Obi-Wan managed to calm down Anakin to the point where he was able to enter into some of the most basic meditative exercises. Once Anakin's breathing had become shallow and silent, he left the classroom behind in search of Master Yoda.
No way was Anakin up to the task the Jedi Council had wanted Obi-Wan to ask of him.
Obi-Wan tried to patiently wait outside Master Yoda's quarters, but instead he found that he simply could not find his center of peace. Something was definitely wrong here, and not just with Anakin.
Finally, the door slid open, revealing a darkened room lit only by the Courscant sunlight coming in between the slats of the blinds. The room smelled slightly musty, as if reflecting the age of its occupant.
"Master Obi-Wan," the wizened Jedi Master greeted him. "Expect to see you again so soon, I did not." His tone feigned innocence, but Obi-Wan knew the little green alien had a very good idea of why he was here.
"Master Yoda," Obi-Wan responded when the door swished shut behind him. "I need to speak to you about the task that you asked of my former Padawan."
Yoda ambled toward the round cushion that he enjoyed sitting on, leaning heavily on his ancient cane. Obi-Wan believed he might have heard an exasperated sigh leave the old Master's lips. "And how reply to the task did he?"
Obi-Wan started to speak, and then realized that he hadn't even had a chance to ask Anakin. But Anakin was in no state to do what the Jedi Council was asking. "He can't do it, Master Yoda," he replied.
"Cannot, or will not?" Yoda asked.
Obi-Wan paused, although his first instinct was to shout. Now he knew how Anakin felt when he was questioned and already knew the answer. "Anakin told me that… something has happened," he replied. Obi-Wan realized that he was not quite ready to reveal his friend's secret. Not, at least, without reviewing all possible alternatives.
"Yes," answered Yoda. "Disturbed, young Skywalker is. Feel his despair from across the Temple, I do."
He knows, Obi-Wan thought. No. Yoda knows that something is seriously wrong, but not what, exactly.
"Master, I have the utmost confidence in Anakin, no matter how wrong I think what the Council is asking him is," Obi-wan answered softly. "But he cannot do the task we have asked of him. Not now."
Yoda was silent for a moment, thinking. "These visions, in the hands of a Sith Lord, very dangerous they could be." Yoda nodded slowly. "If under the control of the Sith, Palpatine is, a great tool could Skywalker's fear be. Distance them, perhaps we should."
"Visions?" Obi-Wan asked. Anakin had not mentioned anything about visions.
"Told you, he did not?" Yoda answered, a knowing look crossing his face. "What they are, he would not tell me, but of death, fear, they are. Afraid of losing someone, or something, he is."
His place in the Order? Obi-Wan wondered. He feared it as well.
"Attachment is forbidden, Master Kenobi," Yoda reminded the young Jedi Master. "Remind your former Padawan of this, you should."
"Yes, Master Yoda," he replied. "And in the meantime?" he inquired.
Yoda's brow wrinkled further in thought. "Tell Chancellor Palpatine that Skywalker is currently occupied with other business, the Council shall."
Obi-Wan bowed to the wise old Master, and took his leave. "Obi-Wan," Yoda called after him.
Obi-wan stopped, but did not turn towards Yoda, afraid of what his face might betray. "Protect Anakin, you cannot always do. His own destiny, he must decide," Yoda said softly.
Obi-Wan was silent. "I try, Master," he whispered. But try as he might, Yoda asked the impossible of him.
He walked back toward the classroom slowly. The future ahead of him seemed so empty, but he could not let despair take over him. He felt so lost as to what to do next that he neglected to realize that he'd just won a victory against the great and wise Yoda.
