Ahsoka had to practically run after her Master as he stalked down the corridors of the Temple. Ahsoka wisely didn't say anything as instead of going to their own assigned apartments, Anakin led them to the quarters he once shared with Obi-Wan.
Ahsoka had never been inside her GrandMaster's apartment, but it felt like they had just came home. The rooms were full of sunshine and she could feel the separate Force signatures blanketing the space, two she recognized as Obi-Wan and Anakin, but the third was faint and Ahsoka assumed that it was Master Qui-Gon's. The rooms had a faint smell of incense and potted plants taking up the small balcony.
"Make yourself at home Snips" said Anakin as he went straight to the holo player.
"Skyguy do you really think that we should be watching this here, what if Master Obi-Wan comes back. If it is as bad as Master Yoda implied I don't think it would be appropriate to have him walking in on this" stated Ahsoka even as she lowered herself down on the couch that carried a slight smell of oil.
"Obi-Wan won't be back for awhile" mumbled Anakin. "He's either meditating in the Star Room or around the Fountains. At least that's we're he always went after our disagreements." There many, many, many disagreements. Sighing he slumped down on the couch beside Ahsoka and turned on the holo player.
The screen turned black for a second as the holodisk loaded, before an image of stone room flashed on the screen. Though the Council was visible in the background, the lens was focused on the two occupants in the ring of Force. One was a blue Twi'lek with a green lightsaber, the other was freshly Knighted Obi-Wan Kenobi.
"He looks so young" said Ahsoka. With no beard, Obi-Wan looked no older than she was.
"He's only 24 here" replied Anakin. As the camera zoomed on his Master's face, he could see the dark circles that spoke of little sleep. He could clearly see the wrinkles that spoke of grief. How could he not have seen this when he was a Padawan? They were the same wrinkles his Mother had when he spoke of going to see the stars!
By an unseen signal, Obi-Wan bowed to the other Knight signaling the beginning of the match, but the Twi'lek just twirled his lightsaber. It rankled Anakin as the Knight that was facing Obi-Wan didn't show his Master any respect. But that slight was soon forgotten as the duel started.
Obi-Wan and the Twi'lek danced around each other. Within the first hour both were sweating and supporting more than one burn. It was obvious that the Twi'lek was a good duelist and he was growing frustrated that Obi-Wan was holding his own. His blows became more aggressive and it was making him sloppy. Obi-Wan remained calm and at when the Twi'lek overreached with his lightsaber, Obi-Wan struck. Using his speed he disarmed the Twi'lek and swung his lightsaber to rest it's glowing green end right at the other males collar bone.
"Solah" muttered the other Knight looking mutinously at Obi-Wan. It was only when the Force Wall was coming down did Obi-Wan lower the blade and gave Knight Kane another respectful bow.
The screen went black again after the Twi'lek grudgingly bowed at Obi-Wan.
"One down, fifty-nine to go" said Ahsoka. Just after watching one match, Ahsoka couldn't believe Obi-Wan had went through fifty-nine more of these. And this match was pretty mild to what Ahsoka knew was to come. And that worried her, Skyguy already was tense and emotions were rolling inside him. She didn't know how much more he could take.
If Anakin felt his Padawan's slight worry, he gave no sign of it as his eyes stayed glued to the screen as another fight began. Anakin watched hour after hour of his Master dueling. But it wasn't like any of the dueling that happened within the training room. These were dirty duels as each opponent fought to win. Some opponents even went as low as to mock Obi-Wan of his skills and how he should have been the one to die. Because his Master was the better duelist and there was no way he could have defeated a Sith. Anakin now knew how his Master had advanced so much in skill like he had heard so many say. The youngest Master in Sorouso. He had more motivation than other Jedi to master the ultimate form of defense.
The lightsabers were not on full power but it was obvious they were higher than a training saber if the grasps of pain and sometimes screams told Anakin. A few duels it looked like Obi-Wan won by sheer will power alone. Anakin saw him lock his knees in a few duels as the rest of his body shook with exhaustion, trying to stay on his feet. A few opponents when it was obvious that they would not win with their sabers started a hand to hand duel. Anakin winced as his Master's face grew bloody but somehow he always won.
Beside him Ahsoka was silent as well, but she flinched along with Anakin. But the worst was when Pong Krell appeared on the screen. He bypassed using his lightstaffs all together in favor of hand to hand. With four arms the Besalisk had a great advantage over the human knight, and he knew how to fight.
As the match went on Ahsoka felt like she was going to be sick as Krell showed no mercy to Obi-Wan.
Obi-Wan's face was swelled and blood was flowing freely from his nose as he struggled to get to his feet from where Pong Krell had knocked him down, it was at least the fifth time. Yet despite the pain he was in, Obi-Wan struggled to his feet weaving slightly.
"You're a glutton for punishment Kenobi" grinned Krell bringing all four fists up into position.
"I just have something to fight for" spat Obi-Wan, blood freely dripping on his tunics.
"Not for long" warned Krell as he sprang at the man. Obi-Wan tried to evade, but he was at a disadvantage and within moments he was back on the ground spitting out one of his back molars. His heavy breathing seemed to drown out all other noises as he tried to catch his breath. But it was bad, every exhale was a wheeze. He struggled to get his hands and knees under him, but they were not cooperating. Krell seemed to tire of waiting and walked over and kicked Obi-Wan heavily in the ribs sending him flying in the air and crashing in the Force barrier.
For a moment all was still, and Obi-Wan didn't move. The Council stood as one expecting for the wall to come down, thinking that Krell had proven himself the winner. But Obi-Wan began to move, digging deep within himself to get up. Everybody including Krell was shocked as Obi-Wan still tried to get up even though he was clearly beaten.
"Obi-Wan, please stay down" begged Mace Windu kneeling just outside the wall beside Obi-Wan.
If Anakin wasn't already numb to the shock of what was happening. He would have had to pick his jaw off the ground as Mace Windu, Master of the Order, begged.
"No" slurred Obi-Wan.
None of specters except a green troll could ever explain how Obi-Wan was able to pull himself up that final time. Or how he seemed to be a man possessed as he fought Krell.
"What the kriff!" exclaimed Anakin as Obi-Wan landed punch after punch on Krell.
Unknown to all, Obi-Wan had cried out to the Force in desperation. Begging it to help, that he couldn't lose Anakin. Not his Padawan, his brother, his son! He never expected the Force to come barreling at him like a runaway gundark. Strength had filled his limbs wiping away his exhaustion. Obi-Wan had surrendered himself to the Will of the Force and allowed it to guide his limbs. If anyone had asked Yoda, (and no one did) he would have said he saw a ghostly blue form of Qui-Gon overlap Obi-Wan's. So Krell was not defeat Obi-Wan alone, but the spirit of Qui-Gon had given Obi-Wan the strength to win.
Only Yoda saw Qui-Gon break away from Obi-Wan with a sad look in his eyes, and a ghostly hand run through his sweaty ginger locks. Everybody else saw Obi-Wan standing over the unconscious Krell as the Force Wall disappeared pronouncing him the winner. Then like a puppet whose strings had been cut, Obi-Wan collapsed to the ground. The screen went black, signaling the end of that fight.
The room was swimming with emotions that it was about suffocating. Guilt and shame rolled off of Anakin in waves, along with horror, and disbelief. Ahsoka took the initiative and stood up and turned off the holo feed. They had watched more than enough, and they hadn't made it half-way through. The pair was silent as they stared at the now dark screen, still trying to process what they had seen.
"How could I have not known?" asked Anakin finally breaking the silence.
"You never noticed any of this Master?" asked Ahsoka hesitantly. "From some of those injuries he would have had to spend days in the Healers Wing."
Anakin thought back to his memories of his early Padawan days. Had he truly not noticed anything, or had he chose to ignore it.
"Padawan slow down" called Obi-Wan following. But to the Padawan he was being too slow, instead of his normal confident stride, it was now half of Anakin's small stride. Anakin turned around and rolled his eyes, why was his Master always so slow? It wasn't as if he did anything. Yet his Master sometimes moved slower than a Hutt.
"Hurry up Master!" implored Anakin before taking off again.
As Anakin raced ahead he missed the pained look on his Master's face as he tried to keep up with his Padawan.
"The Council is always sending you on missions, when will I be able to go with you?" asked Anakin.
With Obi-Wan's back to him, he couldn't see his face, but he felt Obi-Wan release a sense of guilt into the Force, and to the ten year old that only meant one thing. Obi-Wan was purposely asking the Council not to include him.
"Anakin," said Obi-Wan feeling the anger building in his Padawan.
"No, you just don't want me around, that's why you feel so guilty!" yelled Anakin running to his room and slamming the door shut. Anakin flopped on his bed, hot angry tears pouring down his face.
"Anakin please open the door" came Obi-Wan's soft voice from the other side of the door.
Anakin didn't answer instead turning his back to the door.
There was a soft thump on the door, which he didn't realize was Obi-Wan letting his forehead hit the door.
"I do want you here, more than you realize" there was a sigh. "You will understand when you are older."
Anakin doubted it. He remained in his room for the rest of the night until it was time for supper when Obi-Wan surprised him with his favorite meal. The incident was never spoken again.
"Master why do you have so many lightsaber scars on your torso?" asked Anakin. Obi-Wan hadn't heard him slip into the room as he changed from his sleep cloths into his tunics. If his jump of surprise was anything to go by. Anakin felt pretty proud that he had been able to slip in without his Jedi Master noticing.
His ever modest Master quickly slipped back on his tunic. He had a smile on his face when he turned around. "Well my Padawan, I was not always the lightsaber Master that I am today. I had more than one unsupervised duel when I was a Padawan, and I paid the consequences."
Anakin laughed, "Riight Master, from what I heard you were the perfect Jedi Padawan."
Obi-Wan laughed a little too highly for his normal laugh but Anakin shrugged it away as Obi-Wan launched into a story of his Padawan days, and of some of his misadventures.
"Anakin!" came his Master voice. Anakin turned from Master Ma'Kari and smiled at the form of Obi-Wan coming towards them.
"Ah Master Kenobi" greeted Ma'Kari with a shallow bow as Obi-Wan came to stand behind Anakin and laying a hand on his shoulder. Anakin frowned, according to his classes Master Ma'Kari had just insulted Obi-Wan. "I was just talking to Anakin here. He is a smart young man, and Padawan."
The hand on Anakin's shoulder twitched, "My Padawan is indeed making headway. But if you would excuse us, it is time for my Padawan's afternoon meditation."
Anakin's face turned into a pout as he twisted around to stare up at his Master. "But Master, Master Ma'Kari just invited me to go see the new fighters the Temple has just got in." Anakin turned to look back at Master Ma'Kari who was smirking at Obi-Wan.
If Anakin had looked back up at Obi-Wan, he would have seen the narrowed glare that Obi-Wan was giving to the other Master. Ma'Kari just continued to smirk at Obi-Wan.
"You know Kenobi that all that meditation is not good for an active boy like Anakin. Why if he was my Padawan, I would see that he did things more worthy of his time."
Obi-Wan's voice took on a tone that Anakin had never heard before. "Seeing as he is not you Padawan, I would appreciate if you would leave your own opinions to yourself, Ma'Kari. Come along Padawan."
Anakin opened his mouth to argue, seeing a new star fighter was much more interesting than meditation. But he felt it, a whisper of anger from Obi-Wan from there bond. But it wasn't aimed at him. No it was aimed at Master Ma'Kari. Deciding not to argue with his Master for once, Anakin followed Obi-Wan leaving Master Ma'Kari behind.
The next time he had seen Master Ma'Kari he seemed to be recovering from a broken nose, as both it and around his eyes had been bruised. He disappeared before Anakin could go over and reschedule their plans to see the star fighters. In fact Anakin never spoke to Master Ma'Kari again. Though whenever his Master caught sight of the other male, an expression Anakin could only label as smug came over his face. Though he never would tell Anakin what he was so smug about. And it became another mystery about his Master that he filed away.
"There were some hints that something else was going on. There were some days when Obi-Wan moved slowly, as if he was hurting. But I always brushed it aside as him wanting to be all proper. Then he always seemed to go on missions were he would be gone for a day or two, but he never brought me along. I always got so angry at him, when I asked him why I couldn't go with him, I felt such much guilt in the Force" admitted Anakin not looking his Padawan in the eyes, "I thought he was purposely asking the Council to exclude me. I shut myself in my room, and he told me that I would understand when I was older. We never spoke of it again."
"Is that all?" asked Ahsoka. She found it hard to believe that there had only been a handful of recollections that something was wrong when the videos showed Master Obi-Wan taking such damage. Ahsoka liked to believe that she would be able to tell if something this serious happened to Skyguy. This new information brought new light to her beliefs of Obi-Wan and Anakin's relationship. Personally she thought that they had a strong bond. Obi-Wan always seemed to know when Anakin was hiding an injury and badgered him to see the Healers.
"No, there was two other things. The first time I ever saw Obi-Wan without his tunic on. I snuck into his room, practicing masking my force signature one morning and he was getting dressed. He had so many lightsaber burns on his torso. This was before the war so there was no reason for him to have so many. This was before the war, the only lightsabers he would have been against were his fellow Jedi. But he laughed and assured me that they were just childhood accidents. I disagreed that idea, saying he was a perfect Padawan. But he distracted me with a story of his Padawan days that I forgot about it until now. Obi-Wan is good at that, making things he doesn't want to deal with disappear" said Anakin bitterly.
Ahsoka couldn't disagree with that, she had heard Cody complain enough to Rex about Obi-Wan's tendencies. "So what about the other Skyguy? You said that there were two other things."
"It was a Master. He came up to me one day and just started talking and showed interest in what I was saying. He asked me to go see the new star fighters the Temple had acquired when Obi-Wan showed up. I realize now that he was probably that months challenger and he had the nerve to come up to me and try to undermine Obi-Wan's teachings. And Obi-Wan got mad, I mean I barely felt it but I felt a whisper of anger down our bond."
They sat in silence after that. Both lost in their own thoughts. But one thought kept circling in her head. What had happened when Anakin was brought to the Temple? Ahsoka hesitated, but she needed to know, she had to have the entire picture. "Master, why are you always so keen to blame Obi-Wan? Why do you think he took you on because of a promise?"
Anakin sighed and in a soft voice began to explain to his Padawan how he was found by Qui-Gon and taken to the Temple. How Qui-Gon was going to take him as a Padawan. But also how he overheard Obi-Wan saying he was dangerous, and the battle of Naboo. He admitted to overhearing Master Windu and Yoda discussing Qui-Gon's last moments and the promise Obi-Wan had made. And how unintentionally he seemed to punish Obi-Wan because of this knowledge and the fact that he wasn't Qui-Gon.
When he was finished, Anakin didn't have to look at Ahsoka to know that he had lost some of her respect. Heck, he had lost respect in himself. Heavens know what Padme would say if she found out what happened today.
Sighing he put his face in his hands, how was he ever to make this up to Obi-Wan? It's a wonder the man could look him in the face all these years. Anakin knew it would be a long time before he would be able to face himself in a mirror.
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