To Hieiko and Fell Dragon, thank you again for your comments. :)
13
A jolt of anger from Anakin brought Obi-Wan out of his concentration.
The first thing that came to mind was what could the boy possibly done to get into trouble with the Council again...
Then he remembered Anakin was no longer his Padawan.
The past couple days left Obi-Wan feeling jilted; half the time he expected to see Anakin whenever he turned around, or to find him just around the corner. Add in the fact that he could still feel his former Padawan's emotions through the Force, and he felt like a ghost was stalking him.
Lately, Obi-Wan felt strange things from the younger Jedi. There were great surges in the Force that went though him, so strong that Obi-Wan could feel the power. Obi-Wan wasn't sure, but he suspected this had something to do with Padmé.
Sometimes, though, he felt things that troubled him more.
Something was making Anakin doubt his path, so that he hesitated in decisions. These hesitations, Obi-Wan knew, could potentially lead a Jedi down the wrong path – dangerously close to the dark side.
And that, Obi-Wan suspected, had something to do with Chancellor Palpatine.
Obi-Wan pushed through the Force to locate what made Anakin flare up in anger, but it was gone. He sank deeper into the Force only to find calm resignation from Anakin. As he focused harder that acceptance turned to happiness, increasing joy.
With a sigh Obi-Wan came out of his meditation.
One thing he knew for sure: something was bothering Anakin.
Perhaps he could go talk to Padmé, she was the only other person that Anakin confided in. Obi-Wan wanted to find out what nagged at Anakin as soon as possible. Thirteen years of looking out for him were not for nothing; it was difficult for him to stop worrying about the younger Jedi.
Making his way the short distance across Coruscant – the Queen's building was just visible from the highest point in the Temple – he grew more concerned. There had been no sign of Anakin at the Temple that morning; in fact he had rarely been seen at the Temple for the past few days. On the other hand, the Temple was a large place, swarming with Jedi.
Crossing his arms as he rode the turbolift up to Padmé's floor, he felt the other one go past, traveling down.
Anakin rode that turbolift.
For a second Obi-Wan thought about stopping both the lifts, getting out and asking Anakin what in the blazes he was doing at Padmé's this early in the day. Then he realized that Anakin had not gone over there this morning, but was returning to the Temple from the past night.
What does that boy think he's doing? Has he gone completely mad! Obi-Wan thought in a flash of irritation. He took a breath, thinking, Everything's fine, I know it is. He probably just went to tell her that he passed the trials and is now a Knight…
Obi-Wan smiled to himself at this conclusion.
That made sense – it was a perfect reason for Anakin to go to Padmé. She would be happy for him. It was a perfectly innocent excuse. There was nothing to worry about. Obi-Wan nodded to himself and stepped out of the turbolift.
As soon as he thought it he admonished himself, Jedi, especially Masters, do not worry. Stop it.
"Padmé?" Obi-Wan called out, knocking on her door. He waited then called her name again.
Padmé said nothing in return, opening the door instead. She looked surprised to see him, yet nervous at the same time.
"Master Kenobi!" she said upon opening the door. She made no effort to let him in. "I wasn't expecting you!"
"Um…sorry about dropping in on you like this. I was actually thinking about going to get something to eat…I haven't had a chance to get something this morning."
"Sure…" Padmé glanced back into her apartment for a brief second. She stepped out into the hallway to stand next to Obi-Wan. "Well then, where should we go?"
"I know just the place."
The Jedi Master turned around and led Padmé out of the building. Ten minutes later they sat in his favorite diner, enjoying a modest breakfast.
"Padmé, I wanted to thank you for helping us with all the refugee work. It's really been wonderful to have you working with us," Obi-Wan said. "But my main reason for coming to you is about Anakin."
Padmé swallowed, and looked at Obi-Wan nervously. Through the Force he could tell she was debating over what to tell him.
"I feel there's something bothering him…and I don't like where it might take him. He hasn't talked to me about it, and you're the only other person he's close with. So I wondered if you might know what it is."
"Oh." She looked back at Obi-Wan, her face relaxing. "Well, I don't know, really. He came over the other night after the trials…he was saying he was really nervous about having to fight. That's all he told me." She swallowed again. "Why? What's so wrong with him?"
"I don't mean to alarm you. It's just that he's been doing things that…are questionable to the rest of the Jedi. I'm just worried about him."
Padmé's eyes widened as she took in what he said, obviously aware of what some of the said questionable actions might be. Before she could respond, Obi-Wan's comlink beeped.
"Master Kenobi speaking," he answered.
"Master? Where are you? The Council's needing you," Anakin's voice crackled.
Obi-Wan's brow crinkled in confusion. It was extremely rare that Anakin had to track him down for the Council. "Do you know what they want?"
"Something about Kashyyyk. Apparently, the attack has started. We're officially at war again."
"I'll be right there," he sighed heavily. Obi-Wan switched off the comlink and tucked it back inside his robes. He turned to face Padmé.
"I'm terribly sorry to cut this short…but please, if you think of anything that might help with Anakin, feel free to contact me. I only want to see what's best for him." Obi-Wan excused himself and stood up from the table.
"I think we all do," Padmé whispered. "I wish you the best of luck out there, Master Jedi. May the Force be with you."
"Thank you. Heaven knows we'll need it."
With that, Obi-Wan turned in a swirl of robes and left the diner. He made his way as swiftly as possible for the Temple. With war starting again, he knew he would be taking off to lead the Republic troops into battle – this time over Kashyyyk to save the Wookiees from an enemy whose motives and capabilities they little understood.
Yes, they would need all the power of the Force.
Just ahead, Anakin could make out the Republic shipyards on Coruscant. All the hustle and bustle surrounded three Republic assault cruisers – one of which he had to dock his starfighter on.
As he guided his fighter down, he tried not to think of the events of the morning. A large mix of feelings flowed through him, and they all combined to form one: anger.
Right now, Anakin did not feel like trying to calm his feelings. He knew all too well what Obi-Wan wanted at Padmé's – him. Obi-Wan was not the only one to sense another Jedi there that morning. Having trained with the Master for over ten years now, Anakin did not even have to think in order to locate Obi-Wan in the Force. Anakin also knew why Obi-Wan went to Padmé's: to find him and chastise him for being with her. It seemed that was the only thing Obi-Wan could do these days, despite the fact that he was no longer Anakin's master.
With the starfighter landed, Anakin unbuckled his restraints and turned the small craft off with the Force. He did so with some over exertion, receiving a warning beep from the astromech tucked up in the fighter.
Anakin thought of a snippy reply to the droid, but once glance out the cockpit stopped any desire to do so.
The place was absolutely crawling with Jedi. Anakin needed to get control of his emotions. Taking a deep breath, he leaned his head back against the headrest with a sharp jerk.
There's a battle ahead of me. It's in just a few hours. I have to focus
Anakin swallowed again. His stomach soured with a shrinking sensation.
He was not worried about his piloting abilities, for he knew those were above par. Part of him was not ready for the stress of fighting. All the loss of life – and for what? Closing his eyes, he forced himself to stop thinking such things and turned his attention to Padmé.
Another wonderful night spent with her, cut short by the appearance of Obi-Wan. Anakin felt him coming, allowing him the few precious seconds to at least get himself out of the apartment.
That way Obi-Wan could prove nothing, merely that Anakin was in the same building.
Wasting no more time, he opened the cockpit and hopped out of the starfighter. Taking a look at itmade him smile. Perhaps things would be fine; after all, he was flying in his own beloved fighter. After all the adjustments he made he had no doubt about its abilities.
Yes, things would be alright.
If anything, it would be good to fly again.
Meandering through the maze of the massive starship, Anakin fought to keep his mind empty and his emotions calm.
Down on the surface of Kashyyyk, Tenner Quantos ran through the Wookiee village with Pela Ho'San behind her. An ARC-170 fighter darted above the trees, sending sputtering blasts of laser bolts into the jungle. Suddenly, a loose plank in the walkway snagged Pela's foot. She cried out and fell to the ground. A hearty thud sounded with her impact.
At that second, one of the ARC fighters noticed them, especially the fact that they were not Wookiees.
Instantly, Tenner whipped out her lightsaber. The aquamarine blade flashed and hummed through the air. Before she could think, she deflected two laser blasts back at the fighter and away from Pela.
The pilot could not maneuver out of the way of his own lasers, and the ship exploded.
Tenner shivered as she felt the life of the pilot extinguish. Her shiver was more how the Force felt right with the clone no longer in existence, which disturbed her greatly. Existence of life was supposed to be right in the Force, not the loss of it.
Turning back to Pela, she helped her friend up from the walkway. Neither of them said a thing. Pela brushed her hands on her tunic a couple times; both of them lost their cloaks quite a ways back. They ran on, hoping that at the clan leader's quarters they would find the means to try and communicate with the Jedi Temple.
The Republic needed to get here, and fast.
The Star Destroyer, or assault cruiser as the Republic preferred to call it, groaned heavily, and suddenly dropped out of hyperspace. Shudders rocked the deck as the heavy craft converted to realspace.
Everyone around Anakin stopped what they were doing, confusion on all their faces. Some of them looked to Anakin for support – him being one of the mystical Jedi. Anakin merely shrugged his shoulders; he had no better idea of what happened to the ship than they did. Reaching out to the Force, he tried to gain some understanding.
But the thing that Anakin felt most was the wrongness.
Clones dampened the Force. And they were absolutely everywhere; scattered throughout the system in such great numbers, the clones created what could only be described as a literal void in the Force. In the back of his mind, Anakin had the ghastly feeling that these clones would not be the last menace to be wrong in the Force that would come to this galaxy.
Around him men buzzed about, anxious to go out and fight. Anakin decided to leave the hangar bay. Now was a good time to talk to the captain, it was important to find out what exactly was going on.
After a short exchange with the captain, Anakin was back beside his fighter. The news from the command deck was grim – the Separatists managed to create a ship that could mimic a gravity well and pull a ship out of hyperspace. For all practical senses and purposes, they were now stuck above Kashyyyk.
A steady siren called out through the hangar bay.
Time to load up the fighters.
Amid the mass of Jedi starfighters, new starfighters, running on twin ion engines, rested. Their small circular cockpits were balanced on both sides by angular wings extending far from the main body of the fighter. The trainees, fresh from the center on Carida, got into them to fight side by side with the Jedi.
Anakin paid them no mind. The only thought he had regarding them was that they were meant to be, something natural in the Force. That was good enough for him.
Pulling his Jedi cloak around him, he hopped back into the starfighter. He adjusted the comlink headset, and started up the fighter. Taking a deep breath, he reached out to the Force to gain some strength.
The hangar bays opened. One by one, wings of fighters began to take off. Anakin gently brough his fighter off the deck and flew out of the ship.