The Clones saw an immediate improvement with their General those first few days after they drugged him. His color was better, and the bags underneath his eyes were lighter. Rex and Cody even managed to get him to delegate some of his work load. Just doing part of his General's workload made the two brothers wonder how Obi-Wan hadn't cracked before this. Just the small amount of work was insane, it was no wonder he didn't sleep.
But it was all worth the few extra hours of paperwork. Obi-Wan was the happiest they had seen him since Anakin and Ahsoka had been grounded. He even snuck into the clone barracks and into the clone cuddle pile that had firmly established itself after the first one. The Vods, even those not on the Kenobi Squad took delight in cuddling with the General, making sure that he was safe. The Vods rested easier, were calmer those nights when Obi-Wan was among them. Nightmares of the countless battlefields, and cries of dying brothers that haunted the vod nightly, were silent with Obi-Wan around. Instead they had dreams of peace, of sun filled days, the sound of calming fountains.
The Kenobi Squad were patting themselves on the back, sure that they had made a huge step in the right direction in helping their General.
Than another battle happened. It was a brutal one and they lost close to 3 dozens brothers, and Obi-Wan shut down once again to the clones. Except this time it was worse.
He kept everyone at arm's length. Worst yet, he was cautious when entering rooms, always keeping his back away from the vod. It was clear that he wasn't going to let the clones get the drop on him again.
Obi-Wan hated the feelings that he felt from the vod. He could feel the confusion, and the sadness of all the vod as he retreated into his rooms at night. Even though his heart screamed to crawl back into the clone cuddle pile and soothe his heart and their minds. But he couldn't do it, he just couldn't.
The images of the vod he had lost floated in front of his face. There had been a young clone, Viewfinder, a new transfer. Obi-Wan had spent the night previous to the battle talking to him, the young clone had been so curious of Jedi life and culture. Obi-Wan had indulged the young clone, and eventually he had ended up snuggled on Obi-Wan; his head pillowed on the Jedi's stomach, along with an arm.
Obi-Wan had felt pain, almost akin to a bond breaking when he had discovered the young clone on field, his armor torn apart by blaster fire. But worse was the hollow feeling that followed and Obi-Wan did the only thing he knew how when faced with tragedy, he shut down and pretended everything was fine.
Except it was harder, he had let his walls come down around the vod. He allowed himself to feel safe in their presence, allowed himself to think that it could last. The battle was a stark reminder of what happens when Obi-Wan allowed himself to get distracted. He should have seen the battalion of droids before they had mowed down the vod.
A brief flare in the Force alerted Obi-Wan that Cody was approaching. Obi-Wan quickly placed himself in a position that no one would be able to ambush him.
He wouldn't let them in, he would protect them. He would overcome this!
Making sure that Anakin was in his session with Sid-Ney, Ahsoka approached a terminal and typed in Rex's persona comm code. Though they had exchanged messages, this would be the first face to face communication they would have had in two months.
It had been a while since she had gotten the last update on Obi-Wan. She hoped as she punched in the code that Rex wasn't in the middle of a battle.
The call was immediately put through and she was relieved to see Rex in his blacks appear on her screen.
"Commander," greeted Rex with a large smile. The kid looked better, she looked more like a kid, more like the kid he had first meet. The two months Temple bound seemed to be doing her good.
"Hi Rex," she said brightly. "It's good to see that your managing to stay alive without me!"
"I managed before you kid, I'm managing now," smiled Rex.
"Sure you did," teased Ahsoka with a smile. It was good to see her brother, even if he looked more tired. The closer Ahsoka looked, the worse Rex appeared. He looked aged, and she could see the stress lines around his eyes. Ahsoka frowned, if Rex looked like this, how did Obi-Wan look?
"How's Skywalker?" asked Rex, hoping to stall the upcoming questions about Kenobi. He could see the gears turning in her head. And he knew that he looked like shit, Cody and he had spent an hour outside of the General's room, begging the man to come out for a meal. However the General ignored them. Though they could hear him moving around in the quarters, and a quick glance through their camera had revealed the General bent over reports. The stubborn git he was, had taken back all the work he had delegated to Cody and Rex.
"Skyguy's made some great progress. He's more settled, less angry, and more willing to listen," Ahsoka said with a small smile. She was proud of how far he had come in two months. But she wasn't going to be deterred from her purpose. "But he's worried about Master Kenobi. We both read the latest causality list. The Council won't say anything about how Master Kenobi is, and we both know he would not admit to something wrong. But I know this has hit him hard."
Maybe in the past Ahsoka would assume that Master Kenobi would work through it. But since learning about how much Obi-Wan cared, how deeply he felt. The mental scarring he was bound to have, would only be amplified by these 36 casualties.
"You know the General, he's fine," Rex said, not quite looking at Ahsoka.
Ahsoka frowned. Rex lying to her was a bad sign, a very bad sign.
"Rex? I thought you guys were making some progress in helping him?"
"The General's shut us out again." Came Fives voice from off-screen. Rex immediately glared to his vod off to the side.
"Shut-up," she heard Hardcase hiss.
"Rex, what did Fives mean?" she demanded.
"He means Obi-Wan has isolated himself to the point that we have not seen before," came Cody's tired voice appearing on the screen with Rex. "He won't let anyone within 5 feet of him, he won't let anyone touch him, won't let anyone help him. His outer shell has hardened to the point that I don't think he'll let anyone in. His insides will crumble while the rest of him goes marching on."
Ahsoka was stunned.
"We don't know what to do," Rex said softly. "We don't know how to fix this."
Ahsoka knew what Obi-Wan needed, he needed Anakin and her. He needed his support system. It was ironic, Obi-Wan was suffering once again because of Anakin. Why did the Force make him suffer so?
The Temple Guardians opened the door to allow Master Sid-Ney entry. For once all the seats were filled, expect for Obi-Wan Kenobi's. Which Sidney couldn't help but question if he had even been invited to this meeting.
When he reached the center of the room he bowed.
"The Jedi Council recognizes Master Sid-Ney," Master Windu said with a nod to the other Jedi.
"Thank-you wise Masters," Sid-Ney began. "I have come to you on a matter of urgency."
"Find something disturbing in Skywalker?" asked Yoda.
"No Masters, the situation with Skywalker has only brought forth a problem that many mind healers have known for years," Sid-Ney began, taking his hands out of the sleeves of his robe. "Knight Skywalker is a prime example on how relying on the Force isn't enough when it comes to mental health. You've seen the reports Master Che has given, how easily it would have been for him to Fall. How many could we have saved from falling if we had gotten them help from a mind healer?"
Yoda's ears twitched, "Speculations."
Sid-Ney glared at the Master of the Order. "Speculations! Speculations! With all due respect Grand Master, your line is the most problematic. You hid Qui-Gon from the healers, refused to make him temple bound after the disaster of his second Padawan. You then relied on a Padawan to bring Qui-Gon back from almost falling. Did you ever stop to think what damage you were causing Obi-Wan?!" Sid-Ney demanded. Sid-Ney's voice had raised into a shout by then, but he didn't care. It was time for these Masters to listen and think for once what their pig headiness was doing to the Order.
"We are supposed to show love and compassion to everyone except for our fellow Jedi. They are not supposed to ask for help when they have problems," Sid-Ney said with passion. "Maybe if we had reached out to Dooku, listened to his concerns and had mind healers work with him through his grief. Maybe he wouldn't have been seduced to the Dark Side. Look to the Force, you know that my words are true. For once in your lives listen to the Force!"
The Force swirled around the chamber as one by one the Council let the Force flow through them. The Dark cloud lifted and allowed them to see the truth.
A/N Two steps backwards, one step forward