CHAPTER II
Re-assignment
Obi-Wan Kenobi exited the lift just outside the Jedi Council's meeting chamber and paused momentarily in front of the door. He took a deep breath, not sure what to expect from this encounter, not really sure even what it was that he wanted.
He would, of course, do as he had promised Amidala and request permission to return her to Naboo. Anakin had already been assigned to the task but there was no doubt in his mind that the Senator's wishes hadn't been considered. Given the obvious friendship between his Padawan and the Naboo diplomat, it probably never occurred to anyone that she would object.
One thing was certain after meeting with Amidala: Anakin should not serve as her escort. Other things were less certain. His own request to take her back to Naboo would probably be granted, but a part of him wished another Jedi could escort her home.
To say that Anakin wouldn't be happy to find out his own Master had requested his reassignment - much less that Obi-Wan had personally stepped in to take his place - would be a mastery of understatement.
Ah well. He'd best get this over with. It truly was for the best.
He waved his palm in front of the sensor and the door to the Council chambers slid open.
The brilliant orange of the late Coruscant sunset blazed in panoramic beauty through the huge windows ringing the room. The brightness of it made shadowy silhouettes of the two figures that stood staring out at the city in silence. Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu each appeared lost in their own private thoughts. They sensed Obi-Wan's presence as he entered and turned to greet him.
The more diminutive of the two cocked his head inquisitively. "Early you are, Obi-Wan."
Master Windu added his own observation. "Yes, your Padawan's mission debriefing isn't for another hour."
Obi-Wan heard the unspoken question from both Masters.
"I'm not here for Anakin's debriefing." He stopped in front of the two council leaders, his vision slowly adjusting to the glare of the outside light. "I've just come from speaking with Senator Amidala. As you both know, the Supreme Chancellor is still insistent that she maintain a Jedi bodyguard for all interstellar travel. She has requested that I, not Anakin, be the one to escort her back to Naboo. I'm here to get the council's permission."
Yoda's moss-colored eyes widened slightly. "Assigned your Padawan to that task, we did, once he is sufficiently recovered."
"Yes," Obi-Wan replied, "but I've just spoken to the Senator and she is most adamant that Anakin not be the one to escort her.
"Give you a reason, did she?" Again Yoda seemed slightly perplexed. Obi-Wan knew he was most likely remembering how Amidala had run to his Padawan in the hangar on Geonosis. The display had left little doubt about the depth of her feelings for him.
"She only claimed that Anakin's feelings for her - specifically his admiration and affection - are an inconvenience. She was very clear that she has no wish to see him again." He thought for a moment before adding, "Anakin is overly fond of her. I tend to agree with her reasoning."
Master Windu rubbed his lower lip with his thumb. It was a gesture he often made when thinking a matter over.
"Chancellor Palpatine's point is well made." He offered. "The threat to the Senator's life still exists as long as a bounty is offered." He turned from the window to face Obi-Wan squarely. "Jedi protection on her journey home is an imperative. If there is any truth to her feeling that Anakin cares for her too much then perhaps it would be best if you escort her. Tell Amidala that the Council approves her request and the two of you may leave tomorrow morning."
Obi-Wan exhaled on a bazaar combination of relief and trepidation. There was only one problem with that scenario.
"Masters, I don't think she will wait that long." His comment was ambiguous, but the truth of his words rang through - she definitely would not wait.
Windu sighed. "Fine, then. You can leave at once."
"Thank you." Obi-Wan gave a respectful half-bow to both of them before turning on his heel to leave.
"Wait, Obi-Wan!" It was Yoda's voice that halted him mid-step. He turned slowly back toward the wizened old Jedi. "A question I have for you."
"Yes?" Obi-Wan was already distracted, wanting to get his new mission underway.
"Mentioned little, you have, about your duel with Count Dooku." Yoda's eyes pierced him, as if searching for what remained unsaid.
"There isn't much to tell. It was quite short." Obi-Wan's voice betrayed his self-derision. He'd managed to avoid this line of questioning when giving his report to the entire council. Why would Yoda bring it up now?
The master's next words were even more surprising. "A strong Jedi you are, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Your defeat at the hands of Dooku… owed more, it did, to circumstance than any shortcoming of yours." How could Yoda have known that he'd been agonizing over the ease of Dooku's victory?
"I don't understand." He replied, knowing confusion had to be evident on his face.
"Much more than a rebellious politician Dooku is. The dark side is strong with him. Expected, you did, to face him with your Padawan at your side. Unprepared, were you, to face him alone." Ah, it was suddenly starting to make sense. "Clouded, your mind was, by concern for your apprentice. Foolish and impulsive his actions were."
Yoda slowly crossed the floor to stand in front of him, gimer stick tapping with each step.
"Remember," he looked up at Obi-Wan intently, "your master and your Padawan are not one and the same."
The truth of Yoda's words finally began to sink in. Faded memories of Qui-Gon's unexpected loss had vividly flooded back in that Geonosian hangar.
"If faced with the same situation again, more focused would you be."
Yoda was giving him a great gift - a kind of absolution from what he had perceived to be a true failure on his part. Such gifts were rare and he was grateful. "Thank you, Master."
"Obi-Wan, another concern we have." Yoda cleared his throat. "Your Padawan."
"Master," Obi-Wan hastened to explain, "I'm sure Anakin will forget all about Senator Amidala in time."
"It is not his affection for the Senator that concerns us now." Mace Windu interjected, causing Obi-Wan to glance from one Jedi Master to the other. It wasn't? What else was there to be concerned about, if not Anakin's growing emotional attachment to Padmé Amidala?
"On Tatooine, he suffered much." Yoda answered the unspoken question, leaving Obi-Wan to wonder just how much the council knew.
During his own debriefing Obi-Wan had given only the most cursory explanation for why his apprentice had gone to the outer rim world. At this stage his Padawan was more than capable of explaining his own choices and it saved Obi-Wan the trouble of apologizing on his behalf.
He nodded, prepared to impart what little knowledge he did have. "Anakin went to Tatooine to try and rescue his mother. Something to do with the nightmares he's been having. Apparently he found her, but she was already dead."
Actually, Anakin hadn't even told him that much. His Padawan had been sedated on the flight back from Geonosis to help manage the pain and shock of his lost limb. Strapped to a bed in the Republic ship's medical bay, he'd been thrashing about, muttering to himself. Most of what he said was unintelligible, but Obi-Wan had understood a small part loud and clear.
Anakin's mother was dead and Anakin blamed himself for not saving her.
Both Yoda and Mace appeared to expect him to continue his explanation.
"That's all I know." He felt a little sheepish. "I haven't really had a chance to speak to him since his surgery."
"Explains much, this does." Yoda tilted his head smugly toward Mace, who nodded in agreement. "The pain we felt from young Skywalker. The loss of his mother it must have been."
"Yes," Master Windu added, "that would explain his pain, but not the rest…"
Once again Obi-Wan looked from one Jedi master to the other, his consternation evident.
Somehow they'd felt Anakin's pain. Through the Force? He remained silent long enough to allow them to explain, but neither council leader said a word.
Though his outward demeanor was composed, inside Obi-Wan gave a frustrated sigh. His time and patience were growing short. He had a job to do. When it was obvious no explanation was forthcoming he spoke. "If you don't need me, I really should go."
"Hmmm. Yes, go Obi-Wan, off to Naboo. And may the Force be with you."
The young Knight was headed out the door before Yoda finished speaking. He didn't see both Council leaders turn back to the darkening sky, their expressions grim.
As soon as he left the Council, and against his better judgment, Obi-Wan went straight to the Healing Wards in search of his Padawan. He approached Anakin's designated cot warily and it was with paradoxical relief that he found Anakin sleeping. Obi-Wan knelt on the floor beside the cot. There were no chairs.
The Healer in attendance, Luminara's Padawan, Barriss Offee, was kneeling at the other side of Anakin's cot. She informed Obi-Wan that Anakin was in a healing trance.
"He'll be awake in half an hour. He has a meeting with the Council," she told him.
Obi-Wan was grateful for that information. He really had no intention of talking to his Padawan right now. He only wanted to look.
His eyes went first to the boy's face. In the dreamless slumber of the trance, with the scratches and bruises of Geonosis long since faded, Anakin looked almost unchanged from the tiresome boy that Obi-Wan had sent off reluctantly to Naboo a few weeks ago. It was a happy deception. When Anakin was awake, his eyes were old and yes, pained; his face was shuttered and closed.
A glint of metal caught Obi-Wan's eye and his gaze went to Anakin's new right arm. The cybernetics limb was a crude skeletal framework of durasteel and wires. An EM-DEE droid had informed Obi-Wan that this was just an initial replacement for functionality. A better fitting would be procured later. In the meanwhile, it hung from the stump of Anakin's arm like an ancient glove weapon.
"After his meeting," Padawan Offee whispered, "he will be discharged from the Ward. He will come back later for more fittings and of course, I'll be checking on him regularly but he can return to your quarters."
Perfect timing, Obi-Wan thought wryly.
During their only conversation since Geonosis, a conversation that had consisted all of three sentences, his Padawan had expressed to Obi-Wan an uncharacteristic indifference about the loss of his arm and its mechanical replacement. Obi-Wan would have probed further but he had not been given the chance. Anakin was in and out of the cybernetics replacement theatre and neither the droids nor the Healers would give the pair more than a moment's privacy.
Anakin did not seem to mind.
Suddenly, the weeks since Obi-Wan had had a real conversation with his Padawan seemed to weigh on his mind and overwhelm him. The idea of leaving Anakin now with so many matters as yet unresolved - for an assignment that was almost certainly guaranteed to cause them more problems, left a very sour taste in the Jedi Master's mouth.
But there was one thing, he could do…
When he and Anakin had been given separate assignments, the Council had instructed Obi-Wan to put their Master-Padawan bond to sleep until Anakin's mission was completed. Despite his instinctive reluctance, Obi-Wan had had no real cause to argue this: that was the way it had always been done; every Padawan was completely on his own on his first assignment. Well, Anakin's mission was complete now. And as far as Obi-Wan was concerned, there was no cause not to immediately restore his connection to his Padawan.
With a deep breath that reached all the way to the bottom of his lungs, Obi-Wan shut his eyes and sunk into the Force. He felt the silent consciousness of Anakin in his trance-like slumber, and the gentle intelligence that was Padawan Offee. He could feel the auras of the hundreds of Jedi in the Temple like a living pulse. He sifted through these sensations, and turned his focus inwards, searching through his own emotions of doubt and worry - accepting them and dispelling them - still searching, until he finally found one end of the sleeping bond.
Obi-Wan woke it up gently… almost hesitantly. He knew the moment it sprung to life: the Force whirlpool that was Anakin seemed to burst into his consciousness like a flame. It was at once bright, powerful and indiscernible. A complete connection could not be formed with Anakin unconscious; and when Anakin regained consciousness, he would probably be unaware of the restored link until Obi-Wan actively used the connection to communicate with him. Of course, even then Anakin would still have full control over how much of himself was revealed to his Master: the bond was not invasive. But at least the link had been re-established; a connection had been restored. Satisfied, Obi-Wan lifted himself out of the Force.
He opened his eyes to Padawan Offee's sympathetic face. With the Healer's link she had with his Padawan she had probably picked up on some of Obi-Wan's emotions.
"He's fine, Master Kenobi," she said reassuringly.
It embarrassed Obi-Wan that his anxiety had been so obvious. Still, he was moved by, and grateful for the Mirialan Healer's compassion. Barriss Offee was a merit to Luminara. He had thought so on Ansion a few weeks - weeks! - ago and he thought so now. He was leaving his Padawan in good hands.
"Thank you, Padawan Offee," he said.
The Jedi Master got to his feet and bowed to the Healer apprentice. She bowed her head in return. After a last long look at his sleeping charge, he turned on his heel and left for his new assignment.
With every step she took down the long graceful hallways of the Senate proper, Padmé strengthened her resolve. The sun was setting over Coruscant, the neon lights gradually twinkling into existence, encompassing the skyline. It was beautiful and something she usually enjoyed, but tonight she did not raise her head to look. She walked with a quiet intensity to the hanger where a ship awaited to take her home.
When Obi-Wan had left her apartment earlier that afternoon, she had collapsed in a heap, unable to bear the weight of her sorrow any longer. She clawed at her metallic bodice, as if it were suffocating her. A panic-stricken Dormé rushed in, Artoo thrilling at her heels, to comfort her usually stoic mistress. After sobbing inconsolably for long moments, Padmé ordered the handmaiden away to begin packing immediately. Artoo followed, whistling unhappily. Then Padmé rose unsteadily to her feet, smoothed out the wrinkles in the stiffened fabric of her skirt and with a sudden burst of defiance, the Senator barged into her office.
Padmé found what she needed in the middle drawer of her desk: a delicately carved wooden box. It held her best parchment, handmade in a tiny Naboo village, and saved only for special correspondences. Anakin deserved at least that. It had been a gift from her father; she would need his quiet strength now more than ever.
She was trembling again. It was only after several tries that she could put ink to parchment with a steady hand.
Anakin
Anakin Skywalker stood inside the circle of seated Jedi Council members, his expression betraying none of the turmoil he was feeling inside. He'd just finished recounting the events that had occurred since he'd been assigned to protect Senator Amidala. From the moment he left Coruscant to the final battle against Count Dooku on Geonosis, he'd explained it all.
Of course, he had painstakingly omitted any details about Padmé or their stay in the lake country. The Council wouldn't be interested in how beautiful she looked by firelight or how hearing her laugh could turn him inside out.
In the interest of compensating, though, he gave himself credit for being completely honest about his nightmares, the decision to leave for Tatooine and the agony he felt from the death of his mother.
Again, he omitted a few key details. The retaliatory attack on the Tusken camp would remain locked away in his mind until he felt capable of dealing with it on his own. For now, the memory brought only a torrent of anger and bitterness he couldn't face.
Throughout his explanation the council remained quiet, listening with passive expressions. Even up to and during his description of the duel with Dooku they seemed almost detached. Anakin was thankful for that. He didn't know how he would've stood accusing looks, questioning stares or heads shaken in disappointment. Living with his own failure was hard enough without the council's negative reinforcement.
He stood quietly, hands clasped, waiting for a reaction from those he held in high regard. Several of the council members were leaning towards each other, conferring quietly amongst themselves. Anakin gazed past them to the glowing traffic lanes cutting through the Coruscant night. He'd come in here expecting to be reprimanded for blatantly disregarding the council's orders, but for some reason, he now had the strangest feeling that he wasn't going to be punished.
Perhaps they feel you've been punished enough already. He felt eyes on him as he heard the distinctly female voice in his head. He looked up discreetly to see Adi Gallia wink at him and give him a small smile.
A wave of relief washed the remaining dread from his tense muscles. The liberated feeling was short-lived, though, as he quickly became aware of a dull throbbing in his arm.
He rubbed at it then wished he hadn't. Each time he touched the cold metallic limb the harsh reality of his loss crashed in on him again. Part of his body was no longer his own - a part he would always carry with him as a grim souvenir of Geonosis and Count Dooku. The ache in his arm would dissipate over time, the medic droid had said. Even now the pain was more imagined than real. It sure felt real enough. In fact, he'd insisted the droid check the cybernetic implant again, only to be told for the hundredth time that it was working perfectly.
"So, young Anakin, how do you feel?" The council members were looking at him again and it was Mace Windu asking the question.
Anakin turned toward him. For a flash of a second he felt like the ten year old boy he'd been the last time he'd stood in this exact spot and been asked that same question. It took minimal effort to banish the memory. He was not that boy now. He knew it and so did the council.
This time he was not afraid to give an answer. There was no right or wrong reply. Only truth.
"Master, I feel restless. As if nothing is finished. As if I still have more to do."
"And indeed you do, Padawan." It was Yoda who answered. "Much more to do, we all have. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun the Clone War has, and with it will come many changes. Ready are you to meet these challenges?"
"I am, Master Yoda." Anakin replied with conviction, feeling with every fiber of his being that he was, indeed, ready. Padmé loved him. With that knowledge burning inside him he felt he could take on a whole galaxy of Separatists and win.
"Hah!" Yoda laughed, as did several of the council members. "Ready you are not. Ready I am not. But no matter. Little difference it makes." The humor faded from his voice. "The enemy will not wait."
Anakin conceded the point without argument. Perhaps the Jedi lacked inspiration. He had found his in Padmé's velvet brown eyes. As long as she stood by him he could deal with whatever came his way. One nagging thought tugged at him.
"Where is Master Obi-Wan? He usually debriefs with me."
"Sent your Master on an errand, we have." Yoda replied vaguely. "Now, off with you! Meditate you must."
Anakin nodded, giving a wry grin. It was true that he was long overdue for meditation and he wanted to be as centered as possible when he took Padmé back to Naboo several days from now. He had some serious questions to ask her. Questions about their future.
His dark cloak flared dramatically as he turned a graceful full circle, bowing respectfully to each and every council member. As he strode out he felt almost …happy for the first time in many days. Perhaps the future wasn't as bleak as everyone thought.