As plans went, Obi-Wan had to admit Anakin was right. It really wasn't their worst, but it definitely wasn't their best either.
"Almost there." Tala murmured as they passed the checkpoint and made for the hangar floor.
Anakin and Leia, to both their credit, did extremely well keeping a low profile. Obi-Wan wondered if there hadn't been just a hint of instinctual Force use by Leia to direct attention away from her. Given who's child she was, he wouldn't have been surprised at all. He also wouldn't be surprised if Anakin was somehow managing to do the same, despite the condition he was in.
He glanced at the man beside him, still not entirely believing what he saw and not giving himself the luxury to dwell on it at the moment. Anakin was pale and sweat was beginning to bead on his forehead.
"A TRAITOR!"
Obi-Wan and Tala whirled to face the Inquisitor staking towards them with a troop of guards. Behind them Obi-Wan sensed Anakin tucking Leia closer to him and peering up from beneath the brim of his hat. He prayed his old padawan didn't try anything utterly stupid. They were in enough trouble as it was.
"A child and an old man. Was it worth it? Betraying everything you are?" Reva demanded.
"This was never who I was." Tala answered, holding her head high.
"Then you die. For nothing."
All around them troopers trained their blasters on them.
As he looked over his shoulder, Obi-Wan caught Anakin's half closed, swollen eye. So far Reva hadn't paid much attention to him, which was fortunate.
"Do you have a Plan B?" Anakin whispered ever so softly, his hands gripping Leia's shoulders. She must have emerged from under the coat when their cover was blown, but was still tolerating being Anakin's walking aid. "Someone told me you should always have a Plan B. There is a Plan B, right?"
For what felt like much longer than the few seconds it was, Obi-Wan just stared at Anakin, not entirely sure he'd heard him correctly. Surely not even Anakin would drag up some ridiculous argument they'd had years ago at a time like this.
The slight quirk of Anakin's pale lips confirmed he had.
"Unbelievable." Obi-Wan breathed as he looked away again. Every doubt he had that the man next to him was truly Anakin Skywalker kept getting smashed away each time he opened his mouth. It was as though he'd returned from the dead to haunt him with sarcasm and cheek. If the situation wasn't so dire, he might have laughed.
Just then the hangar exploded with a rain of fire and two T-47 speeders dropped from the sky.
"Go!" Obi-Wan barked, already shooting the troopers to their left while Tala did the same on their right.
"So…you…did…have…a…planB." Anakin gasped as he stumbled along in a clumsy run next to Leia towards the speeder that landed just ahead of them. "O-or…was that…just luck."
"Save your breath!" Obi-Wan snapped as he grabbed the taller, bony man around the middle and threw his arm around his neck while blocking Leia's tiny body with his own from the incoming fire.
"Come! Get in! Get in, get in!" The pilot urged as Reva came sprinting towards them.
Once they were all inside, the hatch closed and the ship lurched back into the air.
Obi-Wan helped Anakin sit and was about to check on Leia when they all heard the pilot scream.
"WADE!"
The passengers went still, knowing without asking what must have happened.
One of their rescuers was dead.
Lowering himself slowly, Obi-Wan ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes, trying to center himself. So many had died on account of him already. Leia was in danger because of him. How many more? He wasn't sure he could bear it much longer.
*THUD*
"BEN!"
Leia's panicked voice startled him back to reality and his eyes snapped open to see Anakin laying crumpled on the floor along with Leia.
"Oh, no." Tala breathed, hurrying to help the child who looked to have tried to stop Anakin's fall and ended up half under his torso. Leia squirmed free as they moved him and rolled into a half sitting position to watch the adults.
"Anakin! ANAKIN!" Obi-Wan rushed to kneel next to him. He checked frantically for a pulse and started searching him for injuries. After a tense moment, relief poured over Obi-Wan when the man's eyes fluttered open to show the blue eyes of the boy he raised.
"Are you alright?" He asked, fully aware that his voice cracked. "No! Don't move! Stay still. We'll get you to a medical droid as soon as we can."
Anakin groaned and blinked his swollen eyes a few times before letting them focus on Obi-Wan's face. His brow furrowed.
"Oh…this is not good." Anakin groaned weakly. "Really. What happened to you?! Why do you look so old and beat up?"
Leia's eyes brightened and she perked up, opening her mouth to say something as she side eyed Obi-Wan a little smugly.
Obi-Wan pointed at her and said with as much sternness as he had the heart to use with the girl, "Not ONE word out of you, young lady."
Looking offended, Leia lifted her chin and stated primly, "I didn't say ANYTHING."
Tala's mouth twisted with a bemused exasperation and she rose her feet, heading to the cockpit.
"I'll go check on Sully and see if there is a med kit." She said, "We should be meeting up with a ship soon regardless. We'll get your friend help then."
"Thank you." Obi-Wan's words were utterly genuine.
The woman hadn't even questioned him bringing out two people instead of just the little girl they went to rescue. He appreciated her willingness to help anyone who had suffered at the hands of The Empire.
Anakin moaned softly again and closed his eyes again. "I might have overdone it."
"You think?" Obi-Wan replied casually, letting the desperation for calmness drive him to act as though the last ten years had never happened.
"Master…what's happened? How long was I in there? What happened with Palpatine and the war!? Is he responsible for all this?"
Obi-Wan couldn't answer. The words stuck in his throat.
"Obi-Wan?" Anakin's eyes dragged open and he struggled to sit up. "How long?!"
"To be entirely honest, Anakin" Obi-Wan swallowed uncomfortably. "I have no idea."
Confusion flashed over the other man's face and he collapsed back against the floor. "What do you mean you have no idea! Surely you noticed I was missing!"
"I…" Obi-Wan looked back helplessly, unsure what to tell him.
"When did they take you?" Leia asked in a diplomatic tone, tilting her head with curiosity, yet still holding a similar air of distrust for Anakin like she had when she first met Obi-Wan.
Anakin swiveled his head to blink at her owlishly. "Umm…we'd been deployed again after some time back at the Temple. The fighting on the Outer Rim had intensified significantly for about four weeks before I was captured." Anakin whispered hoarsely. "Obi-Wan, how long?"
Silence stretched as Obi-Wan struggled, staring into the face of his padawan with a sense of displacement from reality.
This was a dream, wasn't it?
"Didn't the Clone Wars end ten years ago when the Empire stepped in?" Leia whispered, her eyes wide as she stared back and forth between Anakin and Obi-Wan.
"Empire? T-ten YEARS!? B-but…Obi-Wan! You knew I was missing, didn't you!? What about Padme?! She would have noticed! Why didn't you look for me!? Where is Padme!?" Anakin asked again, his voice climbing with each question.
Dumbly, Obi-Wan found himself shaking his head, tears threatening at the corners of his eyes. "We never knew you were gone, Anakin…you were there the whole time!"
Anakin's eyes widened and his breathing sped up as he asked, "What do you mean I was there the whole time? An imposter took my place? Like a changeling?"
"I-I'm not sure, Anakin. It was you, in nearly every sense!"
"That doesn't make any sense!" Anakin rasped, shaking his head and pressing his hand to his temple.
"What if it was a clone." Leia suggested seriously.
Both men stared at her.
"What? The war was called The Clone Wars, wasn't it? So what if someone just cloned him and stole his memories so that everyone thought the clone was the real Anakin and-" Leia paused in her hypothesis, her face falling as the outlandishness of it started to sink into her mind. "I…I don't know how they would do that, though."
Anakin and Obi-Wan slowly turned to each other, considering the possibility. As unlikely as it sounded, the theory wasn't so unbelievable given the situation.
"That slimy bag of Sith Scum!" Anakin breathed, his eyes rolling back into his head as he gripped his body and shivered. "That's what he meant when he said it wasn't his only chance to turn me...what about Padme? Obi-Wan! He tried to use her against me! He threatened her! Where is she, Obi-Wan. Is she alright?"
"I will tell you everything, Anakin…but, perhaps we had better save this for until after you have gotten medical attention. It's going to be a long story to tell, I'm afraid." Obi-Wan said quietly, avoiding eye contact as he rolled up the imperial coat he'd been wearing and put it under Anakin's head.
"What's a few more hours compared to ten years?" Anakin murmured weakly as his body began to tremble in response to all the abuse he'd just put it through during their escape. A tear escaped from beneath his lids, rolling down into his ear.
Dread filled Obi-Wan's heart as Tala returned and they dragged Anakin off the floor of the speeder, making for the med bay of the ship they met up with.
His brother was alive, brimming with light and hope despite his condition. But would that last when he heard what had happened with the birth of The Empire?
Obi-Wan didn't know if he could survive if Anakin fell to darkness a second time.