Chapter 15 – Come Hell or High Water

Ahsoka was running. Her master was back, she could feel it. They'd returned to the Resolute. The Force nudged her towards the med bay. As she stormed through the glass door and started to follow her bond to a selected treating room in the back, she barely came to a halt in front of a clone medic form the 501st who stepped in her way.

"Commander Tano, wait! You can't go in there right now", the man tried with a calm and steady voice.

"Please, I need to see if he's alright", Ahsoka pleaded.

The clone made a face and shook his head. "They're treating him right now. You should wait until they're finished. I can look if you're able to visit him then."

Disappointed, the padawan let her shoulders slump but nodded. "Okay, can you at least tell me how he is?"

Sighing, the medic scratched his head in thought. "Well, we had to sedate your master to keep him calm. As to his injuries, he should make a full recovery. He's got some burns all over his body from being hit with Force lightnings", Ahsoka grimaced at his words," but nothing we couldn't manage with bacta treatment. The worst of his wounds probably is his stump. His prosthetic short-circuited and thereby the nerve ends in his arm were damaged. The medics are working to rewire them right now."

Sitting down in one of the plastoid chairs on the wall, Ahsoka processed what the medic had told her. "What about Master Kenobi?"

"I'm honest, commander. We're not sure. We did a full body scan and it looks really bad. He's got some fractures which were mostly dealt to the torso and head area, some to the legs and arms as well", the clone stopped for a second as if he didn't know how to proceed, "apparently his skull was cracked in some places and in addition to that he has a severe brain bleeding. General Koon told us that that might be related to a Force attack. Howsoever, General Kenobi is in surgery right now, the medics are trying their best to repair the damage and relieve the brain of pressure."

"You're telling me that he might not survive", Ahsoka stated solemnly, looking the clone in the eyes.

"I'm sorry. I won't make false hopes."

"Thank you. I think I need a moment alone." Even though he looked conflicted, the clone tipped his head shortly and left. The padawan slumped forward in the seat and put her head in her hands. She didn't know what to think. Anger, fear, panic, hopelessness. It all came crushing down on her. As she couldn't hold it any longer, Ahsoka cried out in the Force, not holding her emotions back.

Tears started to drip down between her fingers. Suddenly she was aware of a lot of noise around her, people were shouting around her but the padawan didn't care. Until a callused and a little cold, but well-known hand tilted her chin upward. Her vision blurred with tears; she almost couldn't make out the face in front of her. She tried to push away, but the hand was strong.

"Snips, look at me."

Anakin. He was here. Ahsoka quickly wiped her eyes and finally recognized the man in front of her. Her master looked disheveled, hair messy and various bacta patches sticking to his skin. His prosthetic had been removed; the stump bandaged. The white hospital tunic was a stark contrast to his usual black clothes.

"Master!" The Tortuga jumped forward, right into her master's arms. Anakin almost slipped with bare feet on the floor but kept his balance. His hand moved up to support her back, as she quietly sobbed on his shoulders.

"I'm so sorry, Ahsoka", he mumbled, his eyes clenched shut. Medics were already gathering in the hallway, but no one dared to separate master and padawan.

"Have they told you?", Ahsoka whispered, her fists clenching on Anakin's back.

He pulled his head back slightly to look at his padawan. Her eyes were still completely drenched. "Told me what?" The words tumbled from his lips, before he could think about them twice.

The padawan swallowed and bit her cheeks. She didn't know how to say it. She wasn't prepared to be the one to break the news to him. Thankfully, at this moment, Helix, head medic of the 212th, stepped forward.

"Sir, you might want to sit down for this." Anakin swirled around and faced the medic. He released himself from the hug and took a step towards him. The Force was roaring dangerously. Ahsoka observed how Anakin clenched his fist, his body trembling. His control was slipping. The wave of despair and anger that hit her was nauseating.

Even Helix, who wasn't force-sensitive, stumbled backwards, as the General built himself up in front of him.

"Spit it out, Helix. Told me what?", he snarled. He didn't hear Ahsoka calling out to him, eyes completely focused in the man before him.

The medic composed himself, before answering with a steady voice, despite the death stare he was receiving. "We did everything we could, sir. I'm sorry, but General Kenobi might not make it."

No one moved until Master Koon slipped into the med bay, alerted through the Force. The jedi master took his time before he gently aroused the jedi's attention.

"Skywalker."

"General Kenobi might not make it."

The words still rung inside his head. Anakin did not know what to feel. During their escape he always had that outcome stacked away in the back of his mind. And right now, it came barreling towards with full speed. His ears started ringing. He couldn't lose him. Not like this. Obi-Wan was stronger than that. His best friend always stood up again.

At first Anakin was desperate, afraid to lose his father-figure. And then came the anger. Towards Dooku, who did that to him. Towards the Sith. This blasted war. The council for almost pushing them over the edge.

Himself, because he had been so blind to see his friend's struggling.

His breathing picked up; the Force turned into a hurricane of emotions as he finally let go. Someone was talking to him, but he didn't register that. He didn't notice as objects and people around him started floating, held by an invisible force. Anakin was lost in a trance until he was snapped out of it. Master Koon had managed to brace himself against the onslaught and had put a hand to Anakin's forehead. He felt as the jedi master knocked against his mind, bringing him back to his senses.

With a clattering sound, Anakin's hold on the Force loosened. The chairs fell back to the floor, some of the troopers slipped as well. As he finally came around, Anakin was staring into eyes which were filled with fear of what they just witnessed. Behind him were standing Ahsoka and Plo Koon, both eyeing him carefully.

'He's too dangerous to be trained.' Suddenly echoed in his head. That was what the jedi had said. Maybe they had been right. He shouldn't have gotten involved. Stayed on Tatooine with his mother. All he did was hurting the people he cared out.

"Master, maybe we should get you back to your room." Ahsoka hat taken his hand in hers and was slowly guiding him towards his patient room. Master Koon was trailing slowly behind the pair, waving the medics off. As they entered the room, he quietly shut the door.

Anakin had sat down on the edge of the bed, Ahsoka beside him. The knight was staring at the floor between his feet, lost in thought. He had decided to keep his silence for now, as he didn't know what to say anyway.

As the silence seemed to drag on, the jedi master spoke up. "I want you to know that just because his chances are bad, it doesn't mean he won't pull through. We all know that Obi-Wan has survived a lot."

Of course, he remembered. The memories of Jabiim came up again. The moment they officially declared his master dead had burned itself into his head. When they retrieved him months later from Rattatak, after enduring Ventress' torture, Anakin had thought he was holding nothing more but a mangled skeleton. Obi-Wan had been standing with more than one foot in the grave then. And yet he somehow stood up again.

"I know, master", he choked out, "I hope you're right. I can't bare to lose him."

"Your master is a fighter, Skywalker. Don't write him off so soon", the Kel'Dor let his gaze wander over the master and padawan, "but if it happens, remember you're both not alone."

Anakin nodded and gave a forced smile. He could feel the master's genuine honesty through the Force. He knew that Master Koon cared about them. Obi-Wan had always been a good friend to him as well.

"I think you two have much to discuss. You can find me on the bridge if you need something."

"Thank you, Master Plo." Anakin normally didn't use the jedi master's first name, but right now he didn't care.

He watched the man's retreating form until the door swished shut. Anakin then turned towards his padawan. It was unbelievable how mature the girl had become over the few years he had been teaching her. Deep down he knew that this was because of the war. It made the kids grow up too fast and forced them to make decisions no child should ever have to face.

Anakin pulled her in another embrace. "I'm so proud of you, Ahsoka."

She leaned against his shoulders, clearly exhausted. "What are we going to do now, master?"

"I think we should wait till we reach Coruscant. Let the temple healers get a closer look on him. And then… I have to talk with Satine."

He was not looking forward to that conversation at all.

several hours later

The flight to the jedi temple had felt like an eternity. He and Ahsoka had tried to get some rest, but they both had been way to uneasy. A healer had stopped by at some time to reattach a new prosthetic to his arm and check on the burns. The clone had told them as well that the doctors had finished the surgery on Obi-Wan but he still was very unstable. They weren't allowed to see him.

The transfer to the healing halls happened in blur. The team together with Master Che was already waiting on the landing platform to take over.

A healer padawan checked Anakin's wounds again and declared that he could be released under the promise to come back for checkups. He had merely nodded at the boy's words, not really paying attention. After that the master and padawan team had taken a seat in one of the corridors in the halls of healing, hoping to catch Master Che for an update on Obi-Wan.

It was about two hours later that they got a hold on her. The woman was clearly tired but Anakin and Ahsoka couldn't wait any longer.

"Master Che!", Anakin called out and jumped up from his place followed closely by Ahsoka, as soon as he saw the Twilek healer emerge from a room.

"Knight Skywalker, please lower your voice. This is a hospital", she stated exhausted, not laying much emphasis behind her scolding.

He held up his hands apologetically and kept his voice down. "Sorry, master. We just wanted to know if there are any changes."

The healer sighed exasperated. "You two won't give up, don't you? Well, he's stable for now", she held up a hand as soon as she saw the pair lighten up, "but he has fallen into a coma. We don't know if or when he'll wake up."

"What?", Anakin gawked at her, his smile wiped from his face again. "Is there nothing you could do?"

She shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

"Fierfek", he hissed while Ahsoka kept her silence. "Can we at least see him? Just shortly of course", he added quickly.

At first Master Che wanted to object again but as she looked into their eyes her gentle side took over. "Fine. You'll get 10 minutes. But promise me that you remain calm."

Both nodded eagerly and started to follow her to one of the intensive care rooms in the back of the halls.

Before she opened the door to let them in, she turned around again. "I'll warn you. It's not an easy sight." The master healer then opened the room and waved them in.

How right she was. The sight that greeted them was terrifying.

His master had been hooked up to various machines. The most prominent ones were definitely the heart monitor, which beeped quietly in the background, and the breathing machine, which forced the needed oxygen into Obi-Wan's lungs through the tube down his throat in a steady rhythm. They'd obviously removed the hair on his head for the surgery, as he was completely bald now. White bandages looped all around the upper half of his head and a few drains stuck out on the side of his skull as well. Some kind of metal brace held the head in place. The rest of his body was covered by a blanket, but he guessed it didn't look any better.

Anakin gaped and carefully, as if he could disturb his friend, stepped beside the bed. He grasped the hand which laid motionless on top of the blankets, mindful not to jostle the IV which had been put into the arm. Obi-Wan looked almost peaceful with his eyes closed if it weren't for all the tubes running across his body. Anakin squeezed the hand lightly but there was no response. "Kriff, master… don't do this to me", he rasped. Fear and sorrow gripped him.

Ahsoka silently slipped beside him, looking shaken to the bone. "He'll wake up again, right?", she asked, her voice merely more than a whisper.

Anakin knew he should something to sooth his padawan but somehow, he hadn't the strength to do so. "I don't know, Ahsoka. I don't know." He let go of the hand again and hugged Ahsoka instead. "We should go and tell Padme and Satine", he breathed, while holding her close.

The padawan nodded and began to trudge out of the room, Anakin closely behind. Before he left, Anakin looked at his friend for a last time. "Please wake up, Obi-Wan. I want to see your wedding, not your funeral."

As the door slipped shut behind him, he mentally prepared himself for the conversation to come.