Obi-Wan liked to think he was the most responsible and organized person in the Jedi Order. He oversaw most of the strategies in the war, he trained often, and he vouched for Anakin whenever something involving the young Jedi Knight happened. He kept his quarters neat and tidy, and always made sure he was properly groomed before an event. He kept his emotions in check whenever possible. In fact, he was the perfect Jedi...at least that was what he thought of himself. Of course, no one is perfect, not even a Jedi who follows all the rules.
It was on the battlefield that he let one of his flaws slip out. Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ashoka were sent on a mission to the planet Ryloth once again. The Twi'leks had fixed their village and had been sent plenty of supplies to sustain themselves. However, the Separatists would not leave the planet alone. They hadn't captured Ryloth, but they had decided to burn as much of the forests and wildlife around different villages. Needless to say, Obi-Wan had immediately signed up for this mission. He would never openly admit it, but he hated to see wildlife treated badly. It made his insides churn.
Before he knew it, the Separatists ambushed them, and they were currently pinned down with droids on all sides. He stood back to back with Anakin and deflected blaster bolts that seemed to come from nowhere. The smoke from the fires that the droids had set was getting into his eyes and nose. His vision was blurry, and his lungs burned with the sting of the thick, black smoke. "You hanging on, Master?" Anakin shouted over the din.
Obi-Wan let out a raspy cough, "I'm doing the best I can, Anakin. I don't know how long we'll last out here, what with all this smoke around us." He widened his eyes as he barely dodged a blaster bolt aimed for his head. He felt Anakin shift against him as a laser grazed Anakin's shoulder.
"I hate to say this," Anakin grunted as he began to tire, "but we might have to retreat for now and think of a better strategy. This isn't going well." Obi-wan turned his head and raised a brow. The great Hero With No Fear admitting surrender was unheard of. Something must've gone wrong with his plan.
"I don't even know where my padawan is," Anakin said sheepishly. Obi-Wan didn't answer as he dodged about five different blaster bolts all aimed for his abdomen. Alright, this was getting out of hand. Looking back, Obi-Wan had no idea what came over him, but he decided to take action. He saw a small opening between the droids that led to a part of the forest that wasn't burning. Without a warning to Anakin, he took off running as fast as he could. He ignored his former Padawan when he shouted after him and instead sprinted toward the opening.
His lungs were screaming at him to stop running due to the thick smoke currently being inhaled. His legs started to ache as he got closer to the circle of droids. He rolled out of the way of several lasers. The droids started to aim more at the sprinting Jedi than the other two currently on the battlefield. This might've been the worst idea I had ever had, Obi-wan thought to himself. He started to cough violently as he got closer to the origin of the fires. He made the mistake of stopping in the middle of the field to cough.
The Force warned him of something coming towards him. Obi-wan lifted his head and saw a commando droid running towards him with its weapon raised. Before he had time to react, the droid knocked the Jedi's lightsaber out of his hand. The Force only knows where the beloved weapon went. "In the name of-" Obi-wan was cut off as the commando droid swung at him with its weapon. Great, he was in the middle of the circle of droids with no weapon and no one to watch his back. How he was going to get out of this one? Obi-wan had no clue, but he did know that he needed to get out as fast as possible.
The droid was preparing to advance on him again, but Obi-wan leaped away just in time. Suddenly, something sharp and metal dug into his back. Obi-wan let out a scream of pain despite himself. He fell to his hands and knees, lifted his head, and saw another commando droid looming over him. Usually, he wouldn't be so easily felled by a simple droid. However, he was sore, tired, without a weapon, and now in pain. His bangs had fallen loose and were now hanging over his eyes, blocking a part of his vision.
Before one of the droids could hit him again, he used the force to push one of them away. It flew through the air like a mere piece of paper and landed on its neck, deactivating it. That hardly made a difference because of the hundreds of other droids surrounding him. I'll admit it, he thought to himself, this is one of the few times where I should've listened to Anakin. As soon as he tried moving, the pain in his back shot throughout his body. He grunted, but forced himself up despite the pain. He needed to get to Anakin, he needed to find out what was wrong with his back. All he needed to do was ignore the pain and regroup. There was no stopping now.
He trudged in the direction he thought Anakin was, but was knocked down by the first commando droid he failed to get rid of. This is not good, he thought. This is not how he wanted to die. The great Jedi Master, Obi-wan Kenobi, killed by a simple stab from a droid. That would be a most humiliating way to go out. He wanted to get up, he really did, but something held him down. With a panicked realization he found that he couldn't get up. It hurt too much. He could still move his legs, with some difficulty, but he couldn't get up. He opened his eyes, which he didn't remember closing them, and found a commando droid above him.
He felt his whole body go numb. His vision became distorted and he knew he was going to lose consciousness. It didn't matter anyway, the droid was about to kill him. He wondered how Anakin would react, or Ashoka. A shiver ran through him as he found himself wondering how Satine would take it. He didn't even get to write a note or anything. Maybe it would be better that way, though. She wouldn't have to know how he died. Of course, his musings only took a few seconds to pass through his mind before he registered what was happening. Before the droid could pierce him through the chest, a blue lightsaber decapitated it. There stood Anakin. His clothes were torn, he had a few blood spots, and dirt covered his face, but it was still Anakin.
Anakin looked terrified. Not because of the battle, Obi-wan realized, but for Obi-wan himself. Anakin knelt beside his former master and hovered his hands over Obi-wan, like he was afraid to touch him. He eventually, tentatively, placed a hand on Obi-wan's shoulder. "Obi-wan," Anakin whispered, which he almost didn't hear. "What the heck were you thinking? Running into a battle so recklessly! That's my job, not yours! You're supposed to be the calm and collected one, I'm supposed to be the angry and reckless one. I don't want to lose you!"
Obi-wan found it rather amusing that Anakin was the one giving him a lecture instead of the other way around. He wanted to say something, but he was suddenly very tired. He wanted to reassure his best friend that everything was fine and that he was sorry, but all he could do was smile and close his eyes.
As Obi-wan slowly came back to reality, he was met with darkness. A ringing in his ears was preventing him from hearing anything. Obi-wan tried wiggling his fingers, but it slightly hurt to do so. He felt a bit panicky as he still couldn't see anything, but he quickly realized that his eyes were closed. He opened one eye slowly, but the light pierced his vision, causing him to groan. That's when he heard a muffled voice, but he couldn't make out what it was saying. The ringing in his ears was quieting, but he still couldn't hear much of anything. Obi-wan decided that he needed to open his eyes, he wanted to see where he was.
With that thought, he slowly cracked open his eyes, ignoring the blinding light. He was met with the worried face of Anakin and Obi-wan smiled with relief. They had survived. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Obi-wan realized that his throat was quite dry. "Water," he managed to squeak out. Anakin just nodded and held up a glass of water to his dry lips. Obi-wan gulped the liquid down like a starved animal, but at least he could talk now. "What happened?" Obi-wan asked.
"You had me worried sick, master," Anakin sighed, "you were in pretty bad shape."
"Anakin, tell me what happened," Obi-wan prompted.
"That injury to your back caused you to have temporary paralysis," Anakin explained shakily, "but they managed to sew it back together. If that droid had hit you any deeper, you might've been paralyzed forever," Anakin furrowed his brows. Obi-wan stayed silent as he realized that Anakin had been scared.
"Anakin," Obi-wan started, but was cut off by the Jedi Knight.
"Don't start Obi-wan," Anakin scolded, "you could've died! You shouldn't have run out in the field like that, you know better. I don't know what I would've done if you died!" Obi-wan frowned and started to sit up in his hospital bed. Despite his outburst, Anakin helped him up.
"To be honest, I don't know why I ran off like that," Obi-wan admitted, "I just thought that I could be of assistance in some way. I'm sorry Anakin, I didn't mean to worry you." Obi-wan dropped his head in shame, trying to relay to his best friend that he was truly sorry. Without warning, Anakin pulled him into a tight hug. Obi-wan grunted in surprise and froze, not sure what to do at first. But he eventually smiled and returned the hug. The two friends didn't hug often, which was why Obi-wan was caught off guard, but when they did, they usually held the hug for awhile.
"Don't scare me like that again," Anakin said as he pulled away. Obi-wan noticed Anakin's eyes had a shine to them, but he didn't point it out. "Oh, and by the way," Anakin turned around, "I found your lightsaber." He handed it to his former master with a mischievous glint in his blue eyes.
"Thank you Anakin," Obi-wan nodded his head.
"You better be more careful Obi-wan," Anakin mocked, "this weapon is your life." Obi-wan rolled his eyes, but he had a grin on his bearded face. It turns out, Obi-wan could be reckless once in a while. It may get him into serious trouble, but Anakin would always be there to comfort him.
Hey all, I'm so sorry for keeping you guys waiting. I kinda stopped writing for awhile because I think I needed a break. Anyway, sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter but I hope you enjoy it! Thank you for being patient and I'm sorry again for keeping you waiting. Remember to stay safe, stay hopeful, and please wear a mask! Bye for now!