoda," said Obi-Wan.
Anakin took in a long breath. "No..."
The Council members exchanged glances, and a few knowing nods. Clearly they had made their decision before this meeting was even called.
Master Windu looked between Obi-Wan and Anakin. "If relations with this person have been terminated, and you both affirm your loyalty to the Jedi Code, then the council will not expel either of you. However, there will be actions taken. You will no longer be assigned together, and neither of you will be assigned to any missions pertaining to politicians… Particularly in the vicinity of the Naboo System."
They weren't kicking them out of the order? Obi-Wan looked to Anakin, who was looking back to him with shock.
"We're not expelled?" Anakin asked for them both.
"We need all the Jedi we can in this war," Ki-Adi-Mundi said simply.
"Both of you are among our greatest warriors," Plo Koon added with his usual gravity.
"To say nothing of the prophecy," Mace Windu said with some reservation. "If there is any truth to it, then Skywalker must continue his training. And there is still the threat of the Sith Lord we have yet to root out…"
This didn't make any sense. They were overlooking a clear violation of the code for the sake of the war. This was not what the Jedi were about, they were supposed to be peacekeepers. They were supposed to be the beacons of all that was good.
"With all due respect," Obi-Wan spoke more sternly now, "why should our mistakes be swept away and ignored when past Jedi have been punished for less?"
"As was said, a war there is…" Yoda said solemnly. "Circumstance dictates change."
"I cannot believe that," Obi-Wan looked between the other Jedi Masters beseechingly. "I fully accept my expulsion. I am not worthy of being a Jedi after the choices I had willingly made." Then the words tumbled out of his mouth before he even thought them. "I resign from the Jedi Order."
Shock rippled through the council members and they looked between one another again.
"Master Kenobi," Mundi said softly. "I suggest you reconsider such a choice… You are one of our best. This is your life."
Mundi was right, this was all he knew. But they seemed to have forgotten that Obi-Wan was not at the mercy of impulsive or reactionary feelings, like his padawan. His instinct was guided by a deep moral compass that he could not turn off if he tried. It was as if the Force itself had made the choice for him.
"I agree with Ki-Adi-Mundi," said Master Windu. "This is not a decision to be made lightly, Obi-Wan."
"My decision is made, council." To say it, and mean it with every fiber of his being, tore him apart inside.
"I resign as well."
They all looked to Anakin.
"Anakin!" Obi-Wan couldn't help raising his voice at him. "You still have so much to learn, don't be foolish…"
However, Anakin was surrounded by surprising calm. He had the same resolve as Obi-Wan. "If you go, I go, Master."
Again, there was uncertainty among the council members.
"Deliberate on this, we will," Yoda spoke for them all. "Dismissed until we call you, you both are."
"And while we consider your choices, I suggest you both do the same, Kenobi and Skywalker," said Windu.
Anakin and Obi-Wan bowed in unison and exited the chamber.
Former master and padawan stood silently on opposite sides of the vast corridor outside of the Jedi Council room, towering pillars looming over them, making them feel as small as they truly were in the grand scheme of things. Obi-Wan had not felt so lost since Qui-Gon was killed and he found himself suddenly the master of the most important padawan in the Jedi Order. Now… his entire life as he knew it was coming to an end.
What was worse, he felt entirely responsible for the same fate befalling Anakin. He failed his apprentice and his promise to Qui-Gon.
He failed.
"I must insist that you do not leave the order, Anakin…" he broke the silence, looking beseechingly to the still figure that mirrored him across the hall.
Anakin looked up from his hard stare at the floor. "You have no right to insist anything to me. You're no longer my master."
"I am not saying it as your master…" Obi-Wan kept his voice soft in the face of Anakin's harsh tones. "I am saying it as your friend… As someone who regards you as a brother."
"Why tell me to stay when you're more than willing to turn your back?"
Anakin was still holding onto the accusation of hypocrisy, and he did not even need to say it.
"You think this comes easy to me? The Jedi Order has been my life and my purpose. If I cannot uphold the codes of the Jedi way, I have no right to muddle it with my presence."
"You always did hold the code too high…"
"And you do not hold it high enough," his vocals sharpened now. Anakin was insolent to the end.
"If leaving means that I can be with Padme, then I'll do it. I would rather have her than be a Jedi."
"Are you listening to yourself?" Obi-Wan took slow steps across the space of the corridor, to close the distance between them. "You can never have her, Anakin. She is not yours."
"You think she's yours?"
"She belongs to no one but herself. If you love her as you say you do, Anakin, you would let her go."
"Why, because that's what you did?" Anakin said coldly.
Anakin was baiting him into admitting that he loved her, that he loved at all. What was there left to lose? Obi-Wan held Anakin's icy glare.
"Yes."
"Then you are the reason why she left me." Anakin spoke with angry finality, making it painfully clear that he still did not understand, and perhaps never would understand that Padme was not choosing between them. She did not need either of them, because she was stronger than that.
"Until you learn to let go, you will never be with her, Anakin." Obi-Wan's voice was low with sorrow. Anakin wanted love so badly, but he was sabotaging his own chance at happiness or peace, with himself or anyone.
The door to the council chamber opened and Mace Windu's voice echoed out to them.
"Master Kenobi and Young Skywalker… the council summons you again…"
Obi-Wan didn't wait for Anakin. He walked calmly into the chamber, his head high and his heart resigned to his fate. They took up their places, side by side as they had done so many times before in the center of the council chamber, but never had he felt so far from his former padawan.
"Master Kenobi…" Yoda began solemnly. "With great reluctance, accept your resignation from the Jedi Order, the council does…"
So there it was.
His knighthood gone.
His throat was tight, the weight inside of his chest weighing down to his feet. He could do nothing but offer a low, humble bow from the waist.
"We will not ask you to surrender your lightsaber, but you will no longer wear the designated robes of the Jedi, nor will you be permitted into the Jedi Temple once you step out. You will be stripped of the title of Master." Windu spoke slowly, robotically and with what one might almost call remorse, if ever such an emotion passed the Jedi Master's face or tone.
"But we still need your strategic mind for this war," Master Mundi spoke up in his gentle way. "Even if you are no longer a Jedi, we would like to appeal to the Chancellor to maintain your position as General in the Republican Army."
Of course they would want to keep him in the fight. Truth be told, this was a mercy that Obi-Wan had not anticipated. All he wanted to do was serve the Republic and Democracy, whether or not he had a lightsaber in his hand.
"Willing to fight for the Republic are you?" Yoda asked, knowing the answer already.
Obi-Wan managed a nod. "My allegiance has not wavered, Master Yoda. I will fight in any way that the Chancellor approves if it means bringing peace to the galaxy."
That eased some of the weight that hung in the air around the Jedi, though the loss was still there. This would be the last time he would stand here in the council chamber.
"Young Skywalker," Mace Windu was speaking to Anakin now. "The Jedi cannot conscript or force anyone to remain in the Order against their wishes… The council agrees, however, that we would prefer you to stay."
"Why?"
"Why else?" said Plo Koon.
Anakin looked across the sterile faces of the council. "So you'll keep me here because of the prophecy? What if I choose to leave anyway?"
"Then ended all your training is," Yoda said simply, "And as a Jedi, never will you reach your full potential in power."
"And balance will never be brought to the Force," said Windu.
Obi-Wan could not believe what he was witnessing. The Jedi Council, in order to follow the prophecy and bait Anakin to stay in the Order, were using his yearning for power against him. But Obi-Wan couldn't disagree that Anakin belonged in the Order. It was Qui-Gon's dying wish. Obi-Wan had fulfilled his part of it by at least seeing the boy graduate into knighthood.
He could see Anakin's choice shifting again, perhaps in no small part thanks to the Chancellor's suggestion.
"Will you stay, Skywalker?" Mundi asked.
"I will stay," Anakin murmured, but there seemed to be a silent for now hidden in there.
"Then you are dismissed," Mace Windu waved a hand towards the door.
Anakin's cloak swept around him as he turned and marched out of the room, not a second glance to his former master.
"Yes, Master Kenobi?" Yoda looked to him.
Obi-Wan carefully took his lightsaber from his belt, holding it across both open palms. "I wish to surrender it..."
Mace Windu frowned a little. "As I said, you may keep your weapon."
Obi-Wan stared at the cylindrical weapon, as if seeing each ridge and component for the first time. This extension of himself that he had built and carried with him. "A lightsaber is a symbol of the Jedi. I would prefer not to pretend I am worthy of such an association, Masters…"
"Obi-Wan Kenobi…" Yoda was shaking his head, his eyes closing for a moment in quiet disappointment. "Pretend, you never have. Worthy of carrying such a symbol, few really are. With heavy hearts, the council will accept your lightsaber."
His small green hand extended. There was no garish use of the Force here. Obi-Wan quietly stepped closer and placed the heavy weapon into Yoda's small, but strong hands. The green Jedi master laid it in his lap and turned up his head to meet Obi-Wan's eye, the same sage eyes that had offered wisdom and comfort to him his entire life. It was difficult to be comforted now, when he was about to walk away from this place forever.
"Anakin will need guidance now more than ever," he was speaking to Yoda, even if it was implied for all the Masters. "It would be…" he almost said cruel, but he found a more Jedi-appropriate word, "… dangerous to leave him alone with the pain he is suffering."
"Guide him, we will," Yoda said with a reassuring nod.
He knew Yoda would continue to train him, but Anakin was losing the closest thing to a friend, brother, and father he ever had. Obi-Wan was abandoning him, but he saw no other way.
"May the Force with you, Obi-Wan Kenobi."
"May the Force be with you as well, Master… always."
And the sentiment was echoed from all the masters who were present as Obi-Wan turned and walked out of the council chamber for the last time.
