Waking up was awkward. Firstly, because it was much too early. It seemed they had fallen asleep only minutes before the shrill alarm clock chimed. Second (and that contributed a greater deal to the awkwardness), because both of them were naked and their legs and arms intertwined. At first, both of them groaned, disgruntled because it was so early and they were still so tired but when their senses slowly awakened, the realisation of what they were doing and, worse, what they had done last night sank slowly in. Feeling the heat creep into his face, Obi-Wan removed his hand, which had been draped loosely on Anakin's hip, as unobtrusively as possible. There was some uncomfortable coughing, they both made a point of not looking at each other and then Anakin crawled out from under the blanket. Obi-Wan quickly turned away so Anakin did not feel like being watched. Their backs turned to each other, they both started dressing in silence. From time to time, Obi-Wan threw brief glances over his shoulder. It seemed Anakin was doing the same because, when Obi-Wan turned his head around for the fifth time, Anakin was looking over his shoulder too. Their eyes met and there was no way Obi-Wan could simply turn away again and pretend nothing had happened. Why was it so much harder in the daylight than in the darkness?
Obi-Wan cleared his throat. "Good morning." His voice was meant to sound cheerful but the words came out in a very odd way. Good morning. Obi-Wan groaned inside. Very creative, very eloquent.
"Good morning," Anakin replied.
The fact that there was an embarrassing crack in Anakin's voice, too, and the growing awareness that this was an extremely absurd situation made Obi-Wan relax a bit. "That is my shirt, you know." He gestured at the shirt that Anakin was about to put on.
"Oh. Right." A small grin tugged at the corners of Anakin's lips. "Do you mind? It's cleaner than mine."
Relieved, Obi-Wan grinned back. "No way. You're old enough to clean your own clothes. Master."
Anakin rolled his eyes and threw the shirt at Obi-Wan. "You're never going to let that drop, are you?"
"Not a chance."
When they had finished dressing, Anakin said, "I'm leaving now," and then just hovered in front of the tent's door.
"May the Force be with you," Obi-Wan said.
"And with you." Anakin hesitated for another moment but then he crossed the tent with a few long strides and kissed Obi-Wan. A short, firm kiss on the mouth with no finesse whatsoever. (At least he wasn't crying this time.)
"Alright?" Anakin asked, his eyebrows drawn together in a frown.
Obi-Wan nodded. He briefly pulled Anakin into a one-armed hug as a kind of reciprocation. He had no idea what to make of this, what to call their relationship. Not just friendship and not just meaningless sex either.
Their relationship continued in that way but the awkwardness quickly faded. It was a strange, almost surreal time. There were goodbye kisses in the morning, a shared bed at night, but no more love declarations. They never spoke about what it was between them. They refused to think about the future. They pretended everything was normal.
oOoOo
"What do you think caused his sudden change in mind?" Mace Windu thoughtfully asked Master Yoda. The two Jedi Masters were sitting in Yoda's private quarters. The jalousies were shut so that only single rays of light fell into the almost dark room. It was an unofficial meeting, not unlike the meeting with the Chancellor a few hours ago. Mace hated all the secrets and off the record assignments. Fighting outside in the battlefield was a welcome distraction to him nowadays. And that frightened him even more.
"Odd it is – and worrying – that not heard we have of the rumours he spoke of," Yoda muttered.
Mace nodded darkly. "So you think it is a lie?" he inquired cautiously. A part of him wanted to believe that the information was true but he knew he must not act imprudently. Maybe someone just had made it up. "Someone willingly started the rumours in order to lure the Jedi into a trap?"
"A lie maybe it is not. But a trap it could be."
Mace forced himself not to frown. Yoda was already far ahead – or somewhere entirely else – with his train of thoughts again. "You consider it possible that Dooku is still alive?" he asked, trying to sound doubtful and not hopeful.
"Hmm… cloud our sight on the Force, the dark side does," Yoda said sadly.
Mace rubbed his forehead. He knew what it meant. If even Master Yoda could not sense things clearly anymore… It meant the worst: The Jedi could not trust in the Force anymore. Just then, he received a slight poke against his elbow. Master Yoda was gently nudging him with his stick.
"Despair not the way of the Jedi is, hmm?" he kindly reprimanded his colleague and shook his head disapprovingly, causing his ears to waggle. "Trust in the Force, we must. Trust in the light, we must. Despair is caused by the dark side. If give in to this we do, then already won the Sith have."
"Yes, of course, Master Yoda," Mace answered, feeling like a young Padawan again. He was grateful to have Master Yoda around, who would never stop trusting in the Force. That was his true strength. Not his command of the Force. Not his ability to wield a lightsaber. No, it was his unwavering faith that made him the wisest Jedi ever.
Mace cleared his throat. "Back to the topic. If – hypothetically – Dooku was indeed still alive…then why did he never contact us?" And while he was formulating his question, he already knew the answer. "Someone is holding him prisoner," he concluded in shock, "and he wants to lure us to him…right into a trap."
"Possible that is," Yoda agreed. The two men remained silent for a moment. Then Yoda spoke again. "A principle Qui-Gon had concerning traps."
If Mace had not lost the ability to smile during this war, he would have smiled now. Qui-Gon, being the hopelessly reckless Jedi he was, had always only done one thing if he was confronted with a possible trap: he had run straight into the trap and had sprung it – without any plan, of course. "You're right," Mace acknowledged, "There's no other way to find out what this is all about. I'll go to Antar 4 and lead the search troop myself." The Chancellor had already decided to lead an investigation on the planet where Dooku's last mission had been to and where his lightsaber had been found. However, the Chancellor wanted to send only thirty clone soldiers there – without a Jedi General or Commander to lead them. He said he needed the Jedi elsewhere in battle. He just had to send someone there because the rumours that Dooku was still alive were quite persistent (at least that's what the Chancellor said… Mace had not heard of any such rumour so far). It was probably just for reasons of publicity. If Palpatine did not do anything, the media (and that meant sooner or later the rest of the galaxy and the senators) would become enraged. After all, Dooku had been one of the most famous Jedi alive. If the matter was, however, as serious as Yoda feared, thirty clone soldiers could not achieve much.
"Hmm, relieved I am to hear this," Yoda commented. "Gone there myself, I would have, if not offered to go you had. Go to my mission on Jabiim, now I still can."
Mace was relieved too. He had half expected Yoda to restrain him from searching for Dooku. "Padawan Kenobi still has not contacted the Council, has he?" Mace changed the topic.
"No, to no one he has reported yet."
"This is alarming…"
"Mean it could that there is nothing to report," Yoda objected.
Mace shook his head in frustration. "Even if there was nothing to report, he should have contacted us and told us that. I'm worried about them. I fear Kenobi was not ready for such a task yet. What if…" He trailed off. He preferred not to finish the sentence.
"A few more days we will give him for his decision," Yoda stated cryptically.
Sometimes, Mace thought the old Jedi Master did it on purpose to annoy him. "Which decision?" he asked patiently.
"If spy on his friend he will."
"Ah." Mace had not realised that was open to debate. The Council had made their request pretty clear. Kenobi had never defied the Council before. But considering who his Master had been… Mace cringed inwardly. "I don't think it was a wise decision to send the two of them together on a mission," he said, fearing the worst.
"Trust them to do the right thing, we must," Yoda insisted. "If the Jedi mistrust each other, then not strong enough we will be to defeat the Sith."
"Yes… Nevertheless, I will try to contact them before I go to Antar 4."
"Yes. Careful you be on your mission. More to this than meets the eye there is, I feel."
"Yes, Master Yoda. Thank you. May the Force be with you."
"May the Force be with you, my young friend."
When Mace tried to contact Kenobi and Skywalker on Senali, no one answered his call. No matter what Yoda said, he was worried about them. Luckily for Mace, he did not know what exactly the two young Jedi were doing right now that distracted them from answering his call. Otherwise, he would have been even more worried.
oOoOo
Many, many systems away, newly appointed commander Karan chose a very unfortunate moment to disturb Anakin and Obi-Wan in their tent. They had a day off because, surprisingly, the Separatists had agreed to stop the fighting for the Senalian National Day. Karan's voice came through the site of the tent. "General Skywalker, this is Commander Karan. The Senali Chieftain sends me to invite you to their Komala ceremony."
Anakin's mind needed some time to digest that piece of information. He had been too focussed on other things.
"Tell them you can't come because…,"Obi-Wan whispered into Anakin's ear. "…because…because… They can do their Force-forsaken ceremony without you."
"Language, Padawan Kenobi," Anakin whispered back, hardly able to conceal his laughter.
"Tell them I cannot come because I don't feel very well today," Anakin shouted, "and... I appreciate their invitation and I would have liked to come, and with the utmost regret..."
"The Chieftain said it is very important you come. He gave some hints that the ceremony was not only about celebrating the Komala ceremony, but that he would like to discuss important matters concerning the war with you. It's, um, kind of unofficial."
Anakin groaned in frustration. He did not have much of a choice, of course. He was a Jedi and he could not afford his feelings to get into his way.
"General Skywalker?" Karan prodded.
"Just stay here," Obi-Wan started again. Anakin simply put his hand on Obi-Wan's mouth and stopped him from further arguing.
"Uh, yes, Commander. Can't it wait a little longer?"
"I'm afraid no, Sir."
"Alright." Anakin groaned again. "I'll be there in a minute." He lifted his hand from Obi-Wan's mouth so he could give him a brief kiss. "Sorry for that," he muttered apologetically and then got up and started dressing quickly.
Obi-Wan slumped down in frustration. "I hate those briefings, discussions and negotiations."
"A Jedi must not hate," Anakin reminded him, grinning slightly.
"We do a lot of things a Jedi must not do," Obi-Wan countered.
"Fair point," Anakin had to admit. He made to leave but Obi-Wan stopped him.
"Wait!" He jumped up from his sleeping mat and straightened Anakin's tunica. "You look ridiculous." Of course he didn't but Obi-Wan needed an excuse to touch him.
"Thanks. You look amazing, by the way."
Obi-Wan was still completely naked. He wasn't sure if Anakin meant it as a joke or as a compliment, so he just rolled his eyes to be on the safe side.
"I'll try to get away from that ceremony as quickly as possible. Will you wait here?"
"Sure."
Anakin smiled and looked Obi-Wan up and down. He fondly ran a hand down Obi-Wan's chest. "You'll wait here like this?" he whispered. Blushing slightly, Obi-Wan just nodded. "Alright, then I will definitely hurry to get back," Anakin promised.
Sighing deeply, Obi-Wan got back to bed. The sheets were still warm. He snuggled into them, closed his eyes and recalled the sensation of Anakin's hands on his body. Anakin's hands... The palms were calloused and had blisters from all the lightsaber fights and hard training, there was always dirt under the fingernails and there were little scratches on the knuckles. Nevertheless, Obi-Wan could not imagine that anything could feel better than Anakin's hands. With a little smile on his face, he drifted off to sleep again.
He had a strange dream. He saw Master Dooku. There were flames around the old Jedi Master. He looked tired and reached out with his hand. His lips were moving but no sound escaped them. Obi-Wan looked around: there was no one to be seen Dooku was talking to. All of a sudden, Dooku's eyes focussed on Obi-Wan, and finally Obi-Wan could understand what he was saying:
"Come to me. I need your help, my young apprentice."
Obi-Wan woke with a start. At first, he thought it was the scary dream, which had woken him up. But once he was fully awake, his senses signalled something else. Something was wrong. He felt it in the Force. People were in fear, no, not fear, it was sheer panic. And there was much pain. Obi-Wan jumped up from his sleeping mat, quickly wrapped his cloak around him and hurried out of the tent. The soldiers were bustling with nervous excitement, they were moving in an uncontrolled way. No one seemed to know in which direction to go. They were talking to each other in agitated voices. Something was going on. There was, however, no immediate danger. No hostile army attacking, no fearsome monster, no environmental catastrophe.
His unease growing with each passing second, Obi-Wan stopped one of the clone troopers. "Excuse me, can you tell me what happened?" he asked urgently.
"It was a trap."
"What was a trap?"
"The ceremony. General Skywalker and the commanders were lured into a trap."
"What happened?" Obi-Wan asked quietly without looking at the clone trooper.
"A detonator was placed in the building where they were to meet." The clone trooper paused uncomfortably.
"So?" Obi-Wan asked urgently.
The clone trooper avoided Obi-Wan's eyes. His voice was steady when he spoke but his fingers nervously tapped the blaster at his belt. "They're all dead."
"They can't be," Obi-Wan said, staring down at his feet. He was still barefoot.