Hi! I hope you all had a nice, happy Halloween! The absolutely not halloween-ish chapter is coming with a one-day-delay. :)

I know that

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope you enjoy! I also hope that your (hopefully) positive feedback will help me fight the Writer's Block.

Chapter Five

A true Friend

As if in trance, Obi-Wan walked in the hallway of the Temple, his stride having lost its usual elegance. Indistinct shadows passed him as he went, but he didn't notice them, his entire being pulsating with desperation. He halted before a dull, grey door, which hid the only person that could help him; the person which he managed to fail again, the second time around.

The door slid open, and Obi-Wan stepped into his own quarters. He couldn't see anything, he couldn't think… Only clouds of grey mist swirled before his sight.

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin's voice sounded from somewhere far away.

Swaying slightly, Obi-Wan tried to walk to where he thought the sleeping couch was, but his legs refused to carry him. Vaguely, he felt two hands seizing him and steering him towards the couch.

"Master, what happened?" Anakin asked anxiously, as Obi-Wan slumped on the couch.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan began, his slurred voice sounding oddly faint to his ears. He knows that I'm not Anakin. He knows that I'm not Anakin. He'll find a way to claim Anakin again.

"Master, are you…What is this smell?" Anakin asked slowly, abashed. The hazy outline of the bearded man sniffed at the black tunic, shaking its head in frustration. "Master, what have you been thinking, going to meet the Chancellor like this-"

Obi-Wan felt too frozen to pay attention to Anakin's last words. "He's not who he pretends to be," he whispered heavily, a cold numbness spreading over him.

Anakin appeared not to have heard him. He stood up and walked to the water tin. Palpatine knows that I know who he is. Obi-Wan had failed Anakin, and the entire galaxy. What measures might the Sith Lord undertake now? Would he execute Order 66 sooner? Or did he something even more deadly up his sleeve?

Someone pressed a glass of water into Obi-Wan's hand. "Drink it, Master," Anakin said softly. A hand touched his forehead, and Obi-Wan dimly perceived familiar waves of Force flowing through his body. Grey, malicious fog lessened its hold on him, and Obi-Wan felt slightly better.

"You're burning," Anakin stated anxiously, firmly pushing him to the pillows and kneeling before him. "Master, what happened?"

"The Chancellor is not who he pretends to be," Obi-Wan whispered, his tongue dry and heavy.

"What?" Anakin asked, taken aback, as he put a wet cloth on Obi-Wan's forehead.

"Palpatine is a Sith Lord," Obi-Wan managed to choke out, feeling an endless weariness overtaking him. His limbs felt incredulously heavy, and his head ached horribly.

Looking overly concerned, Anakin shook his head, feigning a smile. "You have fever, Master," he said gently. "Try to get some sleep, and we will discuss it in the morning when you feel better."

How could Anakin be so ignorant, so blind? The man he saw as an uncle, the man who knew his most intimate fears and thrives was a Sith…He had never cared about his friend, he had never loved him. He had befriended the little boy only to seduce him.

Anakin… loyal, devoted Anakin…A bright-eyed boy who cried himself into sleep because he'd missed his mother…A kind-hearted boy, who wanted to help Obi-Wan share his grief, even though he'd been doing even worse…A person who was born to love and be loved…A man who fell into hands of a monster only because he loved too much…

A sudden flow of hot anger overwhelmed Obi-Wan, and he sat up rigidly, shoving Anakin's hand away. Anakin had been blinded by his affection to the Chancellor…How could Obi-Wan make his friend look past his love to the monster, past his devotion? Would Obi-Wan's confession make Anakin choose between his Master, who, as he'd thought, had never taken care of him, and between the man he loved as an uncle?

Ignoring Anakin's look of bewilderment, Obi-Wan nearly jumped off the bed and started pacing, his blood nearly boiling. Why did Anakin have to be so compassionate, so trustful? Why did he befriend the Chancellor in the first place? Why didn't the friendship Obi-Wan offered him sufficed?

"Why, Anakin?!" Obi-Wan yelled, halting abruptly. His vision spinning, he pierced Anakin with an unwavering stare, his heart hammering savagely. He didn't know why he was so angry. Maybe not only mothers but also fathers had misbalanced hormones?

"Why did you have to befriend him?!"

"Master," Anakin began calmly, though his eyes were wide in shock. He had clearly not seen Obi-Wan lose his temper before. And when they switched back, he wouldn't witness that ever again.

Panting heavily, Obi-Wan approached Anakin. "Don't tell me to calm down, Anakin," he said through gritted teeth, feeling adrenaline surging through him. He wanted to blast something…"Force, even your body exerts bad influence on me," he muttered, looking aside.

"No, actually it does wonders on you," Anakin retorted with a fluent grin. "In any case, you are much more handsome than usually." Then the fleeting look of amusement disappeared from his face, replaced by concern. "What's the matter, Master? Who didn't I have to befriend?"

"Palpatine!" Obi-Wan yelled, taking a step closer to Anakin.

Irritation and concern fought on Anakin's face, as his lips quivered strangely as though he wanted to say something. "He's a good man," he managed to say at last, turning around and scratching his chin, dishevelling the beard.

Automatically, Obi-Wan yanked Anakin's hand away from his face with his metallic arm, squeezing it painfully. "Don't you touch the beard," he hissed menacingly, resisting the urge to grab Anakin by his shoulders and give him a good shake for his stupidity that cost them all so much. The entire Order was slaughtered…Padmé faded away…Luke and Leia had to be separated…and after Mustafar, Obi-Wan would never be whole again…

"He's not a good man, Anakin," Obi-Wan said, his voice shaking madly. "He's the Sith Lord the Jedi are looking for."

His words were met by the loudest silences he'd ever heard. The air seemed to ring shrilly around them, and Obi-Wan could hear their hearts pounding fervently. Anakin stared at him in mute shock, his eyes wide open. Conflicting emotions swirled in them, his iris burning with untamed flames.

"What?" he asked so softly that Obi-Wan had to strain his ears to comprehend him.

"Palpatine is Darth Sidious," Obi-Wan repeated dryly, feeling an unbidden rush of schadenfreude overwhelm him at the sight of Anakin's abashed face. "The man you're so fond of is a monster."

Anakin staggered backwards until he ran into the wall. "He can't be," he said evenly, his face drained from any colour. "He can't be…" he repeated, with a hint of a plea in his voice. "He's always been kind to me; he has best interest of Republic at heart."

"Think rationally, Anakin," Obi-Wan said calmly, taking a step closer to Anakin. "Why does the war only escalate with each day? How did he manage to obtain the emergency powers?"

"Because he's a skilled politician," Anakin retorted vaguely, blinking rapidly.

"Why did he befriend you in the first place? Why you, the Chosen One of all the Jedi?"

"Because he sensed that I needed a friend," Anakin said stiffly, refusing to meet Obi-Wan's eyes.

Obi-Wan barked a mirthless laugh. "Oh yes, he sensed that much."

"Palpatine is not a Sith Lord," Anakin said firmly, whirling past Obi-Wan and going to the middle of the room. "This is preposterous."

"Open your eyes, Anakin!" Obi-Wan said, spinning around, his voice almost a shout. He took a step toward Anakin. "How can you be so ignorant, so oblivious to the truth? He's playing with you, and you're just a marionette, just a slave in his hands!"

His words were met by another stiff, dismal silence in which Anakin stared at Obi-Wan as though he'd never seen him before. That was a wise thing to say, Kenobi, he thought sarcastically.

"Get out," Anakin said after what seemed eternity, his voice horribly low and raucous.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said almost pleadingly, refusing to believe his ears. He felt as though air has been drawn from his lungs.

"Out!" Anakin barked, his eyes gleaming closely reminiscent to the way they gleamed on Mustafar.

Very slowly, Obi-Wan walked to the door, a revolting feeling of numbness returning to him. Only now it was mingled with the all-too-familiar tiredness he'd experienced on Tatooine…

As he got to the door, he turned around one last time. Anakin stood rigidly in the middle of the room, the battle of anger and confusion clearly showing on his face.

"I know that the truth hurts, but you must open your eyes to it," Obi-Wan said quietly, feeling his shoulders slumping. "Search your feelings-"

"I don't need to hear your Jedi teachings," Anakin interrupted him coldly. "And now get out."

Obi-Wan left his own quarters, the door hissing angrily in his wake. Once in the corridor, he slumped helplessly to the floor and rested his aching head in his hands. He thought he heard the moaning, drawn-out howls of the win on Tatooine calling for him again in this cold, grey hallway.

Anakin stared blankly at the spot where Obi-Wan had been standing only instants before. Only the dull, grey metal of the door gleamed bleakly in the dim light. On wobbling legs, Anakin dragged himself to the couch and slumped on it, his mind spinning.

How could Obi-Wan lie about something that serious?

'He wouldn't', a small voice said in his head. 'Obi-Wan would never lie to you. He never has.'

But this was preposterous! Palpatine was a good man. Palpatine was the only one who had always welcomed him with open arms.

'Obi-Wan is right', the voice said, this time more firmly. 'Why did Palpatine befriend him, of all Jedi?'

Anakin let a frustrated sigh, resting his head in his hands. The Chancellor must have seen how lost and confused he was. As time passed, their friendship grew. Anakin didn't know how he could have survived without the conversations with his friend. Sometimes he had the feeling as though the Chancellor knew him better than he did himself, as though he could sense his thoughts.

'Isn't it strange that Palpatine tells you only what you want to hear?'

Again, this was preposterous. Palpatine encouraged him to develop his potential; he never judged him. He had always been a special Jedi, and he couldn't follow the same path as the others. He drew his power from his anger, from his passion. They made him strong and indestructible.

'Listen to yourself!' The voice yelled, panicked. 'These are dark thoughts. Do you want to suffer the same fate as the man from your dreams? Isn't it disturbing that Palpatine seems to push you toward this path?'

Unable to sit any longer, Anakin stood up and started pacing in the quarters, his insides squirming painfully at the echoes of his dreams. That man was bitter and vile…and yet Anakin could associate himself with the man astonishingly well, as though they were somehow connected. It was true that Palpatine encouraged him to use his anger, and sometimes Anakin wondered idly by the knowledge of the Force the Chancellor possessed. But Palpatine was a well-educated man…

Bemused, Anakin halted, rubbing his forehead. The thought that the Chancellor could have been the Sith Lord they were looking for, was ridiculous. But why would Obi-Wan lie to him? Anakin trusted his former Master more than he trusted himself, but his trust in Palpatine was equally large.

In a way, Obi-Wan was right – it did seem suspicious that Palpatine managed to keep his post for so long. It was disturbing that he knew so much about the ways of the Force. At times, Anakin did feel uncomfortable revealing so much of his deepest secrets to Palpatine. At times, he did sense an ambiguous sense of malevolence rolling off the Chancellor, and the way his eyes seemed to have a hint of lightest yellow to them…But he explained it merely by his weariness and tricks of light. One thing remained unchanged – Palpatine was his best friend. He was the only one who had never pushed Anakin away, the only one who would always support any decision he would take.

But still, why would Obi-Wan say such a thing about him?

With a sigh, Anakin walked to the couch and plonked on it, massaging his temples. His head started aching again. The only way to resolve this misunderstanding was to see the Chancellor.

He didn't care that he was in Obi-Wan's body. After all, his former Master was a Council member – he could pretend that he had some Council business to discuss.

He would go to the Chancellor first thing in the morning.

Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes passed away. Obi-Wan sat on the floor by his own quarters, unmoving. He didn't know how long he sat like this. His head was filled with a thick, grey fog of numbness, and he couldn't think clearly.

Palpatine knew about the ruse…

Anakin didn't trust him…

He had made Anakin turn away from him again…

Why should he do? Would it better to take matters into his own hands and confront Palpatine to prevent him from seducing Anakin the second time around? Or should he wait and see how the things would develop?

Obi-Wan took a deep, shaky breath, the sound of his inhale resembling a sob. He had never felt so alone.

A quiet rustling of fabric resounded by his ear, and a small shadow hovered over him.

"Master Kenobi, much to talk about we have," Master Yoda's voice said calmly by his ear.

Obi-Wan froze.

9