"Kenobi!" Maul snarled as Obi-Wan ran towards Padme and Ahsoka. He turned around just in time to block a decisive blow towards his head. Obi-Wan grit his teeth and pressed hard against Maul's advances. He could hear Padme yelling in the background. But he couldn't dwell on that now. Fighting Maul here was requiring all of his concentration. Maul narrowed his yellow eyes and grinned.
"I can feel your anger, your hate." He whispered. "But you don't use them." He added on as an afterthought. Obi-Wan tried to center himself in the force- feel the soothing pulse of the light side. But he felt only little pieces here and there, surrounded by the darkness of the temple they were in. He rolled to the side, swinging his blade upward, then downward and across. Maul widened his eyes at the flurry of attacks, the ferocity behind each swing. Obi-Wan's hair fell into his face as he continued advancing on Maul, pushing the enemy back with each swing. The mist curled around his legs, slowly making its way up his body, feeding off of his anger, his hatred. A final blow caused Maul to be thrown across the temple, into the shadows of the structure.
"Master!" Ahsoka shouted, her voice desperate. He looked at her. Her eyes were full of fear, and she held Anakin's body in her lap. He could feel Anakin's presence in the force, but something was wrong. Anakin burned bright like a star in the force, full of intense power and emotion. Now, he felt like a remnant of what he once was. Obi-Wan ran over and helped pick Anakin up with Padme.
"He doesn't have much time" Padme shouted over the temple's collapse. They began to run, and Ahsoka called for R2 to bring the ship around. All around them, the temple was collapsing under an unseen weight. Obi-Wan and Padme ran as fast as they could while holding Anakin up between them, and Ahsoka moved all the rubble that she could out of the way. In her heart, Padme knew that they would see Maul again. She wasn't force sensitive, but she knew that he would hunt them down, and they would have to be ready.
In the distance they could see the ship they had come in, with R2 in the cockpit. They just had a few more meters to go, and then they would be able to get a better idea on how to treat Anakin.
"KENOBI!" Maul screamed. They stopped running and Obi-Wan shifted the rest of Anakin's weight onto Padme who grunted under the strain. Ahsoka turned around and ran towards Padme, helping her carry Anakin and they ran towards the ship. Maul ran towards them, furry in his eyes as he swung his saber towards Obi-Wan. He blocked the blow, aware of the fact that he was out of time if he wanted to make it off of this planet in time to save Anakin.
Now that he was out of the temple, he could feel the light side of the force better. Although that didn't stop the female voice whispering at him, telling him to jump for the ship. In the background, he could hear the engine's revving as the ship got ready to take off. He could hear the landing gear begin to fold back into the ship, and he knew what he had to do.
Obi-Wan dodged a strike from Maul, deactivated his lightsaber and ran. He ran towards the ship and pushed off of the ground as hard as he could. He felt something else push him forward, and he landed on the ramp just as it was about to close. Out of the window of the ship, he could see a hooded figure in white behind Maul, but then the wind blew and they were gone.
His former Padawan lay on the cot in the ships small medical bay. His skin was pale, his face was gaunt, his breathing was shallow. He looked at Padme and Ahsoka. The senator bit her lip in worry, and Ahsoka reached over and grabbed her master's hand. The medical droid came over, scanned his body and took his vitals.
"We should head back to help R2 pilot the ship." Obi-Wan said. "We have to get Anakin back to Coruscant and to the halls of healing as soon as possible." None of them moved. Obi-Wan ran a hand over his face and began to walk out of the medical bay, back to the cockpit. He sat down, and questioned how his life had gotten to this point. His heart ached at the though of what Maul had done to him, and if Anakin would ever be the same.
"R2, put in the coordinates for Coruscant." His empty voice told the droid. Obi-Wan sat back in his seat as he watched the light of the stars blur together as they entered hyperspace. The sight reminded him a lesson he learned when he was a padawan. When stars die, they give off their outer layers as they continue to burn through their fuel, trying to delay the inevitable. Eventually all that's left is a remnant of what once lit up an entire solar system. He remembered telling Anakin that fact when he was still young, and watched as his face fell when he had told him that all good things come to an end. What was he going to tell Anakin? They still hadn't talked to each other since the… incident. Obi-Wan knew that Anakin was a bad liar- keeping him in the dark about what he was going to do was essential to making sure that his staged death looked as real as possible. Now he wasn't so sure if that was the best idea. He could feel Anakin in the force- their bond always in the back of his mind. But it felt different. It felt wrong.
"Master." Ahsoka said while sitting down in the co-pilot chair. "The medical droid has finished its report, and it's bad." She whispered, her voice shaking.