Chapter 1 – Beginning
Plot: The mission to rescue the Chancellor becomes complicated when, out of nowhere, four more versions of Anakin randomly appear on the Invisible Hand. Except two of them are Sith cyborgs. Obi-Wan can already feel the headache coming on. One Anakin is hard enough. But five? Who all want his attention? Who all consider him their father? It's almost a nightmare come true. Or is it?
Author's Note: This, sadly, doesn't start out terribly father-son centric but after the initial blah-blah boring plot introduction, everything gets purely fluffy and chaotic. ^-^ This is basically the story of how Obi-Wan gets bullied into having five sons because he was a tad too reluctant about having one. :') Apologizes if this is kind of… dark sometimes, but I promise everyone hugs before the end. ^-^ I honestly expected it to turn out a bit lighter than this, lol.
I'm trying to keep the… serious mental-health issues out of this but seeing as there's five embodiments of mental health issues around, it only goes so far.
PS: I think the reason Vader is being so light is 'cuz the other Anakins are light and it's all he can feel, plus the Force is much lighter. :)
Also, this is a gift for InsertSthMeaningful on ao3, and this is for the SW Father-Son Appreciation Gift Exchange. :)
This fic is three chapters. The second chapter will be posted on Monday, and then, the last one on the following Monday. :D
~ Rivana Rita
Obi-Wan knew something was off in the Force when they first reached the Invisible Hand. They just arrived at the room Palpatine is being held in when... he realizes something is wrong. Very, very wrong. He doesn't know what, but something is about to happen.
He feels the Force flare, suddenly, and then...
Then, he hears four resounding thuds. He feels another sudden presence – no, more than one. Obi-Wan looks around sharply. Someone who looks disturbingly like a padawan version of Anakin crashes face-first onto the floor, and another who looks like... Anakin did when they first met nearly faceplants with a yelp and awkwardly catches himself, hastily scrambling upright.
And the other two... are disturbingly identically looking cyborgs, black in both color and the Force. One has landed awkwardly half-sprawled on his back on the floor – he's the lighter of the two – and the other crashes into a wall and catches himself on one knee before he can faceplant as ungracefully as Anakin's other disturbingly look-alike.
What disturbs him the most is the way the younger two feel identically like Anakin did at those ages in the Force. It should be impossible, but the wide-eyed look on Anakin's face implies that he feels the exact same thing. They're like echoes of him in the Force, except equally strong.
And the other two... one feels darker, though something about his presence is familiar, and he's almost as bright as Anakin, though dimmed by darkness. The other is... similar, but strangely broken somehow.
The cyborgs are looking at each other the moment they stand, and Obi-Wan looks back to the others. "Anakin?" he asks slowly, confused, because this can't be right.
Five heads simultaneously turn his way.
Oh, no. No. This cannot be happening. He can already feel an instant migraine forming.
One Anakin is enough of a headache. And Obi-Wan would do anything for him, anything at all, but that doesn't make him any less exhausting. He has no idea how he would handle five of them – seeing the way they all reverberate with Anakin's Force presence. The padawan is the same as Obi-Wan remembers from the beginning of the war.
Both cyborgs lack Anakin's brightness and strength, but they are still the same, only they burn with darkness instead of light, somehow. One of them, the one with a distinctly younger feel, seems darker somehow, while the other feels... strangely lost and broken. How any version of Anakin could end up like that, he has no idea. And the youngest boy is... wild and brilliant though closed off in the same way Anakin was when they first met.
What hits him the hardest is how, somehow, Obi-Wan has bonds with all of them – though it's weakest and freshly forming with the youngest. That doesn't make him any less confused. It's like some sort of chaotic... time-travel, but... Alright, stranger things have happened.
Anakin's very existence is stranger. Not having a father is a physical impossibility.
"What?" Obi-Wan's Anakin manages to get out, gaping at the others.
"What," echoes his padawan-self, standing up, "Is happening?"
Anakin looks from him to the cyborgs – Obi-Wan tries his best to ignore how they're both holding red lightsabers, because he saw Anakin as a Sith on Mortis, but he can't begin to imagine how it could happen for real – back to the padawan, then to Obi-Wan. "I have no idea. Master?"
"I don't know any more than you do," he answers. Not to mention they're in the middle of a battle, but with everyone staring at each other, it seems to be forgotten.
"What's the last you remember?" Knight-Anakin asks the younger two. The eldest is climbing back to his feet, and Obi-Wan doesn't miss the difficulty with which he moves. He extinguishes his lightsaber, but he doesn't put it away. The second oldest is standing again, still holding his own like he's expecting to be attacked or something.
"Jumping out of a speeder," Padawan-Anakin answers, "Can you explain..." he waves his hands in the general direction of everywhere. "All of this?"
"I was in a fighter, and it was flying out of the hanger," the youngest version of him answers, looking around. It's jarring to see him again. Obi-Wan remembers what Anakin used to look and be like at that age, but it's different seeing him again. How many times has he almost wished he could redo everything with Anakin, and do it better? He knows their relationship is strained and that he... messed it up in many ways, regardless of whether he did his best at the time.
"You're in the future," Knight-Anakin tells him. "Somehow."
"How many years in the future?" the padawan asks.
"Three," Knight-Anakin answers. "Or thirteen." Then he turns to the other two darker presences, who are just... standing there, looking much too intimidating, their respirators working their best to clash at every possible note. It'd be annoying if everything about them wasn't so disturbing in the first place. "And when are you from?"
"Can you explain what is happening here, first?" Padawan-Anakin requests.
The youngest doesn't speak, but Knight-Anakin nods. "You – we, technically, won the battle of Naboo. Obi-Wan took us to train us as Jedi right after."
"Oh," the youngest says, "What about Qui-Gon?"
A sharp pain shoots through his heart. Qui-Gon has been dead for years. Obi-Wan has long become accustomed to that. A time when his master was alive now feels almost... unreal, no matter how badly he misses him. He hadn't even considered that this... child doesn't know about it. It's been a fact of Obi-Wan's life for thirteen years. "He didn't make it," Obi-Wan answers.
The way the child maintains his calm is frankly amazing. Anakin was always like that though, and Obi-Wan senses the way his horror flares into the Force, followed immediately by a deep, cutting sorrow. "Oh," he whispers, and what in the world is Obi-Wan supposed to say to that? He doesn't know now any more than he did last time, except what he constantly repeated to himself, and he can't stay quiet. He has never been able to bear seeing Anakin in pain. "He is one with the Force now. We must let him go."
The child doesn't seem comforted by it though. He's not a Jedi yet; he doesn't understand what that means. Obi-Wan moves closer to him. He may not have done... well in this area with his own Anakin, seeing how lost he was in his own grief, but he will do better for this one.
The boy isn't looking at him, even if he clearly hears him, at least not until Obi-Wan lowers himself to one knee so they're closer at eye level. "Anakin," he says, slowly, reaching for him. He just wants to comfort him, somehow, but he has no idea how to do that any more than he ever has, and when he sees this child again, it's a clear reminder of how... vulnerable Anakin once was. He still is.
Everyone around them has faded to the back of Obi-Wan's mind. He's well aware of how there are three Sith in the room now and that two of them are Anakin's, somehow, but he's focused solely on the youngest, who currently looks like he's about to cry. Obi-Wan reaches out, laying a gentle hand on his shoulder. He doesn't know what else to do. This has been a fact of their lives for so long, and it was largely what tethered them together. Qui-Gon was the one who formed their unbreakable bond.
"Are you okay?" the child asks, shifting slightly. "Was it – was it that... thing?"
"The Sith," Obi-Wan answers. "Yes." He had almost forgotten that Anakin was always this caring, somehow. It seemed more pronounced when he was younger, perhaps because he never hid it. Anakin never did outgrow his honest concerns though, for which he is most grateful. Anakin has always been so light, and Obi-Wan's almost forgotten what it was like when he was just growing into that brilliance, when he still felt of the lightness and innocence of childhood.
Anakin nods again, blinking back tears.
Obi-Wan loathes how he feels so, so far away from him, even if he's right here. "Please don't cry."
He moves forwards, completely unexpectedly, wrapping his arms around Obi-Wan and clinging to him. Obi-Wan responds in kind, instinctively. And by the Force, his clothes hide how incredibly scrawny he is, and Obi-Wan does not want to think about it. He has no idea what Anakin has been through before he came to the Temple. It always seemed like something out of a nightmare, something not entirely real, but now... he doesn't know that he can ignore it anymore.
He doesn't remember Anakin being like this from before, so maybe it's that he knows what they hold in the future, and he's acting on that. Their bond had formed painfully slowly.
What startles him most is the sudden flare of pain and longing he senses, and he's a split second away from reminding Anakin to keep his shields up when he realizes that, no, it's not from Anakin – it's from all four of the older ones.
Obi-Wan looks up, frowning. What caused that?
"What is happening here?" Padawan-Anakin asks, in what seems to be an attempt to distract himself from something.
"We met Padme again ten years later, and... then the Clone Wars broke out," Knight-Anakin continues, a very blunt, butchered version of the story. He's trying to distract himself, too. Obi-Wan has seen it enough times to know the signs.
"Yes," Obi-Wan confirms, turning to the padawan. He slowly untangles himself from the child, standing beside him anyway. They have a... situation to focus on, and there is still a battle going on. "I take it you already reunited with Senator Amidala?"
"Yes, I did," he answers immediately.
"I tracked the assassin to Kamino, where I discovered a clone army for the Republic. From there, I tracked them to Geonosis, where we found the Separatists were gathering forces for a war," Obi-Wan explains.
"We should, uh, figure out the naming system here," Padawan-Anakin suggests, waving around the room. "I think there's five of us here."
"Call me Ani," the youngest offers.
Anakin turns his attention to the cyborgs, who are still just staring. They're disturbingly quiet, and Obi-Wan can't imagine what could ever make any version of Anakin like... this. He doesn't even know how it's possible. "What are you... called?" he asks, warily.
"I am Darth Vader," they chorus in perfect unison. They sound... too deep. Just downright wrong. They... he wants answers.
Tricky.
"We'll call one of you Darth and the other Vader," volunteers the padawan brightly.
"No!" they shout in perfect unison.
"Call me Skyguy, then," Knight-Anakin volunteers.
"No," Obi-Wan replies flatly.
"Why not?"
"No," he repeats firmly, because never in his life is he calling Anakin such a ridiculous nickname.
The padawan is eyeing them, a mix of confusion, amusement, and wariness on his face. "What?" he inquires.
"His former padawan called him that."
"Former padawan?" he repeats, eyes widening.
"Long story," Knight-Anakin replies, turning towards the oldest again. "Do you have name preferences, or should we call you both Vader?"
"Vader is all there is," they reply in perfect unison, not even glancing at each other like most people would have.
Knight-Anakin looks like he's physically restraining himself from rubbing his head.
"If... you raised me," Ani asks (he's the only one Obi-Wan agrees to use his chosen name for), looking up at him, seemingly completely oblivious to the conversations around him. "Does that make you my father?"
What?! Where did he pull that from? He doesn't know anything about being a Jedi, Obi-Wan tries to remind himself, but that doesn't stop the half-hysterical screaming in the back of his mind. (He resolutely ignores how there is a part of his mind that would, actually, really like that. Craves it, even. Anakin is... everything to him. He's the center of his world and his everything.)
He feels it again, the strange flare of pain and longing from all four Anakin's, and a flare of darkness from the younger Vader that's great enough the metal behind him starts twisting and bending with an equally disturbing screech. He's angry, and Obi-Wan has no idea why or what triggered it. Anakin is not... frightening when he's angry, but the way the Force always tenses and coils around him definitely is, and it doesn't help how Vader's mask in and of itself is intimidating.
None of them mentions it. He wishes they would. He doesn't know what's wrong, and he doesn't know how to ask, either.
"I was your teacher," he answers instead, "And we were friends."
"Nothing more," adds his Anakin, his voice falling dead, flat. It's strange to hear him sounding so... upset without showing it, but this is concealed. Hidden.
And suddenly, he wonders, is that it? Did he want Obi-Wan to tell Ani yes to that? It's... not that he doesn't feel that way; it's only against the Code, because Jedi forbid attachments, and he can't go against that.
One Anakin was overwhelming as is, but five is almost more than he can handle, from the simple way that they flow so violently in the Force. They're like stars on top of one another, colliding occasionally, each outshining the other.
An explosion suddenly tears close to the viewport, snapping everyone back to the situation at hand. "What side are you on?" Obi-Wan demands, turning to the Vaders. Really, he doesn't know what else to do.
"The only side is that of the inevitable," the eldest retaliates, sharply. Icily, almost, as if talking to him is too painful, somehow. As if he's angry at him. It's confusing, because Anakin doesn't hold grudges. But this is a Sith version of him, isn't it? The rules aren't the same, for all that Obi-Wan wishes he could talk sense back into him, it may not be as easy as he wants it to be.
"What happened to you?" the younger Vader asks, staring at the older. "Will I fail?"
From the way the oldest is moving, Obi-Wan would almost say the fight goes out of him – but no, it didn't because there was no fight from the start. It's like a burning out star, one too worn out to keep moving. He wants to take it, to hold it, to rekindle the fire that was all he knew, because it was that fire that made Anakin into the person he knows and loves. What could it take to remove that entirely? "There is no failure," he answers, "Where success was but an illusion."
Something flares in the Force. A fierce, unbridled rage. "You lost," he asks, though it's more a statement, one to which he is in denial of, than a question.
"He was a coward," the elder retorts, his Force signature heavily ladened with pain and rage and sorrow. "He betrayed us. Both of them did."
"Both," Vader echoes, and suddenly, his head slowly turns towards... Chancellor Palpatine? Who has been watching all the proceedings in silence. Dooku has as well, likely too overwhelmed to know what to do. Obi-Wan is hardly sure himself. His pain morphs to anger, and it coils around him, the Dark Side wrapping around him in all of its cold and violence. It makes it hard to breathe – harder than it already is, standing right up against a brilliant star in the Force, with two more on either side of him, only feet away. They burn in the Force, and it's overwhelming. It makes him feel small and insignificant, for all that their energy flows into the Force around them.
And then, as if completely disregarding everyone else in the room, Vader lunges at Palpatine.
Both Anakins are about to move forwards, but surprisingly enough, it's Dooku of all people who moves forwards to stop him, only for the other, other Vader to immediately attack him. The younger one gathers the Force around him, and Knight-Anakin throws up a Force-shield not a moment too soon when a massive Force-wave is flung towards them. Obi-Wan pushes himself up, annoyed, reaching over to help up Ani who seems more freaked out and confused than anything else.
He thought it was some sort of... inner Sith squabble until he looks up, only to see that Palpatine has, apparently, drawn two red lightsabers out of literally nowhere and is now fighting the younger Vader with an insane amount of speed and grace and –
He can't suppress the exhausted, exasperated sigh that escapes him. Yes. Of course. This might as well happen. First a Sith Anakin appears, and now the Chancellor himself is a Sith. Will Obi-Wan be meeting a Sith version of himself, next?
Padawan-Anakin moves forwards, about to attack Vader, presumably, and Obi-Wan reaches out to grab his sleeve to stop him. "We don't know what is going on," he cautions.
"Do we need to?" the boy demands. "He's trying to kill the Chancellor!"
Obi-Wan wants to slam his head on the wall. Really, he does. "Who is also a Sith," he replies. "This is not as clear as it may seem. There is more that we do not know, and it would be best if we... learn more of Vaders', however, warped, opinions before we intervene."
"Skyguy already did that," he replies, and Obi-Wan's gaze snaps to where, sure enough, Knight-Anakin has joined the fight with Dooku. How predictable. At the very least, they know without a doubt that Dooku is the enemy. Likely. Palpatine is, too. Anakin will have a harder time accepting that than Obi-Wan will, of course. Obi-Wan never liked him, but he was Anakin's friend. At least he thought he was. Now he isn't so sure.
"It appears he has," Obi-Wan sighs. He doesn't know what to think about the Vaders, but they are still Anakins, even if they are Sith and a bit deranged, and he refuses to turn his back on them. He won't consider them the enemy until he has verified proof that they are, even if his teachings say they are automatically evil and should be killed.
Obi-Wan turns to Ani again, next. "Stay out of the way," he orders, firmly, waiting until the boy nods, to stand up and pull out his lightsaber.
This might as well be happening, considering the endless list of crazy things that's happened today.
All things considered... stranger things have happened, and Palpatine and Dooku are vastly outnumbered. The Vaders go after Palpatine – they seem to have some sort of life-long grudge against him for reasons Obi-Wan can't begin to understand, and a dark part of him feels almost smug, because he really, really disliked the Chancellor anyway, and he disliked even more the way the man always paid so much attention to Anakin.
Regardless, all the Sith are deadly, brutal fighters. Dooku is as he remembered, but Sidious is far more deadly. The Vaders are holding their own perfectly fine, and Obi-Wan carefully stays out of the way when objects start flying all around the room. Knight-Anakin is thrown out of the fight with Dooku, against the wall, which must have hurt, though he stands up fine. Dooku shoves Obi-Wan away from him and turns his full focus onto the padawan.
Even as a Padawan, Anakin has always been a good fighter. Dooku is rapidly being worn down, already, but Anakin is... not from the best point in his life. Obi-Wan would have gone to help him, only he's caught up fighting the droids with Dooku. He makes quick work of them, but the delay is enough.
Obi-Wan can feel something is about to go very badly and moves to help the padawan, but he's a moment too late. Dooku throws one of the objects the Vaders have ripped free to use against Palpatine at Padawan-Anakin, and it throws him off-balance enough that the Sith has the opening to quite nearly take off his left arm. Obi-Wan swings his own lightsaber up to block it, shoving Dooku back with sheer willpower. Anakin was injured by Dooku already, and Obi-Wan refuses to let this be a repeat.
Nearby, Knight-Anakin stumbles, the pain flaring through their bond.
Somehow, Obi-Wan also never thought about how it would be to have multiple Anakins on the same timeline – of course, they can feel one another's pain. How couldn't they?
Obi-Wan forces himself to keep on moving, despite his instinctive urge to check on his padawan. His... he doesn't know how this happened or what it will mean for the future. He doesn't have time to think about it. That doesn't make it any easier to see.
It doesn't help how now that he tries, he can feel the pain slipping through their bonds, though he can't pinpoint who's. Perhaps all of theirs, and as the duel progresses, Obi-Wan can't help noticing how neither Anakin are fighting as well as they should be.
Maybe he would have had time to think about it, had he not been thrown across the room into a railing and dropped onto the floor from there. The world blurs mostly out of focus, and he can hear the distant sound of clashing lightsabers and most of all, he can hear Ani calling his name. The boy is at his side already, even though Obi-Wan told him to stay safe and out of sight in the chaos.
Of course, he came anyway because this is Anakin and Obi-Wan is mind-boggled by how he completely lacks self-preservation. It was true even as a child, though he can't be young enough that he doesn't understand the situation's severity.
"Are you alright?" Ani asks, hovering over him. His worry is pouring freely into the Force. He seems scared, lost. Obi-Wan isn't even surprised – this is just a boy, and he was flung into yet another battle when he really has no idea what is going on around him. And all this, right after learning Qui-Gon was gone.
"Yes," Obi-Wan promises, pushing himself into a sitting position. His body feels sore where he hit the railing, and he's mildly surprised nothing was broken. "We will be fine. Stay here."
He hears something from across the room – he's fairly certain one of the Vaders just got slammed into something from how loud it sounded (not to mention the clank that Obi-Wan does not want to think about, because he has Questions about who did this to Anakin), and Ani flinches. Sharply. "What is that?" he asks quietly, sounding lost and scared. "I can feel... something – it's like, if they get hurt, I feel it too."
"It's a Force-bond," he explains. "You are the same person, and it tethers you together."
"I don't understand."
"I can explain later," he decides, standing. "Stay here." In truth, he doesn't want to go back to the fight. The older Anakins are overwhelming in the Force, their presences overlapping and burning and suffocating to the point he can barely breathe; they are all angry right now.
The sound of lightning catches his attention – Sidious is shooting lightning at the elder Vader, who is deflecting it with his lightsaber with considerable difficulty. Dooku is, unsurprisingly, already down. Obi-Wan heads over to Padawan-Anakin instead of joining the fight against Palpatine. The Vaders are still holding their own, and Obi-Wan doesn't particularly want to get involved with a fight between Sith, regardless.
His Padawan seems... unsteady, but he's still standing when Obi-Wan approaches. "Anakin," he asks, "Are you..."
"I'll be alright," he promises, giving him a faint smile.
They always are, almost always, except on Geonosis and apparently at least one time later, but he doesn't object. The sound stills in the background, letting him know that Palpatine has been successfully dealt with.
"And I don't understand this," he continues. "Palpatine was... what?"
"Sidious," the younger Vader corrects. "Tyrannus' master. They are both no more."
Obi-Wan doesn't know why he expected Vader to be smug about that. He's not. He doesn't seem terribly happy, which isn't surprising, Obi-Wan admits to himself grudgingly. Really. Anakin was close to the Chancellor, no matter how much Obi-Wan disliked that fact and the man himself. The Knight and padawan don't seem particularly happy about it, either, but they're too... overwhelmed to deal with it. That's fine – Obi-Wan is, too.
Some dark part of him is glad though.
He doesn't have time to think about that further before the ship suddenly jolts again, far more violently. A warning flares in the Force only moments before the gravity starts rotating from the floor to the walls.
"We have to go," Knight Anakin says, sharply. He's already flipped into the mode he always uses in tight spots. "Where's Ani?"
"Here," the boy replies, materializing out of almost literally nowhere beside Obi-Wan. With a start, Obi-Wan wonders if he ever left like he was supposed to.
"Then let's go," the Knight says, but Obi-Wan doesn't miss the fond smile that flashes across his face. It's weird, because they're the same person, and have partially lived the same lives, but now they're... not really the same anymore? They will form bonds with each other as if they aren't the same, and Obi-Wan can't imagine what that would be like. He can't imagine being that close with another version of himself. Being around someone who knows him so thoroughly would be more disturbing than anything else.
Reaching down, he lifts Ani into his arms. It'll be easier than trying to keep track of him in the ensuing chaos. The boy is clinging to him. He's obviously scared, but he's not voicing any of it.
Ani feels lighter than someone this age should, but Obi-Wan doesn't let himself be distracted by it as they head for the door. Obi-Wan pauses when he realizes the Vaders aren't following. "Are you coming?" he asks, as the ship starts tilting even more.
"We will remain here," the older Vader replies, "We will be at the bridge."
Obi-Wan looks at Knight-Anakin, who shrugs and sprints for the door. Obi-Wan and Padawan-Anakin follow, Obi-Wan ignoring how reluctant he feels at letting the duo out of his sight. He doesn't know if they'll really be alright. Obi-Wan keeps one arm around Ani, just to make sure he'll be safe. The other Anakins are managing their own, of course, even after they make it down the shaft and start falling, because, of course, the problem is corrected the moment they're about to make it to safety. Of course.
"Pod racing is much cooler than this!" Ani yells.
"You'll get used to it," the Knight replies lightly. How can Anakin be so cheerful in these situations?! Obi-Wan doesn't even take the energy to be annoyed because it is so normal.
The fact that he's one-handed makes it difficult to pull out his grappling hook, but it still works. Landing is even more complicated, since he needs to make sure Ani isn't hurt, but he succeeds.
Somehow.
The boy is still clinging to him when Obi-Wan lands on the floor, hearing the resounding thuds from the other two. It's... so strange to be with another, younger version of Anakin. It's been over a decade since Anakin was too young and untrained to protect himself. Obi-Wan has never stopped trying to protect him, despite never knowing how, but it's different now that he needs to again.
Obi-Wan sets him down, hoping that there will be no more gravitational chaos. Not that he minds carrying a tiny version of Anakin around. It's been way too long since he was so perfectly... snuggle-sized. "Stay close," he orders.
The boy nods, though there's a distinct fear in his face still. There's nothing Obi-Wan can do about it until they get him to safety.
Beside him, he can see how the other Anakins are watching him with... he doesn't really understand it. Something like longing and...
He doesn't know, but now is not the time to think about it, either. The padawan was injured earlier, and to anyone else, the signs of his discomfort would be invisible, but to Obi-Wan, who raised him, they're glaringly obvious: the way he's holding his arm slightly closer to him and moving with more care than normal. "How is it?" Obi-Wan asks, walking over to him.
The Padawan moves his arm a little and winces. "I'll be okay. We better get off this ship before it blows up the rest of the way."
He can't agree more, so they take off running again. If Ani is having a hard time keeping up, he doesn't say anything. Obi-Wan suspects he would if he did, so he doesn't worry about it, instead focusing on trying to get to the hanger. Maybe it would have worked, if they hadn't been trapped inside a ray shield on the way. They would have been fine. Why do these things keep happening? "How did this happen?" he asks rhetorically, annoyed. "We're smarter than this!"
"Apparently not," the Knight replies. "Don't worry. Artoo will be here any moment to let us out."
"Artoo?!" both younger Anakins chorus.
"He's Anakin's droid," Obi-Wan answers. "He worked with us during the Clone Wars."
"What he means to say," Knight-Anakin corrects, "Is that Artoo saved his life more times than we can count, and he doesn't want to admit it."
"He kept trying to send us to the wrong floor," Obi-Wan replies, giving him a dubious look.
"No loose wire jokes."
"I didn't say anything!"
"How did you end up with Artoo?" the padawan asks. "I thought he was Padme's."
"We kind of did a... droid swap," the Knight answers awkwardly. "I'll give you the details later."
Which, not for the first time, makes Obi-Wan wonder what it is between them. He doesn't ask. It's not something they talk about, but he had hoped giving Ahsoka to Anakin would distract him from... whatever it was. Anakin hides it well, whatever it is, but Obi-Wan knows him well enough to know. It hasn't seemed to interfere with his duties, which is why he never mentions it, and that's easier for them both.
Artoo rolls in from one of the nearby doorways, screaming a string of beeps that Anakin claims to understand. Obi-Wan doesn't believe him. Predictably, they're escape attempt is yet again interrupted by a group of droids, including destroyers, which stalls any possible attempt at escape.
They're being taken to the bridge, and Obi-Wan can only hope it's part of the plan, because the Vaders said they were heading that way. Maybe this is what happened in their time as well.
Only now that they're on their way does Obi-Wan take the time to think. He doesn't really know what this means. If these four Anakins are here to stay, he has no idea what will happen to them. The oldest two are Sith, and he cannot for the life of him imagine any universe where that happened. Anakin may... have darker tendencies, but never to this point. He doesn't know what the Council will decide to do about them. They are Sith, and though they have not posed a threat or danger, it's not out of the question. Obi-Wan will have to... assess their mental states later.
The Padawan is... close to Knighthood, but if Obi-Wan is being honest with himself, he does not believe Anakin was ready. It had to be done because of the war, but it was not the preferable option. Everyone knew it, but it had to be done. Now that the war is hopefully coming to a close, he should be able to finish his years as a padawan as he should have. Obi-Wan doesn't think he's ready to do this himself, but it would only be picking up where he left off with Anakin before. The stranger part will be having to revert back to treating him as a padawan instead of a friend, which he has become well-accustomed to.
"If... you raised me, does that make you my father?"
He hastily banishes that thought as well, because – well, it's the truth in a way, isn't it? Obi-Wan remembers very little of his own parents, but it's enough. And he has, often, found himself looking at Anakin and wondering – wondering if this is normally how parents feel towards their children. It has always been a moot point because he is a Jedi first and foremost, but...
That doesn't mean he doesn't want to.
He doesn't know what will happen to Ani, either, and he realizes with a start that neither him nor Padawan-Anakin know what happened to their mother. All things considered, it's the only relationship they lost in their time-travel. He doesn't know if he can say the same about the Vaders. They probably lost everyone. (Why does part of him think they already did?)
Obi-Wan honestly doesn't know what he expected when they reach the bridge, but the entire place is in shambles, and there are pieces of a distinctly not-Anakin cyborg scattered around. Alright then. The younger Vader is up in front and the older is... waiting for them, seeing as the droids present get crushed the moment they enter the door.
If he had any questions on whether Vader is on their side, they disappear immediately. They collect their lightsabers before moving towards the front of the now-crashing ship. Obi-Wan can see it out the viewport – they're going down. Of course, because this always happens. Knight-Anakin takes the pilot seat without needing to be asked, and the younger Vader takes the other seat, leaving the other's to just hold on in the crash through the atmosphere.
No one speaks, because they don't need to, and Obi-Wan is amazing to see how well they are working together.
It's definitely one of the more dangerous crashes they've had, seeing as this ship isn't even meant to be landed, but they manage, and everyone is unharmed, though Padawan-Anakin looks like he could crash for a week, no pun intended. Likely, he could, considering he'd hardly slept in a month.
Now that the danger is over, they can speak freely.
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