When Mace Windu had sensed the presences of Kenobi and Skywalker as he made his way towards the execution arena, he had altered his course in order to track down the two errant Jedi. There was still time enough for him to make the rendezvous point, but for the moment making contact with Obi-Wan and Anakin took precedent. What he had not expected was Obi-Wan's violent attack that knocked him to the ground.
The man before him hardly resembled the stoic, restrained Jedi Knight that had left Coruscant less than two weeks before. This Obi-Wan was frantic, all of his restraint shattered, as he fought to protect his padawan from what he'd perceived as a threat. Mace had been startled by the passion that infused Obi-Wan's efforts, and equally so by the ease with which Anakin had been able to calm him. Only when Obi-Wan had relaxed was Mace able to take in the situation before him.
Something had changed between the two Jedi. The passion that had always consumed Anakin Skywalker had not subsided. It had, though, been given an outlet.
"What are you doing here, Master Windu?" Anakin asked, the fingers of his remaining hand gliding over Obi-Wan's stomach in a calming gesture. "How did the Jedi know to come to Geonosis?"
"We have come here for our own affairs," Mace informed the pair. "There are events taking place you know nothing about. Events that you should remain out of given your current conditions."
"We can help," Anakin insisted, affronted by the warning.
Mace arched an eyebrow. "Do you have any weapons?"
"Not at the moment, no," Anakin admitted, his fingers pressing against the flat plain of Obi-Wan's stomach. "They don't exactly allow prisoners to keep their arms."
"Literally it would seem," the Jedi Master mused only to find himself flat on his back again with Obi-Wan glaring down at him.
"Do not mock what you do not know," Obi-Wan hissed, his fingers tightening around Mace's throat.
"I mocked nothing, my friend," Mace said calmly, not wanting to provoke the insensible man. "Now, if you would be so kind as to remove yourself from me, I have a schedule to keep."
Obi-Wan scowled darkly, but did as requested. "I may have been your friend once, but that does not necessarily hold true now."
Mace Windu rose to his feet, straightening his robes as he did. "So it would seem."
Beaten down, frightened, weaponless, Obi-Wan was still a powerful figure as he stood his ground before Master Windu. In the past there had always been a serenity about Obi-Wan, even in the midst of battle. It was something that had always frustrated him about his master. In the ten years they had known each other, Anakin could remember only a handful of times that he had seen the older man give into his emotions. That number had risen astronomically since that failed trip to the Ranth'fer system. At the present, Obi-Wan was bubbling over with emotions that he had never before acknowledged.
Obi-Wan, please relax, Anakin pleaded as he climbed stiffly to his feet. There is no point in quarreling with Master Windu.
Anakin watched Obi-Wan's shoulders tense briefly before he took a step back. A moment later he was at Anakin's side, his fingers twitching as he fought the urge to touch the younger man. Taking the decision from him, Anakin reached out, wrapping his fingers around Obi-Wan's wrist and pulling him closer.
I don't like him.
There was no stopping the grin that formed at the petulant sound of Obi-Wan's voice as it echoed in his mind. You'll only exhaust yourself if you if you keep fighting with him.
The answering scowl told Anakin all he needed to know about Obi-Wan's opinion of that. Still, as though to prove his point, Anakin noticed that Obi-Wan was wavering somewhat. Not wanting to draw attention to it, Anakin released Obi-Wan's wrist and placed his hand on the small of his back, steadying him.
"You do not mean to leave us without weapons, do you?" Anakin asked, shifting still closer to Obi-Wan, offering his body as support.
"Unfortunately, I have none that I can spare," Master Windu said, already moving past them. "It would be best if you continue the way you were heading. There are several transports out in the dunes near to where you left your starfighter. Find them and you will find healers on board. We will speak about this at great length once we have completed our objectives here."
Then they were alone in the corridor. There were so many emotions swirling around Obi-Wan that Anakin could barely think straight. So he moved in front of Obi-Wan, pulling the smaller man against his chest. Immediately, Obi-Wan wound his arms around Anakin, burrowing his face into the crook of his neck. Anakin sunk his fingers into the cropped copper hair, holding tight to Obi-Wan. With each frantic breath, Obi-Wan began to calm.
"Are you sure that we can trust him?" Obi-Wan said into his shoulder.
"As much as we can trust anyone," Anakin sighed, wishing that he sounded more convincing. "Master Windu's a member of the Jedi Council. He wouldn't send us into a trap."
Obi-Wan seemed uncertain, but nonetheless he followed after Anakin. The two men remained close, their shoulders brushing as they made their way through the bowels of the factory.
Obi-Wan blinked repeatedly as they stepped out into the scorching sunlight. After a week in the dim lighting of the factory, the unfiltered sunlight hurt his eyes. He squinted, waiting for his pupils to adjust to the light. Ultimately, though, Obi-Wan was grateful for the sunlight. Surely he wouldn't have envisioned such a painful salvation if it had all been a hallucination brought on by too much time in solitude. He would have simply barricaded himself in a secluded room with Anakin and kept themselves hidden until it was safe.
At the moment, though, safe was a relative term.
"Here, take this," Anakin said as he slipped out of his torn cloak. "You're too fair-skinned for this planet."
Obi-Wan thought of protesting, but the expression on Anakin's face prevented him. Anakin was determined to offer him this small comfort and Obi-Wan could not find it in himself to deny him. It was a relief to slip the hood over his head, blocking out a small portion of the sun's rays. Immediately, though, he felt guilty when he caught sight of Anakin squinting in the sunlight. So, drawing the younger man against his side, Obi-Wan lifted one of the edges of the cloak and draped it over Anakin's head. It required keeping his arm across Anakin's shoulders to hold the fabric so that it wouldn't slip away, but Anakin's responding arm around his middle was definitely welcomed.
"How far do we have to go?" Obi-Wan asked as they trudged after R2-D2 through the dunes.
Anakin paused for a moment, glancing around at the surrounding desert. He nodded off to the right, using his grip to turn Obi-Wan in the proper direction. "Just over that ridge and a little bit along the ravine. Not too far."
With no choice but to follow, Obi-Wan allowed Anakin to lead them away from the factory. Being out in the open, however, made Obi-Wan nervous. He didn't like being so exposed, pray to anyone who happened to glance out at the barren plains. If someone happened upon them, they would have no way to defend themselves. His odd ability to fling his dinner plate across the cell would be entirely useless.
"Was it a trap, you think? The guards letting me go so easily?" Obi-Wan asked in a quiet voice once they were a safe enough distance from the factory.
"No," Anakin was quick to assure him. "One of the powers the Force grants us is the ability to alter the thoughts of the weak-minded. You've always been able to do it with barely a thought so it's no wonder it's the first of your talents to return."
"Would this Force also be responsible for my tossing dinner plates about without lifting a finger?"
Anakin's grin was immediately. "Yes it's also responsible for you tossing about dinner plates. Though that could also simply be because you're a finicky eater."
"It's hardly being finicky to desire something palatable," Obi-Wan countered, fixing a glare on Anakin for a brief moment.
They continued on in silence for a while, their main concern simply being to make it to Anakin's ship. And the Jedi. Obi-Wan didn't know anything about the Jedi, except what Anakin had told him. Master Windu had been the only other example of a Jedi he'd had and if Anakin was right, and this Master Windu was one of the Jedi elite, Obi-Wan didn't much care for their Order. Obi-Wan still trusted no one except Anakin.
Though it would be several days before war was officially declared between the Separatists and the Republic, it began under the hot sun of Geonosis. More than two hundred Jedi Knights and Masters infiltrated the execution arena, catching the Separatist leaders unawares. Yet it was not so easy for the Jedi. An army of droids, far greater in number than their own forces, took up the battle, killing many Jedi before Master Yoda arrived with the clone army that had been created in secret over the past ten years. An army with a single purpose: to follow their masters orders.
It was a day which Darth Sidious had been waiting ten years for. Both armies would ultimately answer to him. Giant game pieces, they would create an empire for him. All was not as Sidious had envisioned it. He had thought to have Anakin Skywalker as his new apprentice. Obi-Wan Kenobi was to have been killed and in his grief and anger Anakin was to have slipped headlong into the Dark Side of the Force. Kenobi, however, still lived, and so long as he breathed Anakin would not forsake the light.
Darth Sidious was nothing if not a patient man. He had already waited several decades for everything to fall into place. It would be of no consequence for him to wait a few years longer. In the end he would have his empire, and Skywalker would be by his side.
It was a battleground they'd stumbled upon. The simple transports Anakin had been expecting were battleships swarming with white armoured soldiers who immediately turned their blasters upon them. Anakin felt Obi-Wan tense and take a half-step before, placing himself in between Anakin and the raised blasters.
"I am Padawan Anakin Skywalker!" Anakin shouted as he moved to stand abreast of Obi-Wan. "This is my master, Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi."
The blasters remained pointed at them, their aim never wavering. Then suddenly the first of the armoured soldiers was lifted high above the ground, screaming, and discharging their weapons. Several other soldiers opened fire, their aim accurate and aimed at him and Obi-Wan. Anakin did what he could to keep them safe, nudging the soldiers' minds with the Force to hinder their aim. He heard Obi-Wan cry out in pain then and a moment later the dozen or so soldiers firing on them were bowled over by an unseen wave. Anakin himself was knocked to the ground, skidding backwards across the sand.
"Obi-Wan!" Anakin shouted, awkwardly fumbling back to his feet as fast as he was able and rushed to where Obi-Wan knelt hunched forward, forehead pressed to the ground. "Obi-Wan!"
Gasping, Obi-Wan rose stiffly to his knees, his body arching backwards. Anakin caught him around the shoulders, easing him down carefully so he could see where Obi-Wan had been hit. There was a fresh, bloodied hole in Obi-Wan's left side. It was Anakin's instinct to staunch the wound with his right hand. Panting and trembling, it was Obi-Wan who placed his own hand over the injury, crying out from the pain of it as he did so.
"Somebody help us!" Anakin shouted, clutching Obi-Wan to him with his left arm.