Mel thumped rather tiredly down the stairs. It wasn't very late, though she would have preferred to be in bed. But Katie was off as well, and would only wake Mel up when she returned (whenever that might be). Making quiet small talk with a random kitchen maid, she got a glass of water. Oddly enough, she would later remember exactly the pattern of raised blue glass that was imprinted upon its side. This detail would never matter, but it was an odd contrast to the blur of the rest of the night.

Just as cautious as before, Mel crept from the room and closed the door softly. Turning to leave down the hall, she froze. BANG! She felt the unique sensation of her mind repeatedly running into a glass wall, coupled with the most massive sense of déjà vu. What the… FUCK!

Partially hidden beneath the overhang of the stairs were Katie and Vader. Mel felt a sudden wave of disgust overtake her disbelief. They weren't just making out… this was blatant, shameless face sucking. Yech… how can she do that?

Slipping back inside the kitchen, Mel began talking loudly to herself. She was hoping that if she gave the overly amorous pair enough warning, they would run off before she scarred her mind any more. Peaking outside, she found with relief that her brilliant scheme had worked. They were nowhere to be seen, though she really didn't want to know where they'd run off too.

Hurrying up the stairs, Mel ran down the hall to Obi-wan's room. About to barge inside, she caught herself. She wanted him to believe her, not lecture her. She 'knocked' politely instead.

"Come." He called, sounding unsure as to the caller's identity. He looked a tad surprised to see her so late, looking so worried. "Is there something… amiss?"

She nodded. "I WAS RIGHT!"

He blinked, waiting for more. "About what?"

"Katie! And Vader!" She made a face. "Sucking face! Beneath the stairs… if you're really quiet you can catch them yourself!"

- - -

Obi-wan waltzed down the hallway, unconcerned. This was because he was floating a level six inches off of the floor, and so made absolutely no sound. The stairs were a little disorientating, but he'd gotten used to it. It was surprising the amount of sneaking around he did in the average day, and he'd become rather good at it.

Reaching the very bottom with its slight curve he paused, taking a deep breath. He thought he could hear faint rustling noises, but they could easily be his imagination. He half-hoped, half-dreaded them to be real, weighing his suspense against what that would mean for him… and fate in general.

Whirling around the corner, he dropped to ground level. There was a sharp pain as his retinas began burning, but he ignored it. This had gone much too far…

Katie heard, distantly, a tapping sound. She would have ignored it if Anakin hadn't suddenly stiffened and drawn away, protectively. Looking up she met Obi-wan's eyes, watching flashes of disgust and pity running through the glacier of blue. Shit… Odd enough, it was. Here she was, having the worst fear realized and all she felt was cold. It wasn't even a deep cool, just a sort of freezing of her mind and numbing of her senses. It had been bound to happen anyway… she just wished she had been able to come off a little more dignified. She let go, trying to back behind him while still looking partially like she knew what as going on.

Anakin caught her, and pulled her in to murmur in her ear. It looked tender, but felt far more possessive to her. His mouth was at the hollow beneath her ear, hot breath across her sensitive neck. "Go home." Was the entire message, and it was more of an Imperial order than a well-meaning suggestion. She obeyed, looking softly confused. He watched her go. He would have preferred to have her with him, but he did not want her to her what he was going to say.

There was a silence as both Jedi and Sith waited for the sound of her footsteps to recede beyond earshot.

"So." Anakin leaned against the wall, slightly raising one eyebrow. "Are you going to let me have it? I know you. And I know that you're waiting to yell at me. But I also know that you know me. And you know it won't make any difference." He wasn't smiling, though the corner of his mouth was twitching.

Obi-wan glowered a bit, trying to sort through the conflicted feelings. "How can you be so cold? So heartless, to lead someone on like that… drag her down with you?"

"Heartless?" He sounded slightly taken aback. "I love her!"

"Love? What do you know of love?" Obi-wan spat back, hotly. He did not understand, probably never would understand how anyone could love such a thing.

"I could ask you the same. Now, what is it that you are trying to accomplish here?" He looked impassive, cold, as though the issue they were discussing were no more than passing matters.

"To get you to leave her alone! She can't understand who you are, or she wouldn't pretend so!"

"Pretend? Are you insinuating that she cannot love me, and is only going along because she's afraid? Because I ordered her too?" Now Vader was starting to sound pissed, feeling a bit of a protective surge.

"Yes! Yes, I am." Obi-wan wished that he wasn't so very alone. He, and only he, had to be the voice of reason in this madness. "She's not strong enough to resist you! But that's why you picked her, isn't it? She was pretty enough, and she'd do whatever you wanted her to do?"

"Are you saying I only want her for sex?" This was infuriating, though he'd seen it coming. He just wished he could think of a good counter to it.

"Yes!" Obi-wan didn't want to contemplate whether or not that had already happened. "You already control her life, so why can't you leave her alone?"

"Why do you care? Is it because you're too afraid of love to let anyone else have at it? Or do you think you see yourself in her? Controlled, in over your head… alone so very far from home?"

"Because I want to save her!" Obi-wan could not deny anything, nor could he ignore the sensation of the world spinning about him, violently.

"From what? She's in no danger!"

"From you! That's the danger! You're going to turn her against the only friend she has… and then what? You'll be bored of her before long. Kill her? Exile? Send her to some godforsaken rim planet because you can't stand to see her face?"

"Like I should have done to you?" He had given up the emotionless pretense. The two of them just did not get along, like fire and powder. No matter what the issue, it would end up going up in smoke.

"Exactly!" They were getting down the to the core issues. This wasn't really about Katie, or even about love. It was about a relationship beyond dysfunctional, and to the reasons behind this.

"But why can't I be happy? Is it because you aren't? You don't have the guts to just end it, so you have to make the rest of us miserable?"

"Because its against the Code!" There it was. In the open. The reason for his continued existence, for his entire persona.

"Damn the Code! It's dead, Obi-wan, dead and gone and buried. You're just too busy trying to come off the hero, a knight in shining armor. But you're as guilty as I am!"

"I hate you!" It was a juvenile response, but there was nothing particularly adult about the rest of their argument. He was panting from the roller coaster of emotions raging through his veins, and wishing that he could hit him. "You and your whore!" He regretted the words almost immediately, as he did not hate her. But he was caught in the moment, and could not take them back.

"You leave her out of this!" If anything, Anakin was madder. Before it had been loathing Obi-wan and what of himself he could see in him, but now it was hot and possessive, defending someone he felt obliged to.

"Why should I? She's as guilty as you are!" Throwing the words back into his face, he couldn't help but feel a sick pleasure at trying to inflict as much verbal pain as he could.

"Leave her alone! I don't care what you say to me, but leave her out of this!" Had he been able, he would have loved to be at Obi-wan's throat. Making him choke, literally, on those words.

"Was that an order, Master?" He snarled back, pacing. They'd been walking back and forth, pacing like caged tigers. It was like the circling of a saber duel, though they did not draw any open weapons.

"Yes it was. Now get out of my sight." He was livid, and it would be woe to any innocents who chanced to pass him that evening.

Obi-wan raised a mocking eyebrow, before bowing with much scornful pomp. "As you wish." He then disappeared from sight, simply vanishing into the background in a heartbeat.

- - -

Katie could her heart pounding in her ears as she scurried fearfully down the hall. Things were spinning out of control even faster now, and she couldn't help but feel alone. There was nothing she could do now, and the disgust and pity in Obi-wan's eyes had cut her deeper than a knife.

Mel would find out as well. That was the thing that scared her, which she was most loath to face. Mel would not understand, and most likely wouldn't try. Katie would be forever stupid in her eyes, a weak female willing to sacrifice all for a man who didn't love her, couldn't love her. Mel would see charisma, or at least the attraction of power, at work. She would also see the age difference, all six or seven years of it.

But would she be right? Katie had no way of ever completely knowing all her own motives, ever really understanding herself fully.

She knew she was being submissive, but was that weak? The saying was that it took more courage to be a passenger than a driver, so wasn't there a kind of strength in giving in? She hadn't any control anyway, was just being swept away in the flow. Mel had managed to find an island in the river, but Katie was left clinging to the sides in vain. Shouldn't she just let go and let someone else make the decisions for her? She'd never wanted to be in charge, but she'd used to hate the system that took that choice away from her. Its not like she'd ever had any sort of control over anything before all this had happened, so what was the difference? He had her life in his hands so why not her heart?

Was it just her cowardice that held her back? Was the pain of limbo worse than either alternative? Or did she even have a choice? Would he decide for her, if a time came? She could feel herself receding into her own mind, looking for a single rope or way out.

Things were happening just much to fast for her to cope… far too fast for her to react in time. Even her mind was a mess, disorganized reasons and feelings cluttering a purpose she wasn't entirely sure of. She was sinking fast than ever, and the weight from above was starting to crush her. If only someone would save her before she lost it completely…

- - -

Slipping inside, Katie barely had a chance to breathe before Mel lost the fight to keep her mouth shut. "How could you?"

"How could I what?" Katie looked desperate, as the fact that Mel knew everything dawning painfully upon her too late. "He told you!"

"No. I found you myself!" Mel yelled, feeling suddenly horribly betrayed. "How could you?" It was the inevitable cycle of their arguments. They would both feel the victim, and so would lash out in perceived self-defense while truly carving deeper than an offense would have.

"I. Love. Him!" Katie snarled, backing to the wall and on the defensive. The emotions were running extremely high, and the tension was almost palpable. It wasn't what was being said, so much as what was being thought. They would not yell insults at each other, but slights would be understood, internalized and made far beyond what they were.

"But you can't!" Katie had been there to take the high road with Mel, not to fall off and crash and burn. "You can't know what love is!"

"You don't know either!" was the impassioned retort. "At least I'm willing to try."

"But why must you try with him? He's evil! Tyrant! Murderer!" Mel was just as full of feeling.

"I did not choose to love him. And how dare you love me, not knowing what I feel? Without knowing him?" Falling, falling, falling. Why was she so adamant to deny what was so true? Now she understood how love could kill as easy as it could heal, or level a city.

"You're blind! You're blind, you're blind, you're blind! How can you not see?" Their voices were nearing shrieks, and both of their eyes were wet with tears. But they would not, could not cry. That would be to demonstrate the weakness at the center of this, to rip the argument's heart out and display it. Mel could not help but feel like the world was spiraling, sky flying above her head.

"If you're eyes are so clear, why can't you understand? I love him, I do!" This was desperately said, desperately meant. Was she wrong, if no one could understand her? Or were they all as blind?

Katie was feeling much the misunderstood lover, ready to defend his honor. But what could she do? Mel had made up her mind, and would not be shaken from it. They had once pledged that nothing could tear them apart and least of all something as trivial as a man. But that was the unavoidable truth, as glaring as the wet on their cheeks.

Mel could not help but feel uneasy. Her friend was in far over her head, and she needed to come to her senses before she got hurt. He was obviously just toying with her emotions for his own reasons, and Katie was only reacting in self-preservation. Because, of course, no one could love so very wrongly.

And so the sun set, closing an evening of pain and bitter revelation. The height of the day was traded for the numb of the night, a transition that was not all good. There was an elephant in the room, and would still be there in the morning. But would they see it? Could it be ignored? Or would they fight still?