Chapter 35

Chosen One

Obi-Wan could hardly breathe from exhaustion. The hot and ashen air filled his nostrils and made him want to gag. Never before had he fought such a duel. His fingers were almost too weak to uphold his lightsaber. Yes, they had won and he should be happy but he had never been worse. He mourned a Sith and he was scared of his uncertain future and everything felt so very wrong.

"Obi-Wan." Anakin had come to his side. Anakin, who radiated such light it made Obi-Wan feel like he was being burnt, burnt like… "I'm sorry." Anakin lightly touched his elbow. "What can I do to help?"

The question slowly pulled Obi-Wan out of his stupor. The question and the light touch on his elbow anchored him in the here and now. Anakin was waiting for an answer. Obi-Wan needed to say something, needed to decide on what he wanted to happen. Something to make things better. There was nothing to make things better. But there was something he needed to do. He licked his dry lips and with great effort they formed the words.

"I…I want to say goodbye." Dooku should have a funeral, a proper Jedi funeral. "His body, I…need to…"

Anakin nodded. "Do you want me to come with you?"

Obi-Wan could finally breathe properly again. He was grateful for Anakin's support, his offer. It was good to know that he was not completely alone. Nevertheless, this was something that he needed to do alone.

"No. But thank you," Obi-Wan said. The words were already coming a little easier now.

"Alright. Then I'll just wait here." Anakin squeezed his arm and then let him go.

The walk seemed endless. Obi-Wan's tired legs moved slowly. He dreaded what he would find. How would he be able to reach Dooku's body on the bank of hot lava? Maybe he should have asked Anakin to accompany him and Anakin could have lifted Dooku's body with the Force…

But there was no body left. Just ash and Dooku's lightsaber. So he had already had his 'funeral' – in the most undignified way on a horrible planet and with no one there to pay their last respects.

Obi-Wan collected the lightsaber and stored it in the inner pocket of his cloak. It was the weapon of a Sith but it was also the last remains of his Master. He would find a way to properly say goodbye. No cremation but maybe a burial. He would find a place where it would be safe, a nice place, an appropriate place he would tell no one about. This he silently promised his Master.

Obi-Wan knelt down, closed his eyes and let the Force flow through him. The Jedi taught that the dead were not simply gone but rejoined the Force. But he could not sense Dooku anywhere, just the emptiness where Dooku's presence used to be. Nevertheless, he spoke a few soft words. Maybe for Dooku's soul to hear them or maybe just for himself.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I hope you find peace now." These next words he whispered. "Thank you for everything, Master."

Then he returned to the ship. Anakin stood waiting outside.

"I'm ready," Obi-Wan said. "We can go back."

He was not ready at all. Going back meant he would have to face the Council and stand trial for his many wrongdoings. If they expelled him from the Jedi Order, it would be like pulling out the ground from under his feet. He did not think he could do it when breathing, speaking and walking already required all of his strength. He felt so vulnerable, like the most fragile glass which could be shattered by one wrong touch, one wrong word.

"I think we should stay together," Anakin said. "We should ask the Council to be sent on missions together. Because, honestly, we were amazing today."

Obi-Wan tried to smile. He was not sure if he succeeded. Anakin was right, the way they had fought together had been amazing, and Obi-Wan would love nothing more than to stay together but that decision was out of his hands.

"I wish we could, I really do." Not only because they made a good team of fighters. Even if they had been a disastrous duo, Obi-Wan would want them to stay together. Maybe now was his last chance to tell Anakin. "I love you and I don't want us to part ways." He did not care how broken and shaky his voice sounded. "And I would be fine with being your Padawan because I trust you and I get it now that ranks aren't important but… what I did can be considered treason. They are probably going to expel me from the Jedi Order."

"I won't let them."

Obi-Wan gave a watery chuckle. Anakin was never going to change, was he? He still thought, with a naiveté bordering on arrogance, that everything would work out in his favour if he just wanted it badly enough.

"You are not omnipotent," Obi-Wan said.

"But I am on the Council. Also, I didn't mean as Master and Padawan, that would be ridiculous. You should be knighted."

Obi-Wan appreciated the sentiment but – "This is really the least of my problems right now. I'd be happy never to be knighted as long as I can stay in the Order."

"It's going to be alright," Anakin said, "I promise. People keep forgetting I'm on the Council. Maybe I was elected on the Council for all the wrong reasons but that's their problem, not mine. I have the rights and privileges of a Council member, meaning I could technically even knight you, right here right now. You'd deserve it, seriously, because you were brilliant today. I mean," Anakin gave a lopsided smile, "you're brilliant any other day, too, but what you did today and the way you fought – that wasn't a Padawan."

Only moments before, Obi-Wan had said that ranks were not important to him any longer. Maybe he had not been entirely honest because it did matter whether he stayed the eternal Padawan or was awarded the honour of knighthood. He at least wanted to leave the Order with his head held high.

"Alright," he said, "go on, knight me."

"Great." But Anakin's enthusiasm quickly turned to awkwardness. "We don't really, I mean… There aren't any witnesses, so we can just say you're a Knight now and you can cut off your braid and that's it."

Obi-Wan took a trembling breath of the hot, ashen air. This was not the place he had imagined for his knighting. Not the grand council chamber but this hellish planet. All the great Jedi Masters should have been there. And Master Dooku, of course. His master would have made sure Obi-Wan was dressed appropriately for the occasion. Not with a dirty face and clothes which were covered with burn stains.

"No. I want to do this the right way," Obi-Wan said. If there was nothing else left, he at least wanted the ritual words, this small dignity. With the sleeve of his tunic he tried to wipe most of the sweat and ash from his face, then he straightened his clothes and tugged his Padawan braid behind his ear. "Go on, please."

"Alright. Uh. Kneel down, Padawan Kenobi – which you totally don't have to do if you don't…" Anakin trailed off when Obi-Wan knelt down. "Right." He cleared his throat. Then he ignited his lightsaber to cut off Obi-Wan's braid and thus severed the last link to his previous life. It should have been Master Dooku. Obi-Wan pressed his eyes shut to stop the tears. You did well, Padawan, he heard his master's last words, said in a weak but still dignified voice. And there had been one of Dooku's rare smiles, for him, Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan took a deep breath, opened his eyes and saw that Anakin offered him a hand to pull him up. Obi-Wan grabbed it and held on to it like a lifeline.

Anakin pulled him to his feet. "Welcome to the Jedi Order, Knight Kenobi." A little smile tugged at the corners of his lips but he said the words with the solemnity they warranted.

Obi-Wan bowed, and when he recited the traditional words, he found serenity in them. His life was not over. He was a Jedi, no matter what. He had Anakin at his side and the Force was with him. "I thank you for this honour to be a full member of the Jedi Order. I will follow its rules and traditions, honour the Jedi Code and help guard peace and justice in the Republic. I devote my life to the Force for now and forever."

"May the Force be with you," Anakin continued, "may it guide and support you on your way, Knight Kenobi."

Obi-Wan bowed again. "May the Force be with you." A strange sort of calm had come over him. He would face whatever was coming. If he could not be an official member of the Jedi Order any longer, so be it. He would still continue to serve the Force.

Anakin handed him his severed Padawan braid. Despite it all, Obi-Wan found the humour in this situation. "So you finally got your revenge, huh?"

Anakin grinned and put an arm around Obi-Wan. "It's been coming for twenty long, long years. Come on, let's finally leave this hell of a place." He steered Obi-Wan towards their ship.

Obi-Wan put the braid inside the pocket with Dooku's lightsaber. It seemed only fitting that he would bury the two things together.

oOoOo

After Anakin had made the jump to hyperspace, he switched to autopilot. They had four hours – to rest, to mourn, to talk, whatever it was Obi-Wan wanted. In the rear of the spaceship, there were two narrow bunk beds. Obi-Wan sat on one of them. Anakin squeezed in next to him. It was cramped but Obi-Wan did not complain. He just leant his head against Anakin's shoulder and sighed barely audibly.

Anakin was relieved that Obi-Wan did not push him away. He was determined to stop Obi-Wan from making the same mistakes Anakin had made after Qui-Gon's death. But Obi-Wan did not try to close himself off, quite the contrary. He was unusually vulnerable, like an open wound, no effort at shielding whatsoever. He let Anakin in through their bond, so Anakin could feel it all very clearly: infinite sadness, utter exhaustion but also a strange sort of calm. Through that knighting 'ceremony' Obi-Wan had found some peace. Anakin was glad he had suggested it and gone through with it.

Obi-Wan's head sagged further down and his breathing became deep and slow. Anakin manoeuvred them so they were a little more comfortable half sitting, half lying down. He himself was so tired but it would be wrong to fall asleep now. I am very sorry. I understand your sadness, he sent Obi-Wan through their bond. Of course Obi-Wan had lost his master in a different way, one could even say he had lost him twice, but Anakin knew what it was like without a master. The memories suddenly seemed so fresh that Anakin had tears in his eyes. He wasn't sure if it was his or Obi-Wan's sadness, just that he felt it profoundly, amplified like in a feedback loop.

Obi-Wan frowned slightly. "How are you doing this?"

"Hm?"

"It's like I can see your emotions in the Force. And earlier, I swear I could hear your words in my head."

Anakin shrugged. It was hard to explain because to him it came naturally. "I'm just reaching for our bond and thinking thoughts at you very hard."

"So…we have a bond," Obi-Wan said slowly. "When did that happen? How did it happen?"

Obi-Wan had not been aware? Well, this was going to be a little awkward. "When we were younglings. Babies even. Father Lia said it happened when I was brought to the Temple. I was probably feeling lonely and scared in that new place, and reached out and – you happened to be there. It really wasn't a conscious decision on my part."

"Wait." Obi-Wan's presence in the Force became less drowsy. "You mean to tell me we've had this bond since childhood?"

"Yes." Anakin was just as surprised as Obi-Wan but for different reasons. How could Obi-Wan not have known – not have felt the bond?

"Is that why I've always felt drawn to you?"

Apprehension crept up from Obi-Wan's side and Obi-Wan withdrew slightly. This was not what Anakin had wanted. "I don't know," he said tiredly. He could already see it: Obi-Wan declaring he would not accept a bond that had been put on him without his consent, and that he did not really love Anakin but that he had just been manipulated by that Force bond. "So you don't want the bond?" Anakin prepared for another in a long row of rejections.

"I'm not sure. Is there a choice at all or is it just…there?"

"Of course there is a choice. The bond is there, sure, but you don't have to use it. You can just ignore it." Like Obi-Wan had done for years. Anakin had not meant to sound so bitter. He should not be so selfish, not now when Obi-Wan was hurting because he had lost his master…

Obi-Wan hummed thoughtfully but did not withdraw further. Anakin could feel him at the periphery of his conscience, tentatively reaching out like testing the waters. It reminded Anakin of exactly that: Obi-Wan cautiously wading through the water to try to swim again. In the end, it had worked out. Maybe Anakin just needed a bit of patience – not his strongest suit. So he left his side of the bond open and prepared to wait. He knew he could be a bit much sometimes, and if Obi-Wan had never been aware of their bond, it must be quite overwhelming for him. Maybe getting back on the physical level to provide comfort was the better solution for now. Anakin lightly stroked Obi-Wan's forehead, his temple, then his hair. He was oddly fascinated with the stubble of hair where the Padawan braid had been.

"What about you?" Obi-Wan asked. "Do you regret it?"

Anakin chose his next words carefully. "I regret how it happened. That you didn't have a choice. But I don't regret that it's you."

Obi-Wan hummed again. "I guess there are worse people to have a bond with."

Anakin chuckled, appeased for now. Just for a moment, he closed his tired eyes. Obi-Wan's body was a pleasantly warm weight against his side and the thrumming of the ship's engine made him drowsy… With all his effort he opened his eyes again. This was not the time to fall asleep. He wanted to be there for Obi-Wan and it felt wrong to just succumb to sleep…

"You can sleep, you know," Obi-Wan said.

"Nah, it's fine, I'm staying awake."

He did not stay awake. Only when the ship's beeping signalled their approach to Coruscant did he wake up. He had a stiff neck, a headache and sore muscles in his right arm. No matter how invincible he had felt in the moment, his body told him that it had been the most intense fight of his life. Groaning, he stood up and went to the cockpit where Obi-Wan had already turned off autopilot and was preparing for the landing.

"Sorry for falling asleep on you."

"It's fine," Obi-Wan said but he was clearly not fine. Now that they were getting closer to Coruscant he was tensing up. His knuckles, which gripped the consoles too tightly, were white. No wonder. The prospect of facing the Council was nothing to look forward to.

Anakin dropped into the co-pilot's seat. "We could always elope," he tried to lighten the mood. "Overthrow the monarchy on Maleevis…" He was grateful, even a little proud to see a faint smile on Obi-Wan's lips.

"Abolish slavery on Tatooine…" Obi-Wan added, his smile growing.

When Anakin smiled back, the idea started to take shape in his mind. They had stopped the Sith, he had fulfilled the prophecy. There was nothing left he had to do. And surely they deserved a vacation after all of this, right?

"You know what?" He stopped the descent. A giddy feeling was spreading through him. "Let's do it."

This is the last chapter, only the epilogue to go. If you've read this far, could you leave a little comment? You can review anonymously and you don't have to write much, just let me know you've read my story, that'd make me very happy :)