Anakin blinked up at Mace as the older Jedi held out his hand. Anakin accepted the hand, letting Mace pull him back up onto his feet. Anakin reached out his hand and called his own lightsaber back into it from the floor when he'd been forced to drop it. Now the fight was over Anakin could feel his fatigue, it was probably why he'd tripped in the first place. He was still getting used to his twenty year old body.

And his twenty year old body was still clearly getting used to his demands, Anakin thought to himself as he felt his muscles begin to scream in protest at what he'd just put them through. He'd never fought like that when he'd been this age originally. Even when he'd fought Obi-Wan on Mustafar he hadn't been at the level he'd just fought at.

"Well done, Skywalker," Mace offered, clasping Anakin on his shoulder. Anakin was surprised to see sweat beading on the Master's forehead, a sign of fatigue that Anakin rarely saw there after a simple sparring match.

"To you as well," Anakin bowed humbly, before he and Mace walked back to the bench where Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and Yoda were sitting.

"That was amazing," enthused Ahsoka, her eyes wide with excitement.

"You are fortunate to have such a skilled teacher Padawan Tano," Mace told her with a sideways glance at Anakin, "there are few, even within the Jedi order, who can test my skill."

"Well, I can't be making your life easy, can I Master Windu?" Anakin jested lightly. Obi-Wan coughed to hide his snort of laughter, and Yoda quickly put his hand over his mouth to stifle his own amused chuckles.

Mace, for his part, rolled his eyes, "yes, you test me, Skywalker…in more than one way. If you are ever feeling like a rematch, you know where to find me."

With that Mace strode away smoothly, Yoda hobbling along after him, cheerfully waving to the group of Padawans, who were stealing shocked sideways glances at Anakin. Anakin watched the pair of Masters go, and he knew that, perhaps for the first time in his life, he had the respect of Mace Windu.

"Well, I'm impressed," Offered Obi-Wan, "if it was me you were fighting it would have all been over much faster than that."

"Don't be so sure," Anakin replied, thinking back on his and Mace's whispered conversation before their match.

"Did you fight me after you had fallen, like you did Obi-Wan?"

"Just before…I cut of your hand because I thought you were about to kill Palpatine...it wasn't something I'd planned or done intentionally though," Anakin had replied, "Palpatine was able to kill you because of what I did though".

Mace had nodded in acceptance, "You won't hurt me, nor will I hurt you. This is just a sparring match, nothing more."

"You'll stop me if I start falling?"

"There is no indication that you're about to fall," Mace had reassured him, "You weren't the one to kill me, nor do I believe that you will ever do such a thing. Now, I've accused you, many times over the years, of showing off, and that it is unbefitting of a Jedi to act in such a way…well. You have an audience…so show off what you can do…if it helps you can even pretend that your senator is here watching."

"Ah, actually…I tend to fight worse whenever she's involved," Anakin had admitted with a shrug as he assumed his ready stance.

It was true, or at least, it had been during the Clone Wars the first time around. Anakin knew it was because he tended to not think things through whenever he thought Padme was in danger…it was what led to his fall to the dark side after all.

"Anakin…Anakin?"

"Skyguy?"

"What?" Anakin dragged himself from his thoughts.

"How do you feel?"

Anakin blinked, "huh?"

Obi-Wan's frown deepened, "You didn't hit your head, did you?"

"No," Anakin shook his head, "just…thinking about what Master Windu told me just before we fought."

"Shall we go back to your quarters so you can change?" suggested Obi-Wan. Anakin cringed and nodded, feeling the sweat making his clothing stick to his skin. The three of them headed back to Anakin and Ahsoka's apartment, and Anakin went straight to the refresher, deciding to indulge in a water shower. The hot water helped ease the ache in his muscles, although Anakin knew he was going to know how much he'd pushed himself after he'd rested.

After Anakin had finished and put on clean robes, he and Ahsoka swapped. Obi-Wan had made himself a cup of tea, and had prepared a large glass of water for Anakin to drink. Anakin drank the entire glass, before he refilled it and sank down on the couch with a groan.

Obi-Wan frowned, "are you sure that you're alright?"

"I might have overdone it," Anakin admitted, "This body…it's not ready to do some of the things I tried."

"Things you could do before?"

Anakin nodded, understanding what Obi-Wan meant. None of the things he'd done were considered strictly dark side moves, but they required a certain degree of skill that 20 year old Anakin Skywalker didn't have, but Darth Vader did.

"How are the muscles?" Obi-Wan gave a small smile. Anakin looked sideway at him, and decided to be honest with his former master.

He groaned dramatically, "I don't think I'll go to Mace for a rematch in the next few days. I don't know if I'll be able to walk tomorrow. If we get called out for a mission we might be in trouble."

"I doubt that the council will send us on a mission at the moment, even with the war," Obi-Wan consoled, "this…development…it is our top priority."

Anakin felt relief wash over him, and knew that some of it slid through his bond with Obi-Wan. Aside from his muscle soreness, Anakin wasn't sure he was ready to be back on a battlefield, commanding the Clones. It was too much like what he'd spent his time as Vader doing. Besides, the more quickly the Jedi moved against Sidious, the better.

SW

Obi-Wan quietly turned off the holodrama that had been playing, glancing across the couch to his companions. Anakin, his hair curling as it dried, was still leaning against him comfortably, his head cushioned by Obi-Wan's shoulder. Ahsoka was curled up on the other end of the couch, her head resting on Anakin's leg. Both of them were sound asleep. Obi-Wan wasn't surprised. Anakin had been running himself into the ground physically, and especially mentally, since he'd been brought back into his younger body, and Ahsoka's sleep had been disturbed lately by her worry about Anakin. Obi-wan couldn't blame her for it, he hadn't been sleeping well lately either.

With Anakin's revelations there had just seemed so much to do, so many things that needed to be done to combat Palpatine's plans for the future. On top of that was the ongoing war, although Obi-Wan was grateful that he, Anakin and Ahsoka, along with their men, were all on Coruscant, with a return to the battlefields of the galaxy looking to be some time away. Obi-Wan knew that Anakin wasn't ready yet, and he knew that Anakin was well aware of the fact himself.

Still, despite the situation, Obi-Wan was glad for the break. Other than short breaks of only a few days, or at most a week, he and Anakin had been on missions non stop since Anakin's return from Naboo. Even Ahsoka's joining of the team hadn't really made that much of a difference to the number of missions they were going on, or the complexity of the missions.

At any other time, Obi-Wan knew that the jedi Council would never even consider letting a padawan as young as Ahsoka out on missions with her Master as dangerous as the ones Anakin and Ahsoka regularly went on, especially considering that Anakin had only been knighted barely a year before, and he and Ahsoka had only been partnered up for a few months.

But it wasn't a normal time. The Republic was at war, and things were desperate. The number of Jedi was dropping rapidly, with numbers already greatly depleted by the fight on Geonosis. The Jedi order simply couldn't afford to keep capable knights away from the battlefield just because they had a Padawan.

Even now, keeping both Obi-Wan and Anakin out of action on Coruscant was going to hurt the war effort. It hadn't been said by anyone, but Obi-Wan knew that it would be the case, and that the other members of the Jedi Council, as well as other experienced Jedi, would need to step into missions that Obi-Wan and Anakin would have taken. Obi-Wan had faith in the training of his fellow Jedi, but he knew some missions would turn out differently with different jedi leading the Republic's forces.

Obi-wan wasn't going to let himself worry about it though. His primary concern was Anakin. Anakin…who could barely raise his lightsabre, even on the lowest setting, against his padawan. Anakin…who tripped over his own two feet, used to being weighed down by heavy metal prosthetics. Anakin…who couldn't walk through the jedi Temple…his own home…without flinching.

Beside him, Obi-Wan felt Anakin shift in his sleep, letting out a soft whimper. Oni-Wan knew his former Padawan, they had slept in the same quarters for many years, and often in the same room during missions…even, occasionally, on the same bed when Anakin had been very young and new to the temple, and Obi-Wan himself had still been reeling from the loss of his own master.

After all that, Obi-Wan knew the signs that Anakin was starting to have a nightmare. Anakin whimpered again, another sign that the nightmare was taking hold. Obi-Wan slowly move his free hand and began brushing it through Anakin's nearly dry curls, sending warmth and reassuring thoughts through their bond. Anakin's shields were still up at his end of the bond, and Obi-Wan knew that most of what he sent wasn't getting through. Anakin would know that Obi-Wan was trying to help him though, and Obi-Wan could only hope it would be enough.

Anakin shifted again, letting out a soft sob as he curled a little closer to Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan frowned and continued to try and soothe his former Padawan through their bond.

Obi-Wan felt it the moment Anakin dropped his shields, even though it was only fractionally. It was enough to allow him to send more calm reassurance through their bond. He felt Anakin's awareness brush against his own wearily, and Obi-Wan was alarmed by how exhausted Anakin felt.

'Let me help?'

Anakin seemed to hesitate, evidently considering his options, before he lowered his shields in their bond a little more. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and let himself go with the force, falling into a light meditation with his own presence wrapped protectively around Anakin.

Almost immediately Obi-Wan felt heat surrounding him…oppressive, unbearable heat. He let himself settle before he opened his eyes. He was surrounded by rivers of lava, burning hot, the air thick with ash and embers. Anakin was standing beside him, wide eyed and shaking. Obi-Wan put his arm around him, and Anakin turned towards him, his eyes full of tears. Not far away, sprawled on a platform, unmoving, and most probably unconscious (Obi-Wan hoped anyway) was Senator Amidala. With the way she was laying, and the angle Obi-Wan was at, he could just see the curve of her stomach.

Obi-Wan's stomach sank. This…this was one of Anakin's memories from before...from the day the Obi-wan had maimed his former Padawan and left Anakin for dead.

Anakin opened his mouth to say something, but any actual words seemed to die in his throat. Still the sound of voices drifted towards them, and Anakin flinched, tearing his gaze away from Obi-Wan, to some spot in the distance, where the voices seemed to be coming from. Bracing himself, Obi-Wan followed Anakin's line of sight, his own breath catching in his throat as, in the distance, he saw himself, standing on a rocky hillside, Anakin, or rather, this future version of him, was laying on the same hillside, barely out of the lava river, his body already badly burnt, his remaining limbs gone. Obi-Wan felt his stomach churn, as was sure that, if he was actually physically on the planet, rather than just in one of Anakin's nightmarish memories, he would have thrown up.

"You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would, destroy the Sith, not join them. It was you who would bring balance to the Force, not leave it in Darkness," Obi-Wan heard his own voice say, full of distress as his future counterpoint crouched to pick up something that had been on the ground, although at this distance Obi-Wan couldn't see what it was. He could see however, when his future-self turned and began to walk away from the grievously injured Anakin. Obi-Wan wanted to scream at himself, ask him why the hell he was leaving Anakin behind.

The younger version of Anakin standing beside him, or rather…the much older version of Anakin…it was getting a little confusing, seemed to know where Obi-Wan's thoughts were going.

"I had just killed pretty much everyone left at the temple," he hoarsely reminded Obi-Wan, his voice sound pained and raw, "I…I don't blame you for what you did. I had just…" Anakin faded off and helplessly gestured at Padme's unconscious body, unable to say what he'd done. Obi-Wan nodded, returning his attention to the figures on the rocky mountainside.

"I hate you," the injured Anakin screamed, his voice sounding deranged, almost inhuman. Even when he was at his most angry Obi-Wan had never heard Anakin sound like that, although his heart stilled in his chest when he heard his counterpart's reply.

"You were my brother, Anakin. I loved you."

The other Obi-Wan turned and began to walk towards them, probably to help Padme, but Obi-Wan's gaze was fixed on the other Anakin as his robe flapped in the breeze, right into the lava, and ignited, the flames quickly engulfing not only Anakin's clothes, but Anakin himself. Anakin screamed, and the dream shifted, and Obi-Wan found himself sitting back in his sitting room, back at the Jedi Temple, Anakin sitting, unharmed beside him, Ahsoka curled on the couch beside Anakin, still sound asleep. Anakin's pain filled screaming as he was burned by the flames, however, echoed in Obi-Wan's mind, and he staggered to his feet and hurried to the refresher, throwing himself to this knees as he stuck his head over the refresher as he gagged and retched, bringing up everything he'd eaten in the last few hours.

He felt a hand rest on his shoulder, and looked up, once he was sure he was done. Anakin was there, holding a glass of water out towards him, his face solemn, haunted.

"I…I'm sorry, Anakin. I…I never should have done that."

"I forced your hand," Anakin replied as Obi-Wan took the glass, rinsing out his mouth before he took a drink.

"I…I left you to die!"

"I'd just killed pretty much everyone you gave a damn about," Anakin shook his head, "I can't blame you for kicking my ass."

"You said you hated me," Obi-Wan pointed out.

Anakin actually flinched, "to be honest, and my memories of the few weeks around when I fell are a bit…hazy, I hated everyone at that point…myself, the Jedi…you…the republic…Palpatine…everyone."

Obi-Wan frowned and turned so he was more directly facing Anakin, rather than looking over his shoulder at him.

"Everyone?"

"Hate makes you stronger in the dark side," Anakin reminded Obi-Wan, parroting what Anakin himself must have been told many times, both by the Jedi, and probably by Sideous too, although with different desired outcomes.

"And has any of that hatred continued until now?

Anakin hesitated, shifting his weight nervously, a habit that reminded Obi-Wan of Anakin when he was much younger and was in trouble for some mischief, or when he'd been brought before the Jedi Council for another scolding.

"I don't hate you anymore, I promise. I don't hate the Jedi either. I think they need to change some things, but I don't hate them anymore. I don't hate the republic, although, again, changes need to happen. I still hate Sideous, but I can't help that after what he did."

Obi-Wan, however, knew who Anakin hadn't mentioned, and gave Anakin a penetrating look. Anakin's pale cheeks coloured slightly at being caught.

"And you? Do you still hate yourself?"

"Wouldn't you? I made some…exceedingly bad choices. Choices that got a lot of people killed. I was the worst monster in the whole galaxy, my own children would have had nightmares about me. I murdered countless innocents. I helped Sidious in his reign of terror. I was his enforcer, his figurehead. I let myself be manipulated by him until I was his slave. Of course I hate myself."

Tears trickled down Anakin's face and Obi-wan reached up to cup Anakin's cheek with his hand, brushing the tears away gently with his thumb.

"You're not that monster yet, you're taking steps to stop that all from happening."

"It doesn't stop me from remembering it all," Anakin whispered, "It doesn't stop the things I've already done, nor the fact that I'm scared that one day I'll make the same stupid choices to try and save the ones I care about the most. Padme…you…Ahsoka, Luke and Leia, Rex…"Anakin shook his head. Obi-Wan nodded, thinking of the memories that Anakin had just shared with him.

"Anakin. Look at me."

Anakin opened his tear filled blue eyes and looked back at Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan held his gaze.

"I…I may not have said it enough…but I do love you, I have for a long time. You are my brother, in every way that matters, and I won't let Sidious get you, I give you my word."

At Obi-Wan's words Anakin burst into tears again and Obi-Wan, without hesitation, pulled his former Padawan into a tight hug, feeling Anakin's shaking arms return the gesture without hesitation.

They clung onto one another, Obi-Wan alternating between rubbing his hands up and down Anakin's back, trying to sooth him as Anakin's shoulders sook with sobs, and rubbing the back of Anakin's head, coming his fingers through Anakin's slightly damp hair.

Looking over Anakin's shoulder, Obi-wan could see Ahsoka, watching, her own eyes sparking with unshed tears as she watched her master sob and fall apart. Wordlessly, Obi-Wan held out his arm in invitation, and Ahsoka hurried over, squeezing in beside Anakin so she could wrap her own skinny arms around both Anakin and Obi-Wan, and Obi-Wan included her in his embrace. He felt, more than anything, Anakin's happiness at having Ahsoka there beside him.

The morning was sure to bring its own dramas, but Obi-Wan hoped that, if nothing else, Anakin had learned that Obi-Wan would have his back, no matter what.